A Civic Biology, Presented in Problems

by George W. Hunter

Diagram of the nerve path of a simple reflex action.

Reflex Actions; their Meaning.—If through disease or for other reasons the cerebrum does not function, no will power is exerted, nor are intelligent acts performed. All acts performed in such a state are known as reflex actions. The involuntary brushing of a fly from the face, or the attempt to move away from the source of annoyance when tickled with a feather, are examples of reflexes. In a reflex act, a person does not think before acting. The nervous impulse comes from the outside to cells that are not in the cerebrum. The message is short-circuited back to the surface by motor nerves, without ever having reached the thinking centers. The nerve cells which take charge of such acts are located in the cerebellum or spinal cord.

Automatic Acts.—Some acts, however, are learned by conscious thought, as writing, walking, running, or swimming. Later in life, however, these activities become automatic. The actual performance of the action is then taken up by the cerebellum, medulla, and spinal ganglia. Thus the thinking portion of the brain is relieved of part of its work.

Bundles of Habits.—It is surprising how little real thinking we do during a day, for most of our acts are habitual. Habit takes care of our dressing, our bathing, our care of the body organs, our methods of eating; even our movements in walking and the kind of hand we write are matters of habit forming. We are bundles of habits, be they good ones or bad ones.

Habit Formation.—The training of the different areas in the cerebrum to do their work well is the object of education. When we learned to write, we exerted conscious effort in order to make the letters. Now the act of forming the letters is done without thought. By training, the act has become automatic. In the beginning, a process may take much thought and many trials before we are able to complete it. After a little practice, the same process may become almost automatic. We have formed a habit. Habits are really acquired reflex actions. They are the result of nature's method of training. The conscious part of the brain has trained the cerebellum or spinal cord to do certain things that, at first, were taken charge of by the cerebrum.

Importance of Forming Right Habits.—Among the habits early to be acquired are the habits of studying properly, of concentrating the mind, of learning self-control, and, above all, of contentment. Get the most out of the world about you. Remember that the immediate effect in the study of some subjects in school may not be great, but the cultivation of correct methods of thinking may be of the greatest importance later in life. The man or woman who has learned how to concentrate on a problem, how to weigh all sides with an unbiased mind, and then to decide on what they believe to be best and right are the efficient and happy ones of their generation.

"The hell to be endured hereafter, of which theology tells, is no worse than the hell we make for ourselves in this world by habitually fashioning our characters in the wrong way. Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state. We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never-so-little scar. The drunken Rip Van Winkle, in Jefferson's play, excuses himself for every fresh dereliction by saying, 'I won't count this time!' Well! he may not count it, and a kind Heaven may not count it; but it is being counted none the less. Down among his nerve cells and fibers the molecules are counting it, registering and storing it up to be used against him when the next temptation comes. Nothing we ever do is, in strict scientific literalness, wiped out. Of course this has its good side as well as its bad one. As we become permanent drunkards by so many separate drinks, so we become saints in the moral, and authorities in the practical and scientific, spheres by so many separate acts and hours of work. Let no youth have any anxiety about the upshot of his education, whatever the line of it may be. If he keep faithfully busy each hour of the working day, he may safely leave the final result to itself. He can with perfect certainty count on waking up some fine morning, to find himself one of the competent ones of his generation, in whatever pursuit he may have singled out."—James, Psychology.

Some Rules for Forming Good Habits.—Professor Horne gives several rules for making good or breaking bad habits. They are: "First, act on every opportunity. Second, make a strong start. Third, allow no exception. Fourth, for the bad habit establish a good one. Fifth, summoning all the man within, use effort of will." Why not try these out in forming some good habit? You will find them effective.