y of the
energy transformations--will lead us, that is, in the direction of
_analysis_. If, however, we inquire in what way such reflexes are
combined or "integrated" into more complicated processes, we shall be
led in exactly the opposite direction, that of _synthesis_, and here we
soon come, as is not surprising, to a synthetic novelty. This is
_specific response_ or _behavior_.

In this single reflex something is done to a sense-organ and the process
within the organ is comparable to the process in any unstable substance
when the foreign energy strikes it; it is strictly a chemical process,
and so for the conducting nerve, likewise for the contracting muscle. It
happens, as a physiological fact, that in this process stored energy is
released so that a reflex contraction is literally comparable to the
firing of a pistol. But the reflex arc is not "aware" of anything, and
indeed there is nothing more to say about the process unless we should
begin to analyze it. But even two such processes going on together in
one organism are a very different matter. Two such processes require two
sense-organs, two conduction paths, and two muscles; and since we are
considering the result of the two in combination, the relative
anatomical location of these six members is of importance. For
simplicity I will take a hypothetical but strictly possible case. A
small water animal has an eyespot located on each side of its anterior
end; each spot is connected by a nerve with a vibratory silium or fin
on the side of the posterior end; the thrust exerted by each fin is
toward the rear. If, now, light strikes one eye, say the right, the left
fin is set in motion and the animal's body is set rotating toward the
right like a rowboat with one oar. This is all that one such reflex arc
could do for the animal. Since, however, there are now two, when the
animal comes to be turned far enough toward the right so that some of
the light strikes the second eyespot (as will happen when the animal
comes around facing the light), the second fin, on the right side, is
set in motion, and the two together propel the animal forward in a
straight line. The direction of this line will be that in which the
animal lies when its two eyes receive equal amounts of light. In other
words, by the combined operation of two reflexes the animal swims
_toward the light_, while either reflex alone would only have set it
spinning like a top. It now responds specifically in the