804 General Notes. [July, 
his own words. “ The strongest women, especially in the civilized 
either sex. 
succeeded in making some noise these last few years by reéditing, 
apropos of the sexual difference of cranial capacity and weight o 
brain, the antique pleasantries relative to the lightness and incon- 
stancy of women. Unfortunately for these writers, the lightness 
with which they have themselves passed over anatomical differ- l 
ences as enormous as that in muscular development of which I 1 
have just spoken, permits serious doubts as to their aptitude for 
psychological analysis.” ai 
The author devotes a chapter to the comparative quantitative 
development of the brain and of various parts of the skeleton. 
The femur and the mandible, according to our author, represent, 
by their weight, the development of those parts of the organism 
which influence the brain-weight, far better than do the size and 
weight of the body. He therefore takes, and recommends others 4 
to take, these two bones, with the addition, when possible, ofe 
humerus, for the purpose of comparison. Unfortunately most 
skeletons are so mounted that the two bones first mentioned with 
the skull are the only pieces that can be separated. 
To us it appears that the femur is about the worst bone that 
could be chosen for the purpose of instituting a comparison 
between the brain and the skeletal development of the two SEXES, 
since its very considerably smaller size in the female gives that 
sex an altogether fictitious advantage. 
In weight of cranium the negro races surpass any others prs 
have been subjected to comparison, so that the proverbial thick 
ness of a negro’s skull has a foundation in fact. The skulls 
Papuans and natives of New Caledonia are heavier than a 
Parisians, while those of the American aborigines and of the 
Bengalese are lighter. z 
The weight of the female cranium, absoiutely about = 
seventh less than that of the male, is, according to the limitei 
rvations yet made, about two-ninths heavier when comp of 
equal to that of the rest of the skeleton. The importance rder : 
skull as a skeletal element diminishes in the following Aiak 
1. Infant: 2. Woman. 3. Man of low stature. 4 Mam m 
stature. 5. Anthropoid apes. The weight of the brain mf the a 
portion to that of the body follows the same order as that% 
