94 HUMAN BIOLOGY 



brain in the series was that of the celebrated French zoologist 

 Cuvier, with the unusual weight of 1830 grams. The hghtest 

 brain was that of the recently deceased dean of French 

 htterateurs, Anatole France, who reached great distinction 

 notwithstanding the fact that his brain weighed only 1190 

 grams. These records show that though it is possible to 

 attain high intellectual standing with a brain subnormal 

 in weight, the individual whose brain is above the average 

 in weight has on the whole a better chance at such attain- 

 ment than his small-brained competitor. Nevertheless it is 

 perfectly clear, when all the facts of brain weight are taken 

 into account, that beside quantity of brain there are other 

 elements concerned with intelligence. Prominent among 

 these without doubt is the organization of the brain materials, 

 an element that is summarized in the expression quality 

 of brains, and for which a physical measure is difficult to 

 devise. 



In the human species the brains of the two sexes vary 

 slightly. The weight of the average European male brain, as 

 already stated, is 1360 grams, that of the female brain 1250 

 grams, a difference of no grams or about 4 ounces. This 

 difference has been made the basis of an unfavorable com- 

 parison of the sexes in man, but as may be inferred from 

 what has already been said, the ground for such a comparison 

 is extremely hazardous. The difference in the weights of the 

 brains in the two sexes is more likely correlated with the 

 difTerences in the weights of the male and female bodies than 

 with different orders of intelligence. The body of the average 

 European male weighs about 70 kilograms or a little less 

 than 155 pounds; that of the average European female 

 about ^^ kilograms or a little more than 121 pounds, a 

 difference of 15 kilograms or about 33 pounds. This differ- 

 ence, which implies a somewhat larger physical task on the 

 part of the male nervous system than on that of the female 

 is probably the real explanation of the small difference in the 

 weights of the two classes of brains rather than different 

 degrees of intelligence. From another standpoint the female, 

 seems to have the advantage over the male, for, assuming 

 the correctness of the weights of the brain and of the bodies 

 male and female given in this paragraph, the brain of man is 



