drawn any such inference. Wounds and diseases of the cerebellum, for instance, have forced themselves upon their notice, where the sexual propensity was extinguished by loss of substance, or preternaturally excited by the subsequent inflammatory action; and yet no one drew the inference that the cerebellum was the organ of Amativeness.* The temper and moral sentiments have also been entirely changed, in consequence of certain injuries of the brain, while the intellect remained unimpaired; and no one drew the conclusion that the parts affected were the organs of these sentiments. Nor would they have been warranted in doing so, because instances of injury confined so entirely to one part as to affect its function, without having any influence upon those of the neighboring parts, are so rare, in comparison to those of an opposite kind, that no just inferences can be drawn from them alone; although, combined with other evidence, they are highly important. CONCLUSION (TO THE SECOND EDITION.) In the Introduction to this work, it is observed, that, “in surveying the philosophy of man, as at present exhibited to us in the writings of philosophers, we perceive, first, That no account is given of the influence of the material organs on the manifestations of the mental powers; that the progress of the mind from youth to age, and the phenomena of sleep, dreaming, idiocy, and insanity, are left unexplained or unaccounted for; secondly, That the existence and functions of some of the most important primitive faculties are still in dispute; and, thirdly, That no light whatever has been thrown on the nature and effects of combinations of the prim * Wepferns' Historia Apoplecticorum, edit. 1724, p. 487. Magendie's Journal de Physiologie for April and August, 1822; also Medical Repository, vol. xviii p. 268-358.-Larrey's Memoires de Chirurgie Militaire et Campagnes, vol. ii. p. 150; vol. iii. p. 262. itive powers in different degrees of relative proportion. It is with great truth, therefore, that Monsieur De Bonald, quoted by Mr. Stewart, observes, that, "diversity of doctrine has increased from age to age, with the number of masters, and with the progress of knowledge; and Europe, which at present possesses libraries filled with philosophical works, and which reckons up alınost as many philosophers as writers; poor in the midst of so much riches, and uncertain, with the aid of all its guides, which road it should follow; Europe, the centre and focus of all the lights of the world, has yet its philosophy only in expectation." May I hope that Phrenology will now appear to the attentive reader calculated to supply the deficiency here pointed out, and to furnish Europe, at last, with the Philosophy so long in expectation? Hitherto the writings of Dr. Gall have been little known to the British public, except through the medium of hostile reviews; and the most unmeasured ridicule and abuse have been poured out against them, as if they were a disgrace to the century in which they were produced; his fellow laborer Dr. Spurzheim has sustained an equal share of this unmerited storm. In preparing the present volume for the press, I have drawn largely from the works of both of these founders of the science; in many instances I have compared their statements of fact with nature; sifted their arguments, and weighed deliberately their conclusions; and I now feel it an imperious duty to state, that the present generation has, in my humble judgment, re-acted, in their cases, the scenes which have attached so deep a stigma to the ages of Galileo and Harvey. The discoveries of the revolution of the globe, and the circulation of the blood, were splendid displays of genius, interesting and beneficial to mankind; but their results, compared with the consequences which must inevitably follow from Dr. Gall's discovery of the functions of the brain, (embracing, as it does, the true theory of the animal, moral and intellectual constitution of man,) sink into relative insignificance. Looking forward to the time when the real nature and ultimate effects of Dr. Gall's discovery shall be fully recognised, I cannot entertain a doubt that posterity will manifest as eager a desire to render honor to his memory, as his contempora ries have shown to treat himself with indignity and contempt. If the present work shall tend in any degree to rouse the public attention to his merits, and to excite the philosophers of England to do him justice ere he die, it will accomplish one great end of its publication. Let them at last lay aside the prejudice which has so long kept them back from looking with their own eyes into his works, and from appealing, with the lights which he affords, to Nature, as the standard by which to try the merits of his pretensions. If they will examine, they will find that a fortunate thought opened up to him a vast region of discovery, and that he has displayed gigantic powers in prosecuting it to its results; that Dr. Gall, instead of being an ignorant pretender to knowledge, is a man of profound and solid erudition; that, so far from being a reckless theorist, he is the most stubborn adherent to fact that has perhaps ever appeared in the annals of inductive philosophy; and that, instead of being characterized by a weak understanding and bewildered imagination, he manifests an intellect at once profound, regulated, and comprehensive. Dr. Spurzheim's works and lectures have rendered him better known in this country, and the force of truth has for some years been operating in his favor. No reviewer would now reckon it creditable, to use the terms so unceremoniously applied to him in 1815; but a great debt of respect and gratitude remains to be paid by Britain and the world to Dr. Spurzheim. He is second in fortune rather than in merit to Dr. Gall. The great discovery of Phrenology unquestionably belongs to the latter; but to Dr. Spurzheim is due the praise of early appreciating its importance, of fearlessly dedicating his life to the enlargement of its boundaries and the dissemination of its principles, at a time when neither honor nor emolument, but obloquy and censure, were bestowed on its adherents. In admiring the science as it now appears, it becomes us to recollect, that we owe much of its excellence and interest to this gifted individual. He has enriched it with the most valuable anatomical discoveries; ascertained the functions of several highly important organs; shed over it the lights of a refined and analytic philosophy, and pointed out the most important fields of its applica tion. With profound gratitude and respect, therefore, I acknowledge myself indebted to him for the greatest gift which it was possible for one individual to confer on another, a knowledge of the true Philosophy of Man. To my excellent friends, also, the Reverend David Welsh, Mr. Scott, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Lyon, and Dr. Andrew Combe, fellowlaborers with me in Phrenology, I owe many obligations. In availing myself freely of the lights they have struck out, it has been my constant wish to acknowledge the source of my information; but if, amidst the habitual interchange of ideas with which they have honored me, their discoveries have, in any instance, been amalgamated with my own thoughts, and their authors forgotten, I solicit their forgiveness, assuring them that inadvertency alone has been the cause of any such mistakes. EDINBURGH, October, 1825. POSTSCRIPT TO THE THIRD EDITION. SINCE the foregoing observations were written, Dr. Gall has been numbered with the dead. Like many other benefactors of mankind, he has died without his merits being acknowledged, or his discoveries rewarded, by the "great in literature and science," of his own age; but he possessed the consciousness of having presented to the world, one of the most valuable discoveries that ever graced the annals of philosophy, and enjoyed the delight of having opened up to mankind a career of improvement, physical, moral and intellectual, to which the boldest imagination can at present prescribe no limits. This appears to be the reward which Providence assigns to men eminently gifted with intellectual superiority; and we may presume that it is wisely suited to their nature. A great duty remains for posterity to perform to the memory of Dr. Gall, and I cannot entertain a doubt, that in due time it will be amply discharged. It gives me the greatest satisfaction to renew, after five years' additional experience, the acknowledgment of my highest gratitude and esteem for Dr. Spurzheim; and to express my earnest wish that Britain may, by suitable encouragement, retain him permanently to herself. EDINBURGH, October, 1830. POSTSCRIPT TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. It is painful in no ordinary degree to speak now of Dr. Spurzheim, in the past tense; but since the third Edition of this work was prepared, he too has been numbered with the dead. He died at Boston, in Nov. 1832, while zealously engaged in communicating the invaluable truths of Phrenology to a people in every respect worthy of the doctrine and of the man who came among them to teach it. The citizens of Boston, and of the United States generally, have appreciated the talents and moral worth of this most excellent philosopher; and in expressing my heartfelt sorrow for his loss, I render a sincere tribute of respect and gratitude to them for the kindness with which they received him, and the honors with which they enshrined his mortal remains. I respectfully offer this work to their candid consideration, and will feel highly gratified if it shall meet with their approbation 23 CHARLOTTE SQUARE, EDINburgh, |