PHYSIOLOGY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



722v 



and which is certainly necessary to the validity 

 of some of the premises upon which his doc- 

 trine rests, is, I think, likewise open to strong 

 objection. I cannot understand that great 

 width of the occipital region and thickness of 

 the back of the neck should necessarily indi- 

 cate a great developement of the cerebellum. 

 I do not mean to assert that a large cerebellum 

 would not give rise to a large occipital region, 

 but I do assert that great developement of the 

 mesocephale may give rise to the very same 

 external indications. This latter segment of the 

 encephalon is of considerable size, and, as I have 

 shown in a former part of this article, of com- 

 plex anatomical structure, and contains all the 

 elements of a distinct centre, while it possesses 

 extensive connections with the cerebral hemi- 

 spheres, the cerebellum, and the medulla ob- 

 longata. The largest portion of it, however, is 

 independent of the cerebellum, and it is this 

 portion which contains the greatest abundance 

 of vesicular matter, and which has most dis- 

 tinctly the characters of a separate centre of 

 nervous influence. Now the position of the 

 mesochephate, in front of and between the 

 hemispheres of the cerebellum, is such that a 

 great developement of it would push the hemi- 

 spheres to each side, and thus, notwithstanding 

 a small size of the hemispheres themselves, the 

 occipital region would become expanded. 



The great and pre-eminent size of the cere- 

 bellum in the human subject would warrant 

 the belief that the sexual instinct in man far 

 exceeded that of other animals, if Gall's doc- 

 trine were correct. Yet this seems by no 

 means to be the case ; for, although in man this 

 instinct is more frequently in operation, it 

 cannot be said to influence the whole system 

 to the same extent as in many of the inferior 

 animals. Surely this instinct is not more pow- 

 erful in man than in the feline class, both male 

 and female ; the common cat, for instance, 

 in which the lateral lobes of the cerebellum 

 are very imperfectly developed! There are 

 other animals, likewise, peculiarly distinguished 

 by the strength of this instinct and the re- 

 markable extent to which it influences their 

 entire functions. I have already referred to 

 the extraordinary state of polar tension to which 

 the spinal cord of the male frog, or a portion 

 of it, is liable during the state of sexual ex- 

 citement. Yet in this animal the cerebellum 

 is very small; nor does it at this period acquire 



of Dr. Combe, justify him in charging us with ig- 

 norance in making this assertion. Mr. Noble like- 

 wise dignifies our argument with the title of " non- 

 sense." I am content to repeat the argument and 

 to leave it to persons of calmer judgment to decide 

 whether it is of sufficient weight. Mr. Noble has 

 been so courteous and so complimentary in his re- 

 marks generally, that I cannot allow myself to be- 

 lieve that he intended offence by the use of this term. 

 I hope, however, that he will excuse me for ob- 

 serving that it is much to be regretted that the ad- 

 vocates of particular views should allow their zeal 

 so far to outrun their judgment as to lead them, in 

 the sober seriousness of print, to make use of 

 terms which they would hardly venture upon in the 

 less premeditated colloquial argument, See Noble 

 on the Brain, p. 142. 



any increase of size ; and, moreover, there is 

 no appreciable difference between the cerebel- 

 lum of the male frog and that of the female, 

 which exhibits no indication of increased ex- 

 citement at this period. In fishes the instinct 

 is in all probability strong; and the generative 

 impulse, unaided as it is by sexual commerce, 

 would seem to be dependent, more than in 

 cases where copulation occurs, on the change 

 which may take place in I he nervous centre in 

 accordance with the manifestation of that in- 

 stinct; yet the cerebellum is by no means large 

 in these animals. Dr. Carpenter refers to the 

 kangaroo as affording a good instance of dis- 

 proportionate developement of the cerebellum 

 to the generative instinct. He says, " a friend 

 who kept some kangaroos in his garden, in- 

 formed the author that they were the most 

 salacious animals he ever saw, yet their cere- 

 bellum is one of the smallest to be found in the 

 class (Mammalia). Every one knows, again, 

 the salacity of monkeys; there are many which 

 are excited to violent demonstrations, by the 

 sight even of a human female; and there are 

 few which do not practise masturbation when 

 kept in solitary confinement; yet in them the 

 cerebellum is much smaller than in man, in 

 whom the sexual impulse is much less violent." 

 According to Gall and most of his followers 

 mutilation of the genital organs or their decay 

 in the advance of age is attended by marked 

 effects on the cerebellum. If one testicle be 

 destroyed, a distinct diminution, according to 

 Gall, takes place subsequently in the cere- 

 bellar hemisphere of the opposite side. The 

 kind of evidence upon which phrenologists 

 rest their views of this matter will appear from 

 the following specimens: 1. Dr. Gall relates 

 that at Vienna he was consulted by two officers 

 who had become impotent in consequence of 

 blows from fire-arms, which had grazed the 

 napes of their necks. 2. " Baron Larrey," says 

 Gall, "sent to me a soldier who, in undergoing 

 an operation for hernia, had lost the right tes- 

 licle. Several years afterwards his right eye 

 became weak. He began to squint with the 

 diseased eye, and could scarcely any longer 

 distinguish objects with this eye. I examin- 

 ed the nape of his neck, in presence of the 

 two physicians who had brought him, and 

 I found the occipital swelling of the left aide 

 much less prominent than that of the right side. 

 The difference was so perceptible that the two 

 physicians were struck with it at first sight." 

 3. Baron Larrey's cases : . An artilleryman 

 received a wound from a musket-ball, which 

 traversed from side to side the insertions of 

 the extensor muscles of the head, grazing and 

 dividing the two inferior occipital swellings 

 which correspond to the hemispheres of the 

 cerebellum. This individual experienced 

 diminution in the size of his testicles, which Jell 

 into a state of atrophy. l>. A light horseman, 

 of very amorous disposition, received a sword- 

 cut, which divided the skin and all the convex 

 portion of the occipital bone through to the 

 dura mater. The right lobe of the cerebellum 

 was seen through the opening of the dura 

 mater, and the slightest pressure upon this organ 



