12 



Tribune Extras Lecture ami Letter Scries. 



BROWN-SEQUARD'S LECTURES, 



The following course of six lectures was de- 

 livered by Dr. Browu-Senuurd of Xe\v-Vork, 

 at the Lowell Institute, Boston; beginuiug Feb. 

 25, and closing Maicli is, 1S74: 



NERVOUS FORCE THE FIKST LECTURE. 



TKANSFOIIMATION OF I.IUHT, 1 1 1'. A T, KI.KC TUICITY, ANI> 

 CIIHMICAL !'< MtCK INTO .Nr.IIVol'S HIKCK A 

 GUINKA PIG .-.UKVIVINC A11K!: Till: MKHULLA 

 OULOMiAlA WAS I IT A \\ A Y .NLKYKS KKI'T ALIVK 



roiriY uofiis AMU: >I:I'AI:ATU>N C'O.MI-AKVTIVK 

 rowKU OVKKTIII: M:I:VI:S OF OXYGKX, STUYCII- 



MXK, AM) T1I1C WILL TI!i: UNITY OF TIIK NEltVK 

 FOKCli. 

 iFlUi.M AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNK.] 



Jii'vroN. 1-Vli. -o. Til-- popularity of this course of 

 lectures may be seen from the fact that a supply of 

 tickets equal to die full capacity of the hall of 

 Lowell Institute was disposed of within three- 

 quarters of au hour after the office "was opened. 



Those who know <>f Dr. Brown-Se"quard's devotion 

 to Prof. Agassi/, iii hi.-, la^t sickness need scarcely he 

 reminded of the great alii-ctioi) they entertained fur 

 each oilier. Tlie Doctor's tribute to. the memory 

 of his friend did not fail to awaken the sympathies 

 of his audience. The lecture was as follows: 



L.UMKS AND OI;NTLI;MHN : I have no doubt .you will 

 excise tin; emotion that is upon me at this time. L-.ist 

 year when I met you In-rc, there was sitting there a man 

 who certainly deserved the great admiration that lias 

 been bestowed upon him, and whose qualities of he.irt 

 wen- Mi jirciit, that although I admired him more thau I 

 ii-lmiie any unr, y.-t I loved him still more. Hisabseiiee 

 to-da\- jn-tiiie-, tin- !-. -Pile's that are uow upon me. 



The lee t HITS I have to deliver here are on a subject 

 which is full of interest, and which deserves more study 

 than it lias obtained. The various eftects produced by 

 nervous torce arc certainly, even for persons wtio have 

 nothing whatever to do \vith medicine, full of interior, 

 ami I may say ot importance. I will go further. I have 

 ini diiub! that per.-o.js who have not at all eni:ae(l in 

 the nn-ilical prote>~ioii could do more perhaps than 

 ph\ -leians, in regard co discovering certain ot the 

 peculiar:! .e-, of nervous force. Physicians un- 

 foriunateh | sjieaK of myself as well as of others 

 an- i'i.i-c- I. Tii'-ir inas prevents progress. They have 

 received ;;n euniMi:,i:i \vaica has t'iveil them certain 



notions. and iii notions prevent a free examination 



of certain questions. Tan unbiased minds of persons 

 who have not studied medicine, or who, if they h i\ e 

 FUldied the loiiml.il ions nl it, have not on^a^eil in tho 



JHMd.ce of Hie |Holi'>MoII, p.TMIir lllein to llives! i-.l I e 



ami discover. J'crhai's a-, a iv,iilt of tlii- lecture that I 

 bhall i lei nrr here, it will lie triveu to some of you to push 

 forward (li-eiix en.-s in th.it line. 



Jlcf.ire enferinn into the proper subject of this lecture 

 it is es.-ential to pa-..-i in review Home of the element a ry 

 (|ne>!ii)ii:-i of physiology. I sliall do it very rapidly. 

 There arc two elements in the nervous >.y.-!em which 

 are united together, but which are, however, absolutely 

 distinct, the one irom thu other. One cousidta in the 

 IHTVC cell, which you see, rcpre.s -nled on ihi- iioar.l. I 

 have made it nearly round, bin it is very rareh that 

 it la so. That cell has atartiu,' from it a number of 



filaments. In tho spinal cord and In the brain 

 those cells generally have cue element entirely 

 diilerent Irom the other*. an.l 111 it element 

 Is similar to the other element we ii i I in the nervous 

 system; that is, lioers. There are therefore two kinds 

 of elements ID the nervous system, the fibers and the 

 cells, with their prolongations. Vv'u it lieco nj-i of tlioso 

 prolon,'at ions is not known, and it m i v p vliaiM remaiu 

 always uuUnown to us in this world. I(i- to be feared 

 thai the power of our microscopes will r. -1111111 pr-tfv 

 ne irly what it is, and if that be the ca-e, tnen we sliall 

 never know much more as regards tho ramilicatioa 

 of those fibers. Bat tho roaj.irlc.ib'.o pjiut of which I 

 have not yet spoken, and waa-h you nu^at to keep in 

 inind, i>, tiiat tho libers of tho un-v.ms system are united 

 with those cells. Within the nervous centers, that is, the 

 br. 1 1:1 and spinal cord, there is bat cue ot those libers 

 united with cells. In other parts oi tl.e body there are 

 cells which have two real libers starting iro.u thorn be- 

 sides the ramilicalious. 



A DEATH-BLOW TO ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 



Now the nervous force la pro.iuuc.l ia tlio-o elements 

 of the nervous system. I Lave, no ne-- 1, of course, to 

 fjive a definition of nervous f irce, or nerve force, as 

 you will perhaps prefer to call it. It is that force which 

 manifests itself iu nervous actions. T le nerve force 

 belongs oul.y to the elements I h.ivo de^-riboj. Are 

 mere any instances in which we can 11 a 1 n -rvo-n foreo 

 without tln^ existence of tliosa two elements t This 

 question is now decided in this way. There are animals 

 in which, and there are circumscauc.es iu man iu 

 which, tho nervous tissue d,>c.s not exHt evidently 

 iu the way I have desi -riiic I, and still there ia 

 a nervous force; so that it appears that nervous 

 force can exist without tho nervous el. -in -uis. TU>TJ 

 are conditions, especially in m mstors, \v.i -rj tuo spinal 

 cord, instead of bemi: or^raaizi-d, is a fluid iu which e\o- 

 ments resembling tkose of tho nervous s\ -<-e:u are not. 

 recognized, and still there is nervous action, and there- 

 fore, nervous force. In some low lorms there are also 

 tissues winch do not represent at all the known elements 

 of the nervous system, but m wiiioh, uey.-riii -le-s, tue.ro 

 is nervous action, and therefore n.-rvous force. A pro- 

 1'csMoual friuud iu Paris has shown tii i' there are cer- 

 tain instances of disease iu man ia whic.i tuo uervoua 

 system is so transformed that it is hard.y r:'c,>.y;niz,ible, 

 and j-et there is every proi:a!'i!ity that it acted, and that 

 nervous force was manifested. 



But tho great question is not there. The jrreat ques- 

 tion its whether the boundaries of the nervous s> stem are 

 also the boundaries iii Health of that m-ivou> force. In 

 other words, cau tho nervous force spring out of tho 

 nervous system to produce som;> action / As regards 

 this, I may say that there arc no tads 10 prove it. You 

 car. eauily undersiand that if I am rulit. tln> is a death- 

 blow to what is called animal loa^netiMii. I'.ut this is a 

 point that wo will debate more at IcniMh by and by. 

 All I wish to say 111 this introdnetory lecture 

 on this point is that there is no like- 

 lihood at all thai nervous force can fret 

 away from tho limits which :IIM con- 

 stiVited by nervous tissue. Thciv is no quest ion, how- 

 t> cr tmt nervous force cau m.uiiiest it -eit outside of 

 the boundaries of the nervous system; b.it it manifests 

 it. -elf ulicn alter having been 1 ranMorm>-il into auotuor 

 force. It is well known that m-rvuiu lore- is trans- 

 formed into motor force. This I am, doinir at prcaonfc. 

 Is i> o-.viiif,' to i-iotor forco that I hav,- any voice at 

 present. 'l'ai> transformation into motor 1'orc . , takes 

 place at every uiumcut of our lives. Otli. r 



