62 Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology. 



THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON BRAIN RESEARCH. 



The idea of appointing a special commission to advise the 

 International Association of Academies as to the means best 

 calculated to advance and coordinate research work on the brain 

 originated, so far as I am aware, with the late Professor His. 

 He formulated a somewhat ambitious scheme, the main idea of 

 which was the foundation in each country of a central institute 

 to, in a sense, control the research work being done in that 

 particular country and to serve as a means of communication 

 with similar institutes in other countries. The function of these 

 institutes was to receive material for research, sent by people 

 who did not particularly want it, and to distribute it to workers 

 to whom it would prove of special value ; to receive and store 

 specimens, photographs and other records of research, so that 

 any worker might have the opportunity of examining the actual 

 material upon which published memoirs were based. The au- 

 thor of the scheme hoped that by means of such institutes more 

 uniformity might be introduced in the methods of research, and 

 in the presentment of results; that the data upon which inves- 

 tigations were founded might be rendered more accessible than 

 heretofore and so a common source of disagreement among 

 workers might be removed ; and especially that valuable ma- 

 terial might be directed into those channels where the best use 

 might be made of it. 



To discuss this proposed scheme a special commission of 

 thirty-five members representing fourteen nationalities was ap- 

 pointed. It was subdivided into seven sub-sections of five 

 members each to consider the scheme from the standpoints of 

 (i) Human Anatomy and Anthropology, (2) Comparative Anat- 

 omy, (3) Histology, (4) Embryology, (5) Physiology, (6) Path- 

 ology and (7) Clinical Medicine. 



The Commission met in London in the last week of May 

 without its leader and prime mover, without the one man whose 

 quiet persistency could have brought any measure of success 

 in the realization of his scheme: Professor His died in Leipzig 

 three weeks before the meeting. 



