Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-03
STUDY OF MANKIND
Important Work Undertaken
by the National Museum.
IN A NEW DIVISION
HOW THE BRAIN CAPACITY OF
SKULLS Is MEASURED.
Strange Instruments in Use - Many
Problems to Be Solved-Evolu-
ton and Heredity.
IN A NEW DIVISION


The division of physical anthropology"
| is an important new creation in the United
States National Museum. and DR.. Ales
| Hrdlicka. a distinguished American an
| thropologst of Bohemian birth Czech.
| late of the American Museum of Natural
| History. has been placed in charge as Gu
| rator.
| The Laboratory of physical anthropol-
ogy.' which constitutes the most conspic-
| uous feature of the new division. is already
! the best-eauipped and best-arranged work
| shop of its category to be found our
| continent. 1t occupies a well-lighted space
| or ore OF the galleries of the museum and
| It's equipment comprises many ingenious
| instruments to be applied to living subjects
| and human remains.
| The worlds largest single collection of
| anthropological specimens, accumulat ed
| during more than half century, has been
| transferred to this new division. 1t in
| cludes between four and five thousand
| identified skulls and skeletons of human
beings, sixty mounted skeletons and nearly
! two hundred brains. The last-named are
arranged In special jars, placed upon tiers
| OF shelves. and include some specimens Of
| rare value. Among them are the only two
| American Indian brains anywhere in pres
eryation: also those of five wild gibbons.
| and perfect brain of a male full-grown
| American bison. The brains of animals are
| preserved and are to be exhibited with
| those OF the human race for purposes of
comparison. Casts of many will be pre-
| pared. and. with good descriptive labels
| exhibited for purposes of public education
Yesterday i interviewed DIR. Hrdlicka
| rms specialist, although born in Bohemia,
| mas lived In America during more than half
! of his life. in which time he has been grad
uated in medicine, has made anthropologi-
| cal Investigations of the insane of other
4! defective classes and of children. He has
| Mexico and among our southwestern In
dams.
| In a large case occupying one entire wall
| or the laboratory are displayed the yari-
Gus instruments of precision Nearly all
| OF these have been imported from Paris
| not being obtainable here.
Measuring Brain Capacity.
The most interesting part of the para
| phernalia is device for measuring with
| the utmost exactitude the cubical contents
| OF the human skull Given the capacity of
| Skull, the anthropoiogist accepts 1t as
| fair basis for calculating the weight and
| size of the brain which originally fit into it:
ana, generally speaking, the larger the
Train IN normal cases, the greater the
probable intellectual capacity reckoning
| among men of the same race. The process
| OF measuring the skulls capacity was re-
peated for my benefit by DR.. Hrdlicka.
A standard skull nodded in bronze and
| reproducing the form of some selected hui
man Uranium was first taken from a shelf
| The cubic contents Of this metal skull are
known exactly, having been determined
with the aid of mercury, and a test Is first
made with It before any series of actual
| skulls is measured. The hands of the m 1st
skilled operator will err at times and he
must prove repeatedly their delicacy of
manipulation or learn their percentage of
error.
The standard skulr' was held over bog
niled WITH dried mustard seed. which was
poured into II through the opening in the
base. through which the spinal cord reaches
the brain During this filling operation the
metal skull was subjected to numerous
taps and shaking to properly pack the seed
Inc latter was next poured from the metal
skull into a tin double liter measure whose
base was a specially constructed funnel
closed at the bottom with valve regulated
by lever above the handle of the vessel
me double liter was then placed over a
tail glass tube. graduated In cubic cent?
meters, The lever being turned the seed
descended slowly into the tube by simple
force of gravitatton. A wooden piston was
next inserted into the tube to level the sur
race of the seed and the capacity of the
Skull was registered almost exactly prov
ing that the method was correct. although
a margin or error amounting to ten cubic
centimeters is always allowable
SO delicate Is this test indeed that the
same character OF seed must be used in all
skulls examined, lest a difference in its
packing qualities produce an error Fur
thermore the seed must descend by gravity
through an opening of definite dimension
and always from the same height. lest any
varied force of it's fall alter its height in
the glass. Hence the use of the waived
funnel rather than vessel from which
the seed would be poured with varying
volume and force.
Had the error OF this test been p,ora tb,n
ten centimeters. a REPETITION would have been
necessary. But inasmuch as perfection was
almost SHOWN, an actual skull was next
taken from the many hundreds in the col
lection. The orbits, or eye-holes were care
fully stopped with cotton, as were the va
rious apertures at the base The real skull
was then hlled just as was the other, Of
metal. through the large opening at the
base. The same tapping and shaking were
repeated and the same apparatus utilized
Measuring the Living.
The other instruments mostly used in the
laboratory are what are known as spread
Ing and sliding compasses (the former
opening like the calipers of our BertfIlou
laboratories and the latter suggesting the
scales used in the shoe trade for measur-
Ing the lengths of the feet), also a Special
tape-measure. graduated according to the
metric system. The compasses are used in
measuring skulls or living heads as we'll
as various other parts of the ANATOMY
such as ears. eyeslits, noses. lips, chest d.
ameters and proportions of hands and feet
Suspended upon one wall Of the labora-
tory is a graduated wooden meter" en-
ployed In the measurement of height 1t
hangs one meter above the level of a small
platform. When carried into the field 1t
may be suspended from a tree 1t serves
for measuring either total stature or sit
ting height. In square resting upon
the top of the subjects head is held against
its scale.
The ''osteometrIc board" is a piece of ap-
paratus used for messing the longer bones
The head of a bone is applied to the vertf-
cal end OF this scale, while sliding TRAM
gular block is held against the opposite ex-
tremity and against the graduations on the
horizontal floor Of the instrument.
diagnosis of the sex of a human Jaw
bone, as well its measurements, can be
made with another instrument, comprising
a wooden platform against which the bot
tom of the jaw rests and a hinged board
which may be raised until 1t comedies with
the angle formed by the rear part of the
jaw. The angle is read upon the arc Of
circular scale. The more perpendicular
the wooden block the greater is the indica-
ton that the jaw Is that Of a male, and
vice versa.
Correcting instruments.
Upon shelf in the laboratory is a meter
OF brass. which has been compared with