Cornaro. In his eighty-third year we find him congratulating himself
that in all probability he "had still a series of years to live in
health and spirits and to enjoy this beautiful world, which is indeed
beautiful to those who know how to make it so." Even at ninety-five he
wrote of himself as "sound and hearty, contented and cheerful." "At
this age," he says, "I enjoy at once two lives: one terrestrial, which
I possess in fact; the other celestial, which I possess in thought;
and this thought is equal to actual enjoyment, when founded on things
we are sure to attain, as I am sure to attain that celestial life,
through the infinite mercy and goodness of God."
Jeremy Bentham, who lived to be eighty-five, retained to the last the
fresh and cheerful temperament of a boy. John Wesley, who died when he
was eighty-eight, also had a happy disposition. "I feel and grieve,"
he says, "but by the grace of God I fret at nothing." Goethe, who
reached his eighty-third year, is another good example. Then there is
Boerhaave, one of the most celebrated physicians of modern times, who
held that decent mirth is the salt of life. Indeed in the case of most
old people, we believe it will be found that cheerfulness is one of
their leading characteristics.
* * * * *
The recent death of Mr. Beecher, who with his splendid constitution
ought to have lived twenty years longer, illustrates the principles of
hygiene which he blindly disregarded. For years he was threatened with
the form of death that seized him, and came near a fatal attack some
years ago in Chicago while delivering a lecture. Men of a strong
animal nature, hearty eaters, and restless workers, making great use
of the brain, are liable to such attacks. If Mr. Beecher had observed
ordinary prudence, and had a little scientific magnetic treatment, he
would never have had an apoplectic attack; but he was commonplace in
thought. He went the old way, and died as short-sighted men die. He
had read my "Anthropology," and told me he kept it in his library, but
its thought did not enter into his life.
JUSTICE TO THE INDIANS.
BY JOHN BEESON.
President Grant placed them under control of the churches, making them
responsible for all their Indian agents, whom the churches were to
nominate. But as fraud and war have been more or less as rampant as
ever, it seems that the first thing should be, to relieve the Indians
from church rule, and recognize at once the Indian's inalienable right
to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," the same as we claim
for ourselves; so long as they do not disturb the peace or violate the
rights of their white neighbors, we have no right to interfere with
either their religion or laws upon their reserves. It is this
meddlesome injustice which makes all the trouble; it would make
trouble with any other community, if another religious sect should be
allowed to dominate over them in all their affairs. It is not Indian,
but human, nature, to do so, the world over. Dr. Bland, editor of _The
Council Fire_, says:
"I have been long and intimately acquainted with many tribes.
I find that they are not savages, but the peers of white men,
with great self-respect, a high sense of honor, and love of
truth."
Even the civilized tribes still retain their mutual confidence. Hence,
they use no locks, no bolts nor bars, when absent from their homes; a
stake in the ground, about three feet from the door, is a sufficient
guarantee from intrusion. It would be deemed a reflection upon
neighborly honor to lock a door in the Indian Territory. I was there
when they built their first prison; they now number sixty thousand,
most of whom have lived there forty years, and then, they said,
"The new railroad brought so many white renegades among us
that we had to build a prison for them."
I asked, "What do you do when one Indian kills another?" They
answered: "We have a trial, and if the killing was without great
cause, we sentence the guilty one to be killed by the near of kin to
his victim; we appoint the time and the place, and we have never known
an Indian to fail to come voluntarily in time for his own execution."
They believe that the Great Spirit will give all the hell or all the
heaven that each deserves; that there is no possibility of escape from
a just penalty and no danger of losing a deserved heaven, but to them
it is unjust to hope for anything on the merits of another. H. W.
Beecher said in his first lecture after his return from the Pacific
Coast:
"I made special inquiry of those who are posted on Indian
affairs, as to their moral status, and was always told that
when fairly treated they are quite reliable."
Gen. Crookes said of the Apaches, that while they were protected on
their reserves from outside aggression they were as well behaved and
orderly as any community of people in the United States.
It is true, they killed Generals Canby and Custer, but the first had,
contrary to preliminary agreement, moved his soldiers twenty-five
miles, and placed them in two companies on each side of the place
where the treaty was to be made. The first demand of the Modoc chief
was, to take back the soldiers, and it was not until a long delay, and
a firm refusal on the part of Canby, that the Modoc chief fired the
fatal shot.
And as for Custer and his men, they fell while ignobly, and without
right or authority, invading the peaceful home of Sitting Bull and his
people.
General Harney says:
"I have lived fifty years on the frontier, and I have never
known an Indian war in which they were not in the right."
Dr. McLaughlin said:
"I have been fifty-three years an Indian trader, and more than
fifty years superintendent of the Hudson Bay Fur Company, and
in all that time, I have never seen an occasion to shed the
blood of an Indian. The American people suppose that their
revenge is proof of savagery. But that is a mistake. It is
their sense of justice, and whatever they do is but an echo of
what has been done to them. They believe as Moses taught,
blood for blood, life for life."
Gen. Fremont said:
"I lived two years among the Indians with only one white
woman, and was never more kindly treated. I lost nothing,
although all I had was accessible to them."
Surely, testimony like this, in connection with their healing
magnetism so freely given to Spiritualism, should awaken sympathy if
not gratitude in their behalf.--_New Thought_.
_Talent, Oregon_, Jan. 19, 1887.
MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.
ANATOMY OF THE BRAIN.--Anatomy is considered the driest and most
difficult of biological studies, but a careful attention to our
description of the brain will show that it is very intelligible. After
we get through with the anatomy, the description of organs and their
functions is simple and practical. Every one should understand the
outlines of cerebral anatomy, and then he can discuss the subject with
imperfectly educated physicians, and show them their errors.
MESMERIC CURES of countless variety and marvelous success have
occurred all through the present century. But when not effected by
distinguished physicians, they have generally been ignored by the
press, and their knowledge confined to a very narrow circle. Now,
however, since eminent physicians at Paris are engaged, and the word
_hypnotism_ is substituted for mesmerism and magnetism, their
performances are proclaimed by journalists and even by the medical
press. The following is one of the latest reports. The reader will
observe that when the medical faculty after a prolonged opposition
yield to any new idea, they endeavor to ignore entirely the pioneers
by whom the discoveries were made, and by whom an interest was created
in the subject while the faculty were hostile. It will probably not be
long before they adopt the leading ideas of homoeopathy and endeavor
to obliterate the memory of Hahnemann.
"Hypnotism has been employed with considerable success in Paris for
some time past in the treatment of hysterical diseases, by Charcot and
others, but the case recently reported by M. Clovis Hugues, in France,
is the most extraordinary application so far on record. A young lady
of twenty was attacked six months ago with a nervous ailment which
completely derived her of her voice. Electricity was tried, with a
certain amount of success, but after a time it lost its effect and was
abandoned in despair. As a last resort, her friends applied to Dr.
Berillon, the hypnotic specialist. After consultation with Dr.
Charcot, he undertook the cure. The girl was thrown into a mesmeric
trance by the usual means, and Dr. Berillon suggested that she should
say on waking, 'I am twenty.' On opening her eyes she uttered these
words without the least effort. On the second day the suggestion was
that she should converse with Dr. Berillon, and this she also did, but
could talk with no one else. On the third day the doctor commanded her
to talk with any one and at any time that she chose. She has been able
to use her tongue freely ever since."
MEDICAL DESPOTISM.--The infamous law juggled through the Legislature
of Iowa, which deprives every citizen of the right of relieving her
neighbor of disease without the authority of a diploma, and renders
Christian benevolence a crime, does not produce much effect. The
natural healers pay no respect to it. In every prosecution under the
law so far, the attempt to enforce the law has been defeated. Juries
are unwilling to aid an ignorant Legislature in trampling on the
Divine law and the principles of American constitutions.
THE DANGEROUS CLASSES.--The existence of considerable classes, chiefly
of foreigners, who are contemplating murder and rapine, should
interest every good citizen. At Cincinnati on the 6th of March, it is
said, "The institution of the Paris commune in 1848 and 1871 was
celebrated tonight by the Cincinnati anarchists. It was the most
revolutionary gathering ever seen in this city, and the speech of Mrs.
Lucy E. Parsons, wife of the condemned anarchist, was of a very
inflammatory character. The hall was crowded with men and women who
drank beer at tables. It was a motley and dangerous looking throng. On
the walls were mottoes with red borders, and the entire hall was
profusely decorated with large red flags. There wasn't an American
flag in the hall, and above the stage was a picture of the condemned
anarchists. Several pictures of notorious Anarchists who have been
beheaded for murder and riot were conspicuously displayed. The band
played no national airs except the 'Marseillaise,' and everything said
and done showed a bitter hatred of American institutions. Mrs. Parsons
gave a history of the Paris commune of 1871, and said the mistake made
was in showing any mercy to capitalists. Her remarks were loudly
applauded, although a majority of her audience couldn't understand one
word of English. Dancing followed the speeches, and was kept up all
night."
ARBITRATION.--In the Sinaloa colony, "Any disputes that arise between
colonists will be settled by arbitration. There will be one lawyer to
protect the interests of the corporation in dealings with outside
parties." This is a great step in advance. When a true civilization
arrives, arbitration will supersede courts, and psychometry will
assist in making it perfect.
CRITICISM ON THE CHURCH.--If any readers of the JOURNAL think its
criticisms on the church have been too harsh, because their own
acquaintance is confined to worthy professors of the present time, I
would call their attention to the unquestionable statements of Hallam,
Guizot, and Draper, as follows:
"With respect to the last, the grandest of all human undertakings
(i. e., the circumnavigation of the earth), it is to be remembered
that Catholicism had irrevocably committed itself to the dogma of a
flat earth, with the sky as a floor of heaven, and hell in the under
world."--_Draper's Conflict_, p. 294.
"Persecution for religious heterodoxy, in all its degrees, was in the
sixteenth century the principle as well as the practice of every
church."--_Hallam's Middle Ages_, vol. 2, p. 48.
"When any step was taken to establish a system of permanent
institutions, which might effectually protect liberty from the
invasions of power in general, _the church always ranged herself on
the side of despotism_."--_Guizot's History of Civilization in
Europe_, p. 154.
"There was fighting and fighting between the old and new school, and
all on a question that would make a crab laugh,--questions that were
hypercritical and infinite, and about which everybody knew nothing at
all, and they thought they knew as well as God. Questions were talked
of with positiveness, and argued; and, when I look back upon them, I
cannot help thinking they were no better than the contentions of
children around the cradle. But all this gave me great repulsion for
dogmatic theology, and it is a repulsion which I have not got over,
and the present prospects are that I never shall."--_Henry Ward
Beecher_.
EARTHQUAKES AND PREDICTIONS.--Professor Rudolf Falb, of Vienna, it is
reported, predicted to an hour the earthquakes which have occurred in
France and Italy.
"Writing in the Austrian papers some days ago, he pointed out that the
annular eclipse of the sun, which commenced on Tuesday morning at 6.41
Greenwich time, was central at 9.13 P. M., and ended on the earth
generally at twenty-five minutes past midnight on Wednesday morning,
was likely to be accompanied with strong atmospheric and seismic
disturbances. The learned physicist has gained great reputation by
previous similar forecasts. His first and great success was the
foretelling the destructive shock at Belluno, on June 29, 1873. Nearly
the whole of Northern Italy was affected, and upwards of fifty lives
were lost. Very shortly afterwards he gave warning of the probability
of an eruption of Etna, which followed at the time anticipated in
1874."--_London Echo_.
"John S. Newberry, professor of geology and paleontology at Columbia
College, being the American authority upon all matters pertaining to
the crust of the earth, was naturally interested in the earthquake
that visited Long Island on Wednesday. He derides the idea that the
local seismic disturbance has any connection with the recent
occurrences at Mentone, as the shocks were too far apart, and, if
connected, should have been felt within eight hours of each other,
whereas there was several days' difference. His theory, which is amply
sustained by observation, is that an earthquake is a movement caused
by a shrinking, from loss of heat, of the interior of the earth and
the crushing together and displacement of the rigid exterior as it
accommodates itself to this contraction. It has been noticed that the
earth is shaken along the Alleghany chain nearly every year. It is
impossible to predict a recurrence of the shocks, but it is quite
probable they will recur. There is a record of 231 earthquakes in the
New England States between the years 1638 and 1869."--_Brooklyn
Eagle_.
CHAPTER II--STRUCTURE OF THE BRAIN.
Man a triple being--Materialists and illusionists misconceive
him--Relation of the soul to the brain and body--The nervous
system; illustration--Embryonic condition--Anatomical
descriptions unsatisfactory and the phrenological school
incorrect--Exterior view of the brain in the head, illustrated
and described--The cerebrum, cerebellum, and
tentorium--Interior view of the base of the skull--Bones of
the head illustrated--Division of the brain into lobes and
convolutions, with illustration--Frontal, middle, parietal,
tempero-sphenoidal, and occipital--Anatomical plan or grouping
of convolutions differs from their actual appearance--View of
the superior surface illustrated--Difference between the
irregular convolutions and the angular maps--View of the
inferior surface of the brain--Illustration and description of
the parts--Interior view of section on the median
line--Divided and undivided surfaces-_Corpus callosum_
explained--The two brains and their diagonal relations to the
body--Penetrating and describing the lateral ventricles--The
serum in the brain--Variations of serum and blood--Variations
in hydrocephalus and insanity--Our power to modify the brain
and change our destiny--Power of education--Responsibility of
society--The lateral ventricles the centre of the brain--Base
of the ventricles, the great inferior ganglia of the brain,
_corpora striata_, and _thalami_--Their radiating fibres
inclosing a cavity--The _thalami_ and their commissure and
third ventricle--The _medulla oblongata_, cerebellum, and
_arbor vitæ_--The _pons Varolii_ and crura of the brain--the
_corpora quadrigemina_, pineal gland, fourth ventricle, and
_calamus scriptorius_.
Man is essentially a triple organization, consisting of the permanent
psychic being, intangible to our external senses, but nevertheless so
distinctly recognized internally by consciousness and externally or in
others, by intuition and understanding, that the psychic is as well
understood and known as the physical being. This being is the eternal
man--the material body being its temporary associate.
The physical being, or material form, consists of the portion directly
and entirely occupied by the psychic existence--which is called the
brain or encephalon, and is in life also beyond the reach of our
senses in the interior of the cranium--and the non-psychic structure,
the body, which, though not the residence of the soul, has so intimate
and complete a connection with the entire brain that during active
life it feels as if it were the actual residence of the soul, so far
as sensation and action are concerned.
The soul, or psychic being, has external and internal perceptions (for
which it has cerebral organs). When the former predominate too
greatly, the human body and all external objects are realized most
vividly, and the reality of psychic life is not so well realized or
understood. Hence persons so organized are disposed to materialism,
and either doubt the existence of their psychic being, or are
indifferent to it.
On the other hand, those in whom the interior faculties predominate
too greatly vividly realize their psychic life, but have more vague
and feeble conceptions of material objects, including their own
bodies, and attach undue importance to the imaginary and subjective in
preference to the objective. The materialists and the illusionists,
however, are not entirely composed of these two classes of subjective
and objective thinkers. The majority consists of persons of moderate
reasoning capacity, who simply follow their leaders.
In making a critical distinction between the psycho-organic brain and
non-psychic body, the former may be confined strictly within the
cranium, leaving the exterior portions of the head as a part of the
non-psychic body; but as they are more intimately associated with the
brain than any part below the neck, this distinction is not important;
and if the whole head, as the environment of the psychic brain, be
grouped with it, it may not lead to any material error. The brain is
intimately associated with the entire physical person by twelve pairs
of cranial or cerebral nerves, and by the spinal cord, which descends
from the base of the brain through a great foramen or opening midway
between the ears, and while passing down the spinal column gives off
thirty pairs of nerves.
The cranial nerves are all for the head, except the _pneumogastric_ or
lung-stomach nerve, which belongs to the organs of respiration, voice,
and digestion; and the spinal nerves are all for the body, except a
few which ramify in the neck and in the scalp.
The entire nervous system is so instantaneously prompt in conveying to
the brain the impressions which originate feeling, and in conveying
from the brain the nervous energies that produce voluntary motion and
modify all the processes of life, that we feel as if we had sensation
and volition in every part of the body; or, in other words, that our
conscious existence was in the body; but we rationally know that the
sensation and volition occur in the brain, for neither sensation nor
voluntary motion can occur if the nervous connection with the brain is
interrupted by compression and section, or if the brain itself be
sufficiently compressed. When the brain is exposed by an injury of the
cranium, the pressure of a finger suspends all consciousness and
volition, making a blank in the life of the individual.
Animal life resides in the nervous system alone, and its character is
proportioned to the development thereof, of which the brain is the
principal mass. A subordinate portion of the general life, however, is
in the nervous system of the body, and in proportion as the brain
declines in development the relative amount of psychic energy in the
body is greater. Thus the body of the alligator after decapitation is
capable of sensation and voluntary acts, such as pushing away an
offending body with its foot. The character of the life in the body is
explained by physiology and sarcognomy. Its universal presence is due
to the universal diffusion of the nervous system, of which the
accompanying figure, showing the location of the spinal cord and
spinal nerves, will give a proper conception. In this figure the
spinal cord, with its thirty pairs of nerves, eight cervical at the
neck, twelve dorsal in the back, five lumbar in the loins, and five or
six in the sacrum (between the hips), is seen descending from the base
of the brain below the cerebellum (which is rather too large in
engraving), and proceeding throughout the body until lost in fine
ramifications which the microscope can scarcely trace, but which
quickly inform us if they are touched or disturbed.
[Illustration]
It cannot properly be said that the spinal cord proceeds from the
brain, nor on the other hand that the brain proceeds from the spinal
cord, for they originate simultaneously in a soft, jelly-like
condition in which the microscope cannot detect the latent structure,
not as they are in the adult, but as they are in the foetus in which
they first appear, with a structure similar to that of the lowest
class of vertebrate animals, the fishes.
From this embryonic condition, in which there is very little
resemblance to the adult brain, its progress has been carefully traced
by many observers, but chiefly by Tiedemann, through all the stages of
life before birth into the soft, infantile form of the human brain.
Some knowledge of this embryonic growth is necessary to a correct
understanding of the adult brain, its essential plan, its growth, and
the correct estimate of its development.
I have not found in our anatomical works what I consider a
satisfactory exposition of this subject. Beginning as a student with
Spurzheim's anatomy of the brain, which ought to have been the
clearest and most complete of all, I found it so obscure and
unsatisfactory that until I had made many dissections I had no very
clear understanding. I have never found any pleasure in the writings
of Spurzheim. In more recent authors the anatomical details are very
abundant indeed, and sufficient to tax the _memory_ heavily, but
without that system and philosophy which appeal to the understanding
and make our conceptions satisfactory, as I hope to make them to my
readers, who must have very incorrect conceptions of the plan of the
brain, if they have relied upon the writings of Mr. Combe and his
successors of the phrenological school, none of whom, so far as I am
aware, have really understood cerebral anatomy.