The Relations of Science and Religion / The Morse Lecture, 1880

by Henry Calderwood

Brain of Horse, with bulb of smell in front, little brain in rear.

Diagram of Sensory and Motor Apparatus. THE UPPER IS THE SENSORY, WITH BULB, NERVE LINE, AND NERVE CELL. THE UNDER IS THE MOTOR, WITH MUSCLE, NERVE LINE, AND NERVE CELL.

Omitting special reference to animals of great bulk, and possessing enormous muscular power, such as the elephant and the whale, both of which have singularly complicated and beautiful brains, I pass to the races of monkeys and apes, which are nearest in structure to man. In these animals the configuration of body is certainly the nearest approach to the human figure which is to be found anywhere in the animal kingdom. They can not, indeed, assume the perfectly erect posture of man, but they come very near to it; and though they move on all four limbs, feeling themselves more secure in that mode of advance, they have a formation of hand analogous to that of man, with a distinctly formed thumb, enabling them to grasp an object in a manner closely resembling the human grasp. The apes have even an advantage over the human race, for they have a thumb on the foot, as well as on the hand; which may also have its own disadvantages, for it might prove no convenience to us if we were so endowed. But the presence of the thumb on the lower extremities suggests the use which it serves in the animal's ordinary life, in grasping the branches along which it moves. If from the similarity of outward configuration, we pass to contemplate the brain, we find here also great similarity of structure. And indeed if the relations of muscle, nerve, and brain be as already indicated, it follows from the resemblances of outward form that there must be a greater resemblance between the brain of man and the brain of the monkey and of the ape, than between the human brain and that of any other animal known to us. And so it proves to be. The brain of the monkey has its subdivisions and convolutions very similar to those of the human brain, only the convolutions are simpler in arrangement. In outline it is deficient only in the diminished bulk of the front part, and also the back part of the organ; but in its expansion it resembles the human brain in this, that to the rear it spreads back over the cerebellum, so as to cover it. The brain of the ape, including under this designation the orang, gorilla, and chimpanzee, is in still closer resemblance to the human, being still, however, somewhat simpler in the arrangement of its convolutions, but so closely approximating that the exact state of the case is as nearly as possible described, if we say that the brain of the ape, while it is decidedly smaller, appears like a miniature of the human brain in a slightly undeveloped state.[CV]

Human Brain

Brain of Monkey, with cerebellum beneath

The human brain is an elaborate organ, exceedingly complicated in its convolutions. We can not, indeed, describe it as the most convoluted, for the brain of the elephant is at least as distinguished for the beauty and complication of its folding, and the brain of the whale is far more minute and detailed, presenting quite a multitude of minute convolutions. For descriptive purposes, the human brain is divided into four superficial areas, known as lobes, and pretty clearly defined by certain natural boundaries. From the lower part of the organ, entering at a point scarcely half way back is a fissure or cutting running up into the mass in a direction uniformly inclining towards the rear, known as the Sylvian fissure; while coming over the summit, at a point near the middle, and inclining down towards that just described, is another fissure, known as the fissure of Rolando. By these two deeply cut hollows, the brain is marked off into four separate areas superficially, a front and a rear lobe; and two central lobes, the one upper and the other under. Besides this there is a concealed and isolated lobe, described on account of its situation as an island, which is covered from view by the overlapping of the two sides of the Sylvian fissure. Such is a description in outline of the configuration of the human brain, to which must be added the statement that each lobe is filled in with its own special arrangement of convolutions, each one having at least three well defined lines of convolution. Each of the hemispheres is similarly arranged, though not by any means quite identical in disposal of convolutions, yet the general description now given is strictly applicable to both. The two hemispheres, connected mainly with the ramification of nerve fibre running to the opposite sides of the body, are united together a considerable way down by a transverse band of nerve fibres, which at once unite the two into one organ, and make the union so effected a living efficient union by carrying a multitude of lines of communication from the one side to the other. Just below this, in the interior of the organ are two great central bodies, known as the basal ganglia, and consisting of nerve fibres massed together with grey matter around them, that in front being chiefly motor nerves brought to a junction, the latter sensory nerves combined in like manner. The same arrangement holds in both hemispheres, thereby providing that the respective masses of motor, and of sensory nerves lie exactly opposite each other. Behind these in the centre, lying in a position under both hemispheres are four small bulbs connected with the nerves of vision, and also with the cerebellum; and behind them, covered by the posterior lobe of the brain is the cerebellum itself, or little brain, largely concerned with coördination of movements, or equilibrium of the two sides of the system. Just below these arrangements the two great cords of nerve fibre descend towards the body, which are covered by a transverse mass, known as the bridge, appearing complete as a crossing, and containing transverse fibres from the cerebellum, as well as a series of longitudinal fibres. Immediately underneath the bridge are pillars or masses of nerve, constituting the crowning portion of the spinal system, and formed in eight distinct bodies, the two in front and the two in rear being elongated and known as pyramids, those in the centre being rounded in figure. From the elongated bodies, the nerve fibres pass across to the opposite sides of the body. This gathering is known as the medulla oblongata. Just beneath comes the spinal canal, from which at the different joints of the spine are given out a suitable supply of sensory and motor nerves as previously described.

Having thus given a general account of the central arrangements of the nerve system of the human body, it is important to state that an order of things closely analogous obtains in other and lower orders of organism, in respect of interior plan, so that if the interior of the brain of the dog were laid open to view it would present a plan of distribution very similar to that now described.