xlvi Journal of Comparative Neurology. 



charlatanism. The influence of the ItaHan school of criminal anthro- 

 pology which was at that time permeating Europe has since made a 

 profound impression in this country, and indeed the avidity with which 

 the public has siezed upon the wildest vagaries of the most reckless 

 apostles of degeneracy offers in itself a profitable study for the neurolo- 

 gist. And so again the more conservative scientists are inclined to look 

 upon all that is associated with the new criminology with suspicion and 

 a truly impartial view becomes difficult. 



It is the more gratifying therefore to note the appearance of this 

 work of Dr. Mingazzini, a work fully in sympathy with all the positive 

 results of the school of Lombroso and yet preserving throughout that 

 judicial attitude whose assurance rests on the secure foundation of care- 

 fully complied and well digested statistics. The work is by no means 

 a popular treatise, but is well adapted to put the actual facts of the sub- 

 jects discussed before the busy reader who is supposed to possess al- 

 ready some knowledge of the matter. We are therefore introduced at 

 once to the technical description of the variant features of the human 

 brain in its different social and ethnic aspects. 



First, fifty pages are devoted to the Morphology of the Cerebral 

 Hemispheres of the Human Fetus and of the Primates. This discus- 

 sion is very thorough, summarizing not only the observations of previ- 

 ious investigators but also the elaborate studies of the author himself. 

 These latter consist largely in the details of numerous measurements of 

 the brains of primates and men and constitute a very valuable addition 

 to the literature. The resemblance anticipated on a prwrt grounds be- 

 tween the brains of man and the primates is not wanting provided we 

 compare not adult primates with embryonic men, but, following the 

 course approved by all modern research, comparing the human fetus 

 with embryonic stages of the various primates. The author is inclined 

 to agree with Vogt that " of the higher anthropoids no one can be said 

 to be nearer than another to man " and with Gratiolet that the Ameri- 

 can simians have deviated less from the common ancestor of men and 

 apes than have the anthropoids. 



The remaining chapters take up successively the following topics : 

 The Morphology of the Cerebral Hemispheres in the Sexes, in the Hu- 

 man Race, in Persons of Genius and High Intelligence, in the Case of 

 Deformed Crania, in Criminals, in the Insane and Deaf-Mute, and in 

 Microcephalia. The final chapter reviews the chief views concerning 

 microcephalia and discusses the interpretation of degenerative stigmata. 

 If, after the perusal of these chapters, the reader is somewhat disap- 

 pointed at the meagerness of the positive results, it is because the au- 



