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first place the fact itself is doubtful. It is by no means established that the brain of a woman is smaller than that of a man. If it is inferred merely because a woman's bodily frame generally is of less dimensions than a man's, this criterion would lead to strange consequences. A tall and large-boned man must, on this showing, be wonderfully superior in intelligence to a small man. and an elephant or a whale must prodigiously excel mankind. The size of the brain in human beings, anatomists say, varies much less than the size of the body, or even of the head; and the one cannot be at all inferred from the other. It is certain that some women have as large a brain as any man. It is within my knowledge that a man who had weighed many human brains said, that the neaviest he knew of, heavier even than Cuvier's (the heaviest previously recorded), was that of a woman. Next, I must observe that the precise relation which exists between the brain and the intellectual powers is not yet well understood, but is a subject of great dispute. That there is a very close relation we cannot doubt. ... In all the more delicate operations of nature-of which those of the animated creation are the most delicate, and those of the nervous system by far the most delicate of these-differences in the effect depend as much on differences of quality in the physical agents as on their quantity; and if the quality of an instrument is to be tested by the nicety and delicacy of the work it can do, the indications point to a greater average fineness of quality in the brain and nervous system of women than of men." *

We have not space to continue this line of thought at greater length, and have brought out only a few points, to indicate the fallacy of the argument for woman's inferiority to man based on brain-weight. We quote the following from Dr. E. H. Clark's book on "The Building of a Brain," pp. 43, 44. Speaking of the future possibilities of "brain exercise," he says:

"If quality as well as quantity is included in development, no limit can yet be assigned to the extent of the latter, and, consequently, no limit to the manifestations of intellectual and spiritual power that may pour through the brain. I presume we have only an imperfect conception of what the human brain will yet attain to. Compared now as an instrument with what it will be ages hence, when both men and women are appropriately educated, when brains shall be built out of masculine and feminine organizations that have been appropriately trained, and from which hereditary evils have been eliminated, century after century, by the survival of the fittest, the brain of to-day, compared as an instrument with that brain of the future, fit for the use of a god, is as rude and imperfect as the lenses of two hundred years ago compared with the microscopes of the present day."

D. P. LIVERMORE.

"The Subjection of Women," pp. 119, 120.

THE RATIO OF NEWS.

WHAT are the relative values of the different kinds of news, as determined by the practice of the leading and representative newspapers of the United States? In solving this question the first step is to collect a body of facts, and in my own inquiry I made two separate investigations with this object in view, the first confined to the daily press of New York City, the second covering a group of representative newspapers published in other cities. The ratios thus obtained may fairly be regarded as typical, for these prosperous journals have gained their rank by divining what the reading public like most to find in a newspaper. To the editor the question of the Sphinx takes this form: What is news? He must answer it, and to guess wrong is death. As a matter of fact most editors do guess wrong, and as a consequence most newspapers die. Possibly in no business is the ratio of success to failure smaller. But those who direct the newspapers of the country which have large circulations, which engage the best talent, which are extensively quoted and conformed to by the mass of papers, and are substantial business properties, we may suppose to be gifted with the true news instinct. Their practice has the weight of expert testimony, and the resultant of their separate experience should be a fairly just national average.

Suppose then we select our samples and attack them with a lead-pencil and a tape-measure. I know that this estimate by space" is open to objection, and yet I believe it to be fair in the long run. Newspaper men will bear me out in the statement that, generally speaking, the space allotted to a piece of news is an index of its news value. It is a rude measurement, but it may be all the more just for being so brutal. There is still to be considered the tone as well as the length, but this should be dealt with separately in its place.

My first group of samples was composed of the morning and afternoon newspapers of New York for Friday, Sunday, and Monday, October 14th, 16th, and 17th; the five morning papers, "Herald," "Times," "Tribune," "Sun," and "World" being examined for the three days, and the seven afternoon papers, "Commercial Advertiser," "Post," "Mail and Express," "Telegram," "Sun," "World," and "News" for Friday and Monday. I had no very definite motive for selecting the dates mentioned rather than others, and perhaps the investigation gains thereby; but I shall indicate before I conclude the reasons for guarding the judgment against accepting the results of a limited inquiry like mine as final.

To

One more explanation. I undertook the inquiry originally to ascertain the relative importance attached by the New York papers to religion as news. Subsequently I broadened the inquiry somewhat both as to topics and geographical scope. get comparisons for the first ratios I selected as topics religion, crimes, athletic sports, the markets, theaters, labor, and editorials. Politics I disregarded because of its spasmodic character; and other branches, such as accidents, shipping, society, general foreign intelligence, and the like, were passed over as unnecessary. The tabulated results of the inquiry are as follows:

Tribune.

World.

Sun.

Commercial

Advertiser.

Post.

Express.

Mail and

Religion.
Crimes

07.045.075-02-93 04:035 10 12 105 15.17 117

.04.025.025.04.015.01.025.035

.13.07.065 .16.21

Outd'r Sports .11 .09 .07
Markets.. .07.07.07
Theaters

.07.125.05.01.065.09.085 .10.06.077 .05.025 .19 .21 .26.04.03 .02.015.088 .05.07.025 .06.03 .04.005.07.04.055 .02.06.043 .045.04.04 .04.045.095.045.04.045.08 .08.06.054 Editorial. .055.09.08 .07.07 .17.11.15.06.09 .03.05.085

Labor.

Thus it appears that, for the period taken for study, the ratio of religious news to the total reading matter was three and onehalf per cent. The percentage of the "Tribune" was the highest, being seven and a half. The "Herald " was a close second with seven. The other newspapers above the average were the

World.

News.

Grand

Ratio.

"Times," four and a half; the "Commercial Advertiser," four; and the "Evening Sun," four. Below the average were the morning "Sun," three; morning "World," two; "Evening Post," two and a half; "Mail and Express," two and a half; "Telegram," two and a half; evening "World," one and a half; and, least of all in the religious ratio, the "News," which devotes one per cent. of its space to the subject.

So, too, we find that the "Sun," in its morning edition, led in its attention to crimes. Its ratio was twenty-one per cent. of its entire reading matter. The "Telegram" was second, with a ratio of seventeen; then came the morning "World," with sixteen. The "News" gave fifteen per cent. of its space to the subject, the "Herald " thirteen, the "Evening Sun" twelve, and the remaining papers in this order: evening "World," ten and a half; "Mail and Express," ten; "Commercial Advertiser," nine; seven; "Tribune," six and a half; and the "Evening Post," three and a half. The average ratio is eleven and seventenths. Thus it will be seen that in prominence given to crime the "Sun," "World," and "Herald," of the morning papers, and the "Telegram" and "News," of the evening press, were above the average, and the others below it.

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In outdoor sports, under which term come yachting, baseball, horse-racing, pugilism, etc., the morning "Sun" led with a ratio of twelve and a half, closely followed by the "Herald," with a record of eleven, and the "News," with one of ten per cent. The "Times" and the "Evening Sun" came next, with nine, and the evening "World," with eight and a half. Then came the "Tribune" and morning "World," with seven each; the "Mail and Express," six and a half; the "Telegram," six; the "Commercial Advertiser," five; and the "Evening Post," one. The average or normal was seven and seven-tenths.

In the markets the "Mail and Express" led in the relative space given to this subject, the ratio being twenty-six per cent. The "Post" and the "Commercial Advertiser " came next, with ratios of twenty-one and nineteen respectively. Then there was a long jump down to the "Herald," with a little over seven per cent. The "Times" and the "Tribune" gave seven per cent., the "World" five, the "Evening Sun" four, and so on down to

the "Telegram," one and a half. The average was eight and eight-tenths.

Theatrical news is rather spasmodic, but the averages obtained may not be unfair. The ratio for the three days was four and three-tenths per cent. In only two newspapers, the "Times" and the "Mail and Express," did the ratio rise to seven, and in one, the "Evening Post," it happened to sink to one-half of one per cent.

Labor is also an uncertain factor, depending, to a significant degree, on the nearness of an election. The average for the period was five and seven-tenths. All the morning papers for the three days had substantially the same amount of space devoted to this branch of news, being about four per cent. in each case. The "Commercial Advertiser" gave labor news the most prominence, assigning to its treatment nine and a half per cent. of its reading matter, the "News" and the evening "World" sharing the second place, with eight per cent. each.

As to the relative prominence given to editorials, I find that the "Commercial Advertiser" led with seventeen per cent., the list closing with the "News," three per cent., the average being eight and a half.

In the second table the survey extended to the principal cities of the country, each city being taken as a unit. It was confined to the morning press, with the single exception of the Washington "Star." It embraced the five leading New York morning newspapers, the " Herald," "Times," "Tribune," "Sun," and "World;" the "Advertiser" and "Herald," of Boston; the "Public Ledger," "Press," and "Times," of Philadelphia; the Chicago Tribune," "Times," and "News;" the Cincinnati "Commercial Gazette" and "Enquirer," the St. Louis "GlobeDemocrat" and "Republican," the Baltimore "Sun," the Washington "Star," the Charleston "News and Courier," the New Orleans "Times-Democrat," and the San Francisco "Chronicle." The dates taken were Monday, November 28th, and Tuesday, November 29th, the object here, too, being to notice specially the part which religion played as news. The field of inquiry was broadened, however, by the addition of literary criticism and art news and comment. It will be observed that these

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