The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1913-10-17
The HUMAN BRAIN
its CrumpIed Up Shape Is One of
Natures Clever Devices.
CELLS or THE GRAY MATTER.
Their Mass and Not the Size Nor
Weight Of the Brain Marks the Men,
tality Of the lndividual-Develop
ment Of the Brain Of an Infant.

ment or the brain OF an inrSnt.
The apparent crumpling up Of the
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
newspaper and hold 1t by the edges,
blowing II up TO form balloon, you
have the surface Of the paper occupy
ing the largest possible amount OF
space. If you crumple up the paper
you can get the same amount OF sur
face by following all the creases In
one-fourth to one tenth Of the space.
This Is precisely what nature has done.
In the rabbit, for instance. the cere-
brum, 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.
If 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 Is a series OF creases and convo-
lutlons that puzzle you by their intri-
cacy. 1t Is plain that the actual sur
face OF this creased brain OF man IL
many times greater than If It were all
smooth, like the rabbits, and this Is
the way In which evolution has pro-
vided for giving the brain OF man a
surface from four TO ten times what 1t
would have been If smooth, so as to
give space for as much gray matter as
possible.
No scientist has yet explained the
reason, but the fact is admitted that
thought and gray matter are In proper
tion. The cells Of the gray matter
seem 10 store up thought and give 1t
out when called upon to 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
I'm n coat Of varying thickness all over
the sufacc OF the brain, while the
white matter and nerves lie under 1t
and ramify into II.
A man may be said to be intellectual
in proportion TO 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 hrw al anotkor. t,weh Of this
being aonsasss dan to -<hti~ation.
though the IA ws OF the ruitfpileation
Of gray matter are stfH secrets which
science has noe 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
forty-threc and a half. but this does
not mean that woman is necessarily
mans inferior intellectually. Her brain
may have more gray matter In pro-
portion or thicker layers at the parts
most I'm demand by her life. Brains
weighing more than sixty ounces have
been found In idiots, and some of the
most brilliant men and women have
had very small brains when put upon
the scale Rut I'm all cases OF great
intellectually the depth OF the con-
volutions nj certain places IN the brain
is enormous, and the five lobes into
which each hemisphere OF the brain
is divided are very distinctly marked.
affording space for much Of the gray
matter
The inf. nt has gray ma ter ail over
the surface Of its brain, and thanks to
the generations OF development that
have preceded II the divisions into
lobes and 1.-the deep cpeases are already
there But they are still In very soft
form and development follows In ac-
cordance with the intellectual develop
ment of the child Its natural endow-
ment Mt birth is only an endowment
OF possibility, and the question OF
whether that infant will be an intel
lectual giant or pigmy In brain
power Is dependent almost altogether
upon the training which II receives
and the development of the gray mat
| ter i'm It's brain.
The genius cannot be explained and
possibly never will be- but partial ex-
planation Of his tremendous power In
some one direction Is offered by the
examination OF his brain after death
Only lately n very eminent surgeon OF
Philadelphia died and when his brain
was examined Il was found that for
a large part II was like chlld's, but In
those parts especially required by his
! profession IL was developed ,far more
/ than is usual. and the layers OF gray
matter at these spots were inordinate-
| ly thick. IL is never right 20 draw any
broad conclusion from single In
stance. but science has generalized
from many instances Of this kind until
10 Is ready now to say that thought
power is proportionate 20 the gray
matter In the eenters most used or
needed.-New York World