but we know that some of the established organs cannot always be excited in particular cases (Dr Elliotson, for instance, can excite only four organs in some of his patients, and six in others; and I have frequently found that small organs can with difficulty, and sometimes not at all, be brought into action); therefore, I can scarcely give up my previous opinions on account of the isolated case recorded by Mr Brindley. If, however, on a careful and extensive investigation of cases, it turn out that the subdivisions of the present organs be not established, then indeed shall I be most anxious" to abandon the conclusions which I once drew my experiments; and shall rejoice that the increased difficulty in practical Phrenology, which I have so much feared as likely to arise from the multiplication of organs, will not be interposed.

I do not again advert to Mr Prideaux's objection, that phrenological manifestations were never elicited until recently (an objection taken by Mr Colquhoun in nearly the same words, long before Mr Prideaux's article appeared); nor to the circumstances attending the discovery of Phreno-Mesmerism; because these points have been now fairly brought before the readers of this Journal, who will each for himself judge of the balance of probabilities, and come to his own conclusions accordingly. Nor do I think it requisite to occupy any space here in examining the hypothetical explanations given by Mr Prideaux (many of which appear to me "far more ingenious than probable"), of the cases quoted in my last paper, inasmuch as Mr Prideaux has not even attempted to solve them by the theory of volition, and to this (supposing it to be held by him), and to this alone, were they directed. Had my object been to establish Phreno-Mesmerism by positive evidence, other and different cases would have been selected in preference.

One observation, however, at p. 25, I really cannot help just noticing in passing. Mr Prideaux refers to a passage in which I spoke of a gentleman, "who, from an unfortunate defect of vision, could not observe the precise point of the cranium that was touched, but merely watched the manifestations;" and considers the defect of vision "unfortunate in more senses than one." Mr Prideaux's comment upon it, however, I consider more unfortunate still; for to assert that because a gentleman standing a short distance off, could not observe" the precise point" of a head that was touched, he therefore could not see the pantomimic gestures which ensued upon that contact (to say nothing about the ears remaining open to any exclamations that were uttered), is a

non-sequitur which I should scarcely have expected from Mr Prideaux.

Before quitting this subject, I would only observe further that, in the present state of our knowledge of it, we are scarcely in a position to theorize extensively; indeed, theorizing at all, until very numerous facts have been observed, and carefully classified and elaborated, can only lead to "conclusions in which nothing is concluded;" and for my own part, I should not have been found thus early in the field as a theorist, but that, from misunderstanding Mr Prideaux's real views, I was led to consider that gentleman's fondness for the theory of volition, as giving rise to a very exaggerated idea of its capacity to explain the phenomena observed.*

WOLVERHAMPTON, 21st February 1845.

II. CASES AND FACTS.

I. Case of Derangement of the Faculty of Language, without apparent disease in the anterior lobes of the Brain. By ALEXANDER KILGOUR, M.D., Aberdeen.

On 30th June 1841 I examined the brain of Mrs Sherrat, aged 39, who had lately been a patient in St Mary's Ward. The skull was found of ordinary thickness; the dura mater healthy on the external surface. On raising this membrane, the right side of the brain appeared natural over its whole extent. The anterior and middle lobes of the left side were also healthy; but on the posterior lobe, about its middle portion, there was a manifest elevation and projection, somewhat resembling a tumor, but the apex was broken and rugged from part of the brain adhering to the dura mater, and having been torn in raising the latter. The substance of the brain here felt soft to the finger. A section of both

hemispheres, on a level with the great commissure, exhibited the right hemisphere smaller than the left, the increase of size in the latter being chiefly in its posterior lobe. A little clear serum was contained in the lateral ventricles. The projecting portion of the posterior lobe of the left side contained some soft red clots of blood, and a little bloody sanies ran from it when cut. A section of it laid open an irregular cavity, or rather a soft semi-fluid mass of a yellow tint or

This controversy, which has been ably and temperately conducted on both sides, may now, we think, be looked upon as finished.-ED. VOL. XVIII. N. S. NO. XXX.-APRIL 1845.

L

colour, extending into and destroying the posterior and inferior cornua of the lateral ventricle, so that the separate parts in the latter cornu could not be distinguished. The thalamus at its posterior end was of a lemon colour, and slightly softened. The right hemisphere was remarkably firm; and in the left hemisphere all the other parts were

natural.

This patient, when in the Hospital, had the following symptoms. She complained of pain in her head, and, as she said, "all over it;" but she was not until a few days before her death confined to bed. She complained of a feeling of choking in the throat, much like that in hysterics; but could swallow quite well. She did not complain of a pain in any one spot of her head. The most remarkable symptom was a loss of power to remember, or, at any rate, to utter names or nouns. She could use verbs, but for the noun she always used it. When the noun, in any case, was pronounced to her, she comprehended it at once, and repeated it several times very quickly, as if to fix it in her mind; but in a few minutes it was again forgotten, and she now made use, in reference to the noun, of the term it,-saying, "It was it," or, "It was yon." She was evidently very sensible of this deficiency, and vexed about it; more especially as she often could not get what she wanted, in consequence of her not being able to say what she desired. She had no paralysis of any of the limbs or of the tongue, and all her senses were perfect. She seemed to think that the choking sensation arose from her tongue being too large for her mouth; when protruded, it did not incline to either side. She was twice cupped, but seemed worse after this. She was also blistered over the head, and before leaving the Hospital a seton was put into the nape of her neck. After a dose of oil of turpentine she was nearly a day comatose. She had occasional retching or vomiting, especially after the turpentine. On two days she had slight convulsive movements of her arms. Her pulse was on two occasions above 90, but this did not last. Towards the end of the disease the bowels became very costive. Five weeks ago she awakened one night screaming, from pain of her head, and her husband thought she was out of her senses. He says she had been complaining of headach for nine months previous to the night referred to; and that he noticed the imperfection of her speech the day following the night on which she complained so much.

REMARKS BY THE EDITOR.-We were not surprised at the

faculty of Language being affected, although no disease could be traced in the structure of the organ; because it is a well-known fact that our knowledge of the minute structure of the nervous system is still too imperfect to enable even the most skilful anatomists always to detect morbid appearances, even when reason tells them that morbid changes must have taken place. Greater uniformity, however, should be expected between morbid structure and morbid manifestations, where the former is strikingly apparent and extensive; and, accordingly, we are led to suspect imperfect observation of the mental manifestations where no changes in them are reported as concomitant with extensive cerebral disease. Impressed with this conviction, we sent a proof-sheet of the foregoing article to Dr Kilgour, referred him to the similar case reported in vol. x., p. 352, of this Journal, and requested farther information. In a letter dated Aberdeen, 17th March 1845, after re-assuring us that no structural changes could be detected anterior to the thalamus, he adds,

“I would be inclined to say, that the chief seat of disease was the organ of Combativeness; but I speak as one who never had time, or perhaps inclination, to become practically acquainted with the organs. Certain it is, that, as in the case to which you refer, which I read to-day in the Phrenological Journal, her temper was changed, and Dr Dyce (who attended her) tells me that he remembers well that she had a great aversion and antipathy to her relations (where they reside we cannot now learn), but she was not any thing like insane or foolish." She was a patient in the Infirmary of Aberdeen; and Dr Kilgour, at the request of his colleague Dr Dyce, several times saw her, and was present with him at the post mortem examination.

In vol. xvi., p. 278, we remarked on the unsatisfactoriness of pathological cases reported in the present state of anatomical and psychological knowledge and observation, "whether seeming to confirm or disprove the received function of any part of the brain, when considered as evidence of the truth or falseness of Phrenology;" and concluded that, "accordingly, it is by the physiological evidence that Phrenology must stand or fall." Two opposite cases were given as illustrations; and we now add the following (reported by Professor Luigi del Punta), as a contrast to that now published by Dr Kilgour. It is translated from the " Esterreichische medicinische Wochenschrift," No. 40, published in Vienna on 28th September 1844, which quotes it from Gazz. Toscan. delle scienze med. fisiche e l' Expérience, 1844, No. 370:

"A girl of about eleven years of age, who suffered from

tubercles in the lungs and mesentery, began, during her stay in the hospital, to complain of heaviness, pressure, and uneasiness, in the region of the forehead. Her speech became slow, and her intellectual faculties, which were above the common standard, constantly diminished. Every noise, and the most moderate degree of light, became insupportable. The difficulty of speaking soon attained to such a height that, in spite of her utmost endeavours, she could not bring forth a word. She seemed to have lost the ability to combine sounds. Her voice was rough and without modulation. The delirium, at first periodical, became unintermittent. In her last moments, she suffered also from nymphomania; and her voice continued to the close of her life hoarse and rough.

"The examination of her body disclosed traces of an extensive meningitis (inflammation of the membranes of the brain), especially of the pia mater. The cerebellum had evidently been the seat of inflammation. The choroid plexus of both lateral ventricles was swelled, and they contained a little whitish serum. Towards the lower portion of the left hemisphere, where, according to Gall, the organ of Language is placed, there was found a tubercle im stadio cruditatis of the size of a pigeon's egg."

As remarked in vol. xvi., p. 278, contradictory cases like the foregoing are found in other parts of the body besides the brain. To illustrate this farther, we may adduce a case reported by Dr John Webster in the 26th volume of the MedicoChirurgical Transactions, and of which the following abstract is given in the British and Foreign Medical Review, October 1844, p. 364. "The patient, a gentleman, ætat. thirty-six, was for many months utterly unable to move, by voluntary effort, any muscle below the neck, excepting the diaphragm; while sensation remained perfect over the entire surface of the body, and the intellectual faculties and other senses continued unimpaired until death. The progress of the case was very slow, the disease advancing gradually to its climax; and the patient suffered much at times from convulsive spasms in the lower extremities. He had also occasional epileptic fits. The cuticular secretion was entirely suspended. The muscles of deglutition were unaffected throughout. On examination after death, no very remarkable appearances were detected in the cranium. The spinal theca, corresponding to the three or four lower cervical vertebræ, was much distended; and, on being cut into, the arachnoid cavity and sub-arachnoid tissue were found filled with lymph, which united the membranes to each other and to the cord, the