BETWEEN WORDS AND IDEAS. 113 which have been recorded by two of the most distinguished physicians of modern times-Dr. W. D. Moore, of Dublin, had under his care a gentleman, who, although his intelligence was unimpaired, had completely lost the connection between ideas and words. On one occasion, Dr. Moore was much puzzled by his patient, who was in bed, saying to him, "Clean my boots." Finding that he was not understood, he became much excited, and cried out vehemently "Clean my boots by walking on them!" At length it was ascertained that the cause of his disquietude was the shining of the candle on his face, and that the object of his unintelligible sentences was to have the curtain drawn; when this was done he appeared quite gratified. The subject of his reasoning was the drawing of the 114 HETEROPHASIA OR curtain, but the words used were, my boots." "Clean Another still more remarkable instance of the want of connection between words employed and the ideas intended to be conveyed, is recorded by the late Professor Trousseau, of Paris, the subject of it being a lady, Madame B- the mother-in-law of a physician, who was affected with the following strange misapplication of language:-Whenever she received a call from a visitor, she rose to receive him with a benevolent smile on her countenance, and pointing to a chair, said " Pig, Brute, Stupid Fool." Madame B you to be seated, her son-in-law would then say, giving this interpretation to her wishes thus strangely expressed. Here, again, the idea in this lady's mind was courteously to ask her visitor to be seated, whilst the begs PERVERSION OF SPEECH. 115 words actually used were those of coarse and vulgar abuse. These instances of perversion of language, to which the name of Heterophasia has been appropriately given, conclusively show that it is possible to reason mentally, without having the words in the mind, which represent the subjects of our reasoning. CHAPTER V. Ὁ δὲ νοῦς ἔοικεν έγγίνεσθαι οὐσία ARISTOT. De Anima. I. 4. 12. The Anatomical Seat of Speech-Rôle of the Cerebral Convolutions; Flourens, Maudsley-Gall's Phrenological System-Destruction of the anterior lobes of the brain without impairment of the power of speech-Comparative development of the third frontal convolution in Man and in the Ape-Speech is a barrier the brute is not destined to pass. Having defined what is meant by the faculty of Language, I now proceed to review very briefly the various theories which have been from time to time promulgated as to the Seat of Articulate Language, as the question of the localisation of this faculty seems to me ON THE CEREBRAL SEAT OF SPEECH. 117 to have an important bearing upon the point at issue ;* but, before doing this, it is imperative that I should enter into a few anatomical details for the better understanding of my subject, as I am justified in assuming that a portion of my readers may be but imperfectly acquainted with the main divisions of the brain. The encephalon is a collective term, *The cerebral localisation of language has of late years engrossed the attention of physiologists in all parts of the world; and, in this country, an additional stimulus has recently been given to this inquiry by the interesting experiments of Professor Ferrier on the localised application of electricity to the surface of the brain. The subject is so vast, that anything beyond a mere allusion to it would be beyond the scope of this essay. The comparative value of the various theories as to the Seat of Speech are fully discussed in the author's treatise "On Aphasia, or Loss of Speech, and the Localisation of the Faculty of Articulate Language," to which work he would refer those of his readers who may desire more detailed information upon this obscure and much controverted subject. |