CHAP. xvi. THE NEGLECT OF PHRENOLOGY. 179 



progress, and there then seemed to be no reason why it 

 should not take its place among the recognized sciences, 

 since it was acknowledged by such men as Sir James 

 Clarke, Physician to the Queen ; Sir John Forbes, M. D. ; 

 Dr. Elliotson, Dr. William Gregory, Dr. Engledue, Dr. 

 Conolly, Physician of Hanwell Asylum ; Dr. Abernethy, 

 Professor of Anatomy and Surgery to the College of 

 Surgeons, and many others. Soon after this period, how- 

 ever, it began to decline; and as the causes which led to 

 this decline have, I believe, never been clearly pointed 

 out, I will here state them as they seem to me to have 

 acted. 



The two main causes which discredited Phrenology 

 appear to have been (1) the increase of itinerant lec- 

 turers, many of whom were uneducated, and some igno- 

 rant of the subject they professed to expound; and (2) 

 its association with mesmerism or hypnotism, which at 

 that time was still more virulently opposed. 



1. Although Phrenology, to be thoroughly under- 

 stood and applied to the accurate delineation of charac- 

 ter, requires a considerable amount of study and long 

 practice, yet it appears, superficially, to be very easy; 

 and it can actually be applied in cases of very marked 

 character with fair success after a moderate amount of 

 practice. Hence, although many of the public expo- 

 nents of the science were very able men, there were 

 others who adopted the business of lecturer and examiner 

 of heads with imperfect knowledge. These, by their 

 ignorance of the anatomy and physiology of the brain, 

 their clumsiness in detecting the comparative size of the 

 organs, and their inability to estimate the complicated 



