32 



so that many j)atliol<)gists profess to j)oiiit out tlie capi- 

 tal soat of eacli of these manifestations, principally 

 throuu:h the abnormal conditions of orcjans and locali- 

 ties, and in the perversion of functions co-existing with 

 mental a])eiTation. Ferrier (strong ohjectivist though 

 he be) says : '* We are still only on the threshold of 

 the incpiiry; and it may be questioned whether the 

 time has yet arrived for an attem])t to expla n the 

 mechanism of the brain and its functions." The Apply- 

 ing distinct functions to the grey and white matter of 

 the brain is not founded on a true basis of experiment, 

 many have made the grey cortex uniform and without 

 physiologically organic divisions, l)ut Ferrier and his 

 school, like surveyors, lay out this structure in defi- 

 nite order the more complex faculties of tlie ego,, be- 

 cause in a number of cases certain abnormal states fol- 

 low pathological conditions of localities in the brain. 

 They ignore the large numbers of exceptions they find 

 in opposition to their deductions. If we are able to see 

 in ev^en one instance without our eyes, it is evident that 

 our optic organs have rivals. If we can heai' in a soli- 

 tary case, independently of our auditory apparatus, 

 then must the ear look after its laurels. Memory is said 

 to l^e located in the left, right, or both frontal convolu- 

 tions, yet I find them diseased and memory intact. 

 What am I to think of this division if I am told to 

 believe that the motor centers of the upper extremities 

 are in the optic thalami, and then find that in the ex- 

 periments of Nothnagel this tract can be destroyed in 

 rabbits without impairing their locomotion ? Where 

 am I to pin my faith ? ( Vide Lancet^ January 23, 

 1875). Dr. Carpenter tells us that the corpus callosu7ri 

 is sometimes deficient or absent in man, and when so it 

 is an evidence of low intellectuality. Professor Geri- 

 nano, of Turin, dissected the brain of an intelligent 



