A letter addressed to the Earl of Rosse, President-Elect of the Royal Society / by Marshall Hall.

  • Hall, Marshall, 1790-1857.
Date:
October 1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter addressed to the Earl of Rosse, President-Elect of the Royal Society / by Marshall Hall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    career for five years, in order that I might pursue my inquiry without interruption, and that he was at liberty to make that statement to the Council. When had the Royal Society of London for the promotion of natural knowledge, such an offer—before or since ? After the receipt of Mr. Children’s note, I addressed the Council in a printed letter, couched in the most appropriate terms I could devise,—in vain. I received a cold-hearted, or rather a cold-blooded, reply. It will be said hereafter—“ In the early part of the nine¬ teenth century, the Function of the Spinal Marrow, previously confounded with sensation, or “ sensory impressions,” in a word, with that of the Brain and the intra-spinal chord of cerebral nerves, was first detected. The discovery was pre¬ sented to the Royal Society, and—rejected !” I must not omit to state that Dr. Roget, even in drawing up his official Abstract of my paper, could not refrain from misrepresentation and insult. He states — “ The author begins by observing that a former memoir of his, entitled On the Reflex Function of the Medulla Oblongata and Me¬ dulla Spinalis,’ published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1833, has been translated into German, and favorably spoken of by Professor Muller, of Berlin.” I never began in any such manner, or wrote any such thing. What I did say W'as this, and very different: “ My former Memoir u On the Reflex Function of the Medulla Oblongata and Medulla Spinalispublished in the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1833, was speedily translated into the German language and inserted in the “ Archiv fur Anatomic und Physiologic of Professor Muller of Berlin (for 1834. p. 347). Professor Muller has also given a peculiarly interesting notice of the subject, in his “ Handbuch der Physiologic.” This eminent physiologist was led, indeed, altogether independently of me, to form similar views founded upon similar facts and observations ; he assigns to them the same designation, and speaks of them as “new, and constituting a decided step in our science.” “ This remarkable corroboration of my views by the independent observation and unbiassed testimony of so high an authority as that of Prof. Muller, is highly satisfactory and gratifying to me. Prof. Muller observes in his “ Hand- buchfl vol. i, p. 688—‘ The phenomena now to be noticed were observed nearly at the same time by Dr. Marshall Hall and myself. The greater part of the “ Nervenphysik,” as it is here given, and the present chapter on the reflected motions after sensations, were composed several years ago. That this is true,