Société Mutuelle d'Autopsie, American Anthropometric Society, and the Wilder Brain Collection

Abstract

Context.— In the late 19th century, mutual autopsy societies formed, first in Paris, France (1876) and later in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Members, who were often a who's who of anthropologists, physicians, intellectuals, and highly accomplished citizens, pledged to submit their bodies for autopsies to be performed by living society members so that their brains could be weighed and surface topography studied, with the results to be correlated with the decedents' intelligence and personal strengths during life. Objective.— To explore the short history of these societies, the science they produced, and their extensive newspaper coverage in the United States. Design.— Available primary and secondary historic sources were reviewed. Results.— The Société Mutuelle d'Autopsie in Paris and the American Anthropometric Society in Philadelphia had different motives, as the former was heavily influenced by French Third Republic politics and secularism. The American press provided titillating coverage of both and was particularly fascinated by scandals. In America, Burt Wilder formed a splinter group and established the Wilder Brain Collection at Cornell University. In a period where many anthropologists were making untrue claims that brain and skull measurements were largely determined by race and sex, Wilder and Franklin P. Mall of the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia independently published carefully conducted studies proving this was not the case. Conclusions.— Mutual autopsy societies and brain clubs conclusively established that brain weight was not an accurate predictor of intelligence but accomplished little else; they were phased out shortly after World War I but are the predecessor to modern-day brain banks.