property studied is the ratio $r=\Delta_{12}/\sigma_1$, where $\Delta_{12}$ is the average magnitude difference between the first and second brightest galaxies, and $\sigma_1$ the dispersion in the magnitude of the first brightest galaxy. It is possible to prove the powerful conclusion [@tr] that, if all galaxies are drawn from the same statistical distribution, regardless of its exact form, then $r\leq 1$. Observational results give a value for $r$ around 1.5 (e.g., @lm [@ls]), which would exclude this possibility.

This has led to the study of possible alternative scenarios for the formation of BCGs, in order to account for their special nature. One such is galactic cannibalism, initially proposed by Ostriker and collaborators [@ot; @oh; @ho]. Such a scenario is akin to taking the above case of having all galaxies drawn from the same distribution, but then merging the brightest of them with one or more of the others. From this simplistic model of the process, it is easy to see that this mechanism would help to solve the above problem, mostly by increasing the value of $\Delta_{12}$ as the luminosity of the first brightest galaxy is driven up by the mergers and the brightness of the surviving second brightest galaxy declines 