The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1898-12-03

grewsome organization, this American
Anthropometric Society. Fancy a man
adding a codicil to his last will and
testament which provides that upon
his death his brain shall be removed
and shall become the property OF his
beloved society. That is what these
enthusiastic devotees of science do.
The brain which conceived and per-
fected the American Anthropometrlc
Society was placed during the last week
among the treasures of that organiza-
ton, comprising the brains Of about
seventy other deceased members, which
are carefully preserved in the safe de-
post vaults of the Wistar Museum and
Institute of Anatomy in Philadelphia.
1t was In the brain Of DR.. VIM. Pepper,
the eminent surgeon and physician,
who died in California on July 20,
that the idea first originated of form
ing an association of learned men who
should bequeath their brains to their
fellow members for the advancement
OF science. Prior to that time the sur
geon and the student of anatomy, in
his study of the human seat of thought,
had had to depend upon specimens de-
rived from the hospitals and the
morgues. These were, of course, the
brains Of men of the criminal class, or
at least men of a low order of intel
lect. The benefits that should accrue
to science from the study of the highly
trained and educated brain had been
much discussed in the medical world,
and a meeting was called at the house
OF DR.. Pepper at 1911 Spruce street,
Philadelphia, in the spring of 1891, for
the purpose Of organizing a movement
that should make this study possible.
There were barely a half score Of scien-
lists present upon that occasion, but
they were all enthusiasts, and from
that meeting grew the Anthropometric
Society, whose membership now in
cludes over 300 men prominent in vari-
gu walks of life, residing in various
parts of the country, whose brains are
pledged to science. DR.. Joseph Leidy
was the first president of the society,
and his brain was the first to be gath
cred into the treasury, for he died on
April 80, 1891, only a few weeks after
the society's organization. Immediate
ly after DR.. Leidy's death an autopsy
was performed by DR.. Pepper and sew
eral others, and the brain was removed.
1t was found to be unusually heavy and
richly c~onvoluted, and it is still the
most interesting of all the specimens
now in the society's possession. 1t was
photographed and then bottled up in
a solution of lead, which is deemed the
most perfect method of preservation.
From the photograph was made the
centerpiece of the official seal of the
Wistar Institute, designed by Rev. DR..
Henry G. McCook, who is also a lay
member Of the society. To the unini-
tiated layman this centerpiece appears
to be nothing more than an odd sort of
sponge, surrounded by a wreath of wis
taria blossoms. 1t is, however, an ex-
act reproduction of the upper surface
Of DR.. Leidy's brain, showing all the
convolutions and assures. OF the men,
bers who followed DIR. Leidy there is
n who was more interesting in many
respects than he. The late Professor
Edward Drinker Cope, the foremost
PdloOAlOlOSlSI VI lHlS country, WHOSE
unequaled collection of fossils the
Metropolitan museum made strenuous
efforts to secure, bequeathed not only
his brain, but his skeleton as we'll, to
the scientific world. DR.. Cope died on
April II, 1897, and his will directed
that his brain should go to the An
thropometric Society and his skeleton
to the Wistar Institute. The latter
fact was not made public at the time
and the casual visitor to the Wistar
museum would never know of it now.
The disjointed bones Of the great
scholar lie in a rough box in the base
ment, where they have remained I'M
touched since the day which saw the
completion of the process of macera-
ton. DR.. Cope's skeleton is of no more
value to the institution than that Of