l64 



NATURE 



[May 20, 1920 



showed that the thalamus is concerned with the 

 affective side of consciousness, and deals with 

 crude awareness to contact, heat, cold, and pain; 

 while the sensory cortex exercises the rdle of dis- 

 crimination and endows the basic functions of the 

 thalamus with spatial qualities, intensity and re- 

 lativity. 



The war afforded Dr. Head the opportunity for 

 testing- his theories as to the functions of -the 

 sensory cortex on a large scale. He made an 

 intensive study of fifty men with strictly localised 

 bullet wounds of the post-central convolution and 

 the areas adjoining- it in front and behind : as the 

 result he has revolutionised our conceptions of 

 the nature of the work of the cerebral cortex. 



Destruction of the sensory cortex causes a dis- 

 sociation between the spatial and the qualitative 

 aspects of sensation. The patient loses the power 

 of recognising movements or the posture of the 

 affected parts : he can no longer localise the posi- 

 tion of the stimulus, or respond adequately to 

 variations in its intensity : he has no idea of the 

 size, shape, weight, or texture of an object in 

 contact with his body. Yet he can appreciate 

 the tactile, painful, and thermal aspects of the 

 impressions it evokes. 



Thus it is possible to recognise the qualitative 

 aspects of a sensation without of necessity obtain- 

 ing any information concerning the stimulating 

 object, as a constituent of the external world. 

 Sensory qualities, and the affective states with 

 which they are associated, are in themselves dis- 

 continuous. They are relative to ourselves, and 



appear and disappear in consciousness, without 

 leaving any connective factor in the activities of 

 the mind. 



On the other hand, the projected aspects of 

 sensation relate these qualities, not to ourselves, 

 but to the external world. An " object " might 

 be defined as a complex of projected sensory re- 

 sponses. These functions of the cortex are not 

 only responsible for sensory projection in space, 

 but also ensure recognition of sequence in time. 

 The power of recognising serial movements 

 in both space and time seems to be based on the 

 same physiological processes. They give us a 



I direct appreciation of succession : this is trans- 



I lated into sensations of serial movement in either 



j space or time, according to the nature of the con- 



I comitant sensory impulses. 



I These physiological responses, which are so 

 clearly bound up with the activities of the sen- 



\ sory cortex, are characterised by a strict depend- 

 ence on past events. All projected sensations 

 leave behind them a coherent train of physiological 



I dispositions : thus a movement occurring at one 

 moment is measured against the consequences of 

 those which have preceded it. 



It is difficult to estimate the magnitude of the 

 vast revolution in our conception of the functions 

 of the cerebral cortex that we are witnessing. 

 Moreover, Dr. Head's work lays the foundation of 

 a new and true psychology and illuminates the age- 

 long problem of the relationship of body and mind. 

 It is a matter for just pride that we owe this new 

 vision to an Englishman. 



Obituary. 



Principal R. M. Burrows. 



KING'S COLLEGE and the whole University of 

 London have suffered grievous loss by the 

 death of Dr. Ronald Burrows. Born on August 16, 

 1867, Dr. Burrows went from Charterhouse to 

 Christ Church, Oxford, with a scholarship, and 

 took his degree in 1890 with first class honours in 

 Classical Moderations and Literae Hiimaniores. 

 After five years as assistant to Prof. Gilbert 

 Murray, who then held the Greek chair at Glasgow, 

 he was appointed professor of Greek at Cardiff in 

 1898, and rejoined his Cardiff colleague, Dr. R. S. 

 Conway, as Greek professor in Manchester in 

 1908. By travel, during these years, in the Medi- 

 terranean, he had gained valuable experience of 

 topography and excavation, and also that first- 

 hand knowledge of the modern politics of Greece 

 and the Balkan States which served him so well 

 in later years. His published work, mainly about 

 Greek battlefields^ ancient sites in Boeotia (where 

 he conducted most instructive excavations at 

 Rhitsona and the Delion), and the newly revealed 

 Minoan civilisation, gained him the degree of 

 D.Litt. in the University of Oxford in 1910, and 

 his "Discoveries in Crete," published in 1907, 

 went into a third edition. 



An excellent scholar, a vigorous and fluent 

 NO. 2638, VOL. 105] 



writer, and a teacher of untiring drive and wide 

 humanity, Dr. Burrows contributed much to " save 

 Greek " during a difficult period by the simple and 

 characteristic method of making his pupils in- 

 terested in it, and infecting them with his own 

 keenness; and this did not stop "out of school." 

 His lifelong interest in young lads, and his strenu- 

 ous and successful work for the Cardiff University 

 Settlement and for the Ardwick Lads' Club at 

 Manchester, were for him all of a piece with the 

 " humanities " of which his Greek studies should be 

 the crown. He enjoyed life and enjoyed people, 

 and his sunny temper and good fellowship were the 

 happy counterpart of his learning and judgment. 



Dr. Burrows moved from Manchester to King's 

 College as principal in 1913, at a time of crisis and 

 manifold difficulty. Apart from other qualifica- 

 tions, he had, as was said, "more bishops in his 

 family " than had all the other candidates put 

 together, and more experience, too, than most 

 of other " happy families " where sciences and 

 arts could "live and let live." His width of in- 

 terests and sympathies, enabling him to bring 

 in new subjects to restore the balance between 

 them and the old ; his ready speech and de- 

 bating skill ; and his real grasp of principles and 

 policies, gave him a position which experience con- 



