Evening star., 1928-05-13
SCIENCE PEEPS AT RICHES
HIDDEN In HUMAN BRAIN
Vast, Uncharted Territory Opened to
Exploration by Discoveries and Re-
search-What Does 1t Contain?

something more than a vague sensa
ton of existence. They began to smell
hear, see and taste. Yet ha found tn
rudimentary organs of these senses yer,
similar---so much so In fact that emf
nent naturalists never have been abl
to agree which hairs of certain insect
were used for hearing and which TO
tasting and so on.
In other words. DR.. GoldStein fount
that all the external senses apparentl.
started from common source ant
they are all much the same thing which
has evolved In different directions, I
is long call from this. of course, to 8
fanciful return to the condition where
eyes will hear and ears will see, but tht
successful interchange of the senses o.
touch and hearing is tangible
actuality.
What is feeble-minded child? There
are some, of course, with definitely dis
eased brains, even with whole section;
of the brain atrophied Yet there are
others. judged feeble minded by ex'
ternal behavior alone, who may hav,
been misunderstood. DR.. Samuel r
Orton of Cleveland told the American
Neurological Society. Educational meth
DDS, devised by the neurologiSt with his
intimate knowledge of the mechanism
of the brain. may do much to redeem
such children.
What Held Him Back?
What for instance, of boy l8 years
old who. in spite of constant teaching
has been unable to progress beyond the
first reader? This boy apparently could
not learn to read. 1t looked like a case
of feeble -mindedness, but when certain
types of intelligence tests. in which pic
lures and blocks were used. were givell
to the boy he passed with very high
mark.
Some children. Dr. Orton said, seem
utterly unable to learn to read, but II
may not be an intelligence deficiency
1t may be a matter of educational sys-
| tern. DR.. Orton has been able to work
wonders with what seemed hopeless
cases.
When the child at about its sixth
year enters the first grade 1t enters a
critical period in its mental life. Hither-
! to it has learned TO associate the spoken
word with the object. Now it must
make a much more complicated mental
connection-with spoken word, the OBJ
| ject and the written symbol. There is
always a chance, with some types OF
minds, that the connection will not be
made. The child will fall behind. The
teachers will set 1t down as stupid or
/
pointed and angered. The child. feeling
| the atmosphere of disapproval every
where, will become nervous and fright
encd. Various emotional reactions
| against reading will arise. The indi-
vidual has been started on the road TO
| failure.
| But all many of such children need,
DR.. Orton pointed out, Is expert and
individual attention. Each must be
studied in the light of its own mental
makeup The problem is to devise
some way of making the triple con-
nection in the mind. A great deal has
been accomplished by having the chld
| trace letters and pronounce them at
| the same time-thus getting the sound
| firmly fixed In the mind. That the
| problem is an important one is shown
| by the fact that about 2 per cent OF
| the children In the public schools are
held back at least a year by this read
| ing handicap.
other methods have been devised for
dealing with suffering. stammering
children and clumsy children. A great
deal of supposed feeble -mindedness"
viii be eliminated when these three
great handicaps are overcome.
Where Gesticulation Begins.
This method of connecting up letter
sounds with hand movements, 1t was
pointed out at the conference, Is very
| fundamental indeed and goes back TO
l the origins Of language. Freeman prob
ably didn't talk with his mouth--he
| talked with his hands by means OF ges-
lures. AS he ascended the evolutionary
! ladder he found other uses for his
/ hands. He couldn't afford TO keep
| them in use all the time for carrying
on conversations and gossiping about
| his neighbofs So he transferred--all
| this took thousands and thousands OF
| years--the hand gestures TO his lips
and tongue and began to form spoken
words But the sounds Of the alphabet
he formed we're very closely tied up
| with the hand motions OF his pre-
human days. Even today. 1t was stated
In the discussion following DIR. Orton s
| paper. some individuals can't talk II
| their hands are tied. The lips and
tongue obstinateiy refuse TO utter
| sounds. This, by the way. was not
offered as helpful suggestion to tired
/ husbands and lovers of silence, but
merely as a contributory explanation.
| Thus, II was shown. some Of the pres
ent-day practical medical and neuro-
| logical problems must be traced back
| far beyond the dawn OF history--eyen
|
on earth-~to find an answer. The ply
sician must go exploring In the mists oi
| the dawn Of time.
Take, for instance, the beauty special
/ ist He might like TO know how lovely
ladies came To have faces, anyway, for
| the improvement OF which he draws
handsome fees.
Where Beauty Came From.
It's all very simple, said DR.. H. II
Briggs OF Asheyiile, N. C, The first
| vertebrate anin1alS--the fishes, reptiles
! and amphibia ans-didn't have any faces
| but Just gnouts which stuck out In front
| OF the brain and on a level with IT. II
had TO be this way because the snoui
was the only organ for obtaining food
and had 10 be in position where tbs
mouth could be showed straight At the
intended prey. In the course of time
the descendants Of the first vertebratei
began 10 catch prey with their paws
and convey 1t 70 the mouth. Here wai
the beginning OF hands~so well de-
yeioped In the bears, the monkeys tht
apes and men.
As this method developed there wat
no more need for the rigid position oi
the Snout IN front Of the brain. II be-
gan 10 drop, leaving a bone caytt.
above IL. Into this the brain expanded
It's expansion enlargin2 the cavity still
more and pushing The gnout further
down, thus creating. IN millions ant
millions 0f years. the lovely face o.
nilady.
Why accept this explanatory asked
Or. John NJ. IngersoIl Of indianapolis
Isn't IT just as likely he insisted. tlla
the brain started growing first ant
pushing down the snout until the ami
NAL Vas forced 10 use It's paws In ordel
10 feed Itself and the more IL fed itsel
the further down went the snOut ant
The more room there was for the braiI
" grow in?
The doctof smiled. and left thi
pressing question 70 auxiliary l.nes o
! science