The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1909-07-29
CRANIAL FLUCTUATION.
Size of the Heads of Well-Known
Men Compared by Punch.

Men Compared by Punch.
In an Illuminating Interview which
appears In Cassell's Saturday Journal,
DR.. Eernard Hollander maintains
that heads generally are increasing
In size, "the reason being that the
| intellect and the emotions are more
| freely exercised than they we're.
With increase of mental exercise
there Is a corresponding enlargement
of heads, though, OF course, In the
case of those who merely vegetate
there is no growth of brain" We
are glad to be able to throw further
light on this fascinating topic,
thanks to the researches of an emf
nent craniologist, who, however, de-
sires to remain anonymous.
One of the strangest cranial coin
dents on record Is the fact that the
tow famous interviewers, Mr.. Ray
/ mond Blathbie and Mr.. Harold
Beghthwayt take exactly the same
size In hats, Z is. Here, however,
the resemblance ends, for while Mr..
Blathbe is a man of gigantic statue,
Mr.. Begthwayt only scales 154
pounds.
Sir Oliver Lodges wonderful dome
shaped head, which has so striking
resemblance to that OF Pericles, has
been growing steadily since he went
to live at Birmingham. His anthropo-
metric measurements are indeed re-
| markable, for while he Is only forty
oh h. L.,
: forty-eiSht round the head No
stock size in hats fits him, and
Messrs. Linnett and Bencolm have
to retain a special assistant who Is
exclusively employed to minister to
the needs of their massive-brained
customer. Recently asked to ac-
count for the cause of this phenome-
nal development. Sir oliver attrib-
uted 1t to the extraordinary intel
lectual atmosphere OF Birmingham.
Personally he regrets his frontal dis
tension, as 1t renders him too con-
spicuous In crowd and leads to oc-
casional collisions in negotiating a
narrow doorway.
Mr.. Harry de Queux, the famous
Arctic explorer. diplomatist and nov
elist, in the course Of recent inter-
view with representative of the
Halter and Capper gave some aston
ishing interesting details as to the
strange fluctuations in size Of his own
Uranium, according to the nature Of
the company he kept. To express the
matter with scientific accuracy, he
found that the bulk OF his head va
ried in a direct ratio with the rank
of his interlocutor Thus. after in
terviewing Kaiser, or witnessing
the marriage OF an ex-Crown Prin-
cess, he simply could not insert his
head into hat Of normal size. and
on more than one occasion had to
remain bareheaded for forty-eight
hours.
Asked as to the probable effect on
his brain Of his forthcoming sojourn
in the Arctic regions, Mr.. de Queux
cautiously observed that. while frost
contracted metals, t undoubtedly
tended to expand water. as might be
seen from the familiar and distress
ing experience of the British house
holder during a severe winter. Fur
ther asked whether 1t was true that
his head was bigger than Mr.. Glad
stones, Mr.. de Queux modestly de-
clin.d to challenge invidious COM
parsons with the mighty men of the
past
Sir ]. Crichton Browne indorsed
what Dr.. Hollander had said
about big heads not monopo-
lizing intellect. Idiots. vegeta-
rians and wearers of Harris
Tweed had invariably large heads.
Mr.. Bernard Shaw said that he could
not swear that his head had grown
since he had dethroned Shakespeare,
becaus. he never wore tall hat, and
was generally photographed without
headgear. Large heads were COM
monty found in the Criminal classes,
such as archbishops. publishers, and
the like. For his own part he had
cultivated, not size but hardness.
From earliest youth he had stood
on his head and invariably wrote in