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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



prominent, that the processes on the bones 

 for the attachments of muscles were not so 

 well marked, that its muscular structure 

 was more delicate, that the skin was softer, 

 and finer, and freer from wrinkles, that the 

 nail was longer in proportion to its width 

 than that of man. Such would be the de- 

 scription of an average female thumb, as I 

 see thumbs belonging to the ladies of my 

 acquaintance. 



Now, following Miss Gardener in the 

 offer which she makes, and according to 

 which by my ability to select rightly in 

 every instance I am to gain or lose my 

 case, I make this proposition to her : 



I will agree to furnish twenty well-pre- 

 served thumbs, marked in cipher, if subjects 

 can be obtained for the experiment, Miss 

 Gardener or her "twenty leading brain- 

 anatomists," etc., to divide the male from 

 the female thumbs, by applying any knowl- 

 edge they may possess on the subject. 



Doubtless Miss Gardener and the " twen- 

 ty leading brain-anatomists," etc., know a 

 male from a female thumb when they see 

 them, but I am quite sure that by judicious 

 selection, I should be able to confound their 

 judgment. I should take some of the male 

 thumbs from small, delicate men who had 

 never done any hard work, and who had 

 taken good care of their hands by wearing 

 gloves and availing themselves of the serv- 

 ices of a manicure, while I should select 

 some female thumbs from women whose 

 hands are hardened and enlarged by expos- 

 ure and toil, and to whom nail-brushes and 

 soap-and-water are rarities. I am quite 

 safe in saying that Miss Gardener and the 

 "twenty leading brain-anatomists," etc., 

 would find it impossible to select the ten 

 male from the ten female thumbs, and I am 

 equally certain that there is not an anato- 

 mist of the brain kind, or any other variety, 

 who could accomplish the feat. 



That there are female brains that are 

 larger than male brains, of altogether supe- 

 rior development, and the possessors of 

 which have greater intellectual power than 

 is exhibited by some men, neither I nor any 

 any one else, so far as I know, has ever 

 denied. Miss Gardener can not be in igno- 

 rance of my views on this subject, for she 

 quotes my words " average male and aver- 

 age female brain," and it is to the " aver- 

 age " female brain only that my description 

 applies. A fair proposition would be the 

 following, and, if Miss Gardener, from the 

 resources at her command " the collec- 

 tions " of the " twenty leading brain-anato- 

 mists," etc. will supply the brains, I will 

 agree to stand or fall by the result. Weigh 

 one hundred male brains and then one hun- 

 dred female brains : if the average weight of 

 the male brains is not several ounces great- 

 er than that of the female brains, I lose my 

 case. The only condition I make is that I 



shall be present when the brains are se- 

 lected and weighed. 



It is scarcely necessary, however, to re- 

 peat an experiment that has been performed 

 by many anatomists in all parts of the civ- 

 ilized world. Thus, Welcker's observations 

 show that the average male brain in Euro- 

 peans is a little over forty-nine ounces, and 

 the average female brain a little over forty- 

 four ounces, a difference of about five 

 ounces. The proportion existing between 

 the two is therefore as 100:90. Huschke 

 found the brains of adult man and woman 

 to weigh respectively 1,410 grammes and 

 1,272 grammes. His observations, there- 

 fore, coincide very exactly with those of 

 Welcker. 



Calori not only found that the brain of 

 man is heavier than that of woman, but he 

 discovered the fact that the difference 

 exists no matter what may be the form of 

 the skull. Thus in men w ith brachycepha- 

 lic skulls, the average weight of the brain 

 was 1,805 grammes, while in brachycephalic 

 women it was only 1,150 grammes. In the 

 dolicocephali the average weight of the male 

 brain was 1,282 grammes, whereas that of 

 the female brain was 1,136 grammes. 



Broca, in his paper " Sur le volume et la 

 forme du cerveau," arranges from Wagner's 

 elaborate table one which shows that this 

 difference exists for all ages from twenty- 

 one years to sixty and over. The results 

 are given in grammes in the following table : 



In fact, all authorities, without excep- 

 tion, save Miss Gardener and the "twenty 

 leading brain-anatomists," etc., agree that 

 the average European male brain is about 

 five ounces heavier than the average female 

 brain. 



Another test that I am willing to abide 

 by is the following, relating to the other 

 characteristics that Miss Gardener quotes 

 as having been laid down by me : 



Let her, from the stores at her command, 

 allow me to select from at least one hun- 

 dred specimens an average female brain, 

 and from a like number an average male 

 brain. I will agree to point out to a com- 

 petent brain-anatomist not one of the 

 " twenty," however all the differences for 

 which I have ever contended. By that test 

 also I am willing to stand or fall. 



I have never said, as Miss Gardener 

 charges, that the sex of an infant could be 

 determined by its brain, though Riidinger 

 declares that a typical point of difference be- 



