Re: Animal Spirits to Molecular Mechanisms
I don't think that Brazier is quite right on this point. As I mention in my book on seventeenth century neuroscience Soul Made Flesh, Thomas Willis and Christopher Wren looked at nerves under microscopes and conceived them as not having a hollow core, but rather being like sugar cane--solid yet porous. This did not, however, turn them away from the concept of animal spirits, although they modified it greatly from its Galenic definition. (Willis described them as being like water flowing over a gravelly stream). It's also my understanding from Will Clower's article in the Journal of the History of Neurosciences that it was Galvani who really turned people away from the animal spirits. Clower has a book coming out that focuses on the demise of animal spirits, although I don't know exactly when it's going to be published. Best wishes, Carl Carl Zimmer email: carl@carlzimmer.com web: http://www.carlzimmer.com blog: http://www.corante.com/loom