LANGUAGE AND BRAIN DISEASE. 775 



wholly constructed of wood. Stone was feared, owing to the 

 chances of earthquakes. While there, I visited the church of 

 St. Francis, built of adobes a century before, and it had stood 

 firm and secure all that time. It occurs to me but I have no 

 right to speak as an expert that a house built of thick mud 

 walls and wooden joists and rafters would be tolerably safe dur- 

 ing an earthquake, unless it was a very severe shock ; such a 

 house would also be safer than a wooden one from fire, which 

 has always been a great danger in San Francisco. 



LANGUAGE AND BRAIN DISEASE. 



By HOWELL T. PERSHING, M. So., M. D. 



"ATOTWITHSTANDING the great number of persons engaged 

 -L-^ in learning and teaching languages, there is no general agree- 

 ment as to what is the best method that can be employed. Indeed, 

 there seems to be no belief that there can be one method which is 

 best for both modern and ancient languages, for the pupil who 

 must learn to converse and for him who wishes only to read. Nev- 

 ertheless, there are well-ascertained facts concerning the brain, 

 which point unmistakably to one method as the best. Hence, I 

 have ventured to believe that all engaged in linguistic work 

 would find it interesting and profitable to consider these facts, 

 which, though far outside the linguist's usual field, are capable of 

 throwing a strong light upon his work. 



All the motions and sensations of the various parts of the 

 body are represented on the surface of the brain as on a map. 

 Thus, there is a separate brain area necessary for sight, another 

 for hearing, another for the motions of the fingers, and so on. 

 Each of these areas is called a center. Four of these are es- 

 pecially concerned in the use of language, and may therefore be 

 called language centers: the auditory center, by which words 

 are heard ; the motor speech center, which excites and controls 

 the vocal organs in speaking ; the visual center, by which written 

 words are seen ; and the writing center, which guides the motions 

 of the hand in writing. These centers are capable of individual 

 development by practice, and, in order that each one may receive 

 its due share of cultivation, it is necessary to know its relative 

 importance in the different ways of using language. 



Disease instructs us on this point by making some interesting 

 though ruthless experiments. Inflammation, or the growth of 

 a tumor, or the rupture or plugging of a blood-vessel, may de- 

 stroy any of these centers, involving, of course, a loss of the cor- 

 responding function. Consequently, the various defects in the 



