nerves, under which he arranged those of the human body.
Two years afterwards, in 1821, a general account of the results of his observations was communicated to the Royal Society, in a paper read before that body, and apparently intended as an introduction to others which were to follow, and did follow.
Notwithstanding the novel and important matter which it contained, the Idea of a New Anatomy of the Brain had failed to attract attention. Not sothe first paper in the Philosophical Transactions. Bell’s views and opinions were now questioned, doubted, denied ; then a certain amount of truth was allowed them; and, ultimately, the real and substantial credit of a patient, laborious, and original inquiry, was attempted to be wrested from him, and attri- buted to others, whose single merit, in this part at least of physiology, consisted in their adoption of that key which Bell had invented, fashioned, and shown how to use—a key without which the secrets of the nervous system, so far as they are now known, had probably yet remained concealed.
In estimating Bell’s claims as a physiologist, we are not called upon to regard his papers and me- moirs on the nervous system as complete and perfect. Along with all that is distinct and precise, we may allow that there are some allegations not quite specific—allegations which a mind more severely disciplined might not have hazarded. We may grant that the functions of the posterior roots of the spinal nerves were therein suggested rather than positively stated. We may acknowledge, as he him-
