threads of a subconscious and latent cerebral force which
takes place in my cerebral nerve-elements (neurones); and it is their
hidden action which awakens the idea of journey and directs my
attention to it, at the same time weakening by their divers
interferences the intensity of other associated engrams; in particular
that of the sentiment of traveling, and thereby preventing a series of
ideo-motor sensations relating to departure from becoming predominant.

What suddenly appears in my consciousness is the verbal representation
symbolized by the word _journey_; a general representation of
synthetic nature, and consequently nebulous. It is the words of
language only which allow me to synthetize a general idea in a short
and definite form. Thus, the cerebral flash _journey_ which follows
the idea of my wife is not caused by the latter idea alone; it has
been mainly drawn from its obscurity and brought before the mobile
conscious attention, by the action of the thousand subconscious
threads, some of which we have just mentioned, and which have at the
same time determined its quality.

Without my being aware of it, these dynamic threads, or latent
engrams, have to a great extent determined the kind of idea which will
follow that of _journey_, and which will seem to me to be caused by
this last alone, namely the idea of _trunk_. The idea of journey might
equally well have awakened other images, such as those of the
acquaintances whom I should meet, or of the town I intended to visit.
Why that of the trunk? This is simply because the care of the effects
to be taken, the place they should occupy, etc., revolved
unconsciously but strongly in my brain, and for the moment
predominated over other subconscious associations.

This simple example shows us that in reality the three successive
ideas, _wife_, _journey_, _trunk_, are more under the influence of
sentiments, representations and former volitions in a latent and
subconscious state, than dependent on each other. But these latter
activities are themselves the product of other antecedent activities
of my brain, extraordinarily diverse and complex. I will attempt to
make things a little more complete and comprehensible by the aid of a
comparison.

A man finds himself in the middle of a compact and moving crowd. He
cries out to attract the attention of the crowd. His voice is heard by
those immediately around him, but is lost on the moving mass. Against
his will he is carr