SIZE AND CONFORMATION OF THE BRAIN. 7*25 



been called the five different races of mankind, 

 was ascertained by filling it with white pepper 

 seed, which was afterwards measured, and is re- 

 presented in the following table of Dr. Morton : 



Number Capacity in 



of skulls. Average. cubic inches. 



Caucasian 52 87 from 109 to 75 



Mongolian 10 83 93 69 



Malay 18 81 89 64 



American 147 80 100 60 



Ethiopian 29 78 94 65 



Thus we perceive, that the brain is nearly as 

 large among the savage tribes of northern Ame- 

 rica and Asia, as among the civilized inhabitants 

 of Europe, and smaller among the tribes of cen- 

 tral Africa, than among any other people, ex- 

 cepting the natives of tropical America. It is 

 not, however, so much in the aggregate volume 

 or weight of the brain, that the superiority of man 

 consists, as in the development of its anterior 

 and superior portions. Moreover, if the brain of 

 the negro were of the same size and form as that 

 of the European, it would still be inferior in firm- 

 ness of structure, and therefore in power, because 

 not supported by so large a thorax, nor supplied 

 with such an abundance of good arterial blood, 

 the vital properties of which depend on the 

 amount of respiration, (ceteris paribus^) which is 

 diminished by an elevated temperature of the at- 

 mosphere, as will be further proved when I come 

 to treat of temperaments. 



