Chapter XXX: Anatomical Characters (2)

Two general views of the skull belong to the subject now under examination. Blumenbach regarded and represented the human skull from above. This is the _norma verticalis_, very valuable as permitting the appreciation of the general form of the cranium and some of its relations with the projections of the face. Owen has, so to speak, regarded it from below, and insisted upon the differences which the inferior surface offers between man and the highest types of apes. Many characters of detail are brought to light by these two methods which I cannot even mention here.

In this necessarily very incomplete sketch, I have been obliged to pass by in silence a large number of characters which are often of a very substantial importance. The greater number are obtained by the method of projections so ingeniously perfected by M. Broca, and by means of instruments, some of which were already in existence, such as the diagraph, and others invented by various savants, amongst whom we must, again, especially mention M. Broca.

V. _Skeleton of the trunk._ I have dwelt at some length upon the characters drawn from the skeleton of the head; I shall be more brief in discussing the other regions. They furnish characters perhaps equally important, but they have been much less studied, and the fault does not altogether lie with anthropologists. It is not easy to procure skulls of the human races, even when we have to do with populations living close to us; the difficulty of collecting a certain number of entire skeletons is far greater.

The thoracic cage presents some interesting facts sufficiently well proved. In consequence of the form of the sternum, the greater or less curvature of the ribs, it is generally broad and flattened in the White, narrow and prominent in the Negro and the Bosjesman. According to d’Orbigny, it is still more prominent in certain Americans. An analogous fact has been observed in some populations of Asia Minor.

The pelvis is the portion of the trunk which has been most thoroughly studied, by reason of the application which may be made of these researches to obstetrics. As a rule, comparisons have been limited to those between the Negro and the White. Vrolick, Weber, MM. Joulin, Pruner Bey, and, quite recently, M. Verneau, have gone much further. The latter, unfortunately, has not yet published his researches relatively to the distinction of races. Vrolick insisted upon some peculiarities of the pelvis of the Hottentot Venus, and endeavoured to establish certain relations between her and the ape.

Weber found that in each of the races which he had studied, the pelvis presented a predominant form, which, on that account alone, became characteristic. He regarded the inlet as being generally oval and of large transverse diameter in the White; quadrilateral and of large transverse diameter in the Mongol; round, and of equal diameters, in the American; cuneiform and of large antero-posterior diameter in Negroes.

M. Joulin has disputed nearly all the propositions of Vrolick and Weber, and seems unwilling to allow any characteristic value to the pelvis. M. Pruner Bey has shown without difficulty the great exaggeration of this view, and has determined the characters which distinguish, from this point of view, the White from the Black.

The work of M. Verneau, much more complete than those of his predecessors, but with the anatomical part of which we are at present alone acquainted, will undoubtedly throw some light on the questions raised by their controversies. At present, moreover, the work of M. Verneau confirms the assertions of the greater number of his predecessors, as to the reality of the characters of race to be found in the pelvis.

Amongst these characters, there are some which have been pointed out in the Negro as _indications of animalism_. Even M. Pruner Bey, departing in this instance from his general practice, employs this expression, though at the same time restricting its meaning by his explanations. It seems to me much more natural to consider it as a trace of a condition, normal at a certain period, and more or less persistent according to the race.

In fact, the verticality of the ilia, and the increase of the antero-posterior diameter of the pelvis in the Negro, have been chiefly insisted upon as recalling characters which may be observed in mammalia generally, and particularly in apes. But we meet with the same anatomical characteristics strongly pronounced even in the fœtus and children of the White. They, and especially the latter peculiarity, are persistent to the age of seven years or more. Their existence in the Negro is, then, nothing more than _relative cessation_ in the evolution of this region of the skeleton. It is, again, a _fœtal or infantile character_, and not _a character of animalism_.

VI. _Skeleton of the limbs._—When speaking of fossil races, I pointed out certain morphological characters of the bones of the limbs, and among others, that of the perforation of the olecranon depression. This character may be observed in the Bosjesman, the Guanches, ancient Egyptians, and our own races. It seems to make its appearance in Western Europe with the Quaternary brachycephalic races. M. Dupont met with it in the proportion of thirty per cent. among the men of the Lesse; according to M. Hamy, this proportion is twenty-eight per cent. in the fossil race of Grenelle and only 4·66 per cent. in the present population.

I have already observed that the upper limb is a little longer in the Negro than in the White. The essential cause of this difference, is the relative elongation of the fore-arm. M. Broca, after comparing the radius and humerus of the two races, gives 79·43 for the Negro, and 73·82 for the European. M. Hamy, who had more numerous materials at his disposal, and followed a somewhat different method of measurement, obtained as result 78·04 and 72·19.

This elongation of the radius, relatively greater in the Negro than in the White, is one of the traits to which the expression _simian character_ has been most frequently applied. We know, in fact, that there is less inequality between the two regions of the arm in the anthropomorphous apes than in man, and that in the orang the length of the radius equals that of the humerus.

The researches of M. Hamy enable us to consider this peculiarity of the Negro from an entirely human and truer point of view. This anthropologist has followed the evolution of this limb with a view of obtaining the changes which it involves in the relation under consideration. The following table gives the results of these investigations:

Embryo of 2½ months 88·88
Fœtus of 3-4 months 84·09
” ” 4-5 months 80·42
” ” 5-7 months 77·68
” ” 8-9 months 77·37
Infants of 1-10 days 76·20
” ” 11-20 days 74·78
” ” 21-30 days 74·51
” ” 2 months 73·03
” ” 6 months to 2 yrs. 72·46
” ” 5 months to 13½ yrs. 72·30

We see that in the development of the upper limb in man, there is a constant tendency to diminish the relation in question. We see also that the average of the Negro is almost that of a white fœtus of five months. In his case, therefore, the elongation of the radius may be explained quite naturally by an arrest of evolution, without giving any occasion for comparing him with apes. Under what pretext should we return to the simian theory in connection with this character, after having seen that it is inapplicable in so many others?

The lower member presents similar facts. According to the calculations borrowed by M. Topinard from M. Broca, the tibia, when compared with the femur, gives a relation of 81·33 for the Negro, and 79·72 for the White.

By adding the figures which express the length of the radius and humerus, we have the total length of the whole arm, with the exception of the hand; and by acting in the same manner for the femur and tibia, we have that of the lower member, with the exception of the foot.

The relation of the former to the latter is 68·27 in the Negro, and 69·73 in the White.

The following is a table of several races, drawn up by M. Topinard from his own researches and those of several other authors:

+----------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| | Relation of | Relation of | Relation of |
| Races. | the inf. to | the femur to| the tibia to|
| | the sup. | the humerus.| the femur. |
| | member. | | |
+----------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| Annamites | 67·5 | 76·7 | 67·5 |
| Tasmanians | 68·2 | 83·5 | 84·3 |
| Aënos } | 68·4 { | 75·2 | 76·8 |
| Bosjesmans } | { | 75·5 | 83·5 |
| Andaman Islanders | 70·3 | 79·9 | 81·8 |
| Australians | 70·7 | 75·6 | 76·9 |
| Blacks of Pondichery | 71·7 | 82·9 | 84·4 |
+----------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+

We see that, by this character, the European White is placed between the African Negro and the Andaman Islander.

I have already mentioned some remarkable morphological modifications, such as the prominence of the linea aspera in the femur, the platycnemism of the tibia, etc. I need not repeat them. The clavicle, foot and hand, also suggest many details which I must pass by in silence. I shall only observe that in Abyssinia it is neither by his colour nor his hair that the true Negro is proved to be characterised, but merely by the relatively exaggerated prominence of the heel. But this sign, which has been asserted to be infallible, is wanting in certain Negro races, not only in the Yoloffs, whose inferior member resembles our own, but also in the Bambaras, who have a _flat foot_.

VII. _Characters drawn from, the soft portions; nervous system._ After having examined the external forms of the body, and reviewed the skeleton, we must take the organic apparatus one by one, and study them in their turn. Unfortunately the facts collected are here still more rare, when the observations should have been in larger numbers in order to give a definite value to the results. This study, which has been scarcely commenced, has in reality only been brought, till the present time, to bear upon the two most distant terms of the human series: the European White and the African Negro. This alone will justify me in giving a very cursory exposition of the results obtained.

The nervous system, of which Cuvier has said that it is the entire animal, is fortunately the part about which we possess, perhaps, the greatest number of comparative data. In the first place, we meet with a general fact noticed by Sœmmering, and which is established beyond a doubt by the splendid preparations of Jacquard, exhibited in the galleries of the Paris Museum. Relatively to the White, the Negro presents a marked predominance of peripheral nervous expansions. The trunks are thicker, and the fibres more numerous, or perhaps merely easier to isolate, and to preserve on account of their volume alone. On the other hand, the cerebral centres, or at least the brain, appear to be inferior in development.

In fact, in spite of what Blumenbach and Tiedmann have said on this subject, the brain of the Negro is, as a general rule, less voluminous than that of the White. This fact is chiefly the result, it is true, of measurements of the capacity of crania. But determinations of the weight confirm this result.

Seven Negro brains weighed by M. Broca gave a mean of 1316 grm. (46·42 oz.). Upon uniting the weights of European brains I find, however, a mean of only 1248 grm. (44·02 oz.), that is almost exactly the average of the White woman. The average weight of adult European brains is 1405·88 grm. (49·59 oz.). But in both races, individual oscillations are very considerable. One of the skulls of the Black race examined by M. Broca weighed 1500 grm. (52·91 oz.); Mascagni had one of 1587 grm. (55·94 oz.), and another of only 738 grm. (26·03 oz.).

The truth is that the European White alone has been seriously examined from the point of view of the estimation of cerebral development by weight. The merit of having furnished the elements of this study belongs incontestably to Rud. Wagner. Uniting the far more important results of his own researches with those of Tiedmann, Sims, Parchappe, Lélut, Huschke and Bergmann, this savant drew up a table containing the weight of 964 brains, which had been directly obtained after removing the coverings; he arranged them in order, commencing with the heaviest and finishing with the lightest. But he had not taken circumstances of sex, age, health, disease, etc., into consideration. The results which he obtained were, therefore, subject to alterations and corrections. M. Broca has accomplished this task. He took 347 cases of healthy brains from Wagner’s table, and carried out his investigations entirely upon them.

A certain number of general propositions rise from all these researches, which may be formulated in the following manner:

1. Under similar circumstances, in other respects, the weight of the brain varies proportionately, or almost proportionately, to the height. According to Parchappe, the average weight of the brains of two groups of men with an average height of 1·74 metre (5·7 feet) and 1·63 metre (5·2 feet), was 1330 grm. (46·91 oz.), and 1254 grm. (44·23 oz.). In this example the differential relation, 6 per cent., is exactly the same for the height of the body and the weight of the brain. This influence of stature enables us to interpret and comprehend the facts brought forward by Mr. Sandford Hunt. From the calculations of this anatomist it would appear that the average weight of the brain of Anglo-American soldiers exceeds the average weight of European brains as deduced from Wagner’s tables; by from 19 to 14 grms. (·67 to ·49 oz.), or from 1·33 to ·99 per cent. But the American anatomist did not take into consideration the difference in stature, which he nevertheless notices. Now, from his calculations, it appears that American soldiers have, in this respect, the advantage over French and English soldiers to an extent of 3 per cent. The increase is, therefore, only apparent, and, indeed, rather points to a relative diminution.

2. Under similar circumstances in other respects, the female brain weighs a little less than the male. M. Broca has shown that this is the case at all periods of life. This difference appears to me, however, to arise almost exclusively from that of the stature of the body. Upon taking the woman as the term of comparison, and representing her height and the weight of her brain by 100, we find 109·43 and 109·34 as the result for the man. The latter relation is that given by Parchappe. M. Broca found 109·63; thus the relative heights are intermediary.

3. The maximum average of the European is observed between the thirtieth and fortieth years. It is then 1262 grms. (44·48 oz.) in the female, and 1410·36 grms. (49·74 oz.) in the male, or, in percentages, 100 and 111·7. The average for the entire period of maturity, between 30 and 50, is 1405·88 grms. (49·59 oz.) in the male, and 1261·5 grms. (44·5 oz.) in the female.

4. Beyond this maximum the weight of the brain appears to decrease continually, and in a more or less constant manner. Such, at least, is the result arising from calculations bearing upon decennial intervals, which show a constantly decreasing average in the male, as well as in the female. There is probably some relation between this diminution and that of the horizontal circumference of the cranium and the development of the frontal sinuses, observed long ago by Camper.

5. In the European White, a brain, to be capable of performing its functions, must weigh at least 975 grms. (34·39 oz.) in the female, and 1133 grms. (39·96 oz.) in the male. These figures are the result of the discussion upon Wagner’s table; they are, however, too high, to judge from some of Hunt’s calculations. In the Bosjesman and Australian, and probably in many other races, the weight of the brain may descend as low as 907 grms. (31·99 oz.), without the intellectual faculties being destroyed.

Let us add that this organ may, moreover, fall much below this weight without causing cessation of life, or even the absolute disappearance of the intelligence, as in some microcephali. The smallest brains which have ever been weighed are those of Teite, quoted by Wagner, 300 grms. (10·58 oz.), and that of the woman who formed the subject of a memoir by Gore, 283·75 grms. (10 oz.). These brains are appreciably inferior in weight to those of the gorilla and orang.

6. In the European White, the maximum weight of a healthy brain perhaps reaches 2231 grms. (78·69 oz.) (_Cromwell_), or even 2238 grms. (78·94 oz.) (_Byron_). But there is not the certainty we should wish for about these figures. The weight of Cuvier’s brain is, however, attested by the post-mortem examination conducted by Professor Bérard; it is 1829·96 grms. (68·43 oz.). Mr. Sandford Hunt quotes another at 1842 grms. (65·32 oz.). We may regard these figures as indicating the superior limit which can be attained by the brain in the White race without the general health appearing to be affected.

The figures obtained by Mr. Hunt from the calculations given by several authors for 278 brains of European Whites agree sufficiently well with the above. The average of the former is 1403 grms. (49·55 oz.). The maximum is that quoted above, 1842 grms. (64·97 oz.); the minimum falls to 963 grms. (33·97 oz.), which is very remarkable from its lightness, being below that which, in Wagner’s table, seems to involve idiotcy. The results obtained by Mr. Hunt upon his Black and White fellow-countrymen, present, as regards comparison, a special interest. The brains of twenty-four American White soldiers gave an average weight of 1424 grms. (43·2 oz.) in round numbers. The maximum was 1814 grms. (63·98 oz.); the minimum 1247 grms. (43·98 oz.). The brains of 141 Negroes gave an average of 1331 grms. (46·98 oz.), which is greater than the results of investigations made in Europe. The maximum was 1507 grms. (53·15 oz.); the minimum 1013 grms. (35·73 oz.).

The observations of Mr. Hunt upon 240 crosses between the White and the Negro lead to interesting conclusions The following is the result:

grms. oz.
In crosses having ¾ white blood, the average weight
of the brain is 1390 49·03
” ” ½ ” ” 1334 47·05
” ” ¼ ” ” 1319 46·52
” ” ⅛ ” ” 1308 46·13
” ” 1/16 ” ” 1280 44·79

We see that the weight of the brain diminishes proportionately with the white blood. But it is especially curious to observe, that in crosses still possessing a tolerably strong proportion of superior blood, the weight falls below that of pure Negroes. The average was taken from twenty-two individuals, and the difference, 86 grms. (3·03 oz.), is too great not to be taken into serious consideration. We should say that this is a phenomenon identical with that presented by colouring. Certain crosses, in whom the black blood predominates, are of a darker hue than the original Negro race.

To exhaust the little that we know of exotic races, I need only to add that in a Hottentot examined by Wyman the brain weighed 1417 grms. (49·96 oz.). This weight, which is greater than that of the average of Europeans, affords one more proof of that intercrossing to which I have so often called attention, and which has, in this case, perhaps a deeper meaning than elsewhere.

Since the publication of Gratiolet’s admirable work _Sur les plis cérébraux de l’homme et des primates_, the study of _cerebral convolutions_ has assumed considerable importance in anthropology, although it has been somewhat exaggerated. The investigations of MM. Dareste and Baillarger show that the development of these convolutions depends to a great extent upon that of the encephalon itself, and the influence exercised by stature at once explains certain facts which had formerly been the cause of some embarrassment. Under conditions similar in other respects, the brain of _small races_ would be less convoluted than that of _large races_.

But, apart from this influence, it appears as a well established fact, that in savage races the number and complication of the cerebral convolutions are less than in intelligent and civilized races. Intellectual culture would seem then to exercise an entirely special action upon the cortical layers, and to favour their development.

The known extremes at the present day of the character in question are offered by the Hottentot Venus and Cuvier. The brain of the former is the simplest that has ever been observed in an intelligent person. It recalls that of an idiot. The brain of Cuvier, which unfortunately has neither been modelled nor drawn, was, as we are told by the eminent anatomists who saw it, distinguished by the extraordinary complication of the convolutions and the depth of the sulci. Moreover, each convolution was, as it were, doubled by a kind of rounded ridge. In spite of these exceptional cases, no one would surely dream of placing the great naturalist in any other _species_ than that to which his contemporaries belong. Neither can we consider the simplification of the brain of the Hottentot Venus as a specific character.

When comparative observations have sufficiently multiplied, we shall doubtless find more or less striking characters in the relative proportions of certain regions of the brain. For example, if Dr. Nott’s observation be correct, the _cerebellum_ in the Red-Skin extends beyond the cerebrum, while the latter, it is well known, extends beyond the cerebellum in the White and Negro. The same organ is longer in the Negro and broader in the White.

Naturalists, travellers, and anatomists announced long ago that the brain of the Negro is distinguished from that of the White by its blackish colour. An experiment performed at Paris under the superintendence of M. Rayer, upon which I have already made some passing remarks, confirms the general fact. I have already observed how M. Gubler, by whom it was prepared, wished to discover if there were no mean terms. He examined the colouring of brains obtained from individuals, all belonging to the White race, but whose complexions were differently coloured, and proved that the internal colouring was in direct relation with the external. In fair individuals with blue eyes and a pink and white skin, the pigment seemed to be entirely wanting. In individuals with a brown skin, black hair, and a very dark iris, “not only the brain enveloped by its membranes assumes a deeper shade, but a layer of black matter, in every way comparable to that of the Negro, covers the protuberance, the pineal gland, and some other points of the nervous centres.”

Thus, internally, as well as externally, the colouring of tissues presents that graduated series to which I have so often called attention. This removes, therefore, the absolute nature which had been attributed to a peculiarity which had so often been insisted upon as separating the Negro from the White, to the extent of making him a distinct species.

VIII. _Vascular and respiratory systems._ Considered as a whole, the vascular system of the Black and that of the White present facts somewhat similar to those which we have observed in the nervous system. According to Pruner Bey, the venous system predominates visibly over the arterial in the Black; and here, again, the admirable preparations of Jacquard are a material proof of the correctness of the observations of the savant I have just quoted. This predominance seems to extend to the right cavities of the heart.

The lungs are less developed in the Negro than in the White. M. Pruner Bey has observed cases in which they seem to be pressed upwards by the abdominal viscera. The characters peculiar to the blood of the Negro, which were noticed in a preceding chapter, will, perhaps, at some future time, be connected with this group of anatomical conditions.

We have already seen that the cutaneous glandular system is more developed in the Negro than in the White. The investigations of M. Pruner Bey demonstrate that the same fact reappears throughout the whole length of the intestinal canal, the surface of which is everywhere marked by the prominence of secreting organs, especially in the stomach and colon. The large glands which are connected with the alimentary canal are also remarkably developed, particularly the liver. The case is also the same with the supra-renal capsules. All these organs are in a constant state of venous hyperemia. Finally, these intestinal mucous membranes are very thick, and present the appearance of adipose tissue. Facts of a similar nature will perhaps be observed in the greater number of intertropical races. We already know that in the Javanese the liver is as fully developed as in the Negro.