Outlines of a philosophical argument on the infinite, and the final cause of creation; and on the intercourse between the soul and the body / by Emanuel Swedenborg. Translated from the Latin by James John Garth Wilkinson.

  • Emmanuel Swedenborg
Date:
1847
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Outlines of a philosophical argument on the infinite, and the final cause of creation; and on the intercourse between the soul and the body / by Emanuel Swedenborg. Translated from the Latin by James John Garth Wilkinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    region, to be nearer to the involuntary actions of the body, and consequently nearer to the heart and lungs. The cerebellum claims our especial regard for its singular lamellated composition of parallel and circular portions, which terminate in the vermi- form processes, anterior and posterior. It is composed, however, of the same cortical and medullary substances as the cerebrum, although these constituents are varied in their proportions in the cerebellum, and their relative situation is different. The spectator may also justly be amazed when he views its lobules separately, and contemplates the position of the medullary por- tions in their interior; likewise when he sees the peduncles of the cerebellum, one of which forms the great valve of the brain ; a second, the annular protuberance [of Willis, or the pons Varolni], while the third descends to the medulla of the nerves, or as it is commonly termed, the spinal marrow. And his amazement may be the more when he considers, that whatever is effected in the body by the ministration of the cerebellum, its near neighbor the cerebrum knows hardly anything about; and yet that the cerebellum knows all that the cerebrum does. For which reason, whatever the former accomplishes in the body, is termed involuntary, implying that there was no antecedent per- ception of the object before it was realized in act. We have instances of this 1n the motion of the heart, in that of several muscles and nerves in the body, as well as in innumerable other effects.* But let us revert to the cerebrum, and note the medulla oblongata. This arises from the corpora striata, and running back towards the occiput, joins in contiguous relations with the medulla spinalis, whereby it becomes the common parent and nurse of all the nerves wheresoever situate in the body ; likewise of all the nerves of the senses; that is to say, of sight, hearing, taste, and smell; on which account indeed all the sensorial nerves enter it and end in it. Moreover it is of medullary sub- stance externally, and contains [some little] cortical [or cine- ritious| substance within, in which respects it is the inverse of other parts in the cerebrum.t But how all the sensations, and * Respecting the cerebellum, see Op. Cit., n. 271.—( Tr.) T Respecting the medulla oblongata, see Ibid., n. 272.— ( Tr.)