278 BRAINS OF RATS AND MEN 



their previous reactions as to facilitate certain kinds 

 of function when reactivated in any way. 



This is the backward view of cortical functions. 

 Recurring to our analogy of the seismograph, it is re- 

 called that this mechanism has a forward or prospec- 

 tive reference in that the observer can use the com- 

 pleted record of responses to earth tremors which are 

 registered upon it to report a distant earthquake in, 

 say, the West Indies and perhaps to predict future 

 shocks. The machine was designed for this purpose 

 and it behaves as intended. We say, the observer 

 interprets the meaning of the record. 



In the case of the seismograph the designer and 

 the interpreter are external to the mechanism, but in 

 the case of the cerebral cortex both of these are inter- 

 nal to it; they are intrinsic, not extrinsic. The ma- 

 chine has been fabricated as it is in the course of its 

 phylogenetic and ontogenetic development through 

 its own reactions to external energies and materials; 

 and the machine interprets its own behavior by virtue 

 of this inner design. 



It is not some adventitious, detached, or detach- 

 able soul or consciousness who, when certain images 

 are formed on the retina with consequent nervous 

 reverberations, says, "This is an outcrop of coal; my 

 experience tells me that coal is a valuable commodity; 

 I will form a company to mine this coal and thereby 

 acquire great wealth." It is the function of the eye to 

 form such images, of the retina to transform them 



