94 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE ORGANISM 



least in one and the same sensorial sphere, such as sight, for 

 instance, one nerve element may transmit different " qualities ' 

 in their specificity ; and as far as the sense of smell is con- 

 cerned I do not see any possibility of escaping this conclusion. 

 The peripheral organs, being the seat of the real stimulation 

 of the organism, in this way become responsible for the 

 specificity of sensation to a very high extent, though not, of 

 course, on account of the nature of the stimulating external 

 agent alone, but also on account of their own (chemical ?) 

 specificity. 



Thus it is by the co-operation of both parts, the specific 

 centres as well as the specific reception organs, that specificity 

 of sensation occurs. The specific centres are not liable to 

 regulation. 



Are there Specific Functions in the Newly Born ? 



But this is only true for the adult. Bechterew 1 remarks 

 that extirpation of the so-called motor spheres carried out in 

 the neidy lorn dog or cat has no effect whatever on its 

 future motions. Moreover, it is a well established fact that 

 aphasia may be almost completely cured by re-learning to 

 speak. These facts seem to prove that " spheres ' : are not 

 innate but created during life, and that even " spheres ' 

 are liable to regulation, at least in some cases. That would 

 allow us to call the brain an organ which possesses originally 

 the same functional " prospective potency " in all its parts, 

 these parts obtaining their specific " prospective value ' 

 secondarily, and being able to modify it to a certain extent 

 under certain conditions. Such a doctrine would be the 



1 Bewusstsein und Hi/'nlocalisation, Leipzig, 1898, p. 48. 



