ANTHROPOMETRY 145 



beyond the human phylum are highly desirable, and every effort 

 should be made in this direction by those favorably situated for such 

 studies. 



The most common and easiest of brain measurements is the weight. 

 The brain is weighed without the dura mater, immediately after extrac- 

 tion. Should any excess of liquid be evident, allow 5 to 15 minutes 

 for drainage. If the main component parts are to be weighed separ- 

 ately use care in severing. 



As to other measurements of the organ, in 1901 1 the author proposed 

 a sensible scheme which he regards as the simplest, the most promis- 

 ing and the only universally applicable system so far suggested. It 

 relates essentially to the cerebrum, and consists of taking the maximum 

 antero-posterior diameter of each hemisphere as a basis and a hori- 

 zontal, to which all other measurements are referred as so many 

 verticals. Under this system each part of the brain and each loca- 

 tion may be readily expressed or shown in a percentage of the hori- 

 zontal, which gives us valuable data for comparison. The choice of 

 the points from which to draw the verticals depends on the object of 

 the study, but the principal points will doubtless become standardized 

 by use, as well as by future agreements. 



The method of procedure is simple. The appliance needed is a 

 frame, the lower part of which consists of an adjustable platform for 

 the cerebrum or a hemisphere, while the upper part resembles the rod 

 of the sliding compass. It is graduated, and along it slides a needle 

 which may be lowered or elevated as required. The observer ascer- 

 tains with due care the frontal and the occipital poles, adjusts the 

 platform of his frame so that the line connecting these points is hori- 

 zontal, brings the frontal pole lightly into contact with the vertical 

 part of the frame on the left (his zero), sees to it that the axis of the 

 brain or hemisphere is parallel to the graduated rod above, marks on 

 the hemisphere or hemispheres the points to which he wishes to 

 measure and proceeds with the measurements. The up er part of the 

 frame holding the needle is movable backwards and forwards so as to 

 permit the bringing of the needle vertically over the different points 

 from which the measurements are to be taken. 



In the above way each measurement is like a section of the hemis- 

 phere and hence of its basic horizontal, and can readily be contrasted 

 with the whole. We are comparing then antero-posterior segments of 

 the brain, rather than simple linear dimensions. 



1 An Eskimo Brain. Am. Anthrop., N. S., Ill, 454-500; also 8 N. Y., 50 pp. 

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