1892.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 203 



OBSERVATIONS UPON THE BRAIN OF THE GORILLA. 

 BY HENRY C. CHAPMAN, M. D. 



The brain of the Gorilla has been described by Gratiolet', Owen^ 

 Pansch^ Thane*, Bischoff^ and Broca''. It should be mentioned, 

 howevei', that the brains described by Gratiolet and Owen were in 

 such a decomposed condition as to admit of but little more than a 

 very general description, while the brain described by Pansch was 

 the same that was afterwards described by Thane and BischofF. 

 Thane, moreoyer, does not appear to have ever seen the brain of the 

 Gorilla he described, his remarks being based upon copies of the figures 

 illustrating Pansch's paper. BischofF, however, had the opportunity 

 of studying the brain itself, the specimen previously described by 

 Pansch having been submitted to him for examination, at his request, 

 by Dr. Bolau. Finally, the brain described by Broca differed so 

 much from that described by Bischoff that the latter wrote to Broca 

 to say that he believed the brain described by the latter was not 

 that of a Gorilla at all, but that of a Chimpanzee. It was un- 

 doubtedly, however, a Gorilla's brain. Since then Pansch has had 

 the opportunity of dissecting three other Gorilla's brains the exam- 

 ination of which confirms his previous conclusions, based upon the 

 brain of the Gorilla studied by BischoflT and himself. 



It Avill be seen from the above resume of the literature of the 

 subject, that the opportunities' of studying the brain of the Gorilla 

 have been very few. In fact up to the present time, of the few 

 Gorilla brains that have been obtained, supposing that described by 

 Broca to have been a Gorilla, only five were in such a condition 

 when received as to permit of description. It is to be hoped, there- 

 fore, that the foUowdug brief description of the brain of the Gorilla 

 obtained in the neighborhood of the Gaboon river by the Rev. R. 

 H. Nassau and presented by him to the Academy, through the cour- 

 tesy of Dr. T. G. Morton, together with two others to be mentioned 

 hereafter, will not be considered as superfluous, especially as it 

 differs in several respects from the brains previously described. 



1 Comptes Rendus, I860. 



2 Fullerian lecture, reported in Athenffium, March 23rd, 1861. 



^ Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Naturwissenschaften, Hamburg, 1876, 

 Jahresbericht iiber die Fortscliriue der Anat. und Phys., 1879. 

 * Nature, Dec. 14th, 1876. 



^ Sitzungsberichte Acad, der Wissenschaften zu Miinchen, Band vii, 1877. 

 ^ Revue Anthropologique, 1878. 



