Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-09-13

and America have been giving a good
deal of attention to the conformation and
measurement of the human head or era
niometry, as they call it,
The studies of DR.. Frederick Peterson.
the insanity expert and specialist in nerv-
Gus diseases. of New York, have been
equally extensive Their conclusions have
been reached by accurate measurements
and not by feeling bumps. DIR. Peterson
said to me:
THE FRONTAL LOBEs.
"ln men noted for great attachments
and intellectual capacity all the diane
tiers and arcs of the skull are far above
the normal averages. In other words
their heads are larger. In many criminals
the diameters and arcs are below the nor
NAL average, and there is also great alb
normality in shape, especially in heredi-
tary criminals. One side of the head NAV
be larger than the other, the forehead
may retreat, or there NAV be some other
lack of symmetry and proportion. Often
the teeth, jaws and ears are deformed
All the higher mental faculties are loca-
ted in the frontal lobes of the brain, and
these naturally have a direct proportion
to the length and breadth of the fore
head. Just back of this region are the
muscular centers and the centers for cuta-
neous sensation.
Directly behind the ears and a little
above are the centers for remembering
that which is heard, and here are I'M
doubtedly located some of the muscular
faculties, for instance, the wonderful
memory of musical compositions, such
as was possessed by Blind Tom" The
memory of everything seen is stored
away in the posterior lobes of the brain;
therefore people Of great perceptive
power and who remember we'll all their
perceptions will be found to have large
development on the back of the head.
1t has been noted that in people born
blind this part of the head is smaller
than it should be. In contradistinction
to quack phrenology the perceptive
power is located here in place of Calls
| philoprogenitiveness and bump of anna
! tiveness. Gall located the perceptive
power Immediately over the eye, behind
which is cavity in the bone containing
no brain.
The average circumference of an
adult mans skull is 20t inches and of
an adult woman's 1919 inches. The aver
age length of the arc from the roof of
the nose over the top of the head to the
most prominent point on the back of tie
head is in man 12s inches and in the wo-
man 124. The average length of the arc
from one ear to the other over the high
est part of the head is in a man 123
inches and in a woman 124 The aver
age antero-posterior diameter, that is
from the middle of the forehead in a
straight line to the hindmost part of the
head, is in a man inches and in wo-
man 81. The average diameter through
the widest part of a mans head, from
SIDE to side IN straight line, is 81 inches,
ana OF a woman S head 81 inches. These
are only a few of the more important
measurements taken.
Il never made less than seventeen
measurements and three drawings of
each head. But in the most careful
studies sometimes from 30 to 100 sepa- |
rate arcs and diameters are measured. /
1t will be seen that the head of a woman
is on an average smaller than that of a
man, just as her brain weighs several
ounces less. While it may be taken as a
general rule that head of large dimen-
slons Is associated with unusual capa- /
city in some one or other direction, it is, !
OF course, not always the case. One can
IIVyj
with persons with large heads who
seemed to enjoy considerable emancjpa- |
ton from the bonds of intellect; and one
can readily conceive of much of their
brain substance being replaced by more
ordinary tissues or substances required
to prevent the formation of a vacuum.
PACKING OF THE BRAIN.
'The skull bones NAV be twice as
thick as usual, or there may be an I'M
usual amount of fluid in the cavities of /
the brain and its coverings. Again, a
person with rather small head NAV
have more thinking centers to the cubic |.
inch of brain than the other; less fat, less
water, less packing Of every kind, as in I
the case Of Gambetta, whose brain was
rather small. The word packing is an .
excellent one to use in this connection,
for it describes the condition perfectly.
just as delicate china or glass vessels are
packed away in sawdust, hay, ETC., for
shipping, SO the fragile cells containing
memories and thoughts are packed away
IN an enormous quantity of substance,
known as connective tissue, which diff /
ferS relatively little from hay and saw
dust in structure as seen under the mi /
croscope, and which serves an equally /
efficient purpose. Hence an idiot is oc-
casionally, though indeed rarely, seen
with an unusually large head; but in the
packing of his Uranium valuable struct-
ures were left out by the thoughtIess .
workmen. and only the hay and sawdust /
slowed away.
up to the age Of % the development /
of a mans skull depends on his educa-
ton. and, in fact, his entire environment
Subsequently the mind may develop a
great deal, but the skull will not. From
the age of % the skull retains the same
proportion and the same dimensions, and .
it is on this account that certain measure |
ments of the head become useful as a
means of Identification of adults. They .
may change their appearance in many
respects, but cannot voluntarily alter the /
shapes of their heads NJ. Bertillon has
incorporated, therefore, certain skull di-
ameters in his system of Identification Of |
criminals, now much employed liz .
France, but as yet little in this country"
New York Herald