Fig. 4. EUSTACHE.

B

volutions, in both cuts, is greater than in nature, that the contrast may be rendered the more per ceptible. It will be kept in mind that I am here merely teaching rules for observing heads, and not proving particular facts. The spaces, however, between the line A B and the top of the head are accurately drawn to a scale. Mr. Abram Cox has suggested, that the size of the convolutions which constitute the organs of Self-Esteem, Love of Approbation, Concentrativeness, Adhesiveness, and Philoprogenitiveness, may be estimated by their projection beyond a base formed by a plane passing through the centres of the two organs of Cautiousness and the spinous process of the occipital bone. He was led to this conclusion by a minute examination of a great number of the skulls in the collection of the Phrenological Society. A section of this plane is represented by the lines CD, in figs. 2 and 3.

To determine the size of the convolutions lying in the lateral regions of the head, Mr. Cox proposes to imagine two vertical planes passing through the organs of Causality in each hemisphere, and directly backward, till each meets the outer border of the point of insertion of the trapezius muscle at the back of the neck. The more the lateral convolutions project beyond these planes, the larger do the organs in the sides of the head appear to be-namely, Combativeness, Destructiveness, Secretiveness, Cautiousness, Acquisitiveness, and Constructiveness; also to some extent Tune, Ideality, Wit, and Number.

Fig. 6. GOTTFRIED

Fig. 5 represents a horizontal section of the skull of a Cingalese, the lines BT being sections of the planes above described. Fig. 6 represents the same section of the skull of Gottfried, the female poisoner already referred to. The lateral expansion of the head beyond the lines BT, in fig. 6, forms a striking contrast with the size of the same regions in fig. 5. The Cingalese are a tribe in Ceylon, and in disposition are remarkably mild and pacific.*

Mr. Cox suggests farther, that the size of the convolutions lying at the *See description of their character in The Phrenological Journal, vii., 634.

base of the brain may be estimated by their projection below a plane passing through the superciliary ridges and the occipital spine, (D E, fig. 3, and D, fig. 4,) and by observing the distance at which the opening of the ear, the mastoid process, and other points of the base of the skull lie below that plane.

So many instances have occurred in which I have verified the accuracy of the inferences drawn from the projection of the brain beyond these planes, that I recommend this mode of observation as useful in practice. In the course of my lectures, I have frequently pointed out the difference, in different individuals, in the position of the opening of the ear in relation to the level of the eye, as one indication of the size of the organ of Destructiveness, and of the basilar convolutions situated inward from it toward the mesial line. The lower the ear descends, the larger are the inferior convolutions of the middle lobe, which occupy the middle fossæ of the skull. Individuals in whom the opening of the ear stands nearly on a level with the eye, are in general little prone to violence of temper. Dr. G. M. Paterson mentions incidentally, in his paper "On the Phrenology of Hindostan,"* that the situation of the ears is high in the Hindoos, while, at the same time, their skulls, over the organ of Destructiveness, are "either quite flat, or indicate a slight degree of concavity."

I have multiplied observations to so great an extent in regard to the above-described methods of estimating the size of the anterior lobe and the coronal region of the brain, that I regard them as altogether worthy of reliance. The observations on the planes suggested by Mr. Abram Cox, however, are still too limited to authorize me to state these as certain guides. They are open to the verification of every observer. I parti cularly recommend to students of Phrenology who have opportunities of dissecting the brains of individuals whose dispositions are known, to run straight wires through the brain before removing it from the skull, in the directions of the lines represented in the figures; then to make sections, passing through the course of the wires; and to observe and report to what extent the convolutions develope themselves externally from the glanes so formed.

By observing the proportions of the different regions, it will be discovered, that in some instances the anterior lobe bears a large and in others a small proportion to the rest of the head; in some cases the coronal region is large in proportion to the base, while in others it is small. Great differences also in projection beyond the line running from Causality to the trapezius will be discovered. The busts of the Reverend Mr M., Pallet, Steventon, and Sir Edward Parry may be contrasted with this view. A head that is very broad in proportion to its height, indicates a mind in which the animal propensities are the ruling springs of action. The Roman emperor, Vitellius, a monster of vice, is represented with such a head.

After becoming familiar with the general size and configuration of heads, the student may proceed to the observation of individual organs; and, in studying them, the real dimensions, including length, breadth, and thickness, and not the mere prominence of each organ, should be looked for.

The length of an organ, including its supposed apparatus of communication, is ascertained by the distance from the medulla oblongata to the peripheral surface. A line passing through the head from one ear to the other, would nearly touch the medulla oblongata, and hence the external opening of the ear is assumed as a convenient point from which to estimate length. The breadth of an organ is judged of by its peripheral expansion; for it is a general law of physiology, that the breadth of an organ throughout its whole course bears a relation to its expansion at the surface: the optic and olfactory nerves are examples in point.

* Transactions of the Phrenological Society, (Edin., 1824,) p. 443.

It has been objected that the breadth of the organs cannot be ascertained, because the boundaries of them are not sufficiently determinate. In answer I observe, that although the boundaries of the different organs cannot be determined with mathematical precision, like those of a triangle, a square, or rhomboid, yet, in a single case, an accurate observer may make a very near approximation to the truth; and, in a great multitude of cases, the very doctrine of chances, and of the compensation of errors, must satisfy any one that these boundaries may be defined with sufficient precision for all practical purposes. Even in the exact sciences themselves an approximate solution is frequently all that is attainable; and if the opponents would only make themselves masters of the binomial theorem, or pay a little attention to the expansion of infinite series, they would not persist in calling for a degree of accuracy which is impossible, or in neglecting an important element in a calculation because it is involved in a certain liability to error within very narrow limits. The absurdity of the reason assigned for this omission is rendered still more apparent by the case of the prisınatic spectrum, which I conceive to be exactly in point. Now, what is it that this beautiful phenomenon displays? The seven primary colours, arranged in a peculiar order, and glowing with an almost painful intensity. But each of these colours occupies a certain space in relation to the whole, the boundaries of which it may be impossible for the hand or eye to trace with geometrical precision, although the relative space in question has, nevertheless, been made the subject of measurement, and a very close approximation obtained from the mean of a vast number of trials. According to the principle followed by some antiphrenologists, however, breadth should be altogether neglected, on the ground that the boundaries of the respective colours are purely idcal;" as if a mathematical line were not the most perfect idealism or

66

*

abstraction which the mind of man can possibly form. This idealism or abstraction, however, has no more to do with those approximations which may be obtained practically by repeated trials, than the mathematical definition of a line with a metallic rod; and it is a mere quibble to pretend, for example, that we ought not to measure the length of the rod, because it may not correspond with the definition of the line. Upon the strange principle which some opponents have adopted, they must be prepared to maintain, that the boundaries of a hill or hillock are purely ideal, and depend in every instance on the fancy of the measurer. The science of geology affords another illustration. The leading rocks bear so many characteristic marks of distinction, that no ordinary observer can mistake them; yet particular specimens graduate so much into each other, that the most skilful observers will sometimes err, and believe basalt to be claystone, or gneiss to be granite. In teaching this science, however, the leading features of the rocks are found sufficient to guide the student to knowledge of the principles, and his own sagacity, improved by experience, enables him in due time to deal successfully with the intricacies and difficulties of the study. The same rule ought to be followed in cultivating Phrenology.†

The whole organs in a head should be examined, and their relative proportions noted Errors may be committed at first; but without practice there will be no expertness. Practice, with at least an average endowment of the organs of Form, Size, Individuality, and Locality, is necessary to qualify a person to make observations with success. Individuals whose heads are very narrow between the eyes, and little developed at the top of the nose, where these organs are placed, experience great difficulty in distinguishing the situations and minute shades in the proportions of different organs. If one organ be much developed, and the neighbouring organs very little, the developed organ will present an elevation or protuberance; but if the neighbouring organs be developed in proportion, no protuberance can be perceived, and the surface is smooth. The student should learn from books, plates, and casts, or personal instruction, (and the last is by far the best,) to distinguish the form of each organ, and its appearance when developed in different proportions to the others, because there are slight modifications in the position of them in each head.

The phrenological bust shows the situations of the organs, and their proportions, only in one head; and it is impossible by it to communicate more information. The different appearances in all, the varieties of re * Caledonian Mercury, 11th June, 1829.

+ See additional illustrations in The Phrenological Journal, viii., 640.

"There are many convolutions," says Dr. Spurzheim, "in the middle line between the two hemispheres of the brain, and others at the basis and between the anterior and middle lobes, which do not appear on the surface; but it seems to me that a great part, at least, of every organ does present itself there, and farther, that all the parts of each organ are equally developed, so that, though a portion only appear, the state of the whole may be inferred. The whole cerebellum reaches not the skull, yet its function may be determined from the part which does. The cerebral parts situated in the middle line between the hemispheres, seem proportionate to the superincumbent convolutions; at least I have always observed a proportion, in the vertical direction, between them."-Phrenology, p. 116.

"The cerebral parts situated around and behind the orbit also require some care and experience on the part of the phrenologist, to be judged of accurately. Their developement is discoverable from the position of the eyeball, and from the figure of the superciliary ridge. According as the eyeball is prominent or hidden in the orbit, depressed or pushed sideward, inward, or outward, we may judge of the developement of the organs situated around and behind it."-Ibid. Particular directions for observing the parts there situated will be given when treating of the individual organs.

Attempts have been made by opponents to represent certain changes in

lative size must be discovered by inspecting a number of heads; and especially by contrasting instances of extreme developement with others of extreme deficiency. No adequate idea of the foundation of the science can be formed until this is done. In cases of extreme size of single organs, a close approximation to the form delineated on the bust (leaving angles out of view) is distinctly perceived.

The question will perhaps occur-If the relative proportions of the organs differ in each individual, and if the phrenological bust represents only their most common proportions, how are their boundaries to be distinguished in any particular living head? The answer is, By their forms and appearances. Each organ has a form, appearance, and situation, which it is possible, by practice, to distinguish in the living head, otherwise Phrenology cannot have any foundation.

When one organ is very largely developed, it encroaches on the space usually occupied by the neighbouring organs, the situations of which are thereby slightly altered. When this occurs, it may be distinguished by the numbering and marking of the organs in busts recently published, as "a Revolution in Phrenology." A brief explanation will place this matter in its true light. The phrenological bust sold in the shops is an artificial head, the utility of which depends on the degree in which the delineation of the organs on it approaches to the appearances most generally presented by the organs in nature. The first bust sold in this country exhibited the organs as they would be found in a particular head not very common in this country, the bust having been imported from the continent, and national heads being modified as much as national features. On the 1st of October, 1824, a new bust was published in Edinburgh, in which the delineation exhibited more accurately the appearances and relative proportions of the organs in this country. Subsequent observations showed that this bust might be brought still more closely to resemble the inost common proportions of the organs in Britain; and, on the 1st of April, 1829, certain modifications were made on it accordingly. The nature of this operation may be explained by a simple illustration. Suppose that, in 1819, an artist had modelled a bust resembling, as closely as his skill could reach, the face most commonly met with in Scotland, and that, to save the trouble of referring to the different features by name, he had attached numbers to them, beginning at the chin, and calling it No 1, and so on up to the brow, which we may suppose to be No. 33-in this bust he would necessarily give certain proportions to the eyes, nose, cheek, mouth, and chin. But suppose he were to continue his observations for five years, it is quite conceivable he might come to be of opinion that, by making the nose a little shorter, the mouth a little wider, the cheeks a little broader, and the chin a little sharper, he could bring the artificial face nearer to the most general form of the Scottish countenance; and that he might arrange the numbers of the features with greater philosophical accuracy: and suppose he were to publish a new edition of his bust with these modifications of the features, and with the numeration changed so that the mouth should be No. 1, the chin No. 5, and the brow No. 35, what should we think of a critic who should announce these alterations as a revolution." in human physiognomy, and assert that, because the numbers were changed, the nose had obliterated the eyes and the chin had extinguished the mouth? This is what the opponents have done in regard to the new phrenological bust. In the modifications which have been made on it, the essential forms and relative situations of all the organs have been preserved, and there is no instance of the organ of Benevolence being turned into that of Veneration, or Veneration into Hope, any more than, in the supposed new modelled face, the nose would be converted into the eyes, or the eyes into the mouth.

66

In regard to the numeration, again, the changes are exactly analogous to those which are before supposed to take place in regard to the features: the organ of Ideality formerly was numbered 16, and now it is numbered 19; but the organ and function are nothing different on this account. Dr. Spurzheim adopted a new order of numbering, from enlarged observation of the anatomical relation of the organs, and his improvements have been adopted in Edin burgh, and Dublin.