530 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. t 



The cases of disease of the cerebellum do not prove 

 much; for the same affections of the genital organs are more 

 generally observed in diseases, and in experimental irrita- 

 tions, of the medulla oblongata and upper part of the 

 spinal cord (Longet). 



The facts drawn from craniological examination will 

 receive the credit given to the system of which they are a 

 principal evidence. But, in opposition to tBein, it must be 

 stated that there has been a case of complete disorganiza- 

 tion or absence of the cerebellum without loss of sexual 

 passion (Combiette, Longet, and Cruveilhier) ; that the 

 cocks from whom M. Flourens removed the cerebellum 

 showed sexual desire, though they were incapable of 

 gratifying it ; and that among animals there is no pro- 

 portion observable between the size of the cerebellum 

 and the development of the sexual passion. On the con- 

 trary, many instances may be mentioned in which a larger 

 sexual appetite co-exists with a smaller cerebellum ; as 

 e.g., that rays and eels, which are among the fish that 

 copulate, have not laminae on their almost rudimental 

 cerebella; and that cod-fish, which do not copulate, but 

 deposit their generative fluids in the water, have com- 

 paratively well-developed cerebella. Among the Amphibia, 

 the sexual passion is apparently very strong in frogs and 

 toads ; yet the cerebellum is only a narrow bar of nervous 

 substance. Among birds there is no enlargement of the 

 cerebellum in the males that are polygamous ; the domes- 

 tic cock's cerebellum is not larger than the hen's, though 

 his sexual passion must be estimated at many times greater 

 than hers. Among Mammalia the same rule holds ; and 

 in this class the experiments of M. Lassaigne have plainly 

 shown that the abolition of the sexual passion by removal 

 of the testes in early life is not followed by any diminu- 

 tion of the cerebellum; for in mares and stallions the 

 average absolute weight of the cerebellum is 61 grains, 

 and in geldings 70 grains ; and its proportionate weight, 



