136 THE SPINAL CORD AND CEREBELLUM 



only centre of that kind in the body? Is it not 

 highly probable that Clarke's column, which, as we 

 know, is connected with it anatomically, is a secondary 

 centre of the same order ? 



It has been ascertained that one portion of the 

 cerebellum may replace functionally other parts which 

 have been removed, and is it not, therefore, possible 

 that one part of the cerebellar system may replace to 

 some extent the cerebellum itself ? 



For many women — and this may apply to animals 

 also — the period of gestation is one which is distinctly 

 favourable to the nutritive processes of the body. 

 They gain in flesh and in weight, as many can doubt- 

 less certify from personal observation. The heart 

 especially undergoes a remarkable increase in size 

 and power. 



The state of the animal in this respect may there- 

 fore be held to account for its good condition, and 

 to have counterbalanced any unfavourable influence 

 which would otherwise have made itself felt owing 

 to the excision of the cerebellum. But though the 

 building up process, as regards the whelps, seems in 

 this case to have run its course, and though the 

 animal's system appears to have been favourably 

 affected by it, there is one point with regard to which 

 the evidence is by no means clear. ' The animal,' 

 Ferrier remarks, 'having been impregnated four 

 months after complete extirpation of the cerebellum, 

 was allowed to survive until she had whelped, nearly 

 a year after.' Putting the most natural construction 



