66 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



believe in their great practical value until national distress and panic 

 legislation ensue. The love of money also, and the desire of acquir- 

 ing it quickly without commensurate sacrifice, fostered by our having 

 so easily obtained it by means of our coal and science, are so strong in 

 this nation, that probably nothing but the actual loss of wealth in the 

 form of diminished value of properties will induce capitalists and land- 

 owners to perceive and examine the scientific basis of their incomes. 

 When, however, the stern reality of gradually increasing scarcity of 

 coal, and consequent inability to pay for our great supplies of foreign 

 food by means of that coal, and of articles produced by its aid, comes 

 upon us, perhaps the statesmen and wealthy classes of this country 

 will see the indispensable necessity of new scientific knowledge, and be 

 more ready to promote experimental research, with a conviction that 

 its practical results are vast, though not always direct or immediate. 

 Nature. 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND CONSCIOUSNESS. 



Bt w. e. benedict, 



PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AND LOGIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI. 



II. 



MY former paper gave an outline account of the structure of the 

 cerebro-spinal nervous system. The functions of this system 

 were examined as far as to the cerebral hemispheres. It was said that 

 we lacked evidence for the appearance of consciousness in connection 

 with the activities of the spinal cord, the medulla oblongata, the pons 

 Varolii, and the cerebellum. It was also affirmed that, if consciousness 

 be associated with the activities of any organs below the cerebrum, 

 this consciousness is of a general and vague kind, not the intelligence 

 of clear perception. 



The present paper is to state the functions of the cerebral hemi- 

 spheres, as far as these functions are thought to be established by re- 

 cent experiment and pathology. 



"We shall need to refresh our minds by a general view of the cere- 

 brum. Looking at this organ from the side, we readily distinguish its 

 so-called lobes or divisions. These are made by the fissures or fur- 

 rows which dip down from the surface, penetrating, more or less 

 deeply, the entire mass. 



The prominent fissures are the fissure of Sylvius (S, Fig. 1) and 

 the fissure of Rolando (R, Fig. 1). The fissure of Sylvius separates, 

 in part, the temporo-sphenoidal lobe from the lobes above, and has two 

 branches, a longer, horizontal branch (s), and a shorter, perpendicular 

 branch (s'). If we push apart the brain-mass at the horizontal branch, 

 we will see the nerve-matter called the Island of Reil. This is simply 

 an additional fold of cell and fiber substance lying over the corpus 



