THE FACULTY OF ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. 357 



of the brain in speech, as in the other motor functions. In 

 this connection, it may not be uninteresting to note that, 

 although most anatomists have failed to find any marked 

 difference in the weight of the two cerebral hemispheres, 

 Dr. Boyd has shown by an " examination of nearly two hun- 

 dred cases at St. Marylebone, in which the hemispheres were 

 weighed separately, that almost invariably the weight of the 

 left exceeded that of the right by at least the eighth of an 

 ounce." 1 To conclude our citations of pathological facts bear- 

 ing upon the location in the brain of the organ of speech, 

 we may refer to an account, by Dr. Broadbent, of the brain 

 of a deaf and dumb woman. In this case, the brain was 

 found to be of about the usual weight, but the left third 

 frontal convolution was of " comparatively small size and 

 simple character." a 



Taking into consideration all of the pathological facts 

 bearing upon the subject, it seems certain that, in the great 

 majority of persons, the organ or part presiding over the 

 faculty of articulate language is situated at or near the third 

 frontal convolution and the island of Eeil in the left anterior 

 lobe of the cerebrum, and mainly in the parts nourished by 

 the middle cerebral artery. In some few instances, the or- 

 gan seems to be located in the corresponding part on the 

 right side. It is possible that, originally, both sides preside 

 over speech, and the superiority of the left lobe of the brain 

 over the right and its more constant use by preference in 

 right-handed persons may lead to a gradual abolition of the 

 functions of the right side of the brain, in connection with 

 speech, simply from disuse. This view, however, is hypo- 

 thetical, but is rendered probable by certain considerations, 

 among the most important of which is the statement by 



1 BOTD, Table of the Weights of the Human Body and Internal Organs. 

 Philosophical Transactions, London, 1861, vol. cli., part i., p. 261. 



2 BROADBEXT, On the Cerebral Convolutions of a Deaf and Dumb Woman. 

 Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, Cambridge and London, 1870, vol. iv., p. 

 225. 



