On the relation between the quantity of brain and the size of the body in vertebrates / by Eugène Dubois ; [communicated by H. Zwaardemaker].

  • Dubois, Eugène, 1858-1940.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the relation between the quantity of brain and the size of the body in vertebrates / by Eugène Dubois ; [communicated by H. Zwaardemaker]. 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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    bodies of nerve veils), an increase going on, systeinalically, with increasing (jnantity of the entire brain, does not a))[)reciably corrupt those results. It was this consideration that induced Dheke ajid Lapicque to investigate the chemical composition of the brain in large and small dogs.') From their results it is obvious that the real disproportion between the two constituents in large and small brains of nearly related animals, though existing, is insigniticant when compared with wiiat it seems to be on sections of those brains and from super- ticial mathematical retlection. We may infer that the seemingly very striking disproportion is, to a very lai'ge amount, corrected by otlier variations going hand in hand with augmentation of the quantity of brain, namely increasing thickness and folding of the cortex and less rounded form (i.e. relativel}' more extended surfaces) of the larger brain, these three jirocesses (or two in the brains without tolding) tending to increase the relative amount of grey snbstanc^ The positive knowledge, obtained in this way, of the relation between quantity of brain and size of the body, in species and indi- viduals, gives now a meaning to that “puissance etrange” 0.55.. and at the same time 0.^2.. by which those relations are determined. Referring to the arguments in my memoir of 1897 on the peculiar relation of the eye to the size of the body, and continuing the analysis of the exponent 0.5B or 0.55.., 1 believe that it will be easy to prove its rational character, as well as that ob the exponent 0.22 .. In this way the correlations we found are raised to the rank of real biological laws. In the memoir of 1897 1 had already pointed out that the factor that expresses the deviation from the sinqile relation between weight of the brain and superticial dimension of the body is the enbe-root of the linear dimension of the body. ,^0.5.5... pg analysed as follows: —+ — B. 5<)22 + 0.33 — ^ 9 2 = X L The relations found above can then be described as follows: i. 1ji species of Vertebrates that are alike in the organisation 9 “Sur le rappoii entie la grandeur du corps el ia developpement de I’ence- phole.” l.c. tl89^)- •2 1 A. 8acG-o.li — ~ 9 0 _ L I