An Invention Greater Than the Telephone
PSYCHOLOGICAL PECULIARITY. THE CEREBROSCOPE.
THE INVENTION OF A NEW YORK PHYSICIAN?TIIE PHYSICAL DEMONSTRATION OF MENTAL ACTION A POSSIBILITY?.
The following is from a New York journal.
Our arrival was communicated to the _ doctor by an electric bell, and, after an answering stroke, we were ushered into the presence of the great man, who arose from his comfortable high-backed ecclesiastical chair to receive us.
Upon stating the object of our visit, he somewhat reluc- tantly acknowledged his invention and its probable value to science. ” We have many instruments of precision in medicine ?the ophthalmoscope for examining the eye, the sphymograph for determining the variations of the pulse, the otoscope, the stethoscope, endoscope, and various others, not to forget the sesthesiometer, dynamagraph, and the differential calorimeter of Lombard, which enables us to detect the slightest changes of temperature in the human body ; but I consider none of them half so wonderful as the apparatus I have just discovered, to which I have given the name cerebroscope. With this instrument it is literally possible to ‘ read the mind’s eye and I can predict a great revolution in the treatment of mental diseases.”
” In what does the theory consist, and upon what principle is the instrument constructed, doctor ? “
” I have spent many years in experiments, and now that the new purple colouring matter of the retina has been disco- vered, I am able to definitely demonstrate that it is by no means an impossibility to watch the various workings of the intellect reflected upon this colouring matter at the bottom of the eye. You are aware that with activity of thought the blood supply of the brain is increased, but the retinal blood supply is also augmented as well, and consequently the pigment of the cells of the membrane behind the retina is constantly changed. With certain varieties of mental action there is a mathematical grouping of these pigment or colouring cells, and by the examination and comparison of upwards of 70,000 eyes during the last eight years, I can positively say that certain kinds of cerebration are connected with different forms of polarisation of these cells, so that negative attracts positive and repels negative.”
jReporter. “Will you tell me, doctor, what led to this discovery ? “
Doctor. “As far back as 1858, while at Fort Kelly, I was enabled to make an examination after death of the brain and eyes of a man who had been suddenly kicked to death by a mule. In this little bottle “?and the Professor held up to the light a very small vial containing a glistening purple substance ?” is the ‘ visual purple’ extracted from both eyes of this soldier. It took me forty-eight hours of laborious work to remove the pigment from the eyes, which were immersed in absolute alcohol, placed in a freezing mixture. My discovery of this substance antedated that of Boon or Bael, a German savant, by about sixteen years. I have been able since, by the exceedingly delicate instrument of Lombard, to test the varia- tions of temperature in and outside of the eye, and find that a current of tepid water, circulating in a rubber tube about a water-glass containing a few drops of a solution of this colour- ing matter, produces an arrangement of cells, identical with that which takes place in the eye when the increased blood in the vessels of the eye and brain bring the retina to a tempe- rature of less than *06341 centigrade.”
With the assistance of his polite, young, and intellectual assistant, the instrument was brought forward. It resembled somewhat the demonstrating ophthalmoscope used occasionally by oculists. There was a firm stand, with an upright, which held a plano-convex mirror perforated at its centre, while about the periphery there passed a band of copper, and from points equidistant extended small rods of selenium which converged towards the centre, slightly overlapping the perforation. A ?series of wires connected these rods with a delicate tangent galvanometer which rested upon a small shelf.
Six mirrors reflected the powerful rays of an oxyhydrogen light, the pencil of which consisted of zirconium instead of the ordinary lime.
Converging beams of light were thus sent through the per- foration and direct through the pupil of the person examining, while behind the instrument sat the observer, whose eye was placed to the central opening.
“You will observe,” said the doctor, ” that the rearrange- ment of the ‘ visual purple ‘ cells at the bottom of the eye cause the generation of heat: this and the light sensibly affect the selenium, which, you know, is highly sensitive, and an electric current is generated by this metal, and the copper is imme- diately shown by the galvanometer needle. Now, please, sit in front of the instrument and engage your mind?think ! concen- trate your attention!”
With some misgivings the reporter took the seat assigned to him. Concentration of thought was difficult. He looked at different objects in the room ; at first upon a piece of old blue and white china upon the wall; next at an Egyptian scarabseus of colossal size, then upon a door-knob; but under the excite- ment of the moment it was as utterly impossible to indulge in one line of thought as to go to sleep when tortured by the cares of the day which chase each other through the weary brain of the overworked newspaper man who craves rest. In the midst of this indecision of mind, our representative involuntarily calculated the cost of certain articles of furniture and decoration about the room, and from this the question of the fees that such a great man must receive to pay for these luxuries came to his mind. The doctor, whose face had worn a troubled, impatient expression during ten minutes or more, while the needle remained perfectly motionless, burst into a hearty laugh and informed us that the mathematical arrangement of the cells then visible was one quite familiar to him. ” I have seen it,” said he, ” in many of my apprehensive patients, who were calcu- lating the probable charge I would make for my services, and, though I cannot state with absolute accuracy the nature of your thoughts at this moment, I can say they were upon the subject of medical fees.”
Anxious to witness for himself the workings of the instru- ment, the reporter asked permission to examine the eyes of some person in the room, and with great amiability and modesty the doctor consented to be the victim of the experiment. The gas was turned on, and the oxyhydrogen light sputtered and crackled, and with a feeling of some nervous agitation we seated ourselves. It would be difficult to describe the appear- ance of the great inventor’s eye. There were corruscations of brilliant purple which shot off scintillations of golden light, while the retina resembled some gorgeous piece of Pompeiian tesselated pavement. The figures, however, constantly changed, though there was a certain fixation of parts which seemed to undergo but slight alteration. ” What is the curious ring of cells which extend almost entirely about the retina ? ” we asked. ” Ah !” replied the doctor, ” that is the circle of self-satisfaction; but you will observe it does not quite extend around the entire periphery as it does sometimes when there is entire belief in one’s self. Why, in some of the lower animals this ring- is entirely developed. In such creatures as the bull-frog- (Rcina temporaria), the domestic cow, the ass of commerce (Asinus vwlgai*is), or the ordinary counter-jumper (dry goods clerk Capricornus), the cell arrangement of this kind undergoes but little variation.”
By means of a mirror the doctor pointed out a very indistinct group of cells, and upon being questioned, stated that the most prominent were those which indicated a peculiar inventive genius. He had observed these quite markedly developed in Mr. Barnum and Mr. Bunnell of the Bowery museum. ” Strange to say,” remarked the doctor?” and I regard it only as the in- consistency of the instrument?these appear in my eye to grow larger, year by year.” The middle groups of cells indicated literary ability of no mean order, and I afterwards found that the doctor was the author of a very successful novel, which has been read at thousands of American firesides.
Clustered about the large central veins of the retina were some nondescript cells. ” Ah, my dear sir,” said the doctor, in reply to our interrogatory, ” those are the cells of reform, as I have called them. I have found them in the eyes of Mayor Cooper, Mr. Comstock, the Count Joannes, and others. They are differently developed in different eyes. In Mayor Cooper, for instance, they only reach a certain size, when the cerebral circulation becomes so much changed by confused thought and the clouding of the centre of judgment and reason, that they become blotted out or eclipsed by the cells of prejudice. In Comstock’s case the cells take an irregular form, and their edges have a prurient aspect. In the eyes of several thousand generals, judges, vice-presidents, leading clergymen, politicians, and cracksmen, I have examined, these cells of reform have varied greatly. If you were to place this piece of army blanket that I have kept since 1865, which you see is transparent, before the instrument, you will have an extended view. My cells of reform you see, are one-sided and distorted, but they show that the lunatic asylums are the objective point to be attacked. I would abolish asylums altogether, for it is both injudicious and useless to restrain lunatics; and besides, where is my expert business to come from ? Now there is the famous Utica bed discovered by a French abbe over 200 years ago ” We placed the blanket over the opening, the threads of yarn forming a micrometer, and lo, the appliance at the bottom of the eye underwent a kaleidoscopic change! In the upper right-hand corner we saw a picture of a strong man attacked by robbers, while pistol balls seemed to fly from his charmed fingers like lance points from the cuirass of an armoured knight. Surely the doctor’s most concentrated thoughts were of a pleasant kind, for the cells had grouped themselves so that, occupying a central position, and covering almost entirely the field, was a large head of himself, smiling contentedly. In his hand he held a pen with which he was writing an ” open letter,” while wriggling vibrios fought with an army moth for the possession of an old military button and a major-general’s shoulder-strap. The doctor was lost in reverie; his mind was filled with lawsuits, convents, after-dinner speeches, fasting girls, Manhattan Beach rambles beneath the moon, and a host of other subjects of thought, while their reflecting prototypes were reflected in the visual purple. We were lost in wonderment at the dazzling genre picture, and in our nervous excitement accidentally kicked the doctor’s foot, when suddenly the myriads of beautiful pictures vanished as quickly as they appeared, and, with a half apologetic smile, and wave of his graceful head as he noted the expression upon the face of the reporter, he said, “I fear the instrument has not shown truthfully my exact mental condition. It is not yet perfect.” But assuring him of our perfect satisfaction, and saying we believed it had done him full justice, we left, wonder- ing how completely the world would be metamorphosed when the cerebroscope was generally introduced.
We understand that Manager Abbey has deferred the pro- duction of Gilbert’s ” Palace of Truth ” until he can personally examine the apparatus.
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