The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1889-11-23
THE BRAIN WEIGHT OF MAN AND
WOMAN.

The subject of the comparative weight of the
brain of man and woman comes up periodical
ly, and almost always some incorrectness of
statement or inadequacy of knowledge is to be
observed Perhaps certain feeling of gallan-
try tempts speakers and writers to handle ten
derly facts apparently in conflict with the view
that woman is encephalo-morphOlogically the
equal of man.
The average weight of the male brain is 40 1-2
ounces, of the female, A ounces-a difference
of over five ounces. WOman's brain has a
higher specific gravity. The man has a larger
brain in proportion to stature (MarshalD, but
woman's brain is larger in proportion to her
weight In 239 Russian brains (Buchstab) the
ratio of body weight to brain weight was for
the male as 80 to l, for the female 35 to /. In
woman the brain is shorter in the sagittal di-
ameter, being from 2-5 to 3-5 inches in man.
6 to 2-5 inches in woman (Huschka) The
transverse and vertical diameters are more
nearly equal in the two sexes.
The frontal lobe is better developed in man,
the distance from the anterior extremity o.
this lobe to the upper end of the fissure of
Rolando being in males 152 mm., in females
140 nm. (Buchstab). On the other hand,
the occipital lobe is more developed proportion
ately in woman, the distance from the point of
the occipital lobe to the parieto-occipita fssure
being in males 48.7 mm., in females Ola nm.
This is for Russian brains, which are little
smaller than German and English, little
heavier than Italian and French brains.
The difference between the weight of brain
in man and woman increases with civilization,
and is most marked in the Caucasian races. In
Parisians this difference amounts to 222
pean nations generally, 163 grammes; in Hin
doos 40 grammes; in Australians, 103; in
negroes 80; in Chinese, 15
The greatest sexual difference as regards
brain weight is found at birth, when the female
brains weighs 347 grammes. and the male 1893,
or about more, while the total weight of the
male infant is about 1-15 more than that of the
female. The female brain begins to lose weight
after the age of thirty, that of aman not till ten
or fifteen years later. The loss in woman is
very slight, however, and she keeps up a high
brain weight much later till seventy than
man, so that in old age the difference in brain
weight is reduced to its minimum, or little
over three ounces.
Definite statements cannot be made regard
ing the sexual differences in convolutional
complexity, or the thickness of the gray mat
ter, two important points in estimating the in
tellectual powers of the organ.
Despite much loose talk regarding the unim
portance of brain weight as a test of intellectual
superiority. it is unquestionably an important
factor What Thurman calls medium brains
range in weight between 40 and 524 ounces for
men and 35 and All ounces for women. All
brains in size above this are called megaloce-
phalous. Now, the tables of brain weights
collected by Bastian and others show that the
proportion OF great men VINO are decidedly
Neutrality-suspicious. is twenty-five per cent. while
the proportion in average men is four per cent.
to five per cent. The proportion of fncpient
megalocephaly Il. e., weight above 521 ounces
among eminent men is nearly sixty per cent.
There can be no doubt that the majority of
eminent men have large brains, just as the
majority of ordinary men have forty-nine
ounce brains. Certain individual cases furnish
exceptions, and distinguished talent can coexist
with small brain, but it is not the rule.
When brain falls to weight of 371 ounces
in man, or 321 ounces in a woman, it is called
microcephalic, and the rule is that below these
limits idiocy exists. There is just five ounces
less amount of brain matter, however. needed
to keep woman from idiocy than is needed
for man. Hence we may reasonably suppose
ence in brain weight of the sexes, represents,
not tissue necessary for mentality, but cores
ponds with the smaller muscular mass and
shorter stature of woman.-MedicGl Record.