106 R. J. ANDERSON [august 



tooth of the narwhal emphasizes the condition. This asymmetry is 

 not easy to explain. Is it due to the dolphin opposing one side by 

 preference to an ocean current, so that he grows gradually one-sided, 

 like a sensitive politician ? or does he get altered by attempting to 

 present a too bulky broadside to an opposing foe for the purpose of 

 increasing his self-importance, or to reassure himself ? May the change 

 have been brought about as the result of deep nervous impressions 

 received from without ? This creature lives near the surface a good 

 deal, and sees much that is one sided among the phenomena of aerial 

 nature. The contemplative disposition may allow the reflex nerve 

 actions too much range. 



The well-known cases of asymmetry in man may be mentioned — 

 the left aorta and heart, right sided liver, left stomach and spleen, 

 large right lung, the lateral spinal curve. The viscera may be 

 transposed in position. Asymmetry is found sometimes in the muscles 

 of man. The chest region may display asymmetry, the sternum or 

 ribs may be more prominent at one side. The pelvis also shows 

 occasionally some features of asymmetry. The skull, in the size and 

 thickness of the cranial bones, is subject to some variations. The 

 bones on one side are sometimes thicker than those on the other 

 side, as has been shown by the writer elsewhere ; the sinuses of one 

 side are sometimes larger than those of the other. The septum of the 

 nose is often bent to one side. Bilateral symmetry in man seems to 

 be the rule. Humphry laid much stress upon this fact, but he takes 

 occasion to refer to the specimen of a skeleton of a boy in the Bonn 

 Museum, in which the bones of the right arm and leg are longer than 

 those of the left side. The disproportion was marked by nodules in 

 the leg bones, but not in the arm bones. These nodules indicate the 

 former presence of inflammatory action in the right lower extremity. 

 The right humerus is 9 lines and the ulna 10 lines longer than those of 

 the left side. The right femur is 11 lines, and the right tibia 2 inches 

 longer than the left ones. 



The nervous system has considerable influence over distant parts 

 within certain limits. Asymmetry is thought by some to afford some 

 indications of permanent central nervous change. Abundant statistics 

 are necessary in order to come to any satisfactory conclusion. Lombroso 

 found in one class (Class A) of offenders 26 per cent of cranial 

 asymmetry ; in Class B, 46 per cent ; Class C, 32 per cent ; Class D, 50 

 per cent. Asymmetric faces were found in 7 '7 per cent of delincpients 

 and in 1*8 per cent of another class. Criminals have the advantage (?) 

 of others in possessing a larger percentage of wry noses (not due, 

 presumably, to mechanical causes). Asymmetric faces are commoner 

 in classes B and D than in other types. It is also stated that 

 anomalies are more common in man, especially savage man, than in 

 woman, and more common amongst males of other vertebrates than 

 in females (Viazzi quoted by Lombroso). It will be remembered, 



