PHRENOLOGY. 



543 



o nssions : the conical head, he term*; religious ; the ; 

 narrow retreating front, weak minded ; the broad 

 neck, salacious, &c. But it was reserved to Drs j 

 Gall and Spurzheim to expand this germ of doctrine j 

 into a minute system, and to map out the whole J 

 cranium into small sections, each section being the ! 

 dwelling-place or work-shop of a certain faculty, 

 propensity, or sentiment, in all amounting to thirty- 

 five, a number which by no means can be supposed 

 to include all the conceivable faculties, propensities, 

 or sentiments that may be alleged as belonging to 

 man, but which, we may imagine, they were obliged 

 to restrict themselves to, for want of room. 



Dr Gall has the merit of first starting this modern 

 philosophy, but to Dr Spurzheim it is mainly indebt- 

 ed for its systematic arrangement, and to Dr Combe 

 of Edinburgh for its advocacy. " In the ninth year of 

 my age," says Dr Gall, " my parents sent me to one 

 of my uncles, who was a clergyman in the Black 

 Forest, and who, in order to inspire me with emula- 

 tion, gave me a companion in my studies. I was, 

 however, frequently reproached for not learning my 

 lessons so well as lie did, particularly as more was ex- 

 pected from me than from him. From my uncle we 

 were both put to school at Baden, near Radstadt, 

 and there, whenever our task was to learn by heart, 

 I was always surpassed by boys who, in their other 

 exercises, were much my inferiors. As every one of 

 those who were remarkable for this talent had large 

 and prominent ejes, we gave them the nickname of 

 ox-eyed. Three years after this we went to school 

 at Bruchsa, and there again the ox-eyed scholars 

 mortified me as before. Two years later I went to 

 Strasburgh, and still found that, however moderate 

 their abilities in other respects, the pupils with promi- 

 nent eyes all learned by heart with the greatest ease. 

 Although I was utterly destitute of previous know- 

 ledge, I could not help concluding that prominent 

 eyes were the mark of a good memory ; and the 

 connexion between this external sign and the mental 

 faculty occurred to me. It was not, however, till 

 some time afterwards that, led from observation to 

 observation, from reflection to reflection, I began to 

 conceive tliat since memory has its external sign the 

 other faculties might very well have theirs. From 

 that moment every person remarkable for any talent, 

 or for any quality, became the subject of new atten- 

 tion, and all my thoughts were directed to a minute 

 study of the form of their heads. Little by little I 

 ventured to flatter myself that I could perceive one 

 constant shape in the head of every great painter, of 

 every great musician, of every great mechanic, seve- 

 rally denoting a decided predisposition in the indivi- 

 dual to one or other of these arts. In the mean time 

 I had begun the study of medicine, when I heard 

 much about the functions of the muscles, of the vis- 

 cera, &c., but not a word about the functions of the 

 brain. My former observations then recurred to me, 

 and led me to suspect, what I afterwards proved, 

 that the form of the skull is entirely due to the form 

 of the viscus which is contained in it. From that 

 instant I conceived the hope of being able one day 

 to determine the moral and intellectual faculties of 

 man, by means of his cerebral organization, and of 

 establishing a physiology of the brain. I therefore 

 resolved to continue my researches until I should ob- 

 tain my object or find it impossible. The task would 

 have been less difficult had I abandoned myself en- 

 tirely to nature. But I had learned too much of the 

 errors and prejudices then taught upon those subjects 

 not to be biassed by them, and I was still further en- 

 tangled by the doctrines of metaphysicians, who teach 

 that all our ideas come by our senses ; that all men 

 are born alike ; that education and accident alone 

 make them differ. If this be true, said I, no faculty 



can have an external sign, and to study the brain, 

 its parts, and its functions is absolute madness. Still 

 I remembered my former observations ; I knew that 

 the circumstances in which my brothers and sisters, 

 my school-fellows, and my play-mates, had from their 

 infancy been placed were all alike. I saw that edu- 

 cation was bestowed in vain on some persons, that 

 others had talents without it. I observed a propor- 

 tionate variety in the disposition of animals. Some 

 dogs are born hunters, while others of the same litter 

 cannot be taught; some are peaceful, some ill-tem- 

 pered. In birds there is a similar diversity. The 

 whole animal kingdom spoke then in favour of my 

 strong surmises, and I resolved to prosecute my 

 plan." 



Dr Gall, a surgeon at Vienna, born in Suabia in 

 1757, commenced giving private lectures on the 

 subject in 1796, but at the end of five years, the 

 Austrian government took alarm at his novel doc- 

 trines, and prohibited his lectures, unless under a 

 special permission. The prohibition, of course, 

 stimulated curiosity, and added to the notoriety of 

 the science. In 1800, he was joined by Dr Spurz- 

 heim, (born near Treves on the Moselle in 1776) who 

 continued his colleague till 1813, both conducting 

 their researches in common. They travelled to- 

 gether from place to place, visiting prisons and ex- 

 amining felons of every description, for the purpose 

 of extending or confirming their theories, and lectur- 

 ing occasionally, with the view of indemnifying ex- 

 penses or gaining proselytes. Their great trial was 

 at the bar of the French Institute, Paris, where they 

 presented themselves to receive official support or 

 condemnation of their science. A commission was 

 named by the Institute to report upon the labours of 

 Drs Gall and Spurzheim. After much patient in- 

 vestigation, the report was drawn up by the celebrat- 

 ed Cuvier. It was unfavourable to the science of 

 Phrenology, and even went so far as to excuse the 

 Institute for having taken the subject into considera- 

 tion at all. This, it may be curious to remark, has 

 been the fate of phrenology with every really dis- 

 tinguished physiologist and metaphysician. After 

 examining its claims, they feel so satisfied of the 

 absurdities involved in them, that they dismiss the 

 subject from their minds, without bestowing on it 

 any after consideration, just as a person, who has 

 mistaken a turnip in the field for a human skull, 

 flings it from him hastily, in the fear that he may be 

 laughed at for having given it a moment's attention. 

 Hence, in all our profound metaphysical works, 

 phrenology is never or but barely adverted to ; and 

 though mere authority of high names should never be 

 adduced, of themselves, to condemn, still it cannot 

 be denied that their presence carries a legitimate 

 weight in recommending a subject.* 



In March, 1814, Dr Spurzheim came to Britain, 

 and proceeded to London, where he exhibited at the 

 Medico-Chirurgical Society's hall, commencing by 

 a dissection of the brain. He delivered a course of 

 lectures, but his auditors were not more than forty, 

 and his second course was equally thinly attended. At 

 Bath, Bristol, Dublin, and Cork, where he also de- 

 livered lectures, he was equally coldly received ; but 

 at Edinburgh, whence he proceeded, he was more 

 successful in procuring proselytes. Attention had 

 been drawn to the subject there by a very pungent 



* The British Asaociation, established several years ago. and 

 the object of which is to bring scientific men annually together 

 from nil quarters of Europe, for the harmonious discussion of 

 their various pursuits, refused to admit Phrenology as a section 

 of their society. This we slate as a fact, but not approvingly ; 

 for we are averse to an exclusive spirit in philosophy, or any 

 thing else : and if phrenology he not an established science its 

 researches are at least intimately connected with swnce, botfc 

 mental and physical. 



