Physiological inferences derived from human and comparative anatomy respecting the origins of the nerves, the cerebellum, and the striated bodies

Abstract

The author remarks that those parts of the nervous system which are concerned in motion and in sensation exhibit a great similarity in all vertebrate animals. To the first of these functions belong the anterior and middle portions of the spinal cord and medulla oblongata, including the anterior pyramids, the crura cerebri, and some fibres leading to the corpora striata and the convolutions, and also the cerebellum. To the function of sensation belong the posterior surface of the spinal cord, the posterior and lateral portions of the medulla oblongata, including the posterior pyramids, the ventricular cords, and the fourth and third ventricles. From a general comparison of the relative magnitude and structure of these several parts in the different classes of vertebrated animals, the author infers that only a very small portion of the brain is necessary for the origins of the nerves, their respective faculties being generally derived near the place at which they leave the brain. These origins are traced in various cases, where, from peculiarities of arrangement or of destination, they present certain remarkable differences of situation.