Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-10-29
THE BRAIN OF WOMAN
WHEREIN IT DIFFERS MATERIALLY
FROM THAT OF MAN.


Alphabetically aud Beauty.
A Westminster Gazette writer inter.
viewed sir Jaines CIiehton Browne at his
home in London.
Would you, asked the visitor, "as an
expert in. questions connected with the
brain. favor me with your views regarding
Professor Buchner's argument upon The
Brain of Womenp"
~ regard it Us very fallacious in biolog.
zeal argument. The tone Of It is objection
able, too, because It drags into the question
the matter Of inferiority and superiority as
between men and women. which, / main
tain, "a beside the mark, for although Pro
lessor Buchner is writing merely popular
article be is dealing with the arguments
and with the attitude OF scientific men In
connection with this question, and he must
know that scientists do not approach the
subject npon this ground ut ALL
II do not say woman's brains is OF less
weight than mans brains, therefore she IL
his inferior. Certainly not. But do say
this, that there is difference between the
male and female brain, just as there is
difference In their body formation. Briefly,
there is a mental difference, Just rs there is
Apply sioloacal difference between the sexes.
Woman does not possess the same bodily
proportions rs man nor the same strength
Of muscle. What she lacks in these dlrec-
tions Is fully compensated for by her great
err beauty Of form and grace Of movement.
In like manner, although she does not dis
play 90 strong reasoning and critical fac
ulty a. man, she excels hlTl in quick per-
ception and intuition"
Would you tell me what are the struc-
IL N.tttt,Ale tpaay, -, L.. t..I
female briinW
FIRST, there Is that OF unss aud weight
Noting the average difference ia brain
welght4-yiz, Eve ounces-nnd the average
difference lnststure-viE, Eve inches-I still
find there is still an excess Of brain weight
of one ounce in favor OF the male. have
arrived AZ this conclusion by personal oh.
servatiou having weighed the brains Of
some 800 men and women. All available
evidence points to the conclusion that the
male brain exceeds the female brain in
weight in this country to an even greater
degree than has hitherto been believed, aud
] contend that thesmallcr sizo OF the female
brain is n sexual distinction and Is not to
be accounted for on the ground Of environ
ment, education or habits Of life
But does quantity necessarily mean
quality"
mo, IL does not, but quantity Is the pri-
mary consideration. A large massive
brain indicates great mental power. Com
pare the heads Of the idiots at the East.
wood asylum with tue heads, say Of the
Fellows OF the Royal society, and you will
find my theory demonstrated. lie Bon has
made an examination OF the heads OF three
classes-thc peasants, shopkeepers and men
Of science-with the result that the size Of
the heads corresponds to the known intel
lectual capacity OF the three different
classes"
Admitting your conclusion that the
male brain Is at least one ounce heavier
than that OF the female, it does not strike
me 90 being a very great difference"
"One ounce OF 30 precious an organic
product as brain tissue, said Sir Crichton
Browne, may mean great deal. That one
ounce evenly distributed over the surface OF
the brain would certainly involve a very
marked difference in mental capacity, but
when you have an extra ounce localized IL
may be still more important.
This brings etc the second sexual dis.
tinction In brains. We have already CON
sidered WEIGHT; now we come to balauce Of
payts Professor Buchner says that the
frontRtlobes are larger in the male; Broca
AANfitAANa hhtAN hAN hAAlllAhA AbDtH AIe more
vOluminous in the female, aud my own OBJ
keryatlons as far as they 20, confirm Bro
cas- conclusion aud show that while the
frontal lobes are equally developed in both
sexes the parietal lobes, the center of the
brain, are larger in the male than in the
iemnle, aud the occipltal obes are larger
in the female than In the male, aud these
latter being sensory in their functions i'm
part TO her a quicker perception. So we
lind that not only is the female brain less
in weight, but 1t is different in shape.
''lhe third brain difference between the
sexes is one Of convolutional arrangement.
The gray matter OF the brain is conyoluted,
and the extent of the surface depends upon
these convolutions, We zee II through the
animal kingdom. The rabbit and the mar
moset monkey have smooth brains. Many
conyolutions mean much gray matter, and
the female brain, being more symmetrical,
like her body and not so much conyoluted
as that Of the male, has consequently less
gray matter Some observations OF my
own indicate that the specific gravity OF
the gray matter is lower in the female than
in the male Orain.h
DO you not think that the advanced ed
ucaiion OF women will In measure coun-
teract this diiicrence"
There is an exaggerated notion abroad
of what education can accomplish in dc
yeloping the brain. Education does not
impart faculties are born in the
child 1t Is simply the guidance of
growth
But faculties may lie dormant for the
want Of education, as they often do in wo-
men, may they not!"
They may, but fear that what woman
gains intellectually by the higher educa-
ton now in vogue she win lose in beauty
and grace and often in health too. 1t looks
10 me like straining her faculties against
nature. WomRn's personal charms are her
greatest power-we must not have these
destroyed-and she greatly excels man in
perception, intuition and the moral faculty,
Among the Caro- national people dwelling
on a range OF hills between tha Brahmu.
pootra aud the Soorma yalleys-the women
are supreme, They WOO the men, they con.
troll the affairs Of the home and the nation,
property descends through them, and in
everything they are dominant, but-note
the sequel--they arc the very ugliest wom-
en- on the face of the earth"