The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-11-01
BRAIN AND SOUL.
SPIrituallSm, NateriaIlsn, and the
CIaVteFtheOFie.

and Soul" (Cs5sr GsAirn Uad StelL) las,
evening. at LiedefkrAnZ Hall, In Fourth
street The lecture room contained Be.
tween 200 and so persons, many Of whom
were ladies. The Doctor read his thesis
from manuscript while sitting alta table,
and, o, course, using the German language,
Is neatly 81 OF his hearers were Germans.
The pufport Of what be said WA Is lol-
lows:
Tue greatest Of poes-perhaps the
greasest Of men-WIS Shakespeare, the
poet critic. Vast as was his Imagination,
II was not TO 1t alone that his pre-emi.
neuee among men Was due; DO one ever
lived who saw more clearly into the most
secret reCesses OF man and nature than be.
The student Of his works could 6ud
within them matter As valuable 70 him q
Christians ind in the Bible. The great
master was As decidedly g nsieriAlst a.
Carl YOgt, and evidence Of this Vas not
difficult TO ind in his dramas, especially
IN Hamlet, where it may most surely
be seen in the "EOliloquy" But his Other
plays were full OF II also, as Troilus and
CreSsidA," where TAErEtEs says, speaking
u Achilles and Patrocius:
with too much blood and too little
brain, these two may run mad; but il
with too much brain and too little blood
they do, IN bea curse ofmAdmen. Here's
AgSmemoOn, an honest fellow enough,
and one that loves quAils, but he has NOT
50 much brain IS e9rWaI."
In such passages IS these, Dr.. Buchner
argued, was shown Shakspeare's BE-
liei hat il was brain that did all the
thinking, there being with him no ne
esssliy u suppoSing s soul TO produce
mems thoughts. Indeed, pncoDsciouSly
perhaps, all men have considered the
brain 70 Be the seat Of thought When
perplexed We wrinkle our I0reheads, tap
them, scratch cur cara, and Otherwise in
Voluntarily refer thoGght 10 the head.
The old philosophers and Psychologists re.
gardet the bead IS the place Of the reA.
son, Is they toJk the liver TO be the seat d
love, Other paris Is the seats Of the differ.
ent passions, &c When persons asked
PythSgorSs fo9 permission to become his
pupils be drsI examined their heaos 10
see II they were properly constructed TO
understand his doctrines, and Plato acted
in 8 similar way. In the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries attempts 70 e.
tSoliSh scientific basis for this belief
made notably By Nr. Thomas Willis, who
II his -An1A;ouy Of the Brain first IN
teTtook 10 show il 20 be corEeries oi
crgArs and the seat Of the moral And in.
iel!ectuA faculties Metaphysical and
theological philosophers had previously
held that there wsS a soul which EAS i'm.
material, intelligent, aud sensitive, uttEs-
y and entirely different from and iade-
pendent Of the body, and afterwards sim.
lar doctrines were held by DescArte
haci, sni Others This doctrine hSs the,
prestige o. age, And is spirituAIisn. Ac.
clct!ns 10 the view II the material,
ISIS the brain Is the organ o!
the mind, and Its function i
thinking AcO:her view Is the socsIlai
piano theory la,IriEEIt1o1ik), sccordins
10 which the Soal o. nIird plays upoa tie
brain s. the artist plays upon $ musical
Instrument, without which he Is practic,
slly nothing, while, without him, Itself i
useless This is Poe:icL notion, and q
striking one on account 0! the seeming
AnA,oZY q the brain and & piaoo-to-ie
thus used; actually, hoEeTEr, il h.s nc
basis n ;Sct- Even the analogy !sa very
!Ane Oae. To BE perfect tie Musician
sno2lt Be ii when his piano : out q or.
der, e! 2ciGsl pain Ehsn il i hurt, b
competent 10 Be Csed 5y 10 other person,
whi!son the o;he1 hand, wbea the nusi.
cisa Is III, sad O. ne,Ey bis insvUner,
should itss!! Un3eZo certain AnAlA,o2s
changes The An2lczJ Is inpe.tec; and
the theoE! hAs nothing bat the srSlogy
10 support il Il Is utterly opposed by
The D0E received doctrine Of the persist
enee Of focos, al the workings Of nature
5<ing bat phenomena Of matter and En-
daring ece-Ey, aud taoIghi therefore b.
irz-ts i shown SiSo By the waste OF
nsSIe n is p-Oiuction-6ui one fo-n o,
iofoe- TEinSefs and l45oress use ur
oxygen ADd blood alike, the brsin needinS
them Is the muscles co. The brain. II
proportion 70 IL size, requires 40 eoo.-
nous GnOCnI Q: uuuimueni, spd when
ihe supply Is cGi CT or diminished phy.
seal 4at nsnil e5=cts are peoiacSi
IhsTeIn- Men Aai bs4sS can be made
sluggish scd inssnsible by Stopping the
dJE Of bod 20 the head Yarioes sorIs
Q. !oot AFFECT thinking in various vsys;
oP!am, alcohol, ssdslIves and stinrlents
produce ever marked results, and when
the bod! Is st reSt and the mind also, The
qlIotity Of blood in the encephslo1 Is cor.
rrsPo1cl1giy decreased, while in sleep The
dsP!eiiuo i Tsry marked Under such cir
cInSt4sces the auGIn; Of tissue used up
Is sn4l!, S1d the great length Of life 10
which c!eEgyneu and p.isc attain nav
p-;nAls b dee 10 the litiie thinking they
co Ard their idle lives. The question hiss
oeen raised IS 10 the Possibility o! life
reuAiainS N the heSd even for an instant
AiteE iast member has been severed nom
the trunk, and stories have bssn told OF
heads which have been cut OF bv the
G1ii.Otiue ADD the hesdmAn's axe which
have blnshed, TUNED their eyes, and
tEllchtd AeIr mouth when snitIen On
the cheek- Such recitals are, however,
Cns1thettc4ted aad mere tSls (z1ratsa)
Mechanical means 0! keeping up the foS
Of o!noi IN the severed head hiss been re.
s1ytsd 10, bat utterly without eject Noo.
stroSIiiss, such IS double headed chill
tren, like the one born IN Brazil in l7O3
are sid 10 hATe acted II such a EaT a:
TO show The possibility OF the two heads
having different thoughts-one sleeping
while the other walked, crying while the
o;heT laughed, and 50 on. This child liT.
ed bot two years II has been held thu,
maIetialss are bound TO explain how
matter can think, but the proposition Is
nntair We know, for instance, that light
Is p'odnced by so and so rapid vibrations
The tsct IS sufficient, and 10 apprehend i;
Il IS nos necessary to comprehend. The
fault IS not in things, but in the mind IL.
sslt and modes Of thinking. The Spirit.
uAlisu themselves will be involved in
equal and parallel difficulty if called upon
To explain how "pure spirit can SC, or in.