o Aavaan tvnoiivn 3NiDia3vv W»l A BRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF* I 1 o Aavaan TVNOIIVN IBRARY OF MEDICINE 3NiDia3w jo Aavaan ivnouvn NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IE io Aavaan TVNOIIVN 3NIDIQ3W jo Aavaan TVNOIIVN \ 3NiDia3w jo Aavaan^ IBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE jo Aavaan tvnoiivn snidiosw jo Aavaan tvnoiivn IBRARY OF MEDICINE " NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF I 1 jo Aavaan tvnoiivn BNiDiaaw jo Aavaan tvnoiivn 3NIDia9W JO AMVaflll %y t vfe' i ■■•#&> i v. ICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE iouvn sNiDiaaw jo Aavaan tvnouvn u 3NiDiaaw jo Aavaan tvnouvn 6 DICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE Q ' nouvn 3NiDia3w jo Aavaan tvnouvn 3NiDia3w jo Aavaan TVNOUVN ^ 1 , 5 \; J 5 DICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE 'NOUVN 3NIDIQ3W JO AaVaaiT TVNOUVN 3NIDIQ3W JO AavaaiT TVNOUVN EDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE ^ NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE r\. ✓NOUVN 3NIDIQ3W JO AavaaiT TVNOIIVN 3NIDIQ3W JO AavaaiT TVNOUVN NAMES OF THE PHRENOLOGICAL ORGANS, REFERRING TO THE FIGURES INDICATING THEIR RELATIVE POSITIONS. AFFECTIVE. INTELLECTUAL. 1. Propensities. 1 Amativeness. 2 Philoprogenitiveness. 3 Concentrativeness. 4 Adhesiveness. 5 Combativeness. 6 Destructiveness. f Alimentiveness. 7 Secretiveness. 8 Acquisitiveness. • Constructlveness. 2. Sentiments. 10 Self-esteem. 11 Love of Approbation. 12 Cautiousness. 13 Benevolence. 14 Veneration. 15 Firmness. 16 Conscientiousness. 17 Hope. 18 Wonder. 19 Ideality. 1 Unascertained. 20 Wit or Mirthfulaess. 21 Imitation. 1. Perceptive. 22 Individuality. 23 Form. 24 Size. 25 Weight. 26 Colouring. 27 Locality. 28 Number. 29 Order. 30 Eventuality. 31 Time. 32 Tune. 33 Language. 2. Reflective. 34 Comparison, 35 Causality. gu \j ilk Of V* ~' * ' ^> X . -'"' SYSTEM PHRENOLOGY GEORGE COMBE. RES NON VEBBA QUjESO. THE ONLY COMPLETE AMERICAN EDITION, BEING FROM THE FMJRTH AND LAST (REVISED AND ENLARGED) EDINBURGH EDITION. WITH UPWARD OF ONE HUNDT|ED*ENGR*y-INGS. fry 'TT SUfiiiEO,« GENERAL'S OFFICE SEP 1 61910 NEW YORK: WILLIAM H. COLYER, No. 5 Hague-street, BOSTON: LEWIS & SAMPSON. 1844. to7fO$ V3 F PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The following are the circumstances which led to the publication of the present work: My first information concerning the system of Drs. Gall and Spurz- heim was derived from No. 49 of the Edinburgh Review. Led away by the boldness of that piece of criticism, I regarded the doctrines as contemptibly absurd, and their authors as the most disingenuous of men. In 1816, however, shortlyafter the publication of the Review, my friend Mr. Brownlee invited me to attend a private dissection of a recent brain, to be performed in his house by Dr Spurzheim. The subject was not altogether new, as I had previously attended a course of demonstrative lectures on Anatomy by Dr. Barclay. Dr. Spurzheim exhibited the structure of the brain to all present, (among whom were several gentlemen of the medical profession,) and contrasted it with the bold averments of the reviewer. The result was a complete convic- tion in the minds of the observers, that the assertions of the reviewer were refuted by physical demonstration. The faith placed in the Review being thus shaken, I attended the next course of Dr. Spurzheim's lectures, for the purpose of hearing from himself a correct account of his doctrines. The lectures satisfied me that the system was widely different from the representations given of it by the reviewer, and that, if true, it would prove highly impor- tant ; but the evidence was not conclusive. I therefore appealed to Nature by observation; and at last arrived at complete conviction of the truth of Phrenology. In 1818 the Editor of the " literary and Statistical Magazine for Scotland " invited me to a free discussion of the merits of the system in his work, and I was induced to offer him some essays on the subject. The notice which these attracted led to their publication in 1819, in a separate volume, under the title of " Essays on Phrenology." Asecond edition of these Essays has since been called for, and the present vo- lume is offered in compliance with that demand. In the present work I have adopted the title of " A System of Phrenology," on account of the wider scope, and closer connexion of its parts; but pretend to no novelty in principle, and to no rivalry with the great founders of the science. The controversial portions of the first edition are here almost entirely omitted. As the opponents have quitted the field, these appeared no longer necessary, and their place is supplied by what I trust will be found more interesting matter. Some readers may think that retribu- tive justice required the continued republication of the attacks of' the opponents, that the public mind, when properly enlightened, might express a just disapprobation of the conduct of those who so egregious- ly misled it: but Phrenology teaches us forbearance; and, besides, it will be misfortune enough to the individuals who have distingished themselves in the work of misrepresentation, to have their names iv PERFACE. handed down to posterity as the enemies of the greatest and most im- portant discovery ever communicated to mankind. In this work the talents of several living characters are adverted to, and compared with the developement of their mental organs—which is a new feature in philosophical discussion, and might, without ex- planation, appear to some readers to be improper: but I have founded such observations on the printed works and published busts or casts of the individuals alluded to; and both of these being public property, there appeared no impropriety in adverting to them. In instances in which reference is made to the cerebral developement of persons whose busts or casts are not published, I have ascertained that the observa- tions will not give offence. 1825. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FOURTH EDITION. The cause of Phrenology continues prosperously to advance, and I hail with pleasure the increase of its advocates. Since the third edition of this work was printed, Dr. Vimont, of Paris, Dr. Caldwell, of Lexington, and Mr. Macnish, of Glasgow, have contributed valua- ble additions to the philosophy or literature of the science. During the same interval the present work has been reprinted in America, and very ably translated into German by Dr. Hirschfeld, of Bremen; while the "Elements of Phrenology" have been translated into French by Dr. Fossati. The study of the science thus appears to increase in all the enlightened countries of the globe. Large additions have been made to the present edition; improved cuts have been used; and, in treating of topics of interest, I have added references to other phrenological works in which they are discussed or illustrated, so as to render this edition an index, as far as possible, to the general literature of the science. The appendix contains Tes- timonials in favour of the truth of Phrenology, and of its utility in the classification and treatment of criminals, presented in February, 1836, by Sir George S. Mackenzie, one of the earliest and most zealoua advocates of the science, to Lord Glenelg, Secretary for the Colonies. His lordship transmitted the documents to Lord John Russell, Secre- tary for the Home Department, who promised to Sir George S. Mac- kenzie to bestow on them due consideration. Dr. Spurzheim, in the American edition of his " Phrenology," published at Boston in 1832, has adopted a new arrangement of the organs, different from any which he had previously followed. It will be impossible, however, to arrive at a perfect classification and nume- ration of the organs until the whole of them shall have been discovered, and the primitive or elementary faculties shall have been ascertain- ed. Any order, therefore, adopted in the meantime, must be to some extent arbitrary. Dr. Spurzheim has shown this to be the case by the frequent alterations which he has made in the numeration of the organs, without having added any corresponding discoveries to the science The difficulties attending a correct classification are stated in the Appendix, No. II., and for the present I retain the order followed in the third edition of this work as a matter of convenience. Edinburgh, 31st October, 1836. CONTENTS. Page Introduction, -•- ...-.-• 25 Opposition to Discoveries, --•-••■ ib. The Brain the Organ of the Mind, .... 28 Plurality of Faculties and Organs, ...... 36 Influence of Size on the power of Organs, - -_ • - 41 Temperament and Disease modify the eflfects of Size, 48 Effects of Exercise, - ......50 Connexion of particular Faculties and Organs, 52 Efforts of Metaphysicians, .---.---53 of Moralists, Poets, and Divines, ----- 55 of Physiologists, ........56 History of Dr. Gall's Discovery, ...... 60 Functions of the Nerves and Spinal Marrow, .... - 64 Principles of Phrenology, -----•• - • 69 Discrimination of Mental Dispositions and Talents, ... - 70 The Brain, Cerebellum, and Skull,.......72 Integuments of the Brain, --...--..79 Bones of the Skull, - .....80 Frontal Sinus, ..--...-...82 Practical Application of- the Principles, -..--- 84 Length and breadth of Organs, ---....-89 Phrenological Bust, -...-....-91 Forms of Organs, ...--.•--•92 Terms used, ......-».-- ib. Absolute Size no criterion, ...-..--95 Brains of Lower Animals, ------«« - 96 Temperaments, ..... .... 48, 97 Power and Activity, -.--.-.••-98 What is a Faculty [-...---.•-101 Division of the Faculties, ----«•••• 105 Natural Language of the Faculties, ----•-• 106 FACULTIES. Order 1.—FEELINGS, - ......107 Genus I.—Propensities, ..---••- ib. 1. Amativeness, -..---•.ib. 2. Philoprogenitiveness, - • - - • - -111 3. Concentrativeness, - .... ..119 4. Adhesiveness, - - ... 130 5. Combativeness, -.--.-.- 133 6. Destructiveness, - - - - - - » -138 Alimentiveness, -------- 151 Love of Life, ..------ 156 7. Secretiveness, -------- 157 8. Acquisitiveness, - - - - - - - -165 9. Constructiveness, ....--- 173 Genus II.—Sentiments, --------- 180 1. Sentiments common to Man and the Lower Animals, - 181 10. Self-Esteem,........ib. 11. Love of Approbation, ------- 189 12. Cautiousness, -------- 194 2. Superior Sentiments, ..--.- 199 13. Benevolence, __.----- 200 14. Veneration.......---208 I* vi CONTENTS. 15. Firmness. 16. Conscientiousness, 17. Hope, - 18. Wonder, 19. Ideality, 20. Wit or Mirthfulness, 21. Imitation, Order II.—INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, • Genus I.—External Senses, -.--••• Feeling or Touch, ..-•••• Taste, ----.-•••- Smell, .....-••• Hearing, ------ •• Sight,.......... Genus II.—Intellectual Faculties which phocureKnowledge of External Objects, their Physical Qualities, and various Relations, 22. Individuality, 23. Form, - 24. Size, - 25. Weight, 26. Colouring, 27. Locality, 28. Number, 29. Order, • 30. Eventuality, 31. Time, - 32. Tune, - 33. Language, General Observations on the Perceptive Faculties, Genus III.—Reflective Faculties, 34. Comparison, ... 35. Causality, ... Adaptation of the External World to the Intellectual Faculties Modes of Action of the Faculties, - Of the Propensities and Sentiments, - Of the Knowing and Reflecting Faculties, Perception, - - - Conception, - Dreaming, - - . Imagination, - - - Memory, ... Judgment, - - . Consciousness, - • Attention, - . • Association, . • Passion, ... Pleasure and Pain, Patience and Impatience Joy and Grief, Sympathy, - Habit, .... Taste, .... Effects of Size on the Manifestations Activity, - Combinations in Size, in Activity, Practical application of the Doctrine of the Combinations, National Character and Developement of Brain, Hindoo, Carib, New Hollander, • Page 215 218 227 230 239 249 260 264 ib. 271 272 ib. ib. 274 CONTENTS. Vli Page New Zealander, ......... 429 North American Indian, ....... ib. Brazil Indian, ......... 432 Negro,..........433 Sandwich Islander, ........ 434 Swiss, .......... 435 Ancient Egyptian, ........ib. Ancient Greek, ......... ib. Scotch Lowlander, ........ 437 German, .......... 439 French, ....... -.-ib. On the Importance of including Developement of Brain as an Element in Statistical Inquiries into the manifestations of the Animal, Moral, and Intellectual Faculties of Man, ...... 443 Objections to Phrenology, ......... 448 Materialism, ......... 455 Injuries of the Brain, ........ 460 Conclusion, ........... 473 APPENDIX No. I Additional Evidence that Brain is Organ of Mind (referred to in page 33),..........476 II. Objections to Classification of the Faculties (referred to in page 106),...........477 ELL Table of Names of Faculties, as given by Dr. Gall (referred to in page 106),..........481 IV. Testimonials laid before Lord Glenelg relative to Convicts sent to New South Wales (referred to in page 448), ... 482 LIST OF FIGURES.* Acquisitiveness, illustration of, 168 John, St., head, (1) 211 Alexander VI., Pope, (1) 181 Kandiao, skull, 199 Angelo, Michael, head, (1) 277 Linn, parricide, head, 108 Br.y addicted to falsehood, head, 224 Locke, head, (1) ^44 Brain : upper surface, (1)73; un- M., Rev. Mr., head, 108 der surface, (1)74; section, (1) 75 Maxwell, murderer, head, 412 Brazil Indian, skull, 432 Melancthon, head, (1) 86 Burns, skull, 119, 200 Moore, profile, ^03 Carib, skull, 116, 425 Negro, skull, 433 Chaucer, head, (1) 244 Nerve, magnified, view of, (2) 65 Cingalese, skulls,87,135,144,194,196 New Hollander, skull, 52, 176, 426 Dol.son, William, head, (1) 283 New Zealander, skull, 429 Esquimaux, skull, 116, 143 North American Indian, skull, 429 Eustache, negro, head, 87, 202, 225 Ormerod, Ann, head, 322 Firmness large, 217 Papuan, skull, 143, 199, 208 Fisher, Clara, 263 Peruvian, skull, 119 Forms associated with names, 282 Pitt, profile, 308 French soldier, skull, 217 Rammohun Roy, head, 46 Frontal sinus, 82 Sandwich Islander, skull, 434 Girl with small Cautiousness and Scotch, skull, 437 Firmness, skull, 194,217 Secretiveness large, 157 Gottfried, murderess, 86,87 Sheridan, profile, 308 Greek, skull, 176, 236, 435 Skull: section showing falciform Griffiths, murderer, 200, 208 process, 80 ; section showing H., Mrs., head, 224 frontal sinus, 82 Hare, murderer, head, 85 Spinal marrow and nerves, (2) 68 Hasgart, thief and murderer, Spurzheim, skull, 51, 401 head, 224 Swiss, skull, 435 Handel, head, (1) 322 Tardy, murderer, 144 Head divided into regions by Dol- Tasso, head, (1) 232 ci, (1) 40 Temperaments, illustrations of Hindoo, skull, 425 the, (2) 48 Idiot, head, 46 Vitellius, head, (1) 89 Jervis, Jacob, 263 Wurmser, General, skull, 135 * The figures marked (1) are copied from engraved portraits, &c, in general circulation ; the others, with the exception of those marked (2), are drawn from skulls, or casts from nature, in the collection of the Phrenological So- ciety. These figures of skulls and casts are drawn as nearly as possible on the same scale, the dimensions being reduced to one-fifth of those of the real subjects, except in the case of the figures on pages 80 and 82. The measurements in the Tables on pp. 94 and 436 are taken by inserting the point of the leg of a pair of callipers into the hole of the ear, and bringing the point of the other leg to the centre of the situation of the organ on the skull. The distance noted in the tables is the length of a straight line ex- tending from one of these points to the other. In reducing the skulls to a flat surface in the drawings, the measurements could not be made to correspond exactly with those given in the tables, because the lines represented are different. The approximation, however, is as great as possible, and one prin- ciple is followed in all the drawings, so that relatively to each other they are correct. A SYSTEM OF PHRENOLOGY. INTRODUCTION. Phrenology (derived from the Greek words Qpnv, mind and "koyog, discourse) professes to be a system of Philosophy of the Human Mind, founded on the physiology of the brain. It was first offered to public consideration on the continent of Europe in 1796, but in Britain was almost unheard of till the year 1815. It has met with strenuous support from some individuals, and determined opposition from others ; while the great body of the public remain uninstructed as to its merits. On this account it may be useful to present, in an introductory form, 1st, A short notice of the reception which other discoveries have met with on their first announcement; 2dly, A brief outline of the principles involved in Phrenology ; Zdly, An inquiry into the presumptions for and against these principles, founded on the known phenomena of human nature ; and, 4/A/y, An historical sketch of the discovery of the organs of the mind. I shall follow this course, not with a view of convincing the reader that Phrenology is true, (because nothing short of patient study and extensive personal observation can produce this conviction,) but for the purpose of presenting him with motives to prosecute the investigation for his own satisfaction. First, then—one great obstacle to the reception of a discovery is the difficulty which men experience in at once parting with old notions which have been instilled into their minds from infancy, and become the stock of their understandings. Phrenology has encountered this impediment, but not in a greater degree than other discoveries which have preceded it. Mr. Locke, in speaking of the common reception of new truths, says : " Who ever, by the most cogent arguments, will be prevailed with to disrobe h/mself at once of all his old opinions and pretences to knowledge and learning, which with hard study he hath all his time been labouring for, and turn himself out stark naked in quest afresh of new notions 1 All the arguments that can be used will be as little able to prevail as the wind did with the traveller to part with his cloak, which he held only the faster."* Professor PI ay fair, in his historical notice of discoveries in physical science, published in the Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, observes, that "in every society there are some who think themselves interested to maintain things in the condition wherein they have found them. The considerations are indeed sufficiently obvious, which, in the moral and political world, tend to produce this effect, and to give a stability to human institutions, often so little proportionate to their real value or to their general utility. Even in matters purely intellectual, and in which Locke On the Human Understanding, b. iv., c 20, sect. 11, 3 26 OPPOSITION TO DISCOVERIES. the abstract truths of arithmetic and geometry seem alone concerned, the prejudices, the selfishness, or tho vanity of those who pursue them, not unfrequently combine to resist improvement, and often engage no incon- siderable degree of talent in drawing back, instead of pushing forward, the machine of "science. The introduction of methods entirely new must often change the relative place of the men engaged in scientific pursuits, and must oblige many, after descending from the stations they formerly occupied, to take a lower position in the scale of intellectual improvement The enmity of such men, if they be not animated by a spirit of real can dour and the love of truth, is likely to be directed against methods oj which their vanity is mortified and their importance lessened."* Every age has afforded proofs of the justness of these observations. " The disciples of the various philosophical schools of Greece inveighed against each other, and made reciprocal accusations of impiety and perjury. The people, in their turn, detested the philosophers, and accused those who investigated the causes of things of presumptuously invading the rights of the Divinity. Pythagoras was driven from Athens, and Anaxa- goras was imprisoned, on account of their novel opinions. Democritua was treated as insane by the Abderites for his attempts to find out the cause of madness by dissections ; and Socrates, for having demonstrated the unity of God, was forced to drink the juice of hemlock."t But let us attend in particular to the reception of the three greatest discoveries that have adorned the annals of philosophy, and mark the spirit with which they were hailed. Mr. Playfair, speaking of the treatment of Galileo, says : " Galileo was twice brought before the Inquisition. The first time, a council of seven cardinals pronounced a sentence which, for the sake of those dis- posed to believe that power can subdue truth, ought never to be forgotten, viz : That to maintain the sun to be immoveable, and without local mo- tion, in the centre of the world, is an absurd proposition, false in philoso- phy, heretical in religion, and contrary to the testimony of Scripture ; and it is equally absurd and false in philosophy to assert that the earth is not immoveable in the centre of the world, and, considered theologically, equally erroneous and heretical." The following estract from Galileo's Dialogue on the Copernican System of Astronomy, shows, in a very interesting manner, how completely its reception was analogous to that of Phrenology : " Being very young, and having scarcely finished my course of philoso- phy, which I left off as being set upon other employments, there chanced to come into those parts a certain foreigner of Rostoch, whose name, as I remember, was Christianus Urstitius, a follower of Copernicus, who, in an academy, gave two or three lectures upon this point, to whom many flocked as auditors ; but I, thinking they went more for the novelty of the subject than otherwise, did not go to hear him : for I had concluded with myself that that opinion could be no other than a solemn madness • and questioning some of those who had been there, I perceived they all made a jest thereof, except one, who told me that the business was not alto- gether to be laughed at: and because the man was reputed by me to be very intelligent and wary, I repented that I was not there, and began from that time forward, as oft as I met with any one of the Copernican persua- sion, to demand of them if they had been always of the same judgment. Of as many as I examined, I found not so much as one who told me not that he had been a long time of the contrary opinion, but to have changed it for this, as convinced by the strength of the reasons proving the same • * Part ii., p. 27. t Dr. Spurzheim's Philosophical Principles of Phrenology. London 1825 OPPOSITION TO DISCOVERIES. 27 and afterward questioning them one by one, to see whether they were well possessed of the reasons of the other side, I found them all to be very ready and perfect in them, so that I could not truly say that they took this opinion out of ignorance, vanity, or to show the acuteness of their wits. On the contrary, of as many of the Peripatetics and Ptole- means as I have asked (and out of curiosity I have talked with many) what pains they had taken in the book of Copernicus, I found very few that had so much as superficially perused it, but of those who I thought had understood the same, not one : and, moreover, I have inquired among the followers of the Peripatetic doctrine if ever any of them had heM the contrary opinion, and likewise found none that had. Whereupon, con- sidering that there was no man who followed the opinion of Copernicus that had not been first on the contrary side, and that was not very well acquainted witn the reasons of Aristotle and Ptolemy, and, on the con- trary, there was not one of the followers of Ptolemy that had ever been of the judgment of Copernicus, and had left that to embrace this of Aris- totle ;—considering, I say, these things, I began to think that one who leaveth an opinion imbued with his milk and followed by very many, to take up another, owned by very few and denied by all the schools, and that really seems a great paradox, must needs have been moved, not to say forced, by more powerful reasons. For this cause I became very curious to dive, as they say, into the bottom of this business." Mr. Hume, the historian, mentions the fact that Harvey was treated with great contumely on account of his discovery of the circulation of the blood, and in consequence lost his practice. An eloquent writer in the 94th Number of the Edinburgh Review, when adverting to the treatment of Harvey, observes, that " the discoverer of the circulation of the blood— a discovery which, if measured by its consequences on physiology and medicine, was the greatest ever made since physic was cultivated—suffers no diminution of his reputation in our day, from the incredulity with which his doctrine was received by some, the effrontery with which it was claim- ed by others, or the knavery with which it was attributed to former physi- ologists by those who could not deny and would not praise it. The very names of these envious and dishonest enemies of Harvey are scarcely remembered ; and the honour of this great discovery now rests, beyond all dispute, with the great philosopher who made it." This shows that Harvey,'in his day, was treated exactly as Dr. Gall has been in ours; and if Phrenology be true, these or similar terms may one day be applied by posterity to him and his present opponents. Again, Professor Playfair, speaking of the discovery of the composition of light by Sir Isaac Newton, says: " Though the discovery now com- municated had everything to recommend it which can arise from what is great, new, and singular; though it was not a theory nor system of opinions, but the generalization of facts made known by experiments ; and though it was brought forward in a most simple arid unpretending form ; a host of enemies appeared, each eager to obtain the unfortunate pre-eminence of being the first to attack conclusions which the unanimous voice of pos- terity was to confirm." (P. 56.) "Among them, one of the first was Father Pardies, who wrote against the experiments, and what he was pleased to call the Hypothesis of Newton. A satisfactory and calm reply convinced him of his mistake, which he had the candour very readily to acknowledge. A countryman of his, Mariotte, was more difficult to be reconciled, and though very conversant with experiment, appears never to have succeeded in repeating the experiments of Newton." An account of the hostility with which Newton's discoveries were received by his contemporaries, will be found in his Life by Brewster, p. 171. Here, then, we see that persecution, condemnation, and ridicule awaited 28 THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF THE MIND. Galileo, Harvey, and Newton, for announcing three great scientific dis- coveries. In mental philosophy the conduct of mankind has been similar Aristotle and Descartes " may be quoted, to show the good and bad fortune of new doctrines. The ancient antagonists of Aristotle caused his books to be burned ; but in the time of Francis I. the writings of Ramus against Aristotle were similarly treated, his adversaries were declared heretics, and, under pain of being sent to the galleys, philosophers were prohibited from combating his opinions. At the present day the philosophy of Aristotle is no longer spoken of. Descartes was persecuted for teaching the doctrine of innate ideas ; he was accused of atheism, though he had written on the existence of God ; and his books were burned by order of the University of Paris. Shortly afterward, however, the same learned body adopted the doctrine of innate ideas ; and when Locke and Condillac attacked it, the cry of materialism and fatalism was turned against them. Thus the same opinions have been considered at one time as dangerous because they were new, and at another as useful because they were ancient. What is to be inferred from this, but that man deserves to be pitied ; that the opinions of contemporaries on the truth or falsehood, and the good or bad consequences, of a new doctrine, are always to be suspected ; and that the only object of an author ought to be to point out the truth."* To these extracts many more might be added of a similar nature ; but enough has been said to demonstrate that, by the ordinary practice of mankind, great discoveries are treated with hostility, and their authors with hatred and contempt, or at least with neglect, by the generation to whom they are originally published. If, therefore, Phrenology be a discovery at all, and especially if it be also important, it must of necessity come into collision, on the most weighty topics, with the opinions of men hitherto venerated as authorities in phy- siology and the philosophy of mind ; and, according to the custom of the world, nothing but opposition, ridicule, and abuse could be expected on its first announcement. If we are to profit, however, by the lessons of history, we ought, after surveying these mortifying examples of human weakness and wickedness, to dismiss from our minds every prejudice against the subject before us, founded on its hostile reception by men of established reputation of the present day. He who does not perceive that, if Phrenology shall prove to be true, posterity will regard the contumelies heaped by the philosophers of this generation on its founders as another dark speck in the history of scientific discovery—and who does not feel anxious to avoid all participation in this ungenerous treatment—has reaped no moral improvement from the records of intolerance which we have now contemplated : but every enlightened individual will say, Let us dismiss prejudice, and calmly listen to evidence and reason ; let us not encounter even the chance of adding our names to the melancholy list of the enemies of mankind, by refusing, on the strength of mere prejudice, to be instructed in the new doctrines submitted to our consideration ; let us inquire, examine, and decide. These, I trust, are the sentiments of the reader; and on the faith of their being so, I shall proceed, in the second place, to state very briefly the principles of Phrenology. It is a notion inculcated—often indirectly, no doubt, but not less strongly —by highly venerated teachers of intellectual philosophy, that we are ac- quainted with Mind and Body as two distinct and separate entities. The anatomist treats of the body, and the logician and moral philosopher of the mind, as if they were separate subjects of investigation, either not at all or only in a remote and unimportant degree, connected with each other! * Dr. Spurzheim's Philosophical Principles of Phrenology, p. 97. THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF THE MIND. 29 Tn common society, too, men speak of the dispositions and faculties of the mind, without thinking of their close connexion with the body. But the human mind, as it exists in this world, cannot, by itself, become an object of philosophical investigation. Placed in a material world, it cannot act or be acted upon, but through the medium of an organic ap- paratus. The soul sparkling in the eye of beauty transmits its sweet in- fluence to a kindred spirit only through the filaments of an optic nerve ; and even the bursts of eloquence which flow from the lips of the impas- sioned orator when mind appears to transfuse itself almost directly into mind emanate from, and are transmitted to, corporeal beings, through a voluminous apparatus of organs. If we trace the mind's progress from the cradle to the grave, every appearance which it presents reminds us of this important truth. In earliest life the mental powers are feeble as the body; but when manhood comes, they glow with energy and expand with power; till at last the chill of age makes the limbs totter and the fancy's fires decay. Nay, not only the great stages of our infancy, vigour, and decline, but the experience of every hour, reminds us of our alliance with the dust. The lowering clouds and stormy sky depress the spirits and enerve the mind ;—after short and stated intervals of toil, our wearied faculties demand repose in sleep ;—famine or disease is capable of levelling the proudest energies with the earth-;—and even the finest portion of our com- pound being, the Mind itself, apparently becomes diseased, and, leaving nature's course, flies to self-destruction to escape from wo. These phenomena must be referred to the organs with which, in this life, the mind is connected : but if the organs exert so great an effect over the mental manifestations, no system of philosophy is- entitled to consi- deration, which neglects their influence and treats the thinking principle as a disembodied spirit. The phrenologist, therefore, regards man as he exists in this world ; and desires to investigate the laws which regulate the connexion between the mind and its organs, but without attempting to discover the essence of either, or the manner in which they are united. The popular notion, that we are acquainted with mind unconnected with matter, is, therefore, founded on an illusion. In point of fact, we do not in this life know mind as one entity, and body as another ; but we are acquainted only with the compound existence of mind and body. A few remarks will place this doctrine in its proper light. In the first place, we are not conscious of the existence and functions of the organs by which the mind operates in this life, and, in consequence, many acts appear to us to be purely mental, which experiment and obser- vation prove incontestibly to depend on corporeal organs. For example, in stretching out or withdrawing the arm, we are conscious of an act of the will, and of the consequent movement of the arm, but not of the existence of the apparatus by means of which our volition is carried into execution. Experiment and observation, however, demonstrate the exis- tence of bones of the arm curiously articulated and adapted to motion ; of muscles endowed with powers of contraction ; and of three sets of nervous fibres all running in one sheath—one communicating feeling, a second exciting motion, and a third conveying to the mind information of the state of the muscles, when in action; all which organs, except the nerve of feeling, must combine and act harmoniously before the arm can be moved and regulated by the will. All that a person uninstructed in anatomy knows, is, that he wills the motion, and that it takes place ; the whole act appears to him to be purely mental, and only the arm, or thing moved, is conceived to be corporeal. Nevertheless, it is positively esta- blished by anatomical and physiological researches that this conclusion is erroneous—that the act is not purely Wntal, but is accomplished by 3* 30 THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF THE MIND. the instrumentality of the various organs now enumerated. In like manner, every act of vision involves a certain state of the optic nerve, and every act of hearing a certain state of the tympanum ; yet of the existence and functions of these organs we obtain, by means of consciousness, no knowledge whatever. Now, I go one step farther in the same path, and state, that every act of the will, every flight of imagination, every glow of affection, and every effort of the understanding, in this life, is performed by means of cerebral organs unknown to us through consciousness, but the existence of which is capable of being demonstrated by experiment and observation ; in other words, that the brain is the organ of the mind—the material condition without which no mental act is possible in the present world. The greatest physiologists admit this proposition without hesitation. The celebrated Dr. Cullen, of Edinburgh, states, that " the part of our body more immediately connected with the mind, and therefore more especially concerned in every affection of the intellectual functions, is the common origin of the nerves ; which I shall, in what follows, speak of under the appellation of the Brain." Again, the same author says : " We cannot doubt that the operations of our intellect always depend upon certain motions taking place in the brain." The late Dr. James Gregory, when speaking of memory, imagination, and judgment, observes, that " Although at first sight these faculties appear to be so purely mental as to have no connexion with the body, yet certain diseases which obstruct them prove that a certain state of the brain is necessary to their proper exercise, and that the brain is the primary organ of the internal powers." The great physiologist of Germany, Blumenbach, says : " That the mind is closely connected with the brain, as the material condition of mental phenomena, is demonstrated by our consciousness, and by the mental disturbances which ensue upon affections of the brain."* According to Magendie, a celebrated French physiologist, " the brain is the material instrument of thought : this is proved by a multitude of experiments and facts." " I readily concur," says Mr. Abemethy, " in the proposition, that the brain of animals ought to be regarded as the organization by which the percipient principle becomes variously affected. First, because, in the senses of sight, hearing, &c, I see distinct organs for the production of each perception. Secondly, because the brain is larger and more com- plicated in proportion as the variety of the affections of the percipient principle is increased. Thirdly, because disease and injuries disturb and annul particular faculties and affections without impairing others. And, fourthly, because it seems more reasonable to me to suppose that whatever is perceptive may be variously affected by means of vital actions trans- mitted through a diversity of organization, than to suppose that such variety depends upon original differences in the nature of the percipient principle." " If the mental processes," asks Mr. Lawrence, " be not the function of the brain, what is its office 1 In animals which possess only a small part of the human cerebral structure, sensation exists, and in many cases is more acute than in man. What employment shall we find for all that man possesses over and above this portion—for the large and prodigiously- developed human hemisphere ? Are we to believe that these serve only to round the figure of the organ, or to fill the cranium V't And in an- other place he says : " In conformity with the views already explained respecting the mental part of our being, I refer the varieties of moral feeling, and of capacity for knowledge and reflection, to those diversities * Elliotson's translation of Blumenbach's Physiology, 4th edit., d 196 t Lectures on Physiology, &c.,. Lect. 4. ' P THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF THE MIND. 31 of cerebral organization which are indicated by, and correspond to, the differences in the shape of the skull."* Dr. Mason Good, speaking of intellect, sensation, and muscular motion, says : " All these diversities of vital energy are now well known to be dependent on the organ -of the brain, as the instrument of the intellectual powers, and the source of the sensific and motory ; though, from the close connexion and synchronous action of various other organs with the brain, and especially the thoracic and abdominal viscera, such diversities were often referred to several of the latter in earlier ages, and before anatomy had traced them satisfactorily to the brain as their fountain-head. And of so high an antiquity is this erroneous hypothesis, that it has not only spread itself through every climate on the globe, but still keeps a hold on the colloquial language of every people ; and hence the heart, the liver, the spleen, the reins, and the bowels generally are, among all nations, regarded, either literally or figuratively, as so many seats of mental facul- ties or moral feeling. . . . The study of anatomy, however, has corrected the loose and confused ideas of mankind upon this subject; and while it distinctly shows us that many of the organs popularly referred to as the seat of sensation, do, and must, from the peculiarity of their nervous con- nexion with the brain, necessarily participate in the feelings and faculties thus generally ascribed to them, it also demonstrates that the primary source of these attributes, the quarter in which they originate, or which chiefly, influences them, is the brain itself't Dr. Neil Arnott, in his Elements of Physics, writes thus : " The laws of mind which man can discover by reason, are not laws of independent mind, but of mind in connexion with body, and influenced by the bodily condition. It has been believed by many that the nature of mind sepa- rate, from body, is to be at once all-knowing and intelligent. But mind connected with body can only acquire knowledge slowly, through the bodily organs of sense, and more or less perfectly according as these organs and the central brain are perfect. A human being born blind and deaf, and therefore remaining dumb, as in the noted case of the boy Mitchell, grows up closely to resemble an automaton ; and an originally mis-shapen or deficient brain causes idiocy for life. Childhood, maturity, dotage, which have such differences of bodily powers, have corresponding diffe- rences of mental faculty : and as no two bodies, so no two minds, in their external manifestation, are quite alike. Fever, or a blow on the head, will change the most gifted individual into a maniac, causing the lips of virgin innocence to utter the most revolting obscenity, and those of pure religion to speak the most horrible blasphemy : and most cases of mad- ness and eccentricity can now be traced to a peculiar state of the brain." (Introduction, p. xxiii.) Let it be observed that most of these authors are nowise inclined to support Phrenology.t The fact that the mental phenomena of which we are conscious are the result of mind and brain acting together, is farther established by the effects of swooning, of compression of the brain, and of sleep. In pro- found sleep consciousness is entirely suspended : this fact is explicable on the principle of tha organ of the mind being then in a state of repose ; but it is altogether inconsistent with the idea of the immaterial principle, or the mind itself, being capable of acting independently of the brain—for if this were the case, thinking should never be interrupted by any material cause. In a swoon, blood is rapidly withdrawn from the brain, and con- sciousness is for the moment obliterated. So also, where part of the brain * Lectures on Physiology, sect, ii., ch. 8. t Good's Study of Medicine, 2d edit., iv. 3, 4. % Additional authorities are cited by Mr. Wildsmith in his excellent Inquiry concerning the Relative Connexion which subsists between the Mind and the Brain. London, 1828. 32 THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF THE MIND. has been laid bare by an injury inflicted on the skull, it has been found that consciousness could be suspended at the pleasure of the surgeon, by merely pressing on the brain with his fingers, and that it could be restored by withdrawing the pressure. A few such cases may be cited : M. Richerand had a patient whose brain was exposed in consequence of disease of the skull. One day, in washing off the purulent matter, he chanced to press with more than usual force ; and instantly the patient, who, the moment before, had answered his questions with perfect correct- ness, stopped short in the middle of a sentence, and became altogether insensible. As the pressure gave her no pain, it was repeated thrice, and always with the same result. She uniformly recovered her faculties the moment the pressure was taken off. M. Richerand mentions also the case of an individual who was trepanned for a fracture of the skull, and whose faculties and consciousness became weak in proportion as the pus so accumulated under the dressings as to occasion pressure of the brain.* A man at the battle of Waterloo had a small portion of his skull beaten in upon the brain, and became quite unconscious and almost lifeless ; but Mr. Cooper having raised up the depressed portion of bone, the patient immediately arose, dressed himself, became perfectly rational, and reco- vered rapidly.+ Professor Chapman, of Philadelphia, mentions in his Lectures, that he saw an individual with his skull perforated and the brain exposed, who used to submit himself to the same experiment of pressure as that performed on R.icherand's patient, and who was exhibited by the late Professor Westar to his class. The man's intellect and moral faculties disappeared when pressure was applied to the brain : they were literally "held under the thumb," and could be restored at pleasure to their full activity.t A still more remarkable case is that of a person named Jones, recorded by Sir Astley Cooper. This man was deprived of consciousness, by being wounded in the head while on board a vessel in the Mediterranean. In this state of insensibility he remained for several months at Gibraltar, whence he was transmitted to Deptford, and subsequently to St. Thomas's Hospital, London. Mr. Cline, the surgeon, found a portion of the skull depressed, trepanned him, and removed the depressed part of the bone. Three hours after this operation he sat up in bed, sensation and volition returned, and in four days he was able to get up and converse. The last circumstance he remembered was the capture of a prize in the Mediterranean thirteen months before. A young man at Hartford, in the United States of America, was rendered insensible by a fall, and had every appearance of being in a dying condition. Dr. Brig- ham removed more than a gill of clotted blood from beneath the skull ; upon which " the man immediately spoke, soon recovered his mind entirely, and is now, six weeks after the accident, in good health both as to mind and body."§ Pinel relates a case which strikingly illustrates the connexion of the mind with the brain. " A man," says he, " engaged in a mechanical em- ployment, and afterward confined in the Bicetre, experiences at irregular intervals fits of madness characterized by the following symptoms : At first there is a sensation of burning heat in the abdominal viscera, with intense thirst, and a strong constipation ; the heat gradually extends to the breast, neck, and face—producing a flush of the complexion ; on reach- ing the temples, it becomes still greater, and is accompanied by very strono * Nouveaux Eiemens de Physiologie, 7th edit., ii. 195-6. + Hennen's Principles of Military Surgery. t Principles of Medicine, by Samuel Jackson, M.D. $ Remarks on the Influence of Mental Cultivation,'fc, upon Health Bv Amariah Bngham, M.D , 2d edit., p. 23. Boston, U. sT 1833 Several of the cases in the text have already been collected by this very intelligent writer! THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF THE MIND. 33 and frequent pulsations in the temporal arteries, which seem as if about to burst : finally, the nervous affectation arrives at the brain ; the patient is then seized with an irresistible propensity to shed blood ; and if there be a sharp instrument within reach, he is apt to sacrifice to his fury the first person who presents himself."* The same writer speaks of another insane patient, whose manners were remarkably mild and reserved during his lucid intervals, but whose character was totally altered by the periodi- cal morbid excitement of his brain ; for, says Pinel, " on the return of the paroxysm, particularly when marked by a certain redness of the face, excessive heat in the head, and a violent thirst, his walk is precipitate, his look is full of audacity, and he experiences the most violent inclination to provoke those who approach him, and to fight with them furiously."! Dr. Richy has recorded the case of a Madagascar negro, who had an attack of intensely destructive delirium, in consequence of a wound on the head near the lower part of the left parietal bone. When recovering he was calmer and less blood-thirsty ; but an overpressure of his bandage on the wound brought back his furious paroxysms.J That the brain is the organ of the mind, is strongly confirmed by the phenomena observed when it is exposed to view, in consequence of the removal of a part of the skull. Sir Astley Cooper mentions the case of a young gentleman who was brought to him after losing a portion of his skull just above the eyebrow. " On examining the headr" says Sir Astley, " I distinctly saw the pulsation of the brain ; it was regular and slow ; but, at this time, he was agitated by some opposition to his wishes, and directly the blood was sent with increased force to the brain, and the pul- sation became frequent and violent. If, therefore," continues Sir Astley, " you omit to keep the mind free from agitation, your other means (in the treatment of injuries of the brain) will be unavailing."^ In a case of a similar description, which fell under the notice of Blumenbach, that physiologist observed the brain to sink whenever the patient was asleep, and to swell again with blood the moment he awoke. || A third case is reported by Dr. Pierquin, as having been observed by him in one of the hospitals of Montpelier, in the year 1821. The patient was a female, who had lost a large portion of her scalp, skull, and dura mater, so that a corresponding portion of the brain was subject to inspec- tion. When she was in a dreamless sleep, her brain was motionless, and lay within the cranium. When her sleep was imperfect, and she was agitated by dreams, her brain moved and protruded without the cranium, forming cerebral hernia. In vivid dreams, reported as such by herself, the protrusion was considerable ; and when she was perfectly awake, especially if engaged in active thought or sprightly conversation, it was still greater.1T A writer in the Medico-Chirurgical Review, after alluding to this case, mentions that many years ago he had " frequent opportunities of witnessing similar phenomena in a robust young man, who lost a consi- derable portion of his skull by an accident which had almost proved mortal. When excited by pain, fear, or anger, his brain protruded greatly, so as some- times to disturb the dressings, which were necessarily applied loosely ; and it throbbed tumultously, in accordance with the arterial pulsations."** The cause of these appearances obviously was, that the brain, like the muscles and other organs of the body, is more copiously supplied with blood when in a state of activity than while at rest; and that when the * Pinel, sur VAlienation Menlale, p. 157, (j 160. t Op. Cit., p. 101, $ U6. J Journal de la Societe Phrenologique de Paris, No 2, p. 171. § Sir A. Cooper's Lectures on Surgery, by Tyrrel, i. 279. || Elliotson's Blumenbach, 4th edit, p. 293. IT Annals of Phrenology, No. 1. Boston, U. S , Oct. 1833, p. 37. ** Medico-Chirurgical Review, No. 46, p. 366, Oct. 1835. 34 THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF THE MIND. cerebral bloodvessels were filled, the volume of the brain was augmented, and the protrusion above noticed took place.* Even in the Edinburgh Review, where the dependence of the mmd upon the brain was formerly held to be exceedingly questionable,! the doctrine is now admitted in all its latitude. " Almost from the first casual inspec- tion of animal bodies," says a writer in No. 94, " the brain was regarded as an organ of primary dignity, and, more particularly in the human sub- ject, the seat of thought and feeling, the centre of all sensation, the mes- senger of intellect, the presiding organ of the bodily frame." " All this superiority (of man over the brutes,) all these faculties which elevate and dignify him, this reasoning power, this moral sense, these capacities of happiness, these high aspiring hopes, axe felt, and enjoyed, and manifested, by means of his superior nervous system. Its injury weakens, its imper- fection limits, its destruction (humanly speaking) ends them." Besides referring to these facts and authorities, I may remark, that consciousness localizes the mind in the head, and gives us a full conviction that it is situated there ; but consciousness d9es not reveal what substance is in the interior of the skull. It does not tell whether the mind occu- pies an airy dome, a richly-furnished mansion, one apartment, or many ; or in what state or condition it resides in its appointed place. It is only on opening the head that we discover that the skull encloses the brain ; and then, by an act of the understanding, we infer that the mind must have been connected with it in its operations. It is worthy of observation also, that the popular notions of the indepen- dence of the mind on the body are modern, and the offspring of philoso- phical theories that have sprung up chiefly since the days of Locke. In Shakspeare, and our older writers, the brain is frequently used as implying the mental functions ; and, even in the present day, the language of the vulgar, which is less affected by philosophical theories than that of polite scholars, is more in accordance with nature. A stupid person is vulgarly called a numb-skull, a thick-head ; or said to be addle-pated, badly furnish- ed in the upper-story ; while a clever person is said to be strong-headed or long-headed, to have plenty of brains ; a madman is called wrong in the head, touched in the noddle, &c. When a catarrh chiefly affects the head, we complain of stupidity, because we have such a cold in the head."J: The principle which I have so much insisted on, that we are not conscious of the existence and functions of the organs by which the mind acts, explains the source of the metaphysical notion which has affected modern language, that we know the mind as an entity by itself. The acts which really result from the combined action of the mind and its organs appear, previously to anatomical and pathological investigation to be produced by the mind exclusively ; and hence have arisen the ne- glect and contempt with which the organs have been treated, and the lidicule cast upon those who have endeavoured to speak of'them as important in the philosophy of mind. After the explanations given above the reader will appreciate the real value of the following statement by Lord Jeffrey, in his strictures on the second edition of this work in the 88th number of the Edinburgh Review. His words are : " The truth, we do not scruple to say it, is, that there is not the smallest rea- son for supposing that the mind ever operates through the agency of any materia; organs, except in its perception of material objects or in the spontaneous movements of the body which it inhabits." And,'" There is not the least reason to suppose that any of our faculties, but those which connect us with external objects, or direct the movements of our bodies act * Additional evidence that the brain is the organ of the mind will he found in the Appendix, No. 1. "a t See No, 48, Article 10, also No. 88,cited below. (■ FUiotson's Blumenbach, p. 66. THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF THE MIND. 35 by material organs at all:" that is to say, feeling, fancy, and reflection are acts so purely mental, that they have no connexion with organization. Long before Lord Jeffrey penned these sentences, however, Dr. Thomas Brown had written, even in the Edinburgh Review, that " Memory, ima- gination, and judgment may be all set to sleep by a few grains of a very common and simple drug ;" and Dr. Cullen, Blumenbach, Dr. Gregory, Magendie, and in short all physiological authors of eminence, had published positive statements that the mental faculties are connected with the brain. Lord Brougham also, in his Discourse of Natural Theology, argues in favour of the mind's independence of matter in this life, and adduces in support of his position the phenomena of dreaming, and the allegation that " unless some unusual and violent accident interferes, such as a serious illness or a fatal contusion, the ordinary course of life presents the mind and the body running courses widely different, and in great part of the time in opposite directions." (P. 120.) Dugald Stewart has furnished an apposite answer to this remark. " In the case of old men," says he, " it is generally found that a decline of the faculties keeps pace with the decay of bodily health and vigour. The few exceptions that occur to the universality of this fact only prove that there are some diseases fatal to life, which do not injure those parts of the body with which the intellectual operations are more immediately connected."* Lord Broug- ham, moreover, is glaringly inconsistent with himself. He first maintains that the mind is wholly independent of the body, and then admits that " a serious illness " is capable of impairing its power. Yet how, on his hypo- thesis, should it be affectable by this any more than by the slightest disease 1 It is a popular opinion, that in pulmonary consumption, and other lingering diseases attended with waste of the body, the mind neverthe- less continues to act with entire vigour up to the very day or hour of dissolution. This notion, if true, would militate against the doctrine of the mind being affected by the state, of the organs ; but it is really un- founded. There is a difference between derangement of an organ and mere weakness in its functions. In pulmonary consumption the lungs alone are disorganized ;—the brain and other organs, remaining entire in their structure, are sound although weakened in their functions. The mind in such patients, therefore, does not become disordered ; but its vigour is unquestionably impaired. In the case of the patient's legs, the bones and muscles, remaining entire, he can walk : in health, how- ever, he could have accomplished a journey of many miles without fatigue, whereas he cannot in disease do more than move across his bed- room. It might certainly be said that he could walk to the last, but it could not with truth be maintained that his power of perambulation was as great at his death as in health ; and so it is with the brain and the mind. What, then, does the proposition that the brain is the organ of the mind imply] Let us take the case of the eye as somewhat analogous. If the eye be the organ of vision, it will be conceded, first, That sight cannot be enjoyed without its instrumentality ; secondly, That every act of vision must be accompanied by a corresponding state of the organ, and, vice versa, that every change of condition in the organ must influ- ence sight; and, thirdly, That the perfection of vision will be in relation to the perfection of the organ. In like manner, if the brain be the organ of the mind, it will follow that the mind does not act in this life inde- pendently of its organ—and hence, that every emotion and judgment of which we are conscious is the result of the mind and its organ acting together ; secondly, that every mental affection must be accompanied by a corresponding state of the organ, and, vice versa, every state of the organ must be attended by a certain condition of the mind ; and, thirdly, that the perfection of the manifestations of the mind will bear a relation 'Outlines of Moral Philosophy, p. 233. 36 PLURALITY OF FACULTIES AND ORGANS. to the perfection of its organ. These propositions appear to be incon- trovertible, and to follow as necessary consequences from the simple fact that the mind acts by means of organs. But if they be well founded, how important a study does that of the organs of the mind become ! It is the study of the mind itself, in the only condition in which it is known to us ; and the very fact that in past ages the mind has been studied without refe- rence to organization, accounts for the melancholy truth, that, independent ly of Phrenology, no mental philosophy suited to practical purposes exists. Holding it, then, a3 established by the evidence of the most esteemed physiologists, and also by observation, that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that the state of the brain influences that of the mental powers, the next question which presents itself is, Whether the mind in every act employs the loholc brain as one organ, or whether separate mental faculties are connected with distinct portions of the brain as their respective or- gans 1 The following considerations may enable us to solve this question : 1st, In all ascertained instances, different functions are never per- formed by the same organ, but the reverse ; each function has an organ for itself: the stomach, for instance, digests food, the liver secretes bile, the heart propels the blood, the eyes see, the ears hear, the tongue tastes, and the nose smells. Nay, on analyzing these examples, it is found that wherever the function is compound, each element of it is performed by means of a distinct organ : thus, to accomplish the lingual duties, there is one nerve whose office is to move the tongue, another nerve whose duty it is to communicate the ordinary sense of feeling to the tongue, and a third nerve which conveys the sensation of taste. A similar com- bination of nerves takes place in the hands, arms, and other parts of the body which contain voluntary muscles : one nerve gives motion, another bestows feeling, while a third conveys to the mind a knowledge of the state of the muscle ; and, except in the case of the tongue, all these nerves are blended in one common sheath. In the economy of the human frame, there is no ascertained example of one nerve performing two functions, such as feeling and communi- cating motion, or seeing and hearing, or tasting and smelling. The spinal marrow consists of three double columns: the anterior column of each lateral division is for motion, the posterior for sensation, and the middle for respiration. In the case of the brain, therefore, analogy would lead us to expect, that if reasoning be an act essentially different from loving or hating, there will be one organ for reasoning, another for loving, and a third for hating. 2dly* It is an undisputed truth, that the various mental powers of man appear in succession, and, as a general rule, that the reflecting or reasoning faculties are those which arrive latest at perfection. In the child, the emotions of fear and of love appear before that of veneration ; and the capacity of observing the existence and qualities of external objects arrives much sooner at maturity than that of abstract reasoning. Daily observation shows that the brain undergoes a corresponding change3; whereas we have no evidence that the immaterial principle vanes in its powers from year to year. If every faculty of the mind be connected with the whole brain, this successive developement of mental powers is utterly at variance with what we should expect a priori; because, if the general organ is fitted for manifesting with success one mental faculty, it ought to be equally so for manifesting all. On the contrary, obser- vation shows that different parts of the brain are really developed at different periods of life, corresponding with the successive evolution of the faculties. In infancy, according to Chaussier, the cerebellum forms ■* Most of the following arguments are taken from Dr. Andrew Combe's Observations on Dr. Barclay's Objections to Phrenology, published in the Transactions of the Phrenological Society, (Edinburgh, 1824,) page 413. PLURALITY OF FACULTIES AND ORGANS. 37 one-fifteenth of the encephalic mass, and, in adult age, from one-sixth to one-eighth ; its size being thus in strict accordance with the energy of the sexual propensity, of which it is the organ. In childhood the middle part of the forehead generally predominates ; in later life the upper lateral parts become more prominent—which facts also are in strict accordance with the periods of unfolding of the observing and reasoning powers. 3dly, Genius is almost always partial, which it ought not to be if the organ of the mind were single. A genius for poetry, for mechanics, for drawing, for music, or for mathematics, sometimes appears at a very early age in individuals who, in regard to all other pursuits, are mere ordinary men, and who, with every effort, can never attain to anything above mediocrity. ithly, The phenomena of dreaming are at variance with the supposition of the mind manifesting all its faculties by means of a single organ ; while they are quite consistent with, and explicable by, that of a plurality of organs. In dreaming the mind experiences numerous vivid emotions— such as fear, anger, and affection—arising, succeeding one another, and departing, without control from the intellectual powers ; or it is filled with a thousand varied conceptions, sometimes connected and rational, but more frequently disjointed and absurd, and all differing widely from the waking operations of the mind, in wanting consistency and sense. These phenomena harmonize remarkably with the doctrine of a variety of faculties and organs, some of which, being active, communicate those disordered ideas and feelings that constitute a dream, while the repose of others permits the disordered action which characterizes the pictures formed by the fancy in sleep. Were the organ of mind single, it is clear that all the faculties should be asleep or awake to the same extent at the same time; or, in other words, that no such thing as dreaming could take place. btldy, The admitted phenomena of partial idiocy and partial insanity are so plainly and strongly in contradiction with the notion of a single organ of mind, that Pinel himself, no friend to Phrenology, asks if they can be reconciled to such a conception. Partial idiocy is that state in which an individual manifests one or several powers of the mind with an ordinary degree of energy, while he is deprived to a greater or less extent of the power of manifesting all the others. Pinel, Haslam, Rush, Esquirol, and, in short, every writer on insanity, speaks of the partial developement of certain mental powers in idiots ; and Rush, in particular, alludes not only to the powers of intellect, but also to the partial possession of the moral faculties. Some idiots, he observes, are as remarkable for correct moral feelings as some great geniuses are for the reverse. Fodere, in his Traite du Goitre et de la Cretinisme, thus speaks, p. 133 : " It is remarked, that, by an inexplicable singularity, some of these individuals, (cretins,) endowed with so weak minds, are born with a particular talent for copying paintings, for rhyming, or for music. I have known several who taught themselves to play pas- sably on the organ and harpsichord ; others who understood, without ever having had a master, the repairing of watches and the construction of some pieces of mechanism." He adds, that these powers could not be attributed to the intellect, " for these individuals not only could not read books which treated of the principles of mechanics, but Us etaient dcroutes lorsqu'on en parlait, et ne se perfectionnaient jamais." It must be observed also, that these unfortunate individuals differ very much in the kind as well as quantity of mental power possessed. One, for example, is all kindness and good nature, another quarrelsome and mischievous, or one has a lively perception of harmony in music, while another has none. An instance is given by Pinel of an idiot girl who manifested a most wonder- ful propensity to imitate whatever she heard or saw, but who displayed PLURALITY OF FACULTIES AND ORGANS , to' befound^^-e'iymanifest any other faculty of the mind TCStXrto be observed, that the characteristic features of each particular case are strictly permanent. The idiot, who to-day manifests the faculty of Tune, or the feeling of Benevolence o Venerauon or o Self-Esteem will not to-morrow, nor in a year, exhibit a different kind of preLmSiu'manifestations. Were deficiency of the brain „, a singe organ the cause of idiocy, these phenomena ought nor to appear, for, being able to manifest one faculty, it ought, according to the circum- stances in which the individual is placed, to be equally able to manifest all others whose activity may be required, and thus the character of the idiocy ought to change with every passing event—which it never does Fodere calls these facts " inexplicable singularities ;" and no doubt, on his theory, they truly are so. To the phrenologist, however, they offer no difficulty ; for they are in perfect harmony with Aw views. The difference in the kind of powers manifested in cases of partial idiocy—between the capacity for mechanics, for instance, and the sentiment of Veneration, Self-Esteem, or Benevolence—is as great as between the sensations excited by a sound and an odour. To infer, therefore, that one organ serves for the mani- festation of all these faculties, is really much the same, in point of logic, as to suppose all the external senses to have only one organic apparatus, in spite of the fact of many individuals being blind who are not deaf, or deaf and not blind. Partial insanity, or that stata»n which one or more faculties of the mind are deranged, while the integrity of the remainder is unaffected, is known by the name of monomania, and appears equally with the former to ex- clude the possibility of one organ manifesting all the mental faculties , for the argument constantly recurs, that if the organ be sufficiently sound to manifest one faculty in its perfect state, it ought to be equally capable of manifesting all—which, however, is known to be in direct opposition to fact. On this subject I shall confine myself to the statement of a single instance, merely in illustration. Oifolie raisonnante Pinel thus speaks : " Hospitals for the insane are never without some example of mania marked by acts of extravagance, or even of fury, with a kind of judgment preserved in all its integrity, if we judge of it by the conversation: the lunatic gives the most just and precise answers to the questions of the curious ; no incoherence of ideas is discernible ; he reads and writes letters as if his understanding were perfectly sound ; and yet, by a singular contrast, he tears in pieces his clothes and bed-covers, and always finds some plausible reason to justify his wandering and his fury. This sort of mania is so far from rare, that the vulgar name of folie raisonnante has been given to it."—P. 93. Here, again, the difficulty recurs of reconciling such facts with the idea of one organ executing all the functions of the mind. How comes that organ to be able to manifest, in a sound state, several but not all the faculties 1 Qthly, Besides the phenomena of idiocy and insanity, there is another class of facts (to which, however, I shall only allude) equally at variance with the supposition of a single organ of mind, viz., partial injuries of the brain, which are said to have occurred without injury to the mental facul- ties. I merely observe, that if every part of the brain is concerned in every mental act, it appears strange that all the processes of thought should be manifested with equal success when a great part of the brain is injured or destroyed, as when its whole structure is sound and entire. PLURALITY OF FACULTIES AND ORGANS. 39 If the fact were really as here stated, the brain would form an exception to the general laws of organic structure ; for although a part of the lungs may be sufficient to maintain respiration, or a part of the stomarh to . execute digestion, in such a way as to support life, there is no instance in which these functions have been as successfully performed by impaired organs as they would have been by lungs and a stomach in their natural state of health and activity. The phrenologists are reduced to no strait to reconcile the occurrence of such cases with their system ; for as soon as the principle of a plurality of organs is acknowledged, the facts admit of an easy and satisfactory explanation. Ithly, Daily experience may satisfy us that the mind manifests a plu- rality of faculties by a plurality of organs. An individual receives an affront in a venerable assembly, and the following mental states may pre- sent themselves simultaneously : He feels anger: yet he feels awe or respect for the persons present; he uses reflection and restrains his wrath. These states of mind may continue to coexist for hours. A single organ could not serve to give consciousness of indignation, to feel awe, and to practise restraint, all at the same moment; but this is quite practicable by a plurality of organs. Indeed we are able at the same moment to manifest opposite emotiofrs in our actions, if we employ different instru- ments in doing so. A man may wound another deliberately with a dagger, and at the same instant speak peace to him and smile in his face. An artist may execute a drawing, and at the same instant sing a song. If one cannot compose poetry and calculate logarithms at the same moment, it is because some of the organs required in the one operation are necessary also in the other ; and the same organs cannot perform two duties at once. Fro'm the preceding considerations it appears, that any theory founded upon the notion that the brain is a single organ, is uniformly at variance with all that is ascertained to be fact in the philosophy of mind ; and that, on the other hand, the principle of a plurality of organs, while it satis- factorily explains most of these facts, is consistent with all of them. Its truth is thus almost demonstrated, not by far-fetched nor pretended facts which few can verify, but by facts which daily " obtrude themselves upon the notice of the senses." This principle, indeed, bears on the face of it so much greater a degree of probability than the opposite one, that it has long since forced itself on the minds of many inquirers. " The brain is a very complicated organ," says Bonnet, " or rather an assemblage of very different organs;"* Tissot contends that every perception has dif- ferent fibres ;t and Haller and Van Swieten were of opinion that the in- ternal senses occupy, in the brain, organs as distinct as the nerves of the external senses.t Cabanis entertained a similar notion ;§ and so did Prochaska. Cuvier says, that " certain parts of the brain in all classes of animals are large or small, according to certain qualities of the ani- mals ;"|| and the same eminent author admits that Gall's doctrine of the functions of the brain is nowise contradictory to the general principles of physiology.IT Soemmering trusts that we shall one day find the particular seats of the different orders of ideas. " Let the timid, therefore, take courage," says Dr. Georget, " and after the example of such high authori- ties, fear not to commit the unpardonable crime of innovation, of passing for cranioscopists, in admitting the plurality of the faculties and the mental organs of the brain, or at least in daring to examine the subject."** Fodere himself, a very zealous opponent of Phrenology, after recapitu- lating a great many reasons similar to those given above, which had been * Palingenesie, i. 334. t CEnvres, iii. 33. % Van Swieten, i. 454 (f Rapports da Physique ft du Moral de I'Homme, 2de edit., i. 233-4. || Anatomie Compare*, torn. ii. IT Rapport Historique sur les Progres des Sciences NatureUes, &c, p. 193. •* Physiologie du Systems Ntrveux, \. 126. 40 PLURALITY OF FACULTIES AND ORGANS. employed by philosophers antecedent to Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, for believing in a plurality of mental organs, is constrained to admit, that " this kind of reasoning has been employed by the greater number of anatomists, from the time of Galen down to our own day, and even by the great. Haller, who experienced a necessity for assigning a function to each department of the brain." Pinel also, (in the article Manie in the En- cyclopedic Methodique,) after relating some cases of partial insanity, asks whether all this collection of facts can be reconciled with the opinion of a single faculty and a single organ of the understanding 1 Even in the Edinburgh Review, (No. XCIV.,) Sir Charles Bell is commended for " at- tacking the common opinion, that a separate sensation and volition are conveyed by the same nerves," and for asserting " the different functions of different parts of the cerebrum and cerebellum." It is not surprising, therefore, that reflecting men were early led to imagine that particular mental powers must be connected with particular parts of the brain ; and accordingly, before the eighteenth century, when modern metaphysics sprang up, we find traces of this opinion common, not only among eminent anatomists and physiologists, but among authors on human nature in general. Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, published in 1621, says : " Inner senses are three in number, so called because they be within the brain-pan, as common sense, phantasie, and memory :" of common sense, he says, that " the fore part of the brain is his organ or seat;" of phantasie or imagination, which some call Estima- tive or cogitative, that his " organ is the middle cell of the brain ;" and of memory, that " his seat and organ is the back part of the brain." This was the account of the faculties given by Aristotle, and repeated, with little variation, by the writers of the middle ages. In the thirteenth cen- tury a head, divided into regions according to these opinions, was designed by Albert the Great, Bishop of Ratisbon; and another was published by Petrus Montagnana, in 1491.* One published at Venice, in 1562, by Ludovico Dolci, in a work upon strengthening and preserving the me- mory, is here represented : REFERENCES TO FIGURE. 1 Fantasia. 2 Cogitativa. 3 Vermis. 4 Sensus Communis. 5 Imagina. 6 ^Estimativa. 7 Memorativa. 8 Olfactus. 9 Gustus. In the British Museum is a chart of the universe and the elements o. * Gall, Sur les Fonctions du Cerveau, 8vo., Paris, 1822-1825, ii. 354-5. This work is a reprint of the physiological portion of the Anatomie'et Phy- siologie du Systeme Nerveux, 4to., partly by Gall and Spurzheim, and partlv bv Gall alone. J PLURALITY OF FACULTIES AND ORGANS. 41 all sciences, in which a large head so delineated is conspicuous. It was published at Rome so late as 1632.* If, then, so many physiologists and others have been led to believe in a plurality of mental organs, by a perception of the contradiction and in- consistency existing between the phenomena and the supposition of the whole brain being the single organ of the mind, I cannot err much in say- ing, that the latter notion, far from being self-evident, appears so impro- bable as to require even stronger facts to prove it than the opposite view; and that the presumptions are all in favour of a plurality of mental facul- ties manifesting themselves by means of a plurality of organs. I have now endeavoured to show, first, That the ridicule, opposition, and abuse with which Phrenology was treated at its first announcement, and its continued rejection by men of established reputation, whose opinions it contradicts, afford no presumption that it is untrue, for many great discoveries have met with a similar fate:—Secondly, That we aie really unacquainted with the mind, as an entity distinct from the body, and that it is owing to the mind not being conscious of its organs that metaphysicians have supposed their feelings and intellectual perceptions to be emanations of pure spirit, whereas they are the results of mind and its organs acting in combination :—Thirdly, That the greatest anatomists and physiologists admit the brain to be the organ of the mind, and common feelings localizes thought in the head, although it does not inform us what substance occupies the interior of the skull; farther, that the very idea of the mind having an organ, implies that every mental act is accompanied with an affection of the organ, and vice versa, so that the true philosophy of the mind cannot be discovered without taking the influence of the organs into account at every step :—And, fourthly, That the analogy of the nerves of feeling and motion, of the five senses, and of other parts of the body, all of which perform distinct functions by separate organs—also the suc- cessive appearance of the faculties in youth, and the phenomena of partial genius, of dreaming, of partial insanity, of monomania, and of partial in- juries of the brain—furnish presumptive evidence that the mind manifests a plurality of faculties by means of a variety of organs, and exclude the supposition of a single power operating by a single organ. The next in- quiry, therefore, naturally is, What effect does the condition of the organs produce on the state of the mind 1 Is it indifferent whether the organs be large or small—well or ill constituted—in health or in disease ? I submit the following facts to prove that in other departments of organized nature size in an organ, other conditions being the same, is a measure of power in its function ; i. e., that small size indicates little power, and large size much power, when all other circumstances are alike :t In our infancy we have all been delighted with the fable of the old man who showed his sons a bundle of rods, and pointed out to them how easy it was to snap one asunder, and how difficult to break the whole. The principle involved in this simple story pervades all material sub- stances ; for example, a muscle is composed of a number of fleshy fibres, and hence it follows that each muscle will be strong in proportion to the number of fibres which enter into its composition. If nerves be composed of parts, a nerve which is composed of twenty parts must be more vigorous than one which consists of only one. To render this principle universally true, however, one condition must be observed—namely, that all the parts compared with each other, or with the whole, shall be of the same quality : * Elliotson's Blumenbach, p. 205. t This subject is fully treated of by Dr. Andrew Combe in an Essay on *he Influence of Organic Size on Energy of Function, particularly as applied to the Organs of the external Senses and Brain, in the Phrenological Journal, vol .iv., p. 161. 4* 42 INFLUENCE OF SIZE for example, if the old man in the fable had presented ten twigs of wood tied up in a bundle, and desired his sons to observe how much more diffi- cult it was to break ten than to sever one ; and if his sons, in refutation of this assertion, had presented him with a rod of iron of the same thick- ness as one twig, and said that it was as difficult to break that iron rod, although single, as his whole bundle of twigs, although tenfold, the answer would have been obvious, that the things compared differed in kind and quality, and that if he took ten iron rods, and tried to break them, the difficulty would be as great compared with that of severing one, as the task of breaking ten twigs of weod compared with that of breaking one. In like manner, nerves, muscles, brain, and all other parts of the body, may be sound, or they may be diseased ; they may be of a fine structure or a coarse structure ; they may be old or young ; they may be almost dissolved by the burning heat of a tropical sun, or nearly frozen under the influence of an arctic winter ; and it would be altogether irrational to expect the influence of size to stand forth as a fixed energy overruling all these circumstances, and producing effects constantly equal. The strength of iron itself, and adamantine rock, depends on temperature ; for either will melt with a certain degree of heat, and at a still higher point they will be dissipated into vapour. The true principle, then, is, that—con- stitution, health, and outward circumstances being the same—a large muscle, or large nerve, composed of numerous fibres, will act with more force than a small one comprehending few. In tracing the influence of this law in animated beings, however, we cannot consistently compare one species with another ; because in such comparisons other conditions besides size are not the same. Man, the beaver, and the bee, for example, all construe*, yet the bee's organ of Constructiveness must be very minute ; and if we compare the impercep- tible organ in it with the relative organ in man or the beaver, it may plausibly be argued, that man and the beaver do not excel the bee in art, in proportion to the excess of size in their organs of Constructiveness. But this is an incorrect method of reasoning. The structure of every species of animals is modified to suit its own condition of life. The ox has four stomachs, and the horse only one ; yet both digest the same kind of food. The proper mode of proceeding is to compare, in different individuals of the-same species, size of particular organs with strength of particular functions, (health, age, exercise, and constitution being alike,) and then size will be found correctly to indicate power.* The more nearly any two species resemble each other, the fitter they become for being profitably compared in their structure and functions ; and hence a reflected light of analogy may be obtained in regard to the laws of the human economy, by studying that of the more perfect of the lower animals. Still, however, we derive only presumptive evidence from this source, and positive proof can be obtained only by direct observations on man himself. This last evidence alone is admitted by phrenologists as sufficient, and on it exclusively their science rests. In the following observations on the influence of size in the organs upon the power of function in different species of animals, I intend merely to illustrate in a popular manner an abstract point of doctrine, and not to prove it by rigid evidence : for that evidence I confine myself to direct observations on the human species alone : It will scarcely be disputed, that the strength of the bones is always, other circumstances being equal, proportioned to their size. So certain is this, that when nature requires to give strength to a bone in a bird, and, at the same time, to avoid increasing the weight of the animal, the bono * See Phrenological Journal, vol. ix., p. 515. ON THE POWER OF ORGANS. 43 Is made of large diameter, but hollow in the middle ; and, on mechanical principles, the increase of volume adds to its strength. That the law of size holds in regard to the bloodvessels and heart, is self-evident to every one who knows that a tube of three inches diameter will transmit more water than a tube of only one inch. And the same may be said in regard to the lungs, liver, kidneys, and every other part. If a liver with a sur- face of ten square inches can secrete four ounces of bile, it is perfectly manifest that one having a surface of twenty square inches will be able, all other things being equal, to secrete a quantity greater in proportion to its greater sire. If this law did not hold true, what would be the advantage of large and capacious lungs over small and confined 1 There could be none. Speaking generally, there are two classes of nerves distributed over the body, those of motion and those of sensation or feeling. In motion, the muscle is the essential or chief apparatus, and the nerve is required only to communicate to it the impulse of the will ; but in sensation the reverse is the case—the nerve itself is the chief instrument, and the part on which it is ramified is merely a medium for putting it into relation with the specific qualities which it is destined to recognise. To illustrate in a general way the effect of size in regard to these nerves, the following cases may be adduced; they are stated on the au- thority of Desmoulins, a celebrated French physiologist, when no other name is given: The horse and ox have much greater muscular power, and much less intensity of sensation, in their limbs than man ; and, in conformity with the principle now under discussion, the nerves of motion going to the four limbs in the horse and ox are at least one-third more numerous than the nerves of sensation going to the same parts—whereas in man, the nerves of motion going to the legs and arms are a fifth or a sixth part less than the nerves of sensation distributed on the same parts. In like manner, in birds and reptiles which have scaly skins and limited touch, but vigorous powers of motion, the nerves of sensation are few and small, and the nerves of motion numerous and large. Farther, wherever nature has given a higher degree of sensation or touch to any particular part than to the other parts of an animal, there the nerve of sensation is invariably increased ; for example, the single nerve of feeling ramified on the tactile extremity of the proboscis of the elephant exceeds in size the united volume of all the muscular nerves of that organ. "Some species of monkeys possess great sensibility in the tail, and some species of bats have great sensibility in their wings ; and in these parts the nerves of sensation are increased in size in proportion to the increase of functional power. Birds require to rise in the air, which is a medium much lighter than their own bodies. To have enlarged the size of their muscles would fcave added to their weight, and increased their difficulty in rising. Na- ture, to avoid this disadvantage, has bestowed on them large nerves of motion, which infuse a very powerful stimulus into the muscles, and increase their power of flying. Fishes live in water, which has almost the same specific gravity with their bodies. To them Nature has given large muscles, in order to increase.their locomotive powers ; and in them the nerves of motion are less. In these instances Nature curiously adds to the power of motion by increasing the size of that part of the locomo- tive apparatus which may be enlarged most conveniently for the animal; but either the muscle or the nerve must be enlarged, otherwise there is no increase of power. In regard to the external senses, it is proper to observe that each is composed, first, of an instrument or medium on which the impression is made—the eye for example ; and, secondly, of a nerve to conduct that impression to the brain. The same law of size holds in regard to these 44 INFLUENCE OF SIZE organs of the senses : a large eye will collect more rays of light, a large ear more vibrations of sound, and large nostrils more odorous particles, than the same organs if small. This is so obvious, that it scarcely requires proof; yet, as Lord Jeffrey has ridiculed the idea, I may mention that Monro, Blumenbach, Soemmering, Cuvier, Magendie, Georget, and a whole host of other physiologists, support it.. Blumenbach, when treating of smell, says: " While animals of the most acute smell have the nasal organs most extensively evolved, precisely the same holds in regard to some barbarous nations. For instance, in the head of a North American Indian (represented in one of his plates) the internal nostrils are of an extraordinary size," &c. And again : " The nearest to these in point of magnitude are the internal nostrils of the Ethiopians, from among whom I have eight heads, very different from each other, but each possessing a nasal organ much larger than that described by Soemmering. These anatomical observations accord with the accounts given by most respec- table travellers, concerning the wonderful acuteness of smell possessed by those savages." In like manner, Dr. Monro primus—no mean authority —in treating, in his Comparative Anatomy, of the large organ of smell in the dog, says: " The sensibility (of smell) seems to be increased in proportion to the surface; and this will also be found to take place in all the other senses." The same author states, " that the external ear in different quadrupeds is differently framed, but always calculated to the creature'-s manner of life ; thus, hares, and such other animals as are daily exposed to insults from beasts of prey, have large ears directed backward, their eyes warning them of danger before." These observations apply to the external portion of the organs of sense, but the inner parts or nerves are not less subject to the same law of size. Georget, an esteemed physiological writer, in treating of the nerves, af- firms, that " The volume of these organs bears a uniform relation, in all the different animals, to the extent and force of the sensations and move- ments over which they preside. Thus, the nerve of smell in the dog is larger than the five nerves of the external senses in man." The nerve of smell is small in man and in the monkey tribe; scarcely, if at all, perceptible in the dolphin ; large in the dog and the horse ; and altogether enormous in the whale and the skate, in which it actually exceeds in diame- ter the spinal marrow itself. In the mole it is of extraordinary size, while the optic nerve is very small. In the eagle the reverse is observed, the optic nerve being very large, and the olfactory small. . Most of the quad- rupeds excel man in the acuteness of their hearing, and accordingly it is a fact, that the auditory nerve in the sheep, the cow, the horse, &c, greatly exceeds the size of the same nerve in man. In some birds of prey, which are known to possess great sensibility of taste, the palate is found to be very copiously supplied with nervous filaments. , But the organ of sight affords a'most interesting example of the influ- ence of size. The office of the eyeball is to collect the rays of b>ht. A large eye, therefore, will take in more rays of light, or, in other° words, command a greater sphere of vision, than a small one. But to give intensity or power to vision, the optic merve also is necessary. Now, the ox placed upon the surface of the earth is of a heavy structure and ill fitted for motion, but he has a large eyeball, which enables him to take in a large field of vision without turning ; yet, as he does not require very keen vision to see his provender, on which he almost treads, the optic nerve is not large in proportion to the eyeball. The oagle, on the other hand, by ascending to a great height in the air, enjoys a wide field of vision from its mere physical position. It looks down from a point over an extensive surface It has no need, therefore, of a large eyeball to increase artifi- cially its field of vision, and accordingly the ball of its eye is compara- ON THE POWER OF ORGANS. 45 lively small; but it requires, from that height, to discern its prey upon the surface of the earth—and not only is the distance great, but the prey often resembles in colour the ground on which it rests. To the eag\e, therefore, great intensity of vision is necessary. Accordingly, in it the optic nerve is increased to an enormous extent. Instead of forming a single membrane only lining the inner surface of the posterior chamber of the eye, as in man and animals which do not require extraordinary vision—and consequently only equalling in extent the sphere of the eye to which it belongs—the retina or expansion of the nerve of vision in these quick-sighted birds of prey is found to be composed of a great number of folds, each hanging loose into the eye, and augmenting, in a wonderful degree, not only the extent of nervous surface, but the mass of nervous matter, and giving rise to that intensity of vision which distinguishes the eagle, falcon, hawk, and similar animals. In the case of the senses, then, we plainly see, that when Nature designs to increase their power, she effects her purpose by augmenting the size of their organs. Let us now attend to the brain. Were I to affirm that difference of size in the brain produces no effect on the vigour of its functions—or that a small brain, in perfect health and of a sound constitution, is equal in functional power and efficiency to a large one in similar condition—would the reader, after the evidence which has been laid before him of the influence of size in increasing the power of function in other parts of the body, be disposed to credit the assertion 1 He would have the utmost difficulty in believing it, and would say that, if such were the fact, the brain must form an exception to a law which appears general over organized nature; and yet the phrenologists have been assailed with vituperation for maintaining that the brain does not form an exception to this general law, but that in it also vigour of function is in proportion to size, other conditions being alike. I shall proceed to state some direct evidence in proof of this fact; but the reader is requested to observe that I am here expounding only general principles in an introductory discourse. The conditions and modifications under which these principles ought to be applied in practice will be stated in a subsequent chapter. First, The brain of a child is small, and its mind weak, compared with the brain and mental faculties of an adult. Secondly, Small size in the brain is an invariable cause of idiocy. Phre- nologists have in vain called upon their opponents to produce a single instance of the mind being manifested vigorously by a very small brain. Dr. Gall has laid it down as a fact to which there is no exception, that where the brain is so small that the horizontal circumference of the head does not exceed thirteen or fourteen inches, idiocy is the invariable con- sequence. " Complete intelligence," he remarks, " is absolutely impos- sible with so small a brain ; in such cases idiocy, more or less complete, invariably occurs, and to this rule no exception either has been, or ever will be, found."* To the same effect, Dr. Spurzheim, in his work on Insanity, says : " We are very well aware that a great number of facts repeated under various circumstances are necessary before we can draw a general conclusion ; but with respect to idiotism from birth, we have made such a number of observations in various countries, that we have no hesi- tation in affirming that a too small brain is unfit for the manifestation of the mind. I beg to remark, that I do not say that idiotism is the attribute of a too small brain only ; idiotism may be the result of different causes, one of which is a too small brain. We are convinced from observation, that the laws of nature are constant; and if we continually observe that the same phenomenon takes place under the same circumstances, we consider our conclusion as certain, till experience shows the contrary. * Sur Us Functions du Cerveau, ii. 330. 46 INFLUENCE OF SIZE No one, then, has the right to maintain that an inference is too hastily drawn because he has not made a sufficient number of observations It is his duty to show facts which prove the contrary, if he intend to deny the inference." In the Journal of the Phrenological Society oj 1 aris for April 1835 Dr. Voisin reports observations made upon the idiots under his care at the Parisian Hospital of Incurables, in order to verify the asser- tion of Gall in the passage just quoted ; and mentions that he found it substantiated by every one of his cases. In the lowest class of idiols, where the intellectual manifestations were null, the horizontal circumfe- rence, taken a little higher than the orbit, varied from eleven to thirteen inches, while the distance from the root of the nose backward over the top of the head to the occipital spine was only between eight and nine inches. When the size varied from fourteen to seventeen inches of hori- zontal measurement, and eleven or twelve in the other direction, glimpses of feelings and random intellectual perceptions were observable, but with- out any power of attention or fixity of ideas. Lastly, when the first mea- surement extended to eighteen or nineteen inches, although the head was still small, the intellectual manifestations were regular enough, but defi- cient in intensity. In a full-sized head, the first measurement is equal to twenty-two inches, and the second to about fourteen inches. So large was the head of Spurzheim, that even on the skull these two measure- ments amount to twenty-two and one quarter and thirteen and six-tenths inches respectively. Those who deny the influence of size of the brain on the manifestations of the mind, should reconcile these facts with their own views before they denounce Phrenology as at variance with nature, and maintain that, so far as vigour of mind is concerned, it is indifferent whether the head be large or small. Even Pinel, who will not be suspected of any desire to favour Phre- nology, admits, that " it appears that idiocy from birth always accompanies an original defect of the brain, that it cannot undergo any sort of change, and that its duration is the same with that of the physical cause from which it arises."* Dr. Gall has represented, in the Atlas of his quarto work, (Plates 18, 19, and 20,) three very small heads of idiots ; and similar engravings are given by Pinel. A striking case of idiocy in conjunction with a diminutive brain, will be found in the 42d number of The Phreno- logical Journal.^ An engraving of the head is here subjoined, in contrast with a sketch of that of the celebrated Hindoo reformer Rammohun Roy. Idiot, aged 20. Rammohun Roy. ON THE POWER OF ORGANS. 47 Dr. Elliotson mentions a cast of the head of a male idiot, aged eighteen years, which he received from Dr. Formby, of Liverpool, and subsequently presented to the London Phrenological Society. It is only 16 inches i& circumference, and 7| inches from ear to ear over the vertex. The cere- brum weighed only 1 lb. 7J oz., and the cerebellum but 4 ounces.* Deficiency of size in the brain is not, however, the only cause of idiocy A brain may be large and diseased, and mental imbecility may arise fron; the disease ; but, as above shown, although disease be absent, if the siza be very deficient, idiocy is invariable. Thirdly, Men who have been remarkable, not for mere cleverness, but for great force of character, such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Franklin, and Burns, have had heads of unusual magnitude. Fourthly, It is an ascertained fact, that nations in whom the brain is large, possess so great a mental superiority over those in whom that organ is small, that they conquer and oppress them at pleasure. The Hindoo brain, for example, is considerably smaller than the European, and it is well known that a few thousands of Europeans have subdued and keep in subjection millions of Hindoos. The brain of the aboriginal American also is smaller than the European, and the same result has been exem- plified in that quarter of the world. Lastly, The influence of size is now admitted by the most eminent phy siologists. " The volume of the brain," says- Magendie, " is generally in direct proportion to the capacity of the mind. We ought not to sup- pose, however, that every man having a large head is necessarily a person of superior intelligence ; for there are many causes of an augmentation of the volume of the head besides the size of the brain ; but it is rarely found that a man distinguished by his mental faculties has not a large head. The only way of estimating the volume of the brain, in a living person, is, to measure the dimensions of the skull ; every other means, even that proposed by Camper, is uncertain."! The following passage, which occurs in the 94th number of the Edinburgh Review, also implies, not only that different parts of the nervous system, including the brain, have different functions, but that an increase of volume in the brain is marked by some addition to, or amplification of, the powers of the animal. " It is in the nervous system alone that we can trace a gradual progress in the provision for the subordination of one (animal) to another, and of all to man ; and are enabled to associate every faculty which gives supe- riority with some addition to the nervous mass, even from the smallest indications of sensation and will, up to the highest degree of sensibility, judgment, and expression. The brain is observed progressively to be improved in its structure, and, with reference to the spinal marrow and nerves, augmented in volume more and more, until we reach the human brain, each addition being marked by some addition to, or amplification of, the powers of the animal—until in man we behold it possessing some parts of which animals are destitute, and wanting none which theirs possess." There is here, then, pretty strong evidence and authority for the asser- tion, that the brain does not form an exception to the general law of organized nature, that, other conditions being equal, size of organ is a measure of power of function.t * Elliotson's Blumenbach, p. 199. t Compendium of Physiology, Milligan's Translation, p. 104, edit. 1826 % It is certified by hatters, that the lower classes of the community, who are distinguished for muscular vigour much more than mental capacity, re- quire a smaller size of hat than those classes whose occupations are chiefly mental, and in whom vigour of mind surpasses that of body. But the phre- nologist does not compare intellectual power with the size of brain in general ; and, besides, the hat does not indicate the size of the whole head. The reader will find details on this point in the Phrenological Journal, iv. 539, and v. «J13. 48 TEMPERAMENT, DISEASE, &C. The circumstances which modify the effects of size come next to ba considered. These are constitution, health, exercise, excitement from without, and, in some cases, the mutual influence of the organs. The question naturally presents itself, Do we possess any index to constitutional qualities of brain 1 The temperaments indicate them to g certain extent. There are four temperaments, accompanied with diffe- rent degrees of activity in the brain—the Lymphatic, the Sanguine, the Bilious, and the Nervous. The temperaments are supposed to depend upon the constitution of particular systems of the body : the brain and nerves being predominantly active from constitutional causes, seem to produce the nervous temperament; the lungs,'heart, and bloodvessels being constitutionally predominant, to give rise to the sanguine ; the muscular and fibrous systems to the bilious ; and the glands and assimi- lating organs to the lymphatic. The different temperaments are indicated by external signs, which are open to observation. The first, or lymphatic, is distinguishable by a round form of the body, softness of the muscular system, repletion of the cellular tissue, fair hair, and a pale skin. It is accompanied by languid vital actions, with weakness, and slowness in the circulation. The brain, as part of the system, is also slow, languid, and feeble in its action, and the mental manifestations are proportionally weak. The second, or sanguine, temperament is indicated by well-defined forms, moderate plumpness of person, tolerable firmness of flesh, light hair inclining to chestnut, blue eyes, and fair complexion, with ruddiness of countenance. It is marked by great activity of the bloodvessels, fondness for exercise, and an animated countenance. The brain partakes of the general state, and is active. f The bilious temperament is recognised by black hair, dark skin, mode- rate fulness and much firmness of flesh, with harshly expressed outline of the person. The functions partake of great energy of action, which extends to the brain ; and the countenance, in consequence, shows strong, marked, and decided features. The nervous temperament is recognised by fine thin hair, thin skin, small thin muscles, quickness in muscular motion, paleness of countenance, and often delicate health. The whole nervous system, including the brain, is predominantly active, and the mental manifestations are proportionally vivacious. It is thus clearly admitted, that constitution or quality of brain greatly modifies the effects of size upon the mind : but let us attend to the con- sequences. As a general rule, all the parts of the. same brain have the same constitution, and if size be a measure of power, then in each head the large organs will be more powerful that the small ones. This enables us to judge of the strong and the weak points in each head. But if we compare two separate brains, we must recollect that the size of the two may be equal, and that nevertheless the one, from possessing the finest texture and most vigorous constitution, may be exceedingly active, while the other, from being inferior in quality, may be naturally inert. The consequence may be, that the better constituted, though smaller, brain will manifest the mind with the greater vigour. That size is, nevertheless, the ™nZ f F°TT' Ty be F0Ved by cont™snr.g the manifestations of a wrfl V, f \aTgl '"' P°ssessing the same configuration, and equally Taul Th n 5 /^ P°Tr °r ener^ Wl11 then be <°u"d -uperior in the enZ' f fulllustrate» what ls meant by other natural conditions being Z LnPi] the,temPeivamuen'8 are distinguishable by the countenance and consSoi ^ "m* atthe brain ParUkes of the 8™eral constitution we possess a valuable, though not all-sufficient hide? to its natural qualme, I repeat that these remarks apply only^ '£ ca8e of Ea'S'MipmiAB'iiOQ g A S^® WES'Ho E3EE*E® W(§o. 2^n®w@{Dr®( HODIFY THE EFFECTS OF SIZE. 49 comparing one brain with another. The same brain has in general the name constitution, and on the principle that size is a measure of power, the largest organs in each individual will be naturally the most vigorous. If the temperament be lymphatic, all the organs will act slowly, but the largest will be most powerful and most active, on account of their superior size. If the temperament be active, all will be active, but the largest will take the lead. It is on this account that a student of Phrenology, in search of evidence, should not compare the same organ in different brains, without attending very strictly to the temperament. Of the causes of the temperaments various theories have been formed, but none hitherto propounded can be regarded as satisfactory. But, as is well remarked by a writer in The Phrenological Journal, "it is with the effects of the temperaments, more than their causes, that we are concerned —and happily the former are less obscure than the latter. When an in- dividual is characterized by softness of flesh, fairness of the skin, flaxen hair, plumpness of figure, a weak slow pulse, and a loutish inanimate ex- pression, physiologists agree in describing him as a person of a lymphatic temperament ; and whatever be the cause of these appearances, we know f'om experience that they are indications of great languor of the bodily and mental functions. Ceteris paribus, temperament seems to affect equally every part of the body ; so that if the muscles be naturally active and energetic, we may expect also activity and energy of the brain; and if one set of muscles be active, the like vivacity may be looked for in the others. This principle is practically recognised by William Cobbett, who, whatever may be his merits or demerits as a politician, is certainly a shrewd observer and describer of real life. In his Letter to a Lover he discusses the question, ' Who is to tell whether a girl will make an industrious woman 1 How is the purblind lover especially to be able to ascertain whether she, whose smiles, and dimples, and bewitching lips have half bereft him of his senses ; how is he to be able to judge, from anything that he can see, whether the beloved object will be industrious or lazy ] Why, it is very difficult,' he answers : ' There are, however, certain outward signs, which, if attended to with care, will serve as pretty sure guides. And, first, if you find the tongue lazy, you may be nearly certain that the hands and feet are the same. By laziness of the tongue I do not mean silence ; I do not mean an absence of talk, for that is, in most case, very good ; but I mean a slow and soft utterance; a sort of sighing out of the words, instead of speaking them; a sort of letting the sounds fall out, as if the party were sick at stomach. The pronunciation of an industrious person is generally quick and distinct, and the voice, if not strong, firm at least. Not masculine ; as feminine as possible : not a croak nor a bawl, but a quick, distinct, and sound voice.' ' Another mark of industry is a quick step, and a somewhat heavy tread, showing that the foot comes down with a hearty good will.' ' I do not like, and I never liked, your sauntering, soft-stepping girls, who move as if they were perfectly indifferent as to the result.'* We are disposed to think that Cobbett's homely advice will prove sound in all cases where the nervous and muscular systems are equally developed, equally healthy, and equally accustomed to exercise. But if the head be large and the muscles small, the individual will be much more inclined to mental than to muscular activity ; and, on the other hand, if he have large muscles and a small brain, the activity derived from a sanguine or bilious temperament will have a tendency to expend itself in exercise or labour of the body. The reason of this is, that the largest organs have, cateris paribus, the greatest tendency to act; their activity is productive of the greatest pleasure ; hence they are more frequently exercised than the smaller organs ; and * Cobbett's Advice to Young Men, Letter III, sect. 102-5 5 50 TEMPERAMENT, DISEASE, &C, thus the energy and activity of the former are made to predominate strll more than they did originally, over those of the latter " " The remarks now offered in reference to the comparative efficiency of the muscular and cerebral functions are equally applicable to the cerebral organs, con- sidered in relation to each other. Where two organs are alike m deve- lopement and cultivation, a nervous or sanguine temperament will render them equally active ; but where one is more fully developed than the other, it will excel the latter both in power and in activity. In another brain of the same size and form, but with a lymphatic temperament, a similar pre- dominance of the power and activity of one organ over those of the other will be found ; but the absolute power and activity of both will be less than in the other case supposed. Temperament, therefore, besides in- fluencing the activity of the organs, affects their power also, to a greater extent than some phrenologists seem inclined to allow."* Farther, the brain must possess a healthy constitution, and that degree of activity which is the usual accompaniment of health. Now, the brain, like other parts of the body, may be affected with certain diseases which do not diminish nor increase its magnitude, but yet impair its functions. The phrenologist ascertains the health by inquiry. In cases of disease, great size may be present, and very imperfect manifestations appear; or the brain may be attacked with other diseases, such as inflammation, or any of those particular affections whose nature is unknown, but to which the name of mania is given in nosology, and which greatly exalt its action; and then very forcible manifestations may proceed from a brain compara- tively small: but it is no less true, that, when a larger brain is excited to the same degree by the same causes, the manifestations are still more energetic, in proportion to the superiority -of size. These cases, there- fore, form no valid objection to Phrenology ; for the phrenologist ascer- tains, by previous inquiry, that the brain is in a state of health. If it is not, he makes the necessary limitations in drawing his conclusions. The effects of exercise in adding to the mental power are universally known, and ought never to be overlooked by the phrenologist. " The brain, being an organized part, is subject, in so far as regards its exercise, to precisely the same laws as the other organs of the body. If it be doomed to inactivity, its health decays, and the mental operations and feelings, as a necessary consequence, become dull, feeble, and slow. If it be duly exercised, after regular intervals of repose, the mind acquires * Phrenological Journal, vol. ix., p. 116-118. See also pp. 54, 267. En- gravings illustrative of the Temperaments will be found in Dr. Spurzheim's Phrenology in Connexion with the Study of Physiognomy, London, 1826, PI. 1. As the error is still very common, that phrenologists consider the power of an organ to depend on its size alone, I subjoin several passages on this sub- ject, extracted from phrenological works. Dr. Gall, in the first volume of his treatise Sur les Fonctions du Cerveau, says : " L'energie des fonctions des organes ne depende pas seulement de leur developpement, mais aussi de Uur excitabilile."—(P. 196.) " Les fonctions des sens dont les organes sont phis considerables, plus sains, et plus developpes, ou qui ont regu une irritation plus forte, sont, par cela meme, plus vives. La meme phenomene se repro- duit dans les facultes de l'ame ; les organes de ces facultes agissent avec plus d'energie, s'ils sont plus irrites ou plus developpes."—(P. 308.) And Dr. Spurzheim, in his work on Physiognomy, above referred to, states that " it is important, in a physiological point of view, to take into account the peculiar constitution or temperament of individuals, not as the cause of determinate faculties, but as influencing the energy with which the special functions of the several organs are manifested."—(P. 15.) " The energy and excellence of the brain," says Dr. Caldwell, "depend on its size, configuration, and tone—its extensity and intensity.—(Elements of Phrenology. Lexington, Ky., 1824, p. 38.) See farther on the temperaments, The Phrenological Journal, viii., 293 369, 447, 509, 564, 595. MODIFY THE EFFECTS OF SIZE. 51 readiness and strength ; and, lastly, if it be overtasked, either in the force or duration of its activity, its functions become impaired, and irritability and disease take the place of health and vigour."* The other influences which modify size will be considered afterward. Let us turn our attention to the point of the argument at which we are now arrived. We have seen that the brain is the organ of the mind; that it is not a single organ, but that the analogy of all the other organs, the successive developement of the faculties, with the phenomena of partial genius, partial insanity, monomania, dreaming, and partial injuries of the brain, indicate that it is a congeries of organs manifesting a plurality of faculties ; and that, in the cases of the bones, muscles, nerves of motion, nerves of sensation, and nerves of the five senses, size has an influence on power of function : and from the analogy of these organs, as well as from direct facts and physiological authorities, we have come to the same conclusion regarding the brain—that vigour of function, other circum- stances besides magnitude being equal, is in proportion to the size of the organ. From these premises it follows, as a necessary consequence, that, with respect to the manifestation of the mental faculties, it will not be in- different in what direction the brain is most or least developed : for ex- ample, if different parts of the brain possess different functions, and if the strength of function be in proportion to the size of the part, the vigour of the faculties connected with the forehead, whatever these may be, will be greater where the frontal region predominates in size than where the pre- dominance is in the posterior portion ; and differences will occur also in cases of preponderance in the superior or inferior regions. In short, it is obvious that two brains may be composed of exactly the same number of cubic inches of cerebral matter, and yet serve to manifest two minds totally different from each other in the kind of disposition or capacity by which they are characterized; so that the form of the head is an object of attention to the phrenologist, not less interesting and important than its size. This fact shows clearly the absurdity of assuming the size of a hat as an accurate indication of the magnitude of its wearer's head ; for although there may be considerable length and breadth, yet, if the height be deficient, the brain may be of very ordinary size. Here we have a representation of the skull of Dr. Spurzheim, and of the Dr. Spurzheim. skull of a native of New Holland ; both taken from casts in the collec- tion of the Phrenological Society. The difference in the forehead is very conspicuous. If the part of the brain lying in that region have any function connected with intellect, and if size be a measure of power, the two beings should form a strong contrast of power and weakness in that department. And, accordingly, the case is so. Dr. Spurzheim has left in his phrenological works an imperishable record of moral and intellectual greatness; while Sir Walter Scott describes the other as follows : " The natives of New Holland are, even at present, in the very lowest scale of humanity, and ignorant of every art which can add * The Principles of Physiology applied to the Preservation of Health and to the Improvement of Physical and Mental Education. By Andrew Combe, M.D. 3d edit., p. 277. 52 CONNEXION OF PARTICULAR FACULTIES AND ORGANS. Native of New Holland. comfort or decency to human life. These unfortunate savages use no clothes, construct no cabins nor huts, and are ignorant even of the manner of chasing animals or catching fish, unless such of the latter as are left by the tide, or which are found on the rocks ; they feed upon the most disgust- ing substances, snakes, worms, maggots, and whatever trash falls in their way. They know, in- deed, how to kindle a fire; in that respect only they have stepped beyond the deepest ignorance to which man can be subjected ; but they have not learned how to boil water ; and when they see Europeans perforin this ordinary operation, they have been known to run away in great terror." We have now arrived, by a fair and legitimate induction, at strong pre- sumptive evidence in favour of the general principles of Phrenology— namely, that the brain is the organ of the mind ; that different parts of it are connected with different faculties; and that the size of the organ exerts an influence on the power of manifestation. Here, then, the inquiry pre- sents itself, What faculties and what parts of the brain are mutually con- nected 1 This is the grand question remaining to be solved, in order to render our knowledge of the functions of the brain and the organs of the mind precise and practically useful. Let us inquire what progress the metaphysician and anatomist have made in elucidating this point. It is of importance to take a view of the past efforts of philosophers on this subject, that we may be able correctly to appreciate both what remains to be done, and how far Phrenology affords the means of accomplishing it. The mind has been studied, by one set of philosophers, with too little reference to the body ; and the laws of thought have been expounded with as much neglect of organization as if we had already "shuffled of this mortal coil." From this erroneous practice of many distinguished authors, such as Locke, Hume, Reid, Stewart, and Brown, a prejudice has arisen against the physiology of man, as if the mind were degraded by contemplating it in connexion with matter ; but man is the work of the Creator of the world, and no part of his constitution can be unworthy of regard and admiration. The whole phenomena of life are the result of mind and body joined, each modifying each ; and how can we explain a result without attending to all the causes which combine toward its pro- duction 1 In the words of Dr. John Gregory, "It has been the mis- fortune of most of those who have studied the philosophy of the human mind, that they have been little acquainted with the structure of the human body and the laws of the animal economy ; and yet the mind and body are so intimately connected, and have such a mutual influence on one another, that the constitution of either, examined apart, can never be thoroughly understood. For the same reason, it has been an unspeakable loss to physicians, that they have been so generally inattentive to the peculiar laws of the mind and their influence on the body."* Even Mr. Dugald Stewart admits, that " among the different articles connected with the natural history of the human species," the laws of union between the "mind and body, and the mutual influence they have on one another," are subjects of one of the most important inquiries that ever " engaged * Comparative View of the State and Faculties of Man with those of the Ani- mal World, 3d edit, London, 1766, p. 5. EFFORTS OF METAPHYSICIANS. 53 he attention of mankind, and almost equally necessary in the sciences of morals and of medicine."* Another set of philosophers, in avoiding Scylla, have thought it neces- sary to dash into Charybdis, and, teaching that the mind is nought but a combination of matter, have endeavoured to explain its functions by sup- posed mechanical motions in its parts : but, as we shall hereafter see, this course of proceeding is equally erroneous with the other. In surveying the phenomena of mind, we are struck by the variety of faculties with which it appears to be endowed. Philosophers and the vulgar equally admit it to be possessed of different powers. Thus it is by one faculty that it reasons, by another that it fears, and by a third that it discriminates between right and wrong. If, however, we inquire what progress has hitherto been made by meta- physicians in ascertaining the primitive mental powers, and in rendering the philosophy of man interesting and practically useful to persons of ordinary understanding, we shall find a deficiency that is truly deplorable. From the days of Aristotle to the present time, the most powerful intel- lects have been directed, with the most persevering industry, to this de- partment of science ; and system after system has flourished, fallen, and been forgotten, in rapid and melancholy succession. To confine our at- tention to modern times : Dr. Reid overturned the philosophy of Locke and Hume ; Mr. Stewart, while he illustrated Reid, yet differed from him in many important particulars ; and, recently, Dr. Thomas Brown has attacked, with powerful eloquence and philosophical profundity, the fabric of Stewart, which already totters to its fall. The very existence of the most common and familiar faculties of the mind is debated among these philosophers. Mr. Stewart maintains Attention to be a faculty, but this is denied by Dr. Brown. Others, again, state Imagination to be a primi- tive power of the mind, while Mr. Stewart informs us, that' " what we call the power of Imagination is not the gift of nature, but the result of acquired habits, aided by favourable circumstances."f Common observa- tion ipforms us, that a taste for music and a genius for poetry and paint- ing are gifts of nature, bestowed only on a few ; but Mr. Stewart, by dint of his philosophy, has discovered that these powers, and also a genius for mathematics, "are gradually formed by particular habits of study or of business.":}: On the other hand, he treats of Perception, Conception, and Memory as original powers; while Dr. Thomas Brown denies their title to that appellation. Reid, Stewart, and Brown admit the existence of moral emotions; but Hobbes, Mandeville, Paley, and many others, " resolve the sentiment of right and wrong into a regard to our own good, perceptions of utility, and obedience to the laws or to the Divine command! Thus, after the lapse and labour of more than two thousand years, philo- sophers are not yet agreed concerning the existence of many of the most important principles of action, and intellectual powers of man. While the philosophy of mind shall remain in this uncertain condition, it will be impossible to give to morals and natural religion a scientific foundation; and, until these shall assume the stableness and precision of sciences__ education, political economy, and legislation must continue defective in their principles and application. If, therefore, Phrenology could intro- duce into the philosophy of mind even a portion of the certainty and pre- cision which attend physical investigations, it would confer no small benefit on this interesting department of science ; and that it is fully competent to do so, shall be made apparent after we have attended to a few pre- liminary points requiring consideration. In the next place, supposing the number and nature of the primitive * Stewart's Preliminary Dissertation, Supp.Encyc. Brit., Part ii.,pp. 199 200 t Elements, chap. 7, sect. 1. % Outlines, p. 16. 54 EFFORTS OF METAPHYSICIANS. faculties to be ascertained, it is to be remarked, that, in actual life, they are successively developed. The infant feels anger, fear, attachment, before it is alive to the sublime or the beautiful; and it observes occur- rences long before it reasons. A correct theory of mind ought to unfold principles to which these facts also may be referred. Farther—even after the full maturity of age is attained, how different the degrees in which we are endowed with the various mental powers! Admitting each individual to possess all the faculties which constitute the human mind, in what a variety of degrees of relative strength do they appear in different persons ! In one, the love of glory i3 the feeling which surpasses all; another is deaf to the voice of censure, and callous to the accents of applause. The soul of one melts with softest pity at a tale of wo ; while the eye of another never shed a sympathetic tear. One indi- vidual spends his life in an ardent chase of wealth, which he stops not to enjoy ; another scatters in wasteful prodigality the substance of his sires, and perishes in want from a mere incapacity to retain. One vast intellect, like Newton's, fathoms the profundities of science ; while the mind of another can scarcely grope its way through the daily occurrences of life, The towering imagination of a Shakspeare or a Milton soars beyond the boundaries of sublunary space ; while the sterile fancy of a clown sees no glory in the heavens and no loveliness on earth. A system of mental philosophy, therefore, pretending to be true, ought not only to unfold the simple elements of thought and of feeling, but to enable us to discover in what proportions they are combined in different individuals. In chemical science, one combination of elementary ingre- dients produces a medicine of sovereign virtue in removing pain ; another combination of the same materials, but differing in their relative propor- tions, brings forth a mortal poison. In human nature, also, one combina- tion of faculties may produce the midnight murderer and thief—anothei a Franklin, a Howard, or a Fry, glowing with charity to man. If, however, we search the works of those philosophers who have hitherto written on the mind, for rules by which to discriminate the effects produced upon the character and conduct of individuals by different combinations of the mental powers, what information do we receive 1 Instead of light upon this interesting subject, we find only disputes whether such diffe- rences exist in nature, or are the result of education and other adventitious circumstances ; many maintaining the one opinion, while some few advo- cate the other. This department of the philosophy of man, in short, is a perfect waste. Mr. Stewart was aware equally of its importance and of its forlorn condition. The varieties of intellectual character among men, says he, present another very interesting object of study, which, " considering its practical utility, has not yet excited, so much as might have been expected, the curiosity of our countrymen."* The reason appears sufficiently obvious : the common modes of studying man afforded no clew to the discovery desired. In thus surveying the philosophy of man, as at present exhibited to us in the writings of philosophers, we perceive, first, That no account is given of the influence of the material organs on the mental powers; and that the progress of the mind from youth to age, and the phenomena of sleep, dreaming, idiocy, and insanity, are left unexplained or unaccounted for by any principles admitted in their systems : secondly, That the exis- tence and functions of some of the most important primitive faculties are still in dispute : and, thirdly, That no light whatever has been thrown on th' nature and effects of combinations of the primitive powers, in different <£r ^ees of relative proportion. It is with great truth, therefore, that J" vsieur De Bonald, quoted by Mr. Stewart, observes, that " diversity of * Dissertation, Supp. Encyc. Brit., Part, ii., p. 198. EFFORTS OF MORALISTS—OF POETS. 55 doctrine has increased from age to age, with the number of masters, and with the progress of knowledge ; and Europe, which at present possesses libraries filled with philosophical works, and which reckons up almost as many philosophers as writers ; poor in the midst of so much riches, and uncertain, with the aid of all its guides, which road it should follow ; Eu- rope, the centre and focus of all the lights of the world, has yet its phi- losophy only in expectation." While philosophers have been thus unsuccessfully engaged in the study of mental science, human nature has been investigated by another set of observers—moralists, poets, and divines. These have looked upon the page of life merely to observe the characters there exhibited, with the view of tracing them anew in their own compositions ; and certainly they have executed their design with great felicity and truth. In the pages of Shak- speare, Addison, Johnson, Tillotson, and Scott, we have the lineaments of mind traced with a perfect tact, and exhibited with matchless beauty and effect. But these authors had no systematic object in view, and aimed not at founding their observations on principles which might render them subservient to the practical purposes of life. Hence, although in their compositions we find ample and admirable materials for the elucidation of a true system of the philosophy of man, yet, without other aids than those which they supply, we cannot arrive at fundamental principles suf- ficient to guide us in our intercourse with the world. The charge against their representations of human nature is, not that they are incorrect, but that they are too general to be useful. They draw striking pictures of good men and of bad men, but do not enable us to discover, previously to ex- perience, whether any particular individual with whom we may wish to connect our fortunes, belongs to the one class or to the other—a matter of extreme importance, because, in the course of gaining experience, we encounter the risk of suffering the greatest calamities. In short, poets and novelists describe men as they do the weather: in their pages they make the storm to rage with terrific energy, or the sun to shine with the softest radiance, but do not enable us to discover whether, to-morrow, the elements will war, or the zephyrs play ; and, without this power, we cannot put to sea with the certainty of favouring gales, nor stay in port without the risk of losing winds that would have wafted us to the wished-for shore. Phrenology, therefore, if a true system of human nature, ought not only to present to the popular reader a key of philosophy which shall enable him to unlock the stores of intellectual wealth contained in the volumes of our most gifted authors, but likewise to render their representations of human character practically useful, by enabling him to discover the natural qualities of living individuals previously to experience of their conduct, and thus to appreciate their tendencies before becoming the victim of their incapacity or passions. The causes of the failure of the metaphysician are easily recognised. He studied the mind chiefly by reflecting on his own consciousness ; he turned his attention inward, observed the phenomena Gf his own faculties, and recorded these as metaphysical science. But the mind is not con- scious of organs at all ; we are not informed by it of the existence of muscles, nerves of motion, nerves of taste, nerves of smell, an auditory apparatus, optic nerves, nor any mental organs whatever. All that con- sciousness reveals is, that the mind inhabits the head; but it does not inform us what material substances the head contains : hence it was im- possible for the metaphysician to discover the organs of the mind by his method of philosophizing, and no metaphysical philosopher pretends to have discovered them. The imperfection of this mode of investigation accounts for the contradictory representation of the human mind given by different metaphysicians. Suppose an individual with a brain like 56 LABOURS OF PHYSIOLOGISTS. that of a New Hollander, to turn philosopher; he would never, by re- flecting on his own consciousness, find an instinctive sentiment of justice, and, therefore, he would exclude it from his system. On the other hand, another philosopher, constituted like Dr. Spurzheim, would feel it strongly, and give it a prominent place. ,,-••. »• When we turn our attention to the works of physiologists, we discover the most ceaseless, but fruitless, endeavours to ascertain and determine the parts of the body with which the several mental powers are most closely connected. Some of them have dissected the brain, in the hope of discovering in its texture an indication of the functions which it per- forms in relation to the mind ; but success has not hitherto crowned their efforts. When we examine, with the most scrupulous minuteness, the form, colour, and texture of the brain, no sentiment can be perceived slumbering in its fibres, nor half-formed ideas starting from its folds. It appears to the eye only as a mass of curiously convoluted matter; and the understanding declares its incapacity to penetrate the purposes of its parts. In fact, we cannot, by merely dissecting any organ of the body whatever, discover its functions. Anatomists for many centuries dis- sected the nerves of motion and feeling, and saw nothing in their struc- ture that, indicated the difference of their functions ; and, at this moment, if the nerves of taste and of hearing were presented together on the table, we might look at them for ages without discovering traces of separate functions in their structure. Simple dissection of the brain, therefore, could not lead to the discovery of the functions of its different parts.* Thus, the obstacles which have hitherto opposed the attainment of this information have been numerous and formidable. The imagination, however, has been called in, to afford the knowledge which philosophy withheld, and theories have been invented to supply the place of princi- ples founded on facts and legitimate induction. Some physiologists, while they locate the understanding in the brain, derive the affections and passions from various abdominal and thoracic viscera, ganglia, and nerves. But the fallacy of this notion is apparent from a variety of cir- cumstances. In the first place, there is a presumption against it in the fact, that the heart, liver, and intestines have well-known functions en- tirely different from those eo ascribed to them ; and it is contrary to the established principles of physiology to suppose that a muscular organ like the heart is at once a machine for propelling the blood and the organ of courage or love—or that the liver, which secretes bile, and the bowels, which are organs of nutrition, are at the same time respectively the organs of anger and compassion. These emotions being mental pheno- mena, it is presumable that they ought to be referred, like the analogous phenomena of intellect, to the nervous system. Secondly, no relation is found to subsist between the size of these viscera and the mental quali- ties ascribed to them : cowardly men have not small hearts, nor do we find the liver more ample in angry men than in mild and pacific. Thirdly, disease of the brain influences the affective faculties not less than the intellectual; while the abdominal and thoracic viscera, on the other hand may be in a morbid state without any corresponding change of the faculties ascribed to them. Fourthly, why do not children in whom these viscera are well developed even at birth, manifest atf'the passions in iheir earliest years ? Fifthly, many idiots, almost or wholly • *7le Pr°P°si'ion.tha.1 'he structure of an organ does not reveal its function is to be understood with reference not to mechanical functions but onW to vital. Harvey was led to discover the function of the heart and blXesZl? by observing m them certain valves capable of oermittinp- ?hL \ T? a n one direction, but not in the opposL. So ffi i°1»weiS1h2 S functions are not revealed by dissection, that physiologist, l/Jl ♦ yet been able to determine the purpose of the spleel S ha™ n0t evea LABOURS OF PHYSIOLOGISTS. 57 destitute of some of the affections, have nevertheless a complete deve- lopement of the thoracic and abdominal viscera. Sixthly, it is very improbable that animals of different species, having the viscera alike, should manifest opposite affections—that the heart, for example, should be the organ of fear in the sheep and of courage in the dog.* Lastly, and above all, observation proves that the affective faculties are stronger or weaker, according as certain parts of the brain are more or less deve- loped ; a fact which will be demonstrated when we come to treat of them in detail. Those who argue that, because fear and anger cause palpita- tion of the heart, the latter must be the organ of these passions, do in reality (according to the remark of Dr. Mason Good, quoted above, p. 12) mistake an effect for its cause. By means of the nerves the thoracic and abdominal viscera are intimately connected with the brain, and a very close sympathy exists between them. Excitement and disease of the brain, therefore, often produce marked effects upon the viscera; and in like manner diseases of the stomach and liver have a very obvious influ- ence on the brain. Excitement even of the intellectual faculties is not unfrequently found to affect the viscera : thus it is recorded of Male- branche, that he was seized with lively palpitations of the heart when reading the Treatise on Man of Descartes ; and Tissot, in his work on the Diseases of Literary and Sedentary Persons, refers to many cases where overexertion of the intellect occasioned the same diseases of the viscera as those produced by too great violence of the passions. So, also, vomiting is sometimes occasioned by wounds of the brain ; but the brain is not, therefore, the seat of vomiting. On the other hand, nervous affec- tions, equally with those of the viscera, result from great activity of the Eiassions, in the various forms of palsy, convulsions, madness, and epi- epsy. Grief, as every one is aware, makes us shed tears ; fear produces a sensation of cold in the skin, and causes the legs to totter; and-indi- gestion frequently occasions toothache : but are we thence to infer that the lachrymal glands are the organs of grief, the teeth the seat of indi- gestion, and the skin or legs the organs of fear 1 In short, to use the words of Adelon, who has adopted all the arguments of Gall, "lesobjec- tions se presentent en foule contre toute cette doctrine."! Even Dr. Prichard, who has no other seat for the passions, abandons the claim of the thoracic and abdominal viscera as utterly hopeless—on the ground, among others, " that the same emotion will display its effect on different organs in different individuals. Fear or terror will occasion in one per- son fainting or palpitation of-the heart ; in another, it affects the liver or intestinal canal ; but the particular effect would probably be uniform and unvaried if the mental emotion were dependent on some particular gang- lion of the great sympathetic nerve (which was the idea of Bichat.) The vagueness of popular language on this subject is sufficient to prove that the physical effects of the emotions are very various. The Greeks referred most of the passions to the liver, spleen, and diaphragm ; the Hebrews, to the bowels and reins ; the moderns refer them almost solely to the heart. The diversity of these phenomena, which vary according to the peculiarities of constitution, proves that they are secondary effects produced by the emotions through sympathy on the functions of the viscera, those organs being most affected which in each individual have the greatest irritability or susceptibility of impressions."}: * Gall, ii., 93-97.—I do not reckon the sixth argument as of much value ; for an organ apparently the same may have different functions in different species of animals. See this subject adverted to in the Phrenological Jour- nal, ix ,514. f Adelon, Physiologiede VHomme, 2d. edit., i., 160. Prichard's Review of the Doctrine of a Vital Principle, &c., p. 179. In a 53 LABOURS OF PHYSIOLOGISTS. Another class of physiologists have compared the size of trfe brain of man with that of the brains of the lower animals, contrasting at the same time their mental powers ; and have been led to the conclusion that it is the organ of the mind, and that its superior developement in man indicates his mental superiority over the brutes: but these philosophers have not succeeded in determining the functions of the different parts of this organ, and have not been able, in any important degree, to connect their dis- coveries with the philosophy of mind. Camper, in order to measure the extent of the brain, and, as he imagined, the corresponding energy of the intellectual faculties, drew a vertical line, touching the upper lip and the most prominent part of the forehead ; and also a horizontal line, crossing the former, and touching the tips of the upper front teeth and the exter- nal opening of the ear, or at least corresponding to these points in its direc- tion : and he thought that man and brutes have more understanding, the more the upper and inner angle formed by the two lines, or that including the upper jaw, nose, &c, is obtuse ; and, on the contrary, that they are more stupid, the more this "facial angle" is acute. But this way of measuring the intellectual faculties is not more correct than that previ- ously mentioned. The facial angle applies only to the middle parts of the brain situated in the forehead, and is inapplicable to all the lateral and pos- terior parts ; hence it could, even if there were no other objection, indicate only those faculties whose organs constitute the middle of the forehead. Besides, in many negroes the jaw-bones are extremely prominent and the facial angle acute ; while their foreheads are, in fact, largely developed and their intellectual faculties powerful—although, by Camper's rule, they ought to be inferior to many stupid Europeans, whose foreheads are defi- cient, but whose jaws recede. Hence, the facial angle cannot serve as a means of measuring the moral sentiments and intellectual faculties.* Some physiologists, as Soemmering and Cuvier, have compared tho size of the brain in general with the size of the face ; and, according to them, animals are stupid as the face is large in proportion to the brain. But that this rule is not infallible, is easily proved ; because Leo, Montaigne, Leibnitz, Haller, and Mirabeau had large faces and very considerable brains. Bossuet, Voltaire, and Kant had, on the contrary, small faces and also large brains, t The cerebral parts have likewise been compared with each other, in order to ascertain their functions ; as, the brain with the cerebellum, the brain with the medulla oblongata, with the nerves, &c. : but these modes also have led to no satisfactory results. The elder writers, such as Aristotle and his followers, who assigned different faculties to different parts of the brain, proceeded on fancy, or on notions of supposed suitableness of the place in the head to the nature of the power; and their views have been entirely abandoned both by physiologists and by metaphysicians. In short, it is well known that, be- fore Gall's discovery, no theory of the functions of the brain was admitted and taught as certain science, such as the doctrine of the circulation of the blood, and the functions of the muscles, nerves, and bones.J subsequent sentence this author displays no small degree of ignorance, real or affected, of the facts collected and observed by other physiologists. " Later writers," says he, " have abandoned the notion of Bichat, and have referred the passions to the brain. But this supposition is equally gratuitous, and supported by no proof!" P. 180. * Spurzheim's Phrenology, p. 58-60. f fbid. p. 61. t An inclination has occasionally been evinced to detract from the honour due to Dr. Gall, by affirming that many previous writers tau-ht the plurality ot cerebral organs. In answer to such assertions 1 quote the followin" re- marks from a late number of The Medico-Chirurgical Review • " No CTeal discovery was probably ever made instanter. Conjectures long precede LABOURS OF PHYSIOLOGISTS. 59 Dr. Roget, an opponent of Phrenology, freely confesses that " the brain is still as incomprehensible in its functions, as it is subtile and com- plex in its anatomy ;"* and the writer in the 94th number of The Edin- burgh Review, says : " Even within our own time, although many great anatomists had devoted themselves almost exclusively to describing the brain, this organ used to be demonstrated by the greater number of teach- ers in a manner which, however invariable, was assuredly not particularly useful. It was so mechanically cut down upon, indeed, as to constitute a sort of exhibition connected with nothing. The teacher and the pupil were equally dissatisfied with the performance, and the former probably the most; the latter soon gave up the painful attempt to draw any kind of deductions from what he witnessed, and disposed of the difficulty as he best could, when he had to render an account of what he had seen. Up to this day, our memory is pained by the recollection of the barbarous names and regular sections of what was then the dullest part of anatomi- cal study ; which, although often repeated, left no trace but of its obscurity or its absurdity. Here an oval space of a white colour, and there a line of gray or curve of red, were displayed ; here a cineritious, there a medul- lary mass ; here a portion white without and gray within, there a portion white within and gray without; here a gland-pituitary, there a gland like grains of sand ; here a ventricle, there a cul-de-sac ; with endless fibres, and lines, and globules, and simple marks, with appellations no less fan- ciful than devoid of meaning." " The anatomist dissected, and toiled on in this unpromising territory, and entangled himself more in proportion to his unwillingness to be defeat- ed ; and he succeeded, no doubt, in making out a clear display of all these complicated parts, which few, however, could remember, and fewer still could comprehend. Then came the physiologist in still greater perplexity, and drew his conclusions, and assigned offices to the multiplied portions and ramifications of nervous substance, by arbitrary conjecture for the most part, and often with manifest inconsistency. Although the brain was generally allowed to be the organ of the intellectual faculties, it was supposed to give out from particular portions of the mass, but quite indif- ferently, nerves of sensation, general and specific, nerves of motion, and proofs, in most instances. The real and effective discoverer, we imagine, is he who fixes the attention of the world on, and proves the discovery, by bring- ing it into complete operation. If Harvey, or some other person, had not demonstrated the circulation of the blood, all the hints and suppositions of his predecessors, from Hippocrates downward, would have gone for nothing. Of what use was the actual knowledge of vaccination, possessed by the Glou- cestershire farmers, till Jenner fixed the attention of the profession on it, and proved its efficacy in preventing variola ? Great numbers of Harvey's con- temporaries denied the truth of the discovery—and afterward, when the world acknowledged the truth of it, they attempted to prove that the circulation was known to many others before he was born. This has ever been the case, and arises from the envy and jealousy which men feel toward each other, while living, and rivals."—(No. 43, p. 31, January, 1835.) If the plurality of the cerebral organs was known before the time of Gall, how was it possible for a physiologist like Dr. Cullen to pen the following sentences ? " Although we cannot doubt that the operations of our intellect always depend upon certain motions taking place in the brain, yet these motions have never been the objects of our senses, nor have we been able to perceive that any particular part of the brainhas more concern in the operations of our intellect than any other. Neither have we attained any knowledge of what share the several parts of the brain have in that operation; and, therefore, in this situation of our science, it must be a very difficult matter to discover those states of the- brain that may give occasion to the various states of our intellectual functions." (Practice of Physio, vol. i., sect. 1539.) See also Dr. T. Brown's Lectures, i., 420. * Supplement to Encyc. Brit., article " Cranioscopy." 60 HISTORY OF DR. GALL's DISCOVERY. nerves of volition ; the single, double, or multipled origin of nerves, which had not escaped notice, not being supposed to be connected with theser separate offices. " Such, so vague, so obscure, so inexact, so unsatisfactory, was the kind of knowledge communicated to the student, until a very recent period ; and the impression left by it was that of confused and unintelligible pro- fusion in the distribution of nerves, of intricacy without meaning, of an expenditure of resources without a parallel in the other works of nature." (Pages 447, 448.) Unless, then, Dr. Gall could boast of some other methed of investigation than those of the ordinary physiologist and metaphysician, he could offer no legitimate pretensions to the solution of the question, What parts of the brain, and what mental faculties, are connected 1 By great good for- tune, however, he was led to adopt a different and superior mode of in- quiry ; and this leads me to state shortly a few particulars of the history of the science which is now to be expounded. Dr. Francis Joseph Gal-l, a physician of Vienna, afterward resident in Paris,* was the founder of the system. From an early age he was given to observation, and was struck with the fact, that each of his brothers and sisters, companions in play, and schoolfellows, was distinguished from other individuals by some peculiarity of talent or disposition. Some of his schoolmates were characterized by the beauty of their penmanship, some by their success in arithmetic, and others by their talent for acquiring a knowledge of natural history or languages. The compositions of one were remarkable for elegance ; the style of another was stiff and dry; while a third connected his reasonings in the closest manner, and clothed his argument in the most forcible language. Their dispositions were equally different; and this diversity appeared also to determine the direc- tion of their partialities and aversions. Not a few of them manifested a capacity for employments which they were not taught: they cut figures in wood, or delineated them on paper; some devoted their leisure to painting, or the culture of a garden ; while their comrades abandoned themselves to noisy games, or traversed the woods to gather flowers seek for bird-nests, or catch butterflies. In this manner each individual pre- sented a character peculiar to himself; and Gall observed, that the indi- vidual who in one year had displayed selfish or knavish dispositions, never became in the next a good and faithful friend. The scholars with whom Gall had the greatest difficulty in competing, were those who learned by heart with great facility ; and such individuals frequently gained from him, by their repetitions, the places which he had obtained by the merit of his original compositions. Some years afterward, having changed his place of residence he still met individuals endowed with an equally great talent for learning to repeat. He then observed that his schoolfellows so gifted possessed prominent eyes, and recollected that his rivals in the first school had been distinguished by the same peculiarity. When he entered the wiiversilv he directed his attention, from the first, to the students whose eyes were of this description, and found that they all excelled in getting rapidly bv heart, and giving correct recitations, although many of them were bv no means distinguished in point of general talent. This fact was recognised also by the other students m the classes ; and although the connexion between talent and external sign was not at this time established uoon such complete evidence as is requisite for a philosophical conclusion Gall could not believe that the coincidence of the two circumstances was en tirely accidental. From this period, therefore, he suspected that they I Born at Tiefenbrun, near Pforzheim, in Suabia, on 9th March 17V7. a- a at Pans, 22d August, 1828. warcn, 1757; died HISTORY OF DR. GALL'S DISCOVERY. 61 stood in an important relation to each other. After much reflection, he conceived that if memory for words was indicated by an external sign, the same might be the case with the other intellectual powers ; and, there- after, all individuals distinguished by any remarkable faculty became the objects of his attention. By degrees he conceived himself to have found external characteristics which indicated a decided disposition for painting, music, and the mechanical arts. He became acquainted also with some individuals remarkable for the determination of their character., and he observed a particular part of their heads to be very largely developed : this fact first suggested to him the idea of looking to the head for signs of the dispositions or affective powers. But, in making these observations, he never conceived for a moment that the skull was the cause of the different talents, as has been erroneously represented : from the first, he referred the influence, whatever it was, to the brain. In following out, by observations, the principle which accident had thus suggested, he for some time encountered difficulties of the greatest magni- tude. Hitherto he had been altogether ignorant of the opinions of phy- siologists touching the brain, and of metaphysicians respecting the mental faculties. He had simply observed nature. When, however, he began to enlarge his knowledge of books, he found the most extraordinary con- flict of opinions everywhere prevailing ; and this, for the moment, made him hesitate about the correctness of his own observations. He found that the affections and passions had, by almost general consent, been con- signed to the thoracic and abdominal viscera ; and that, while Pythagoras, Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Haller, and some other physiologists, placed the sentient soul or intellectual faculties in the brain, Van Helmont placed it in the stomach, Descartes and his followers in the pineal gland, and Dre- lincourt and others in the cerebellum. He found also that a great number of philosophers and physiologists asserted that all men are born with equal mental faculties; and that the- differences observable among them, are owing either to education or to the accidental circumstances in which they are placed. If differences were accidental, he inferred, there could be no natural signs of predominating faculties; and, consequently, the project of learning, by observation, to distinguish the functions of the different portions of the brain must be hopeless. This difficulty he combated by the reflection, that his brothers, sisters, and schoolfellows had all received very nearly the same education, but that he had still observed each of them unfolding a distinct character, over which circumstances appeared to exert only a limited control; and farther, that not unfrequently those whose education had been conducted with the greatest care, and on whom the labours of teachers had been most assiduously bestowed, remained far behind their companions in attainments. " Often," says he, " we were accused of want of will, or deficiency in zeal ; but many of us could not, even with the most ardent desire, followed out by the most obstinate efforts, attain, in some pursuits, even to mediocrity ; while in some other points some of us surpassed our schoolfellows without an effort, and almost, it might be said, without perceiving it ourselves. But, in point of fact, our masters did not appear to attach much faith to the system which taught equality of mental facul- ties ; for they thought themselves entitled to exact more from one scholar, and less from another. They spoke frequently of natural gifts, or of the gifts of God, and consoled their pupils in the words of the Gospel, by assuring them that each would be required to render an account only in proportion to the gifts which he had received."* Being convinced by these facts that there is a natural and constitutional diversity of talents and dispositions, he encountered in books still another * Sur les Fonctions du Cervtau, Preface ; and tome v., p. 12. 62 HISTORY OF DR. GALL'S DISCOVERY. obstacle to his success in determining the external signs of the mental powers. He found that, instead of faculties for languages, drawing, music distinguishing places, and mechanical arts, corresponding to the different talent! which he had observed in his schoolfellows, the metaphysicians spoke only of general powers, such as perception, conception, memory imagination, and judgment; and when he endeavoured to discover external signs in the head, corresponding to these general faculties, and to deter- mine the correctness of the physiological doctrines taught by the authors already mentioned regarding the seat of the mind, he found perplexities without end, and difficulties insurmountable. Abandoning, therefore, every theory and preconceived opinion, Dr. Gall gave himself up entirely to the observation of nature. Being a friend to Dr. Nord, physician to a Lunatic Asylum in Vienna, he had opportunities, of which he availed himself, of making observations on the insane. He visited prisons and resorted to schools ; he was introduced to the courts of princes, to colleges, and to seats of justice ; and wherever he heard of an individual distinguished in any particular way, either by remarkable endowment or deficiency, he observed and studied the developement of his head. In this manner, by an almost imperceptible induction, he at last conceived himself warranted in believing that particular mental powers are indicated by particular configurations of the head. Hitherto he had resorted only to physiognomical indications, as a means of discovering the functions of the brain. On reflection, however, he was convinced that physiology is imperfect when separated from anatomy. Having observed a woman of fifty-four years of age, who had been afflicted with hydrocephalus from her youth, and who, with a body a little shrunk, possessed a mind as active and intelligent as that of other individuals of her class, Dr. Gall declared his conviction, that the structure of the brain must be different from what was generally conceived—a remark which Tulpius .also had made, on observing a hydrocephalic patient who manifested the mental faculties. He therefore felt the necessity of making anatomical researches into the structure of the brain. In every instance where an individual whose head he had observed while alive happened to die, he requested permission to examine the brain, and frequently was allowed to do so ; and he found, as a general fact, that, on removal of the skull, the brain, covered by the dura mater, presented a form corresponding to that which the skull had exhibited in life. The successive steps by which Dr. Gall proceeded in his discoveries are particularly deserving of attention. He did not, as many have ima- gined, first dissect the brain, and pretend, by that means, to discover the seats of the mental powers; neither did he, as others have conceived, first map out the skull into various compartments, and assign a faculty to each, according as his imagination led him to conceive the place ap- propriate to the power. On the contrary, he first observed a concomitance between particular talents and dispositions, and particular forms of the head ; he next ascertained, by removal of the skull, that the figure and size of the brain are indicated by external appearances ; and it was only after these facts had been determined, that the brain was minutely dis- sected, and light thrown upon its structure. At Vienna, in 1796, Dr. Gall, for the first time, delivered lectures on his system. In 1800 Dr. John Gaspar Spurzheim* began the study of Phrenology under him, having in that year assisted, for the first time, at one of his lectures. In 1804 he was associated with him in his labours ; and, sub- sequently to that period, not only added many valuable discoveries to those ,.* Bo™ at Longuich.near Treves, on the Moselle, 31st December 1776' died at Boston, United States, on 10th November, 1832. ' ' HISTORY OF DR. GALL's DISCOVERY. 63 of Dr. Gall in the anatomy and physiology of the brain, but principally contributed to form the truths brought to light by their respective observa- tions, into a beautiful and interesting system of mental philosophy. In Britain we are indebted chiefly to his personal exertions and printed works for a knowledge of the science. In the beginning of his inquiries, Dr. Gall neither did nor could foresee the results to which they would lead, or the relation which each succes- sive fact, as it was discovered, would bear to the whole truths which time and experience might bring into view. Having established any circum- stance, he boldly affirmed its reality, without regard to anything but truth. Perceiving, for instance, that the intensity of the desire for property bore a relation to the size of one part of the brain, he announced this fact by itself, and called the part the organ of Theft, because he found it promi- nent in thieves. When he had discovered that the propensity to conceal was in connexion with another part of the brain, he announced this fact also as an isolated truth, and named the part the organ of Cunning, be- cause he found it very large in sly and fraudulent criminals. In a similar way, when he had discovered the connexion between the sentiment of Benevolence and another portion of the cerebral mass, he called the part the organ of Benevolence ; and so on in regard to the other organs. This proceeding has nothing in common with the formation of an hypothesis ; and, so far from a disposition to invent a theory being conspicuous, there appears, in the disjointed items of information which Dr. Gall at first pre- sented to the public, a want of even an ordinary regard for systematic arrangement. His only object seems to have been to furnish a candid and uncoloured statement of the facts in nature which he had observed ; leaving their value to be ascertained by time and farther investigation. As soon, however, as observation had brought to light a great body of facts, and the functions of the organs had been contemplated with a phi- losophical eye, a system of mental philosophy appeared to emanate almost spontaneously from the previous chaos. Although, when the process of discovery had proceeded a certain length, the facts were found to be connected by relations, yet, at first, it was impossible to perceive their relationship. Hence, the doctrines appeared as a mere rude and undigested mass, of rather unseemly materials ; the public mirth was, not unnaturally, excited by the display of organs of Theft, Quarrelsomeness, and Cunning, as they were then named ; and a degree of obloquy was brought upon the science, from which it is only now recovering.' At this stage the doctrines were merely a species of physiognomy, and the apparent results were neither very prominent nor very inviting. When, however, the study had been pursued for years. and the torch of philosophy had been applied to the facts discovered by observation, its real nature as the science of the human mind, and its beautiful consistency and high utility, became apparent, and its character and name changed as it advanced. For, as Middleton has finely remark- ed, no truth " can possibly hurt or obstruct the good effect of any other truth whatsoever : for they all partake of one common essence, and necessarily coincide with each other ; and, like the drops of rain which fall separately into the river, mix themselves at once with the stream, and strengthen the general current."* Having now unfolded the principles and method of investigation of Phrenology, I solicit the attention of the reader to one question. We have heard much of antiphrenologists ; and I would ask, What does the term antiphrenologist mean ? Does it mean a person who, like Lord Brougham or Lord Jeffrey, denies that the mind in feeling and reflecting uses organs at all 1 To such I reply, that they ought to call themselves: * Middleton's Life of Cicero, Preface. 64 GENERAL VIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS antiphysiologists ; because, as already mentioned, every physiological writer of eminence in Europe maintains, that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that injuries of it impair the mental faculties. Or does ant:- phrenologist mean one who admits the brain to be the organ of the mind, but contends that the whole of it is essential to every mental act 1 Then I request of him to reconcile with his theory the phenomena of dreaming, partial genius, partial idiocy, partial insanity, partial lesion of mental functions arising from partial injuries of the brain, and the successive developement of the mental powers in youth. If antiphrenologist means a person who admits the mind to manifest a plurality of faculties by a plurality of organs, but denies that phrenologists have ascertained any of them, I ask him, Whether he disputes the three grand propositions, first, That dissection alone does not reveal functions ; second, That reflection on consciousness does not reveal organs ; and, third, That mental mani- festations may be compared with developement of brain 1 If he denies these principles, he is beyond the reach of reason; while, if he admits them, I would ask him to state what forms of brain, and what mental manifestations, he has found concomitant in his observations 1 because, until he shall make such a statement, his denial of the correctness of the observations of others is entitled to no consideration. But an antiphre- nologist furnished with counter-facts has never yet appeared. The word, in its common signification, seems to indicate only an individual who, like the Ptolemeans in the time of Galileo, is pleased to deny that phrenologists are right, without knowing either their principles or their facts, or having any pretensions to advance the cause of truth by pro pounding sounder data or correcter observations of his own. GENERAL VIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SPINAL MARROW AND NERVES. Before entering on the discussion of the cerebral organs, it may bo useful to give a brief account of Sir Charles Bell's discoveries of the functions of the Nerves. Dr. Spurzheim, and many authors before him, very early published the conjecture, that there must be different nerves for sensibility and for motion, because one of the powers is occasionally impair- ed, while the other remains entire. Sir C. Bell has furnished demonstrative evidence of this being actually the fact. He has also given due prominence to the philosophical principle so urgently insisted on by phrenologists, That, in all departments of the animal economy, each organ performs only one function ; and that wherever complex functions appear, complex organs may be safely predicated, even anterior to the possibility of demonstrating them. The present section is derived from Sir C. Bell's Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Body, vol, ii., 7th edition, 1829 ; and, in as far as possible, I have adhered to his own expressions. My object is to introduce general readers to a knowledge of his discoveries, which form parts of an extensIVe System of Anatomy, or of Philosophical Transactions, or of other professional publications, which they seldom peruse. I shall omit all details necessary only for medical students, as Sir C. Bell's work wil n/wPr SOUrfetofcAction for them. Even the general reader will probably resort to Sir C. Bell's pages, after beina informed of their T»™ThTT'' ^ I*1 find th"m dear' instructive, and most abj supported by evidence. Any errors or inaccuracies in the following con- densed abstract are chargeable against myself; for although inZferalt have followed the author's own expressions, the arrangement ?,£e lv altered, and occasionally sentences of mv own are introduced • g } A nerve, says Sir Charles, Is a nrm white cord, composed of nervoi OF THE SPINAL MARROW AND NERVES. 65 matter and cellular substance. The nervous matter exists in distinct threads, which are bound together by the cellular membrane. They may be likened to a bundle of hairs or threads, enclosed in a sheath composed of the finest membrane. The figure represents a nerve greatly magnified, for the sake of illustra- tion, and consisting of distinct filaments. A, the nerve, enveloped in its mem- branous sheath ; B, one of the threads dissected out. The nerves vary in thickness from the diameter of a small thread to that of a whip-cord. They are dispersed through the body, and extend to every part which enjoys sensibility or motion, or which has a concatenated action with another part. The matter of a nerve in health and in the full exercise of its influence, is of an opaque white hue ; it is soft and pulpy, between fluid and solid, and drops from the probe. When putrid, it acquires a green colour ; when dried, it is transparent. Corrosive sublimate and muriate of soda harden it; alkalis dissolve it. Each fibril of a nerve is convoluted, and runs not in a straight line, but zigzag, like a thread drawn from a worsted stocking, which has by its form acquired elasticity that it would not other- wise have possessed. By want of use the matter of a nerve is either not secreted in due proportion, or changes its appearance ; for the nerve then acquires a degree of transparency. There is no evidence that any fluid or spirit circulates in the nerves ; nor is there any that the nervous fibrils are tubes. Nerves are supplied with arteries and veins, and their dependence on the supply of blood is proved by the fact, that, if a limb be deprived of blood, the nerves lose their powers, and sensibility is lost. If a nerve be partially compressed, so as to interrupt the free entrance of the blood into it, both the power over the muscles and the reception of sensation through it are interrupted ; and when the blood is admitted again, painful tingling accompanies the change. It is not the compression of the tubes of a nerve, but the obstruction of its bloodvessels, which produces the loss of power consequent on tying it. The brain, the nerves of the eye and the ear, the nerves of sense and motion, are all affected by changes in the circulation ; and each organ, according to its natural function, is variously influenced by the same cause—the rushing of blood into it, or the privation of its proper quantity. « A nerve consists of distinct filaments ; but there is nothing perceptible in these filaments to distinguish them from each other. One filament serves for the purpose of sensation ; another for muscular motion ; a third for combining the muscles when in the act of respiration. But the sub- serviency of any of all these filaments to its proper office must be disco- vered by following it out, and observing its relations, and especially its origin in the brain and spinal marrow. In their substance there is nothing particular. They all seem equally to contain a soft pulpy matter, enve- loped in cellular membrane, and so surrounded with a tube of this membrane as to present a continuous track of pulpy nervous matter, from the nearest extremity in the brain to the extremity which ends in a muscle or in the skin. The key to the system will be found in the simple proposition, that each 66 GENERAL VIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS filament or track of nervoui matter has its peculiar endowment, indepen. dently of the others which are bound up along with i ; and that it continues to have the same endowment throughout its whole length. The ei. no in- terchange of powers between the different filaments; but a minute filament of one kind may be found accompanying a filament of a different kind each giving a particular power to the part in which it is ultimately distributed. B Some nerves give sensibility ; but there are others, as perfectly and delicately constituted, which possess no sensibility whatever Sensibility results from the particular part of the brain which is affected by the nerve. If the eyeball is pressed, the outward integuments feel pain ; but the retina gives no pain—only rings of light or fire appear before the eye. In the operation of couching the cataract, the needle must pierce the retina; the effect, however, is not pain, but to produce, as it were, a spark of fire ; and so an impression on the nerve of hearing, the papillae of taste, or the orran of any sense except feeling, does not produce pain. The sensation' excited has its character determined by the part of .the brain to which the nerve is related at its root. But there are nerves which have no relation to outward impression. There are nerves purely for governing the mus- cular frame : these being constituted for conveying the mandate of the will, do not stand related to an organ of sense in the brain ; hence no sensibility and no pain will be produced by them. Each of these may be said to be a nerve of exquisite feeling in one sense ; that is, it may be a cord which unites two organs in intimate sympathies, so as to cause them to act in unison ; yet, being bruised or injured, it will give rise to no perception of any kind, because it does not stand related to a part of the brain whose office it is to produce either the general impression of pain, or heat, or cold, or vision, or hearing : it is not the office of that part of the brain to which it is related to produce perception at all. At the conflux of the nervous filaments small reddish tumours appear, which are named ganglions—(See D, in fig., p. 67.) A ganglion resem- bles in form the circular swellings which appear on the stalk of a straw or of a cane ; but ganglions do not rise at regular intervals on the nerves like these swellings. Ganglions are laid in a regular succession in the whole length of the body, and, in the vertebral animals, form a regular series down each side of the spinal marrow ; the nerve of communication among them is the great sympathetic nerve. There are other ganglions seated in the head, neck, and cavities of the chest and belly, which are very irregular in their situation and form. The colour of the ganglions differs from that of the nerves; it is redder, which is owing to the greater number of bloodvessels: they consist of the same matter with the brain. Wherever we trace nerves of motion, we find that, before entering the muscles, they interchange branches, and form an intricate mass of nerves, which is termed a plexus. A plexus is intricate in proportion to the number of muscles to be supplied, and the variety of combinations into which they enter. The filaments of nerves which go to the skin, and have the simple function of sensation, regularly diverge to their destina- tion without forming a plexus. From the fin of a fish to the arm of a man, the plexus increases in complexity in proportion to the variety or extent of motions to be performed in the extremity. It is by the inter- change of filaments that combination among the muscles is formed. Different columns of nervous matter combine to form the spinal mar- row, (AB, p. 67.) Each lateral portion of the spinal marrow consists of three tracks or columns ; one for voluntary motion, one for sensation, and one for the act of respiration. So that the spinal marrow comprehends in all six rods, intimately bound together, but distinct in office • and tho capital of this compound column is the medulla oblongata. OF THE SPINAL MARROW AND NERVES. 67 The anterior column of each lateral division of the spinal marrow is for motion ; the posterior column is for sensation ; and the middle one is for respiration. The former two extend up into the brain, and are dispersed or lost in it; for their functions stand related to the sensorium : but the last stops short in the medulla oblongata, being in function independent of reason, and capable of its office independently of the brain, or when separated from it. A B the spinal marrow seen in front; the division into lateral portions ap- pearing at the line A B. The nervous cord C arises from the posterior lateral division, and gives sensibility. The swelling D is its ganglion. The nervous cord E arises from the anterior lateral division, and gives motion. It has no ganglion. These two cords combine at F, and proceed under one sheath to their destination. Sir C. Bell struck a rabbit behind the ear, so as to deprive it of sensi- bility by the concussion, and then exposed the spinal marrow. On irri- tating the posterior roots of the nerve, he could perceive no motion con- sequent in any part of the muscular frame ; but on irritating the anterior roots of. the nerve, at each touch of the forceps there was a corres- ponding motion of the muscles to which the nerve was distributed. These experiments satisfied him that the different roots, and different columns from which those roots arose, were devoted to distinct offices, and that the notions drawn from the anatomy were correct. He also performed certain interesting experiments on the fifth pair of nerves, which originates from the brain. In his Plate I. he represents this nerve rising from two roots, one of them coming from the crus cerebri, corresponding to the anterior column of the spinal marrow ; and the other from the crus cerebelli, corresponding to the posterior column of the spinal marrow. There is a ganglion on the latter branch, nnd none on the former; which circumstance also is in exact correspondence with the nerves rising from the spinal marrow. The two branches combine at a short distance from their origin, and are universally distributed to the head and face. Sir C. Bell conceived that this nerve is the uppermost of those nerves which confer motion and bestow sensibility. To. confirm this opinion, he cut across the posterior branch, or that which has a ganglion, on the face of an ass, and it was found that the sensibility of the parts to which it was distributed was entirely destroyed. Again, he exposed the anterior branch of the fifth pair at its root, in an ass, the moment the ani- mal was killed ; and, on irritating the nerve, the muscles of the jaw acted, and the jaw was closed with a snap. On dividing the root of the nerve in a living animal, the jaw fell relaxed. Thus its functions were no longer matter of doubt: it was at once a muscular nerve and a nerve of 68 GENERAL VIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS, &C. sensibiHty. And thus the opinion was ^**"^^£ZF to the head what the spirral nerves were to the other P»^ of ^^ • Th,C 7t"a ^IZ^Z fbetuselrareronimo"; bS r c j ,i,,t .horo i« a sensitive nerve and a motor nerve uisin- course we find thathere « a sensu ^^ that ^ buted to the muscular fibres and « n de ^^ of a mot(jr anT^nsfti^ir^nr^heterve'of touch or feeling, ramified on the ^Tt'^s'tmerfr-PP-d that the office of a muscular nerve is only to carry out the mandate of the will and to excite the muscle to action. But hLDetra^s a very inaccurate knowledge of the action o the muscular system ; for before the muscular system can be controlled under he influence of the will, there must be a consciousness or knowledge of the condition of the muscle. When we admit that the various conditions of the muscle must be estimated or perceived, in order to be under the due control of the will, the natural question arises, Is that nerve which carries out the mandate of the will, capable of conveying, at the same moment an impression retrograde to the course of that influence, which, obviously, is going from the brain toward the muscle 1 If we had no facts of anatomy to proceed upon, still reason would declare to us, that the same filament of a nerve could not convey a motion, of whatever nature that motion may be, whether vibration or motion of spirits, in opposite directions, at the same moment of time. Sir C. Bell has found that, to the full operation of the muscular power, two distinct nervous filaments are necessary, and that a circle is established between the sensorium and the muscle ; that one filament or simple nerve carries the influence of the will toward the muscle, which nerve has no power to convey an impression backward to the brain; and that another nerve connects the muscle with the brain, and, acting as a sentient nerve, conveys the impression of the condition of the muscle to the mind—but has no operation in a direction outward from the brain toward the muscle, and does not, therefore, excite the muscle, however irritated. There are four nerves coming out of a track or column of the spinal marrow, from which neither the nerves of sensation nor those of common voluntary motion take their departure. Experiment proves that these nerves excite motions connected with the act of respiration. Under the class of respiratory motions we have to distinguish two kinds ; first, the involuntary or instinctive; and, secondly, those which accompany an act of volition. We are unconscious of that state of alter- nation of activity and rest which characterizes the instinctive act of breathing in sleep; and this condition of activity of the respiratory organs, we know by experiment, is independent of the brain. But, on the other hand, we see that the act of respiration is sometimes an act of volition, intended to accomplish some other operation, as that of smelling or speak- ing. Sir C. Bell apprehends that it is this compound operation of the organs of breathing which introduces a certain degree of complexity into the system of respiratory nerves. A concurrence of the nerves of distinct systems will be found necessary to actions, which, at first sight, appear to be very simple. If we cut that division of the fifth nerve which goes to the lips of an ass, we deprive the lips of sensibility ; so that, when the animal presses the lips to the ground, and against the oats lying there, it doe3 not feel them; and, consequently, there is no effort made to gather them. If, on the other hand, we cut the seventh nerve, where it goes to the lips, the ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE SYSTEM. 69 animal feels the oats, but it can make no effort to gather them, the power of muscular motion being cut off by the division of the nerve. Thus we perceive that, in feeding, just as in gathering anything with the hand, the feeling directs the effort; and two properties of the nervous system are necessary to a very simple action. After the investigation of the regular system of nerves of sensation and voluntary motion, the question that had so long occupied Sir C. Bell, viz., What is the explanation of the excessive intricacy of the nerves of the face, jaws, throat, and breast ] became of easy solution. These nerves are agents of distinct powers, and they combine the muscles in subserviency to different functions. As animals rise in the scale of being, new organs are bestowed upon them ; and, as new organs and new functions are superadded to the original constitution of the frame, new nerves are given also, with new sensibili ties and new powers of activity. Sir C. Bell remarks, that we understand the use of all the intricate nerves of the body, with the exception of the sixth nerve, which stands connected with another system of nerves altogether, namely, the system hitherto called the Sympathetic, or sometimes the Ganglionic System of Nerves; and of this system we know so little, that it cannot be matter of surprise if we reason ignorantly of the connexion of the sixth with it. PRINCIPLES OF PHRENOLOGY. In the Introduction I have shown that the brain is admitted by physi- ologists in general to be the organ of the mind ; but that two obstacles have impeded the discovery of the uses of its particular parts. In the first place, dissection alone does not reveal the \ital functions of any organ: no person, by dissecting the optic nerve, could predicate that its office is to minister to vision ; or, by dissecting the tongue, could discover that it is the organ of taste. Anatomists, therefore, could not, by the mere prac- tice of their art, discover the functions of the different portions of the brain. Secondly, the mind is unconscious of acting by means of organs ; and hence the material instruments, by means of which, in this life, it performs its operations and communicates with the external world, cannot be dis- covered by reflection on consciousness. The phrenologist compares developement of brain with manifestations of mental power, for the purpose of discovering the functions of the brain and the organs of the mind. This cour.se is adopted, in consequence of the accidental discovery made by Dr. Gall, that certain mental powers are vigorously manifested when certain portions of the brain are large, 70 ON THE PRINCIPLES and vice versa, as detailed in the Introduction. It is free fromi thei objec tions attending the anatomical and metaphysical modes of research, and is conformable to the principles of the inductive philosophy No inquiry is instituted into the substance or essence of the mind, nor into the question, Whether does the mind fashion the organs, or do the organs determine the constitution of the mind 1 If dissection of organs does not reveal their functions, and if reflection on consciousness fails to disclose the nature of the mind's connexion with matter, no means remain of arriving at philosophical conclusions on these points ; and speculative reasoning concerning them, although it may amuse the fancy, cannot instruct the understanding. Mr. Stewart justly observes " that the meta- physical opinions which we may happen to have formed concerning the nature either of body or of mind, and the efficient causes by which their phenomena are produced, have no necessary connexion with our inquiries concerning the laws according to which the phenomena take place." " Whether, for example, the cause of gravitation be material or immaterial, is a point about which two Newtonians may differ, while they agree per- fectly in their physical opinions. It is sufficient if both admit the general fact, that bodies tend to approach each other, with a force varying with their mutual distance, according to a certain law. In like manner, in the study of the human mind, the conclusions to which we are led by a careful examination of the phenomena it exhibits, have no necessary connexion with our opinions concerning its nature and essence."* The object of Phrenology is, to discover the faculties of the human mind, the organs by means of which they are manifested, and the influence of the organs on the manifestations. It does not enable us to predict actions. A mental organ is a material instrument, by means of which the mind in this life manifests a particular power. Dr. Gall's discovery leads us to view the brain as a congeries of such organs, and, in the Introduction, reasons have been assigned for regarding this proposition as sufficiently probable to justify an inquiry into the direct evidence by which it is sup- ported. For the purpose of comparing mental faculties with cerebral developement, it is necessary to show, 1st, that the mental qualities of indi- viduals can be discovered ; and, 2dly, that the size of different parts of the brain can be ascertained during life. Let us consider, therefore, in the first place, whether it be possible to discriminate mental dispositions and talents. In regard to the Feelings, men familiar with human life and conduct have observed, that one indi- vidual is strongly addicted to covetousness—another to cruelty—another to benevolence—another to pride—another to vanity ; and they are accus- tomed to regard these dispositions as natural, uniform, and permanent. They have never believed that a man, by an effort of the will, can totally change his nature, nor that the true character is so little manifested, that a person may be prone to benevolence to-day, who yesterday was addicted to avarice ; that one who is now sinking in the lowest abasement of self- humiliation in his own eyes, may to-morrow become conceited, confident, and proud ; or that to-day an individual may be deaf to the voice of cen- sure or of fame, who yesterday was tremblingly alive to every breath that was blown upon his character. Nay, they have even regarded these dispositions as independent of one another, and separable ; for they have often found that the possession of one was not accompanied by the pre- sence of the whole. Hence, in addressing any individual, they have .been in the custom of modifying their conduct according to their previous knowledge of his dispositions or genius, obtained by observing his actions. To the covetous man they address one motive ; to the benevolent an- * Elements, vol. i., Introduction. OF THE SYSTEM 71 other ; to the proud a third : and to the vain a fourth. When they wish to move such individuals to act, they speak to the first, of his personal interest ; to the second, of the pleasure of doing good; to the third, of the necessity of preserving his own dignity; and to the fourth, of the great praise that will attend the performance of the action recommended. As to intellectual endowments, a person who has heard, for the most fleeting moment, the bursts of melody which flow from the throat of Ca- talani, cannot be deceived as to the fact of her possessing a great endow- ment of the faculty of Tune ; he who has listened but for a few minutes to the splendid eloquence of Chalmers, can have no doubt that he is gifted with Ideality ; and he who has studied the writings of Dr. Thomas Brown, cannot hesitate as to his having manifested profound discriminative and analytic talent. In surveying the wonderful performances of some indi- viduals in mechanics, poetry, mathematics, painting, and sculpture, it is equally impossible to doubt the existence of mental powers, conferring capacities for excelling in these different branches of science and art. It is equally easy to find individuals in whom the same powers are as indu- bitably deficient. Hence the difficulties of determining the existence of particular intellectual talents, and their degrees of strength, are not insur- mountable ; especially if extreme cases be sought for—and these, as the instanha ostentiva, ought to be first resorted to. Men of observation have acted on these principles without hesitation, and without injury to them- selves. They have not designed for the orchestra the individual whom they found incapable of distinguishing between a rude noise and a melo- dious sound, on the notion that " a genius for music " might be " acquired by habits of study or of business."* They do not place in difficult situations, requiring great penetration and much sagacity, individuals who cannot trace consequences beyond the stretcli of three ideas ; nor do they conceive that a man who has no intellectual capacity to-day, may become a genius to-morrow, or in ten years hence, by an effort of the will. They, no doubt, have observed, that the faculties are developed in suc- cession ; that the child is not in possession of the powers of the full-grown man ; and that hence a boy may be dull at ten, who may turn out a genius at twenty years of age, when his powers are fully unfolded by time. But they do not imagine that every boy may be made a genius by " habits of study or of business ;" nor do they believe that, after the faculties are fully developed, any individual may, if he chooses, become great in a de- partment of philosophy or science for which he had previously no natural capacity. They have observed that cultivation strengthens powers in themselves vigorous ; but they have not found that education can render eminently energetic dispositions or capacities which nature has created feeble. They would laugh at any one who should attempt to convert an idiot into a well-informed philosopher. On the other hand, they have remarked, that, where Nature has bestowed a powerful disposition or ca- pacity of a particular kind, it holds the predominant sway in the character during life, notwithstanding every effort to eradicate or subdue it. They have noticed, too, that, where Nature has conferred, in an eminent degree, the faculties which constitute genius, the individual manifests his native superiority in spite of great obstacles arising from circumstances or situa- tion. The lives of poets, painters, and artists, in every age, bear witness to the truth of this observation. An individual, it is true, may do particular actions, or even for a time follow a line of conduct, the same in external appearance, from different internal motives. But few men can pass their whole lives in disguise, or acquire the art of acting in the business and enjoyments of life, so * Dugald Stewart. 72 OF THE BRAIN, CEREBELLUM, habitually and so skilfully as not to allow their true characters to appeal to those who are placed in a favourable situation for observing them : or, if their be persons who do possess this power of dissimulation, it forms the predominant feature in their mental constitution ; and, as will after- ward be shown, it is indicated by a particular form of organization. But, farther, let it be observed, that it is only in so far as the propensities and sentiments of our nature are concerned, that the display of pretended qualities is possible, even in a single case. In regard to every act which depends on the knowing and reflecting faculties, this is absolutely imprac- ticable. No man can either write logical discourses, or trace profoundly an abstract principle, who has not powerful reflecting faculties. No one can compose exquisite music, who has not the faculty of Tune strong, nor write exquisite poetry, who has not a powerful sentiment of Ideality. When, therefore, we perceive, even with the most transient glance, the performance of such acts, we have evidence, insuperable and irresistible, of the existence of the faculties which produce them. These opinions have been entertained by persons conversant with society, not in consequence of logical deduction nor metaphysical investi. gations, but from the observation of plain facts presented to the cogni- zance of their understandings. Medical men are in a situation peculiarly favourable for studying even the most hidden traits of human character. The physician, as Dr. Gall remarks, has daily opportunities of knowing the most secret affairs and most intimate relations of families ; and it is not easy for the man who is in the agonies of disease, or struggling with death, to veil his true character from» him. Besides, with how many private matters are physicians confidentially made acquainted ! for who would not make a friend and adviser of the man to whose care he intrusts the safety of himself and his family 1 It is to such a friend, as one who knows and can sympathize with the failings of humanity, that men unfold the secret recesses of their souls. Gall and Spurzheim were physicians, For these reasons I venture to conclude that the first point is esta- blished in favour of Phrenology—namely, that it is possible, by accurate, patient, and continued observation of actions, to discover the true dispo- sitions and capacities which individuals possess. As this philosophy is founded on a comparison of the manifestations of these faculties with developement of the brain, we now proceed to consider the second ques- tion, Whether it be possible, in general, to discover the true form oftkt brain by observing the figure of the head! OF THE BRAIN, CEREBELLUM, AND SKULL. The anatomy of the brain is minutely described by Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, in their anatomical and physiological work.* It is not indis- pensably necessary, although highly advantageous, to become acquainted with it in order to be a practical phrenologist. A brief description of its general appearance will suffice to convey an idea of it to the non- medical reader. The proper subjects for observation are healthy indivi- duals not beyond the middle period of life. The brain, stripped of its outer covering, the duramater, is represented in figures 1 and 2 These figures, (which are copied from Dr. Spurz- heim s plates,) and the accompanying descriptions, are not intended for anatomical purposes ; their sole object is to convey some conception of the appearance of the brain to readers who have no opportunity of seeing it in nature. rr ; 6 * Anatomie et Physiologie du Systeme Nerveux, &C, torn, i Also Smirt. heun's Anatomy of the Brain, &c. London, 1826. ^ THE SKULL. 73 Fro. 1. Upper Surface of the Brain. Fig x represen,s the uppet surface of the brain, strip- ped of membrane; the skull, through the middle part of which a horizontal section is? made, surrounds it. The front is at A; and the line A B is the division between two halves or hemispheres. A strong membrane called the falciform process of the dura mater, represented on page 80,descends into it,and forms the partition. It goes down only about two-thirds of the depth ; below which the two hemispheres are joined toge- ther by fibres which cross, forming what is called the corpus callosum. Sir Charles Bell observes, that " what- ever we observe on one side has a corresponding part on the other ; and an exact re- semblance and symmetry* is preserved in all the lateral divisions of the brain. And so, if we take the proof of anatomy, we must admit that, as the nerves are double, and the organs of sense double, so is the brain double, and every sensation conveyed to the brain is conveyed to the two lateral parts, and the operations performed must be done in both lateral portions at the same moment."t The waving lines in the figure are the convolutions, the furrows between which descend from half an inch to an inch in depth. When water collects in the internal parts, the convo- lutions are unfolded, and the brain presents a uniform surface of great extent. The parts seen in this figure are all composed externally of cineritious substance, to be afterward noticed. Fig. 2 represents the base of the brain, as it appears when taken out of the skull; the forehead being represented uppermost. Anatomists, for the sake of giving precision to their descriptions, divide the brain into three lobes, called the anterior, middle, and posterior. The parts before a vertical plane passing through the dotted line E E, are called the anterior lobe ; those between E E and F F, the middle lobe; and those behind F F, the posterior lobe. The convolutions before E E lie chiefly on the bones which form the roofs of the sockets of the eyeballs. The two lobes of the cerebellum (which is distinct from, but connected with, the brain) are marked A A. Its surface presents convolutions, differing, how- ever, in size and appearance from those observed in the brain. The thick cord or root C springing from the base of the brain, is named the medulla oblongata, or oblong portion of the spinal marrow, which is continued down- ward, and fills the cavity of the spine or backbone. At one time the brain * This statement of Sir Charles Bell is not rigidly correct. There is a general correspondence between the parts on the opposite sides of the brain, but not "an exact symmetry" in the strict sense of these words. The ap- proximation to symmetry is about as great as between the bloodvessels in the right and left arms. t Anatomy, ii., 381. An ingenious paper by Mr. Hewett C. Watson, on the probable object of the duplicity of the brain, will,be fourid W The Phre- nological Journal, vol ix., No 47 74 OF THE BRAIN, CEREBELLUM, Fio. 2. Under Surface of the Brain. has been regarded as proceeding from, and at another as giving rise to the spinal marrow; but, in reality, the two are merely connected, and neither grows from the other. The false analogy of a stem growing from a root has led to this abuse of language. The small lound fila- ments or cords seen to proceed from the sides of the medulla oblonga- ta.and from near the base of the brain, are various nerves of sensation and motion, some of them going to the organs of sense, and others lo the skin and muscles of the face, head, and other more distant parts. The long flat-looking nerve a a, lying on the surface of the anterior lobe, is the olfactory, or nerve of smell, going to the nose. The round thick nerve 4 4, near the roots of the f— former, is the optic, or nerve of vision, going to the eye. That marked b is the motor nerve which supplies the mus- cles of the eyeball. A little farther back the fifth pair c is seen to issue apparently from the arch D. called pons Varo- lii, or bridge of Varolius. It is a large compound nerve, and divides into three branches, which are ramified on almost all the parts connected with the head and face, and the upper and under jaw. It is a nprve of both sensation and motion, and one branch of it ramified on the tongue is the nerve of taste. Other branches supply and give sensibility to the teeth, glands, and skin. The seventh or auditory nerve e is distributed on the internal ear, and serves for hearing. The eighth or pneumogastric nerve d sends filaments to the windpipe, lungs, heart, and stomach, and is one of great importance in the production of the voice and respiration. It also influences the action of the heart and the process of digestion The brain is a mass of soft matter, not homogeneous, but presenting different appearances. Part of it is white in colour, and fibrous or striated in texture. This is generally named medullary substance, and is found almost exclusively in the interior. In figure 3 is represented a perpendicular section of the interior of the brain, not far from the mesial plane, proceeding from the convolutions at the top to the medulla oblongata at the base. The darkest portions in the cut are the external surface of the convolutions, and the other parts are seen in section. S is the cerebellum. The lightest and radiated parts are the medullary or fibrous substance. The medulla oblongata is marked b c e e, the part b being its annular protuberance, or the pons Va- rolii. At e e is one of the corpora restifwmia • and at r. one of the cor- pora pyramnlalia. From g, which is one of the crura cerebri, the cerebral fibres, which have passed from c under the pons Varolii, proceed toward the convolutions, as seen at 34, 35, 37, 38, 11. In figs. I and 2, and also in AND SKULL 75 Fig. 3. Section ok the Skull and Brain. the dark folds in fig. 3, the cineritious substance is seen. This substance is of a gray colour, and has no fibrous appearance. It is called cineritious, from the similarity of its hue to that of ashes ; and sometimes cortical, be- cause it covers the brain as bark covers a tree. It forms the outer part of the brain. The cineritious substance does not blend gradually with the white medullary matter, but, on the contrary, the line of distinction is abrupt, as ihown in fig. 3. The cineritious matter seems to have a greater propor- tion of blood circulating in it than the medullary. There is no fat nor adipose substance within the skull, although it is found in every other part of the body. The external or cineritious substance of the brain is arranged, as we have seen, in convolutions or folds. The convolutions appear intended for the purpose of increasing the superficial extent of the brain, without enlarging its absolute size ; an arrangement analogous to that employed in the eye of the eagle and falcon, in which the retina does not form a simple concave surface, as in man and quadrupeds, but is presented in folds to the rays of light, whereby the intensity of vision is increased in proportion to the extent of nervous surface exposed to their influence. The rolling up of the substance of the brain in folds in a similar manner strongly indicates that extent of surface is highly important in reference to its functions. In some of the inferior animals there are no convolu- tions ; as we ascend in the scale of beings, they generally seem to increase ; " and in man, above all other animals, are the convolutions numerous, and the sulci (or furrows) deep, and, consequently, the cineritious mass great, and its extension of surface far beyond that of all other creatures."* The weight of the brain is very different in different individuals. Ac- cording to Meckel, it weighs in the newly-born infant about ten ounces. Its consistence is then soft and pulpy, and no trace of fibres is seen ; but gradually the fibrous appearance becomes more and more obvious as the individual approaches manhood. The period when the developement * Bell's Anatomy, ii., 386. 76 OF THE BRAIN, CEREBELLUM, and textuie of the brain aTe at maturity varies in different persons ; it ib seldom before the age of twenty, «nd sometimes, according to Dr. Gall, so late as forty.* During the period of maturity no cerebral change is observable : but on the approach of old age the brain, like other parts of the bo.lv, begins to diminish ; the convolutions lose their plumpness, and, as they "are now shrivelled, flaccid, and less closely packed together than formerly, the anfractnosities or furrows between them become enlarged. The weight of the adult brain, including the cerebellum, &c, is generally about three pounds five ounces and a half ;f but sometimes it is much heavier: that of Cuvier, for instance, weighed three pounds ten ounces four drachms and a half.J The cineritious matter is extended over all the upper and lateral, and over part of the inferior, surfaces of the brain: the white or medullary matter lies within it, and in some places in intimate combination with it. Medullary fibres run from the convolutions of the brain upon one side to the convolutions on the other : by these fibres (which, collected, form the corpus callosum, and the anterior and posterior commissures) the two hemispheres, and of course the organs of each side, are brought into communication and co-operation. " Unless," says Sir Charles Bell, (l the cineritious masses were important organs, why should there be commis- sures or nerves forming a distinct system, arising and terminating in nothing ? But if we take them as commissures, i. e., bonds of union be- tween the corresponding sides of the great organ of the mind, we at once perceive how careful Nature is to unite the two lateral organs together, and out of two organs to make one more perfect."§ It is an important question, what particular functions the medullary matter and the cineritious matter respectively perform in the manifestation of the mind. The opinion is becoming prevalent, that the cineritious matter is essentially the organ of the mind, and that the fibrous medullary matter is an apparatus of communication, by means of which the different mental organs are brought into co-operation, and also enabled to influence the other portions of the body. Drs. Gall and Spurzheim attached great importance to the convolutions, and considered the depth, size, and number of them to have a great effect on the intensity of the mental manifesta- tions ; but it does not appear that they regarded the cineritious substance as exclusively the organ of the mind. " Dr. Gall and I," says Spurzheim, " suppose that each nervous apparatus is composed of the two peculiar substances, the pulpy and the fibrous, and that both are necessary to pro- duce an instrument adequate to perform a particular function."II The organs, including their supposed apparatus of communication, ex- tend from the surface of the brain to the medulla oblongata: each organ has been likened to a cone, of which the apex lies in the medulla ob- * Sur les Fonctions du Cerveau, i., 192. Dr. Vimont says, that in man the developement of the skull " is only completed from twenty-five to thirty." Treatise on Human and Comparative Phrenology, i., 165. + Meckel, Anatomie, traduite par Jourdan et Breschet, ii., 619, 632, 682. i Journal de la Societe Phrenologique de Paris, torn, ii., [S'o. v. The post- mortem examination of Cuvier's brain took place on 15th May, 1832, in presence of MM. Orfila, Dumeril, Dupuytren, Allard, Biett, Valenciennes, Laurillard, Rousseau, Andralneveu, and Berard. It was ascertained that the superiority of size occurred almost exclusively in the cerebral lobes par- ticularly their anterior and superior parts ; the cerebellum, &c, exhibiting no unusual developement. It was stated by M. Berard to Dr. Foissac the writer in the Journal, that none of the gentlemen present at the dissection remem- bered to have seen so complicated a brain, convolutions so numerous and compact, or such deep anfractuosities—" un cerveau aussi plisse, des circon- volutions aussi nornbreuses et aussi pressees.des anfractuosites si'profondes " $ A natomy, loc. cit. fl Anatomy of the Braii^ p, 10. AND SKULL. 77 Jongata and the base in the surface of the brain. In proportion to the diameter of the organ at the inner surface of the skull, is the thickness or number of the fibres contained in it. This is proved by the constant rela- tion between the size of the anterior lobe of the brain, devoted to intel- lect, and that of the corpora pyramidalia, (c, fig. 3, p. 75,) from which, as roots, an uninterrupted line of fibres can be traced, expanding at length into the convolutions of the anterior lobe ; as also by the relation between the thickness of the posterior bundle of the crus cerebri (g, fig. 3, p. 75) and the size of the posterior and middle lobes of the brain. But I intro- duce the similitude of a cone merely as a popular illustration, and not as a technical description of the appearance of the organs ; for they are not separable into definite figures, such as this comparison, if literally under- stood, might seem to imply. The opinion of Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, that the convolutions are of great importance in reference to the power of the mental faculties, is entertained by physiologists in general. It is long since it was remarked by Soemmering, that, in the earlier months of human existence, there is yet no trace of that complicated and convoluted arrangement of the cerebral surface which is so striking in the adult brain. According to this eminent anatomist, it is only about the sixth or seventh month of gestation that the convolutions begin to appear. From this period they go on increasing in number and size, with a de- creasing rapidity, even to the age of puberty. To this progressive growth of the convolutions we have a well-marked counterpart in the gradual developement of the mental powers, from the state of almost absolute nullity in which they exist in the foetus during the greater part of its intra-uterine life, to the expanded mind of the adult. Analogous to this concomitance of developement of the mind and cerebral surface in man in the different stages of his life, a diminution or increase of intelligence in the lower animals is said by some physiolo- gists to accompany any subtraction from, or addition to, the number and depth of the convolutions of their brains. The old objection to Phre- nology, that some animals with large brains have less intelligence than others which have small ones, might, even if the comparison of the brains of different species were strictly allowable, be sufficiently answered, not only by referring to the fact of the parts of the brain which are developed not being the same in both, but also by opposing to it the statement of Desmoulins and Magendie,* that, in numerous examinations of the brains of almost every genus of the mammalia, they found a nearly constant re- lation between the extent of surface presented by the brain in each genus, and the amount of intelligence displayed by it. Where differences occur in one of these points, differences are stated to be usually found in the other, not only between different genera, but between different species, of the same genus, and also between different individuals of the same species. Professor Tiedemann of Heidelberg, in his work on the Brains of Apes and of some other animals, has accurately delineated and described the progressive diminution and final disappearance of the folds of the brain in the mammalia, from the apes down to the rodentia; and, according to Desmoulins, (p. 602,) this progression corresponds exactly with the diminu- tion of intelligence. The most striking difference exists between the apes of the old world and those of the new. Many of the former are capable of being trained and employed for useful purposes, while the latter are incapable of instruction, and scarcely exceed squirrels in the degree of their intelligence. This corresponds with the state of the convolutions. In some dogs° especially those employed in hunting, the convolutions are scarcely less numerous and deep than in the higher tribes of apes; while * Anatomie des Systemes Nerveux des Animaux vertebres, p. 620. 7* 78 OF THE BRAIN, CEREBELLUM, AND SKULL. in the less intelligent species, and in wolves, they exist m a much inferior degree of developement. Every one must have been struck by the great difference as to docility observable between dogs and cats ; an equally striking difference is found in the appearances presented by the number and depth of the convolutions of their brains—a difference so great, that Desmoulins estimates the convolutions of the dog to exceed by six or eight times those of the cat. The paucity of convolutions found in the cat pre- vails throughout the entire genus to which it belongs. That genus, Felis, which includes the cat, lion, tiger, panther, and other animals of a similar nature, is likewise remarkable "for the uniformity observed in the number and arrangement of the convolutions in the different species; and in no genus are the species more distinguished for similarity of disposition, for through none do the faculties of Secretivcness and Destructiveness prevail in so extreme a degree of strength. It must also have struck every,,observer, that differences of mental character are met with to a much greater extent, and with much greater frequency, among men, than among the individuals of any species of the lower animals. It is rare, for instance, to find one sheep differing much from its companions, or one cow from another. This must, therefore, be regarded as a circumstance affording a presumption in favour of the idea that varieties of disposition depend on varieties occurring in the convolu- tions; since, as has been observed by various physiologists,* the brains of men vary, with respect to the number and depth of their convolutions, in a far greater degree than those of any other species. It has been remarked, that, in most idiots, the number and depth of the convolutions are less than usual, on at least one side of the brain. In chro- nic insanity, too, the convolutions are found more or less effaced, and sepa- rated from each other by the thickening and infiltration of the lamina? of the pia mater occupying the furrows of the brain. In these cases, likewise, as well as in individuals of congenital imbecility, the thickness of the cineri- tious substance of the convolutions has been found greatly diminished; while in acute mania, on the other hand, it has been found of the usual thick- ness, and highly injected with blood. In old age the convolutions shrink. The greater part of the brain is destitute of sensibility : it may be pierced or cut without the patient being aware, from any feeling of pain, that it is suffering injury. Sir Charles Bell mentions, that he "had his finger deep in the anterior lobes of the brain, when the patient, being at the same time acutely sensible, and capable of expressing himself, com- plained only of the integument." So far from thinking the parts of tne brain which are insensible to be parts inferior in function, (as every part has its use,) Sir Charles Bell states, that, even from this, he should be led to imagine that they have a higher office, namely, that they are more allied to intellectual operations. The wide difference of function between a part destined to receive impressions, and a part which is the seat of thought, is in accordance with the presence of sensibility in some parts of the brain, and its absence in others. The brain receives an unusually large supply of blood, in comparison with the rest of the body. According to Haller, the quantity is one-fifth of the entire amount which leaves the heart; Monro, however, estimates it at one-tenth. Each side of the brain, and also the cerebellum, are supplied with sepa- rate arteries conveying the blood to them ; but the sinuses, or canals by means of which the blood is returned to the heart, are common to them all. The cerebellum is composed of the same kind of nervous matter with * Vieq d'Azyr, Mem de Paris 1783 p 512 ; cited by Meckel, Anatomie, fnd Mayo's' tfytLgy™ *° ^^ * *""** StMn C™bri> * ^ OF THE INTEGUMENTS OF THE BRAIN. 79 the brain, and presents both cineritious and medullary substances ; hut it differs from it in form and internal arrangement. In fig. 3, p. 75, it is seen partly in section (between S and 48) and partly with its natural ex- ternal appearance (I.) The cerebellum is separated from the brain by a strong membrane called the tentorium : in animals which leap, as the cat and tiger, the separation is produced by a thin elate of bone.* Its fibres, however, originate in that part of the medulla oblongata called the corpora restiformia, from which also the organs of several propensities arise ; so that the brain and cerebellum, although separated by the tentorium, are both connected with the medulla oblongata, and through it with each other. The medulla oblongata is sometimes spoken of as one of the three great divisions of the brain. It is, in fact, the part from which the fibrous matter of the brain and cerebellum proceeds ; and it forms, as it were, the capital of the column of the spinal marrow. OF THE INTEGUMENTS OF THE BRAIN. The brain is formed before the bones which invest it. The ossification of the skull is a gradual process. The brain already formed is invested with strong membranes, and between the coats of the outer membrane the ossification commences, which process is not completed until the ninth year. During life the brain is embraced in its whole peripheral extent by a very thin transparent and delicate membrane called the pia mater, which sinks down into its furrows, and serves to convey the bloodvessels to its different parts. Immediately above the pia mater are two layers of a still thinner membrane, resembling in its tenuity a spider's web, and thence named the tunica arachnoidta. It covers the surface of the brain uni- formly, without passing into its folds. A fluid secretion takes place fiom the opposed surfaces of this membrane, by which they are lubricated and prevented from adhering to each other. The dura mater is a thin, but strong, opaque membrane, lining and strongly adhering to the inner sur- face of the skull, and which embraces the outer surface of the brain above the membrane last-mentioned. When in health it does not possess sen- sibility, and has been pricked without causing pain. The brain, enclosed in these membranes, fills exactly the interior of the skull; so that a cast, in plaster, of the interior of the skull is a/ac simile of the brain, covered by the dura mater. Between the two layers of the arachnoid membrane a very small quantity of fluid is said to exist, but not exceeding a line in thickness. This fluid does not, in any degree that can be distinguished by the hand or eye, cause the form of the interior of the skull to differ from the form of the exterior of the brain. The skull is not an adamantine barrier, confining the brain within spe- cific boundaries ; but a strong, yet changeable, covering, shielding it, and accommodating itself to its size while in the progress of its growth, t At birth it is small ; it increases as the brain increases, and alters its shape with every change of the cerebral form ; it stops in developement when the brain has attained its full size, and diminishes when the size of the brain suffers diminution, as happens in old age or disease.X A process of ab- * Richerand conceives the ptupose of this arrangement to be the prevention of cerebral concussion in leaping : but Dr. Vimont objects to this view, on the ground that many animals accustomed to take great leaps, such as the squirrel and monkey, have not an osseous tentorium ; while, on the other hand, a bony plate occurs in some animals whose movements are slow and heavy, such as the badger. Vimont's Treatise on Human and Comparative Phreno- logy, i., 63. t On the admirable fitness of the skull to protect the brain, see The Phre- nological Journal, viii , 332. t Cases of diminution of the skull will be found in The Phrenological Jour- nal, ix., 468-470. 80 OF THE INTEGUMENTS sorption and deposition goes continually on in its substance ; so that, if the brain presses from within, the renovating particles arrange themselves ac- cording to this pressure, and thus the figure of the skull and of the brain in general correspond. In cases of water in the head, the skull sometimes extends itself, by this process, to an enormous size. The skull is composedfcof nine bones. These are—two frontal bones, which compose the forehead, and generally soon unite into one, though in some adults they continue double ; two parietal bones, forming the greater part of the upper and lateral regions of the skull; two temporal, around the ears; one sphenoid, in the anterior part of the basilar region ; one occipital, in the back and under part of the skull, immediately above the neck; and one ethmoidal, at the base behind the nose. The lines of junction of these bones are termed sutures, and form, in most parts, a sort of dovetailing. The principal sutures are the sagittal, separating the two parietal bones at the middle of the top of the head ; the coronal, which divides the frontal from the parietal bones ; the lambdoidal, between the occipital bone and the two parietals, and deriving its name from its resem- blance to the Greek letter lambda (A); the frontal, dividing the two frontal bones when they are not conjoined ; and the temporal, named also the squamous, from its scaly appearance, dividing the temporal bones from the parietal, and to some extent from the sphenoid and occipital. The annexed figure represents a skull with the two sides cut away, down nearly to the level of the eyebrow, leaving a narrow ridge in the middle of the top standing. AAA is the edge of the skull, resembling an arch. It is here represented thicker than it is in nature, in order to show the diploe. Most parts of the skull consist of two plates, called the outer and inner tables, having between them a spongy 'C substance, like cells in a marrow-bone, called the diploe. The substance banging down from the arch of the skull, having delicate lines traced on it, like the sap-vessels in leaves, is the mem- brane which separates the two halves of the brain. It is a continuation of the dura mater, and is called the falciform process, from its resemblance lo a scythe. It is well supplied with bloodvessels; and a large portion of the blood returning from the brain to the heart, goes up these vessels into a canal formed by the membrane all along the line of its attachment to the skull. The course of the blood through the canal is from the front backward, and then downward. The two hemispheres of the brain are completely separated, as far as this membrane is seen to extend down- ward m the cut. At the lower edge of it an open space appears: the commissure, or collection of fibres which unite the two sides, named the corpus callosum, goes through that space. The cerebellum lies at B C, in a part of the skull not opened. The membrane, on reaching the point C, spreads out to the right and left, and runs forward, so as to separate rreb*»um^m the brain ; the latter lying above, and the former be- Z i • !f u Jma"to,d Process, or bone to which the stemo-masloid 3,I6™**,! t* h i!et i?mediate'y >*to