466 



NATURE 



[March 17, 1887 



Animals from whom these lobes have been removed ex- 

 hibit "a total absence of symptoms" (p. 396). " In my 

 first series of experiments (carried out without antiseptics), 

 I noted, after removal of the prefrontal regions, a decided 

 alteration in the animals' character and behaviour. . . . 

 They had lost, to all appearance, the faculty of attentive 

 and 'intelligent observation " (p. 401). But that this was 

 due to an extension of the effects of the lesion consequent 

 on the want of antiseptic precautions appears from what 

 immediately follows : — " In some of my latest experiments, 

 in which the lesions were strictly limited (under antiseptic 

 precautions) to the pre-frontal regions, I could not satisfy 

 myself of the existence of any appreciable mental 

 deterioration, ... A similar total absence of discernible 

 symptoms has been observed also by Horsley and Schafer" 



On the other hand, Dr. Ferrier believes that he has m 

 one or two instances obtained unequivocal evidence that 

 the whole of the pre-frontal lobe is concerned with the 

 movements of the head and eyes, being an extension for- 

 wards of the centre for those movements which he had 

 previously described. Nevertheless, he quotes approvingly 

 certain observations of Hitzig and of Goltz upon dogs in 

 which this region had been destroyed upon both sides, 

 and which appeared in consequence to exhibit weakness 

 of memory and lack of attention, without any paralysis of 

 movement or sensation, as tending to confirm, what the 

 comparative study of the relative development of the 

 frontal lobes in different animals and individuals appears 

 to show, " that the frontal lobes, the cortical centres for 

 the head and ocular movements, wi/h their associated 

 sensory centres, form the substrata of those psychical pro- 

 cesses which lie at the foundation of the higher intel- 

 lectual operations " (p. 467). The qualification which I 

 have italicised takes away the whole point of the state- 

 ment so far as relates to the region under discussion. 

 And a single well-recorded instance in man (such as the 

 celebrated American crowbar case), in which there has 

 been extensive destruction of this region without the 

 occurrence of any appreciable symptoms during life, 

 renders it manifest that there can be no restricted local- 

 isation of any special function in this part. 



" Munk professes to have found that after destruc- 

 tion of the pre-frontal region in dogs and monkeys, para- 

 lysis occurs in the muscles of the trunk on the opposite 

 side. . . . My own experiments, as well as those of 

 Horsley and Schafer, disprove Munk's assertions in the 

 case of monkeys," and " in regard to dogs they are flatly 

 contradicted by Hitzig, Kriworotow, and Goltz." More- 

 over, " Horsley and Schafer have shown that the centres 

 for the trunk-muscles " in the monl-:ey " are in the mar- 

 ginal convolutions" (pp. 400-401). It is not a little 

 curious to observe how in the desire to conform to the 

 prevalent view regarding the frontal region being the 

 special seat of intelligence, both Ferrier and Munk 

 endeavour to prove that the different movements which 

 they respectively asssociate with this region are particu- 

 larly related to the development of the intellectual 

 faculties. Munk even goes so far as to assert that the 

 development of the tnink-iiniscles in mammals marches 

 pari passu with the evolution of the intellectual capacity. 

 One is surprised that he has not carried the comparison 

 yet further, and drawn attention to the relation between 

 the " wisdom of the serpent " and the complexity of the 

 movements of the reptilian trunk ! 



The amount of space which it has been necessary to 

 occupy in discussing the question of cerebral localisation 

 may be justified, not only by its general interest and im- 

 portance, but also by the fact that the author of this 

 work is one of the most prominent exponents of a doc- 



' Further on (p. 402) the author states that we have noted signs of stupid- 

 ity in the monkeys in which we had removed the pre-frontal regions. I do 

 not think, however, that such dullness as was e.\hibited in one or two of these 

 cases was more marked or lasted longer thtxn with equally extensive lesions 

 of other pans of the brain. 



trine which, whether wholly or partially right, has revolu- 

 tionised cerebral physiology and profoundly modified the 

 department of medicine with which this branch of 

 physiology is linked. We can consequently only refer 

 very briefly to some of the principal alterations and 

 additions which we find recorded regarding other 

 subjects. 



The structure of the nerve-centres is treated at much 

 greater length than in the former edition, and is copiously 

 illustrated with many original microscopic drawings by 

 Mr. Bevan Lewis and others. The conducting functions 

 of the spinal cord, which were somewhat cursorily" dis- 

 missed in the former edition, are here considered at 

 length. The view of Brown-Sequard that there is a dif- 

 ferentiation within the cord of the paths for different 

 forms of sensibility is subjected to a searching criticism, 

 with the result that the existence of such tracts is entirely 

 rejected by Dr. Ferrier. He, however, nowhere refers to 

 the question of specific paths for temperature-sensations, 

 a question which has become one of much importance in 

 connection with the recent researches of Blix, Gold- 

 scheider, and others on the differentiation of specific 

 cutaneous points for these and other forms of cutaneous 

 sensibility. To the question of the existence of a "mus- 

 cular sense," by which is meant that faculty by which we 

 are aware of the position and movements of our limbs 

 without calling in the aid of our visual perceptions, Dr. 

 Ferrier brings forward a considerable weight of argument 

 to prove that it is not to be regarded as in any way a 

 specific form of sensation, and still less a sense of effort 

 or innervation produced by the appreciation by the 

 sensorium of centrifugal discharges which are emitted 

 from motor centres (Bain, Wundt\ but that it is merely 

 the result of impressions of tactile sensibility conveyed 

 by the ordinary sensory or afterent nerves both of the 

 muscles and of the parts acted upon by them, and, as 

 such, can have neither a specific path of conduction nor 

 a central terminus apart from the paths and termini for 

 tactile sensibility. 



The functions of the spinal cord as a centre for co- 

 ordinate movements are also treated more fully than 

 before, and it is shown that even in the higher animals 

 each segment of the cord may act as a co-ordinating 

 centre for complex and apparently purposeful movements 

 of the limbs. For it has been demonstrated in monkeys 

 by the author, working conjointly with Prof Yeo, and in 

 dogs by Bert and by Marcacci, that such movements may 

 be evoked by the excitation of single anterior roots in 

 the cervical and sacral regions. And Dr. Ferrier describes 

 one or two experiments, in which he succeeded in stimu- 

 lating the anterior cornu of the gray matter alone, and 

 which \ielded similar results [vide note to p. 77). In 

 relation to the functions of the cord, the tonus of the 

 muscles and the so-called " tendon-reflexes " are carefully 

 considered, and their importance as an expression of the 

 condition of the reflex are pointed out. IVIany new facts 

 are accumulated regarding the remaining parts of the 

 central nervous system, and their bearing upon the func- 

 tions of the several organs is gone into in several 

 instances with great care and at considerable length. To 

 most of these it is impossible to refer particularly. It 

 may, however, be noted that the direct excitabdity of the 

 corpus striatum, at least of its caudate nucleus, which has 

 been denied by Franck and Pitres,is positively re-affirmed, 

 and the motor functions of that organ maintained, by Dr. 

 Ferrier, as the result of new experiments performed by 

 him. But, whether or not it be the case that they are 

 directly excitable, it would appear that the precise func- 

 tions of the basal ganglia, and the relation which they 

 bear to motion and sensation, are as much a matter of 

 conjecture as ever. 



To the chapter which deals with the cerebral hemi- 

 spheres from the psychological aspect one or two im- 

 portant additions have been made, especially in the part 



