FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
595 
which is admitted by the best judges to be one of the finest 
specimens of the art ever executed in this or any other 
country. He always considered it one of his happiest efforts, 
and was found poring over it with admiration forty years 
after he had executed it. 
Functions of the Cerebellum. —Dr. Dickinson, in 
the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society, states that experiments 
with reptiles and fish show that the cerebellum by itself is 
unable to give more than a limited amount of voluntary 
motion, and that of a kind deficient in balance and adjust¬ 
ment. If the cerebellum only be removed from fishes, there 
is a loss of a proper adjustment between the left and the 
right sides, so that oscillation or rotation takes place. All 
the limbs are used, but apparently with a deficiency of sus¬ 
tained activity. From the negative results of experiments it 
is inferred that the cerebellum has nothing to do with 
common sensation, with the sexual propensity, with the 
action of the involuntary muscles, with the maintenance of 
animal heat, or with secretion. The voluntary muscles are 
under a double influence from the cerebrum and cerebellum. 
The anterior limbs are chiefly under the influence of the 
cerebrum, the posterior of the cerebellum. The cerebellum 
acts when the cerebrum is removed, though when both organs 
exist it is under its control. 
Kinds of Matter in the Blood. —Dr. Beale says there 
are four kinds of matter in the blood. 1. Matter living and 
active. 2. Matter which has ceased to live, and which now 
possesses peculiar properties and chemical composition. 3. 
Matter which results from the disintegration of the formed 
material. 4. Matter (pabulum) which is about to live, or 
about to be converted into living material. 
Growth of Plants in the Dark. —It is well known 
that under the influence of light a growing plant assimilates 
carbon, and at the same time fixes hydrogen and oxygen in 
the proportions to form water. In the dark the converse of 
this obtains. M. Boussingault has proved by experiments 
that the growth of a plant in the dark is supported entirely 
at the expense of the seed. 
