44 



HANDBOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY '-^ NEUROPHYSIOLOGY I 



FIG. 29. Two investigators of the cerebellum, Pierre Fiourens 

 (1794- 1 867) and Luigi Luciani (i 840-1 921). 



of its bizarre concepts, phrenology had a surprisingly 

 wide acceptance for a considerable period even 

 among the medical profession. It was to the psychol- 

 ogists (although that term was not yet in use) that 

 phrenology particularly appealed, for it was the first 

 major consideration of mental characteristics as 

 attributes of brain function. 



One of the more prominent men to attack Gall's 

 doctrines was Fiourens who made a sweeping rejec- 

 tion of all such ideas, denying the brain any discretely 

 localized action. But Fiourens' monograph (251) 

 appeared some years after the deaths of Gall and 

 Spurzheim both of whom had built up comfortable 

 careers out of their speciality. Fiourens recognized 

 three major functional regions of the brain (the 

 cerebral hemispheres, the medulla and the cere- 

 bellum), but within these entities he envisaged their 

 action as global and their roles as being sensory, vital 

 and motor, respectively. Concerning the cerebral 

 hemispheres he said that animals that survive their 

 removal "lose perception, judgment, memory and 

 will . . . therefore the cerebral hemispheres are the 

 sole site of perception and all intellectual abilities" 

 (252). He did not hesitate to infer subjective qualities 

 and faculties. In one of the more renowned of his 

 experiments (253) he had kept a pigeon alive after 

 removal of its cerebral hemispheres. The bird was 



■251. Flourens, Pierre (1794-1867). Examai de Phremlogie. 

 Paris, 1842; English translation by D. de L. Meigs. 

 Phrenology Examined. Philadelphia, 1846. 



252. Flourens, P. Recherches experimentales sur les proprietes et les 

 fonctions du systeme nerveux dans les animaux verlebres. Paris: 

 Crevot, 1824. 



253. Flourens, P. Arcli. gen, de med. 2: 321, 1823. 



'blind' and 'deaf and appeared to be asleep although 

 it stirred when poked. Flourens went so far as to say 

 that the bird lost its volition and "even the faculty of 

 dreaming." He noted that it retained the sense of 

 equilibrium and that its pupils still reacted to light. 

 Others repeating Flourens' experiments were uncon- 

 vinced, for their decerebrate pigeons could be starded 

 by a loud noise and could avoid obstacles. 



Since sudden death followed section of the medulla, 

 Flourens concluded that here lay the essential mecha- 

 nism for respiration and the maintenance of life. In 

 this conclusion he had of course been anticipated by 

 Legallois. Much of Flourens' fame as an experimental- 

 ist derived from his observation that extirpation of the 

 cerebellum (in birds and mammals) caused loss of 

 coordinated movement. Flourens, who.se interest lay 

 so deeply in the elucidation of the control of voluntary 

 movement, was himself to suffer paralysis for a long 

 period before his death. 



In the 1820's when Fluorens was pursuing these 

 experiments, many workers were 'mutilating' ani- 

 mals (to use Gall's phrase) (254), and some jockeying 

 for priority was inevitai)le. Most of Flourens' observa- 

 tions, particularly those on the cerebellum, had been 

 anticipated by Rolando at Sassari, whose treatise 

 (255) of 1809 (written in the Italian language and 

 printed and illustrated ijy himself) was therefore re- 

 published in French in an abbreviated form in 1824 

 C256). 



Rolando did not succeed in keeping his animals 

 alive. Even his tortoises died after removal of their 

 brains, although Fontana who had been successful 

 with these animals showed him his own technique. 

 Many of Rolando's conclusions (257) were therefore 

 incorrect since he mistook surgical shock for paralysis. 

 Less ruthless extirpations, of the hemispheres only, he 

 found to be compatible with life. Rolando believed 

 the cerebellum to be a kind of 'voltaic pile' and the 

 source of all movement. Flourens thought it merely 

 the regulator. Magendie (258) disagreed, holding 

 cerebellar function to be maintenance of equilibrium. 



254. Gall, F. J. Stir les fonctions du cerveau et sur eelles de chacune 

 de ses parties. Paris, 1822-1825. 6 vol. 



255. Rolando, Luigi (1773-1831). Saggio sopra la vera strutlura 

 del cervello delV uorno de degi animali e sopra le funzioni del 

 ststerna nervoso. Sassari, 1 809. 



256. Rolando, L. Experiences sur les fonctions du systeme 

 nerveu.x. J. physiol. exper. et path. 3: 95, 1823. 



257. Rolando, L. Osservazioni sul cervelletto. Mem. reale 

 aecad. sc. Turin 29: 163, 1825. 



258. Magendie, F. Precis elhnenlaire de Physiologic. Paris, 1825; 

 English translation by E. Mulligan. Edinburgh: C^arfrae, 

 1826. 



