OF THE UNDERSTANDING 369 



But M. Gall seems to have particularly devoted himself to a search 

 for the external signs which might indicate a high eminence of in- 

 tellectual faculties in certain individuals. He recognised that all these 

 faculties are based upon functions of the cerebral organ, and therefore 

 directed his attention to the encephalon. After some years of research, 

 he became convinced that those of our intellectual faculties, which are 

 greatly developed and have acquired a high degree of complexity, 

 may be recognised by external signs consisting of certain protuber- 

 ances of the cranium. 



M. Gall certainly founded his theory on a sound principle : for if 

 it is true, as I have sufficiently proved in Part I., Chapter VIL, that all 

 parts of the body which are vigorously and constantly used, acquire 

 a characteristic development and strength of function, the same must 

 hold good equally for the organ of understanding in general, and even 

 for each of the special organs which compose it : so much is certain and 

 easy to demonstrate by many established facts. 



M. Gall's underlying principle therefore is beyond criticism ; but 

 the results of enquiries into the doctrines taught by this savant give 

 rise to the belief that he misapplied his theory, as regards most of the 

 inferences which he drew from it. 



As a matter of fact, in the case of the special organs which enter into 

 the composition of the two cerebral hemispheres and give rise to the 

 different kinds of intellectual faculties, the principle seems to me to be 

 much less applicable than M. Gall supposes ; and indeed it can only be 

 in a very small number of extreme cases that certain faculties which 

 have acquired extraordinary power may present indubitable external 

 signs of their existence. In such cases I should not be in the least 

 surprised at the discovery of some such signs, since they have a true 

 natural cause. But with regard to our intellectual faculties, M. Gall 

 has lost sight of the larger distinctions, to embark upon a crowd of 

 details, including even the gradations between these faculties ; and 

 this in my opinion is an instance of a very ordinary abuse of the 

 imagination, which destroys the value of our discoveries in the study 

 of nature. And now because M. Gall wanted to prove too much, the 

 public have fallen into the opposite extreme and rejected the whole. 

 Such is the usual progress of the human mind in its various acts ; the 

 good that has been done is most often spoilt by excess and abuse. 

 The exceptions to this rule are only found in a small minority of 

 persons who by the aid of a powerful reason set limits to the 

 imagination which tends to carry them away. 



To regard certain propensities which have become altogether 

 dominant as innate in the human species, is not only a dangerous 

 belief but also a genuine mistake. We may no doubt possess at birth 



