The Hickman courier., 1878-06-14
MIND AND BRAIN.

80 -HsS7A ~'-fSfiANftN - tff|'iN ~~is'
Dome q Tnought."
The views expressed at the W'asaingpfi /
convention OF the pAysicians ct ir,she !
aegia4as itdicste sei.segyl st -tIse eostsS- 3,
scientific opinion as to the functions (
the brain. To the poets and TO the pop
ular conception, the human skull will
long remain " the dome Of thought, the
psisce OF the mind" To the student OF
physiology, the seat Of the mental pro-
cesses has been gradually narrowing and
receding, till finally, DR.. CLARK, of To
ront0, tells us that no satisfactory evil
dence proves that mentality is localized
beyond s focal part of the nerves at the
bSss OF the brain. We can better sp-
preciste how great IS this change from
former views II we compare with such
conception the notions on which phre-
nology was bssed, when the various at
tributes of mind were supposed To
dIsplsy tn mselves in the bumps" OF
the skull, sad, consequently, 20 reside on
or near the circumference Of the organ
within. II the new views are TO be
accepted, much mole than phrenology
must Be sacrificed. Brsin power. the
new doctrine teaches, ia not dependent
alone on the size OF the skull's contents.
Probably, also, considerations Of shspe
will follow those of sizs people with
high forehesds will gain no reputation
by iheir frontal expanses, snd head as
low crowned as that of q mound builder
will be credited with = full average
supply of intellect.
l. must be admitted that there are
same facts hard to explain under the old
doctrine. DR.. Brown-Sequsrd described
g few years ago a large number Of cases
where people who had lost half or more
of their brains succeeded In keeping
quite as much senae rs they had ever
possePsed. This was psFtially explained
on the theory that either half OF the
brain msy perform the functions Of the
whole. But other instances were related
where the full mental capacity survived
partial loss Of both hemispheres Of the
brain. However, there vas the cenbel~
lum, the little brain, 20 fall back upon.
A great deal OF faith has been pinneo to
the cerebellUm by scientific folks Who
have lost faith in their brains. But now
comes Dr. Walker Kemper. Of Oshkosb,
with the post.mortem examination of a
patient who was interested in the news
Of the day, conversed intelligently on
politics, religion and science, and was
well versed IN English literature, yet had
suffered from z disease which had wasted
away one side Of her cerebrum and the
other aide OF her ceTebeHum, till neither
was ns>fourth the natural size. Such
instances seem more conclusive than the
famous experiments on pigesns, in which
the birds not only survived the extirpa-
tion OF their entire brains, but even re-
gained, apparently, their normal senses
and capacity after the lapse Of few
weeks.
II it can be conceded that the mental
faculties reside in the focus OF the
nerves at the base of the brain, there will
be less difficulty in obtaining correct
notions about the insect world. Few
insects have any brains, yet many of
them, as tOr instance, Sir John Lub-
books ants, have sound, discriminating
intellects. In fact, certain savage ants
OF South America hold tracts of land,
and wsge successful war on man when he
attempts to plant a residence ON their
domain. Big brains, in that case, are
pOwerless against no brains. What,
thsn, it may be asked. is the use of the
organ in question, II it does not serve as
the scat OF the mind DR.. Brewn.
Sequard's answer was that the brain,
liks the hand, does the work Of the
mind, as it ID ordered, but is the instru-
mont, not the motor. That view of the
matter suggested at least one sen-ible
preoept If our brains are mere tools, we
should st al events keep them iu good
order