The human brain, its configuration, structure, development, and physiology; illustrated by references to the nervous system in the lower order of animals.

Solly, Samuel

Publication Date: 1836

About this Item

London : Rees, et al., 1836, 8°, xvi, 492 pp., 12 lithograph plates with 544 Figs., orig. cloth, printed paper label on spine; rebacked. First Edition! An important contribution to neuroanatomy and neurophysiolgy, by an eminent surgeon at St. Thomas' Hospital in London. "Solly was a skillful operator, a florid lecturer, and a good clinical teacher; his opinion was specially sought in cases of injuries to the head, and in diseases of the joints" (DNB). Summarizes the knowledge of the time on the function of the spino-cerbral tract. "According to the plan generally pursued in treating the anatomy of the brain in systematic works of the present day, all the information conveyed amounts to little more than a vain catalogue of names applied to parts, without reference to their structure, their functions, or even their analogies in the nervous system of the lower orders of animals. Such a barren prospect as a list of names, holds out but little to attract the most zealous among students, while the dryness of unconnected detail, and the obstacles to clear conceptions engendered by the absence of everything like arrangement, almost certainly deter him from attempting to learn more than is required to prepare him for examination for the diploma. It is unfortunate indeed that candidates for this honourable certificate are still very generally required to describe the appearances presented by the brain dissected, or rather destroyed, by the old method of slicing; a method most unphilosophical in its conception, and totally inadequate to impart any real information in regard to the structure of the organ. And I do not hesitate to affirm that this circumstance has contributed essentially to retard the diffusion of sound knowledge in regard to the anatomy and physiology of the most important system in the body." Solly "A work that received particular interest among mid-century medical psychologists was Samuel Solly's The Human Brain, first published in 1836 with an updated second edition a decade later. Solly's book was to a large extent an account and discussion of recent French research. The first edition was also chiefly concerned with the anatomy and physiology of animal brains-i.e. data directly derived from empirical research-with some extrapolations regarding the human brain. Overall, two recurrent themes in particular should be noted in regard to British medico-scientific literature on the physiology of the nervous system prior to the 1840s: the idea that persistent 'irritation' of the nerves caused them to become more sensitive and prone to morbidity, and, a model of involuntary reflexive action that did not include the cerebral hemispheres in such activity." Jansson, Å. (2021). The Scientific Foundation of Disordered Mood. In: From Melancholia to Depression. Mental Health in Historical Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Clarke & Jacyna, 19th c. origins of neuroscientific concepts, pp. 12, 13, 16. Seller Inventory # 68863

Bibliographic Details

Title: The human brain, its configuration, ...

Publication Date: 1836

Binding: Hardcover

Edition: 1st Edition