September 26, 2001

3:06 PM

So you read the "Madman and the Professor" and thought it interesting. Edward Ruloff is another murdering philologist with the extra cachet that his 1871 trial for killing a dry-goods clerk was one of the first to test the admissability of photographs as evidence. The Supreme Court agreed with lower rulings that they could be allowed; Ruloff was hanged. In 1845, he had been accused of murdering his wife and child and was imprisoned for ten years for the abduction of his wife, but without a corpus delecti, he could not be convicted for the murder of his child. This man is writing a biography of Ruloff; a publisher could do a lot worse.
posted by Mo Nickels (3 comments total)

Ruloff's brain is on display in Uris Hall at Cornell University. He had one big noggin, I'll tell you that.
posted by chacal at 3:58 PM on September 26, 2001

hef, href..what's the difference..

Here's the brain, if anyone's interested
posted by chacal at 3:59 PM on September 26, 2001

The brain is also found on page two of the "Edward Ruloff" link above, along with more interesting images and documentation.
posted by Mo Nickels at 4:20 PM on September 26, 2001