Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1873-06-24
SCIENTIFIC.
Extraordinary Scientific DiscOv-
cry.

the Granite City. and is very distin
gUished alumnus of the University o.
Aberdeen. DR.. Terrier, who was sons
time ago appointed successor to DR.
Guy in the chair of forensic medicine
in Kings College, London, has JUS
crowned the study of years by nIost
happy and brilliant series of expert
ments. Dr. Terrier was successful
student OF philosophy. and gained the
Ferguson scholarship in Glasgow be-
fore he studied medicine. TWAS prob
ably his acquaintance with Professor
Baiu's psychology that led him tC
give special attention to the physiolo
CIV of the brain; and his graduation
thesis on the brain, for which he OBJ
tanned a gold medal, proved that he
had already entered on the study in
which he is destined to acquire endur-
ing fame. He has never lost sight OF
the subject to which he attached him
self so early, and has been for a con
siderable time thoroughly up to the
most advanced knowledge. About q
month ago his plans were so far com
pIete that he was ready to begin his
experiments with the Easter holidays
By the invitation of DR.. Crichton
Brown he went to Wakefield, and was
amply provided with cats, dogs, and
other animals for his experiment The
results astonished himself, and it is
not too much to say that during the
! last month more has been discovered
regarding the action of the brain than
all the preceding knowledge. Physi-
ology is therefore on the eve of an eX-
traOrdinary advance. What Gall and
p, Spurzhelm CROPPED after in loose and
empirical fashion is now established
on the sure ground of experiments
! The mOdUS ODerdndi is new and inge>
NOUS. The animal to be experiment
ed on is first put under chlOrOform.-
The next thing is to clear away the
skull and expose the brain. This, ii
will be understood, is difficult and
delicate operation, but is done. and
the animal may live from three hours
to four days. All this has been done
often enough before, but the difficulty
was to get some mode of rOusing parts
of the brain into activity without in
! turing the parts. Here Faraday comes
| in. Such is the way of scientific dis
! cOveries-every step leads to the next.
| Without Simpson and chlorOfOrm the
| operation could not have been usefully
attempted without Faraday the ope-
ration might have been performed
a thousand times without leading
TO any result. The process employ
ed 10y DIR. Terrier is what is known
as faradiZing. After uncOvering the
brain, he applies the point of an
electrode to the convOlutus of the
brain. Its effect is to excite the
functional activity sof that part,
and thereby to show what its real
work is. One of the first experiments
disclosed the part that is employed in
wagging the tail. Soon after, the cen
tres engaged in supplying the limits,
the mouth, head, &c, were discovered,
and already DR.. Terrier has succeeded
in almost completing a map of the
/ brain with all its organs, distinguished
by the sure and vigorous test OF eXper-
iment. Nothing could Surpass the in
| terest of those experiments. On the
table before you IL the dog with its
skull removed. All seems, Uut for the
breathing ana movement of the brain,
an inert mass of dead matter. The
doctor applies the clectrOde. and pres
| entity the tail begins to wag. All else
! is mOtionless, Another touch, and its
| fUrepaw is stretched out; another, and
its head is erected; another, and Its
mouth opens. Again the magic wand
! touches the brain, and the animal
! seems cOnvulSed with fear and rage
! and so on the experiments go. Once the
! divining rod has been discovered, it is
comparatively easy for an enpert Wis
sicator TO use it. This discovery, SO
! simple once it is known, will effect al
most revolution in physiology
Hitherto it has been looked ON as an
axiom that you cannot experiment
with the brain-that it is too near the
seat of life to be tempered. No eX-
pertinent has been introduced INTO a
| region where we had reconciled our
! selves to the vague and uncertain light
/ of observation. There can be no doubt
! that we shall soon know the particular
use of every convOlutiOn of the brain.
| PhrenOlogy from the stage OF emplrI-
cal observation will become science.
/ One of the chief results attained by
| DIR. Terrier is the belief that each con-
J volution is a separate organ, although
! occasionally several may be conjOlned
] for common work. He also finds that
! the great motion centres are collected
| in the front part of the brain, a result
which shows the phrenOlOgists were
not far out in that quarter. 1t also
/ has demonstrated that the nerves
moving the muscles of the jaw arejust
| above the ear, where the phrenologists
| place gustativeness. But other expert
| ments make sad havoc with the locality
of many of the bumps" The most
! singular of all the experiments is one
| proving That one of the main uses, if not
| the sole one, Ofcerebellum, is to supply
| the muscles of the eye. This is al eX-
traordinary confirmation of one of Pro-
! fessor Balm 5 most characteristic views.
But the most important immed ate
effect of DIR. Terriers discovery will
be an improved Treatment of diseases
oil the brain, 1t has found out why
considerable portions of the brain NAV
DE diseased without interfering with
sanity, ana why other slight LESSONS
PIoauce epilepsy. 1t has succeeded in
~ 'iliGlally producing epilepsy in dog.
$780, q nlosS wonderful part of the
conjecture of DIR. Hewlince Iactsn,,
that epilepsy arises from a lesion Nc
tween two convolutions of the hroiT
DR.. Terrier has also found ont tn 80
gin OF chOera, or st Vitus' dance and
has been able to make his animals
show all the symptoms of the disease
artificially. He has caused tenants
and other peculiar and difficult states
of the muscular system. Altogether,
the discovery opens a new path in the
treatment of disease, ana cannot fail to
produce the most important benefits.
1t will also give US a real scientific
phrenology; and, curiously enough,
DR.. Terriers discovery comedies with
another almost essential to its practi-
cal success. AnatOmists have warned
! phrenologists that they erred
IN taking the outward shape of
the skull as indicating the shape
of the brain. The skull varies