342 MENTAL FACULTIES. 



the various spots where these irritations produce their effects, this or 

 that part of the brain is called into a greater or less degree of activity, 

 and forms along with itself corresponding parts of the skull." 1 This 

 view, that exercise of the encephalic organs occasions their develope- 

 ment in bulk, and want of due exercise their decrease, is now main- 

 tained by many phrenologists; but denied by others. 



The above examples are sufficient to show, that the attempt to assign 

 faculties to different parts of the brain; and, consequently, the belief, 

 that the brain consists of a plurality of organs, had been long indulged 

 by anatomists and philosophers. The views of Gall are resuscitations 

 of the old; but resembling them little more than in idea. Those of 

 the older philosophers were the merest fantasies, unsupported by ob- 

 servation: the speculations of the modern physiologist have certainly 

 been the result of long and careful investigation, and deep meditation. 

 Whilst, therefore, we may justly discard the former, the latter are 

 worthy of careful and unprejudiced examination. 



Admitting, with M. Gall, the idea of the plurality of organs in the 

 encephalon, the inquiry would next be, how many special nervous 

 systems are there in that of man, and what are the primary intellectual 

 and moral faculties over which they preside? This Gall has attempted. 

 To attain this double object, he had two courses to adopt; either, 

 first to indicate anatomically the nervous systems that constitute the 

 encephalon; and then to trace the faculties of which they are the 

 organs ; or, contrariwise, to point out first the primary faculties, and 

 afterwards to assign to each an organ or particular seat. The first 

 course was impracticable. The encephalic organs are not distinct, 

 isolated : and if they were, simple inspection could not indicate the 

 faculty over which they preside, any more than the appearance of a 

 nerve of sense could indicate the kind of sensation for which it is des- 

 tined. It was, only, therefore, by observing the faculties, that he could 

 arrive at a specification of the primary encephalic organs. But here, 

 again, a source of difficulty arose. How many primary intellectual and 

 moral faculties are there in man? and what are they? The classifi- 

 cations of the mental philosophers, differing, as we have seen they 

 do, so intrinsically and essentially from each other, could lead him to 

 no conclusion. He first, however, followed the views on which they 

 appeared to be in accordance; and endeavoured to find particular 

 organs for the faculties of memory, judgment, imagination, &c. But 

 his researches in this direction were fruitless. He, therefore, took for 

 his guidance the common notions of mankind ; and having regard to 

 the favourite occupations, and different vocations of individuals, to 

 those marked dispositions, which give occasion to the idea, that a 

 man is born a poet, musician, or mathematician, he carefully examined 

 the heads of such as presented these predominant qualities, and endea- 

 voured to discover in them such parts of the encephalon as were more 

 prominent than usual, and might be considered as special nervous 

 systems, organs of those faculties. After multitudinous empirical 

 researches on living individuals, on collections of crania, and casts 



1 Dr. Sewall, Examination of Phrenology, 2d edit., p. 14, Boston, 1839. 



