Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1301

SIR CHARLES BELL (1774-1842) Idea of a new anatomy of the brain. n.p. [1811?] [2] 42 pp. 22.1 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 1294

The first page of this manuscript copy of Bell's work, made between 1811 and 1868, indicates that it was presented by Robert Temple Wright to the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. An inscription by Wright on the verso of the page, dated November 5, 1868, reveals that the work was reprinted in the Journal of anatomy and physiology (Vol. 3 (November 1868), pp. 147-182). Bell had only 100 copies of the work printed at London in 1811 for private distribution. In the work, Bell presented his theory that different parts of the brain have specific functions and that the anterior spinal roots transmitted both sensory and motor impulses. It was left to Magendie in 1822 to show that the posterior roots transmitted sensory impulses and the anterior roots motor impulses.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 1254

Gift of John Martin, M.D.