458 General Notes. [July, 
The foregoing observations demonstrate that the cranium, and 
therefore probably the brain whose form it reproduces, presents 
a lack of symmetry which is not of the same character for each 
of its parts. . 
n page 121, Dr. Le Bon describes a very simple anthropo- 
‘metric instrument, which he calls the pocket cephalometer, or 
compass of co-ordinates, designed to obtain very rapidly the 
different diameters, angles, and profiles of the head, and to repro- 
duce in relief any solid figure whatever. A description of this 
instrument without drawings would hardly define it; we must 
therefore refer our readers to the paper of Dr. Le Bon. 
n page 161, Dr. Thulié gives an account of the autopsy 
of Louis Asseline, a member of the Société d’Anthropologie and 
of the Société d’Autopsie Mutuelle. Asseline was 49 years old 
when he died. In politics, he was a republican; in philosophy, a 
materialist. After his education was finished, he came to Paris, 
where he contributed more than all others towards propagating 
those ideas which resulted in the overturning of the empire. 
He was the founder and patron of several radical journals, and 
was frequently imprisoned for his writings. He was also in polit- 
ical life several times. , 
~ Asseline was a member of the Société d’Autopsie, composed 
of individuals who believe that the study of the brain of a man 
hom we have known, not only through his works, but in his 
character and faculties, would contribute to the advancement 
of science. The first subject of mutual autopsy was Jules Asséza, 
who, by the way, did not derive much benefit from the mutual 
clause in the society’s constitution. The second was M. Asseline, 
whose autopsy occurred 39 hours after his decease. The brain 
weighed 1.468 grammes, which may be compared with Broca’s 
table of means: 
From 31 to 40 years 1.404 grammes. 
1.403 ac) 
From 4I to 50 years 
