The Czolgosz Autopsy

RESULTS OF EXAMINATION OF MURDERER’S BRAIN
TO BE MADE KNOWN.

     For some time a large number of persons actively interested in medical science have been anxious to learn if the brain, or some part of it, of Leon Czolgosz, the murderer of President McKinley, had not been obtained by some medical men for the purpose of studying it. Reports of the autopsy performed on the body of Czolgosz said that a microscopical examination of the brain was made at that time, and that after the autopsy the body was buried, and that a carboy of acid was poured over the coffin, in the hope that the body would be entirely disintegrated as quickly as possible.
     In spite of these reports, many people have been inclined to doubt their truthfulness, for the reason they had heard that a report about the condition of the brain of Czolgosz, which would be of special interest to alienists, would soon be issued. Any cause for such doubts, however, were set at rest yesterday when it became widely known that the report in question was to be made from a study of charts showing the condition of the brain and from a careful review of the findings of the autopsy. That such a report is to be made was corroborated last night at the home of Dr. E. C. Spitzka by a Tribune reporter.
     It was said that this report is being prepared by E. A. Spitzka, the son of Dr. Spitzka, who performed the autopsy on the body of Czolgosz, under the immediate supervision and direction of Drs. Carlos F. Macdonald and John Gerin, the physician connected with Auburn Prison. The announcement that this autopsy occupied more than three hours, together with the fact that the microscopical examination of the brain showed that it was slightly above normal, seemed to give all the facts that the majority of persons cared to know. They gave, in view of what was learned yesterday, only a meagre picture of the scene at the prison after the body was placed on the autopsy table.
     The warden of the prison was firm in his stand that no part of the body of the murderer was to be taken away from the prison for further examination. If alienists and others were not to have the opportunity of later studying the brain itself, something should be done, it was decided by some of those present at the autopsy, to obtain material for further examinations. So E. A. Spitzka made accurate drawings and detailed anatomical descriptions of the brain for subsequent study and for his report. When this report will be made public has not been announced.