ILLUSTRATIONS OF PHRENOLOGY; T5EING A SELECTION OF ARTICLES FROM THE EDINBURG PIIRENOLO GICAL JOURNAL, AND THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE EDINBURG PHRENOLOGICAL SOCIETY. WITH TWENTY-SIX WOOD CUTS. EDITED BY jf ? GEORGE H. CALVERT. Ill WITH AN INTRODUCTION' BY THE EDITOR. BALTIMORE: WILLIAM AND JOSEPH NEAL 1832. Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1832, by William and Joseph Neal, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Maryland. J. D. Toy, printer. CONTENTS. Case in which the natural talents and dispositions of the Rev. Mr. M. were inferred from the development of his brain. Communicated by Mr. Brian Donkin, 140 article vr. Remarks on the cerebral development of King Robert Bruce, compared with his character as appearing from history. By Mr. William Scott, . 104 article v. Spurzheim on Physiognomy, 98 article IV. Phrenological observations on the cerebral development of William Burk, executed for murder at Edinburg, on 28th January, 1829, and on the development of William Hare, his accomplice, 70 ARTICLE III. Cases of Williams and Bishop, Murderers, 6$ article it. The life of Gesche Margarethe Gottfried, murderer by poison. Compiled by Dr. F. L. Voget, her Counsel, from her own Confessions and from Judicial Documents. Bremen, 1831. 45 article i. Introduction, 9 Preface, v IV CONTENTS. ARTICLE VII. Report of Mr. Combe's visit to Dublin, 150 ARTICLE VIII. Dr. Gall's visit to the prisons of Berlin and Spandau,. . . 177 ARTICLE IX. Result of an examination, by Mr. James De Ville, of the heads of 148 convicts on board the convict ship England, when about to sail for New South Wales, in the spring of 1826, 188 PREFACE. The editor of the present volume has been induced to prepare it, from a belief that a selection of articles from the Edinburg Phrenological Journal and the Transactions of the Phrenological Society of Edinburg, would be an acceptable addition to the works on Phrenology already in the hands of the American public. The rapid progress which the science has made, within a few years, in Europe; the sanction of many of the most distinguished European Savans to its truth and importance; the strong advocacy lately given it in our own country in the medical profession; and the increased and growing interest with which the subject is generally viewed among us, recommend the present as a suitable moment for issuing such a volume. The conviction the editor entertains of the vast importance of the Phrenological discoveries, and of the beneficial results to be produced by a diffusion of a knowledge of them, has entered largely into his motive to undertake the task. VI PREFACE. In making the selections, those articles have been taken which contain evidence, derived directly from nature, of the truth of the phrenological positions. The editor thought that a collection of the most striking of the practical cases, reported in the Journal, would form a volume which would give satisfaction to the American Phrenologists, and at the same time, present the subject in a strong light to those who are not at all, or only partially, acquainted with the principles and pretensions of Phrenology. The means through which the discoveries were originally made, and then confirmed, viz: the observation of extreme cases in the manifestation of mental qualities and in the development of the brain, and the remarking, in all such rases, of the connexion between the mind and the brain; —this same means is the most efficient for teaching to others the truths thus discovered, and of producing an effectual impression of the reality and solidity of the basis on which the whole doctrine rests. The editor has prefixed an Introduction, in which he has endeavored to explain briefly, but distinctly, the fundamental facts and general principles of the science. His aim in the Introduction has been, both to facilitate the understanding of the illustrations from the Journal, and to give a clear idea of what Phrenology is. VII PREFACE. The reader is advised that the wood cuts are not made by one common scale. Those only are made on the same scale which are placed in juxta-position, or between which there is a direct comparison. Baltimore, Sept. 1832. ILLUSTRATIONS OF PHRENOLOGY. INTRODUCTION. That the brain is the organ of the mind, has always been among the conjectures of physiologists. Phenomena which ordinary observation as well as scientific investigation presented, inclined them to this conclusion. With many, the impression, that the office of this part of the human frame is to be the instrument of mental manifestation, was so strong, as to lead to very positive expressions to this effect. Thus, the celebrated Dr. Culjlen, of Edinburg, states, that, "The part of our body more immediately connected with the mind, and therefore more especially concerned in every affection of the intellectual functions, is the common origin of the nerves; which I shall, in what follows, speak of under the appellation of the brain." The same author says again; "we cannot doubt that the operations of our intellect always depend upon certain motions taking place in the brain." Dr. Gregory, when speaking of memory, imagination, and judgment, observes, that, "although at first sight these faculties may appear to be so purely mental as to have no connection with the body, yet certain 2 10 INTRODUCTION. diseases which obstruct them prove, that a certain state of the brain is necessary to their proper exercise, and that the brain is the primary organ of the internal powers." The great German physiologist, Blumen- bach, says, "that the mind is closely connected with the brain, is demonstrated by our consciousness, and by the mental disturbances which ensue upon affections of the brain." Magendie, an eminent living physiologist, asserts, "The brain is the material instrument of thought. This is proved by a multitude of experiments and facts." Dr. Neil Arnot, in his recent work on natural philosophy, writes as follows: "the laws of mind which man can discover by reason, are not laws of independent mind, but of mind in connection with body, and influenced by the bodily condition. It has been believed by many, that the nature of mind separate from body, is to be at once all-knowing and intelligent. But mind connected with body, can only acquire knowledge slowly, through the bodily organs of sense, and more or less perfectly, according as these organs and the central brain are perfect. A human being born blind and deaf, and therefore remaining dumb, as in the noted case of the boy Mitchell, grows up closely to resemble an automaton; and an originally mis-shapen or deficient brain causes idiocy for life. Childhood, maturity, dotage, which have such differences of bodily powers, have corresponding differences of mental faculty: and as no two bodies, so no two minds, in the external manifestations, are quite alike. Fever, or a blow on the head, will change the most gifted individual into a maniac, causing the lips of virgin innocence to utter the most revolting obscenity, and those of pure religion to speak the most horrible blasphemy: and most «ases 11 INTRODUCTION. of madness and eccentricity can now be traced to a peculiar state of the brain." A writer on the nervous system, in the 94th number of the Edinburg Review, says, "Almost from the first casual inspection of animal bodies, the brain was regarded as an organ of primary dignity, and more particularly in the human subject—the seat of thought and feeling, the centre of all sensation, the messenger of intellect, the presiding organ of the bodily frame." "All this superiority, (of man over the brutes) all these faculties which elevate and dignify him, this reasoning power, this moral sense, these capacities of happiness, these high aspiring hopes, are felt, and enjoyed, and manifested, by means of his superior nervous system. Its injury weakens, its imperfection limits, its destruction (humanly speaking) ends them."* The opinion, then, in regard to the relation between the brain and the mind, at first adopted from general reasoning, has been found to rest on visible individual facts. From being a probable inference it has become a certain deduction. That the nervous mass called the brain is the organ of mind, is now an admitted position in physiological science—admitted without reference to the discoveries of Gall,f and by those who * These quotations are originally made by Mr. Combe. f The results of Gall's investigations had, however, their influence in producing the conviction as to the general function of the brain before his discovery of the appropriation of separate portions of the brain to the manifestation of individual faculties of the mind had been admitted. In like manner, the influence of the phrenological philosophy is perceptible in the critical and ethical opinions of the present day. Truth, like virtue, is so powerful and insinuating, that it makes itself felt even by those who do not appreciate its value nor acknowledge its supremacy. 12 INTRODUCTION. are unacquainted with the nature of the facts he was the first to bring to light. It is, in short, a generally received truth, that has been reached by that mean3 which only in modern times has been used, and to which alone the rapid advance of til the sciences within the last fifty years, is to be ascribed, viz: the observation and comparison of facts. This truth is the basis of the phrenological doctrine. It is a common opinion (so liable to delusion and extravagance is the human mind) that Phrenology is something extraordinary, out of the way —something totally different from and opposed to all that is already known. Here, on the contrary, we find the fact to be, that it has as its foundation, a simple undisputed position; one that was ascertained to be a constituent part of the harmonious system of natural laws the moment that men had learnt how to study nature. By pursuing the natural process that has resulted in the discovery of this law, it is confidently believed, that all candid inquirers will be led to consider as alike clearly demonstrable the existence of other laws relating to the brain and the mind. The brain, then, is the organ through which the mind acts —the instrument of thought and feeling. This, independently of Phrenology, may be stated to be an established uncontroverted fact. The first principle of Phrenology is identical with it. The second principle is, that the mind consists of distinct primitive faculties, and that each faculty manifests itself through a separate portion of the brain. This position is peculiar to Phrenology. Let us examine how far it accords with known phenomena and with other discovered laws of physiology. From the in- 13 INTRODUCTION. valuable work of Mr. George Combe of Edinburg, the third edition of "A System of Phrenology," I derive the following observations bearing on this point, fjrl. "In the economy of the human body it is ascertained, that different functions are never performed by the same organ, but, the reverse: each function has an organ* for itself: the stomach digests food, the liver secretes bile, the heart propels the blood, the eyes see, the ears hear, the tongue tastes, and the nose smells. Nay, on analyzing these examples, it is found that wherever the function is compound, each element of it is performed by means of a distinct organ; thus, to accomplish taste, there is one nerve whose office is to move the tongue, another nerve whose duty it is to communicate the ordinary sense of feeling to the tongue, and a third nerve which conveys the sensations of taste. A similar combination of nerves takes ?place in the hands, arms, and other parts of the body, which ase the organs of feeling; namely, one nerve gives motion, another feeling, and a third conveys to the brain the condition of the organ; and, except in th£ case of the tongue, all these nerves are blended in one common sheath. 2. "Genius is almost always partial, which it ought hotjto be, if the organ of the mind were single. A genius for poetry, for mechanics, for drawing, for music, or for mathematics, sometimes appears at a very early age in individuals, who, in regard to all other pursuits, are mere ordinary men, and who, with every fifcrt, can never attain to any thing above mediocrity. Jmo* "The phenomena of dreaming are at variance with the supposition of the mind manifesting all its faculties j$T means of a single organ, while they are quite consistent with, and explicable by, that of a plurality of 2* PHOTOCOPY 14 INTRODUCTION. organs. In dreaming the mind experiences numerous vivid emotions, such as those of fear, joy, affection, arising, succeeding one another, and departing without control from the intellectual powers;—or, it is filled with a thousand varied conceptions, sometimes connected and rational, but more frequently disjointed and absurd, and all differing widely from the waking operations of the mind, in wanting harmony, consistency, and sense. These phenomena harmonize remarkably with the notion of a variety of faculties and organs, some of which, being active, would communicate these ideas and feelings which constitute a dream, while others, remaining asleep, would by their inactivity, permit that disordered action which characterizes the pictures formed by the fancy during sleep. Were the organ of mind single, it is clear, that all the faculties should be asleep or awake tofh? same extent at the same time; or, in other words, that no such thing as dreaming could take place. 4. "The admitted phenomena of partial idiocy and partial insanity, are so plainly and strongly in contradiction with the notion of a single organ of mind, that Pined himself, no friend to phrenology, asks if their phenomena can be reconciled to such a conception. "Partial idiocy is that state in which an individual manifests one or several powers of the mind with an ordinary degree of energy, while he is deprived to a greater or less extent of the power of manifesting all the others. Pinel, Haslam, Rush, Esquirol, and, in short, every writer on insanity, speaks of the partial development of certain mental powers in idiots; and Rush, in particular, not only alludes to the powers of intellect, but also to the partial possession of the moral faculties. Some idiots, he observes, are as 15 INTRODUCTION. remarkable for correct moral feelings as some great geniuses are for the reverse. insanity, or that state in which one or more faculties of the mind are diseased, without affecting the integrity of the remainder, is known by the name , of Monomania, and appears, equally with the former^ fto exclude the possibility of one organ executing the functions of all the mental faculties; for the argument constantly recurs, that if the organ be sufficiently jSOUnd to manifest one faculty in its perfect state, it ought to be equally capable of manifesting all, —which, however, is known to be in direct opposition to fact." , ; Is, then, the second principle of phrenology in opposition to what is already known? Is it contradicted by the /universally observed phenomena relating to the exhibition of mental qualities? Is it not, on the contrary, corroborated by a vast variety of known facts connected with the operations of the mind? Is it not Ufa analogy*Avith the laws already discovered to exist Human economy? i'lt is 'ascertained, that all the known functions of the Jwdv,are performed by different organs; and it is admitteq, that the function of that part of the body called the-brain is, to be the organ of mind: it is found, that nerves in close contact, enveloped in one common sheath, have totally distinct functions; and the anatomy of the brain shows it to consist of many nerves: it is ascertained, that one nerve never performs two functions. What should be inferred from facts? Are we not impelled to the conclusion t(3jPfhe brain, in fulfilling the general office of organ of the mind, performs this duty through the appropriation of separate nerves to different mental faculties? That there are distinct faculties of the mind will not PHOTOCOPY 16 INTRODUCTION. be disputed. The feeling of attachment to offspring and the power of multiplying nine by seven are as distinct from one another as the faculties of sight and hearing. Are not the sense of justice and the capacity to recollect places as different in their nature as sensation and motion? the latter have been discovered to be performed by different nerves running side by side: is not the inference direct that the former are so likewise, knowing, as we do, that through the brain they are performed, and that the brain consists of a plurality of nerves? I appeal to the reason of the candid reader, and ask him—is there any thing unreasonable or eccentric in the phrenological position, that the mind, whose organ is the brain, manifests its various faculties through different portions of the brain? It is not hazarding too much to say, that had not Gall anticipated the march of science, the development of the laws of the human organization consequent upon the severe method of investigation latterly introduced, and the zealous industry and philosophical spirit with which science is now cultivated, would certainly in a short time have, by regular process of discovery, led to those results which the genius of Gall suddenly seized by one of those quick grasps of intelligence which genius alone can make. Having noted the accordance of the second fundamental principle of Phrenology with well known phenomena and established laws, let us endeavor to obtain a clear understanding of its force and nature. Gall arrived at the conclusion, that different portions of the brain were dedicated to the manifestation of particular faculties, by observing the unfailing coincidence between the unusual prominence of particu- PHOTOCOPY 17 INTRODUCTION. lar parts of the cranium, and the existence in more than common strength of particular feelings or talents. The plan of this introduction will not permit me to enter into the interesting and instructive detail of his labours. After he had, by a persevering course of observation and experiment, satisfied himself of the relation between certain faculties of the mind and certain portions of the brain, he, for the first time, directed his attention to the structure of the brain.— His examinations and dissections, and those of Dr. Spcrzheim, who became associated with him in 1804, resulted in the discovery that the nervous mass of the brain consists of fibres running from that part of the base of it, (as from a common starting point,) where the junction between the spine and the brain takes place, to the surface. At the surface they form the convolutions observed when the skull is removed. Here was a totally new discovery in anatomy: nothing was before known of this fibrous structure of the brain. Mark now how truth strengthens truth.— Gall, urged by the disclosures which the developments of the brain at its surface had made, to investigate its interior, discovered in its structure, (hitherto unknown,) a perfect conformity to what the most extensive observations and often repeated experiments had convinced him must be its functions. Dr. Spurzheim, who, as Mr. Combe observes, "has not only added many valuable discoveries to those of Gall, in the anatomy and physiology of the brain, but formed the truths brought to light, by their joint observations, into a beautiful and interesting system of mental philosophy," devoted himself at this time especially to the anatomy, which he thoroughly investigated, and he explained the best method of dissecting the brain, IS INTRODUCTION. and exposing its parts. I refer the reader to his valuable work, entitled "The Anatomy of the Brain." Gall and Dr. Spurzheim always found, on removing the skull, that the brain presented a form corresponding to that which the skull had exhibited during life. To this fact other physiologists and anatomists bear testimony. Magendie says: "The only way to measure the volume of the brain in a living person, is, to measure the dimensions of the skull; every other means, even that proposed by Camper, is uncertain." Mr. Charles Bell observes:—"Thus, we find that the bones of the head are moulded to the brain, and the peculiar shapes of the bones of the head are determined by the original peculiarity in the shapes of the brain." The celebrated Cuvier says:—"In all mamiferous animals the brain is moulded in the cavity of the cranium, which it fills exactly; so that the description of the osseous part affords us a knowledge of at least the external form of the medullary mass within." We have, then, the structure of the brain disclosed to us: we find its nervous fibres, originating at the medulla oblongata, or point of junction between the spinal marrow and the brain, running in all directions to the surface, and there forming the convolutions: and we know that the skull is a faithful index of the general size of the brain, and of the development of particular parts of it. It is affirmed, that those fibres which terminate in the posterior and lateral surface of the base of the brain are the organs of those feelings denominated, from their nature, propensities; that those which run in a vertical direction and terminate in the surface of the upper part of the brain are the organs of another class of feelings, differing some- 19 INTRODUCTION. what in their general character from the first, and called sentiments; and that the fibres which terminate in the surface of the forehead are the instruments through which the intellectual faculties perform their operations.* It must be borne in mind that the brain is double, being divided lengthwise into two equal similar hemispheres by a membranous partition running vertically and called the falciform process; so that each mental faculty, like the external senses of sight and hearing, has two organs. Here is the outline of a head with the three above described divisions indicated—the region marked 1 being that portion of the surface where the nervous fibres devoted to be the organs of the propensities terminate, 2 that of the sentiments, and 3 presenting a part of the forehead. *This classification is not hypothetical. It has not been made by Gall or Spurzheim: it has been discovered. When Gall had made a certain progress in his researches, he observed, that of the mental qualities whose connexion with particular portions of the 20 INTRODUCTION. It has been stated that all these fibres begin at the medulla oblongata, or point of junction between the brain and spine; consequently, in order to learn their relative lengths, we must ascertain the position of this common starting point. Now, the orifice of the ear is always in a fixed relation to this point, being in every head directly opposite to the anterior edge of the orifice through which the junction takes place; so that we have in the living head an external index by which we can determine the relative development of these general regions of the brain. If, for instance,, in a given head, the ear is placed far back, we know that the nerves which terminate in the region marked 3, are long in comparison with those of No. 1, and that the mental constitution is in conformity with this development. A comparison between the heads of animals and that of man presents a striking illustration of the position, that these several regions of the brain are devoted to be the media of manifestation of the classes of faculties we have described. Let the reader figure to himself the upper part of the human brain remove —nearly all that portion, namely, comprehended in No. 2, and No. 3—change the nose into a snout, and take away the chin, (which Abernethy says is peculiar to the human face,) and he will have the general form of the head of the dog, horse, or ox. All their brain lies behind and just above the ears, and between them and the top of the nose: they have no forehead, nor no upward expansion of the head: the portion brain he felt himself authorised to look upon as certain, those between which there was a sympathy or resemblance had their organs near to one another. Thus, this general arrangement of the organs has developed itself out of the individual discoveries. 21 INTRODUCTION. also of their brain anterior to the ears is narrow and low. Now, what are the faculties we have stated to be manifested through this remaining portion of the brain? Chiefly the propensities—all of which are possessed by some animals, and most of them by many: the small portion of anterior brain, corresponds (as the reader will hereafter see,) to the ascertained position of the organs of several of the simplest intellectual faculties—those of perceiving and recollecting individual objects and places: the feeling of caution is strong in some animals, and the organ is situated in the lower part of region No. 2, on a line with the ear. Some animals, it is supposed, reason: they certainly exhibit phenomena which are not satisfactorily explicable on any other supposition. The reasoning power (if they possess any) of the most sagacious is, however, very feeble—limited to a momentary effort. No animal can trace cause and effect to the extent of keeping up a fire. The peculiar mental attributes of man are:—the capacity of distinguishing colours, of observing and producing symmetrical arrangement among physical objects, of counting and making numerical combinations, of noting the passage of time—the adaptation of cerebral organization to these intellectual powers gives the breadth immediately above the eyebrows peculiar to the human head; —the capacity of abstract reasoning, of tracing back causes into the distant past, and foreseeing consequences in the remote future—corresponding to which is his lofty expanded forehead; the sentiments of the Beautiful, of Hope, of Wonder, and the elevated ones of Benevolenee, Veneration, and Conscientiousness—whose appropriate cerebral organs expand and enlarge the top of the head. In 3 22 INTRODUCTION. order to make the comparison between the human and the animal head more complete, I have anticipated somewhat the enumeration of the individual faculties given at the conclusion of the introduction. The reader is referred to it. To illustrate this position by a comparison of human heads, you have here the profile of two which present a strong contrast in their general developments. Observe the perpendicular forehead, the full swell and distance from the orifice of the ear of the upper outline, in the one on the right; and the rapidly retreating forehead, (it scarcely deserves the name,) and shallowness of the upper region in the second: the only resemblance between the two is in the development of the region of the propensities.—The first is the head of Raphael, one of the most extraordinarily gifted men whose character is recorded in history— endowed with a superior intellectual capacity, with the finest susceptibilities of the beautiful, the true, and the good, and with that strength of animal impulse which communicates the energy and warmth of character that are essential to make a man useful and attaching. Raphael, although he died at the early age of thirty-three, has left an imperishable fame.—The other is the head of one of the natives of New Holland. — Sir Walter Scott describes them in the following lan- 23 INTRODUCTION. guage:—"The natives of New Holland are, even at present, in the very lowest scale of humanity, and ignorant of every art which can add comfort or decency to human life. These unfortunate savages use no clothes, construct no cabins or huts, and are ignorant even of the manner of chasing animals, or catching fish, unless such of the latter as are left by the tide, or which are found on the rocks; they feed upon the most disgusting substances, snakes, worms, maggots, and whatever trash falls in their way. They know, indeed, how to kindle a fire; in that respect only they have stept beyond the deepest ignorance to which man can be subjected; but they have not learned how to boil water; and when they see Europeans perform this ordinary operation, they have been known to run away in great terror." My design in these few introductory pages is merely to explain succinctly the first principles of Phrenology, to point out to the reader, in a general manner, their conformity with other known principles and ascertained laws in the economy of nature, and to direct the attention to hitherto unobserved, or unappreciated facts. All that I, therefore, can do further in explanation of the law, that the mind consists of distinct faculties, and that each one has its appropriate separate organ in the brain, will be, to enumerate the faculties, state in a few words the sphere of action of each, and indicate on a representation of the cranium the part of the surface where each individual organ terminates. This enumeration I will leave for the conclusion, and proceed now to make some remarks on the third principle of Phrenology, which is, that other things being equal, the strength of each particular faculty is in proportion to the size of its organ. 24 INTRODUCTION. * Does this principle involve any new element?— Does the admission of its truth require the abandonment of any other established principle? Will the experienced naturalist, on hearing it announced, exclaim—"Here is a new doctrine in physiology, I know of nothing analogous to it, I doubt its correctness?"— Will he not, on the contrary, say—"Show that the mental faculties manifest themselves through physical organs, and this follows of course; it is but the application of a law of nature operating universally?" Let us, to test its conformity to discovered laws of organization, inform ourselves of what is the effect of size with other nerves: illustrations drawn from the same department will be most apposite. From Mr. Combe's third edition of his "System of Phrenology," I derive the following facts, stated on the authority, chiefly, of Des Moulins, a celebrated French physiologist. "Speaking generally," says Mr. Combe, "there are two classes of nerves distributed over the body, those of motion and those of sensation or feeling. In motion, the muscle is the essential or ehief apparatus, and the nerve is required only to communicate to it the impulse of the will; but in sensation the reverse is the case, —the nerve itself is the chief instrument, and the part on which it is ramified is merely a medium for putting it in relation with the specific qualities which it is destined to recognize." "The horse and ox have much greater muscular power, and much less intensity of sensation in' their limbs than man, and the nerves of motion going to the four limbs in the horse and ox are at least one third more numerous than the nerves of sensation going to the same parts; whereas in man the nerves of motion going to the legs and arms are a fifth or a sixth part 25 INTRODUCTION. less than the nerves of sensation distributed on the same parts. In like manner, in birds and reptiles which have scaly skins and limited touch, but vigorous powers of motion, the nerves of sensation are few and small, and the nerves of motion numerous and large. Farther, wherever nature has given a higher degree of sensation or touch to any particular part than to the other parts of an animal, there the nerve of sensation is invariably increased; for example the single nerve of feeling ramified on the tactile extremity of the proboscis of the elephant exceeds in size the united volume of all the muscular nerves of that organ. Birds require to rise in the air, which is a medium much lighter than their own bodies. To have enlarged the size of their muscles would have added to their weight, and increased their difficulty in rising. Nature, to avoid this disadvantage, has bestowed on them large nerves of motion which infuse a very powerful stimulus into the muscles, and increase their power of motion. Fishes live in water, which is almost in equilibrium with their bodies. To them nature has given large muscles, in order to increase their locomotive powers, and in them the nerves of motion are less. In these instances, nature curiously adds to the power of motion, by increasing the size of that part of the locomotive apparatus which may be enlarged .most conveniently for the animal; but either the muscle or the nerve must be enlarged, otherwise there is no increase of power. "In regard to the external senses, it is proper to observe that every external sense is composed, first, of an instrument or medium on which the impression is made—the eye for example; and, secondly, a nerve to conduct that impression to the mind or brain. The 3* 26 introduction. same law of size holds as to them: a large eye will collect more rays of light: a large ear more vibrations of sound; and large nostrils more odorous particles than small ones." In support of this position Mr. Combe cites Monro, Bltjmenbach, Soemmering, Cuvier, Magendie, Georget, and states that many other physiologists might be mentioned. I will quote from him only one more illustration of it. "The organ of sight affords a most interesting example of the influence of size. The office of the eyeball is to collect the rays of light. A large eye, therefore, will take in more rays of light, or, in other words, command a greater sphere of vision, than a small one. But to give intensity or power to vision, the optic nerve is also necessary. Now, the ox placed upon the surface of the earth is of a heavy structure and ill fitted for motion; but he has a large eye-ball, which enables him to take in a large field of vision without turning; but as he does not require very keen vision to see his provender on which he almost treads, the optic nerve is not large in proportion to the eyebail. The eagle, on the other hand, by ascending to a great height in the air, enjoys a wide field of vision from its mere physical position. It looks down from a point over an extensive surface. It has no need, therefore, of a large eye-ball to increase artificially its field of vision; and, accordingly, the ball of its eye is comparatively small. But it requires, from that height, to discern its prey upon the surface of the earth, and not only is its distance great, but its prey often resembles in color the ground on which it rests; great intensity of vision, therefore, is necessary to its existence. Accordingly, in it the optic nerve is increased to an enormous extent. Instead of forming a 27 I-NTBODUCTIOIff. single membrane lining only the inner surface of the posterior chamber of the eye, as in man and animals of ordinary vision, and consequently only equalling in extent the sphere of the eye to which it belongs, the retina or nerve of vision in these quick-sighted birds of prey is found to be composed of a great number of iolds, each hanging loose into the eye, and augmenting, in an extraordinary degree, not only the extent of nervous surface, but the mass of nervous matter, and giving rise to that intensity of vision which distinguishes the eagle, falcon, hawk, and similar animals." These facts are, doubtless, sufficient to satisfy the reader that the principle of Phrenology,—that power of function is in proportion to the size of the organ,— so far from forming an exception to the known laws of nature, is in perfect harmony with them; and that, indeed, reasoning from the analogy of laws ascertained to govern organized matter generally, would have led to the opinion, that it is a principle which would hold good in the cerebral organs. This principle applies both in comparing the brains of different individuals, and in comparing the developments, of the several regions and of the individual organs of the same brain.* We have here the representations of two heads. * In making practical application of this law, several circu instances are to be attended to: first, the size of the whole brain; secondly, the comparative development of the several general regions; and lastly, the comparative development of individual organs. These points must be successively observed. To do this, the average size of the adult human brain, and the average relative developments of the general divisions of it, must be ascertained as a standard of comparison. 28 INTRODUCTION. 29 INTRODUCTION. These two heads stand at the two extremes of human cerebral organization: the first presents, the most noble and beautiful outline: the second is scarcely human in its form. The minds manifested through them were equally unlike: the first is the head of the great German Gothe: the other, that of an idiot. The broad phrenological doctrine is, that a small brain cannot manifest a powerful capacious mind;* and that, individuals with brains of similar size, other things being equal, will be of equal mental capacity. By other things being equal is similarity in temperament and healthfulness of brain. The influence of temperament is admitted; but this admission does not weaken the force of the principle. The influence, also, of education and exercise is great in rendering one mind more efficient than another, when the brains are in all respects alike; but this does not at all affect our position, which is, that two such brains are equal in capacity. No original vivacity of temperament can supply the absence of size in the brain; and no cultivation can of itself communicate power of function. Temperament may add activity to the mind, and education will increase its strength and facility of operation; but the effects of both are limited—the limit being original organization. When I say the effects of education are limited, I speak relatively: I compare art with nature. Education is an art, and one which, when skilfully practised, can produce great results; but the degree of its results is in all cases dependent upon the quality of the material it has to work upon. A sculptor can bring out of the coarsest block a speaking statue; but he requires fine *The word mind is always used to embrace both feeling and intellect. 30 introduction. grained marble to produce a Venus. A skilful education can make much of the worst subject. What do we not see discipline and training do on a dog with his few narrow capacities? how immeasurably greater may be the effect where that which is operated on is the vast and various capabilities of man. Education develops, it does not create: it works with given, finite materials: it is, in short, merely an art:—it is an art, too, which through Phrenology is destined to be perfected. I will conclude what I have to say on this principle of Phrenology with one more illustration of it. It is this, —that, leaving out of the question all modifying influences, to which the brain like all else in nature is liable, we assert unconditionally, that all men of great and powerful minds—men u who tower in the van Of all the congregated world," have large brains. We say that Washington, Cjesar, Bacon, Bonaparte, Franklin, Shakspeare, must have had large brains. The principle applies in like manner and more unreservedly (as there is no modifying influence of temperament) to the power of function in the different regions and organs of the same brain. No skill of education or control of outward circumstances could ever enlarge to excellence the intellectual capacity of an individual with a brain like that of the New Hollander; nor depress to inferiority that of an individual with one like Gothe. The same holds good with single organs and faculties. I will now enumerate the faculties of man as ascertained through the discovery of the connection between individual capacities of mind and separate por 31 INTRODUCTION. tions of the brain. Each one of the following enumerated faculties has been in this way disentangled, as it were, from the general mass of mind. Each one here asserted to exist as an independent, primitive, inborn, mental power, has been verified by a multitude of observations and experiments made by various persons. I therefore state results, not suppositions.* The mind consists, in the first place, of two orders of faculties, viz: faculties of feeling and faculties of intellect. Each of these orders is subdivided into two genera: the feelings into propensities and sentiments; and the intellect into perceptive and reflecting faculties. I shall prefix to each faculty the number corresponding to the number of its organ on the accompanying diagram.' *Many of the terms by which faculties are designated are objectionable. It is, in most instances, impossible to find or to compound words which shall indicate with precision their definite spheres of action. All that can be accomplished by a nomenclature is, to approximate to the simple function, and to give epithets to the faculties which shall at least distinguish each one from the others. In enumerating the faculties, I have placed them in that succession which appeared to me to be most conformable to their relative functions and the position of their organs. I have notjncluded the external senses among the intellectual fafiulties, for they are not, it seems to me, at all intellectual: they do not see into any thing: they do not form ideas. They are but the passive mirrors on which impressions from without are made: the internal senses, the perceptive intellectual faculties, take cognizance of these impressions. The external senses are like a sheet of white paper, upon which the objects of the external world are written; but the characters thus written are read and interpreted by other faculties. As the enumeration of the individual faculties is merely made to enable the reader to understand the allusions to them and the position of their organs, I have only indicated by a few words the function of each. 32 INTRODUCTION. 33 INTRODUCTION. ORDER I. FEELINGS. The general characteristics of the feelings or affective faculties are, in the language of Dr. Spurzheim, as follows: "They have their origin from within, and are not acquired by any external impressions or circumstances. They must be felt to be understood, for they cannot be taught: in themselves they are blind and without understanding: they do not know the objects of their satisfaction, and act without reflection." Genus I. Propensities. There are nine distinct Propensities, each having its specific nature and independent sphere of action: they are all common to man and animals. 1. Amativeness. The feeling of physical love 2. Philoprogenitiveness. Love of offspring and children generally. 3. Concentrativeness. It gives the desire for permanence in place, and for permanence of emotions and ideas in the mind. 4. Adhesiveness. Attachment: friendship and fondness for social intercourse result from it. 5. Combativeness. Courage to meet danger, to overcome difficulties, and to resist attacks. 6. Destructiveness. Desire to destroy. It is very discernible in carniverous animals. 7. Secretiveness. It gives the disposition and the power to conceal. It disposes to be secret in thought word and deed. 4 34 INTRODUCTION. 8. Acquisitiveness. Desire to possess, to accumulate. 9. Constructiveness. Propensity to build, to construct: it gives dexterity in the use of tools in the mechanical arts, and of the brush and chisel in the arts of painting and sculpture.* Genus II. Sentiments. These feelings are accompanied by an emotion of a peculiar kind, and hence they are called sentiments to distinguish them from the mere propensities. 10. Cautiousness. This sentiment is the basis of fear: it is the chief ingredient in prudence. 11. Love of Approbation. Desire of the good opinion of others, of fame, of glory. 12. Self-Esteem. Self-interest; it gives a love of power. 13. Firmness. Fortitude, perseverance 14. Ideality. Love of the beautiful, desire of excellence; it is the basis of the poetical. 15. Hope. It produces a tendency to look forward to the future with confidence and reliance. 16. Wonder. This sentiment gives a desire of novelty; it delights in the marvellous. 17. Imitation. Gives a tendency to imitate; it is necessary to the actors particularly, and the artist. 18. Wit. This sentiment gives a tendency to view objects and events in a ludicrous light. *In the bust I have followed that in Mr. Combe's third edition, by marking thus -\- the position of a conjectured organ of appetite for food, a feeling considered, by Drs. Gall and Spurzheim and by Dr. Hoppe of Copenhagen, distinct from mere hunger. 35 INTRODUCTION. 19. Conscientiousness. The desire to act justly; the love of truth. 20. Veneration. This sentiment produces respect, and reverence for what is great and good. 21. Benevolence. Desire of the happiness of others; sympathy with all living creatures: it produces kind ness, charity. ORDER II. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. The essential nature of these faculties is to know. By means of them we learn the existence, the qualities and the relations of external objects, and of our own minds. They are divided into two classes—the perceptive and the reflecting faculties. Genus I. Perceptive faculties. 22. Language. Power of acquiring the artificial signs of things and ideas—words. 23. Individuality. Perceives* individual physical objects. 24. 25. 26. 27. These four faculties perceive the four physical qualities inseparable from every object, viz: Form, Size, Weight, Colour. 28. Order. Perceives the physical arrangement of objects. * I state only the simplest mode of activity of these faculties, which is perception. The other modes are memory and imagination. They retain and recall what they have perceived;—this is memory: and they form, out of the materials observed by perception, and stored up by memory, new combinations; —this is imagination. 36 INTRODUCTION. 29. Number. Power of counting and combining numbers. 30. Eventuality. Perceives facts and events. 31. Locality. Perceives the relative position of places. 32. Time. Perceives the passage of time. 33. Tune. Perceives musical sounds and their relations. Genus II. Intellectual faculties. 34. Comparison. Power of discovering analogies and resemblances. 35. Causality. Traces the dependencies of phenomena, and the relation of cause and effect. Such are the fundamental faculties which constitute the human mind, as they have been deduced from the discovery of the connexion between mental powers and cerebral organs. Such is a sketch of the system that has been evolved by the laborious cultivation of this great discovery—a system designated by the term Phrenology, formed from the two Greek words