Crania of Aboriginal Americans. 121 



2 lb. 8 oz. ; the cerebellum, 3J oz. ; together, 2 lb. llj oz. In 

 the third, the brain weighed 2 lb. 5 oz. ; the cerebellum, 5 oz. ; 

 together, 2 lb. 10 oz. 



In the appendix to Dr Monro's work on the brain, Sir Wil- 

 liam Hamilton states the average weight of the adult male 

 Scotch brain and cerebellum to be 3 lb. 8 oz. troy. 



Again, a difference in mental power between men and wo- 

 men is also generally admitted to exist, and there is a corres- 

 ponding difference in the size of their brains. 



Sir William Hamilton states the average weight of the adult 

 female Scotch brain and cerebellum, to be 3 lb. 4 oz. troy ; 

 being 4 oz. less than that of the male. He found one male 

 brain in seven to weigh above 4 lbs. ; and only one female brain 

 in a hundred exceeded this weight. 



In an essay " on the brain of the negi'O, compared with that 

 of the European and the ourang outang," published in the Phi- 

 losophical Transactions for 1836, part 2, Professor Tiedemann, 

 of Heidelberg, adopts the same principle. After mentioning 

 the weights of fifty-two European brains, examined by him- 

 self, he states that " the weight of the brain in an adult male 

 European, varies between 3 lb. 2 oz. and 4 lb. 6 oz. troy. The 

 brain of men who have disting-uished themselves by their great 

 talents, is often very large. The brain of the celebrated Cuvier 

 weighed 4 lb. 11 oz. 4 dr. 30 gr. troy, and that of the distin- 

 guished surgeon Dupiiytren weighed 4 lb. 10 oz. troy. The 

 brain of men endowed with but feeble intellectual powers is, 

 on the contrary, often very small, particularly in congenital 

 idiotismus. The female brain is lighter than that of the male. 

 It varies between 2 lb. 8 oz. and 3 lb. 11 oz. I never found a 

 female brain that weighed 4 lb. The female brain weighs on 

 an average from four to eight ounces less than that of the male ; 

 and the difference is already perceptible in a new-born child."'' 



We have adduced these proofs and authorities in support of 

 the proposition that size influences power, because we con- 

 ceive it to be a principle of fundamental importance in every 

 investigation into the natural history of man, founded on the 

 physiology of the brain. One of the most singular features 

 in the history of this continent, is, that the aboriginal races, 

 with few exception.--, have perished or constantly receded, be- 



