ON THE PSYCHO-PHYSICAL VIEW OF NATURE. 477 



gress, sometimes repudiated and treated with whole- 

 sale contempt, was that started by Gall, who from the 

 year 1805 onward, and latterly in conjunction with 

 Spurzheim, 1 started on an anatomical description of the 

 brain as the centre of nervous and conscious mental 



1 The two most prominent 

 teachers of phrenology were Franz 

 Joseph Gall (1758-1828) of Pforz- 

 heim, and Joh. Christ. Spurzheim 

 (1776-1834) of Trier, the former 

 an excellent doctor, the latter a 

 skilled anatomist. Their influence 

 was centred in Vienna and Paris. 

 In England and America phren- 

 ology dates its popularity from 

 George Combe (1788-1858). The 

 term phrenology was suggested by 

 George Forster about 1815, ten 

 years after Gall had started his 

 ' Schadellehre ' or ' Craniology. ' 

 Of eminent medical authorities, 

 the great Broussais in France (1772- 

 1838) and C. G. Carus (1789-1869) 

 in Germany were both phren- 

 ologists, the latter attempting to 

 give the doctrine a more scientific 

 foundation. Though phrenology 

 was never popular in France, where 

 the Academy of Sciences from the 

 beginning assumed a very sceptical 

 attitude (see above, vol. i. p. 136 

 note), the opponents of Gall have 

 always given him full credit for 

 his ability, and for the great im- 

 pulse he gave to anatomical science 

 of the brain. Flourens, one of the 

 most formidable critics of the doc- 

 trine of the special faculties, and 

 consequently of the separate phren- 

 ological organs and their location, 

 nevertheless says: "Gall fut un 

 observateur profond, qui nous a 

 ouvert, avec gdnie, 1'etude de 

 1'anatomie et de la physiologic du 

 cerveau. . . . Je n'oublierai jamais 

 1'impression que j'e"prouvai la 

 premi6re foie que je vis Gall disse- 

 quer un cerveau ; il me semblait 

 que je n'avais pas encore vu cet or- 



gane " (quot. by Langlois, ' Grande 

 Encyclop.,' vol. xxvi. p. 801). Some- 

 what earlier than phrenology the 

 science or art of physiognomies, 

 which was known already and 

 practised by the ancients, had a 

 representative in Caspar Lavater 

 of Ziirich, who, from 1772 onward, 

 published his ' Physiognomische 

 Fragmente,' a work which, accom- 

 panied by engravings by Chodo- 

 wiecki, created a great sensation 

 in philosophical, literary, and artis- 

 tic circles, the whole of Europe 

 being divided into followers and 

 critics of Lavater. Among the 

 latter was the celebrated Lich- 

 tenberg of Gottingen. Among 

 scientific men were Camper in 

 Holland, and later Charles Bell in 

 England ; the former putting for- 

 ward the well - known theory of 

 the "facial angle" as an external 

 measure of intelligence, the latter 

 publishing his ' Essay on the Ana- 

 tomy of Expression ' (1806). In 

 more recent times no less an 

 authority than Charles Darwin 

 took up the subject in his work 

 on the ' Expression of Emotions ' 

 (1872). Shortly before Ph. Piderit 

 published his ' Wissenschaf tliches 

 System der Mimik und Physiog- 

 nomik' (1867) ; Duchesne (1862) his 

 ' Me"canisme de la physionomie hu- 

 maine ' ; and more recently the Ital- 

 ian Mantegazza his ' Physionomie 

 et 1'expression des sentiments' 

 (French transl., 1885). A very 

 readable essay on the subject will 

 be found among Prof. Wundt's 

 'Essays' (1885). See also his 

 ' Physiologische Psychologic ' (vol. 

 ii. p. 598, &c.,4thed.) 



