158 LECTURE VI. 



the brain. Within the last few ^x'ars, as I have previously 

 stated, there have been, as regards the central organ of the 

 nervous system, two contending parties in the field. The 

 question was : — Does the brain of the ape, in its fundamental 

 plan and its parts, differ from the human brain ? This ques- 

 tion has greatly agitated the scientific world; and though it 

 now seems decided by the clearest evidence, we still find, as 

 frequently occurs in the history of science, the standard-bearer 

 of one side vainly defending his position. This reminds us of 

 the anecdote of Thenard, who, in a lecture on chlorine, had 

 among his auditors Berzelius, the only chemist who insisted 

 upon the compound nature of chlorine. " On one side," ob- 

 served Thenard, " we see the whole army ; on the other side, 

 a single man, whom, however, this once only, the army refuse 

 to follow, but who outweighs them all, whoever they may be." 

 So, too, we may say here : all against one, — but the one is 

 Richard Owen. 



Man has neither absolutely nor relatively the largest and 

 heaviest brain among the mammals. The large aquatic mam- 

 mals, as the whale, finner, sword-fish, large dolphins, and the 

 elephant among land animals, have brains of more than two to 

 three pounds in weight. The small American monkeys, the 

 sajou, sai, and saimiri, have, in proportion to the body, a rela- 

 tively larger brain, which, in man, is ] : 36, and in the former 

 as 1 : 13, 1 : 24 : 25. Although the emaciation of monkeys 

 which die in menageries is very great; scill, this much has 

 been proved by the weighing of their brains, that man pos- 

 sesses no advantage as regards the cerebral mass. 



On the other hand, his brain is much larger in relation to 

 the spinal cord and the cerebral nerves ; and the cerebrum is 

 also larger in relation to the cerebellum. Even in this respect 

 the lower races approach the animal structure, and the Negro 

 is as much distinguished from the white man, by the compara- 

 tive thickness of the spinal cord and the nerve trunks, as the 

 ape is from the Negro. 



I shall do myself the pleasure of making you acquainted 

 with the present state of the dispute among naturalists con- 

 cerning the cerebral structure of man and ape. I confess, the 



