A STUDY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO BRAIN 
C. W. M. POYNTER AND J. J. KEEGAN 
From the Anatomical Department, University of Nebraska 
SEVEN FIGURES 
INTRODUCTION 
The work on which this report is based was offered by Mr. 
Keegan as a graduate thesis, and the detailed description of 
each brain together with full illustrations is on file in the library 
of the University of Nebraska. 
The material employed consists of thirteen brains, divided into 
nine adult male brains, three adult female brains and one full 
time fetal brain (female). The subjects were obtained from the 
dissecting material in the laboratory. Only those presenting 
marked negroid features were chosen because we wished as 
far as possible to eliminate the influence of white blood. The 
brains were all hardened in situ by formaline injection in the 
carotids, which in the majority of instances furnished satisfactory 
specimens. : | 
The number of specimens is small, hence no attempt will be 
made to establish a type of convolution pattern for the Negro; 
when variation percentages are given it is simply to facilitate 
comparison with other observations. The report will be con- 
fined entirely to the macroscopic study of the brain surface; 
questions involving nomenclature and methods of interpreting 
obscure fissure patterns will not be discussed, for these points 
have been fully considered by one of us in a previous paper 
(Poynter 712). The work just referred to contains a full litera- 
ture list, so it will not be necessary to include in the bibliography 
any titles except those directly referred to in the body of the 
work. 
The term Negro is commonly applied to all dark-skinned 
peoples when this feature is accompanied with other characters. 
183 
THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, VOL. 25, NO. 3 
JUNE, 1915 
