Date: 1779, 1781

"Whatever be his subject he never fails to fill the imagination."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)

Date: 1784

"And hence it will follow, that with the foregoing exceptions, we may, among Europeans, bring genius to actual admeasurement, and determine its degrees by the size of the possessor's head, just as an exciseman gauges a beer barrel."

— Ramsay, James (1733-1789)