i 9 o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



centimetre (four tenths of an inch) more at birth than those of girls 

 (Liharzic). The difference increases by reason of the girl's head 

 ceasing to grow much earlier than the man's. The difference in favor 

 of the male in the weight of the brain about triples itself in the course 

 of the first twenty years, and amounts, according to Broca, to seven per 

 cent, between twenty-one and thirty years, to eleven per cent, between 

 thirty-one and forty, then falls to ten per cent, between forty-one and 

 fifty, and to eight per cent, between fifty-one and sixty years. After 

 sixty years the weight diminishes, and the man's brain loses eighty- 

 four grammes (three ounces), and the woman's fifty-nine grammes 

 (about two and a half ounces) from the mean weight it attained at 

 maturity. These anatomical differences bring on intellectual and moral 

 differences that explain why in higher societies the two sexes, after 

 sharing each other's sports in infancy, become separated during the 

 age of maturity, and become again more alike in old age. The same 

 facts are established in regard to the general aspect. Till the time of 

 puberty, says M. Topinard, the skeletons hardly differ appreciably, 

 the features are rather feminine. The man begins to be traceable 

 only at puberty. At about forty-five years the distinctions begin to 

 attenuate, and the sexes end by resembling each other in advanced 

 age, when, however, the characteristics are rather masculine. 



The same is the case in respect to the nutritive phenomena, to the 

 amount of carbonic acid produced, to the volume of the lungs, to the 

 quantity of salt in the blood, and to the pulse. 



We gather from this review that the female sex surpasses the male 

 in certain points during the first twelve years ; then the male gains 

 upon the female and acquires a pre-eminence that increases till the 

 age of maturity, after which it falls off during old age. This pre- 

 eminence is parallel with the progress of evolution, for its maximum 

 corresponds with the apogee of evolution, which, we know, occurs at 

 between forty and fifty years. 



The pre-eminence of man over woman is more considerable in the 

 case of large than of small persons. M. Verneau says that the differ- 

 ences in the size of the pelvis of the two sexes vary according to the 

 general stature. The pre-eminence is greater among the inhabitants 

 of the cities than with countrymen, among Parisians than among pro- 

 vincials. Broca assigns a difference of one hundred and fifty cubic 

 centimetres in cranial capacity between French men and women in gen- 

 eral, and of two hundred and twenty-one cubic centimetres between 

 Parisians. M. Primer Bey having remarked that among non-civilized 

 races the women have masculine forms approaching that of a man, 

 adds that the same phenomenon exists, although in a smaller degree, 

 among the "inferior classes" of civilized races. It is easy to observe 

 in our cities how much more the men differ from the women among 

 the richer than among the poorer classes. And it is often the case in 

 the latter classes that the woman is more intelligent than the man who 



