THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 405 



phrenology to the belief of 'fatalism. But each has his own precise 

 talents and disposition by nature; on some circumstances or other 



functions of the brain must be studied ; I am the first who has broken down the 

 barrier opposed by superstition and ignorance, for thousands of years, to the 

 progress of the physiology of the nervous system ; the first who conceived the 

 idea of distinguishing the general attributes from the true qualities and funda- 

 mental faculties ; the first who determined the instincts, the inclinations, the sen- 

 timents, and the talents which are connected with certain cerebral parts. I am. 

 the first who had the courage, the patience, and the perseverance to examine and 

 fix the relations which exist between the energy of the moral qualities and of 

 the intellectual faculties, and the various development of the parts of the brain. 

 I am the first who has extended these researches to the whole brute kingdom, 

 who has studied thousands of animals, as to their most striking instincts, inclin- 

 ations, and faculties, and the configuration of their brain, both in individuals and 

 species. I am the first who discovered and pointed out the means of discovering 

 the seat of each instinct, sentiment, and intellectual faculty. I am the first who 

 discovered these seats, and demonstrated them by numerous physiological and 

 pathological facts, and by an infinity of researches into the comparative anatomy 

 and physiology of all species of animals." 



" Yes ; once more, I am the first and the only one to whom the physiology of 

 the brain owes its existence ; I have discovered it without the assistance of any 

 man. This the history of each of my discoveries proves. It is the same with the 

 physiology of the brain as with its structure. To pick out what might by chance 

 be found dispersed in authors, would have required more cleverness than to 

 detect the mysteries of nature by observation. I began, continued, and com- 

 pleted all my discoveries, without any previous learning ; and if, at a later period, 

 I compiled quotations, it was rather to mark the point of my departure, than 

 to strengthen my ideas by those of my predecessors and cotemporaries. " (1. c. 8vo. 

 t. v. p. 519. sq. 522. sq.) 



In his preface to the third quarto volume, published in 1818, and the sixth 

 octavo, published in 1825, he says, " The foundation of this doctrine being laid, it 

 must be as immovable as the materials, the facts, of which it is constructed. 

 But I am far from believing the edifice complete : neither the life nor the fortune 

 of one man would be sufficient for this vast project. Up to this present moment 

 I have been left to my own resources. An immense concourse of the most favour- 

 able circumstances would be required to raise this study to the height which 

 it is capable of attaining. There would be required a complete collection of the 

 crania of brutes, not only of different species, but also of individuals in which 

 qualities or faculties strongly pronounced had been observed. There would be 

 required a complete collection of the brains of brutes, modelled in wax after 

 nature, to multiply the means of comparison. There would be required a num- 

 ber of crania, or at least of casts, of men and women distinguished by some 

 quality or faculty : finally there would be required a more extensive knowledge 

 of natural history than we have at present, with respect to instances of industrious 

 aptitudes, qualities, and faculties ; in a word, with respect to the internal economy 

 of the brute creation." 



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