The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-02-21

workings Oh tWe Bf2Aus
DR.. Brown Sequard lectured res
E IE' a j|s|lE ~ Ill 3 81 Il;
IL eniaI id 3, ! ~ in Eli
Brain of the Volitional, Sensofial,
and Mental Phenomena" Many
prominent physicians were in the
audiepoA lttppgh the, discourse
was a popular one. After briefly
describing the make up Of the ner-
,yoqs systepl, and bpejn tle, lecturer
SaiA e sdbstance :sdO6etainf iir1ita-
.ttiicnsU4.ttlhe-broin not-es15r-but-cf
many parts of the nervous system,
may arrest activity or excite morbid
activity with . great variety ofphe
Inomena. The brain itself may act
upon itself ii this way: Many parts
Of The nervous system have espec.
liai power IN this respect, and a very
slightlirritation maysoproduce tire
mendous activity. Strong conyul-'
aons have'been ended by pairing
awaya bitof flesh wherein the irri!
tatien existed, The. causes are
sometimes extremely slight indeed.
Frederick the Great ESQ called) of
Prussia, ate his dinner one day
that was all. There were some
dozen dishes, among the lighter Of
which were beef stewed in brandy,
potenta, and d veal pie, SO hot and
highly seasoned that it seemed to
hasebeen baked in-Ainia place very
fur from this lecture room-and he
was thrown into conyulsions.i Irri-
tation of q certain muscle of the eye
may produce the catalyptic state.
What is the kind of irritation by
which activity can be arrested!
Respiration can be stopped by. an
act Of VIII, or by pressure Of a : Ger,
tain nerve. Coughs, sneezing, and
hiccoughs' BY the will, or by press
ure Of d certain nerve in the face.
Consciousness ceases during sleep,
but it's cessation is caused by an
nctive irritation. i have had thir-
teen cases wherein commissions of
the lower limbs have been stopped
bya pressure upon the big toe. The
conyulsion which, draws the head
Al ound to one side can be stopped
if, before consciousness goes. the,
head is pulled around t. the other
side. A Jet of carbonic acid forced
through the laryynx win stop, the
commissions caused by strychnine
or following loss of blood. A dis
ease or injury of the brain, even
when slight. may produce a great
variety Of phenomena of great in
tensity, while itnmay again extend
over one entire side of the brain
without producing any phenomena
whatever. The two sides of the
brain are exactly alike in function;
and either of them is perfectly COM
potent to, perform the functions
commonly attributed to both. Our
education Of the body is unfortu-
nate in that it is one sided. If the
LETT hand and the left side were as
good as the light hand and right
side it is Extremely probable that
two sides of the brain would act
where one acts now, and it would
be a great, gain If we had two brains
instead Of one Some who are now
dumb would certainly gain the
power of speech in that case. The
mind does not play on the nerves
IT'S a man On a piano, or receive
sensations by return vibrations. In
the first place the number of fibres
of, communication with the body is
extremely small as. compared with
the numberDf absolutely different
motionsiw can perform or sensa-
tons we can receive In the Sc
cond place the bond of union may
be almost entirely severed and the
motion and sensations be scarcely
affected. We cannot infer, either,
that the seat of irritation is the seat
of the mental act causing the activ-
/ ity which the irritation produces.
For irritation of the bowels" may
produce aphasia, and we should be
unwilling to seat the mental act in
speaking in the bowels. Tickle the
feet and the muscles of the face
contract, but We do not assume that
the scat of will for those muscles is
in the feet. We know generally
TINT the base OF the brain controls
the muscles. The seat of vital force
has boen placed in The meduIla Oh
longata, but animals live when theil
medulla is removed. The mind hat
little power over the body as re
CARDS acts Of will. What can bt
| done without the will is sometimes
immense. The will has no very
| great power. It's function consists
only III pointing an end, and not a
all in performing the movements il
has indicated. 4 great many facts
90 to show that when the will ha.
given an organ something to d.
that thing is done without further
trouble to the will, as telegraph,
dispatch has been sent and don,
with. And the fact that when al
most all the fibers Of the nedull,
oblongata are destroyed sense ant
motion may be perfect seems to in
dictate that the communication ha
been by a kind of. telegraph fol
which one wire is as good as man.
and not by a-vibration of fiber
wherein q separate fiberai is needle,
| to transmit each other from the viii
or each sensation tOsit ~ sz
The fnYnr,erance war sfill poes o1