When we speak of size of brain in reference to intellectual endowments
we must draw a clear distinction between the eminence of a specialist
and that of one of wide attainments. A man may become famous as a
specialist by the sedulous cultivation of one branch of knowledge,
whilst far from being distinguished by wide grasp of thought. Indeed,
the absence of interest in some branches of knowledge may greatly
favour the exclusive devotion to a single one. Peschell quotes
the weights of the brains of some Göttingen professors which were
considerably below the average: Gauss, Fuchs (pathologist), Hermann
(philologist), Haussmann (mineralogist).
Cuvier and Lord Byron are usually cited as having had brains much
heavier than the average, but there is some uncertainty, especially as
to the latter. None of his lordship’s portraits suggest a large head.
Although there are considerable discrepancies in the statements of
those who have examined the matter, there can be little or no doubt
that the brain increases somewhat with the advance of civilisation, and
that it was smaller in the prehistoric races of man than in the more
advanced ones of the present age. The differences are probably not so
great as many may expect, but they are real. The Australian natives
stand the lowest, and the Europeans the highest. The American Indian
had a larger brain than the Asiatic, and the Asiatic than the African.
The Chinese stand between the European and the Negro. Two Irish skulls
are perhaps the largest on record.
The size of the skull may possibly not be always a safe indication of
the amount of useful brain matter contained in it. It is said that the
large-skulled Germans have brains which are of lower specific gravity
than those of others.
There are many sources of fallacy as regards the weight of the brain
in different persons, different races, and in the two sexes. We must
not trust too implicitly to statistics or to tabulated records. It is
better to be content with general results, and to state even these with
great caution.
There can, however, be but little doubt that the brain of woman weighs
less than that of man, and that this difference is greatest in highly
civilised races. The brains of the broad-headed are, as a rule,
somewhat heavier than those of the long-headed. This conclusion has
been arrived at by comparing the brains of different individuals of the
same race, not those of different races (Peschell, p. 70).
There are some observations which support the conclusion that the brain
attains its greatest weight before 30 years of age, and then undergoes
diminution. At the age of 80 this diminution is supposed to reach 10
per cent. The diminution concerns the brain proper and the cerebellum,
but not their connecting part, the pons, which increases up to the
fiftieth year. Whilst it is, however, difficult to imagine methods
by which, without risk of great fallacy, such conclusions could be
arrived at, we may safely believe that the advance of age is attended
by some reduction in the size of the skull cavity and the weight of its
contents.
It appears to be a constant law that with advance of civilisation the
differences between the sexes in general become increased. This is seen
in measurements of the skull and in the weight of the brain. In the
brains of negroes the woman is but little below that of the man, 984
to 1,000, but in the English it is only 860, and Germans 838. These
figures indicate, of course, proportions only, and like all other
calculations in this difficult subject, must be received with caution;
but they probably indicate, if they do not precisely express, the fact.
The height of the skull is usually in inverse ratio to its breadth. The
variation in height is far less than is common in breadth.
The brachycephalic have heavier brains than the dolichocephalic.
In Hottentots both indices, breadth and height, are low.
The following may be mentioned as examples of remarkably broad heads
(wide foreheads), in association with genius: Shakespeare, Beranger,
Mirabeau, Peacock (the novelist), Miss Austen, Blackmore (“Lorna
Doone”), Tennyson, Erskine.
The following had heads both tall and broad: Scott, Goethe, Cervantes,
Ambrose Paré, John Foster, Father Paul, Galileo, Michael Angelo,
Machiavelli, Benjamin West.
We shall be indebted to any of our readers who may direct our attention
to other well-marked examples.
The following afford instances of remarkably tall heads: Motley (the
historian of the Netherlands), Remin (engineer), Richard Roberts
(engineer).
The following had remarkably long faces: Francis I., Inigo Jones,
George Eliot (Miss Evans), Savonorola.
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