PROGRESS IN EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 



nerve cell even of every body cell. Indeed, an ultimate 

 analysis relegates all intellection, in its primordial adum- 

 brations, to every particle of living matter. But such 

 refinements of analysis, after all, cannot hide the fact 

 that certain forms of higher intellection involve a pretty 

 definite collocation and elaboration of special sensations. 

 Such specialization, indeed, seems a necessary accompani- 

 ment of mental evolution. That every such specialized 

 function has its localized centres of co-ordination, of some 

 such significance as the demonstrated centres of articu- 

 late speech, can hardly be in doubt though this, be it 

 understood, is an induction, not as yet a demonstration. 

 In other words, there is every reason to believe that nu- 

 merous "centres," in this restricted sense, exist in the 

 brain that have as yet eluded the investigator. Indeed, 

 the current conception regards the entire cerebral cortex 

 as chiefly composed of centres of ultimate co-ordination 

 of impressions, which in their cruder form are received 

 by more primitive nervous tissues the basal ganglia, 

 the cerebellum, and medulla, and the spinal cord. This 

 of course is equivalent to postulating the cerebral cortex 

 as the exclusive seat of higher intellection. This prop- 

 osition, however, to which a safe induction seems to lead, 

 is far afield from the substantiation of the old conception 

 of brain localization, which was based on faulty psy- 

 chology, and equally faulty inductions from few premises. 

 The details of Gall's system, as propounded by genera- 

 tions of his mostly unworthy followers, lie quite beyond 

 the pale of scien ti fie d iscussion . Yet, as I have said, a germ 

 of truth was there the idea of specialization of cerebral 

 functions and modern investigators have rescued that 

 central conception from the phrenological rubbish heap 

 in which its discoverer unfortunately left it buried. 



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