498 
PROFESSOR T1EDEMANN ON THE BRAIN OF THE NEGRO. 
tion in society from that which has so lately been given him by the noble British 
Government. 
I propose in this treatise to examine more minutely the most important part of this 
doctrine, namely, the structure of the brain, the noblest part of the human bodv, in 
reference to its functions. A comparison between the brain of the Negro and that of 
the European and the Orang-Outang, hitherto muchn eglected, appeared to me most 
worthy of attention. I shall first of all try to answer the following two questions. 
1st, Is there any important and essential difference between the structure of the 
brain of the Negro and that of the European ? and 
2ndly, Has the brain of the Negro more resemblance to that of the Orang-Outang 
than the brain of the European? 
Should our researches induce us to answer these questions in the affirmative, we 
should then have reason to consider the opinion given above as true, and founded in 
nature. Should we be able to prove the falsity of this opinion, we should then be 
allowed to consider it as a mere literary fancy. 
Comparison alone will enable us to answer these two questions. In order to do 
which we must first of all consider the size, weight, and dimensions of the objects to be 
compared. I have taken the materials for such a comparison from my researches on 
the brain and skull of Man and lower animals, for which purpose I have consulted the 
most celebrated anatomical museums, both on the Continent and in Great Britain. 
We begin our researches with the comparison of the size of the brain of the Euro- 
pean and that of the Negro, by answering the following question : Has the Negro 
the same quantity of brain as the European? We must first of all determine the 
weight and dimensions of the brain of the European, then that of the Negro, and 
compare them together. 
Observations on the Weight of the Brain of Europeans. 
The opinions of anatomists on the size and the weight of the human brain in ge- 
neral, and that of the European in particular, as to its absolute and relative weight 
and bulk compared with that of the body, are very uncertain. The old opinion of 
Aristotle*, Pliny-}-, Galen, and others, for many centuries regarded as correct, 
namely, that the human brain is absolutely and relatively larger than that of any 
other animal, is erroneous, and not founded on anatomical researches. 
The brain of the Elephant^ and Whale § is absolutely much larger than the human 
* Hist. Animal., lib. i. cap. 13. “ Pro magnitudine sua homo habet maximum cerebrum.” 
f Hist. Animal., lib. ii. cap. 49. “ Homo habet cerebrum portione maximum.” 
+ The brain of an African Elephant seventeen years old, examined by Perrault (Descr. Anatom, d un 
Elephant, Mem. de l’Academie des Sciences de Paris, tom. iii. par. 3, p. 135), weighed 9 lbs. ; was 8 inches 
long, 6 inches broad. The brain of an Asiatic Elephant weighed, according to Allen Moulins (An Anato- 
mical Account of an Elephant, p. 37. London, 1682. 4to,), 10 lbs. 
According to my honoured friend Sir Astley Cooper, the brain of an Elephant dissected by him weighed 
$lbs. 1 oz. 2grs. (avoirdupois). 
§ The brain of a Whale 75 feet long ( Balcena mysticetus ) weighed, according to Rudolpiii, (Handbuch d( r 
