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KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



educability in man and other animals. Gall 

 possessed it in a moderate degree, but it was not 

 one of his most remarkable faculties. 



He easily forgot whatever had no connection 

 with his doctrines, or with any of his predominant 

 faculties. 



It was the same with the faculty of local me- 

 mory (Locality). We will once more leave him 

 to speak for himself. " My taste for natural 

 history," said he, " often led me into the woods, 

 for the purpose of ensnaring birds or taking them 

 in their nests. In the latter object I was very 

 fortunate, because I had often observed, towards 

 which of the cardinal points each species were 

 accustomed to build their nests. I should have 

 succeeded equally well by disposing my nets 

 properly, because I was in the habit of ascertain- 

 ing the district the bird frequented, by his song, 

 and his movements; but when, after a week or 

 fortnight, I went to find what birds had been 

 taken, or to carry off a nest, it was often impos- 

 sible for me to find the tree I had marked, or the 

 nets I had placed." He also forgot the resi- 

 dence of his patients whom he had frequently 

 visited in his carriage, and had considerable 

 difficulty in remembering in what storey of the 

 building they lived. He was ignorant of geo- 

 graphy, and whenever he looked upon a map he 

 found something new, though he had observed 

 it a thousand times before. So we may be sure, 

 that if he travelled, it was not from taste, but 

 with the sole object of propagating his doctrines. 

 If it be true, as we believe it is, that there is an 

 organ of " Order," Gall was absolutely destitute 

 of it. The arrangement of his house was a curio- 

 sity. He said it was order to him. Let one 

 imagine to himself, huddled together in his 

 bureau- drawers, for instance, old journals, quit- 

 tances, quack advertisements, letters from distin- 

 guished men, pamphlets, nuts, pieces of gold, 

 silver, and copper, and packets of seeds. We 

 have seen him take up a bundle of these papers, 

 and shake out from them the money he happened 

 to need. In this manner he kept his records and 

 his desk. 



Weaker still was his Memory of persons. u This 

 faculty," said he, " is too feeble in me, and the 

 defect of it has, all my life-time, caused me a 

 thousand troubles. When I rise from the table, 

 I cannot distinguish either man or woman who 

 sat by my side during the meal." In verbal 

 memory, Gall was also deficient. At school he 

 never could learn his lessons, and when the task 

 was one that exercised the memory, he was 

 always surpassed by his school-fellows, whom he 

 excelled in original composition. 



The organ of the sense of language, which 

 gives the talent of philology, was a little better 

 developed. He knew, besides his own, the Latin, 

 and French language, which he wrote and spoke 

 with facility, though defective in pronunciation, 

 and had some knowledge of English and Italian. 

 He had a strong dislike, however, for questions 

 about mere words, grammatical discussions, com- 

 pilations, and works of that kind. 



The sense of the relations of Colors, which is 

 one of the fundamental qualities indispensable to 

 the painter, was absolutely wanting in Gall. He 

 was obliged to depend upon the opinions of his 

 friends, whenever he treated of painters or paint- 



ing, and by that means was sometimes led to 

 pronounce an erroneous judgment which the 

 critics never failed to remind him of. As for his 

 taste, he was fond of those brilliant porcelain- 

 like pictures of modern times ; and when in a 

 gallery, he bestowed his attention on portraits, 

 and especially on those of women when painted 

 in a classical style. 



As he was a poor judge of paintings, so was he 

 as poor an amateur in music. He generally got 

 wearied at the Opera or Concert; but a woman's 

 voice in conversation he said, was very agree- 

 able. 



He was no more apt in the science of numbers; 

 every kind of numerical calculation fatigued 

 him, and we believe we never saw him go 

 through a process in simple multiplication or 

 division that was at all complicated. He knew 

 nothing of geometry, nor the problems of mathe- 

 matics. What a contrast to those philosophers 

 who make this same science the basis of all 

 positive knowledge ! 



In mechanics, architecture, and the arts, he 

 was no happier than in calculation, music, and 

 painting. We will only remark, that the exe- 

 cution of the Plates of his great work, after 

 Spurzheim ceased to overlook them, was detest- 

 able, which would not have been the case if Gall 

 had possessed the slightest knowledge of design, 

 or of the arts in general. 



Having thus finished our notice of the organs 

 situated in the lower part of the forehead, it 

 remains for us to examine those higher faculties 

 whose organs are placed in the upper part of 

 that region. It is these that gave Gall his emi- 

 nence over the generality of men. 



That comparative sagacity, by means of which 

 we promptly discern the relations of agreement 

 and disagreement between the objects of our 

 examination, and are led to search for affinities, 

 comparisons, and similes, was very strong in 

 Gall. Accordingly, you will observe that not 

 only were all his researches but a continual com- 

 parison of organisation with faculties, and of the 

 faculties of man with those of other animals, 

 but that he also employed this method in his 

 familiar conversations and public lectures, when- 

 ever he was particularly anxious to impress his 

 ideas on the minds of others. 



The following interesting account of an inter- 

 view with Gall was published in the " Birming- 

 ham Gazette," and may serve to give the reader 

 some idea of the habits of the philosopher at 

 home. 



" Most of us find some satisfaction in tracing 

 on Fancy's tablet the portrait of a person of 

 whom we have heard much, and particularly 

 after we have read many of the works of an 

 author, but with whom we have had no personal 

 acquaintance. It generally happens, however, 

 that our portrait is not correct, when we compare 

 it with the original. Thus it was with myself. 

 I found Dr. Gall (in 1826) to be a man of middle 

 stature, of an outline well proportioned ; he was 

 thin and rather pallid, and possessed a capa- 

 cious head and chest. The peculiar brilliancy 

 of his penetrating eye left an indelible impres- 

 sion. His countenance was remarkable, — his 

 features strongly marked and rather large, yet 

 devoid of coarseness. The general impression 



