64 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MOXTIILY. 



and flimsy, so that if it did catch fire no loss would ensue. The " plant 

 of machinery " is of small cost in comparison with that used for mak- 

 ing black gunpowder, and Schultze's wood-powder is sold at a price 

 commensurate with its cheap production. An explosive is often " better 

 known than liked," such as gun-cotton ; but Schultze's wood-powder 

 requires only " to be known to be liked," as a trial of it, lately made 

 for the satisfaction of its readers by the conductors of the Land and 

 Water journal, recently showed. Indeed, it was proved to give more 

 penetration than gunpowder, and it costs less. There is also no smoke, 

 and consequently the second barrel can always be used at once, in- 

 stead of waiting for the smoke to clear away, as when using black 

 powder. Belgravia. 



ON THE FUNCTIONS OF THE BKAIN. 



By CLAUDE BEENAED, 



PROFESSOR OF PHYSIOLOGY IN THE COLLEGE OF FRANCE. 

 TRANSLATED FEOM THE EEVTJE DES DEUX MOXDES, BY A. E. MACDONOTJGH, ESQ. 



THE first task of physiology was to localize the functions of life in 

 the various organs of the body which serve as their instruments. 

 Thus digestion was assigned to the stomach, circulation to the heart, 

 respiration to the lungs ; thus, too, the seat of intelligence and thought 

 was placed in the brain. Still, with regard to the latter organ, a 

 reservation was thought proper, excluding the idea that the metaphysi- 

 cal expression of the intellectual and moral powers was the manifesta- 

 tion, simply and merely, of the cerebral function. Descartes, who is 

 to be classed among the promoters of modern physiology, because he 

 thoroughly understood that the explanation of vital phenomena must 

 depend on the general laws of physics and of mechanism, expressed 

 himself very plainly on this matter. Adopting Galen's ideas on the 

 formation of " animal spirits " in the brain, he assigns them the task 

 of distribution by means of the nerves throughout the animated ma- 

 chine, so as to carry to each of the parts the impulse needed for its 

 special activity. Yet, above and apart from this physiological function 

 of the brain, Descartes admits the soul, which gives man the faculty of 

 thinking : it was supposed to have its seat in the pineal gland, and to 

 direct those " animal spirits " which issue from and are subject to it. 



Descartes's opinions as to the function of the brain would not bear 

 the slightest examination by modern physiology ; his explanations, 

 founded on imperfect anatomical knowledge, produced nothing but 

 hypotheses marked by the coarsest mechanical conceptions. Yet they 



