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Programming Fundamentals - A Modular
Structured Approach using C++

By: Kenneth Busbee

Online: <http://cnx.org/content/col10621/1.20>

This selection and arrangement of content as a collection is copyrighted by Kenneth

Busbee.
It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Collection structure revised: 2010/06/06
For copyright and attribution information for the modules contained in this collection, see
the "Attributions" section at the end of the collection.
Programming Fundamentals - A Modular
Structured Approach using C++

Table of Contents

Preface
Author Acknowledgements
Orientation and Syllabus
Why You should Create a Personal Connexions Account
Creating a Connexions Account
Rating Connexions Modules
1. 1. Introduction to Programming
2. 2. Program Planning & Design
3. 3. Data & Operators
4. 4. Often Used Data Types
5. 5. Integrated Development Environment
6. 6. Program Control Functions
7. 7. Specific Task Functions
8. 8. Standard Libraries
9. 9. Character Data, Sizeof, Typedef, Sequence
10. 10. Introduction to Structured Programming
11. 11. Two Way Selection
12. 12. Multiway Selection
13. 13. Test After Loops
14. 14. Test Before Loops
15. 15. Counting Loops
16. 16. String Class, Unary Positive and Negative
17. 17. Conditional Operator and Recursion
18. 18. Introduction to Arrays
19. 19. File I/O and Array Functions
20. 20. More Array Functions
21. 21. More on Typedef
22. 22. Pointers
23. 23. More Arrays & Compiler Directives
24. 24. OOP & HPC
25. Review Materials
26. Appendix
A. Attributions
 Preface

1. About this Textbook/Collection

Programming Fundamentals – A Modular Structured
Approach using C++
Programming Fundamentals - A Modular Structured Approach using C++
is written by Kenneth Leroy Busbee, a faculty member at Houston
Community College in Houston, Texas. The materials used in this
textbook/collection were developed by the author and others as independent
modules for publication within the Connexions environment. Programming
fundamentals are often divided into three college courses:
Modular/Structured, Object Oriented and Data Structures. This
textbook/collection covers the first of those three courses.

Connexions Learning Modules

The learning modules of this textbook/collection were written as
standalone modules. Students using a collection of modules as a textbook
will usually view it contents by reading the modules sequentially as
presented by the author of the collection.

However, the majority of readers of these modules will find them as a result
of an Internet search. The Connexions Project allows the author of a module
to create web links to other Connexions modules and Internet locations.
These links are shown when viewing materials on-line and are categorized
into three types: Example, Prerequisite and Supplemental. The importance
of each link is numbered from 1 to 3 by the author. When viewing the
module each links shows a three part box with yellow or white rectangles.
All three yellow means it is a strongly related link. As the yellow
decreases the importance decreases.

Students using this collection for a college course should note that all of the
Prerequisite links within the modules will be modules that student should
have already read and most of the Supplemental links will be modules that
the student will read shortly. Thus, students should use Prerequisite links
for review as needed and not be overly concerned about viewing all of the
Supplemental links at the first reading of this textbook/collection.

Conceptual Approach
The learning modules of this textbook/collection were, for the most part,
written without consideration of a specific programming language. In many
cases the C++ language is discussed as part of the explanation of the
concept. Often the examples used for C++ are exactly the same for the Java
programming language. However, some modules were written specifically
for the C++ programming language. This could not be avoided as the C++
language is used in conjunction with this textbook/collection by the author
in teaching college courses.

Bloodshed Dev-C++ 5 Compiler/IDE

This open source compiler/IDE (Integrated Development Environment) was
used to develop the demonstration source code files provided within the
modules of this textbook/collection. The compiler/IDE is presented to the
student in the second module of Chapter 1, with instructions for
downloading, installing and using the compiler/IDE. A more complete
explanation of the IDE along with demonstration source code listings with
errors is presented in first module of Chapter 5. All of the source code files
provided in this textbook/collection contain only ANSI standard C++ code
and should work on any standard C++ compiler like Microsoft Visual
Studio (which includes C++), Microsoft Visual C++ Express or Borland
C++ Builder.
Instructor Materials
Encrypted instructor materials are available in a module that is not part of
this collection. It’s title: Instructor Materials for: Programming
Fundamentals - A Modular Structured Approach using C++ is available at:
http://cnx.org/content/m34529/latest/ and the encryption code is only
available to educational institutional faculty that are considering adoption of
this collection as a textbook.

2. About Connexions
Connexions Modular Content
The Connexions Project http://cnx.org is part of the Open Educational
Resources (OER) movement dedicated to providing high quality learning
materials free online, free in printable PDF format, and at low cost in bound
volumes through print-on-demand publishing. This textbook is one of many
collections available to Connexions users. Each collection is composed of a
number of re-usable learning modules written in the Connexions XML
markup language. Each module may also be re-used (or 're-purposed') as
part of other collections and may be used outside of Connexions.

Re-use and Customization

The Creative Commons (CC) Attribution license applies to all
Connexions modules. Under this license, any Connexions module may be
used or modified for any purpose as long as proper attribution to the
original author(s) is maintained. Connexions' authoring tools make re-use
(or re-purposing) easy. Therefore, instructors anywhere are permitted to
create customized versions of this textbook by editing modules, deleting
unneeded modules, and adding their own supplementary modules.
Connexions' authoring tools keep track of these changes and maintain the
CC license's required attribution to the original authors. This process
creates a new collection that can be viewed online, downloaded as a single
PDF file, or ordered in any quantity by instructors and students as a low-
cost printed textbook.
Read the book online, print the PDF, or buy a copy of
the book.
To browse this textbook online, visit the collection home page. You will
then have three options.

1. You may view the collection modules on-line by clicking on the "Start
>>" link, which takes you to the first module in the collection. You can
then navigate to the next module using "NEXT >>" and through the
subsequent modules by using the "<< PREVIOUS | NEXT >>" button
that is towards the upper right to move forward and backward in the
collection. You can jump to any module in the collection by clicking on
that module's title in the "TABLE OF CONTENTS" box on the left side
of the window. If these contents are hidden, make them visible by
clicking on the small triangle to the right of the "TABLE OF
CONTENTS". Chapters also have a small triangle to show or hide
contents.

2. You may obtain a PDF of the entire textbook to print or view offline by
clicking on the "Download PDF" link in the "Content Actions" box.

3. You may order a bound copy of the collection (for a reasonable printing
and shipping fee) by clicking on the "Order printed copy" button.

Connexions PDF Conversion Problems

Buying a copy of the textbook/collection is basically sending the PDF file
to a printing service that has a contract with the Connexions project. There
are several known printing problems and the Connexions Project is aware
of them and seeking a solution. In the mean time, be aware that quirks exist
for printed PDF materials. A description of the known problems are:

1. When it converts an "Example" the PDF displays the first line of an

example properly but indents the remaining lines of the example. This
 problem occurs for the printing of a book (because it prints a PDF) and
downloading either a module or a textbook/collection as a PDF.

2. Chapter numbering has been added to the on-line Table of Contents.

This will make it easier for students to quickly get to the chapter reading
materials. However this creates a "double" chapter numbering within
the textbook/collection’s PDF and custom printing formats.

3. Within C++ there are three operators that do not convert properly to
PDF format.

Table 1.
decrement -- which is two minus signs
insertion << which is two less than signs
extraction >> which is two greater than signs

Rating Connexion Modules

A rating feature was added during 2009 for Connexions modules. It will not
be useful until more people rate modules within the Connexions repository.
If a module is rated by several people, it can be used as a measure of
quality. Thus, your participation in rating modules is welcomed and helps
others determine the quality of the educational materials being viewed.

In order to rate modules you must have a Connexions account. Three (3)
modules have been added to the preface series of modules for this
collection. They explain why and how to create a Connexions account and
how to rate a Connexions module.
 Author Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the many people who have helped me and have
encouraged me in this project.

1. Mr. Abass Alamnehe, who is a fellow faculty member at Houston

Community College. He has encouraged the use of Connexions as an
"open source" publishing concept. His comments on several modules
have led directly to the improvement of the materials in this
textbook/collection.

2. The hundreds (most likely a thousand plus) students that I have taken
programming courses that I have taught since 1984. The languages
include: COBOL, main frame IBM assembly, Intel assembly, Pascal,
"C" and "C++". They have often suggested that I write my own book
because they thought that I was explaining the subject matter better than
the author of the textbook that we were using. Little did my students
understand that directly or indirectly they aided in the improvement of
the materials from which I taught as well as improving me as a teacher.

3. To my future students and all those that will use this

textbook/collection. They will provide suggestions for improvement as
well as being the thousand eyes identifying the hard to find typos, etc.

4. My wife, Carol, who supports me in all that I do. She has tolerated the
many hours that I have spent in concentration on developing the
modules that comprise this work. Without her support, this work would
not have happened.
 Orientation and Syllabus

1. Orientation
Textbook/Collection Layout
The approach of this course will be to take the student through a
progression of materials that will allow the student to develop the skills of
programming. The basic unit of study is a Connexions module. Several
modules are collected into a chapter. The chapters are divided into five
groups.

Table 1.
Group Title Chapters Modules
Pre-Chapter Items N/A 6
Foundation Topics 1-5 27
Modular Programming 6-9 17
Structured Programming 10-16 30
Intermediate Topics 17-21 17
Advanced Topics 22-24 11
Review Materials N/A 5
Appendix N/A 7
Total Modules N/A 120
Some professors using this textbook/collection might decide to eliminate
certain modules or chapters. Some may eliminate the entire Advanced
Topics group. Other professors may choose to add additional study
materials. The advantage of this textbook/collection is that it may be
adapted by professors to suit the needs of their students.
Chapter Layout
Each chapter will usually flow from:

1. One or more Connexions modules built for independent delivery.

2. A Connexions Practice module built specifically for this

textbook/collection.

As you proceed with the Connexions modules that comprise a chapter, you
should:

Complete any tasks/demos that require downloading items.

Do any exercises.

Create 3x5 study cards for all definitions. When this material is used as a
textbook for a course the definitions are to be memorized. Confirm this
with your professor.

As you start the Practice module you will usually encounter:

Learning Objectives

Memory Building Activities aka MBAs Link – These could consist of

any of the following types of interactive computer activities: flash card,
crossword puzzle, seek a word, drag n drop, labeling, ordering or sorting.
When the materials are used as a textbook for a course, it is imperative
that students do a variety of repetitive activities in order to memorize
basic course material. Besides, have fun learning.

Exercises – In addition to any exercises within the study modules that

you completed before the practice module, there will be at least one
exercise for students to complete.

Miscellaneous Items – These will exist for some of the chapters.

 Lab Assignment – Usually, completed on one's own efforts. Review the
instructions/restrictions from your professor/teacher if using this for a
high school or college credit course.

Problems – The intent of this activity is for students to formulate their

own answers. Thus, solutions to the problems will not be provided.
When the materials are used as a textbook for a course, the
professor/teacher may assign students to a "Study Group" or let students
form study groups to discuss their solutions with each other. If you are
using this for a high school or college credit course, verify that you may
work as team at solving the problems. This type of approved activity is
called "authorized collusion" and is not a violation of "Academic or
Scholastic Dishonesty" rules.

A professor using this textbook/collection/course will most likely have

additional lab assignments, quizzes and exams that would be used in
calculating your grade.

Connexions Module Reading List

The modules in this textbook/collection have had content reviewed and are
believed to be sufficient, thus no additional textbook is required.
However, some students desire additional references or reading. The author
has used several textbooks over the years for teaching "COSC1436 –
Programming Fundamentals I" course at Houston Community College. A
reading reference list has been prepared and includes references for the
following textbooks:

1. Starting Out with C++ Early Objects, by: Tony Gaddis et. al., 6th
Edition, ISBN: 0-321-51238-3

2. Starting Out with C++ Early Objects, by: Tony Gaddis et. al., 5th
Edition, ISBN: 0-321-38348-6
 3. Computer Science – A structured Approach using C++, by: Behrouz A.
Forouzan et. al., 2nd Edition, ISBN: 0-534-37480-8

These textbooks are typically available in the used textbook market at a

reasonable price. You may use any one of the three books. If you acquire
one of the above optional traditional textbooks, you may want to download
and store the following file to your storage device (disk drive or flash drive)
in an appropriate folder.

Download from Connexions:

Connexions_Module_Reading_List_col10621.pdf

2. Syllabus
The syllabus for a course that is for credit will be provided by your specific
course professor. If you are using this textbook/collection for non-credit as
self-study, we have some suggestions:

1. Plan regular study periods

2. Review the three (3) Pre-Chapter Items modules

3. Review the last four (4) modules in the Appendix

4. Proceed with Chapter 1 going through all 24 chapters

5. Do all of the demo programs as you encounter them

6. Memorize all of the terms and definitions

7. Do all lab assignments

8. Prepare answers to all of the problems in the Practice modules

9. At the end of every section, do the Review module

These is no magic way to learn about computer programming other than to
immerse yourself into regular study and study includes more than casual
reading. To help you keep track of your study, we have included a check
off list for the textbook/collection.

Table 2.
Check Description # Modules
Pre-Chapter Items 6
Last four Appendix Items 4
Chapters 1 to 5 27
Review Materials for 1 to 5 1
Chapters 6 to 9 17
Review Materials for 6 to 9 1
Chapters 10 to 16 30
Review Materials for 10 to 16 1
Chapters 17 to 21 17
Review Materials for 17 to 21 1
Chapters 22 to 24 11
Review Materials for 22 to 24 1
First three Appendix Items 3
N/A Total Modules 120
 Why You should Create a Personal
Connexions Account

1. Several Good Reasons

With a Connexions account you can:

Provide feedback to authors and other users by rating modules – This

feedback from all users (other authors, students using textbook
collections, etc.) helps authors decide which modules need improving
and helps other users in evaluating the quality of respository content.

Have your own “My Favorites” lens and make other “Member List”
lenses

Save your place when reading through a collection is a feature of the

“My Favorites” lens

You can make yourown private “Member List” lenses to create the
ability for you to focus on part of the repository

Improve the quality of instructional materials and scholarly works

available to the world via the Internet – free 24/7

Contribute materials that you author to the Connexions repository

Remix or change (customize) materials provided by others that are in

the Connexions repository
 Build collections (a group of modules) that specifically serve your
students or audience from modules that you either create, improve or
use without changing

Often being an author, is over emphasized and pushed as the number one
reason to get a Connexions account. Having authors contribute to the
repository is important; however usage of the repository by users is equally
important. Increasing quality content in the Connexions repository goes
hand in hand with increased usage of that content. It’s like the Chinese
“Yin & Yang”, both are important. We encourage all to create an personal
account.

Figure 1.

Yin & Yang

2. Available Training
A link is provided (in the box at the upper right corner of this module’s
page) to the “Busbee’s Connexions Training” lens. It contains six
collections that cover:

1. Understanding the Vision of Connexions

2. How to Search and Browse the Connexions Web Site (includes rating
modules)

3. Effectively Using and Creating Connexions Lenses

4. Authoring Connexions Modules using Microsoft Word Documents

 5. Ideas and Tools for Improving Connexions Modules and Collections

6. Appendix Materials for a Connexions Collection used as a College

Course

Each collection consists of several modules. The items appear

alphabetically within the lens; however the “Lens Comments” for each item
has its item position number similar to the list above. The first four items
provide a natural progression for training.

You might want to bookmark the URL to the lens in your browser. The link
is: http://cnx.org/lenses/kbusbee/cnx-training

3. Connexions Help
Don’t hesitage to use the “Help” tab on the connexions home page at:
http://cnx.org/

It is organized differently than the above training collections, but contains

ample information on how to use the Connexions Project. Don’t be afraid to
click on something. Some of the menu items on the left expand as you click
on them.
 Figure 2.

Connexions Help Tab

 Creating a Connexions Account

1. Create an Account
From the Connexions home page at: http://cnx.org select the “Get an
account” under Step 1. Follow the process as directed. When prompted for
“Member Profile” information you should complete fields as appropriate.
The following will help you to complete certain areas.

Affiliation – Institution
You should review how others are typing their “Affiliation” and type yours
the same. For example: authors from Houston Community College could
use: HCC or Houston CC or Houston Community College. However, they
should all use: Houston Community College. This is not super important for
the profile, but you will want to type the “Institution” field in a collection
consistently so collections created by authors from the same institution will
all show up together when users do an institution search. The following two
slides show you how to browse to the “Institutions” search and review what
authors from your institution are using for their affiliation/institution name.
Figure 3.

Browsing
 Figure 4.

Reviewing institution names

Note

You could be the first author and might need to decide what to use for
your institution.

Biography – Short Biographical Sketch

Prepare a short biography about yourself. Information should include your
current job, past employment, educational and professional attainments, etc.
Portrait – Picture
Using your picture processing skills; modify a picture of yourself cropping
it square. It should be no greater than 150 by 150 pixels on each side.
Usually this file is stored in a .jpg format.

Note

The Connexions web site will shrink your picture to fit its allocated
space; thus, to avoid distortion, you should make sure to crop the
picture square.

Example
A link is provided (in the box at the upper right corner of this module’s
page) to my “Member Profile” (for Kenneth Leroy Busbee) at Connexions.

2. Editing your Member Profile

You can change your “Member Profile” at any time. This slide shows how
to get to the page for changing it.
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
muscle. The nerve-force is simply neural stimulus. It acts upon the
other tissues as the nitrogenous salt upon the gunpowder.
Although it is now common to speak of nerves as transmitting
waves of molecular motion, and to regard nerves as the passive
medium for the “transference of force,” whereby the force is thus
made an abstract entity, we must always remember that such
phrases are metaphors, and that the truer expression will be not
“transference of force,” but the “propagation of excitation.” I mean
that it is not the force of the impact nor its energy which a nerve
transmits, it is the vibratory change produced in the nerve by the
impact, which excites another change in the organ to which the
nerve goes. We know by accurate measurements that the excitation
of a nerve lasts much longer than the stimulus, a momentary impact
producing an enduring agitation. We know also that the excitation of
a centre lasts longer than the muscular contraction it has initiated.
We know, moreover, that a nerve may be totally incapable of
conducting an external stimulus, yet quite capable of conducting a
central stimulus; were it a passive conductor like a wire this would
99
not be so.
50. The nerve is essentially an exciter of change, and thereby a
regulator. A muscle in action does not appreciably determine action
in any other (except in the comparatively rare cases of anastomosing
muscles); a secreting cell does not propagate its excitation to others.
The nerve, on the contrary, not only propagates its excitation, and
awakens the activity of the muscle or gland with which it is
connected, but through the centre affects the whole organism—
“Ein Schlag tausend Verbindungen schlägt.”

Thus it is that stimulation which in the simpler organisms was

diffused throughout the protoplasm, has in the complex organisms
become the specialized property of a particular tissue.
51. Two general facts of supreme importance must now be
stated: One is the law of stimulation—every excitation pursues the
path of least resistance. The second is the condition of stimulation—
unlike mechanical impulsion, it acts only at insensible distances.
52. This means that although a nerve may be excited by any
stimulus external to it which changes its molecular condition, no
propagation of that change (i. e. no stimulation through the nerve)
is possible except through continuity of substance. Mere physical
contact suffices to excite the nerve; but if there be an interruption of
continuity in the nerve itself, no stimulus-wave passes across that
line. Cut a nerve, and bring the divided surfaces once more into
close contact, there will still be such a solution of continuity as to
arrest the stimulus-wave, mere physical contact not sufficing for the
propagation. Whereas across the cut ends of a divided nerve, even
visibly separated, the electric current easily passes. This necessity
for the vital continuity of tissue in the propagation of stimulation
must always be borne in mind. The presence of a membrane,
however delicate, or of any tissue having a different molecular
constitution, suffices to arrest or divert the wave. I conceive,
therefore, that it is absolutely indispensable that a nerve should
terminate in and blend with a muscle or a centre, otherwise no
stimulation of muscle or centre will take place through the nerve.
 Fig. 13.

53. The difference between excitation from contact and

stimulation from continuity may be thus illustrated. In Fig. 13 we see
the legs of a frog attached to the spine by the lumbar nerves (l), and
lying on the muscles (m) of one leg is the nerve (c) of another frog’s
leg. Applying the electrodes to (l), the muscles (m) are violently
contracted; not only so, but their contraction excites the other nerve
(c), and the leg attached to this nerve is thereby thrown into
contraction. This “secondary contraction,” as Dubois Reymond calls
it, might be supposed to be due to a diffusion of the electrical
current; but that it is due to a change in the muscles (m) is proved
by delicate experiments showing that the movements in the
detached leg are of precisely the same kind as those in the legs
directly stimulated. If there is only a muscular shock in the one case,
there is only a muscular shock in the other; if there is tetanus in the
one, there is tetanus in the other; if the muscles of the first leg are
fatigued and respond slowly and feebly, the response of the second
is slow and feeble. Moreover, the secondary contraction may be
produced by chemical or mechanical stimulus, as well as by the
electrical.
54. Although the contraction of a muscle is thus seen to be
capable of exciting a nerve in contact with it, the reverse is not true:
we can produce no contraction in a muscle by exciting a nerve
simply in contact with the muscle, and not penetrating its tissue and
terminating there. Accordingly we always find a nerve when about to
enter a muscle or a centre losing its protecting envelopes; it
gradually becomes identified as a protoplasmic thread with the
protoplasm of the muscle or the centre.
55. Neurility, then, is the propagation of molecular change. Two
offices are subserved by the nervous system, which may respectively
be called Excitation—the disturbance of molecular tension in tissues,
and consequent liberation of their energies; and Co-ordination—the
direction of these several energies into combined actions. Thus,
when the muscle is in a given state of molecular tension, the
stimulation of its nerve will change that state, causing it to contract
if it be in repose. But this stimulation, which will thus cause a
contraction, will be arrested, if at the same time a more powerful
stimulation reaches the antagonist muscle, or some distant centre:
then the muscle only tends to contract.

ORIGIN OF NERVE-FORCE.
56. After this brief account of Neurility we may pass to the
consideration of its origin. Are we to understand that this property
belongs to the nerves themselves in the sense in which Contractility
belongs to the muscles? or are we to accept the teaching which
assigns the origin of “nerve-force” to the ganglia, and regards the
nerves simply as passive conductors of a force developed in the
cells?
 57. It is now many years since I ventured to criticise the reigning
doctrine, and to urge the necessity Of consistently carrying out the
distinction between Property and Function. I called attention to the
positive evidence which contradicted the idea of passive conduction;
and pointed out the illusory nature of the favorite analogy, in which
ganglia were likened to batteries, and nerves to the conducting
wires. But the old image still exerts its empire; and writers are still
found speaking of the brain as a telegraphic bureau, the ganglia as
stations, and the nerves as wires. In the cells of the gray substance
they place a constantly renewing reservoir of nerve-force. There the
force is elaborated, stored up, and from thence directed along the
nerves. The sensory nerve “transmits an impression to the brain”—
as the wire transmits a message to the bureau. The motor nerve, in
turn, “transmits the mandates of the will”—and all is clear! Clear,
until we come to translate metaphors into visible facts, or try to
conjure up some mental image of the process. For myself, I can only
conceive nerve-force as the activity of the nerve, and not of
something else. This becomes still more evident when I find that the
activity is equally manifest after its imaginary source has been
removed. Transmitting impressions, or messages, implies as a
preliminary that there should be an impressible agent, or a message-
sender, at the periphery. No one supposes that simply touching one
end of a wire would send an “impression” or a “message” to the
battery; or that without the battery this touch would evolve a
current. The battery is indispensable; in it is evolved the current
which the wire transmits. Not so the ganglion, or brain. Remove the
wire from its connection with the battery, and it is a bit of wire,
nothing more. But remove a nerve from its connection with a
ganglion, and it is still active as nerve, still displays its Neurility when
excited, still moves the muscle as before. The amputated limb will
move when its nerves are stimulated, just as when a reflex from its
centre moved it. Every one knew the fact; it was staring them in the
face, yet they disregarded it. Even the old anatomist, Willis, had
recorded experiments which ought to have opened their eyes. He
tied the phrenic nerve, and found that, when he irritated it below the
ligature, the diaphragm moved; but when he irritated it above the
ligature, no movement followed. Since his days, thousands of
experiments have shown that the presence of a ganglion is not
100
necessary to the action of a nerve.
58. Of course an explanation was ready. The nerve was said to
have been “endowed with force” from its ganglion during their vital
connection; and this force, stored up in the nerve, was disposable
for some time after separation from the ganglion. We need not
pause to criticise this misty conception of one part “endowing”
another with force; the plain facts afford the best answer. There
seemed, indeed, a confirmation of the hypothesis in the fact that
although the nerve separated from its ganglion was capable of
excitation, yet after a few excitations it was exhausted, and ceased
to stimulate the muscle. It seemed like the piece of magnetized iron
which would act as a temporary magnet, though quickly losing this
borrowed power. But the whole fabric fell—or ought to have fallen—
when extended observation discovered that this exhausted nerve
would, if left in repose, recover its lost power. A nerve preserves its
excitability as long as it preserves its structural integrity, and
recovers its power in recovering that integrity. The length of time
101
varies. Gratiolet found the muscles in the leg of a tortoise, which
had been amputated a week before, contract when the nerves were
irritated; and Schiff found the divided nerve of a winter frog
excitable at the end of three weeks. Even after all excitability has
disappeared, it will reappear if arterial blood be injected; just as
muscles which have already begun to assume cadaveric rigidity
recover their contractility after transfusion. Nor is this all. The
separated nerve finally degenerates, and loses all its structural
characters and physiological properties; yet under favorable
conditions it will regenerate—recover its structures and properties;
and this even apart from a centre, as Vulpian showed. Very
noticeable is the fact that the force said to be produced in the
centre, and only “conveyed” by the nerve, vanishes gradually from
the centre to the periphery, and recovers from the periphery to the
centre—the part of the nerve which is farthest from the centre being
excitable when the part nearest the centre is still inexcitable. Again,
when a nerve is pinched, contraction in the muscle follows; but the
pinch has for a time so disturbed the structural integrity of the nerve
(at that spot) that no irritant applied to the spot, or between it and
the centre, will be followed by contraction, whereas below the spot
an irritation takes effect. This is another form of the experiment of
Willis. Even in its normal state, the nerve has different degrees of
excitability in different parts of its course,—a fact discovered by
Pflüger which is quite irreconcilable with the hypothesis of passive
102
conduction. Doubts have been thrown on Pflüger’s interpretation,
namely, that there is an avalanche-like accumulation of energy
proportionate to the length of the stimulated portion; but the fact
remains, that one and the same irritant applied successively to two
different points of a nerve does not irritate the muscle in the same
degree. Munk also finds the velocity of transmission in a motor nerve
103
increases as it approaches its termination in the muscle.
59. Nothing can be more unlike the conduction of an electric
current than this excitation of Neurility; nothing more accordant with
the idea of it as a vital property of the tissue. The notion of its being
derived from a centre is on a par with the notion first successfully
104
combated by Haller, that the muscle derived its Contractility from
the nerves; or the analogous notion that the electric organ in fishes
derived its property from the brain. Indeed, it was in support of the
hypothesis that the brain was a battery, and nerves the conductors,
that the phenomena observed in electrical fishes were frequently
cited. The electric organ was seen to be connected with the brain;
its discharges were under the control of the animal, and were
destroyed on one side when the brain on the corresponding side was
destroyed. But Charles Robin long ago suggested, what indeed
ought never to have been doubted, that the brain was not the
source of the electricity; but that the tissue of the electric organ
itself had this special property, which the nerve merely called into
activity. The suggestion has been experimentally verified by M.
Moreau, who divided all the nerves supplying the electric organ on
one side, and, having thus cut off all communication with the brain,
produced electrical discharges by irritating the nerves; precisely as
the muscles are made to contract when the divided nerves are
irritated. Had the experiment ceased here, it might have been
interpreted on the old hypothesis: the electric organ might be
supposed to have a certain amount of electric force condensed in it,
stored up there, as it is said to be in the nerves, and discharged
when the organ is irritated. But experiment has decided this point
also. Electric fishes notoriously exhaust their power by a few
discharges, and recover it after repose. When M. Moreau had
exhausted his mutilated fishes, he replaced them in the water, and
allowed them repose. On again irritating the divided nerves, the
105
discharges were again produced.
60. On all sides the idea of nerves deriving their power from
another source than their own substance is seen to be untenable. A
priori this might have been concluded. Neurility is the vital property
of nerve-tissue. “Nerve-force” is nerve-action—molecular changes in
the nerve itself, not in some remote substance. That nerve and
centre are vitally connected is true; and what their physiological
relations are will hereafter be examined; but we must dismiss the
idea of nerves having the relation to centres that electrodes have to
batteries.
61. In proposing the term Neurility, I not only wished to get rid of
the ambiguities which hovered round “nerve-force” and “nerve-
current,” but to recall the physiological principle that properties are
dependent on structures; and therefore that the special property of
nerve-tissue is conditioned by its structure. Neurility is, of course, an
abstraction; but so is the nerve an abstraction. The concrete
manifestations are the several nerve-actions. These we classify and
specify. One class we call sensory, another class motor; not because
the nerve-action itself is different, but because it is in each class in a
different functional relation to other parts. In classing men as
governors and governed, employers and employed, we do not
suppose anthropological distinctions, but only differences in their
social functions.
 62. This is the modification of the Law of Bell to which reference
was made in § 26. It replaces the idea of two different kinds of
nerve, sensory and motor, by that of two different anatomical
connections. I need not reproduce here the argument with which I
formerly criticised the supposed distinction between sensory and
motor nerves; because the old idea is rapidly falling into discredit,
and physiologists so eminent as Vulpian and Wundt have explicitly
announced their adhesion to the principle of identity,—a principle
which, as Vulpian truly remarks, dominates the whole physiology of
106
the nervous system.

THE HYPOTHESIS OF SPECIFIC ENERGIES.

63. One development of the theory of Bell, respecting the
different kinds of nerve, has been the still accredited hypothesis that
each nerve has a “specific energy,” or quality, in virtue of which it
acts and reacts only in one way. The optic nerve, no matter how
stimulated, only responds by a sensation of color, the auditory nerve
only by a sensation of sound; and so on. This hypothesis, which (as
107
I learn from a correspondent) was originally propounded by Bell
himself, was developed and made an European doctrine by Johannes
Müller, first in his remarkable treatise, Über die phantastischen
Gesichtserscheinungen (1826), and afterwards in his Physiology.
Like all good hypotheses, it has been fruitful; and Helmholtz still
holds it to be of extraordinary importance for the theory of
perception. Although combated by a few physiologists, it has kept its
place firm in the general acceptance; no doubt because it forms a
ready explanation of the facts. But, as I often have to remark,
108
explanation is not demonstration.
64. The first criticism to be made on the hypothesis is that it
commits the error of confounding function with property, assigning
as a specific quality of the nerve the reaction of the organ
innervated. Thus Müller speaks of the specific energy as “the
essential condition of the nerves in virtue of which they see light and
hear sound.” But the optic nerve no more sees, than the liver-nerve
secretes bile. That the optic nerve is one element in the mechanism
on which vision depends, is all that we can say, Müller declares that
it is not sufficient to assume each nerve to be so constituted that it
has a susceptibility to certain stimuli rather than to others; but that
“with Aristotle we must ascribe to each a peculiar energy as its vital
quality. Sensation,” he adds, “consists in the sensorium receiving
through the medium of the nerves a knowledge of certain qualities,
—a condition, not of the external bodies, but of the nerves
themselves,”—and these qualities are different in different nerves. In
other words, he assumes a special substance for each special
energy. The sensation of color depends on the special Visual
substance (Sehsinnsubstanz); the sensation of sound on the
Auditory substance (Hörsinnsubstanz); and so on.
65. We have here an hypothesis analogous to that of Innate
Ideas, or a priori Forms of Thought. It is, in fact, only a reproduction
of that conception carried into the sphere of Sense. No one thinks of
assigning specific energies to the several muscles, yet a movement
of prehension is as different from a movement of extension, a
peristaltic movement is as different from a movement of occlusion,
as a sensation of sound is from a sensation of color. If movement is
common to both of the one class, feeling is common to both of the
other: the forms and mechanism are different and specific. Muscles
have the common property of contracting under stimulation;
whatever be the nature of the stimulus, each muscle has its own
particular response, or mode of reaction: the flexor always bending,
never extending the limb; the sphincter always closing, never
opening the orifice. The movements of the heart are not the same
as those of the eye; both are unlike the movements of the intestine.
There are muscles which respond to some stimuli, and not to others.
Those of the eye, or of the vocal chords, respond to impulses which
would leave the masseter or biceps unstirred. According to Marey,
the hyoglossus of a frog will become tetanic under a stimulus of only
ten pulses in a second; whereas the gastrocnemius of that same
frog resists a stimulus of less than twenty in a second. We find the
retina responding to ethereal pulses which leave the auditorius
unaffected; we find the muscles of a gnat’s wing so exquisitely
susceptible that the wing beats eight thousand times in a second,—a
delicacy in comparison with which even our muscles of the eye are
coarse.
66. The facts which the hypothesis of specific energies is called
on to explain are more consistently interpreted on the admission of a
common property in nerve-tissue, manifesting different degrees of
excitability, and entering into different mechanisms, so that the
functional results differ. A nerve which may be stimulated from the
skin will not respond at all, or not in the same way, if the stimulus be
applied under the skin. Are we to suppose that the specific energy
109
resides in one part of the nerve, and not in another? That the
optic nerve responds to stimuli which will not sensibly excite a motor
nerve, depends on the terminal structures through which the
stimulation is excited; for the optic nerve itself, apart from the retinal
expansion, is as insensible to light as the motor nerve is. And the
specific sensation, or movement, which results from stimulation of a
nerve depends not on the nerve, but on the mechanism of which the
nerve is one element. Sensations of touch, temperature, and pain
are assuredly specific; they are as unlike each other as a sensation
of taste is unlike a sensation of smell. Yet the same nerves, variously
stimulated, produce all three sensations.
67. We conclude, therefore, that the phrase “specific energy” is
an elliptical expression for the particular office of a nerve. In this
meaning there is no obscurity. The optic nerve is not a vasomotor
nerve, the skin nerve is not a muscle nerve; the auditory nerve is a
nerve of special sensation, the vagus is a nerve of systemic
sensation; and so on. Neither movement nor sensation belongs to
the nerves themselves.
 CHAPTER IV.

SENSIBILITY.

68. The principles laid down in the preceding chapter are equally
applicable to the central system. But here greater difficulties await
us. We cannot expect traditional views to be easily displaced, when
they have taken such hold on the mind, as is the case with regard to
Sensibility. To admit that all nerves have a common property, and
that their functional relations depend on the organs which they
innervate, demands small relinquishment of cherished opinions. But
to admit that all nerve-centres have a common property, and that
their functional relations depend on their anatomical connections, is
to sweep away at once a mass of theoretic interpretations which
from long familiarity have acquired an almost axiomatic force. That
the brain, and the brain only, is the source and seat of Sensibility is
the postulate of modern Physiology.
69. The question is one of extreme complexity, but may be
greatly simplified, if we can manage to reduce it to purely
physiological terms, and consider the phenomena in their objective
aspect. In dealing with nerves and their actions this was
comparatively easy; we had for the most part only physiological
processes to unravel. It is otherwise in dealing with nerve-centres—
the subjective or psychological aspect of the phenomena inevitably
thrusts itself on our attention; and all the mysteries of Feeling and
Thought cloud our vision of the neural process. Do what we will, we
cannot altogether divest Sensibility of its psychological connotations,
cannot help interpreting it in terms of Consciousness; so that even
when treating of sensitive phenomena observed in molluscs and
insects, we always imagine these more or less suffused with Feeling,
as this is known in our own conscious states.
70. Feeling is recognized as in some way or other bound up with
neural processes; but Physiology proper has only to concern itself
with the processes; and the question whether these can, and do, go
on unaccompanied by Feeling, is, strictly speaking, one which
belongs to Psychology. It demands as a preliminary that the term
Feeling be defined; and the answer will depend upon that definition,
namely, whether Feeling be interpreted as synonymous with
Consciousness in the restricted sense, or synonymous with the more
general term Sentience. If the former, then since there are
unquestionably neural processes of which we are not conscious, we
must specify the particular groups which subserve Feeling; as we
specify the particular groups which subserve the sensations of Sight,
Hearing, Taste, etc.; and localize the separate functions in separate
organs. If the latter, then, since all neural processes have a common
character, we have only to localize the particular variations of its
manifestation, and distinguish sensitive phenomena as we
distinguish motor phenomena.
71. It is absolutely certain that the Feeling we attribute to a
mollusc is different from that which we attribute to a man; if only
because the organisms of the two are so widely different, and have
been under such different conditions of excitation. If every feeling is
the functional result of special organic activities, varying with the co-
operant elements, we can have no more warrant for assuming the
existence of the same particular forms of Feeling in organisms that
are unlike, than for assuming the 47th proposition of Euclid to be
presented by any three straight lines. The lines are the necessary
basis for the construction, but they are not the triangle, except when
in a special configuration. This is not denying that animals feel (in
the general sense of that term), it is only asserting that their feelings
must be very unlike our own. Even in our own race we see marked
differences—some modes of feeling being absolutely denied to
individuals only slightly differing from their fellows. If, however, we
admit that different animals must have different modes of Feeling,
we must also admit that the neuro-muscular activities are generically
alike in all, because of the fundamental similarity in the structures.
Whether we shall assign Feeling to the mollusc or not will depend on
the meaning of the term; but, at all events, we require some term
general enough to include the phenomena manifested by the
mollusc, and those manifested by all other animals. Sensibility is the
least objectionable term. Unless we adopt some such general
designation, physiological and psychological interpretations become
contradictory and obscure. The current doctrine which assigns
Sensibility to the brain, denying it to all other centres, is seriously
defective, inasmuch as it implies that tissues similar in kind have
utterly diverse properties; in other words, that the same nerve-tissue
which manifests Sensibility in the brain has no such property in the
spinal cord.
72. How is this tenable? No one acquainted at first hand with the
facts denies that the objective phenomena exhibited by the brainless
animal have the same general character as those of the animal
possessing a brain: the actions of the two are identical in all cases
which admit of comparison. That is to say, the objective appearances
are the same; differing only in so far as the mechanisms are made
different by the presence or absence of certain parts. The brain not
being a necessary part of the mechanical adjustments in swimming,
or pushing aside an irritating object, the brainless frog swims and
defends itself in the same way as the normal frog. But no sooner do
we pass from the objective interpretation, and introduce the
subjective element of Feeling among the series of factors necessary
to the product—no sooner do we ask whether the brainless frog
feels the irritation against which it struggles, or wills the movements
by which it swims—than the question has shifted its ground, and has
passed from Physiology to Psychology. The appeal is no longer made
to Observation, but to Interpretation. Observation tells us here
nothing directly of Feeling. What it does tell us, however, is the
identity of the objective phenomena; and Physiology demands that a
common term be employed to designate the character common to
the varied phenomena. Sensibility is such a term. But most modern
physiologists, under the bias of tradition, refuse to extend Sensibility
to the spinal cord, in spite of the evidences of the spinal cord
possessing that property in common with the brain. They prefer to
invoke a new property; they assign spinal action to a Reflex
Mechanism which has nothing of the character of Sensibility,
because they have identified Sensibility with Consciousness, and
have restricted Consciousness to a special group of sensitive
phenomena.
73. Nor is it to be denied that on this ground they have a firm
basis. Every one could testify to the fact that many processes
normally go on without being accompanied by consciousness, in the
special meaning of the term. Reflex actions,—such as winking,
breathing, swallowing,—notoriously produced by stimulation of
sensitive surfaces, take place without our “feeling” them, or being
“conscious” of them. Hence it is concluded that the Reflex
mechanism suffices without the intervention of Sensibility. I
altogether dispute the conclusion; and in a future Problem will
endeavor to show that Sensibility is necessary to Reflex Action. But
without awaiting that exposition we may at once confront the
evidence, by adducing the familiar fact that “unconscious” processes
go on in the brain as well as in the spinal cord; and this not simply in
110
the sphere of Volition, but also in the sphere of Thought. We act
and think “automatically” at times, and are quite “unconscious” of
what we are doing, or of the data we are logically grouping. We
often think as unconsciously as we breathe; although from time to
time we become conscious of both processes. Yet who will assert
that these unconscious processes were independent of Sensibility?
Who will maintain that because cerebral processes are sometimes
unaccompanied by that peculiar state named Consciousness,
therefore all its processes are unaccompanied by Feeling? And if
here we admit that the Reflex mechanism in the brain is a sensitive
mechanism, surely we must equally admit that the similar Reflex
mechanism in the spinal cord is sensitive?
 74. Let it be understood that Sensibility is the common property
of nerve-centres, and physiological interpretations will become clear
and consistent. Consciousness, as understood by psychologists, is
not a property of tissue, it is a function of the organism, dependent
indeed on Sensibility, but not convertible with it. There is a greater
distinction between the two than between Sensation, the reaction of
a sensory organ, and Perception, the combined result of sensory and
cerebral reactions; or than that between Contractility, the property of
the muscles, and Flying, the function of a particular group of
muscles. It is not possible to have Consciousness without Sensibility;
but perfectly possible to have Sensations without Consciousness.
This will perhaps seem as inconceivable to the reader as it seemed
111
to Schröder van der Kolk.
75. Let us illustrate it by the analogy of Pain. There is a vast
amount of sensation normally excited which is totally
unaccompanied by the feelings classed as painful. The action of the
special senses may be exaggerated to an intolerable degree, but the
exaggeration never passes into pain: the retina may be blinded with
excess of light, and the ear stunned with sound—the optic nerve
may be pricked or cut—but no pain results. The systemic sensations
also are habitually painless, though they pass into pain in abnormal
states. Clearly, then, Pain is not the necessary consequence of
Sensibility; and this is true not only of certain sensitive parts, but of
all; as is proved in the well-known facts of Analgesia, in which
complete insensibility of the skin as regards Pain co-exists with vivid
sensibility as regards Touch and Temperature. Hence the majority of
physiologists refuse to acknowledge that the struggles and cries of
an animal, after removal of the brain, are evidences of pain;
maintaining that they are “simply reflex actions.” This is probable;
the more so as we know the struggles and cries which tickling will
produce, yet no pain accompanies tickling. But if the struggles and
cries are not evidence of pain, they are surely evidence of Sensibility.
76. Now for the term Pain in the foregoing paragraph substitute
the term Consciousness, and you will perhaps allow that while it may
be justifiable to interpret the actions of a brainless animal as due to
a mechanism which is unaccompanied by the specially conditioned
forms of Sensibility classed under Consciousness—just as it is
unaccompanied by the specially conditioned forms of Perception and
Emotion—there is no justification for assuming the mechanism not to
have been a sensitive mechanism. The wingless bird cannot manifest
any Of the phenomena of flight; but we do not therefore deny that
its other movements depend on Contractility.
77. Difficult as it must be to keep the physiological question apart
from the psychological when treating of Sensibility, we shall never
succeed in our analysis unless the two questions are separately
treated. The physiologist considers organisms and their actions from
their objective side, and tries to detect the mechanism of the
observed phenomena. These he has to interpret in terms of Matter
and Motion. The psychologist interprets them in terms of Feeling.
The actions which we see in others we cannot feel, except as visual
sensations; the changes which we feel in ourselves we cannot see in
others, except as bodily movements. The reaction of a sensory
organ is by the physiologist called a sensation,—borrowing the term
from the psychologist; he explains it as due to the stimulus which
changes the molecular condition of the organ; and this changed
condition, besides being seen to be followed by a muscular
movement, is inferred to be accompanied by a change of Feeling.
The psychologist has direct knowledge only of the change of Feeling
which follows on some other change; he infers that it is originated
by the action of some external cause, and infers that a neural
process precedes, or accompanies, the feeling. Obviously there are
two distinct questions here, involving distinct methods. The
physiologist is compelled to complete his objective observations by
subjective suggestions; compelled to add Feeling to the terms of
Matter and Motion, in spite of the radical diversity of their aspects.
The psychologist also is compelled to complete his subjective
observations by objective interpretations, linking the internal
changes to the external changes. A complete theory must harmonize
the two procedures.
 78. In a subsequent Problem we shall have to examine the nature
of Sensation in its psychological aspect; here we have first to
describe its physiological aspect. To the psychologist, a sensation is
simply a fact of Consciousness; he has nothing whatever to do with
the neural process, which the physiologist considers to be the
physical basis of this fact; and he therefore regards the physiologists
as talking nonsense when they talk of “unconscious sensations,” the
phrase being to him equivalent to “unfelt feelings,” or “invisible
light.” It is quite otherwise with the physiologist, who viewing a
sensation solely as a neural process, the reaction of a sensory organ,
can lawfully speak of unconscious sensations, as the physicist can
speak of invisible rays of light,—meaning those rays which are of a
different order of undulation from the visible rays, and which may
become visible when the susceptibility of the retina is exalted. He
knows that there are different modes, and different complexities of
neural process; to one class he assigns consciousness, to the other
unconsciousness. If he would be severely precise, he would never
speak of sensation at all, but only of sensory reaction. But such
precision would be pedantic and idle. He wants the connotations of
the term sensation, and therefore uses it.
79. The functional activity of a gland is stimulated by a neural
process reflected from a centre; by a similar process a muscle is
called into action. No one supposes that the neural process is, in the
one case secretory, in the other motory: in both it is the same
process in the nerve; and our investigation of it would be greatly
hampered if we did not disengage it from all the suggestions
hovering around the ideas of secretion and muscular action. In like
manner we must disengage the neural process of a sensory reaction
from all the suggestions hovering around the idea of Consciousness,
when that term designates a complex of many reactions. In Problem
III. we shall enter more particularly into the distinction between
Sensibility and Consciousness; for the present it must suffice to say
that great ambiguity exists in the current usage of these terms.
Sometimes Consciousness stands as the equivalent of Sensibility;
sometimes as a particular mode of Sensibility known as Reflection,
Attention, and Thought. The former meaning is an extension of the
term similar to that given to the word Rose, which originally
meaning Red came to be restricted to a particular red flower; and
after other flowers of the same kind were discovered which had
yellow and white petals, instead of red, the term rose still adhered
even to these. “Yellow Rose” is therefore as great a verbal solecism
as unconscious sensation. We have separated the redness from the
rose, and can then say that the color is one thing, the flower
another. By a similar process of abstraction we separate
Consciousness from Sensation, and we can then say that there are
sensations without consciousness. In consequence of this,
psychologists often maintain that to have a sensation and be
conscious of it are two different states. We are said to hear a sound,
and yet not to be conscious of hearing it. The sound excites a
movement, but it does not excite our consciousness. Now although it
is true that there are roses which are not red, it is not true that
there are roses which have no color at all. Although it is true that
there are sensations which are not of the particular mode of
Sensibility which psychologists specially designate as Consciousness,
it is not true that there are sensations which are not modes of
Sensibility.
80. And what is Sensibility which, on its subjective side, is
Sentience? In one sense it may be answered that we do not know.
In another sense it is that which we know most clearly and
positively: Sentience forms the substance of all knowledge. Being
the ultimate of knowledge, every effort must be vain which attempts
to explain it by reduction to simpler elements. The human mind,
impatient of ultimates, is always striving to pierce beyond the
fundamental mysteries; and this impatience leads to the attempts so
often made to explain Sensibility by reducing it to terms of Matter
and Motion. But inasmuch as a clear analysis of Matter and Motion
displays that our knowledge of these is simply a knowledge of
modes of Feeling, the reduction of Sentience or Sensibility to Matter
and Motion is simply the reduction of Sensibility to some of its
modes. This point gained, a clear conception of the advantages of
introducing the ideas of Matter and Motion will result. It will then be
the familiar and indispensable method of explaining the little known
by the better known. The objective aspect of things is commonly
represented in the visible and palpable; because what we can see
we can also generally touch, and what we can touch we can taste
and smell; but we cannot touch an odor nor a sound; we cannot see
them; we can only connect the odorous and sonorous objects with
visible or palpable conditions. Everywhere we find sensations
referred to visible or palpable causes; and hence the desire to find
this objective basis for every change in Sensibility. The sensation, or
state of consciousness, is the ultimate fact; we can only explain it by
describing its objective conditions.
81. Thus much on the philosophical side. Returning to our
physiological point, we must say that a sensation is, objectively, the
reaction of a sensory organ, or organism; subjectively, a change of
feeling. Objectively it is a phenomenon of movement, but
distinguishable from other phenomena by the speciality of its
conditions. It is a vital phenomenon, not a purely mechanical
phenomenon. Although the molecular movement conforms, of
course, to mechanical principles, and may be viewed abstractly as a
purely mechanical result, yet, because it takes place under
conditions never found in machines, it has characters which
markedly separate it from the movements of machines. Among
these differential characters may be cited that of selective
112
adaptation, which is most conspicuous in volition.
82. In the early stages of animal evolution there is no
differentiation into muscle and nerve. The whole organism is equally
sensitive (or irritable) in every part. Muscles appear, and then they
are the most sensitive parts. Nerves appear, and the seat of
Sensibility has been transferred to them; not that the muscles have
lost theirs, but their irritability is now represented by their dominant
character of Contractility, and the nerves have taken on the special
office of Sensibility. That is to say, while both muscle and nerve form
integral elements of the sensitive reaction, the process itself is
analytically conceived as a combination of two distinct properties,
resident in two distinct tissues.
83. Carrying further this analytical artifice, I propose to
distinguish the central organs as the seat of Sensibility, confining
Neurility to the peripheral nerves. In physiological reality both
systems, central and peripheral, are one; the separation is artificial.
Strictly speaking, therefore, Neurility—or nerve-action—is the
general property of nerve-tissue, central and peripheral. But since
Neurility may be manifested by nerves apart from centres, whereas
Sensibility demands the co-operation of both, and since we have
often to consider the central process in itself, without attending to
the process in the nerves, it is well to have two characteristic terms.
I shall therefore always use the term Sensibility for the reactions of
the nervous centres,—Sentience being its psychological equivalent;
although the reader will understand that in point of fact there is no
break, nor transformation, as the wave of change passes from
sensory nerve to centre, and from centre to motor nerve: there is
one continuous process of change. But just as we analytically
distinguish the sensory from the motor element of this indissoluble
process, so we may distinguish the ingoing and outgoing stages
from the combining stage. Sensibility, then, represents the property
of combining and grouping stimulations.
84. Fully aware of the misleading connotations of the term, and of
the difficulty which will be felt in disengaging it from these,
especially in reference to Consciousness, I have long hesitated
before adopting it. But the advantages greatly outweigh the
disadvantages. Sensibility has long been admitted to express the
peculiar modes of reaction in plants and animals low down in the
scale. No one hesitates to speak of a sensitive plant, or a sensitive
surface. The tentacles of a polype are said to be sensitive; though
probably no one thereby means that the polype has what
psychologists mean by Consciousness. By employing the general
term Sensibility to designate the whole range of reactions peculiar to
the nerve-centres, when these special organs exist, it will be
possible to interpret all the physiological and psychological
phenomena observed in animals and men on one uniform method.
The observed variations will then be referable to varieties in
organisms.
85. Suppose, for illustration, an organism like the human except
that it is wholly deficient in Sight, Hearing, Taste, and Smell. It has
no sense but Touch—or the general reaction under contact with
external objects. It will move on being stimulated, and will combine
its movements differently under different stimulations. It will feel,
and logically combine its feelings. But its mass of feeling will be
made of far simpler elements than ours; its combinations fewer; and
the contents of its Consciousness so very different from ours that we
are unable to conceive what it will be like; we can only be sure that
it will not be very like our own. This truncated Organism will have its
Sensibility; and we must assign this property to its central nerve-
tissue, as we assign our own. If now we descend lower, and suppose
an organism with no centres whatever, but which nevertheless
displays evidence of Sensibility—feelings and combinations of
movements—we must then conclude that the property specialized in
a particular tissue of the highly differentiated organism is here
diffused throughout.
It is obvious that the sensations or feelings of these supposed
organisms will have a common character with the feelings of more
highly differentiated organisms, although the modes of manifestation
are so various. If we recognize a common character in muscular
movements so various as the rhythmic pulsation of the heart, the
larger rhythm of inspiration and expiration, the restless movements
of the eye and tongue, the complexities of manipulation, the
consensus of movements in flying, swimming, walking, speaking,
singing, etc., so may we recognize a common character in all the
varieties of sensation. The special character of a movement depends
on the moving organ. The special character of a sensation depends
on the sensory organ. Contractility is the abstract term which
expresses all possible varieties of contraction. Sensibility—or
Sentience—is the abstract term which expresses all possible varieties
of sensation.
 86. The view here propounded may find a more ready acceptance
when its application to all physiological questions has been tested,
and it is seen to give coherence to many scattered and hitherto
irreconcilable facts. Meanwhile let a glance be taken at the
inconsistencies of the current doctrine. That doctrine declares one
half of the gray substance of the spinal cord to be capable only of
receiving a sensitive stimulation, the other half capable only of
originating a motor stimulation. We might with equal propriety
declare that one half of a muscle is capable only of receiving a
contractile stimulation, and the other half of contracting. The ingoing
nerve, passing from the surface to the posterior part of the spinal
cord, excites the activity of the gray substance into which it
penetrates; with the anterior part of this gray substance an outgoing
nerve is connected, and through it the excitation is propagated to a
muscle: contraction results. Such are the facts. In our analysis we
separate the sensory from the motor aspect, and we then imagine
that this ideal distinction represents a real separation. We suppose a
phenomenon of Sensibility independent of a phenomenon of
Contractility—suppose the one to be “transformed” into the other—
and we then marvel “how during this passage the excitation changes
113
its nature.”
87. Before exerting ingenuity in explaining a fact, it is always well
to make sure that the fact itself is correctly stated. Does the neural
excitation change its nature in passing from the posterior to the
anterior gray substance? I can see no evidence of it. Indeed the
statement seems to confound a neural process with a muscular
process. The neural process is one continuous excitation along the
whole line of ingoing nerve, centre, and outgoing nerve, which
nowhere ceases or changes into another process, until the excitation
of the muscle introduces a new factor. So long as the excitation
keeps within the nerve-tissue, it is one and the same process of
change; its issue in a contraction, a secretion, or a change in the
conditions of consciousness, depends on the organs it stimulates.
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