526 PROFESSOR MARSHALL ON THE BRAIN OF A BTJSHWOMAN ; AND 
not know the value of money. She was obedient to those around her, affectionate, and 
fond of carrying and nursing a doll. She never manifested any sexual propensity, though 
she menstruated regularly. She was not passionate, nor violent, but was susceptible 
of joy and fear. She could not feed herself with any degree of method or precision, 
nor could she dress herself ; in walking her gait was unsteady and tottering, the heels 
not bearing with any firmness on the ground. As already stated, her articulation was 
imperfect. There is no reason to suppose that she had any sense of religion, or idea 
of futurity. 
The idiot boy was born of healthy parents. They, however, were first cousins, and 
met with great vicissitudes of fortune, accompanied, as regards the mother, with other 
causes of grief. No ancestral relative, on either side, was known to have exhibited any 
mental defect ; but a second child, also a boy, one year younger, was likewise idiotic, 
though able to walk and to talk pretty distinctly. Both children were born at their 
full time; the mother was not frightened when pregnant with either of them. The 
brother is also dead now*. 
The boy whose brain we are about to describe did not notice persons or things till 
he was 6 months old, and then very little. He lived in London till he was 4 years of 
age, and was then sent into the country, but he could not be taught anything ; he could 
not articulate, nor walk, nor feed himself, and was regarded as unimprovable. 
When about 10 years of age he is described as having a remarkably small head, and 
a large face ; he had a fine set of teeth, large eyes, prominent nose, receding forehead, 
and features resembling those of the male Aztec. His hands and arms were perfectly 
formed. He often put his hands into his mouth, like an infant ; he was invariably fed, 
cleaned, and dressed by others. He smiled and cried ; he could not talk, but uttered 
inarticulate sounds. Even at this age he was unable to walk, or even stand; and 
though he grew taller and stouter, he never gained strength to move about, but sat all 
day in a chair with a rail in front, to prevent him from sliding out. At the age of 
10-^ years he weighed, with his clothes, 37 lbs., the weight of the clothes being 3 lbs. 
8|-oz. At the age of 11 he is said to have known persons, plucking at their garments, 
looking up in their face, laughing, and clapping his hands. By wriggling his chair 
about he contrived to move it a little way from its place; still he required to be 
dressed and fed, and could not handle anything. Subsequently he became irritable, 
fretful, and noisy, crying much, and striking the sides of his chair* or bedstead. He 
never manifested any further signs of intelligence, emotion, or will, or any power of 
articulate speech. It is said that the head did not grow larger during the last two 
years of his life. He died at the age of 12 from spinal abscess, followed by abscess in 
the lung. At his death the body measured, from vertex to sole, 39^ inches. Various 
measurements of the body and cranium, with other particulars, will be found in a 
paper in the ‘ Anthropological Review’ f. His incapability of walking was a true accom- 
* Dr. Down, of Earlswood Asylum, intends to publish an account of this boy’s brain. 
t For August 1863. 
