24 Franklin P. Mall. 



In each group the percentage had reached a constant value, that is 

 with an increase of the number of cases the percentage in a given 

 locality did not change. The same condition may exist in brain 

 configuration, and MerkeP* states that the brains from cadavers used 

 for dissection in Gottingen, and which come from Brunswick, of 

 v/hich Gauss was a native, were often very rich in gyri and sulci. 

 On the other hand, in Mecklenburg, where Merkel also had had a 

 large experience, brains of the Gauss type were never seen in the 

 dissecting room, but instead a very simple type prevailed. 



It certainly would be important if it could be shown that the com- 

 plexity of the gyri and sulci of the brain varied with the intelligence 

 of the individual, that of genius being the most complex, but the 

 facts do not bear this out, and such statements are only misleading. 

 I may be permitted to add that brains rich in gyri and sulci, of the 

 Gauss type, are by no means rare in the American negro. ^^ 



"While there seems to be no evidence to show that the configuration 

 of the brain of genius is different from that of other brains, there 

 is some evidence in favor of the statement that there are slight differ- 

 ences due to sex. It is often said that the brains of women are of 

 a simple type, but if their weight is not considered it is questionable 

 whether a collection of brains could be assorted according to sex with 

 any degree of certainty. Furthermore, even the more pronounced 

 differences of eurygyrencephaly and stenogyrencephaly are not easily 

 recognizable because they are not easily measured. Of course, when 

 gyri of the simple type are twice as broad as those of the complex 

 type, as pictured on Plate 54 in Eetzius' Menschenliirn, it is not 

 difficult, but there are many intermediate stages and the observer 

 can only express an opinion, for there is nothing that can be weighed 

 or measured. Waldeyer states that to determine whether a brain 



»^Merkel. Top. Anat, I, Braunschweig, 1885-1890. 



==Spitzka, Amer. Phil. Soc, Vol. 21, has arranged a number of figures 

 in plates showing the evolution of the complexity of the gyri. For example, 

 in his Fig. 8 the gorilla with a simple brain is below, the brain of a Bush- 

 woman is in the middle and that of Gauss, the most complex, is above. In 

 another plate. Fig. 10, the brain of Gambetta holds the lower position, 

 Altmann the middle and SkobeleflC the upper. Comparing Figs. 8 and 10 

 it appears that Gambetta's brain resembles the gorilla's more than it does 

 that of Gauss. 



