8o Journal of Comparative Neurology. 



fact that at first it was not thought worth while to study other 

 than human brains. So the human condition was taken for the 

 standard ; and when the brains of the lower mammals came to 

 be studied they were warped into an agreement with the 

 assumed standard condition found in man. 



Now this is a serious error. For the human cerebellum 

 represents a highly specialized form. It is, in fact, a morpho- 

 logical monstrosity and can in no sense be taken for the typical 

 mammalian organ. The writer also believes that certain of the 

 morphologically distinct regions have not been recognized, that 

 parts of the same morphological integer have not been consid- 

 ered as such, and that we have as yet no exact standard for com- 

 parison. 



The writer's idea is that the typical mammalian cerebellum 

 would be a composite drawn from careful comparisons of the cere- 

 bellums of all the different orders. Because, — 



1. The fundamental plan appears to be the same for all. 



2. A given region or feature may be excessively devel- 

 oped in one order and almost obliterated in another order. 



Having thus briefly indicated a few reasons why, in the 

 writer's opinion, the present terminology of the cerebellum 

 should be modified, it is only proper to state the opinions of 

 some of the authorities on encephalic anatomy. 



More than twenty yeas ago Professor Wilder (34) remarked: 



" But the part most enveloped in obscurity, as to its de- 

 velopment, its structure, its functions, its size, nay, its very ex- 

 istence, is the cerebellum." 



"The development of the brain is treated only as a divis- 

 ion of embryology and as such is apt to be overlooked until af- 

 ter the time when it might be most useful in aiding the compre- 

 hension of the organ." — Idem (35, 142). 



" Usually the adult human brain is the first and only ob- 

 ject of examination and is taken as the standard of comparison ; 

 if animal brains are studied at all they are often taken as they 

 come, or as anatomical rarities, not selected in accordance with 

 a principle which might indicate the probable degree of their use- 

 fulness. The comprehension of the macroscopic morphology of 



