The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-03-02
BRAIN IN NAN
and IN ANIMALS
ORGAN OF THOUGHT PLAYS BUT
A SMALL PART IN LIFE OF THE
LOVER cREATURES-CAN LIVE
WITHOUT 1T,

New York World: A dog can live
without a brain: then why not a man ?
Full-groWn dogs have lived for years
without brains, walking, sleeping, eat
ing, barking, bowling, starting at nois-
es. scratching at fleas, just as normal
dogs habitually do.
Brainless babies have been born, but
have died within a day or two: now,
however, Doctors Edinger and Fischer,
two eminent German physicians, de-
scribe a child hat lived until it's
fourth year without a brain, and only
after it's death from tuberculosis was
it discovered that in place of a. cere-
Drum there was only a membranous
bag filed with fluid.
This child lay m~otionless in sleep
unless awakened; it performed the
primitive act Of sucking, but never
learned to take food in any other way.
The doctors who observed it say it
was less capable than a fish or dog
without a brain.
To Be Expected.
That a b~rainless animal should be
more capable than a brainless human
being may seem at first sight to be ex-
trordinary, but when we come to con-
slider what is known about the nervous
system and the psychology of animals
and man it is quite what might be ex-
pected.
There are certain functions of the
body which men as we'll as animals
perform without thought; the eXpan-
sion and contraction of the chest in
breathing, for example. There are 9TH
ers which are called reflex actions and
which require no definite thought,
such, for instance, as the instant re-
ponse of any part of the body to a.
sudden shock or pain. These are per-
formed through the spinal motor
mechanism which in animals is set in
motion from any part of the Sensory
surface of the body.
No Real Brain.
The lowest animals have no real
brain. AS We ascend the scale a cere-
Drum is added to the primitive nervous
system. This cerebrum is a ~storehouse
of memories and experiences; it is the
seat of judgment and reason. In ami
mails it is very small in comparison
with the spinal system. Their expert
ences leaves only a faint record upon
the tablets Of their minds. That they
do leave some record is proved by the
education that is possible with some
Of them and by the evidences of mem
DRY that are constantly given by them.
But their reflex system is still the
more important.
Higher Brain Large.
In man. on the other hand, the high
er brain is larger anG the convolutionS
that carry the gray matter upon their
surface are many and deep, SO the
thinking part of the brain supplants
the u~nthinking part. The latter in the
course Of ages has lost its pre-emi-
nence; man has, by thousands of years
of experience, acquired the habit of re-
Election, of thought; actions that in
animals are involuntary have become
in him voluntary.
The dogs higher brain is in direct
connection with it's spinal motor cen
ters; the brain can, therefore,, initiate
movements, but these play only a mi
nor role in the animals life and the re-
'moyal of the cerebrum takes away
comparatively little 0 f its conscious
functions. It takes away the power of
the dog to recognize its master, for in
stance.
Will in Man.
In man, however, one function after
another has been transferred from the
lower v system to the higher
cerebral h~emispheres wherein every
slightest experience of life writes its
indellible record and affects every ac-
ton and thought. Almost every act of
human life has come to involve the
will, which means the conscious CO.
operation Of the cerebral cortex. Con-
versely, the lower nerve centers have
lost their power to act Independently.
The child without q brain, therefore,
was worse off than a dog or a fish or a
frog. because the thinking brain plays
SO little part in the life of these crea-
lures that its loss is not very serious,
while in the human being it is all inn
portant, and its loss leaves him de-
pendent upon nervous mechanism that
long ago lost its power to control the
movements of the body. Hence he is a
anrt. NJ eyafar In human fs.eiat