Chap. XXV.] PHRENOLOGY : OLD AND NEW. 529 



the mere cortex of one Cerebral Hemisphere in man have apparently 

 never been known to be definitely associated with loss of Smell, 

 of Sight, or of Hearing on either side of the body."*^ This peculiar 

 circumstance seems to be specially related, as the writer pointed out 

 in 1874,f to the duplicate nature of the Brain, and to the fact of 

 the connection of each of its Hemispheres with the double and 

 intimately united lower ganglia or nuclei of each of the Special 

 Senses. 



In consequence of such an anatomical arrangement one Hemi- 

 sphere seems often, in a very short time after the occurrence of 

 damage or injury to its fellow, to be capable of being brought 

 into relation with sensory impressions from both sides of the 

 body, so that although the 'perceptive centre' for the sense of 

 Sight, of Smell or of Hearing, may be destroyed in the convolu- 

 tions of one hemisphere, no blindness of the opposite eye or no 

 unilateral loss of smell or hearing, as the caue may be, is produced. 

 It is quite possible that, in the first instance, there may b(! 

 some unilateral loss or weakness of one or other of the special 

 Senses when one of its convolutional centres is damaged, although 

 this defect, in the early days of an illness, may easily pass un- 

 observed. Failure of observation in regard to such points as 

 these, is a matter of very common occurrence at the commencement 

 of an acute disease of the Brain, both on the part of a patient 

 and of his medical attendant. Such defects would, very probably, 

 not be noticed or ascertained unless they were specially looked for, 

 as Ferrier has of late rightly enough maintained. Still the extreme 

 rarity of unilateral impairments of Smell, Sight, or Hearing, as 

 immediate effects, in association with diseases or injuries of one 

 hemisphere of the Brain stands out, as a very notable fact, in 

 regard to which all the best observers are unanimous. 



If light is to be thrown, therefore, upon this very 

 interesting question within any brief period, recourse 

 must be had to experiments with some of the lower 

 animals. Of these. Monkeys are obviously the most 

 suitable of all, on account of the general resemblance 



* An approximation to this knowledge had, however, been 

 arrived at in regard to Smell. For reference to cases, see Ferrier's 

 " Functions of the Brain," p. 191. 



t "Lancet," July 25, 1874, p. 111. 



