Corridntioii of Brti'iii ('(i.paclfi/ mid I iilt'Ui<jence. 255 



Upon these casts we had (iri^inally iiitcii(le<l to ixrord the length, 

 breadth, lieifjlit, and ttie seveial slamhird (iicuiuferential measure- 

 ments. These hist, however, wi- sui)se<iueiit ly <lisi:arded, as it "vvas 

 <inii'kly Ijorne in u)>(iii iis that the |M)ssil)ility of erior was sufh- 

 ciently great as to ren<Icr- them, in our ojiinion. juaetically value- 

 less. We therefore eonei-nt rated our attention cntii-ely upon the 

 three diametral measurements necessary for the subsequent cal- 

 culation of the cubic capacity of brain, and even with these, there 

 are thi'ee very disturbing factors to be taken into consideration. 

 These are : — 1. The fact that the cast, unlike the living subject, does 

 not "give" before the callipers. Tt is, therefore, <|uite impossil)le 

 to obtain that maximum pressure which is so necessary in record- 

 ing measurements ujton the living. To oliviate this source of 

 error as far as possil)le. we invai-ia))ly recorded the least possible 

 figure whicli we could obtain for thi' maximum length, breadth or 

 height. That we weic fairly successful in this. is. we think, shown 

 by our measurements of the casts of the liead of the notorious 

 criminal Albert Williams, alias " Deeming." Of this man's head the 

 Melbourne Gaol possesses three casts, all taken under the conditions 

 already pointed out. We measured each of these three casts, and 

 obtained readings which only differed by 1 millimetre for breadth 

 and height, and by 3 millimetres for the length. The three seveial 

 readings so obtained are shown in Table 1. The possible amount 

 of error under this cause cannot amount, for the estimated cubic 

 capacity of brain, to more than 1.1 per cent, of the maximum 

 reading obtained, and is. therefore, inappreciable. 



2. The second source of error consists in the fact that notwith- 

 standing that the customary procedure in obtaining the cast is to 

 shave the hair of the head, this has not been consistently done 

 throughout. Thus in the casts of the heads of Edward Feeney, 

 William Colston and George Syme. the cast was undoubtedly taken 

 without the head having been shaved. The head measurements 

 and the estimated cubic capacity of brain are. therefore, for these 

 three, undoubtedly slightly too high. We are also of opinion that 

 this same source of error is present in some other instances, though 

 from the evidence of the cast we cannot exactly specify which. In 

 the cases specifically mentioned, the hair is so distinctly visible 

 as to afford no doubt whatsoever upon the subject. In the case 

 of the females the head is not shaved, but prior to death the hair 

 is neatly coiled upon the vertex, and the cast taken in the same 

 way. In the cases of all the females, but particularly so with the 

 woman Frances Knorr. there is no question that the presence of 

 the hair has resulted in too high readings for the three diametral 

 measurements. 



