30 TRANSACTIONS OF THE I>R0VINCIAL 



of the paper proceeds to notice briefly the theories proposed at different 

 periods, to account for these irregularities of surface and substance, and 

 directs especial attention to those proposed by Monro and others. ** The 

 first Monro, Haller, and Albinus," he remarks, " showed that it is the 

 soft parts that give form to the hard parts in contact with them, and not 

 the hard that give form to the soft ; a proposition easily deduced from 

 the absorption naturally effected by the impetus of circulation, and 

 which, consequently, becomes greatest in those tissues which are made 

 to suffer all the shock of a lively circulation, but possess not an equally 

 active reparative force to make restitution for the waste it occasions." 

 But as it is subsequently remarked, though the muscles may appear to be 

 the instruments employed in effecting these developements, it is not to 

 be supposed that they are themselves the cause by which the irregularities 

 of the bony surface and substance have been produced. For this we 

 must take a closer and a deeper view of the subject, until we are brought, 

 as the author eloquently and justly remarks, ** to see that the formation 

 of all such parts is comprehended in the original design of the author of 

 the animal microcosm, and for the evolution of which, certain springs or 

 forces have been impressed from the beginning upon the embryotic mass, 

 which act as truly in response to their time and object, as the compound 

 forces which exhibit and preserve the harmonious movements of the 

 heavenly bodies." 



It is scarcely necessary to observe that the adepts in the School of 

 Phrenology entertain very different views upon the formation of the 

 skull to those which had been previously advanced. Considering as they 

 do that the outward form of the skull is regulated by, or at least in 

 conformity with, the developement of the brain, of which it constitutes 

 the covering and protection, it was incumbent upon them to shew that 

 such a relationship actually exists. The skull, as is well known, is of an 

 oval or ovoid shape, and the bones of which it is composed may be said, 

 in a general point of view, to consist of an outer plate, called, in the 

 language of anatomy, the outer table ; of an inner plate or table ; and an 

 intermediate cancellated or cellular structure, to which the name of 

 diploe has been given. It is allowed by Dr. Milliganthat the inner table 

 of the skull is adapted to the configuration of the brain, with which it 

 lies in immediate contact. ** If we contemplate the interior of a skull, 

 we shall at once perceive that the inner table has every where penetrated 

 as far as it could into the recesses which open on the surface of the 

 brain. Every convolution has hollowed out its corresponding mould in 

 the vitreous table ; every fissure between the convolutions has its corres- 

 ponding ridge on the same table. The alee minores, the angles of the 

 petrous portions laterally, the crista galli and spinous process before, 

 the vertical and transverse spines behind, all shew the tendency of this 

 table to adapt itself to the fissures of the encephalon ; nor does it ever 

 neglect to do so, except where strong membranes projecting from it, 

 nourished by its vessels, tense like bone, and sometimes becoming bone, 

 supply its place ; it is smooth and glassy, as all bones are which are 

 subjected to a gentle but never-ceasing motion ; and evinces, by this 

 single property, its perpetual contact with the brain, and obedience to 

 the impetus of its double pulsation. Lastly, the inner table has no 

 relation, no attachment to any organ whatever, except the brain, its 

 membranes, and vessels. To the protection of this viscus it is exclusively 

 devoted, and a sagacious anatomist might infer as much from the ordinary 

 course taken by the meningeal arteries." 



It being thus granted that the inner table of the skull is, as it were, 

 moulded upon the brain itself, it necessarily follows that the point in 



