The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-02-12
SOME STRANGE FACTS.
Ehe Mechanism Of the Bra'H.-2'' w
49, tho Faculties. OF Mind.

m Rrown.seouard Iectured last evening
"a yery large audience at ityuo9th
Shnrch. The subject was The Mechanism
.md ,h,. Sea, in the Brain Of the so'ltionai,
Sensorial ard Mental Phenomena.
Eycry mart Of the nervous system can oc a
,>o;nt rom which proceeds an ir'iu'.on
which viii! either stop an ac'ir" ;s,,of bas
hraio or put il ia play. The oFs'" ~ 49, on,in,
the mower as we'll as TIC nerves ,,s;nc =
npop itself, and producing OF, Gs ,.otcr in
Co.'S. s;ion Of activity. III you S;so,der Of
,.nnr oar YOU discover that 4 u'sH ~, W.
you. cnr,es almost a; once. 1here Is
me- S'a, an certain parts OF the Dram exert
an CIV ,,rvcs in the mucous membrane III
~ ,,,ns or the ear. The greatest variety OF
s s' NAV come either from irr'tatioh
" tho hrain or nerves. In one case IN Lon
don A bow was found, on seitloS oue y,
he'd in the morning, TO De se,"cu
vii, the most violent coHvuislons ana an
acute attack Of mania. On putting MN 10
nrd ooain The morbid symptoms o's'p'
reared. Three times this phenomenon "a9
observed. and when the surgeon eNii nm. - '.
~, ,hc how told him that while lshinS
,,;nr, cr lass had penetrated tehe"th .lc
1n,ait If his great Toe. By pressing on INC
sp;n near the nail the boy had icccllcuee
of thc same symptoms, but alleI lnc SUI 49,
bod CIT away piece OF INC licei w ~ w.
WILSON'S ceased. 1t may be seen ny .n.' , ata.
an irritation, in very minute part Va LUG ~:
NAV have al immense power. At nag oS, 81
A.. Won know, that the irritation OF
,,o,t;ors OF certain muscles of the eye can
nroduce i'm the brain condltlon C''iec
tat,lcnsy. or loss of feeling. When we see
fb.,t mans thigh may he ampUated wltE-
out orv sense OF feeling on his part, When
we sec that irritation may be cXerted on the
brain by mems of Irritation OF few fl1reS
nf q muscle of the eye, we can understand
how, immense is the field Of important re-
searches both in Il psychological and physlo-
logical and also in therapeutlcai point OF
yiey. There arc facts extremely important
concerning the kind Of Influence OF the lrri,
tetion hy means of which activity is arrested
in The nervous system. We know that respl-
ration can be stopped Immediately by the GAL
yanizs,ion of particular nerve, ana so also
by an act of the will. In reference TO the
POWER OF THE WILL,
7 rccollect surgeon who was accustomed
on going into q hospital to say to the patients
.bat if any man coughed while he was there
lac would get TO food during the day, and
The coughing would always cease. We can
stop snecziDg by pressing Oh certain parts
of The face, and coughing is under the salne
mechanism. The future of medicine lies
very much in the study of those facts in re-
gard to the arrest of activity.
Our consciousness, as you know, ceases
DURING SLEEP.
1t is now wcll-nish proved that it is through
an arrest Of activity. Sleep does not appear
through q mere cessation Of activity, but it
is through something active that sleep is
caused The idea that sleep depends on the
contraction OF the blood-vesscls OF the brain,
which has been put forward in England and
here, is absolutely false; for it has been
shown, on the contrary, that when they ale
dila.ed sleep can take place as well as before
Commissions can also be stopped, Tor they
are morbid phenomena due to certain |
condition of the cells. a negro, whose mas. |
Ter had coDyuSinns through an aH'ctoh OF
the spinal cord, which lasted five or SIX MN
utcs at time 30 that lie could not he dress
ed. made The observation one day that by |
pressing upon the big zoe the commissions |
ceased 50 that afterward whenever he dress |
ed him he simply performed this act and |
kept his master still.
In a case published by Abercrombie, which |
is very important is showing that the dis |
ease must have existed 4 long time EctOre |
death, lady who had had previously |
some trouble with her sight, and had had |
attack, resembling certain forms of cpl |
Iepsy, but was al this time apparently in
good health passed the evening with her
friends and appeared in excellent spirits,
but Tie same night died. The left side OF
her brain was found so diseased IS to estab-
lish the fact that it had existed for long
time. Thus, with this lady, one side of the
brain had performed all the functions that
are usually attributed to that organ.
We sometimes find that the reverse Is
true--tbat q very slight irritation may
cause intense symptoms, ana produce
The freshest variety of them, while for
n considerable disease We see Slight ill.,
dications. We find, thus, that there Is no
relation between the symptoms and the
seat Of the disease itself. There Gre cases
showing that diseases in tue brain can dis
appear through what might cause disease
of the brain, as in the case CT lunatic
who was accidentally cured by getting his
Uranium broken from the blow OF another
lunatic. We must admit that the two
sides of the brain are completely alike in
their functions, and that
ONE OF TIE TWO ALONE
is entirely sufficient to perform the functions
attributed to both. / can show you that the |
nresent mode of education deyelopcs only |
one half the brain. II is a very great mis- !
take we commit in not teaching our children |
70 make use of the two sides of the body in |
differently. We write with one hand, we
should learn to use both. We make use Of
one side of the body for great many things, |
especially in gestures. 1t isa great pity, be-
cause in developing certain sides OF the body |
we develop certain sides of the brain, and it |
would be great gain il we had two brains |
to work With. 10 that case we would not |
then be deprived Of the power Of speech |
through disease of the brain, for we could
use the unaffected side. : 1t is just so with
the body.
The theory has been received almost uni
yersaly for long time, and is yet admitted,
tina. the mind, when acting to produce Il
voluntary movement, performs Just the same
thing that the pianist does on the piano In
making his fingers run on the keys; that in
the same way, by striking certain tibres Of
the brain, the will produces the voluntary
movements. 1t is considered also that the
mind, us the recipient Of sensations, is very
much like a hotel-keeper, who knows, when
q bell Is struck, what room the disturbance
comes from. There is no such prolongatiou
of the fibres from the muscles all over the
body to the brain. Two facts, think, show
1t. One consists in showing that the number Of
fibres by which the brain communicates with
the body is SO extremely small compared
with the number of movements we can per.
form; in the same way the variety of sensa-
lions implies an immense number of them,
and there is no possibility of such number
of them existing in the upper part of the
spinal cord; smother argument is that there
are many cases on record by which the bond