The evolution of intelligence and its organs / C. Judson Herrick.

  • Herrick, C. Judson (Charles Judson), 1868-1960.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The evolution of intelligence and its organs / C. Judson Herrick. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    r. [Reprinted from SciKNCE, N. S., Vol. XXXI., Xo, 784, Pages 7-18, January 7, 1910] THE EVOLUTION OF INTELLIGENCE AND ITS ORGANS^ We recognize two very distinct types of physiological functions: (1) activities con- cerned with the inner working of the bodily mechanism—nutrition, internal regulation, etc.—and called vegetative or visceral func- tions; (2) activities concerned with the adjustments of the body to outside, or environmental influences. These we call somatic functions. These reaction types are, of course, al- ways intimately related and interdepend- ent; neverthele^, as we ascend the scale of animal life the history of the evolution of both structure and function shows a progressive elaboration of each of these two functional systems and differentiation from the other, so that in higher verte- brates the distinction between them may be said to be fundamental both to anatomy and to physiology. As children we probably considered the chief distinction between plants and ani- mals to be the ability of the latter to move freely about; but one of the first lessons in our elementary biology was the correction of this notion by the study of sedentary animals and locomotor plants. Neverthe- less, I fancy that in the broad view the ' Address of the vice-president and chairman of Section F—Zoology. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Boston, 1909.