372 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVJII. Xo. 4.-).-.. 



adult males (ages 21-95) is 1,367 gms. 

 (max. = 1,790; min. = 1,063) ; of 150 adult 

 females it is 1,214 gms. (max. = 1,432 ; 

 min. = 961). The sexual difference of these 

 averages is 153 gms., about the same as in 

 Europeans. 



Table I. 

 Males. 



(266) ( ) 



,,(250) (205) 



1,293 ., 



1,267 ■., 



1,260 '. 



1,260 |., 



1,215 ., 



1,159 



1,279 

 1,268 

 1,246 

 1,237 

 1,244 



1,195 



1,332 

 1,298 

 1,266 

 1,245 

 1,242 



1,189 



In order to better understand the distribu- 

 tion of these brain-weights as compared -n-ith 

 those of Europeans, the writer has employed 

 Taguchi's figures in the preparation of the 

 accompanying chart (Fig. 1). The distribu- 

 tion of the (374) male Jajjanese brain-weights 

 (continuous line) is seen to correspond fairly 

 well with that of (1,012) male German brain- 

 weights (broken line) of the Bischoff-Mar- 

 chand* series. The comparison can be fairly 

 made, since the weighings were made accord- 

 ing to similar methods in both series. 



Taguchi has no records of the weight of the 

 brain in the new-born, but has 156 brain- 

 weights of children ranging from two months to 

 fourteen years of age. Comparing these with 



* See the writer's review of Marchand's ' Ueber 

 das Hirngewicht des Jrenschen,' Science, N". S., 

 Vol. XVII., 1903, p. 345. 



similar records of European children (Pfister, 

 Mies, Marehaud), it is evident that the gi'owth 

 of the Japanese brain is slower. The brain 

 of the Japanese boy between nine and fovir- 

 teen years of age weighs about 1,235 gms., 

 while that of the European of the same age 

 weighs 1,300-1,350 gms. Among adults there 

 is a gradual increase up to the fifth decade. 

 Table I. shows the weight of the brain in the 

 various decades in comparison with those of 

 Germans (Bischoff and Marchand), Swedes 

 (Eetzius), Czechs (Matiegka) and Russians 

 (Giltsehenko). The maximum is attained in 

 the fifth decade among the Japanese males ; in 

 the female series two maxima occur, one in 

 the third, the other in the sixth decade. The 

 necessity of obtaining still more extensive 

 statistics is, therefore, apparent. 



The relation between brain-weight and 

 stature is as .positive as is observed in the 

 European series. The Japanese are a people 

 of small stature, however, and this fact lends 

 interest to the question of relative brain- 

 weight. It is a little difficult to institute 

 very satisfactory comparisons with the Euro- 

 pean records since Taguchi's methods of tabu- 

 lation are different from those generally em- 

 ployed. The following table may help the 

 reader to interpret the relations of brain- 

 weight and stature among Europeans (Ger- 

 mans, Russians and Czechs) and in the 

 Japanese series. 



Table II. 

 Males. 



* In the original this figure is given a.* 1.535 

 gms. This is manifestly a typographical error: 

 it should be l.:?:?o or 1.355 instead. The latter 

 fio'ure is more likelv to be correct. 



