546 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 461. 



avoid such a risk I have decided to limit 

 my remarks to a subject which comes 

 within the range of my own special studies, 

 and to invite your attention to a considera- 

 tion of some problems arising from the 

 variations in the development of the skull 

 and the brain. 



Since the institution of this section the 

 development, growth and racial peculiar- 

 ities of both skull and brain, and the rela- 

 tion of these two organs to each other, 

 have attracted an ever-increasing amount 

 of attention. The introduction of new 

 and improved methods for the study of the 

 structure of the brain and the activity of 

 an able band of experimenters have revolu- 

 tionized our knowledge of the anatomy 

 and physiology of the higher nerve centers. 



The value of the results thus obtained is 

 greatly enhanced by the consciousness that 

 they bear the promise of still greater ad- 

 vances in the near future. If the results 

 obtained by the craniologists have been less 

 marked, this arises mainly from the nature 

 of the subject, and is certainly not due to 

 any lack of energy on their part. Our 

 craniological collections are continually in- 

 creasing, and the various prehistoric skull- 

 caps from the Neanderthal to the Trinil 

 still form the basis of interesting and valu- 

 able memoirs. 



While the additions to our general knowl- 

 edge of cerebral anatomy and physiology 

 have been so striking, those aspects of these 

 subjects which are of special anthropolog- 

 ical interest have made comparatively 

 slight progress, and can not compare in 

 extent and importance with the advantages 

 based upon a study of fossil and recent 

 crania. These facts admit of a ready ex- 

 planation. Brains of anthropological in- 

 terest are usually difficult to procure and 

 to keep, and require the use of special and 

 complicated methods for their satisfactory 

 examination, while skulls of the leading 



races of mankind are readily collected, pre- 

 served and studied. Hence it follows that 

 the crania in our anthropological collec- 

 tions are as numerous, well preserved and 

 varied as the brains are few in number and 

 defective, in their state of both preserva- 

 tion and representative character. It may 

 reasonably be anticipated that improved 

 methods of preservation and the growing 

 recognition on the part of anthropologists, 

 museum curators and collectors of the im- 

 portance of a study of the brain itself will 

 to some extent at least remedy these de- 

 fects ; but so far as prehistoric man is con- 

 cerned, we can never hope to have any 

 direct evidence of the condition of his 

 higher nerve centers, and must depend for 

 an estimate of his cerebral development 

 upon those more or less perfect skulls which 

 fortunately have resisted for so many ages 

 the corroding hand of time. 



I presume we will all admit that the 

 main value of a good collection of human 

 skulls depends upon the light which they 

 can be made to throw upon the relative 

 development of the brains of different 

 races. Such collections possess few, if any, 

 brains taken from these or corresponding 

 skulls, and we are thus dependent upon the 

 study of the skulls alone for an estimate 

 of brain development. 



Vigorous attacks have not unfrequently 

 been made upon the craniometric systems 

 at present in general use, and the elaborate 

 tables, compiled with so much trouble, giv- 

 ing the circumference, diameters and corre- 

 sponding indices of various parts of the 

 skull, are held to afford but little informa- 

 tion as to the real nature of skull varia- 

 tions, however useful they may be for pur- 

 poses of classification. ^ATiile by no means 

 prepared to express entire agreement with 

 these critics, I must admit that craniol- 

 ogists as a whole have concentrated their 

 attention mainly on the external contour 



