HEADS AND MINDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7432, 19 June 1902, Page 2

HEADS AND MINDS.

A STATISTICIAN'S RESEARCHES. A very old and always ; popular topic is thafc which discusses th© question whether there is any definite relationship to be discovered an.d formulated betwixt the size aad shape of the head and individual' intelligence. White some great men have -certainly had big heads, others have not surpassed . the average, wh^ contrariwise, many large-headed individuals are by xyo means brilliant intellectually, but often (says the "London Chronicle") rather the reverse. The vast bulk of a brain is ccan-. posed of white matter — that is, of nerve-fibres-^-which has nothing whatever to do with, real brain work, and which only carries messages. If research is to be trusted, it is only the brain cells of a very li'mitedl (pirobably the frontal) region which have to do with the highest mental operations. When, therefore, we talk about the size of head audi brain, a^d the weight of thei brain, Aye should clearly v understand that only an infinitesimal fraction of the three pounds weight or so of ordinary brain canbe reckoned as representing brain-calls, that are, the agents of our nervous, govesmance. Practically the brain-cells (of the cerebrum) or great brain, at least) bear no larger proportion to the brain's mass than the rind! of a Dutch cheese does to the eatable portion, ii -Professor Karl Pearson, the distinguished statistician, lately published the results of an investigation made into the question of the relation between size of head and intellectual preponderance. His papr Mas read before the Royal Society. If the working man has a smaller head, on the average, than the professional man-, Professor Pearson points out that the difference is due to better nutrition. But, apart fromi such a wide comparison, he arrived afc stricter conclusions by the investigations of measurements made ou Cambridge undergraduates whose careers were known-. The results ao*e given as^showing that there is no marked correlation between ability as judged by entry for an honours examination and the size or the shape of the head). When schools were selected for testing the question., essentially similar resußts were obtained. A third seri-ete* of researches of wider extent resulted in the conclusion that very! brilliant /men may have had- a_ head slightly larger than the average, but Professor Pearson adds that the increase is so small that it cannot form any element k_ our judgment of ability.