THE PHYSIOLOGY 
AND 
PSYCHOLOGY OF THE BRAIN. 
HORATIO R. BIGELOW, ESQ., BOSTON, MASS. 
BY THE PHYSIOLOGY 
AND 
PSYCHOLOGY OF THE BRAIN. 
BY 
Horatio R. Bigelow, Esq., Boston, Mass. 
The province of physiology in all ages, has been the 
localization of the functions of life, circulation being 
ascribed to the heart, respiration to the lungs, and diges- 
tion to the stomach, but it was not until after the days of 
Buffon, who described the brain as a mucous substance 
unworthy of notice, that the intimate causative relation 
between the cerebral hemispheres and thought received 
an enlightened investigation, and here tradition hypothec- 
ated an intangible entity, which presided over the intel- 
lectual outcome ; the intellect and moral power were not 
the effect of cerebral re-action, but the manifestation of a 
misty, spiritual vagary governing the physico-chemical 
changes. But a later period, and a more unbiassed habit 
of thought, has taught us to seek the solution of the mys- 
teries of vital phenomena, in the general laws of physics 
and mechanics. 
As in the fourth century, he who cherished a belief in 
antipodes was shunned as a blasphemer, so until very 
recently, he who would defend his belief in evolution 
and the correlation of forces, was railed at by that 
school of theologians who transcending their legitimate 
limits of thought, tortured their brains with the order of 
Nature, as well as its cause, and was hesitatingly patro- 
nized by society. But now that science is exerting its 
supreme control, the old chains of tradition are rapidly 
unloosening : religious toleration is supervening upon the 
exaltation of God, which arises from a study of geology, 
and from a severance of the unalterable belief in the 
accuracy of the Mosaic Law. heresies of yesterday 
are the creed of to-day, and while we see the human in- 
stitutions of religious sects, change with every century 3 
and every variation of latitude and longitude, Science 
keeps on its way, unswervingly, pointing upward, higher 
and higher, to a final perfection. So that, now, among 
men whose opinion is valuable, there is no appeal from 
the theory of evolution among men, among animals and 
in the vegetable kingdom, just as we also rest assured in 
the verity of the “ Nebular Hypothesis.” As then we 
study matter in all its relations, as we approximate to 
just theories of force, which is simply matter in motion, 
by comparisons with similar phenomena, so, too, we must 
correlate these attested facts, with the hypothetical 
theories of brain force, and from the relation deduce new 
theories. Descartes recognizing this truism, and adopt- 
ing the views of Galen, locates in the brain the function 
of the distribution of “ animal spirits,” the distribution to 
those parts in need of certain stimuli being effected 
through the nerves. But over and above this power, was 
an all-governing essence, which had its seat in the 
pineal gland and which he called soul. This great Philo- 
sopher, and I may add physiologist as well, recognized a 
physiological mechanism, and over that the thinking 
power of a soul. This view prevailed among those of like 
persuasion for many years ; the brain was merely the 
substratum of thought: while the physiological order of 
the correlation of forces, was plainly visible, even by the 
greatest skeptic, in all the other viscera of the body, it was 
held that thought and will, must be referred to other 
methods of analysis. This was the great mistake arising 
from a just apprehension of chemical mechanism and 
metaphysical phenomena.* De Blainville fell into a si- 
milar error, and held that in certain cases of insanity the 
reason might be affected essentially, while the brain re- 
mained absolutely normal, and that conversely, there 
might be unimpaired intellectual vigor in persons with 
indurated or softened brains. 
* Ee Blainville: Lecture on Zoology. 4 
Modern science has destroyed such illusive doctrines ; 
and while there is much material hypothesis, in the theor- 
ies of those eminent investigators in this particular field, 
yet by a judicious combination with objective metaphy- 
sical study, and by an educated observation of the various 
forms of the “ mind diseased,” a great preponderance of 
probability will result.-|* As the Bacteria and Torula, are 
spontaneously generated, as we have reason to believe 
that the amoeba can boast no longer of an ancestral race, 
antedating primeval man, so, the human mind, evolved by 
purified generalizations of heredity, is progressively up- 
ward, and we are justified in the belief, that these specu- 
lations of to-day, relative to the functions of the brain, 
will in after-generations, receive the testimony of direct 
proof. There are certain facts, which have already been 
established by experiment. We know that consciousness 
resides in the cerebral lobes, while the lower portions of 
the brain, contain nervous centres destined for 
functions of a lower kind. In the lower and higher orders 
of the animal kingdom, removal of the cerebrum does not 
impair motion, though certain stimuli are required to 
develop it, and the motion, once originated, continues 
until forcibly arrested.£ If the movement of one limb 
be stopped, the other limb will cease moving also. 
Pigeons when deprived of the cerebrum, will perform 
vital functions, though they require to be fed, and the 
instinct returns with the regrowth of the cerebrum. 
Animals deprived of the cerebral lobes also exhibit a 
forced tendency to maintain their equilibrium, showing 
that the cerebellum alone originates this power. There 
are, among the encephalic centres at the base of the brain, 
centres of co-ordination and direction of movement, 
which preside over the details of external life (walking, 
flying, &c.) Now the motions of the body originated by 
these centres, under the influence of the brain are of two 
f Bastian : Beginnings of life, 
t M. Onimus; Physiology of nervous system. 5 
orders : those of instinct or hereditary acquisition (Herbert 
Spencer) and those of habit. If you remove the cerebral 
lobes of a duck that has never been in the water, and 
then place it in water, it will swim regularly, but it 
will not, like an old duck deprived of its cerebrum, make 
certain habitual movements of the neck. The eye is 
merely the medium, through which a sensation is conveyed 
to the brain, or sensory tract, and converted into an im- 
pression, and this is so intricately interwoven with tactile 
sensibility, that the one exists but imperfectly without 
the other. Color, is the abstraction formed by ©«e t 
mind, out of the number of millions of undulations of 
light per second, impinging upon the retina. Sound is the 
transmitted impression of the auditory nerve. A large 
tree falling in a forest would occasion no noise, unless 
there were some one by to hear it. Lesions of certain 
kinds, within the brain, produce certain well authenticated 
results; softening of the peduncles brings about a peculiar 
gait, extravasation into the corpus striatum, hemiplegia, 
multilocular cerebral sclerosis, a species of paralysis 
agitans. These are all incontrovertible facts revealed 
by recent intellectual experiments. When we stretch out 
farther into the hidden land, and strive to locate the 
various phases of thought, the will, the intellect, we 
must deal in individual hypothesis, which will differ in 
the direction of each investigator’s bias. 
The absolute connection between mind and matter, is 
as yet beyond the pale of human inquiry, and hence 
however erudite and extended our studies, we must all 
be arrested at that final change in molecular disposition 
which “ immediately and causatively precedes inchoate 
consciousness.” Yet, at a very early stage of physiologi- 
cal inquiry the Seat of the Soul or Conscious Principle,* 
was a theme of elaborate and ingenious hypothesis. 
Hippocrates and Hierophilus placed it in the fibres of 
* Noble : Human Mind. 6 
the brain ; Democritus in the region of the temples ; 
Strabo in the space between the eyebrows; Epicurus 
allocated it in the breast ; Diogenes in the left ventricle 
of the heart; the Stoics, with Chrysippus, in the whole 
heart ; Empedocles placed it in the blood ; Plato and 
Aristotle connected the soul with the whole body ; and 
Galen suggested that each part had its separate soul 
Dr. Gall towards the close of the last century, was the 
first to enunciate clearly the doctrine, that different parts 
of the encephalic mass fulfil different functions. Just 
prior to the publications of Gall’s doctrine, Prochaska 
had written “ Since the brain, as well as the cerebellum 
is composed of many parts, variously figured, it is pro- 
bable that nature, which never works in vain, has destined 
those parts to various uses ; so that the various faculties 
of the mind seem to require different portions of the 
cerebrum and cerebellum for their production.” 
It would consume too much time, to enter into a detail 
of this system of Phrenology, it is sufficient to know, that 
it has not received from investigation that confirmation 
which was anticipated for it—some of its great underly- 
ing principles are doubtless correct, and outward arran- 
gements claim attention—we know that a high broad 
forehead, with prominent frontal eminences, is indicative 
of intellectual ability ; a retreating forehead, low, and 
running to a point at the cranial vertex, implies a low 
grade of humanity; and if a link were needed to sub- 
stantiate the theory of evolution between men and ani- 
mals, we could not be far wrong in suggesting the Theroid 
Idiot. Then followed the cranioscopy of Dr. Cams*— 
consisting of a three fold division of the encephalon, each 
corresponding to certain psychical qualities. But the 
defects of this system, were so numerous and obvious, 
that it has never received great attention, although it 
* Grundzuge einer meuen und wissenschaftlicli-begrundeten 
cranioscopie. Stuttgart, 1841. seems to have furnished the germs ot the existing teach- 
ings. The present tendency is to look upon mind as the 
force generated by the chemical re-actions in the vesi- 
cular neurine of the cortical and hemispherical cells of 
the brain. This is a very probable and scientific theory, 
and it is by adopting some such concession only, that we 
can hope to treat effectually mental diseases ; for as in 
every other other disease in the body, the remedies are 
applied to the suffering viscera, so too, in this, the highest 
of all, we must address ourselves to the brain. If this 
be materialism, then it is the essence of human charity. 
If mind be a spiritual gift, beyond the ken of investiga- 
tion', then every case of mental alienation must be treated 
as such, and left to perish in its wretchedness) all brain 
lesion passed by unnoticed, and herein Theology by going 
beyond the pale of its legitimate offices, may tend to 
cause great evil, and seduce the ignorant from Christian 
duties. Starting out then, with this theory of mind, we 
at once ignore the reception of any such teachings, as 
those of intuitive ideas. The new born babe, possesses 
not these. It suckles by the reflex operation of the 
nervous action of the spinal cord. It learns to walk, the 
reflex impression, occasioned by the pressure of the foot 
upon the floor, excites coordinated movement, and through 
a better experience, the automatic habit is acquired. The 
moral test of Right and Wrong, is the generalized expe- 
rience of previous generations, indeed we might almost 
say that the mind itself was an ancestral product. The 
child is taught to recognize, that certain actions will call 
forth reproach or punishment, and hence avoids them. 
The abstract idea of virtue, which Socrates called “ The 
harmony of a man’s powers ” ; Kant, “ a will in harmony 
with the universal moral sentiment ” ; and which utili- 
tarianism refers to a species of self-interest within a man, 
is acquired. The Will, is a product of mind, and hence 
as a dependent force, the paradox of Free Will becomes 
apparent. In certain cases of insanity, a person may 8 
have a thorough appreciation of Right and Wrong, yet, 
by uncontrollable force of Will, be urged into crime, 
despite himself. Herein lies the great injustice of this 
olden, judicial test. Maudsley defines the Will to’ be 
“ the desire or aversion, sufficiently strong to occasion 
action, upon reflection.” In nature, certain stimuli, cal' 
forth a resultant force. In the brain, the necessary 
stimulus, brings about a like result. In certain cases of 
melancholia, the patient however great his riches, may 
imagine himself a pauper. The one aim of his life has 
been the acquisition of wealth—for this end all his mer 1 
power has been put into action, the fluctuations of the 
money market have depressed his spirits, while an influx 
of wealth has unduly exalted him, and just as the hand, 
by constant use, may become palsied, so the mind by the 
constant inspection of this one idea, breeds unhealthy che- 
mical action in the cells of the brain and originates as 
delusion that which the patient has so feared and warred 
against.* As I have shown elsewhere the integrity with 
which a person’s ideas re-act outwardly towards nature, 
and the measure of his proto-typical cerebral arrangement 
will be the standard of his mental trustworthiness. As 
in nature, there is a conservation of force, so too, in na- 
ture’s work, the brain, an idea which re-acts but par- 
tially externally prolongs its tension in a nerve cell and 
becomes consciousness, or it may impress itself, to re- 
act at some future time as memory, or by its association 
with a particular physical condition, may for ever call 
forth pain or laughter, when a similar condition obtains. 
In cases of melancholia, where there is morbid self- 
introspection and religious depression) the first aim in 
the treatment, is to withdraw the mind from this con- 
centration upon itself, to interest it and to bring it into 
harmonious relationship with nature, and to excite its 
normal tone, by association with healthy minds. 
* The insanity of Hamlet, a psychological study.