Phrenology. 67 



The resolutions were communicated to Mr. Combe with the 

 letter, of which the following is a copy. 



TO MR. GEORGE COMBE. 



Dear Sir — In compliance with the request of the gentlemen 

 and ladies who have attended your course of lectures on phrenol- 

 ogy, we have the pleasure of presenting you with a copy of the 

 resolutions adopted by them, and avail ourselves of the occasion 

 to communicate the assurance of our high respect and esteem. 



David Daggett, 

 Henry W. Edwards, 

 Benjamin Silliman, 

 Dennis Kimberly, 



Denison Olmsted. 



New Haven, March 15, 1840. 



Remarks* of Prof. Silliman in support of the above resolutions. 



Mr. Chairman — I beg leave to second the resolutions just 

 moved by the honorable gentleman. I have no doubt sir, that I 

 express the sentiments of this audience when I say, in the spirit 

 of the first resolution, that I have listened to the lectures of Mr. 

 Combe with great satisfaction, and that I have found them replete 

 not only with entertainment but with instruction. 



I perfectly agree in opinion with the mover of the resolutions 

 that phrenology, if true, is a very important science. In relation 

 to its early history, permit me, therefore, to state a few facts that 

 came within my personal knowledge, and which have a bearing 

 upon some of the statements of our respected lecturer. 



It was my fortune Sir, while in Edinburgh in 1805-6, to sit, 

 both in and out of the University, at the feet of several of the able 

 teachers, whom Mr. Combe has named. Some of his instructors 



* It is proper to observe, that these remarks were uttered, on the excitement of 

 the moment, without reference to any other object, than the carrying of the resolu- 

 tions. But a wish having been expressed in various quarters, that an account of 

 the whole of the proceedings might appear before the public, this report was first 

 prepared with reference to the newspapers ; it was thought however to be too much 

 extended for that channel of communication, and that justice to Mr. Combe de- 

 manded a more permanent form of publication, especially as his European friends 

 might be gratified by adding this to the proofs already given in other places of his 

 very favorable reception in this country. It may be perceived by those who heard 

 the substance of the following remarks, that they are now carried out more fully 

 than in the delivery, as the time was then limited. , 



