STUDY OF BRAINS OF SIX EMINENT SCIENTISTS AND SCHOLARS. 235 



and zoology and would doubtlessly have achieved much more for science had not 

 his conscientious devotion to an active medical practice interfered therewith. An 

 untimely death prevented the name of Dr. A. J. Pai'ker fromjbecoming as famous 

 among cerebral morphologists as was indicated by his valuable and original contribu- 

 tions to the science of brain morpholog3^ 



It is with the assurance tliat I have endeavored to conduct the studies of these 

 notable specimens in an impartial, unprejudiced frame of mind, though ever heedful 

 of the fact that I was dealing with the brains of men belonging to a most brilliant 

 coterie of intellectual masters and leaders, that I now submit my observations in pub- 

 lished form. 



At the risk of being thought repetitious I wish to add another word as to the 

 legitimacy of the demands of science for more such brains. Investigations of this kind 

 are chiefly prevented by the objections of the relatives of the deceased. The very sug- 

 gestion of an autopsy with this object in view is looked upon with horror. I think, 

 however, that in time people will learn that an anatomic examination of this kind, 

 conducted with expert hands, no more violates respect for the body of the deceased 

 than does the embalming process. To me the thought of an autopsy is certainly less 

 repugnant than I imagine the process of cadaveric decomposition in the grave to be. 



The methods pursued in the course of my studies on these six brains has been to 

 note : (a) observations on the present weight of the encephalic parts and the relations 

 which these bear to each other ; (h) a systematic description of the fissural and gyral 

 pattern ; (c) stereographic drawings of the cerebral halves from the dorsal, ventral, 

 mesal and lateral aspects; (d) direct measurements ; (e) projection measurements based 

 upon the stereographic drawings and carried out according to a scheme devised and 

 adopted by the author some time ago. Although a number of S3'stems of measurement 

 have been proposed, not all have stood the test of time and critics. I find those 

 measurements best which can be reduced from absolute to relative values wherein 

 some unit of length, preferably the maximum cerebral length, is used as a basis of 

 expression rather than so many inches or centimeters. Hence I prefer to use cen- 

 tesimals of the length of the cerebrum in order that such records may be found useful 

 by other workers in the same field. Of course any method of measurement cannot be 

 well employed except on brains which have not suffered undue distortion during the 

 process of hardening. The system formulated here may not be, in its several parts 

 original with the author, for many items have in fact been chosen from the writings 

 of Cunningham, Broca, Chiarugi, Marshall, Huschke, Hrdlicka, Eberstaller and others, 

 but as a newly combined system it appears to cover the salient points in the matter 

 of cerebral measurement. The measurements of the cerebrum, cerebellum and pons 

 are recorded separately. 



