92 



ON THE MENTAL QUALITIES AND 



Among the skulls now lying before me, are those of the 

 frigate-bird (T achy petes AquiiusJ, the shearwater (II /lyn- 

 ch ops nigra), the albatross (Diomedea exulans), and the 

 stormy petrel (Thalassidroma pelag'ca). These are all, 

 especially the two latter, remarkable for their disposition to 

 wander. Thus the albatross, a sacred bird to all who 

 would fondly associate it with the tale of " The Ancient 

 Mariner/' has been known to follow vessels for days and 

 even weeks, to pick up whatever food may be thrown 

 overboard, though hundreds of miles from any known 

 land, on which to rest it after its weary flight. These all 

 should have the organ of Locality of large size, which is far 

 from being the case ; for, on comparing the albatross, for in- 

 stance, with the cranium of any large gull, which it resem- 

 bles remarkably, there is no striking difference in the de- 

 velopment of that organ, which, phrenologists allege, gives 

 the propensity to wander. 



In attempting to answer the query thus beautifully 

 rendered, — 



" Who bade the stork, Columbus- like, explore, 

 Heavens not his own, and worlds unknown before ; 

 Who calls the council, states the certain day, 

 Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way?"* 



the phrenologist has signally failed. Instead of tracing this 

 wonderful instinct to its Maker, in the vain wish to unravel 

 the mysteries of nature, man forgets that there are bounds 

 to human understanding, and that in our present defective 

 state of knowledge, all speculation is useless when applied 

 to a subject lying far beyond the cognizance of our senses, 

 and which will probably for ever remain unknown. 



* Pope's Essay on Man. 



