PoLYiKcnxic Association: G31 



brain we cannot think. Every thought which passes through the 

 mind destroys parts of the gray matter of the brain. 



Phrenology may be regarded as demonstrated so far as this, that 

 the brain has different functions, which act by preference in different 

 localities. The brain contains a great deal of phosphorus, which is 

 mostly eliminated in mental labor by the kidnej^s ; and it has been 

 found that those who on one day in seven severely tax their brains, 

 have an excess of phosphorus on those days in the products of the 

 kidneys. And those who use their brains a great deal require food 

 which contains the constituents of the brain. It has therefore been 

 asserted that it is the function of the brain to produce or secrete 

 thoughts and affections, just as the liver produces or secretes bile. 



My conviction, then, is, that the so-called psychic force does not 

 exist ; that the phenomena observed by Mr. Crookes do not differ 

 from the jugglers' tricks which we have often seen. If asked to 

 explain them, I should say, as Arago said to Napoleon about Home's 

 performances, "It is impossible forme to explain what I have not 

 myself seen." 



The President — Can you state what was done by the late Dr. 

 Iiobert Hare, of Philadelphia, fifteen or twenty years ago ? 



Dr. Tan der Weyde — I knew Dr. Hare, and I had great respect 

 for him as a most profound investigator. His discoveries in electricity 

 were very important. But after he had become a believer in spiritu- 

 alism, I called upon him, and found that his mind had become weak. 

 He had an apparatus made which could be moved by a touch of the 

 hand, and which answered questions ; and at the Scientific Convention 

 at Albany lie desired to exhibit that apparatus; but he was refused 

 on the same grounds that I had objected to considering the subject 

 at the Mechanics' Institute ; for Prof. Peirce said that, if it was true, 

 it was a religious matter, and beyond their department, and if it was 

 untrue, it was a deception and not worthy of consideration. The 

 probability is against the existence of such a force, for force is but 

 the motion of matter, although it takes a variety of forms — heat, 

 light,, etc., convertible into one another; and life itself is but the 

 motion of matter. 



Mr. Young — What is memory from childhood to old age ? 



Dr. Yan der "Weyde — Dr. Draper has shown that memory is a 

 material thing, depending upon the ganglions of the brain. Memory 

 is destroyed by an injury to those ganglions. People who have much 

 knowledge recorded in the mind, have more convolutions in the brain 

 than others. 



