852 THE SIZE AND WEIGHT 



the effects of civilization in leading to an increased 

 development of the Brain, for, as Vogt remarks, — 



"The lower the state of culture, the more similar are the occa- 

 pations of the two sexes. Among the Australians, the Bushmen, 

 and other low races, possessing no fixed habitations, the wife par- 

 takes of all her husband's toils, and has, in addition, the care of 

 the progeny. The sphere of occupation is the same for both sexes; 

 ■whilst among the civilised nations there is a division both in 

 physical and mental labour. If it be true that every organ is 

 strengthened by exercise, increasing in size and weight, it must 

 equally apply to the brain, which must become more developed 

 by proper mental exercise." 



Again, it has been pointed out by Le Bon that the 

 range of variation in ' cranial capacity ' to be met with 

 among different individuals of the male sex seems to 

 be great in proportion to the position of the race in the 

 scale of civilization. '* Thus large and small male skulls 

 among Negroes may vary," he says, " by 204 cubic centi- 

 metres, among the ancient Egyptians by 353, among 

 twelfth-century Parisians by 472, and among modern 

 Parisians by 593 cubic centimetres." Consequently he 

 holds that the real test of superiority of one race over 

 another in regard to * cranial capacity ' is not to be ascer- 

 tained by averages, which may be and often are most 

 deceptive, but rather by discovering how many individuals 

 per cent, for different races possess skulls of given 

 volumes. " The superior race," according to Le Bon, 

 *' contains many more voluminous skulls than the inferior 

 race. Out of 100 modern Parisian skulls, there will be 

 about 11 specimens whose capacity ranges from 1700 to 

 1900 cubic centimetres, while among the same number of 

 Negro skulls not a single one will be found possessing the 

 capacities above mentioned." In his more recent and 

 longer paper Le Bon gives the following interesting table 

 of percentages in illustration of these views : — 



