Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-03-29
BRAIN AND INTELLECT.
Tho Size of the One Does Not Always In
 dlcate the Stre tRth of the Other.

| RulShed men has been organized in the
 hope of solving some of the problems
 connected with the physical basis oi
 mentality. Each member of the SO | ciety bequcaths his brains to the cx perts appointed to conduct the autopsy
 and the fullest information available is
 transmitted to the society," It is hoped
 to substitute fixed principles for the l rough and inaccurate estimates formed | by weighing the brains of distinguished ed l or notorious men. An example of the
 inaccuracy of the latter methol of in. vestigation is shown in the fact recent. ly reported that the brain of the late Gen Butler weighed within few
 ounces of that of the great anatomist
 Cuvicr (whosc brain is the heaviest yet cXamincdO and considerably more than
 than of Daniel Web ,ter, who, in spit,
 of grave abusrs q his physical powers,
 died with he tvicr brain than had
 been recorded of any other American.
 This result is what might have been
 exp ectcd. To compare Wtbstcr's brain.
 worn out with physical OK cess IS, to one
 who died in the full vigor of intrllcctu-
 ality, is equally fal acious The one
 was but a ruin of a ma rnificcnt palace,
 SAS oNASA tlS pSElCCIly dppOluJCl C'bSIlC'
 Gall and Spurgheim nearly a century ago laid the foundation of what is
 known as phrcnology. Of course the
 modern practice of the art, if such 1t may be called, is almost devoid of any scientific basis. Nevertheless one of the theories which the original investi- gation worked out has been indorsel
 by all physio'orists. This is in brief that certain sections of the brain have definite and distinct functions in mall- ing up the totality which the old writers called the ego. For example there is a certain section of the brain, definitely located, which controls the power of speech, and so accurately is this now mapped out that the sections controlling spoken speech and written speech-thc knowledge of meaning gained by sound and that gained by sight-the part which has for its func- tion the formulation of written signs and that which controls certain CO ordinate muscular movements which result in speaking or writing-are fairly we'll determined. It is when it is attempted to determine the power of these separate functions by the irregularities of the out side of the boly case which covers these wonderful structures, and cspe- cially when it is attempted to formulate the exact situation of moral and higher mental qualities that phrcnology h. mentally fails.
 Yet even here there is q basis of reason for the so-callcd science. A right-handed man has almost incvit- ably larger development of the left side of his skull than of the right side, and certain general tendencies arc revealed by the skull, as they arc by the countenancc. The error consists in laying down an absolute law which shall cover all cases This error is repeated when it is attempted to measure mentality by mere weight of nervous tissue. Not long ago two brothers, both members of the society mentioned, died in Philadelphia One was Dr. Joseph Leidy, one of the most distinguished anatomists and natural ists in the world. The younger was Dr. Philip Lcidy, a wcll-known, but not prominent physician. Both were men of high mentality, but in their lives no one thought of comparing the mental force of the younger to that of the elder brother, yet the brain of the younger brother wns heavier than was the brain of the elder, and it is stated by the experts who examined both that 1t appeared to be moro pcrfc .tiy dcvaI- oped.
 The truth is that there appear to be no physical tests by which mratal much less moral gifts, can be deter mined. The functions ot the brain and nervous system in general ar> ia" r'..,;r complex than the earlier p>yrt.,.,n y;~i> dreamed of. There are nr o'. ;ix senses for the sense of t,ur.r ... e. divided and sub-dividrd. pnI thcrr A.,, it is well known, certain "thcr:,D.a, unconscious senses winch r' ru,ut.. tn. and ;i,,sun-D:o n tion of the body anl the pr1nr working of the var;0us or,glu. The brain is still believed to be tho seat of mentality pure nnI simple, but no one of great sc,>atitic attainments has dared to locate the scat of such function as memory, for example, or sought to determine the particular convolution which prcsidrs over the will The truth appears to be that all tho various factors of the IlCENOuS SJSLClL lllClullLlS DTuln, SDlnal cord and isolated ganglia, combine in these greater functions, and that it is the totality of nervous energy which we recognize as the will and the totality of nervous conservation which we call memory.
 There certainly can be no definite re- lation between the weight of tho brain and mental power any moro than there is between the weight of horse and the physical power which tho animal is able to exert It may be conceded that thcre is general relation and that the man of the largest brain is usually the wiscst, just ns the horse of greatest weight is usually the strongest, but no definite or positive assertion can be made in one case any more than in the other. What is known of the relation between the nervous system and men, tality is infinitesimal compared to what is unknown, and generations yet to come will probably struggle as hope lcssly to solve the question of relative mental strength as we do in the pres Roll