244 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



large, weighing fifty-four ounces, whicli 

 is five ounces above the average. " The 

 membranes and gray matter were found 

 in a healthy state, and the convolutions 

 were perfect. An incision disclosed no 

 softening, and a critical examination 

 failed to discover any organic malfor- 

 mation or disease." And it was there- 

 fore the opinion of the examiners that 

 there was nothing in the organ to in- 

 dicate insanity. Of this it may be said : 

 1. That a hurried examination, under 

 such circumstances, of so delicate and 

 complex an organ, and where the indi- 

 cations of morbidity are often most ob- 

 scure, is not in the highest degree trust- 

 worthy ; 2. That insanity may exist 

 where dissection cannot detect the evi- 

 dence of it in the cerebral tissues, as 

 where it is due to a morbid condition 

 of the hlood; 3. If profound disease 

 Tiad been discovered in the organ, it 

 would not have been held to ])rove in- 

 sanity, and we should have been re- 

 minded of those cases in which exten- 

 sive brain - disease has coexisted with 

 entire sanity. We should have been 

 further assured that the proof of insan- 

 ity is not in the disclosures of the scal- 

 pel, but in the manifestations of con- 

 duct. The state of public feeling and 

 intelligence is well indicated by the 

 tone of some of the newspapers, which 

 insist that maniacal murderers may just 

 as well be hanged and got out of the 

 way as other murderers. One of them 

 says : " Had Waltz been a resident of 

 this city he would not have been 

 hanged, probably, but would have es- 

 caped on the plea of insanity. Fortu- 

 nately, however, be is hanged and well 

 out of the way ; and we doubt not that 

 society, in the light of such facts as his 

 crime presents, will eventually come to 

 the view that it must hang all murder- 

 ers, sane or insane." In such a case, 

 as another morning paper remarks, "if 

 the maniac is hanged, it is highly de- 

 sirable that he should be hanged as a 

 maniac, so that the community and the 

 asylums may know how they stand in 



relation to each other." An excellent 

 suggestion, which might be carried out 

 by doing this branch of the business in 

 the State asylums for the benefit of the 

 lunatics. 



Theee has been much inquiry in 

 this country for a good portrait of Her- 

 bert Spencer, and preparations have 

 been, for some time, in progress to 

 furnish it. Mr. Spencer was requested 

 to sit for an oil-painting, and to select 

 his artist for the work. He chose Mr. 

 W. H. Burgess, of London, one of the 

 greatest masters of expression in our 

 time, and the work produced is re- 

 garded by Mr. Spencer, and by those 

 who know him, as a remarkable suc- 

 cess in portraiture. The portrait, which 

 is now on exhibition at the Academy, 

 has been, for several months, in the 

 hands of H. B. Hall, jr., for the produc- 

 tion of a large steel engraving suitable 

 for framing. The print is an excellent 

 likeness and an elegant work of art, 

 and it will be the picture by which Mr. 

 Spencer Avill be known to the future. 

 A limited number of artist's proofs 

 have been taken on fine India paper, 

 price ten dollars, and those who wish 

 to possess themselves of one of these 

 impressions may do so by applying 

 to the editor of The Popular Science 

 Monthly. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



The Land of the White Elephant. Sights 

 and Scenes in Southern Asia. A Per- 

 sonal Narrative of Travel and Advent- 

 ure in Farther India, embracing the 

 Countries of Burma, Slam, Cambodia, 

 and Cochin-China (1871, '72). By Frank 

 Vincent, Jr. 316 pp. Price, $3.50. 

 Harper & Brothers, New York, 

 The perversity by which language be- 

 comes turned to the conveyance of false 

 ideas seems to be as universal as it is in- 

 veterate : near home, the June magazines 

 are pubhshed in May, and journals are is- 

 sued once a quarter, while in Farther India 

 the white elephant is as " black as a coal," 



