KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL 



53 



or a little ripe fruit from the appropriation 

 of our lovely songsters, we constantly hear 

 fire-arms discharged, first by one neighbor, 

 then by another, throughout the day. 

 Thereby do we lose the confidence of many a 

 nightingale, blackcap, robin, and others, 

 who " seek safety in flight." If we attempt 

 to " reason " with our neighbors, they laugh 

 at us ; so we are e'en content (from neces- 

 sity) to tell them " they have no soul ;'' — nor 

 have we any remedy !] 



POPULAR DISCUSSIONS. 



PHRENOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT. 



I avail myself of your invitation, Mr. 

 Editor, to furnish contributions discussing 

 popular questions relative to Natural History; 

 and beg you will allow me a little space now 

 and then, to propose for discussion in your 

 pages some original views of Phrenological 

 questions. 



For more than twenty years, Phrenology 

 has been my favorite science ; and with re- 

 spect to some of its principles, I can say that 

 I have never once found them to fail. I have 

 seen various races of men in various parts of 

 the world. I have contracted a habit of 

 scanning the form of every head I see, and 

 of noticing prominent traits of character ; 

 and I have always found that certain forms of 

 head correctly indicated certain mental 

 qualities. But this has been true of part of 

 the head only, not of the whole. There are 

 certain Phrenological doctrines which require 

 re -consideration ; and I feel a conviction 

 that until they receive such re-consideration, 

 Phrenology can never be accepted by all 

 those who are capable of understanding it. 

 This re-consideration I would much wish 

 that Kidd 1 s own Journal should be instru- 

 mental in suggesting ; for in its pages are 

 recorded many beautiful and striking illustra- 

 tions of " Comparative Phrenology." I have 

 not many numbers by me now (although I 

 take in duplicates), but I believe that there 

 is not one number in which I have not 

 marked some passage which illustrates the 

 mental functions ; and in several of them, 

 many passages. The lower animals furnish 

 some of the very best examples of the pro- 

 pensities. Indeed, in the feathered tribes, 

 Phrenology might be made available in their 

 classification ; and I have no doubt will be, 

 some day. 



After this long exordium, I will now intro- 

 duce in few words a subject for discussion, 

 — namely, that part of the head usually 

 marked " No 33," and called the " Organ of 

 Language." This was the first organ noticed 

 by Gall ; and yet its name and ascribed 

 functions are in direct opposition to the 

 fundamental principles of Phrenology, that 



" one organ can only perform one kind of 

 functions. 1 ' To write, to speak, to point, or 

 beckon, and to understand the import of all 

 these, are acts of language ; but they are 

 surely of too diverse a kind to be considered 

 as the functions of one faculty. In my 

 humble opinion, the sole and simple function 

 of the organ " No. 33," is that of operating 

 on the vocal muscles and lungs, and producing 

 sounds thereby. This is a most important 

 part of language, no doubt ; but it is very 

 different from writing, and reading, and see- 

 ing, and hearing, and associating forms and 

 sounds with other forms and sounds, and 

 with abstract principles and qualities. For 

 these functions, other organs are required ; 

 and it would be just as proper to speak of 

 an organ of astronomy, or of geology, as of 

 an organ of language. 



The cries of animals, bleating, neighing, 

 braying, screeching and screaming, singing 

 and whistling, are all performed by this 

 organ. Singing is its highest effort; and 

 without it, Jenny Lind would be perfectly 

 mute; our woods, fields, and hedgerows, too, 

 would be silent as the grave. Without it a 

 man might be a good instrumental musician, 

 but he could not utter " sol, fa." 



It is a far better index of a person's ability 

 to sing, than the organ No. 32 — improperly 

 called " melody " or " music," although that 

 organ is also necessary to the musician. It 

 will be found to be developed in proportion 

 to a person's rapidity and distinctness of 

 utterance ; and if I were called upon to give 

 a demonstration of the connection between 

 the external form of the head and mental 

 manifestations, I would choose this organ in 

 preference to all others. Let a dozen persons, 

 one half of them having it large, the other 

 half small (other conditions being somewhat 

 equal), talk freely, and a person blindfolded 

 might indicate, correctly, every one of them — 

 simply by taking notice of their enunciation. 



I invite Phrenologists to submit these 

 remarks to the test of observation, and in 

 doing this, they must bear in mind that all 

 educated men pay more attention to their 

 pronunciation than uneducated men do ; 

 and that where they find great vivacity and 

 mental energy, there will be a proportionate 

 rapidity of utterance from this cause alone. 

 They must also bear in mind that this organ 

 does not give taste and feeling in singing, 

 nor yet a voice. — J. S. H. 



BIRDS OF SONG. 



No. XX.— THE NIGHTINGALE. 



When we first began dilating (con- 

 trary to our original intention) on the habits 

 of the nightingale, we were fearful lest our 

 extended observations from week to week 



