Excerpt from The Brain and Its Physiology: A Critical Disquisition on the Methods of Determining the Relations Subsisting Between the Structure and Functions of the Encephalon Each division of natural inquiry is competent to yield its proper results; but when departmental stu dents would deduce from any one branch of knowledge, conclusions that have no direct relation to it, error and confusion will be almost sure to characterise the issue of such attempts. When the vivisector anticipates, from his industry and dexterity, the determination of truths which do not sustain a disclosure by the method employed, he will not fail to be disappointed; and the same may be affirmed of the pathologist and the comparative anatomist. In the many efforts that have been made to shed light upon the functions of particular parts of the Encephalon, the fashion of the age, or the special pursuit, has generally settled the method of investigation; and so, in great measure, the custom continues to the present day. About thirty years ago, mutilations of living animals led to some decisive results in researches into the functions of nerves, and renown became justly attached to the experimenters; hereupon, vivisections for a time came into vogue, and every thing doubtful in physiology was to be tested by the fashionable mode. Later on. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.