704 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



brain, out of 191 cases, was 56 oz., and the minimum weight 31 oz. According to 

 Luschka, the average weight of a man's brain is 1424 grammes (about 45 oz.), 

 of a woman's 1272 grammes (about 41 oz.), and, according to Krause, 1570 

 grammes (about 48 oz.) for the male, and 1350 (about 43 oz.) for the female. It 

 appears that the weight of the brain increases rapidly up to the seventh year, more 

 slowly to between sixteen and twenty, and still more slowly to between thirty and 

 forty, when it reaches its maximum. Beyond this period, as age advances and the 

 mental faculties decline, the brain diminishes slowly in weight, about an ounce 

 for each subsequent decennial period. These results apply alike to both sexes. 



FIG. 374. Top view of the brain of man, showing the localization of various functions. (After Ferrier.) 



I. Centre for movements of opposite leg and foot. 2, ;;, 4. Centres for complex movements of the arms and legs, 

 as in swimming. 5. Extension forward of the arm and hand. 6. Supination of the hand and flexion of the 

 forearm. 7, 8. Elevators and depressors of the angle of the mouth. 9, 10. Movements of the lips and tongue. 



II. Retraction of the angle of the mouth. 12. Movements of the eyes. 13, 13'. Vision. 14. Hearing, a, b, c, d. 

 Movements o* the wrists and fingers. 



The size of the brain was rormerly said to bear a general relation to the intel- 

 lectual capacity of the individual. Cuvier's brain weighed rather more than 64 oz., 

 that of the late Dr. Abercrombie 63 oz., and that of Dupuytren 62J oz. On the 

 other hand, the brain of an idiot seldom weighs more than 23 oz. But these facts 

 are by no means conclusive, and it is well known that these weights have been 

 equalled by the brains of persons who never displayed any remarkable intellect. 

 Dr. Haldennan of Cincinnati has recorded the case of a mulatto, aged forty-five, 

 whose brain weighed 68| oz. ; he had been a slave, and was never regarded as 

 particularly intelligent ; he was illiterate, but is said to have been reserved, medi- 

 tative, and economical. Dr. Ensor, district medical officer at Port Elizabeth, 

 reports that the brain of Carey, the Irish informer, weighed 61 oz. M. Nikiforoff 



