Description of the cerebral hemispheres of an adult Australian male / by H.D. Rolleston.

  • Rolleston, Humphry Davy, 1862-1944.
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Description of the cerebral hemispheres of an adult Australian male / by H.D. Rolleston. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    (tfT' i H. Kolleston.—Cerebral Hemispheres of Australian Mal^'.^^ 32 ' Description of the Cerebral Hemisp Australian Male A DULT By H. D. Rolleston, B.A., Scholar of St. John’s College, Cambridge, Junior Demonstrator of Physiology in the University. [with plate II.] This communication is divided into three parts: (1) a few general remarks; (2) a detailed summary of the two hemis- pheres together; and (3) a description of the two hemispheres separately, with the depths of the fissures and sulci. General liemarks. 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,, animal- like savage ? What correlation is there between the physical conformation of the cerebral hemispheres and the mental develop- ment 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 a