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KIDD'S JOURNAL. 



is, I think, proved by the fact, that they do 

 not attempt to go down into the sea again 

 when they are rid of these pests. A day or 

 two in fresh water frees them from the lice ; 

 and yet fish that can come up in May, and 

 which, if unmolested, would not spawn before 

 October, never (so far as I have observed or 

 can learn) show the slightest inclination to 

 return to salt water before spawning ; what 

 then is the cause of their ascending the 

 river ? Not to find food ; for a salmon in 

 fresh water is rarely found with food in it— 

 not merely to free themselves from vermin, 

 for one would suppose that when this was 

 accomplished they would return again to the 

 sea. Is it that they may serve as food for 

 man, who, unless impelled by this instinct, 

 would never see them in an eatable con- 

 dition ? 



It may be said, that the roe would not 

 probably be matured unless the fish remained 

 some time in fresh water previous to spawn- 

 ing : but neither can this be true, for in 

 October and November fish are frequently 

 caught on the spawning beds, newly run, as 

 is evident from the brightness of their scales ; 

 for fish that have been a few days in the 

 river, particularly in the autumn, change 

 color very rapidly, the males becoming red, 

 the females (black) dark- colored. 



Clitheroe, May 3. T. G. 



PHREXtfOLQG-Y FOS THE MILLION. 



"He who opposes his own judgment against the con- 

 sent of the times, ought to he hacked 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. X.— THE LIFE OF DR. GALL. 



Down to the days of Gall, the inquirer into the 

 nature of the human mind began his investiga- 

 tions by a forced abstraction of his own faculties 

 from the whole external world, and then turning 

 his intellectual powers inwards upon his own 

 mind; — in profound reflection, and in the total 

 inaction of by far the larger portion of his facul- 

 ties, he fixed in his memory a picture of what he 

 fancied to be the various phenomena of cerebral 

 activity. It was, with a crowd of ideas acquired 

 in this manner, added to his previously received 

 prejudices, that each philosopher, taking himself 

 and his own individual constitution as the stand- 

 ard, formed his theory of the human understand- 

 ing. Other philosophers again, holding different 

 views, sought for the origin of the human facul- 

 ties in the impressions made on the senses, and 

 these brought out ideas more distinct and posi- 

 tive; but, instead of regarding external sensa- 

 tions as merely necessary excitements to action 

 of the internal organs of the different faculties, 

 they considered the latter to result from the 

 sensations themselves, and the brain was as yet 

 vaguely believed to be, as a whole, the general 

 seat of intelligence. As for physiologists, they 

 were content to ascribe, in a general way, the 



origin of the passions to the influence of tempera- 

 ment, or to various viscera or organs of the 

 body. 



On the appearance of Gall, the science of mind 

 assumed an entirely new aspect. Instead of 

 studying the character and intellect of man in 

 general, through the medium of himself, he began 

 a series of observations upon individual men, and 

 the lower animals. Instead of inventing an 

 arbitrary system of faculties, Gall noted the re- 

 lation between each organ, and the manifestations 

 which he observed in the different individuals 

 whom he examined; he distinguished between 

 the general attributes of all or a variety of the 

 faculties, and particular faculties themselves. 

 Instead of inquiring whether an individual was 

 well endowed with memory, imagination, judg- 

 ment, or attention (which are attributes common 

 to a variety of intellectual powers), lie observed 

 his capacity for any, and what employment of 

 those faculties ; whether he most easily remem- 

 bered places, or words, or persons, and so on. 

 In a word, instead of an abstract and a priori, 

 Gall introduced an experimental or a posteriori 

 method of philosophising. 



He studied what are called morals in the 

 same way that we study physics ; and he gave 

 to the physiological science of mind that happy 

 direction, to which the other natural sciences owe 

 those splendid results which so honorably dis- 

 tinguish the latter part of the last century, and, 

 still more, the beginning of the present. The 

 course which he has pointed out, is that which 

 must be followed by all future philosophers, or 

 they will infallibly continue to wander blindfold 

 amidst error and absurdity. 



But the system of Dr. Gall cannot be properly 

 understood until the inquirer shall know how to 

 apply it with certainty. To attain this know- 

 ledge, a long and enlightened experience is 

 absolutely necessary, and the results thence 

 obtained are truly astonishing. Suppose that we 

 wished to judge of the capacity of any indi- 

 vidual, the general development of his head must 

 first be considered, next the proportion which 

 the anterior bears to the posterior regions, then 

 the prominent parts in each region must be 

 ascertained, and if a sufficient degree of expe- 

 rience has been acquired, the limits of the 

 different organs should be specified. Thus, if it 

 be known beforehand what allowance should be 

 made for the influence of the viscera, the facul- 

 ties and dispositions of the individual may be 

 accurately determined. Such is the process that 

 must be gone through before arriving at any 

 thing positive, and Gall will be found to be a 

 sure guide throughout. By this means, it will be 

 understood why one individual is distinguished 

 for his success in poetry, music, mathematics, 

 logic, eloquence, or metaphysics; why another 

 is impelled by the noblest of human passions, 

 that of desiring to sacrifice even his life for 

 the sake of doing good ; why another is insen- 

 sible to the existence of danger ; why this man 

 sacrifices every thing to the desire of being 

 thought eminent in some accomplishment, which, 

 in reality, he does not possess, while that man 

 would give up all besides to gratify his thirst of 

 rule ; and, finally, why some individuals can 

 never attain to excellence, notwithstanding the 



