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 Vol. V, No. 7 
 
 REPRINTED FROM 
 
 THE 
 
 July 15, 1908 
 
 Psychological Bulletin 
 
 J. MARK BALDWIN 
 Johns Hopkins University 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 HOWARD C. WARREN 
 Princeton University 
 
 CHARLES H. JUDD, Yale \]^iyE.^?.\T\ {Editor Psychological Monographs) 
 WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF 
 
 J. W. BAIRD, University of Illinois ; H. Heath Bawden, Philadelphia ; T. L. 
 BOLTON, University of Nebraska; E. F. BUCHNER, University of Alabama; R. 
 DODGE, Wesleyan University; J. G. HIBBEN, Princeton University; IRVING KING, 
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 of Missouri; I. W. RILEY, Vassar College; G. M. STRATTON, Johns Hopkins Uni- 
 versity; E. J. SWIFT, Washington University; J. H. TUFTS, University of Chicago; 
 W. M. urban, Trinity College, Hartford; J. B. WATSON, University of Chicago; 
 W. M. WHEELER, American Mus. Nat. Hist. 
 
 A PHYSIOLOGICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 
 
 OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 by 
 
 BY DR. SHEPHERD IVORY FRANZ 
 Government Hospital for the Insane, Washington. 
 
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 IN 
 
 V 
 
 :5 53 
 
 A PHYSIOLOGICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 
 
 OF PHILOSOPHY.! 
 
 BY DR. SHEPHERD IVORY FRANZ, 
 Govertiment Hospital for the Insane^ Washington. 
 
 Although from time to time we read that much of so-called 
 physiology is psychology, that too much of so-called psychology is 
 physiology, that the physiology of the nervous system exists only by 
 reason of psychological observations and that psychology must return 
 more to introspective methods, there appears to be an agreement 
 among teachers and text-book writers that a certain amount of physi- 
 ology is necessary for psychological teaching and thinking. Opinions 
 differ, however, regarding the What? and the Hotu Much? of phys- 
 iology that are essential or valuable. Beyond the barest outline of the 
 (K physiology of the central nervous system and the special senses to be 
 found in the text-books of psychology, where may the teacher or the 
 student look for further knowledge.^ In English, Ferrier's Functions 
 of the Brain^ which was the standard at the time the reviewer was a 
 student and which, although out of date, still remains in many re- 
 spects unsurpassed, has not been succeeded by any single English work 
 that may be utilized for the instruction of psychological students in 
 what may be properly called physiological psychology. In both 
 French and German, however, there are a number of books or parts 
 of books that may be profitably placed before the more competent 
 students of psychology, but unfoitunately too few students are able to 
 profit by tlic reading of the foreign language. Probably the most 
 noteworthy of tliesc works from the psychological standpoint are the 
 excellent articles on the brain in Richet's Dictionnaire de Physiologic^ 
 
 ^ Introduction physiotogique a V Htide de ta philosophie. J. Grasset. Pre- 
 face par M. BENOIST. Paris: Alcan, 1908. Pp. xii-l-368. 
 
 21-?
 
 214 SHEPHERD IVORY FRANZ. 
 
 and those of von Monakow in Ergebnisse der Physiologie. In ad- 
 dition to tliese there are some special works dealing with the structure 
 and function of the nervous system. Few, however, are like Grasset's 
 work in that they have been written for the special or the probable use 
 by students of psychology. 
 
 In the preface we are told by M. Benoist, the rector of the Uni- 
 versity of Montpellier, that the contents of the book were given in the 
 form of lectures to students of philosophy in the university in 
 accordance with a general plan of having specialists in the sciences 
 and in other subjects allied to philosophy lecture on their own subjects 
 to the students of philosophy and psychology. In addition to the 
 lectures of Professor Grasset there were given lectures on certain 
 fundamental principles of physics, biology, law and ethics, and history 
 by the respective professors, as an indication of the value of these 
 subjects to students of the more inclusive subject, philosophy. 
 
 Professor Grasset's book is not intended to be exhaustive in its 
 treatment of the nervous system, but it is intended to give to students 
 of philosophy and psychology facts and principles that may be of 
 value to them in their woi'k. It is divided into three parts : Defi- 
 nitions and Generalities ; Psychic Functions ; and Psychomotor and 
 Psychosensorial Functions. 
 
 In the first part of the book is to be found the author's creed 
 regarding the relation of physiology and psychology, and some general 
 remarks pertaining to the point of view. The author believes that 
 psychology and physiology are two sciences, not one science with two 
 different aspects, as some physiologists would have us believe. 
 Psychology is in close connection with philosophy, and it may be 
 necessary to hold certain philosophical opinions in order to produce 
 good work or consistent work. In physiology, however, one must 
 have no philosophical opinions to advance and, further, one must have 
 no special religious opinion to combat or to champion. On the other 
 hand, the author holds that the physicist, the physiologist and neuro- 
 biologist can make their sciences serious and definite only if they have 
 a real and a strong philosophical education. How unlike the usual 
 or ordinary antagonism of scientists toward philosophy is the latter 
 statement ! 
 
 When we consider the body and its parts, their location and func- 
 tion, we are struck with the fact that the anatomical unity is not always 
 the same as the functional unity. Thus in the stomach, an anatom- 
 ical unit, there are a number of functional unities. In the study of 
 life the functional unities are the important differentiating elements,
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY. 215 
 
 and it may be said that the individuality of an apparatus depends upon 
 the function of that apparatus regardless of the geography or the topo- 
 graphical distribution of the apparatus or organ. "The history of 
 the taste nerve is the best proof of the independence of the true phys- 
 iological unities and of the false anatomical unities" (p. 336). It is 
 the province of the physiologist, therefore, to determine the real unity 
 of any organ or group of organs. In the nervous system it cannot be 
 doubted that the anatomical unity is an artiticial construction, for no 
 one can say where the spinal cord begins and the medulla stops, nor 
 where the cerebrum begins and the mid-brain ends, and we are com- 
 pelled to concede the preponderating importance to the physiological 
 or the functional view. In this sense we may take the remark of 
 Lamarck: " The function creates the organ." The word organ has 
 a definite meaning only from the physiological point of view, it is a 
 something that does some definite thing. The organ is defined by the 
 function that it accomplishes, and we may not properly speak of the 
 spinal cord or of the cerebrum except in common language, because 
 for the physiologist the spinal cord and the medulla oblongata and the 
 cerebellum and the cerebrum do not exist as distinct unities, they are 
 interrelated into one functioning organ. This standpoint has been 
 taken throughout the book and we will look in vain for special discus- 
 sions of the functions of the spinal cord and the peripheral nerves, or 
 of any of the other anatomical divisions of the nervous system. We 
 are to deal with the anatomical localization of functions, but more 
 especially shall we read of the functions and their anatomical connec- 
 tions. In other words, for example, we are not to lay the emphasis 
 on the location of the hearing centers in the temporal lobes or of the 
 visual centers in the occipital lobes, but we must consider the relation 
 of hearing and of vision to the nervous system as a whole. In the 
 case of hearing it is the connection or the functional relation of the 
 cochlear nucleus to the posterior quadrigeminal body, to the geniculate 
 body, and to the temporal lobe that is of importance. In vision it is 
 the similar relation of quadrigemina, geniculata, and the pulvinar and 
 the occipital lobes that is to be considered. Moreover, in both these 
 cases we must realize that the goal is not the cortex of the cerebrum, 
 but that there are outgoing paths to take the centripetal impulses and 
 to make them mean something for the individual by producing an 
 outward expression. In this discussion the author considers the usual 
 method of presentation of the functions of the nervous system and 
 makes war on the habit of phylogenetic presentation, which must be 
 largely anatomical. For the proper understanding of the functions of
 
 3 1 6 SHEPHERD I VOR Y FRANZ. 
 
 the nervous system Grasset believes that we must first consider the 
 most highly developed system and descend to the simple, not ascend 
 from the simple to the complex. For the investigation and under- 
 standing of other bodily systems it may be advantageous to go from 
 the ama>ba to man, but we are able to understand the nervous system 
 of the lower animals only after having considered the nervous system 
 of man and not the reverse. 
 
 Part two is devoted to the ' psychic functions.' In this part the 
 author discusses and defines some terms, divides mental states into 
 two ' psychisms,' gives a critical resume of the facts of anatomical 
 localization of psychic functions, and considers the problem of respon- 
 sibility and mental therapeutics. 
 
 The word psychic has not the same connotation as the words men- 
 tal and consciousness. The psychic functions are defined as those in 
 which there is '■thought' — not intellectual as opposed to affective, 
 but both intellectual and affective — and which are produced or de- 
 veloped in the neurones of the cerebral cortex (p. 34). Conscious- 
 ness is not necessarily a characteristic of a psychic state, and the 
 mental is only a part of the psychic, for (interesting definition) psy- 
 chic functions have their seat over all the cerebral cortex while the 
 mental are located exclusively in one part or in parts of the cerebral 
 cortex. The psychic functions are divided into the superior (volun- 
 tary and conscious) and the inferior (involuntary and unconscious), 
 and for these two orders of psychic functions there are two different 
 centers. The centers for the superior and the Inferior psychic func- 
 tions are, according to Grasset, respectively the frontal and the pari- 
 eto-occipital parts of the cortex. He criticizes and combats the idea 
 that both psychic functions are concerned with the same neurones, 
 but with different degrees or intensities of activity, a position held by 
 Janet, Dumas, Binet and Hitzig. To make his views more easily 
 understood Grasset constructed the accompanying figure, which he 
 later refers to as the ' polygon.' 
 
 In this figure O represents the superior psychic center or the cen- 
 ter of conscious personality, of free will, of the responsible ego, 
 which the author locates in the cortex of the prefrontal lobe. A is the 
 auditory center, located in the cortex of the temporal lobes ; V the 
 visual center, located in the region of the calcarine fissure; Z'the 
 tactile and general sensibilities, localized in the region about the fissure 
 of Rolando ; W the center for writing, in the cortex at the foot of 
 the left second frontal convolution ; 6" the center for speech, cortex 
 at the foot of the left third frontal convolution ; and K the kinetic
 
 PHYSIOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 !I7 
 
 center or the center for general movements, located in the cortex about 
 the fissure of Rolando. O represents all the neurones for the superior 
 psychic functions, while the more numerous inferior psychic centers 
 are represented by the polygon WSKA VT. To A go all the differ- 
 ent auditory impressions, to V the visual, and to T the tactual and 
 general sense impressions. From W there go out the impulses for 
 graphic expression, from S those for verbal expression, and from K 
 those for general bodily movement. This scheme represents only 
 some of the important paths, and for completeness many move 
 would need to be introduced from the sensory or the afferent side, 
 such as those for taste and smell. In normal individuals, as shown 
 
 Fig. r. Scheme of the center (9 and of the polygon IVSKAVT. 
 
 \\\ the figure, all the different centers are connected by association 
 paths that assure collaboration and synergy. Between the super- 
 ior psychic center O and the motor centers W^, 5, K the author 
 assumes not only centrifugal paths, which permit the passage of im- 
 pulses from the center O to the appropriate motor center, but also 
 centripetal paths which transmit impulses from the motor centers to 
 the higher center, whenever the activity of M^, 6", A^, has been pro- 
 duced, whether by action of the center O or by the activity of the 
 centers ^, K, 7 in the inferior psychic level. This last form of dis- 
 charge is apparently the substrate for a form of the ' feeling of inner- 
 vation.'
 
 2 1 8 SHEPHERD I VOR Y FRANZ. 
 
 Using this scheme as a basis Grasset attempts to explain a number 
 of borderland and pathological states, such as sleep and dreams, hyp- 
 nosis, motor automatisms, hysteria and the insanities, and the aphasias. 
 Lack of space prevents taking up more than a few of these in detail, 
 but all are explained as disaggregation or dissociation of parts of the 
 mechanism. Most are due, we are told, to a temporary or permanent 
 functional break between the O and the lower polygon. In sleep, for 
 example, there is a cessation of the function of the superior psychic 
 O, although psychic activity is not entirely suspended. The continua- 
 tion of the functioning of the lower psychic centers constitutes or is 
 the neural basis of dreaming. Hysteria, which has been well described 
 as " an enfeeblement of the faculty of psychological synthesis, a con- 
 traction of the field of consciousness, and a tendency to a more or less 
 complete division of the personality with the formation of many inde- 
 pendent groups," is readily understood if we accept the scheme of 
 Grasset as indicating the manner in which all j^sychic states are con- 
 stituted. The hysterias are from this standpoint disaggregations of the 
 different parts of the polygon, the functional breaking away of the 
 different parts that go to make up the normal mental process. 
 
 In the next chapter the author considers from the polygonal point 
 of view a number of psychological problems : sensibility, ideas, atten- 
 tion, memory, imagination, the association of ideas and images, inspi- 
 ration, reason and judgment, and will. Then follow discussions of 
 the functions relating to the preservation and the gi'owth of the life of 
 the individual, of the social man, and of the species. In each of these 
 chapters the physiological or normal function is explained and the 
 author adds discussions of the pathology of the mental condition. In 
 these two chapters there are collected most of the important facts of 
 pathological psychology, a subject with which the author is thoroughly 
 personally acquainted, in the selection of which there is shown rare 
 good judgment. 
 
 Grasset next treats of the localization of the ' psychism ' in the 
 cerebrum. To the question : Is the psychism localizable in the cere- 
 brum } he answers : it is localizable, but we must not hastily conclude 
 that it has been localized. The facts regarding the sensory functions 
 of the cerebrum are given, Flechsig's researches on the association 
 tracts are mentioned and the opinions of many physiologists are cited 
 to show that most investigators of the question believe the frontal lobe 
 concerned with the higher mental processes, if we may speak of such. 
 The author quotes the reviewer as in favor of this hypothesis, but it 
 may be said that this conclusion was not and is not the opinion of the
 
 PHYSIOLOG Y AND PHIL OSOPH Y. 219 
 
 present writer.^ The conclusions which are made after the considera- 
 tion of all the facts are that the superior psychism is not, as Janet 
 and Joffroy conclude, merely due to a different degree of the activity 
 of the same neurones that subserve the lower psychism, that the 
 frontal lobes are not chiefly concerned with emotional conditions, such 
 as gaiety or sadness, but that when they are diseased there is an escape 
 from inhibition of the lower centers which become hyperactive, and 
 that for the further investigation of the problem it is necessary to have 
 more careful analyses of the mental phenomena in pathological cases. 
 Chapters follow on the physiopathological problem of responsi- 
 bility, psychic functions in therapeutics, language, emotion and mim- 
 icry, general sensitivomotor function, orientation and equilibrium, 
 vision, hearing, taste, smell, and the functions of nutrition. The 
 chapters on responsibility and therapeutics are interesting largely to 
 physicians, the former possibly also to ethical writers, although the 
 author has published his conclusions regarding responsibility in more 
 extended form in Demifous et Deniirespoiisables. In his discussion 
 of language the author combats the opinions of Marie, who, it will be 
 remembered, says that " the third frontal convolution plays no special 
 role in the function of language." The neural processes in emotion 
 are as follows : there is an excitation of certain sensory centers in 
 which the sensation is ' perceived, becomes emotion, and from which 
 go out a double efferent excitation'; there is a stimulation of the optic 
 thalamus centers or rather of the basilar optic thalamic — striate nuclei 
 centers, thence a stimulation of the inferior bulbo-medullary centers 
 whence go the excitations for the visceral, circulatory, respiratory and 
 
 1 This is not the place in which to bring forward special evidence and to 
 elaborate personal hypotheses, but to the reviewer the following tentative 
 hypothesis appears to be the most acceptable : All parts of the cerebrum are 
 engaged in intellectual processes. Or, to be more exact, we may say that all 
 parts of the cerebral cortex are so engaged. Certain parts we know have defin- 
 ite sensory or perceptual functions, other parts are more intimately concerned 
 with the production of movements, and still other parts are chiefly employed 
 neither for sensation nor for movement, but for what has been called association. 
 The two large and important areas, anterior and posterior, of association have 
 the same general function, that of being connecting links between the sensory 
 processes on the one hand and the motor products on the other hand. The two 
 areas work in harmony, but tlie posterior receives impulses from the sensory 
 centers and the anterior is mainly connected with the motor centers. In the 
 formation of an association, the following neural processes are conceived to take 
 place : stimulation of some sensory center or centers, transmission to the pos- 
 terior association area, transmission to the anterior association area, transmission 
 to the motor area, and impulse to lower motor centers.
 
 220 SHEPHERD IVORY FRANZ. 
 
 digestive manifestations (p. 237). The emotion itself is due to certain 
 discharges in the upper cerebral neurones. When an impression reaches 
 the psychic neurones it produces the mental state sensation ; "if the proc- 
 ess be further complicated and it extend to a greater number of neurones 
 the sensation becomes agreeable or disagreeable and there is pleasure 
 or pain — if still further complicated we have an emotion, joy or sad- 
 ness" (p. 83). The area about the fissure of Rolando is believed to 
 be sensorimotor rather than divided into a motor region anterior to the 
 fissure and a sensory region posterior to the fissure, as the clinical and 
 physiological results teach. The occipital lobe is also both sensory 
 and motor, and the hearing center has a similar combination of func- 
 tions. The validity of these conclusions is, the reviewer believes, 
 questionable in view of the many facts that have recently been col- 
 lected by pathologists, clinicians and physiologists, and the author in 
 these chapters appears an advocate and not a judge. 
 
 Although he uses his scheme of the polygon throughout and thus 
 appears to have a materialistic standpoint, the author keeps in mind 
 the fact that the mental state is not the anatomical nor the physiological 
 condition. For him the mental state is something that is not the 
 same as the action of the neurone, something that cannot be explained 
 in terms of the physics and chemistry of nervous tissue. It is refresh- 
 ing to pick up a book written by a physician and find that not only 
 has the old anatomical standpoint given way to a functional one, but 
 that the distinction is drawn between the purely functional and the 
 mental. 
 
 Two serious defects of the work are the lack of an index and the 
 absence of any quantity of references. Most of the references that are 
 given are to French authors and magazines ; full references to German 
 authors are almost lacking, although names of both German and Eng- 
 lish investigators are mentioned. 
 
 For its standpoint and its numerous facts the book may be recom- 
 mended ; it appears to the reviewer that it will be more valuable to 
 teachers than to students. For the use of students a little more anat- 
 omy would be helpful and this could be included without augmenting 
 the size of the work if the chapters on responsibility and therapeutics 
 were omitted. The illustrations are well selected and sufficiently 
 numerous, and it is a relief not to find all the worn out cuts of earlier 
 works. A translation of the book, with additions of chapters on 
 anatomy, of an index and of a bibliography would fill one of the gaps 
 in our series of physiological and psychological text-books. 
 
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