ARCHITECTURE AT MATURITY. 177 



the lateral compression. These differences in the 

 capacities of the two sorts of skulls are slight, and have 

 thus far failed of any general interpretation. Aside, 

 however, from the differences in the shape of the skull, 

 due to intrinsic causes, there exists a large group of 

 artificially deformed skulls. 



By the application of pressure to the head of the 

 growing child many races seek to alter the shape of the 

 skull. The results are often striking, as can be seen by 

 consulting the accompanying Figs. 28 and 29, which 

 show some of the extreme modifications that have been 

 observed as a consequence of pressure applied in various 

 ways. 



These peculiar skulls are of interest because the 

 brain conforms itself to the shape of the skull, and 

 therefore in such cases the brains deviate from the usual 

 form as much as the skulls which enclose them. 



A paper recently published by Ambialet I on the 

 deformation of the heads of people living about 

 Toulouse gives perhaps the most consecutive account of 

 such deformation, and the effect of it on the brain. In 

 Fig. 28, 2, is shown a skull deformed in the way which 

 Ambialet describes. On the ground that the head of 

 the child should be protected from cold, it was formerly 

 a custom in this part of France to wind it with a com- 

 pressing bandage in such a way as to produce the 

 unusual lengthening which the figure shows. The shape 

 of the brain is accordingly altered, but there is no indi- 

 cation that the number or relative development of the 

 gyri is thus rendered peculiar. Provided the child is 

 able to adjust itself to the first stages of development, 

 its intelligence is not noticeably diminished. At the same 

 time the brain is thus forced to grow into an abnormal 



1 Ambialet, La Deformation Artificielle de la Tete dans la 

 Region Toulousaine, Toulouse, 1893. 



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