XX. Comparative Sagacity, Aptitude for Drawing Comparisons. (Vergleichender Scharf-sinn.) History of the Discovery. I often used to entertain myself on philosophic subjects with a philosopher, endowed with great mental vivacity. Whenever he was embarrassed to prove the truth of his assertion, rigorously, he had recourse to a comparison. By this means he, in a manner, painted his ideas, and his opponents were often thrown off the track and led away; an effect, which it would not have been possible for him to produce by his arguments. As soon as I perceived, that this custom was a characteristic trait with him, I examined the form of his head. I already knew, that we ought not to seek the external marks of intellectual powers among the organs of animal sentiment, but on the forehead; and I observed in the external superior middle part of the frontal bone, a great lengthened prominence, to which I had not given attention till that moment. This prominence commenced in the anterior superior middle part of the forehead, where it was about an inch broad, and contracting itself in the form of a cone, reached the middle of the forehead, where it touched the organ of educability. I then sought for men who followed the same method in their discourses or writings, to see if they had the same organization. On the other hand, I ascertained the progress of the mind in persons, in whom I remarked the same protuberance. All my observations confirmed my supposition. I concluded, therefore, that there exists a connexion between the great development of the cerebral part placed under this protuberance, and the faculty of finding analogies, resemblances, &c. At the same period I observed the heads of two exjesuits, both distinguished preachers, who were equally 11 VOL. V. esteemed by the educated and by the common classes. In their sermons, by the aid of combinations of comparisons and of parables, they rendered clear, and in a degree evident, the precepts, which they wished to inculcate on their hearers. At a later period I also axamined the head of the famous father Barhammer, Pl. LXXXIII. fig. 2, a preacher much followed by the people. Arguments were not his forte, but in a style (à la père Abraham)* little elevated or refined, he knew how to keep the attention of his audience alive, by numerous comparisons, always taken from objects best known in common life. I have often seen half of the faithful assembled fall asleep, or at least remain very indifferent to the sermons of preachers, much more eloquent, but who made use of philosophical reasonings. The minds of men but little educated, are incapable of following a long series of arguments; but comparisons, parables, spread a gentle and beneficent light, produce the effect of conviction, and carry along the most clownish multitude. In these three heads, the middle anterior superior part of the forehead was likewise vaulted into a conical eminence. The more my observations of this kind were multiplied, the more I was convinced, that the tendency of a mind to seek comparisons, analogies, &c., results from the favorable development of a particular organ. Farther proofs that the Faculty of Comparison is. founded on the Action of the Middle Cerebral part of the Anterior Superior Region of the Forehead. In treating of the fundamental faculties, which exclusively belong to man, I have not at my disposal so many proofs, as for those which are common to man and animals. All the resources, which comparative anatomy and physiology afford me, to sustain * Franklin, Almanac. my assertion, in relation to the organs of which I have treated hitherto, now fail me; and I am obliged henceforward, to confine myself to man alone: and man being infinitely more complicated than animals, and consequently more difficult to observe, it becomes. more than ever necessary to multiply facts, and to draw inferences with the most judicious reserve. Sagacity and wit are commonly regarded as two faculties, not only very distinct, but even opposite. It is maintained that sagacity (Scharf-sinn) or perspicacity, consists in seizing contrasts, and wit, (Witz) in finding resemblances. But, as he, who has the faculty to discover resemblances between different objects, must necessarily also seize their contrasts, it follows that both of these faculties are modifications of the same fundamental powers. The expression perspicacity, sagacity, spirit of comparison, seems to me to designate exactly this operation of our understanding. I remark in general, that persons, in whom this cerebral part has acquired a high degree of development, seize and judge well the relations of things, of circumstances, and events, and are generally well fitted for business. Children, in whom this organ is considerably developed, prefer fables to all other subjects taught them. I own a bust of La Fontaine, in which this part is extremely developed, and the other parts are smaller than they appear in the prints. My bust coincides with that in baked clay, which is seen at the museum of French monuments. I have often said to individuals in whom I found this organization to a high degree; in your writings, and even in your letters, in your discussions, you make frequent use of comparisons. After some moments of reflection, they acknowledged within themselves this peculiar tendency, which they had not till that moment suspected. On making at Frankfort the acquaintance of the famous preacher Hufnagel, (Pl. LXXXIII. fig. 1,) we saw, that he had this organ very much developed; and it was with lively joy, that we saw it at Weimar greatly developed on the forehead of Goethe; accordingly we find analogies and comparisons, on every page of the writings of this fine genius. This organ is in general of great use to poets; with it every thing becomes an image, so that certain poets attribute their talent entirely to the faculty of speaking by images, and have not the least idea of what really constitutes poetical talent. I find this organ much developed in the bust of those of the ancients, who have distinguished themselves by their sagacity; for example, in that of Cato, Solon, Pl. LXXXVII. fig. 6, Macænas. Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Pl. LXXXVII. fig. 4,) of all the scholars of barbarous times, was without question, the most profound, the most judicious, and the clearest; accordingly the organ of comparative perspicacity is very visible on his forehead. The head of St. Francis de Sales (Pl. LXXXVii. fig. 5,) is in general very handsome, very elevated, high, and of an extremely noble character; but we observe especially a great development of the organ of comparative perspicacity, and large, depressed eyes, such as are usually found among philologists. Accordingly, he shows every where great erudition, and there is not a page of his introduction to a devout life, in which we do not find some analogies and even some sustained comparisons. I open the volume, I fall on page 164, and I read; "If we are punctilious for rank, precedence, titles, besides exposing our qualities to examination, to inquiry, to contradiction, we render them vile and abject; for the honor, which is noble when received as a gift, becomes mean when exacted, sought, and demanded. When a peacock spreads his tail to exhibit his fine feathers, he bristles up all the rest, and shows all his most inferior parts: the flowers, which are beautiful while planted in the ground, fade when handled. And as those who smell the mandrake at a distance, and in passing receive pleasure from the odor, and those who approach closely become stupified and sick, so honors give a sweet consolation to him who smells them gently from afar, without amusing himself with them or caring for them; but to him who attaches himself to them and feeds on them, they become extremely offensive and prejudicial." So true is it, that man betrays the secret of his organization in his thoughts and his writings. On the Education of the Human Race. What can have been the object of the Creator, or of nature, in placing this organ in the median line, where the most essential organs are always found? Let me be permitted here to make a philosophical digression; it may be pardoned, I think, to a man who is persuaded, that organization is the principal source of psychological phenomena. I have said that, by the aid of the organ of comparative sagacity, man makes comparisons; that is, by the aid of this organ he recognises the resemblances and differences of objects. Now, it is certain that it is precisely by this means, that the education of the human race commences. Man has a natural propensity to compare his feelings with the impressions he receives from without, and the same impressions with the sensations he experiences within. By means of these comparisons his sentiments and impressions are converted, not only into ideas, but also into images and pictures; by this means his language does not limit itself to a collection of material sounds without life; it becomes an animated, and, if we may so speak, a personified language. By means of such a language, man is enabled to communicate, that is, to paint to his fellow men his feelings, as well as the impressions he has received; this is the spirit which reigns in all mother tongues; it is the organ of hieroglyphics, and |