know that a period of time has had to elapse to allow the voice
waves to move along the telephone wire and reach the other end.
The elapse of time has been too slight to be noted by the average
human mind and the transmission seems instantaneous. This is what
happens in the case of the stammerer who seems able to talk in
concert--he is merely a syllable or part of a syllable behind the
rest, all the while giving the impression nevertheless, that he is
talking just as they are.

There are many other individual peculiarities which can be
described by almost every stammerer. These different peculiarities
are more numerous than the cases of stammering and it would be
useless to attempt to discuss them in detail. I will take up only
two as being typical of dozens which have come under my
observation in twenty-eight years' experience.

One stammerer explains his difficulty as follows: "I find I am
unable to talk and do something else at the same time. For
instance, I have difficulty in talking while dancing, while at the
table or while listening to music. If, for instance, I wish to
talk to any one while the Victrola is being played, I
unconsciously cut it off." This is a case where the stammerer
finds that all of his faculties must be concentrated upon a
supreme effort to speak before this becomes possible. In other
words, he has not yet learned to control sufficiently the
different parts of his body so that they may act independently.
This might be termed a lack of independent co-ordination.

In the case of another young man, he found himself unable to
control the movements of his muscles. In describing his trouble,