The various theories of the relation of mind and brain reviewed / by George Duncan.

  • Duncan, G. (George)
Date:
1869
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The various theories of the relation of mind and brain reviewed / by George Duncan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    I>ut defy any one to produce a case where they had the same power when the spmal cord was removed^ Let ns state a case or two m favour of Mr Lewes' position. I quote from Physiology of Common Life, by G. H. Lewes: — Some time ago I re- moved the bram from a fr'og, and left it on a plate to recover from the effects of ether. The next morning the servant came to me with suppressed alann, assmiig me my frog wonld escape. *No,, there's no danger; it can't escape—^its head is off.' ^Bnt I assm-e yon, sfr, it's quite lively; I thought it would jump off the table.' On going up stafrs I fomid the animal in the middle of the room. We read also of a tortoise which, after the whole cranial cavity had been completely emptied, walked about as usual, and lived for five months. Dr Liman, of Liver- pool, completely emptied the cranial cavity of a frog, yet found the animal quite vivacious; there was nO' lack of spontaneous movement, and the reflex actions were distinct enough in the eye, eyelid, and other places. Mr Lewes continues:— I decapitated a fr-og and a triton, and merely divided the spinal cord of another triton and fi'Og. The fom- were placed in the same pan. At fu-st the spontaneous movements of the decapitated pafr were insignificant; but on the second day the headless toad was quite as lively and restless as the fi'Og with a head, and the headless triton little less so than his companion with a head. ]\li* Lewe& decapitated another triton, and its movements were