has set up certain nerve co-ordinations which render it now easy
to choose the right, yet it must be remembered that _conscious judgment_
is also involved. In such cases man does the right mainly because his
judgment tells him that it is right. If, therefore, he is in a situation
where he must act in a totally different way from what is customary, as
when a quiet, peace-loving man sees a ruffian assaulting a helpless
person, a moral man does not hesitate to change his habitual modes of
physical action.

IMPROVEMENT OF HABITUAL REACTIONS

=To Eliminate a Habit.=--From what has been learned concerning the
permanency of our habits, it is evident that only special effort will
enable us to make any change in an habitual mode of reaction. In at
least two cases, however, changes may be necessary. The fact that many
of our early habits are formed either unconsciously, or in ignorance of
their evil character, finds us, perhaps, as we come to years of
discretion, in possession of certain habits from which we would gladly
be freed. Such habits may range from relatively unimportant personal
peculiarities to impolite and even immoral modes of conduct. In
attempting to free ourselves from such acts, we must bear in mind what
has been noted concerning the basis of retention. To repeat an act at
frequent intervals is an important condition of retaining it as a habit.
On the other hand, the absence of such repetition is almost sure, in due
time, to obliterate the nervous tendency to repeat the act. To free
one's self from an undesirable habit, therefore, the great essential is
to avoid resolutely, for a reasonable time, any recurrence of the banned
habit. While this can be accomplished only by conscious effort and
watchfulness, yet each day passed without the repetition of the act
weakens by so much the old nerve co-ordinations. To attempt to break an
old habit, gradually, however, as some would prefer, can result only in
still keeping the habitual tendency relatively strong.

=To Modify a Habit.=--At other times, however, we may desire not to
eliminate an habitual co-ordination _in toto_, but rather to modify only
certain phases of the reaction. In writing, for instance, a pupil may be
holding his pen correctly and also using the proper muscular movements,
but may have developed a habit of forming certain letters incorrectly,
as [symbol] and [symbol]. In any attempt to correct such forms, a
special difficulty is met in the fact tha