190 NATURAL SELECTION ix 



than 19 inches in circumference, or has less than 65 cubic inches 

 of brain, he is invariably idiotic. When we join with this the 

 equally undisputed fact that great men, those who combine 

 acute perception with great reflective power, strong passions, 

 and general energy of character, such as Napoleon, Cuvier, and 

 O'Connell, have always heads far above the average size, we 

 must feel satisfied that volume of brain is one, and perhaps the 

 most important, measure of intellect ; and this being the case, 

 we cannot fail to be struck with the apparent anomaly that 

 many of the lowest savages should have as much brains as 

 average Europeans. The idea is suggested of a surplusage of 

 power of an instrument beyond the needs of its possessor. 



Comparison of the Brains of Man and of Anthropoid Apes. 

 In order to discover if there is any foundation for this notion, 

 let us compare the brain of man with that of animals. The 

 adult male orang-utan is quite as bulky as a small sized man, 

 while the gorilla is considerably above the average size of 

 man, as estimated by bulk and weight ; yet the former has a 

 brain of only 28 cubic inches, the latter, one of 30, or, in the 

 largest specimen yet known, of 34 J cubic inches. We have 

 seen that the average cranial capacity of the lowest savages is 

 probably not less than five-sixths of that of the highest civilised 

 races, while the brain of the anthropoid apes scarcely amounts 

 to one-third of that of man, in both cases taking the average ; 

 or the proportions may be more clearly represented by the 

 following figures : Anthropoid apes, 1 ; savages, 26; civilised 

 man, 32. But do these figures at all approximately represent 

 the relative intellect of the three groups ? Is the savage really 

 no further removed from the philosopher, and so much removed 

 from the ape, as these figures would indicate ? In considering 

 this question, we must not forget that the heads of savages vary 

 in size almost as much as those of civilised Europeans. Thus, 

 while the largest Teutonic skull in Dr. Da vis's collection is 1 1 2 -4 

 cubic inches, there is an Araucanian of 1 1 5 '5, an Esquimaux of 

 113-1, a Marquesan of HO'6, a Negro of 105 '8, and even an 

 Australian of 104 '5 cubic inches. We may, therefore, fairly 

 compare the savage with the highest European on the one side, 

 and with the orang, chimpanzee, or gorilla, on the other, 

 and see whether there is any relative proportion between 

 brain and intellect. 



