Our brain, body and nerves / by Andrew Wilson.

  • Wilson, Andrew
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Our brain, body and nerves / by Andrew Wilson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    74/170 page 60
    fingers of one hand in contact with the finger- tips of the other. Furthermore, it is evident that this con- stitution and arrangement of the brain cells indicate that the contact is not permanent, but suggests, on the other hand, that it is as frequently broken as it is made. If, as has been supposed, there is only contact when one brain cell has a message to convey to another, this idea, if proved, would only confirm what we know to be true, namely, that it is contact, and not continuity, that represents the re- lationship between our brain cells. Observa- tion of the cells on the brains of certain lower transparent animals has shown that they do extend and withdraw their dendrons, and that this mode of action represents the natural working of these units. How this contact is made and broken between our brain cells is of course still matter of theory. One observer maintains that it is the current of nerve force which, as it flows from the cell, elongates the branches and brings them into contact with those of neighbour cells. Another view holds that some chemical action is the cause of the contact, while a third theory sees an explana- tion in certain surroundings of the brain cells. 6o
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3