FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. 69 



of the system ; * and Brown-Sequard has for years been 

 accumulating examples to show how far its influence ex- 

 tends, f Under these circumstances it seems as if error 

 might more probably lie in curtailing its sphere too much 

 than in stretching it too far as an explanation of the 

 phenomena following cortical lesion, :}: 



On the other hand, if we admit no re-education of cen- 

 tres, we not only fly in the face of an a priori probability, 

 but we find ourselves compelled by facts to suppose an 

 almost incredible number of functions natively lodged in the 

 centres below the thalami or even in those below the corpora 

 quadrigemina. I will consider the a priori objection after 

 first taking a look at the facts which I have in mind. They 

 confront us the moment we ask ourselves just loliich are the 

 parts ivliich perform the functioiis abolished by an operation 

 after sufficient time has elapsed for restoration to occur ? 



The first observers thought that they must be the cor- 

 responding parts of the opposite or intact hemisphere. But as 

 long ago as 1875 Car\dlle and Duret tested this by cutting 

 out the fore-leg-centre on one side, in a dog, and then, after 

 waiting till restitution had occurred, cutting it out on the 

 opposite side as well. Goltz and others have done the 

 same thing. § If the opposite side were really the seat of the 

 restored function, the original palsy should have appeared 

 again and been permanent. But it did not appear at all ; 

 there appeared only a palsy of the hitherto unafi'ected side. 

 The next supposition is that the parts surroiinding the cut-ovt 

 region learn vicariously to perform its duties. But here, 

 again, experiment seems to upset the hypothesis, so far as 

 the motor zone goes at least ; for Ave may wait till motility 

 has returned in the affected limb, and then both irritate the 



* The Nervous System and the Mind (1888), chaps, in, vi; also in 

 Brain, vol. xi. p. 361. 



f Brown-Sequard has given a resume of his opinions in the Archives 

 de Physiologic for Oct. 1889, 5me. Serie, vol. i. p 751. 



X Goltz first applied the inhibition theory to the brain in kis ' Verrich- 

 tungen des Grosshirns,' p. 39 ff. On the general philosophy of Inhibition 

 the reader may consult Brunton's ' Phuriiiakology and Therapeutics,' 

 p. 154 ft'., and also ' Nature,' vol. 27, p. 419 ff. 



§ E.g. Herzeu, Herman u. Schwalbe's Jahres-bericht for 1886, Physiol 

 Abtb. p. 38. (Experiments on new-born puppies.) 



