280 Philosophy of Botany. 



tern, with millions of connections. The excitation of a pe- 

 ripheral terminal thus to be reported in the central station, 

 whence again the elaborated volition would be sent out to a 

 subordinate organ for execution. 



This comparison is, however, not fully correct. The exact 

 anatomy of the brain, as has been developed by the researches 

 of Waldeyer, Flechsig and Ramony Cayal, proves that the for- 

 mer view, accepting a division of the function of nerve fibers 

 and nerve cells, was incorrect, and that neither does anywhere 

 exist by itself, that there is no fiber without a cell, and re- 

 versely. The fiber is only the long-drawn-out end of the eel!. 

 The uninterrupted continuance is also a misconception. We 

 observe how a decapitated frog executes movements of 

 his legs to counteract the pricking of the skin of his bjick. 

 From this it is evident that there are intermediate stations 

 which in part, at least, supplant the cerebral action. Such sta- 

 tions or organs are called "ganglia." They are the governing 

 seat of action by all animals not possessed of a cephalic cere- 

 bral system. Their actions are excited by irritation of sensitive 

 fibers, and are purely emotional and sensational, and but little 

 specialized functions. From such a ganglionic point the con- 

 duct is carried forward by other cells and fibers until the ulti- 

 mate destination ends in the gray matter of the hemispheres 

 of the vertebrates in a specially designated sphere. In Sleep 

 or in a state of rest the ends of fibrils float freely in the sur- 

 rounding plasma, until a moment of excitation arrives, when 

 the ends immediately approach each other, forming connec- 

 tion. Those links, serving as the transport of the excitations, 

 are called " neurons " and the transmitting force is commonly 

 called " animal electricity." The velocity of transportation 

 has been experimentally tested, never to exceed from twenty- 

 five to thirty meters per second, not exceeding the velocity 

 of a rapidly moving express train. In the same space of time 

 which elapses between the prick of a needle at the point of the 

 index finger and its appearance in consciousness a telegram 

 would cross the Atlantic. Neural and physical electricity 

 must be forces of different kinds. Many of the nervous func- 

 tions of the highest organizations are confined to the gan- 

 glionic sj^stems, and fulfill within this circuit their activities 



