GRANIOSCOPY. 



321 



Cranias- 

 copy. 



1. History of the Science. 



This science is of very recent date, but as it is a sub- 

 ject which has excited a considerable interest, not in the 

 public mind alone, but amongst the most eminent phi- 

 losophers, we conceive it highly deserving a place in 

 the present work. It was first proposed as a science by 

 Dr Gall, a German physician of very considerable abili- 

 ties, who, in the early part of his life, is said to have 

 paid great attention to the study of natural history, em- 

 ploying his spare time in collecting animals and plants, 

 and arranging them from their external characters, re- 

 gardless of the systems of others, (of which he was 

 probably ignorant). From these early habits of in- 

 vestigation, he very soon noticed a general form in the 

 heads of such of his fellow-students as resembled eacli 

 other in disposition and pursuits, which suggested the 

 possibility of discovering the intellectual characters of 

 individuals from an examination of the cranium. On 

 minute investigation, however, he found the fallacy of 

 his opinions, in consequence of which he retracted his 

 general inferences, and directed his attention to the in- 

 dividual parts of the skull ; at the same time calling in 

 the aid of comparative anatomy ; losing no opportunity 

 of collecting skulls of every description, both of men and 

 animals ; and obtaining casts in Paris plaster of living 

 characters of eminence. As his knowledge increased, he 

 delivered lectures on the subject, until his fame reached 

 the ears of the Austrian government, who, under the fatal 

 administration of bigotted priests, thought proper to pro- 

 hibit him from lecturing, because his doctrines were sup- 

 posed to lead to materialism and atheism. He was, there- 

 fore, compelled to travel to the northern parts of Germany, 

 and, in his route, he lectured at Dresden, Berlin, Halle, 

 Jena, Gottengen, &c. and as his partizans were very nu- 

 merous, and much in his interest, he was welcomed to 

 the first tables, which enabled him not only to extend 

 his observations, but to converse with learned men on 

 the subject of his doctrines. He is now in Paris, where 

 his abilities are duly appreciated, and he meets with the 

 most liberal encouragement, not from scientific men 

 alone, but from the French government ; and, after a 

 long series of years spent in laborious investigation, and 

 in the collection of facts, he thinks himself justified in 

 submitting the result to the public, which he is now 

 doing in a most splendid work in the French language, 

 entitled, Aaalomie et Physiologie du Systcme Nerveaux 

 en general, et du cerveau en parliculier ; avcc des Ob- 

 servations sur la possibilife de reconnoitre plusieurs Dis- 

 posilions Intellect uelles et Morales de V Homme et dcs 

 Animaux par la Configuration de leurs Tetes, par F. J. 

 Gall et G. Spurzheim. Vol. 1. Anaiomie el Physiologie 

 du Sysieme Nerveaux, en general, et du cerveau en par- 

 liculier in quarto avec 17 planches in folio, et in duoded- 

 mo point planches. 



2. Gall's Opinions on the Anatomy of the Brain. 



Before entering into a minute detail of particular or- 

 gans, it may not be improper to give a slight sketch of the 

 opinions entertained by Dr Gall, respecting the general 

 anatomical structure of the brain. He is of opinion, 

 that the encephalon, or brain, is not, as has generally 

 been supposed by anatomists, a pulpy substance, but a 

 membrane ; and he infers this, from observing the un- 

 impaired state of the intellectual faculties in the disease 

 (.tiled hydrocephalus internvs. where the brain i= some- 



VOL. VII. PARTI. 



times so much compressed, as to be scarcely a line in Cram'os- 

 thickness. The spinal marrow too, which is generally copy, 

 said to be an elongation of the brain, he imagined must — * ' ^ 

 have an uninterrupted communication with it, from 

 observing paralysis of the extremities from injuries of 

 the hemispheres, and he was fortunate enough to verify* 

 this hypothesis, and to trace the connection. This is 

 declared to be false by Professor Walter ; but the wri- 

 ter of this article, in a recent brain, once saw this con- 

 nection traced, and has no doubt that, under favourable 

 circumstances, it may always be made out ; but the 

 brains we meet with in our dissecting rooms, are in 

 too bad a state to admit of any accurate or useful inves- 

 tigation. The medulla spiralis is composed of nerves, 

 and, like the brain, is divided into two equal halves^ 

 which again may be subdivided into fasciculi, separated 

 from one another by a grey substance, which probably 

 is appropriated to nourish and strengthen the nerves. 

 This nervous stem grows stronger and larger as it pro- 

 ceeds upwards, imtil it terminates within the skull, and 

 then the whole expands like the branches of a tree ; 

 thus, the nerves originate where anatomists have sup- 

 posed them to terminate ; the nerves being formed be- 

 fore the spinal marrow ; the medulla spinalis before the 

 brain ; hence nerves are found where there is no spinal 

 marrow, and in new born infants, the latter was observed 

 to exist, by Gall, whilst there was no appearance of brain. 

 Gall commenced his examination of the encephalon at 

 the base, beginning with the cerebellum and spinal mar- 

 row, employing a blunt instrument, by this means un- 

 ravelling the convolutions of which it is composed ; and 

 never using a knife or sharp instrument, which destroys 

 its beautiful texture, and renders it one mass of confu- 

 sion. The general results of his examinations tend to 

 show, 1st, That the whole of the medullary substance 

 of the brain and cerebellum consists of nervous fibres, 

 which are nourished, intimately connected, and strength- 

 ened by the cortical substance, which is composed of 

 ganglia. 2d, That the nerves, which constitute the 

 essential part of the encephalon and spinal marrow, are 

 of two kinds: 1, the excurrent; 2. the recurrent; all 

 of which take their origin from the spinal marrow, and 

 terminate in it ; consequently, the medullary part of the 

 encephalon is derived from the spinal marrow, and the 

 cortical part is the superficial ganglion of the brain and 

 cerebellum ; and that all the excurrent nerves terminate 

 in the outer surface of the cortical substance on which 

 the tunica arachnoides rests, while all the recurrent take 

 their rise at this place. 



3. Physiology of the Brain. 



The brain is universally allowed to be the organ of 

 thinking, but thought is but a general term, including a 

 vast number of intellectual phenomena, and the brain is 

 a veiy complicated organ. Shall we then, says Gall, rest 

 contented with the general assertion, that the brain is 

 the organ of mind ? He considers it as a congeries of dis- 

 tinct organs, the existence of which distinguish the dif- 

 ferent individuals hardly less from one another, than 

 man is himself distinguished from other animals. 

 Amongst various proofs of the real existence of sepa- 

 rate organs in the brain, are the following: 1. The 

 sense of fatigue, arising from the mind having been 

 long employed in one subject of contemplation ; and 

 the relief and delight we experience in variety : this 

 cannot have escaped the observation of the most cur- 

 sory observer. 2. The degrees in which the different 



