KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



109 



Having continued his lectures for five years, 

 on the 9th January, 1802, the Austrian Govern- 

 ment issued an order that they should cease ; his 

 doctrines being considered dangerous to religion ! 

 A General Regulation was made upon the occa- 

 sion, prohibiting all private lectures, unless a spe- 

 cial permission was obtained from the Public Au- 

 thorities. Dr. Gall understood the object of this 

 " General Regulation," and never solicited per- 

 mission, but rather stopped his courses. The 

 doctrines, however, continued to be studied 

 with greater zeal than before; — the prohibition 

 strongly stimulated curiosity, and all publica- 

 tions on the subject continued to be permitted, 

 provided they abstained from reflecting on the 

 Government for issuing the " general order." 



{To be Continued Weekly.') 



ELECTKO-BIOLOGY. 



DR. CARPENTER'S LECTURE. 



The exposure we recently made of the various 

 (Darling) pseudo-doctors, such as Moan, Frisk, 

 Disc, &c, &c, who have been practising the 

 " black art'' under the guise of " science," has 

 had its beneficial effect; and we rejoice to say 

 that the public are becoming daily more wary. 

 They do not flock in crowds, as they used to do, 

 to see nervous people frightened — literally "bul- 

 lied " into the belief that things are what they 

 are not; neither do they receive all as true that 

 is attempted to be foisted upon them by these 

 wretched, wandering humbugs, who live, we 

 blush to say, by preying on the weaknesses of 

 their fellow men, and who prostitute science to 

 gain their evil ends. Their day, thank God, is 

 nearly over. 



We have recently had an opportunity of hear- 

 ing a Lecture by Dr. Carpenter, at the Royal 

 Institution, on Biology. What a treat was it, to 

 hear a man of sense, education, and really scien- 

 tific attainments, treat upon the phenomena of 

 the human mind ; and rationally shbw, by argu- 

 ment and proof, that these counterfeit men of 

 science were just what we have called them, — 

 abject humbugs. We cannot follow the lecturer, 

 nor is it needful, through all his beautiful re- 

 marks ; but we may express our great delight in 

 hearing him assimilate certain newly-discovered 

 phenomena to what we call absence of mind; 

 this he humorously illustrated by referring to the 

 late Dr. Hamilton, of Aberdeen, author of an 

 "Essay on the National Debt" (a subject, we 

 should say, weighty enough to cause absence of 

 mind in any sensible man). This gentleman 

 would sometimes meet his own wife, admire 

 her as a fair stranger, be polite to her, and 

 cordially " hope that by and by they should be 

 better acquainted," &c, &c. He would also, 

 when thus abstracted, run against a cow, take off 

 his hat, apologise, arid hope her ladyship was not 

 hurt, &c. These mental abstractions were noticed 

 with a view to explain certain disputed points, 

 and place them in a clear light. 



Dr. Carpenter also showed, that the mind of 

 the operator was not altogether dominant over 

 the mind of the ' subj ect ' that was in the abnormal 

 state; but confined to one particular operation 



on the mind only. Neither was it, he said, ne- 

 cessary for the mind of the operator to be always 

 intent upon the nature of the effect he was about 

 to produce. He might be full of mirth, and his 

 patient might be full of thought, &c. We also 

 liked his expression of a man being, under certain 

 circumstances, a " thinking automaton." 



Dr. Carpenter finally explained, by demon- 

 stration, the system of the brain; and thus sa- 

 tisfactorily accounted for certain effects produced 

 upon certain sensitive individuals. This branch 

 of the Lecture, and indeed all parts of it, was 

 listened to with breathless delight by a very nu- 

 merous auditory; and it afforded, us much 

 pleasure to see many of our fair countrywomen 

 present, whose interested feelings appeared 

 hardly less earnest than those of the assembled 

 savans. Let us hope that these Lectures will be 

 often repeated. Then will our dishonest quacks, 

 who now degrade science by their charlatanism, 

 be for ever silenced; and die unpitied, uncared 

 for. 



We need only observe, that Dr. Carpenter did 

 not operate upon any living subjects, with a view 

 to produce an ad captandum effect. This he 

 wisely left for the travelling " doctors " — moun- 

 tebanks who can only exist by imposture. 

 Science wants no such defenders of the faith 

 as starveling quacks. 



Showy Accomplishments. 



The rage for teaching young ladies that which 

 will totally unfit them for the discharge of their 

 duties in society as wives and mothers, continues 

 unabated. Novels — which have justly been 

 called " England's curse," are still swallowed by 

 the thousand, and every noxious weed that can 

 defile the pure mind of woman is still sedulously 

 cultivated. No pen can put such things down, 

 and society must continue debased. This we feel 

 to be too. true. The pianoforte, the dancing master, 

 and the novel-writer, have contrived together so 

 to mar God's fair creation, that scarcely a remnant 

 of purity is left us ! We gladly copy the follow- 

 ing sensible remarks from Arthur s Home Ga- 

 zette : — 



" There are no greater mistakes than the pre- 

 vailing disposition among people in middling 

 life to bring up their daughters as fine ladies, 

 neglecting useful knowledge for showy accom- 

 plishments. The notions, it has been justly 

 observed, which girls thus educated acquire of 

 their own importance, are in an inverse ratio to 

 their true value. With just enough of fashionable 

 refinement to disqualify them for the duties of 

 their proper station, and render them ridiculous in 

 a higher sphere, what are such fine ladies fit for? 

 Nothing, that I know, but to be kept like wax 

 figures in a glass case! Woe to the man that is 

 linked to one of them ! If half the time and 

 money wasted on the music, the dancing, the em- 

 broidery, were employed in teaching them the 

 useful arts, and managing household affairs, their 

 present qualifications as wives and mothers would 

 be increased fourfold." 



When the proper time arrives, we shall not 

 fail to treat of these matters with all the atten- 

 tion they deserve. This, meantime, will serve as 

 a hint. 



