1881.] ^26 ' [July 15. 



is one of the tasks which I wish to accomplish, but I trust this will not 

 deter others from undertaking it." 



Since the above was written, I have lost no opportunity of accumulating 

 materials for the illustration of the encephalic anatomy of the cat, and the 

 museum of Cornell University now contains more than 230 preparations 

 of the brain of that animal. A few of these are the entire organ, or its 

 undissected halves ; the larger number are dissections for the sake of show- 

 ing certain points in its structure. 



At the outset, I hoped to tlnd that, excepting purely histological matters, 

 the structure of the human brain was so fully known as to require little 

 more than the identification and description of the corresponding features 

 in the cat. It was soon apparent, however, that some points of consider- 

 able morphological importance were as yet undetermined, or at least pre- 

 sented very unsatisfactorily in the standard works. To the deficiencies or 

 positive errors of the published accounts, was added the difficulty of ob- 

 taining examples of the human brain in such a condition as to serve for 

 the determination of doubtful points. After considerable observation and 

 enquiry upon the subject, I am constrained to affirm that, by the ordinary 

 method of extraction, the freshest human brain is so distorted as to be 

 useless excej^ting for the roughest kind of enc^uiry, while the average dis- 

 secting-room brain is often only fit to be examined with a spoon. 



Theoretically, of course, the anatomy of the human brain is to be learned 

 onlj'- by the examination of that organ. Practically, however, so great 

 are the difficulties of obtaining, preserving, and dissecting it, that, with 

 most persons, a certain expenditure of time and money upon cats' brains 

 will be more productive than if devoted to the brains of human beings.* 



After spending more than twenty years in the study and teaching of 

 anatomy and physiology, aided by the best models and plates, I feel that 

 nearly all my real and substantial knowledge of the brain has been derived 

 from that of the cat. Nor has the time yet come when I can examine a 

 cat's brain for an houi', without correcting some misapprehension, learning 

 something new, or at least gaining some fresh conception respecting the 

 organization or functions of the organ, or its possibilities in the way of 

 variation. 



The present paper concerns only the gross anatomy of the brain, and 

 even that is treated in only a general way. I fully recognize the great, 

 perhaps the paramount, importance of a complete account of the histology 

 of the organ, if only as a basis for the physiological, pathological and 



*I have expressed elsewhere {2) the beliefthat,of all the more easily accessible 

 animals, the cat offers superior fvdvantages for preliminary anatomical work, 

 but of course a large amount of information may be gained from the dissection 

 of any mammal, aside from the mere skill in the use of instruments which 

 comes from their actual employment upon the organs. Hence the following 

 quotation from Solly (A, 93) is given wltli entire approval:— 



" I am sure that whoever will take the trouble to go over this dissection [of 

 the rabbit's brain] once or twice before attempting that of the human brain, 

 will find his path much facilitated by the knowledge and the manual dexterity 

 he will have acquired." 



