146 ALES hrdliSka 



The lateral and height measurements may, if desired be obtained 

 similarly; and the length, breadth and height diameters may be supple- 

 mented by such surface arcs as may be deemed of importance. 



The measurements may be taken on a fresh brain, but as there is 

 always more or less sagging, it is preferable to take them on hardened 

 specimens, in which the relative proportions of the parts will, if the 

 specimen has not been deformed, remain the same as they were in 

 the fresh brain. ' The best specimens however for measurement are 

 brains hardened in situ by near-freezing (temporary), or by 5 to 10 

 per cent formalin injections. 



In all cases it is important to ascertain the endocranial maximum 

 length (on each side), as well as the maximum breadth of the cranial 

 cavity (lined by dura). These correspond to the measurements of the 

 brain before extraction. 



Internal Organs 



No system of measurements has as yet been devised for the internal 

 organs. 



The weight is ascertained as a rule, and should further measurements 

 be desired they would naturally include where possible the greatest 

 length, breadth and thickness, with the displacement (or capacity), 

 of the organ. 



The study of the internal organs is greatly hindered by pathological 

 alterations, notwithstanding which it is of considerable anthropological 

 importance.' 



Plaster Casts 



In demonstrations and museum exhibits, as well as in original 

 investigations, an important part is played by good casts. An ideal 

 collection in physical anthropology ought to include a representation 

 in good facial and other casts of every important branch and group of 

 humanity. As it is, there is no institution that possesses casts of the 

 various racial divisions of even the Whites alone. Nor could there be 

 made as yet in any institution with an anthropological section an 

 exhibit of any one nation, illustrating physical and developmental 

 types, and such groups as that of the most beautiful individuals, the 

 greatest athletes, the most talented men and women in that nation. 

 More has really been done in this respect on primitive peoples than on 



' For hardening brains see Hrdlicka (A.) — Brains and Brain Preservatives. Proc. 

 U. S. Nal. Mus., 1906, XXX, 245-3206, 27 fig. 



2 Compare Bean (R. B.)—Am. J. Phys. Anthrop., 1919, II. 



