70 NEKVOUS SYSTEM. 



an elaborate review of the whole subject, being prompted to 

 do so by the perusal of what purported to be an exact reprint 

 of the original pamphlet by Charles Bell. 1 This pamphlet 

 was printed for private circulation in 1811, and was never 

 published. It has been entirely inaccessible, and its con- 

 tents were only to be divined by references and quotations 

 in the subsequent writings of Sir Charles Bell and of his 

 brother-in-law, Mr. Shaw. 



Physiological literature does not present another instance 

 of the merit of a great discovery resting upon references to 

 an unpublished pamphlet, which no student could possibly 

 consult in the original, none of these references, upon close 

 analysis, proving to be entirely distinct and satisfactory. It 

 is not to be wondered at, therefore, that in our study of the 

 origin of one of the greatest discoveries of all ages, a reprint 

 of the original memoir should be examined with the most 

 critical care. That this reprint was correct, seemed probable 

 from a comparison of its text with the quotations from 

 the original to be found in the writings of Sir Charles Bell 

 and Mr. Shaw, and from the testimony of reviewers who 

 claimed to have compared it with the original. 8 "Within a 

 short time, however, an authorized reprint in full, from a 

 manuscript in the hands of the widow of the author, has ap- 

 peared in the Journal of Anatomy? This reprint corre- 

 sponds exactly with the text in the "Documents and Dates" 



"When the only reprint of the celebrated pamphlet of Sir 

 Charles Bell was itself excessively rare, as is the case with 

 the "Documents and Dates" we thought it desirable to 

 make long quotations to show the ideas entertained by 



1 Documents and Dates of Modern Discoveries in the Nervous System, London, 

 Jolm Churchill, 1839, p. 37, et seq. 



2 The London Medical and Physical Journal, 1829, vol. Ixii., p. 525, and voL 

 Ixiii., p. 40. The British and Foreign Medico- Chirurgical Review, London, 1840, 

 vol. ix., p. 98. 



3 Reprint of the "Idea of a new Anatomy of the Brain ; submitted for the 

 Observations of his Friends,' 1 ' 1 by CHARLES BELL, F. R. S. E. Journal of Anatomy 

 and Physiology, Cambridge and London, 1869, vol. in., p. 147, et seq. 



