Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1897-08-25
GENIUS AND STATURE.
The Incorrect DciicT Thnt Nearly All
GREAT Men Are Little


Great Men Are LittIe
We may safely conclude from the fiy.
ures that the faith cherished 10y MANY
that nearly all great men are little-a
very venerable faith, as indicated by
the ancient sayings collected in Bur.
tons ANATOMY OF Melancholy" con.
corning great wits with little bodies
Is absolutely Incorrect Some deduc-
ton must doubtless be made i'm view
of the fact that our medium is mnde on
the basis of the general population,
while the majority of men OF genius
belong to the educated classes. This
deduction would tend to equaIize the
two extremes, but that it would not
destroy the slight prominence of the
tall men OF ability is perhaps indicated
by the fact, shown by the anthropo-
metric committee, that the stature of
% fellows OF the Royal society (who
| from the present point of view may be
counted as men of gcnius) was nearly
| half an inch above that of the profes-
sional class TO which they usually be-
long. At the same time il is clear that
| the belief In the small size of great
men rs not absolutely groundless
| There is an abnormally large proper
ton OF small great men" IL is me-
diocrity alone that genius seems to
abhor. While among the ordinary pop
ulation the vast majority of 6s per cent.
was of middle height, among men OF
genius. so far as the present investiga-
ton goes, they are only % per cent. the
tall being ~ per cent. instead OF 10,
and the short -, instead OF lG.
Tho HuuI r.euIt Il,
that persons OF extraordinary mental
ability tend either to he taller or short
err than the average population, but
rather that they tend TO exhibit an un-
usual tendency TO variation. Even in
physical structure men Of genius pre-
sent characteristic which on other
grounds we may take TO be fundamental
IN them; they are manifestations OF the
variational tendency of physical and
psychic variational diathesis
There are certainly at least two types
of short men OF genius: the slight.
frail, but fairly symmetrical type zap.
proaching what is called the true
dwarD, aud the type OF the stunted
giant Ga type also To be found among
dwarfs proper. The former are fair
~ symmetrical, but fragile; generally
with little physical vigor or health, all
their energy being concentrated i'm tho
brain. Kant was Of this type. The
htunted giants are usually more vigor-
Gus, but lacking in symmetry. Far from
being delicately diminutive persons.
they suggest tall persons who have been
cut short below; in such the brain and
viscera seem 10 flourish at the expense
OF the limbs, and while abnormal they
often have the good fortune TO he ro-
bust both in mind and body Lord
Chesterfield was a man OF this type.
short for his size, thick set. with n
head big enough for Polyphemus;"
Hartley Coleridge carried the same tyne
10 the verge Of caricature, possessing
a large head. sturdy and ample form.
with ridiculously small arms and legs.
so that he was said 10 be "indescribably
elhsh and Rrotesque." Dryden-"Poet
Squab"-w again Of this type. as was
William Goodwin; ia Keats the abnor-
mally short legs coexisted with small
head. The typical stunted giant has a
large head; and such stunning Of tho
body has. indeed. u special tendency 70
produce large heads, ard therefore
doubtless those large brains which are
usually associated with extraordinary
intellectual power Havelock Ellis, in
Nineteenth Century