Chapter II: Part 2

As will be seen, these experiments were no ›precision-investigations›; and the same may be said of the clinical and pathological ones. And this may be the more easily understood, when we consider that in those times so much interest was not attached to such special observations of pathological changes in the cerebral cortex; for this was then regarded only as a gland, a secreting organ or reservoir for the ›spiritus animalis›. These observations were therefore made more as it were in passing. The same is also true of the experimental investigations on animals, quoted above. These were in reality made not in order to investigate any function of the cortex, but for other purposes, namely, in order to search out the causes of the pulsations of the brain, or the qualities and functions of the dura mater, etc.

Yet, as we shall see later on, some of the cases, in the original descriptions, really contain statements somewhat more exact and of greater interest even for the theory of cortical localizations, than those which SWEDENBORG quoted; but he seems to have here adduced no more than what had reference to the _cortex regarded as a whole_, and which showed what great changes in both the power of sensation and motion injuries in the cortex could produce. If we take this into consideration, and if we synthesize all these experiences, and add to this the increased knowledge concerning the minute structure of the brain, which had been produced especially by MALPIGHI’s discoveries, we must admit that SWEDENBORG had good reasons for his view that the soul’s activity had its seat in the cortex of the cerebrum.

THE DOCTRINE OF LOCALIZATIONS.

But SWEDENBORG, as is well known, did not stop here. The cerebral cortex certainly constituted a whole which transformed the sensations into thoughts and determinations, but all the regions of the cortex were not of the same degree: some ruled the higher, others the lower functions, thus also containing subdivisions, in some of which the sense-impressions were received, in others from which the motor impulses proceeded. (See ›The Brain›, Nos. 66, 68, 71, 88, 98, 100, 102, etc.).

This conception of the brain appears at first glance as very modern. But upon searching the literature before SWEDENBORG’s time one finds that the thought was not so entirely original. New was the thought of attributing the psychical functions to the cortex, new also was the attempt to accurately determine upon the place where the different functions originate; but the _idea of localization_ itself is found again in the literature which SWEDENBORG already had at his disposal.

BOERHAAVE, for instance, says, in his ›Institutiones medicæ›, when speaking of the sensations, that they give rise to _different perceptions_, partly owing to the differing species and nature of the outer objects, and partly to the different natures of the sense-organ and the affected nerve, but partly also _to the different regions in the cerebral medulla from which the nerve proceeds_. Thus we have here a kind of localization to a special region of the brain, although in its _medulla_.[71] And still more clearly does BOERHAAVE express the same idea in his ›Prælectiones academicae,› where he says: ›In the ’Sensorium commune’ there are _regions locally distinguished for the different senses, just as every sense has its own special sense-organ_.›[72]

And before BOERHAAVE the philosopher DESCARTES had expressed an idea concerning a certain form of localization of the various elements of psychic activity. For he supposed that the images of sensation and the images of the memory, etc., which the soul perceives, arise on those places on the walls of the brain’s central ventricle, where, according to his opinion, the various nerves originate. In a similar way he also imagined the origin of motility localized. (R. DESCARTES: ›De homine›, publ. by F. SCHUYL, Ludg. Bat., 1662).

We here reproduce some illustrations from the work of DESCARTES just mentioned, which are designed to show how he thought that the images of sensation arise. — — See the figures 1, 2, 3.

We thus see that the idea of localization itself was not altogether new. But how did SWEDENBORG ultimate and develope it?

With regard to function SWEDENBORG divided the hemispheres of the cerebrum into two parts: one anterior region and one posterior, conceiving the fissure of Sylvius as the dividing boundary between them. (›The Brain›, Nos. 16, 88, 91).

Figures 1-3. Reproduced from Descartes: ›Tractatus de homine›.

Fig. 1. A part of the wall of the central ventricle of the brain. The points of the dotted area represent the openings of the nerves, which, according to the opinion of Descartes, take their origin in the wall of the ventricle. The figures O (star) and B (lily) are formed by combinations of such nerve openings.

Fig. 2. View of the left hemisphere from the medial side. The dotted area B represents the place, where, according to Descartes, the nerves originate. The vesicle H is the pineal gland, wherein the soul was thought to have its seat.

Fig. 3. Illustrates the act of seeing. The object ABCD forms an image, 1357, on the retina of the eye. This image provokes a similar image, 2468, on the wall of the brain’s ventricle, by exciting a stream of ›spiritus animalis› from the central ventricle through certain of the fine nerve tubules of the optic nerve, the openings of the nerve tubules in the wall of the ventricle being widened and thus forming images (of sight), which the soul is able to perceive from its seat in the pineal gland.

Fig. 4. Reproduced from Vieussens: ›Neurographia universalis›, Tabula XVI. Illustrates the passage of the coarse fibres of the _middle region of the brain’s medullary substance_ through the capsula interna, pons and the pyramids on the front of the medulla oblongata downwards to _the anterior part of the spinal cord_.]

To the anterior region he attributed the actual operation of the soul, while he supposed that the posterior region was chiefly engaged in the animation of the blood. He adds, however, ›it cannot be denied that sensations reach even the posterior region of the brain, yet our mind does not become conscious of them to the same degree as it does in the anterior region› (›The Brain›, No. 71).

In this _anterior region of the cerebrum_ he distinguished _three lobes_, or so called ›curiae›, the first one highest up, ›in the crown›, a middle one below it, and a third one lowest down, _i. e._, nearest to the fissure of Sylvius.[73] In these three lobes the actual psychic life is developed, and that so much the more clearly and perfectly, the higher up in the region these intricate processes occur. It is here that perceptions, thoughts, judgments, conclusions, come into being; it is from here that ultimately will and determination issue. (See ›The Brain›, Nos. 12, 66, 71, 88, 98, 100, 102).

As regards the sensory part of the psychic activity, SWEDENBORG does not make any attempt at a detailed localization; but as regards the motor functions he arranges their centres within the above-mentioned regions as follows: ›_The muscles and actions_ which are _in the ultimates of the body_ or in the soles of the feet seem to depend more immediately _upon the highest parts_ (_of the brain_), upon _the middle lobe_ the muscles which belong to _the abdomen and thorax_, and upon the _third lobe_ those which belong to _the face and head_;› and he adds, ›for they seem to correspond to one another in an inverse ratio› (›The Brain›, No. 68).

Whence did SWEDENBORG get all this? Whence the whole of this doctrine of localizations? In his first great anatomical work, ›Œconomia Regni Animalis›, nothing is said about it; first in his last anatomical work, ›De Cerebro›, is it advanced, and then — — — quite finished! One is at first glance tempted to think that he had succeeded in finding some new clinical experiences, upon which he could found this doctrine. For he had not even finished the account of the function of the brain’s anterior region, before interjecting: ›Therefore, if this portion (the anterior region) of the cerebrum is wounded, then the internal senses—imagination, memory, thought—suffer; the very will is weakened, and the power of its determination blunted. This is not the case if the injury is in the back part of the cerebrum› (›The Brain›, No. 88). But afterwards he does not bring forward (in ›De Cerebro›) any observations which could serve as proof with regard to this. And if one examines the cases he has referred to in his preceding works, one cannot possibly arrive at the localization of the psychic functions which he has here (in ›De Cerebro›) sketched; for the evidence concerning the _position_ of the injuries in the cortex are entirely too scanty and incomplete. But if we consult the _original descriptions_, we find there many other and more particular data than those quoted by SWEDENBORG when he was only concerned in explaining the function of the cortex as a whole. WEPFER, for instance, reports in his ›Historiæ apoplecticorum› concerning the woman seventy years of age, who suddenly _lost the power of speech_, that the cavity, filled with blood, which was found in the cortex at the autopsy, was located in the right hemisphere, _just behind the forehead_ (›ad frontem fere antrorsum›), and that it extended rather far both backwards and upwards; even measurements were given (length 8, breadth 4, depth about 2 uncias). It was also stated that the blood-vessels whose bursting caused bleeding belonged to the antero-lateral branches of the carotid artery in the brain. It is also mentioned that no changes were found in the left hemisphere of the brain; and from the clinical account it appears that even after the stroke the woman was able to move the extremities of the right side.[74] — — — All this indicates quite evidently that the lesion of the cortex was situated in the anterior region of the brain!

And PACCHIONI reports concerning the youth, who was afflicted with the right-sided _facial paralysis_, that even the extremities of the right side were somewhat paralysed, and that the cyst, which at the post mortem examination was found on the left hemisphere, extended _from the crown to the region of the temple_ (›a capitis vertice in temporalem regionem›).[75] Thus this case also furnishes an unmistakable indication that the cortical lesion was situated in the anterior region of the brain.

It seems strange that SWEDENBORG did not here supply an account of these interesting and convincing cases, which he nevertheless, as we have seen, was well acquainted with. For his habit is to furnish the chapters of his works with an introduction in which he reports, often in very detailed form, the statements of the authors upon which he bases his conclusions. Since in the present case such an account is lacking, this may depend: either upon the fact that this last anatomical work of SWEDENBORG, ›De Cerebro›, was not quite completed and finally edited for the press, or thereon that Dr. RUDOLF TAFEL, who edited the translation which is now accessible in print, excluded it. For Dr. TAFEL says in a note that the introduction to the chapter in question would be introduced into Part II., chapters 1 and 2, but—Part II. was never printed! Since, however, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will publish ›De Cerebro› in its edition of SWEDENBORG’s Scientific works, this question will no doubt be cleared up. But this much is quite clear from what has already been adduced, that the cases of paralysis which SWEDENBORG previously quoted in a brief form are in the original descriptions reported so completely and in such detail that one can without the least doubt localize the cortical lesions reported in those cases in the anterior (superior) region of the cerebrum.

We now pass to an examination of the _anatomical_ literature to which SWEDENBORG had access. And, as we shall find, we can here see whence SWEDENBORG derived _material for his detailed doctrine_ concerning the function of the brain’s anterior region. This becomes evident on comparing SWEDENBORG’s mode of thinking of the brain’s psychical activity with the descriptions of preceding authors in anatomy.

The group of nuclei, ›_corpus striatum_›, in the cerebrum had been an object of special interest for preceding authors.

The Englishman, THOMAS WILLIS, had for example in his ›Cerebri anatome› (published in 1667) portrayed them as a kind of junction, ›internodes›, by which the cerebrum coheres with the medulla oblongata; and he pays special attention to it on account of its peculiar structure (›The Brain›, No. 476); and he is said even to have attributed to them the ›Sens commun›.[76]

And the professor in Montpellier, RAIMOND VIEUSSENS, had given in his ›Neurographia universalis› (published in 1685) a very exact description of the ›corpus striatum›, (not only of its ›superior nuclei›: ›Corp. striat. sup. ant.› = Nucleus caudatus and ›Corp. striat. sup. post.› = ›Thalamus opticus›, but also of its lower lateral nucleus = ›Nucleus lentiformis›) as also of the mighty medullary tract of nerve fibres, i. e., ›capsula interna›, which passes through the same, and which on the one hand is distributed to the brain, especially to its anterior (superior) region, and on the other hand by means of the nerves radiates into the various parts of the body.

(In order to facilitate orientation we may refer to C. TOLDT: ›Anatomischer Atlas›, 1899, 8 Lieferung, Fig. 92: ›Querschnitt des verlängerten Markes und der Gehirnstiele. Verlauf der Pyramidenbahn von der Pyramidenkreuzung an durch die Pyramide, die Brücke und die Basis des Grosshirnstiels in die innere Kapsel, woselbst sie in den Stiel des Stabkranzes, Pedunculus coronæ radiatæ, eingeht.›)

SWEDENBORG, who had studied and often quoted both WILLIS and VIEUSSENS, likewise attributed a very great significance to the corpus striatum. All the sensory impressions pass through it to the brain, and all the voluntary impulses to motion pass out by the same path. (›The Brain›, No. 67). ›It is›, says he in his figurative way, ›in a certain sense, the Mercury of the Olympus; it announces to the soul what is happening to the body, and it bears the mandates of the soul to the body› (›The Brain›, No. 67).

And as the corpus striatum lay most immediately under the anterior (superior) region of the brain, and was in close connection with it, so the sensory impressions would for the most part pass to this region, and the voluntary impulses to motion would likewise proceed from it (›The Brain›, Nos. 66, 67).

The same VIEUSSENS had furnished a very detailed description of the passage of the nerve tracts in question, which pass through the corpus striatum and capsula interna, and had followed them both upwards towards the hemispheres of the brain and downwards towards the spinal cord. When he followed them upwards, he found that they formed _three regions_ in the ›centrum ovale›: the _regio superna_, highest up nearest the crown, the _regio media_, in the middle, and the _regio infima_, lowest down, and consequently nearest the fissure of Sylvius. (R. VIEUSSENS: ›Neurographia univ.›, pp. 115 and 117).

In these regions of the cerebral medulla, especially in the highest, VIEUSSENS considered that the soul’s activity had its seat: with the help of ›spiritus animalis› the soul here had an opportunity of receiving the sensory impressions, and in the fine and finest nerve fibres there were here formed sensory images, conceptions, (Op. cit. p. 129), here the memory images were preserved, (Op. cit. p. 135), and here the faculty of judgment had its seat, (Op. cit. p. 137), etc.

In these regions, especially in the highest, the will also had its seat and origin, and at its command the ›spiritus animalis› streamed out through the nerves, thus conveying the impulses to motion to the various muscles of the body. (Op. cit. pp. 122, 123, 188, _et seqq._).

For SWEDENBORG, who had arrived at certainty with regard to the seat of the soul’s activity in the cerebral cortex, and not in the cerebral medulla!, and who through MALPIGHI and others had been led to see that _the fibres of the cerebral medulla_ were _continuations of the processes of the cortical elements_,—for SWEDENBORG it naturally lay very near at hand to _follow the fibres of the three regions of_ VIEUSSENS _out to the cortical substance_ on the surface of the brain; and so SWEDENBORG has his _three cortical lobes_! And to them, especially to the highest, he could now attribute the source of the soul’s life.

When VIEUSSENS followed the nerve tracts of the corpora striata and capsula interna downwards, he found:

that the _fibres of the uppermost region_ led down to the _posterior region of the spinal cord_; (›ad posticam spinalis medullæ regionem›);[77]

that the _fibres of the middle region_, which were especially coarse and traversed the capsula interna and pons, forming thick tracts, could be clearly followed down into the _anterior portion of the spinal cord, (›in anticam spinalis medullæ partem›)_, where they came into connection with the anterior origins of the spinal nerves, (›ad antica nervorum spinalium principia›), also paying, on their passing through the medulla oblongata, ›necessary tribute›, (›necessarium vectigal›), as it is expressed, to certain of its nerves;[78]——See the figure 4!——

that the _fibres of the lowest region_ were distributed to certain _nerves, which proceed from the medulla oblongata_, and to _some of the anterior origins of the spinal nerves_ (›quædam illius pars ad quosdam e Medulla oblongata prodeuntes, altera vero ad antica nervorum spinalium principia›).[79]

In SWEDENBORG’s time it was, however, known that the muscles which produce the movements of the head and face receive their nerves just from the medulla oblongata and the uppermost part of the spinal cord; and it therefore lay near at hand for SWEDENBORG, when he saw that paralyses arose when certain cortical regions were destroyed, to draw the conclusion, that the muscles and movements which belong to the _face and head_, depend more immediately upon the _lowest_ region of the third lobe of the cerebral cortex.

And as it was also known that the muscles of the thorax and abdomen receive their nerves from the superior portion of the spinal cord, whither just the tracts of coarse fibres from the middle region of the brain could be followed, (see figure 4), so SWEDENBORG could likewise draw the conclusion from this that the muscles and movements which belong to the _thorax and abdomen_ depend more immediately upon the _middle_ region or lobe.

It might now appear tempting to continue the conclusion by connecting the remaining highest lobe and the lower extremity. But probably SWEDENBORG did not consider that he had sufficient ground for this. The description by VIEUSSENS did not here furnish any suitable guidance, for it was possible that the coarse fibres of the middle region continued so far down into the spinal cord that they could innervate not only the muscles of the abdomen but also those of the lower extremity. For this reason SWEDENBORG refrains from localizing exactly the centre of motion of the lower extremity and contents himself with stating in general terms only that this centre might lie above that of the abdomen. He therefore says: ›the order seems to be so disposed that——the muscles and actions, which are in the _ultimates_ of the body, or in the soles of the feet, depend more immediately upon _the highest parts (of the brain)_›, whereas concerning the thorax and abdomen he says that they depend upon the middle _lobe_, and of the head that it depends upon the third _lobe_. (›The Brain›, No. 68). I believe that this is the reason why SWEDENBORG’s doctrine of localizations as concerns the motor centre of the lower extremity is expressed in such vague terms.

From a comparison of these descriptions by SWEDENBORG and VIEUSSENS we have found that there are such considerable similarities between them that they in many respects agree point for point. And it therefore seems to me rather probable that SWEDENBORG derived his conception of the more detailed localization of the soul’s activity from the descriptions of VIEUSSENS.

THE ›CEREBELLULAR THEORY›.

But SWEDENBORG was not satisfied with knowing only that the psychical functions arise within certain regions of the cortex of the large anterior region of the cerebrum: but he continued his search for their inmost origin, and thus he came to the conviction that the _psychical processes in reality result from the joint work which is performed by the minute cortical elements_, which SWEDENBORG called ›_Sphaerulae_› or ›_Cerebellula_›, that is, the same bodies which we now call the _cortical nerve-cells_. These were the units of which the brain was in reality composed and out of which its actual esse was derived. (See ›The Brain›, No. 34). It was to these ›Cerebellula› that the sensory impressions went, and in these they were perceived and brought to consciousness; it was in these that conceptions, thoughts, judgments, conclusions, came into being. (Œc. R. A. II., No. 191, and ›The Brain›, No. 98). And this was possible because there were as many kinds of ›Cerebellula› as there were kinds of sensory impressions, and that these ›Cerebellula› were connected together into groups with different subdivisions. (Œc. R. A. II., No. 193; VII., chap. XX.). It was also from the ›Cerebellula› of the cortex that the determinations and impulses to the various movements of the body emanated. (›The Brain›, No. 99). And this was possible because the ›Cerebellula› cohered each with its own nerve-fibril, which in their turn innervated the muscle fibre, and that the ›Cerebellula› were _arranged into groups, these into greater groups, these into convolutions (gyri)_, etc., corresponding to muscle fibres, muscles, groups of muscles, etc. (Œc. R. A. II., Nos. 146, 156, and ›The Brain›, No. 99). And it is in this connection that SWEDENBORG _refers to experiments on animals by which it might be shown which gyre or part of convolution it is, which answers to this or that muscle in the body_.[80]

How SWEDENBORG was able to come to this modern conception ought not to be so exceedingly difficult to understand if we summarize what was already known at that time about these cortical elements and add thereto the conclusions as to the functions of the cortex to which SWEDENBORG had already come.

In SWEDENBORG’s time the conception of HIPPOCRATES of the brain as a gland was still generally received. In this one had, however, as MALPIGHI says, ›since the time of PICCOLOMINEUS› learned to distinguish between an outer, greyish layer, ›cerebral cortex›, and an inner, more pure white mass, the ›cerebral medulla›.[81]

Through the microscopic investigations of LEEUWENHOEK (1632-1723) it had further been discovered that the substance of the brain (especially of the cortex) contained, besides a great mass of blood-vessels and very fine fibres, _a numberless mass of_ peculiar _small bodies_ of varying size, by him called ›globuli›, connected with the vessels and fibres. (See Œc. R. A. II., Nos. 71-75, 112, etc.).

MALPIGHI, (1628-1694), had closely examined these ›globuli› and described them as small oval or polygonal ›glands›, which were closely surrounded by blood-vessels, and in _their inner central ends sent forth processes forming vessel-like fibres which continued into the cerebral medulla_.[82]

As these fibres or vessels formed small clusters, the little glands hanging on their extreme ends, like ›dates on their stems›, as MALPIGHI expresses it, thus formed _small groups_.

Within these groups the cortical elements were, however, _well isolated from each other_ by clefts, which indeed sometimes were very small, but could nevertheless be plainly demonstrated with the aid of colouring matter.[83]

The cortical elements taken together formed the winding groups which on the surface of the brain gave rise to the so called gyres.[84]

The profusion of blood-vessels, as was said, LEEUWENHOEK and MALPIGHI had already described as being very great, but RUYSCH (1638-1731) had afterwards by his famous vascular injections found it to be so great that he would not call the cortex a glandular but actually a ›vascular› tissue. (Œc. R. A., II., No. 86). Because of the enormous wealth of blood-vessels there was thus carried to the cortical substance, especially to the little follicles, a plenteous quantity of blood, and from this, according to the opinion of that day, the most subtile components of the blood could pass to the cortical elements and thereby be transformed into ›spiritus animalis›. And finally, the Italians BELLINI, (1643-1704), and ZAMBECCARI had shown by their analyses that the juice of the brain possessed a highly subtile composition, above all a great volatility and lightness, and was exceedingly mobile. (See Œc. R. A. II., Nos. 88, 96, 119). All this SWEDENBORG has himself quoted in his works.

On the basis of these and some other anatomical and physiological data, in conjunction with a number of clinical and experimental observations, SWEDENBORG, as we have before seen, came to the conclusion that it is in the _cortex_ that the soul’s activity comes into being; but at the same time he concluded that, strictly speaking, the cortical elements were the real work-shops. For he reasoned in the following manner: When the sensory impressions enter the brain, they certainly proceed no further than to the _›Sphaerulae› of the cortex, since these constitute the beginnings of the nerve and medullary fibres_: were they to go further, for instance to the small arteries which surround the cortical elements, or to the membranes of the brain, then they would overstep the boundary, as he says, and leave the actual centre and go out to the more peripheral parts.[85]

SWEDENBORG consequently here followed the same line of thought as his predecessors. DESCARTES supposed that the nerves originated from the wall of the central ventricle of the brain and therefore located the images of sensory impressions, etc., there. VIEUSSENS and others thought that the nerves originate from the centrum ovale, and thus he placed the psychic activity there. And SWEDENBORG now proceeded in a similar manner when he attributed the psycho-sensory operations to the ›Cerebellula›. And what other parts of the cortex were better fitted to perform the demanding and ever-shifting psychical labour than the ›Cerebellula›, to which the life-giving powers of the blood were so plentifully admitted, and in which, according to the testimony of many, the highly subtile nervous fluid was created, whose office it was to communicate the rapid and shifting utterances of the soul’s life!

SWEDENBORG’s predecessors had thought that the distinctions between the sensory impressions depended partly upon what kind of nerve was affected, and VIEUSSENS had located the images of perception and memory in the nerve-tubes in the centrum ovale, which had the finest caliber. What, then, was more natural than that SWEDENBORG should now locate these images in the ›Cerebellula› of the cortex? For what substance of the cortex was better fitted, a more suitable medium to comprehend and distinguish the innumerable shades of the impressions than these myriads of ›Cerebellula›—of different sizes, forms and consistency, etc., which were connected each with its own special nerve-fibril and so well distinguished from their neighbors! And at the same time they were connected with the other ›Cerebellula› into groups of different kinds, by which the psychical elaboration of the impressions was made possible.

On similar grounds SWEDENBORG supposed that the psycho-motor labour was performed by the ›Cerebellula›, from which the nerves derived their origin. And here we may recall that VIEUSSENS had already _connected certain groups of nerves with certain bundles of medullary fibres_, and that MALPIGHI had shown how _bundles of fibres of the cerebral medulla corresponded to smaller and larger groups of cortical elements_, each one of which, hanging by its fibre, formed the different _gyres of the brain_. If we consider this, then we can easily understand how SWEDENBORG, with his view of the cortex, could divine the correspondence between the components of the convolutions and the muscles.

It is interesting to here follow him in his line of thought and to see how well he understood how to combine his anatomical and clinical experiences: With the magnifying glass one can see how the nerve-fibres spring forth from the cortical substance like a brook from its source; if now the cortical substance be injured (as in the case of certain brain diseases, and which one may clearly see upon autopsy), then the injury is spread through the nerves connected with the cortex and at last all the way down to the muscles, and that, he thought, explained the motor disturbances.[86] And further ... when one or several of the ›Cerebellula› of the cortex are destroyed, then the damage is spread more immediately only to their proper nerves and muscles.[87]

In this manner did SWEDENBORG synthesize his anatomical, pathological-anatomical and clinical experiences and extracted from them his conclusions, and by them he arrived at essentially the same conception, as our times, of the principles of the nervous system, its cellular structure. He did not indeed employ the same nomenclature for the nerve-cells and their long processes, as we do; but the matter itself: the nature of the nerve-cells as elementary organs of the nervous system, the intimate connection between the nerve and its cell-body, indeed even its dependence upon it in regard to nourishment, etc., he was able to clearly grasp in this way,—and this more than a century before our modern theory of these relationships, the ›neurone-theory› saw the light.

CONCLUDING SUMMARY.

I hereby conclude my presentation of the grounds upon which SWEDENBORG appears to have founded his doctrine of the cerebral cortex as the seat of the soul’s activity.

I. It has here been my endeavour to show, that his _first_ general statement that the centres of the psychical functions are to be found in the cortex was a conclusion, which he derived from three premises, secured in different ways:

The _1st_ premise was a conclusion drawn from the clinical observations, post mortem discoveries and results obtained from experiments on animals, which he had collected from literature;

The _2nd_ premise was a summing up of the comparatively recent discoveries in microscopic cerebral anatomy, and

The _3rd_ was an hypothesis, concerning the continuous connection between the cortical elements and the fibres of the cerebral medulla, by which an easy communication was established between those elements and the distributions of the nerves in the various parts of the body. In his conclusions from these premises SWEDENBORG had some guidance in preceding authors, who placed at least the sensory function in a certain connection with the cortical substance.

II. His second statements, his essential _doctrine of localization_, showed in many points a great agreement with that presented by VIEUSSENS, but also contained important differences, which partly rested upon the conclusion to which SWEDENBORG had previously come, concerning the importance of the cortex for the psychic life, partly depended upon the new point of view concerning the correspondence of the cerebral regions to those of the body, to which he had arrived in his work supported by clinical results. The _detailed_ doctrine of localizations seems to have been constructed with the assistance of VIEUSSENS’ detailed statements concerning the connection of the nerves with the various regions of the cerebral medulla.

III. His third statement, his—so to speak, ›_Cerebellular theory_›, that the ›Cerebellula› were the units of which the brain was in reality composed, and that the function of the cortex was essentially the summing up of the activity of the ›Cerebellula›, and that the ›Cerebellula› were connected with one another into various kinds of groups, corresponding to the various kinds of perceptions and to the different movements of the body, etc., this was grounded in part upon the discoveries of Malpighi and others and their detailed descriptions of the structure and situation of the cortical elements and their connection with each other, in part upon SWEDENBORG’s clinical experiences and his own previously drawn conclusions, which be further followed up.

The first two statements have in our time been embraced with the liveliest interest and essentially corroborated. And as concerns the third, the same applies in part; but how great the validity of this statement is, it is for the future to decide.

Consequently SWEDENBORG arrived at almost the same result as that to which our own day has attained, although in a partly different manner. Our times have had the assistance of exact methods of investigation and of a most highly developed technique. In SWEDENBORG’s time the research method of microscopical anatomy and experimental physiology were yet in their cradle; and the two branches of science, medicine and pathology, which afterwards with the greatest interest have taken part in the investigation of the function of the cortex, had then hardly as yet turned their attention thither. As to how SWEDENBORG nevertheless succeeded in winning such rich and beautiful results in this field, and how well he employed the widely spread literature in question, I have attempted to show in this my presentation by tracing his path through the folios of the old authors and indicating the places where he gathered the material for his doctrinal structure and the premises for his conclusions. Finally, however, it should be emphasized that, when SWEDENBORG collected his facts from the many separated fields of literature, he found them not at all presented in the large works as important ›chief subjects›, or even as lying plainly at hand. No, he was often, so to say, obliged to dig out his material from a chaos of erroneous observations, false interpretations and curious conceptions; and afterwards he had to still further sift and elaborate it, before he could draw his conclusions out of it.

In view of all this one must say that it was in truth a _work of genius_ to search out of such a chaos the guiding threads which were concealed within it, and that, in spite of their imperfection in many points, nevertheless to be able to find so much of the truth!

NOTES.

[1] See the treatise of ANDERS RETZIUS on: ›The Origin and Development of Anatomy in the Scandinavian North›, which he delivered as an address on the occasion of his leaving the presidency of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on April 9th, 1845. See also GUSTAF RETZIUS: Preface to ›EMANUEL SWEDENBORG’s Scientific Works›, edit. by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Vol. I., 1907, p. V., _et seqq._, and ALFRED H. STROH, M. A.: ›Some testimonies concerning SWEDENBORG, the Scientist›, Stockholm 1909, p. 10.

[2] In an address before the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences at Stockholm in connection with a reference to SWEDENBORG’s work: ›De Cerebro›, which had just appeared in the English translation by DR. RUDOLF TAFEL; See GUSTAF RETZIUS: Op. cit. p. VI. and ALFRED H. STROH: Op. cit. p. 11.

[3] See an address of MAX NEUBURGER concerning ›Swedenborg’s Beziehungen zur Gehirnphysiologie›, delivered before the ›Versammlung deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte›, Hamburg, 1901.

[4] See the article by C. G. SANTESSON concerning SWEDENBORG in ›Nordisk Tidskrift›, 1904, No. 5.

[5] See an address of GUSTAF RETZIUS as president of the ›Versammlung der Anatomischen Gesellschaft›, Heidelberg, 1903; and also his preface to the edition of EMANUEL SWEDENBORG’s Scientific Works, which the Royal Academy of Sciences began to publish in 1907; and the references by the same author to SWEDENBORG’s statements concerning the anatomy and physiology of the brain in the Croonian lecture delivered by him in London, in the year 1908.

[6] See the address of J. J. BERZELIUS at the meeting of Scandinavian Natural Scientists in 1842 concerning: ›The rise of the Scandinavian shore above the level of the surrounding ocean› etc., quoted from ALFRED H. STROH: Op. cit. p. 6.

[7] See the address of A. E. NORDENSKIÖLD before the Royal Academy of Sciences on March 26th, 1888, quoted from A. H. STROH: Op. cit. p. 6.

[8] See A. G. NATHORST’s introduction to the edition of SWEDENBORG’s Scientific Works of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Vol. I., 1907.

[9] See ›Vierteljahrschrift der Astronomischen Gesellschaft›, Part 14, 1879, quoted from A. H. STROH: Op. cit. p. 8.

[10] See S. ARRHENIUS’ introduction to the edition of SWEDENBORG’s Scientific Works of the R. Acad. of Sciences, Vol. II., 1908.

[11] See GUSTAF RETZIUS: Preface to ›E. SWEDENBORG’s Scientific Works›, edit. by the R. Acad. of Sciences, Vol. I., 1907, p. V. _et seqq._

[12] EMANUEL SWEDENBORG was born at Stockholm, January 29th, 1688; matriculated at the University of Uppsala and ›Västmanlands-Dala-nation›, 1699; Diss. cum consensu Fac. Philos. publico examini submissa, Upsaliæ, 1. Junii, 1709; appointed assessor extraordinary in the Royal College of Mines, 1716; ordinary assessor in the same College, 1724; retired from the assessorship, 1747; died in London, March 29th, 1772. His name was SWEDBERG until the year 1719, when he was ennobled and his name changed to SWEDENBORG.

[13] Epistola Eman: Swedbergii ad Ericum Benzelium, Londini, Oct., 1710. See EMANUEL SWEDENBORG: Opera quædam aut inedita aut obsoleta de rebus naturalibus, nunc edita sub auspiciis Regiæ Academiæ Scientiarum Suecicæ, I. Geologica et Epistolæ, Edit. ALFRED H. STROH, Holmiæ, 1907, p. 206 _et seqq._

[14] Epist. Em. Sw. ad E. Benz., London, April, 1711, see Op. cit. p. 208 _et seqq._

[15] Epist. Em. Sw. ad E. Benz., London, Augusti, 1712, see Op. cit. p. 218 _et seqq._

[16] Epist. Em. Sw. ad E. Benz., Paris, Augusti, 1713, see Op. cit. p. 222 _et seqq._

[17] Epist. Em. Sw. ad E. Benz., Rostock, September, 1714, see. Op. cit. p. 224 _et seqq._

[18] Suggestions for a Flying Machine by EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, translated from the original Swedish by HUGO LJ. ODHNER and CARL TH. ODHNER, published by the Swedenborg Scientific Association, Philadelphia, Pa., 1910.

[19] Dædalus Hyperboreus, Eller Några Nya Mathematiska och Physicaliska Försök och Anmerckningar: Som Wälborne Herr Assessor Polhammar och Andre Sinrike i Swerige Hafwa giordt Och Nu tijd efter annan til almen nytta lemna. Printed in Uppsala (and Skara), 1716-1718. Preface by EM. SVEDBERG, Stockholm, Dec. 23rd, 1715.

[20] ›Förslag til wart Mynts och Måls Indelning, så at Rekningen kan lettas och alt Bråk afskaffas›. Stockholm, Kongl. Boktryckeriet, 1719, 8 pp. 4:o. See ALFRED H. STROH and GRETA EKELÖF: Chronological list of the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, dedicated to the Swedenborg Society by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Uppsala and Stockholm, 1910, pp. 17 and 19.

[21] Eman. Swedbergs Assess. i Kongl. Bergz Coll. Försök At finna Östra och Westra Lengden igen igenom Månan, Som Til the Lärdas ompröfwande framstelles. Upsala, 1718. See ALFR. H. STROH and G. EKELÖF: Op. cit. p. 17. See also the letters of Eman. Swedberg ad Ericum Benzelium in the Swedenborg edition of the Acad. of Sciences, Vol. I.

[22] See E. LILJEDAHL: ›Swedenborg›, Stockholm, 1908; and HJ. HOLMQUIST: ›Från Swedenborgs ungdom och första stora verksamhetsperiod›, Bibelforskaren, 1909, No. 3.

[23] See also ALFR. H. STROH and G. EKELÖF: Chronological list of the works of E. Swedenborg, pp. 15 and 16. The titles of the three pamphlets are in English: ›On the way to improve commerce and manufactures›, ›Memorial on the institution of saltboileries in Sweden›, ›On the utility and necessity of instituting an observatory in Sweden›.

[24] ›Om Watnens Högd och Förra Werldens starcka Ebb och Flod, Bewjs utur Swergie›. (Stockholm, 1719; see also Acta Literaria Sueciæ Upsaliæ publ. 1720, pp. 5-11). Reprinted in the edition of Swedenborg’s Scientific works, publ. by the R. S. Acad. of Sciences, Vol. I., pp. 1-27.

[25] See concerning this the above-named work by HJ. HOLMQUIST, in which he says p. 223 concerning SWEDENBORG’s method of research: ›SWEDENBORG himself indicates the scientific method which he followed: first, the collecting of as many experiments and investigations as possible, afterwards the working over of these according to the laws of geometry, and lastly, speculation, hypotheses: ’as long as proofs are lacking, principles may not be accepted and hypotheses defended, as they then deserve better the name of fantasies than of principles’. ’Experientia, geometria et facultas ratiocinandi’, experience, geometry and reason, were the foundations of SWEDENBORG’s work both within the world of nature and that of spirit.›

[26] See ›Œconomia Regni Animalis›, Vol. I., No. 360, where Swedenborg mentions Parts IV., V., VI. of the Œc. R. A.

[27] Œc. R. A. Vol. III., ›De Fibra›, translated into English by Rev. Prof. ALFRED ACTON in ›New Philosophy›.

[28] See Œc. R. A. Vol. II., Nos. 71-75, 76-82, 112; III. No. 59, etc.

[29] See Œc. R. A. Vol. II., Nos. 100, 101, 191; ›Quod sensationes externae non ad ulteriores metas quam ad sphaerulas corticales pertingant, id satis in confirmato est, quando hae fibrarum nervearum et medullarium sunt principia›; and 113, 130, 140, 141, etc. See also ›The Brain› No. 98.

[30] As observed in Quain’s ›Elements of Anatomy›, Tenth edition, edit. by E. A. SCHÄFER and G. D. THANE, Vol. III., Part. I, p. 39: ›The term medulla oblongata, as employed by WILLIS and VIEUSSENS, and by those who directly followed them, included the crura cerebri and pons Varolii, as well as that part to which by HALLER first, and by most subsequent writers, this term has been restricted.›

[31] See Œc. R. A. Vol. II., Nos. 83-85, 91, 93, 95, 114, 140: ›Proinde cum totidem origines motus sunt, quot sphaerulae istius substantiae;› and 144, 146: ›Sic distinctissime quaevis (sphaerula) suam fibrulam animat & usque ad ejus finem in fibram corporis motricem influit;› 157 and 191-194-95, 202 etc. See also ›The Brain›, No. 399.

[32] So, for example, in Œc. R. A. Vol. II., No. 100: ... ›quod Cortex sit principalis totius Cerebri substantia; in ipso termino primo Fibrarum et ultimo Arteriarum sita; See also Œc. R. A. Vol. II., 111-116, 133, 134, 138, 152, 197, 290, etc., or, for example, Œc. R. A. III., No. 127, fin., and No. 404, where we read as follows: ›Ex anatome Cerebri id constat, quod Cerebrum, seu substantia ejus corticalis, quae proprie cerebrum audit, sit _Sensorium commune_, nam quinque organa suos sensus externos ad corticem ut ad suum sensorium commune et unicum internum referunt. Cerebrum corticale etiam est _Motorium commune voluntarium_, quicquid enim agendum est mediantibus nervis et musculis, id praevia voluntate a cerebro determinandum est.›

[33] Œc. R. A. II., 107: ›Partes hujus substantiae — — — merentur _Organa Sensuum interiorum_ et Cerebellula nuncupari, nam media substantia medullari et sanguine ab Organis externis alluentes modos et tactus recipiunt, et ad judicem animam referunt.› See also Œc. R. A. 191, 192, Œc. R. A. II., 195: — — ›Substantiae Corticales totidem sunt Cerebellula, — —; singula enim sensorium est in particulari, quale est Cerebrum in communi.›

[34] Œc. R. A. II., 193: ›Haec minime effectum consequerentur, — — — nisi _partes substantiae Corticalis inter se, atque in gradus et series sint divisae, in quales sunt modificationum causae: seu nisi series substantiarum corticalium sint uti series sensationum_; nisi sphaerularum Corticis perfectissima sit varietas harmonica, ita ut nulla earum, praeter qua essentialia et attributa, alteri sit simillima.› For the same see also ›Regnum Animale›, VII., chap. XX; Œc. R. A. II., No. 307: ›Ex lustratione ipsius Cerebri apparet, quod _substantiae corticales ita Sapienter sunt ordinatae, ut cuilibet sensationi externae ad amussim correspondeant_; nam _dictae substantiae_, ut unitates glomatim in quendam numerum coalescunt, et _hi glomuli_ tanquam novae unitates _in congeries_ adhuc majores, et hae in maximam, quae est ipsum Cerebrum: _singulae partitiones_ discriminatae sunt per rimas, sulcos et anfractus, et consertae per vasa et productiones meningeas, sic ut quasi sint numeri unitatum in analogiae formam redacti, prorsus ut decet sensorium commune, quod _recepturum sit omnem speciem sensationis externae, distinctim suum visum, distinctim auditum, gustum et olfactum_. Œc. R. A. II., chap. XX.

[35] Œc. R. A. II., No. 192, ›Ex anatome Cerebri in ipsius oculi luce est, quod _radii visuales_ medio nervo optico _influant in thalamos nervorum opticorum_, et abinde per collectas e toto Cerebro, perque Fornicis basin transmissas, et thalamis superinstratas fibras, quaquaversum in _corticem_ diffundantur.›

[36] Œc. R. A. II., No. 192. — — ›quod _subtiles tactus membranae Olfactoriae_ cavitates labyrintheas narium investientis, et inde oriundae subtiles contremiscentiae aut modificationes per laminam cribrosam et processus mammillares _in Corpora striata_, aut in medullam totius centri ovalis enitentes non desinant nisi in peripheriam fibrarum, seu _in ambitum corticalem_;› See also II., 38-42, where the processus mamillaris is supposed to mediate a reflex action from the sense of smell upon the muscles of breathing.

[37] Œc. R. A. II., No. 101: — — ›totidem origines motus sunt, quot sphaerulae illius substantiae (corticis)›; II., 140, 153, etc.

[38] Œc. R. A. II., No. 146, ›Sic distinctissime quaevis (Sphaerula) suam fibrulam animat, et usque ad ejus finem in fibram corporis motricem influit›; see also II., 135, 147, 150, 156: ›Ex his ... fluit consequens de singulis Cerebellulis ..., quod vitiato uno aut pluribus ... contagium se non latius quam in appensas fibras et subjectos musculos immediate extendat.› And III., 59, 127, at the end, and 197.

[39] Œc. R. A. II., No. 147: ›Sphaerulae illum sortitae sunt in Cerebro ordinem et situm, ut _singulae aut plures simul, aut omnes in communi_ queant systolen suam et diastolen perficere›. Œc. R. A. II., No. 156: ›Quare ita compaginatum est Cerebrum, ut totum queat alterna vertigine auferri, utque solum ejus medietas aut semiglobi Haemisphaerium; aut solum plures aut una circumgyratio; aut utmodo hujus glomus, minor congeries, aut pars.› The same in ›The Brain›, No. 104 c.

[40] Œc. R. A. I., No. 505: ›Ergo inquirendum venit, _qui tori corticei his aut illis musculis in Corpore correspondent_; quod fieri non potest nisi _per experientiam in vivis Animalibus; per punctiones, sectiones et compressiones_ plurium, perque inde in Corporis musculis redundantes effectus.›

[41] Œc. R. A. II. Nos. 151, 157: › — — — licet _ipsa fibra Cerebri non agat motricem in musculis, agit tamen in utraque illa Medulla, quarum fibras ad sic non aliter agendum disponit_, uti ab Anatomia Cerebri tam humani, quam animalium brutorum, imo insectorum, clare colligitur: idque ob rationem, ut _Cerebri Voluntarium abeat in spontaneum et naturale mediis Medullis_, ne toties in particulares profundas motiones auferatur, _quoties actio semel incepta ex consueto continuanda sit_; id ejus sublimiorum officiorum administrationem toties alias interturbaret, et in Homine analyses rationales, quae quietiorem Cerebri statum poscunt: quare _ut primum actio voluntaria poscit seriem agendorum continuam, Cerebrum annuet et consentiet, tum et actionis actualitatem producet_: Sic _ejus_ est _causa principalis, Medullis autem incineratis injuncta secundaria_.› See also I., No. 574:—›_origo secundaria_ vel causa intermedia _actionum Voluntariarum in Spontaneas abeuntium_ sit _in Medulla Spinali et oblongata_.›

[42] Œc. R. A. II., No. 107: ›Partes hujus substantiae ex eadem ratione merentur _Organa Sensuum interiorum_, et Cerebellula nuncupari›. See also II., No. 191, etc.

[43] Œc. R. A. II., No. 159: ›Id jam extra omnem dubitationis aleam ponimus, quod _substantia corticalis_ sit _determinans, licet non omnium primum_, actionum Corporis, quia determinans est fibrarum, et fibrae musculorum, a quibus actio›. — — — II., No. 160: ›Sed hae _substantiae corticales_ licet sunt determinantes actionum sui Corporis, respective tamen sunt _modo subdeterminantes et mediantes_, quibus respondent subdeterminantes in Corpore, quae sunt fibrae motrices.› See also II., No. 204.

[44] Œc. R. A. II., No. 277: ›— — — dicere quod _Anima sit supra mentem intellectualem_, — — —› See also II., No. 280. II., No. 160: ›_Per illas (substantias corticales) etenim determinatur in actum voluntas_, cujus principium altius est rimandum. — — — _requiritur vis_ altior, sublimior, principalior, et universalior, _in qua sit principium voluntatis, qua his mediis determinatur in actum_. Proinde est fluidum spirituosum, in quo est _vita, et proinde anima_.›

[45] Œc. R. A. II., 285: ›Ex his jam sequitur, quod _Anima sit, quae intelligit, cogitat, judicat, vult, desiderat, imaginatur, cupit, reminiscitur, videt, audit, gustat, odorat, sentit, loquitur, agit_, — — —.› See also II., 287.

[46] Œc. R. A. II., No. 160, 161: ›Et haec denique concludit, quod sit _anima, quae huic fluido (spirituoso) inest_, cujus est determinare in actum.› II., 165. II., 303: ›Ipsum Fluidum Spirituosum est substantia eminenter organica suae Animae; uti Oculus est organum visus, Auris auditus, Lingua gustus, Cerebrum perceptionis omnium›; etc. See also ›The Brain›, No. 7.

[47] See for example Œc. R. A. II., No. 246: — — — ›sic etiam quod hoc Fluidum sit Spiritus et Anima sui Corporis›. — — — Œc. R. A. III., No. 317: ›_Anima est purissima essentia animalis, caelestis et spiritualis_, quae fibram simplicem excitat et simul sanguinem tam candidum quam rubrum ingreditur.›

[48] See also Œc. R. A. II., No. 348: ›Ex his jam praemissis usque ad fidem intellectus demonstrari potest, quod _Fluidum Spirituosum humanum_ immunissimum sit ab omni injuria contingentium in regione sublunari; nec exstinguibile, sed _immortale_, tametsi non per se, _post casum sui Corporis_. Quod exsolutum a vinculis et laqueis terrestrium in omnem sui Corporis formam coaliturum sit et victurum vitam omni imaginatione puriorem. Tum quod nulla sit actiuncula ex consulto, et nulla vocula ex consensu, in vita ejus corporea, edita, quae non affulgente luce sapientiae, inhaerenter designatae, tunc ante ejus conscientiae judicium, distincte compariturae sint›.

[49] Œc. R. A. II., No. 303: ›_usque eodem recidit, sive memoratum fluidum dicimus Spiritum aut Animam, sive ejus facultatem_ sibi repraesentandi universum et intuendi fines, nam unum non concipi potest, quia non datur sine altero.›

[50] J. J. GARTH WILKINSON has published Part I. in an English translation in 1843, and Parts II. and III. in 1844, London.

[50 b] ›Regnum Animale›, Pars quarta: ›De Sensibus›, publ. by IM. TAFEL, London, 1848; transl. into English by ENOCH S. PRICE in ›New Philosophy›; ›R. A.›, Pars septima: ›De Anima›, publ. by IM. TAFEL, Tübingen and London, 1849; transl. into English by FRANK SEWALL, New York, 1887 and 1900.

[51] The words enclosed in parentheses have been added by the author of this paper to make the meaning more clear, and are unmistakeably inferred from the connection.

[52] As Professor G. RETZIUS also says in his ›Croonian lecture›, delivered in London, 1908: ›The theses cited [especially those concerning the localization of the motor centres in the cerebral cortex] are drawn up with such precision by SWEDENBORG that they cannot possibly be based on divination only, but must rest upon a real grasp of natural phenomena as well as on actual experiments and dissecting work›.

[53] See ›Œconomia Regni Animalis›, I., Nos. 559 _et seqq._; also 571 and 572, and R. VIEUSSENS: ›Neurographia universalis›, Lugduni, 1685, pp. 123, 124, etc.

[54] See ›Œconomia Regni Animalis›, I., Nos. 559 _et seqq._, as also R. VIEUSSENS: ›Neurographia universalis›, Lugduni, 1685, pp. 123, 124, _et seqq._

[55] See BOERHAAVE: ›Institutiones medicae›, Lugduni Batavor. 1720, No. 415: ›Ergo musculi voluntarii nervos habent ultimo oriundos a cerebro. Illi vero, qui spontaneis, vitalibusque motibus serviunt, a cerebello nervos accipiunt.›

[56] See TH. WILLIS: ›Cerebri Anatome›, Amsterdam, 1667, pp. 73-74: ›Cerebrum motuum et conceptuum omnium origo et fons. Sensus et motus, item passiones et instinctus mere naturales, licet a Cerebro quadantenus dependent, tamen proprie in Medulla oblongata et Cerebello aut perficiunter aut ab iis procedunt.

[57] See Œc. R. A. III., No. 404, etc.: ›Medulla oblongata — — — sensorium et motorium commune tam Cerebri quam Cerebelli, sed secundarium et instrumentale superius. Medulla spinalis similiter — — — sensorium et motorium commune, sed secundarium et instrumentale inferius.›

[58] Œc. R. A., III., No. 133: ›Substantia — — — corticalis est ipsum Cerebrum seu Sensorium — — — commune›; No. 404, etc.

[59] See R. DESCARTES: ›Tractatus de homine›, Lugd. Bat. 1662, pp. 77, 81, 82; 32, 67 etc.: 72, 79 etc.

[60] See H. BOERHAAVE: ›Institutiones medicae›, Lugd. Bat. 1720, p. 253: ›Sensorium commune est pars cerebri, — — —, adeoque, ut apparet, medulla cerebri in capite;› and BOERHAAVE: ›Praelectiones academicae, (published by HALLER), Göttingen, 1743, p. 451: ›Haec ergo sedes animae non est in pineali glandula, uti CARTESIUS voluit,—neque est in medulla spinali, neque est in cerebello, verum _in fornicata medulla circumstante cavitatem ventriculorum cerebri_.›

[61] See CASP. et THOM. BARTHOLIN: ›Instit. anatom.›, 1641, p. 265: ›Putamus enim in Cerebro proprie dicto, vel cortice servari spiritum animalem pro sensu, in medulla vero tota tam quoad caput quam quoad caudam, reservari spiritum pro motu.›

[62] See THOMAS WILLIS: ›Cerebri Anatome., 1667, pp. 76, 77: ›Etenim existimare fas est, spiritus animales — — in corticali cerebri substantia procreari› — — — ›hæ partes medullares spirituum animalium exercitio et dispensationi — — — inserviunt;› and J.J. WINSLOW: ›Exposition anatomique — — —›, 1732, IV., p. 210: ›WILLIS nous donne un système tout-à-fait particulier. Il loge le sens commun dans le corpus striatum ou corps rougé, l’imagination dans le corps callosum, et la mémoire dans l’écorce ou dans la substance grisâtre qui envelloppe la blanche.›

[63] See M. MALPIGHI: ›Opera Omnia›, 1686-87, Tom. II., p. 85: ›Suspicari possumus minimis hisce glandulis ex delato sanguine separari, recolligique particulas illas a natura ad promendum instrumentaliter sensuum destinatas, quibus per nervorum tubulis delatis continuatae partes inbibantur et turgeant.›

[64] See MALPIGHI: ›Opera Omnia›, 1686-87, Tom. II., De Cerebri cortice, pp. 78 _et seqq._ ›In — — cerebro corticem affusum minimarum glandularum proventum et congeriem esse deprehendi: hæ in cerebri gyris et protractis veluti intestinales, ad quæ desinunt albæ nervorum radices, vel inde, si mavis, oriuntur — — —›; and SWEDENBORG: Œc. R. A. II., Nos. 76-82, 112, 114 etc.

[65] See BOERHAAVE: ›Institutiones medicae›, 1720, No. 266: ›folliculi illi minimi glandulosi emittunt tenues fibras, albas, compactas quibus adenutis fit callosum, medullosumque corpus› — — —; No. 274: ›fibras has canaliculos tenuissimos pervios esse, qui in se excipiant humorem corporis humani omnium quidem subtilissimum, qui fabrica mirifica corticis praeparatus, secretus atque vi in has fistulas impulsus est, ex omni quidem parte hujus in medullam oblongatam collectus; see also No. 263; No. 284: ›fibrillas nerveas humorem medullae — — ad omne punctum totius corporis distinctissimis viis deferre.› — —

[66] ›Nisi mutua sit connexio et perpetua communicatio substantiae medullaris qua fibrillas et manipulos intra thecam vertebralem et cranium, undecunque ducitur ad corticem cerebri. — — —› (Œc. R. A. II., No. 193; See also No. 115).

[67] See above CASP. and THOM. BARTHOLIN: ›Inst. Anat.›, 1645, p. 265.

[68] See H. BOERHAAVE: ›Inst. Med.›, 1720, N. 574. or 274.