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Show IHUINS TO SCIENCE OTARTLINO DBQUHSTS OF FAMOUS MEN. Three llumlrril IVranna llmi Wlllert Their llradt In farh.ua Inilltutlont The Are Neither (ranks Knr I'ooli ut Atn i:tulnllonlla. (Special Letter.) Mafia linili: are 300 men In various part of too United Hlats who liavo U1iiMitli-iil U1iiMitli-iil their brains to silence. These men nio Dlther crank nor fool They represent the cream "' of American pro fessional lllc. Hut nevertheless It ! a ' ?ewsomc organization, thlt Aracrlcnn Anthropometric Society. Kancjr n man adding n codicil to his laat wilt and testament which provides that upon bid death his brain shall be removed and shall become the prorcrty of his boloved society. That U what these enthusiastic devotees ot setenco do. The brain which conceived and perfected per-fected the American Anthropometric Society was placed during the last week among the treasures of that organization, organiza-tion, comprising the brains of about rcrcnty other deceased members, which aro carefully preserved In the safo de posit vaults of the Wlslar Museum and llnstltuto of Anatomy In Philadelphia lit was In the broln of Dr. Wm. Pepper, Ithe eminent surgeon and physician, Who died In California on July 29, that tho Idea first originated ot forming form-ing nn association ot tcarnid men who should bequeath their brains to their fellow members for the advancement of science. Prior to that time the surgeon sur-geon and tho student ot nnatomy, In his tudy of the human sent of thought, had had to depend upon specimens derived de-rived from tho hospitals and the morgues. These wcro, of course, the brains ot men of the criminal class, or at least men of n low order ot Intellect. Intel-lect. Tho 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 w called at the house 'of I)r, Pepper at 1SI1 Bpruce street, Philadelphia, In the spring ot 1891, for the purpose of organising n movement that should make this study possible There were barely n half score of scientists scien-tists present upon that occasion, but they were all entbuslssts, and from that meeting grew the Anthropometric Society, whose membership now Include In-clude over 300 men prominent In various vari-ous walk of life, residing In various (' rrts of the country, whose brains are bjajj ' pledged to science. Dr. Joseph Leldy " was the first president of the society. 1 jBlUK4,,al,l hi brain wis the nrst lo b gnth-jJPPbWBWT gnth-jJPPbWBWT ered Into the treasury, for he died on lAprll 80, 1891, only a few weeks after the society' organization. Immediate-( Immediate-( ly after I)r. Uldy'a death an autopsy ws performed by Dr. Pepper and several sev-eral others, and the brain was removed, lt was found to be unusually heavy and richly convoluted, and It Is still the most Interesting of all the specimens now In the society's possession. It 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 offlclal seal ot the Wlstar Institute, designed by Iter. Dr Henry O. McCook, who Is also a lay ember of the society. To the uninitiated unini-tiated layman this centerpiece appears ,to be nothing more than an odd sort of sponge, surrounded by a wreath or wis. jtarla blossoms. It Is, however, an exact ex-act reproduction ot the upper surface 'of Dr. Leldy' brain, showing all the convolutions and fissures. Ot the members mem-bers who followed Dr. Ieldy thero Is phof. 1:. D. core. one whs. was more Interesting In many respects than hs. The late Professor 'Edward Drinker Cope, the foremost paleontologist of this country, whose unequalsd collection of fossils the Metropolitan museum made strenuous efforts to secure, bequeathed not only his brain, but his skeleton as well, to the scientific world. Dr. Cope died on fAprll 12, 1817, and his will directed that bla brain should go to the Anthropometric An-thropometric Society and his skeleton 4o the Wlstar Institute. The tatter fact was not made public at the time and the casual visitor to the Wlstar museum would never know of It now. The disjointed bones of the great scholar He In a rough box In the basement, base-ment, where they have remained untouched un-touched since the day which saw the completion of the process of maceration, macera-tion, Dr. Cope's skeleton Is of no more value to the Institution than that ot any other man, so far ss concerns scientific sci-entific study, and It Is not likely that It will ever be mounted for exhibition. ,lt Is Interesting, however, as showing the enthusiasm of the msn, who, after jglvlng the best of his life to science, bequeathed to It after death not only n goodly share of Ills wealth, but nleo all of hie body that could be of any possible value. An Interesting characteristic charac-teristic noted In the autopsy of Dr. Cope, and also In the caees of Dr. D Hajea Agnew and the late Dr Pepper, woe a thickening of the arterial system, sys-tem, Indicative f the extremely active nervous eyrie re of these three eminent men. As yet no olTlrlal examination has been made of the brnln of Dr Pepper, Pep-per, who was the society' third president, presi-dent, ho having succeeded the lato Dr. Harrison Allen. Dr. Pepper's brain was rcmoted and placed In a preserving preserv-ing Jnr by Dr. A. R Taylor, hi oftlce assistant, who was traveling Willi him n California when he died. The society so-ciety has been signally fortunate In securing se-curing the brains of Its deceased member, mem-ber, although In one or two notable Instance It has experienced annoying failure. Tho most Interesting case In point Is that of tho late lllehop Phillips Ilrooks of Mawachuselts Shortly before be-fore his death Dr. Ilrooks had In an nit wiu.iam pi:ppi:ii. Informal way become a member of the Anthropometric Society. The bishop died an Jan. 23, 1893, and on the evening even-ing of Jan. 24 Dr. Henry W, Cattell, who sm then curator ot tho society, started for Iloiton to make tha autopsy. autop-sy. The midnight express, upon which he was a passenger, was bowling along over tho Pennsylvania railroad at n speed that would have carried the doe-tor doe-tor to hi destination In amplo time. In his Inside, pocket Dr. Cattell carried tha written permission of Dr. Ilrooks to the Anthropometric Society to do what It pleased with his brain, and nil seemed plain sailing to him, Unfortunately Unfor-tunately two freight trains had collided Juit beyond Princeton and tha express came along In time lo become mixed up In the wrrck. Several men were Injured, and Dr. Cattell turned his attention at-tention to them. He accompanied one of the men to Trenton and attended him until be was placed In tho care of tho hospital authorities there. After that there was nothing for Dr. Cattell to do but tn return to Philadelphia and await the drat opportunity to get through. The next evening he started once more and got through to Iloston without mishap. He learned to his dismay, dis-may, however, that the bishop' body had been hermetically sealed that day, and could not be disturbed again, owing ow-ing to the fact that death had been due to diphtheria. Less than a year before that Dr, Cattell had made an effort to secure tho brain ot Watt Whitman, tho poet, but had encountered the vigorous vigor-ous opposition of the venerablo bard's family. Nevertheless he made the autopsy on March 37, 1892, and weighed and examined the brain, although ho was not permttted to take away the tissue. This sentimental opposition to the mutilation of the dead Is one of tho great difficulties with which tho society so-ciety bss bad to contend In Its relatione rela-tione with the families of members. So It Is that the organization has had to become, In a measure, a secret society, so-ciety, and there are now enrolled upon the membership list the names of somo men waoie connection with the organization organi-zation will never be made public. Among the medical men there Is no such disposition to conceal their affiliation affili-ation with the society, although their Immediate relatives may not bo qulto so case hardened. The medical profession pro-fession Is, a a matter of course, the one most largely represented In the membership. They rather encourago giving the movement all the publicity possible, with the view of educating tho laymen up to the beauties and the merits ot It. Each member appends his signature to a printed form ot bequest, be-quest, and among the bundle ot audi papers now In the archives appear ono which beara the signature of Dr. 8. Weir Mitchell, who Is equally distinguished distin-guished aa a physician and an author. Among the other prominent men whose brains will some day repose In the t res sure vaults of the society are Dr. A, Jacobl of New York, Dr, Putnam Put-nam of Iloston, Dr, Judson Do and ot Philadelphia, Dr. II. W. Cattell ot Philadelphia, Dr, V, X. Dercum of Philadelphia and many others ot more or leas distinction. Only the members ot the Anthropometric Society and a very few privileged officials ot the Wlstar Wls-tar Institute have access to the vault In which the society's treasures are stored. It Is located In the bassment, under the main showroom of the museum, mu-seum, and the approach to It leads through one of the workrooms In which many of the museum's exhibit are prepared for public display. This room Is well lighted from the sidewalk and Is generously supplied with electric lights, but the furniture Is extrculy mesger. Along one side of the room extends a broad table, generally Uttered Ut-tered with anatomical specimens and tools ot various sorts, In various atagea of Incompletlon, Here ono may see, carefully pickled In alcohol, the brain of a rare bird, whose stuffed body sdorns a case In the museum above; there ties the death mask of a peculiar species of orang-outang which recently died In the zoological gardens. A lino of preserving Jxrs of asiortcd !es occupies oc-cupies a shelf In on- corner, while In another corner there Is an unclassified I nau ot ethnological specimens gathered gath-ered In llorneo by Drs. Kurne and Hlller for the University of Pennsylvania. Pennsyl-vania. There are two doors In this npsrtment the ono you enter, the other you do not. Tho latter la the plain, heavy Iron door set Into tho wall, which bar the entrance to the vault of the Anthropometric Society. |