Miscellany: The Brain

The Lesser Brain possesnes the power ot motion. There is one distinct senseor organ which has the power of cnusing locomotion. Tlie power is conducted from the leeser brain. down ÍU continuaiion iintil t joins the spinal chord. From thence it is conducicd ihrough the system by ihirty-two distinci pnirs of nervcs, commonly terintd the "muscular verces." All theso nérvea and muscles are under the control of the mind, nnd give tnotion to the body. tho linihi nnd uil their appendages. The nction of these nervcs is voluniary ; j. e., they are controlled wholly by the will, moving at ita bidding the eyes, the tongue, the hond, an arm, tlie fingcrs. &c. These órgano nnd Iinibs never move unless tho mind wills ihom to move. There can be no muscular oction unless an eífort ol the will is put forth. I am now in the position in which you behold me - standing here. Now if the power of willing were taken from me at ilns moment, I ahould nlways remain iipon this spot tinless removed by tome foreign power. To chance my present position nnd move to nnother part of the room, I must firsl put furth an ofiort of tho will. I will, then, to move to the other part of tho room ; the moment I wül to go to lliat part of the rom. the nervcs nre octcd upon. moving the limbs which perform the odice of locomotion. conveying me to the spot wliTe I had designed to go ; eo compleiely are these nerves under tile control of the will. Now tho mind is ofien deceived in the appeariince of things, anda greater effbrt of the wil!, in consequence, is put forth to accomplish a thing than is ac'.unlly neecssory. For instnnce, I sce a large stone lying at my fcet. Knowing the density and wcight of stone generally, 1 put forih an elTort to raiae it. The effbrt is juat in proportion to my previous knovvledpn of the genral weight of stones of the me of that which I nm about to lift. Bul when I grasp the stone nnd raise it up very suddenly, 1 am, for the moment, stirprised. J find il not eo heavy as l had ■upiosed, owing to its porous atate, - and I have put forth twice tho oft'ori of the will, and consequcntly twice the amount of force that 1 need to have done to accomplish my objact. This is owing to tho mind or judgmont's bcing deceived relative to the wcight uf the substance. This oftcn happens. Again : I approach an object - it may be a email caïk. I stoop to rnise it, hut do not succeed in tho first attempt. The cask is filled with n heavy subetancc, of the weight of which I was ignorant ; consequonily, the firsl efiort wns noi ufficiently powerful to raiso it. I then put forth a grenter (ffm, and accomplish my object. Now from this fact you discover that the first efibrt is in the will itself; and the force or ■trength, exorted in the nervcs, is just in proportion to the strength or exercise of the will. Were it not o, there would have been jus treng'h sufficient exerted to lift the atonc in the first instance. and no more. Anl in tho ■econd. there would have been enough exerted to lift the cnak in the first attempt. But in both cases tbe judgment was deceived ; and henee, in the fust, a superabundance of forco, and in the econd, not enough. Be it remombered then, th.it the nerves of motion are nlways controller} by the mind or will, unless jndeed, as is sometimes the case. their action is arrttied by a diseased state, as in paralytic afTec tion, when the mind cannot act apon 'hem. in uch cases, they no longer obey th will, its agency of producing obedienco being arrestad. But in lie haalthy atme, the will always controla them, bat xhe nerve thomsdves never control the will. The Sympathe'xc Nerves, of which we have bsfore spoken, hare a different office to perform Their office and functíon aro unlike the othors. The mind acts upon .nd controle the muscular üerves, - but the eympathetie nerves act upon the brpin and control the mind. Through these norv es, all aensations are conveycd to the mind The senae of sight, of hearing, of taste, of smell. and of touch, are conveyed to the brain though these nérvea unbidden by the will, and in many Maes, absolutcly agoiost it. They are complete Jatters of the mind in thio respcet. A peraon anot prevtnt tbtt tense f night, unletfl hdoses lus eyos : and, if hc sees an object, b cannot prevent an mpression being made o the brain, f ho closcs lus cyes immediately ofte hoving seen it. He cannot prevent tho Bcnse o touch, if you make on impression on h5 bod though he oxert his will ever so niuch. Neiihe can hc prevent taste, f he put any 6ubsionco i bis mouih ;- nor hearing thai which may be ev er so disngreeoble to bim, unleso he stops his ear with his fingere, or removes hiinaelf boyond the sound of the wjrds thot are addressed to him. We ennnot prevent the mell of a bnd odor when we come in contact with it, howevcr nauseating it may bc, unless wc close wilh our hands ihe orgon of smell. These sensatins tlien, are all conveyed to the hrain, unbidden by the will, and, in many ens'-s. ibsolutely agninst it ; thus acting upcin and conrolling ihe mind. though the exercise of itsown will, acts upon and controla the muscular ñervos, ■'rom the;e faets, it i skown that the mind ís ul-tject to one eet of organs, and ia full maater over another."Having quoted the lnngunge of Mr. Davis, as nboxc, we remarle furiher thnt tho senses thus far conaidered act voluntarily ; and as the broin is attraciivo or posi'ice, il receives their impulses. It ia impossible therefore, for an individua! not to rcceive Communications frorn the orLrnns of senae. And tho (act thnt these impresaions are irrcsistably carried to the broin is prooi of the nasenion that the brain iuell is positive, The Brain mny :heref'ro, with nc little proprirty be considered a Magnet, iis operations are Mognotic, and its phenomena is Majnetim. We now come to remnrk, "The mind is itsr.lf fnrmed through thefite sevsef, and bij the medium of the sympathelic nerces." In considering the senses, viz. seeing, hearing, tustiii;;, snielling and feeltng, we will remark: 1. As to the Ete, which, with the nervo nnd brain, constitute tho sene of vUion. VVhcn ihe eya is placed on an cbject, tho sense ui that object is conveyed bjr the optie nervet to the brain, nnd the imprestion sloft there. 2. The llar. Tina orin rcccivcs the sound, and the auditory nerves convey the sense of that Ruund to the brain, nnd an impression is made there. 3. Tho Taste. Tho organ receives the subs'.ance, and the sense of it is conveyed by the gusiatory nerves to the brain nnd an impression is left.4. S7nell. Th orgnn receives an odor, and the sense of il is conveyed to the brnin ihrough the medium of the olfactory nerves and an impreesion is left in the brain. 5. The sense rf Touch. In this case an impression is made somewhercon the body and the sympatueiic nerves convey the sense of that to the bruin, nnd, as in tha other cases the impreí sion is mnde thsre. The mind is forme:! throtigh these senses. anr] without them no mind can act in harmony witli the ihyi-i'jal organiz'ition. Uut lo makc this moreplain you will take one r all of theso sensea and cast them oway. Wow if the organ of siirht is thrown away, he has no mcans of receiving the impression of sight, and no impression enn be made on the brain, Ieaving the individual incnpable of forming any thing dt-ñnite in the mind through the medium ol sight. The pcrsoii will be pcrfecily idiotie so ar ns this ii coneerned. The following account of an operation performed by Dr. Grant, on the eyes of a man boni !Ii nd. will funher demónstrate our expresiona : Dr. Grnnt hoving observed the eyes of his patiënt, and convincing his friends and relativos ihnt it was highly probuble that he could remove the obstaeie wlnch prevented his sight. nll his friends and acquaintnnce who had anj curiosity to be present, when one offull age and underslanding was to receive a nnw sense. assptnbled ihemselves on the occation, but were desircd to preserve profound süence in case sighi was rc-ntored, in order to let the patiënt tnako his own observaiton8, with the ndvantnge of discovering his friends by tlieir voices. Among many oihers, the mother, brothers. sisters, and a young lady for whom he had formed a particular attach ment, were present. The operation was performed with great ekill, so that sifiht was nstantly produced. When the pafient received the dawn of ligbt. there appenred auch ecstacy in hisaction, that he scemed ready to swoon away in the surprise ol joy nd wonder. The eurgeon stood befoie him witli his instrument in his hand. The patiënt observed him from head to foot, and then ob served hinisclf as carefuUy ; oi;d compnring to himself, be observed the hands of both werr eaactly nlike, excepting the instrument, whicb he took tobe a part of the Surgeon's hand - When ho hnd continiied irt this amazement for scvcrni minute, his mo:her could no longei benr tho agiialion of so mnny pnesions a throng ed upon her, nnd feil tipen his treek, crying oui - ' My son, my son 1' The young gentleman knew her roice, and could 6ay no more than - 1 Oh, me, are you my dear mother I' nnd fnin tcd On his recovery, he heard the voice of hif leinale friend, whtch had surpfisinff effect up on him. Having called her to him, he nppeared io view her with admiration nnd delight, and nskod her what had heen done to him. ' Whiih er.' snid he, 'havo I been cnrried 7 Is all thU about me, the thini; that I have heard so much of T Is this steiiig ï Wcrii yoü always thus so happy and glad to see each other T' In all hip conversation, he manifested but faint ideas oj nnythmg which had not been received bv the ear or through the sense of touch." The cirenmsttfnees of this case show that the blind patiënt had never formed any deñrñte ideo of tbe natnre of visión, " henee hir surprise, joy, nnd wonder, when siglu wa produced." Now take the Ear, nnd consider that destroyed or ns ncVer in elistence, no inpression would be made on the brain throuyh thii organ. Read ihe following from " Goldsmitb's Animnted Nature" for illustrntion; " A young man o the town of Ghartres, between the age of 23 nnd 94, the son of a irades man, ïnd deaf and dumb from his birth, began to Gpeak all of n sudJen, to the great stonishnent of the whole town. Fïe gave them to nn derstnnd, that about three or four months before, ho had heard the ound of the bells for the fi'si time, and was greatly mrprieed at this new ond unknowm sensatfon. After some time, a kind of water ssued from the left ear : ha then heard perfectry well wrth both. Dnring the three month, he was seduloüsiy etnployeding, without eaying a word, and uccusiomin himself tospeak softly, (ao as not lo be lieard, itio words spoken by oihers. He lnbored hare ilso n perfecting liimself in the pronunciaron md in the ideas attached to every saund. A length, hoving supposed himself qualified t break ilence, he declared that he could no speak, ahhough as yet but very imperfectly. - Soon after, gome able Divines questioned hin concerning liis ideas of his past state, and princi pally with respect to his ideas of God, his soul nnd iho niorality or turpitude of nctions. The voung mnn, however, had not drawn his specu'ations nto that channel. He liad pone to mass ndeed, with his parents, and learned to sign ïimself with the cross- lo kneel down and to mitato all theactions of a man that was prayfng: ut h did all ihis without ony manner of knowljdge of the design or object. He saw others do he like, nnd that wa enough for him. He cnew nothing even ol deaih, and it never entercd nto his head : ho led a life of pure animal intinct ; entirely taken up with sensible objeets. nd such as were present." So, we might continue to illusiraie tül we ad introdticcd each ?en?e, in this wny, and the esult would be th.it without these senses there would be no manifestations of mind and there would bo no consciousness of these exisiing ' powersor agencies." and there would ho no ause to produce mind - &n effect produced by he causes cnunierated. These senses are chanel?, throiigh which rivers of knowledge pour nta the brain and develope the powers of mind