575 



of the area striata from both hemispheres: after snipping away the 

 greater part of the medullary matter from the cortex it was possible 

 to spread out the latter in one plane and measure its area by means 

 of millimetre-paper. The result of the examination of ten brains 

 (representatives of three different nationalities) showed that, although 

 the superficial extent of the visual area may vary from 2800 square 

 millimetres to 3700 sq. mm. in different brains, the difference between 

 its extent in the two hemispheres of the same brain was less than the 



sinus long. sup. 

 I 

 1 



s. intraparietalis 



s. occ. 

 lat. — 

 s. calcar._^. 



ext. 

 s.lunatus- 



sinus lat. 

 sinist. 



s. occ. 

 ant. 



.s. occ. 

 ' lat. 



.s. luna- 



tus 



sinus 

 " lat. 

 dext. 



Fig. 1. Diagram of the caudal aspect of an Egyptian brain with parts of the 

 dura mater containing the venous sinuses left in position. The position of the superior 

 borders of the squama occipitalis is indicated. The area striata is indicated by means 

 of dots. 



error incidental to this mode of measurement. In most brains the 

 area striata has a superficial extent of about 3000 square millimetres 

 in each hemisphere. 



Therefore the asymmetry cannot be due to the visual cortex it- 

 self. Some other region — probably the great parietal association 

 centre of Flechsig, which seems to be much bigger on the right side 

 — must be examined to explain the occipital asymmetry. 



