“Whenever the psychic forces surpass the ordinary limits of their action, whether we consider them in their most elevated manifestations—those in appearance the most independent of the organization—or in their simplest and most rudimentary expression, whether in the most transcendent operations of the intellect, or in the unelaborated and almost material fact of sensation—the cause must be sought in certain neuropathic conditions of the subjects.”

No attempt is made by Moreau to define genius or to attach a psychological meaning to the term. In his examples he treats all men as geniuses who have accomplished anything famous in any department, without regard to their psychical divergencies. He might therefore just as well have stated his proposition in these terms: All men who have ever accomplished anything very remarkable were insane. This seems to be a fair statement of his real position.