Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1892-01-15
WHERE MEMORY DWEl.LS.
Talk About the Brain and the Pictures II
Contains.

Talk About the Brain and tho Pictures IL
Contains.
''Did it ever occur to you to think
how many millions of millions Of mem
cries are stored away in your brainP"
asked learned man of Star writer.
Memories are commonly thought of as
| things possessing neither form nor sub
stance, but Psychological science to.
| day considers that each memory is an
actual thing with shape and structure
of its own. Dwelling in the region Of
the mind the memories are preserved
and constantly nourished by the oxygen
of the blood which surrounds them in
the delicate capillary vessels.
"The places where the different kinds
of memories are located are not distinct
tracts separated from one another by
definite boundaries. From this notion
sprang the delusion called 'phrenology.
They are scattered about all over the
convouted surface of the brain. Yet,
there are corners where memories OF
the same kind arc thickly crowded.
Low down on each side of tine head
above the ears are grouped images Of
sounds. There are all the old nursery
rhymes, college songs, sonatas and
operas that have delighted us. Near by
are the words of our mother tongue.
They live deep in the folds of fissure
called 'Silvius,' in the third frontal
convolution. All the verses of our
childhood, of which we have not thought
for years and years, are there. The front
corner of the 'sphenoidal lobe is the
seat of smell, perfumes, and odors,
pleasant and disagreeable. The part Of
the brain beneath the back of the skull
low down is full of images, and glows
with colored pictures of all kinds. There
are dear old faces of our friends; there
are the landscapes and all manner OF
instantaneous photographs of former
sights and experiences.
Behind the bony wall OF the fore
head thoughts of more abstract order
are throbbing There are philosophical
reflections and mathematical problems.
On top Of the head, where it rounds off
toward the back, are to be found the
movements of our limbs in their most
complicated combinations In like man
ner all the memories and ideas are ar.
ranged and distributed. The mind may
be considered as an immense empire OF
innumerable spirits that live together
in the narrow space of about a quarter
of cubic foot Spirits they are, be-
cause they are psychical existences Yet
at the same time they are materia'
realities, having forms of bodily pres
ence, sustained by the nourishing cur
rents of the blood.
This vast spiritual empire in the
human brain is excellently provided
with telegraph lines for intercommuni
cation. Thus are formed what we cal
association of ideas, If it happens tina
certain number of ideas associate
themselves together so as to form some
thing new, like an invention or poem
the discovery or inspiration ia usheret
, into our consciousness as if from with
, out. Is it to be wondered at that thu
poet, the artist, the prophet are unde
! the impression that they are instru
i ments merely in the hands of create
one than themselves?
voluntary motions of the body de
( pend upon the memory pictures in tn
gray matter of the brain. When fro
: has been deprived of it's cerebral hemi
j., spheres it will not make any movemen
!. of its own accord; in fact it can not
because all its memory pictures hav
been taken away. 1t enjoys good ply
steal health. If turned on it's back
will rise to its feet; if irritated it vii
a make two or three jumps with vie,
, of escaping. When thrown into tn
? water it will swim until 1t touches tn
r wall of the basin, then it will creep IL
!. on the edge and remain there. A
a these motions are simply refexes pro
Z duced by corresponding irritation'
@ Without irritation there Is no move
y ment-no voluntary action whatever
A brainless frog left to itself will re
n main quietly on the spot where it ha
!. been placed, as if asleep; it will take n
. food, betrays no consciousness of hui
. ger or thirst, shows no sign of fear, ant
q unless artifcially fed, will in time DIR
" up like mummy-all this because il
). memory pictures have been taken ava,
The great novelist struck wonderfl
truth in psychology when he wrote tt
story of The Haunted Man. who;
wish that he could be deprived of reco
lection was granted by the Shadow.
n Washington Star.