. "*c LECTURES ON PHRENOLOGY; By GEORGE COMBE, Esq, LSCTMIDING ITS APPLICATION TO THE PRESENT AND PRO°P£t rfV** CONDITION OF THE UNITED STATjL5. WITH NOTES, AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY AND AN HISTORICAL SKETCH : BY ANDREW BOARDMAN, M. D. THIRD EDITION, WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. ' ISIS IS TRUTH, THOUGH AT ENMITY WITH THE PHILOSC^HT OP AQBS." • Gall NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL R. WELLS, No. 389 BROADWAY. • 1871 Cape Cottage, Portland, Maine 30th July, 1839 ANDREW BOARDMAN, ESQ. My dear Sir, I have read your reports of my Lectures on Phrenology, and beg to express my satisfaction with their essential correct- ness. You ask if I have any objection to your pub- lishing the reports in a separate volume.— As the American publishers of my works, Messrs. Marsh, Uapen, Lyon fo Co. of Boston, have given their con- sent, you ha^e my full concurrence in your doing ia I am, My dear Sir, Yours sincerely. GEORGE COMBE /2--3/FZ/ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by ANDREW BOARDMAN, Lj ine Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New- York. / PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION On the ai :iva! of M^. Combe in New York, I determined, m an humble way, to a.d liis efforts to diffuse a knowledge of that science tc which he has so kng been devoted, and to the advancement of which he has consecrated his future life. I accordingly offered to a publisher condensed reports of these lectures. They were accepted, eagerly sought after by the public, and copied entire or in part by various pa- pers in the United States and Canada. On Mr. Combe's second visit to this city, I furnished the New Yorker with more enlarged reports, which were copied into the Southern Literary Messenger ; and being urged by several distinguished medical gentlemen to correct and pub- lish them collectively, I formed an arrangement in accordance with their recommendation, after writing to Mr. Combe for permission, and receiving from him his ' hearty consent." Since the publication }f the first edition, Mr. Combe has left our shores, but the fruits of Ills labors remain with us. His footsteps can be traced in beneficent results. The phrenologists of America return him their sincere and hearty thanks, and the first in science, philoso- phy, and philanthropy, remember him with unfeigned respect and ad- miration. His visit has been highly efficacious in correcting prevalent errors concerning the foundation, scope, and utility of phrenology, and in attracting more' closely to it the attention of many of the best minds in the country. I have endeavored, among other things, to render the following work a monument of his labors in the United States. New York, A.igust, 1840. A. B. MR. COMBE: HIS LABORS AND RECEPTION „N THE UNITED STATES To those who have not seen nor heard Mr. Combe, the following sketch may possess some value, and aid to invest the succeeding reports with a portion of that interest which the presence of the distinguished lecturer inspired. Mr. Combe is rather tall and spare, with a narrow chest, large head, and nervous-bilious temperament. His hair, of silvery whiteness, is so thinly scattered as to leave considerably exposed his beautifully devel- oped frontal and coronal regions, indicating that fine predominance of the moral and intellectual forces which his works so eminently manifest. The reflective, however, are evidently his most effective faculties. His form is slightly bent, not from lack of Self-Esteem, but from habitual thoughtfulness and feeble physical organization. This slight bend and thoughtful aspect, with the snowy whiteness of his hair, give the im- pression that he is much older than the kirk-register allows ; the news- papers generally have stated his age at sixty ; though he has, in fact, passed his fiftieth birth-day in the United States. He has enough of his 44 native wood note wild" to indicate that he sprung from 44 the land of the mountain and flood," but not so much as to impair distinctness of utterance or correctness of pronunciation. Mr. Com^e is not a splendid lecturer, nor a brilliant lecturer, nor a MR. C3MBE. V fascinating lecturer. The current coin of eulogy, •■ gorgeous fancy," " thrilling eloquence." " withering sarcasm," "effu^ent grace," would be all inappropriate if applied to him. His language is full and flow ing; his style familiar, chaste, earnest, and unambitious. You see from the first that he has a passion for truth ; that his great aim is to enlighten the understanding, elevate and purify the feelings; and in his intentness of purpose to accomplish that aim, all clap-trap artifices are elbowed off the stage. His subject is arranged in natural consecutiveness in his own mind, and imparted in that order to the minds of others. His ideas do not bustle and jostle for precedence, each has its adjusted place wherewith it must be content. He states his propositions clearly, and proceeds at once to adduce the most striking analogies, appropriate illustrations, and convincing proofs, making every proposition, as far as practicable, the foundation of that which succeeds. By this methodical mode of procedure, the memory is greatly aided, and the judgment much gratified. It is said by Voltaire, that the art of interesting is the art of writing. The saying is eminently applicable to lecturing, and this art Mr. Combe possesses in a great degree ; few can better rivet attention, or more intensely interest the nobler feelings of our nature. This sketch would be incomplete without reference to that uuder current of hnmour which so often sparkles to the surface, lighting up with peculiar brilliancy the lecturer's vivacious eye, and affording amusement while it is used to impress on the memory important facts and principles. In conclusion, I would say that the lecturer creates an interest in himself as great almost as in his subject, not by egotism in any of its Protean forms, but by the union of profundity of thought with simpli- city of manners and benevolence of disposition. As he proceeds, the conviction wins imperceptibly on the mind that he forms one of that noble class — the great and good. Mr. Combe landed in New-York, September, 1838. His arrival was hailed by phrenologists with peculiar interest and pleasure, and he was received by all with the respect and courtesy due to his high character and beneficent labours. On the 10th of October following, he commenced at Boston his first course of lectures in the United States, to a somewhat numerous and highly intelligent audience, a great proportion consisting of members of the learned professions. Of these lectures, the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal remarks, " With a few interruptions, we have bestowed a thorough attention on the lectures of this distinguished ohilosopher, aince their commencement in Boston. We feel no hal£ VI MR. COMBE. way sentiments upon Jie matter, nor are we apposed to suppress what we unflinchingly acknowledge to be true, viz. that Mr. Combe is a profound man, who gains upon the understanding from day to day, by he simple presentations of truth. He must be regarded as an able, lay, unrivalled teacher of a system which can alone explain the pheno- mena of mind." At the close of this course, November 14th, 1839, the audience passed a series of resolutions highly commendatory of himself and of his lectures. I wrote to the secretary of that meeting requesting a copy of the resolutions, which unfortunately he had misplaced. On the succeeding evening, a social entertainment was given to Mr. Combe at the Tremont House, at which he was presented with a valuable silver vase of chaste and elegant workmanship. Mr. Combe's second course of lectures commenced in New-York, on the 19th of November, and closed on the 24th of December, 1838. Mere his audience was much of the same character as at Boston. At the close of his course, the following resolutions were unanimous ly adopted : '' Resolved, That the members of the class who have attended the couise of phre nological lectures delivered by George Combe, Esq., at Clinton Hall, entertain a lively sense of obligation to the distinguished lecturer for the valuable information he.has communicated to us during the lectures just closed; that we have been greatly pleased and instructed by the clear, felicitous, and convincing manner m which he has imparted to us his varied and profound knowledge of the philosophy of mind; and that we regard phrenology as eminently calculated to advance the cause of education, to improve the institutions of society and of government, and to elevate the condition of the human race. " Resolved, That in Mr. Combe we recognize the most successful advocate of phrenological science, the philosopher and the philanthropist ; and that phrenology, as explained and illustrated by him, claims, in our opinion, the attention of all those who would investigate mind philosophically, and who desire the diffusion of truth and the exaltation of the moral and intellectual faculties of man. " Resolved, That in the application of phrenology to the investigation of human character, and the practical purposes of life, we perceive a new era in mental an 1 physiological science, in which we believe human enquiry will be greatly facilitated, and the amount of human happiness essentially increased. " Resolved, That inasmuch as prejudice may deter many individuals from attend- ing Mr. Combe's lectures in other cities of our country, which he proposes to visit, and as the truth and importance of phrenolcgy can be understood and appreciated only after an exan ination of its principles, we recommend to such citizens an attendance upon his entire course ; being convinced that they will find their own advantage in doing so, and that they wiil thereby become better able to judge of the truth and practical utility of the science. " Resolved, That entertaining these views and feeiings, we take great pjeasure in tendering an expression of them to Mr. Combe, and in adding our most hearty wishes for his personal happiness, and for Ins long-continued usefulness to hi? fellow-men. <*R***ktd t That Silas Jor.es, Esq., Counsellor at Law and Surenntewtont e» SIR. COMBE. til &e New- York Institution fc-i the Blind ; Judah Hammond, Esq., Judge of the Marine Court ; John B. Scott, Esq., Judge of the Marine Court ; Loring D. Chap- in, Esq., Member of the New-York Legislature, &c. ; Robert Sedgwick, Esq., Counsellor at Law, fcc. ; C. A. Lee, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica in the New- York University ; B. F. Joslin, M. D., Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philo- sophy in the New-York University ; E. Parmley, M. D. ; J. Neilson,M. D. ; J.W. Francis, M. D. ; A. S. Doane, Professor of Physiology in the New-York University ; Caleb Ticknor, Professor of Hygiene in the New-York University ; and Joel Fos- ter, M. D., be a committee to present to Mr. Combe the foregoing resolutions, and to publish the same in the newspapers of this city." John B. Scott, Chairman, New-York, Dec. 22, 1S38. On four of the evenings unappropriated to his phrenological course, Mr. Combe lectured to the New-York Mercantile Library .Associa- tion, on the physical constitution of man and its relations to the mind. These lectures were attended by overwhelming audiences Mr. Combe's third course w r as commenced in Philadelphia, on the 4th of January, and ended on the 8th of February, 1839. The num- bers in attendance ranged from 441 to 607, the former number being that with which he commenced. The great attentions which he received in the most scientific city of the Union, must have been peculiarly grati- fying to the lecturer. At the close of this course, the following resolu- tions were unanimously adopted : " Resolved, That they have listened with great pleasure and mental profit to the comprehensive views of human nature, and to the elucidations of individual char- acter, set forth by Mr. Combe, in his lectures just completed ; and, that, in these, they recognize many important suggestions for the improvement of Education and Jurisprudence, and the consequent increase of the happiness of mankind. " Resolved, That a committee be appointed to convey to Mr. Combe the preceding resolution, and a wish, on the part of this meeting, that he will be induced to repeat his course of lectures on phrenology." The following gentlemen were appointed a committee to carry into effect the foregoing resolutions, viz. — Nicholas Biddle, LL. D., Joseph Hartshorae, M. D.> Benjamin W. Richards, William Gibson, M. D., Thomas Harris, M. D., Alexander Dallas Bache, Rembrandt Peale, Charles Picot, John Bell, M, D. In compliance with the last resolution, and the earnest solicitations of many private individuals, Mr. Combe delivered a second course at Philadelphia, between the 2i of March 'and the 6th of April inclusive. Having meanwhile visited Washington and other places, and delivered at Wilmington a short course of lectures on Physical and Mental Education. At the close of Mr Combe's second course of Lectures on Phreno- logy, in the Hall of the Musical Fund, April 6, 1839, On motion, Professor Samuel B. Wylie was called to the chair, and George McClellan, M. D. appointed Secretary VU1 MR. COMBE. The Rev. Chairman addressed the meeting on (he propriety of mali ing some public expression of the satisfaction which the very numerous class in attendance had derived from the lectures. On motion, the following resolutions, offered by Mr. Thomas Fisher, were unanimously adopted: "Resolved, That the class have listened with great interest to the able and highly instructive exposition of Phrenology which Mr. Combe has offered us. " Resolved, That whatever may have been our previous acquaintance with the subject, the lectures of Mr. Combe have impressed us with much respect for its practical importance, and with the kindliest feeling for the learned lecturer. " Resolved, That Phrenology is recognized and commended as a science founded in Nature, by a large portion of the most distinguished anatomists on both sides of the Atlantic, and that we believe it to be the only adequate illustration exist- ing, of the wonderfully various manifestations of the human mind. '•' Resolved, That it will afford us pleasure, and that we believe it will be highly acceptable to this community, that Mr. Combe should make it consistent with his arrangements in other cities, to give, during next winter, another course in Phila- delphia. " Resolved, That a committee of seven gentlemen be appointed to communicate to Mr. Combe a copy of these resolutions.'' The following gentlemen were accordingly appointed— Samuel B. Wylie, D. D., Saaiuel George Morton, M. D., George McCiellan, M. D., Charles S. Coxe, Esq., Joseph Hartshorne, M. D., Thomas Gilpin, Esq., Thomas Fisher. During Mr. Combe's stay in Philadelphia, a number of gentlemen in New-York were engaged in organizing a class, that they might obtain the services of Mr. Combe, a second time. An invitation was sent, and Mr. Combe consented to repeat his course in New-York. He com- menced on the 13th of April, and closed on the 13th of May. At a meeting of the Class, held on the 15th of May, the following gentlemen were appointed a Committee to prepare and report a paper and resolutions, expressive of the sentiments of the Class upon the sub- ject of said Lectures, and their feelings towards Mr. Combe as a Lec- turer, to wit: — Rev. Mr. Sawyer, Mr. Boardman, Rev. Mr. Sunder- land, and Mr. E. P. Hurlbut. On the 18th, Mr. Hurlbut, from that Committee, reported the following oaper and resolutions, which were ananimously adopted : "The second course of Lectures upon Phrenology, delivered in this city by Mr. George Combe, of Edinburgh, having closed, the members of his class are desirous of expressing their views of the science which he has taught, and the sentiments entertained by them toward the distinguished Lecturer, personally. " He has presented to us the wonderful discovery of Dr. Gall, and its practical Influence upon the character and condition of man. That discovery was charac terized by the most minute attention to the laws of our orgi.iization, by the most patient ohservation of facts, and by the deduction of inevitable conclusions from MR. COMBE, 3* * ©r. Gall abandoned the school of metaphysical speculation ; and taking to the ibservation of Nature, he at length presented to the wwrld his great discovery of ihe true functions of the brain, and of its various parts. We new look to Nature for the foundation of the noble science of mental philosophy; ard the enlightened mind of the old world, and of the new, is now engaged in illustrating and estab- lishing it. " Our own country has been twice honoured by visits from the earliest and most gifted advocates of this science. The noble and accomplished Spurzheim, a name sacred to every friend of man, fell a victim to disease upon our shores, while just opening the rich fountain of his well-stored intellect to an American audience. The language of eulogy fails altogether when employed upon so noble a nature as his. " But for this we thank him — that he directed the mind of a Combe to the sublime truths he had himself embraced, and allowed his mantle to descend upon the gifted individual to whom we have all listened with intense interest and delight. How nobly has he executed in cur country the work which his ' great and lamented master' had begun ! " He came not among us to earn applause, for of that he had already enough ; nor treasure, *w we are happy to know of that he had no occasion to go in search. He came n6t spiring controversy — being no less distinguished for his love of peace than for his devotion to science. But he came as a minister from ine enlightened mind of the old world to treat with the intellect of the new, upon matters of the deepest concern to the human race. " His message was of the highest importance to us all. It interested us as stu- dents of Nature's laws, as observers of their manifestations, as speculators in mental philosophy, and as friends of education. It opened new views of man's moral and intellectual character, and well nigh explained the mystery of thought. that most sublime emanation from the Divinity of Nature. It taught the discipline of vouth— how to inform their intellect, to elevate their sentiments, and to mode- rate their passions. It pointed the way of happiness to man by exhibiting the sources of human virtue, and its effects ; — the causes of vice, and its effects upon his condition in life. It presented the most rational and humane view of moral responsibility, and explained and enforced the whole duty of man. And in this, his last and crowning Lecture, Mr. Combe has opened the treasures of his knowledge of the political institutions of the old world, faithfully portrayed their defects, their subversion of human liberty and happiness, and contrasted with them the free institutions of our own country, and their happy influences upon the moral and intellectual condition of our citizens. " And now, having attended upon the gifted Lecturer through his various illus- trations — his well-authenticated facts, and heard his sound deductions drawn from them, we hasten to express our profound sense of obligation to him for the instruc- tion he has afforded us, and our high appreciat ion of the doctrines he has so ably maintained. " Be it therefore, " Resolved, That we regard Phrenology as having its foundation in the truths of Nature, and as entitled in point of dignity and interest, to rank high among the natural sciences. 6i Resolved, That we regard the practical application of Phrenological principles to physical training, to moral and mental education, to the treatmen\ of the insane, and to criminal legislation, as of the highest importance and utilit; ; and we in- dulge the hope of witnessing in our own day the beneficial results of such applies X MR. COMBE. Hon 1b tile increased happiness of our homes in the improved condition of om seminaries of learning, in more enlightened legislation, and in the more benign influences of our civil and religious institutions. " Resolved, That the extensive knowledge and sound philosophy which Mr. Combe has exhibited in the course of his Xectures, have inspired us with a profound respect for his intellectual power and attainments ; and while the simplicity of manner and the purity of style with which he has conveyed the most interesting truths evince a highly cultivated taste, the generous enthusiasm with which he has embarked in the cause of humanity commands an admiration of his sentiments equal to the respect we entertain for his understanding. " Resolved, That, entertaining such opinions of the science with which Mr. Combe has identified his life and fame, and such sentiments toward him as a lec- turer and a man, we beg to tender to him the expression of our heartfelt gratitude for the instruction and delight he has afforded us, and our kindest wishes for his prosperity and happiness through life. " On motion, it was Resolved, That the gentlemen who reported the foregoing paper and resolutions constitute a Committee to present the same to Mr. Combe." T. J. SAWYER, Chairman. A. Boardman, Secretary. . [SECOND EDITION.] On theevenuag that the Committee was appointed to draw up the foregoing resolution-*, it was mentioned that a number of gentlemen, desirous of evincing in a more enduring manner their sense cf ?«Ir. Combe's merits, and of the important doctrines which he pro- mulgated, had commenced a subscription for that purpose. The announcement was cordi illy received— a meeting was called it Mr. Hurlbut's office the ensuing evenin?, at which the following g-eutiernen were appointed a committee with full powers: Mr, E.P Hurlbut, Mr. Wra. J. Mullen, Mr. S. W. Dewey and Mr. A. Boardman. They determined on presenting to Mr. Combe a silver vase, and took their measures accordingly. This was completed in September, 1839, was exhibited at the Fair of the American Institute, and the gold medal awarded to the manufacturer on account of its su- perior workmanship being, by the judges, considered one of the most exquisite specimens of art ever produced in the United States. The vase is of Grecian modeh having on one side three medalfic likenesses, — one of Gall, one of Spurzheim, one of Mr. Combe, and the Phrenologist's motto, first proposed by Sir G. S. Mackenzie, " R?$ van verba qucbso." The other side contains two medallic likenesses — one of Dr. Benjamin Rush, and one of Dr. Charles Caldwell, together with the following inscription : — PRESENTED TO GEORGE COMBE, OF EDINBURGH, BY THE CLASS IN ATTENDANCE UPON EIS LECTURES DELIVERED IN THE CITY OF NEW-YORK, In 1839, ON THE SUBJECT OF PHRENOLOGY: In testimony of their prof ound respect for the distinguished Lecturer and of their belief in and admiration of THE NOBLE SCIENCE, CF WIHCn HE IS THE ABLEST LIVING TEACHER AND EXPOUNDER. On the base of* the vase are chased the heads of various animals, as emb'ematiea. * xxmpa alive Phreno'o°T- MR. COMBE. XI Too much credit cannot be given to Mr. S. W.Dewey, for his great assiduity in attending to the general business of the committee, nor to Mr. William Morrison, by whom the plan of the vase was drawn, and the vase itself executed with such exquisite skill This testimonial, from the New-York class, was presented to Mr. Combe on the 23d o* March, 184U, and as his appearance on that occasion may properly be considered the ter- mination of his Phrenological labors in the United States, i here record the proceedings. The vase was presented at Howard's Hotel, in presence of the subscribers and others, by a committee consisting of the following gentlemen: Mr. E. P. liuribut, Rev. T. J- Sawyer, Dr. Foster, Mr. S. W. Dewey, Mr. E. C. Benedict, and Dr. Boardman. The chairman of the committee, Mr. Hurlbut, thus addressed Mr. Combe : "Sir: — The members of the class who attended your lectures, delivered in this city during the past year, have instructed us to present you with this vase, which, in their names, we now beg you to accept. "1 bears upon one side three medallic likenesses, exquisitely wrought — one of Gall, to whosw great discoveries in nature we are indebted for the true science of mind ; — one of Spurzheim, who first aided in illustrating and establishing it; — and the other of yourself, their first and favorite British disciple. " This high and just association will ever endure. He who founded, and they who first illustrated and advanced the true science of intellectual aud moral philosophy, will descend the stream of time together, shedding lustre upon future ages, and living in the grateful memories of generations to come after us. " Upon this vase are also presented other medallic likenesses ; one of Rush, whose far- seeing eye, penetrating the veil of nature, which Gail afterward lifted, had visions of some of the great truths which he demonstrated ; and the other of Caldwell, who was the first among our countrymen to embrace and defend the doctrines of the great German with a boldness and vigor peculiarly his own. "We feel a patriotic pride, in associating the names of two of our own countrymen with the most-distinguished names of Europe, connected with mental science. " You are soon to return to your native land — to your and our fathers' country. "Your visit here has awakened the interest of thousands, in your welfare— of thou- sands who are not wanting in gratitude for the instruction and delight which your dis- courses have afforded them — but who have had no opportunity to manifest, as we do on this most favored occasion, their high appreciation of your character and uttainmen-s, and the enduring impression which your visii has made upon their minds. Their and our best wishes attend you. " Receive, then, this vase, (the inscription upon which is also graven upon cur hearts ;) and bearit to your home — a tribute to truth, ar.d to the champion oftru h; and restassur-d, that in our estimation, we could be called to perform no p.ouder office, thhn to render a just tribute of respect and admiration to the author of 'The Constitution of Man.' " Mr. Combe received the vase, and spoke as follows : " Gentlemen : — Although I cannot correctly say that I am unused to public speaking, yet. on occasions like the present, words fail me to express what i feel. I accept of your handsome and generous gift with the highest gratification. The classical elegance of form, the exquisite workmanship, and the appropriate devices which it bears, render it a gem of beauty. As a mere physical object, indeed, its merits in this respect have been appreciated in this city; it has gained the gold medal offered for the encouragement of art, and it will successfully sustain the strictest scrutiny of the distinguished artisans of the country to which I am about to carry it. But it is as a moral monument of your favorable estimation of my labors arnongyou, and of the interest which you have taken in the science of mind, that it possesses to me an inestimable value. To Dr. Gall alone belongs the glory of having discovered the functions of the brain: Dr. Spurzheim generously devoted I; is whole life to the extension, improvement and diffusion of this -mlendid product of Gall's originality and genius : and it is difficult to do justice to the noble sacrifice which he made to the cause of truth. When Dr. Spurzheim became the disciple of Gail, no human baing defended Phrenology except its author : and he not only stood alone, but encoun- tered the hostility of civilized Europe, from the emperor to the peasant, a few high- minded individuals only excepted, who were liienced by the hand of power if they rose superior to the influence of scorn. It is no slender honor to me that you associate me with such men. Mine has been a flowery path compared with theirs. It is true that, when still a young man, without name, fortune, high associations, or any external advantages to sustain me against public disapprobation, I fearlessly risked every prospect which the future held forth to my ambition, and became the defender of Phre- nology when it had few other friends in the British isles. Professional ruin was prophe- f^.'ed as the inevitable consequence of this, as it was then styled, rash and inconsiderate Mep. But for the encouragement of the young and ardent worshippers of truth, I am enabled to say that these auguries never were realized. Many were the shafts of ridicule >nat were hurled against me, and bitter the taunts poured forth by a hostile press ; but fiey never penetrated to rny soul, disturbed my peace, nor impeded my prosperity. 1 mention this, not in the spirit of vain-glory, but to confirm the young in the assurance, that The path of truth and independence may be safely trodden even against a world in arms, If. courage and perseverance be added to prudence in the advance. " Allow me .to say, that your gift receives a high additional interest from bearing also «he portraits of Dr. Benjamin Rush and Dr. Charles Caldwell, both distinguished sons of ihe United States. The former supported, with admirable sagacity and eloquence, the connection bstwjeu the brain and the mind, fend proved the influence of the condition o* Xil MR. COMBE. the organization on the menta» manifestations Of Dr. Charles £•&.}:' well it is unnecessary for me here to express an opinion. His profound intellect and eloquent pen, his various, and valuable attainments, his energy and industry, courage and perseverance, have pro- cured him honor as one of the abiestand most successful defenders of Phrenology, when- ever the science itself is knowm It will be a lasting gratification to me to look on the efligies of such men, in hours of festivity and relaxation, when your gift will bring them in all the lineaments of nature before me. ** I have sojourned among you now for the greater part of two years, and I am about to leave your country. That I have experienced some inconvenience, and encountered Eeveral disagreeable incidents during my stay, Ls only what belongs t§ the lot of humanity : but these sink into insignificance when contrasted with the generous cordiality and enlightened sympathy which have been showered upon me by yourselves and your fellow citizens. I have held converse with many enlightened minds in this country ; minds that do honor to human nature ; whose philanthropy embraces not only patriotism, but an all- pervading interest in the advancement of the human race in knowledge, virtue, religion, and enjoyment, in every clime. Many of these admirable men are deeply interested in Phrenology. The gifted individual* to whom Massachusetts owes an eternal debt of gratitude for his invaluable efforts in improving her educational establishments, has assured me that the new philosophy is a liaht in his p&th.to which he attaches the highest vaiue. You. sir, have shown, in a late valuable work that has issued from your pen, that you are penetrated to the core with this last and best of human sciences;! and many w T ho now hear me have expressed similar testimonials to its worth. I return, therefore, highly gratified with much that I have experienced among you, and I shall not need this emblem of your respect to maintain the recollection of such men as I have described, engraven on my affections for ever. Allow me to add one brief expression of admiration and gratitude to a young countryman of my own, Mr. William Morrison, from Edinburgh, whose exquisite skill chased these admirable ornaments on your gift. Amon| his first efYorts in art was a wax model which he executed of my head in Edinburgh. 5lany years ago he came to this country, was highly esteemed as a man and as an artist, and the embellishment of this v; : se was almost the last act of his life. Ten days have scarcely elapsed since he was laid in a premature grave. It would have delighted me to have addressed to his living ear, the tri h ^ „ which I now offer to his memory. " ,-vgain, gentlemen. I assure you of my heartfelt gratitude and lasting respect, and with best wishes for your happiness and prosperity, bid you farewell." The labors of Mr. Combe in the United States comprised the following courses of Lee tures . 1. Boston, heffun 10th Oct., ended 14th Nov.. 1833. 2. New-York, begun 19th Nov., ended 24th Dec, 1838, 3. New- York, on education, within the same period, 4. Philadelphia, begun 4th Jan., ended 8th Feb., 1839. 5. >\ iimington, on education, during the interval between the last and succeeding course. ...... 6. Philadelphia, begun 2d March, ended 6th April, 1839, . 7. New- York, begun i3rh April, ended 18th May, 1S39, . 8. Hartford, begun 27th Sept., ended 25th Oct., 1839, 9. Boston, begun 1st Nov., ended 27th Nov.. 1839. . 10. Boston, on education, (at the Odeon,) begun 29th Nov., ended 6th Dec, 1839, 11. Boston, on education, (at the Lyceum,) begun 5th Dec, ended 26th Dec, 1839 ' 12. Salem, on education, begun 9th Dec, ended 13th Dec, 1839, . 13. Lowell, on education, legun 16th Dec. ended 20th Dec, 1839, 14. Worcester, on education, begun 24th Dec, 1839, ended 2d Jan., 1840, 15. Sprinsfield, on education, begun 3d Jan.. ended 8th Jan., 1840, 16. Albany, begun 13th Jan., ended 8th Feb., 1840 . 17. New-Haven, begun. 17th Feb., ended 16th March, 1840, Making 158 Lectures, each occupying two hours. 16 Lectures 16 4 16 4 16 16 12 12 4 3 3 4 3 13 13 Mr. Combe arrived in America by the Great Western steamship, in September, 1838, lid sailed for Europe in the British Queen steamship, June 1st, 1840. • Hon. Horace Mann * Mr. Combe here referred to a work recently publV.ed by Mr. Hurlbut, "Civil Office tad Politic* ESSAY PHRENOLOGICAL MODE OF INVESTIGATION, On its being observed to a scientific pretender, that facts were at variance with a hypothesis which he had announced, he replied indignantly, " So much the worse for the facts." Like this was the language of almost all expounders of natu- ral science antecedent to the seventeenth century. They worshipped the shadow of a mighty name. The Aristotelian philosophy held undisputed sway. Mahomedan, Jew, and Christian, vied with each other in hugging- the chain of scholastic bondage, deeming a quotation from the stagi- rite adequate to establish the grossest absurdity, or refute the most obvious truth. So far did this infatuation reach, that, in some of the Universities, statutes were framed, re- quiring the professors to promise, on oath, to follow no guide but Aristotle ; and the French parliament, under Francis I., pronounced Peter Ramus to be " insolent, impudent, and a liar;" and for all coming time, condemned, suppressed and abolished his books, prohibiting him from copying or even reading them, because he had publicly disputed the doc 14 THE ARISTOTELIAN PHILOSOPHY. trines of the Greek ; nay, to attack these doctrines was, by legislative acts, rendered punishable by the galleys ! The following incident in the life of Galileo well illustrates tlvs prostration of reason to authority. The Grecian philosopher bad asserted that if two bodies, of like material, were let fall at the same time, from the same height, the heaviest would reach the ground as much sooner than the other, as it exceeded that other in weight ; that is, if it were fifty times as heavy, it would fall with fifty times the velocity. Galileo appealed from Aristotle to ob- servation, and maintained that, with the exception of a very slight difference, occasioned by the opposing air, both bo- dies would reach the earth in equal times. This proposi- tion was rejected as false, and scowled on as presumptuous ; so to demonstrate its truth, he took his opponents to the famous tower of Pisa, and let fall two weights from its sum- mit ; yet with the evidence of their eyes to the equally rapid descent, with the simultaneous sounds still ringing in their ears, the Aristotelians turned sneeringly and unbelievingly away, quoting the stagirite ! Through such thick clouds of error, prejudice, and bigotry, difficult indeed it was, for the light of science to pierce, and if now and then a ray of truth, from some bright and independent genius, struggled through the enshrouding darkness, it was like a solitary star on a dreary night, rendering " darkness visible." The Greeks having settled it in their own minds that a circle is the most perfect of figures, concluded that the movements of the heavenly bodies must be performed in exact circles, and with uniform motions, when the plainest observations demonstrated the contrary. " In the sixth century, Cosmas Indopleustes gravely taught, that the earth was an oblong plane, surrounded by an impassable ocean ; an immense mountain in the form of a cone, or sugar-loaf, placed in the north, was the centre around which sun, moon, and stars daily revolved ; the chape of this mountain, and the slanting motion of the sun. THE ARISTOTELIAN PHILOSOPHY, 15 accounted for the variable length of the days, and the changes of the seasons, The heavens were supposed to be an immense arch, one side of which rested on the earth, and the other on two mighty pillars beyond the sea ; un- der this vault a multitude of angelic beings were employed in guiding the motions of the stars." — (Account of Lord Bacon's Novum Organon Scientiarum, p. 5.) In the sixteenth century, Gerolamo Fraeastora, in his Homocentrica, considered one of the best productions of the day, maintained that all the stars are carried round the earth, fastened to solid concentric spheres, and to prove the necessity of such agency he " reasons" thus : " The plan- ets are observed to move one while forwards, then back- wards, now to the right, now to the left, quicker and slower by turns ; which variety is consistent with a compound structure like that of an animal, which possesses in itself various springs and principles of action, but is totally at variance with our notions of a simple and undecaying sub- stance, like the heavens and heavenly bodies. For that which is simple is altogether single, and singleness is of one only nature, and one nature can be the cause of onlj one effect ; and therefore it is altogether impossible that the stars of themselves should move icith such variety of motion. And besides, if the stars move by themselves, they either move in an empty space, or in a fluid medium like air. But there can not be such a thing as empty space, and if there were such a medium, the motion of the stars would occasion condensation and rarefaction in different parts of it, which is the property of corruptible bodies, and where they exist some violent motion is going on ; but the hea- vens are incorruptible^ and are not susceptible of violent motion, and hence, and from many other similar reasons, any one who is not obstinate may satisfy himself thai the stars cannot have any independent motion."* Such were *" See life of Galileo Galilei, by Drinkwatei. 16 THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. the loose assertions, rash assumptions and wild imagi- nings, dignified by the name Philosophy. Men strove t« explain phenomena by reasoning on their own conjectures, by hypotheses fanciful as fairy tales, and, at the best, by a loose application of general principles, drawn with reck* less haste, and presumption, from a few ill-observed facts. This was the prevalent mode of philosophising. Had such speculations and reasonings been merely the occasional ebul- litions of wayward minds, to adduce them as characteristic of the philosophy of the ancient and middle ages, would be as unfair as it would, in after times, to adduce the anti- phrenological tirades of the present day, as characteristic of the philosophy of the age in which we live. At the commencement of the seventeenth century appear ed Lord Bacon, one of the most remarkable men the world has produced. With " his supreme and searching glance, he ranged over the whole circle of the sciences," detected the ab- surdities of the schoolmen, and exposed them with a vigor- ous and unsparing hand. He dethroned the Aristotelian idol which had forages received the blind fealty of a world, and, fortunately for science and humanity, attempted not to substitute an idol of his own, but pointed to nature as alone worthy of homage. "Man," said he, in the opening sen- tence of his immortal work, " the servant ami interpreter of nature, understands and reduces to practice just so mnch of nature's laws as he has actually experienced, more he can neither know nor achieve." Now this experience Ba- con maintained must be acquired by observation. To ob- serve facts, then, is the first great business of the investiga- tor. Facts may be divided into the presented and pro- duced. The first being such as nature offers to our obser- vation without any aid or interference of ours ; the second being such as occur in consequence of our putting in ac- tion, causes and agents over which we have control. In- stances of the last class are usually called experiments and their production and observation Lord B-*.3on signif? THE BACON SAX PHILOSOPHY. 17 cantly terms " asking questions of nature." Thus the increase of size in the human head, from infancy to adult age, is a fact presented to our observation. But the division of the anterior root of a spinal nerve, for the purpose of onservmg the loss of motion, is a produced instance or expe- riment. It must be remembered, however, that if facts be well scrutinized and verified, they are of equal value, whe- ther presented or produced : but the former, are almost tiie only ones employed in phrenological investigations. Observation, then, being the only true means of laying a foundation for the discovery and establishment of truth, we should dismiss from our mind, all preconceived notions of what should be or might be, and tiw carefully to ascertain what is. This rule was neglected by Ludovico Dolci and others who maintained that the cerebellum must be the scat of memory, because its low and out of the way situa turn so admirably fitted it for a mental store-house. It was adhered to by Gall, when, neglecting the assertions of those who maintained that mental capacity ought and must, at birth, be equal in all, he observed and maintained that vast differences do in reality exist. But we must bear in mind that isolated facts are of small ralue. They must be brought together carefully and pa- tiently ; must be rigidly scrutinized and verified, compared and classified, for the purpose of ascertaining some relation of sign and power, cause and effect, general principle, quality, or mode of activity. To achieve such results is, indeed, the great object and triumph of the Baconian phi- losophy. By such observation, comparison, and classifica- tion, it has been discovered for example, that a certain state, of the barometer indicates a certain elevation above the level of the sea ; 'that increase of heat causes bodies to ex- pand ; that all the individual plants of the crow-foot tribe are more or less aciid and poisonous ; that the sun modi- fies the moon's influence on the tides. Or, to take another aeries of examples By this method it has been iscertain- 18 THE BACONIAN F1IILOS )PHY. ed that a large skull indicates a large brain, an I that a large brain causes a large skull ; that persons having a brain weighing but one and a half pounds are invariably idiotic ; that a predominant coronal region gives a general tendency or disposition towards virtue, and that education has the power of modifying the constitutional tendencies of our nature. The fundamental error of ancient philosophy was the no- tion that a general cause must be first divined or conjectured , and then applied to the explanation of particular pheno- mena ; they perceived not the plain but momentous truth, that a general fact is nothing else than a fact common to many individuals, and consequently, that the individual facts must be known, before the general fact can be stated. Hence, instead of first ascertaining by direct observation, the relative velocity of two descending bodies differing in weight, then of two others — persisting with new experiments until enough of instances had been observed to justify an assumption of uniformity, Aristotle first assumed a gross error as a general fact, and then inferred it of any two bodies whatever. His reasoning was correct, but his pre- miss was false. He attended to logic but utterly neglected induction. But, besides pointing out the true method of investiga- tion, the Baconian philosophy furnishes a number of tests by which we may know when two facts bear to each othei "the relation of cause and effect, or of sign and power. These are, 1. " Invariable connection." 2. " Invariable negation of the effect, with absence of the cause." 3. " Increase or diminution of the effect, with the increa sed or diminished intensity of the cause." It further teaches us that, " we are not to deny the exis- tence of a cause in favour of which we have a unanimous THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. 19 Bgreement of strong analogies, though it may not be appa- rent how such a cause can produce the effect."* For example, suppose a dark line be observed invariably to exist on the forehead of man, and on the heads of all such animals as sing, or recognize the melodious succes- sion of notes, and to be invariably absent from the heads of such animals as do not sing, or manifest such recognition. Again, suppose the musical faculty to be possessed by dif- ferent individuals, of the same species, in different degrees. A long line being invariably accompanied by great musical power, and a short line by feeble musical power, the poiver varying in strength in proportion as the line varied in length. Here we should have that " invariable connection," that " invariable negation of the effect, with absence of the cause," and that, " increase or diminution of the effect, with the increased or diminished intensity of the cause," which would unavoidably lead us to recognize one of the pheno- mena as the cause or sign, and the other as the effect or power, notwithstanding that we might not be able to con ceive how a dark line, and the musical talent, should be so related. Now what is here supposed of the black line, is de- monstrably true of a certain portion of the brain, with this advantage, that the brain is admitted by all to be an ade- quate material, or proximate cause of mental manifestation. The organ of tune i§ developed in all animals which have the musical faculty, and undeveloped in all such as have it not. In such as have it, the organ and faculty are always directly related in size and power. To pretend, with some, to trace ail the magnificent discove ries of modern times to the Novum Organon, as to the foun tain whence they sprung, would be erroneous. Ere Bacon appeared, the art of printing had been diffused ; men had commenced to ask the why of all existing institutions, the re* * Discourse on the study of Natural Philosorny, by Sir John Hei schell, Nos. 145 and 148. 20 THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. formation had shaken the ancient empire of superstition to iti foundation. John of Salsbmy, Roger Bacon, Gilbert, and Copernicus preceded him ; Galileo and Kepler were his con* temporaries. The Novum Organon must, therefore, be con sidered as a manifestation, rather than a cause, of the philo- sophic spirit which, about that time, simultaneously burst forth. We must remember, too, that Gilbert, Galileo, and others had recognized the inductive, as the true method of investigation, before the appearance of Bacon's great work, as Gall did afterwards, before knowing of its existence. But, though the principle of induction had been recog- nized, to Bacon belongs the great honour of placing it, by hi« noble ardour and giant power, in deserved pre-eminence, as the true, the only method in which nature can be so ques- tioned, as to induce her to reveal her hidden agencies and laws of action. He destroyed for ever, the philosophic pre tensions of those who essayed to explain natural pheno- mena by reasoning on conjecture. And, by showing the nobleness of their employment, who were laboriously en gaged in minutely investigating and comparing particular phenomena, he forced the curl from the pedant's lip, and the scowl from the bigot's brow. It may be truly said that the dawn of the new philosophy had before appeared, but that " day waited" for Verulam. As the glory and utility of logic depend on its not being merely a mode of reasoning, but the mode in which all cor- rect reasoning must be performed,* so do the glory and * See Elements of Logic by Archbishop TVhately, book iv. chap. I. To those who, with Menage, define logic to be " The art of talking nnit> telligibly on things of which we are ignorant," I would recommend a perusal of the above admirable work. Logic has been abused by its p v e- tended friends, and has therefore been denounced. Thus it is ever: the world, in its hurry to condemn, stops not to discriminate between the true uses of a thing, and the purposes to which it is applied ; but visit* •ipon the poor abused fact, or principle, the punishment due only to its itittsors Thus has it been **ith Phrenology. Many, for lucre's sakf THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. 21 utility of the Baconian method depend on its not being merely a mode, but the modo in which all discoveries must be made and established. By induction we ascertain the truth or falsehood of premises ; by logic, whether, from the premises, the announced conclusion is fairly deduceable, By the former we become acquainted with the previ ously unknown, by the latter we draw particular conclu sions from general propositions, the truth of which is ac knowledged. By means of the inductive philosophy, man, in these lat- ter days, has been able to draw aside the veil of the inner temple, and become on " intimate terms with nature." To it, chiefly, does this owe its superiority over the dark ages, for it cannot be supposed that all at once the human intellect gathered vigour, and emerged from childhood to manhood. No ; it had in its waywardness become " in wandering mazes lost," and though vast powers were often times displayed, yet as they were displayed in weaving webs* of subtlety and conjecture, nothing was achieved. Like the arts of the posture master,suchdisplays of intellectual power were won derful, but of small profit, and, by enlightened reason could be accounted only as " fantastic tricks." The induc- tive philosophy brought men into the true path, and in that path, advancement was not, as before, a departure from truth, but progress in it. No wonder, then, that we have surpassed our fathers, for, as Bacon well observes, even ' r a cripple in the right way may beat a racer in the wrong," To this philosophy, then, do we owe the establishment oi Phrenology, a science pregnant with more important influ- have dragged our noble science through the mire, b) pretending to teach what they have never learned, and to determine the value of develop ments, of the significance of which they were ignorant. Phrenologists have ever been the first to warn the community against these self-styled frieids, but worst of foes, and yet, in public and in private, have the cru- dities and mal-practices of these men been identified with the cause of Phrenology 22 DR. gall's character. ences than the revelations of Galileo, of Harvey, or of Newton ; making known as it does, the material instruments of mentality, unfolding as it does, the moral and intellectual constitution of man, and exposing as it does, the secret springs of thought and impulses of action ; furnishing man with a middle term, which will enable him, as it were, to throw his own and external nature into one mighty syllo- gism, and educe human duty and human destiny. The day is not far distant when it will be acknowledged by all, that no doctrines were ever established on a more extensive induction of rigidly scrutinized and verified facts, than were those of Gall. The length of time which he allowed to elapse between their dawn and promulgation : his entire devotion of life and property to their investiga- tion ; the bold but truth-loving spirit ; the profound, com- prehensive, discriminative, and practical understanding, every where manifested in his writings, place him at the antipodes of those speculative geniuses, who spend their lives in weaving webs of sophistry for the entanglement of human reason. To make this evident, to show in a man- ner satisfactory to all candid minds, that phrenology is a discovery, not an invention, that its doctrines are but the crowning stones to pyramids of facts, is the object of the present essay. From his earliest youth, Francois Joseph Gall, remarked that his brothers and sisters, his play-fellows and school- mates, manifested great diversity of disposition and talent, notwithstanding similarity of education and external cir- cumstances. Some were remarkable for their attachment to, some for their disregard of truth ; some were peaceable, others quarrelsome ; some modest, others arrogant ; some shone in composition, others had a harsh dry style ; some excelled in calculation, others could not learn or compre- hend the multiplication table. He remarked, too, that there was great uniformity in the character of e^ch indi- sall's first organic discovery. 23 ridual. No one remarkable for goodness one year, be came remarkable for wickedness the next ; no one remark- ably arrogant and rude, did he ever know to become very humble and complaisant. He was thus impressed with the notion, that the dispositions, or original tendencies of the mind, are innate. At the age of nine years* he first noticed a connection between prominent eyes and verbal memory. With the cause of that prominence he was then unacquainted, but afterwards ascertained it to be the predominant size of a certain cerebral convolution, which, by pressing on the pos- terior part of the superior orbital plate, pushed the eye out- wards. This was the first observation which led the youthful philosopher to seek for external signs of the mental faculties. And let not a smile of incredulity play upon the lips be- cause of Gall's early age. Mozart began to compose at the age of four years. Handel, almost as soon as he could speak. Colburn, at six, astonished the world by the ra- pidity with which he performed intricate arithmetical cal- culations. At twelve, Pope wrote his " Ode on Solitude." At thirteen, Wren had formed an ingenious machine to represent the course of the stars. At sixteen, Pascal pub- lished a work on conic sections. At the same age, Michael Angelo had executed works which were compared to those of antiquity. Newton, at twenty-five, had completed some of his most brilliant discoveries, and originated all he ever made. So true is the observation of Gall, that " from in- fancy man announces the character which will distinguish him in adult age." Nor let the seemingly trifling observa- tion which he first made excite derision. It is the glory of genius to detect, in the every day phenomena of life, the clews to mighty principles. Thus, Pythagoras, from listening to a blacksmith's hammer, made a most bril- liant discovery in acoustics. Galileo deduced the use of the # Chs-evix. •"* *•« MENIAL TRUTHS OF PHRENOLOGY pendulum, as a pulse and time measurer, from obse the oscillations of a lamp, swinging from the cathedral at Pisa. From noticing the phenomena presented by nubbles, Newton caught the first hint to some of his est optical discoveries, and from noticing the fall of pie, he was led to unravel the subtle bond of the un It would be pleasant and instructive to follow Gal; throughout his career of doubt, and difficulty, and dis- covery, and persecution, and noble self-reliance, and ulti mate triumph ; but space will not suffice, and I must hasten to show, more in detail, the spirit and mode in which phre- nological investigations have been prosecuted, and the kind of evidence on which phrenological doctrines rest. As preliminary to this, let us state some fundamental truths of phrenology, referring to the lectures for the proofs on which they rest. 1. The mental powers of man are innate, and their talents and dispositions are discoverable by observation. 2. By means of the brain, all the mental powers arc manifested. 8. The mental manifestations result from various dis- tinct mental powers ; and ought, therefore, to have their seat in distinct parts of the brain. 4. Men differ much in their power of manifesting the various mental qualities ; and brains differ much in size and form. 5. The outer surface of the head so nearly corresponds to the outer surface of the brain, that the size and form of /he latter, are indicated by the size and form of the former. 6. By a comparison of mental manifestations in indi- viduals of all varieties of age, station, talents, and disposi- tion, with their cerebral developement, the seats of various mental oigans have been clearly ascertained. 7. Size, other things being equal, is the measure of power; consequently, phrenologists are able to tell from LOVE OF YOUNG. 25 cne size of an organ, its power of manifestation ; and from the energy of its manifestation, its relative size. I said that I would show more in detail, the spirit and mode, in which phrenological investigations have been prosecuted, and the kind of evidence, on which phrenologi- cal doctrines rest. To do this, I shall adduce the proofs of an organ, which may be readily observed. Perhaps none has been established by such an overwhelming ac- cumulation of facts, as that of Amativeness ; but, for obvious reasons, the facts are inadmissible in this essay. I, there- fore, refer the professional reader to Gall's article contain- ed in the third volume of his work, " Sur les Fonction» du cerveau, &c," — but, more especially, to the late work of Mr. Combe, on the same subject ;* and proceed to show the sort of evidence, on which we rest our belief concerning the seat of that organ, by which the love of young is mani- fested. I deem it better to exhibit at length, and in order, the chief proofs of one organ, than to mention prom'scu- ously some of the proofs of several ; — for one organ beiij^ proved, the fundamental principles of phrenology are es- tablished; and these being established, the details will readily make their way to the convictions of men. In doing this, I shall make a free use of phrenological writings. * On the Functions oftht cerebellum, by Drs. Gall, Vimont, and Brous- sais, translated from the French, by George Combe, with additional cases by the translator, Published 1838, by Maclachlan and Stewart, Edin- burgh; Longman and Co., and Simpkin Marshall and Co., London; and Marsh, Capen and Lyon, Boston. 26 IxOVE OP YOUNfl. LOVE OF YOUNG. ( The organ of this faculty was established by upwards of three thousand observations.) Fig- 1. Fig. 2. Love of Young, small. Love of Young, large. Location of the organ of the Love of Young. f>et the reader feel along the middle line, at the back part of the head, towards the base of the skull, and he will recognize a small bony projection; below this point lies the organ of amativeness ; immediately above it, and on each side of the middle line of the head, lies the organ of the love of young, forming, generally, a single protuberance occupying both sides of the line When predominant, as in the second of these figures, it gives to the posterior part of the head a drooping, overhanging, appearance. To the anatomist, I may remark, that this organ lies on each side the falx cerebri, and rests on the tentorium. Discovery of the organ of the Love of Young. Dr. Gall observed, that in females the upper part of the occipital bone receded more than in males, and naturally inferred, that the brain her t ath this part was the probable LOVE OF YOUNG. 27 itat of some quality which is stronger in woman than in man The question then arose, of what quality is it the seat? For five years he kept the subject continually in mind, adopting various opinions, all of which, he saw reason to discard. At length he noticed, that the crania of monkeys, in this particular part, bear a striking resemblance to those of wo- men, and he inferred that the cerebral part lying under thh prominence, was the probable organ of a quality, which wo- men and these animals equally possess in a high degree. He held the more tenaciously to this idea, because, from the organs he had before discovered, he felt sure that this region was not the seat of any superior intellectual or moral faculty. He often pondered on the qualities which he knew the monkey tribe to possess, and, at length, Li a happy moment, during the delivery of a lecture, as he re~ collected the extreme love of young, which is so char- acteristic of these animals, the thought flashed upon hla mind* that this might be the long sought quality. He lastily begged his class to retire, hurried to his cabinet, commenced to examine, and compare all the skulls he pos- sessed, and found the same difference to exist between male and female skulls in general. The idea which had struck him appeared the more plausible, from the close proximity of this organ to that of the instinct of propagation. A!! sub- sequent observations confirmed its correctness. The Love of Young exists throughout the animal kingdom to a greater or less extent. We can hardly turn our attention to any part of the animal kingdom, without being greeted with the manifest- ations of this delightful feeling. Insects, fishes, and the amphibious animals, seek to deposit their eggs in a place of safety, whence the young may obtain ready egress, and he able to find lend. The savage crocodile cautiously steals ~0 LOVE t*F YoUNti. forth, and deposits her eggs in the sloping sand bank, where the sun's rays can have full power, carefully trying to cover them in such way as to prevent their discovery. Certain spiders carry their eggs in a little sack on their back, which they never part with except on the most pressing emergency. The cricket forms winding passages to its nursery, and keeps sentry around it. If an ant hill be destroyed, with what earnestness the little inhabitants collect the eggs and larvee, and deposit them in a place of safety ! The wasps and bees may at other times be approached without excit- ing their anger, but in tne season of their young they be- come dangerous. With what activity they nourish the in- fant bees, with what fondness they lick and caress them, with what courage they defend them! Then with what perseverance do the birds cover and hatch their eggs, with what assiduity do they feed and protect their young, what alarm they manifest when their brood is threatened. They cling to their little ones despite hunger and cold, and are sometimes found dead, having in vain attempted to screen them from inclement weather. The cuckoo is often quoted as destitute of this feeling ; but, inasmuch as she carefully deposits her eggs in the nest of some bird which will hatch them, and supply the infant brood with worms, she evi- dently possesses it, though in an inferior degree. In the mammalia, the lz,ve of young, is the most active and imperious of the instincts. When the fox, cat, or squir- rel has the least suspicion that its habitation is discovered, it immediately removes its offspring to another asylum However cautious the fox may ordinarily be, it becomes rash and dauntless when it has whelps to succour. When their young are in danger, beasts of prey become truly ter- rific ; and even the hind and female roebuck forget that they are unarmed, and rashly precipitate themselves on the enemy, when their fawns are in peril. Monkeys are so fond of the young, that they bestow their caresses on chil- dren even, who may be sc unfortunate as to fall in then LOVE OF YOUNG. 29 ivqy. The strength of this feeling in the human species, need not be told. It cannot be denied, then, that love of young is an innate propensity. The strength of the Love of Young is greater, and the organ larger : , in females than in males In many species of animals, the male takes very little interest in the young; this is the case with the bull, horse, stag, wild boar, and dog, all the females of which, pre extremely attached to their young ; there have been dogs and horses however, which have sought the young with solicitude, protected them with tenderness, and defended them with courage. Among those animals which live in the marriage state, or remain faithfully attached during life, as the fox, wolf, martin, and polecat ; and among most birds, both sexes take great care of the young, still parental love is most conspicu- ous in the female ; in imminent danger the father more often escapes than the mother, though, in ordinary circum- stances, this is reversed Mankind love their young, and take charge of them with common accord, but yet, the love of offspring is much more intense in the female, than in the male, and this dif- ference is manifested from the earliest infancy. The boy wants his whip, horse, drum, or sword ; but, observe the little girl, occupied with her doll, she decks it in fine clothes, prepares for it night linen, puts it into the cradle, rocks it, takes it up, caresses it, feeds it, teaches it, scolds it, threatens it, and tells it stories. When she grows older she takes charge of her younger brothers and sisters, no- thing possesses in her estimation, greater charms than babies. — And, when grown to maturity, and become her self a mother, with what sweet emotion and gushing tender- ness does she caress her little ones. Weil might Gall say, 3* 30 LOVE OP YOUNG* " If I had a city, there should arise in its midsf, as an em- blem of domestic happiness, a mother nursing her infant.* 1 A most interesting practical example, of the difference in this feeling betwixt males and females, is quoted by Mr. Combe, from Morier's Travels in Persia. " The surgeons of the Embassy," says he, " endeavoured to introduce vac- cination among the Persians, and their efforts at first, were very successful ; but, on a sudden, its progress, was checked by the government itself. Several of the King's Ferashes, were placed at the gate of the Ambassador's hotel, nominal- ly as a mark of attention to his excellency, but really to stop all women from going to our surgeons. They said that if the people wanted their children to be vaccinated the fathers and not the mothers were to take them to the surgeons, by which means the eagerness for vaccinatioi? was stopped ; for, we soon discovered, that the males did not feel one half the same anxiety for their offspring, as tht women." — Second Journey through Persia, p. 191. We find, in short, in all species of animals, that love of young predominates in the female, and, in exact accordance with this, Gall found that in the skulls of birds, from the smallest to the largest, and in the skulls of the mammife- rous animals, from the shrewmouse to the elephant, the part before described is more developed in the female than ir. the male. The plates of Gall and Vimont, well illustrate this fact and any one may be convinced of it by observation The organ of amativeness, situated in the cerebellum, is greater in the male than in the female ; that of the Love of young, is greater in the female than in the male, and by the difference in these organs alone, Gall could tell, when a brain was presented to him in water, whether it were that of a male or female. The difference in form, in man, is manifest, in the foetal cranium. The skulls of women are, by this difference of developement, readily known from those of men. LOVE OP YOUNtf. Capt. Wa/den; Copenhagen, 1806. 5* 54 GALL A DISCOVERER^ On account of these things a few captious writers have endeavoured to lessen, if not destroy, the merit of GalJ as a discoverer ; an attempt of which that noble spirit now recks not, and which can have no effect on the truth or utility of Phrenology. Still we remind such objectors that Giordano Bruno had said " that it is by no means impro- bable that there are other planets revolving round our own sun, which we have not noticed, either on account of their minute size or remote distance," yet this detracts not from the merit of Hersehel. Some had expressed confused no- tions concerning the circulation o" the blood ; yet we al- low not this to tarnish the honours of Harvey. Bacon sug- gested that there may be some kind of magnetic influence operating by consent between the earth and heavy bodies, the moon and the waters of the sea, the starry heavens and the planets ; yet we strip not Newton of his crown. Ba- con had said that it seemed to him incredible that the rays of celestial bodies can instantaneously pass to us, and that he suspected that the stars are not seen by us in their true situations ; yet we do not consider this as diminishing the merit of Dr. Bradley, the prover of tba aberration of light. Bacon conjectured, that air might be converted into water by condensation ; yet Biot's fame is not on this account les- sened. A few farmers had long been acquainted with the efScacy of cow pox matter ; yet this did not preclude Jen- ner from a parliamentary reward, and a world's grati- tude. So others darkly guessed, at what Gall clearly pro- ved. He was not content with guessing ; he demonstra- ted, by laborious investigation and rigid induction. He travelled from city to city, teaching and extending his ob servations : he devoted to the task his property, his talents, his energies fjr many years, steadily pursuing his course amid laughter, mockery and vituperation. Columbus like, he lay not supinely on his back, vaguely conjecturing that beyond the vast and trackless ocean might lie some rich and undiscovered country, No ; despite the " Gorgons, hydras MEASURE OF MENTAL CAPACITY. 55 and chimeras dire," which seemed to beset his career ; des- pite the storms of opposition, the threats and forebodings of bigotry and superstition, he kept his onward course, nor rested till the anxiously sought for land beamed upon his sight — till he had planted his standard on the new, but no longer unknown, world. Nobly did he win his laurels ; be it our care that not a leaf be plucked from his brow. Those physiologists who admitted the brain to be the or- gan of mind, were particularly anxious to find, by its gene- ral form, or by its relations to other parts, a measure for the intellectual faculties and the moral qualities. Of their at tempts Gall gives a full account in the second volume of his work on the Functions of the Brain. Aristotle, Galen, and others maintained that, of all ani- mals, man had the most considerable mass of brain, and that this accounted for his superiority ; but the brain of the elephant and that of the whale are heavier. The brain of a whale in the museum of Berlin weighed 51bs. 5oz. ldr.* Cuvier and others have attempted to establish a relation between the amount of mental capacity, and the proportion of the brain to the rest of the body ; but the sparrow, the robin, the wren, and several species of monkeys, have, in proportion to the body, a much larger brain than man. Wrisberff and Soemmering concluded that of all animals, man has the largest brain in proportion to the nerves in gen- eral ; but if the monkey, the little sea dog, or many birds, be compared with him in this respect, the result will be in their favour. Cuvier, Soemmering and Ebel considered the relative pro- portion of the brain and spinal marrow as the most infalli- ble measure of the intellectual faculties. But Cuvier him- self admits that there are exceptions to this rule, and addu- ces the dolphin as an instance. Others maintained that the proportion of the brain to the • Mailer's Physiology, London, 1S38. p. 815. 56 ME vSUIlE OP MENTAL CAPACITV face indicates the mental capacity. Plato, and, after hiin Bichat and Richerand, maintained that there is a propor tion between the length of the neck and the vigour of intellect, the shortest neck being the most favourable " Here,'* says Gall, " the authority of Plato proves but one thing, which is, that men who enjoy great reputation ought, above all others, to avoid throwing out ideas at ran dom ; for, however erroneous they may be, they will be repeated for centuries." In order to determine the cerebral mass, Camper drew a base line from the roots of the upper front teeth to the ex- ternal opening of the ear ; then another straight line from the upper front teeth to the most elevated point of the forehead : according to him the intellectual faculties of the man or animal, are in direct proportion to the magnitude of the angle, made by those two lines. Lavater, with this idea for a basis, constructed a scale of perfection from the frog to the Apollo Belvidere. Cuvier furnishes a list of men and animals in support of this doctrine. But the facial angle of the same individual differs immensely at different periods of life ; and Blumenbach shows that near- ly three fourths of the animals known, have the same facial angle. Seeing then, that men were anxiously searching an indi- cation of mental capacity, and that each of the fallacious methods above enumerated was received with favour, and was copied from book to book, and from periodical to peri- odical, the respective proposers receiving in every case an increase of celebrity, on account of their proposition, it would seem likely, a priori, that Gall's discoveries would have been received with acclamation and not have been strenuously, and, in many cases, ferociously opposed and, denounced. Men, on this subject, were involved in dark- ness, and when a twilight glimmer, or ignis fatuus faintly twinkled on their searching eyes, they bent towards it with eager gaze, and hailed and blessed it as the harbinger of fl.ECL'TION OF PHRENOLOGY. 57 day ; but when day itself beamed suddenly upon them,tlu.y closed their eyes and raved, and thus merely exchanged the darkness of midnight, for the darkness of excessive light. The history of the reception of Gall's discoveries, and of the treatment which his works and those of his immediate followers met with, from the authorities in literature and sci- ence, will ever be an interesting chapter in the annals of numan civilization. Men talk largely of the superior lib- erality of the present age, and justly perhaps. This supe- riority, however, appears to me to consist in the currency of a number of opinions formerly proscribed r but which have, from time to time, burst the barriers of prejudice and bigotry, rather than in an enlarged spirit of candour to- wards opposing doctrines. To prove our greater liberality, it is not sufficient to show that we receive as true, what our ancestors rejected as false. To ascertain the liberality of Harvey's age, we do not ask 'Whether it believed the doc- trines of Galileo, but how it received those of Harvey To ascertain the liberality of Newton's age, we do not ask whether it believed the doctrines of Galileo and Harvey but how it received those of Newton. So to ascertain the degree of liberality which now prevails, men, in after times, will not ask whether we accredited the doctrines of Galileo, Harvey and Newton, but how we received those of Gall. And I see not how the conclusion can be avoided, that to- wards that which is really new in kind, the present age is as intolerant as were past ages. The material rack and faggot are not, indeed, brought into requisition, because philosophers do not wield the power of the rack ; because the conviction that such applications are utterly ineffi- cacious, as suppressive measures, has forced itself, by long and horrible experience, on the minds of men. But when a profound genius, after years of anxious and un- remitting investigation, during which energy would have sunk, but for the glowing and lofty hope of benefitting the human race, brings forward a momentous discovery; he 58 RECEPTION OF PHRENOLOGY. is met with the dark scowl of insulted pride, and against him the shafts of ridicule, the rack of sarcasm, and the fires of rage and denunciation are b. /ought into full play. He offers to his fellow men an inestimable boon, and they turn sneeringly away, asking what " the babbler" says, waiting not for a reply. Or they mock at him and de- nounce him, and strive to blast his good name. The vio- lent cry out charlatan and scoundrel, while the pretenders to charity, in soft and silvery tones, beg that the poor un fortunate may be excused on account of his manifest in- sanity. The history of Gall's discoveries proves all this. Well was it that the great master and his immediate fol- lowers could gaze on calmly and forgivingly, repeating that ever memorable saying: " This is truth though at enmity with the philosophy of ages" Gall, on the 9th of January 1802, was commanded, by the Austrian government, to discontinue his lectures on the functions of the brain ; in consequence of which, he was forced either to cease his labours, or tear himself from friends, home, and a rich and extensive practice. He nobly chose the latter, and on March 6th, 1805, he left Vienna for ever, accompanied by his young associate Dr. Spurzheim. I shall not dwell on the reception of the new doctrines by the Institute of France, and by the scientific men on the* continent of Europe ; but shall make a few extracts from British and American works, as demonstrative of the fore- going remarks. " We look on the whole doctrines taught by these two peripatetics, (Gall and Spurzheim) anatomical, physiologi- cal and physiognomical, as a piece of thorough quackery from beginning to end." Edin. Review. No. 49. " They (the doctrines of Gall and Spurzheim,) are a col- lection of mere absurdities, without truth, connexion, or consistency ; an incoherent rhapsody, which nothing could li;iv? induced any man to have presented to the public, un RECEPTION OF PHRENOLOGY. 5 { J ier a pretence of instructing them, but absolute insanity, gross ignorance, or the most matchless arrogance" Ibid. " Such is the trash, the despicable trumpery" Ibid. " The writings of Drs. Gall and Spurzheim have not added one fact to the stock of our anatomical knowledge." Ibid. • 44 Madame de Stael is by far too indulgent to such igno- rant and interested quacks as the craniologist Gall." Lon. Qua?\ Revieio. " A wild effusion of a bewildered imagination." Dr. Rogct, in the Encyclopedia Britannica. " Fool and phrenologist are terms as nearly synomymous as can be found in any language." Blackwood's Mag. 44 These infernal idiots the phrenologists." Ibid. " The difficulty with phrenology, is the utter absence of any evidence in favour of it." N. Am. Rev. July, 1833. " Of the principal phrenological writers, including Gall and Spurzheim, and with one exception in favour of Mr. Combe, who appears to us to have allowed his natural acute ness and professional tendency to hair-splitting to bias his better judgment — we can say with sincerity, that to judge from their works, they are alike deficient in learning and accuracy." Ibid. 64 The most extravagant departure from all legitimate modes of reasoning, although still under the colour of ana- tomical investigation, is the system of Dr. Gall. It is suf- ficient to say, that without comprehending the grand divis- ions of the nervous system, without a notion of the distinct properties of the individual nerves, or having made any distinction of the columns of the spinal marrow, toithout even having ascertained the difference of cerebrum and cere bellum, Gall proceeded to describe the brain as composed of many particular and independent organs, and to assign to each the residence of some special faculty." Sir Charles Bell, 183G. Experience shows that the system of organs proposed 60 HAS PHRENOLOGY TRIUMPHED. b} Gall has no foundation" Khmcnts of Physiology s b$ by J. Miillcr. 31. 1). ; translated with notes by JV. Baly. 31 I). London, 1S3S,;>. 837. 11 RL Magendie is very right, in placing Cranioscopy in the same category, as Astrology and Alchymy." Ibid]). 838 These quotations from Midler receive no comment from the translator and annotator, and must be supposed, tliere- fore, to express his own views. Jt would be easy to multiply quotations written in the same general spirit, but these will suffice to show the man- ner in which phrenology was received. For a triumphant answer to the mendacious assertions that they contain, I refer to the reports which I have the honour to present to the public. But I must here respectfully record my dissent from an opinion recently expressed by the most distinguished of American phrenologists, in a brief publication, with the general views of which [ entirely coincide : u I have said nothing" says Dr. Caldwell "about the future triumph of phrenology, for one of the best of reasons. Its triumph is uast ; and there will be no renewal of the w r ar which it has sustained with such preeminent success." Thoughts on the true connex ?n between Phrenology and Religion. — Louis* villa, 1839, p. 19. Again, u Where is the writer of standing, where the periodical of influence and authority, that now contests the truth of these principles? they do not exist." Ibid p. 22. What in a triumph? Clearly a victory in which the oppo- nent is completely subdued, and the victor's superiority ac- knowledged. Can phrenology yet claim such a triumph ? A short time a^o the London Quarterly treated it as false, in a review of Combe's outlines. And since that, the same Review has said of the accomplished Chenivix, that though "a man of vigorous talents and very considerable learning, he became a sad dreamer in his latter days, he was a devout disciple of the Phrenological quacks." While I now write, HAS PHRENOLOGY TRIUMPHED ? 6] a number of the Boston Quarterly Review, comes under my notice, in which it is said that the " ignorance and simplici- ty " betrayed by phrenologists, " can hardly be expected not to excite a smile of pleasantry, or of contempt i in every man of ordinary discernment and information." (April, 1839. p. 229.) But twelve months ago the respected author himself, from whom I have quoted, wrote answers to two opponents, both of whom, are medical professors. Not six months ago, (Nov. 26. 1838, in the Cincinnati Daily News) he challenged three gentlemen, Drs. Mc. Dowel] and Harrison, and Professor Mussey, to controversy, on account of their denunciations of phrenology. But last winter, the professor of Physiology in the Medical college of this city spoke of phrenology as a mere chimera. Every where we meet with denouncers and ridiculers of phreno- logy. Every where is the acknowledgment of our belief received with a half-repressed smile. Surely, this cannot be called a triumph. That phrenology will ultimately triumph, I profoundly believe. That it has done so, I am sorry to see stated. For it has a tendency to slacken the energy, and cool the ardour, of young phrenologists, to be told that "the entire day of actual war has gone by ;" and that the presumption is " they are flocking to gather 4 the spoils of victory.'" It is true, indeed, that the principles of phrenology are proved, but the proof of right no more constitutes a triumph in science, than in war. It was right that Poland should be free, but Russia triumphed. That " by all who have studied phrenology its doctrines are accredited" may be, and is true, but the question is one of acknowledgment, not of proof, and that examination and conviction are in- separable was as true before Dr. Caldwell himself accredit- ed phrenology, as it is at this day. When the physiology of the brain, as taught by phrenologists, shall be that taught in all medical institutions ; when the mental philosophy de- veloped by that physiology shall be the mental philosophy 62 NAMES. of the schools and colleges; when the language of that phi losophy shall be seen in the current literature, and be heard in the senate, from the pulpit and the bar ; then, and not till then, will phrenology have triumphed. And before that auspicious day come, long and arduous must be the struggle. But with pleasure and gratitude do we acknowledge, that that part of the struggle which has passed, has been far more arduous than that which now is, or which is yet to come. That whatever accusation may lie against others, the charge of fair-weather championship can never be brought against the Combes and the Caldwells. Craxiology was the name early bestowed on the physi- ology of the brain, but Gall thus objects to it : " They call me Craniologist, and the science which I discovered, Crani- ajogy : but, in the first place, all learned words displease rue ; nest, this is not one applicable to my profession, nor one which really designates it. The object of my research es is the brain. The cranium is only a faithful cast of the external surface of the brain, and is, consequently, but a minor part of the principal object. This title, therefore, is as inapplicable as would be maker of rhymes, to the poet."* The present name Phrenology, was not first applied by Spurzheim, as Mr. Capen states ;t but by Dr. Forster.J To designate the organs, Gall chose words or phrases ex- pressive of the manifestations which he had observed them to produce, leaving their confirmation or correction to future observers ; following, in this respect, the rule generally adopted by scientific investigators.§ Spurzheim, conform- * Letter to Baron Retzer, Teutchen Merker, 1798. t Biography of Spurzheim, Boston, p. 160. X Sketch of Phrenology, by Dr. Thomas Forster, London, 1816. A Guide to Human and Comparative Phrenology, by Dr. II. W. Dew- hurst, Lonrlon, 1831. p. 14. Recuil des Ouvrages et do Pensees d'un Physicien, frc. par Thomas Forster, Francfortsnr ie Mein, 1836. p. 12 Filiotson's Blumenbach, 183 Q , p. 690. Q-See Gall, vol. 4, p. 13. LABOURS OF GALL. 63 ably with enlarged views of function, changed many of iht>e names; in some instances, to others more appropriate or comprehensive. In all his changes, however, he was not so successful. I shall now exhibit a conspectus of the principles estab- lished, and the organs discovered, by the father of pbrenolo* gy ; together with his proposed methods of classifying the organs, and of classifying men according to organic de- velopment. Also, a brief account of his anatomical dis- coveries, and of the views he entertained concerning the application of his doctrines. He established, 1. That the mental faculties are innate. 2. That the brain is the organ of mind. 3. That the form and size of the brain are distinguish- able, by the form and size of the head or skull. 4. That the mind possesses distinct faculties, and the brain is composed of distinct organs, and that each mental faculty is manifested through a distinct cerebral organ. 5. That the size of each organ can be estimated during life, and that size, other things being equal, is the measure of power. 6. That each organ, when predominantly active, impress es the body with certain uniform attitudes and movements, called its natural language. He discovered the following organs : 1. Amativeness. 2. Love of Young. 3. Attachment. 4. Propensity to op- pose, or Combativeness. 5. Propensity to injure, or De- structiveness. 6. Secretiveness. 7. Acquisitiveness. 8. Self-esteem. 9. Love of approbation. 10. Cautiousness. 11. Educability, (afterwards discovered by Spurzheim and the Edinburgh phrenologists to be compound, and to in- elude the organ of Individuality and of Eventuality.) 12. Lo- cality. 13. Form. 14. Language. 15. Colour. 16. Tune* 17. Number. IS Constructiveness. 19. Comparison 23. Causality. 21. Wit. 22. Ideality. 23. Benevolence 64 LABOURS OF GALL. 24. Imitation. 25. Veneration. 26. Firmness. 27. Won- der. [See Gall, vol. 5. p. 211.] Gall considered it probable, tbat tbere is an organ for the propensity to take food. Dr. Hoppe, Mr. Crook, Mr. Combe, and others, have established it. He supposed, at one time, that love of life is a distinct function, and thought he had discovered its organ ; but sub- sequently considered himself mistaken. A distinguished editor of Scotland, being in conversation with Mr. Combe, remarked, that his love of life was such, that he would ra- ther suffer " eternal damnation," than be annihilated. Mr. Combe contrasting the vivacity of the feeling in this gentle- man, with its comparative weakness in himself, concluded that the difference probably depended upon the different development of some distinct cerebral organ, and from that time searched for an external sign. Dr. Combe, however, has the merit of making the only valuable observation which I have seen upon this subject. [See Phren. Journal, 1S26, p, 467, and the succeeding lectures.] Gall considered it probable that there is an organ of at- tachment for life. [Vol 3, p. 306.] Vimont thinks he has discovered its seat. He gave reasons for believing the sense of order to be a distinct fundamental faculty. [Vol. 4. p. 283.] He thought the sense of time must be a fundamental facul ty. [Vol. 5. p. 9S.] He discovered the dependence of attachment to place, on cerebral development, but confounded it with Self-esteem to which it lies contiguous. Spurzheim seems to have cor- rected this error, but the functions of the region between Self-esteem and Love of Young are still in dispute. It has been objected to Gall, that his works are a series of disjointed facts. No assertion can be more incorrect. He did not, indeed, reduce his doctrines to a system of ex- act classification, but he pointed out almost all that is valu- able in the classifications now adopted. Gall was not a LADOl RS OF GALL. 65 system maker, according to the usual acceptation of the term. But while he kept assiduously at work, establishing fact after fact, he w r as keenly scrutinizing the results of his labours hat he might discover, if possible, the arrangements of nature's self. Well was he rewarded for his philosophic caution. System gradually " rose like an exhalation" from the seeming chaos. It is believed by the faithful followers of Mahomed, that to form the temple of Mecca, a stone came ready hewn from every mountain in the world, exactly fitted to fill the place it now occupies. So with the phre- nological organs. All at first seemed confused and unre- lated ; but gradually they grouped themselves together, each in its proper place, and formed, before the admiring eyes of the great investigator, a system of wondrous har- mony, and of matchless symmetry and beauty. " After I had a thousand times considered the arrange- ment of organs," says Gall, "I was struck with the follow- ing great truths : — " 1. The qualities and the faculties, which are common to in an and animals, have their seat in the inferior posterior, the posterior inferior, or the anterior inferior parts of the brain. " 2. The qualities and faculties which man exclusively en- joys, and which form the barrier by which he is separated from the brute, have their seat in those parts which are wanting in animals, and we must consequently seek then in the anterior superior, and the superior anterior parts .o; the forehead, " 3. The more indispensable the qualities and faculties may be, the more nearly are they placed to the base of the brain, or the median line. " 4. The organs of the fundamental qualities and facul- ties which aid each other, are placed near each other, as he organ of the love of offspring, and that of the instinct of propagation. "5. The organs of the fundamental analogous qialities 6* 66 LABOURS OF GALL, and faculties are also placed near each other, as those g* places, colours, tones and numbers. "Everyone must be struck," he continues, "with the profound wisdom which is manifested in the arrangement and successive order of the organs. — We discover there the hand of God, whom we cannot cease to adore with the more astonishment, in proportion as his works are more displayed before our eyes."* Gall arranges heads into three groups: 1. Those of idiots. 2. Those of men whose talents are only moderate 3. Those of illustrious men, of vast and eminent genius.t He divides men into six classes in respect to interna moral, and intellectual forces. 1. Those in whom the faculties proper to man are com- pletely developed, while the animal faculties are feebly de- veloped. 2. Those in whom the animal faculties are greatly de veloped and the higher faculties but feebly. 3. Those in whom both the higher and lower faculties are considerably developed. 4. Those in whom one, or a few of the faculties are de- veloped to an extraordinary degree, while the others are at or below mediocrity. 5. Those in whom some, or one, of the organs are very little developed, while the others are more favourably de yeloped, and active. 6. Those in whom the organs common to animals and those proper to man, are equally moderate in their devel- opment.! These he elucidates in a brief but masterly manner. The organs of the inferior anterior, and superior antericf portions of the brain he divides into five regions. § * Gall, toI. iii. p. 130. i Gall, yoI. i. p. 179. { Gall, vol. i. p. 25L $ Gall, vol. i\ p. 232. LABOURS OF GALL. 61 The faculties may, he states, be differently classified ac- cording to the view we wish to take of them. 1. Into sentiments, propensities, talents, ancf intellectual faculties. 2. Into faculties common to man and brutes, and facul- ties proper to man. 3. Into fundamental faculties and their attributes.* This last is *he arrangement which he prefers and adopts. Gall in 1805, demonstrated the brain to Reil, who ac- knowledged h * that he had found more in Gall's dissections of the brain, than he thought any man could have discover ed in his whole life.f " Having completed my studies in 1804," says Dr. Spurzheim, " I became associated with Dr. Gall, and devoted myself entirely to anatomical in- quiries. At this period, Dr. Gall, in the anatomy, spoke of the decussation of the pyramidal bodies, of their passagt through the pons varolii, of elevenlayers of longitudinal and transverse fibres in the pons, of the continuation of the optic nerve to the anterior pair of the quadrigeminalbodies s of the exterior bundles, of the crura of the brain diverging beneath the optic nerves, in the direction which Vieussens^ Monro, Vicq d' Azyr, and Reil had followed, the first by means of scraping, the others, by cutting the substance of the brain. Dr. Gall showed further the continuation of the anterior commissure across the striated bodies ; he also spoke of the unfolding of the brain that happens in hydro- cephalus."! From numerous passages in the works of Gall, we learn that he clearly perceived and pointed out the vast importance and comprehensiveness of his doctrines. He did this as early as 1798, ia his admirable letter to Baron Retzer, pub- lished in the Teutchen Merker. Again, in 1802, in that noble document, his petition and remonstrance to the en. * Gall, vol. vi. p. 270. \ Gall, vol. vi. p. 303. t Spurz, Anat. of the Brain, Boston, 1836, p. 18, f)8 COMPARATIVE MERITS OF GALL AND SPURZHEIM. peror of Austria. And in the opening of the sixtl volume of his smaller work he remarks : " I have always had a con sciousness of the dignity of my researches, and of the ex tended influence which my doctrines will hereafter exercise on all the branches of human knowledge ; and for this rea- son I am indifferent what may be said, either for or against my works." And, immediately afterwards, as if a vision of futurity^ had just burst upon his sight, he exclaims : " What advances in comparative anatomy, physiology, and comparative pathology of the nervous system ! What fruit- ful sources of undeniable principles for philosophical stu- dies, for the art of selecting, deducing the good from the dispositions of individuals, for directing the education of the young! AYhat precious materials for a criminal legi* Iation, founded upon a complete knowledge of the motives of human actions ! How different will history appear to him who knows how to appreciate it, according to the domi- nant propensities and faculties of those personages, who have been its great actors."* * Gall, vol. 6, p. 2. It is said by Capen, that, in Paris, Dr. Gall reali- zed a handsome fortune. [Biography of Spurzheim, p. 37.] Dr. Elliot- son, on the contrary, whose means of obtaining correct information seem to have been ample, says, that u Till Gall established himself in Paris, and rose into a very fine practice, (he was physician to many ambassa- dors,) he kept himself very poor from spending upon his phrenological pursuits, all he gained, after absolutely necessary expenses. And although he lived then in the most private manner, with the comforts indeed of a handsome lodging, a carriage, and a garden with a small house in the suburbs, he had saved so little, that had his illness been protracted, his friends, in a few months, must have supported him." [Phys. oth ed. p. 404.] Gall, iu his petition and remonstrance to the emperor ofAustria [1602] says, "3. To this perilous injury to my reputation, involving the loss of all the advantages arising from the hard earned confidence of the public, must be added a consequence deeply affecting my interest. 31 v collection of plaster casts, — of the skulls of men and animals, and of the Drains of men and animals in wax, has cost me about seven thousand gulden; and I have already made very expensive preparations, exceeding A amount fifteen tkousan - bidden, for a splendid work on the functions COMPARATIVE MERITS OF GALL AND SPURZHEIM. 69 I have stated thus at length our amount of indebtedness to Gall, as the groundwork of the opinion which I now ex- press, with respect, but with the profound conviction of its truth, that from by far the greater part of British and Ameri- can phrenologists, Gall has never received justice. This is not wonderful, indeed, for his works were expensive, and, until recently, entirely in a foreign language. Besides, Spurzheim, arid not Gall, introduced phrenology into Britain, and taught it in the United States. His manners were winning, his mind of a high order, and calculated to leave an impression of intellectual and moral greatness. And among those who received the doctrines which he taught, Reverence bowed to him, and Benevolence warmed towards him, and Friendship clung to him, and Conscien- tiousness yearned to discharge, as far as possible, that debt of obligation to which the inestimable truths of which he was the minister, had subjected it, and it was seemingly forgotten that he was not the master. Gall and Spurzheim were used as synonymes, and the latter more often and with more praise than the former. Hence, it appears to me, are we to account for the frequent occurrence of the phrase "founders of phrenology" applied to Gall and Spurzheim, (though Spurzheim had no more to do with founding phrenology than the writer of this sentence ;) and for such opinions as the following : "Dr. Spurzheim found by observation, that in an individ- ual who manifests great self-esteem, a certain part of the brain is fully developed : I and likewise, that the individual carries his head high, and reclining backwards."^ " The mind of Dr. Spurzheim, in our opinion, seems to have been cast in a still more metaphysical mould than that of Dr. Gall, who, though he has shown very uncommon of the brain, which has been universally demanded of me: this property will be rendered useless, by destroying my reputation." [See Combe's translation of Gall and others, on the, cerebellum fyc. London, 1 §38, p 334 1 * Combe's answer to Roget. 70 COMPARATIVE MERITS OP GALL AND SPURZHEIM. acuteness in his abstract inquiries upon mind, has yet left some points so feeble as to endanger the ivhole system."* " Spurzheim, the anatomist, who, by dissecting the brain, first displayed to the eye its fibrous and ganglionary struct- ure, and demonstrated the direction and connection of its filaments;" — "the philosopher, who, by the greatness of his own mind, raised craniology and physiognomy to th* ethical science, phrenology."t "Gall and his no less illustrious associate."! "From the moment Spurzheim became the associate of Gall, the anatomy of the brain assumed a new character.'^ " What a debt of gratitude do we owe to Gall." — " But a still deeper debt do we owe to Spurzheim, whose sagacity, amidst a labyrinth of apparent absurdity, found a clew to guide him to the shrine of Reason — whose resistless under- standing, penetrated the chaos of deformities, exaggerations and abuses, and saw, beneath the crude and shapeless mass, the true design of Omniscient Benevolence."|| " That Spurzheim was superior to Gall as an anatomist, we believe, all admit."ft "Time will prove that the foundation of the science of phrenology was laid by Gall: but, that without the aid of Spurzheim, the superstructure had not been reared"** I might greatly increase the number of such quotations, but these will suffice. Time, the great vindicator, who ever restores to the wronged one the riven spoils, will decide strangely indeed, if he decides as Dr. S ted man indicates : " Without the aid of Spurzheim, the superstructure had never been reared "! Before Spurzheim's engagement, as Gall's assistant, the father of phrenology had thrown down * Chenivix's art. in For. Qua. Rev. t Annals of Phren. Boston, 1835. p. 72. ; Translator's preface to Gall's works. § Memoir of Spurzheim, by Dr. Carmichael, p. 4. || Ibid p. 95. 1[ Memoir c* Spurzheim, by Nahum Capen, p. 164. ** Dr. S ted man's preface e Spurzheim's anatomy of the brain. Boston 1835. COMPARATIVE MERITS OF C ,.L AND SPURZHEIM. T8 the accumulated superstructures of ages, had cleared away the rubbish, bad laid the foundation of the new temple broad and deep, and had reared by far the greater part of its massive walls and its everlasting towers. The faithful student of Dr. Gal/'s works cannot, I think, read some of these quotations without a feeling of regret, that Dr. Spur- zheim's eulogists should have thus attempted to raise their friend at Dr. Gall's expense. A just appreciation of his talents did not require it ; for we need not admire Spur- zheim the less, because we admire Gall the more. Let me here then recapitulate the following undeniable facts : Dr. Gall demonstrated the unsatisfactory nature of all existing explanations of mental phenomena, and of tb° functions of the brain, and the true method of invest! gating such phenomena, and such functions. He alone es- tablished all the great fundamental principles of phrenology. He discovered three-fourths of all the organs yet known. He discovered and developed the natural language of the or- gans. He pointed out, in a general way, the applications of phrenology to insanity, education and jurisprudence. He indicated the mode in which men, and the organs might be classified, and in which investigations should be continued. Finally, he discovered the great leading facts concerning cerebral structure ; in developing which, those who followed him had merely to pursue the same course. In view of these things how can it be pretended that to Spurzheim is due equal, if not superior merit? The ques- tion is not whether Spurzheim had superior mental capaci- ty, though the magnificent cerebral development of Gall must decide that question in the negative, but whether Spurzheim achieved more than Gall. And when so ex- pressed, the answer must rise up in the mind of every man, with a feeling of surprise that the question should ever have been conceived. But I must go one step farther, and with reverence, with % deep feeling of responsibility, but desiring in all things. 72 spurzheim's depreciation of gall. and above all things to be true to my own convictions, must say, that I do not consider Dr. Spurzheim as entirely blame- less- In his works we find none of that beautiful display of gratitude towards his master, which we so often meet with in the works of Mr. Combe and others towards him* self, but on the contrary, a tendency to depreciate. It had been asserted that Gall pretended to have discovered an organ of murder. Now Gall never pretended to any such discovery. What he did discover, and what he stated himself to have discovered, was a propensity to kill for food. Yet Dr* Spurzheim countenanced and repeated the accusation. Gall was accused of maintaining that there was an organ of theft ; now, he never maintained that theft was any thing else than the abuse of acquisitiveness. Yet Spurzheim countenanced and repeated the accusation. Again, Dv Gall gives seven tests of a fundamental faculty* which Spurzheim imitates,! and then, without accrediting Gall, adds, that Gall did not determine any of the organs in con- formity with such tests. But once more, Spurzheim says, " His (Dr. Gall's) talent , and the sphere of its operations had their limits, and since our separation in 1813, Dr. Gall has neither made a new discovery, nor a step towards its im- provement."! This, is at least, an inconsiderate statement, for in 1813, Gall was fifty-eight years of age, two years older than was Dr. Spurzheim at the time of his death ; he had been engaged from his youth in intense cerebral action ; his powers had begun to decay ; he had almost fulfilled his destiny ; nothing remained for him to do, but that he should complete the presentation of his labours in due form to the world. Truly did he himself remark, " The foundation of this useful doctrine is established, and it should be as firm as the facts, the materials of which it is constructed. But f am far from believing, that the edifice is finished ! Neithe* r Gall. vol. iii. p. 134, and vol v. p. 250. t Spurz. vol l p. 132 Spurzheim's Notes to Cbenivix, note 3. p. 99. SPUKZIIEIM S MERITS. 73 the life nor he fortune of one man, can be sufficient for this vast project."* I think it cannot be shown in the annals of the human race, that any man ever laboured more assiduously, or more successfully, than did Dr. Gall, or that any man ever presented to his race so rich a boon , and is it becoming, to damn him with faint praise, because he did not labour still more assiduously and successfully, and present a still richer boon 1 Because he did not show in the decline of life,the vigour of undecaying manhood ? True it is that Gall's talent, and the sphere of its opera- tions had their limits ; he was finite ; but that limit was as wide as man's ever was. He was one of those few immor- tals who for ever tower in awful majesty above the waters of oblivion, marking the grand eras of human history, far better than years, or Olympiads. But though I cannot for a moment consider Spurzheim as having equal merit with Gall, yet to him also we do owe much. He stood by phrenology firmly, and battled for it manfully, when the most fiercely assaulted ; he for a long course of years devoted to its investigation and promulgation, talents and energies of a nigh order. He corrected some er- rors into which Gall had fallen, and made many observations tending to strengthen and confirm his discoveries. He, him- self, made other discoveries, both in the anatomy, and physiology of the brain. He discovered the organ of Con- scientiousness, that of Hope, of Size, of Weight, of Or- der, and of Time, and proved the organ of Edu-cability to be compound. He was the first to apply, in detail, the doctrines of phrenology to the treatment of the in- sane, and the direction of education ; which he did in an admirable manner. For these things his' memory will ever be held sacred ; and because of them, he was, on the death of Gall in 1828, deservedly acknowledged by uni- versal consent, as the head of the new philosophy. But * Gall, vol. vL p. 3. 74 combe's merits. not long did he survive his great master. Li 1832, ju-st aa America had commenced to be blessed with the outpourings of his vast knowledge and experience, his light was extin guished. But Mr. Combe, who had long been second only to Spurz- heim, survived. He had advocated phrenology with singular success, and repelled its assailants with manly vigour, so tempered with knightly courtesy, that, while they reeled from the conflict, they could hardly withhold respect and praise from the victor. Perhaps no man has a greater power than he, of reducing an argument into its elements, and of separating whatever is sound, from whatever is fal- lacious. His fine analytical talent acts with the readiness and certainty almost, of a chymical test. The crowning merit of Mr. Combe, however, consists in his complete knowledge of the principles, details, and evidences of phre- nology ; his zealous and masterly application of them to the advancement of human civilization; and in the clear- ness, force and beauty, of his writings, which, while they satisfy the most profound judgment, and gratify the most refined taste, are readily comprehended by the popular mind. His works, therefore, are more extensively read than those of any other phrenologist. One of them, The Constitution of Man, has, I believe, a circulation un- paralleled in the history of philosophical works. In it he has well nigh solved the problem of human happiness and human destiny* In reading it the pulse of the philanthro- pist beats high w T ith excitement, his muscles stiffen with energy, his countenance beams with anticipation, and his eye brightens with hope, as he looks through its pages at the panorama of coming evenfs, and sees Justice and Benev- olence, surely though slowly, subjecting all things to them- selves ; as he sees that the golden age, which poets feigned to be past has yet to come ; that the course of society is not as from noon to night, but as from dawn to meridian day,* *I have before mo, "An exposure &c., cf Combe's Cirstitutioa of *IMONT UCCELLI, ETC. 75 On Combe then did the mantle descend at Spurzheim's death. Nobly and gracefully has he worn it, and long may the time be, before this third prophet is summoned from his sphere of usefulness ! It would be a pleasing employment to do justice to all who have been engaged in the promotion of phrenology, but my limits would not permit, even if I had ample know- ledge for the task. I can therefore merely say, in brief, that to Dr. Vimont, as before observed, are we indebted for the best work on comparative phrenology ; he thinks too, that he has discovered two organs which have not L^een before alluded to: namely, a geometrical sense, and a sen timent of the beautiful in arts. Let not the lamented Uc- celli of Florence be forgotten ; who, for expressing his be- lief in phrenology, lost his chair in the University of that city, was persecuted with blind malignity ; to whose re- mains were denied the honours which his students wished to pay, and of whom all biographical accounts were pro- hibited. To Sir George Mc. Kenzie, Mr. Cox, Mr. Simp : son, Mr. Watson, Mr. Scott and other collaborators of Mr. Combe, much credit is due, and also to Dr. Hoppe of Co- Man; being an antidote to the poison of that publication, by "Win. Gil- lispie. Edinburgh, 1837." I advise those who can borrow this 'work, to do so, and read what has been called "an efficient antidote" (see Methodist Magazine,) to Mr. Combe's work, by a gentleman "more than a match for Mr. Combe," (see Christian Advocate,) by an antag- onist, in short, "whom it will be difficult if not impossible to vanquish." (See Edinburgh Evening Post.) The chief argument of Mr. Gillispie, maybe thus stated: " If Mr. Combe be right, then somebody else i3 wrong; therefore, Mr. Combe is wrong." I leave the author *o throw it into the syllogistic form. But I must really give him credit for th& intimate acquaintance he manifests with Hudibras and Don Quixotte, the Dictionary of Quotations, and the flowers of twaddle and vitupera- tion. He also defends the Devil with much zeal, but for what reason I am at a loss to determine, seeing that Mr. Combe no where attempts to depreciate the merits, or interfere wr'*h the prescriptive rights of tha powerful potentate 76 DR. ELLIOTSON. penhagen, an able and indefatigable advocate of the phre- nological doctrines. To Dr: Elliotson are we indebted for his early, zealous and unremitting advocacy of phrenology in England. He has the merit, too, I believe of being the first writer in the English language who has attempted to do full justice to the comparative merits of Gall. Whilst preparing the mat- ter which constitutes this sketch, I received from a friend the doctor's notes to the fifth edition of Blumenbach, which have enabled me to make my own more complete. It was pleasing to find the claims of Gall so ably maintained, but painful to witness the doctor, in the ardour of his zeal for Gall's fame, seem anxious to destroy that of Spurzheim, by presenting all that he thought exceptionable in his works and character, and by keeping out of view nearly all tha was good and great. Dr. Elliotson, has, however, been assailed for stating what is indubitably true, regarding Spurzheim's altering the situation of organs on the bust. The alterations which he mentions, and some others, I pointed out three years ago to the New York Phrenological Society, and to my friends many times since. And also, in November last, tc a distinguished phrenologist, who wrote to Mr. Capen, the biographer of Spurzheim, to ascertain whether the chart published in the last edition of Spurzheim's Phrenology, and the bust purporting to be his, and sold by Marsh, Capen & Lyon, were authorized by Spurzheim. The answi./ was that they were made "according to his directions before his sickness." Believing that the cause of truth cannot be injured by rectifying error, any more than that metal can be depreciated by refining away its dross, in December I ex- posed these discrepancies, in print, and showed that Spur- zheim was at striking and irreconcilable variance, not only with other phrenologists, but with his former self, and with nature. The London Phrenological Journal notices the article, and approves of the conclusions drawn from its DR. ELLIOTSCN. 77 facts and statemen s ; namely, that Dr. Spurzheim's latest bust was probably marked according to some fancied pro- priety, and that the Edinburgh bust should be used in pre- ference. Again, Dr. Elliotson says, " To prove Dr. Spurzheim's speculative spirit, I may mention, that, instead of giving the origin of any of his asserted discoveries, as Gall did, and adding a host of examples, he tells us, in regard to the organ of inhabitiveness only, that a gentleman much at- tached to his house, had a particular spot of his head much hotter than any other ; and, in regard to the organs of hope, &c, he neither tells us how he discovered them, nor adduces a single proof." On this, Mr. H. Haley Holm, ifi the London Medical Gazette, thus remarks, " Does Dr. Elliotson mean to insinuate that Spurzheim was not justi- fied in modifying his opinions, as experience gave him fur- ther opportunities of perfecting them t" I confess that I cannot perceive the appositeness of this question. Dr. Elliotson has been insinuating no such absurdity. What he complains of, and justly, may be best seen after quoting another and succeeding passage from Mr. Holm : " I will direct immediate attention to the following quotation from it, (Spurzheim's Phrenology,) in order to show Spurz- heim's philosophical turn of mind, as well as his candour : 1 In examining the fundamental powers of the mind and their organs,' says he, ' I shall always follow the same pro- cedure. I shall first consider the individual actions, then give the history of the discovery of the organ f &c." Now it is obvious that Dr. Spurzheim has not fulfilled his own conditions, with respect to the organs mentioned by Elliot- son ; he has not given " the history of the discovery of the organs." And I agree with Dr. Elliotson that this is an important omission. To show the necessity and value of such details, it may be mentioned that the growth of the brain in adult age, in particular directions, from special excitement, is justly considered as a most interesting ques- 7* 78 PHRENOl DGICAL SOCIETIES AND JOURNALS. tion. We want facts on this subject, well authenticated facts. Now Spurzheim says, " It is a remarkable fact, that the forehead increases very early, and continues, when ex- ercised, to grow very late ii* life. I had positive observations that, after the age of thirty-six and forty years, the fore- head has increased an inch in size."* Had he shown how, and when, and on whom, his observations had been made — had he, especially,produced the casts and measurements of the heads to which he refers, before and after such remark- able increase in size, he would have done much towards settling this question. As it is, however, he leaves the mat- ter just where he found it ; for, with all respect for the opinions of others, I must be allowed to express my own, that the bare assertion of any man is not the sort of evi- dence, from which to draw a philosophical conclusion. " To the everlasting honour of Edinburgh," to use Dr. Elliotson's words, " not only was the first Phrenologi- cal Society established there, but the first Phrenological Journal." There is also a journal published at Paris, and another at Copenhagen. The present Phrenological So- ciety of London was established, I believe, in 1824, under the auspices of Dr. Elliotson. That of Paris, which num- bers among its members some of the most celebrated medical men of France, was established in 1831, and holds its an- nual meetings on the22d of August, the death-day of Gall. In 1836 the number of phrenological societies in Great Britain alone, was twenty-nine. The History of Phrenology in the United States is readily told. In 1S22, Dr. John Bell republished at Phila- delphia, with a short preliminary discourse, Mr. Combe's Essays on Phrenology. This appears to have been the first publication in favour of the science, issued in the United States. A few years afterwards, Dr. B. R. Coates of Phil- ade'phia, published a strong article in reply to Professor * Spurzheira's Phrenology, vol. i. 307 PHRENOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES. /'J Warren, of Boston, who had attacked phrenology. In 1823, Professor Dr. John D. Wells, of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, state of Maine, on his return from Europe, where he had heard phrenology taught, by Gall himself, commenced an annual exposition and recommendation of its doctrines, to his class, which he continued, T believe, as long as he remained in the college. The lamented Godman was an advocate of phrenology. In 1829 he spoke of " the renowned, the indefatigable, the undefeated Gall."* And, in his edition of Bell's Anatomy, he contraverts Bell's dicta against the science, and remarks " This is the foundation upon which the doctrines of Gall and Spurzheim rest, — purely upon observation, — and this is the reason why these doctrines have so triumphantly out- lived all the misrepresentation and violence of opposition."! On the 4th of August, 1832, Dr. Spurzheim landed in the United States; and commenced lecturing at Boston, on the 17th of September, but was interred, alas! just two months afterwards. On the 31st of December, 1832, the birthday of Spurzheim, the Boston Phrenological Society was established, and in three months numbered ninety mem- bers. Several similar societies are now organized in other cities of the United States, In October, 1833, a quarterly journal, The Aunals of Phrenology, was commenced in Boston, and continued tw© years. In October, 1838, a monthly periodical, The American Phrenological Journal and Miscellany, was commenced at Philadelphia. But the American,who, above all others, has distinguish- ed himself by his zeal and labours in favour of phrenology, is Dr. Charles Caldwell. On his return from Europe, where he had heard Dr. Gall, he prepared, and in 1821 — 2 delivered a brief course of lectures on the science, to his class in the medical department of Transylvania College. This was the first course ever delivered in the United States. * Godman's Addresses. Philadelphia, p. 101. *BeIl s Anatomy New York, 1827, vol. i. p. 165. 60 DR. CALDWELL. The Doctor has repeated it to his successive classes, in thai college, and the college of Louisville, every winter since that time. In the spring of 1822, he delivered a popular course to the citizens of Lexington. In 1823, he lectured at Louisville. In 1824, at Nashville. In 1825, at Balti- more and at Washington, which led to the formation of a phrenological society at each of those places. In 1826, he lectured again at Washington. In 1828, at Boston. In 1835, again at Nashville. In 1836, at Natchez. In 1837, at Philadelphia; and in 1838, at New-York. The phrenological publications of Professor Caldwell are very numerous. He published, in 1824, by invitation of his class, a^ummary of his course of lectures previously delivered to them. In 1826, in the Edinburgh Phrenolo- gical Journal, two papers on the Phrenology of the North American Indians. In 1829, a paper entitled, New Views of Penitentiary Discipline and Moral Reform. [See Ed. Phren. Jour.] In 1831, An Essay on Temperaments. In 1832, An Essay on Mental Derangement. [See Transyl- vania Medical Journal.] And another entitled, Thoughts on True Epicurism. [See New England Magazine.] And an address on Intemperance, in which he gave the phren- ology of that vice. In 1833, three essays : 1. On Moral Medicine. 2. On the true mode of improving the condi- tion of Man. 3. On the Study of the Greek and Latin Languages. In 1834, An Essay on Physical Education, and two articles, entitled, Phrenology Vindicated ; one pub- lished in the Boston Annals, and the other in the New Eng- land Magazine. In 1835, in the Boston Annals, a reply to Lord Brougham's attack. At Nashville, an Address on the Spirit of Improvement ; and at Lexington, another on the Phrenology of Gambling. In 1838, a small volume, en- titled, Phrenology Vindicated and Antiphrenology Unmask- ed. In 1839, a Letter to the Editor of the American Phrenological Journal. It is especially worthy of remem- brance, that but few of the foregoing publications wer* PRESENT CONDITION OF PHRENOLOGY. 81 printed for sale, the greater part were gratuitously distribu- ted, principally throughout the Valley of the Mississippi. Thus numerous, important, and unremitting have been the labours of Charles Caldwell, a name which must ever be associated with the introduction of Phrenology into the New World. My intention was to treat somewhat at large on the pres- ent condition of Phrenology, but I have already passed the limits, and must hasten on, contenting myself with express- ing the following view ; namely, that a vague general im- pression exists that there may be something in phrenology after all. And among a great number a belief that there really is something in it. That a much smaller number, but still a formidable phalanx, believe in it, and advocate its doctrines. And a number comparatively small, study it with assiduity, as the science of their affections, and have a deep and abiding conviction of its vast importance. But in the Universities, Colleges, and Seminaries of learn- ing, it has hardly been able to set its foot. And by the generality of professors, ministers, scientific and religious writers, it is proscribed and denounced, or at best treated with distrust and lukewarmness. Among the signs of the times however, I would mention one especially indicative of the gradual advancement of phrenology in popular estimation. The periodical press wields great power, for good, or for evil. Pity, that it is not always employed in the cause of truth and virtue ! There are noble exceptions, indeed, but it is undeniable that many editors forget the dignity and responsibility of their office, pander to vile tastes, and succumb to paltry and bigoted prejudices. Their duty it is to enlighten public opinion, but instead, they watch it with eagle eyes, to note its indi- cations of change, that by quickly 'fallowing they may seen. to lead. With this class of editors, phrenology was con sidered for years as a capital joke, the very name seemed a fountain of gibes and jeers. Their phrenology, however 82 PRESENT COXDITJCN OF PHRENOLOGY. was not ours, but a windmill hero of their own ; a thing of shreds and patches, of mere bones and bumps ; a conglome^ ration of deformities, incongruities and puerilities, which they could set ud, and hurl down, at pleasure, for the edi- fication and amusement of their wondering readers. These editors, in general, have now ceased such Don Quixotisms, and betaken themselves to other amusement. Nay, many of them begin to touch their hats to the real presence, and acknowledge that there was a little mistake in the matter, or they would not, upon their honour they would not, have misrepresented so comely and respectable a personage. This is cheering; not because of any intrinsic value which their opinions possess, for the observations they make ge- nerally betray their ignorance of the subject, but because such opinions are significant of a favourable state of the popular mind. They are to public feeling, what the ba- rometer is to the atmosphere, they show the amount of pressure from without. To consider the authority of a mere mathematician on the Malthusian doctrines, or that of a mere anatomist on the immortality of man, as decisive of the truth or falsehood of those questions, would be absurd enough. But the testi- monials of men of reputed accuracy of observation and soundness of judgment, in favour of doctrines the evidences of which they state themselves carefully to have examined, and, especially, when their decision subjects them to oppro- brium, ought to have weight enough to secure for such doc- trines, a respectful and patient investigation. To furnish such testimonials in great numbers, would be incompatible with my plan and limits ; yet, I here present a few, in answei to the name-worshippers who are continually asking, with a contemptuous tone, Who believes in phrenology 1 These I shall extract from a volume of " Testimonials in behalf of George Combe, as a candidate for the chair of Logic in the University of Edinburgh." In doing which, I shall omit uil that relates to Mr. Combe himself. TESTIMONIALS. 83 The following testimonials, among others, certify, ihai Phrenology, viewed as the abstract science of mind, is su- perior to any system of Mental Philosophy which has pre- ceded it:- — From Richard Whately, D. D. Lord Arclibtshop of Dublin. " I am convinced, that even if all connection of the brain with the mind were regarded not merely as doubtful, but as a perfect chimera, still the treatises of many phrenological writers would be of great value, from their employing a metaphysical nomenclature, far more Iogical,ac- curate, and convenient, than Locke, Stewart, and other writers of their school. " That the religious and moral objections against the phrenological theory are utterly futile, I have from the first been fully convinced." p. 5, From Sir G. S. Mackenzie, Bart. F. R. S. L., 8?c. " During the last twenty years, I have lent my humble aid in resisting a torrent of ridicule and abuse, and have lived to see the true philoso- phy of man (phrenology) establishing itself wherever talent is found capable of estimating its immense value." — p. 8. From Dr. Robert Macnish, author of " The Philosophy of Sleep," fyc. " The old system of metaphysics explained nothing satisfactorily ; and like all persons who attempted to arrive at definite results by its assist- ance, since commencing the study of phrenology, a new light has dawn- ed upon me, and various phenomena which were before perfectly inex- plicable upon any known theory, are now of easy solution." — p. 15. From Dr. Wm. Gregory, F. R. S. E., formerly President of tlie Royal Medical Society, " I am firmly convinced of the truth of phrenology, and of its vas* importance, as constituting the only satisfactory and consistent system ©f mental philosophy which the world has yet seen." — p. 22. From the Honourable D. G. Hallyburton, 31. P. * Those ^ ho have dispassionately investigated the subject agree ai 84 TESTIMONIALS. most to a man, in maintaining, that phrenology rests upon evidence thai is irrefragable ; and that the time is not far off, when all philosophy of mind, which shall not rest upon it as a basis, will be put aside as \ery incomplete." — p. 50. From Charles Maclaren, Esq., Editor of that distinguished newspaper. The Scotsman, " Even though I had no faith in organology, I should still hold that phrenology possesses the following advantages : 1st. That it ex- hibits a more scientific and consistent classification of the human facul- ties than any other system of philosophy. 2d. That is gives a more lucid and satisfactory explanation of those varieties of national and in- dividual character which we find in the w T orld. 3d. That it has a more immediate and practical bearing on human conduct and the business of life, on morals, education, and legislation." — p. 57. From Robert Chambers, Esq,, one of the conductors of Chambers 1 Edin- burgh Journal " I consider the scheme of mind, which results from phrenology, as not only superior to any hitherto laid before the world, but the only rea- sonably complete account of human nature which we possess, and the only one which can serve as a basis for any system of instructions." - p. 55. From the Honourable Judge Crampton. 11 1 am persuaded that phrenology is amongst the most important of the acquisitions made to the stock of modern knowledge, and that upon it must be based every sound system of mental philosophy." The following testimonials certify that phrenology contains a true exposition of the physiology of the brain. From Dr. Wm. Weir, Lecturer on the practice of medicine, and one of the Editors of the Glasgow Medical Journal. "Being myself con\inced, after many years study of the subject, and numerous observations, that phrenology is the true philosophy of mind, I have taught it, in my lectures delivered to medical students, as the cor ■ect physiology of tl/9 brain. And I consider it impossible to gire a TESTIMONIALS. 86 proper view of the physiology of the brain, en any other but phrenolo- gical principles."- — p. 37. From Dr. John Mackintosh, Lecturer on the Principles of Pathology, and Practice of Physic. " The more closely I study nature, in health and disease, the more firm are my convictions of the soundness of phrenological doctrines," From Dr. James Johnson, Physician-extraordinary to the King, Editor of the Medico- Chirurgical Review, Sfc.&fc. " 1 have long been convinced that the science of mind can only be understood and taught, properly, by those who have deeply studied the structure and functions of its material instrument, the brain. I am con- vinced, that in this world, mind can be manifested only through the medium of matter." — "Without subscribing to all the details of phren- ology, I believe its fundamental principles to be based on truth/' The following testimonials certify to the utility of applying phrenology in discriminating the varieties of insanity. From Sir W. C. Ellis, M. D. Physician to the Lunatic Asylum of the county of Middlesex. "I candidly own, that until I became acquainted with phrenology, I had no solid basis, upon which I could ground any treatment, for the cure of the disease of insanity, which had long had a peculiar claim upon my attention. " From Dr. James Scott, LI. B. Surgeon and Medical Superintendent of the Royal Naval Lunatic Asylum. " As 1 have been for nearly ten years the medical attendant of the Lunatic Asylum in this great Hospital, my opportunities, at least, of observing, have been great indeed ; and a daily intercourse with the unfortunate individuals entrusted to my care and management, has firmly, because experimentally, convinced me that mental disorder, and moral delinquency, can be rationally combated only bv the application af phrenology." 8 S6 TESTIMONIALS. The fallowing testimonials prove the bearing of phrenology on the classification and treatment of criminals. In April 1836, Mr. Combe visited Glasgow jail, and examined phren- clogically some of the criminals. G. Salmond, Esq., Procurator-fiscal sf Lanarkshire, drew up an account of the striking accuracy of Mr. Combe's diagnosis, which is certified to, by W. Moir, Esq., Sheriff- substitute of Lanarkshire, and Mr. D. M' Coll, Governor of Glasgow jail. Mr. Salmond remarks, in conclusion: — " The accuracy of your conclusions has deeply impressed me with the benefit which would accrue to society from the application of sucii investigation towards the 'better classification of criminals before and after trial, to the selection and treatment of convicts, and even to the more certain identification of such criminals as might effect their escape from justice or confinement." From Dr. E. Otto, Professor of Materia Medica and Forensic Medicine •in the University of Copenhagen, Editor of the Danish Journal, " Bi- bUothikfor Lieper," $?c. $;c. " I consider it quite possible to distinguish men of strong animal pro- pensities, who, when left uncontrolled by authority, or when excited by intoxication, would be dangerous to society, from men of mild dispo- sitions, by examining their heads during life. I have practically applied this method of distinguishing the natural dispositions of men, and found it uniformly successful." The following testimonials apply to the utility of ' phren- ology in its application to the purposes of education : From Alexander J. D. Dorsey, Esq., Master of the English department in the High School of Glasgow. " It is my decided opinion, that he who teaches and trains upon phrenological principles, will experience a constantly increasing attach- ment to his profession, will invariably secure the affectionate esteem of his pupils, and will, as a necessary consequence, succeed in giving them a thorough education, moral, intellectual and physical. I write this eot in a theorising spirit, but from several years' extensive experience. "In Histoiy, the n«e of phrenology is truly valuable. In fact, till J TESTIMONIALS. 8? knew something of this beautiful system of mental philosophy, I never taught history properly, or, I may add, any thing else.'' — p. 35 From TV. Hunter, Esq., A. M., late Professor of Logic, fyc, in the Ander- sonian University, Glasgow. " I am convinced that phrenology is the true science of the mind Every other system is defective in enumerating, classifying, and tracing the relations of the faculties. " I consider this science indispensably necessary in teaching any branch of education properly. And it is signally effective in exciting and directing the faculties -of the mind without having recourse to cor poral punishment, or even a peevish or resentful expression." — p. 51. From some of the most distinguished of the Parisian physicians, including Broussais, Fassati, Bouillaud, Sanson, Cloouet, Vimont, and Voissin. " Phrenology being in their opinion the most certain and complete science of the faculties of man, they consider that a good system of Logic cannot be more firmly based than upon the profound study of that science." Use of Phrenology to Artists, From George Rennie, Esq., Sculptor. " As an artist, I have at all times found phrenology advantageous in the practice of my art, and that expression in almost every case coin cided exactly with what was indicated by the cerebral development." If some one, who has been accustomed to scoff at phren- ology, should have accompanied me hitherto, I would res- pectfully, but candidly, say to him, at parting: If phreno- logy be true, then, by continuing to oppose it, you will merely injure and dishonour yourself. You may laugh, but laughter is not wit ; you may scoff, but scoffing is not argu- ment ; you may shut your eyes, but it will not, therefore, be dark ; you may raise clouds of dust, but you will merely obstruct your own vision, not extinguish the radiance of truth. Be candid and generous therefore and tillyou have S8 CONCLUSION. examined the subject in an adequate manner, acknowledge, that on what you have not properly investigated, you have no right to decide. With the phrenologist, I would part in congratulation for what has been achieved, and in bright anticipations of future advancement. Not that very rapid progress need be hoped for. The students of the old philosophy, cannot be expected, in any great numbers, to abandon their painfully acquired notions, and go again to school. The aged are naturally conservative, and cling to old opinions and insti- tutions, with amiable tenacity. Truth, however, is a reve- lation from the divinity of Nature, and never returns void of effect. But the truths of phrenology have to work their way through such mountainous obstacles; they have so many erroneous things to rectify, and so many alloyed things to purify, that the expectation of rapid advancement would indicate an imperfect knowledge of the true nature of our science. I close this sketch, by putting on record my entire con- viction, that when phrenology shall be generally accredited, it will be considered as the most interesting and surprising event in the history of human civilization, that the truth of its fundamental facts, should have been so long and so stoutly denied. To appreciate the discoveries of Galileo, the use of the telescope was necessary ; to repeat the experi- ments of Harvey, much labour was requisite; to fully com- prehend those of Newton, profound mathematical know- ledge was often essential ; but to recognize the facts on which the phrenological doctrines are based, needs no nicely adjusted optical apparatus, they are obvious to the naked eye ; no laborious and intricate experiments, they present themselves in the head of every human bein^ ; no pro- found and peculiar acquirements, but merely the power of distinguishing differences in the dispositions and talents of men, and differences in the form and size of the human cranium and of its various regions. CONCLUSION. Bll Note. — The firsi edition of this work said too little on the labours »f Dr. Andrew Combe, one of the ablest and most influential of phre, nologists. He was one of the founders of the first phrenological society, one of the establishers of the first phrenological journal, and one of the most valuable of its contributors. He has written the most phi losophical treatise on insanity which yet exists ; and his works on " The Principles of Physiology," " The Physiology of Digestion," and " The management of Infancy," are among the most useful and admired writings of the day. In the works of Dr. Combe, accuracy of observation, great sagacity, and acute thought, are clothed in diction remarkable for its clearness and simplicity ; and the spirit which pervades them is so pure and be- nevolent, that the author wins his way to confidence and esteem with a facility almost peculiar. The controversial papers which he has writ- ten, evince great astuteness and dialectical skill. There is in them nothing of the impetuous, the trenchant, or the terrible ; but around their searching analysis and scathing logic refined w it and pleasant sarcasm continually play. lectus.es oh PHRENOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATIONS BY GEORGE COMBE, ESQ LECTURE I. When a young man, I paid much attention to the pre- vailing theories of mental philosophy, frequently meeting a number of friends for the purpose of discussing the opinions of various metaphysical authors, hoping to obtain some practical views of human nature which would be servicea- ble in my intercourse with society, and in the pursuit of my professional avocations. But all my study proved fruit- less of beneficial results, and I ceased to study the works of the metaphysicians. Hoping to obtain some more satis- factory notions of the mental functions from the physiolo- gists, I attended the lectures of Dr. Barclay. All parts of the body were beautifully described, and their uses clearly explained, till he came to the brain ; then was all dark and confused. He took great pains in dissecting that most im- portant organ, but by a wrong method ; he cut it up into slices like a ham, confessing his ignorance of its functions and intimate structure. The physiologists satisfied me no better than the metaphysicians. From the 49th No. of the Edinburgh Review I received tny first information concerning the doctrines of Phrenology, 92 RECEPTION OF IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES. Led away by the boldness of that piece of criticism, I re garded its doctrines as absurd, and its founders as charia tans. For twelve months ensuing I paid no attention to the subject ; indeed, such was the unfavourable impression made on my mind by the Review, that when Dr. Spurz- heim came to Edinburgh, I neglected to attend his first course of lectures, and should probably not have attended him at all, but for a fortunate circumstance. Coming out of the supreme court one day, my friend Mr. Brownlee in- vited me to attend a dissection of a brain, to be performed in his house by Dr. Spurzheim. I availed myself of this opportunity of comparing the method of Gall and Sf urz- heim, with that which I had seen practised by Dr. Barclay. Dr. Spurzheim did not slice, but began at the medulla ob- longata, and gradually unfolded the brain by following its structure. In ten minutes he completely refuted the re- viewer's assertions, and finally demonstrated his own ana- tomical views. I immediately commenced to attend the second course of lectures of Dr. Spurzheim ; and, independently of his physiological views, I found the explanation he gave of mental manifestations to be greatly superior to any with which I was acquainted. This was a great point gained, and I determined to pursue the study by an nppeal to nature. Accordingly I purchased books, and sent to London for a large quantity of casts. They arrived in three huge punch- eons ; and when taken out, they covered nearly the whole floor of my drawing room. But when I saw them there, seemingly all alike, my heart sank within me, and I would gladly have buried them in the ground to get rid of them. However, my friends heard of my collection, and I soon had a great many to visit me — some to examine, and fome to quiz. When I began seriously to examine them, I soon found that heads apparently alike were in reality very dissimilar. This encouraged me. I pursued my ex- aminations, both o^ casts and of the head* of living persons; RECEPTION OF IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES. 93 and gradually became firmly convinced of the truth of the new science. The meetings at my house, to hear my ex- planations, became more and more numerous, and in 1822 I was prevailed on to give public lectures. Thus, without the slightest intention on my part, I became a lecturer on phrenology about five years after first attending to the sub- ject. Of this narrative I wish to make two applications. 1. I desire to show you that, in taking up the phrenological doctrines, I was not led away by enthusiasm. 2. I wish to impress on your minds, that it is not by attending a course of lectures that you can become fully acquainted with phre- nology. I deem it impossible to make you so acquaint- ed in a hundred lectures. I come here, not to wage war upon your opinions, but to invite your attention to an im- portant subject ; not to convince you of the truth of all the details of phrenology, but to show you how to study and observe for yourselves. I admire not the mental character of those who have too great facility of belief ; and Phreno- ogy asks nothing but fair play, and candid, scrutinizing in- vestigation. Phrenology means the philosophy of the human mind, as manifested through the medium of the brain. This philo- sophy, as you know, has been opposed with great violence ; and the opposition has not yet ceased. In being so oppos- ed, however, it merely shares the fate of all new truths. " In every society," says Professor Playfair, " there are some who think themselves interested to maintain things in the condition wherein they have found them. **f Even in matters purely intellectual, and in which the abstract truths of arithmetic and geometry seem alone concerned, the prejudices, the selfishness, and the vanity of those who pursue them, not unfrequently combine to resist improve- ment, and often engage no inconsiderable degree of talent in drawing back instead of pushing forward the machine of science. The introduction of methods entirely new 4 RECEPTION OF IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES. must often change the relative place of 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 en- mity of such men, if they be not animated by a spirit ot real candour and the' love of truth, is likely to be directed against methods by which their vanity is mortified, and their importance lessened." Dissertation, part II. p. 27. It is well known that Harvey was treated with great con tumely, and lost much of his practice, on account of his mo • mentous discovery of the circulation of the blood.* Pro- fessor Playfair, speaking of Newton's discovery of the com- position of light, says : " Though the discovery had every thing to recommend it which can arise from what is great, new and singular ; though it was not a theory or system of opinions, but the generalization of facts made known by experiments ; and though it was brought forward in a most simple and unpretending form, a host of enemies appear- ed, each eager to obtain the unfortunate preeminence of being the first to attack conclusions which the unanimous voice of posterity was to confirm. "f But the most striking instance, perhaps, of reck T ess and unprincipled opposition to newly discovered facts, was the opposition made to Galileo's discovery of the satellites of Jupiter. This discovery was made simply from Galileo's having invented a telescope, by which bodies invisible to the naked eye were brought into view. One who violently opposed him he invited to look through the telescope, and see for himself. u No," said his adversary; " should I look through the telescope, I might perhaps see them ; and then I could no longer deny their existence." This well *Long after the labours of Harvey, when M. Dodart defended, a Paris, a thesis on the circulation of the blood, the old doctors decided, "that Htc young candidate managed his suhject very well, considering tkf Strangeness of the paradox?' i Suj^ement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, part ii. p. 56. THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF MIND. 95 illustrates the course pursued by the opponents of phreno- logy. The truths of our science are sufficiently obvious; but many fiercely vituperate, yet refuse to look through the telescope. Formerly phrenology was greatly opposed by the reli- gious portion of the community. In this country I have not witnessed much of this. Wherever the religious man places himself in opposition to natural truth, it is deeply to be regretted. All truth is from the same eternal source, whether it be the truth of Philosophy or the truth of Reve- lation. It is impossible to destroy a fact — it remains for ever; and in opposing it, religious men will always be ultimately found in the wrong. That is, in God's name they will be found to have opposed God's truth, and to have set variance between His word and works. I recollect that, in my youth, I was taught to repeat the catechism of Dr. Watts,in which is this question — " How do you know you have a soul 1" — which is thus answered — " Because there is something in me that thinks and feels, which the body cannot do." This answer is founded on an illusion. It may satisfy a child, but it is palpably erro- neous in the eyes of the physiologist. It rests simply on the circumstance that we are not conscious of the operations of the brain ; yet numerous facts with which we become ac- quainted by means of observation prove that, without its agency, we can neither think nor feel — that it is in short the organ of mind. In support of this proposition I may remark, 1. If the brain be not the organ of mind, its uses are. un- known. 2. It is better protected and better supplied with blood than any other part of the body. 3. The nerves of the senses are all connected with the brain : it is the recipient of all their transmissions. 4. The nerves of motion and the nerves of sensation arc %\\ connected, through die medium of the spinal marrow 96 THE BRAIN THE ORGAN OF MIND. with the brain : it is the fountain of impulse and the reser- voir of sensation. o. Certain substances, as opium or ardent spirits, disturb mental manifestations by operating on the brain. G. Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness, occa aioned by recession of blood from the brain. But we have still more direct evidence. Richerand at- tended a woman whose brain had been laid bare. One day he pressed upon it a little more forcibly than usual, and the patient became silent and unconscious in the midst of a. sentence. On removing his hand, consciousness ira mediately returned. As no pain was felt, he repeated the experiment several times, and always with the same result.* Similar cases are related by many other writers. Sir Ast- Iey Cooper relates one, of a seaman who had his skull fractured and brain compressed by a fall. For thirteen months he remained totally unconscious. On Mr. Cline raising the skull, consciousness immediately returned. The last thing the man recollected was a sea fight in the Medi- terranean, thirteen months before,f in which he had receiv- ed the injury. But it may be asked how pressure on one part suspends all mental manifestations, if, as phrenologists say, the brain consists of numerous organs? Let it be recollected that the brain is composed of a pulpy mass, having nume- rous blood vessels ramifying in its substance, and is inclos- ed in membranous sacs, the pia mater and the dura mater. It may be likened to an India rubber bag filled with fluid. Now it is a law of hydrostatics, that pressure made on one part of a fluid affects all parts alike ; consequently, when * Notcveaux Elcmens de Physiologic, 7th cd. ii. 195 — 6. t Lectures of Sir Astley Cooper on Surgery, p. 159. Gall mentions person who received a wound which penetrated to the corpus callosum and whenever pus accumulated, he lost the use of the eye of the oppo lite side ; and this blindness disappeared the moment the piie w»« dis charged (rail. ii. 50. THE BRAIN A CONGER.ES OF ORGANS. 97 pressure is made on one part of the brain, all are equally affected. If the membranes be cut, so as to permit effu- sion, of blood, total unconsciousness does not take place from a partial injury. 44 But," say objectors, " how is it that the brain does not manifest structural derangement after death, when the in- dividual has been afflicted with insanity ?" This question «vas more confidently asked some years ago than now': more accurate investigations have shown that, in the great majority of cases, such derangement is demonstrable ; and if it be not always the case, this is not more remarkable than what takes place in other parts, where there may be derangement or destruction of function, without the anat- omist being able to discover organic change. Thus some poisons destroy life, without any structural alteration being visible in any part of the body. Again, to show that the mind is independent of the body, it is said that the mind often fully manifests its faculties to the last moment of life, even in lingering disease. This is not true. It is important to distinguish between functional and organic derangement and simple weakness. Suppose I cut the muscles of my arm across, there would be organic derangement, completely incapacitating me from using my limb. Suppose I should bandage my arm tightly and keep it motionless for six months, at the end of that time I should be able to move it in the usual manner, but not with the usual force ; the general structure would remain the same, , but the size and power would be greatly diminished. So when the brain is but secondarily affected, the mode of manifestation may remain unchanged to the end of some fatal malady, butthe energy will be greatly lessened. Thus, in disease of the lungs, the brain merely suffers, like other {.arts, sympathetically, and from badly oxygenated blood. At the commencement of the disease, the mind may act with its usual vigour. During the second month the patient thinks but little on subjects requiring mental energy; 9 98 THE BRA 'N A C&NGEKIES . F ORGANS. during the third month he chooses novels or light reading ; during the fourth month he prefers newspaper pavagraphs ? as requiring little continuous attention ; and afterwards he ceases to read altogether, and does little more than answer simple questions ; yet, because he answers these questions correctly, his mental manifestation? are said to be unim- paired. No mistake can be greater. Again, when a part is actively exercised, blood rushes to it with rapidity ; and if the brain be the organ of mind, there should be to it a rush of blood during mental action ; and this is found to be the fact, as many writers testify. Dr. Pierquin observed a patient in one of the hospitals of Montpelier, part of whose skull had been removed. In dreamless sleep the brain lay motionless within the cra- nium ; when she was disturbed by dreams, it was agitated and protruded ; in dreams reported by herself to be vivid, it was more protruded, and still more so when she was awake and engaged in active thought, or sprightly conver- sation. Every act of the will, every flight of the imagination, every glow of affection, every effort of the understanding, is, in fact, manifested by means of the brain. And this pro- position is acknowledged by the greatest anatomists. " We cannot doubt," says Dr. Cullen, "that the operations of our intellect always depend upon certain motions taking place in the brain." Dr. Gregory remarks that "although memory, imagination and judgment appear to be so purely mental as to have no connection with the body, yet certain diseases which obstruct them prove, that a certain state of the brain is ne fessary to their proper exercise, and that the brain is the primary organ of the internal powers." Blu- menbach, Magendie, Arnott, nay, even the Edinburgh Re- view, in the 94th number, as well as numerous other au horities, give like testimony. It is worthy of observation, that the general notion of the mind's independence of the body is quite modern n« THE BttAii* r±lE OivOaN OF MIND. 9^ ©ffspringin fact of philosophical theories sprung up, chiefly, since the days of Locke. Shakspeare and the older writers frequently speak of the brain as implying the mental func- tions ; and, to the present day, the notions of the vulvar are more in accordance ivith nature than those of polite schol- ars of the old school. Thus a stupid person is called a numbskull, a thick head, or said to be addle-pated — badly furnished in the upper story: while a ta.ented person is said to be strong-headed, long-headed — to have plenty of brains; a madman is said to be wrong in the head — touched in the noddle. We find, then, that reason, fact, the testimony of the best physiologists, and vulgar notions, all testify that the brain is the organ of mind.* And what does this proposition imply ? Clearly that the state of the brain must greatly influence the ment« mani- festations, and that the perfection of those manifc *ations must depend on the perfection of the organ. How import- ant, then, does the study of the brain become ! I beg to state that in Edinburgh my Phrenological course occupied fifty lectures of one hour each. Your time will not permit this. I therefore limit my lectures to sixteen. As in sixteen hours, however, I should be unable to do jus- tice to the subject, I must beg your attendance on two hours of each evening. But, inasmuch as two hours' continuous attention would be fatiguing, I shall always pause for five minutes at the end of the first hour. And I hope you will stand up during that time, and disengage your attention from the subject. In this way you will be greatly relieved, and be enabled to bear the two hours' exertion much better, than would at first appear likely. * The usual termination of incurable mania proves that its immediate* seat is the brain. When it continues runny years, the cerebml mass is diminished, the cavity of the cranium contracts, and incurabJ ) dementia b the result. Gall> vol. ii, p. 123. 100 THE BRAIN A CONGER! KS OP ORGANS. I hope you will attend faithfully to the observations waich form the introduction to my course. You \v../l, hereafter, find that they have a most important practical bearing on the subject of Education. We next corne to the question — Does the mind in every act employ the whole brain, or are separate faculties of the mind connected with distinct portions of the brain, as their respective organs X Is the brain single or multiplex? That it is multiplex may be proved by a number of con- siderations. Analogy would lead us to this conclusion. Thus, in all ascertained instances, different functions are never performed by the same organ. We have, for in- stance, a distinct organ for each sense, and it appears to me clear that to feel puffed up with pride, and to feel great deference for others, are manifestations of functions as dis- tinct as those of smelling and hearing. Some parts appear to have several functions, but, on analysing them, each func- tion is found to be performed by its peculiar organ : thus, the tongue moves, feels and tastes; but then it contains a nerve of motion, a nerve of feeling, and a nerve of taste ; and it may i e deprived of any one of these functions, without the other two being impaired. But the most interesting example of distinct functions being dependent on distinct organs, is fur- nished by the spinal marrow. This is composed of two double columns, the anterior being appropriated to motion, the posterior to sensation. This, Sir Charles Bell clearly proved in the following manner: he cut an anterior nerve st its root in an ass, and the parts through which it ramified lost the power of motion, though feeling remained unim- paired. He cut a posterior nerve in another, and the parts through which it ramified lost the power of feeling, but re- tained that q( motion.* Their distinctness is now univer * Several years before Bell's experiments were heard of, Dr. Spurz heim published the following observation. " It has been observed, that, in palsy, voluntary motion and the sense of touch are both destroyed at the sane time but thai sometimes the one has ceased while the othfi? THE BRAIN A CONGERIES OF ORGANS. 101 silly acknowledged — and here I would make an important observation : it has been objected to phrenology, that to the organs of the brain we cannot assign distinct bounda- ries; that we are unable to take a brain and isolate the or- gans with the dissecting-knife, showing precisely where one ends and another begins. But, mark, this objection holds equally against the distinct functions of the different parts of the spinal marrow : that one part is appropriated to nerves of sensation and another to nerves of motion, no one doubts ; and yet to point out the precise boundaries of the distinct nervous columns is absolutely impossible. Different faculties of the mind appear in succession : thus affection for the parents or nurse appears before veneration or the sense of justice ; and the power of perceiving colour and form before the reasoning power. I am told by mothers, that children manifest fear when two or three months old. If the brain be a single organ, these powers should be simul- taneously developed ; but this is not so, and the only true explanation seems to be, that the brain is composed of dif- ferent organs, which come to maturity at different times. Dr. Johnson, indeed, remarked that the doctrine of a varie- ty of faculties was absurd, ■ for,' said he, ■ the man who can walk east can certainly walk west.' But it may be remark- ed, that walking east and walking west are but walking — the exercise of a single function ; whereas feeling fear, and reasoning, are quite distinct operations. Again, genius is always partial, which it ought not to be remained. From this it has been inferred, that there are two sorts of nerves. Anatomy has not yet demonstrated them, but I believe them to exist, for the following reasons. The same nervous fibres do not go to the muscles and to the skin, and each of these parts has a distinct func- y tion. The nerves which are necessary for voluntary motion cannot propagate the sense c? touch, nor the latter the impressions of move- ment," &c. Sur la F lie, p. 26. Paris 1818, and before in his phya'og Dinnical system, 1SKV 9* 1 02 THE BRAIN A CONGERIES OF ORGANS?. if the organs of the mind were single.* I have seen it maintained, in one of your periodicals, that genius is the result meiely of an accidental exciting cause. Thus, New- ton was made a philosopher by the fail of an apple, and Byron became a great poet because he was lashed by the reviewers and condemned as a poetaster. But like causes produce like effects, and how happens it that so many mil- lions, before Newton, had &een apples fall without ever thinking of any thing but picking them up and eating them? And if a lashing be sufficient to produce a great poet, why are not great poets more numerous 1 Indeed, if critical abuse had been sufficient, I should by this time nave become a great poet myself. Dreaming can be rationally explained by phrenology alone. Were the brain a single organ, then would all its faculties be asleep or awake together, and, consequently, dreaming be impossible. But this is not so. Cautiousness alone is sometimes awake : then are conjured up all fear- ful thoughts, and the dreams are of 4 hydras and chimeras dire.' On the other hand, a number of the intellectual faculties may be awake and the sentiments asleep : then we may have a vision of friends long dead, but totally free from that awe or fear which their presence would inspire were not the feelings dormant. Were not the brain a congeries of organs, partial idiocy could not occur ; yet, that it does occur we well know Here is the cast of an idiot whose intellectual faculties wero extremely small, but whose self-esteem was large ; and net withstanding his utter imbecility, he had a very comforta- ble opinion of his own importance. I knew an idiot on the banks of the Clyde, who could play on one or two musica* instruments, yet, in other respects, he was so utterly imbe- cile that he had to be supported by the parish. An idiot * u Genius ordinarily commences its great works, as it were by in itinct, without being avare of its own talent." Ga._ i. 153- THE BRAIN A CONGERIES OF ORGANS. Liverpool, named Jones, manifests great facility in lear ing languages ; show him a passage in the bible, and he will point out and read the parallel passage in seven or eight other languages. But about the meaning he has no idea. Now if the brain were a single organ this would be the same as if a man had the power of walking east, without having the power of walking west. Indeed, that the brain must consist of a congeries of or- gans, is maintained by distinguished physiologists other- wise opposed to phrenology ; as Fodere, and Sir Charles Bell. Such considerations as I have stated, have impress- ed men, in all ages, with belief in the brain's multiplex char- acter ; and particular portions of the head have been as- signed to distinct faculties, from the time of Aristotle. This drawing represents a head published at Venice in 1562, by Li/'iovico Dolci. Now what is the difference between such &\ arrangement and the system of Gain Simply this : — ^all discovered the seat of the various faculties. These older writers considered modes of activity as simple facul- ties, and located them according to a fancied propriety. Here, in the front, they placed common sense, because it seemed the most appropriate place for receiving informa- tion from the eyes, nose, and taste. Fancy they placed on Jie sides of the head, because it has such great facility in -lying off in a tangent. Reflection they placed at the bae manifestations of mind. Does it matter, in short, whether *he brain be old or young healthy or diseased, fine or i^arse small or large ? It is certain tL:at a young and immature, or an old anc shrunken brain cannot manifest its functions with the vigou; and continuity of one in the heyday of life. Thus we «ec the feebleness of childhood and the imbecility of dge Usually at sixty or sixty-five the painter's touches becom feeble, and the poet's fire darkened.* The influence o Jisease we observe in insanity and other affections. * "We are told of octogenarians, nonagenarians, and centenarians,