Spitzka and spitzka on the brains of the assassins of presidents

Abstract

Although four American Presidents have been assassinated (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy), only the assassins of Garfield (Charles Julius Guiteau) and McKinley (Leon Franz Czolgosz) were tried, convicted, and executed for their crime. In 1882 Edward Charles Spitzka, a young New York neurologist with a growing reputation as an alienist, testified at the trial of Guiteau. He was the only expert witness who was asked, based on his personal examination of the prisoner, a direct question concerning the mental state of Guiteau. Spitzka maintained the unpopular view that Guiteau was insane. In spite of aggressive and spirited testimony on Spitzka's part, Guiteau was convicted and hanged. However, even before the execution it was acknowledged, by some experts, that Spitzka was undoubtedly right. About 20 years later, in 1901, Edward Anthony Spitzka, the son of Edward Charles Spitzka, was invited to conduct the autopsy on Czologsz, the assassin of McKinley. At the time Spitzka the younger, who had just published a detailed series of papers on the human brain, was in the fourth year of his medical training. It was an unusual series of fortuitous events that presumably led to Edward A. Spitzka conducting the autopsy on the assassin of the President of the United States while still a medical student. This, in light of the fact that other experts were available. Each Spitzka went on to a career of note and each made a number of contributions in their respective fields. It is however, their participation in the ‘neurology’, as broadly defined, of the assassins of Presidents Garfield and McKinley that remains unique in neuroscience history. Not only were father and son participants in these important events, but these were the only times that assassins of US Presidents were tried and executed.     

Direct election of regional presidents and party change in Italy

This article assesses the impact that direct election of regional presidents has had on party politics in Italy. It finds regional presidents exert a growing personalisation of power within parties at sub-national levels, primarily through their capacity for political nomination and de facto status as party negotiators in the governing coalition. While presidents may shape structures of regional party competition, they remain constrained by coalitional politics and can struggle to assert their authority against powerful governing partners or local powerbrokers rooted in the legislature. They also possess few mechanisms to consolidate their position at national level, consistent with a broader tendency towards ‘stratarchy’ in multi-level parties. Although the distinction between densely and loosely structured parties remains relevant, a common trend towards ‘cartelisation’ at sub-national levels is noted as political parties prioritise the control of state resources and the governing legitimacy this entails. This article contributes to our broader understanding of the multi-level dynamics of party politics in Europe, as well as the unintended consequences of experimenting with an untested hybrid model of ‘directly elected Prime Minister’ in the Italian regions.     

The brains in Brain: the coevolution of localization and its images

Images of brain localization from Brain's inception to the present are analyzed. Textual representations and their accompanying images are shown to coevolve; that is, the technological and conceptual development of the research program of localization is shown to evolve simultaneously with the exploitation of visual resources that support these developments. The semiotics of Peirce, the social semiotics of Kress and van Leeuwen, and the insights of Gestalt psychology provide a critical vocabulary with which to describe and to analyze these visual resources. I conclude that brain images evolve in a manner that reflects the uniformity in measuring instruments and the increase in their precision in the localization of brain functions; at the same time, they draw attention away from a persistent constraint: the brain functions so precisely localized are just those that are not constitutive of our humanity.     

Pantheon of brains: the Moscow Brain Research Institute 1925-1936

The investigation of Lenin's brain by the German neurobiologist Oskar Vogt and his Russian collaborators in Moscow is one of the most exciting and simultaneously questionable chapters in the history of medicine. With the bizarre claim to be able to detect the material substrate of genius it provoked as much unrealistic expectations in the public as strong criticism by the scientific community of brain researchers. The following paper deals in a brief survey with the foundation and the early history of the Moscow Brain Research Institute (INSTITUT MOZGA) and its initial task - the collecting and mapping the brains of famous (Russian) persons in general and the investigation of Lenin's brain in particular.     

从考古资料看史前原始宗教的产生和初步发展

原始宗教的产生以灵魂观念的出现为开端,灵魂观念最早出现于旧百器时代中期,此后一直是原始宗教意识的中心内容。     

辛亥革命学术讨论会与辛亥革命史研究

在武汉举办纪念辛亥革命逢十周年学术讨论会,自1961年始,至今已举办4次。十年一度的以纪念为依托的辛亥革命学术讨论会,已形成蜚声海内外的学术品牌,同时也清晰地折射出辛亥革命史研究的发展脉络。半个世纪以来辛亥革命史的学科发展,固然因为辛亥革命这一历史事件本身具有巨大的魅力,但更与这四次辛亥革命学术讨论会有密不可分的关系。由这四次深具典型意义的讨论会管窥学术会议与学科发展之互动关系,或可为学术史的探讨提供一个新的视角。     

真实与虚构:《福尔摩沙的历史与地理》中的知识来源

荷兰在台湾殖民统治结束后,西方对台湾的关注并未因此中断,相反始终存在一种“福尔摩沙情结”。1704年萨玛纳札所著《福尔摩沙的历史与地理》出版,在满足读者猎奇心理的同时,亦与严肃的宗教、政治议题连结,引发了持续的争论,作者真假参半的台湾人身份始终扑朔迷离。厘析各方分歧,不仅可察知18世纪初期欧洲的台湾知识流布概貌与渠道,也能管窥不同国家在相异宗教信仰下对知识采取的迥异态度。     

灞河中下游河道历史变迁及其环境影响

灞河是西安市东部渭河支流,古都长安重要的天然屏障。灞河河道历史变迁及其环境影响研究是西安历史环境研究的重要内容。文章研究了灞河中下游河道的历史演变和环境影响,认为毛西村以上灞河中游河道演变主要表现为河道下切、西移,通过研究灞河右岸阶地,计算出了灞河中游河道自形成以来的西移、下切量。中游河道变迁产生的环境影响主要是白鹿原原边崩塌、滑坡等地质灾害严重。毛西村以下的下游河道秦汉以来河道位置比较稳定,文章提出汉代灞桥在段家村、下水腰村一带,汉代漕渠在解放村附近与灞河相交。历史上灞河下游河道变迁主要表现为河床淤积抬高,隋初至元代淤积量为2米左右,元代至清代淤积量为2.68米。河道淤积影响下游桥梁、渠道安全,沿河洪水灾害威胁严重。河道淤积的主要原因是历史上伴随蓝田县人口快速增加,秦岭植被遭到严重破坏,水土流失加剧。     

Britain and the Convention on the Future of Europe

If the reaction from the British Conservative Party and the right-wing press were to be believed, it would be easy to think that the constitutional treaty produced by the European Convention represented a failure for Britain. This article takes issues with such claims. It illustrates, by tracing British involvement within the Convention from its inception to the finalization of the draft treaty, that the British Government succeeded remarkably well in ensuring that the document reflected its major policy preferences.     

合浦与徐闻在海上丝路始发港地位与作用比较研究

合浦与徐闻是汉代海上丝路始发港,但对两者作为海港的地位和作用的比较研究至今是一片空白。文章从两者的地理条件、汉墓群的规模影响和分布、交通条件、军事条件方面进行综合分析后,认为合浦港具有徐闻港无法比拟的优势,影响大于后者是显然的。     

肇源白金宝、小拉哈遗址陶器刻划符号初识

肇源白金宝和小拉哈遗址出土陶器符号,是目前已知同类材料最北的地点.这些符号构形别致,结构比较讲究对称,运笔明快刻划硬朗,一般只见于陶盂器底.文章对其进行了整理分类,例举释意,并归纳了特点.指出肇源白金宝、小拉哈遗址之发现,应该是产生于特定文化背景下具有浓郁地域色彩的一套符号.     

论清末民初的边疆政党与政治——以云南为中心

政党的产生及政党政治的出现是近代中国政治现代化的重要标志之一。清末民初的云南虽然地处边疆,远离全国的政治中心,但其政党与政治活动作为全国的一个缩影,仍表现出清末民初政党政治的相关特点。云南由于特殊的地理位置及历史原因,在政党产生及其合法化的过程中又体现出边疆政党政治的相关特点,并一度成为政党革命的中心地区。     

清代经济宏观趋势与总体评价学术研讨会总结

这个发言我没有准备,因为是电话通知的,我忘了题目,一直以为是讨论典志的初稿.前天拿到会议手册,我才知道是讨论一个大题目,叫"清代经济宏观趋势与总体评价".     

药王山《谢永进造像碑》的年代与摩尼教信息解读

本文是对一件被忽视的老材料的详细观察和解读。《谢永进造像碑》现藏于陕西耀县药王山博物馆(图一),具体出土时间和地点不详,原存耀县范文正公书院,1936年迁耀县碑林,     

当前社会科学成果评价中存在的问题及对策探讨

创新是社会科学研究的基本原则。现行科研管理体制中的量化管理有悖于社会科学发展的内在规律,造成学术腐败现象扩大。要扭转重量轻质之风,就需要建立科学、完善的社会科学成果评价体系和评价标准。