54 



HEREDITY. 



School- room 

 Psychology. 



Phrenology. 



Gall's 

 Philosophy. 



Weak Points of 

 Phrenologyo 



schools, can hardly be called a science. It" gives 

 an indefinite theoretical explanation of the several 

 powers of mind, such as sense-perception, reten- 

 tion, the will, volition, etc., but affords no explana- 

 tion whatever of the peculiarities of the individual, 

 and is, therefore, all but worthless as a basis of 

 education. 



The Gall system of psychology, known as 

 phrenology, is a system of mental philosophy 

 based upon the physiology of the brain. Its funda- 

 mental teachings are : ( i ) The brain is the organ, 

 or instrument, of mind. (2) Each primary ele- 

 ment of mind has its specific center in the brain. 

 (3) The strength of each element of mind is 

 determined by the size, activity or functional 

 power of its brain center. (4) All elements of 

 mind are strengthened by use and weakened by 

 disuse. (5) The normal manifestations of all 

 primary propensities, feelings, faculties and senti- 

 ments are good, but all are subject to perversion 

 and abuse. 



Gall's system of mental philosophy, when 

 divorced from cranial development and cerebral 

 localization, contains the groundwork of the 

 psychology of the future. It furnishes by far the 

 best explanation of the phenomena of mind and 

 the peculiarities of the individual that has yet 

 been presented. It fell into disrepute and failed 

 to reach the colleges largely from two causes: 

 ( i ) Gall and his successors assumed too much in 

 regard to the divisions of the mind and cerebral 

 localization that was not susceptible to scientific 

 demonstration; (2) The possibility of applying 

 the system to the art of reading character gave it 



