DECEMBER 17, 1897. ] 
parting the neurologic alphabet. Indeed, 
so numerous are the parts of the central 
nervous system,* so heterogeneous and un- 
familiar are their appellations,f so complex 
are their connections, so subtle and interde- 
pendent are their operations, so multifarious 
and difficult are histologic and physiologic 
manipulations, so diverse are the interpre- 
tations of nervous phenomena, and so volu- 
minous is the literature of neurology,{ that 
by the time existing knowledge is fairly 
mastered the would-be investigator has too 
often passed the period of greatest energy, 
enthusiasm and opportunity. 
Were the practical study of the brain 
commenced in the primary schools two re- 
sults might be anticipated, viz.: 
First, the more general and thorough 
comprehension of the references to the 
structure, functions, disorders and injuries 
of the brain that occur with increasing 
frequency in lay as well as professional 
publications. 
Secondly, among the many thus early and 
systematically trained in the fundamentals 
of neurologic fact, theory, method and 
literature, such as were fitted by nature 
and nurture to increase knowledge would 
_be several years in advance of investigators 
as now prepared. 
My general proposition is that a certain 
amount of study of the vertebrate brain constitutes 
an indispensable element of every course at every 
educational stage; that this study be objective ; 
that dissections and drawings§ be imperatively 
* Including the meninges and blood-vessels, there 
are between five and six hundred ; see the lists com- 
piled by the committee of the Anatomische Gesell- 
schaft and by the writer ; ‘ Neural Terms,’ etc., 1896. 
7 In 1888 the total in all languages was 10,500 ; see 
‘Neural Terms,’ etc., pp. 230-231. 
{The card-catalogue prepared in the neurologic 
laboratory of Cornell University refers mainly to 
vertebrates and includes between five and six thou- 
sand titles. 
@In a recent discussion of ‘Physiology in the 
Schools’ (University Convocation Report, 1896, p. 
SCIENCE. 
903 
required ; and that the forms and methods em- 
ployed, and the ideas and generalizations incul- 
cated and elucidated, be adapted to the average. 
mental condition at the several epochs. 
The following remarks and quotations 
may serve to introduce an outline of 
neurologic study and to avert some possi- 
ble objections. 
The human brain is commonly the ulti- 
mate object of inquiry, but it is so difficult 
to obtain, preserve, manipulate and com- 
prehend that animal brains are more con- 
veniently employed at first. Fiat experimen- 
tum in corpore vilt. 
Descriptions, pictures and models may 
serve to convey additional information .to 
such as are already fairly well informed ; 
but there should first be laid a concrete 
foundation composed of direct personal im- 
pressions of the object, manual as well as 
visual. 
Other things being equal, the acquisition 
of advanced knowledge is rapid and perfect 
in direct ratio with the earliness and thor- 
oughness of appropriate preliminary train- 
ing. * 
The higher a material superstructure, 
the deeper are laid its foundations. If, 
therefore, as stated by Minot, the human 
brain is the most complex organ known, 
and if the human intellect is destined to be 
long baffled by the mysteries of its own 
agent, so much the rather should the funda- 
mental facts and ideas of neurology be 
firmly fixed in the vacant and receptive 
depths of the youthful mind. 
Because the elaborations of a science 
tax the mental powers of the philosopher is 
no reason for postponing its rudiments un- 
74) I have declared my belief that ‘‘ children should 
be taught to draw before they write.’’ 
* In a very different connection it has been declared 
by Professor W. W. Goodwin (The Nation, October 
24, 1895, ‘School English’) that ‘‘ whatever study 
is to be pursued with effect must have its founda- 
tions laid before the age of fifteen.’’ 
