22 Franklin P. Mall. 



number of variations will be found in any corresponding series of 

 white cadavers. 



The hope has often been expressed that through the study of the 

 brains of men of genius anatomical conditions would be found 

 which may account for their eminence. In fact one of the first 

 studies included the brain of Gauss^'^ and showed that this particular 

 brain was unusually rich in gyri and sulci. Since then the brain of 

 Gauss has often been used as a type representing the highest develop- 

 ment. But Wagner says that higher intelligence may exist in indi- 

 viduals v/ith brains either rich or poor in gyri, but the normal brain 

 must be of a certain weight, a certain richness of gyri and sulci as well 

 as certain thickness of cortex. Since Wagner's time quite a large 

 number of brains of distinguished persons have been studied and in 

 general the conclusion has gradually been reached that with the 

 methods at our disposal we are unable to detect in their anatomy 

 conditions to account for great mental ability. The recent studies of 

 Retzius^^ all point in this direction, for he was unable to detect any- 

 thing remarkable in the brains of distinguished individuals, and no 

 one is more competent than this investigator to deal with this subject. 

 Within a year the report on the brains of Mommsen, Bunsen and 

 !Menzel has been published by Hansemann^'' who has also given an 

 account of the anatomical findings in the brain of Helmholtz. Hanse- 

 mann also concludes his study with a healthy scepticism, for he says 

 that within physiological limitations we cannot tell the brain of a 

 distinguished person from that of an ordinary one. He then falls 

 back on the analogy that muscular men are not necessarily athletic, 

 but under proper conditions could easily become so. Furthermore, 

 he predicts that individuals with unusual qualities in one direction, 

 but who are otherwise quite inferior, like mathematical prodigies or 

 remarkable chess players, may possess brains with portions unusually 

 well developed. The recent study by Stieda^^ of the brain of a man 



"Wagner. Vorstudien zu einer Wissenschaft. Morphol. d. Menschl, Gehirns, 

 etc., 1862. 



=*Retzius. Biol. Unt., VIII, 1898, IX, 1900. i 



^Hansemann. Ueber die Geliirne von Mommsen, Bunsen und Menzel, 

 Stuttgart, 1907. 



^"Stieda. Zeit. f. Morph. u. Authropol., XI, 1907. 



