SELF-PRESERVATION AND THE MENTAL LIFE 143 



adapt himself to his surroundings. And one further 

 fact of great interest ha this relation may be men- 

 tioned. If disease implicates the internal capsule 

 (the bands of nerve fibers converging from the rind 

 on their way to the base of the brain) so as to inter- 

 rupt the fibers coming from both frontal lobes of the 

 brain, there is a very striking loss of emotional 

 control. There is no sadder sight than a person 

 who has suffered injury to the cerebral machinery in 

 these parts, for although the lesion may be small, it 

 suffices to occasion a degree of painful emotion that 

 cannot be witnessed without arousing vivid feelings 

 of pity. This one fact is all we know definitely 

 about the emotions in their relations to strictly 

 local lesions. 



A large array of facts might be paraded to empha- 

 size the dependence of brain function on structural 

 integrity, but this is unnecessary. The doctrine of 

 the existence of definite " centers" in the brain is 

 established beyond question. It is, however, only 

 fair for us to admit that our knowledge of these 

 centers is still imperfect and far from what we desire. 

 We know that the cerebral cortex can be divided into 

 areas, showing distinct differences in microscopical 

 structure. But the details are lacking in respect 

 to the intimate organization of these parts. We 

 cannot even say that the anatomical fields of the 

 cortex in their structure coincide closely with the 

 functions revealed by experiment and by pathology. 

 The glib talk about the depositing of memories and 



