Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 April 1875 — Hare We Two Brains! [ARTICLE]

Hare We Two Brains!

A very singular theory, advanced many years ago by Sir Henry Holland, has again been brought before the scientific world by Dr. Brown-Sequard. This theory is that we have two brains, each perfectly sufficient for the full performanc* of the mental functions. It was formerly supposed that the left side of the brain controls the movements and feelings of the right side of the body, and vies versa. In Dr. Brown-Sequard’s theory we make use of only one in thought, while the other half remains perfectly useless as regards manifestations of intelligence. The bodily powers are duplex, and very few of the organs ar® single, though several which are really double appear to be single. Tife do not permit these pairs of members to remain idle. With the exception of the arms, both members perform their share of the work. What the doctor proposes is to try and bring both halves of the brain, or both brains, into operation. By this means mental onesidedness will disappear, and a higher standard of intelligence supervene. Many cases are quoted by different authorities in support of this theory. Dr. Wlgin insists that among insane persons we often recognize two different minds—one sane, the other insane, or both insane, but in different degrees. One example, taken from the “ Hoosier Schoolmaster,” is strikingly in point. The patient imagined himself Gen. Jackson. He said his head had been shot off at “Bueny Visty,” and that the new one which had. “ growed on weren’t nigh so good as the old one.” His head, according to him, was “tatur on one side, but all right on t’other.” When he knew a thing in the left side of his head he knew it; and it was really the case that this crazy pauper gave clear and valuable testimony in a court of justice. An insane patient knows that ho is insane. “The lunatic,” says Brown-Sequard, “is at one and the same time perfectly rational and perfectly insane.” It has been shown that the faculty of speech depends either wholly or mainly on the left side of the brain. @ut of more than 100 cases of aphasia, or loss of power of speech, only one is known ih which the right side of the brain was diseased, which goes to show that the two sides are distinct from one another. Dr. Brown-Sequard maintains that the left brain is used in speech as the right hand is used in writing, and that by training both brains should render this form of cerebral disease less likely to cause loss of speech. Sight affords evidence that the distinct action of the two sides of the brain is not incompatible with the comEleteness of the power possessed by either. lach side of the brain possesses apparentty the potentiality of rendering sight perfect for both eyes. The left side of the brain chiefly controls the gestures, and for the reason that it guides the movements of the right side of the body, and it is chiefly with the right arm that gestures are made. It is also known that the power of reasoning depends on the left side of the brain more than the right, and in cases of insanity the left side has most frequently been found diseased. The right side of the brain in turn possesses its special functions. It serves chiefly to produce the emotional manifestations, including those called hysterical, and also to control the needs of the body as respects nutrition. Every organ which is jkut in use for a certain function gets developed. So with the brain. The left side, which receives more blood than the right, is greater than that side. That the head grows larger with years is a fact well known to hatters, and the growth of the head affords very strong proof of the growth of the brain. The superior size of the left side of the brain is also shown by the prevalence of right-handedness among all races of men. We exercise most the right side of the body, hence the left side of the brain becomes better developed. If we exercised equally both sides of the body, would not the two sides of the brain become equally developed, and both become capable of controlling the reasoning faculties ? The hope of Dr. Brown-Sequard is that by teaching our children to use both sides of the body equally two sides of the brain may be brought into more uniform action. If we wer* to train the left side of the body as carefully as we are in the habit of training the right, there is a chance that we should have two brains as respects mental functions, instead of one, as at present. Dr. Brown-Sequard’s theory is of course open to objections, for many familiar experiences are against them. They are, however, worthy of attention. As the world grows older and its stock of knowledge becomes increased, there is of course a greater demand for brain power. A trial of Dr. Sequard’s plan of a more careful' training of the left side would at least do no harm, while it might have the effect of bringing to a more exact balance many intellects now sadly off the level. —Chicago Inter-Ocean.