The first of these principles is, that movements which are serviceable
in gratifying some desire, or in relieving some sensation,
if often repeated, become so habitual that they are performed,
whether or not of any service, whenever the same desire or sensation
is felt, even in a very weak degree.
Our second principle is that of antithesis. The habit of voluntarily
performing opposite movements under opposite impulses has become
firmly established in us by the practice of our whole lives.
Hence, if certain actions have been regularly performed,
in accordance with our first principle, under a certain frame of mind,
there will be a strong and involuntary tendency to the performance
of directly opposite actions, whether or not these are of any use,
under the excitement of an opposite frame of mind.
Our third principle is the direct action of the excited nervous
system on the body, independently of the will, and independently,
in large part, of habit. Experience shows that nerve-force is
generated and set free whenever the cerebro-spinal system is excited.
The direction which this nerve-force follows is necessarily
determined by the lines of connection between the nerve-cells,
with each other and with various parts of the body.
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