After SWEDENBORG had so thoroughly searched through and speculated upon
inorganic nature, he turns himself to the _organic_. He breaks away from
all other work, travels abroad, and throws himself with intense zeal into
_anatomical_ and _physiological_ studies. These researches were, for
the most part, carried on in the Netherlands, France, and especially in
Italy, where he remained for nearly a year.
After five years he was ready with his first work in this field,
the large, famous ›_Œconomia Regni Animalis_,› which was printed in
Amsterdam, 1740-1741. It was then published in two large volumes; but
that it was designed to be still larger, is evident, among other things,
from SWEDENBORG’s own statement;[26] and furthermore, the Englishman J.
J. G. WILKINSON published, in 1847, as a third volume, some annotations
which he regarded as belonging to SWEDENBORG’s manuscript of the same
work.[27]
The ›Œconomia Regni Animalis› is chiefly directed to a detailed
analysis of the _blood_, the _brain_, and finally the _soul_. In
this investigation SWEDENBORG directed his attention not only to the
morphological and physiological aspects of the subject, but also to the
_embryology_ of the organs; and he penetrated so deeply into the very
essence of development, that, as Professor J. A. HAMMAR (Uppsala) has
pointed out, he succeeded in arriving at a conception on this point,
which was considerably better than that of his times. As is well known,
during the first part of the eighteenth century the idea was generally
prevalent that, when the organism developed from the egg or sperm, it
grew forth out of it, much like a flower developes out of the bud, or, in
other words, that the different organs existed pre-formed in the egg or
sperm and that development consisted only in an extension of its size.
SWEDENBORG expressed himself very decidedly against this ›pre-formation
theory›: The development consisted by no means merely in a growth or
expansion of the germ, (›seminis extensio›), or of a prototype of the
future creature existent in the germ, (›non ... aliqua realis effigies
maximi in minimo, seu in aliquo primo typus futuri corporis, qui
simpliciter expanditur.› See Œc. R. A. I., No. 249); but there was in
the germ a certain formative substance or power, by means of which the
various parts of the embryo were developed one after the other, organ
after organ. ( ... singula membra successive, seu unum post alterum
producuntur ... Œc. R. A. I., No. 247).
It will be seen that SWEDENBORG has here put forth essentially the same
theory as was later presented by CASPAR FRIEDRICH WOLFF in his well known
›Doctorsdissertation› of the year 1759, _i. e._, the so called _theory of
›epigenesis›_.
I shall here also discuss some of the results and conclusions, which
SWEDENBORG arrived at in the ›Œconomia Regni Animalis›, concerning the
_brain_ and _its function_.
As is well known the general principles of the macroscopical anatomy
of the brain were known long before SWEDENBORG’s days; and even its
microscopical structure had, half a century before his time, begun to be
studied by such men as LEEUWENHOEK (1632-1723), MALPHIGI (1628-1694),
and others. For example, it was not only known that the substance of
the brain, upon incision, exhibits an outer, greyish layer, the cortex,
and an inner, more pure white mass, the medullary substance; but the
above-mentioned investigators had also shown that _the cortex of the
brain_ consists of a numberless mass of small globular bodies, which
are closely surrounded by blood-vessels and are continued in small
thread-like extensions, which run into the medullary substance.[28] Now
SWEDENBORG succeeded, as regards _these globular bodies_, in arriving
at the conception that they are _the most important components of the
cortex_ and that it is in these bodies that the nerves originate.[29] He
called them ›_Sphaerulae_› or ›_Cerebellula_›.
Again, as regards the _medullary substance_, it was already known through
the works of WILLIS (1622-1675), VIEUSSENS (1641-1716), BOERHAAVE
(1668-1738), that it consists, for the most part, of a great mass of
finer and coarser nerve-fibres, and that these, through the medulla
oblongata,[30] continue down into the spinal cord, and that through the
nerves they are in communication with the various parts of the body. The
nerves were supposed to contain a lumen, thus being tubular. On the basis
of certain _clinical experiences_ concerning the changes which occur
in the functions of the soul, when the cortex of the brain is injured,
SWEDENBORG succeeded in drawing the conclusion that the _same_ medullary
fibres which are derived from the ›Cerebellula› of the cortex of the
brain, continue into the spinal cord and are in connection with the
nerves, and that thus an easily transmitted and continuous communication
is established between the substance of the cerebral cortex and all the
parts of the body, where the nerves are distributed.[31]
Concerning the _function_ of the brain, the old view of HIPPOCRATES that
the brain was a gland was still entertained in SWEDENBORG’s time. The
cortical substance served for secreting the ›spiritus animalis›, that is,
what the ancients called the ›spirits of life›, and these were collected
in the cortex of the brain that they might, when necessary, stream out
through the nerves. The medullary substance was, according to the latest
conceptions of that day, the origin and source of the soul’s activity,
and the ›spiritus animalis› served as the connecting link between the
soul and the sense-organs and muscles of the body.
SWEDENBORG also supposed that such a very easily flowing nervous fluid,
›fluidum spirituosum›, communicated the impressions of the senses and
the impulses of motion: but this fluid determined the connection between
sense-organs and muscles on the one hand, and the _cortex_ of the brain
on the other. It was thus _the cerebral cortex! to which the impressions
of the senses were carried, and from this the voluntary impulses were
sent out_ to the muscles. The cortex was thus the seat of both the
sensory and motor activities of the soul in the body. Œc. R. A. III., No.
133: ›Substantia enim corticalis est ipsum cerebrum, seu sensorium et
motorium commune.›[32]
But SWEDENBORG was not contented with this general idea of the cortex as
the seat of the sensations and the will. He also drew conclusions from
his previous experience and results regarding the continuous connection
between the elements of the cortex and the ends of the nerves distributed
in the various parts of the body.
On the basis of this connection he ascribed to the ›_Cerebellula_› a
very important rôle in the activity of the brain. In the first place
they received, through the external sense-organs and nerves, impressions
from the outer world and worked them over: they were a kind of _inner
sense-organs_.[33] And since the sensory impressions were so richly
various as well in kind as in degree, the ›Cerebellula› must also possess
various individual qualifications corresponding to these various sensory
impressions. They were, at the same time, connected with one another, and
so arranged into superior and inferior groups that they could receive and
work over the various kinds of sensory impressions.[34]
There were also other groups of grey substance in the interiors of
the brain, through which the sensory nerves passed; but all sensory
impressions must ultimately be gathered together in the cortex of the
brain so as to become conscious perceptions.
(Thus, for example, SWEDENBORG describes the optic thalami as such
a secondary centre in the course of the path of sight;[35] and the
corpora striata in the path of the sense of smell;[36] and the origin of
conscious tactile sensations he describes thus: — — — ›rudior quicunque
_tactus a superficie_ totius per medios nervos _in Medullam Spinalem
aut Oblongatam_ et abinde _in activissimum cinerem_, et _in circumfusum
corticem Cerebri_ emicet: Adeo ut _extremi receptus modorum sint in
cortice Cerebri, qui conscius redditur_ mutationum in seriebus et
substantiis compositis usquam contingentium.› Œc. R. A. II., 192).
Thus: although SWEDENBORG did not suppose the ›Cerebellula› to be
arranged into sensory centres in the same manner as we do, still he
seems to have supposed an arrangement something resembling this, with
_Cerebellula-groups_ as _subdivisions of the great sensible centre-organ,
which is formed by the ›Cerebellula› of the brain cortex, taken
together_, and which Swedenborg called ›Sensorium commune.›
In regard to the relation of the cortex to _motility_, SWEDENBORG
expresses himself much more definitely. This activity of the brain
SWEDENBORG also regarded as derived from the small cortical elements,
the ›_Sphaerulae_› or ›_Cerebellula_›.[37] He ascribes to them, on the
one hand, a high degree of _self-determination_, so that they could
perform their functions independently of each other, this on the basis
of certain anatomical conditions, such as their position in respect to
each other in separate cavities, and their connection each with its own
special nerve-fibre, and, besides, also on the basis of certain clinical
and pathological observations;[38] but on account of other anatomical
conditions, such as the aggregation of the ›Cerebellula› into larger
and smaller groups, as into gyres, and groups of gyres, etc., as well
as on certain other grounds, he ascribed to them also the ability to
_cooperate with each other_ when necessary.[39] In consequence of this
the brain possesses, as he says, the power and choice of influencing
whatever nerves and muscles it will, and of stimulating them to activity.
(›Proinde Cerebri secundum ordinatam ejus substantiae dispositionem
in potentia et arbitrio est, quascunque velit fibras, aut fibrarum
fasciculos, et consequenter nervos et musculos inspirare et ad agendum
excitare.› Œc. R. A. II., 153). It was impossible for him to express
himself as to what parts of the cerebrum or which convolutions, _gyri,
correspond to the respective muscles_, but _he refers to experimental
investigations of animals_, by which this might be discovered.[40]
But although the brain would then be able to govern every muscular
action, it was not employed every time such an action was to be
performed. No, in the medulla oblongata and in the grey substance of
the spinal cord there were _subordinate, secondary motor centres_, and
these governed the automatic and habitual movements, so that, for the
performance of these, the brain need not be disturbed in its higher
functions. Only for the purely voluntary motions were impulses from the
cerebrum necessary.[41]
SWEDENBORG has thus clearly located _the ›causa principalis› of the
voluntary movements_ in the _cortex of the cerebrum_, or more definitely,
in _the cortical elements and in groups of such elements_, although in
this work ›Œconomia Regni Animalis› he did not succeed in more closely
defining the position of the various motor centres.
From all that I have here brought forward concerning the functions which
SWEDENBORG ascribes to the cortical substance of the brain, it is evident
that he succeeded in coming to the full conviction that it is _through
the activity of the ›Cerebellula›_ (or as we express it, through the
cerebral nerve-cells) that _the perception of sense-impressions and the
impulses to voluntary motions arise_.
But SWEDENBORG does not stop even here. The elements of the cerebral
cortex, he continues, are still not the ultimate determinants. They
are only, so to speak, the inner sense-organs[42] and sub-determining
media.[43] They are themselves subordinated under the understanding and
the will, and their principle, the soul.[44] The soul, the principle of
life, it is the soul, which, through those cortical elements, perceives
the external world: it is the soul which feels, sees, hears, smells,
tastes, it is the soul which recollects, thinks, performs, and wills; it
is the soul which speaks and acts.[45]
What then is the soul, and where does she reside?
The seat of the soul must surely lie in the cerebral cortex; at least
its activity comes into play there, and still more definitely, in the
›Cerebellula› of the cortex. (See above and also ›The Brain›, No. 7).
But what is she? What is the soul?
Here SWEDENBORG makes one attempt after the other to draw away the
obscuring veil. Sometimes he thinks of the soul as only dwelling and
working in the ›Cerebellula› and their ›fluidum spirituosum›; but in
this way he does not come to a solution of the principal question, which
is only removed farther away.[46] Sometimes he thinks the soul to be
identical with the ›fluidum spirituosum›; but how can this, however
subtile fluid, be immortal? Here he is again repulsed.[47] He discusses
the supposition that, although the ›fluidum spirituosum› in itself is not
immortal, it yet becomes so upon the death of the body, and so forth.[48]
And at last he bursts out with: ›it amounts to the same thing if we see
in this fluid the soul itself, or only its faculty of imagination and
judgment, for the one cannot be thought of without the other.›[49]
SWEDENBORG himself, however, was not satisfied with the result, but
acknowledges that he had been too hasty, when, after having in reality
thoroughly considered only the blood and brain, he entered immediately
upon the search for the soul. He therefore says in the preface to the
next work: ›I am now determined to allow myself no respite, until I have
run through the whole field to the very goal—until I have traversed the
universal animal kingdom to the soul (usque ad animam). Thus I hope, that
by bending my course inward continually, I shall open all the doors that
lead to her, and at length contemplate the soul herself: by the divine
permission.›
It is grand to see the indomitable energy and zeal for investigation in
this man of 53 years!
He was now obliged to extend considerably the field of his
investigations—thereby to come to still more thorough insight into the
conditions of the soul’s life, and afterwards, as he says, ›in his
analytical way to be able to work himself up from the lower to the
higher›, to find the way from phenomena and facts to causes and the final
principles of the organism’s intricate mechanism.
Three years later he has ready the first two volumes of his new work,
and the following year, 1745, a third volume. This work is the ›_Regnum
Animale_›, (The Soul’s Kingdom). It is constructed upon a very grand
plan, comprising not less than 17 parts. Of these, however, only the
three mentioned above issued from the press, and they treat of the
organs of the chest, abdomen, and skin, and of the senses of touch and
taste.[50] Professor IMMANUEL TAFEL (Tübingen) in the middle of the
19th century afterwards published two more volumes of the manuscript.
The first of these, Pars quarta, treats chiefly of the senses of smell,
hearing and sight and the higher degrees of the soul’s activity; and the
other, Pars septima, treats of the soul.[50 b]
But simultaneously with the work in question SWEDENBORG wrote still
another, namely, the great work on the brain, ›De Cerebro›.—In these
works SWEDENBORG reached _the summit of his scientific career_, and they
afterwards served as the foundation of the religious edifice to which he
devoted the remainder of his life.
The ›_De Cerebro_› of SWEDENBORG, just referred to, is a rather large
work which treats of the brain from the anatomical, physiological, and
philosophical standpoints. This work left by SWEDENBORG in Ms., has
appeared in print only in part, namely, in the English translation by
Dr. RUDOLF TAFEL, published in London in two volumes, 1882 and 1887, and
entitled ›The Brain›. Although this edition comprises, as was said, only
a portion of the whole work, it treats of both the cerebrum, cerebellum
and medulla oblongata, as well as of the cranium and the membranes of the
brain, but chiefly only in so far as their structure and function regard
the activity of the soul. Without doubt SWEDENBORG’s main interest here
centred on this subject, and therefore I shall give some intimations
concerning how deeply SWEDENBORG has succeeded in seeing into the
function of the cerebrum as the organ of the soul’s life.
SWEDENBORG divided each hemisphere of the brain into an anterior and a
posterior region, separated from one another by the fissure of Sylvius.
Now, in _the anterior region_ he located _the essential activity of
the soul_, while as regards the posterior region, he supposed that it
was chiefly active in animating the blood (›The Brain›, No. 71). In
the anterior region he furthermore distinguished _three lobes_, or, as
he called them, ›curiae›, in which the soul resided and exercised its
functions (›The Brain›, No. 88). He does not define the boundaries of
the lobes, but distinguishes them by saying that the soul’s activity in
the highest lobe attains to the highest degree of clarity and perfection,
while in the inferior lobes, the middle and the lowest, the soul’s
activity successively decreases in sharpness and intensity! (›The Brain›,
Nos. 66, 88). In these lobes or curiae the essential psychic life also
has its rise; here observations, thoughts, judgments, conclusions come
into being, yea, even determinations and the utterances of the will
proceed thence. Here consequently is the source of both the sensory and
the motor functions of the soul (›The Brain›, Nos. 88, 100).
As we have seen, SWEDENBORG had already shown, in ›Œconomia Regni
Animalis›, not only that it is in the cortex, but just in _the cortical
elements_, the ›_Cerebellula_›, that the brain’s psychic function is
performed. Swedenborg emphasizes the same idea in ›De Cerebro›, and
declares that these ›Cerebellula› are the units of which the brain is
constructed, and from which its essential nature is derived (›The Brain›,
No. 34).
As in the ›Œconomia Regni Animalis›, so in ›De Cerebro›, he also refers
to the arrangement into _different groups_, which is so important for
the function of the cortical elements or ›Cerebellula›, and with respect
to this he now makes a new statement, which is of such a nature as
necessarily to excite amazement: he sets forth the most essential part
of _the modern theory of localizations_. Word for word this statement
reads as follows: ›_The muscles and actions which are in the ultimates of
the body, or the soles of the feet, seem to depend more immediately upon
the highest parts (of the anterior region of the brain)[51], the muscles
which belong to the abdomen and thorax upon the middle lobe, those which
belong to the face and head upon the third lobe_; for they (the muscles
of the body and the lobes of the brain)[51] seem to correspond to one
another in inverse order›. (See ›The Brain›, No. 68).—Thus, the essential
features of the modern doctrine concerning the relative positions of the
motor centres in the cortex of the brain, that doctrine into which we
have obtained an insight first after much comprehensive and complicated
labour during the last century!
I shall no longer at this point continue the discussion of this work.
What I have brought forward may suffice to indicate the character of
SWEDENBORG’s investigation and the statements and discoveries based
thereon. By his works on the brain SWEDENBORG reached the _summit_ of
his Scientific activity, but also its _conclusion_. He now passes over
to the transcendental field. With the limits which we have set for our
examination, we must, however, refrain from following the energetic
investigator in his continued search for truth.
THE BASIS FOR SWEDENBORG’S STATEMENTS CONCERNING THE FUNCTIONS OF THE
BRAIN.
If we take a general view of SWEDENBORG’s investigations, the outlines
of which have been sketched above, a number of questions are suggested:
Whence did SWEDENBORG secure the material for all these far-sighted
statements, whence the evidence for all these discoveries? Did SWEDENBORG
himself carry out the special investigations which must have formed the
basis of his beautiful results?[52] Or was the evidence ready at hand in
the literature of those days?
The answering of these questions is naturally of a certain importance in
the valuation of the opinions expressed. And as several of SWEDENBORG’s
statements concern questions which are still among the ›unsolved›, I
have taken up some of these questions for examination. In this I have
restricted my investigation to a confined province, and chosen one which
in our own times is of great actual interest, namely, the function of the
brain, and especially that of the cerebral cortex. As we have already
seen, SWEDENBORG connected in the closest manner the soul’s activity
with the cortex of the cerebrum, indeed, he localizes in detail special
departments of that activity to determinate regions of the cortex; and
the object of my investigation is, therefore, to endeavour to find out
upon what foundations SWEDENBORG erected this doctrine of the centres of
the psychic functions in the cortex of the cerebrum.