37 '2 Dr. Spurzhe'nn's detnomtr alive Course of Lectures 



early age of seventeen : the beard was never developed, and im- 

 poteucy has been the consequence. Idiots and Cretins some- 

 times with and sometimes without this propensity ; tind when 

 thev indulge in it, it is from the absence of reason to govern 

 tlieir passions, aiid not always in consequence of an enlargement 

 of cerebellum or neck. Tiiis propensity not always accompanied 

 by power of execution, as instanced in the cr.se of eunuchs. 

 Dr. S. concluded by remarking, that although this organ was 

 considerably smaller in females than in males, he would show in 

 a subsequent lecture that they possessed an amiable superiority 

 over man, not only in this respect, but also that tlie organ by 

 which the love of offspring (or philoprogenitivcncss) was cha- 

 racterised, was conspicuously larger. Dr. S. concluded by 

 .stating, that if a siiij^le fact could be produced contrary to what 

 he had advanced in tliis lecture, it would overturn the whole 

 system which he was striving to inculcate. 



Led. 5. The professor began witn observing, that the di- 

 stance between the cars gave the horizontal dimensions of the 

 cerebellum, and that the skulls of males and females are much 

 more dilferent in Germany than in England, and still more so 

 than in France ; in the latter, the heads of males and females 

 are very nearlv similar. The second propensity is tb.at desig- 

 nated by the organ of philoprogeniiive?iess, or love of offspring, 

 which English moralists call storge ; it is an elevated point at 

 tlie centre of the occiput, and vcit conspicuous in the female 

 slcull, and even apparent in that of little girls. The function of 

 tliis organ was discovered by observing monkies, which are very 

 fond of their offspring. In some species the females are more 

 careful of their young, in others less, and some totally neglect 

 them, as birds lay their eggs in the sand, and leave them to be 

 hatched by the solar heat, and cuckoos lay them in the nests of 

 other birds. Dr. S. exhibited the corresponding character by 

 the presence or absence of this organ in a great variety of skulls. 

 The female skull and neck are generally longer and narrower 

 in all animals; but at this central cxtrcnn'ty of the occiput, the 

 female cerebrum is gencrallv better devcloj)ed and more con- 

 spicuous ; in the fox it a])pears more than in the dog, as the 

 latter is less aifcclionate to its voung. The contrast between 

 the skull of a cuckoo and that of a dove was very striking, as 

 exhibiting nearly the extremes of affection and indifference to 

 offspring. There is a great difference between human beings 

 respecting young j some women are delighted with all, children, 

 others cannot be troubled with their noise and bustle ; some 

 men al-o kwe children, others are annoyed by them. This can- 

 not be explained by habit, and must be referred to a peculiar 



and 



