the so-called Prutenic (that is, Prussian) tables, and set about their correction. The death of an uncle, who left him an estate, recalled him to his native place in 1565; but he very soon became disgusted with the ignorance and arrogance of those moving in the same sphere with himself, and went back to Germany. At Wittenberg, where he resided for a short time, he lost part of his nose in a duel with a Danish gentleman; but for the lost organ he ingeniously contrived one of gold, silver, and wax, which fitted admirably. After two years spent in Augsburg, he returned home, where, in 1572, he discovered a new and brilliant star in the constellation Cassiopeia. In 1573 he married a peasant girl. After some time spent in travel, Brahe received from his sovereign, Frederic II., the offer of the small island of Hven or Hoëne, in the sound, 10 miles from Copenhagen, as the site for an observatory, the king also offering to defray the cost of erection, and of the necessary astronomical instruments, as well as to provide him with a suitable salary. Brahe accepted the proposal, and, in 1576, the castle of Uranienburg ("fortress of the heavens") was begun. Here, for a period of 20 years, Brahe prosecuted his observations with the most unwearied industry. Here, also, he was visited by astronomers, mathematicians, philosophers, theologians and princes, among the latter being the future James I. of England, who took a lively interest in the astronomer's work. Asking Brahe what gift he should make in return for the other's courtesy, the scholar replied, "Some of your majesty's own verses." So long as his munificent patron, Frederic II., lived, Brahe's position was all that he could have desired, but on his death in 1588 it was greatly changed. Under Christian IV. Brahe was barely tolerated; but in 1597 his situation had grown so unbearable that he left the country altogether, having been the year before deprived of his observatory and emoluments. After residing a short time at Rostock and at Wandsbeck, near Hamburg, he accepted an invitation of the Emperor Rudolf II.- who conferred on him a pension of 3.000 ducats-to Benatek, a few miles from Prague, where a new Uranienburg was to have been erected for him, but he died shortly after. On his deathbed he solemnly confided his system to his celebrated pupil Kepler, then but 28 years old.

Brahilow, Brailow, brä'e-low, or Braila, brä'e-la, Rumania, a town and port on the left bank of the Danube, about 12 miles above Galatz, and over 120 miles from the Sulina mouth of the river. It is accessible by large sea-going vessels, and carries on a great trade in the export of grain, importing coal, agricultural machinery, etc. Both as regards accommodation for shipping and otherwise it has been much improved in recent years. In the Turkish wars of the latter half of the 18th

holding in his four hands a manuscript book containing a portion of the Vedas, a pot for holding water, a rosary, and a sacrificial spoon. The swan is consecrated to him and in the cave temple of Elephanta he is represented as sitting on a lotus, supported by five swans. He is the god of the fates, master of life and death, and, by some, has been represented as the supreme eternal power; but he is himself created and is merely the agent of Brahmă (1 neuter noun), the universal power or ground of all existence. He is considered as the author of the Vedas and the lawgiver and teacher of India. The worship of Brahma is regarded as the oldest religious observance in that country. In modern Hindu religion, however, it has been practically superseded by the worship of Vishnu and Siva. The epithets applied to this divinity are very numerous, some of the most usual being Swayambhu, the self-existing; Parameshti, who abides in the most exalted place; Pitamaha, the great father; Prajapati, the lord of creatures; Lokesa, the ruler of the world. See INDIA; BRAHMANS.

Brahmagupta, Hindu Hindu astronomer and mathematician: b. probably toward the close of the 6th century A.D. His Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta' (the Improved System of Brahma) is said to be an earlier work recast: portions of it have been translated into English.

Brahman Bull, a bull of the humped cattle, or zebu breed, of India and eastward, regarded with veneration by devout Hindus, and safe from molestation, even when turned loose by temple priests to forage upon the market stalls in city streets. Adorned with trappings and garlands of flowers, these pampered bulls figure largely in religious ceremonials and processions. See also INDIAN HUMPEd Cattle.

Brahmanas, the ancient theological writings appended to the original four Vedas by the Brahmans, or priests, for the purpose of very greatly magnifying their own office as a caste intrusted with the conduct of sacrifices of every kind. There are some 13 of them, with attachments to different parts of the original four Vedas. The Satapatha-Brahmana is the most important and valuable. It is called Satapatha, or "of the hundred paths," because it consists of 100 lectures. It has a very minute and full account of sacrificial ceremonies in Vedic times, and many legends and historical allusions. Nothing could be more wearisome reading; yet the information which can be gleaned in regard to sacrifices, the priestly caste, and many features of the social and mental development of India, is very valuable. A devout belief in the the Vedic hymns. This was taken advantage of efficacy of invocation and sacrifice appears in by the Brahmans to arrange a regular use of these hymns in the two liturgical Vedas, and to establish a proper offering of sacrifices conducted by themselves. The Brahmanas are

and taken by the Russians. In 1828 it had to surrender to the Russians after a gallant resistance, but in 1820 the Peace of Adrianople restored it to the Turks. Pop. (1894) 51,116.

Brahma, the first person in the Triad, or Trimurti, of the Hindus, which consists of Brahma the creator; Vishnu the preserver or redeemer; and Siva the destroyer. He is represented with four heads and as many arms,

tions about sacrifice and prayer.

work presented in these five volumes deal very The third, four, and fifth books of the great particularly with the Soma-sacrifice, the most sacred of all the Vedic sacrificial rites. It concerns the nature and use of "a spirituous liquor extracted from a certain plant, described as growing on the mountains." "The potent juice of the Soma plant, which endowed the

feeble mortal with godlike powers and for a time freed him from earthly cares and troubles, seemed a veritable God - bestower of health, long life, and even immortality." The moon was regarded as the celestial Soma, and source of the virtue of the plant. Another branch of the story of sacrifices relates to the worship of Agni, the Fire. It fills 5 out of 14 books, and the ideas reflected in it are very important for knowledge of Brahman theosophy and cosmogony. The ritual of the Fire-altar was brought into close connection with that of the Soma "fiery liquor.

Brahmans, the first of the four castes of the Hindus. They proceeded from the mouth of Brahma, the seat of wisdom. They form the sacred or sacerdotal caste, whose members have maintained perhaps a more absolute and extensive authority than the priests of any other nation. Their great prerogative is that of being the sole depositaries and interpreters of the Vedas, or sacred books. There are seven subdivisions of the Brahmans, which derive their origin from seven penitents, personages of high antiquity and remarkable purity, who are said to have rebuked the gods themselves for their debaucheries. The great body of the Brahmans pay equal veneration to the three parts of the mysterious trinity, but some attach themselves more particularly to one person of the triple godhead. Thus the Vishnuvites are distinguished by an orange-colored dress, and the mark called nama on their foreheads. The devotees of Siva wear the lingam, and are distinguished from the former by their great abstemiousness. A Brahman should pass through four states. The first begins at about seven, when the duty of the young novice, or Brahmachari, consists in learning to read and write, studying the Vedas, and becoming familiar with the privileges of his caste, and all matters of personal purity. Thus he is taught his right to ask alms, to be exempted from taxes, from capital and even corporal punishment. Earthen vessels belonging to Brahmans, when used by profane persons, or for certain purposes, must be broken. Leather and skins of animals, and most animals themselves, are impure, and must not be touched by them. Flesh and eggs they are not allowed to eat. The Brahman is also taught to entertain a horror of the defilement of the soul by sin; and rules for purification by ablution, penances, and various ceremonies, are prescribed. The second state begins at his marriage, when he is called Grihastha. Marriage is necessary to his respectability. His daily duties become more numerous, and must be more strictly performed. Regular ablutions, fasting, and many minute observances, become requisite. The Brahmans, however, engage in secular employments, political, commercial, etc. The third state is that of the Vana-Prasthas, or inhabitants of the forest, which is now, however, seldom reached. They were honored by kings, and respected even by the gods. Retiring to the forest, green herbs, roots, and fruit were their food: reading the Vedas, bathing morning, noon, and evening, and the practice of the most rigorous penances were prescribed. "Let the Vana-Prastha," says Manu, in the Institutes, slide backward and forward on the ground, or stand the whole day on tip-toe, or continue rising and sitting down alternately; in the hot season let him sit exposed to five fires; in the rain let

him stand uncovered; in the cold season let him wear wet garments; then, having stored up his holy fires in his mind, let him live without external fire, without a shelter, wholly silent, and feeding on roots and fruit. When he shall have thus become void of fear and sorrow, and shaken off his body, he rises to the divine essence." The fourth state is that of a Sannyasi, in which new and severer penances are to be performed. Suppressing the breath, standing on the head, and other such ceremonies are performed, till the devout patient rises to a participation of the divine nature. It was by the Brahmans that the Sanskrit literature was developed; and they were not only the priests, theologians, and philosophers, but also the poets, men of science, lawgivers, administrators, and statesmen of the Aryans of India. The sanctity and inviolability of a Brahman are maintained, in the eyes of his countrymen, by the most severe penalties. The murder of one of the order, robbing him, etc., are inexpiable sins; the killing of his cow can only be expiated by a painful penance. See Monier-Williams, Brahmanism and Hinduism' (1887); Barth, Religions of India'; Hopkins, Religions of India' (1895).

Brahmaputra, brä'ma-pö'tra, a large river of Asia, whose sources, not yet explored, are situated near Lake Manasarovara, in Tibet, near those of the Indus. In Tibet, where it is called the Sanpo, it flows eastward north of the Himalayas, and, after taking a sharp bend and passing through these mountains, it emerges in the northeast of Assam as the Dihong; a little farther on it is joined by the Dibong and the Lohit, when the united stream takes the name of Brahmaputra, literally "the son of Brahma." After entering Bengal it joins the Ganges at Goalanda, and farther on the Meghna, and their united waters flow into the Bay of Bengal. The Brahmaputra is navigable by steamers for about 800 miles from the sea, its total length being, perhaps, 1,800 miles. Through the last 60 miles of its course it is from 4 to 5 miles wide, and studded with islands. Its waters are thick and dirty; its banks are mostly covered with marshes and jungles, and are subject to annual inundations. During the season of the overflow, from the middle of June to the middle of September, the level districts of Assam are almost wholly submerged, so that travel is impossible, except on causeways 8 or 10 feet high. The volume of water discharged by the river at such times is immense. Even in the dry season it is equal to 146,188 cubic feet a second, while in the same time, and under the same circumstances, the Ganges discharges only about 80,000.

Brahmo-Somaj, a religious association of India, founded in 1830 by Rammohun Roy, a famous Hindu rajah, who sought to purify Brahmanism from impurities and idolatries, and first styled "The Society of God." The Brahma-Somaj, while accepting what religious truth the Vedas may contain, rejects the idea of their special infallibility, and founds its faith The members do not on principles of reason. in principle recognize the distinction of caste, and have made great efforts to weaken this as well as other prejudices among their countrymen. The foremost exponent of its views was the Babu Keshub Chunder Sen, who with his

followers founded the "Brahmo-Somaj of India" in 1858. See Mozoondar, 'Life and Teachings of Keshub Chunder Sen' (1887).

Brahms, Johannes, German composer: b. Hamburg, 7 May 1833; d. Vienna, 3 April 1897. His father was a double-bass player in the Stadt-Theater of his native town, and from him he received his first instruction in musical technique; but his artistic taste was developed under the guidance of the eminent musician, Eduard Marsden of Altona. At the age of 14 years he made his first public appearance as a pianist at Hamburg, playing a set of variations composed by himself. In 1853 he traveled with the noted Hungarian violinist Remenyi on a concert tour of Germany as piano accompanist:

this tour was critical for his whole career. In

was

the program of the concert given at Göttingen was Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata. The piano a half tone below the true pitch, but Brahms straightway remedied the defect, playing the part from memory and transposing it from A to B flat-a feat which won the admiration of the celebrated violinist Joachim, who was in the audience; and who after the performance made himself known to the young musician; thus commenced a warm friendship which lasted during Joachim's life. He gave the young man commendatory letters to Liszt, then at Weimar, and to Schumann at Düsseldorf, and advised him to give up the concert tour. Brahms acted instantly on this counsel, visited Schumann and showed him some of his compositions, with the result that Schumann recognized in the young artist supreme musical genius, and in his enthusiastic admiration hailed him in an article entitled "Neue Bahnen," published in his 'Neue Zeitung für Musik' as already a master, the great composer of the future, and in the words of John the Baptist (Matt. xi. 3) as rendered in the Latin vulgate, as "he that is to come." Brahms, he declared, had not attained mastership by a gradual development, but had "burst upon us fully equipped as Minerva sprung from the head of Jupiter." Yet at this time the young maestro had produced but very few works —a string quartet, a scherzo in E flat, and a few songs, among them the dramatic Liebestreue.'

His eminent gifts were now generally recognized, and after giving a concert in Leipsic, two music publishers made an engagement with him to publish his compositions; and in 1854 he was appointed music master and choir conductor to the Prince of Lippe-Detmold. From 1858 to 1862 he resided first in Hamburg and then in Zürich, making musical tours and pursuing his musical studies. Going to Vienna in 1862 he was director of the Singakademie there in 1863, but after a few months resigned that office and quitted Vienna, to resume his concert tours throughout Germany. He took up his residence again in the Austrian capital in 1872, and thereafter till his death Vienna was his home, though for some years he made musical tours occasionally; but toward the close of his life he devoted himself almost exclusively to the work of musical composition. In 1877 the English University of Cambridge apprised him of its senate's intention to honor him with the degree of Doctor of Music, but Brahms seems to have ignored the intended courtesy.

By his 'German Requiem,' produced in the Cathedral at Bremen in 1868, at a solemn re

ligious function commemorative of the German soldiers who died in the war with Austria, he fully justified the prophetic utterance of Schumann and won for himself a place in the hearts of the whole German people. He called it the German Requiem' to indicate the difference in tone and spirit between it and the traditional requiem, which echoes the doleful strains of the Dies Ira. In the German Requiem' buoyant hope and assurance of God's infinite sacred compositions, 12 in number, among them mercy is the keynote. It is one of a class of the Triumphlied' (song of triumph), commemorating the German victories in the war with France in 1871-2, also some choral songs

and motets.

ing about 150 pieces, are his secular choral His other compositions, numberworks, among these Schiller's 'Nänie' and the Gesang der Parzen' (song of the Parcae); concerted vocal works, among them the 'Liebeslieder (lays of love); orchestral works, among them four symphonies; chamber music; pianoforte solos; four books of Hungarian' dances arranged for pianoforte duet. He never seems and confessed a distaste for that combination of to have even attempted to compose an opera, music and drama. He seldom visited the theatre, and on the rare occasions on which he retired before the completion of the last act. attended operatic performances he nearly always

Brahms is ranked with the classic masters of music, as the peer of Beethoven and Mendelssohn, and inheritor of the traditions of the great school of the German composers. Temperamentally and in his mental habit he is essentially modern, original, and spontaneous; he possesses the warmth of imagination and the quick emotionalism which are assumed to be characteristic of the romantic school, and to these he gives free play. But his creations are cast in the classic molds; or rather they appear to come to the birth naturally in classic forms; hence there is no shadow of incongruity between the matter and the form. See Deiters, translated by Newmarch, Brahms: a Biographical Sketch) (1888); Dietrich and Widmann, translated by Heclet, 'Recollections of Johannes Brahms' (1899).

Braid, James, Scotch physician: b. Fife, 1795; d. 25 March 1860. He studied medicine in Edinburgh, and settled as a surgeon in Manchester. He is noted for his researches on animal magnetism, which he first called neurohypnotism, and afterward termed hypnotism.

Braid'wood, Thomas, Scotch educator: b. 1715; d. 24 Sept. 1798. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, settled as a schoolmaster in that city, and after 1760 became famous as a teacher of deaf-mutes. In 1783 his school was transferred to Hackney, London.

Braille, Louis, loo-ē brāl, or brä-e, French educator of the blind: b. Coupvray, 1806; d. 1852. He invented a system of writing with points, used extensively in institutions for the blind. Himself blind almost from birth, at the age of 10 years he was admitted to the Institute for the Blind in Paris, where he soon became proficient in both science and music. In instrumental music he attained a very high rank, becoming one of the most distinguished organists of Paris, and excelling also as a violoncellist. At the age of 20 he had formed the idea of modifying M. Charles Barbier's system of

writing with points so as to render it practicable and convenient, and not long afterward it was introduced into the royal institute, although no account of it was published till 10 years later. It was subsequently adopted in most of the continental schools, and a little later in the United States, where it continues, with some modifications, in successful use. The signs of the original system are 43 in number, embracing the entire alphabet, all the diphthongs, and marks of punctuation. Ten fundamental signs form the basis of all the rest. These signs, representing the first 10 letters of the alphabet and the 10 Arabic numerals, are as follows:

A B C D E F

I

2

3

4

G H I

::

:. 8

J

.:

5 6 7 By placing one point under the left side of each fundamental sign, the second series is formed, comprising the next 10 letters. By placing two points under each fundamental sign, the third series, comprising U, V, X, Y, Z, C (C soft), É, À, È, U, is formed. By placing one point under the right side of the fundamental signs, the fourth series, embracing Â, £, Î, Ô, U, E, I, U, CE, W, is formed. Three supplementary signs represent Ì, Æ, and Ò. The marks of punctuation are the fundamental signs placed two lines below. The system has been applied to musical notation in such a manner as to make the reading and writing of music much easier for the blind than for those who see. The seven notes are represented by the last seven of the fundamental signs, and each of these notes may be written in seven different octaves by merely prefixing a sign peculiar to each octave, and thus the necessity of designating the key of each musical sentence in the ordinary way is avoided. The mode of writing is very simple. The apparatus consists of a board with a surface grooved horizontally and vertically by lines one eighth of an inch apart. Over this board a frame is fitted like that of the common map delineator, and one or more sheets of paper being placed over the board, the points are made with a bodkin, through a slip of perforated tin, , which contains all the changes used in the system. As the sheet must be reversed to be read, the writing should be from right to left, that it may be read from left to right. Of course, several copies may be made by one operation. For many years books have been printed in points in various countries. See BLIND.

HUMAN

FIG. 1. HEAD AND NECK, SECTION FROM FRONT TO BACK.

4,

1, Wind-pipe; 2. Larynx; 3. Spinal marrow; Pharynx; 5, Tongue or Hyoid bone; 6, Epiglottis; 7, Tongue; 8, Hard palate; 9, Soft palate; 10, Bridge of the nose; 11, Frontal cavity; 12, Sphenoid cavity; 13, Nasal cavity: 14, Skin of the skull; 15, Bony skuli; 16, Hypophisis; 17, Corpus callosum; 18, Septum Incidura; 19. Straight sinus; 20, Cerebellum; 21, Cerebrum, right hemisphere; 22, Lobes of the Medulla; 23. Pons Varolii; 24, Medulla Oblongata; 25, Zone of the Epistropheus; 26, Vertebræ; 27, Spinal continuation of the Vertebræ.

FIG. 2. BRAIN, CROSS-SECTION FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. 1, Thalamus; 2, Skull; 3. Cerebral membrane; 4, Cerebral hemisphere; 5, Lateral ventricle; 6, Optic lobe; Septum lucidum; 8, Longitudinal sinus; 9, Great longitudinal fissure; 10. Corpus callosum; 11, Median cerebral cavity: 12, Cerebral hemisphere; 13, Gray matter; 14, White matter; 15, Corpora Albicantia.

Brain, that portion of the nervous system contained, for the most part, within the skull. It is usually divided into two parts. The larger mass is termed the cerebrum, the smaller, the cerebellum; from the lower end of the cerebrum the medulla oblongata tapers down into the spinal cord. The brain is, as it were, the great central station of the nervous system. From the surface of the entire body nerve fibres pass into the spinal cord, up the cord and into the brain; these carry impressions of all kinds touch, taste, sight, hearing, pain, temperature, etc. from the surface to the brain. Starting in the brain mass itself there is a corresponding series of fibres that run down into the medulla and spinal cord, out into the nerves and end in some muscle or organ of special character. There are literally thousands of incoming fibres, thousands of outgoing fibres and millions of minute cells in direct association with these fibres. Thus it may be seen that the brain is merely a collection of nerve ganglion cells and their associated fibres, both of which have a characteristic appearance as seen by the naked eye; that portion of the brain that preponderates in cells is the "gray matter," and that portion richer in fibres is the "white matter."

Cerebrum.- The larger brain mass, the cerebrum, consists of two symmetrical halves, the hemispheres, separated above by the great longitudinal fissure and held together at the bottom of the fissure by a firm band of fibres, the callosum, and at the base by the cerebral peduncles, which unite below to form part of the pons, and the medulla. All of the fibres passing to arating into each hemisphere. The surface of and fro go up and down in the peduncles, septhe hemispheres is divided by fissures into sev

Thus in the lower side there is a large fissure, eral larger areas and a number of smaller ones. the fissure of Sylvius, below it there are three lobes, the first, second, and third temporal lobes. Running from the great longitudinal fissure, making an angle of about 65° with the Sylvian fissure, the second most marked fissure, that of Rolando, is found. This divides off an anterior region in which the first, second, and third frontal convolutions are to be found. Immediately around the fissure of Rolando are grouped the anterior and posterior parietal lobes, and at the back end of the hemispheres the occipital lobes are situated. All of these lobes are divided into smaller areas by the fissures, the chief end subserved by these fissures being to

BRAIN.

parietal convolution; 4, Left cerebral hemisphere; 5, Inner frontal convolution; 6, Right cerebral hemisphere; 7, Frontal lobe; 8, Longitudinal fissure; 9, Median frontal convolution; 10, Occipital centre convolution; 11, Frontal centre convolution; 12, Outer frontal convolution; 13, Outer parietal convolution; 14, Median pari. etal convolution.

FIG. 4. BASE OF THE BRAIN.

I, Eleventh or spinal accessory nerve; 2, Right hemisphere of cerebellum; 3, Twelfth or hypoglossal nerve; 4, Ninth or glosso-pharyngeal nerve; 5, Eighth or auditory nerve; 6, Seventh or facial nerve;" 7, Medulla Oblongata; 8, Fifth or trigemenus (trifacial) nerve; 9, Central lobe; 10, Fourth or trochlear nerve; 11, Sixth or abduceus nerve; 12, Pons Varolii; 13, Right frontal lobe of the cerebrum; 14, Lobes of the medulla; 15, Optic chiasm; 16, Second or optic nerve; 17, Left frontal lobe; 18. First or olfactory nerve; 19, Sylvian fissure; 20, Third or ocula-motor nerve; 21, Tenth or pneumogastric nerve; 22, Left hemisphere of the Cerebellum.

increase the amount of outside surface of the hemispheres and thus make room for the enormous number of cells that are located in this outermost gray layer, the cortex. A further function seems to be expressed by this division into lobes and convolutions, namely, a localization of function, a concentration of energy as it were, certain types of brain activity being regulated in certain brain areas. Thus it is assumed that the main function of the frontal lobes is largely that of the reasoning faculties and higher intellectual processes. It is very well established that the cells in the cortex that are grouped up and down both sides of the fissure of Rolando are the cells that govern the motor acts of the body; irritate these, and muscular convulsions in certain groups will occur; destroy them by accident or disease, and paralysis, or loss of muscular function, will result. The localization for certain muscle groups, such as those for the head, arm, eyes, leg, etc., are very well known. In the occipital lobes, particularly in certain areas about the angular gyrus, are the centres for sight memories. Their destruction may result in mind blindness (see APHASIA). In much the same manner the memories of sound are located in the temporal convolutions, and there are a large number of areas thus localized. These different areas are all brought into connection, the one with the other, by hosts of fibres, and as already indicated the two hemispheres of the cerebrum are connected by thousands of fibres that are in the callosum. Thus in the adult normal cerebrum all parts of the cortex are brought into close connection with one another and with the other half of the cerebrum; the connections with the cerebellum and with the cord are established as well. The richness of association is an index of the education and intelligence of the individual. These cortical connections are not a helter-skelter, hit-or-miss system; they are all carefully laid down, constituting the human brain one of the most remarkable "switchboards" ever made. Modern anatomy is busy unraveling all the fibres and bundles of fibre tracts, and it will not be many years before the map of the brain will be as well known as that of New York. When that time arrives many unknown problems of nervous and mental disease will be solved and the hideous secrets of the insanities I will be laid bare.

In addition to the cortical ganglionic masses of cells, there are a number of similar masses of cells located within the substance of the brain mass. These are subsidiary stations, as it were, for many of the fibre tracts going to and coming from the cortex. These are the caudate and lenticular nuclei, the optic-thalamus, and a number of smaller ones.

Cerebellum.-The cerebellum, or little brain, is situated behind and almost beneath the cerebrum, which partly overlaps it. It is attached to the brain stem by peduncles and its connections with the cerebral centres and those of the cord are many and complex. In minute structure the cerebellum has a number of characteristic features by which it may be recognized under the microscope, but fundamentally the nerve cells are similar, the interstitial connective tissue is the same in kind as in the cerebrum and the blood vessels, veins, and lymphatics have similar properties.

Membranes. Surrounding the entire brain mass and extending down over the spinal cord there are three coverings. These are an outside strong and thick dura mater, and two inside delicate membranes, the arachnoid and pia mater.

Cavities.-The brain is not a solid organ. It is really a flattened-out expansion of nervous tissue peculiarly grouped about a central cavity. This central cavity at one time was as simple almost as the space occupied by the graphite in a lead pencil, but in the adult brain there are lateral ventricles, third and fourth ventricles, all of which are too complicated to be described here. The ventricles contain a fluid, the cerebrospinal fluid, which also bathes the outside of the brain. The cavities of the brain are continuous with the central cavity of the spinal cord. This modern conception of the brain as a complicated automatic switchboard may be elaborated to any amount of detail. If one should trace, however, the path of a single impulse from the outside world, be it one of sight, smell, taste, touch, pain, etc., one would trace it, say for pain-first from the point of contact, for instance, of the finger, whence the special nerves of sense would carry it to the spinal cord; here it travels up a definite tract in the cord (for the upward paths of the passages of sensations and the downward ones of messages to act are as definitely known as are the railroads from New York to Chicago); from the cord it passes into the medulla, still in a well-defined path, where only it and its kind travel (about here the fibre tract crosses to the opposite side of the medulla); then through the pons, through the cerebral peduncles, up to the secondary centres, to the cerebellum and the sensory area in the cortex, which is supposed to be situated just behind the motor area. As soon as the sensory impulse reaches the cortex it is felt as pain and referred to the spot in the skin in contact with the irritant. Immediately in the perception of pain, so intimate are the connections of the sensory areas with the motor areas from these motor cells a conscious impulse is flashed down another series of fibres, down the peduncles to the medulla (where the fibres also mostly cross to the opposite side), down the spinal cord, out on a motor nerve to the muscle to cause a muscular act of pulling the hand away from the harmful irritant. This is the long, conscious series. There may also have been a shorter reflex cycle whereby the impulse passed to the spinal cord and an immediate motor connection was made that caused a quick jerking away of the hand, even before the perception of the sensation had taken place. This is the reflex cycle. See REFLEX ACT.

The study of the comparative anatomy and most enchanting departments of human knowphysiology of the nervous system is one of the ledge. To trace the gradual development of this intricate and marvelously adjusted regulator of the entire body, from its simplest terms of "protoplasm irritability" through the isolated ganglionic masses in such animals as the starfish, the gradual chaining of one mass to another as in the worms and insects, thus bringing a certain relation of one part to another, up to the fusion of different ganglionic masses to form a chief mass. the brain, and secondary masses, the spinal cord - this is a story of so many chapters and volumes that it cannot even be sketched here; but it is