194 Scientific Intelligence, — Anthropology. 



which are caused by inequalities cf the bone, from those which 

 mark the proportions of the brain ; so philosophical in its con- 

 ception was the theory of Gall, which proposed to determine 

 character by reference to the height, and breadth, and prominence 

 of different parts of the skull. The craniological theory seemed 

 to derive support from popular expression and universal preju- 

 dice ; a long head is a term that has been vulgarly used to de- 

 scribe extent of capacity ; and a high forehead has always been 

 looked upon as a mark of superior imderstanding. It is to be 

 regretted, that an inquiry, which began with so much promise 

 of success, seems likely to end in disappointment. Upwards of 

 thirty years have now been employed, and half the heads of Eu- 

 rope, that were worth it, have been examined, in the attempt to 

 lay down a chart of the brain ; and we may suppose, that, if there 

 be an essential relation between the shape of the head and our 

 intellectual and moral endowments, it would not now remain un- 

 discovered. Had such a discovery been made, it would follow, 

 that candid persons, with moderate powers of observation, would 

 be able to trace in the heads of men of marked character and ta- 

 lent, a general confirmation of the craniological theory. For my 

 own part, I profess that I have in this manner studied craniolo- 

 gy, but the result has not satisfied me. That craniology should 

 have many supporters, is not surprising ; the habit of studying 

 the slighter indications of character, enables men to form, with 

 unusual quickness, a shrewd judgment of the temper and under- 

 standing of others ; and the more ingenious and clever the ob- 

 server, the more readily will he be able to reconcile the excep- 

 tions which he meets with, with the general truth of his system. 

 When we compare the opposite hemispheres of the cerebrum in 

 animals, the most exact correspondence may be traced between 

 the disposition of the convolutions in both. This is not the case 

 with the human brain ; there is a general resemblance, but no- 

 thing further ; and when we lay side by side different human 

 brains, the order of the convolutions is so various, that, with the 

 exception of those which immediately border the great fissures, 

 no correspondence between each in point of superficial structure 

 qan be fairly made out ; not even enough to allow a general ac- 

 count of the convolutions of any one brain to stand as a de- 

 scription of their usual position. Possibly the quality of differ- 



