The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-03-12
THE BRAIN.



This article writes Bill Nve 10 the
San Francisco -iry0nnnf. is designed
more especially for those veriebraies
who are able lo keep and use their own
brains. 1t is not intended for he pc
ruSal of those who simply have Il gangli-
on or nerve center which they are
using temporarily uutil they can afford
a brain.
Man is more highly endowed with
. brain than any other animal. Still,
nearly all animate creation has Il trace
OF this organ embarrassing, OF course. in
intensity downward. from man 10 the
lower mammals. birds, reptiles, batra-
CHA, and fishes, till finally all traces Of
the brain disappear in the GmphiOrus
and dude
The elephant has the heaviest brain
of any animal. 1t often weighs as high
as nine or ten pounds. The whale
comes next, with brain that weighs,
perhaps. five pounds. So. great mem
tai strength is the result of quality
more than quantity in the matter of
brain tissue.
The brain of an adult man weighs, on
an average, fOrty-eight ounces, while
that of the average adult woman weighs
forty-four ounces, and yet woman is
far superior to man mentally. have
obtained this information from a lady
friend of mine who is thoroughly trust
worthy. j
The brain is enclosed in bony sphere
called the skull. This bony envelope
is air-tight The brain does not have
! to be aired, it is in a normal condition.
1t should be kept inside the skull con-
stantly, and in as compact form as pos
sible, for when it is otherwise great in
convenience may ensue. -:
The parts of the encaphalon, we are
told, are the cere6rUnl, cerebeliUn, me-
dulla, o6lOngGta, pOnS Carolii, oGiigato,
pidniSsinlo. Anyone would think that
a brain with all these things in it would
not feel well, but such is not the case.
The brain has been found upon, micro
scopic investigation after death, to con-
tain not only the foreign microbes and
things named above, but also cineri-
tious substance. cranial nerves, motor
oculi, corpus cOtIOsUn, corpora strata,
hdtmi. tmdercuia qWadreGemind, stdc-
cato. GrbOr Uttp, crurd, cerebri, and
other foreign substances, which must
have made life a burden, and yet
NiCulu HOl ICSulJ 1OI IlltHN lcdIS.
Nothing, however, is so destructive
to brain tissue as daylight. Many
have died almost instantly after light
and fresh air were freely admitted into
the brain. The brain is one of the
most useful of all organs, and, there
fore. we should Use every precaution to
retain it; for. like the self-cocking re-
volver. Il man may struggle along for
years without having occasion TO use
it, and yet when he does want TO use it
he wants it very much. We might get
along in society for long time without
being called upon for any mental DEM
onstration. but some day, without any
notice whatever, we might be request
ed by our host to express an idea, and
we would feel very much cut mp to adj
NIT that we had left our thinker aR
home on the piano.
Physicians who have never had much
experience with the brain, never hav-
ing case of il in their own families
nor studied its habits in other people,
frequently make an erroneous diagnosis
where patient is suffering from brain
trouble. l once knew young doctor,
who has since resigned his lucrative
practice in order 10 accept highly re-
sponsiblc position as cham bermaid in q
livery-stable, to make mistake OF that
kind. The patient was a German, who
was unconscious at the time the doctor
was called. The latter felt the pulse,
examined the tongue, wrote out three
prescriptions on different drug stores
tor medicine to encourage zeal on the
part of the liver. and went away.
The coroner was no expert in cases
Of that kind, but he went at it ON the
theory that the brain had been affected,
and traced up the symptoms TIL he
showed the jury that it was case of
quick coupling-pin on the brain. 1t
seems that the patient had been expos
ed at 8 saloon on A street. and this was
followed in quick succession by coma,
semi-colon, and full stop.
We should take great care of our
brain if we intend to use it. 1t is q
very sensitive organ. and is easily af-
fected by external influences. Very
little. after all. is known of the location
of various phrenological organs in the
brain. The relation between thought
and the material organ which we call
the brain is little misty yet. 1t is not
for the poor, short-lived, and puny man
to know everything. The brain, how
ever, is curious organ. 1t is good
thing in its place, but entirely useless
when removed from the party to whom
it belongs. We should not overwork
the brain, or strain it in trying to think
of hard words that no one else knows
the meaning of. Neither should we.
try to preserve our brains in alcohol
during Office hours. Alcohol and gray
matter are always antagonistic. Let
us take good care of our brains and not
wear them out trying TO impart infor-
nation to those who do not seek it.
Another thing that we should remem-
Der is that the brain weighs about
twenty times as much as the tongue.
and; therefore, there is no physiologic-
al law which requires us to tell all we
know.