Head (anatomy)

“ While below it the torso and arms swing from side to side, the head is fixed, leaning a little forward in the direction of the onward movement, its eyes firmly set on what is ahead. Within the head is the brain which directs all the action of the figure. But the face is shadowed over, and through the shadow the features appear coarse and heavy. We feel that the brain, though prompting the man to do his work to the utmost, is after all a dull brain, in pitiful contrast to the vigor of{105} the body. ”

“ The truth is, supposing the brain to unite, instead of separate, the frontal line of the face and the axial line of the body, the bending of the continuous right line formed by them in the lowest vertebrate fishes into the two parallel lines in man, the one facio-abdominal and the other occipito-dorsal, is not by angles at all, but by curvatures, and the union of the parallels is by an arch over the head. The arc in each case is a greater or less part of a circle, according to the grade of intellectual and moral development. ”

“ From a neck that writhed hideously, as a serpent in pain, wavered a knobbed head, terminating in a great bladed beak. With slow sweep it described majestic circles. Always the waving head gave the impression of hopeless search. ”

“ The moment she did so the room filled with the faint, phosphorescent glow of decay, and she saw, [220] exactly opposite her, a head—a human head—floating in mid-air. Petrified with terror, she lost every atom of strength, and, entirely bereft of the power to move or articulate a sound, she stood stock-still staring at it. That it was the head of a man, she could only guess from the matted crop of short red hair that fell in a disordered entanglement over the upper part of the forehead and ears. ”

“ I call it extreme hot when the strength fails, a disposition to faint comes on, a straitness is found in the temples, as if a small cord was drawn tight around the head, the voice impaired, the skin dry, and the head seems more than ordinarily large and light. ”

“ Nature doesn't give the pure Alimentive a large skull because he doesn't need it for the housing of his proportionately small brain, but concentrates on giving him a big stomach fitted with "all modern conveniences." On the other hand, the head of the Cerebral is large because his brain is large. The skull which is pliable and unfinished at birth grows to conform to the size and shape of the brain as the glove takes on the shape of the hand inside it. ”

“ I have alleged that the size of the three groups of ruling organs may be ascertained by that of the cases in which they are contained. Nor do I perceive on what ground any one, who is even moderately acquainted with the structure of the human body, can controvert the belief, or cherish the slightest doubt on the subject of it. In healthy persons (and my remarks relate only to such) the size of the brain is necessarily known by that of the head. As the viscus completely fills the cranium, the case cannot be otherwise. ”

“ It has been asked if we can not obtain semilateral hypnotic phenomena by acting on half the face or head. In fact, by pressing along one side of the forehead or the crown of the head, we may diminish or suspend the influence of the will on the extremities of the opposite side. Light pressures on the left side of the head have produced immobility of the right arm and leg. ”

“ As we speak the name of each part, let each one touch that part of himself which is named. We will begin with the head. The chief parts of the head are the skull and the face. The forehead, the temples, the cheeks, the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, and the chin are parts of the face. ”

“ The head is the treasure-vault of all our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and pas­sions; the thorax contains the heart and lungs; the abdomen all the digestive and secretive organs; and even the orifices are all mysteriously furnished. ”

“ A head, strictly speaking, is the prerogative of man, formed beneath a skull which rounds the forehead and determines the face. The more the front recedes and inclines to the horizontal, so much the nearer a head [379] approaches the form of a brute; the more it inclines to the perpendicular, the more it gains of man. ”

“ We are told, and with perfect truth, that in man the occipital foramen--the aperture through which the brain is connected with the spinal cord--is so placed that the head is nearly in equilibrium when he stands upright. ”

“ The head is most wonderfully built up, like an arch, of several bones beautifully joined in a very strong and perfect way which carpenters call "dove-tailing." We can understand why the head, which is so much exposed, and is almost entirely occupied by the brain, should be so carefully protected ”

“ The disproportionately large head, with aimlessly rolling eyes and toothless mouth, the frail and delicate limbs, waving in the air or clutching spasmodically at anything within reach, the expressionless face, on which, for the first few days, only sensations of discomfort are registered, all mark a creature whose survival hinges absolutely on unremitting care ”

“ The wise men in these islands have invented a theory that headache, neuralgia, vertigo, and other affections of the head, arise from a crack in the skull, or from pressure of the skull upon the brain. ”

“ The whole body is deranged; and the head, which ought to be the seat of sense and the temple of wisdom, is insensible to the wants of the body, and to the fact that, if the body sinks, the head must sink also. ”

“ The head is made up of rings or segments, the same as the body, but they are so closely set that it seems to be a flat, round, or pointed formation with discernible rings on the face before casting time. The eyes are of so simple form that they are supposed only to distinguish light from darkness. ”

“ The head, also, which needs muscular support in quadrupeds, in man presses directly downward upon the common center of gravity. And significantly the complete development of the brain tends to perfect this vertical position, as it yields a rounded and vertically poised Lead. The head in man has but one set of duties to perform, sensory and masticating labors. ”

“ Just as the brain is the servant of the body, rather than its master, so the devoted head meekly offers itself as a sort of vicarious atonement for the sins of the entire body. It is the eloquent spokesman of such "mute, inglorious Miltons" as the stomach, the liver, the muscles, and the heart. The humblest and least distinguished of all the organs of the body can order the lordly head to ache for it, and the head has no alternative but to obey. ”

“ The form, however, of the brain is like the head of a serpent, respecting which a lengthened discussion is maintained by the professors of knowledge, falsely so named, as we shall prove. Six other coupling ligaments grow out of the brain, which, traversing round the head, and having their termination in (the head) itself, hold bodies together ”

“ In the head itself we must distinguish the cranium from the face. The first encloses the brain, whence proceed the organs of sense, with the exception of those of touch, properly speaking. Above all, it is the seat of intelligence ”

“ But the head has also been chosen by nature as the part in which to set some of the senses; because its blood is mixed in such suitable proportions as to ensure their tranquillity and precision, while at the same time it can supply the brain with such warmth as it requires. ”

“ This great receptive organ, so closely connected in function with the movements and adjustment of the postures of the head and eyes, and indeed of the whole body, is prominent in the co-ordination necessary for the equilibrium of the body, an essential part of the fundamental acts of progression, standing, &c. Yet neither structural nor functional connexion with any special region of the cortex has been traced as yet for the labyrinthine receptors. Perceptions of the position of the head and of the body are of course part of our habitual and everyday experience. ”

“ Instead of the headless and irregular masses which have constituted the bodies up to this point, we now find an animal comparatively symmetrical in form, with a distinct head, and imperfectly-developed organs of special sense. ”

“ The first step in studying a head is to observe its general contour,—whether the forehead projects far in front of the ear, to indicate intellect; whether the upper surface rises above the forehead sufficiently to indicate the nobler qualities, and whether it is balanced or overpowered by the breadth and depth of the base of the skull and thickness of the neck. ”

“ You know the head contains the brain, which is the king of the body, and commands all under him; and it depends on his being good or bad whether his subjects,—the legs, and arms, and body, and stomach, and our old friends the bowels, are in good order and happy, or not. Now, first of all, keep the head cool. Nature has given it a nightcap of her own in the hair, and it [47] is the best. ”

“ You observe that in the centre there is a frame to confine the human head, somewhat larger than the head itself, and that the head rests upon the iron collar beneath. When the head is thus firmly fixed, suppose I want to reduce the size of any particular organ, I take the boss corresponding to where that organ is situated in the cranium, and fix it on it. ”

“ In the front part of the head are two organs, which appear to supplement, in some remarkable way, probably by touch-sensations, the power of vision, and also to possess other capabilities constituting a sense to which we have nothing strictly analogous. These organs are called antennæ. They spring from origins near together, at equal distances from the medial and anterior point of the head, and are connected, by distinct and somewhat large filaments, with the nerve matter forming the cephalic ganglia. ”

“ It proves that a man can think not alone in his head, but all over his body, and especially in the great nerve centers like the "solar plexus", and the nerve ends, on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. The coming man will assuredly perceive and think in every part, from his head down to his feet. ”

“ For, as I have already indicated when distinguishing the head from other parts of the body, it is undeniable that the spiritual expression of the form is restricted to the face and the pose and movement of the whole, to the general mien, which is pre-eminently eloquent by virtue of the arms, hands, and position of the legs. ”

“ From the head of an ulcer, we have the disagreeable figure (so common that its literal meaning is quite forgotten) , "to come to a head," and Prospero's "Now does my project gather to a head," in The Tempest.
Sense No. 2, the "forefront" of a body of persons, the "leader," cannot be altogether separated from No. 1. But it may come perfectly well from the central meaning. In every animal but man the head actually precedes the rest of the body as the creature moves. ”

“ One with a head too large for the body, and having a thick neck and extended veins, was generally strong and of a martial spirit. When the head was long and of conical shape, the person was generally impudent and rash; and, if sprightly in early life, was supposed to lose spirit and vivacity before reaching the age of thirty years. A well-proportioned head, but slightly compressed at the sides, denoted a person of good apprehension, proceeding from the spirits domiciled there. ”

“ This exaggeration of the upper part of the head does not argue anything in regard to the size of the brain, as might naturally be supposed. The brain is placed in a normal position in regard to the eye, which is a little above and behind the angle of the mouth, and appears to be set too low down in the head. ”

“ A cropped head not only shows a man to be grave, but renders the cranium less liable to injury, by accustoming it to the presence of both cold and heat; and it averts the mischiefs arising from these, which the hair absorbs into itself like a sponge, and so inflicts on the brain constant mischief from the moisture. ”

“ For the brain about the bregma feels more quickly and strongly any mischief that may occur to the flesh or the bone; for the brain about the bregma is in largest quantity, and is covered by the thinnest bone and the least flesh. ”

“ The morphological importance of the sections of the body-cavity in the head cannot be over-estimated, and the fact that the walls become developed into the muscular system of the head renders it almost certain that we must regard them as equivalent to the muscle-plates of the body, which originally contain, equally with those of the head, sections of the body-cavity. ”

“ If brain and nerves are practically identical, is it not plain that, instead of being confined to the cavity of the skull, there is not any part of the surface of the body that can be touched by a pin's point without pricking the brain? ”

“ Wherein lies the æsthetic significance of this mode of cerebral evolution? It prevents our head from becoming too large. Have you ever considered why infants appear so ugly to every one but their mothers? One of the principal reasons is that their heads are twice as large in proportion to the rest of the body as those of adults. ”

“ First, the occipital foramen being situated entirely at the base of the cranium of man and not carried up behind, as in the other vertebrates, causes his head to be posed at the extremity of the vertebral column as on a pivot, not bowed down forward, his face not looking towards the ground. This position of the head of man, who can easily turn it to different sides, enables him to see better a larger number of objects at one time, than the much inclined position of the head of other mammals allows them to see. ”