lo THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



evidence of perception and will ? Would they not be movements per- 

 formed with a definite purpose — the very best possible under the cir- 

 cumstances — to escape from the irritation, even though the brain were 

 unconscious of them ? It must be remembered that consciousness is 

 not the necessary accompaniment of volition, as we shall presently see 

 from examples I shall adduce ; and this being the case, I can not avoid 

 the conclusion that actions performed under the circumstances I have 

 stated would be based upon perception and done through the power 

 of volition. 



Warm-blooded animals are for many reasons not suitable subjects 

 for experiments such as are required in the study of the phenomena 

 under consideration, but in some of the lower animals, as the frog, for 

 instance, we find those conditions jDresent which fit them for such in- 

 vestigations. Thus, if the entire brain be removed from a frog, the 

 animal will continue to perform those functions which are immediately 

 connected with the maintenance of life. The heart beats, the stomach 

 digests, and the glands of the body continue to elaborate the several 

 secretions proper to them. These actions are immediately due to the 

 sympathetic system, though they soon cease if the S2)inal cord be mate- 

 rially injured. But, in addition, still more striking movements are 

 effected — movements which are well calculated to excite astonishment 

 in those who see them for the first time, and who have embraced the 

 idea that all intelligence resides in the brain. For instance, if in such 

 a frog the webs between the toes be pinched, the limb is immediately 

 withdrawn ; if the shoulder be scratched with a needle, the hind-foot 

 of the same side is raised to remove the instrument ; if the animal is 

 held up by one leg, it struggles ; if placed on its back — a position to 

 which frogs have a great antipathy — it immediately turns over on its 

 belly ; if one foot be held firmly with a pair of forceps, the frog en- 

 deavors to draw it away ; if unsuccessful, it places the other foot 

 against the instrument and pushes firmly in the effort to remove it ; 

 still not succeeding, it writhes the body fi-om side to side, and makes 

 a movement forward. 



All these and even more complicated motions are performed by the 

 decapitated alligator, and in fact may be witnessed to some extent in 

 all animals. I have repeatedly seen the headless body of the rattle- 

 snake coil itself into a threatening attitude, and, when irritated, strike 

 its bleeding trunk against the offending body. Upon one occasion, a 

 teamster on the Western plains had decapitated one of these reptiles 

 with his whip, and, while bending down to examine it more carefully, 

 was struck by it full in the forehead ; so powerful was the shock to 

 his nervous system that he fainted and remained insensible for several 

 minutes. According to Maine de Biran, Perrault reports that a viper 

 whose head had been cut off moved determinedly toward its hole in 

 the wall, I have performed a great many experiments and made 

 numerous observations relative to the matter, and have for a number 



