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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



his pet dead at the bottom of his cage. I will 

 not describe his sobbings and lamentations. There 

 was no one to mark them but magpie, who was 

 hopping about the play-room, and at last hopped 

 to the top of the dead squirrel's cage. This 

 monitor, looking obliquely down upon Edwin, ] 

 said, with a roguish leer," You are a stupid ! " | 

 Edwin was more than a stupid. But still the [ 

 set phrase of the magpie had its effect upon him. 

 " I have been," said he to himself/' stupid indeed, : 

 and wicked, too." And so my young friends 

 are all they, who neglect those whom they are 

 bound to cherish and to love. They who are fond 

 of pets should reflect, that when they have them 

 they incur a kind of responsibility. They are 

 bound to feed them, and to care for them ; and if 

 they fail in this, they are really very wicked ; 

 while the habit of inconstancy, and of fickleness, 

 will render them in mature years both dangerous 

 and despicable among their fellow creatures, who 

 will put neither faith nor trust in them. 



Our readers will bear witness, that we 

 have not shown ourself backward in exposing 

 cases of cruelty. The wretch King, who 

 roasted his cat alive, and enjoyed her cries 

 whilst sipping his brandy and water with 

 11 his lady and his friend,"— and the mis- 

 creant, at Southampton, who recently cut off 

 full half of the lower mandible of a favorite 

 and friendly jackdaw — these and others have 

 been duly branded by us. We will continue 

 the good work. 



PHRENOLOGY FOE THE MILLION. 



No. XLII. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BRAIN. 



BY F. J. GALL, M.D. 



(Continued from Page 171.) 



In Animals and in Man, when already 

 formed, the organs of the body are still sub- 

 jected to different periods of an activity altogether 

 different, according as these organs are developed 

 or diminished by the influence of the seasons, 

 temperature, and food, and especially by the in- 

 fluence of the laws peculiar tothe organisation, or 

 according as they are more or less irritated by 

 the afflux of the fluids. Hence, we see the me- 

 chanical aptitudes and propensities of animals 

 appear and disappear at different periods ; for ex- 

 ample, the propensity to procreate, to sing, to 

 build, to migrate, to separate or collect in bodies, 

 to gather fruits, &c. It is the same with the dis- 

 positions of the mind in the human race, and 

 especially in women. These dispositions are sub- 

 ject to periodical changes of greater or less con- 

 tinuance. Malebranche directs our attention to 

 the fact, that, at different periods, the same object 

 does not inspire us with the same feelings, and 

 that we form very different judgments in regard 

 to it. The object, meanwhile, has remained the 

 same, but our organs have undergone some alter- 

 ation. How much does our manner of feeling and 

 thinking differ, at the moment when the senses 

 are heated, and some instants afterwards, when 

 one is more calm, and the senses are satisfied ! 

 What a powerful influence is exercised on our 



propensities and our faculties, on our will and 

 our judgment, by the different affections, such 

 as anger, hatred, jealousy, despondence, sadness, 

 chagrin, terror, envy, disquietude, fear, compas- 

 sion, desire, joy ! Who can mistake the influence 

 of the approach or presence of periodical evacua- 

 tions, such as the menstrual, hemorrhoidal, &c, 

 the influence of pregnancy, of retained evacua- 

 tions, suppressed secretions, of food and diges- 

 tion ; of the immoderate evacuation of fluid, 

 milk, blood, &c. : in short, the influence of every 

 tbing which exhausts the strength, such as fast- 

 ing, prolonged watching, too constant and uni- 

 form mental effort? Who can deny the influence 

 of a considerable approaching change in tempera- 

 ture, especially at the approach of a violent wind, 

 or a storm ; that of castration, of disease of the 

 testicles, the womb, and other viscera ? the influ- 

 ence of inflammations and suppurations in general, 

 of inflammations of the brain in particular, of 

 abscesses, wounds, and concussions of this organ; 

 that of narcotic and irritant poison; that of rabies, 

 worms. &c. ? Finally, who can avoid perceiving 

 the influence which agreeable sensations have 

 over us, and that charm which we find in sur- 

 rounding objects, such as a clear sky, a fine cli- 

 mate, &c. ; that of music, dancing, tranquillity of 

 mind ? 



All these, and many other causes, produce the 

 most astonishing changes in the exercise of our 

 faculties, moral and intellectual, and yet they 

 act directly over the organisation only. Must we 

 not conclude, that if, in certain cases, these same 

 causes have for their result the most extraordi- 

 nary propensities, such as the most shameless 

 lasciviousness, a despair which refuses all conso- 

 lation, the most arrogant pride, the most gloomy 

 distrust, and even a propensity to commit crimi- 

 nal acts, the principle of all these propensities is 

 inherent in our nature, and that the strength with 

 which they manifest themselves, has, likewise, 

 its source in a derangement of our organisa- 

 tion ? 



When occasion offers, I shall cite examples of 

 all these phenomena ; for the present, I shall con- 

 fine myself to the following facts. Father Ma- 

 billon possessed, in childhood, only the most 

 limited faculties; but in the midst of this medio- 

 crity, he received a rather severe blow on the 

 head, and from this moment displayed superior 

 talents. We were told, in our travels, of two well- 

 known young men, to whom a similar accident 

 happened. One of them, till his thirteenth year, 

 could never succeed in anything. He fell from 

 the top of a staircase, made several holes inhis 

 head, and, after his cure, pursued his studies 

 with the most marked distinction. The other, 

 when fourteen or fifteen years old, gave equally 

 little hopes of himself. He fell at Copenhagen 

 from the fourth story of a staircase, and after 

 this fall, displayed great intellectual qualities. 

 This change was not the only one. No one, till 

 then, had ever remarked in him any bad quality; 

 but, after this same fall, he exhibited a very bad 

 character, which, in the sequel, deprived him of 

 an eminent office, and caused his confinement in 

 prison. I knew a girl, nine years of age, whose 

 head received a blow on the right side. From 

 that time, she complained of a pain which she 

 felt on the left side of the head, and which cor- 



