On the position of the motor centres in the brain in regard to the nutritive and social functions / by T. Lauder Brunton.

  • Brunton, Thomas Lauder, Sir, 1844-1916.
Date:
[1882]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the position of the motor centres in the brain in regard to the nutritive and social functions / by T. Lauder Brunton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    w [Reprinted from ‘ Bhain,’ Part XFi.j IV. I ^ ^ ^ 1^ ON THE POSITION OF THE MOTOR CENTRES IN THE BRAIN IN REGARD* TO THE NUTRITIVE AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONS. BY T. LAUDER BRUNTON, M.D., F.R.S. In one pregnant sentence the German philosopher Goethe sums up the essence of luiman action. “ Warum treibt das Volk so imd schreit ? Es Avill sicli ernahren, Kinder zeugen, und sie ernahren wie es vermag.” (Why are people so busy, and what are they roaring about ? They want to feed them- selves, to beget children, and feed them as best they can.) In these three reasons for human activity we find that one is personal and that tu'o are social. The first of these is the personal one, the duty of the individual to himself. The second and third are the social ones, the duties of the indi- vidual to society. The clear insight of the philosopher led him rightly to put the duty of the individual to himself first. Under certain conditions we find that the social may over- power the personal instincts, even in the lower animals, and lead the mother to sacrifice her own life in trying to save her progeny. In certain exceptional instances we find the social instinct extending beyond the circle of immediate blood-rela- tions, and inducing a man, as in the well-known story of Damon and Pythias, to sacrifice his life for that of his friends, or even inducing him, like Sir Philip Sydney, to refuse the water which was offered to quench his own burning thirst, and give it to an utter stranger simply because he believed the other to need it more. Such instances as tliese do occur ; but the care Avith VOL. IV. B