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278   MEMORIES OF MY LIFE

but that the entire Cosmos is one perpetual Now. Philosophers have often held this creed intellectually, but I suspect that few have felt the possible truth of it so vividly as it has occasionally appeared to my imagination through dwelling on these " Memories."

Many mental processes admit of being roughly measured. For instance, the degree to which people are bored, by counting the number of their Fidgets. I not infrequently tried this method at the meetings - of the Royal Geographical Society, for even there dull memoirs are occasionally read. A gallery in the meeting room is supported by iron columns. The portion of the audience as seen from the platform who are bounded by two of these columns, and who sit on two or three of the benches, are a convenient sample to deal with. They can be watched simultaneously, and the number of movements in the group per minute can be easily counted and the average number per man calculated. I have often amused myself with noticing the increase in that number as the audience becomes tired. The use of a watch attracts attention, so I reckon time by the number of my, breathings, of which there are fifteen in a minute. They are not counted mentally, but are punctuated by pressing with fifteen fingers successively. The counting is reserved for the fidgets. These observations should be confined to persons of middle age. Children are rarely still, while elderly philosophers will sometimes remain rigid for minutes together.

I will now revert to the problem with which I started, of measuring by Classification, and will give a few instances of its employment. Some years ago I attended a meeting in the Albert Hall, at which