But suppose there were an island inhabited only by deaf mutes, upon which a
ship was wrecked, and the sole survivors of the wreck were infants who had
never used the voice except for crying, would these infants acquire
articulate speech and musical vocalisation? I should answer, No. They would
only be able to imitate the deaf mutes in their gesture language and
possibly the musical sounds of birds; for the language a child learns is
that which it hears; they might however develop a simple natural language
to express their emotions by vocal sounds. The child of English-speaking
parents would not be able spontaneously to utter English words if born in a
foreign country and left soon after birth amongst people who could not
speak a word of English, although it would possess a potential facility to
speak the language of its ancestors and race.
It is necessary, however, before proceeding further, to say a few words
explanatory of the brain and its structure, and the reader is referred to
figs. 15, 16, 17. The brain consists of (1) the great brain or cerebrum,
(2) the small brain or cerebellum, and (3) the stem of the brain, which is
continuous with the spinal cord. The cerebro-spinal axis consists of grey
matter and white matter.
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