ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author describes a few introductory words concerning the complicated fate of his work in the sphere of physiology and pathology of the higher nervous activity, assuming that the adjectives “higher nervous” conform to the adjective “psychical”. The nervous activity, as all physicians are aware, consists of two mechanisms, or two processes—excitatory and inhibitory. With regard to these two processes we distinguish three fundamental elements, namely, the strength of both the excitatory and inhibitory nervous processes, the mobility of these processes—their inertness or lability—and finally, the equilibrium between these processes. Although bromide has been rightly used as a remedy for nervous diseases for years, it is an absolute truth that to this day medicine has not always used this powerful instrument of nervous therapy in a proper way, often committing a very serious error.
