82 LECTURE III. 



If it were proved to be correct, it would furnisli an interesting 

 indication of the influence of civilisation and mode of life on 

 tlie development of races. It has long been observed that, 

 among peoples progressing in civilisation, the men are in advance 

 of the women ; whilst amongst those which are retrograding, the 

 contrary is the case. Just as, in respect of morals, woman is the 

 conservator of old customs and usages, of traditions, legends, 

 and religion ; so in the material world she preserves primitive 

 forms, which but slowly yield to the influences of civilisation. 

 We are justified in saying, that it is easier to overthrow a 

 government by revolution, than alter the arrangements in the 

 kitchen, though their absurdity be abundantly proved. In the 

 same manner woman preserves, in the formation of the head, 

 the earlier stage from which the race or tribe has been devel- 

 oped, or into which it has relapsed. Hence, then, is partly 

 explained the fact, that the inequality of the sexes increases 

 with the progress of civihsation. To this must be added the 

 circumstance, that the lower the state of culture, the more 

 similar are thfe occupations of the two sexes. Among the 

 Australians, the Bushmen, and other low races, possessing no 

 fixed habitations, the wife partakes 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 civi- 

 lised nations, there is a division both in physical and mental 

 labour. If it be true that every organ is strengthened by ex- 

 ercise, increasing in size and weight, it must equally apply 

 to the brain, which must become more developed by proper 

 mental exercise. 



Passing now to the brain itself, we have already remarked 

 that an opportunity for comparative ethnological investigations 

 is rarely met with. The organ is so soft, so dependent in its 

 form on its integuments, that its general measurements can 

 neither be taken from the fresh nor the indurated brain, but 

 only from casts, with any degree of accuracy. On merely re- 

 moving the calvarium, leaving the brain in the skull, we can 

 only take measurements, such as the longitudinal and trans- 

 verse diameters, which are just as easily obtainable from the 

 calvarium. If the brain be removed, we find that it sinks and 



