Study of a case of two-handed synchronous writing / by George M. Gould.

  • Gould, George Milbrey, 1848-1922.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Study of a case of two-handed synchronous writing / by George M. Gould. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    an equal or greater importance comes into view, which I have called dominance. Usually and nor- mally a righthanded person is righteyed, and a left- handed one is lefteyed. That is, the right eye is normally the dominant one in the righthanded, and the left eye in the lefthanded. A simple test, one of many, of dominancy, is easily made and thoroughly convincing. Hold the pencil or finger upright a foot from the eyes in the median line and observe the image it makes on the opposite wall; closing the left eye results in no movement of the image on the wall, but closing the right or dominant eye throws the left eye into hitherto disused or non- selected function, and the image “j'Umps” suddenly to the right. The demonstration of the dominancy of the right is thus apparent; the mind must not be confused in action by two differently-placed images, and has learned to ignore the one and rely upon the other. And it ignores the least reliable and least accurate or useful image, which is the left in the dextral. Correspondingly, of course, the choice is reversed in the lefthanded person. And it is as evident that a high degree of ametropia, squint, amblyopia, or other disease, of the naturally domi- nant eye, would transfer the dominancy to the eye of the other side. In such cases the mind and en- tire organism is morbidized, decision and action are confused, delayed or inhibited reflexes are necessi- tated, stuttering and halting speech or thought ap- pears, etc. This is because the right eye of the four-footed animalian phylum has controlled the motion and placing of the right front foot, guarded the right side of the body, etc., and primarily estab- lished the great law that cooperating cerebral cen- ters must be in the same cerebral hemisphere to render decision and action the most exact and quick. Contiguity of these centers insures accu-