CEHEBRAL DEVELOPMENT OF BIRDS. 7& 



in the skulls of man and the mammalia, but, on the con- 

 trary, any rising or falling on the surface is gradual, and 

 includes within its boundaries several, nay, even ten, a 

 dozen, or more, phrenological organs, so that it is utterly 

 impossible to point out whether any particular organ is or 

 is not well developed. Thus, in a skull now before me, 

 that of the ivory- billed woodpecker, I am unable to point 

 out a single elevation or depression upon that part of the 

 cranium covering the brain proper; therefore the only 

 phrenological alternative* (the brain being relatively of 

 large size), is, that the propensities and faculties are en- 

 joyed by this bird in the highest degree. We are told, 

 that " size is clearly a concomitant of power in extreme 

 cases ;"t that " individuals with a very large brain mani- 

 fest, clearly and unequivocally, great force of character j 

 and since, of all crania in my possession, that of the torn- tit 

 (Parus major) is proportionately larger than that of any 

 other bird with which I am acquainted, this little creature 

 ought to be u daring, desperate, and energetic," or else pos- 

 sessed of " strength, (of mind), energy, and determina- 

 tion ;" as far exceeding the whole feathered tribe in all its 

 faculties, as it does in cerebral organization. A phrenolo- 

 gist, no doubt, would reply to this, that size alone is not 

 sufficient; it only gives power, and not activity; that there 

 is not the same fineness of texture, and delicacy of fibre, 

 which we find in the human brain, and which is essential 

 before a faculty can be manifested in a high degree through 



* u General full development, however great, will present no 

 partial eminences." — Combe's System of Phrenology, p. 214. 

 •f Combe's System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 688, 

 % Ibid. p. 687. 



