Editorial, Neurology and Psychology. 189 



The attempts which the more inquisitive or venturesome 

 students made to awaken activities of the cerebrum by elec- 

 tric stimulation proving ineffectual, the whole territory of 

 the cerebrum was abandoned until a fortunate accident dur- 

 ing the Franco-Prussian war gave the impetus to observation 

 and research. While operating upon a woimded brain, 

 Fritsch had occasion to apply the galvanic current and was 

 astonished to observe twitching of certain groups of muscles. 

 The close of the war afforded Fritsch and Hitzig opportunity 

 to apply the suggestion and experimentally verify the conclu- 

 sions reached. 



It was soon seen that the opening or closing of the cur- 

 rent constituted the necessary stimulus, and that an intermit- 

 tent current might be employed in the irritation of various 

 parts of the cortex, with the result of invariably producing 

 localized muscular contractions in some regions and awaken- 

 ing no reaction in others. These investigators openly avowed 

 their belief that all psychical functions which owe their 

 origin to excitement of the nerves or produce such excitation 

 have localized areas upon the cerebral cortex. 



The next step naturally was the verification of these sug- 

 gestions by the removal of those areas to which the various 

 functions were attributed. But extirpation did not at once 

 perform what was expected of it. Its results were often am- 

 biguous. Hitzig observed as a result of extirpation, loss of 

 muscular sense or recollection of previous motions. 



Carville and Duret(') applied the term " paralysie de la 

 motricite volontaire corticale " to this disturbance of function 

 which by some observers was considered as loss of sensation. 

 So Nothnagel( ') and Schiff. 



Nothnagel called attention to the fact that the loss 

 was sooner or later made good, and a gradual restoration of 

 function followed. He believed that this fact militated 

 asrainst the belief in exact cerebral localization. 



1 Arch, de Physiologie norm, et pathol. 1875. 



2 Virchow's AfrchJVj Bd. 57, 1873. 



