It is plain, then, that there is no simple and direct relation, holding
good _throughout life_, between the size of the body as a whole and
that of the organs we have just discussed; and the changing ratio
of magnitude is especially marked in the case of the brain, which,
as we have just seen, constitutes about one-eighth of the whole
bodily weight at birth, and but one-fiftieth at five and twenty.
The same change of ratio is observed in other animals, in equal or
even greater degree. For instance, Max Weber[121] tells us that in
the lion, at five weeks, four months, eleven months, and lastly when
full-grown, the brain-weight represents the following fractions of
the weight of the whole body, viz. 1/18, 1/80, 1/184, and 1/546. And
Kellicott has, in like manner, shewn that in the dogfish, while some
organs (e.g. rectal gland, pancreas, etc.) increase steadily and very
nearly proportionately to the body as a whole, the brain, and some
other organs also, grow in a diminishing ratio, which is capable of
representation, approximately, by a logarithmic curve[122].
But if we confine ourselves to the adult, then, as Raymond Pearl has
shewn in the case of man, the relation of brain-weight to age, to
stature, or to weight, becomes a comparatively simple one, and may be
sensibly expressed by a straight line, or simple equation.
Thus, if _W_ be the brain-weight (in grammes), and _A_ be the age,
or _S_ the stature, of the individual, then (in the case of Swedish
males) the following simple equations suffice to give the required
ratios:
_W_ = 1487·8 − 1·94 _A_ = 915·06 + 2·86 _S_.
{ 92}
These equations are applicable to ages between fifteen and eighty;
if we take narrower limits, say between fifteen and fifty, we can
get a closer agreement by using somewhat altered constants. In the
two sexes, and in different races, these empirical constants will be
greatly changed[123]. Donaldson has further shewn that the correlation
between brain-weight and body-weight is very much closer in the rat
than in man[124].
The falling ratio of weight of brain to body with increase of size or
age finds its parallel in comparative anatomy, in the general law that
the larger the animal the less is the relative weight of the brain.
Weight of Weight of
entire animal brain
gms. gms. Ratio
Marmoset 335 12·5 1 : 26
Spider monkey 1845 126 1 : 15
Felis minuta 1234 23·6 1 : 56
F. domestica 3300 31 1 : 107
Leopard 27,700 164 1 : 168
Lion 119,500 219 1 : 546
Elephant 3,048,000 5430 1 : 560
Whale (Globiocephalus) 1,000,000 2511 1 : 400
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