272 ON THE CONNECTION OF 



could at once declare his tendency to animal and selfish propensities, 

 and we could specify his temper and disposition : nay, all this could 

 be done without any inspection of the nose, mouth, or chin, &c. ; 

 but, in most instances, I admit that these features would indicate 

 what is called u an animal face," though the most gifted disciple of 

 Lavater would be puzzled to name particulars of such a person's 

 disposition, &c. Or suppose the converse of the latter example : — 

 the forehead ample, and the whole superior region much elevated, 

 whilst the head, when viewed in front, presented it as narrow 

 compared to the height. The merest tyro in Phrenology could, by 

 mere manipulation, pronounce such an organization as indicative of 

 great intellectual capacity and high moral perception ; and this 

 without any previous acquaintance with the person examined, or any 

 knowledge of his facial expression. 



Another proof of the superiority of Phrenology is the fact that, to 

 obtain a correct likeness, the head must be a facsimile. My at- 

 tention was first called to the importance of this to the painter and 

 sculptor from the following circumstance : — I had occasion to call 

 on Mr. Higson, House Surgeon of the Hull Infirmary, when he 

 pointed out a bust in plaster, and asked me whether I knew who it 

 was like. I gave a hesitating answer, guessing it might be intended 

 for his own, because the bust had a collar and white handkerchief 

 round its neck, similar to the manner in which Mr. Higson himself 

 used to wear them. On my exclaiming against it as a likeness, he 

 supplied the following explanation : an Italian artist had taken his 

 mask in plaster, which is a fac-simile of his features ; but as he 

 objected to have his head taken in the same way, the artist supplied 

 " a fancy sketch," giving him, instead of his own high and well- 

 formed head, one extremely narrow, and rather of an amorphous 

 shape : so that his most intimate friends did not know him, or even 

 surmise that it was ever intended for him : he, therefore, dressed 

 it in the manner described, and some, like myself, guessed against 

 our own ocular information. 



These and similar cases prove that the head is actually more im- 

 portant than the features as a means for recognising a likeness, and 

 to individualize a person it is still more so. The slightest depression 

 or elevation of the eye-brows more or less than they should be, de- 

 stroys the identity of a portrait ; in other words, a greater or less 

 development of any of the perceptive faculties alters the intellectual 

 character, and destroys the individuality of a person. If this be 

 the case in the small group of organs which affect the form of the 

 eyebrows, how much more so must it be when there is a greater 



