An animated molecule and its nearest relatives [microform] : an essay read before the American Association of Medical Superintendents of Asylums for the Insane, at Washington, D.C., on the 10th of May, 1878

^c'l 0-jd

AN ANIMATED MOLECULE

AND ITS NEAREST RELATIVES.

An Essay read bepork the American Association or Medical
Superintendents of Asylums for the Insane, at Wash-
ington, D, C, ON the 10th of ]\rAY, 1878,

BY

DANIEL CLARK, M. D.,

Medical Superintendent of the Asylum for TtfE Insane, Toronto,
Canada ; President of the Medical Council, and op the Col- ""
lege op Physicians and SuRoiiONs op Ontario ; Formerly

EXAMINEH in CiIEMISTHY FOR THE COLLEGE.

" » « m^^m' » ♦-

TOROXTO :
June 4th, 18 7^8 ,

i^

Ellis H. Roberts & Co.. Printers, 00 GESEeEK St., Utica, n. y.

■> » ' --•

V '.-.H

' AN ANIMATED MOLECULE

AND ITS NEAREST RELATIVES.

An Essay read before the American Association of Medical
Superintendents op Asylums foe the Insane, at Wash-
ington, D. C, ON THE 10th of May, 1878,

BY

DANIEL CLARK, M. D.,

Medical Superintendent op the Asylum for the Insane, Toronto,
Canada ; President op the Medical Council, and op the Col-
lege OP Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario ; Formerlt
Examiner in Chemistry for the College.

TORONTO :
June 4th. 1878,

Ei.Lis H. Roberts & Co., Printees, 60 Genesee St., Utica, N. Y.

ipy/

AN ANIMATED MOLECULE

AND ITS NEAREST RELATIVES/

-♦••-

Inquirers seeking in eai'nest investigation to find tlie
basis of life, niav be divided into tliree cLasses. The
one class I shall call snhjectioists, or those who study
chiefly mental phenomena, and atteun)t to l)uild up a
system of philosophy from this source. The second
class may ])e designated oljecfivisfs, or those who
merely apply their attention to physical manifestations,
and endeavor through them to solve all the difficulties
which bar the way to a clear understanding of man in
his multifarious relations. The third division may l)e
styled the eclectics, who do not circumscribe their inves-
tigations to either body or mind, but on the one hand
endeavor to know from all sources, wlietlier a man be a
unity, a duality, or a trinity, and what are the relations
of this sphinx, which is continually pro])ounding so
many enigmas for our solution ; or on the other hand,
are seekino to find out if mind be a resultant or func-
tion of bodily forces and standing in the relation of
effect to cause. The first class are pure metaphysi-^taYt^^v
cians, who adhere strictly to the study of mental modes.
Many master minds have belonged to this class, but

* Read before the AmiTican Association of Medical Superintendents of
Asylums for the Insane, at Washington, D. C, on the 10th of May, 1878.

because of tbe circmn.scriljed field of investigation, liave
made "confusion worse confounded."

These were divided into two threat schools, viz. : The
L» i; -idealistic and I'ealistic. The former reasoned away the
existence of the whole external world, including our
bodies, except what is known 1:)y inferential evidence ;
, o -IjVi , and the latter logically proved that mind had no
' existence as far as known. Between tiiese contend-

ing scholastics we were asked to believe that both the
ego and the iwn-c(jo had a mythical existence. The
i- ^ ,} second class are now called materialists by theolocjians
on the one hand, and l)y a certain school of j^hysical
investigators on the other. I do not say the term is a
misnomer, l^ut seeing it is so often lield up as a hideous
ogre to frighten the timid, and as those who really are
sucli deny " the soft impeacliment " in the sense of hold-
ing any views inimical to ethical philoso])hy, I have
used these phrases to indicate these classes of thinkers,
and which cover the wlioU^. o-round of mental and
physical research. The egoist declares that there is an
entity called mind, affected by, but not being matter,
although in intimate relation to it, and capable of excit-
ing it to action in will, emotion or desire. He appeals
to our consciousness for proof of our power at will to
produce 23hysical effects by exercising volition, and stir-
ring to intensity the affections, not as a secondary but
primary cause. He holds that these eiforts are initial,
and are not primarily sensational. The Ijasis upon
which he builds is surely worthy of more consideration
than a sneer. In such a simple physical act as that of
raising my arm consequent on a volition, I ask the
ohjectivist to tell me, i^' the primary impulse be a com-
mand of the nerve m 'ecules to do so; and if so, what
gave them the hint that this illustration was required

6

at tliis opportune moinent? I wait foi' a i'0])ly, and am
told that my will to do so, is only a, function of these
molecules, and can not l)e at any time an initiatory im-
pulse. In Some mysterious way they got to know that
this movement was recjuired at this ])articular time.
In other words, it is necessary in every volition to sup-
pose a goading })rimary sensation and consequent reflex
action from the power develojied. It is held the same
is true of memory and the wildest flights of imagina-
tion. My will, imaginings, reminiscences and conscious-
ness, are said to l)e the resfdt>< of acts of the brain,
Avhich determines in an autocratic way their intensity,
kind and variety, being amenal)le to no motive power
higher than itself and the law l)y which it operates.
Mental activity thus becomes a sequence of antecedent
brain manifestation. The wild impossitjiiities of Mil-
ton— the creations of Shakespeare — the ^vord pictur-
ings of Homer, Tasso, Dante, Scott and Longfellow —
the wonderful combinations of Mendelssohn, Handel or
Mozart, are only fortuitous presentments of a Molecular
Grand Jury kno\ving no master ah extra — receiving no
promptings but through sensation, and heeding no
dictation indejiendent of themselves. . \

The argument adduced by the objectivist seems tovv^iywV^
be, that there is no reason to assume an et/o distinct
from the varied functions of nerve molecules. The
manifestations of the brain, of the spinal cord, and of
the sympathetic system, can all be exjdained on
physical grounds, he says ; therefore, there is no need
for laying down a spiritual hypothesis to account
for that which natural laws explain. It will be my
endeavor to prove the existence of a p>iy(^ilcal power
resident in nerve tissue — not in the relation of organ
and function — but in that of organ and exciting agency,
by parallel reasoning based on the phenomena of nat-

iiral law. The })liysical system can l)e I'aised oii a liii^li
2)ede8tal of woiidei't'iil conijilicity and p()^vel^ and at the
same time mental modes need not necessarily he con-
sidered as a resultant of its activity, in oi'der tu uni'avel
all -ts mysteries. There is a power or suljstance con-
tinually acting u[)on matte]', ironi its lowest to its high-
est forms, which is the cunning workman that Ijuilds up
the ultimate elements of organic matter, whose jn'esence
in the human body is evident l)y phenomena the most
complicated and marvelous in the animal kingdom.
This is called electricity in its simplest form. I will
call it vitaliwi in the second series of its operations,
and jh^f/clt ism m its highest manifestation in the more
- - y. com])licated groups of the animal creatic^n, including
lih'li(i(^ man. These ■ three substances are possildy develoj^-
jft.l^^yy'' ments of one active fluid — the latter including those in
' ■« the lower forms, just as the brain of man is built up by
this force in a more elaborate way than is done in the
simple ganglia of the lower creations. The cunning of
this workman is known by his handiwork. I will en-
deavor to show that the molecule, about whose ci'eation
so many scientific battles are Ijeing fought, does not
create mental modes, but is only the medium of their
manifestations, and that a common ground of agreement
can be found in calling the psychic force — the ego —
the highest development of that entity called magnetism.
It is a substance more subtle than the ether which
pervades all nature, and we have no reason to believe
that grosser matter could possess sensible properties
\vithout its cohesive power.

With the permission of the Association I will con-
dense a few general remarks on electricity, before
considering its relation to the nervous system of man.
The latter connection is very important to every student
of insanity. It will be my endeavor to rigidly apply

the s.ame principles of reasoning adopted by the pure
scientists, and draw no conclusions they would not
readily admit as legitimate from the premises adduced.
I wish to show brieiiy :

Iflrst. That it is not in accordance with j^hysiolog-
ical .and pathological facts to call mental ])hen()mena
functions of the brain.

Second. That no evidence ad<luced has satisfactorily
established the localization of mentality beyond the
focal point of nerve tissue in the basal ganglia of the
brain.

Third. That brain power is not dependent on the
size of the organ only, but requires many other condi-
tions to manifest its durability and intensity.

Fourth. That psychic force correlates to some ex-
tent with magnetism, and is probably a higher power
of the same substance, and presumal)ly is the most
subtle form of material existence known to man.

Fifth. That this entity exists in the nervous system
of all animals and beings possessing this structure, not
depending on a molecule for its existence, but, on the
contrary, the molecule could have no being without its
constructive power. The maker of the molecule neces-
sarily antedates the creation, and manifests the occu-
pancy of the tenement in a series of functions numerous
and complicated.

Sixth. That the intensity and complicity of mental
modes, cceteris varih(.% do depend on the condition
and capacity of the organ, and that the intellectual and
moral powers decrease in a certain proportion, as the
instrument diminishes in efficacy (as a magnet decreases
in power according to its size), until only automatic or
reflex life remains. In other words, the descending
series of jy-Sf/chis?)), vitcdity^ electricity^ leave in the in-

8

verse order to that in wliicli tliey built up the system,
until dust to dust manifests tlie ultimate elements in
their primal form, with only a low grade of cohesive
power remaining.

Seventli, That the different phenomena of mind in
health and disease can be explained satisfactorily to my
mind J if the views stated be accepted without leading
to ilTomcal conclusions.

Eighth. That no appeal has l>een made to argu-
ments and deductions beyond accepted phenomena, and
only by legitimate conclusions drawn from evidence
furnished by the senses.

We see the intimate relation existin": l)etween the
ego and non-ego in the influence the one exerts on the
other. Dyspei:)sia will give the patient that mental
despondency which vulganly goes by the name of the
"blues." It is also true that strong emotion, or any
mental shock, unexpectedly excited, at once affects the
stomach, in disturbing its digestive powers, and in sud-
denly quenching all sense of hunger. Local causes
will produce constipation, or flux of tlie bowels, or, it
may be, retention of urine in the bladder, without
the invasion of disease, but mental excitement or anx-
iety of any kind will produce the same results. Violent
exercise will increase the heart's action ; so also will
sudden fright. Friction of the genital organs will ex-
cite them; the same results will be produced by pruri-
ent desires, either aroused when awak(i or asleep; on
the other hand sexual excitation will be quenclied })y
sudden fear. There is not an organ of the l)ody but
can l)e aftected thi-ough mental influence. We shall see
. if this mentality can consistently be called a function
of tlie organs it is assumed to have the power to rouse
to action, or in other words wliether an effect can per-
foj-m the impossibility of l)eing its own atuse. These

9

dual ])lienoraena have never received a satisfactory
solution by looking at them only in one of tlieir aspects
and at the same time ignoring tlie other. Like tlie
valiant knights of old, eacli school is prepared to iiglit
for the truthfulness of the inspection of the face of the
shield next to themselves, ignoring any other asj^ect.
The wonderful force I am about to consider, explains
this double influence. The myriad tele2:ra])hic offices
in the ])ody are in constant communication with tlie
great central depositories of nerve force, called the
cerel)ro spinal system. There is not a part of the phys-
ical system, however apparently automatic or organic,
but is in some intimate relation to this cardinal motor
power, and which necessarily responds to its influence.
However multifarious the functions may be, each ac-
cording: to its kind, yet they are all within call of these
centers. They are the })riniary conservatories of vital
power and energy. Like armies in action, while figliting
a stern Ijattle against dissolution, they are within sup-
porting distance of one another. The most remote
organs from these centers are within reach of their
influence. In the same way are those which l^elong to
what Mr. Paget calls the " rhythmic nerve centers," /. (?.,
the organs of respiration, the heart, and the alimentary
canal. A certain kind of electricity is essential to the
existence of physical life. Its absence means death,
and on the other liand it increases in intensity, or di-
minislies in force, according to the degree of mental or
bodily health. Now, l>y a parity of reasoning, if this
power be neither a ])rimary nor secondary (piality of
matter, /. 6^., not essential nor accidental, in any medium
in \vhich its energy may be manifested, it is not so
monstrous to infei", by analogy, tliat mind is a unity of
a subtle nature, like majTjnetism, luit of a lili'her order
of influence; it is directed and circumscribed in the

10

same way, by the body in wliicli it resides, but at tbe
same time equally capable of producing cliauges of a
material and vital nature, in the different substances
which it permeates with its influence, without being a
secretion, quality, or condition of any of them. It is
not my intention to inquire v hether the higher power
is an evolution from the lower, or whether each has a
distinct creation, origin or existence. Suffice to show
that this entity in the series of its manifestations does
not depend on gross matter for its being, but on the
contrary, the form and continuity of such matter are
results of its operations.

There is a vast difference between the utmost bound-
ary of the field of scientific investigation, and nature's
laboratory, in building up structures of multiform com-
plexity, out of the monads or molecules of matter. It
is not in opposition to the severest rules of the induct-
ive philosophy of a positivist to i^se imagination
where observation can not go, and by analogy judge
tiit'^' the unknowable from the knowable. We infer that a
t/^.ct,t{c^i quantity of water has interstices between its particles,
^ "^ because we can compress it somewhat, and also dissolve
a soluble body in it without increasing its bulk ; but
no human eyes ever saw these openings between the
molecules of water. Cold is a}){)lie(l to water, and as a
result it contracts, until it reaches the temperature of
thirty-nine degrees Fahrenheit; \vlien in violation of
any well known law, by some unaccountable freak the
liquid expands, and in its ex])ansion bec(jmes solid ice.
This is a process in its elements most strange, but be-
yond our ken. This ice nmA' be melted, and it may be
minutely examined through the microscope, but no
change can be seen in its pliysical ap])earance. Send a
^/r-j current of electricity througlijt^and great changes take
place in its condition ; the particles of water are made

11

polar in a, (liamao;netic manner; tlie water is chan2:ed
as a medium to transmit light, for a ray in its passage
through 'it is twisted in a definite way, under this influ-
ence, not seen in water not under magnetic power. We
can legitimately imagine that the molecules have l)een
marshalled by this new force into other positions, but the
liorc and 'wliy are matters for speculation, yet, in this phe-
nomenon is a strong inferential proof of the change mag-
netism makes in the position of the ultimate elements of
water. This mov^ement or change is even more striking
in solid bodies. Boyle, in his tract on "The Languid
Motion of Bodies," shows that even compact bodies,
sucli as turquoise and agate stones change in their
molecules, and that spots in them shift their relative
positions continually. The platlna of antiquarians
found on ancient coins is only the copper of the alloy
having found its way to the surface during centuries of
molecidar action. The other metals of the comliination
were not as active as the copper in the magnetic race.
The term inertia is a misnomer, for it is not a condition
of matter any where in universal nature. This elec-
trical state of motion and adliesion, can be observed in a
simple way, by the tenacity of surfaces in contact,
whether solid or liquid, and in the electricity evolved
on their separation. This is best seen if glass be laid
on the surface of mercury, or melted sul])hur lu'ought
in contact with glass. The same is seen in capiUary
attraction, which experiments have shown to he from
electrical results. These are evident in tlie minute
arteries, which are filled with arterial l)lood, surcharged
with oxygen, and that seeks with avidity the intersti-
tial sul)SL ices, satisfying the wants of the system, and
throuirh tlie veins carries the effete matter to the outlets
of the body, but were it not for this sul)tle agent there
would be stagnation and death. The same attraction

. ;■ - . 12

tind I'epulsion is seen in the pulmonary and ]:>ortal cir-
culation. The molecular su;)ply ot* blood to nerve-tis-
sue, is doubtless a counterpart of this work, going
forward elsewhere, on a larger scale. The objectivist
says these processes are as mechanical or chemical as is
the formation of a crystal or capillary attraction in i
lump of sugar, a sponge, or a glass tube. It may be
the same power l)ut of a far higher order — shall I say
a Darivi)iian develo})ment of it ? The wonderful ^.aw
of selection- is not considered. This power uses a few
primary elements to build up new sul)stances, of the
most complicated and div^erse kind. We may sow in a
box of uniform earth, the seeds of different piiints;
they are watered by the same fluid ; heated by the
same sun, to the same degree ; grow in every way under
the same external influence, but each will produce its
kind. Selecting from these simple foods what each re-
quires, and grouping with a master hand, the most
harmless elements into rank poison, innocuous floral
beauty, or luscious fruit, in keeping with the powers of
each. The food we eat may be of the most heteroge-
neous kind, yet, nature's lal^oratory, by a more compli-
cated, but similar law of selection, forms out of these
the secretions, and the myriad variations of substances
in our bodies. True, the law-that operates to form the
chemical models in nature, fc in force in these more
complicated bodies, but al)ove and beyond the simpler
types of force, is an energy more intricate in its handi-
work than can 1)e produced in the world of chemistry,
and whose patent right to manufacture, no })ower in
the loAver stratum of force can even approach in l)eauty
and c<>inj)lexity. Alcohol can be made out of starch,
Imt no cunning of chemistry can do what is undone
and make starch out of spirits. We can reduce to their
ultimate elements all organic bodies, and the varieties

13

are so few that we can count tlieni on our finsjers, hut
witli tlie same elements at our command we can not re-
construct the simplest cell by chemical art. My dinner
may be composed of roast beef, plum ])udding and
pumpkin pie. This meal builds up the millions of vari-
ous substances in my body before I go to bed. I defy
the ultra scientist to draw a successful parallel between
this and any law of crystallization. We are asked to
believe, in the face of facts such as these, that v ater, a
•crystal, a grain of corn, an egg, and animal bodies are
all built up by exactly the same agency, in its lowest
powei', and that the vegetable and animal worlds are
only multiples of the grosser forms of matter, thus
making " vdtal force " a myth of the despised metaphy-
sicians. A crystal can not j^roduce its like as a cell
does. It can not repair injury to it as life does the
waste of tissue. Friction will reduce the size of the
one, but the living form thickens by its application to
the other. Vitality will rush to the rescue when a cut
is made. It will join the ends of a broken bone and
surround the breach with additional safecfuards. Chem-
istry can show no equal to the law of diffusion. We
can not imitate respiration in the laboratory by ex-
changing oxygen and carbonic acid through the same
septa at the same time. We might enumerate in an
endless catalogue, and put in antithesis the great differ-
ence that exists between chemical and vital processes.
The school of objectivists classify the beginnings,
varieties and movements of aH forms of organized life
into a group of "affinities." According to the class of
thinkers these may be called chemical, electii^e, orgauic
or iulierent, and if these terms are not satisfactory to
the opposite class of inquirers, refuge is taken in tlie
defliuti(m that "molecular life is a co-ordinating j)ower."
I contend that all these terms refer to one and the same

u

substance — Ccall it electricity, magnetism, odic force, or
what you will, and is not a necessary quality of matter ;
but, on the contrary, all phenomena of matter go ta
show that on its cohesive power tiie existence of matter
depends. It must necessarily antedate organized sub-
stances, unless a miracle takes place, and a molecule can
originate it>^^elf. It is hard to say, however, what won-
ders of this kind may transpire when a great philosopher
like Mill can say that it may be possible for two and
two to become five, and that a part may be greater
than the whole in some other condition of mind. That
" condition " should only be found in the ward of an
asylum. Plerbert Spencer is forced reluctantly to ad-
mit (Biology, Am. Ed., page 167): "It may be argued
that, on the hy})othesis of evolution, life necessarily
comes before organization. On this hypothesis, organic
matter in a state of homos-eneous a2:o:re2:ation must
precede organic matter in a state of heterogeneous
aggregation. But since the passing from a structureless
state to a structured state is itself a vital process, it fol-
lows that vital activity must have existed while there
was yet no structure ; structure could not else arise."
Lionel Beale says, grudgingly, (Bioplasm, page 209, Ed.
1872): "Tue vital power of the highest bioplasm in
nature is the living Z" Darw*in calls this power
"innate" in defining life. This may mean much or
nothing. He vaguely applies it to that something/ in
organized nature ; tliat invisible builder known only in
his works; that which the microscope has not brought
to view; that which the scalpel has never laid bare;
that of which the chemical tests Jiave not found out its^
affinities, and the spectrnm analifsis has not disj)layed
its color to the eye. Man may be said to consist of a
collection of living cells, or organic monads. These
have a dynamic union in which resides a power whose

15

crowning phenomenon we call consciousness. All the
phases of mind knowins^ are in the latter, and one ])hys-
ical cell is the equivalent, prototype or representative
integer of a multitude that constitute the body in its
coni])leteness. These distinct individual cells may have
varied functions, hut the vital energy controls them,
prevents antagonisuis, and procures concord of action to
accomi)lisli unity of purpose.

We see organisms of the lowest order multiply. their
kind l)y a division of themselves. This inherent power
causes these separate parts to have a family resem-
blance. Each of these has a power to move, to feed,
to grow, to multiply and to have a harmony of action
in all their parts. No such complicity of power can be
seen in chemical action and affinitv. Then, look at the
laws of heredity — the transmission of i)eculiarities of
disposition, of idiosyncrasy, of resemblances, of ten-
dencies to particular diseases, of constitutional and
physical appearance to both j)arents in one case, in a
second to only one, in a third to neither ; of stupidity
producing intelligence, and genius begetting medioc-
rity; of so much in conunon between parents and
children, yet so much diversity in the nearest ap-
proach to likeness, even among the members of the
same family. In the descending series of existences
this diversity decreases until we come to the sameness
of crystallization. The building power is more cir-
cumscribed in its capacity, although more general in its
application, the lower it goes in the scale of existence.
Look at the strange tendency toxical agents have to
assail distinct portions of nerv^e tissue, as if each sec-
tion had a different molecular arrangement. Strychnia,
aconite, opium, alcohol, prussic acid, belladonna, select
their locations with unerring aim whenever they come
in contact with a nervous organization. There is no

16

reason to believe this law of selection lies in the poisons
alone. The iiltiniate elements ot* nerve tissue may differ
in each section. In lower nature we have the laws of
cohesion and attraction, evidencing the one force called
electricity. This power exists in the wide domain of
matter animate and inanimate. The primary elements
of all bodies are kept together by its cohesive jiower.
It is indispensalde to existence and compactness of out-
line., A remarkal)le form of this force is seen in ani-
mal magnetism. This pervades all our nerve centers^
^ ^ and their prolongations. It permeates tlie primitive

\\\^''rt/l>>J> fasciculi of muscle and binds them together. This ani-
^^''^^^'nial magnetism will produce the same phenomena as
frictional and atmospheric electricity. It affects the
needle of the galvanometer, decomposes iodide of
potassium, produces light and heat, and gives severe
shocks such as are felt in the electric disciiarges of the
torpedo or eel The law of the correlation of foi^ces is
thus made manifest by this agent. Light is eliminated
from the black hair of a nervous person, with a vulcan-
ized rubber coml), or by friction from the fur of a cat,
in a marked degree, and heat is generated at the same
J time. It is present in muscle and nerve only during

<^ - mClPv;, life^ and as long as the natural Avarmth remains, but is
completely absent in rir/o/' mortis ; yet if warm blood be
injected into the limbs of an animal after rigor has set in
tor a few hours, relaxation will return and with it ani-
mal magnetism; even contraction will be induced for a
short time. If artificial or extraneous magnetism should
be used to excite nerve or muscle while it occupies this
medium, there is no evidence of the presence of natural
inherent electricity; it seems the two can not coexist
in the same body at the same time. It is easy of dem-
onstration that the fasciculi of nerve and muscle have
in each, two antagonistic states of electricity. In the

■ '< :^

'r ■ ,

IHBII)

\'imm''

,> •^•■

iilBI]

'.iBi;'

.-'S

H

m 1 HH

Q

WIUBVP'

'!V>i ;,*;:•■, III

M. Dubois-Rayniond puts the ulti-
miite nerve and muscular fil)res in the
above bead-like shape. The poles
would be, in tlie natural relation in
a liegative magnetic state, and the
equator in a positive ptate. He holds
that each molecule lias in it these
two potentialities, instead of dividing
these opposing influences into dis-
tinct fibres. Each view is practically
the same, and explains satisfactorily
all the phenomena of animal mag-
netism.

This is a magnetie pile made by

the juxtaposition of four frogs' thighs.

This battery will distinctly affect the

galvanometer, decompose iodide of

potassium, and display a high degree

of tension when permeated by natural

electricity.

(From the experlmentB of Matteucci of Pisa,
and DuboiB-Rayniond.)

According to Radcliffe we may sup-
pose the above a nerve or muscular
fibre. The whit(! is negative and the
dark positive magnetism. In spasm,
convulsions, &c., this natural condi-
tion may be reversed, in whole or in
sections, and as in electricity attrac-
tion or repulsion would be the result,
according to the law which operates
when plus or minun conditions come
in contact.

By pinching or irritating any way
the nerve of the rheoscopic limb (I'l)
"induced contractions" will fake
place in "6." The influence crosses
the isthmus made of cotton-wick be-
tween the two limbs, in the same way
as electricity would traverse it.
(Vide M. Beuquercl " Ann. de Chlni.")

17

natural condition the surface of eajch^is in a positiv^e Ai-t^t^^^
state, and the core of each is in a negative relation; in "^ tl^^*^
other words, tlie loncjitudinal and transverse surfaces
are, as a rule, relatively in the antagonistic conditions.
Strange to say by irritation, heat, or the occurrence of
death, a complete reversal of these magnetic relations
takes place, not only so, but sections of nerve or muscle
may change in this way, other sections remaining in the
natural relation. Statical electiicitv in a state of rest
is the primary condition of this power in these tissues,
and in action magnetism usurps the place of this potent
fluid, or rather it is a higher manifestation of the same
energy. All physical action is accompanied by elec-
trical discharge. In the experiments of Matteucci, Du-
Bois-Raymond and others, this is clearly demonstrated
directly and by analogy. The nerves of the electric
system of a torpedo eel spring from the anterior track of
the spinal cord, and at the periphery of each are the
same complicated plexuses analogous to those in our
bodies springing from a similar source. If the nerves
of each are divided in any part of their course, both are
equally affected by paralysis, and if shocked by elec-
tricity both show activity in an analogous manner.
They are similarly affected by the application of toxic
irritants, especially by strychnia, which induces in both
convulsions and the elimination of electricity. Both
become exhausted by action and return to their normal
tonicity by rest. In a word, what can be predicated of
the one, can be affirmed of the other, in all respects.
If the nerves of the rheoscopic limbs of two frogs are
only connected by water, or by candle-wick saturated
with water, and the nerve of one is pinched, or any
irritant applied, the magnetic fluid will traverse this
foreign isthmus and cause contraction of the distal
limb, showing conclusively that when electricity is

I <

1 1 ti

M

18

given off', the iniisele or nerve is in action, in<luced i
any sneli exciting" cause. It need scarcely Ije ac
that when muscular or nervous energy exists tioni
action of this agent, lieat is genei'ated. This correlc
is universal. This transmission of nerve force exp]
much that is otherwise inex})lica])le, where thei
diffluence or disorganization of nervn^ tissue, for ^
then its power of conveying this agent is not destrc
It is even asserted l>y pathologists that the ap})rop
function is still j)reserved, through hroken down ti
This fluid is ])ut in motion by friction and irritatio
the one hand, or by volition, emotion, afJ'ection or dc
on the other. The nerves are excited by these curr
when the repulsion of the ultimate elements from ■
natural state of rest are temporarily reversed ; in cl
ological ordei' the same results follow in muscular i
This brings sections or molecules into appositio
their natural polarity ; j^^'^^^ forces or negative state
respective contact, will result in contraction of the ]
affected. This condition explains the sudden invj
and departure of pathological causes, accompanie(
spasms, fits, convulsions ; also, the rhythmic movju
of so-called automatic life. In this act of shorte;
electrical action produces heat, and with it, ultima
exhaustion, analogous to that seen in the torpedo,
chemical union or decomposition, the same effect
always seen, and living tissues are not an excepti(
this general law. These changes of conditions
positive to negative, and vice versa, are sudden in
effects, and may be transitory. Exciting causes
continue then for a short time, until feeble action
pels at least intermittent secession of this conditio
order to give time to accumulate fresh force, as i
case in a battery. We can not grip continuously,
suffer when ^ve keep our body in one position 1

I
iiii

£i'

19

lenc^tli of time. The periodicul emphasis of the lungs,
the lieart, the bowels, the uterus, and it may l)e also of
such l)usy laboratories as the livei-, tlie kidneys and the
stomacli, show tlie necessity of these periods of rest,
not to speak of intermittent sleep to the weary brain.
We can not think without p(;riods of rest of longer or
shorter duration. All careful experiments go to show
that any of these movements must be accompanied by
a corresi)on(Mn2r interchanoce between the external and
internal magnetic relations of muscular and nervous
fi])res, giving out heat and throwing off decomposed
matter during this activity.

This partial reversal of sections of nerves and mus-
cles in their electrical relations is doubtless a normal
condition. Huxley in his "Lay Sermons" seems to
show this when explaining the circulation in a nettle
sting. lie says:

The whole liair consists of a very delicate outer case of wood,
closely applied to the inner surface of which is a layer of semi-fluid
matter, full of iiiniimerable granules of extreme minuteness. This
semi-fluid, lining is protoplasm, wliich thus constitutes a kind of bag,
full of limpid liquid. When viewed with a sufiiciently high mag-
nifying power, the protoplasmic layer of the nettle hair is seen
to be in a condition of unceasing activity. Local contractions of
the whole thickness of its substance pass slowly and gradually,
from point to point, and give rise to the appearance of progressive
waA'es. But in addition to these movements, and independently
of them the granules are driven in relatively rapid streams
through channels in the protoplasm which seem to have a
considerable amount of persistence. Most commonly the cur-
rents in adjacent parts of the protoplasm take similar di-
rections, and. thus there is a general stream up one side of
the hair and down the other. But this does not prevent the exist-
ence of partial currents which take difierent routes and sometimes
trains of granules may be seen coursing swiftly in opposite direc-
tions within a twenty thousandth of an inch of one another; which,
occasionally, opposite streams come into collision and, after a longer
or shorter struggle, one predominates. The cause of these currents

20

seems to lie in contractions of the protoplasm which bounds the
channels in which they flow, but which are so minute that the
best microscopes show only their effects and not themselves.

In plant or animal, heat and electric shocks cause
contractility in the same way and under similar con-
ditions. This primal form is subject to laws of vital-
ity and growth such as is seen in more complicated
physical existences. It has in it these potentialities,
and the experiments of eminent scientists go to show
that electrical shock causes contraction of many of the
first^organized forms of life, and it is fair to infer it in
all, were our knowledge extended. In a paper recently
read before the Royal Society it was clearly shown
that such })lants as those of the Dionoea genus especially
the Venus Hy-trap not only secrete a juice as solvent
as the gastric fluid and capable of performing the
same work, but in the contraction of the lobes of this
pitcher plant upon its food it gives out an appreciable
current of electricity at every closure analogous to that
obtained from the nerves and muscles of animals.

This also explains the flow of fluids against the laws
of gravitation and which are vaguely stated to flow on
account of the chemical reaction between the external
moisture and the internal juices of the ])lants, excited
in some way by atmospheric disturbance. This re-
sponse to stinudation is analogous to that seen in the
/ animal economy : even the change of direction of this
. fluid modifies and varies its action.

If a current of electricity be passed from the neigh-
borhood of the nerve centres towards their ramifica-
tions, the I'esult is violent contracti-jn of muscle.

A current sent from the peripheral loops in a con-
trary direction will cause great pain, but only slight
contraction. The power and medium are the same in ]>oth
cases, l)ut there is uo doubt that the polar conditions

21

of the molecules of the nerves are changed by the dif-
ference in the direction of the force, if not, the effects
would he the same in both directions, as on a tele-
graphic wire, when a message is sent from either tei'min-
ation. This difference of effect based upon change of
direction is seen in the nervous excitations of sensation
and volition.

To understand what follows, it is therefore necessary
to remember that (^ci) what is called "voltaic alterna-
tives," is a remarka1)le phenomenon, which is exjierienced
when a direct and an inverse current is alternately sent
through a section of nerve, it loses and gains its natu-
ral electricity, synclironous with the intermissions, and
in the same degree as the loss and recovery of it,
with irritability. (/*) The influence sent through a
nerve causes the muscle in which it ramifies, to contract
when the galvanic circuit is closed, and not when it is
opened. {(•) A continuous action of magnetism will
at last produce paralysis of the part affected — or in
other words its ii'ritability is lost, and in this depriva-
tion it can no longer receive nor transmit impressions.
Did time permit, it could be shown that in these
changes we see phenomena that make it possible to ar-
rive at rational conclusions in respect to the sudden
invasion of such attacks as those of pai'alysis, epilepsy,
St. Vitus' dance, hysteria, and allied nervous disorders.
To illustrate the nerve influence by what we know in
electricity, take two wires and place them parallel to
one another, without touching ; send a current through
one, and a flash of electricity will instantaneously pass
through the other, syncjironous with that in connection
with the battery. This wave passes away and is not
repeated except the connection is l)roken, when the
same results are ol)tained. These intermittent impulses,
on connection and breach of continuity, can be repeated

0->

indefinitely. In the connection the two currents go in
the same direction, but break it and the secondary cur-
rent returns in a contrary direction. In this way the
two currents '"an be made to pass forward and back-
ward, with regularity of a weaver's shuttle. It is
worthy of note that the return current, induced by the
break of connection, is much stronger in this parallel
Avire, on the *' home stretch," than is that running in the
same direction as the fluid in the connecting wire. If
a number of insulated wires are coiled S2)irally round
the primary wire, instead of running parallel to it, not
only will these intermittent currents be produced, but
also an extra or third current is produced in all the
wires, no doubt induced by the magnetic influence of
one upon the other. These facts will be of importance
when we come to consider nerve influence, especially
when we find that the larger the wire, the greater the
number of spirals, the more powerful is the magnetic
influence. The larger the healthy nerve is, the more
capable it is to transmit magnetic power, in proi)orti(ni
to its size. Apparent exce])tions do not violate this
law. The point of a ])in makes a limited impression
on the end of my finger, yet, small thougli the injury
may be, the nerve disturbance is consideral)le. There
is no reason to believe that the irritation is confined to
the fibre of nerve injured ; nor that the influence travels
to the nearest ramifications, and ft'om them sends mes-
saijes of alarm to the neiij^hborinii* surface, as well as to
the seat of sensation. According to the laws above
mentioned, synchronous impulses can be sent through
adjacent nerves, by induced electric currents, and at
the cessation of excitation a powerful return current i»
set up, which ])roduces the contraction of muscles, even
before the will has power to act. I need scarcely add
that a large number, if not all, of jihysicid automatic

23

action can be explained in the same way. It is the
same in disease. A circumscril)ed injury will j reduce
tetanus, or ])aralysis — effects out of all ])roport;ion to
the local lesion. A few writhinsx worms in the bowels
of a child, or a tooth keeping in constant tension a
small portion of gum, will produce convulsions. A
sudden emotion when we are awake, or ilnQ 'pltantasmata
of a horrid dream, uill produce startling physical effects,
although the cause be subjective. The centric excitant
is equally strong to the objective when it dominates.

The infeience, therefore, is strong that this substance
gives impulses in and through itself, by filling the
body it occupies, in all its interstices, and vibrating
from the point of perturbation through ononadic con- '
tact. This is seen in the telephone. The voice — or in
other words the undulatins: air — is not sent throu2:h
the wire, but the vibration takes place in the medium,
through its nioleculai' structure, possi})ly in an infini-
tesimal degree, without any onward movement of the
substance throwu into action. The reproduction of
the nicest modulations of the human voice at the distal
end of the telephone, is only a repetition of the motion
continued, as is seen in the wave movements of a rojje.
The sound can ))e ti-ansmitted through a septum of
boiler iron, or marble, as easily as through a thin mem-
brane. This result can be ])roduced without magnets,
in the same way, witli a thread as a means of conununi-
cation. In fact, this jjower responds to the same tests,
as if it were a subtle form of matter. It may l)e proper
here to say that this manifestation of force is known in an
exceptional manner to that of light and heat, showing
that it does not, in every ])articular, cori'clate with these
two forces, and must difi'er from them in some material
Avay. Take a wire of uuecjuyl size, and [)hice it be-
tween the two poles of a l)attery. AVhere this con-

24

ductor is smaller, there it heats more rapidly. In other
words it condenses, and becomes more intense where
the way is narrowed, as a stream becomes more impet-
uous where it is pent up by banks or rocks. Another
illustration will show this: take a nodulated glass
tube, in which the air is rarified, pass through it an
electi'ic current, which may l)e seen as a luminous spray.
Where the tube is narrowed, the lio-ht condenses and
becomes more V)right ; in other words becomes swifter
in its flow the more it is confined. Here is a well
known law of fluids in operation, and not mere force.
Tlie same experiments may be made with sound, light
or heat, and it will be found that they do not condense
and flow onward with increased intensity, but that
they are refracted or reflected into or from the medium.
Herein, even in this pi'imary form, lies a radical diflfer-
ence in tne phenomena of these forces, and leads me se-
riously to question their entire correlation. I have not
the least doul)t that in the wonderful phenomena of
of Edison's phonograpli, in \vhich a vibrating tym-
panum, a steel point, and a revolving cylinder covered
with tin foil, can act as do the two complicated organs,
the ear and the vocal parts, it will be found that the
minute impressions depend on the molecular condi-
tion of the surface. Were it not so the ten thousandth
part of a variety in the receiving of speech and giving
it out, must change its character entirely. Thus far I
have briefly indicated salient points in the phenomena
of magnetism^ and the analogous, but more varied force,
which I have designated vitalism. The latter always
includes the former, as a substantial energy. We can
see that in pstt/chisfii the two former are necessary to
the latter, and that the trinity is indispensable to men-
tal existence — shall I say — being mental life itself.

Thus far I have stated a few general principles. It
is not too much for the egoist to ask that an analogy

^o

be (lra\vTi between the laws that govern matter, aud
those that he asserts control mind. In fact, he is dared
to do this, and is promised, as a result of his research,
utter discomfiture. He at once proceeds to do so by
drawing parallels. For example, the pen-knife in his
pocket has no magnetic power, but let him rub it along
the pole of a magnet and the peculiar property of
attraction in the magnet is communicated to the steel
blade at once, without reducing this mysterious power
of the mao;net. Let the friction be reversed and this
virtue is lost again. This inter-change can be carried
on indefinitely. Here is a wonderful property induced
and lost by gentle friction in a hard metal. How
would it do to say that this manifestation of magnetic
iron is a function 'i I take a piece of cold steel and a
lamina of equally cold flint, and go out on a Canadian
winter night, with the thermometer ranging from 30° to
40° below zero. I strike them together ; heat and light
are evolved from most unlikely substances under ex-
ternal conditions unfavorable to both. Would a phi-
losopher call these evolved phenomena functions of
matter ? A savage on a lone island has lost his fire,
and at once the friction of two pieces of wood eliminates
heat and kindles into activity that power called fire.
Why not call this element a secretion of any substance
in which it resides, from which it can be abstracted,
aud which is the resultant of inherent forces as potent
and active as in any organ of the body? Experiment
shows that the active motion of all such bodies, whether
by friction, l)y chemical union, or by vital processes, only
make manifest these powders, but we would fly in the
face of scientific investigation Avere we to say that all
such forces which correlate were productions of these
media. The molecules of tlie nervous tissues are put in
simihir activity by the irritation of contact, friction or

26

excitation ; the result is lieat, light, electricity. These
are imponderable forces, of which we know nothing
beyond their evidence of potential energy. A sndden
emotion, a desire, a volition will produce evidence of these
convertible forces in the animal system. As in the knowl-
edge of material j^henomena, or in tlie study of electrical
force, it is not unscientific to assert that we have in self-
imposed conceptions the evidence of " an invisible,
supersensuous " something — a dynamical agent — a ma-
terial force, it may be, which, at will, can, independent of
sensation or automatic life, cause the excitation of ner-
vous or muscular molecules, as efficiently and truly as
is done by ah extra agency. The knowledge of force is
as strong in the one example as in the other, and both
are equally knowable by phenomena, and these only.
Electricity excites molecular action, and through its
action on matter we are cognizant of its existence. The
so-called vital force is denied to these bodies, even in
the lowest form, yet the same laws of chemical ind
electrical affinity are brought to play to build up a
crystal, a grain of wheat, a muscle or a nerve fiber;
but l>ehind these, and producing each according to its
kind, is a power that baffles the wisest objectivist, in
spite of his acutest analytical investigation. This force
is thus assumed by its phenomena. We may not see
the worker, but on all sides is indubitable evidence of
his craft. A mad man would not say that the means
adapted to ends seen in universal nature were a jumble
of fortuitous sequents raid cojiseqiients.

Tyndall says ("Use and Limit of the Imagination in
Science ") :

The philosophy of the future will assuredly take more account
than that of the past of the relation of thought antl feeling to phys-
ical i)rocesses ; ami it may be that the qualities of the mind will
be studied through the organism, as we now study the character

of a force through the affections of ordhmry matter. We believe
tliat every thought ami every feeling has its definite meclianical
correlation — that it is accompanied by a certain separation and
re-marshalling of the atoms of the brain. This latter process is
purely physical ; and were the faculties we now possess sufficiently
strengthened, without the creation of any new faculty, it would,
doubtless, be within the range of our augmented powers, to infer
from the molecular state of the brain the cliaracter of the thought
acting on it, and conversely to infer from the thought the exact
molecular condition of the brain.

Herbert Spencer says that " with our present knowl-
edge we are in this predicament. We can think of
matter only in terms of mind. We can think of mind
only in terms of matter. When we have pushed our
explorations of the first to the uttermost limits, we are
referred to tlie second for a final answer ; and when we
have got a final answer of the second, we are referred
back to the first for an interpretation of it" (Principles
of Psychology, p. 272).

Huxley says:

For, after all, what do we know of this terrible " matter," except
as a name for the unknown and hypothetical cause of states of our
own consciousness? And what do we know of that " spirit," over
whose threatened extinction by matter a great lamentation is
arising, like that which was hoard at the death of Pan, except that
it is also a name for an unknown and hypothetical cause or condi-
tion of states of consciousness ? In other words, matter and spirit
are but names for the imaginary substrata of groups of natural
phenomena. (I^-ay Sermons).

This definition is doubtless correct, and " a state of
consciousness " wliicli exists, and vvdiicli tells me that
there is within me a power, at command now or in the
future, and that through this residuary mni'dhliKj my
arm is raised, my head nods, my eye winks, or my
imagination takes flights, at any time this something
dictates, is entitled to ask for consideration as an entity
as much as, for example, pain, which is only a state of

28

consciousnes.'s, and can not be weighed, measured, seen
or heard. In fact, tlie operations of the laws of chem-
ical affinity or of gravitation can not reach this height
of complex power. A subtle influence pervades our
bodies. It follows the nerve tracts from i)reference, but
is everywhere present in the physical domain, exercising
its power. It prevents the comi)lete localization of
each mental phenomena because of its ulnrpiity, yet
may control the entire system from one central nerve
capitol. It is not probable that the idea of the old
philosopher in locating the soul in the pineal gland, or
the doctrine of Bichat, in putting our feelings, affections,
and desires in the sympathetic system of the bowels, is
any more than the vagaries of visionary theorists, but
it is evident that the organs at the base of the brain
are the most wonderfid of all bi'ain locations, and that
nerve influences emanate from the optic thalamus, the
pons varoli, the medulla oblongata and the corpus stri-
atum, that can be found nowhere else in the domain of
nerve power. As you are aware, large portions of the
cerebrum and the cereljellum may be taken away from
the living body without immediate danger of death, but
the organs in the base of the brain, from which spring
the numerous nerves so essential to life, can not be
touched in vivisection or by disease with impunity.
From this central region nerve influence radiates to
every part of the body, making its connections with
the depositories of nerve power in the spinal cord, and
"^vith the ganglia of the sympathetic system.

The proofs upon which are founded the arguments
in favor of different localizations are far from convinc-
ing, even were eminent pathologists unanimous in their
conclusions. The results of disease in the physical
manifestations of what Fritsch and Ilitzig call the
" psycho-motor centers " present so many exceptions to

20

the generalizations of localizers that a verdict of " not
proven" must at present be recorded against tlicni.
Take a few examples :

First. Haemorrhage in the hrain. Brown-Sequard
justly observes {vide Lancet, July 29, 1876), that:

Convulsions may appear as well on the side of the lesion in the
brain as on the other side, and that if they are more frequent on
this last side when the cause is a tumor or an intlamniation, they on
the contrary, are more often witnessed on the side of a luemorrhage
in certain parts, and perhaps in more parts of the brain."

Out of two hundred and twenty-two cases of hpem-
orrhage collected by Gintrac (putting aside the
cerebral ganglia, the ventricles, and the central parts)
there were forty-seven cases of convulsions either on
one side, or on the two sides of the l)ody. Of these
forty seven cases, there were eleven in forty-five cases
of haemorrhage in the convolutions; two only in seven-
teen cases in which blood was effused in the anterior
lobes; twenty-five in one hundred and twenty-seven, in
which it was in the middle lobes, and nine in thirty-
three cases in which it was in the posterior lobes. The
same general distribution of eflftcient causes in the
brain, producing similar effects, have been collated by
thousands, all going to show that a local disease of the
brain may (if at all manifest) produce certain effects,
as is seen in the connection of aphasia with lesions
of certain lobes, but when we find a large numl)er of
cases in which the same part is diseased, and no such re-
sults follow, and also that other parts of the brain becom-
ing diseased do produce the same results, we are foi'ced
to the conclusion that some perv^ading influence must
be at work upon nerve cells at a distance from the seat
of the disease, and that it overleaps physical lesions
and abnormal conditions in its oj^erations. An insane
person dies, and we find a large portion of his brain, or

30

it may be a section of tlie spinal cord, of the consist-
ency of cream. Tlie nerve substance lias become homo-
^i^eneoiis ])y gradual disintegration, yet, there may be
no local or distal effect, conunensurate with the breaking
down of nerv^e tissue, and the evident destruction of nerve
cells nor need there always be striking mental mani-
festations, consequent thereon. Brown-Sequard says:
(vide Za?irf-^, September 16, 1870) "that considerable
alterations, and even complete destruction of parts, can
exist without the appearance, or at leas, any marked
degree of paralysis, whether the lesion exists in motor
parts, or in the other parts, or in Ijotli simultaneously."
On the other hand, a haemorrhage, the size of a pea, in
the pons Varolii, has been known to produce paralysis
and death. The experiments of Hitzig, Ferrier, Car-
ville. Durst and Nothnagel, lead us to V^elieve that there
is a center for perception, soniewh'^-"^ in the cortical
substance of the brain. This is diviueu in true j^hreno-
logical style into other circumscribed spaces, of distinct
mental power. At the same time they tell us that the
occi])ital lobe can be destroyed without producing any
effect on the sensibility ; that the convolutions of this
lobe, as well as those of the frontal, the insula, those of
the internal faces of the hemispheres, and those of the
suborbital, do not respond to electrical excitation; and
that for the most part lesions of these have little or no
results. They think that ablations of the frontal lobes
appear to lessen the activity of the intelligence, and
that of the occipital extremity of each hemisj)liere
seems to abolish the apj^etite. Orchansky, a celebrated
pathologist of St. Petersburgh, after numerous experi-
ments on dogs and rabbits with the electric current,
and by vivisection on the motor centers, candidly states
that the separation of the cortex into motor and non-
motor parts rests, probal)le upon an anatomical basis

31

only, hut is little known. In otlier words, there is no
special cerel)ral vaso-motor centers, except in intimate
relation with the ij-eneral motor system, this consistinir
Ol the cord, central ganf^jlia, and the convolutions, Ijut
this tripartite is in mutual relation and subordination.
The careful experiments of Brown-Sequard go to show
that this mechanism of voluntary action does not de-
pend on clusters of brain cells in one locality, but on
the co-ordination of all the cells. The germ of the
future therapeutics of brain disease may be indicated
in the fact that paralysis is not always produced in the
destruction or lesion of nerve matter, but often depends
upon the influence exerted by disease upon parts at a
distance. The supposed motor centers can be destroyed
without any paralysis at all. On the other hand, par-
alysis may occur in arm or leg when it was the^ most
anterior or posterior part of the brain — the part fur-
thest removed from the supposed center of motion — that
had degenerated. Paralysis may be quite indejiendent
of the destruction of the tissue. It might result from
the puncture of the smallest needle.

It is, therefore, quite evident that if we can divide up
our mental modes into sections, and give each a dis-
tinct domain within which only each can work : then
the laws of co-ordination mean a perfect unanimity of a
" committee of the whole " brought about in some for-
tuitous way, not from any ah extra influence, but by
some intuition among the different organs. Without
any autocratic authority to dictate to them they man-
age, in health and disease, to do tolerably well. These
in the light of the ohjectivlsfs views of mental local-
isms should present good examples of modern miracles.
The triumvirate of nerve systems have been divided so
minutely that in each part is located all the intellect,
volitions, emotion, desires and affections of humanity,

32

so that many j)atliol<)gists profess to j)oiiit out tlie capi-
tal soat of eacli of these manifestations, principally
throuu:h the abnormal conditions of orcjans and locali-
ties, and in the perversion of functions co-existing with
mental a])eiTation. Ferrier (strong ohjectivist though
he be) says : '* We are still only on the threshold of
the incpiiry; and it may be questioned whether the
time has yet arrived for an attem])t to expla n the
mechanism of the brain and its functions." The Apply-
ing distinct functions to the grey and white matter of
the brain is not founded on a true basis of experiment,
many have made the grey cortex uniform and without
physiologically organic divisions, l)ut Ferrier and his
school, like surveyors, lay out this structure in defi-
nite order the more complex faculties of tlie ego,, be-
cause in a number of cases certain abnormal states fol-
low pathological conditions of localities in the brain.
They ignore the large numbers of exceptions they find
in opposition to their deductions. If we are able to see
in ev^en one instance without our eyes, it is evident that
our optic organs have rivals. If we can heai' in a soli-
tary case, independently of our auditory apparatus,
then must the ear look after its laurels. Memory is said
to l^e located in the left, right, or both frontal convolu-
tions, yet I find them diseased and memory intact.
What am I to think of this division if I am told to
believe that the motor centers of the upper extremities
are in the optic thalami, and then find that in the ex-
periments of Nothnagel this tract can be destroyed in
rabbits without impairing their locomotion ? Where
am I to pin my faith ? ( Vide Lancet^ January 23,
1875). Dr. Carpenter tells us that the corpus callosu7ri
is sometimes deficient or absent in man, and when so it
is an evidence of low intellectuality. Professor Geri-
nano, of Turin, dissected the brain of an intelligent

88

solditT, wlio had served in the army eight years, l)iit his
eorp\(H callosuni was a])seiit. When aphasia occnrs de-
ductions are drawn from disease heing found in certain
convolutions, that the nerve influence of speech must
come from that locality. The witnesses do not agree
as to place and l^oundary, so it wdll be necessary to rule
them out of court until there is consistency and unanim-
ity in their testimony. Ferrier tells us that he removed
the whole of the occipital lobes of the brain of the
monkey, Jacko, and this excision impaired his ap])etite.
I have not the least doubt it would spoil the appetite
of any one thus deprived. (See Review in Journal of
Psi/chohgical Medicine^ January, 1878). I need not
cite historic cases like that of Gage ; the case of Galli
mentioned by Dr. Gray ; the large list of soldiers with
brain injury mentioned in Part I, and Vol. 1, of " Med-
ical and Surgical Cases in the recent American War."
Some had epileptic fits as a result ; others were affected
in one or more of the specia' senses, but quite a num-
ber had no permanent injury to intellect or function,
with foreign ])odies lodged in the brain. When I first
had my attention senously drawn to this matter it was
about fifteen years ago. A lad of thirteen years of age
bad been kicked by a horse. A section of the skull was
broken in the upper j>art of the frontal and occipital
bones on the right side. One of the nine pieces frac-
tured had been driven into the substance of the brain
over an inch. The membranes w^ere ruptured and bro-
ken up and brain substance protruded through the
wound and was hanging in pieces on his cheek. At the
time I first saw him he was comatose. I extracted the
bones, cut away the ragged edges of the membranes and
the lacerated brain substance. Consciousness returned
immediately. He did not lose a night's sleep, nor a meal
afterwards. No febrile symj^toms intervened, but a

34

large cavity remained. He went to school to the same
mistress as befoi-e, and she informed me that except a
certain irritability of temper, he was as intelligent as ever
and could learn his lessons with the usual aptitude. I
need not enter into particulars, but merely say that some
considerable cortical substance had been extirpated with-
out serious results to mentality. Any number of such
cases might be culled from medical literature to show
that all brain substance is not necessary to physical nor
mental life, and that the localization of psychical power
is not borne out by experiment or pathology. It is
dangerous to adopt a pet theory as a foregone conclu-
sion, and endeavor to drag in every argument that we
find at hand to support it, without stopping to find
out if all the phencjmena can be explained by our
hypotheses.

If the views advanced by me are not accepted, I can
not conceive any other solution except the old Hippo-
cratic doctrine, a modified idea of which exists in " hump-
ologij^'' viz: a duality of the ego, and that by mutual
agreement this Siamese twin only becomes half diseased
alternately. So by a law of compensation one can do
the work of both if the necessity arises. If this sug-
cjestion of double function be not satisftictory, then
vicarious work amonsi; the onj^ans or sesijments of oro-ans
might approach a solution of the difficulty, although it
would be a hypothesis fatal to the localizers' theory.
The opinions givt ii in this monograph meet many of
the difficulties, and at the same time do not fly in the
face of acce})ted facts exhibited in health and disease. All
of the phenomena of mind, and of the functions of the
physical system go to show, when brain tissue is injured
by disease or by traiimntic effects, that the artificial
divisions of it by some physiologists are not consistent
with experiment. It is worthy of note that no nerve

85

of the body can be traced into the substance of the
brain beyond the basal ganglia. The olfactory and
optic nerves were inferentially supposed to issue from
the cerebrum, but no experiment nor development
shows this to l)e the case. We liave only to suppose
the upper parts of tlie encephaloii, the spinal cord, and
the bodily ganglia to be depositories of psychic power
to explain much in pathology. I have often been struck
by Goethe's statement :

" Who of tlie living seeks to know and tell,
Strives first the living spirit to expel,
He has in hand the separate parts alone,
But lacks the spirit bond that makes them one,"

The fulcrum arguments in support of the idea that
our mental and moral natures are "functions" of mole-
cules of nerve substance, rest on three grounds prin-
cipally, (r/) The effect produced on mind by the
healthy action of the nervous system. (^) The mental
changes consequent upon pathological conditions,
(c) The r(;lation between mental power and the
size of the organ in which it exists. In a word, the
endeav^or to find out what mind is, by a careful study
of the phenomena of nerve ticsue. This effort is praise-
worthy, but is as one-sided as the logomachy of the
mental philosophers. ^

We will consider the last arii-ument adduced in
respeci to the relation of the massiveness of the brain
to mental power. It is said there must be a necessary
connection between the quantity of nerve substance —
t'lie proportion of grey and wliite tissue and fanctional
mentaJitij. The larger the brain is, the more compli-
cated, varied and powerful are these functions. The
nervous system is traced upwards in the scale of being
from an asidian mollusk to the ganglia of the centi-
c

36

pede, and upward tliroiigli the nervous systems of
wasps, bees, fishes, reptiles, birds and quadrupeds to
man. The simple ganglion in its ui)ward growth be-
comes comjdicated by divisions into segments, convolu-
tions and lobes. The more intricate in structure, and
massive in substance the brain becomes, the higher are
the psychical powers. It is stated that the relation is as
marked as is the size of any other organ and its secre-
tions, hence by parallel reasoning mental phenomena
depend in force and com])licity on the size of t? ' organ,
and must be necessarily the result of molecular action
in the one case as in the other.

This assertion of an exact pro])ortion existing be-
tv^^een the size of the brain and mental power is as a
rule; far from correct. A man with a large brain often
shows less mental activity and power than a man with
a mucli smaller brain. The tone of nerve fibre, the
temperament, and the general recuperative forces have
much to do with the condition of mental action. The
temper of the medium has a great deal vo do with the
fluid which permeates and occupies it. The power of
transmission, conduction and insulation of thought in
brain matter depend on this as much as does the lowest
form of electricity on the condition and size of the
magnet. There are large animals such as the ele-
phant and whale whose size of brain — if measured
by cubic inches — should make them great philoso-
phers, if well educated. This opinion is guarded, and
this dilenuua avoided by asserting that in some way we
must take into consideration the relative size of the
body to the brain. I have never been able to compre-
hend a rational reason for this explanation. Lubbock
and Darwin being neighbors, watclied together the
habits of twenty kinds of ants, and they assert that
for intelligence they n nk next to man. Their wisdom,

37

their social economy, their aptitude to successfully pro-
vide for or against unforeseen contingencies in which
instinct could hold only a minor part, their preparation
for probalde exigencies tliat could only be learned
inferentially led these great scientists to rank these
insects high in the intellectual scale. Yet, their ganglia
are poor apologies for brain. The smallest human
brain is said by Huxley to l)e fifty-five cubic inches
in volume ; the largest brain of the gorilla thirty-
five, and that of the orang and chimpanzee to be
twenty-six cubic inches in volume. These varied sizes
give no reliable data for measuring the mental ca-
pacity of each. We may fill up the hiatus be-
tween the difterent brains of each with an hypo-
thetical scale, and measure intelligence by it on
some common l)asis, but the attempt would show the
absurdity of the classification. Multifarious conditions,
as well as quantity of brain matter, must be taken into
account in measuring mind, and many of these being
still involved in obscurity, no definite results can be
obtained. A large brain in normal tone may exhibit
greater mental power, than a smaller one in the same
physical condition, just as a large magnet, or a cell bat-
tery in action increases magnetic strength in proportion
to size, not because of the inherent potential energy of
the instruments, Init because of the attributes they pos-
sess in manifesting the activity of the fluid. The l)rain
organ does not create and eliminate psychic force, ^;e/' se^
but its structure, and constitution are such that in
tonicity it is the best medium to evolve the residuary
phenomena of the ego. The activity of this agent
sliows that in emotion, will, passion or desire electricity
and heat are the result of the energy ot" the tenant.
Time would fail to show that this has been fully proven
by experiments of the most conclusive kind. A])ply

this solution to any of the so-called anomalies found in
comparing the results of pathological research with
mental j^henomena, and we hav^e here a key to unlock
the door behind wliich so much mystery exists, and
about which so many vaj:;ue and unsatisfactory theories
are propounded, founded on a pliysical basis alone. If
these three forces be granted, and I am not aware of
their being denied, the highest of whicli includes the
two lowest, and the second of which is necessarily ex-
istant l)ecause of the first of the series ; or if we hold
that each is a development of the otlier, many of the
riddles of })athology are solved, and existence is given
to an entity not dependent on matter for its existence.
Take a lew examples to show some of tlie ,difficulties
the objectivist has to contend with in explaining his
views, when brought to bear in the study of insanity.
For the sake of argument we will assume his position
to be correct. We will grant that the cerebro-spinal
system is the causation of all mental phenomena. With
Maud si ey we will put memory in every molecule and
consciousness as being only the recognition l)y a mole-
cule of the influence of sensory impi'essions ; like Car-
penter we will put volition in nerve tissue wherever
found, or to use his own terms call it "a function of the
supreme centers " {vide " Body and Mind ;" p. 30), or
designate will to be merely " a result of organic changes
in the supreme centers" (^vide Popular Science Month-
ly, p. o20, vol. lii"); like Tyndall we will call the ego
"a poetic rendering of a phenomenon which refuses the
yoke of ordinary pliysical laws;" like Cabanis we may
say " that as the liver secretes bile, so does the brain
secrete th<mght." The same opinion is given by Voglit.
Moleschott says: "Tlumght is a motion of matter."
Buchner asserts that "the soul is a j)roduct of a pecu-
liar combination of matter — thought is emitted by the

39

brain as sounds are by the mouth, or as music is by the
organ." These quotations are sufficient to show the
standing ground of the objectivist school of thought.
Let us see how they will apply to the observations of
every day and asylum life. If these definitions of mind
be correct, then it must follow as a corollary that a dis-
eased brain and spinal cord must always produce ab-
normal functions, or morbid secretions. To state the
contrary would be to give up the whole controversy,
for as long as the disease continues it must produce its
effects — if not uniformly — at least continuously.

Let us apply this doctrine to asylum experience. I
go into the wards of an hospital and find cases of tran-
sitory mania. It may come on as suddenly as a blow,
and in a short time may leave as abruptly, only to re-
turn in the same way at irregular intervals. Does our
experience of disease enable us to consistently say that
a permanent lesion could produce such erratic results?
Let those who think so give a rational explanation from
experience in other diseased parts of the body. The
"lucid intervals" of insanity may not mean complete
recovery, but the convalescence at stated periods is suf-
ficient to make it an enigma, if a uniform pathological
condition can produce results so diverse in intermit-
tency to similar states in other parts of the body. It
means that at times the brain can perform its work as
thoroughly as ever in s})ite of disease. Can its mental
functions then depend on its condition? The paretic
will recover his intellect for months. The most acute
observer can discover no mt^ntal obliquity in the inter-
val of relief. We know too well the victim is doomed
and that the disease has not relaxed its grip. Sooner
or later it will become evidtiit with increased intens-
ity.. Must we believe that the organ, diseased as
it is, can do its work healthily at one time and at

-40_ '

another morbidly, yet under the same conditions in
both cases? If not let the objectivist explain the enig-
ma, for I know of no parallel to such a uniform cause
having such diversity of sequence in the whole range
of psychological physiology. The intermittent charac-
ter of a disease caused bv morbific o-erms, the invasion
of which nature is struggling against principally by
excretion, becoming alternately victim and victor, is
not a parallel example to permanent disease of an or-
gan. How often do we see in asylums the partial or
complete return to reason in a dying hour? We have
clearer answers to questions, and more intelligent con-
versations than at any time during the insane period.
This lucidity may continue until the final capitulation
is about to take place. If mentality be a resultant of
molecular action, then is seen the strange anomaly of
the secreting cause becoming gradually feebler, yet at
the same time the effect increasinof in stren^rth. The
fountain has risen above its source. The psychical
energy increases in the inverse ratio to the power of the
brain to perform its egoistic functions. Nor can it be
compared to the spasmodic eftbrts of expiring nature,
because we have to do with a permanently diseased
l)rain which can not give normal results from an abnor-
mal source.

Consciousness remains with us during* all the muta-
tions of our physical system. In that time millions of
brain molecules have grown to maturity — jjroduced.
their like — and havins; become an excretion are cast
out as useless drones from the busy hive. Each parent
monad has left to its child, as a legacy, a biography of
the past. Each succeeding generation has garnered
permanent and fleeting impressions to be harvested and
ai)propriated by the living tenant as emergencies arise.
The older the facts of memory in childhood the more

41

vividly are they portrayed in the vast picture gallery of
the braiu. The molecules change in substance and pos-
sibly in contour, as do the otlier parts of our ])liysical
system. Every impression, mental or physical, makes a
fixed change in the ultimate elements. From this store-
house, at will or by association, the past is brought up
to mental view with all its varied experiences. The in-
strument is ever changing in essence and capability
during revolving years, but consciousness remains true
to its impressions in spite of these disturbing transi-
tions, and even of much organic lesion. What h^-poth-
esis can consistently explain this, if our consciousness
were only a function or a secretion ? No wonder that
Maudsley t^kes every opportunity to have a tilt at it,
and calls it only an "indicator" to tell what the molec-
ular agent is doing, for if it be a facult;y trking cogniz-
ance of the conditions and acts of the ego, or rather
the ego itself, acting such a living fact, would strike a
fatal blow at the substratum on which is built the doc-
trines of the school of Comte.

These puzzling problems might be extended indefi-
nitely, based upon the experiences of asylum life, and
no satisfactory solution can be given, unless we take
for granted that a large part of the cortical and medul-
lary substance is only a depository of psychic energy,
and that when disease attacks these non-vital parts, or
traumatic injury impairs their receptive powers, the
mental force is often not weakened to an appreciable
extent, because the conducting ca])acity of the abnor-
mal parts may not be impaired to any extent. A shock
or the sudden crushing of a small portion of nerve tis-
sue, or pressure from slight effusion may be productive
of danger, or even destroy life, from the sudden inva-
sion of a powerful eccentric influence into the life cen-
ter, but the gradual slicing away of the surface of the

42

bram, or the slower breaking down of its peripheral
substance through disease, often produces no mental
disturbance proportionate to the injury done. If an
equation is to be made between mental power and
organic lesion, the collation of cases and the experiences
of life problems have not given us a solution to it, ex-
cept m some way not yet unfolded by the objectivists.
Ihis paper is written in the hopes that it may be a
small plank of a common platform upon which all can
stand with consistent adherence to the facts of physical
and medical science.

THE

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INSANITY.

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The American Journal of Iksanity is published quarterly, at the
State Lunatic Asylum, Utica, X. Y. The first number of each volume
is issued in July.

Editor,
JOHN P. GRAY, M. D., LL. D., Medlcal^uperlnt<t>de,>f.

Associate Editors, ^ "-^Jei ; Y, 2.

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^ ALFRED T. LIVINGSTON, M. D., ^ '^''^''''^ Phj/Hiciav..

T. F. KENRICK, M. D., j /^'

THEODORE DEECKE, Specidl PathologUt

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