198 



NATURE 



[October 7, 1920 



tions. The loss of function in aphasia might there- 

 fore be indicated as that of "propositionising." But 

 though this term suggests a conception which covers 

 the larger number oifacts, it does not comprise every 

 aspect of the loss of function. Dr. Head suggested, 

 therefore, that these functions should be spoken of as 

 ■' symbolic thinking and expression," though even this 

 phrase does not quite satisfactorily define the group 

 of processes affected. It is not all symbolic repre- 

 sentations, but symbols used in a particular manner 

 which suffer in these disorders. There are four fairly 

 ■well marked groups of functions into which he now 

 proposed to divide " symbolic thinking and expres- 

 sion " on the ground that they are dissociated in 

 different ways under the influence of organic injury. 

 These are (i) verbal defects, (2) syntactical defects, 

 {3) nominal defects, and (4) semantic defects. 



Dr. Mourgue's contribution was in no sense opposed 

 to Dr. Head's conclusions. It dealt with a rather 

 •different asf>ect of the case, and seemed indeed to 

 supplement the general theory in a remarkable way. 

 Dr. Mourgue had given particular attention to some 

 characteristic cases of aphasia in which the sufferers 

 ■were themselves skilled in the treatment of the dis- 

 order and able on recovery to record and analyse their 

 experience. The particular cases cited were the 

 autodiagnosis of Dr. Saloz and Prof. Forel, and 

 also a case recorded by van Woerkeni. In all 

 these cases the speechlessness of the aphasic state 

 ■was comparable with the kind of indistinctness of 

 psychical elements often experienced in the dream 

 state. There was complete preservation of intuitive 

 thought, but absence of imagery, or at least of verbal 

 imagery. The will is unaffected, and may even show 

 exaltation, but there is an absence of discrimination 

 and differentiation — characters which, from a some- 

 what different point of view, Prof. Bergson has 

 described as essentially belonging to intelligence. 



Prof. Bergson said that the communication which 

 Dr. Head had presented constituted a complete rejec- 

 tion of the theory of aphasia which for a long time 

 had been classic. It offered in its place the quite new 

 theory that aphasia was the disorder of a special 

 faculty of symbolising, which might be said to be a 

 certain aspect of intelligence. The classical theory 

 of aphasia might be described as a complete meta- 

 physic. So long ago as the years 1892 and 1893 he 

 had himself been led by a question of pure meta- 

 physics to study the relation of mind and body. He 

 found that philosophers had given us only very vague 

 ideas on this subject, and he determined, therefore, 

 to study the facts of the relation without any philo- 

 sophical presuppositions. It was extraordinarily 

 ambitious, for he had no technical- scientific equip- 

 ment. Gradually, however, the problem of the 

 relation of mind and body transformed and 

 narrowed itself into the problem of the relation 

 of memory to the brain, then of the memory of 

 words, and then of the meaning of words. Sur- 

 prise followed surprise. The theory of Broca then 

 held the field, complicated by the work of Kussmann 

 and Lichtheim. Nerves converge on nervous centres, 

 there are strange communications between the 

 centres, the path from A to B is not the same as the 

 path from B to A, and every theory called for some 

 new theories to explain each particular case studied. 

 He appealed to his neurologist and psychologist 

 friends, but he was ill-received ; and when some years 

 later he attacked their theories in his book he was 

 looked on with pity. He was not surprised, there- 

 fore, when Prof. Pierre Marie gave the results of his 

 anatomical researches, based on Broca's work, and, 

 indeed, on a restudy of the actual brain which Broca 

 had dissected. Long before this, psychologv had itself 

 shown the old theory to be impossible. The theory 

 NO. 2658, VOL. 106] 



had, in fact, broken down before a psychology of 

 common sense which called for scarcely any effort of . 

 introspection. K perception, in fact, is already < 

 memory, for a perception has duration. .\ part of the 

 perception is memory, therefore, even while the p< r- 

 ception still remains. Where does perception begin 

 to be past? .All the hvpothescs were contradicted by 

 simple self-observation.' Prof. Pierre Marie proceeded 

 to demonstrate a new theory of aphasia. He reduced 

 it to two things : (i) -A certain disorder of articulation 

 which he named anarthfie, and (2) a certain enfeeble- 

 ment of intelligence. 



Prof. Bergson then referred to his own studies of 

 aphasia. What had struck him most forcibly in the 

 records of a great number of cases was a certain 

 powerlessness in the patient to analyse or decompose 

 his perception. Deafness to words was a concomitant 

 symptom rather than a distinct factor. There were 

 cases where persons after complete recovery and 

 restoration had described their experience by saying 

 that they heard 4)erfectly well, but seemed to' be 

 listening to a continuous sonorous blur. One of 

 Charcot's patients could hear the clock strike quite 

 well, but could not distinguish the strokes. In verbal 

 blindness, another form of aphasia, it is very remark- 

 able to observe in some of the cases the difficulty the 

 person has to decompose and analyse his perception. 

 He will want, for example, to write a letter of the 

 alphabet, and may succeed, but he will begin where 

 he would not ordinarily begin ; he is seen to lack 

 the sense of the organisation of the letter, and when 

 he produces it he has not synthetically constructed it. 

 When we listen to persons speaking a foreign lan- 

 guage we are in the condition of some of these 

 aphasics. We hear perfectly, but we cannot repeat 

 the whole of the sounds ; they appear to us crushed, 

 as it were, into a formless mass without bones or 

 joints, a sonorous continuity. He had himself, fol- 

 lowing another line of investigation, been led to attri- 

 bute capital importance to nascent movements, ten- 

 dencies, and outlined actions — movements sketched, 

 as it were, and not carried out. An idea is a grouping 

 together of virtual actions. The continuity of thought 

 is simply a continuity of attitudes and of virtual move- 

 ments not executed, sometimes scarcely delineated. 

 The brain, and in particular the cerebral cortex, indi- 

 cates an enormous number of initiated actions. 

 Instead of considering the spinal cord as a diminished 

 brain, we ought to think of the brain as a completed 

 spinal cord. Coming back to the special case of 

 aphasia, he asked himself whether, in order to under- 

 stand speech, we had not got to undertake a work of 

 disintegration of the movements of articulation, 

 neither completely voluntary nor completely auto- 

 matic. There are certain beginnings of movements 

 which are not carried out. Thev are partly automatic, 

 partly voluntary, for our mind projects our actions in 

 advance of their accomplishment. 



Prof. Bergson concluded bv expressing his profound 

 admiration of Dr. Head's researches on the question 

 of aphasia ; they appeared to him of capital import- 

 ance for psychologv, and even for metaphysics. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Birmingham. — An appeal is being issued for 500,000?. 

 in aid of the funds of the University. The finances 

 are in a critical condition; there is a debt of 130,000?., 

 which absorbs at present 8000?. per annum, necessary 

 extensions of building have had to be made, the 

 staff is deplorably underpaid, and the entry of new 

 students is a heavy one. In spite of the 25 per cent, 

 increase in the fees of new students, these fees will 

 still represent only about 30 per cent, of the cost of 



