170 THE WONDERFUL CENTURY. CHAP. xvi. 



Mr. Combe. Dr. Fife. 



P. S. (aged 20). 



My inference is that this boy Twice convicted of theft. He 



is not accused of violence; has never shown brutality, 



he has a talent for deception but he has no sense of 



and a desire for property honesty. He has frequently 



not regulated by justice. It attempted to impose on Dr. 



is most probable that he has Fife. . . . He has a talent 



swindled : he has the com- for imitation. 

 bination which contributes to 

 the talent of an actor. 



T. S. (aged 18). 



This boy is very different from Crime, rape. . . . Mild dis- 

 the last. He has probably position ; has never shown 

 been committed for assault actual vice, 

 connected with women. He 

 may have stolen, though I 

 think this less probable. He 

 has fair intellectual talents, 

 and is improvable. 



J. W. (aged 73). 



Case for a lunatic asylum rather A thief ; obstinate, ungrateful ; 

 than a jail. Moral organs one of the most depraved 

 very defective. Intellect characters, 

 moderate. Cautiousness very 

 large. No control of the 

 lower propensities. 



Another interesting test-case is the following. A 

 surgeon at Chatham sent a skull to Dr. Elliotson, stating 

 that he belonged to a literary society the members of 

 which were much divided on the subject of phrenology, 

 and it was suggested that the skull in question, being 

 that of a person whose character and previous history 

 was known to the members, should be sent to some emi- 

 nent phrenologist with a request for a delineation of the 



