The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-06-01
THE HOUSE or THE MIND.

| Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste and Speech
Brain Areas Which Control Muscular
Movements-Experimen With Lower
Animals-The Seat of consciousness.
Irene Bache in the Hartford Times.l
Something is just beginning to be
known about the anatomy of the human
mind. Recent discoveries respecting its
physical structure have thrown light
upon the most interesting of all pro-
blems-namely, that which has to do
with the nature of the intelligence. 1t
is now understood in a general way, and
with a fair degree of accuracy, where
and how ideas of various kinds origi-
mated In different parts Of the so-called
gray matter The organ of thought has
been divided up into sections, as it
were, which are severally responsible
for the creation OF ideas and images Of
many classes. Certain areas Of brain
surface are recognized as controlling vi
sion, hearing, taste, smell and vocal
speech, while others, govern the muscu-
lar mechanism Of the body. If you
move your big toe, you direct its mo-
ton by orders. conveyed from a point of
the cerebral cortex directly beneath the
very middle Of the top of the skull.
At the University Of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, important work in this
line of scientific research is being car
ried on just now. under the direction of
Dr. Lightner Wilmer. He has labo-
ratory fitted UP with all sorts Of queer
looking machinery for finding out how
long it takes people to think-vto see, to
hear, to feel, to distinguish eolors, and
other such things. There are models Of
brains which one may take apart and
put together again as If they were Chi
nese puzzles. Every detail of structure
is reproduced in these models-even to
the "pineal gland" which, though loca-
ted at the base of the brain, is in reali-
ty rudimentary third eye. The an
clients believed that this gland was the
seat of the soul.
Most of the, knowledge thus far OBJ
tanned respecting the physical anatomy
of the mind has been gotten by study
ing the brains of lower animals, chiefly
dogs and monkeys. 1t does not always
follow that what Is true of q monkey is
true of man, and scientists have been.
led into a, good many errors by assurnp-
tions Of that kind. Nevertheless, the
likeness in a. general way between the.
thinking organ of a human being and
that of a sfrnian or canine quadruped is
Unfortunately, 1t is not practicable to
make experiments upon living human
brains, save in exceptional cases where
surgical operations have to be per-
formed on them. But 1t Is very easy to
remove a portion of the skull Of q mon
key and to observe how the beast acts
when NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. is usually
employed for the purpose-is applied to
one portion or another Of the surface.
Though such operations may seem
cruel, knowledge most valuable to the
human race has been obtained through
them. Acquaintance with the so-called
motor areas has become so accurate
that disease of part of the brain can
usually be located with exactness by
observation of the muscles of the body.
An abnormal wiggle of the big toe
would lead the physician to look for
trouble in the middle Of the top of the
head. May be there would be no cure
for it, and then again perhaps some
thing might be done. If it We're ascer-
tanned that the patient had received a
blow there, it might be imagined that
fracture previously unsupported had oc-
Cured, causing pressure on the brain.
In that case relief would probably be
by trephlning.
An interesting instance on record is
that Of a girl who was suddenly seized /
with paralysis of one side of the face,
accompanied by loss of power Of speech. |
Within three or four days the paralysis |
passed downward from the arm to the
body, and finally to the leg on the same
side 1t was decided at al consultation
Of doctors that the symptoms indicated
q brain hemorrhage at the center of
speech, progressing up the ffssure of |
and involving the areas cor
to the arm and leg The |
girl died, and a post mortem examina- 4
ton disclosed the fact that this was ex-
actly what had occurred,
The f1ssure of Rolando rIns across the |
top of the head from side to side and al |
most from ear to ear. In and out of it
are located the most important motor
areas which govern the muscular
Of the body. The highest
point corresponds to the toe. Follow 4
ng the assure down the side of the |
head toward the ear, comes the leg, Il
lext the arm, and finally the face. |
That portion which represents the face
S much more highly differentiated-Fl
hat is, split UP into a great many |
smaller areas. Thanks to this arrange
nent, one is able to vary ones counte- !
lance with an almost infinite play of i
every little muscle being |
lnder ready control,
In ONE recorded experiment part of |
he skull of a monkey had been re-
moved. The operator stated that by |
the proper motor areas
With electricity he would cause the ami
nal to go through a certain series of
movements. 1t would extend it's arm,
;rasp an object which had been placed |
,efore it, carry it to the face and put it
nto the mouth. This the beast did ex-
city as foretold. However, itowas not
o wonderful as it seemed; for the mon
.ey was merely going through a move
nent that was customary and habitual |
With him, and it was only necessary to-
Emulate the areas governing the arm
nh hand THE tT10tcy. areas NAV ha