ABSTRACT
The central mass of grey matter which is usually designated the optic thalamus, and of which the anatomical structure and general relations were scarcely known until the present day, is an ovoid body of reddish colour, situated in the very middle of the brain, a fact easily verifiable with a pair of compasses. It is in a manner the centre of attraction of all the fibres, the grouping and direction of which it thus governs. The optic thalami are in a special manner the natural anatomical foci which preside over the organization and grouping of the cerebral fibres. From a physiological standpoint, the optic thalami are intermediary regions interposed between the purely reflex phenomena of the spinal cord and the activities of psychical life. A direct examination of the relations of the centres of the optic thalami to the different regions of the cortical periphery enables us to determine the following peculiarities also.
