Rcherches physiques sur les proprietes et les fonctions du systeme nerveux dans les animaux vertebres. IN Archive generales de medicine II (1823) G-M 1391

Flourens, Pierre (1794-1867). Recherches physiques sur les propriétés et les fonctions du systême nerveux dans les animaux vertébrés. In Archives générales de médecine 2 (1823): 321-370. Whole volume. 647pp. 2 plates. 19th century quarter cloth, mottled boards, remains of library shelf-label on spine, minor edgewear. Stamps (some Nazi-era) of the Bibliothek des Med.-Klin. Institut, Munich on title, verso half-title and endpapers.

First Edition, journal issue of Flourens' first paper on cerebral function. In an effort to refute Gall's theory of cerebral localization, Flourens carried out a famous series of experiments on pigeons, in which he selectively removed either the cerebral lobes or the cerebellum in order to demonstrate their roles in brain physiology. The pigeons deprived of their cerebral lobes retained their sense of equilibrium, but lost all sense of volition and showed no sensory awareness of their surroundings; in contrast, those deprived of their cerebellums lost all ability to coordinate their muscular motions, but retained their ability to initiate movement and process sensory information. Flourens concluded from these experiments that the cerebral lobes were the seat of intelligence and perception, while the faculty of muscular coordination resided in the cerebellum; however, he insisted that the entire brain acted as a whole with respect to each of its functions. Garrison-Morton 1391. Norman 803 (offprint issue). Clarke & O'Malley, The Human Brain and Spinal Cord, pp. 483-488; 656-660.