MORPHOLOGY OF THE CEREBRAL CONVOLUTIONS. 253 



the carnivora, such as the lion, tiger, wolf, fox, etc., but without indicating any 

 differences between them. In the second he places Man, cetacea, the horse, etc. 

 Of others he is acquainted with neither the number nor the development. In com- 

 bating the opinion of anatomists who believe that the convolutions are able to fur- 

 nish positive characters for the classification of mammals, he remarks that this 

 proposition is far from being exact. 



Burdach 1 has not given much attention to the convolutions. He devoted him- 

 self to the fibrous structure of the brain and only in relation to their peripheric 

 infoldings did he pay special attention to the convolutions and fissures. He 

 remarks, however, "through the apparent confusion, general laws seem yet to 

 glimmer and we may recognize several principal features of the convolutions which 

 correspond to definite elements. On the mesial surface of the brain the longitudi- 

 nal direction is prominent. The upper surface is broad in front, and narrow poster- 

 iorly. It has tortuous convolutions running lengthwise. In the middle or 

 parietal region, however, the convolutions extend transversely." In 1829 Rolando 2 

 first accurately described and figured the convolutions in the brain of Man. He 

 was the first to recognize the constancy of the fissure called by his name. Not- 

 withstanding the clearness of his descriptions and the exactness of his illustrations 

 he does not appear to have been understood by succeeding anatomists who occupied 

 themselves specially with the brain. Thus M. Cruveilhier, who in 1836 3 tried to 

 bring into notice the investigations of Rolando, succeeded only imperfectly in giving 

 an idea of the disposition of the cerebral convolutions, which he still compares ac- 

 cording to ancient tradition to the tortuous windings of the small intestines, but of 

 which he indicates, however, the principal disposition. Cruveilhier also speaks of 

 the convolutions as found in the lower animals, but brings forward nothing of im. 

 portance. 



The figures of the brain of Man published by Gall fail in exactness in all that 

 relates to the convolutions, and those which represent the brains of lower 

 animals seem to be made expressly to suit his new doctrine of phrenology. 

 Vimont remarks that " the surface of the cerebral lobes present folds which we 

 have designated under the name of convolutions. It is easy to see with a little 

 attention that they present differences of form and volume very pronounced. It is 

 worthy of remark that these folds are never perfectly similar on the two sides of 

 the brain of all animals which are well marked with convolutions." This is all that 

 Vimont says in reference to the convolutions of Man. His plates are very inaccu- 

 rate and cannot be regarded in any sense as exact representations taken from 

 nature. 



In 1832 Owen 4 began a classification of the brain in the Felidge, finding that 

 homologous folds could be traced from species to species in that family. In the 



1 Vom Baue und Leben dee Gehirns, 1819-1826. 



2 Delia struttura degli Emisferi cerebrali. 



3 Anatomie descriptive. 



1 On the Anatomy of the Cheetah, (Felis jubata), Trans. Zoolog. Soc, London, Vol. I. 



