Sir James Crichton Browne delivered a lecture on Monday evening
at the anniversary meeting of the Medical Society of London, on the subject of "Sex in Education." Its main point was its protest against overwork for women, which, as he maintained, is much more likely and more dangerous than overwork for men. He said the female brain weighs lees in proportion to the weight of the body; that the specific gravity of the grey matter of the female brain is less than that of the male brain ; and that the blood-sapply which is directed in the male brain more towards the organs of volition and cognition, is directed in the female brain more towards the organs con- trolling the sensory system. All this may be true, and it is no doubt true that young women show the bad results of hard brain-work much more visibly than young men of the same age, and that they want more holding back from over-exertion. But it does not follow that they have not immensely benefited by the high-school work,—benefited physically as well as mentally,—rather than suffered. The truth is, that for generations back they have been under- educated, and though the modern fault is in the opposite direction, their brains are not less active, indeed perhaps more active, though possibly not so energetic, and so capable of sustained work, as those of men. Mr. Galton showed that even amongst men, the most active brains are usually not found in the largest heads.
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