50 J. V. HULTKEANTZ 



If one furthermore takes into consideration that the size of the 

 cranium and the brain undoubtedly stand in a certain relation to the 

 size of the body, and that Swedenboeg's stature, as shoAvn above, was 

 rather small, and also that the cranium contained in the coffin, in 

 comparison with the older Upsala crania with which it should in the 

 first place be compared, is in no wise small, but rather large, I do 

 not think that anything may, from a scientific point of view, be opposed 

 to the possibility that Swedenboeg had a brain which could have been 

 contained within the compass of the skull before us. 



Neither does it appear to me that the form of our cranium can 

 lead to any scientifically founded doubt as to its authenticity. It is of 

 course a very common theory that the higher intellectual functions are 

 chiefly localized in the frontal lobe, and it may therefore arouse a cer- 

 tain suspicion to see that the frontal region of the cranium is relatively 

 less developed than the back of the head. As, however, it is impossible 

 to determine on an intact cranium the boundary between the frontal 

 and parietal lobes of the brain, it is an utterly vain undertaking to 

 judge of the relative development of the different parts of the brain 

 from the external shape of the skull. We must unfortunately abstain 

 for reasons of piety from a cross-sectioning of the cranium, which 

 would have made possible a study of the rehefs on the inner side. 

 That a high grade of intelligence is fully compatible with a relatively 

 feeble development of the anterior portion of the brain-case is apparent, 

 among other cases, from the description by Kuppee & Bessel Hagen i« 

 of the skull of Immanuel Kant, whose frontal region, as far as one is 

 able to judge from representations and measurements, exhibits a very 

 great agreement with the corresponding part of the cranium in Swe- 

 denboeg's coffin. Kant's skull, like the one before us, is relatively 

 low, but in other respects exhibits essential differences; it is consider- 

 ably broader and shorter, consequently more brachycephahc (Index 88.5), 

 and, as is evident from the figures furnished above, it is more than 

 200 cub. cm. more capacious. 



One may with quite great probability conclude from the external 

 relief of the temporal region, described above on page 37, that the 

 third frontal gyrus of the brain was relatively well developed, especially 

 on the left side. It ought therefore to be mentioned that Gall locates 

 in this part of the brain the mechanical as w^ell as the musical talents, 

 and that Swedenboeg, in both these respects, was richly endowed. 

 The whole question is as yet too uncertain, even if the points in que- 



