Beauty of the Brain Views — every view of the human brain we have seen in this series of magnificent and unparalleled anatomical plates has inspired our admiration and held us spellbound and utter astonishment in amazement at the limitless attributes, the diversified powers, and the variety of functions this wondrous and mysterious organ is called upon to perform in the hourly transaction and business pursuits of daily human life. And yet, notwithstanding the marvelous properties of this elaborate organ, it is the least solid and most unsubstantial looking body of the human casket.

Consistency of the Brain – it consists of eighty per cent. Of water, seven per cent. of albumen, some phosphorized fat and some other minor substances. Such is the composition of the mighty and powerful organ which rules the world. Whilst the brain is the seat of sensation, yet it can be cut, burned or electrified without causing pain in itself. Strange, passing strange, or the proprieties and powers of the brain!

These two segments both represents a very strange and slightly ignorant view of the brain. The first section is entirely devoted to talking about the mysteries and relative beauties of the organ known as the brain. On occasion in modern times a professor might leap upon a soap box and go off on a rant or something describing a topic that they are passionate about in the way described above. There’s something about the tone and the use of language that goes far beyond that and makes this language seems some what similar to language we might expect to find in a be styled movie about the past. However this book evidences the fact that such language did exist and in fact was put into print in a medical textbook.

The second section offers up something that I found some was a pricing. It’s not so much the language but the way the word percent is spelled. Above you will find a word percent spelled with an extra space in between the words per and the words cent with a period following the word cent. I had never considered the possibility that the two words might have been separated a hundred years ago. Now that I’m studying the anatomy of those particular words it strikes me that they do make some logical sense apart. The percentage is a fraction of a whole it can also be viewed as a ratio and so if a whole is made up of one half substance and one half no substance, it could be expressed as one part substance per two parts combined substance and no substance. That thought makes absolutely no sense as I read back on it, but it’s the best I can do to try and piece together those words may be my beautiful brain isn’t working quite up to par this evening!