The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-07-29
CURIOUS TRAITS or GENUS.
Its Possessors Show Extremes in Their
Appearance and Tastes.

| Under the title Of Curious Traits In Mer
OF Gsnius," Prof. Lombroso contributes tt
the Pdrsi some interesting facts.
1t is pointed out that the great majority
Of men Of genius are to be found in ethel
Of two classes-the tallest or the shortest
Among men Of average mental attain
ments the greater number are Of average
height-of this class 10 per cent are Of high
10 per cent. OF low and SO per cent. Of medium
stature. Turning to men Of genius, 81
per cent. are low II per cent high and only
% per cent. medium. Examples Of short
A. C. S%winburne; Of the tall variety are
Petrarch, Goethe, Tennyson. An equally
well defined statement may be made re-
garding thin and stout men. or stout
geniuses may be mentioned Victor Hugo,
Renan, Lee, Rossini and Balsac; Of thin are
Pascal, Kepler, Voltaire, and Giotto.
Most men Of genius have a high brain
capacity. Lebon, on examining the skulls
OF t~wenty-six French men Of genius, found
that they yielded an average capacity Of
1,7s2 cubic oentimetres-a little more than
200 in excess Of the average.
OF the brains OF twelve famous Germans
studied by Wagner and Buohof, eight had
either q decidedly low or a very. high ca
padty; Dolhnger, l,2o7, and Liebig, 1882
for instance.
On the other hand, one had long believed
that . great development OF brain circum-
volution, together with symmetrical beauty
the man Of genius; but here also the exoep-
lions are numerous, an extraordinary
emadation Of the skull being frequently
noticeable.
We have not dealt with Inflammation Of
the brain membranes, shown In such q case
40 nnnnf0atEto. and We NAV fnntraaf wifi
the facial beauty and harmonious skull form
OF Helmholtz, Dante and Schopenhauer the
a~bnormally large features hereditary OF
such men as Skoda and Nobilis, who pos
sessed almost idiotio looks. 1t Is Int rest
ing to note that Clement vi. Is said to have
acquired genius as o result Of q blow which
his skull received In his childhood. CThe
Australian novelist Marcus Clarke had q
aimilar eIperienoe)
A common characteristic OF the creative
genius is contempt for the work Of others
Napoleon would have nothing to do with
asylum the man who discovered III; Vol
taire denied the value Of fossils to science.
Darwin jeered at hypnotism, and Virchow
absolutely denied DarwiniAm and criminal
n thropology. -,
rammed his niece's finger into his pipe
Tuoherel once forgot his name. The
Archbishop Of Munster, seeing on the door
OF his visitors room O notice which read
-The master Of this house is out, remained
there awaiting his own returnl
The gods must have an especial fond
ness for poets, for they have a decided
way Of dying young. OF forty-six cases.
showing an average age OF 90 years, nine
poets died between the ages Of 20 and 81
Byron, Shelley, Keats, Leopard and Poe
among them. OF thirty-nine artists and
soulptors, the average age attained was
90, one, Fortuny, dying young aged SO. OF
thirty musicians, with an average age OF
90 years, Auber was SO years old when he
died, and Verdi Sc; while four others died
young-Bellini, Bizet, Schubert, Mendels-
sohn.
Poets are often ~precocious. Dante wrote
q sonnet to Beatrice when he was Q years
old, Mozart gave q concert at Q, Tasso
wrote verses at 10, and Pascal at Is. 1t
Is, on the other hand, true that some men
have been backward; Alheri Wren, Hum
boldt, Linneus, Flaubert, and Domeniohino,
for instance.
Hatred Of music has been a Characters
ito OF some persons Of genius, especially in
literature, philosophy and history-e. g.,
johnson, Victor Hugo, Catherine H., lola,
Napoleon, Fontenelle, and Gautier. On the
other hand, among ardent lovers Of music
have stood Aristotle. Daudet,, Darwin
Goethe, Carlyle, Moore and Ruskin.