Obituary Notice of Dr. Gaspar Spurzheim. 362 
_ “Dr. Spurzheim procured one letter of introduction for that city, 
and but one ; that was to the reputed author of the vituperating 
essay. He visited him, and obtained permission to dissect a brain in 
his presence. He succeeded in convincing some of his hearers of 
the truth of the results of his researches. A second day was named. 
The room was crowded to overflowing. There, with the Edinburgh 
Review in one hand, and a brain in the other, he opposed fact to 
assertion. ‘The writer of the article still believed the Edinburgh Re- 
view, but the public believed the anatomist. Dr. Spurzheim now 
opened a course of lectures on the anatomy and the functions of the 
brain, and its connexion with the mind. He used to say to the Scotch, 
‘You are slow, but you are sure. I must remain some time with 
you, and then I will leave the fruit of my labors to ripen in your 
This is the spot from which, as from a centre, the doctrine 
of phrenology shall spread over Britain.’ 
. * Edinburgh, the city from which the great anathema had issued 
against phrenology, actually became the principal seat of it. There, 
in 1820, a phrenological society was formed, at the head of which 
stands Mr. G. Combe, extensively known by his interesting works 5 
and there a phrenological journal continues to be published. 
* _ * After a residence of seven months at Edinburgh, Dr. Spursheim, 
returned, i in 1817, to London, where his doctrine had meanwhile 
converts, and where he was made Licentiate of the 
Royal College of Physicians. During the three years of his resi- 
dence in England, he published several works on Phrenology, par- 
ticularly one under the title, The Physiognomical System, of which 
he afterwards published an abstract (Outlines of the Phystognomical 
System.) He also wrote in defence of his principles, his Examina- 
tion of the Objections made in Great Britain against Phrenology. 
_ “ Dr. Spurzheim returned to Paris in 1817, where he gave lec- 
tures on the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the brain. He 
" also devoted himself to the practice of medicine, and visited, in this 
capacity, several American families then residing in Paris. Still the 
Medical profession did not seem to be his favorite occupation. At 
the same time he published some new works in French, and became 
Doctor.of Medicine at the University of Paris, i in 1821.* 
- la Phrenologie ; another, 
Fed piel phys sat ileré Pate motes, Su de? cer a 
medical dissertation, jo cerveau sous les rapports anatomiques. ow 
Vou. XXIIL.—No. 2. 46 | 
