The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-05-15
Euening Chat
On Antapashies.

III x2MuAkUe4AAAC0e
IT am Of q constitution 30 general
that 1t consorts and sympathizes with
all things; have no antipathy, or
rather idiosyncrasy in anything. These
natural repugnances do not touch me"
Religio- Medici.
A certain good lady. who has q
phlegmatic temperament something
like that which the author Of the
Religio- Medici ascribes to himself, al
ways pooh-hoos me when grow ner-
v0us at the sound of q knife scraping
upon tin.
Nonsense she says. don't notice
it. Don't let It make you nervous.
Why, don't mind 1t q particle
chronicle this little household hap
pening because I think 1t IL TYPICAL
People who. like my phlegmatic friend.
do not have these peculiar sense an
tipathies. are always prone to think
that those who do have them are using
their imaginations.
And worse than. that. I know some
people who do have one sort OF an
tipathy but are 80 narrow, 80 intoter-
ant. that they actually do not sympa-
thize with those who have q different
sort.
Now protest that my feelings when
hear a steel knife scrape over silver
or tin IL not at all fanciful feeling.
~ OVS0 uOt OIl8lueAl0 ia 1QIuQ my
imagination. I think It Is caused by
the fact that the nerves of my ear are
tuned to q certain pitch and the vi
bratton which that knife starts sets
them to janglinG. could no more con-
troll It by merely wishing to than
could stop by an effort Of the will q
wireless instrument from vibrating in
answer to another instrument.
When q man IL color blind we do
not accuse him OF imagining himself to
be in that condition. We simply realize
that his eyes are adjusted to the vari-
Have you not noticed how restless a
cat usually becomes when anyone
whistles near her. This isn't because
the cat Is wilfully nervous, but because
her ears arc 90 attuned that the shrill-
ness OF q whistle actually hurts them.
In this same way I think all the an
tfpathies Of the senses should be ac-
counted for.
Incidentally f1nd a comparison of
these strange little antipathies very in
teresting. One friend Ia made intensely
nervous by the sound Of q piece Of
cloth bein. torn in twain. don't mind
that at all. rather like 1t In fact. On
tho other hand. she can sit in q room
where someone IL scraping q knife
across q piece Of tin and not even
know that the dendish noise fs going
on. Still another friend does not mind
eltnef OF THESE SOUNDS, OUT mas TO leave
the room when her father scrapes out
his pipe.
You notice that 1 say sense an
tipathies. That Is because I have in
mind antipathies Of the other senses
as well as OF the ears-of touch, for
instance. Ono friend simply can't bear
to touch flannel with the tips Of her
fingers. Now that Is utterly incompre-
hensible to me until translate 1t into
the terms Of my own keenest touch an
tipathy. cannot bear to have the
dentist lay the dry napkin across my
tongue when he is filling tooth. When
he does that It fairly makes me crawl
all over, and Just to write about It
gives me an uncomfortable feeling.
Antipathies are queer things. but like
most queer things, interesting.
should think some Of our psychological
experts would write us a magazine ar
ticle on this subject.