20 SENTIENT PRINCIPLE* 



ter OP worse advantage, while in connexion with 

 the brain, as it is more or less favorably situated, 

 though its essential qualities will not be altered. 



In order to ascertain on what circumstances the 

 favorable operations of the powers of the mind de- 

 pend, an extensive series of comparisons was ne- 

 cessary. One point was soon ascertained. The 

 united observations of mankind for ages, has de- 

 monstrated, that all persons whose foreheads are 

 greatly compressed are idiots, though in the best 

 state of health. Hence a safe inference was drawn, 

 that the clevelopeiuent of a duly proportioned vo- 

 lume of brain in the forehead, is essential to the 

 advantageous exercise of the powers of the mind. 

 After proving that a due developement of volume 

 was necessary to common sense, enlarged and 

 compressed portions of the brain were to be ex- 

 amined, in cases of remarkable strength or weak- 

 ness in any of the faculties of the mind. If one 

 individual possessed remarkable discriminating 

 powers, and another was strongly predisposed to be 

 at variance with others ; and if the former had a 

 remarkable prominent ridge in the centre of the 

 upper part of his forehead, and the latter had am 

 unusual prominence back of his ears, the promi- 

 nent ridge in the forehead would be called the or- 

 gan of discrimination, and the prominence back 

 of the ears, the organ of comlativeness. Should 

 the same coincidence of prominences and faculties 

 frequently occur, after twenty or thirty years of 

 accurate observation, the location of them would 

 be considered as the residence of such faculties ; 

 and their volume would indicate their degree of 

 strength or weakness. 



