The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1907-07-11
BUMPS AND BRAINS,
Eminent Specialist States Some OBJ.
jeetions to Phrenology.


The neutrality-suspicious. OBJ
iections to phrenology are universally
known, and 1t suffices to mention them
briefly, says Max Nordau in the Lon
dor Graphic The skull is not an ex-
act reproduction of the brain surface.
The brain, lifted out of the cranlal
cavity and covered with its men,
| branes, shows no bumps whatever; 1t
smooth, unless 1t contains a patho-
Illogical tumor. After the meninges
have been taken off one sees manifold
| circumvolutions which may be more
or less developed, convex or flattened,
but rise in no single spot so far above
the general level as to form what
might be called bump.
Physiology has to say against phren-
/ elogy that 1t supnoses an exact local.
| ization of the different human facul-
ties in the brain. Now this SUPPOSE
ton is far from being proved. Hitzig
and Ferrier think they have demon
| strated that there are differentiated
| centrs in the cortex of the brain, at
least for the muscular contractions.
Gotz denies even that. A constata-
ton apparently beyond discussion
seemed to be that of Broca, according
TO which the seat Of the faculty of
speech should be the foot of the third
frontal circumvolut!on
In all the classical works on cere-
bral physiology you could read during
these last forty years that morbid
condition of the circumvolution NJ
| Broca causes aphasia. Now this dog
ma has just been overturned by Pierre
Marie. He, Mouthier, and Sougues
have shown the brains of three per-
sons that had been stricken for years
with total aphasia, yet at whose post
norton examination no lesion ct
Broca's circumyolution could be dis
covered BY this Representation The
| only localization of a mental function
on the brain surface that seemed GER
tain has become dublous-perhaps has
been proved ineXistent,
But the most striking objection TO
phrenology is the psychological. the
\ notion that there could be seat nj,
4 san )haughtiress, musical gift, imagi-
nation, faithfulness, resolution. Is SIM
ply childish It is precisely as if an
| intelligent foreigner came to England
and endeayored to discover in Lon
don the seat OF English liberty, free
trade, civic pride, love of sport, spirit
of enterprise, responsibility, ETC. lhese
words express distractions which IRE
composed of numerous concrete ele-
ments. The concrete elements may
have a determined seat; the aostrac-
tons cannot have one
Let us take one Of those distractions
that indicate a regularity of human
character-for instance. resolution
The Psychological analysis will SHOW
that IL is a mere verbal summary OF
whoe)lot Of psycho-physical elements;
It implies good memory, facility anu
quickness of association of ideas VIII
power, self-reliance, the faculty OF
rapidly suspending inhibitions, me
whole enyeloped in an atmosphere OF
optimism and habitual hopefulnesS
which admits no doubt Of success.
Even these composing elements are
partly also distractions that may De
reduced to further concretisms. the
organic substratum Of these divers
physical elements are to be looked Tor
in all the systems Of the body lntes-
rity Of the heart, the lungs, the YES
sells the per!pheric nerves, is as much
condition Of resolution, genial moot.
or pride as the normal function o.
certain glands. the urd,sturb2d circu-
lation OF the blood in the BRAIN the
good chemical quality of the ofa'h
plasma. and tie absence of toxins.
He who has present in his mind the
fact that each particularly OF the
character is the result OF the correct
or perverse. energetic or slack WORK
ing of all parts of the brain, and IN
fact, of the whole organism, Will NOT
|. pursue the absurd idea Of rendering
responsible for them Determined
portion Of the brain and of expecting
to see and 70 palpate this portion on
the brain surface, or even on the Skull
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