SCIENCE. 



49 



SATURDAY, JULY 31. 1880. 





THE CEREBRAL FISSURES OF THE DOMESTIC 

 CAT, Feh's domestica. 



BY BURT G. WILDER, M. D. 



The discovery of the electrical excitability of cer- 

 tain cerebral convolutions renders more than ever 

 desirable some common nomenclature of the folds 

 themselves and of the fissures by which they are de- 

 fined. For various reasons, some of which were stated 

 by me in 1873 (11,219), the fissures should first be 

 identified, and their names agreed upon. 



Two notable contributions to fissural homologies 

 and terminology have been recently published by 

 Julius Krueg. An abstract of the paper on Herbi- 

 vora was given by Horsley in Naticre for January 

 23, 1879. The second paper, upon the fissures of the 

 Proboscidea, Hyracoidea, and Carnivora, was pub- 

 lished in January of the present year, but did not 

 reach the libraries in this country until May. The 

 larger part of the paper is devoted to the Carnivora, 

 and will prove more useful, practically, than the re- 

 mainder. After a general historical sketch Krueg 

 discusses the manner of formation of the fissures, 

 taking the cat as less subject to variation than the 

 dog. He then enumerates the fissures, with brief 

 characterizations, under three heads: "Grenzfurchen, 

 Hauptfurchen, Nebenfurchen." The detailed account 

 of the fissures is divided into " Canidae, Felidae, Hyae- 

 nidae und Protelidae, Viverridse, Mustelidae, Procyo- 

 nidae, Ursidae, Phocidae und Otaridae." A separate 

 historical sketch is given with each section, and four 

 of the five folding plates of excellent outline figures 

 are devoted to the carnivoral fissures. 



In fulfillment of a purpose announced in 1873 

 (11,229), I have nearly ready for publication a some- 

 what extended paper upon the Gross Anatomy of the 

 Brain of the Domestic Cat. The conclusions which 

 I had reached respecting the nature, relations and no- 

 menclature of the fissures accord in most respects 

 with those of Krueg. In the hope that his paper 

 may incite others to take up this branch of compara- 

 tive anatomy, I desire, upon the present occasion, to 

 point out the improvements which Krueg has made 

 upon his predecessors, and at the same time to sug- 

 gest some amendments to his views. 



Krueg does not state whether the brain figured by 

 him is intended as a type, or is merely selected from 

 among the 1 2 adult brains which he examined. The 

 following figures represent what seems to me to be a 

 comprehensive type of the fissural pattern of the do- 

 mestic cat, based upon at least 200 specimens, mostly 

 prepared by myself. 1 



EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES. 



The figures are enlarged about two diameters. 

 Fig. 1, the lateral aspect of the hemisphere and lobus 



1 In the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass., is a 

 series of 42 cats' brains, more than half of which are young or foetal, 

 forming part of a collection to illustrate the Neurology and Embryology 

 of Domesticated Animals made by me for the late Professor Agassiz. In 

 the anatomical laboratory of Cornell University each student prepares, 

 diaws and dissects tw or more brains. 



Fig. 1. 



olfactorius ; Fig. 2, the mesial aspect of the same, 

 but as if viewed more from the cephalic region so as 

 to expose the whole of the strongly curved fissura 

 hippocampalis ; hence the figure is somewhat fore- 

 shortened. 



The constant fissures are shown as dark lines, the 

 inconstant fissures as lighter lines. The f. olfactoria 

 could not be shown upon these figures ; it is a shallow 

 groove upon the cephalic end of the hemisphere, and 

 the lobus olfactorius rests in it. 



The following abbreviations designate fissures : 

 Ge. — Genualis ; Ro. — Rostrahs ; Pmr. — Postmargi- 

 nalis ; Pr. — Postrhinalis ; Per. — Postcruciata ; Lu. — 

 Lunata ; In. — Intermedia. The name is placed above 

 the fissure only in the case of the f. callosalis. 



Fig. 2. 



All of the names designate fissures, excepting the 

 following names or abbreviations which refer to parts 

 of the brain structure : Fornix ; callosum — the corpus 

 callosum ; c. a. — the commissura anterior ; rima — 

 " the great transverse fissure ; " fimbria — the corpus 

 fimbriatum or taenia hippocampi ; fascia dentata ; S. 

 — the splenium or caudal end of the callosum ; G. — 

 the genu or cephalic end; 1. ol. — the lobus olfactorius ; 

 tr. ol. — the tractus olfactorius ; 1. py. — the lobus pyri- 

 formis. 



The figures are diagrammatic, especially with refer- 

 ence to the structures represented upon the mesial 

 surface ; for instance the fornix is shown as a simple 

 line. 



