KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



261 



canary's life at from sixteen to twenty years. 

 This lias reference only to a state of celibacy. 

 Those birds, on whom devolve the cares in- 

 separable from large and rapidly-increasing 

 families, rarely live half that number of 

 years ; and it must be borne in mind that 

 the song of a canary, in wedded life, dege- 

 nerates from the day of his espousals. He 

 never afterwards sings so long together, nor 

 so sweetly. In sober truth, his value as a 

 " songster " is altogether lost. Hence the 

 necessity, or rather the prudence, of select- 

 ing a male bird for his fair proportions, 

 color, and health, principally. As for song, 

 never fear his progeny being found deficient 

 in this matter. There are infallible methods 

 of making them all first-rate, as we shall 

 show. 



One very great vulgar error that exists 

 among the million about the rearing of birds, 

 requires removing. We mean their recogni- 

 tion of "February 14" as being the "pair- 

 ing time " for birds, and the signal for putting 

 them up in cages to breed. In such a climate 

 as England, what is the necessary conse- 

 quence of such a step? Why this : the hens 

 build their nests, lay their eggs, sit their 

 thirteen days, hatch their young ; and when 

 the latter come forth, the chilliness of the 

 weather either kills them at once, or com- 

 pels them to be reared, like hothouse plants, 

 in the close vicinity of a blazing fire. This 

 fact sufficiently accounts for the puny 

 apologies for birds which we see from time 

 to time in the families where we visit. 



The earliest period that common prudence 

 would sanction for birds being put up is — 

 the latter end of April. If perchance the 

 month of May should prove tine and warm 

 — we just remember such an occasional treat, 

 why, then, your birds will thrive nobly ; 

 and you will not deplore your want of suc- 

 cess. Nothing can be more galling to a lover 

 of birds, after all his wariness, watchfulness, 

 and anxiety — than to find his expectations 

 cut off, and the whole process of incubation 

 to have again to be gone through. We want 

 to establish a rational mode of proceeding, 

 and we trust our readers will kindly bear 

 with us, while we so earnestly urge its 

 adoption. 



{To he Continued.) 

 PHRENOLOGY FOR THE MILLION. 



"He who opposes his own judgment against the con- 

 sent of the times, ought to be backed with unanswerable 

 Truths ; and he who has Truth on his side is a fool, 

 as well as a Coward, if he is afraid to own it because of 

 the currency or multitude of other men's opinions." — 

 Defoe. 



No. VIII.— THE LIFE OF DR. GALL. 



Another faculty which Gall possessed in a 

 remarkable degree, as his organisation shows, was 



that of Elevation, Pride, or a high opinion of 

 one's self. We will here quote a remarkable 

 passage, where, in speaking of that organ, he has 

 delineated himself. " There are certain men," 

 says he, " with minds sufficiently strong, who are 

 so deeply impressed with a sense of their own 

 value,and so independent withal, that they know 

 how to repel every external influence which 

 tends to subject them. As far as practicable, 

 they choose the freest countries to live in, and 

 devote themselves to an employment that renders 

 them independent and exempts them from the 

 caprices and favor of the great. That domi- 

 nation over their inferiors, which becomes 

 slavery under an absolute master, would be 

 insupportable to them. The honors and dis- 

 tinctions that are withheld from merit, while 

 they are lavished on insignificant men, are but 

 humiliations in their eyes. If they prosper, it is 

 only by their own efforts ; like the oak, they are 

 sustained by their own strength, and it is to 

 their own resources that they would be indebted 

 for all they possess." He was in fact, proud and 

 independent. He never was anxious for titles, 

 and cheerfully practised the profession of medi- 

 cine. As a political man, he loved liberty and 

 good laws. 



There is another innate sentiment, Vanity, 

 Ambition, Love of Glory, approaching the pre- 

 ceding in its nature, but still quite distinct from 

 it, which was feeble in Gall. We always ob- 

 served him to be indifferent to the praise and 

 approbation of the multitude, as he was also to 

 their blame and ridicule. He labored for the 

 love of science, and under the conviction that his 

 ideas would triumph in the end. We could re- 

 call a thousand anecdotes to prove that his va- 

 nity was not very susceptible. How many times 

 have we seen him laugh at the squibs of the 

 little journals, and unaffectedly despise the gross 

 abuse which they heaped upon him. Let us cite 

 one fact which will answer for many others. 

 Gall had lived for some time at Berlin, with the 

 celebrated poet Kotzebue, who profited by the 

 occasion to learn of him the technical terms of 

 his science, and such ideas and principles as he 

 could best turn to ridicule. He composed his 

 play, " Craniomania," which was immediately 

 performed at the theatre in Berlin, and Gall at- 

 tended the first representation, and laughed as 

 heartily as any of them. 



" Caution," by means of which the effects of 

 our actions are referred to the future, which 

 sometimes renders us distrustful of the world and 

 indecisive in forming our resolutions, was very 

 strong in Gall. Observe what a fulness the head 

 presents in its superior posterior lateral region. 

 Gall proceeded with extreme prudence in every 

 step; he was distrustful, and much disposed 

 to give credit to bad insinuations against his 

 friends and acquaintances, and would rather 

 break with any one than live in the disquietude 

 of doubt. He often said, that it is more difficult 

 to sustain a reputation than to create one, and 

 that we must always act as if making the first 

 efforts to render ourselves known. 



Let us now pass to the faculties whose organs 

 are situated in the anterior part of the head, be- 

 ginning with the sense of the memory of things 

 (Individuality). This sense is the source of 



