SIZE AND WEIGHT. 



579 



nution in weight, amounting to about 1 oz.. duiing each subsequent decennial 

 period ; thus confinning the opinion that the brain diminishes in advanced life. 

 According to Peacock, the maximum weight of the brain is attained between 

 the ages of twenty and thii-ty years. The table of Boyd inserted below would 

 appear to show a somewhat earlier period as that at which the maximum is 

 reached in both sexes, and that the period of decline scarcely begins before sixty 

 years. AVith this result the observations of Huschke. made upon the brains of 

 359 men and 245 women, in general agree. (" Schadel, Hirn, und Seele des 

 Menschen und der Tliiere, &c.," 1854.) 



B. Tahlc of the Wc'irjJd of the Brain of Males and Females at different Aije:<. 



Pekiods of Lirr;. 



1 Children prematurely still- 



born 



2 Children still-born at full 



period 



3 New-born infants j . . 



4 Under 3 months 



5 From 3 to 6 months 



6 From 6 to 12 mouths 



7 From 1 to 2 years 



S From 2 to 4 years 



9 From 4 to 7 years 



10 From 7 to 14 years 



11 From 1 1 to 20 years 



12 From 20 to :!0 years 



13 From 30 to 40 years 



14 From 40 to 50 years 



15 From 50 to 60 years 



1(5 From 00 to 70 years 



17 From 70 to 80 years 



18 Upwards of 80 years 



i ia I Persons above 14 j'eare 



2.S ^ 



> \ Perseus from 14 to 70 years 



'9 

 59 

 no 



137 

 iig 

 127 



104 



24 



699 



Femalhs. 



1.31 ' 5.6 



15.37 



32.75 



30.75 



36.13 



41.25 



50.5 



49.5 



57.25 



58.5 



(io!75 

 CO. 

 59. 

 59.5 



55.25 

 53.75 



9.37 



6. 



10.5 

 10.75 

 17.75 

 23.25 

 30.5 

 24.5 

 39.25 



36.5 



39.2.5 



33.75 



33.75 



30.5 



36.25 



13.87 \\ 

 11.65 i' 

 17.42 ; 

 21.29 

 27.42 , 

 33.25 ! 

 .38.71 I 

 40.23 

 45.96 i 



48. .54 ;; 

 47.9 i 



48.2 i 

 47.75 j: 

 47.44 i| 

 46.4 : 



.37.75 : 45.5 

 41. I 45.34 



29.25 

 33.25 



49.5 

 48. 



iiS. 36.1 ! 47.1 42.5 33.1 52.1 



! 



J9.12 3.5. ,47.7 43.15 133 8 ; 53.15 



1 48 

 77 



760 

 535 



All other circumstances being alike, the size of the brain appears to bear a 

 general relation to the mental power of the individual, — although many instances 

 occur in which this rule is not applicable. The brain of Cuvier weighed iipwards 

 of C4 oz.. and there are other recorded examples of brains Ijelonging to men of 

 great talent which nearly equalled it in weight. (Emile Rousseau, '• Maladie et 

 autopsie de M. G. Cuvier," Lancette Frangaise, Mai 26, 1832.) On the other hand, 

 the brain in idiots is remarkably small. In three idiots, whose ages were sixteen, 

 forty, and fifty years, Tiedemann found the weight of their respective brains to 

 be 19| oz., 25| oz., and 22^ oz. ; and Dr. Sims records the case of a female idiot 

 twelve years old, whose brain weighed 27 oz. Allen Thomson has found the 

 brain of a dwarfish idiot girl seventeen years of age to weigh 18j oz. after pre- 

 servation in alcohol. 



The human brain is found to be absolutely heavier than that of all the lower 

 animals except the elephant and whale. The brain of the elephant, according 

 to Pen-ault, Moulins, and Sir A. Cooper, v,^eighs between 8 and 10 lbs. ; whilst 

 that of the whale was found by Rudolphi, in a specimen 75 feet long, to weigh 

 upwards of 5 lbs. 



The relative n-clfiht of the eneephalon to the hodi/ is liable to gi'eat variation ; 

 ftevertheless, the facts to be gathered from the tables of Clendinning, Tiedemann, 



p r 2 



