Human physiology, with which is incorporated much of the elementary part of the Institutiones physiologicae of J.F. Blumenbach.

  • Elliotson, John, 1791-1868.
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Human physiology, with which is incorporated much of the elementary part of the Institutiones physiologicae of J.F. Blumenbach. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    Other organs, when its life ceases, its power to perform its function ceases, and the mind ceases : when disease or mechanical injury affects it, the mind is affected,—inflammation of the stomach causes vomiting, of the brain delirium, a blow upon the loins suppres- sion Or alteration of the urine, a blow upon the head stuns; if ori- ginally constituted defective, the mind is defective ; if fully de- 1. c. t. ii. p. 364. sqq. Some pretend to discover a striking resemblaiiGe between the brain of an orang-utan and that of man. But, in the first place, the difference of their volume is as five to one ; their convolutions differ considerably in number and structure; the anterior lobes, especially, are contracted into a cone, flattened above, hollow below, &c. ; and the difference is still more remarkable in other simiae. t. vi. p. 298. See Gall, 1. c. t. i. p. 196. sqq., and t. ii. p. 322. sqq. Willis has described the brain of a young man imbecile from birth; its volume is scarcely ith part of that of an ordinary human brain. M. Bonn, professor at AnHterdam, has two little crania of idiots, and the brain of an imbecile who attained his twenty-fifth year, and was so stupid, that he was shown for money as an African savage, &c. I have observed heads equally small in many living idiots from birth. All these crania and heads are 13 or 14 inches in circum- ference, and 11 or 12 inches from the root of the nose to the foramen occi- pitale.''— With from 14 to 17 inches in circumference; and about 10 or 12 from the root of the nose to the foramen occipitale, we have more or less stupidity, a more or less complete incapacity to fix the attention upon one object; uncertain and transitory feelings and passions; confusion of ideas, &c Heads of 18 or 18^ inches in circumference are still small, although they permit a regular exer- cise of the faculties; they possess but a sad mediocrity of talent, a spirit of servile imitation, &c. ; an extreme deficiency of seizing the relation between cause and effect; a want of self-government, and often few desires. Still some qualities or faculties may be considerable, because particular organs may be greatly developed, forming a striking contrast with the mediocrity of the rest. But as we approach larger brains, we see intellectual faculties of greater magnitude, till we arrive at heads 21 or 22 inches in circumference,—the dimensions at which men obtain the height of intelligence. Gall means French inches, which are about -j'g longer than the English. The dimensions of the brain, says Dr. Magendie, are proportioned to those of the head. , In this respect there is a great difference in individuals. The volume of the brain is generally in direct proportion to the capacity of the mind.— It is rarely found that a man distinguished by his mental faculties has not a large head.— Precis de Fhysiologie, t. i. p. 184. Dr. Marshall, an anatomical lecturer in London from two-and-forty to six- and-twenty years ago, taught that the brain was the organ of mind, its original • defective conformation a source of idiocy, its disease the cause of insanity; and gave many dissections of maniacs, and an excellent sketch of the varieties of the disease. Morbid Anatonii/ of the Brain, <.^c. collected from the papers of the late Andrew Marshall, M,D., by S. Sawrey, liondon, 1815.