358 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



logical, therefore, to conclude that no parallel exists between power of 

 mind and weight of brain. 



M. Nikiforoff, a Russian scientist, in an article in the " Novosti," 

 on the weight of brains, expresses his conviction that the weight of 

 the encephalon has no influence whatever on the mental faculties. 

 But, indeed, any reflecting person who has studied the brain-weights 

 of eminent men as compared with ordinary intelligences must arrive 

 at the same conclusion that a great mind may belong to a person 

 who carries a very small, a medium-sized, or a very large brain, the 

 size and weight neither adding to the mental power nor detracting 

 from it, provided only that the encephalon is sufficient to give due 

 support to the bodily life. And this leads us to note the relation 

 of the size of the brain to the size of the body of which it forms 

 a part. 



The following table is taken from the second volume of the 

 " Science and Practice of Medicine " (London, 18G8). Its object is to 

 show the weight of the brain relatively to the weight and height of 

 the body at various ages and in both sexes : 



AGE. 



1-2.. 



2-4.. 



4-7.. 

 7-14.. 

 14-20. . 

 20-30.. 

 30-40.. 

 40-50.. 

 50-60.. 

 60-70.. 

 70-80.. 

 80-90.. 



I 



Bex. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



Male. 



Female. 



The above table, made by Dr. Boyd from sixteen hundred and seven 

 post-mortem examinations of sane persons, shows that the human brain 

 reaches its maximum of weight in proportion to the rest of the body 

 between the ages of fourteen and twenty in both 6exes ; and then it 

 continues to decrease through life. While intelligence is rapidly in- 

 creasing from twenty to sixty years of age, the brain is diminishing. 

 The time that a man knows most is from seventy to eighty ; but then 



