[11]
There is, therefore, a certain mechanical knack,
which the Greeks call ἄλογος τριβή, which enables
the hand to go on scribbling, while the eye takes
in whole lines at once as it reads, observes the intonations and the stops, and sees what is coming
before the reader has articulated to himself what
precedes. It is a similar knack which makes possible
those miraculous tricks which we see jugglers and
masters of sleight of hand perform upon the stage,
in such a manner that the spectator can scarcely
help believing that the objects which they throw
into the air come to hand of their own accord, and
run where they are bidden.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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