302 Canadian Record of Science. 
function, seems to betillogical and unwise, with the know- 
ledge we at present possess. 
Whether, in the course of evolution, certain nerves, or, as 
seems more likely, certain nerve fibres in the body of nerve 
trunks have become the medium of impulses that are re- 
stricted to regulating certain phases of metabolism, as, e. g.. 
expulsion of formed products in gland cells, is not, from a 
general point of view, improbable, and is a fitting subject 
for further investigation. But it will be seen that we 
should regard all nerves as “trophic,” in the wider sense. 
What is most needed, apparently, is a more just estimation 
of the relative parts played by blood and blood-pressure, 
and the direct influence of the nervous system on the life- 
work of the cell. 
These views are greatly strengthened by the facts well 
known to every observer of disease in the human subject. 
The preponderating development of the cerebrum in man 
must be taken into account in the working of every organ. 
To have a normal stomach, liver, kidneys, etc., is not 
enough; for real health, all the parts of that great complex 
of organs we call the brain must not only work, but work 
in concert. We must regard the nervous centres as the 
source of ceaseless impulses that operate upon all parts ori- 
ginating and controlling the entire metabolism, of which 
what we term functions are but certain phases, parts of a 
whole, but essential for the health or normal condition of 
the tissues. 
Against such a view we know no facts, either of the 
healthy or disordered organism. 
