REVIVAL OF AN OLD METHOD OF BRAIN DISSECTION. 
BY H. J. H. HOEVE. 
Preparation of the Brain. 
All authors seem to agree that the brain must be hardened by some method 
in order to be ht for dissection, as far as its fibers are concerned. Some have 
boiled the brain in oil (Spurzheim, 1834), and others have used chromic acid 
solution for the same purpose (Hyrtl, 1857). Some years ago zinc chloride 
was in general use for that purpose and of late nearly every one uses formalde- 
hyde, 40 per cent diluted. I have employed formaldehyde in a 2 per cent solution, 
changed every day until the fifth day, when I put the brain in a 5 per cent 
solution, to which has been added a small quantity of pure glycerin, in which 
the specimen will keep indefinitely. I find that the formaldehyde bleaches the 
white matter and makes a better contrast between gray and white, and that 
the glycerin, if it is pure, prevents the brains from becoming brittle and it 
also seems to give the fibers a greater elasticity. The longer such brains are 
kept in this solution the better they are for dissection. 
Description of Methods of Dissection. 
About the year 1790 Reil dissected the brain by teasing its fibers and ex- 
amining them microscopically. His method was improved and partly modified 
by J. F. Spurzheim, 1834, who scraped the fibers with the handle of the 
scalpel, at the same time following them to their origin or distribution as far 
as possible. With this method he 'seems to have made a great many dis- 
coveries, which were later accredited to other men. Hyrtl speaks of section- 
ing the brain in order to get a good conception of its intricate arrangement, 
and of late that seems to be the method followed everywhere, as far as I know. 
All text-books published in the four main languages advise 'sectioning and the 
latest books go even so far as to indicate the exact places where the sections 
should be made and these sections are named correspondingly. (See Barker.) 
T'here are different instruments on the market which can take the place of 
the brain knife with the double edged blade, which look somewhat like the 
bread-cutting apparatus seen in restaurants, and which, enable one to make 
very accurate slices of a certain thickness. This certainly is a great advantage, 
but not even with the best mechanical aids can this method of slicing be com- 
pared to a combination of the old (scraping) and the new methods (slicing). 
Different Methods of Demonstrating the Brain. 
As far as I know the anatomy of the brain is taught in different colleges 
by demonstrations and lectures over specially prepared specimens. As far as 
the dissection of the brain is concerned, there are only a few colleges where the 
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