HEMISPHERES. 425 



same faculties. Thirdly, in different species of animals, as well as 

 in different races of men and in different individuals, the develop- 

 ment of these faculties is in proportion to that of the cerebral 

 h 



lat the hemispheres are the seat of the 

 mory, reason, judgment, and the like, 

 faculties are, strictly speaking, located 

 spheres, or that they belong directly to 

 mispheres are composed. The hemi- 

 y the instruments through which the 

 themselves, and which are accordingly 

 If these instruments be imperfect in 

 any manner by violence or disease, the 

 are affected in a corresponding degree. 



J ;al faculties are the subject of physio- 



logical research and experiment, they are necessarily connected 

 with the hemispherical ganglia; and the result of investigation 

 shows this connection to be extremely intimate and important in 

 its character. 



There are, however, various circumstances which modify, in 

 particular cases, the general rule given above, viz., that the larger 

 the cerebrum the greater the intellectual superiority. The func- 

 tional activity of the brain is modified, no doubt, by its texture as 

 well as by its size ; and an increased excitability may compensate, 

 partially or wholly, for a deficiency in bulk. This fact is some- 

 times illustrated in the case of idiots. There are instances where 

 idiotic children with small brains are less imbecile and helpless 

 than others with a larger development, owing to a certain vivacity 

 and impressibility of organization which take the place, to a certain 

 extent, of the purely intellectual faculties. 



This was the case, in a marked degree, with a pair of dwarfed 

 and idiotic Central American children, who were exhibited some 

 years ago in various parts of the United States, under the name of 

 the "Aztec children." They were a boy and a girl, aged respectively 

 about seven and five years. The boy was 2 feet 9} inches high, and 

 weighed a little over 20 pounds. The girl was 2 feet 5J inches 

 high, and weighed 17 pounds. Their bodies were tolerably well 

 proportioned, but the cranial cavities, as shown by the accompany- 

 ing portraits, were extremely small. 



The antero-posterior diameter of the boy's head was only 4J 

 inches, the transverse diameter less than 4 inches. The antero- 



