The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1875-05-20
BRAIN AND BACKBONE.
a Famous PhysIcIan's Theory as to {
seat Of the Mind.

Famous Physicians Theory as to the
seat Of the Mind.
The annual meeting of the New York
Neurological Society was held last even
ing at the College of Physicians on
Twenty-third street. Besides his brief
inaugural address, the Chairman, Prof.
William A. Hammond, read a highly
interesting paper TO prove that ''the
brain is not the sole organ of the mind. +"
1t was listened to with far more interest
than the essays of medical men usually
excite.
Before developing his theory, the Pro-
fessor affirmed that there is no evidence
in physiology that the mind can exist
independent of the nervous system.
The gangalia and nervous tissues of the
brain and spinal cord, aided by the out.
lying nervous system, are the sole dis
cOverable media of perception. The
white matter of both is but a conduct
ing and protective element. The brain
itself is by far the largest mass of ner-
vous matter pertaining to any animal
In man its average weight is 49, ounces.
Daniel Webster had 632 ounces of brain
and DIR. Abercrombie So ounces. Web
ster's, which was the biggest skull on
record, held 122 cubic inches of brain
matter. The average Engishman, Teu-
ton or American has a capacity of %
inches; tEe imam and brother" about So.
and the HottentOt of South Africa only
70. The brains of the inferior animals
are often larger in proportion to the an
lmaIs bulk than those of man, and there
is no definite relation between the in
telligence of the animals and the pro-
portions of brain to weight. An ALI
gator six feet long, for instance, has
only about half an ounce of brains. The
brain of tom-tit is one twelfth of his
whole weight, OF canary one tenth,
and of a goose only the thirty. sixth
hundreth part. Man himself has brain
which is usually no more than one
| fftieth OF his weight. All these con-
| trasting figures, however, refer only to
the white substance; and if they Prove
anything, prove that the mass Of the
brain is no criterion of intellectual
superiority. What can be claimed on
| behalf of heavy brains, if a tom-tit has
! proportlonately much more than a man,
or an intelligent goose three hundred
times less than canary? In tissue it
| Is, only, that man is decidedly the largest
s. s'OckhOlder; and this tissue is by no
means confined to the cerebrum and
| cerebellum.
| MIND NOTHING BUT NERVOUS ACTION.
Now, continued the professor, mind
! is nothing more than force developed
| by nervous action. To realize anything
around us, to perceive, requires the
cooperation of three faculties, an organ
of sense, a nerve and a brain nerve
tissue. Such actions or contortiOns as
result from pain, tickling on the feet
and snutf-taking are not always depend
ent on branial perception. They take
n 10 ~
| conscious. The source of perception
must therefore have been elsewhere.
| Here the professor gave an account of a
remarkable series of experiments made
by him on the lower animals. A frog
with the brain removed will kick and
struggle II pinched; if pricked will lift
up the right or left leg to brush away
the offending needle, and will even
swim If placed in the water. A decap-
itated alligator will go and do likewise.
A rattlesnake has struck out with his
headless body and knocked down his
execuIouer. These things prove that
the spinal cord has volition of its own.
and is something more than a mere
conductor of impressions to the brain
If the spine of the salamander be-
severed, the two parts of the body will
still move in harmony. If the cen
tipped be cut in pieces each part viii
march off as-if it bad brain of it's own
1t has gangiia in each section of its
spine. and the ganglia, therefor, are
separate centers of perception and
vOlltion. A young duck, Just out oi
the egg-shell, viii swim like a veteran,
even after its brain is removed. A
pigeon in like predicament will brush
down his feathers and put his head
under his wing to sleep.
HUMAN BEINGS EXISTING WITHOUT BRAINS
OF human illustrations there are many
} ia which an infant without brains hai
lived short time, and had an infants
! motions and perceptions. Reverie
somnambulism, catRlepsy and trance
are human conditions which go also Il
establish that the spinal cord is highly
respectable organ. Don't men walk
and ladies play the piano, carefully anC
correctly, while the brain is utterly alb
sorbed In other operations or else TOTALLY
| quiescent? There must Q a conscious
7 ness, therefore, elsewhere than In tht
cerebrum. It was not claimed to b.
quite so important as the latter, but n,
one can deny after such experiment.
and observations that the brain is no
the sole centre of mind.
The professor having concluded, DR.
Auy4OA dANADu LIS CDANlCblOu hlbO buh
the mind has no special seat. Their
, are worms, he said, who spontaueousl,
: divide their own bodies, and each par
! ticular section starts out as an indie
: pendent worm. There is a worm, even
with the eyes at ole end of the line an
the mouth at the other. Why not q
, further than DR.. Hammond ? May
not well be that mind pervades th
! whole body?
DR.. Parsons next said that it all de
@ pended on ones definition of the wor
mind. Some say that mind is a cor
scioUs exercise of feeling, thought an
will. In the case of DR.. Hammond
, experience there might be a mere ms
= chanical habit, acquired by the inferio
; centres from the teachings of the 81
periOr, but certainly not an independeI
= perception or violation.
: Prof. Hammond responded that If
3 Drained frog be pinched or burned wit
:. acid and hits out from the shoulder {
4 his hind leg, he is giving fair evidenC
q of perception and violation. What MOI
9 could be expected of any reasonabl
n frog?
A discussion of this nice point occ1
pied the scientists during the balanC
of the session.-N. y. World.
\ Damaged Men.