Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-11-21
THE HUMAN BRAIN
its cfumpIed Up Shape Is One OF
Natures Clever Devices.


brain Is one OF the most remarkable OF
natures devices for securing the great
est possible amount OF surface IN the
! given space. II you take a page OF 8
newspaper and hold it by the edges
I blowing IL up to form q balloon. you
have the surface OF the paper occupy.
ing the largest possible amount OF
/ space II you crumpIe up the paper
you can get the same amount OF sur.
face by following all the creases in
one-fouTth TO one-tenth OF the space.
This Is precisely what nature has done.
In the rabbit. for instance. the cere-
Drum. or great brain. with which most
OF the thinking is done. is without a
crease. perfectly round and smooth.
and the rabbit is about the stupidest
Of animals
II you study the brains OF animals a
little higher in intelligence than the
rabbit you will find that creases come
into the brain until in man the entire
brain IL a series OF creases and convo-
buttons that puzzle you by their intri-
cacy. II is plain that the actual sur
face OF this creased brain OF man Is
many times greater thaHif IL were all
smooth. Ike the rabbits. and this II
the way in which evolution has pro-
vided for giving the brain OF man a
surface from four 70 ten times what IL
would have been II smooth. so as to
Gire space for as much gray matter a
possible.
No scientist has yet explained the
reason, but the fact is admitted that
thought and gray matter are in proper
don. The cells OF the gray matter
seem TO store up thought and give II
out when called upon 10 do so. This
has been proved by electrically stimu-
lating the gray matter when exposed
by an accident or operation and noting
the result in the thoughts expressed by
the patient This gray matter is spread
IN a coat OF varying thickness all over
the suface OF the brain. while the
white matter and nerves lie under II
and ramify into IL
A man may be said TO be intellectual
in proportion 10 the amount OF gray
matter which he has in his brain. This
varies in individuals. one having more
gray mater at one spot. another a
thicker layer at another. much OF this
being doubtless due 10 cultivation. !
though the laws OF the multiplication |
OF gray matter are still secrets which /
science has not pierced.
Nor can Intellectually be measured |
by the weight OF the brain. The aver |
age male brain weighs forty-eight /
ounces. and the average female brain 4
and half. but this does
not mean that woman is necessarily /
mans inferior intellectually. Her brnin
may have more gray matter IN pro-
portion or thicker layers at the parts
most in demand by her life. Brains
weighing more than sixty ounces have
been found I'm idiots. and some OF the
most brilliant men and women have
had very small brains when put upon
the scale. But in all cases OF great
the depth OF the con-
rolutions at certain places In the brain
Is enormous. and the five lobes into
which each hemisphere OF the brain
3 divided are very distinctly marked.
itforIinG space for much OF the gray
liter
The infant has gray matter all over
he surface OF its brain. and thanks 10
be generations OF development that
have preceded Il the divisions into
Obes and the deep creases are already
here But they are still I'm Il very soft
Orm and development follows in ac- /
or1ance with the intellectual develop
neut or the child Its natural endow-
neut at birth Is only an endowment
y possibility. and the question Of
whether that infant will be an intel
ectUal giant or piEmy in brain
'Dwer IS dependent almost altogether
7on the training which II receives
nd the development OF the gray mat
pr IN IT'S brain.
Tho genius cannot be explained and
oSsibly never wifi be. but partial ex-
lau8tion OF his tremendous power in
ONE one direction is offered by the
Of his brain after death
'nly lately \ very eminent surgeon OF
died and when his brain
as examined IL was found that for
large part IL was like child's. but in
lose parts especially required by his
rofeSsion il was developed far more
ian IS usual. and the layers OF gray
after a. these spots were inor1inste-
thick II is never right 20 draw any Z
road conclusion from single in &
lance. but science has GeneraliZed c
ON many instances OF this kind until v
Is ready now IN say that thought a
aver is proportionate IN the gray 6
after IN the centers most used or n
,eded. New York World. e