Thus persons cutting anything with a pair of scissors may be seen
to move their jaws simultaneously with the blades of the scissors.
Children learning to write often twist about their tongues
as their fingers move, in a ridiculous fashion. When a public
singer suddenly becomes a little hoarse, many of those present may
be heard, as I have been assured by a gentleman on whom I can rely,
to clear their throats; but here habit probably comes into play,
as we clear our own throats under similar circumstances.
I have also been told that at leaping matches, as the performer
makes his spring, many of the spectators, generally men and boys,
move their feet; but here again habit probably comes into play,
for it is very doubtful whether women would thus act.
_Reflex actions_--Reflex actions, in the strict sense of the term,
are due to the excitement of a peripheral nerve, which transmits
its influence to certain nerve-cells, and these in their turn excite
certain muscles or glands into action; and all this may take place
without any sensation or consciousness on our part, though often
thus accompanied. As many reflex actions are highly expressive,
the subject must here be noticed at some little length.
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