The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1875-12-02

From this table it appears that while the
brains of Abercrombie and Cuver cxceed in
weight any Others recorded in the second
column, yet the average of the six wise men
falls below that of the six fools. PASSING
from this-the record of facts-the writer's
conclusions are certainly of ingenious il not
startling character. These conclusions are
in brief, defense of the theory that great
wit is nearly allied to madness IF, " saws
the writer, ''the occasional occurrancc of
very heavy brains among men Of great abil
ity is no proof of the general proposition
that all men of great intellectual capacity
have heavy brains, neither is the fact that
very heavy brains are found among lunatics
proof that large brains are not c,steris pari-
6aS, characteristic of the eapabiiity of ex-
istence of great mental power. The occur
renee among men of great ability, or even
genius, of instances in which lunacy may be
regarded as having tinged the products of
their minds, and, in some instances, inn
pregnated their works with the impassional
fervor which alone ennobles them, shows
tnat such an assumption would be altogether
gratuitous. Such men, for instance as BY
ron, Shelley, Poe, Lamb, Cowper, and in
some degree, Dean Swift, have given evi-
dence in their writings and their lives OF
of such taint. From the time of st. Paul,
the fervid apostle, Lucretius, the philo-
sophie, and Dante, the melanchohc poet.
down to that of DR.. johnson, the apostle Of
common-sense, the men are numerous who
have had ascribed to them the combination
of much learning and more or less madness;
and even in more recent times veil lies over
the lives OF many OF our great men and great
women, which, il it were to be removed,
would show that some of those who have
charmed us by their power have not been
exempt from the occasional or constant
workings of the genius of insanity. Every
day the observation of the poet tnat great
wit is nearly allied to madness gains wider
and more practical acceptance. That the
writer does not stand alone in this assump-
tion he proves by quoting from DIR. Wilks,
who, in recent number of the Journal of
Mental Science, goes 50 far as to claim that
it is the insane element which imparts what
we call genius to the human race, 'the true
celestial fire." and thus it is that the mad
man has been called inspired, and thought
to have in hlm touch of divinity Nor
does the writer recede from this PROPOSE
ton in view of the inevitable conclusion.
Though deprecatng the possible propaga-
tion of a race tainted with insanity, he still
concludes that, in certain instances, the in
fusion of insane blood may be desirable, be-
lieving that it might easily be shown that
sucu lhiuslohs has given genius 10 Wnole
family, leavening the whole mass. Though.
as appears in the instances and the table
above cited. DIR. Lawson places little value
on the brain-weight as direct evidence of
intellectual capacity, yet that there are
cranial characteristics tending to determine
this he believes, and to the nature Of these
he refers, in conclusion, as follows: s'It is
worthy the renewed notice that, in the brain
referred to in the first case (sixty-one
ounces), the complexitY of the convolutions
is quite as Characteristic as the usual weight.
AS have not seen the brains referred to In
the last two instances, l am unable TO say
what was the extent of the differentiation of
their gyri; but the general principle that the
multiplicity of the gyri is more charactens-
tic than large size as gauge OF intellectual
capacity may readily be accepted as safe
one."