posterior direction. Whether the development of the tactile centre will render the head broader or not I could not be sure, but it seems to me that this is just possible. I have tried by the accompanying diagram to make my meaning more clear. Showing how an increase in the visual or in the auditory centre might change the shape of the skull. F. R.-The fissure of Rolando. F. S.-The fissure of Silvius. a.-The visual centre. b. The auditory centre. A.-Dotted line, showing how an increase of a might change the shape of the skull. B.-Broken line, showing effect of increase of b. I think one may with advantage take into account that throughout the animal kingdom generally, or at least among mammalia generally, the part of the male is to go out and find food for the family, while that of the female is to rear the young ones. Corresponding with the different division of labour between the male and female we may expect to find a different distribution of qualities, and consequently a different development of the centres in the brain. The duties of the male require development of motor power rather than of sensory; those of the female require sensation, and what may be regarded as based upon sensation, emotion rather than motor power. I do not know whether in mammals generally we find greater development of the motor centres as compared with the sensory in the male, and of the sensory as compared with the motor in the female. I think, however, that this is the case to a certain extent in the human race, and that if we compare the skull of a man with that of a woman we 1 These ideas do not appear, however, to be well supported by a case which Benedict ("Neurologisches Centralblatt," 1886, No. 10) records of congenital blindness in which the eyes were healthy and the blindness probably depended on imperfect development of the cerebral centres for vision. The occiput in this case was abnormally flat, find that the former is more largely developed anteriorly, and the latter posteriorly. Dr. RAYNER remarked that one great difficulty in arriving at an estimate of the mental powers and characteristics of individuals from an external examination of the head, arose from the great diversities of shape in disease, and even in apparent health; a skull which the speaker had a recent opportunity of examining was enormously scapho-cephalic, apparently from premature arrest of development of the frontal bone; in that case the relations of the subjacent brain to its bone covering would have been very different from that which usually attains. In spite of this and other difficulties, he believes that it would be ultimately possible to arrive by external examination at a conclusion, in the majority of instances, in regard to the mental characteristics of an individual. Sir JAMES CRICHTON BROWNE, Mr. BOUVERIE-PUSEY, Prof. THANE, Prof. FLOWER, and the PRESIDENT also took part in the discussion. Mr. HYDE CLARKE not having the opportunity of speaking at the close, said he should put his communication in writing. He supported Professor Ferrier's doctrine, that energy or rapidity of thought is an important factor, and referred to the result of his own experiment of fifty years ago, recorded in the "Journal of the British Association," 1870, and in that of the Statistical Society. In confirmation of the Professor's statement that the range in the same individual may greatly vary, he points out that in this case the difference (p. 359) was 25 or 100, or between 1 and 4 in the same individual within ten days. With regard to the Professor's deductions as to men and animals in the matter of speech language, and particularly as to aphasia in men and non-imitation of speech by animals, the attention of the Professor was called to the origin and position of speech language. His postulate was that speech language is a natural and original attribute of man. If, however, there had been an epoch of gesture or sign language antecedent to the origin and development of speech language, then the latter could not be regarded as primary. The state of gesture language was gone through by most infants, and in some cases, though able to articulate, they remained in this state of mutes until five, six, or seven years old. They would understand, as many a dog does, words addressed to them, but would not communicate by speech even with their speaking brothers and sisters. His own observations upon the mutes of the Seraglio, at Constantinople, and upon other examples of gesture language showed him that within its limits, gesture competed well with speech, and he considered that the gesture of the mutes was quite equal to ordinary spoken Chinese for communication. The development of the faculty of speech might lead to a greater development of the 1 1871, page 359. nerve organs of speech and hearing, while psychologically speech in man became the means of creating a greater number of verbal and other ideas and impressions. In gesture language hearing counted for very little, sight being used instead. Indeed there was ample field for experiment. It was difficult to conceive that animals did not speak from defect of attention, as deposed by the Professor. The cat or the dog exhibits the quality of attention in a high degree when watching for prey. Many animals are imitative of others, as, for instance, the cat in imitation of the dog. That animals communicate to some extent with each other must be admitted, but the subject is obscured by the assumption that speech must be the vehicle of communication. In the case of the two trained French pointers that were exhibited some thirty years ago before the Fellows of the Linnæan Society, when the Bishop of Norwich was President, their extraordinary performances were little guided by sound, but by signs, which they most sagaciously followed. Indeed, in the training of all performing animals direction by signs played a chief part. The mind of such animals as the dog must be the same as that of men, and of the same types psychologically, as the diagrams of the Professor showed it was physiologically, and the conditions depended as strictly on the relative development, as distinctly indeed as did the special development of the sense of smell. The distinction from men lay in that development, and in the registration of the verbal ideas of speech. Hence the more complex convolutions and details of the brain of the civilised man. The number of ideas registered or impressed did not depend on conscious thought, but also on unconscious thought, of which law he himself had been the first discoverer, though Dr. W. B. Carpenter obtained prior publication, and who named it unconscious cerebration. The subject of registration taken in hand for investigation by Professor Ferrier was a most important one, and one as obscure as any other portion of the subject, and it might be said as wonderful. To a certain extent the experiments and investigations of Professor Graham Bell and of Professor Hughes, as to the physical registration of sounds had of late years prepared the way for the study of the registration of ideas. A record of sounds could be made to reproduce those sounds, whether of speech or of music, at a later and distant period. He much regretted that the Anthropological Institute had hitherto taken so small a part in investigations, of the importance and value of which Professor Ferrier had that evening given convincing evidence. He regretted that the section for comparative psychology, of which he had been appointed chairman some years ago, had not been allowed to act, as members had unfortunately taken up the spiritualistic practices, to which Sir Crichton Browne had referred. What was wanted was observations in every branch of natural history on man and animals, for the animal physiologically and psychologically often supplied better illustrations than did the human being. The following paper was then read by the author : : DESCRIPTION of the CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES of an ADULT By H. D. ROLLESTON, B.A., Scholar of St. John's College, [WITH PLATE II.] THIS communication is divided into three parts: (1) a few general remarks; (2) a detailed summary of the two hemispheres together; and (3) a description of the two hemispheres separately, with the depths of the fissures and sulci. General Remarks, The interest attaching to the study and examination of the brains of the lower races of mankind is briefly summed up in the phrase, "brain as an organ of mind." The problems that come before us are attractive, and, to a certain extent, admit of an answer. What material differences are there between the brain of an educated moral man and that of a sensual, animallike savage? What correlation is there between the physical conformation of the cerebral hemispheres and the mental development of their owner? This brain of an adult male Australian is of interest, then, from its being that of a primitive man. The Australian came to the hospital at Adelaide, and on his death from peritonitis, his head was cut off and despatched in spirit by Professor Watson to Professor Macalister, to whose great kindness I am indebted for this opportunity of describing such an interesting brain. On removing the brain it was found to weigh 31 ounces. A fresh brain if weighed before and after lying in spirit will be found to lose weight. Therefore, to obtain the weight in the recent condition, a certain percentage must be added to the actual weight of a brain which has been for some time in spirit. Marshall ("Phil. Trans.," 1864) adds seven twenty-fourths (the mean between one-third and one-fourth) of the weight obtained, and thus obtains the probable weight in the recent condition. Dr. Thurnum (" Journal of Mental Science," April, 1866) allows 29 per cent. for shrinkage in spirit. The Anthropological Society of Paris adds 38 per cent. of the weight of the brain, and this result is more likely to approximate to the truth, for it must be remembered that about 80 per cent. of the weight of a fresh brain is due to water, the removal of |