358 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



SIZE OF THE BRAIN IN VARIOUS RACES AND FAMILIES OF MAN. 



IN Silliman's Journal for April, we find a valuable series of obser- 

 vations on the size of the brain in different families of man, being the 

 results of internal measurements of 623 human crania, by Dr. S. G. 

 Morton, of Philadelphia. The measurements were taken by means 

 of leaden shot, one eighth of an inch in diameter, which give, with 

 great exactness, the absolute capacity of the cranium, or bulk of the 

 brain, in cubic inches. Among the facts elicited by this investigation 

 are the following: 1. The Teutonic or German race, embracing, 

 as it does, the Anglo-Saxons. Anglo-Americans, Anglo-Irish, &c., 

 possess the largest brain of any people. 2. The nations having the 

 smallest heads are the ancient Peruvians and Australians. 3. The bar- 

 barous tribes of America possess a much larger brain than the semi- 

 civilized Peruvians or Mexicans. 4. The ancient Egyptians have the 

 least-sized brain of any Caucasian nation, excepting the Hindoos. 

 5. The negro brain is nine cubic inches less than the Teutonic, and 

 three cubic inches larger than the ancient Egyptian. 6. The largest 

 brain in the series is that of a Dutch gentleman, and gives 114 cubic 

 inches; the smallest head is an old Peruvian, of 58 cubic inches ; the 

 difference between these two extremes is no less than 56 cubic inches. 

 7. The brain of the Australian and Hottentot falls far below the negro, 

 and measures precisely the same as the ancient Peruvian. This ex- 

 tended series of measurements fully confirms the fact previously set 

 forth by Mr. Morton, in his works, that the various artificial modes of 

 distorting the cranium occasion no diminution of its internal capacity, 

 and consequently do not affect the size of the brain. 



SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION OF A HUMAN BEING. 



THE Paris Gazette des Tribunaux of Feb. 25 states that a house- 

 painter, while drinking with some companions in an inn near the Bar- 

 riere de 1'Etoile, made a wager that he would eat a lighted candle. 

 Scarcely had he placed it in his mouth, when he uttered a slight cry, 

 and a bluish flame was seen upon his lips. In spite of all attempts to 

 aid him, the internal fire continued, and in half an hour the head and 

 upper portion of the chest were entirely carbonized. The fire did not 

 cease till bones, skin, and muscles were all consumed, and nothing 

 remained but a small heap of ashes to mark the spot where a human 

 being had stood a short time before. 



DEATH FROM WANT OF SLEEP. 



A MR. LYNTON has lately made a communication to the Asiatic So- 

 ciety of London, descriptive of a mode of punishment peculiar to the 

 criminal code of China. A Chinese merchant, named Hiam-ly, accused 

 and convicted of having killed his wife, was sentenced to die by the 

 total deprivation of sleep. The execution took place at Amoy, in the 

 month of Jane last. The condemned was placed in prison under the 

 surveillance of three guardians, who relieved each other every alternate 



