of the senses to the influences of the outer world. The first symptom of awakening that presents itself is a general commotion of the frame, a number of spontaneous movementsthe stretching of the limbs, the opening of the eyes, the expansion of the features-to all which succeeds the revival of the sensibility to outward things. Mysterious as the nature of sleep is in the present state of our knowledge, we are not precluded from remarking so notable a circumstance, as the priority of action to sensibility, at the moment of wakening But if this be a fact, we seem to prove, beyond a doubt, that the renewed action must originate with the nerve centres themselves. The first gestures must be stimulated from within; afterwards, they are linked with the gestures and movements suggested by sense and revived by intelligence and will. The higher degree of permanent tension in the muscles when we are awake, is partly owing to the increased central force of the waking states, and partly to the stimulus of sensation. But in all cases, the share due to the centres must be considerable, although rendered difficult to estimate when mixed up with sensational stimulus. Thus the force that keeps the eye open throughout the day, is in a certain measure due to the spontaneous energy that opened it at the waking moment, for that force does not necessarily cease when the other force, the stimulus of light, commences. We are at liberty to suppose that the nourished condition. of the nerves and nerve centres, consequent on the night's repose, is the cause of that burst of spontaneous exertion at the moment of awakening. The antecedent of the activity is physical rather than mental; and this must be the case with spontaneous energy in general. When coupled with sen Source. This is maintained by Aristotle (Physica VIII. 2). He says that these wakening movements come, not from sense, but from an internal Some writers have taken the opposite view, but they have not, so far as I am aware, adduced any decided facts in support of that view. If we cannot establish an absolute priority of movement in the act of awakening, we may, at least, maintain that movement concurs with, and does not follow, the re-animation of the senses. EXUBERANT ACTIVITY OF THE YOUNG. 67 sation, the character of the activity is modified so as to render the spontaneity much less discernible. (5.) The next proof is derived from the early movements of Infancy. These I look upon as in great part due to the spontaneous action of the centres. The mobility displayed in the first stage of infant existence is known to be very great; and it continues to be shown in an exuberant degree all through childhood and early youth. This mobility can be attributed only to one of three causes. It may arise from the stimulus of Sensation, that is, from the sights, sounds, contacts, temperature, &c., of outward things. It may, in the second place, be owing to Emotions, as love, fear, anger. Or, lastly, the cause may be Spontaneous energy. The two first-named influences, external sensation and inward emotion, are undoubted causes of active gesticulation and movement. But the question is, Do they explain the whole activity of early infancy and childhood? I think not, and on evidence such as the following. We can easily observe when any one is under the influence of vivid sensation; we can tell whether a child is acted on by sights, or sounds, or tastes. And if the observation is carefully made, I believe it will be found, that although the gesticulations of infants are frequently excited by surrounding objects, there are times when such influence is very little felt, and when, nevertheless, the mobility of the frame is strongly manifested. With regard to inward feelings, or emotions, the proof is not so easy; but here, too, there is a certain character belonging to emotional movements, that serves to discriminate them when they occur. The movements, gestures, and cries of internal pain are well marked; so pleasurable feeling is distinguished by the equally characteristic flow of smiles and ecstatic utterance. If there be times of active gesticulation and exercise that show no connexion with the sights and sounds, or other influence of the outer world, and that have no peculiar emotional character of the pleasurable or painful kind, we can ascribe them to nothing but the mere abundance and exuberance of self-acting muscular and cerebral energy, which rises and falls with the vigour and nourishment of the general system. The activity of young animals in general, and of animals remarkable for their active endowments (as the insect tribe), may be cited as strongly favouring the hypothesis of spontaneity. When the kitten plays with a worsted ball, we always attribute the overflowing fulness of moving energy to the creature's own inward stimulus, to which the ball merely serves for a pretext. So an active young hound, refreshed by sleep or kept in confinement, pants for being let loose, not because of anything that attracts his view or kindles up his ear, but because a rush of activity courses through his members, rendering him uneasy till the confined energy has found vent in a chase or a run. We are at no loss to distinguish this kind of activity from that awakened by sensation or emotion; and the distinction is recognized in the modes of interpreting the movements and feelings of animals. When a rider speaks of his horse as 'fresh,' he implies that the natural activity is undischarged, and pressing for vent; the excitement caused by mixing in a chase or in a battle, is a totally different thing from the spontaneous vehemence of a full-fed and underworked animal. It is customary in like manner to attribute much of the activity of early human life, neither to sensation nor to emotion, but to 'freshness,' or the current of undischarged activity. There are moments when high health, natural vigour, and spontaneous outpouring, are the obvious antecedents of ebullient activity. The very necessity of bodily exercise felt by every one, and most of all by the young, is a proof of the existence of a fund of energy that comes round with the day and presses to be discharged. Doubtless, it may be said that this necessity may proceed from a state of the muscles, and not from the centres; that an uneasy craving rises periodically in the muscular tissue, and is transmitted as a stimulus to the centres, awakening a nervous current of activity in return. Even if this were true, it would not materially alter the case we are labouring to EXCITEMENT ILLUSTRATES SPONTANEITY. 69 establish—namely, a tendency in the moving system to go into action, without any antecedent sensation from without or emotion from within, or without any stimulus extraneous to the moving apparatus itself. But we do not see any ground for excluding the agency of the centres, in the commencing stimulus of periodical active exercise. The same central energy that keeps up the muscular tonicity, must be allowed to share in the self-originating muscular activity. If so, the demand for exercise that comes round upon every actively constituted nature, is a strong confirmation of the view we are now engaged in maintaining. Coupling together, therefore, the initial movements of infancy, the mobility of early years generally, the observations on young and active members of the brute creation, and the craving for exercise universally manifested, we have a large body of evidence in favour of the doctrine of spontaneous action. (6.) The operation of what is termed Excitement likewise corroborates the position we are now maintaining. The physical fact of the excited condition is an increase in the quantity, or a change in the quality, of the blood in the brain. The mental fact is the increase of mental energy in all its modes. A stimulus applied, in such a condition, produces a more than usual response; and there is manifested an incontinent activity, irrespective of all stimulation. The outward movements are hurried and uncontrollable, the feelings are more intense, the thoughts are rapid; every mental exertion is heightened. When the excitement rises to the morbid pitch, as in disease, or under the influence of drugs, such as strychnine, there is an enormous expenditure of force, apart from any stimulation whatsoever: the altered nutrition of the brain is the sole influence concerned. (7.) As a farther confirmation, it may be remarked that sensibility and activity do not rise and fall together; on the contrary, they often stand in an inverse proportion to each other. By comparing different characters, or the different states of the same individual, we may test the truth of this observation. The strong, restless, active temperament is not always marked as the most sensitive and emotional, but is very frequently seen to be the least affected by these influences. The activity that seems to sustain itself, costing the individual almost no effort, being his delight rather than his drudgery, and very little altered by the presence or the absence of stimulus or ends, is manifestly a constitutional selfprompting force; and such activity is a well known fact. It is one of the fundamental distinctions of character, both in individuals and in races; being seen in the restless adventurer, the indefatigable traveller, the devotee of business, the incessant meddler in affairs; in the man that hates repose and despises passive enjoyments. It is the pushing energy of Philip of Macedon and William the Conqueror. On the other hand, sensitive and emotional natures, which are to be found abundantly among men, and still more abundantly among women, are not active in a corresponding degree, while the kind of activity displayed by them, is plainly seen to result more from some stimulus or object, than from an innate exuberance of action. The activity prompted by ends, by something to be gained or avoided, is easily distinguished from the other by its being closely adapted to those ends, and by its ceasing when they have been accomplished. He that labours merely on the stimulus of reward, rests when he has acquired a competency, and is never confounded with the man. whose life consists in giving vent to a naturally active temperament, or a superabundance of muscular and central energy. (8.) Lastly, it will be afterwards shown, that without spontaneity, the growth of the Will is inexplicable. Regions of Spontaneous Activity. 7. The muscles for the most part act in groups, being associated together by the organization of the nervous centres, for the performance of actions requiring concurrent movements. |