268 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and occasionally insane. As a group, they are certainly very unlike the 

 group of eminent consumptives. These latter, with their febrile activi- 

 ties, their restless versatility, their quick sensitiveness to impressions, 

 often appear the very type of genius, but it is a somewhat feminine 

 order of genius. The genius of the gouty group is emphatically mascu- 

 line, profoundly original ; these men show a massive and patient energy 

 which proceeds not only Vithout rest,' but Vithout haste,' until it has 

 dominated its task and solved its problem. 



This association of genius and gout cannot be a fortuitous coin- 

 cidence. The secret of the association probably lies in the special patho- 

 logical peculiarities of gout. It is liable to occur in robust, well- 

 nourished individuals. It acts in such a way that the poison is some- 

 times in the blood, and sometimes in the joints. Thus not only is the 

 poison itself probably an irritant and stimulant to the nervous system, 

 but even its fluctuations may be mentally beneficial. 'When it is in 

 the victim's blood his brain becomes abnormally overclouded; when it 

 is in his joints his mind becomes abnormally clear and vigorous. There 

 is thus a well-marked mental periodicity; the man liable to attacks of 

 gout is able to view the world from two entirely different points of 

 view; he has, as it were, two brains at his disposal; in the transition 

 from one state to another he is constantly receiving new inspirations, 

 and constantly forced to gloomy and severe self-criticism. His mind 

 thus attains a greater mental vigor and acuteness than the more equable 

 mind of the non-gouty subject, though the latter is doubtless much more 

 useful for the ordinary purposes of life. 



It must not be supposed that in thus stating a connection between 

 gout and genius it is thereby assumed that the latter is in any sense a 

 product of the former. All the uric acid in the world will never suffice of 

 itself to produce genius, and it is easy enough to find severe gout in in- 

 dividuals who are neither rich nor wise, but merely hard-working man- 

 ual laborers of the most ordinary intelligence. It may well be, however, 

 that, given a highly endowed and robust organism, the gouty poison acts 

 as a real stimulus to intellectual energy and a real aid to intellectual 

 achievement. Gout is thus merely one of perhaps many exciting causes 

 acting on a fundamental predisposition. If the man of genius is all the 

 better for a slight ferment of disease, we must not forget that if he is to 

 accomplish much hard work he also requires a robust constitution. 



It may be added that the other diseases of the uric acid group are 

 common among our men of genius. Rheumatism, indeed, is not men- 

 tioned a very large number of times, considering its prevalence among 

 the ordinary population. But stone, and closely allied conditions, are 

 mentioned seventeen times (five times in association with gout), and 

 as we may be quite sure that this is a very decided underestimate, we 

 must certainly conclude that the condition has been remarkably common. 



