: Why a High Brow May Not Always Be a
Sign of Great Intelligence
How a Scientific Study
of the Various
, Types of Human
Skulls Solves
the Mysteries of
Living Brains.
A Low Forehead, o
Shown by the Eskimo
Type Pictured Above.
Scientist* FFave Found.
Does ^ot Always Indicate
a Low Degree of Intelngenrf.
I'he < enter Illustration Shows thr
Method of Using the Plaslometer in
Character Heading*.
Making
Lven the Low- Brow and the Sloping Forehead of
the Primitive Mun Pictured at the Extreme
Right Are Held Not Necessarily to
Indicate Ix>w Intelligence.
HIGH brows, tug brams. Lew
brows, little brains. That old
and popular belief expressed in
these words has be-m entirely dis
proved by Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, interna
tionally known scientist, of the^ Na
tional Museum, Washington, D. C,, as
the result of a series of highly inter
esting examinations of various types
of human skulls.
If high foreheads means brains, then
some primitive peoples possessing lofty
brows should be superior intellectually
to the white man, according to Dr.
Hrdlicka Furthermore, the common,
full-blooded American colored laborer
often has a slightly higher forehead
than some educated white men.
Doctor Hrdlicka has been studying
this problem ever since 1894. He has
investigated not only the forehead, but
other parts of the head structure of
most of the major races known to man.
“Studies show,” says Doctor Hrd*
licka in Popular Mechanics, “that the
height of the forehead is not a safe
gauge of intelligence. Indeed, if you
take an individual and simply judge
him by his forehead alone, nine times
out of fen you will be more or less
wrong. However, the situation about
true intellectuality is entirely different
if you lay less stress on forehead size
and instead emphasize the importance
of the brain structure itself.
• “A sloping forehead does not mean
brutality or low intelligence by any
means. No doubt there are two good
reasons for this generally accepted
fallacy, one being that the main head
quarters of intelligence is in the frontal
lobes of the brain, and the other that
many observers have noted a sloping
forehead to be prevalent among certain
criminal types, some savages, ancient
men, and, generally speaking, among
the lower animals and anthropoid apes.
“This view, however, although it has
some natural foundation, is not all
true. In many known cases such a
sloping forehead has existed along with
When the Baseball Umpire
Wore a Suit of Armor
■ -V"
The German “Schiedarichter des
Spiels” (Baseball Umpire) Wearing His
Suit of Armor at the Introductory
Game of Baseball in Berlin.
CROWDS are pushing their way
through the turnstiles at the
baseball grounds throughout the
country. There are mayors, governors
and even the President of the United
States himself, in attendance, for this
business of patronizing the great
American sport is a serious business.
The players are in position. The
umpire’s voice booms out ‘‘Play Ball,”
and the game is on.
A brilliant play followed by wild
cheers. An error and there are hoots
and jeers. Peanut vendors hawking
their wares; hot dog men handing ’em
out and lemonade and pop corn sellers
doing a thriving business.
A familiar scene, indeed. But hark
back twenty years and witness the,
first baseball game in a foreign set
ting,-at which the umpire wore a suit
of armor.
The day, June 12, 1912, was the
date baseball invaded Europe, when a
team of American players who had
been invited to introduce baseball to
the German people, arrived in Berlin.
A tremendous crowd was present at
the opening game. Everybody who was
anybody in the city of Berlin, made
his way out to the athletic field to see
this strange game that the Americans
were so crazy about. The military, the
social, the diplomatic and the common
people were all there. It was a gala
occasion, when the umpire gave the
signal to the American Ambassador
who had given his consent to throw out
the first ball.
On the field of battle were the
American players and the German
team, made up of nine picked men
who had lived in the United States and
knew the rules of the game.
The handful of Americans in the
grandstand and in the bleachers, of
course, knew what it was all about,
but the rest of the crowd was all at
sea.
The one who, apparently, knew less
about baseball than anyone else was,
perhaps, the umpire, He must have
thought that he was entering an armed
conflict, for he appeared on the dia
mond all togged out in a suit of armor
as if prepared for a jousting bout.
Evidently he thought that the baseball
was a miniature cannon-ball; a hand
grenade or some similar weapon of
fearful destructive power. He had no
faith, evidently, in the protection af
forded by the familiar mask and the
breast-protector; hence the armor.
But that was a score of years ago
in Europe, where today baseball is as
universal a _sport as football and the
umpire no longer wears a suit of mail.
as tn forbid strong intellectual quali
ties "
Doctor Hrdlicka goes on to explain
some other curious situations that may
exist and five the casual observer a
wrong impression of "highbrowism.’' A
man, for instance, may have a broad
skull which serves to take the atten
tion away from the fact that the fore
head itself is rather low. Or, in similar
fashion, his hair may recede from his
forehead, due entirety to baldness, to
such an extent that the brow itself gives
an erroneous impression of height.
When you consider brain sixe and
structure you are on a new line of in
vestigation entirely, suitable only for
the. attention of the trained scientist
Such experts, Doctor Hrdlicka points
out, while studying the normal nrain,
with its well-developed frontal lobes,
have found a definite relationship to
the possession of a high degree of in
telligence. The greater the complex
a brain of high intelligence. In this
connection I have examined the fore
heads of hundreds of type specimens
of the major leading races and found
that in the case of most of these slop
ing foreheads it is not the upper sec
tion of the brow that actually is de
pressed but the lower portion that has
been carried forward more than usual.
The physiological result is that the
brain size is not affected in such a way
ity of the brain structure, the greater
the gray matter and, under normal
conditions, the greater the potentiality
of the brBin.
While it is true that large brain*
usually contain much more gray matter
and, therefore, more intelligence than
small ones, nevertheless, there are com
paratively small brains of such complex
and refined patterns that they enable
the possessor to take an outstanding
The Modern “Shell Game“
Engineers of the vacuum tube
department of the General Elec
tric Company unwittingly en
tered the field of gambling, or so it
would seem, from a device which bears
a striking resemblance to an old-time
carnival shell game, brought up to date
with the aid of vacuum tubes and in
voking science to keep, it on the level.
The element of chance varies 120
times a second—and that is fast
enough to defy manipulators with dis
honest intentions.
Players of the game have only to
roll a steel ball down a track inclined
at one end. During the course of its
journey the ball passes over three
pairs of contacts in the track, joining
them and causing their circuits to
close. Three thyratron tubes and
three incandescent lamps complete the
paraphernalia In the grid circuit of
each tube there is a direct-current and
an alternating-current grid voltage, in
aeries. * Since the device .is run from
60-cycle house current the voltage is
added to and subtracted from 60 time*
a second. If there is sufficient nega
tive grid voltage when the circuit is
closed, the corresponding lamp will not
light, but if the ball catches the cycle
when it is positive, the thyratron tube
will operate the lamp. The glower the
speed of the ball, the more likely it is
to light all three of the lamps, and it
is only on rare occasions that one can
roll the ball without lighting any of
them—the desideratum, necessarily.
With the unexpected gambling ele
ment removed, the device is designed
to show how to determine the opera
tion of thyratron tubes through add
ing or subtracting voltage.
Animals That Grow Plants
DIVERS walking on the bed of the
ocean often see plants which
really may be classified as
animals. Strange as this may seem,
scientists have proved that this is true.
Many of these plant-animals rival in
beauty the finest products of the green
houses and cnltivated gardens. Among
these marine plants, and probably the
most familiar is the slow-moving
anemone, a specimen of which is shown
in the accompaning illustration, as it is
being transported on the back
of an accommodating lobster.
Another animal that grows
a garden on its back is the sloth
The Sea Anemone, a Slow-Moving
Plant-Animal Finds the Back of
a Lobster a Fertile Soil in Which
to Flourish.
and the plants it raises supply it with
a useful camouflage.
The body has a green tinge, a color
rare in beasta. This is due to a vege
table fungus which grows from the
outer layer of each hair. It has the
effect of making the upturned body
harmonize with the foliage.
Alone, among all animals in crea
tion, the sloth lives in a hanging posi
tion, suspending itself by its curved
claws beneath tne branches of forest'
trees.
Kia* Fccturw Syndic* lc, Inc., IIIt
place in hi* particular line of endeavor.
SuiA brain*, r>r. Hrdlicka points out,
not*lnfrequently arc found in persons
of 'small utature and slight build.
Notable example* of this stype are the
famous artist Raphael aid the orator
Gambetta.
There have also been instances of
sizable brains where the possessor
shows slight intellectual ability. Here
igain the reason lies in the complexity
und refinement of brain matter.
Another familiar fallacy is that
human beings think and work intel
lectually while using only the front
ir •forepart of the brain, whereas, In
truth, the entire brain is necessary in
all mental work.
“The frontal part* of the brain,"
Dr. Hrdlicka explains, “serve the higher
mental qualities, while the other sec
tions are largely concerned with sens
ory and motor brain processes. If you
had all forebrain and no hindbrain,
your thinking procease* simply would
not coordinate.
“1 consider the human brain to be
the most wonderful machine nature, has
achieved. There are ten billion nerve
cells in the brain, every one of which i*
connected and related, all organised in
a remarkable fashion and each with an
important function to perform.
■'The brain ia a reservoir where
everything is received, distributed and
acted upon, reflexively or voluntarily.
Its potentialities are such that no
scientist has been able to come any
where near gauging its refinement* and
magnitude. Even the simplest thought
is an accomplishment which exceeds the
highest and most complicated machine
man has invented.
"Just as every machine needs vari
ous energy materials, so the brain re
quires different foods for the perform
ance of its duties, and, like machines,
it gives off different gases. It is these
gases upon which the physiological
chemistry of the future, laboring ta
solve the hidden mysteries of the living
brain, will concentrate it* studies. At
the present time this promising line of
scientific investigation ia being given
close attention.”
How Much Water Should
You Drink Every Day?
DO you, or do you not, drink
sufficient water? This is a
vital question, because it so
deeply concern* the health and effi
ciency of every human being;. The
human body must be kept decidedly
wet. but not so wet, of course as
Rudolph Philapak. of St. Louis, who
boasts he can drink a gallon of water
at one time. For it is nearly two
thirds water, and this proportion must
be maintained—if health, strength and
happiness are to be conserved.
Water takes precedence over every
other element needed to support life.
It ia the magic medium through which
ful on riding, one at each meal, break
fast excepted, one between meals, and
one upon retiring at night.
“However, the quantity required (
varieg with work, climate and mode of
life. The nature of the food eaten
also constitutes a factor, since a diet
consisting largely of frutta and vege
tables, or one that includes a consid
erable portion of milk, is high in wa
ter content. When the body is sur
rounded by super-heated air, as in
Summer, or in certain occupations, or
when engaged in active muscular ex
ercise, perspiration is notably increased.
The more water removed from the
body, the more must be taken into it
to replenish the supply and maintain
the proper balance.'1
Mr. Goudiss summarizes the im
portant subject of water in seven points
as follows:
1. Water enters into the composition
Rudolph Phillpak. «f St.
Louia, Mijr or May Wot
B*> tha Champion Wator
Drinker, But He la
.Shown Here Making
Good Hia Boaat That He
Can Imbibe a Gallon of
Water at One Setting
all nutritive elements are carried into
and through the body, and there held
in suspension, for it enters into the
composition of all the internal fluids
which distribute heat, moisture and
body-building material.
These functions may be termed its
“incoming” service. It is equally im
portant in its “outgoing" service, for
without water no waste*’ matter could
be eliminated.
The question of how much water
one should drink is answered in the
forecast by C. Houston Goudiss.
“Most people drink too little water,”
says Mr. Goudiss. Very few drink too
much. For people in normal health—
s not engaged in active muscular work
—three pints daily, in addition to what
is taken in Lhe food, may be regarded
as sufficient. A good rule is one glass
of all the tissues and fluids ef the
body.
2. It is the medium that d is soiree
the nutrient materials in the process of
digestion, making possible their absorp
tion and assimilation.
3. It is the chief constituent of the
blood, which transports food to the
various tissues of the body.
4. It keeps the soft tissues soft, and
the moist tissues moist.
5. It acts as a regulator of body
temperature.
6. By virtue of its great solvent ac
tion, it is a common medium in which
all the chemical reactions of the body
take place.
7. It assists the elimination of waste
products through the intestinal canal,
through the kidneys, the lungs, ana
the skin.
Motor Cars as Earthquake Refuges
MOTOR cars may be used as a
satisfactory refuge in case of
an earthquake, as the result of
the experience which Dr. T. A. Jaggar,
the American volcano expert, has had
in Hawaiian upheavels. Dr. Jaggar
describes in a recent announcement of
the Hawaiian Volcano Research Asso
ciation, an experience while driving in
his automobile to visit a friend.
On arriving at the friend’s house,
Dr. Jagger was astonished to find the
inhabitants in great excitement and the
house partly ruined. A violent earth
quake nad happened while Dt. Jaggar
was in hia moving automobile. In spite
of long experience as an earthquake
observer, he had felt nothing.
During the shocks which followed,
Dr. Jaggar says, many people left their
houses and slept in theih automobiles.
“Even when not in motion, a sedan
on springs and rubber tires produced
almost no sensation to the occupants,
while adjacent homes were rattling ana
roaring with the aftershocks.
“Houses usually act, I have found, aa
magnifiers of earth movements, so that
what seems to be a violent earthquake
to a person indoors may seem to a per
son on the ground in the open to be a
single and not very strong thud under
hiq feet, or may pass altogether un
noticed."
“This may explain," comments Di
E. E. Free in Week’s Science, “why it
is that primitive men have few myth?
of earthquakes, but many of floods and
fires. Having no houses to magnify 4
them, primitive men probably felt only
the very greatest earthquakes, but any
body is impressed by a forest fire ot
a flood."