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Organs

George Combe's A System of Phrenology, 5th edn, 2 vols. 1853.

Vol. 1: [front matter], Intro, N ervous system, Principles of Phrenology, Anatomy of the brain, Division of the faculties 1.Amativeness 2.Philoprogenitiveness 3.Concentrativeness 4.Adhesiveness 5.Combativeness 6.Destructiveness, Alimentiveness, Love of Life 7.Secretiveness 8.Acquisitiveness 9.Constructiveness 10.Self-Esteem 11.Love of Approbation 12.Cautiousness 13.Benevolence 14.Veneration 15.Firmness 16.Conscientiousness 17.Hope 18.Wonder 19.Ideality 20.Wit or Mirthfulness 21.Imitation.
Vol. 2: [front matter], external senses, 22.Individuality 23.Form 24.Size 25.Weight 26.Colouring 27.Locality 28.Number 29.Order 30.Eventuality 31.Time 32.Tune 33.Language 34.Comparison, General observations on the Perceptive Faculties, 35.Causality, Modes of actions of the faculties, National character & development of brain, On the importance of including development of brain as an element in statistical inquiries, Into the manifestations of the animal, moral, and intellectual faculties of man, Statistics of Insanity, Statistics of Crime, Comparative phrenology, Mesmeric phrenology, Objections to phrenology considered, Materialism, Effects of injuries of the brain, Conclusion, Appendices: No. I, II, III, IV, V, [Index], [Works of Combe].

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MODES OF ACTION OF THE FACULTIES.

ALL the faculties tend to action, and, when active in a due degree, produce actions good, proper, or necessary : It is excess of activity and ill direction that occasion abuses. It is probable that Phrenology has been discovered only in consequence of some individuals, in whom particular organs were very largely developed, having yielded to the strongest propensities of their nature. The smallness of a particular organ is not the cause of the corresponding faculty producing abuses. Although the organ of Benevolence be small, it will not occasion cruelty ; but, as it will be accompanied with indifference to the happiness of others, its deficiency may lead to the omission of duties. When, also, one organ is small, abuses may result from another being left without proper restraint. Thus, large organs of Acquisitiveness and Secretiveness, combined with small organs of Reflection and Conscientiousness, may, in certain circumstances, lead to theft. Powerful Destructiveness, with weak Benevolence, may produce cruel actions.

Every faculty, when in action, from whatever cause, produces the kind of feeling," or forms the kind of ideas, already described as resulting from its natural constitution. Large organs have the greatest tendency to act ; small organs the least. Since every organ tends to action, it is clear that each must have a legitimate sphere of action. None of them is necessarily and inherently bad, otherwise God must have deliberately created organs for no other purpose than to lead us into sin.

The PROPENSITIES and SENTIMENTS cannot be excited to action directly by a mere command of the will. For example, we cannot conjure up the emotions of fear, compassion, and Veneration, by merely willing to experience them ; and hence we are not to blame for the absence of any emotion at a particular time. These faculties, however,

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may enter into action from an internal excitement of the organs ; and then the desire or emotion which each produces will be felt, whether we will to experience it or not. Thus, the cerebellum being active from internal causes, produces the corresponding feeling ; and this cannot be avoided if the organ be excited. We have it in our power to permit or restrain the manifestation of it in action ; but we have no option, if the organ be excited, to experience, or not to experience, the feeling itself. The case is the same with the organs .of Cautiousness, Hope, Veneration, and the others. There are times when we feel involuntary emotions of fear, or hope, or awe, arising within us, for which we cannot account by reference to external causes ; such feelings depend on the spontaneous action of the organs of these sentiments, which, again, probably arises from increased circulation of the blood in their vessels.

" We cannot Nature by our wishes rule, Nor, at our will, her warm emotions cool."

Crabbe.

In the second place, these faculties may be called into action independently of the will, by presenting the external objects fitted by nature to excite them. When an object in distress is presented_, the faculty of Benevolence starts into activity, and produces the feelings which depend upon its constitution. When an object threatening danger is perceived, Cautiousness gives an instantaneous emotion of fear. And when lovely objects are contemplated, Ideality inspires us with a feeling of beauty. In all these cases, the power of acting, or of not acting, is dependent on the will ; but the power of feeling, or of not feeling, is not so. When the temperament is active, emotions are much more easily excited, both by external and internal causes, than where it is sluggish.

" It seems an unaccountable pleasure," says Hume,¹ "which the spectators of a well-written tragedy receive from

¹ Essay 22.

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sorrow, terror, anxiety, and other passions, that are in themselves disagreeable and uneasy. The more they are touched and affected, the more are they delighted with the spectacle. The whole art of the poet is employed in rousing and supporting the compassion and indignation, the anxiety and resentment, of his audience. They are pleased in proportion as they are afflicted, and never are so happy as when they employ tears, sobs, and cries, to give vent to their sorrow, and relieve their hearts, swollen with the tenderest sympathy and compassion.^"

Many volumes have been written to solve this problem. Those authors who deny the existence of benevolent and disinterested feelings in man, maintain, that we sympathize with Cato, Othello, or King Lear, because we conceive the possibility of ourselves being placed in similar situations, and that then all the feelings arise in us which we should experience, if we were suffering under similar calamities. Mr Stewart, who, on the other hand, admits the existence of generous emotions in the human mind, states it as his theory, that we, for an instant, believe the distress to be real ; and under this belief feel the compassion which would naturally start up in our bosoms, if the sufferings represented were actually endured. A subsequent act of judgment, he says, dispels, in an almost imperceptible portion of time, the illusion, and restrains the mind from acting under the emotion ; which, if the belief of reality continued, it would certainly do, by running to the relief of the oppressed hero or heroine : but still he considers that a momentary belief is necessary to call up the emotions which we experience.

The phrenological doctrine before explained appears to me to furnish the true explanation. Each propensity and sentiment maybe called into action by presentation of its object, and, when active, the corresponding feeling or emotion attends it, in virtue of its constitution. Happiness consists in the harmonious gratification of all the faculties ; and the very essence of gratification is activity. " Thus, the muscular system," says Dr A. Combe, " is gratified by motion,

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and pleasure arises ; the eye is gratified by looking at external objects ; Combativeness, by overcoming opposition : Destructiveness, by the sight of destruction and the infliction of pain ; Benevolence, by the relief of suffering ; Hope, by looking forward to a happy futurity ; Cautiousness, by a certain degree of uncertainty and anxiety, &c. As the degree of enjoyment corresponds to the number of faculties simultaneously active and gratified, it follows, that a tragic scene, which affords a direct stimulus to several of the faculties at the same moment, must be agreeable, whatevever these may be ; 1st, if it do not, at the same time, outrage any of the other feelings ; and, 2dly, if it do not excite any faculty so intensely as to give rise to pain ; just as too much light hurts the eye, and too much exertion fatigues the muscles." In the play of Pizarro, for example, when the child is introduced, its aspect and situation instantly excite Philoprogenitiveness, and individuals possessing this organ largely feel a deep interest in it ;the representation of danger to which it is exposed rouses Cautiousness, producing fear for its safety ; when Holla saves it, this fear is allayed, Philoprogenitiveness is highly delighted, and Benevolence also is gratified ; and the excitement of these faculties is pleasure. All this internal emotion takes place simply in consequence of the constitution of the faculties, and the relation established by nature between them and their objects, without the understanding being imposed on, or forming any theory about the scenes, whether they are real or fictitious. A picture raises emotions of sublimity or beauty on the same principles. " The cloud-capt towers and gorgeous palaces " are fitted by nature to excite Ideality, Wonder, and Veneration ; and, these faculties being active, certain emotions of delight ensue. When a very accurate representation of the towers and palaces is executed on canvass, their appearance in the picture excites into action the same faculties which their natural lineaments would rouse, and the same pleasures kindle in the soul. But what should we think if Mr Stewart assured us that we must believe the paint and canvass to be

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real stone and mortar, and the figures living men and women, before we can enjoy the scene ? And yet this would be as reasonable as the same doctrine applied to tragedy. We may weep at a tragedy represented on canvass, and know all the while that there are only colours and forms before us ; and we may shed tears at seeing a tragedy acted,-which is merely a representation, by means of words and gestures, of objects calculated to rouse the faculties,-and yet labour under no delusion respecting the reality of the incidents.

If the propensities and sentiments become excessively active from these representations, they may overpower the intellect, and a temporary belief may follow ; but, in this case, strong emotion does not arise from a previous illusion of the understanding ; on the contrary, the misconception in the intellect is the consequence of the feeling having become overwhelming. This remark is illustrated and confirmed by the following extract from the life of Mrs Siddons :- " It was my custom," says she, " to study my characters at night, when all the domestic cares and business of the day were over. On the night preceding that in which I was to appear in this part for the first time, I shut myself up, as usual, when all the family were retired, and commenced my study of Lady Macbeth, As the character is very short, I thought I should soon accomplish it. Being then only twenty years of age, I believed, as many others do believe, that little more was necessary than to get the words into my head ; for the necessity of discrimination, and the development of character, at that time of my life, had scarcely entered into my imagination. But, to proceed, I went on with tolerable composure in the silence of the night (a night I never can forget), till I came to the assassination scene, when the horrors of the scene rose to a degree that made it impossible for me to get farther. I snatched my candle, and hurried out of the room, in a paroxysm of terror. My dress was of silk, and the rustling of it, as I ascended the stairs to go to bed, seemed to my panic-struck fancy like the movement of a spectre pursuing me. At last I reached my cham-

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ber, where I found my husband fast asleep. I clapt my candlestick down upon the table, without the power of putting the candle out ; and I threw myself on my bed, without daring to stay even to take off my clothes.'¹¹

Excessive action of the affective faculties, or the removal of their objects, causes uneasiness or pain.

The law of our constitution above explained, accounts also for several of the phenomena of insanity. All the organs are liable to become strongly and involuntarily active through disease ; this produces mental excitement, or violent desires to act in the direction of the diseased organs. If Destructiveness be affected in this manner, fury, which is an irresistible propensity to violence and outrage, will ensue. If the organs of Cautiousness become involuntarily active through disease, fear will constantly be felt ; and this constitutes melancholy. If Veneration and Hope be excited in a similar way, the result will be involuntary emotions of devotion, the liveliest joy and anticipations of bliss ; which feelings, fixed and immoveable, amount to religious insanity. It occasionally happens that a patient is insane in one feeling alone, such as Cautiousness, Hope, or Veneration, and that, if the sphere of activity of this faculty be avoided, his understanding on other subjects is sound, and his general conduct rational and consistent. Thus, a person insane in Self-Esteem, sometimes imagines himself to be a king ; but on other topics evinces sound sense, and consecutiveness of judgment. This results from the organs of intellect being sane, and only the organ of Self-Esteem diseased. Sometimes well-meaning individuals, struck with the clearness of the understanding in such patients, endeavour to point out, by means of argument, the erroneous nature of the notions under which they suffer ; supposing that, if they could convince their intellect of the mistake, the disease would be eradicated : but the malady consists in an unhealthy action of the organ of a sentiment or propensity ; and, as long as the diseased state of that organ continues,

¹ Campbell's Life of Mrs Siddons, vol. ii. p. 55.

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the insane feeling will remain, and argument will do as little to remove it as a speech would accomplish in curing

gout.

The converse of the doctrine now explained also holds good ; that is to say, if the organ be not active, the propensity or emotion connected with it cannot be felt ; just as we cannot hear a sound when the auditory apparatus is not excited by vibrations of the air.

The most important practical consequences may be deduced from this exposition of our mental constitution. The larger any organ is, the more it is predisposed to become active ; and the smaller, the less so. Hence an individual prone to violence, to excessive pride, vanity, or avarice, is the victim of an unfavourable development of brain ; and in our treatment of him we should bear this fact constantly in mind. If we had wished, for example, to render Bellingham mild, the proper proceeding would have been, not to punish him for being ill-tempered, for this would have directly excited his Destructiveness, the largeness of which was the cause of his wrath ; but to address ourselves to his Benevolence, Veneration, and Intellect, that, by rousing them, we might assuage the vehemence of Destructiveness. In a case like that of David Haggart, in whom Conscientiousness was very deficient, we should always bear in mind, that, in regard to feeling the obligation of justice, such an individual is in the same state of unhappy deficiency, as Mr Milne is in perceiving colours, and Ann Ormerod in perceiving melody ; and our treatment ought to correspond. "We would never think of attempting to improve Ann Ormerod's organ of Tune by beating her ; and, Haggart's Conscientiousness being naturally as deficient, we could as little have succeeded in enabling him to feel and act justly by inflicting severe punishment. The reasonable plan in such cases is, first, to avoid placing the individual in circumstances demanding the exercise of the deficient faculty-not to place Ann Ormerod, for instance, in a band of singers, or David Haggart m a confidential situation, where property is entrusted to his

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care ;-and. in the next place, to present to all the organs of the higher sentiments which are largely possessed, motives calculated to excite them and to control the propensities, so as to supply, as far as possible, by other means, the directing power of the feeble Conscientiousness.

Occasionally, individuals who are very deficient in several of the moral and intellectual organs, will not believe in their own deficiencies, and, in opposition to the counsels of their best friends, insist on engaging in enterprises which they are incapable of conducting with success. The proper mode of treating such persons, is to restrain them if possible ; and, if this cannot be done, to allow them to suffer the disagreeable consequences of their own line of conduct. It is only by undergoing these that their own incapacity becomes practically known to themselves.

If the principle be correct that large organs give strong desires, and small organs weak impulses, Phrenology must be calculated, in an eminent degree, to be practically useful in society. If, in choosing a servant, we are afraid or ashamed to examine the head, and engage one with a brain extremely deficient in the moral organs, and large in those of the animal propensities, like that of Mary Macinnes, and if certain strong animal feelings accompany this development, we shall unquestionably suffer annoyance as the consequence. If we select an individual very deficient in Conscientiousness as a child's maid, she will labour under a natural blindness to truth, and if Secretiveness be large, she will not only lie herself, but probably teach the children entrusted to her care this abominable vice. If a merchant select a clerk with a head like David Haggart's, and place money at his disposal, the strong animal feelings, unrestrained by Conscientiousness, may prompt him to embezzle it. In the Phren. Journ., vol. xiv. p. 297, I have endeavoured to point out the " Application of Phrenology to the purposes of the Guarantee Society, for providing security for persons in situations of trust."

In the next place, if the presentation of the object of a faculty rouse it into instant action,-as suffering, Benevolence,

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or danger, Cautiousness,-this becomes a highly important principle in the education of children. If, in our intercourse with them, we assume the natural language of Destructiveness and Self-Esteem, we shall cultivate these faculties in their minds, by exciting the organs ; if we manifest Benevolence and Veneration in their presence, we shall excite the same faculties in them ; if we discourse constantly about money, the desire of increasing it, and the fear of losing it, we shall stimulate the organs of Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem in them, and increase the power of these propensities.

In the third place, the faculties of which we are now speaking may be excited to action, or repressed, indirectly, by an effort of the will. Thus, if the knowing faculties (which form ideas) be employed to conceive internally, objects fitted by nature to excite the propensities and sentiments, the latter will start into action in the same manner, though not with so much intensity, as if their appropriate objects were externally present. For example, if we conceive inwardly an object in distress, and Benevolence be powerful, compassion will be felt, and tears will sometimes flow from the emotion produced. If we wish to repress the activity of Ideality, we cannot do so by merely willing that the sentiment be quiet ; but if we conceive objects fitted to excite Veneration, Cautiousness, Self-Esteem, or Benevolence, the organs of these feelings will then be excited, and Ideality will sink into inactivity. The vivacity of the feeling, in such cases, will be in proportion to the strength of the conception and the energy of the propensities and sentiments.

^ If the organ of any propensity or sentiment enter into vigorous action from internal causes, it will prompt the intellectual faculties to form conceptions fitted to gratify it ; or, in other words, the habitual subjects of thought will be determined by the organs which are predominantly active from internal excitement. If the cerebellum be permanently active, the individual will be prone to collect pictures, books,

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and anecdotes, fitted to gratify the feeling ; his mind will be much occupied with such ideas, and they will afford him delight. If, in another individual, Constructiveness, Ideality, Imitation, and the knowing organs, be internally active, he will desire to see pictures, busts, and works of art, in which skill, beauty, and expression are combined ; or he will take pleasure in inventing and constructing them. He will know much about such objects, and be fond of possessing them, and of talking about them. If, in another individual, Acquisitiveness be internally active, he will feel a great and natural interest in all matters connected with wealth, and be inspired with an eager curiosity to know the profits of different branches of trade, and the property possessed by different individuals. If Benevolence be internally active, the mind will run habitually on schemes of philanthropy, such as those of Howard, Mr Owen, or Mrs Fry, In these cases, the liking for the object or pursuit will depend upon the particular propensities or sentiments which are active ; the intellectual faculties serving merely as the ministering instruments of their gratification. If the pursuit be purely intellectual, such as the study of mathematics or algebra, the liking will arise from the activity of the intellectual faculties themselves.

These principles enable us to explain the great variety of tastes and dispositions among mankind ; for in no two individuals are all the organs to be found combined in the same relative proportions, and hence every one is inspired with likings in some degree peculiar to himself.

As the propensities and sentiments do not form ideas, and as it is impossible to excite or call up directly, by an act of the will, the feelings or emotions produced by them, it follows that these faculties have not the attributes of Perception, Conception, Memory, and Imagination. If, twelve months ago, I sustained a grievous insult, my intellectual faculties may recollect the event, and also the fact that I then experienced vivid emotions of anger and indignation ; but I cannot now recall these emotions themselves as they then existed. If I could, I should suffer all the distress of them

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anew, which is mercifully prevented by the law of action which I am now explaining. The propensities and sentiments have the attribute of Sensation alone ; that is to say, when they are active, a sensation or emotion is experienced. Hence, Sensation is an accompaniment of the action of all the faculties which feel, and of the nervous system in general ; but Sensation is not a faculty itself.

Mr Sidney Smith, in his Principles of Phrenology, p. 79, ably illustrates the doctrine that the propensities and sentiments have no memory. " Consciousness of emotion," says he, "is the result solely of the relation of the activity of the organs of sentiment or propensity, in conjunction with that of some of the intellectual organs. Thus, for example, we cannot love in the abstract. No man ever felt the tender influence of this emotion as a feeling, independent of any related object. It is the perceptive faculties, which, relating the passion to its subject, first makes the state of mind or emotion present to our consciousness." * * * " So of anger, and of all other states of the various passions and emotions. They are mere susceptibilities ; it is the presentation of their related objects which superinduces their state of conscious activity." * * * " A man may possess so large an endowment of the organ of Combativeness, that, as the phrase goes, he would fight with his own shadow ; but his perceptive faculties must present to this organ his shadow, before he can incline to fight." ****** Whenever we have forgotten the object which excited any particular passion, the passion itself no longer exists to our consciousness ; and if we wish to revive it, we instinctively adopt, as the means of accomplishing the desire, the plan of recalling all the objects and facts wherewith it was originally connected. This is the only means. Destroy the memory of the form, face, eyes, voice, expression, actions of a being we once loved, and the emotion of affection itself remains perfectly dormant." * * * " Let the young and the beautiful tear from her breast the locket which she keeps as the last gift of him who was umvorthy of

vol. II. N

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her, it is an object which suggests his image, and on his image alone hangs her love. Let the new made widow, after the days of decent grief, cease to tear aside the curtain that Teils her husband's portrait, the sight of which makes her wounded heart bleed afresh, and bids her neglect life and children. When his form grows dim and inarticulate to her sights she will return to her duties."

These remarks appear to me to be well founded, but there is one principle already stated which it is necessary to bear in mind. Each propensity and sentiment may become active from internal causes, and then it will prompt the intellectual faculties to form vivid ' ideas of its objects. When the lover doats fondly on the ever present image of his mistress, her form and face are unquestionably conceived by the intellectual faculties ; but it is the spontaneous activity of the propensities and sentiments which stimulates them to the constant exertion of forming and preserving that image in preference to all others. When the emotions cease to be felt, the power of forming the conceptions will remain, but these will no longer interest the mind to the same extent as formerly, nor continue so habitually present. By weakening an emotion, we may free the intellect from the dominion of the related ideas ; and also, by diverting the intellect from these conceptions, we may abate the intensity of an emotion. The influence is reciprocal.

Some individuals have assured me that they are capable of recalling emotions at pleasure, and they contest the soundness of the views before stated ; but I have observed that such persons possessed large organs of Imitation and Secretiveness, with an active temperament, which constitute the elements of an actor's talent. Those who have a genius for the stage possess, from this combination, a power of calling up, at will, the activity and natural language of any faculty, and of representing its emotions ; but my conviction is, that they do so by conceiving objects related to the emotion ; and that then the reciprocal influence before explained of the

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intellect on the propensity, and the propensity on the intellect, takes place.

The laws of the KNOWING and REFLECTING faculties are in several respects different. These faculties form ideas, and perceive relations ; they constitute will, and minister to the gratification of the other faculties which only feel. Will is a peculiar kind or mode of action of the intellectual faculties, different from perception and judgment.

The doctrine that the intellectual faculties constitute will may be thus elucidated. Will results from the decision and resolution of the intellect to follow a certain course of action, which may be prompted by inclination, by a sense of duty, or by the pressure of external compulsion. It is different from perseverance, obstinacy, stubbornness, and infatuation, which result from excessive energy of the organs of Firmness. Although a sheep, when it escapes from a flock, or a horse, when it breaks loose from the harness, may run with great vivacity and speed, they have no design, no fixed motive, no will. They are actuated by inclination, but intellect has given to it no specific direction. They are so deficient in the reflecting faculties, that they have no power of surveying their situation, forming an intellectual determination, and pursuing with sagacity an ulterior end. They run now one way, now another, obviously without aim. When the sheep is caught, it is often dragged back to the flock by the horns, resisting at every step. This resistance is not the result of will, but of blind Combativeness offering opposition, or of Firmness practising obstinate resistance. An idiot is defective in intellect, and his will is to a corresponding extent deficient. If he be totally idiotic, he may have inclinations, but he can conceive no purpose, and form no resolution ; he will be an entire automaton. If he possess some degree of intellect he will be capable, to that extent, of forming a design, and of willing to execute it. A man of great intellect surveys a vast horizon of knowledge, forms judgments, and wills to act on his determinations. Thus will increases with the intellectual faculties.

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The element of inclination very generally comes from thepropensities and sentiments. They give the desires which prompt us to action ; but the decision, the determination, the Mill to act on them, comes from the intellect. A man of a strong will, like Napoleon, is one who possesses energetic desires, combined with powerful intellect. If we wish to lead the mill of an individual whom we regard as soft, good-natured, and unintellectual, to a particular course of action, we address his feelings. If we desire to lead the will of a man of superior understanding, we address his intellect, and endeavour to convince him. "We produce will, in the first, by exciting the feelings, because we believe them to be so powerful, that they will draw after them the intellect ; and, in the second, by convincing the intellect, because we know that it will command the feelings to follow its dictates. In both instances inclination and judgment are present, but a" the degree of will bears a relation directly to the extent of the intellect, I consider intellect as essentially constituting; will.

When we act under a sense of duty, or from external compulsion, as when a criminal walks to the place of execution, the intellect commands the action, even in opposition to inclination. The anterior lobe of the brain manifests the intellectual faculties, and is directly connected with and commands the motory tract of the spinal marrow, by means of which all voluntary movements are executed. That Will is manifested even in walking to execution is obvious, because, without it, the voluntary muscles would not move. The power of executing voluntary motions is limited by the extent of the intellectual faculties , for if certain intellectual organs be deficient, the motions necessary to accomplish the acts to which they are related cannot be performed, although the nerves and muscles of voluntary motion be complete. A man in whom the organs of Time, Tune, and Weight are deficient, cannot command those motions of the fingers which produce melody from a violin ; nor can one deficient in Size and Weight produce those motions which are necessary to send an arrow from a bow

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directly to a mark. Each organ, both of the feelings and intellect, gives the power of performing certain instinctive movements ; Destructiveness, for example, to strike, Self-esteem to draw up the head and the body, and so forth ; but these motions must be distinguished from those which are voluntary, and all of which latter seem to me to proceed from faculties situated in the anterior lobe alone.^l

The modes of action of the intellectual powers are the following.

1st, These faculties may become active from excitement of the organs by internal causes, and then the kinds of ideas which they are fitted to form are presented involuntarily to the mind. The musician feels the notes flowing on aim uncalled for. A man in whom Number is powerful and active, calculates by a natural impulse. He in whom Form is vigorous, -conceives figures by internal inspiration. He in whom Causality is powerful and active, reasons while he thinks, without an effort. He in whom Wit is energetic, feels witty conceptions flowing into his mind spontaneously, and even at times when he would wish them not to be present. .

2dly, These faculties may be excited by the presentation of external objects fitted to call them into action ; and,

3dly, They may be excited to action by impulses from the propensities and sentiments.

When excited by the presentation of external objects, the objects are perceived, and this act is called PERCEPTION.² Perception is a mental state consequent on impressions made on the nerves of the senses, and communicated by them to the organs of the knowing and reflecting faculties. A low degree of development of these organs is

¹ See some observations on the "Relation between the Structure and the Functions of the Brain," in the Introduction, p. xxxi. to my translation of Gall on the Cerebellum.

² See a note on this subject by H. C. Watson in Phrenological Journal, vol. x. p. 407. I have partially adopted Mr Watson's ideas there expressed.

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sufficient to enable them to perceive the objects which make the impressions ; and each organ serves to perceive the objects related to itself. If no idea is formed when the object is presented, the individual is destitute of the power of manifesting the faculty. Thus, when tones are produced, he who cannot perceive the melody of them, is incapable of manifesting the faculty of Tune. When a coloured object is presented, the individual who cannot perceive, so as to distinguish the tints, is destitute of the faculty of Colouring ; and so forth. Thus, Perception is a mode of action of the faculties which form ideas ; but it is not an independent primitive faculty.

This doctrine is not theoretical, but is clearly indicated by facts. In the case reported by Mr Hood,¹ a patient who lost the memory of words, yet enjoyed perception of their meaning. He understood language spoken by others;-or, the organ of Language retained so much of its power as to enable him to perceive the meaning of words when presented to his mind, but so little as not to be sufficient to recall words by an act of his will, so as to express his thoughts. The case of Mr Ferguson² is another in point. He enjoyed so great a degree of the organ of Size as to be able to perceive distance when natural scenery was presented, but so little as to be quite unable to recollect it when the objects were withdrawn. Mr Sloane³ is in a similar situation in regard to colours. He perceives the differences of hues when they are before his eyes, but has so little of the organ of Colouring that he does not recollect, so as to be able to name them separately. Many persons, among whom I am one, are in a similar condition in regard to music ; they perceive melody and enjoy it when presented to the ear, but have so little of the faculty of Tune as to be unable afterwards to recall the notes. The same phenomena are seen in the case of the reflecting powers. There are individuals in whom the organs of Comparison and Causality are so much developed, that

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they are able to perceive a simple argument when clearly placed before them, who, nevertheless, are quite incapable of reproducing themselves. They ascribe their defect to a feeble memory ; but they often shew no lack of memory for music, or mechanics, or botany, or other subjects not involving Causality. The real cause of their deficiency is a low degree of development of the organs now named.

Here, again, a highly valuable practical result presents itself. If we place a person with a forehead like Fraser's, in whom the reflecting organs are deficient, in a situation, or to apply to him for advice in circumstances, in which great natural sagacity and depth of intellect are necessary to forming a sound judgment, we- shall assuredly be disappointed : whereas, if we apply to one having such a combination as that of Dr Franklin, in whom the organs of reflection were very large, there will be much more of the instinctive capacity of tracing out beforehand the probable chain of causation, and anticipating the effects of measures which we propose to follow. Fraser might shew good sense and sound judgment after the consequences were pointed out to him, because he possesses a development of the reflecting organs sufficient to give him perception of causation when presented; but he could not, except to a very limited extent, anticipate effects from known causes, for this demands a higher degree of power.

According to this view, which regards Perception as a special kind of action of every intellectual faculty, an individual may possess acute perception as to one class of objects, and be very deficient in it as to others. Thus, Mr Milne has an acute perception of form, although he cannot perceive some colours ; other individuals perceive symmetry distinctly who cannot perceive melody. This exposition has the merit of coinciding with nature ; for we frequently meet with such examples as those I have now cited.

The metaphysicians, on the other hand, treat of Perception as a general faculty ; and, when their doctrine is applied to nature, the extraordinary spectacle is presented, of their

200 CONCEPTION.-IMAGINATION.

general power performing in the same individual half its functions with great effect, while it is wholly inefficient as to the other half; just as if legs which were sufficient to walk east could be quite inadequate to walking west. Dr Thomas Brown has abandoned this inconsistency ; and differs from Reid, Stewart, and all his predecessors, in denying perception to be any thing more than an act of the general power of the mind. We call it an act of each special intellectual faculty ; but with these Dr Brown was not acquainted.

CONCEPTION. When the knowing or reflecting organs are active from internal excitement, ideas are conceived; and the act of forming them is styled CONCEPTION : if the act amounts to a very high degree of vivacity, it is called IMAGINATION. Thus perception is the result of the action of any of these faculties excited by an external object ; and conception and imagination are different kinds and higher degrees of action depending on internal causes, and without the interference of an external object. Each, faculty performs the act of conception in its own sphere. Thus, if a person have a powerful organ of Tune, he may be able, when no instrument is sounding in his ear, to conceive, or call up in his own mind, the notes of a tune ; whereas, if his organ of Form be very small, he may not be able to bring shapes before his mind with equal facility. Some persons read music like a book, the written sign of a note being sufficient to enable them to call up the impression of the note itself in their minds. This is the result of a very high degree of activity of the faculties of Form and Tune. Temperament has a great effect on activity ; the lymphatic temperament needs external objects to rouse it to vivid action, while the sanguine and nervous glow with spontaneous and constitutional vivacity. Hence imagination, which results from a high degree of activity, is rarely found with a temperament purely lymphatic, but becomes exalted in proportion to the approach of the temperament to the nervous.

In treating of Colouring, I cited a passage, in which

CONCEPTION.-IMAGINATION. 201

Mr Stewart, after stating the fact that some men are able to distinguish different tints when presented together, who cannot name them when separate, attributes this want of discrimination to defect in the power of conception, probably arising, he supposes, from early habits of inattention. To a certain extent he is correct ; an individual like Mr Sloane may be found, whose organ of Colouring enables him to distinguish hues when seen in juxta-position, and is yet so weak as not to give him conception or memory of them when seen apart, and this would certainly indicate a deficient power of conception ; but then the power of conception may be deficient in this faculty alone, and very vigorous in all the others. On Mr Stewart's principle that conception is a general power, we here meet with the anomaly of its performing one portion of its functions well, while it is very deficient in another ; which defect is accounted for by him, by ascribing it to early habits of inattention- These early habits themselves, however, may be traced to deficiency in the size of the particular intellectual organ, because, if any organ be large, the related faculty will be powerful, and a faculty, naturally strong, eagerly attends to its objects.

When any of the knowing or reflecting faculties is internally active, it conceives ideas of the objects to which it is related. Thus Locality, Colouring, and Size, being active, we are able, with our eyes closed, to conceive a landscape in all its details of hill and dale, sunshine and shade. If this internal action become morbid, through disease of the organs, then ideas become fixed, and remain involuntarily in the mind ; and if this be long continued, it constitutes insanity. Many persons have experienced, when in the dark, vivid impressions of figures of every variety of colour and form passing before the mind, sometimes invested with alarming brilliancy and vivacity. I conclude that this arises from internal excitement of the organs situated at the superciliary ridge, namely, Form, Locality, Colouring, and others. This affection is, in most instances, only momentary ; but suppose that it were to become fixed and continuous, then the mind

202 INVOLUNTARY EXCITEMENT

would be haunted by permanent and vivid conceptions of fantastic beings, invested with more than the forms and hues of reality. This would be insanity ; not a morbid feeling, such as melancholy, or fury, or religious joy, but an intellectual delusion: Every sentiment might be sound, yet this aberration of intellect might remain fixed, and immovable by the will. If we suppose this disease to take place in several knowing organs, leaving the organs of reflection entire, it is quite possible to imagine that the individual may have false perceptions on some points, and not only be sane on all others, but be able, by means of the faculties that remain unaffected, to distinguish the erroneous impressions. Such cases actually occur.

The phenomena of apparitions, or spectral illusions, may be accounted for by the principles now explained. If several organs become active through internal excitement, they produce involuntary conception of outward objects, invested with all the attributes of form, colour, and size, which usually distinguish reality. Many interesting examples of this affection are given in The Phrenological Journal.¹

The organs of the knowing faculties seem, from the descriptions of the apparitions, to be the seats of these diseased perceptions. Nicolai, the Berlin bookseller, saw the form as of a deceased person, within eight steps of him-vast numbers of human and other forms equally in the day and night-crowds of both sexes-people on horseback-birds and dogs-of natural size, and distinct as if alive-of natural colour, but paler than reality. He then began to hear them talk. On his being bleeded with leeches, the room was crowded with spectres-in a few hours their colour began to fade, but in a few more they were white. They dissolved in air, and fragments of them were visible for some time. Dr Alderson of Hull furnishes other two cases. Mr R. left his wife and family in America, but saw them and conversed

¹ Vol. i. p. 541 ; ii. Ill, 293, 362 ; v. 210, 319, 430 ; vi. 260, 515 ; vii. 9, 362 ;x. 47, 217-

OF THE INTELLECTUAL ORGANS. 203

with them in this country-saw trains of living and dead persons-in a bright brass lock again saw his transatlantic friends, and always in that lock-had violent headach. A pothouse-keeper in Hull saw a soldier in his cellar whom he endeavoured to seize, but found to be an illusion-he attempted to take up oysters from the ground, which were equally unreal-he saw crowds of the living and dead-he scarcely knew real from spectral customers-and suffered repeated flogging from a waggoner with a whip, who was an illusion.¹ I have in vol. i. p. 466, related the case of a man in the west of Scotland with a large organ of Wonder, who saw inanimate things and persons in visions-he had a spotted carpet for a long time before his eyes, a funeral, and a log of wood on wheels. His son had the same tendency

-he followed a beggar who glided and vanished into a wall.
All these perceptions are clearly referrible to the knowing
organs.

In July 1836 I was present at the examination of the brain of an old gentleman, who, for several years before his death, saw spectral illusions, knowing them to be such. They presented themselves in the costumes of the various countries which he had visited, and even Greek and Roman statues appeared before him. Their dresses were often rich in colouring, and the figures were of all sizes, from gigantic to miniature beings. An old woman wrapped in a cloak, such as is generally worn by Scotch female peasants, was his most frequent visitor. There was great vascularity in the bloodvessels of the brain generally, and the falx, and the dura mater, lying over the organs of Veneration, Benevolence, Wonder, and Imitation, were thickened and opaque, of the colour and appearance of moistened vellum ; exhibiting strong marks of chronic inflammation.

Mr Simpson communicated to The Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. p. 294, the following case, which is particularly interesting and instructive. Concomitance of pain in the precise seat of the organs, with disorder of their functions, forms

1 Alderson's Essay on Apparitions, London, 1823.

204 INVOLUNTARY EXCITEMENT

a striking feature in it ; and the author states, that he is ready to afford the means of verification of the facts to any philosophical inquirer.

" Miss S. L.," says Mr Simpson, " a young lady, under twenty years of age, of good family, well educated, free from any superstitious fears, and in perfect general health of body and soundness of mind, has nevertheless been for some years occasionally troubled, both in the night and in the day, with visions of persons and inanimate objects, in almost all the modes and forms which we have already related. She was early subject to such illusions occasionally, and the first she remembers was that of a carpet spread out in the air, which descended near her, and vanished away.

" After an interval of some years, she began to see human figures in her room as she lay wide awake in bed, even in the day-light of the morning. These figures were whitish, or rather grey and transparent like cobweb, and generally above the size of life. At this time she had acute headachs, very singularly confined to one small spot of the head ; on being asked to point out the spot, the utmost care being taken not to lead her to the answer, our readers may judge of our feelings as phrenologists, when she touched with her fore-finger and thumb, each side of the root of the nose, the commencement of the eyebrows, and the spot immediately over the top of the nose, the ascertained seats of the organs of Form, Size, and Individuality ! Here, particularly on each side of the root of the nose, she said the sensation could only be compared to that of running sharp knives into the part. The pain increased when she held her head down, and was much relieved by holding her face upwards.¹ Miss SL L., on being asked if the pain was confined to that spot, answered, that some time afterwards the pain extended to right and left along the eyebrows, and a little above them, and completely round the eyes, which felt often as if they would burst from their sockets. When this happened, her visions

¹ " Quere,-Does not this look like a pressure of blood on that region of the brain 1"

OP THE INTELLECTUAL ORGANS. 205

were varied precisely as the phrenologist would have anticipated, and she detailed the progress without a single leading question. Weight, Colouring, Order, Number, Locality, all became affected; and let us observe what happened. The whitish or cobweb spectres assumed the natural colour of the objects, but they continued often to present themselves, though not always, above the size of life. She saw a beggar one day out of doors, natural in size and colour, who vanished as she came up to the spot. Colouring, being over-excited, began to occasion its specific and fantastical illusions. Bright spots, like stars on a black ground, filled the room in "the dark, and even in daylight ; and sudden and sometimes gradual illumination of the room during the night often took place, so that the furniture in it became visible. Innumerable balls of fire seemed one day to pour like a torrent out of one of the rooms of the house down the staircase. On one occasion, the pain between the eyes, and along the lower ridge of the brow, struck her suddenly with great violence,-when instantly, the room filled with stars and bright spots. On attempting, on that occasion, to go to bed, she said she was conscious of an inability to balance herself, as if she had been tipsy, and she fell, having made repeated efforts to seize the bedpost ; which, in the most unaccountable manner, eluded her grasp, by shifting its place, and also by presenting her with a number of bedposts instead of one. If the organ of Weight, situated between Size and Colouring, be the organ of the instinct to preserve, and give the power of preserving equilibrium, it must be the necessary consequence of the derangement of that organ to overset the balance of the person. Over-excited Number we should expect to produce multiplication of objects, and the first experience she had of this illusion was the multiplication of the bedposts, and subsequently of any inanimate object she looked at-that object being in itself real and single ;-a book, a footstool, a work-box, would increase to twenty, or fifty, sometimes without order or arrangement, and at other times piled regularly one above another. Such ob-

200 INVOLUNTARY EXCITEMENT

jects deluded her in another way, by increasing in size, as she looked at them, to the most amazing excess,-again resuming their natural size-less than which they never seemed to become,-and again swelling out. Locality, over-excited, gave her the illusion of objects, which she had been accustomed to regard as fixed, being out of their places ; and she thinks, but is not sure, that, on one occasion, a door and window in one apartment seemed to have changed places,-but, as she added, she might have been deceived by a mirror. This qualification gave us the more confidence in her accuracy, when, as she did with regard to all her other illusions, she spoke more positively. She had not hitherto observed a great and painful confusion in the visions which visited her, so as to entitle us to infer the derangement of Order. Individuality, Form, Size, Weight, Colouring, Locality, and Number only, seemed hitherto affected.

" For nearly two years, Miss S. L. was free from her frontal headachs, and-mark the coincidence-untroubled by visions, or any other illusive perceptions. Some months ago, however, all her distressing symptoms returned in great aggravation, when she was conscious of a want of health.¹The pain was more acute than before along the frontal bone, and round and in the eyeballs ; and all the organs there situated recommenced their game of illusion. Single figures of absent and deceased friends were terribly real to her, both in the day and the night, sometimes cobweb, but generally coloured. She sometimes saw friends in the street, who proved phantoms when she approached to speak to them ; and instances occurred where, from not having thus satisfied herself of the illusion, she affirmed to such friends, that she had seen them in certain places, at certain times, when they proved to her the clearest alibi. The confusion of her spectral forms now distressed her.-(Order affected). The oppression and perplexity was intolerable when figures presented themselves before her in inextricable disorder, and still

¹ " Constitutional irregularity would, it is very probable, explain the whole disorder."

OF THE INTELLECTUAL ORGANS. 207

more when they changed-as with Nicolai-from whole figures to parts of figures-faces, and half-faces, and limbs, sometimes of inordinate size and dreadful deformity. One instance of illusive disorder, which she mentioned, is curious ; and has the farther effect of exhibiting (what cannot be put in terms except those of) the derangement of the just perception of gravitation or equilibrium (Weight). One night as she sat in her bedroom, and was about to go to bed, a stream of spectres, persons' faces, and limbs, in the most shocking confusion, seemed to her to pour into her room from the window, in the manner of a cascade ! Although the cascade continued apparently in rapid descending motion, there was no accumulation of figures in the room, the supply unaccountably vanishing after having formed the cascade. Colossal figures are her frequent visitors. (Size).

" Real but inanimate objects have assumed to her the form of animals ; and she has often attempted to lift articles from the ground, which, like the oysters in the pot-house cellar, eluded her grasp.

" More recently, she has experienced a great aggravation of her alarms, for, like Nicolai, she began to hear her spectral visitors speak !-With Mr K. of Hull, the spectres always spoke. At first her crowds kept up a buzzing and indescribable gibbering, and occasionally joined in a loud and terribly disagreeable laugh, which she could only impute to fiends. These unwelcome sounds were generally followed by a rapid and always alarming advance of the figures, which often, on these occasions, presented very large and fearful faces, with insufferable glaring eyes close to her own. All self-possession then failed her, and the cold sweat of terror stood on her brow. Her single figures of the deceased and absent then began to gibber, and soon more distinctly to address her ; but her terror has hitherto prevented her from understanding what was said. *

¹ " We may here mention, that the phrenological explanations of the distressing affection which have been given Miss S. L., have had the happy effect of affording her much more composure when visited by her phantoms than she thought possible. She is still terrified with their speaking; but her mind, on the whole, is greatly eased on the subject."

208 INVOLUNTARY EXCITEMENT

" Of the other illusive perceptions of Miss S. L., we may mention the sensation of being lifted up and of sinking down, and falling forward, with the puzzling perception of objects off their perpendicular ; for example, the room, floor and all, sloping to one side. (Weight).

Mr Simpson concludes, by remarking " how curiously the old-established phenomena of ghosts are seriatim explained by this case. White or grey ghosts-the grey lodach of M-Ivor in Waverley,-result from excited Form, with quiescent Colouring, the transparent cobweb effect being colourless. Pale spectres and shadowy yet coloured forms, are the effect of partially excited Colouring. Tall ghosts and dwarf goblins are the illusions of over-excited Size. Creusa appeared to JEneas colossal in her size :-

' Infelix simulacrum atque ipsius umbra Creusse, Visa mihi ante oculos et nota major imago.'

" The ghosts of Ossian are often colossal. Gibbering and speaking ghosts, with an unearthly confusion of tongues and fiend-like peals of laughter, as if the demons revelled, are illusions which many have experienced.''

The illusions of the English opium-eater are no longer a horrible mystery; they are explained in Mr Simpson's paper here quoted.

Dr Macnish, in the later editions of his work on sleep,¹has given a- chapter on spectral illusions, in which the foregoing theory is adopted, as the only one capable of explaining them. " If the brain," says he, " be brought by internal causes, to a degree of excitement, which, in general, is the result only of external impressions, ideas not less vivid than sensations ensue ; and the individual has the same consciousness as if an impression were transmitted from an actual object through the senses. In other words, the brain, in a certain state, perceives external bodies ; and any cause which induces that state, gives rise to a like perception, independently of the usual cause-the presence of external bodies themselves. The chief of these internal

¹ The Philosophy of Sleep, by Robert Macnish ; 2d and 3d editions, chap. xv. See also his Introduction in Phrenology, p. 136.

OF THE INTELLECTUAL ORGANS. 209

causes is inflammation of the brain ; and, when the organs of the perceptive faculties are so excited-put into a state similar to that which follows actual impressions from with out the result is a series of false images or sounds, which are often so vivid as to be mistaken for realities. During sleep, the perceptive organs seem to be peculiarly susceptible of such excitement. In dreaming, for instance, the external world is inwardly represented to our minds with all the force of reality : we speak and hear as if we were in communication with actual existences. Spectral illusions are phenomena strictly analogous ; indeed they are literally no thing else than involuntary waking dreams." Dr Macnish gives the following interesting account of a vision seen by himself. " In March 1829, during an attack of fever, accompanied with violent action in the brain, I experienced illusions of a very peculiar kind. They did not appear except when the eyes were shut or the room perfectly dark ; and this was one of the most distressing things connected with my illness ; for it obliged me either to keep my eyes open or to admit more light into the chamber than they could well tolerate. I had the consciousness of shining and hideous faces grinning at me in the midst of profound darkness, from which they glared forth in horrid and diabolical relief. They were never stationary, but kept moving in the gloomy back-ground : sometimes they approached within an inch or two of my face ; at other times they receded several feet or yards from it. They would frequently break into fragments, which, after floating about, would unite-portions of one face coalescing with those of another, and thus forming still more uncouth and abominable images. The only way I could get rid of these phantoms, was by admitting more light into the chamber and opening the eyes, when they instantly vanished ; but only to reappear when the room was darkened or the eyes closed. One night, when the fever was at its height, I had a splendid vision of a theatre, in the arena of which Ducrow, the celebrated equestrian, was per-
vol. ii. ₀

210 MODES OF ACTION

forming. On this occasion, I had no consciousness of a dark back-ground like to that on which the monstrous images floated ; but every thing was gay, bright, and beautiful. I was broad awake, my eyes were closed, and yet I saw with perfect distinctness the whole scene going on in the theatre- Ducrow performing his wonders of horsemanship-and the assembled multitude, among whom I recognised several intimate friends ; in short, the whole process of the entertainment as clearly as if I were present at it. When I opened my eyes, the whole scene vanished like the enchanted palace of the necromancer ; when I closed them, it as instantly returned. But, though I could thus dissipate the spectacle, I found it impossible to get rid of the accompanying music. This was the grand march in the opera of Aladdin, and was performed by the orchestra with more superb and imposing effect, and with greater loudness, than I ever heard it before ; it was executed, indeed, with tremendous energy. This air I tried every effort to dissipate, by forcibly endeavouring to call other tunes to mind, but it was in vain. However completely the vision might be dispelled, the music remained in spite of every effort to banish it. During the whole of this singular state, I was perfectly aware of the illusiveness of my feelings, and, though labouring under violent headach, could not help speculating upon them and endeavouring to trace them to their proper cause. This theatrical vision continued for about five hours ; the previous delusions for a couple of days. The whole evidently proceeded from such an excited state of some parts of the brain, as I have already alluded to. Ideality, Wonder, Form, Colour, and Size, were all in intensely active operation ; while the state of the reflecting organs was unchanged. Had the latter participated in the general excitement, to such an extent as to be unable to rectify the false impressions of the other organs, the case would have been one of pure delirium.'' To shew how little spectral illusions are dependent on sight, Dr Macnish adverts to the fact that the blind are frequently subject to them :-" A respected elderly gentleman,^" says he, " a pa-

OF THE INTELLECTUAL ORGANS. 211

tient of my own, who was afflicted with loss of sight, accompanied by violent headachs and severe dyspeptic symptoms, used to have the image of a black cat presented before him, as distinctly as he could have seen it before he became blind. He was troubled with various other spectral appearances, besides being subject to illusions of sound equally remarkable ; for he had often the consciousness of hearing music so strongly impressed upon him, that it was with difficulty his friends could convince him it was purely ideal.'¹

There are persons who imagine themselves to be made of glass, and who refuse to sit down, or assume any position in which glass would not be safe, lest they should break their bodies in pieces; others have conceived that some object was attached to their nose, ©r that some figure was impressed upon their forehead ; who in every other respect were sound in mind. Such aberrations appear to be fixed and permanent conceptions of a diseased nature, resulting from morbid and involuntary activity of the organs of the knowing faculties. The cure will be accomplished by removing the organic cause, and not by a logical demonstration that the object does not exist ; fitted perhaps to convince a sound understanding, but altogether inefficient for the removal of illusions springing from a diseased brain.

Another form of mental derangement, arising from internal excitement of the organs, is the tendency to involuntary and sometimes unconscious manifestations of the faculties. Some insane patients talk night and day to themselves ;² and in hysterical affections, the individual often alternately laughs and cries involuntarily. The last phenomena are explicable by the supposition of different organs becoming active and quiescent in turns, in consequence of

¹ The true theory of apparitions was acutely conjectured by Hobbes, Voltaire, Shenstone, and Hume ; but the late Dr Alderson of Hull was the first to establish that such illusions are the result of cerebral disorder, although this honour has been claimed by Dr Ferriar of Manchester. See Notes, chiefly historical, on the Philosophy of Apparitions," By Mr Robert Cox ; Phren. Journ. vol. viii. p. 538.

" See before, p. 143.

212 DREAMING.

some irregular action in the brain. In Paris, Dr A. Combe saw a lady who, when just emerging from insensibility, occasioned by a fit of apoplexy, manifested the faculties of Wit and Imitation quite unconsciously, but with so admirable an effect, that her relations were forced into fits of laughter, mingled with floods of tears for her unhappy condition : On her recovery, she did not know of the exhibitions she had made. The organs of Wit and Imitation were large. Phrenology accounts for such facts in a simple and natural manner, by the effects of diseased activity of the organs.

DREAMING may now be analyzed. If the greater number of the organs remain inactive, buried in sleep, and if a few of them, from some internal excitement confined to themselves, become active, these will produce corresponding feelings, or conceptions, and their action being separated from that of the other organs, which, in the waking state, generally co-operate with them, the result will be the experience by the mind of various emotions and the creation of disjointed impressions of objects, circumstances, and events ; in short, all the various phenomena of dreams. Thus every circumstance which disturbs the organization of the body may become the cause of dreams : a heavy supper, by encumbering the digestive powers, affects the brain painfully by sympathy ; and hence the spectres and " chimeras dire " created by the dreaming fancy. Fever, by keeping up a morbid excitement in the whole system, sustains the brain in a state of uninterrupted action ; and hence the sleeplessness which attends the higher, and the disturbed dreams which accompany the lower, degrees of that disease. Thus also is explained another familiar fact relative to the mind. If, during day, we have been excessively engaged in any particular train of studies, it haunts us in our dreams. During day the organs of the faculties chiefly employed were maintained in a state of action, intense and sustained in proportion to the mental application. By a general law of the constitution, excessive action does not subside suddenly, but

DREAMING. 213

abates by insensible degrees ;-on going to sleep, so much activity continues in the organ, that the train of ideas goes on ; till, after long action, it at last entirely ceases. The Reverend Mr Bedford of Bath told me, that one of his pupils, after a long repetition of Greek grammar, became ill and feverish. Next morning he asked him how he had slept. " Very uncomfortably," said the boy, " for the curtains, and counterpane, and pillow (which were white) were all written over with Greek grammar." " But you should have closed your eyes," said Mr Bedford.-" That did me no good," replied the boy, " for I still saw the passages of the Greek grammar after my eyes were shut." Mr Bedford has been blind for ten years. He says that he dreams with great vividness and pleasure of visible coloured objects, a proof that it is the brain which receives and retains the impressions of objects of sight. Mr Goodridge, architect in Bath, presented, as a competitor, plans for the new House of Commons ; four hundred apartments were required. The mental labour necessary to arrange so large a number of rooms, in suitable relations to the windows in the external elevations, to the stairs and passages, and to convenience, was very great. After going to bed, he continued in his dreams to go up stairs and down stairs, along passages, and into rooms innumerable, and his nights became almost as fatiguing as his days. He told me this anecdote himself, and stated that he was forced to desist from his exertions for a time, to allow his brain to recover. Spencer has said that,-

" The things which day most minds, at night do most appear."

In. dreams, we are sometimes overwhelmed with terror, and cannot discover the object which occasions it. This may be accounted for, by supposing the organ of Cautiousness to be violently excited by some internal cause, while the organs of the intellectual faculties continue asleep. In other instances, we dream of seeing the most alarming or wonderful appearances without feeling any emotion. This seems to arise from several of the intellectual organs being awake, while those of

214 DREAMING.

the sentiments remain dormant. A remarkable dream of this description is narrated in The Phrenological Journal, vol. ix. p. 278.

On inquiry I find, what indeed might have been anticipated a priori, that dreams in different individuals have most frequently relation to the faculties whose organs are largest in their brains. A friend, in whom Tune is large, and Language deficient, tells me that he has frequently dreamt of hearing and producing music, but very rarely of composing discourses, written or oral. Another gentleman, in whom Language is full, and Tune deficient, states that he never but once in his life dreamt of hearing a musical note, while many a laborious page he has imagined himself writing, reading, and speaking in his dreams ; nay, he has repeatedly dreamt of conversing with foreigners in their own tongue, with a degree of fluency which he could never command while awake. In the same way, a person in whom Locality is large assured me, that he had very frequently dreamt of travelling in foreign countries, and enjoyed most vivid impressions of the scenery ; while another, in whom that organ is small, never dreamt of such a subject. One friend, in whom Combativeness is large, told me that he had fought many a tough and long-contested battle in his dreams ; while another, in whom that organ is moderate, stated that he had never dreamt of fighting but once, and that was when his imagination placed him in the hands of murderers whose heads he attempted to break with a poker, and wakened in terror at his own combative effort.

If, in persons of an active temperament, the reflective organs chiefly be exercised during day, it is not unusual for the organs of Form, Locality _r and Colouring, to disport themselves in dreams. I have known examples of literary men and lawyers, who, in their dreams,

" Flew to the pleasant fields travers'd so soft,

In life's morning march when the bosom was young,"

and enjoyed scenery which they loved, but which their avocations prevented them from visiting in their waking hours.

DREAMING. 215

A curious illustration of the effect of the predominating organs in determining the character of dreams, occur s in the case of Scott, who was executed in 1823, at Jedburgh, for murder. It is stated in his Life, that some years before the fatal event, he dreamt that he had committed a murder, and was greatly impressed with the idea. He frequently spoke of it, and recurred to it as something ominous, till at last it was realized. The organ of Destructiveness was large in his head, and so active, that he was an enthusiast in poaching, and prone to outrage and violence in his habitual conduct. This activity of the organ might continue during sleep, and then it would inspire his mind with destructive feelings, and the dream of murder would be the consequence. From the great natural strength of the propensity, he probably may have felt, when awake, an inward tendency to this crime ; and, by joining this and the dream together, the strong impression left by the latter on his mind is easily accounted for.

I presume, although I do not know it as a fact, that persons in whom Cautiousness is small, and Hope and Benevolence large, will, when in health, generally enjoy brilliant and happy dreams ; while others, in whom Cautiousness is very large, and Hope small, will be wading in difficulties and woe ?

Mr Andrew Carmichael of Dublin, in " An Essay on Dreaming, including Conjectures on the Proximate Cause of Sleep,"¹ suggests the idea that sleep maybe the chief occasion when the waste of substance in the brain is repaired by the deposition of new particles of matter. There is no direct evidence of the truth of this conjecture ; but the brain, like every other part of the animal structure, is furnished with bloodvessels and absorbents, and is known to waste like them : that the waste should be repaired, therefore, is a fact of necessary inference ; and Mr Carmichael conceives, that the period of sleep, when the mental functions are sus-

Tilloch's Phil. Mag., vol. liv. p. 252, 324 ; or Transactions of the King and Queen's College of Physicians, vol. ii. p. 48 : Also Mr Carmichael's Memoir of the Life and Philosophy of Spurzheim, p. 91.

216 DREAMING.

pended, is particularly suitable for this operation. Mr Carmichael's views have been controverted by Dr Macnish, chiefly on the following grounds. First, It is inconceivable that a natural and healthy deposition of new particles should cause a cessation of the functions of the brain : before such a deposition can take place, there must be an augmented circulation of blood through its vessels, and increased circulation implies increased activity of function ; besides, the circulation in the brain, in place of being augmented during sleep, is greatly diminished. Secondly, On Mr Carmichael's supposition, that the process of assimilation in the brain is the proximate cause of sleep, how are we to account for people being so easily awakened ? It is difficult to conceive the assimilative process to be so suddenly arrested or completed. Thirdly, Dreaming is inconsistent with the theory ; for assimilation must be supposed to take place in the whole brain at the same time, in which case the activity of one organ, while others are asleep, is impossible. Lastly, and above all, an inclination to sleep is felt immediately after taking food, and long before the chyle has reached the bloodvessels, by which it is deposited previously to assimilation.¹ To these arguments, Mr Carmichael has published, in the same volume,²a very ingenious reply.

The preceding view of the phenomena of dreaming gives a death-blow to the superstitious notion of warnings and supernatural communications being now made to the mind in sleep ; while it explains naturally the occasional fulfilment of dreams, as in the case of Scott.

Thus, the internal excitement of the intellectual organs produces conception ; the ideas conceived always bearing relation to the particular organs called into action. This excitement, when morbid and involuntary, produces fixed conceptions or ideas, which is a species of insanity ; and the same excitement taking place in some organs during sleep, while others remain in a state of inaction, produces dreams.

¹ Phren, Journ. vol. ix. p. 175-181. 2 Ibid. p. 318.

IMAGINATION. 217

When, during periods of wakefulness, the excitement is inordinately great, the conception of apparitions ensues. Hence these phenomena are all connected in their cause, however dissimilar in their external appearance.

IMAGINATION. The metaphysicians frequently employ the words Imagination and Fancy, but neither of them is synonymous with the phrenological term Ideality. Imagination is defined to be, " The power of forming ideal pictures ; the power of representing things absent, to one's self." In this sense, which I hold to be the primitive and most correct, there is scarcely a shade of difference between Conception and Imagination. Locality, Size, Colouring, and Individuality, being active by command of the will, call up the features of a landscape, and we may then be said to conceive it. If to this act the word imagine were applied, and we were said to imagine a landscape, the expression would not be felt as improper. Mr Stewart, therefore, if he had confined Imagination to the limits here pointed out, namely, to " the power of representing things absent, to one's self," would not have been censurable for doubting if it were a faculty distinct from conception, which he has ranked as such. At the same time, his notion that " Imagination is not the gift of nature," but formed by " particular habits of study or of business,^" is even, on this supposition, erroneous ; for there is no mode of action of the mind which is not the gift of nature, however much it may be improved by judicious exercise. There is, however, a difference between Conception and Imagination. The former is the cool and methodical representation of things absent, as they exist in nature, to one's self. Imagination is the impassioned representation of the same things-not merely in the forms and arrangements of nature, but in new combinations formed by the mind itself. In Phrenology, therefore, Conception is viewed as a particular kind of activity of the knowing and reflecting faculties, and higher in degree than Perception ; while Imagination is regarded as a third kind of activity,

218 IMAGINATION.

still higher in degree than Conception. Imagination consists in the formation of intense, glowing, forcible conceptions, proceeding from great activity of the intellectual faculties, not confined to real circumstances, but embracing as many new combinations as they are capable of forming. According to this view, Imagination may be manifested without ornament or illustration ; and this is the case when such faculties as Form, Locality, Colouring, and Causality act by themselves, unaided by Ideality and Comparison. Hence, the assertion of D'Alembert,¹ that "metaphysics and geometry are of all the sciences belonging to reason those in which imagination has the greatest share," is quite intelligible, and may have been seriously made. If, in that philosopher, Form, Size, Locality, Number, and Causality-the faculties which go to constitute a genius for mathematics and metaphysics-were very active, he would be conscious of imagining, with great interest and vivacity, many new relations of space, magnitude, and causation ; and, looking to the usual definitions of Imagination, he was entitled to designate these acts as operations of that faculty.

The metaphysicians attach a different and more extensive meaning to the word Fancy, and, according to my understanding of the functions ascribed by them to this supposed power, it embraces a wider range than Imagination, and necessarily implies ornament and illustration. Hence Comparison, and probably Ideality and Wonder, must be combined with the knowing and reflecting faculties to constitute Fancy. The latter faculties will call up ideas of objects as they exist in nature, Ideality will enable them to invest them with beauty, Wonder with extraordinary attributes, Comparison will cull similes and trace analogies throughout the boundless fields of space, and the intellectual compound may be designated as the creation of Fancy. The significations commonly attached to the words Imagination and Fancy, are, however, by no means precise. The conceptions of the knowing and reflecting faculties, illustrated and diversified

¹ Stewart, Prelim. Dissert, to Sup. Encyclop. Brit. Part I, p. 6.

IMAGINATION. 219

by Comparison alone, are frequently designated as Fancy ; and in this sense an author or orator may be said to possess a brilliant fancy, although Ideality be by no means a predominant organ in his head. On the other hand, many passages in Milton's writings are the products of the knowing faculties and Causality, imbued with intense Ideality, in which Comparison supplies few illustrations ; nevertheless they are said to be highly imaginative, and certainly are so. Thus, in judging of genius, Phrenology teaches us to be discriminative in our analysis, and to avoid the error of inferring the presence of all the powers of the mind in an eminent degree, because one great talent is possessed.

Improvisatori are able, without study or premeditation, to pour out thousands of verses impromptu, often of no despicable quality, upon any subject which the spectators choose to suggest. I have not seen any of these individuals ; but Phrenology enables us to conjecture the constituent elements of their genius. In the first place, we may infer that they possess a high nervous or sanguine temperament, communicating great activity to the brain; and, in the next place, Language, Individuality, Eventuality, Comparison, Tune, Time, and Ideality, all large. The great and uncommon activity supposed, would produce the readiness of conception and warmth of feeling which are the first requisites ; large endowment of Individuality and Eventuality would supply facts and incidents necessary to give substance and action to the composition ; Comparison would afford similes, metaphors, and illustrations ; Ideality would contribute elevation, Tune and Time give rhythm, and Language afford expression to the whole ideas so formed and combined. Observation only can determine whether these conjectures be correct ; but the causes here assigned appear to be adequate to the effects- and this, in a hypothesis, is all that can be expected.

( 220 )

MEMORY also is a mode of action of the faculties.¹ In most individuals, the mind has no power of calling up, into fresh existence, the emotions experienced by means of the propensities and sentiments, by merely willing them to be felt, and hence we hold these faculties not to possess Memory. Reasons have been assigned for this opinion on page 193. The ideas, however, formed by the knowing and reflecting faculties, can be reproduced by an act of recollection, and these powers are, therefore, said to have Memory. Memory is thus merely a mode of action of the knowing and reflecting faculties. I have said that Conception and Imagination also result from the internal action of these organs ; and the question naturally arises, In what respect does Memory differ from them 1 The difference appears to be this. In Conception and Imagination, new combinations of ideas are formed, not only without regard to the time or order in which the elementary notions had previously existed, but even without any direct reference to their having formerly existed at all. Memory, on the other hand, implies a new conception of impressions previously received, attended with the idea of past time, and consciousness of their former existence ; and it generally follows the order in which the events happened.

Each organ enables the mind to recall the impressions which it served at first to receive. Thus, the organ of Tune will recall notes formerly heard, and give the me-

¹ Mr H. C. Watson observes, " I suspect that Memory ought not to be mixed up with the other three modes of manifestation here spoken of, (Perception, Conception, and Imagination), but that it is much more closely allied to consciousness and the sense of resemblance. Some injuries and diseased states appear very materially to derange consciousness, memory, and the sense of resemblance, while the powers of perception, conception, and imagination, are comparatively intact." Phren. Journ. vol. x. p. 498. See also Mr Chenevix's remarks in the Foreign Quarterly Review, No. iii. p. 45. I do not understand Mr "Watson here to question the doctrine that each intellectual organ serves to recall the objects which it is its function to perceive.

MEMORY. 221

mory of music. Form will recall figures previously observed; it will give the memory of persons, pictures, and crystals, and will produce a talent for becoming learned in matters connected with such objects. Individuality and Eventuality large will confer memory for objects and events, and render a person skilled in history, both natural and civil. A person in whom Causality is powerful, will possess a natural memory for metaphysics. Hence there may be as many kinds of memory as there are knowing and reflecting faculties ; and an individual may have great memory for one class of ideas, and very little for another : George Bidder had an almost inconceivable power of recollecting arithmetical calculations, while in memory of history or languages he did not surpass ordinary men. As the recollection of objects and occurrences is commonly meant, in popular language, by a great memory, individuals so gifted will generally be found to possess a good development of Individuality, Eventuality, and probably of Language.

There appears to be a quality of brain which gives retentiveness to memory, in consequence of which one individual will retain impressions much longer than another, although the size and combination of their organs be the same. It is said that Sir Walter Scott possessed this characteristic in a high degree ; but the cause of it is unknown. This fact does not invalidate the theory of Memory now given ; because in every individual, the power of retaining one kind of impressions is greater than that of retaining another, and this power bears a uniform relation to the size of the organs.

The celebrated Cuvier affords another striking illustration of this remark. He possessed the quality of retentiveness, the cause of which is unknown, in an extraordinary degree ; but the power was strongest in his largest intellectual organs. De Candolle describes his mental qualities as follows : " His range of knowledge was surpassingly great. He had all his life read much,-seen much,-and never forgotten any thing. A powerful memory, sustained and directed by

222 MEMORY.

sound judgment and singular sagacity, was the principal foundation of his immense works and his success. This memory was particularly remarkable in what related to forms, considered in the widest sense of that word ; the figure of an animal, seen in reality or in drawing, never left his mind, and served him as a point of comparison for all similar objects. The sight of a map, of the plan of a city, seemed sufficient to give him an almost intuitive knowledge of the place ; and, among all his talents, that memory which may be called graphic, seemed most apparent : he was consequently an able draughtsman, seizing likenesses with rapidity and correctness, and had the art of imitating with his pencil the appearance of the tissue of organs, in a manner peculiarly his own, and his anatomical drawings were admirable."¹

The knowing and reflecting organs, were both large in his head, and, judging from his portraits, his temperament seems to have been nervous, or nervous and sanguine.

Dr Watt seems to have anticipated, by a very acute conjecture, the real philosophy of Memory. He says : " It is most probable that those very fibres, pores, or traces of the brain which assist at the first idea or perception of any object, are the same which assist also at the recollection of it ; and then it will follow, that the memory has no special part of the brain devoted to its own service, but uses all those parts in general which subserve our sensation, as well as our thinking and reasoning powers."² This conjecture coincides exactly with Mr Hood's case, of the person in Kilmarnock, who, although able to articulate, lost all power of recollecting arbitrary signs, and, with a sound judgment and clear understanding, forgot, through disease, his own name and the names of every person and thing with which previously he was most familiar. This could be accounted for only by the supposition that the organ of Language had lost the power of internal activity at command of the will, while the organs of

¹ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, vol. xiv. No. 28.

² The Improvement of the Mind, ch. xvii.

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the other intellectual powers remained entire. The fact, also, of the memory failing in old age, before the judgment is impaired, is accounted for on the same principle, Age diminishes the susceptibility and activity of the organs ; and hence they are unable to receive and to reproduce impressions with the same vivacity as in youth. It is known, that, after the mind has become dead to the recollection of recent occurrences, it can distinctly recall the impressions of early years. These were imprinted at a time when the whole system was extremely susceptible, and subsequently have been often recalled : and hence perhaps it is that the organs are capable of resuming the state corresponding to them, after they have ceased to be capable of retaining impressions from events happening when their vigour has decayed. Judgment is an employment of the faculties on present objects, and does not require the same degree of internal and spontaneous excitement for its exercise.

The doctrine that memory is only a kind of activity of the faculties, is illustrated by the phenomena of diseases which, particularly excite the brain. Sometimes, under the influence of disease, the most lively recollection of things will take place, which had entirely escaped from the memory in a state of health. " A most remarkable example of this kind occurred some years ago at St Thomas's Hospital. A man was brought in, who had received a considerable injury of the head, but from which he ultimately recovered. When he became convalescent, he spoke a language which no one about him could comprehend. However, a Welsh milk-woman came one day into the ward, and immediately understood what he said. It appeared that this poor fellow was a Welshman, and had been from his native country about thirty years. In the course of that period, he had entirely forgotten his native tongue, and acquired the English language. But when he recovered from his accident, he forgot the language he had been so recently in the habit of speaking, and acquired the knowledge of that which he had ori-

224 MEMORY.

ginally acquired and lost I"¹ Such a fact as this is totally inexplicable, on any principle except that of the existence of organs by means of which the faculties are manifested : for it could not be the mind itself which was affected, and its faculties impaired by the fever, or which recovered long lost knowledge by the influence of disease. At the same time, the manner in which such an effect is produced, is entirely unknown. Old people, when feeble, often relapse into the use of the dialect of their youth.

The case of which the following is an abstract, was communicated by Dr Dewar to the Royal Society, and, although highly interesting, is at present inexplicable.

In a "Report on a communication from Dr Dyce of Aberdeen, on Uterine Irritation, and its effects on the female constitution,"² Dr Dewar states, that " It is a case of mental disease, attended with some advantageous manifestations of the intellectual powers ; and these manifestations disappeared in the same individual in the healthy state. It is an instance of a phenomenon which is sometimes called double consciousness, but is more properly a divided consciousness, or double personality, exhibiting in some measure two separate and independent trains of thought, and two independent mental capabilities, in the same individual ; each train of thought, and each capability, being wholly dissevered from the other, and the two states in which they respectively predominate subject to frequent interchanges and alternations."

The patient was a girl of sixteen ; the affection appeared immediately before puberty, and disappeared when that state was fully established. It lasted from the 2d of March to the 11th of June 1815, under the eye of Dr Dyce. " The first symptom was an uncommon propensity to fall asleep in the

¹ Tupper's Inquiry into Gall's System, p. 33 ; Good's Study of Medicine, 2d edit. vol. iv. p. 190 ; and Article delirium, by Dr Pritchard, in Cyclop, of Prac. Med. vol. i. p. 506.-Dr Pritchard adds to his account of the case, that " this statement, which was first given by Mr Tupper, has been confirmed to the writer of this article by a personal witness."

² Bead to the Royal Society in February 1822.

evenings. This was followed by the habit of talking in her sleep on these occasions. One evening she fell asleep in this manner, imagined herself an Episcopal clergyman, went through the ceremony of baptizing three children, and gave an appropriate extempore prayer. Her mistress took her by the shoulders, on which she awoke, and appeared unconscious of everything, except that she had fallen asleep, of which she shewed herself ashamed. She sometimes dressed herself and the children while in this state, or, as Mrs L. called it, ' dead asleep ;' answered questions put to her, in such a manner as to shew that she understood the question ; but the answers were often, though not always, incongruous." One day, in this state, she " set the breakfast with perfect correctness, with her eyes shut. She afterwards awoke with the child on her knee, and wondered how she got on her clothes.'' Sometimes the cold air awakened her, at other times she was seized with the affection while walking out with the children. " She sang a hymn delightfully in this state, and, from a comparison which Dr Dyce had an opportunity of making, it appeared incomparably better done than she could accomplish when well.'¹

" In the mean time, a still more singular and interesting symptom began to make its appearance. The circumstances which occurred during the paroxysm were completely forgotten by her when the paroxysm was over, but were perfectly remembered during subsequent paroxysms;'''' and it is on this account that I have introduced the case under the head of Memory. " Her mistress said, that when in this stupor on subsequent occasions, she told her what was said to her on the evening on which she baptized the children." Other instances of this kind are given. " A depraved fellow -servant, understanding that she wholly forgot every transaction that occurred during the fit, clandestinely introduced a young man into the house, who treated her with the utmost rudeness, while her fellow-servant stopped her mouth with the bed-clothes, and otherwise overpowered a vigorous resistance .which was made by her, even during the influence of her

VOL. II.

226 MEMORY.

complaint. Next day she had not the slightest recollection even of that transaction, nor did any person interested in her welfare know of it for several days, till she was in one of her paroxysms, when she related the whole facts to her mother. Next Sunday she was taken to the church by her mistress, while the paroxysm was on her. She shed tears during the sermon, particularly during the account given of the execution of three young men at Edinburgh, who had described, in their dying declarations, the dangerous steps with which their career of vice and infamy took its commencement. When she returned home, she recovered in a quarter of an hour, was quite amazed at the questions put to her about the church and sermon, and denied that she had been in any such place ; but next night, on being taken ill, she mentioned that she had been at church, repeated the words of the text, and, in Dr Dyce's hearing, gave an accurate account of the tragical narrative of the three young men by which her feelings had been so powerfully affected. On this occasion, though in Mrs L--'s house, she asserted that she was in her mother's.'⁵

Drs Dyce and Dewar do not give any theory to account for these very extraordinary phenomena. They mention that the girl complained of confusion and oppression in her head at the coming on of the fits ; and that after the periodical discharge had been fairly established, the whole symptoms disappeared. On 28th May 1838, I saw a similar case at Birmingham, that of Mary Parker, aged 16, who during the three previous years, had exhibited similar phenomena. See Phren. Journ., vol. xi. p. 604.

We are unable phrenologically to throw more light on these cases than the gentlemen who have reported them have done ; and the only conclusion which seems to flow from them is, that, before memory can exist, the organs must be affected in the same manner, or be in a state analogous to that in which they were when the impression was first received. This inference is supported by several other facts. Dr Abel informed me of an Irish porter to a ware-

MEMORY. 227

house, who, when sober, forgot what he had done when drunk ; but, being drunk again, recollected the transactions of his former state of intoxication. On one occasion, being drunk, he had lost a parcel of some value, and in his sober moments could give no account of it. Next time he was intoxicated he recollected that he had left the parcel at a certain house, and there being no address on it, it had remained there safe, and was obtained on his calling for it. The same phenomena present themselves in the state of somnambulism, produced by animal magnetism. In the works on this subject, it is mentioned, and the fact has been confirmed to me by a very intelligent friend who has observed it in Paris, that a person who is magnetized so as to produce the magnetic sleep termed somnambulism, acquires, like the girl in Aberdeen, a new consciousness and memory ; he does not recollect the transactions of his ordinary state of existence, but acquires the power of speaking and of thinking in his induced state of abstraction from the external world. When this state has subsided, all that passed in it is obliterated from the memory, while the recollection of ordinary events is restored. If the magnetic state be recalled, memory of the circumstances which formerly happened in that state is restored ; and thus the individual may be said to live in a state of divided consciousness. In this country, the doctrine of animal magnetism is treated with the same contempt which was formerly poured on Phrenology. I am wholly unacquainted with its merits ; but several eminent French physicians entertain a favourable opinion of them,¹ and the circumstance now stated, of alternating memory and forgetfulness, not only is mentioned in the books on this subject which I have consulted, but has been certified to me as true, by a gentleman whose understanding is too acute to allow me to believe that he was deceived, and

¹ See Mr Colquhoun's translation of the Keport of the Committee of the Koyal Academy of Sciences on Animal Magnetism ; Georget De la Physiologie du Systéme Nerveux, tome i. p. 267; and The Cydopodia of Practical Medicine, article somnambulism,

228 MEMORY.

whose honour is too high to admit of his deceiving others. These facts cannot at present be accounted for in a satisfactory way ; but by communicating a knowledge of their existence, attention will be drawn to them, and future observations and reflection may ultimately throw light upon the subject.

Mr Hewett Watson has published a valuable essay on the peculiarities of memory, in the 29th number of The Phrenological Journal. It is unphilosophical, he remarks, to use such phrases as a good memory or a great memory,. these expressions being susceptible, of very different interpretations. With the view of drawing the attention of phrenologists to the necessity of exactness in their descriptions, he specifies some of the principal varieties of memory, throwing out at the same time suggestions as to the conditions on which they depend. " For the more easy illustration," says he, " it will be convenient to distinguish the varieties of memory into two leading subdivisions, which may be termed ' Simple Memory,' and ' Memory by Association.' Simple memory is that wherein the idea of a sound, colour, object, or event appears to recur directly and spontaneously ; as, for instance, having once seen a house or a tree, and the idea or mental impression returning afterwards, we are then said to remember it. Memory depending on association is indirect, and may be exemplified by the fact that we can scarce think of the summer sky, or the roses that bloom beneath it, without immediately remembering the concave form and blue tint of " the former, or the peculiar shape and blushing dyes of the latter. The inseparable connection that comes to be established between the arbitrary sounds and shapes used in speech and writing, and various mental ideas, so that the mere sound or sight of a word inevitably recalls its appropriate idea, is another familiar illustration of memory by association. Such associations vary from the closest possible approximation with simple memory to the most remote, incongruous, and artificial associations that exist.

¹ Vol. vii. p. 212.

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" To commence with Simple Memory. One of the most striking varieties entitled to be ranked in this division, is that wherein an individual is capable of remembering a great number of ideas, whether they be chiefly of shapes, sounds, objects, colours, or whatever else. The remembrance of them may be lasting or transitory; it may be orderly or without arrangement ; the individual may be rapid or slow in reproducing impressions previously formed. Such a memory, in short, may be indefinitely varied in every other respect, excepting that named as its distinguishing mark, viz. the multiplicity of ideas remembered. I have seen several individuals exhibiting a memory of this kind, but varying greatly among themselves in the duration, clearness, readiness, and other peculiarities of the ideas remembered. It is this variety which is commonly meant by the frequent expressions * a good' or 'a great memory,' although by no means invariably so. It appears essential to attaining a first rank in most departments of science and literature, and is the variety which led Gall to the discovery of the intellectual organs, the condition on which it depends seeming to be large organic development. They who take in and remember the greatest number of ideas at once, whether the same ideas be remembered for a long period, or be shortly supplanted by others, have, coteris paribus, the largest organic development. I have observed in botanists, having Language and Individuality but moderately developed, the power of remembering for a long period, and with accuracy, a limited number of plants, their names and peculiar distinctive characteristics, as, for instance, those of a particular garden, district, or country ; but on expanding their range of observation, they forget the former, apparently from a difficulty of retaining a multiplicity of ideas in a small organ. Others, on the contrary, will write systems embracing the whole of the vegetable kingdom, which implies an amount of individual knowledge almost incomprehensible to a small development. The mask of Sir James Smith, whose principal botanical skill lay in _a knowledge of the various names

230 MEMORY.

which, botanists and others had, at different periods, applied to the same plant, shews Language to have been large, and, in consequence, he remembered many names. Individuality and Form are both well developed, but these two organs I have seen relatively superior in some of the best specific botanists of Britain, who remember the plants themselves better than their names. This variety of memory would be appropriately distinguished by the epithet extensive. As, however, it depends essentially on large organic development, which scarcely any person possesses in every faculty, this memory is always more or less partial, that is, limited in respect to the kind of ideas remembered ; so that, in order to characterize it with precision, it would be necessary to say, an extensive memory of words, of colour, of sounds, or whatever else it might happen to be. Many persons mistake the limit in kind for one of degree only, and lament in general terms their deficiency of memory, when in reality they possess an extensive memory for one range of ideas combined with a limited memory for another ; the deficiency, being most felt by the inconvenience it occasions, is taken as the general criterion. Exercise seems to have less influence on this variety than it has over others presently to be mentioned, probably more influencing the direction than the quantity of ideas remembered. Linnaeus, Sheridan, Newton, Johnson, Cuvier, and Sir Edward Coke, may furnish examples of the extensive memory, and that chiefly in one particular range or direction.

" A second variety of memory, is that of men who are capable of remembering what they see, hear, or do, during a very long period ; their mental impressions appear to bid defiance to time, and to bear its daily attritions almost without change. Whether the subjects remembered be few or many, and of whatever kind or nature, still mental images of them once formed remain deep and distinct. Individuals endowed with this variety of memory in its highest degree, will often converse nearly as easily and correctly of occurrences years gone by, as others do of those which happened

MEMORY. 231

but a week before. There are boys who will learn their school tasks with ease and rapidity, but just as easily and rapidly forget them ; the lesson which was perfect last week, is to-day a dim and scarce perceptible outline of something that has once been, but is now almost effaced from the soft-moulded tablets of memory.

" On the other hand, we may find some of their school-fellows, whose tasks are the same, whose instructions are scarce in the slightest degree different, yet in this respect attended with the most dissimilar results. The task of last week or month is nearly as fresh in memory as though it had been, learned but yesterday, and they wonder how others can forget so quickly, while these in turn are astonished that such retentiveness of memory can exist in any one. It seems yet an unsolved problem on what organic peculiarity this depends. That it is not attributable to size, or at least to size alone, every day's experience must assure us : and all that can at present be suggested in regard to it is, that quality rather than quantity of brain is the condition whereon it is dependent. It seems to be almost invariably accompanied by a degree of slowness in action, a want of that rapidity in the flow of ideas characteristic of the next variety to be mentioned. The slowness and tenacity may perhaps depend on the same peculiarity in the composition or quality of brain, the retentiveness of former ideas being connected with the slowness in acquiring new ones. On reading this to the Phrenological Society, a case was mentioned of a gentleman who, after learning to repeat long passages in a short space of time, found that he very soon forgot them, and that, when acquired with more slowness, they were long remembered.¹ It would appear from this, that the slowness in acquiring ideas is an antecedent to retentiveness; we are

^x Dr Abercrombie, in his work on the Intellectual Powers, p. 100, mentions the case of an actor, who, on an emergency, committed his part to memory with surprising quickness, but m a very short time completely forgot it. Those parts, on the other hand, which he learned with slowness and deliberation, were accurately retained for many years.

232 MEMORY.

scarcely authorized to say a cause, for both- the one and the other may, and most likely do, depend on some (general or temporary) constitutional condition checking rapidity. The epithet retentive, would pretty correctly designate this variety of memory, and distinguish it from the former, with which it may or may not be combined. I have noticed it in men with a limited, as well as in those who possess an extensive memory ; but, caeteris paribus, it seems most marked in such individuals as engage in the smallest variety of pursuits; whether it is an effect or a cause of uniformity in taste and pursuit may admit of doubt. The inhabitants of the country seem to remember with more tenacity than such as live in large towns ; and certainly they are more apt to imbibe ideas with slowness and deliberation. Joined with an extensive memory, it constitutes the man of knowledge, and is therefore an essential element in forming a scientific character, but will scarcely make a witty or shewy one. Joseph Hume, Julius Caesar, and perhaps Napoleon, may be cited as examples of it.

" A third variety of Simple Memory is characterized by the rapidity with which previous ideas are reproduced in the mind. One after another, or one dozen after another dozen, previous thoughts and impressions are renewed, and come floating athwart the mental eye in perpetual changeability and succession. They may arise in a regular, connected, and systematic series, or be poured forth in the most mixed and heterogeneous assemblages, like the multitudinous olla po-drida of a masquerade, or the endlessly varied hues and objects of an extensive landscape. Rapidity of ideas is the essential character of this modification. Whether such ideas be correct or erroneous, limited or general, connected or disordered, seems to be determined by other conditions different from those on which depends the mere quickness of their reproduction. .... .Large Language and Individuality with

great rapidity, tend to promote punning, and that style of wit designated as ' good things,' ' apropos remarks,' ' clever hits,' &c., which I have seen greatly manifested when the

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organ called Wit has been of very moderate development. It is perhaps this rapidity of memory occurring in cases of deficient development of Concentrativeness that causes what is commonly termed " far-fetched wit,' or that conjunction of widely dissimilar and unrelated ideas called up by rapidity unrestrained by concentrated action. ......Rapidity of memory is probably influential in determining to the production of poetry, being evinced in the variety of its imagery, and what one of the fraternity has well exemplified in the expression ' thronging fancies.' .... .Rapidity in excess, implying a perpetual transition of ideas, incapacitates for science ; hence we rarely if ever find first rank in science and poetry, or science and wit, in the same person. Intermediate gradations may unite both in nearly equal degree. In noticing the former variety, I had suggested the rarity, if not incompatibility, of the rapid and retentive memories co-existing in a great degree ; but was informed on reading the remark, that Professor Mezzofante of Bologna combines both rapidity and retentiveness of verbal memory. The nervous temperament seems instrumental in giving this quality of brain, or perhaps might with more correctness be regarded as the effect ; but it is certainly not peculiar to the dark varieties of that temperament ; some of the most striking examples of rapid memory I have met with occur in persons of light complexion. An appropriate mode of distinguishing this modification of memory from those previously mentioned, would be by attaching to it the epithet rapid. Miss Pratt, quoted in the phrenological works as an example of large Individuality, may be cited as an instance of rapid combined with extensive memory of objects and occurrences.

" Nearly allied to, but by no means always co-existent with, the rapid memory, is readiness of memory, or the power of immediately directing it to any given subject. There are men of considerable rapidity and diversity of ideas, who, if suddenly asked the simplest question concerning any matter not just then occupying their thoughts, find great difficulty m turning the current of their ideas into a new channel, or

234 JUDGMENT.

opening a new spring. They thus seem, both to themselves and others, to be remarkably deficient in memory. Inequality of development probably tends to increase this peculiar defect, but it appears to me that Concentrativeness and Secretiveness, one or both, are also concerned. .... .1 have but

few observations on the development of individuals whose memory presents this modification, but it seems in perfection when large Secretiveness, Concentrativeness, and the anterior lobe, especially Individuality, are combined with rapidity, and to be proportionally injured by the abduction of any one of these requisites. I have seen an instance of this promptness of memory in a case where the knowing organs, particularly Individuality and Eventuality, with Secretiveness, were large, Concentrativeness and the reflecting organs rather above moderate, with a medium degree of rapidity and retentiveness of memory. The epithet ready or prompt may designate this variety of memory, which probably occurred in Burke, Pitt, Curran, and Sheridan.

" To the preceding peculiarities of memory, there yet remains to be added another, which, from its influence over memory, by association, may be viewed as the transition and connecting link between the two artificial divisions here made. I mean partial memory, or that limited to particular ranges of ideas. The connection 'between partial memory and proportionate development of the cerebral organs is so completely one of the foundation-stones of Phrenology, that it must be quite unnecessary to say any thing about it here ; but we must never lose sight of the fact, that partial memory dependent on this cause, is exhibited only in the nature of the ideas, as those of colour in contradistinction to shape, or shape in opposition to dimensions, and not merely in the peculiar direction."

JUDGMENT, in the metaphysical sense, belongs to the reflecting faculties alone. The knowing faculties, however, may also be said to judge ; the faculty of Tune, for example, may be agreeably or disagreeably affected, and in this

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way may judge of sounds : but Judgment, in the proper acceptation of the word, is a perception of adaptation, of relation, of fitness, or of the connexion between means and an end, and belongs entirely to the reflecting powers. These, as well as the knowing faculties, have Perception, Memory, and Imagination. Causality, for example, perceives the relation of cause and effect, and also remembers and imagines that relation, just as Form perceives, remembers, and imagines the shapes of objects. Judgment is the decision of the reflecting faculties upon the feelings furnished by the propensities and sentiments, and upon the ideas furnished by the whole intellectual faculties. This I conceive to be the strictly phrenological analysis of Judgment; but this term, in the popular sense, has a more extensive signification. It is a common observation to say of an individual, that he possesses an acute or even profound intellect, but that he is destitute of judgment. This apparent paradox may be explained in two ways. First : by " an acute intellect," is frequently meant a great but limited talent, which may be referred to some of the knowing faculties. Thus, a person may be distinguished for ability in mathematics or natural history, and not be eminent for judgment, in the stricter sense of the word. There is, however, a second explanation, which is preferable. To judge of the line of conduct proper to be pursued in the affairs of life, it is necessary to feel correctly, as well as to reason deeply ; or rather, it is more necessary to feel rightly than to reflect. Hence, if an individual possess very powerful reflecting faculties, such as Lord Bacon enjoyed, and be deficient in Conscientiousness, as his Lordship seems to have been, he is like a fine ship wanting a helm, liable to be carried from her course by every wind and current. The reflecting faculties give the power of thinking profoundly, but Conscientiousness, and the other sentiments, are necessary to furnish correct feeling, by which practical conduct may be regulated. Indeed, Lord Bacon affords a striking example how poor an endowment intellect,-even the most transcendent,-is, when not accompanied by upright sentiments.

236 JUDGMENT.

That mind which embraced, in one comprehensive grasp, the whole circle of the sciences, and pointed out, with a surprising sagacity, the modes in which they might best be cultivated-that mind, in short, which anticipated the progress of the human understanding by a century and a half-possessed so little judgment, so little of sound and practical sense, as to become the accuser, and even defamer of Essex, his early patron and friend ; to pollute the seat of justice by corruption and bribery ; and to stoop to the basest flattery of a weak king, all for the gratification of a contemptible ambition. Never was delusion more complete. He fell into an abyss of degradation from which he never rose ; and to this day the darkness of his moral reputation forms a lamentable contrast to the brilliancy of his intellectual fame. There was here the most evident defect of judgment ; and with such reflecting powers as he possessed, the source of his errors could lie only in the sentiments, deficiency in some of which prevented him from feeling rightly, and from comprehending the degradation attendant on immorality.

In common life, the effect of the feelings in originating opinion, is by far too little attended to. We frequently hear persons carrying on angry disputations, with a view to convince each other's understandings ; when, in fact, the cause of their difference lies in a feeling : If it could be made the same in both, no disagreement would exist. It is common in such cases to say, " My sentiments are entirely different from yours ;" a form of expression which is strictly philosophical, and harmonizes with the explanation now given : but the parties do not perceive that a " sentiment," in the strict sense, or in popular language a " feeling," cannot be communicated by argument; and hence they often maintain the controversy by an address to the understanding alone, and generally with no satisfactory result. If, on the other hand, two persons meet, whose propensities and sentiments harmonize, their " sentiments," in the popular sense, generally coincide, although, in the depth of their intellectual powers, there may be considerable disparity. In estimating,

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therefore, the degree of sound and practical judgment for the affairs of life, the good sense or mother-wit, of any individual, we should not confine our attention to the forehead alone, under the notion that it exclusively is the seat of judgment ; but look first to the temperament, that we may iudge of the activity of the brain, and next at the combination of organs ; for we shall invariably find sound sense to be the accompaniment of an equable development of all the organs, those of the moral sentiments and intellect rather predominating. There are then no over-excited and no defective powers ; no desires assume an undue ascendency, and no emotions are so feeble as not to be adequately experienced. This combination is rare, and hence high practical sense is more uncommon than great partial talent. A person was pointed out to me as possessing the forehead of an idiot, who yet had conducted himself with remarkable prudence and success in trade, and, by his estimable qualities, had gained the esteem of the little circle in which he moved. On examination, I found a fine nervous and sanguine temperament, and a forehead greatly retreating indeed but with a full development of the knowing organs ; and, on turning to the region of the propensities and sentiments, the former were found.in fair proportion, with an excellent development of the latter. Conscientiousness, Veneration, Benevolence, Love of Approbation, Adhesiveness, and Cautiousness, were all large ; and the sources of his prudence, good sense, and amiable qualities, were at once apparent. To shew that Phrenology and the head were not at variance, I inquired into his powers of logical or profound argumentation ; when his friend said, that although he was fond of reading, his acquaintances were surprised that he never learned the meaning of a great many plain words ; and on asking what these were, I found them to be abstract terms and expressions significant of ideas formed by Causality and Comparison. The individual in question not only could not reason consecutively, but in ordinary discourse misapplied, and seemed

238 JUDGMENT.

not to understand, the terms now adverted to. This was exactly what a phrenologist would have predicted.

In describing, therefore, the effect of the reflecting faculties in ordinary life, I would say that the propensities and sentiments furnish the chief desires which prompt to action, and the feelings which regulate conduct ; while reflection, without being able to alter their nature, judges of the impulses to action communicated by them-taking in an extent of view, greater or less, in proportion to the size of the intellectual organs. The intellect becomes acquainted with the whole mental faculties and their desires, with the external world, and with the relations subsisting between it and the mind, and judges of the means by which the desires may obtain gratification, and also of the consequences of indulgence : it presents a prospect of good or evil as the ultimate result, and thus constitutes the regulating and directing power. The influence of the propensities and sentiments in biassing the judgment may be thus explained : If Cautiousness be excessively large, and Hope small, this combination will present dismal forebodings to the mind ; and the understanding will not be able to alter the feelings so as to render cheery and brilliant, scenes which they tinge with melancholy and gloom. If Hope be very large, and Cautiousness very small, then the most delusive anticipations of felicity will be suggested, and the understanding will see objects under this impression. If, again, both Cautiousness and Hope be large, each will furnish its own emotions on the contemplation of external objects ; and the understanding will then possess two impressions as elements for judging, and be able, by comparing, to come to a sound determination respecting them. Hence, as already observed, a sound practical judgment is the result of a favourable combination of all the organs, sustained by an active temperament and experience.

If these principles be correct, they enable us to explain why, among lawyers, a bad pleader sometimes makes a good judge, and vice versa. To a pleader, intellect and propensity are more essential than Conscientiousness :-To a judge,

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on the other hand, great moral organs are indispensable ; for, without an ample development of them, his intellect is liable to be led astray by subtleties and false views, and in his decisions the grand element of justice will be wanting. I have noticed, that, where Conscientiousness is large in a lawyer, and he is pleading a bad cause, he cannot avoid betraying, by his natural manner, his impression that he is in the wrong. He in whom this organ is deficient, views all cases as questions of opinion, and contends for victory with that ardour which the other can display only when advocating the cause of truth.

The same principles enable us to judge of the propriety of a very important regulation in one of the institutions of our country-I mean the requisite of unanimity in juries in civil causes. If two individuals were constituted umpires on a claim of damages for defamation, and if one of them possessed from nature a large Love of Approbation,-judging from his own feelings, he would rather suffer death than live defamed ; while the other, if he was, by natural constitution, extremely deficient in this organ, could pass his days unmoved by the censure or applause of the world : and the two could not, by any efforts of their understandings, succeed in arriving at the same estimate of the injury sustained by the plaintiff, or agree-about the sum which would constitute an equitable compensation for the slander. The one must either surrender his conscience to the other, or allow a third party to decide between them ; for real unanimity is excluded by the very constitution of their minds. No exercise of the understanding will produce it. The intellectual perceptions also of jurymen differ. If one be very deficient in the reflecting organs, he will forget the inferential evidence and conclusions as fast as they are stated to him, and hence he may regard a point as not proved, which appears demonstrated to another in whom the reflecting organs are large. It is difficult to admire the wisdom of that legislature which imagines that men can, if they will, arrive by argument, at one conclusion in such cases ; or which, if it knows that

240 JUDGMENT.

they cannot agree, nevertheless conceives it beneficial to require a verdict in direct opposition to the constitution of their minds,-to produce an appearance of unanimity, when the reality is unattainable. Many arguments have been brought forward on the opposite sides of this question ; but it appears to me, that the mode of judging of it afforded by Phrenology carries us to the ultimate principles at once. If it be naturally in the power of men, by honest efforts, to see questions of conduct, such as occur before jury-courts, in the same light, then unanimity should be required ; but if this perfect harmony of sentiment be excluded by nature, it is mere delusion to pretend to bring it about by an act of Parliament. Accordingly, nature prevails here as in every other case ; for all sensible jurors, before commencing their deliberations, arrange among themselves that the minority shall yield to the majority ; and the only effects of the law are to put it in the power of some very obstinate or very wicked individual to force his fellows into the adoption of his opinion-which, from his standing alone, will, on the ordinary chances, be placed at an extreme point in the scale of absurdity ;-or else to defeat the object of the parties, by depriving them altogether of a verdict.

It has been said, that the requisite of unanimity produces attention in the jury to the cause, and discussion of the subject among themselves. This I have no doubt may be true, but even with every degree of attention and discussion, unanimity in general is morally impossible. It is not obvious questions of evidence or right, in which all men may agree, that come most frequently before a court of justice ; but difficult cases, in which the most conscientious and enlightened may differ in opinion. Out of twelve or fifteen persons there is always a risk that two or more may be the antipodes in moral and intellectual constitution to each other. Under the present system such individuals must yield unconvinced. It appears to me that, by leaving out the extremes, and requiring a majority of three-fourths, or some such proportion, the advantages of discussion would be 8

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gained, and the evil of the great body of the jury being forced into a verdict by one obstinate individual, might be avoided. A proposition voluntarily assented to by nine men out of twelve, would be nearer the truth than one modified by mutual concessions to conciliate, but not to satisfy, the whole.

Having now discussed the metaphysical faculties of Perception, Conception, Imagination, Memory, and Judgment, and shewn them to be merely different kinds of action of the faculties disclosed by Phrenology, I proceed to notice several other mental operations and affections, which make a figure in the common systems of mental philosophy, and to refer them also to their principles in this science.

CONSCIOUSNESS means the knowledge which the mind has of its own existence and operations. Dr Reid regards it as an intellectual faculty. He says of it, that " it is an operation of the understanding of its own kind, and cannot be logically defined. The objects of it are our present pains, our pleasures, our hopes, our fears, our desires, our doubts, our thoughts of every kind,-in a word, all the passions, and all the actions and operations of our own minds, while they are present."

Dr Thomas Brown denies that it is a power, or any thing different from sensation, emotion, or thought, existing at any moment in the mind. It gives us no intimation of the existence of the organs, and reveals to us only the operations of our own minds, leaving us entirely in the dark regarding the mental affections of others, where they differ from our own. Hence, by reflecting on consciousness, which the metaphysicians chiefly did, as their means of studying the mind, we can discover nothing concerning the organs by which the faculties act, and run great risk of forming erroneous views of human nature, by supposing mankind in general to be constituted exactly like ourselves.

Each organ communicates to the mind consciousness of
the feelings and ideas which it serves to manifest : thus, if

VOL. II _Q

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the organ of Tune be extremely deficient, the individual, although he may have vivid impressions of his own existence, will not be able to attain consciousness of melody ; a person in whom Conscientiousness is extremely small, will not be conscious of the sentiment of justice, or of its obligations ; one in whom Veneration is very feeble, will not be conscious of the emotion of piety. If we place individuals so constituted, in situations requiring, for the right direction of their conduct, vivid consciousness of these emotions, we shall be disappointed. The metaphysicians who studied the philosophy of mind by reflecting on their own consciousness, could not succeed in discovering all the primitive faculties, because they were not conscious of the activity of those whose organs were very deficient in their own brains, or of those which did not give their impulses in the retirement of a philosophical study ; such as Combativeness, Secretiveness, and Acquisitiveness. Farther, consciousness being single, they could not discover that there is a plurality of powers attached to a variety of organs. On the other hand, when the organs are large and the temperament active, intense consciousness of the corresponding feelings and ideas is experienced ; and some persons, mistaking the emotions thus arising for supernatural communications, have fallen into fanaticism and superstition.

No satisfactory explanation has yet been given why consciousness is single when the organs of all the mental faculties, external and internal, are double. We are not conscious of the operation of the organs, and hence, perhaps, their duplicity has the effect only of adding intensity to our emotions and perceptions, without multiplying their number. There are cases on record of double consciousness, apparently from the two hemispheres of the brain being in opposite conditions. " Tiedemann,^" says Dr Spurzheim, " relates the case of one Moser, who was insane on one side, and observed his insanity with the other. Dr Gall attended a minister similarly afflicted : for three years he heard himself reproached and abused on his left side ; with his right he commonly

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appreciated the madness of his left side-sometimes, however, when feverish and unwell, he did not judge properly. Long after getting rid of this singular disorder, anger, or a greater indulgence in wine than usual, induced a tendency to relapse.'"^l In his work on insanity Dr Spurzheim says, " A friend of Gall has the right side of his forehead half an inch higher than the left, and he feels and complains bitterly that he cannot think with the left side. At Dublin, a gentleman whose forehead on the left side is about four lines less developed than on the right, often feels headache on the defective side, and assured me that he is conscious of not thinking with that side." Dr Caldwell states, in allusion to these instances, that " another case, perfectly analogous, produced by a fall from a horse, exists in Kentucky, not far from Lexington.''² I have received a communication of a case of a similar nature from a gentleman who was the subject of it. In a letter dated 25th June 1836, the Reverend R.-- B--- writes to me thus : " You have heard no doubt of persons being deranged with one hemisphere of the brain, and setting themselves right with the other. Gall and Tissot, I think, both mention such cases. A circumstance, however, of this kind occurred to myself, a few months ago, which may perhaps strike you as singular. I was reading in my bedroom one night, after a day of unusually hard labour and excitement. All at once, I seemed to read my author with two minds : To speak more intelligibly, I read at the same time a sentence in my ordinary way, i. e. I understood the sense of what I was reading, in a plain matter-of-fact way, and I read it likewise in a more than usually imaginative way. There appeared to be two distinct minds in fact at work at the same page, at the same time, which continued after I closed my book and went to bed. The next morning the sensation was gone, and I have not distinctly experienced any thing of the kind since. Do you not think that a different state of activity in the two hemispheres of the brain,-perhaps in

¹ Phrenology, p. 37,

² Elements of Phrenology, 2d edition, p. 82.

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the region of Ideality and Marvellousness,-may account for this ? It is certainly different from what is called double vision, for I felt conscious of reading only one page." Dr Browne, of the Crichton Royal Institution for Lunatics, has favoured me with the following report of a case of divided consciousness. " G. J's case,^" says he, " differs considerably from those narrated by Major Ellicot and Dr Dewar. It is rather an instance of divided or modified consciousness than of double consciousness. He imagines that he is himself and another person at the same time ; he acts as if this belief were sincere, and cannot divest himself of the conviction, that in his body are two natures or persons, prompting courses of conduct widely different. He conceives that his original self, G. J., is a base, abandoned scoundrel, tempting and urging his other, or new, or better self, to whom it should be observed, is attached the emphatic Ego, to commit crimes or acts of which he altogether disapproved. The second person of this duality repels, resists, struggles with these abominable suggestions, and loathes the tempter or first person. This struggle sometimes becomes real and visible, when the hands, acting under the will of No. 1, or the virtuous and opposing impulse, beat and bruise the legs, body, or head, which is, I presume, supposed to belong to No. 2, the vicious or tempting impulse. The object of the one is obviously to inflict pain and punishment upon the other. The blows are often so sincere and severe as to leave marks for days ; and when these are adverted to, the answer is, as if from No. 1, ' dont justify him, he deserved it' Such conflicts occur generally during the night ; the delusion appears to be strongest at the time of awaking, and the interference of the night-watch is required to part or pacify the combatants. The mind appears, on these occasions, to be so entirely preoccupied by the delusion as to confound the sensations communicated by these blows, and to refer them to the body of another. The addresses and solicitations of No. 2 are perfectly audible to No. 1, as much so and as intelligible as the voice of a third party ; and when they are not replied

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to by argument or abuse, No. 1 reads aloud in order to drown the sound and import. In conversation with those around, G. J. speaks at one time as No. 1, at another as No. 2.

" It seems as if different parts of the brain acted independently, as if there was wanting that concert, that consent and consciousness which gives unity and identity to the proceedings of mind.

" This state has succeeded great cerebral excitement and suicidal mania, during which some organic change has, in all probability, taken place in the nervous structure, as there is a twitching of the muscles of the face and impaired mobility of one leg.

"The head is large, well-formed, and regular, there being perfect symmetry between the two sides.

" The age is 45, the temperament nervo-lymphatic.

" G. J. has been the editor of a newspaper, is well educated, and has, in all probability, kept his brain under ' high pressure.'

" His bodily health is now good, and he has certainly gained mental power recently."

Mr Robert Dale Owen of New Harmony, Indiana, in a letter dated in June 1842, published in the New York Evening Post, mentions that, in his presence, Dr Buchanan of Louisville disturbed consciousness in a man by means of Mesmerism. " By passing his fingers,'' says he, " in a peculiar manner, backwards and forwards, along the medium line of the sinciput, corresponding with the upper fissures of the hemisphere of the brain, the effect appeared to be, to destroy all sense of identity : to scatter the thoughts, so that they could not be concentrated on any subject, and to cause the legs and arms to be extended in opposite directions, violently and involuntarily. The patient sometimes moved his head and body to one side, then to the other, seemed excessively restless and uneasy, his eyes rolled frightfully in their sockets, and his countenance indicated utter confusion of ideas, and vague apprehension almost amounting to horror," &c. " When restored to his senses, he said he felt as if his con-

246 CONSCIOUSNESS.

sciousness was dissevered, and (as he phrased it) as if ' one part of his head was thinking one way, and one another.' He added, ' that he experienced an impulse to go in different directions at the same time." By collecting such facts as the foregoing, light will, in time, be shed on their causes, and it is with this view that I have recorded the cases now detailed. Additional facts illustrative of divided consciousness are given, vol. i., p. 173 ; and vol. ii. p. 224.

It has been argued by some sceptics that the human mind possesses no certain knowledge ; because not only the senses and understanding occasionally deceive us, but even Consciousness itself gives false intimations : thus, a man whose leg has been amputated, is sometimes conscious, years after the operation, of a pain in the toe of the lost foot ; or a patient suffering under chronic disease of the liver, feels no uneasiness in it, but is conscious of a pain at the top of the right shoulder. The answer to this argument is, that each nerve and faculty has received a definite constitution, in virtue of which it gives certain intimations when affected in a particular manner ; when the nerve of the toe, for example, is affected, the nerve itself gives consciousness of pain, accompanied by an instinctive reference to its seat. After the leg has been amputated, part of the nerve remains, and, when affected in the same manner as while the toe existed, it communicates the impression which belonged to it in its entire state. In this there is no deception ; because the nerve which originally intimated pain in the toe, is affected in the same manner as it was when the toe existed. In like manner, the liver itself possesses little sensibility, but the phrenic nerve which is ramified on it communicates with the shoulder ; and this nerve, being highly sensitive, is affected by the state of the liver, and produces pain in the shoulder. The nerve in this case is really affected, and the pain is the correct indication of its state. It is the office of Causality to discover the causes of these affections, that of Consciousness being limited to the intimation of the sensations themselves. Every derangement of an organ of sensation or perception is accom-

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panied by disorder of consciousness to a corresponding extent : thus, in jaundice, the mind has consciousness of all objects being yellow ; in cases like that of Miss S. L., detailed on p. 204, there is consciousness of disturbed equilibrium ; in such cases as that of Dr Macnish, p. 209, consciousness of hearing music exists ; but Causality refers these perceptions to diseases as their causes. When the derangement embraces the organs of Causality themselves, the power of discriminating the impression to be a morbid one is lost, and insanity is established.

It would be of much practical utility to teach individuals the dependence of consciousness on the states of the mental organs, as a means of inducing them, when under morbid excitement, to distrust their own impressions, and seek relief from sensible advisers. In the present system of education, the connexion of the feelings and intellect with material organs, is so greatly overlooked, and every emotion and perception is represented as so purely mental, that when these become exalted or disordered, it is extremely difficult to enable the individual to comprehend how they can be delusive, or in any way affected by corporeal conditions ; and hence he suffers much uneasiness in secret, avoids recourse to a physician, and persists in acting on his morbid impressions as if they were sound ; till at last disease is permanently established, which, under more enlightened guidance, might easily have been averted, or cut short at its commencement.

It is extremely difficult to determine whether the feeling of personal identity indicated by the pronoun I is connected with a particular organ, or the result of the general action of the whole organs. The reader is referred to what is said on this subject in vol. i., on pages 172-3.

ATTENTION is not a faculty of the mind, but results from the knowing and reflecting faculties when actively directed to their objects. Thus, the faculty of Tune excited by melody, attends to notes ; Causality, addressed by a demonstration, attends to the steps of the argument ; and the

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other faculties of the intellect, in like manner, attend to their various objects. Concentrativeness gives continuity to the impressions of the faculties, Individuality and Eventuality direct them to their objects, and Firmness maintains them in a state of application--and these greatly aid attention ; but still attention, in itself, is a mere act of the different intellectual faculties, and not the attribute of any particular power, established exclusively for its own production.

ASSOCIATION. The metaphysicians have endeavoured, by reflecting on their own consciousness, to discover universal laws, by which the succession of ideas in mankind in general is regulated. They imagine our thoughts to follow each other in an established .order, and have attempted to find out the causes which determine the order of the train. Success in such an attempt appears to me to be impossible. If we wished to ascertain the laws by which the succession of notes emitted by an AEolian harp is regulated, we should endeavour to discover the causes, which produced the notes. Similar causes, acting in similar circumstances, produce similar effects ; but if we vary one circumstance out of a thousand, we cannot calculate on the result. The causes which determine the succession of notes from an AEolian harp are, the structure of the harp, the impetus of the air, and the order in which it excites the various strings. Bender all these the same in the case of every harp, and the same succession of notes may be assuredly predicted. But if the air, that emblem of inconstancy, does not blow twice with the same force on the same spot in a month, or will not excite the same strings twice in the same order of succession in a year ; and if no two AEolian harps can be made in every particular of string, form, and substance, alike, -who, by observing the notes arising from one harp, will succeed in unfolding the laws by which the succession of notes from AEolian harps in general may be determined, whatever may be their size, structure, and number of strings, and the circumstances in which they may be placed? This

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illustration is applicable to the case of the intellectual faculties. Ideas are affections of these, just as notes are affections of the strings of the harp. These affections may arise from the internal activity of the organs, or from impressions made on them by external objects ; and there is as little regularity in the order in which the excitement occurs, as in the breathing of the air on the strings. And, lastly, if harps may vary in structure, human beings do positively differ in the relative strength of their powers. Hence the same impressions must produce very different effects, or introduce very different ideas into minds dissimilarly constituted ; and how, amid such a countless variety of causes, can similarity of effects be expected ?

If we place a number of persons on a hill-top, say Arthur's Seat, overlooking a champaign country and the sea, and bid each declare his thoughts :-we shall find that one with Ideality predominant, will think of the magnificence of nature, the boundless extent of the ocean, the vastness of the mountains ; and on recalling the scene, these ideas and emotions will be associated with it in his mind : another, with great Causality and Constructiveness, and little Ideality, will admire the skill which he sees displayed in the cultivation of the fields, and in the construction of the houses and the ships ; one with Benevolence large, will think of the happiness enjoyed by the people who inhabit the plain ; another, with Acquisitiveness active, will think how the various branches of industry will pay : one with a strong Veneration, will probably take occasion to admire the greatness and goodness of God ; and some youthful lover may seize the opportunity afforded by the remoteness of the spot from human observation, to declare a passion for the lovely companion of his excursion. Now, the metaphysician expects to find out laws, by which, on Arthur's Seat being afterwards mentioned in the presence of these individuals, the train of the thoughts of each in relation to it will be regulated ; and he hopes to arrive at this result, by studying the train which arises in his own mind, on the hill being referred to as an

250 ASSOCIATION.

object of thought. Such an expectation must necessarily be futile. Each of the individuals supposed would, on the mention of the hill, experience a train of ideas corresponding to the impressions which he received from it, and nothing can be more dissimilar than these. As well, therefore (to use the words of an ingenious phrenologist), may we expect, by studying the forms and hues of the clouds, which flit along the sky to-day, to be able to discover laws by which their succession will be regulated to-morrow, as, by reflecting on the ideas which pass in one mind, to discover links of association, by which ideas in the minds of mankind in general will be uniformly connected, and introduced in a determinate succession.

Mr Stewart, in his Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind (chap. v. part ii. sect, iii.), speaks of the " association of ideas operating in producing new principles of action," and names avarice as one of them. He says, that " it cannot be doubted that this principle of action is artificial ;'' /p. 392). In the same page, he adds, that " there must be some limit, beyond which the theory of association cannot possibly be carried ; for the explanation which it gives, of the formation of new principles of action, proceeds on the supposition that there are other principles previously existing in the mind. The great question then is, when are we arrived at this limit ; or, in other words, when are we arrived'¹ (not at the primitive faculties, but) *' at the simple and original laws of our constitution ?" " It is on account of the enjoyments," says he, " which it enables us to purchase, that money is originally desired ; and yet, in process of time, by means of the agreeable impressions which are associated with it, it comes to be desired for its own sake ; and even continues to be an object of our pursuit, long after we have lost all relish for those enjoyments which it enables us to command." The erroneous nature of this mode of philosophizing may be illustrated by directing our attention to the mental organs. Is it conceivable that any habits of association should create a new organ Î and yet this is what Mr Stewart's hypothesis

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necessarily implies, if by principles of action he means faculties of the mind. The love of distinction, for example, is a primitive desire arising from Love of Approbation, and it has a specific organ. Money serves to gratify this desire. According to Mr Stewart, however, there is no organ giving rise to the love of money : But in consequence of " the agreeable impressions which are associated with it," as a means of gratifying the love of distinction, the love of money becomes itself a new principle of action ; and, as all principles of action have organs, it must be presumed to create an organ for itself. This new organ, we must suppose, causes money " to be an object of our pursuit long after we have lost all relish for those enjoyments which it enables us to command," and which first called the organ into existence.

It is evident that Mr Stewart never saw clearly the distinction between primitive faculties and their modes of action, and that he did not comprehend the real philosophy of association. The new principles of action supposed by Mr Stewart and other metaphysical authors to be produced by association, are either primitive propensities or sentiments which they have erroneously imagined to be factitious, or the results merely of combinations in action among the primitive powers. Mr Stewart, as we have seen, describes the love of money, and Sir James Mackintosh mentions conscience, as new principles of action produced by association, both of which, however, are referrible directly to primitive faculties having distinct organs. Mr Stewart regards the power of Taste as a faculty formed by particular habits of study ; whereas Taste is not a primitive faculty at all, but the result of harmonious action in the primitive powers. Mr Stewart also, as remarked in vol. i. p. 509, confounds, throughout his writings, primitive faculties, modes of action, laws of action, and results of combinations of faculties ; mistaking the one for the other, and applying the same language to all, in such a manner as to set consistency at defiance.

Although it is in vain to expect to find any law or principle regulating the association of one idea with another, the

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more attentive consideration, however, light began to dawn upon me, and, beginning to consider the faculties in a certain way, and to group them after a certain order, the whole gradually formed themselves before me into a system of surprising symmetry; and like the disjointed parts of an anamorphosis, when seen from the proper point of view, collecting themselves into one elegant design, delighted me with the appearance of that very order and beauty which I should beforehand have expected to find in them. In a scheme such as this, where we find powers which are analogous, which resemble one another in their nature and uses, or which act upon and co-operate with one another, or mutually aid and assist, or control and balance, each other, we should naturally expect the organs of these powers to be situated near one another, and in such a way as either to adjoin, or at least to admit, of an easy communication. Accordingly, we find this to be the case." Immediately above Amativeness, for example, we see in the bust, Philoprogenitiveness, giving the love of offspring, and Adhesiveness, producing the propensity to attachment, the three together constituting the group of the domestic feelings. Next to them we find Combativeness as if there were no dearer objects than those for which our courage could be exerted. Adjoining to Combativeness is Destructiveness ; the former giving boldness to meet the enemy, the latter putting peril in the onset, and threatening him with destruction.

Amidst the difficulties of life, it is necessary to use not only caution, but also so much of secrecy regarding our own purposes, as not to carry " our hearts on our sleeves for daws to peck at," and we find Secretiveness surmounted by, and in juxtaposition with, Cautiousness.

Turning to the region of the sentiments, we find Veneration, which produces the tendency to religion, surrounded by Benevolence, Hope, Perservance, and Justice ; or the fountains of the whole charities and duties of life associated in a group, and beautifully arranged for reciprocal aid and combined action.

254 association.

We find Ideality approaching these, but a little below them, yet so near to and above Constructiveness as to elevate its designs. Ideality also adjoins to Wit and Tune, as if to give soul and fancy to poetry.

In like manner we find the organs which simply perceive, or the knowing organs, arranged together, along the superciliary ridge, and those of reflection occupying the summit of the forehead, like the powers which govern and direct the whole.

Mr Scott, after exhibiting these views, observes, that such an arrangement is more beautiful, systematic, and appropriate, than human ingenuity could have devised ; and taken in connexion with the fact, that the organs were discovered at different times, and in separate situations, and that order and beauty appeared only after the ultimate filling up of the greater part of the brain had taken place, it affords a strong argument à priori, that the organs were discovered, not invented, and that the system is the work of Nature and not of Dr s Gall and Spurzheim.

In treating of the organ of Language, I have explained the association of Ideas with signs. I may here add, that the science of Mnemonics is founded on this power of the mind to associate ideas with other ideas, or with arbitrary signs. In devising means for aiding the memory, it should be constantly kept in view, that every individual will, with the greatest ease, associate ideas with such external objects as he has the greatest natural facility in perceiving. Sometimes portions of space are used as means for recalling ideas which we wish to remember. The room, for example, is divided, in imagination, into compartments, and the first topic of the discourse is placed in the first compartment, the second in the second, and so on ; in the hope that, by thinking on the spaces, the different heads of the discourse with which they were associated may be recalled. It is, however, only when Locality is large that such a device can be serviceable ; because, if this faculty be weak, it will be as difficult to imagine and recollect the positions of the compartments as the dis-

ASSOCIATION. 255

course itself. If, in like manner, numbers be resorted to, as the connecting medium, with the view that, on hearing one fact, which we wish to recollect, we shall associate it with the number one, and on hearing another, we shall associate it with the number two.-it is certain, that, unless the organ of Number be large, this will be a more difficult task than that of simply recollecting the facts themselves. Hence, different means to aid recollection should be used for different individuals. He who has Number most powerful, will associate words most easily with numbers ; he who has Form most energetic, will associate words most easily with shapes ; he who has Locality most vigorous, will associate words most easily with positions : and he who has Tune most powerful, will associate words most easily with musical notes. Hence also, the influence of associations on our judgment is accounted for. He in whom Veneration is powerful, and to whom the image of a saint has been from infancy presented as an object to be venerated, experiences an instantaneous and involuntary emotion of Veneration, every time the image is presented to him, or a conception of it formed ; because it is now the sign which excites in him that emotion, altogether independently of reflection. Until we can break this association, and prevent the conception of the image from operating as a sign to excite the faculty of Veneration, we shall never succeed in bringing his understanding to examine the real attributes of the object itself, and to perceive its want of every quality that ought justly to be venerated. In the same way, when a person is in love, the perception or conception of the beloved object stirs up the faculties which feel into vivid action ; the consequent emotions are so delightful, and the reflecting faculties have so little consciousness, that the real source of the fascination is in the faculties which feel, that it is impossible to make the lover see the object of his passion with the eyes of a disinterested spectator. If we could once break the association between the object and the faculties which feel, the reflecting faculties could perform their functions faithfully, and the beloved object would be

256 ASSOCIATION.

seen in the true colours. But, while we are unable to break this link, and to prevent this fascination, we may reason ad sempiternum, and our conclusions will never appear to be sound ; because the premises, that is, the appearance of the object, will never be the same to the party most interested in the argument, and to us.

Thus, the associations which mislead the judgment, and perpetuate prejudices, are those of words or things with/£<?/-ings or sentiments, and not associations of conceptions with conceptions, or merely of ideas with ideas. The whole classes of ideas formed by the knowing and reflecting faculties may be associated ad infinitum, and no moral prejudices will arise, if these ideas do not become linked with the propensities and sentiments.

In studying the laws of association, therefore, we must go beyond the ideas themselves, and consider the organs and faculties which form them. If these be kept in view, the phenomena of association will appear more lucid and intelligible ; and we shall find nature confirming our principles, because they will be founded on her laws. In regard to the organs, I may observe that there must be a state of an organ corresponding to every idea formed, and to every emotion felt; and that, by repetition of an act, the organs acquire an increased tendency to enter into the same states in the same order of succession. If, for instance, the organ of Language has been trained to repeat certain verses, or the organ of Tune to reproduce a certain air, a tendency will be produced in the organ to renew the same series of actions, in other words, to repeat the verses or reproduce the tune with increased facility and precision. If we direct our attention to the combinations of the organs, we shall see the individual who has the reflecting organs most powerful, associating ideas according to the relation of necessary consequence ; we shall perceive him who has the knowing organs most largely developed, associating ideas according to the relations of time, place, and circumstances j¹ and, very often, though not always,

¹ See examples of association of colours on page 60 of this volume. 3

ASSOCIATION. 257

we shall find each individual associating with most facility, and recollecting most perfectly, those ideas which minister to the gratification of his most powerful propensities or sentiments. If we seek only for relations among individual ideas themselves, or for general laws, according to which ideas are associated in all individuals, our researches will never be crowned with success. No stronger proof of this fact could be found, than the circumstance, that, although different individuals will use the same process of reasoning to produce the same conviction, yet no two will state their arguments in the same words, or make use of the same illustrations. The general similarity of the reasoning process depends on the similarity of the constitution of the faculties which reason ; but differences in words and illustration arise from particular individuals possessing different combination of organs and being placed in different circumstances, which afford materials of thought in some degree peculiar to each.

In many countries, unprincipled individuals have availed themselves of the law of association before explained, to enslave the minds of their fellow-men. By means of early impressions, they have connected certain practices and notions favourable to their own power, with the sentiments of Cautiousness, Conscientiousness, and Veneration in the people, and thereby caused them to fear objects existing only in imagination, and to perform actions inconsistent with the welfare of society. Phrenology will tend to bring this species of tyranny to an end. Each faculty has a sphere of legitimate action, established by the Creator, which is in harmony with every interest that He acknowledges as pure and beneficial ; but there is also a boundless field of abuse of each, favourable to base and selfish purposes. While the faculties themselves, and their relations to each other and to external objects, are unknown, and the human intellect is uncultivated and ignorant, it is extremely difficult for ordinary minds to distinguish accurately the boundaries of right; and hence a wide door is opened to abuse of every power. From this cause error is largely mixed up with truth, and delibe-

VOL. II.

258 ASSOCIATION.

rately so, by the unprincipled, who hope to profit by delusion. Hence the opinions and institutions of society in most countries present an inconsistent appearance :-In consequence of our own ignorance, we still perceive in the moral world too little of that magnificent power and comprehensive design, applied by the Deity for benevolent ends, which are so conspicuous in physical creation. In this state of things, it is not difficult to impress false and prejudicial notions on the minds of youth, and to support them through life by observances fitted to give them permanence ; and on this basis individual interest erects its baneful structures. But when the faculties, and their relations, shall be generally studied, and knowledge of their legitimate spheres of action shall be obtained, the discovery will be made, that creation is constituted in harmony only with their proper manifestations ; and then, acute perception of right, with high determination to pursue it, will take the place of that groping blindness, and irresolute imbecility, which now characterize the moral aspects of society in many countries of the world. In treating of the circumstances which modify the effects of size upon the power of the cerebral organs,^" enumerated " constitution, health, exercise, excite ment from without, and, in some cases, the mutual influence of the organs.'' The effects of the first three circumstances were considered in the introductory chapter ; and in the present section I have introduced various observations on the other two. The laws of the mutual influence of the organs form a department of Phrenology to which close and particular attention has been too little directed. Mr Robert Cox, however, has recently been engaged with the investigation of these laws, and some of his conclusions are published in The Phrenological Journal. " There are different modes," he observes, " in which one cerebral organ may be said to influence another. First, it may restrain us from acting under the other's impulse, without in any degree lessening the force of that impulse itself; as when a person who ardently desires to strike his neighbour,

¹ See Introduction, vol. i. p. 49.

ASSOCIATION. 259

is prevented by Cautiousness from gratifying this inclination. Or, in the second place, it may direct the other to seek gratification in a particular line of conduct ; as when an avaricious man is led by Conscientiousness to amass wealth by honest industry rather than by theft. In such cases, however it is only the result of the activity that is modified, not the activity itself; so that, strictly speaking, the mutual influence of the organs is the production, Increase, diminution, or extinction, of the activity of one organ, consequent upon certain states of other organs. As already hinted, this department of Phrenology, though a most interesting field of inquiry, has hitherto been greatly overlooked. Dr Spurzheim adverts to it in a brief and somewhat unsatisfactory manner in his work on Education, a chapter of which is devoted to ' the mutual influence of the faculties as a means of excitement :' and the subject is touched upon in a cursory way also by Mr Combe, in his analysis of Association, in the ' System of Phrenology? It is intricate and bewildering in no ordinary degree, but, being also of very great importance, obviously deserves to be minutely and carefully investigated. I have of late bestowed considerable attention upon this department of the physiology of the brain, and am convinced that phrenologists may labour in it with every encouragement to hope for useful and valuable discoveries. Such data as I have been able to collect, appear to shew that the mutual influence of the organs is regulated by general laws- which, however, are, for special purposes, subject to modification by particular laws, regulating only certain organs. My speculations concerning the former class of laws here alluded to, although they have made some progress, are not yet sufficiently mature for publication ; but in regard to at least one department of the particular laws, precise and definite conclusions are believed to have been arrived at."¹ The laws whose existence Mr Cox conceives himself to have established are, 1st, That when any of our faculties is pained or disagreeably active, Destructiveness is excited sympatheti-

1 Phrenological Journal, vol. ix. p, 403.

260 PASSION.

cally, in a degree varying with the intensity of the existing pain ; and, 2dly, That by a law perfectly analogous, the organ of Benevolence receives excitement from the agreeable or pleasurable action of the organs of the other mental powers. In support of these propositions Mr Cox has adduced many facts and arguments, for which I am obliged to refer to the pages of the Journal.¹

PASSION is the highest degree of activity of every faculty ; and the passions are as different as the faculties : Thus, a passion for glory is the result of a high activity of the Love of Approbation ; a passion for money, of Acquisitiveness ; a passion for music, of the faculty of Tune ; a passion for metaphysics, of Causality. Lord Byron says, " I can never get people to understand that Poetry is the expression of excited passion ; and that there is no such thing as a life of passion, any more than a continuous earthquake, or an eternal fever."²This is correct, but among the faculties excited to passion, Ideality must be one before beautiful or exquisite poetry can be produced.-There can be no such thing as factitious passions, although such are spoken of in various books. Man cannot alter his nature ; and every object that he can desire must be desired in consequence of its tending to gratify some natural faculty.

" Locke, and many modern writers," says Dr Spurzheim, " maintain that children are destitute of passions ; and it is true, that there is, in adults, one passion which is not observed in children, the passion of love. There have been, however, some individuals who, at three or four years of age, have felt passionately this propensity ; and, in general, the greater number of inclinations manifest themselves with energetic activity in children. The opponents of Phrenology, for the most part, confound the objects upon which the particular faculties act at different ages, with the inclinations themselves. Children, it is true, have no inclination to defraud the orphan of his inheritance, or to conquer kingdoms ;

¹ See vol. ix. p. 408 ; and vol. x. p. 1. ² Letter 436, Moore's Life, vol. v. p. 197.

PLEASURE AND PAIN.-PATIENCE AND IMPATIENCE. 261

but they sometimes deceive one another for a bird's nest ; they fight for playthings, and they are proud to occupy the first place at school." The same faculties which give desires for these objects, when differently directed in after-life, produce the various passions which characterize our maturer years. The boy who is extremely mortified at losing a place, and burns with desire to stand at the top of his class, will not be destitute of ambition when a man.

PLEASURE and PAIN are affections of every faculty. Each, when indulged in its natural action, says Dr Spurzheim, feels pleasure ; ' when disagreeably affected, feels pain : consequently the kinds of pain and pleasure are as numerous as the faculties. Hence one individual delights in generously pardoning offences, and another in taking revenge ; one is happy in the possession of riches, and another glories in disdaining the vanities of mankind." Thus, " pain and pleasure are the. result, and not the cause, of the particular faculties."

PATIENCE and IMPATIENCE. Patience, as a positive feeling, arises from a large development of Benevolence, Veneration, Hope, Conscientiousness, and Firmness, combined with small Self-Esteem. This combination is accompanied with meekness, humility, constancy, and resignation ; the constituent elements of a patient and enduring spirit. Apathy may arise from a highly lymphatic temperament, or great deficiency of brain : By persons ignorant of human nature, this state is sometimes mistaken for patience ; just as the extinction of thought and feeling in a nation is called by a despot, repose.

An individual possessing an active temperament, and Self-Esteem, Combativeness, and Destructiveness, larger than Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, will be impatient of opposition and contradiction ; one in whom Tune, Time, and Ideality are large, will be impatient of bad music ; one m whom Benevolence, Conscientiousness, and Causality are large, will be impatient of hypocritical and selfish con-

262 JOY AND GRIEF.

duct. If the nervous and sanguine temperaments predominate, the organs will be very active, and the individual will be impatient of all slow prosing movements, whether in speech or in actions.

JOY and GRIEF. Mr Hume enters into a very acute and refined analysis, to shew that grief and joy are merely mixtures of hope and/ear. After treating of several passions, he continues thus : " None of these passions seem to contain any thing curious or remarkable, except hope ana fear, which, being derived from the probability of any good or evil, are mixed passions, that merit our attention."

" Probability," says he, " arises from an opposition of contrary chances or causes, by which the mind is not allowed to fix on either side ; but is incessantly tossed from one to another, and is determined one moment to consider an object as existent, and another moment as the contrary.''

" Suppose, then, that the object concerning which we are doubtful, produces either desire or aversion, it is evident that, according as the mind turns itself to one side or the other, it must feel a momentary impression of joy or sorrow."

" The passions of fear and hope may arise, when the chances are equal on both sides, and no superiority can be discovered in one above the other. Nay, in this situation, the passions are rather the strongest, as the mind has then the least foundation to rest upon, and is tossed with the greatest uncertainty. Throw in a superior degree of probability to the side of grief, you immediately see that passion diffuse itself over the composition, and tincture it with fear. Increase the probability, and by that means the grief ; the fear prevails still more, till at last it runs insensibly, as the joy continually diminishes, into pure grief. After you have brought it to this situation, diminish the grief by a contrary operation to that which increased it, to-wit, by diminishing the probability on the melancholy side, and you will see the passion clear every moment, till it changes insensibly into hope ; which again runs, by slow degrees, into joy, as you increase that part of

JOY AND GRIEF. 263

the composition by the increase of the probability." Mr Hume concludes by this question : " Are not these as plain proofs that the passions of fear and hope are mixtures of grief and joy, as in optics it is a proof that a coloured ray of the sun, passing through a prism, is a composition of two others, when, as you diminish or increase the quantity of either, you find it prevail proportionally, more or less, in the composition ?"¹

These views are exceedingly ingenious, and, to a certain extent, sound ; but Phrenology presents us with a still more distinct and accurate elucidation of the nature of grief and joy. Each propensity desires to attain its object, and the attainment affords to the mind a feeling of gratification. Acquisitiveness desires wealth ; Love of Approbation longs for praise and distinction, and Self-Esteem pants for authority or independence. The obtaining of wealth gratifies Acquisitiveness ; this is attended with a pleasing emotion, and this emotion constitutes joy. The losing of wealth robs Acquisitiveness of its object ; this, again, is accompanied with a painful emotion, which is grief. The same remarks may be applied to Love of Approbation, Self-Esteem, or Philoprogenitiveness. When a lovely child is born, the delight experienced by the parents will bear a proportion to the ardour of their desire for offspring ; or, in other words, their joy will be great in proportion to the gratification of their Philoprogenitiveness. If they lose the child, their grief will be severe in proportion to the intensity of this feeling, lacerated by the removal of its object. In all these instances we find joy and grief existing without involving either hope or fear.

Let us now advert to Mr Hume's analysis. Cautiousness and Hope are both primitive sentiments, the former producing fear, and the latter an emotion sui generis, attended with delight. Both have relation to future objects, and in this respect differ from the other faculties, the gratification of which relates to/>"?"?"*time; but this circumstance does not change the laws of their operation. If the prospect of future evil be

Hume's Dissertation on the Passions, sect, i.

264 JOY AND GRIEF.

presented to the mind, it excites Cautiousness, and fear is produced ; this emotion is painful, but fear is not grief. It is to be observed, however, that there must be the fear of something ; and as evil is that which causes a disagreeable affection of some primitive faculty,-of Acquisitiveness or Philoprogenitiveness for example, Cautiousness is rarely affected alone, but generally in conjunction with some other power. Thus, if a son be sick, Cautiousness may fear that he will die, and Philoprogenitiveness be painfully affected by the prospect of that event,-which painful emotion is grief. Here fear and grief are conjoined ; but they arise from different sources, and although the fear cannot exist without the grief, in some degree or other, yet the grief might exist without the fear ; and would so exist, if the child were suddenly carried in a corpse. In the same way, if a person hope, he must hope for something. If for gaming a thousand pounds, the prospect gratifies Acquisitiveness, and this is joy. Here the active Hope and the expected gratification to Acquisitiveness combine in producing joy, but still the sources of the joy and hope are separate ; and if the money were actually gained, joy would exist without the hope, although hope can scarcely be active without joy. The principles here unfolded will be found to elucidate every instance of the operation of hope and fear, joy and grief, which can be supposed ; and this is a strong proof that we have found the truth. They explain beautifully, for instance, how, with many individuals, the anticipation of good is more delightful than the enjoyment of it. If Acquisitiveness and Hope be both strong, the prospect of gain excites and gratifies loth faculties at once ; whereas, the actual attainment satisfies Acquisitiveness, and excludes Hope. But Hope being, not less than Acquisitiveness, a source of pleasure, it is easy to conceive that the activity of both may yield more delight than that of either separately, and that when Hope is dropped from the combination, a great part of the pleasure will be gone.

The converse of this holds equally good. The prospect of distant evil is more painful than the experience of it when

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it actually occurs. While the loss of a child is contemplated at a distance, Cautiousness, if large, adds its melancholy and heart-sinking fears to the pains of a wounded Philoprogenitiveness ; but when the event happens, the influence of Cautiousness ceases, Philoprogenitiveness alone suffers, and in consequence, the actual distress is frequently less grievous than the anticipation of it.

Great wisdom and benevolence on the part of the Creator are displayed in this constitution of the mind ; for we are thereby prompted, with double ardour, to avoid evil, while it is yet at a distance, and subject to control from our efforts.

SYMPATHY¹ may be defined to be a fellow-feeling in one person, with emotions experienced by another. By attending to the laws which regulate the activity of the mental faculties, we shall discover the true nature of this affection, and the circumstances most favourable to its occurrence.

Every internal faculty, like each of the external senses, is most powerfully and most agreeably roused to activity by the direct presentment of its own objects ; Cautiousness, for instance, by the aspect of danger ; Benevolence, by that of suffering ; and so on. Hence, if two individuals of nearly similar constitutions of mind be exposed to the operation of the same external causes, the same faculties being called into activity in both, will give rise to similar emotions ; and they may then be said to sympathize with each other. This is one kind of sympathy, but it is not the state of mind to which that term is most correctly applied.

The next source of stimulus to the faculties, is that afforded by Natural Language. When any faculty is predominantly active, it gives a peculiar expression to the features, and certain determinate attitudes to the body, the import of which is intuitively understood by all who possess the same faculty even in a moderate degree. Thus, Self-Esteem being predominantly active, communicates to the body a cold,

¹ I am indebted to the kindness of Dr A. Combe for the following observations on Sympathy.

266 SYMPATHY.

formal, erect, and haughty air. This air is recognised intuitively by the spectator as indicating excessive pride in the individual who exhibits it ; and it is called the natural language of Self Esteem.¹ Now, by a law of our constitution, the natural language of any active faculty invariably excites the same faculty to action, and, consequently, gives rise to the same emotions, in the minds of those who witness it. The forbidding strut of great Self-Esteem, for instance, in a person whom we never saw before, addresses itself directly to our Self-Esteem ; we instinctively draw up, and feel moved to support our own consequence by a coldness proportioned to his. In like manner, when we meet for the first time with a person whose countenance and gestures express kindness, candour and open-hearted friendship, which are the natural language of active Benevolence, Conscientiousness, and Adhesiveness, the same emotions are excited in ourselves, and we instinctively return his advances with a kindness corresponding to his own.² Or, let us imagine that we hurry to meet

¹ See Remarks on the Natural Language of the Faculties, vol. i. p. 182.

² These phenomena are differently explained by Mr Robert Cox, who regards the influence of the law of sympathy as less extensive. Commenting on the above passage in the text, he says : " It appears to me that these effects take place, not under the operation of any such law as that imagined by Dr Combe, but simply because the natural language conveys a meaning calculated to rouse the corresponding faculty in the spectator. The forbidding strut of Self-Esteem calls that sentiment into action in ourselves, only in so far as it is significant to us of an insult or assumption of superiority on the part of the strutter-these being directly calculated to stimulate the faculty in us, just as by a fine landscape the sentiment of Ideality is called into play. That the mere natural language of Self-Esteem does not excite the same faculty in the spectators, is obvious from the fact, that where circumstances put all reference to self out of the question, no such consequence ensues : thus, though we see an actor on the stage exhibiting in perfection the natural language of arrogance, yet, being ourselves not in the least offended by the exhibition, we experience no inclination to " draw up," but are satisfied with laughing heartily. In like manner, we may see one man strutting up to another in the street, without feeling at all disposed to imitate his carriage ; though, if ourselves strutted up to, Self-Esteem is touched by the insult, and its natural language, of course, is exhibited. That this is the consequence

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a friend, whom we expect to find all happiness and gaiety, and that, instead of this, seriousness, anxiety, and grief, are depicted on his countenance, and indicated by his gestures, these being the natural language of Cautiousness and other faculties painfully affected, will call up a corresponding affection of the same faculties in our minds, and, without knowing what has distressed him, our features and attitudes will instantly assume an expression consonant with his own. It is to this involuntary and almost unconscious communication of feelings and emotions from the mind of one individual to that of another, through the medium of natural language, that the term Sympathy is most properly applied.

An excellent illustration of this kind of sympathy is to be found in the effects of a panic, or excessively excited Cautiousness, in one individual, exciting the same feeling in all who behold it. The very sight of a panic-stricken person, when we do not know the cause which has given rise to the alarm, excites a general uneasiness about our own safety ; and if a great number of persons together, and at the same instant, perceive the terrified expression, it instantly rouses

of the unceremonious treatment alone, and not of mere perception of the natural language, appears from this, that an insult given quite unintentionally, and with the kindest and most respectful air, has exactly the same effect. I shall never forget the air of offended dignity with which a gentleman in a public office " drew up," when, in a moment of abstraction, half-a-crown was offered him as a compensation for his civility in shewing the building. So it is likewise with Destructiveness and Benevolence. We may see a man furiously enraged, without having our own Destructiveness excited in the least; while the tenth part of the concomitant verbal abuse, if lavished on ourselves, would immediately kindle our wrath into a flame. Thus also, the natural language of Benevolence fails to excite that faculty in us, if we are aware that the appearance is merely assumed. An open, sincere, and friendly countenance, produces good-will only in so far as it is significant of estimable qualities, and these, being agreeable to our own feelings, excite Benevolence through their medium. All the phenomena which really take place, are explained by the laws whose existence I have laboured to establish -namely, that Destructiveness is roused by the disagreeable action, and Benevolence by the agreeable, of every power of the human mind." Phrenological Journal, vol. x. p. 13.

268 SYMPATHY.

the faculty of Cautiousness to its highest pitch of activity in all of them, and produces the most intense feelings of dread and alarm. Such are the causes and origin of panics in battles and in mobs ; and hence the electric rapidity with which passions of every kind pervade and agitate the minds of assembled multitudes.

Another and very familiar example of this kind of sympathy may be seen in a crowded city. Let any one in passing along London Bridge, for instance, stop short, and turn up his face, with his mouth half open, as if stupefied with wonder and amazement ; and immediately the same expression, being the natural language of Individuality and Wonder, will be transferred to the countenances of nine-tenths of the passengers, not one of whom, of course, will be able to assign any direct cause for the emotion with which his mind will be filled. As the propensities and sentiments employ the intellect to minister to their gratification, if the wag happen to say that it is something vastly surprising in the heavens which attracts his gaze, the majority of the curious in wonders will soon, by a stretch of intellectual conception, come to perceive something where nothing actually exists.

True sympathy, then, arises from the natural language of any active feeling in one individual exciting the same feeling in another, " antecedently to any knowledge of what excited it in the person principally concerned f and, therefore, as the stimulus of natural language is secondary or inferior in power to that derived from the direct presentment of the objects of any faculty, it is easy to explain why the person who feels sympathetically, feels less deeply than the person with whom he sympathizes. The same principle explains, also, why all men do not sympathize in the same degree, and why, in some cases, the spectator does not sympathize at all. If the objects presented be such as to afford a direct stimulus to a different faculty in us, from that exhibited in activity by another, it follows that, in virtue of the stronger influence of the direct excitement, the particular faculty which it addresses will be roused into higher activity than the one which has

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only the less powerful stimulus of natural language, and thus a totally dissimilar emotion will be experienced. For example, let us suppose that a man with a good endowment of Combativeness and Destructiveness, is attacked on the highway ; the menacing looks and gestures (the natural language of these faculties) displayed by the aggressor, instantly rouse them into energetic action in the defender, and force is repelled by force. But, suppose that the attack is made upon a woman, or an individual in whom Combativeness is only moderate, and in whom Cautiousness predominates, the attack then becomes a direct stimulus to Cautiousness, which, being excited, produces fear; and the direct stimulus of Cautiousness overpowering the indirect stimulus of Combativeness, submission or flight is resorted to, rather than defence.

Dr Adam Smith¹ supposes, that there are emotions with which we have no sympathy. " The furious behaviour of an angry man," says he," is more likely to exasperate us against himself than against his enemies." According to the theory, however, of sympathy, that it excites in us the same emotion which others feel, this opinion seems to be untenable. If Combativeness and Destructiveness in one, excite by sympathy Combativeness and Destructiveness in another, which I hold them to do, it follows, that, as the function of these faculties is to attack or to repel attack, when they are roused, they must, from their very constitution, exert themselves against something or somebody. If we know the cause of the anger, and approve of it, and direct our Combativeness and Destructiveness against the angry man's enemies, this is clearly sympathy in every sense of the term. But if we disapprove of the cause, then he himself becomes the object of our resentment; and in popular language it maybe said, that, in this case, we do not sympathize with him : but it must be observed, 1st, that the activity of Combativeness and Destructiveness in him is the cause of rousing the same faculties in us; and, 2c%, that the reason of anger being di-

¹ Theory of Moral Sentiments, p. 32.

270 SYMPATHY.

rected against himself is to be found in his having outraged, by his conduct, our moral sentiments, and presented us with an object (an unreasonably furious man) which stimulates these directly ; and they being excited, determine the direction which Combativeness and Destructiveness shall take. The same reasoning applies to the sympathy of Self-Esteem and of other faculties, hitherto supposed not to sympathize.

The proof that we do sympathize with anger, when properly directed, as well as with grief or pity, is to be found in the cordiality with which we approve of, and indeed encourage, a just degree of it. Fortunately, in the case of Combativeness and Destructiveness, as well as of all the other propensities, our sympathy, beyond certain limits, is soon arrested by the direct stimulus which the moral sentiments receive from the conduct of the angry person, and by the deep sense of their inherent supremacy which is then felt. In consequence we sympathize with or approve of the actions produced by the lower faculties of others, only when these are guided by the faculties peculiar to man. For example, we never sympathize with Combativeness when indulged for the mere pleasure of fighting ; or of Destructiveness, when gratified for the mere delight of being ferocious ; or of Acquisitiveness, when directed to the sole purpose of accumulating wealth. But we sympathize with the action of all of these faculties, when directed by justice and understanding. Such, however, is the beautiful constitution of our nature, that we sympathize with the action of the sentiments proper to man, even when unmingled with any other motive ; for example, we sympathize with benevolence, from the mere glow of charity ; with veneration, from the mere inward feeling of devotion ; with justice, from the pure dictates of Conscientiousness ; and actions done, apparently from the impulses of these faculties, lose their character of purity and excellence in our estimation, in exact proportion to the alloy of the inferior faculties which we perceive to be mingled with them. Kindness, in which we perceive interest, is always less valued than when pure and unadulterated. Activity in the service of the public loses its merit in our eyes, in exact proportion as we

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perceive the motive to be the Love of Approbation, unmingled with Conscientiousness and true Benevolence. These facts prove the accuracy of the phrenological doctrine, that the higher faculties are constituted to govern the lower ; and also that man is conscious of possessing feelings, necessary, no doubt, in themselves, but of the gratification of which, when undirected by the superior powers, he himself disapproves. Even the higher sentiments, however, to be approved of, must act conformably to the understanding ; and excess of veneration, of benevolence, or of scrupulosity, is regarded as weakness, as excess of any lower propensity is regarded as vice.

The doctrine of sympathy leads to valuable practical consequences. The natural language of any faculty is intelligible to, and excites the same faculty in, another, and this simple principle explains why harshness is much less powerful than mildness in commanding the services of others. Harshness is the natural language of active Self-Esteem, Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Firmness : in virtue of the above rule, it naturally excites the same faculties in those against whom it is directed, and an instinctive tendency to resistance or disobedience is the result. Among the uneducated classes this process is exhibited every day. A parent, in a harsh and angry tone, commands a child to do or to abstain from doing something ; the child instinctively resists ; and loud threatenings, and at last violence ensue. These last are direct stimulants to Cautiousness ; they overpower the faculties excited only by the indirect stimulus of harshness, and obedience at last takes place. This is the uniform effect of imperious commands : obedience never ensues till consequences alarming to Cautiousness are perceived, and then it is attended with a grudge. Veneration, Conscientiousness, Love of Approbation, and Benevolence, on the other hand, are the faculties which lead to willing submission and obedience, and to which, therefore, we ought to address ourselves. If we stimulate them, compliance will be agreeable to the individual, and doubly beneficial to the person who commands.

272 SYMPATHY.

This principle explains also the force of example in training to good conduct, and affords instructive rules for the proper education of the propensities and sentiments. "Where parents and seniors act habitually under the influence of the higher sentiments, the same sentiments in children not only receive a direct cultivation, but are sustained in enduring vivacity by the natural expression of their activity thus exhibited. Children having the organs of the sentiments early developed, can judge of what is right and wrong long before they can reason ; and hence the importance of always manifesting before them the supremacy of the moral feelings. Much of the effect of example upon the future character has been ascribed to imitation ; but although this faculty has an influence, I am persuaded that it is small compared with that of Sympathy as now unfolded.

There is a state of mind which has been confounded with Sympathy, but which arises from the direct excitement of the faculties by their own objects. When we see a stroke aimed and ready to fall upon the arm or leg of another person, we are apt to shrink and draw back our own leg or arm, and when it does fall, we in some measure feel it, and are hurt by it as well as the sufferer. Dr Adam Smith proceeds to explain this by saying, that our fellow-feeling here arises from our changing places in fancy with the sufferer. Thus, if our brother is upon the rack, says he, " by the imagination we place ourselves in his situation, we conceive ourselves enduring all the same torments ; we enter as it were into his body, and become in some measure the same person with him, and thence form some idea of his sensations, and even feel something, which, though weaker in degree, is not altogether unlike them. His agonies thus brought home to ourselves, when we have thus adopted, and made them our own, begin at last to affect us, and we then tremble and shudder at the thought of what he feels."¹

This theory, however, appears to be incorrect, for we often feel intensely for another's misery, without, even in idea,

¹ Theory of Moral Sentiments, p. 30.

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changing places with him. In beholding suffering, we feel deep commiseration with its object, simply because the faculty of Benevolence, the function of which is to manifest this emotion, is a primitive mental power, having the same relation to external misery or pain that light has to the eye ; and as such it is as instantly and irresistibly roused by presentment of a suffering object, as the eye is by the admission of light, or the ear by the percussion of sounds. In witnessing another's misery, we, in virtue of this constitution of mind, first feel the emotion of pity, and, m proportion to its strength, fancy to ourselves the pain which he endures : But the pity always precedes, and the effort to conceive the pain is the effect, and not the cause, of the pity. Hence those who are remarkable for a moderate endowment of Benevolence, although possessing superior intellectual or conceiving powers, never even try to fancy themselves placed in the situation of the sufferer, because they feel no motive impelling them to the attempt. The benevolent idiot, on the other hand, with scarcely any power of conception, feels the most poignant distress.

The same principle explains our shrinking from a blow impending over another. The feeling then experienced is a compound of fear and pity, Cautiousness and Benevolence. Fear is excited by the danger, and Pity is roused by the consequent pain. Danger is the direct stimulant of Cautiousness, and suffering that of Benevolence ; and, therefore, when these objects are presented to the mind, we can no more help feeling the corresponding emotions, than we can help seeing or hearing. The direct chief end or function of Cautiousness is the care and preservation of self; therefore, when it is excited by the aspect of danger, we look eagerly to self, and draw in our own leg or arm as parts of ourselves ; but this results directly from the constitution of the faculty, and not from putting ourselves in the place of another. The direct end or function of Benevolence, again, is the good and happiness of others, and therefore, when it is excited by the mi-

VOL. ii.

274 HABIT.

sery of another, it necessarily, from its very constitution, feels for them, and not for ourselves.

An active temperament greatly conduces to sympathy, by producing vivacity in all the cerebral functions ; but this does not supersede the laws of sympathy before explained.

HABIT. Next to Association, Habit makes the most conspicuous figure in the philosophy of Mr Stewart. He refers the incapacity of some individuals to discriminate colours, to habits of inattention. The powers, also, of wit, fancy, and invention in the arts and sciences, he informs us, are not the original gifts of nature, " but the result of acquired habits."^l " The power of taste, and a genius for poetry,-painting, music, and mathematics," he states, " are gradually formed by particular habits of study or of business." And not only does Habit execute these important functions in the system of Mr Stewart, but, in the estimation of individuals in private life, it appears to be viewed as almost omnipotent. On reading to a friend the account of the boy J. G.'s early dishonest conduct,² he attributed them all to bad habits formed in the Charity Work-house of Glasgow ; on exhibiting an individual whose mental character was directly opposite, he ascribed the difference to good habits, formed under the tuition of his parents. Thus, there are no talents so transcendent, and no dispositions so excellent or so depraved, but habit is supposed by many, at once, to account for them in such a manner as to supersede the necessity of all further investigation. What, then, is habit, and what place does it hold in the phrenological system ?

Every voluntary action is a manifestation of some one or more faculties of the mind. Habit is denned to be "a power in a man of doing any thing, acquired by frequently doing it." Now, before it can be done at all, the organ on which it depends must be possessed; and the larger the organ, coteris paribus, the greater will be the facility with

¹ Elements, vol. i. chap. v. p. 1. sect. 4.

² See Trans, of the Phren. Soc. p. 289.

HABIT. 275

which the individual will do the thing at first, and learn to repeat it afterwards. George Bidder, for example, the celebrated mental calculator, acquired the habit of solving, in an incredibly short time, without the aid of notation, extensive and intricate arithmetical problems. Before he could begin to do such a thing, the organ of Number was indispensable ; possessing it largely, he made great and rapid acquisitions of power in calculation, and at seven years of age established the habit which seemed so surprising. Other individuals are to be found endowed with a small organ of Number, who, although forced by circumstances to practise the use of figures, never succeed in acquiring a habit of solving, with facility and success, even the simplest arithmetical questions. This illustration may be applied to painting, poetry, music, and mathematics. Before the habit of practising these branches of art and science can be acquired, the organs on which the talents depend must be largely possessed ; and being so, the habits result spontaneously from exercising the organs. As quarrelling and fighting are manifestations of Combativeness and Destructiveness, a boy will the more readily acquire the habit of acting in this manner, the larger these organs are in his brain, and the less controlled by others. If these organs be small, or if the higher organs decidedly predominate, the boy will be naturally indisposed to quarrelling, and will acquire the habit of it with great difficulty, wherever he may be placed. He may repel unjust aggressions made upon him, but he will not be the promoter of mischief, or a leader in the broils of his companions. Many boys can never acquire the habit of quarrelling, even though urged to it by circumstances.^l

Exercise strengthens the organs and causes them to act with greater facility, 2 and in this way the real effects of habit, which are important, may be accounted for ; but the organ must possess considerable natural power and activity to

¹ See these views illustrated in the case of John Linn, Phren. Journ. vol. x. p. 207.

² See vol. i. p. 155.

276 HABIT.

render it susceptible of the exercise by which habit is formed. The practice of debate by barristers gives them great facility in delivering extemporaneous harangues, compared with that enjoyed by persons whose avocations never lead them to make speeches ; and this facility may be said to be acquired by the habit of speaking ; but it will always bear a proportion to the original endowment of the faculties ; and we shall find, that, while habit gives to one individual great fluency and copiousness of diction, it often leaves another in much poverty of speech and embarrassment of utterance. The powers of both will be greatly superior to what they would have been without the practice of speaking ; but disparity in eloquence will continue to characterize them, owing to differences in their original constitution.

The metaphysicians, as we have seen, attribute many important mental phenomena to the effects of habit, and yet they altogether neglect the influence of organization on the mind. According to our views, it is the organ which acquires strength, activity, and superior facility in performing its functions by being properly exercised, just as the fingers of the musician acquire facility of motion by the practice of playing : The effects of habit in giving readiness and ease are thus accounted for in a manner that is at least intelligible and supported by analogy. The metaphysicians, on the other hand, must imagine that it is the immaterial principle itself which is improved by exercise, and gains strength by habit,-a notion which is altogether inconceivable, and in opposition to the attributes of a purely spiritual being. Farther, Phrenology teaches that the mental organs are distinct ; and that it is quite possible to exercise one organ, and leave another unemployed. This doctrine explains why, by practising music, we do not acquire the habit of speaking or writing with facility ; and why, by studying mathematics, we do not acquire the habit of reasoning deeply in moral or political science. Those physiologists, however, who hold the brain to be a single organ, and every part of it to be engaged in every act of the mind, ought to shew how it happens,

TASTE. 277

that exercising it in one way does not improve it in all ; or, to use an illustration applied by Dr Johnson to genius, why the man who is able to walk east can possibly fail in the power of walking west. If the organs by means of which he walks east be different from those by which he walks west, no difficulty will occur ; but if they be the same, some portion of ingenuity on the part of the disciples of the old school will be necessary to account for the supposed deficiency.

TASTE. Mr Stewart speaks of Taste as a power or faculty, and, as already mentioned, supposes it to be acquired by habit. I am not aware that any other metaphysician coincides with him in these views ; but a great deal has been written on the subject, and no satisfactory theory of it, except that of Sir G. S. Mackenzie,¹ exists. I shall point out the manner in which it might be treated phrenologically ; but the subject is too extensive to allow me to enter into it in detail.

In the first place, every act of the mind must be a manifestation of some faculty or other ; and every act must be characterized either by bad taste or good taste, or be wholly indifferent in this respect. Let us inquire into the origin of bad taste and this will lead us to distinguish its opposite, or correct taste. Bad taste, then, appears to arise from an excessive or improper manifestation of any of the faculties. Lord Byron is guilty of very bad taste in some passages of Don Juan, in which he exhibits the passion of love in all the grossness of an animal feeling : this arises from an excessive manifestation of Amativeness, not purified and dignified by the moral sentiments and reflection. In the same work, there is a scene in a boat, in which Don Juan and his companions are made to devour his tutor. To a being under the sole dominion of Destructiveness, such a representation may perhaps be gratifying ; but unless this propensity be very powerful, it will be impossible for any mind deliberately to invent

¹ An Essay on some subjects connected with Taste. By Sir George Stewart Mackenzie, Bart. Edin. 1817.

278 TASTE.

and enjoy such a picture of human misery. No thoughtlessness, levity, freak of fancy, or other folly, could produce it, without a predominant Destructiveness. This great defect of taste, therefore, may be ascribed to an excessive manifestation of this faculty, uncontrolled by Benevolence, or other higher feelings. Moore, also, in his earlier verses, was guilty of sins against taste, from excessive manifestations of the amative propensity ; but this error he has corrected in his later productions.

Faults in taste, arise not only from unbecoming manifestations of the lower propensities, but also from an inordinate expression of the sentiments and intellectual faculties. In Peter Sell and Christabell, and in the productions of the Lake school of poetry in general, much bad taste springs from mawkish and infantine manifestations of Benevolence, Philoprogenitiveness, and Adhesiveness. Even Ideality itself may be abused. It is undoubtedly the faculty which produces the emotion of the beautiful, but in excess, it degenerates into bombast, rant, and exaggeration ; and it may then give rise to that species of composition which a contemporary critic has appropriately designated by the epithet of " drunken sublimity." Wordsworth affords examples of errors in taste, arising from an abuse of Causality ; he introduces abstruse and unintelligible metaphysical disquisitions into his poetry, and mystifies it, instead of rendering it profound. Homer, also, sometimes offends against correct taste by overloading his descriptions with similes, under the influence of Comparison.

Farther, the expression of any sentiment or propensity in an undue degree in conversation or conduct, is essentially characteristic of bad taste. An excess of vanity, and the tendency to engross conversation, is one form of it which occurs in society, and arises from over-active Love of Approbation and Self-Esteem ; the tendency to wrangle, dispute, and contradict, is another, springing from excessive activity of Combativeness. The disposition to flatter, and utter a profusion of agreeable things to persons whom we do not

TASTE. 279

esteem, but wish to please, is also characterized by bad taste, and arises from an improper manifestation of Secretiveness and Love of Approbation.

The question naturally occurs, What is the distinction' between bad taste and bad morality? I would answer, that bad morality always implies bad taste, for it springs from an improper manifestation of the lower feelings to the outrage of the sentiments of Justice, Benevolence, and Veneration. Bad taste, however, may occur, without immorality, and this arises from an undue activity of any of the faculties, without offence against any of the higher sentiments. The effeminacies of Peter Bell for example, stand low enough in the scale of taste ; but as the greatest tenderness for asses does not necessarily imply any breach of justice, kindness, or respect to other beings, the taste only is bad, and not the morality. In like manner, when an individual, under the influence of an excessive Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation, constitutes himself the bore of a party,-as his offence does not amount to a serious attack upon such rights as are defended by the sentiments of Conscientiousness, Veneration, and Benevolence, we set him down as ill-bred, but not as immoral.

Chesterfield, and some dictators in manners, deliberately recommend slight offences against candour, not only as not liable to the imputation of bad taste, but as essential to good taste. Thus, Chesterfield admits a great deal of deceitful compliance into his characteristics of a gentleman ; but, with great deference to his Lordship's authority, I cannot subscribe to the doctrine that bad morality and good taste are ever, or in any degree, compatible in the same action. An individual may act very improperly in some instances, and shew considerable refinement in others ; but this is easily understood: for the higher sentiments may co-exist with strong animal propensities, and one occasion may call forth the former, and another excite only the latter, so that the conduct may thus assume different aspects at different times. The question, however, is, Whether the same action can be characterized both as immoral and as distinguished by

280 TASTE.

good taste ? In my opinion it cannot. It is good taste to restrain the expression of our views or opinions in society, when an opposite conduct could cause only dissensions and broils ; but this is good morality also. Chesterfield, however, goes farther, and allows, as perfectly compatible with good manners, an expression of sentiments which we do not entertain, if they be pleasing to those to whom we address them ; and this is a breach of candour. Such a practice is an insult to the person who is the object of it ; and if he saw the real motives he would feel it to be so. Nothing which, when examined in all its lights, and seen in its true colours, is essentially unprincipled, can possibly be correct in point of taste ; it has only the appearance, and not the true elements of politeness. Purity in the motive is requisite equally to good taste and to sound morality ; for the motive determines the essential quality of the action.

The sources of good taste may now be adverted to. The nervous and sanguine temperaments, by giving fineness to the substance, and vivacity to the action of the brain, are highly conducive to refinement. All authors and artists whose works are characterized by great delicacy and beauty, have fine temperaments, along with Ideality. The most exquisite mental manifestations are those which proceed from a favourable combination of the whole organs, in which each contributes a share of its own good qualities, and is restrained by the others from committing abuses. If a favourable development of this kind be possessed, the higher Ideality rises,-without being excessive,-and the finer the temperament, the more perfect will be the taste. There may, however, be much good taste, of a simple kind, with moderate Ideality, if the other faculties be favourably balanced.

As Taste arises from fine quality of brain, and a favourable combination of organs, the explanation is simple, how it may be possessed without genius. Genius springs from great vigour and activity in the organs, depending on large size, and a high temperament: these are greater endowments than equal development, and an individual may be

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deficient in them, and yet be so favourably constituted, with respect to the balance of his powers, as to feel acutely the excellencies or the faults of genius manifested by others. Hence many persons are really excellent critics, who could not themselves produce original works of value ; hence also, many original authors of great reputation, display very questionable taste.

In applying these principles to actual cases, I find them borne out by numerous facts. Dr Chalmers occasionally sins against taste, and in his head Ideality and Comparison are out of due proportion to Causality, and some other organs. In Lord Jeffrey's bust, on the contrary, there is a very beautiful and regular development of Eventuality, Comparison, and Causality, with, a fair balance between the propensities and sentiments ; his temperament is nervous-bilious ; and his taste is generally excellent.

As good taste is the result of the harmonious action of the faculties, we are able to perceive why taste is susceptible of great improvement by cultivation. An author frequently reasons as profoundly, or soars as loftily, in his first essay, as after practice in writing for twenty years ; but at the outset of his career he rarely manifests the same tact which he subsequently acquires by study and the admonitions of a discriminative criticism. Reasoning depends on Causality and Comparison, and lofty flights of imagination on Ideality; and if the organs of these faculties be large, they will execute their functions intuitively, and carry the author forward, from the first, on a bold and powerful wing : but as .taste depends on the balancing and adjusting, the suppressing and elevating, the ordering and arranging of his thoughts and emotions, so as to produce a general harmony of the whole ; -it is only practice, reflection, and comparison with higher standards, that will enable him successfully to approximate to excellence ; and even these aids will suffice only when the organs are by nature combined in pretty equal proportions ; for if the balance preponderate greatly in any particular direction, no effort will produce exquisite adjustment.

Much has been written about a standard of taste ; and in

282 TASTE.

considering this question a distinction should be made. If, by fixing a standard, we mean determining particular objects, or qualities of objects, which all men shall regard as beautiful, the attempt must necessarily be vain. A person well endowed with Form, Size, and Ideality, may experience the most delightful emotions of beauty from contemplating a Grecian temple, in which another individual, in whom these organs are very deficient, may perceive nothing but stone and mortar. In an arrangement of colours, one individual may discover beauty which is quite imperceptible to a person deficient in the organ of Colouring. Or one may be delighted with music, in which another, through imperfection in the organ of Tune, may perceive no melody. Thus no object, and no qualities of objects, can be fixed upon, which all mankind, whatever be their original constitution, will unanimously acknowledge to be beautiful ; and in this view no standard of taste exists.

But degrees of beauty may be estimated, in which sense a scale at least, if not a standard, of taste may be framed. The more favourable the original constitution of an individual is, and the greater the cultivation bestowed on his powers, the higher authority he becomes in questions of taste. The existence of a sentiment of Justice has been denied, because individuals are found in whom it is so weak that they seem scarcely to experience the emotion which it produces ; but Phrenology, by pointing out their defect, shews that such persons form exceptions to a general rule, and no one thinks of appealing to them as authorities to determine whether any particular action be just or unjust. In like manner, men deficient in the organs which give the perception of beauty, are not authorities in taste ; but that individual is the highest judge in whom the most favourable development of the organs of propensity, sentiment, and intellect, is combined with a fine temperament and large Ideality ; and who, besides, has cultivated his faculties with the greatest assiduity. His determinations in regard to degrees of beauty in objects, will form the best standards of taste which our imperfect nature is capable of attaining.

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EFFECTS OF SIZE IN THE ORGANS ON THE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE FACULTIES.

having now unfolded the organs of the primitive faculties (so far as discovered), with their modes of action, I proceed to treat of their effects when acting in combination. In order to understand this subject, it is necessary, in the first place, to attend particularly to the effects of size in the organs on the manifestations of the faculties.

The reader is referred to the distinction between power and activity in the mind, stated in vol. i. p. 166. Coteris paribus, size in the organs is the measure of power in the faculties.

As great size in the organs is an indispensable requisite to the manifestation of mental vigour, no instance should occur, in which an individual with a small brain, has manifested clearly and unequivocally, great force of character, animal, moral, and intellectual, such as belonged to Bruce, Bonaparte, Cromwell, or Fox; and such, accordingly, phrenologists affirm to be the fact. The Phrenological Society possesses casts of skulls or heads of Bruce, La Fontaine, Sir Edward Parry, Rammohun Roy, and other men distinguished by great power of mind, and they are all large. The busts and portraits of Lord Bacon, Shakspeare, and Bonaparte, indicate large heads ; and among living characters no individual has occurred to my observation who leaves a vivid impression of mental greatness on the public mind, and yet presents a small brain.

Size in each organ, or in each group of organs, produces power in it or in them alone : For example, if the organs of the propensities be large, indicated by a large mass of brain in the basilar and posterior regions, we must not expect great intellectual power and distinguished moral sentiments ; or, if the anterior lobe be large and all the other parts of the

284 EFFECTS OF SIZE

brain be small, we may expect vigorous intellect, but not strong emotions and desires.

The European head is distinguished from the Asiatic and native American, not more by difference of form than of size. The European is larger, and the superior energy of this variety of mankind is well known. The heads of men are larger than those of women, and the latter obey ; or, to bring the point to the clearest demonstration, we need only to compare the head of a child with that of a full grown man, or of an idiot with that of Rammohun Roy, as represented in vol. i. p. 45. If, then, in extreme cases, size be so clearly a concomitant of power, we are not to presume that, in any instance, even where the differences are so minute that the eye is scarcely able to detect them, it ceases altogether to exert an influence. The rule, Extremis probatis, media pro-sumuntur, is completely applicable here.

The doctrine, that power is a characteristic of mind, distinguishable at once from mere intellectual acumen and also from activity, is one of great practical importance ; and it explains a variety of phenomena of which we previously possessed no satisfactory theory. In society we meet with persons whose whole manner is little, whom we intuitively feel to be unfit for any great enterprize or arduous duty, and who are nevertheless distinguished for amiable feelings and good sense. This springs from a small brain favourably proportioned in its parts. Other individuals, again, with far less polish, inferior information, and fewer amiable qualities, impress us with a sentiment of their power, force, energy, or greatness ; we feel that they have weight, and that, if acting against us, they would prove formidable opponents. This arises from great size. Bonaparte, who had an admirable tact in judging of many of the qualities of mind, distinguishes between mere cleverness and force of character, and almost always prefers the latter. In his Memoirs, he speaks of some of his generals as possessing talents, intellect, and book-learning, but as still being nobody-as wanting that weight and comprehensiveness which fit a man for great en-

IN THE ORGANS. 285

terprises : while he adverts to others as possessing limited intellect and little judgment, but prodigious force of character ; and considers them as admirably adapted by this last quality to lead soldiers through peril and difficulty, provided they be directed by minds superior to their own. Murat was such a man ; and Bonaparte appears on the whole to have liked such officers ; for they did not trouble him with thinking for themselves, while they possessed energy adequate to the execution of his most gigantic designs. The leader of a popular party who has risen to that rank by election, or assumed it with acquiescence, will be found to have a large brain. To the commanders of fleets and armies also a similar endowment is necessary, for otherwise they would possess artificial authority without natural weight, and would never inspire confidence in their followers. Bonaparte had alarge head ;^xand officers and soldiers, citizens and statesmen, bowed before his mental greatness, however much they might detest the use he made of his power. In him, all the organs, animal, moral, and intellectual (Conscientiousness, and perhaps Firmness, excepted), seem to have been large ; great activity was added ; and hence arose commanding energy, combined with profound and comprehensive intellectual capacity. The Society possesses casts of the heads of Captains Franklin and Parry ; and both are decidedly large, with an excellent proportion in the different orders of organs. These commanders displayed great force of character in their respective expeditions in quest of a North-west passage. No tendency to mutiny, or insubordination, occurred even in the most trying circumstances ; and this would be the case, because the men under their command would instinctively feel natural superiority coinciding with artificial rank.

The mask of Napoleon which is generally sold in the shops is authentic, ft shews a very long anterior lobe from front to back, and its breadth is considerable. It appears narrower than it is, in consequence of its great length. It is impossible to look at the forehead of the American statesman, Daniel Webster, without being impressed by the greatness of the intellectual power which it expresses, and he manifests a gigantic intellect.

286 EFFECTS OF SIZE

The men who are able, without feeling encumbered, to at tend to their private duties, and at the same time carry a load of public business on their minds, owe this quality to great size in the brain, with an active temperament, and large knowing organs. Those who, having small brains, find their whole powers absorbed and exhausted by their particular occupations, wonder at such men, and cannot comprehend either their motives, or the means by which they accomplish so much. It is power which distinguishes them; so that duties which to others would prove oppressive, press lightly on them, or afford them only amusement. Mr Joseph Hume, M. P., is a striking illustration of this doctrine. He possesses moderate organs of Causality, little Wit, less Ideality, and no great endowment of Language : yet even his opponents allow him to manifest great force of character, with a power of application and perseverance which to ordinary minds is incomprehensible. If we look at the large brain indicated in his cast, and attend to the combination of organs which it displays, we shall perceive the source _Dr _Spurzheimof his weight. Dr Spurzheim also shewed great force of character, and his brain was large. This quality in him was the source of the intense and long enduring interest which he created and supported in the minds of those who came in contact with him. He was calm, mild, and unobtrusive, yet there was a degree of depth and power about him, which made lasting impressions on those who listened to his public discourses, or conversed with him in private.

In examining the heads of criminals in jail, I have found the most daring, desperate, and energetic to possess large brains. When great size and an unfavourable combination

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occur together, the officers of justice are reduced to despair in attempting to correct the offender. They feel a strength of character which they .cannot subdue, and an evil bent which they cannot direct ;-the result generally is a report from the police that the individual is incorrigible ; his first serious offence is prosecuted to extremity, and he is transported or hanged for the sake of protecting society from farther mischief. In professional pursuits, also, the men who are indisputably paramount to their fellows not merely in cleverness, but in depth and force of character, have large heads ; and this holds, not only in the learned professions, but in mercantile avocations. I have observed that individuals who, born in indigence, have acquired wealth, by conducting great and extensive establishments, have uniformly brains above an average size ; and that mercantile travellers who succeed in procuring orders, and pushing a trade amidst a keen and arduous competition, are distinguished by the same quality. Such men make an impression, and act with a confidence of power, which gives effect to all they say or do. In a school, if the children care nothing for the master and treat him with disrespect, and if he fail, after using every severity, to maintain discipline and subordination, he will be found to have a small brain. In the domestic circle, if the mistress of a family (while in good health) is easily overcome, annoyed and oppressed with the cares and duties of her household, the origin of the evil will be found in too small a head.

In the Church, the effects of size are equally conspicuous. A preacher with a large brain, the moral and intellectual regions predominating, is felt by his flock to possess weight, and they submit willingly to be led and taught by him, while they treat with indifference the feebleness that accompanies a little head it, as occasionally happens, a preacher possess an excellent combination, that is, the organs of the sentiments and intellect large in proportion to those of the animal propensities, he may be acute, amiable, sensible, and interesting ;

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but if the general size of his brain be under an average, he will not be impressive and commanding.

The principle that size gives power of manifestation, forms the key to the following criticism on Dr Chalmers. " His manner, so far from being graceful,^" says a contemporary writer, " is very nearly uncouth ; his tones are neither musical, nor under strict subordination ; in the selection of words, and management of figures, his taste, so far from being pure, is sometimes very much the reverse ; his pronunciation, though vigorous and distinct, is beset with provincialisms, which time and a city audience have done very little to correct ; and as to gesture, wherever we have heard him, he appeared to be totally unconscious that he had got such a thing as hands and arms to manage. In what, then, it may be asked, consists the secret of the Doctor's eloquence ? Simply, as we take it, in this,-that, while his arguments and illustrations are for the most part striking and original, he possesses prodigious enthusiasm and energy in enforcing them ; that the defects of his rhetoric are completely lost in the force of his ratiocination ; that while he has mathematics or logic enough to make his reasoning acute, grasping, and irresistible, he has poetry enough to prevent it from being dull ; thus evincing the very highest species of intellect, the union of a sound and comprehensive judgment, with a fertile and brilliant imagination. We have said he possesses energy, and this we take to be the great and redeeming quality of his manner, compared to which the tiny graces sink into insignificance. Whether we are facile[or fastidious, whether we like or dislike the preacher's doctrine, one thing is certain, he forces us to attend to him. A man might easily get his pocket picked while listening to Dr Chalmers, but we defy him to fall asleep.'"* The head of Dr Chalmers indicates a large brain.

In authorship, the same law holds good. Critics have been puzzled to account for the high rank which Dr Samuel Johnson holds in English literature, and to discover the mental qualities on which his eminence is founded. He has made

IN THE ORGANS. 289

no discoveries in morals or in science to captivate the mind. His style is stately and sonorous, and his arrangement in general good ; but equal or superior graces may be found in Goldsmith, Thomson, and other authors, whom nobody would compare with him in power. His great characteristic is force and weight ; and these are the concomitants of great size of brain. Milton's writings are highly distinguished by vigour, as are also those of Locke, Addison, on the other hand, is a specimen of genius produced by a felicitous combination of sentiment and intellect, without preponderating energy from great size. Power is the leading charm of Swift's writings ; he is not graceful, and is far from elegant ; his reasoning is frequently superficial, and his conclusions questionable. But he is rarely feeble. Strength, energy, and determination mark every page. His skull indicates a large brain, particularly in the region of the propensities.

Large size, to produce its full effects, must be accompanied by sound health and an active temperament, as explained in vol. i. pp. 49 and 54 ; but these, although necessary to its influence, will never compensate for its absence. Large lungs, by sending a copious supply of highly oxygenized blood to the brain, add greatly to the vigour of the mental manifestations.

ACTIVITY in the organs, on the other hand, gives liveliness, quickness, or rapidity. Dr Spurzheim thinks that long fibres contribute to activity. The sanguine and nervous temperaments described in vol. i., p. 50, and p. 163, afford external indications of constitutional activity. Moderate size of brain, with favourable proportions among the organs, and much activity, produce what is commonly called cleverness in ordinary life : an individual thus constituted will form ideas rapidly, be active in business, shew tact and discrimination, and prove himself a valuable and useful member of society ; but he must not be loaded with too many duties, or opposed by obstacles, nor must the field in which he is called on to labour be too extensive.

VOL. II.

290 EFFECTS OF SIZE

Great errors are often committed in society through, ignorance of these principles. An individual possessing a small brain, but a fine temperament, and favourable combination, perhaps distinguishes himself in a limited and subordinate sphere, or he makes one great and successful effort, in which his powers are tasked to the utmost extent of their limits.-The notion is then adopted that he is very clever, fit for higher duties, and capable of exhibiting habitually the force of mind thus displayed on a single occasion. He is, in consequence, promoted to a more arduous station. He continues to execute small matters so well, that it is difficult to point out instances of specific failure in his duties ; yet want of success occurs, a general impression of his incapacity arises, discontent increases, and at last, after great suffering to himself, and annoyance to his employers, he is dismissed. The small brain is the origin of the incapacity ; and ignorance of its effects the cause of his being misplaced.

Mankind, in extreme cases, recognise energy or feebleness of mental character, and modify their conduct accordingly. Those in whom moral and religious principles do not constitute the habitual rule of conduct, treat individuals in the most different manner, according to the impression which they receive from their manner, and the estimate which they form from it of their strength or weakness of mind. There are men who carry in their very look the intimation of greatness-whose manner at once proclaims, " Nemo me impune lacesset." The world reads this notice, and holds it safest to allow them to follow their own course without obstruction, while they avoid giving offence. Contrasted with them, are the feeble and vacillating ; men unstable as water, unsteady as the wind. The wicked seize upon them, and make them their prey. The treatment received by different persons from society is thus widely different ; and it may be truly said, that a large portion of mankind cannot easily conceive the miseries inflicted on the weak by the powerful and unprincipled in taking advantage of their deficiencies.

When a favourable combination, a fine temperament, and large size of brain, are conjoined in an individual, they con-

IN THE ORGANS. 291

stitute the perfection of genius. This I conceive to have been the case in Homer and in Shakspeare. Vivacious buoyancy, ease, and fertility, arising from the first and second causes, joined with depth, strength, comprehensiveness, and masculine energy, the result of the third, place these authors above all others whom the world has ever seen. And when we consider that these rare and splendid gifts must again be united, before their equals can appear, we shall have no difficulty in conceiving why so few Homers and Shakspeares are given to the world.

In these observations, I have treated of the effects of size in the brain in general on the general manifestations of the mind, to bring the doctrine clearly and forcibly before the reader ; but I again beg of him not to fall into the error of taking general size as an indication of particular power, for then difficulties without end will be encountered. For example, it has often been objected, that a particular individual wears a large hat, indicating a large brain, and that yet he has no great scope of intellect, and no ability, in the general sense of the term. The answer is, that we must look for the power in the direction of the size, as explained in vol. i. p. 158. If the large hat be requisite, on account of a great development of the animal organs, we must expect the individual to be only a powerful animal ; and he may be this, and at the same time a weak man. If the size predominate in the region of the sentiments, we may then look for greatness in moral worth ; but it is only when great size, combined with an active temperament, pervades the organs of the whole three classes of faculties, propensities, sentiments, and intellect, that Phrenology authorizes us to expect a general character vigorous, comprehensive, and profound. The hat does not indicate the size either of the moral organs or of those of the intellect.

The circumstances which modify the effects of size have already been stated (vol. i. p. 49 and 162), when treating of the principles of the science.

It is an important question whether the size of the organs

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may be increased by exercise, and diminished by inactivity. The following considerations may serve to guide us in forming an opinion on this subject.

First, It is a general law in physiology, that any part of the body, when called into vivid activity, not transgressing the bounds of health, attracts towards itself an increased supply of arterial blood and of nervous influence. The effect of these is to increase its tone and also its size. But there are limits to these effects. The blacksmith's arm does not by exercise continue to grow indefinitely. It attains a limit which it never passes. To the growth of all our organs, Nature appears to fix boundaries which they cannot exceed, except by diseased action. A man of a naturally slender frame, may be rendered larger and more robust by exercise than he would have been without it ; but he cannot be augmented into an equality in dimensions and strength with a man who was naturally large and strong, and whose qualities have been fostered and developed by equally judicious treatment. The same rule holds in regard to the brain. In every individual, Nature appears to have set limits to the size of every organ, within which limits judicious exercise will add to its bulk and power. But I have not observed that when, in any individual, the brain, or any single organ, is naturally small, exercise can render it equal in magnitude to another brain or organ naturally large, and treated in the same way.

Secondly, It is a general law of animal nature, that an organ, if not duly exercised, attracts a small supply of arterial blood and nervous influence towards it, and in consequence, it either does not fully develope itself, or it diminishes in size and tone, and its functional power decreases in proportion. This rule applies in regard to every organ of the brain.

Thirdly, The cerebral organs increase spontaneously in size in most individuals up to twenty-one, or twenty-two, in many to twenty-eight, and, according to Dr Gall, in some instances up even to forty years of age. I have seen organs manifestly increase between twenty and twenty-eight, without any special effort being made to develope them by ex-

IX THE ORGANS. 293

ercising the faculties ; and the mental powers evolved themselves, uncalled for, in correspondence with the increase of size in the organs. In observing cases of increase of growth, accompanied by exercise, within these ages, it is difficult to determine how far the growth is the spontaneous act of nature, and how far exercise has caused it. That exercise favoured it, and that inaction might have retarded or perhaps prevented it, is highly probable, nay, almost certain : But I have not seen facts sufficient to warrant me to affirm that, in every case, every organ may be fostered into large or even into average dimensions by exercise, although it be naturally small. On the contrary, I know facts that shew that Nature sets limits to organs (in some instances very narrow limits), which cannot be surpassed. My own organ of Number is very defective in size. I exercised it regularly, and up to the limit of its powers_} during forty years, commencing when I was eight years of age, and it has never grown, nor has the function increased in power. I never could, and cannot now, add, divide, multiply, or subtract numbers with even average accuracy and facility. I had a sister who, during seven years in youth, exercised her organ of Tune, which was naturally small, with the most exemplary assiduity and perseverance, believing that nothing is denied to well-directed industry ; but it never grew, and she could not at the end of that time play even common airs on the pianoforte with facility or expression. She had good organs of Language, Individuality, and Reflection, and she acquired the French and Italian languages, and a correct and copious English style, within a shorter time, and with one-tenth part of the labour. Both in her and me the temperament was nervous-bilious. I could cite many other examples. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots ; and my present impression is, that human efforts can develope the brain only up to certain definite limits established, in the case of every individual, by nature. Moreover, it appears to me that a variety of dispositions and talents among men is essential to the existence of society, and that this variety is se-

294 EFFECTS OF SIZE IN THE ORGANS.

cured by bestowing on each individual an endowment of brain in some degree peculiar in the relative proportions of its parts, and that Nature has denied to man the power of introducing into the race universal mental equality,-a result which seems to be implied in the proposition that all the organs of the mind may be increased or diminished indefinitely by exercise or neglect. I am here speaking of the effects of exercise on the organs of individuals. It is probable that exercise in the parents of particular organs predisposes the corresponding organs to increase in size in their offspring. Cases, however, are on record, in which particular parts of the brain have increased in size by exercise, and others in which they have diminished by inactivity, even after forty years of age. I do not deny these facts, although some evidence of this increase has been presented to me which was fallacious. The individual, of whose head casts taken at different ages were exhibited, had, when the later casts were taken, become more corpulent, and the integuments were thicker, than when the first were moulded. The nose, for instance, and the cheek-bones, had increased as much as the forehead. Other cases, however, were shewn to me in which there was an increase of size in the later casts, not referable to this cause ; and I am disposed to admit the possibility of this increase in some constitutions. It is strongly advocated by Dr Caldwell, no mean authority, in The American Phrenological Journal, vol. i. p. 404 ; and Dr Spurzheim says, " I can speak with certainty from repeated observations. The changes of cerebral development, when the individual powers are exercised, or kept quiet, are astonishing. In the former case, individual organs increase, and in the latter, they not only stand still in growth, but sometimes become absolutely small.¹"- View of the Elementary Principles of Education, 1832, p. 131, American Edition. See also Practical Phrenology, by Silas Jones, Boston, 1836, Phrenological Journal, vol. vii. p. 373, and an able article on this whole question by Dr A. Combe in the Phrenological Journal, vol. x. p. 414. See also same volume, pp. 272, 426, and 503 ; also a case reported in vol. xi. p. 296,

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in which blindness in one eye was accompanied by deficiency of the organ of Colouring on the opposite side of the brain. On the other hand, I may mention that, in 1824, a gentleman of nervous-bilious temperament, aged 36, with whom I am intimately acquainted, had his head shaved and an accurate cast of it taken. In 1838, I saw his head measured in every direction with callipers, and compared with this cast, and not a line of difference was perceptible. During the whole interval, his brain had been actively exercised in moral and intellectual pursuits. I have casts of the heads of several distinguished phrenologists taken ten and fifteen years ago, after maturity, and I do not now perceive any change in the size of their heads, or in the proportions of the individual organs. This susceptibility of change from exercise, in mature life, therefore, appears not to be universal, but peculiar to some individual constitutions. Those who report cases of changes of size, should state accurately the temperament, and also the age, at each period of observation. Without this information, we cannot distinguish between spontaneous growth, and that which may fairly be ascribed to exercise.

COMBINATIONS IN SIZE, OR EFFECTS OF THE ORGANS WHEN COMBINED IN DIFFERENT RELATIVE PROPORTIONS.

the primitive functions of each organ were discovered, by observing cases in which it decidedly preponderated over, or fell short of, other organs, in point of size ; and by similar observations each must still be verified. After the discovery is established, its practical application deserves attention. Every individual above idiocy possesses all the organs ; but they are combined in different degrees of relative size in different persons, and the manifestations of each organ are modified in some degree by the influence of those with which it is combined. The effect of combination, however, is not to* change the functions of any organ, but only to modify the manner in which it is manifested ; or the acts in which it

296 COMBINATIONS IN SIZE.

seeks gratification. If, for example, the organ of Tune be equally large in two individuals,-but if, in one of them, the organs of the animal propensities predominate, he may manifest it in producing bacchanalian songs ; while, if, in the other, the organs of the moral sentiments predominate, he may employ it in composing sacred melodies. In both instances, Tune produces music, the only effect of the combination being to alter its direction. This illustration is applicable to all the faculties ; and shews that, although the functions of some parts of the brain are still unascertained, the discovery of them cannot alter the functions of those already known.

Dr Gall,¹ in considering the combinations of the organs, divides men into six classes.

In individuals composing his first class, the organs of the highest qualities and faculties are completely developed, while those of the faculties common to man with the lower animals possess only a feeble degree of development and activity. The dispositions and conduct of persons of this class are in accordance with reason, justice, and morality.

In the second class, the combination is precisely reversed, and the individuals belonging to it are the slaves of sensuality and error.

In the third class, the animal organs, and also those peculiar to man, have acquired a considerable degree of development and activity. Men belonging to this class may be great in virtue or vice, and often manifest the most opposite qualities. They experience the internal struggle of the higher and lower elements of our nature. Socrates, St Paul, and Saint Augustin, belonged to it.

In the fourth class, one, or a few, of the organs are highly developed, while the others are only moderately so, or even below mediocrity. This class includes men of great but partial genius, or men distinguished for great strength of character or for powerful dispositions of a determinate description ; such as great musicians, great mechanicians, or brave warriors, who, out of these lines, shew no superiority.

¹ Sur les Fonction du Cerveau, tome i. p. 319. 8vo.

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In the fifth class, one, or several, of the organs are very little developed, and remain inactive, while the others are more favourably developed and energetic. This class includes men of general ability, who have some particular and limited deficiency. Lessing and Tischbein detested music, and Newton and Kant had no passion for women.

In the sixth class, the animal organs and those proper to man are nearly equally moderate. In this class is comprehended the great mass of ordinary men. These six divisions, says Dr Gall, are subject to thousands of modifications.

Dr Broussais has a valuable section on this subject, p. 769. He says, that Imitation, Wonder, and Ideality, combined with the knowing organs, produce the theatrical and executive artist.

Dr Vimont observes, that Dr Gall's divisions are insufficient to give a just and complete idea of the combinations of all the faculties, and he makes several judicious observations on these classes, and adds to them two more, viz. Men in whom the perceptive organs predominate over those of reflection ; and men who are placed a little above idiots, who have feeble perceptive powers and a nullity of reflection. This class may manifest some talent, such as that of construction, or of music ; or they may be distinguished by cunning, stubbornness, or vanity; and never improve. Dr Vimont makes also some valuable observations on the combinations of the organs in the different species of the lower animals, to which I can here only refer.

The limits of the present work prevent me from doing more than stating three rules for estimating the effects of differences in relative size, occurring in the organs of the same brain.

The conditions coteris paribus, is always understood, and therefore needs not to be repeated, in treating of the effects of size.

Having been solicited to state, in methodical order, the effects of the combinations so far as observed, I tried to do so in

¹ Traité de Phrénologie, tome ii. p. 459.

298 COMBINATIONS IN SIZE.

the MS. of the present work ; but found the result to be a tedious enumeration of propositions, adapted to Individuality alone, difficult to be remembered, and withal extremely incomplete. I have therefore preferred stating principles chiefly, accompanied by illustrations, to render them intelligible, and to shew their application. This method was adopted in the Elements for the sake of brevity, and, on mature examination, it appears to be preferable in itself. The reader in whom the reflecting organs are amply developed, will not only easily comprehend the rules here laid down, but be able greatly to enlarge the sphere of their application.

Rule first.-Every faculty desires gratification with a degree of energy proportionate to the size of its organs ; and those faculties will be habitually indulged, the organs of which are largest in the individual.

Examples.-If the animal organs in general be large, and the organs of the moral sentiments and intellect in general be small, the individual will be naturally prone to animal indulgence in the highest degree, and disposed to seek gratification in the directest way, and in the lowest pursuits.

If, on the other hand, the .organs of the moral sentiments and intellect greatly predominate, the individual will be naturally prone to moral and intellectual pursuits ; such persons are " a law unto themselves."

In illustration of this rule, the head of Hare, who was a monster of cold-blooded cruelty in human form, may be contrasted with that of Melancthon the reformer, vol. i. p. 141 ; or the skull of a New Hollander may be compared with that of Dr Spurzheim, both represented in vol. i. p. 57-

In further illustration, the heads of Vitellius, and Hare the murderer, represented in vol. i. pages 146 and 141, may be contrasted with those of Tasso, p. 453, Chaucer and Locke, p. 477, and Michael Angelo, vol. ii. p. 29. In the one class of heads, the basilar and posterior regions of the brain dedicated to the animal propensities, greatly preponderate over the anterior and coronal regions which manifest the intellect

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and moral sentiments ;^l in the other, the basilar region is large, but the intellectual and moral decidedly preponderate. According to the rule before stated, the first class will be naturally prone to low and degrading pursuits, having for their object the gratification of Amativeness, Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, and other inferior feelings ; they will possess very few aspirations after the noble and beneficent virtues which dignify human nature ; they will, only in the lowest degree, realize in their own minds the obligations of justice, piety, and mercy, and be very little capable of appreciating the advantages of science. The second class will form a direct contrast to them. They will naturally feel the incumbency of moral duty and the excellence of intellectual pursuits ; they will ardently desire to advance in the career of improvement, and instinctively love every virtue and attainment that is calculated to increase the true dignity and happiness of man. It is common for individuals,, in judging of mankind in general, to assume themselves as standards of the race ; yet no criterion can be more fallacious : the consciousness of men belonging to the inferior class would represent the human mind as base, grovelling, and selfish,- that of the higher as elevated, benignant, and intellectual.

rule second.-As there are three kinds of faculties, propensitive, moral, and intellectual, which are not homogeneous, it may happen that several large organs of propensities are combined, in the same individual, with several moral and intellectual organs highly developed. The rule, then, will be, that the lower propensities will take their direction from the higher powers ; and such a course of action will be habitually followed as will be calculated to gratify the whole faculties whose organs are large.

In this combination, the strong propensities may escape,

¹ The size of the coronal region is best judged of by the height and breadth of the brain above Cautiousness and Causality, the situation of which organs is indicated in some of the figures by asterisks. Wherever that region is shallow or narrow, the moral feelings will be comparatively feeble. See vol. i. p. 141.

300 COMBINATIONS IN SIZE,

at intervals, from the control of the sentiments, and produce abuses ; but as nature has rendered the moral and intellectual faculties the directing powers, the habitual conduct will be such as will be consistent with their dictates, and at the same time gratifying to the propensities.

Examples.--If the organs of Acquisitiveness and Conscientiousness be both large, although stealing might gratify Acquisitiveness, it would offend Conscientiousness. According to the rule, the individual will endeavour to gratify both, by acquiring property by lawful industry. If Combativeness and Destructiveness were large, and Benevolence and Conscientiousness also amply developed, while wanton outrage and indiscriminate attack might gratify the first two faculties, they would outrage the last two : hence the individual would seek for situations calculated to gratify all four :-and these may be found in the ranks of an army embodied for the defence of his country, or in moral and intellectual warfare against the patrons of corruption and abuse in church and state. Luther, Knox, and many other benefactors of mankind, were probably actuated by such a combination of faculties ; Washington nobly displayed it.

If the cerebellum be very large, and Philoprogenitiveness, Adhesiveness, and Conscientiousness be deficient, the individual will be prone to seek the directest gratifications of the animal appetite ; if the latter organs also be large, he will find in wedlock the best means of satisfying the whole group.

If Benevolence, Self-Esteem, and Acquisitiveness be all large, giving charity may gratify the first ; but unless the individual be very rich, the act of parting with property -may be disagreeable to the last two faculties ; he will, therefore, prefer to gratify Benevolence by acts of kindness ; he will sacrifice time, trouble, influence, and advice, to the welfare of others, but not property. If Benevolence were small, with the same combination, he would not give either money or personal advice.

If Love of Approbation large, be combined with large Ideality and moderate reflecting organs, the individual will

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be ambitious to excel in the splendour of his equipage, style of living, dress, and rank. If to the same combination be added a powerful intellect and large Conscientiousness, moral and intellectual excellence will be preferred, as the means of obtaining the respect of the world.

An individual in whom Benevolence and Love of Approbation are very large, and Conscientiousness deficient, will be exceedingly kind and attentive to persons of condition who praise him loudly and extol his benevolence ; but he will overlook humble, retiring, and unostentatious merit ; he will speak much of his own good deeds. If Conscientiousness and Benevolence predominate, the amiable and unpretending will be the first objects of his regard, and the good done will never be proclaimed by himself.

If Self-Esteem large, be combined with deficient Love of Approbation and Conscientiousness, the individual will be prone to gratify his selfish feelings, with little regard to the good opinion, or the just claims of other men. If Self- Esteem large, be combined with large Love of Approbation and Conscientiousness, the former will produce only that degree of self-respect which is essential to dignity of character, and that degree of independence of sentiment without which even virtue cannot be maintained.

If Cautiousness large, be combined with deficient Combativeness, the individual will be extremely timid. If Combativeness be large, and Cautiousness small, reckless intrepidity will be the result. If Combativeness be equally large with Cautiousness, the individual will display courage regulated by prudence. If Cautiousness, Conscientiousness, Self-Esteem, Secretiveness, and Love of Approbation, be all large, and Combativeness moderate, bashfulness or mauvaise honte will be the consequence. This feeling is the result of the fear of not acquitting one's-self to advantage, and of thereby compromising one's personal dignity.

If Veneration and Hope be large, and Conscientiousness and Benevolence be small, the individual will be naturally fond of religious worship, but averse to the practice of charity

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and justice. He will admire doctrinal and dislike moral preachers. If the proportions be reversed, the result will be a constitutional disposition to charity and justice, with no great tendency to the exercise of devotion. If all the four organs be large, the individual will be naturally inclined to engage in the worship of God, and to discharge his duties to men. If Veneration large, be combined with large Acquisitiveness and Love of Approbation, the former sentiment may be directed to superiors in rank and power, as the means of gratifying the desires for wealth and influence depending on the latter faculties. If Veneration be small, combined with Self-Esteem and Firmness large, the individual will not naturally look up with deference to superiors in rank.

The intellectual faculties will naturally tend to such employments as are calculated to gratify the predominant propensities and sentiments. If the organs which constitute a genius for painting be combined with large Acquisitiveness, the individual may paint to become rich ; if combined with Acquisitiveness small, and Love of Approbation large, he will probably labour for fame, and starve while attaining it.

Talents for different intellectual pursuits depend on the combinations of the knowing and reflecting organs in certain proportions. Constructiveness, Form, Size, Colouring, Individuality, Ideality, Imitation, and Secretiveness large, with Locality small, will constitute a portrait, but not a landscape painter. Diminish Form and Imitation, and increase Locality, and the result will be a talent for landscape, but not for portrait, painting. Constructiveness and Weight combined with Tune large, may produce a talent for musical instrument making : Without a large Tune the other faculties could not successfully take this direction. Constructiveness combined with Size and Number large, may lead to mathematical instrument making. Causality, combined with large knowing organs, Ideality and Imitation, will seek to discover the philosophy of the fine arts ; the same organ combined with large Benevolence, Conscientiousness, and Con-

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centrativeness, and deficient Imitation, will delight in moral and political investigations. If to Individuality, Eventuality, Comparison, Causality, and Concentrativeness, all large, an equally well developed organ of Language be added, the result will be a talent for authorship or public debate : if Language be small, the other faculties will be more prone to seek gratification in the business of life, or in abstract philosophy.

One great difficulty frequently experienced, is to comprehend the effect of the reflecting powers, added, in a high degree of endowment, to the knowing faculties, when the latter are exercised in particular branches of art, for which they appear to be of themselves altogether sufficient. It is stated, for example, that Form, Size, Individuality, Colouring, and Imitation, combined with Secretiveness, Constructiveness, and Ideality all large, constitute a genius for painting ; and it may reasonably be inquired, What effect will the reflecting organs, large or small, produce on the manifestations of this combination ? The question may be answered thus :- When the reflecting organs are small, form, colour, beauty, constitute the leading objects of the painter's productions. There is no story, no event, no combination of incidents, displayed in his works. To appreciate their merits, they must be considered in detail, and, as single objects, unconnected with others by any of the relations perceived by the higher powers. Add the reflecting organs, and outline, form, colouring, perspective, will all sink into the rank of means, which the reflecting intellect will employ to accomplish a higher object ; such as the expression of some great action or event-some story which speaks to the judgment and interests the feelings-in short, historical painting.

In the portraits of Raphael the organs essential to a painter appear to be large, and those of Causality, Comparison, and Wit, likewise far above an ordinary size. Of the productions of Raphael's¹ pencil an anonymous author says, " In composition Raffaello stands pre-eminent. His invention is the re-

¹ Life of Raphael, London, 1816, anonymous.

304 COMBINATIONS IN SIZE.

fined emanation of a dramatic mind, and whatever can most interest the feelings, or satisfy the judgment, he selected from nature, and made his own. The point of time, in his historical subjects, is invariably well chosen; and subordinate incidents, while they create a secondary interest, essentially contribute to the principal event. Contrast or combination of lines makes no part of his works as an artificial principle of composition ; the nature and character of the event create the forms best calculated to express them. The individual expression of particular figures corresponds with their character and employment ; and whether calm or agitated, they are at all times equally remote from affectation or insipidity. The general interest of his subject is kept up throughout the whole composition; the present action implies the past, and anticipates the future. If, in sublimity of thought, Raffaello has been surpassed by his great contemporary Michael Angelo,-if, in purity of outline and form, by the antique,-and in colouring and chiaro-oscura by the Lombard and Venetian schools ; yet in historical compositions he has no rival ; and for invention, expression, and the power of telling a story, he has never been approached."

M. Fuseli, speaking of the qualities of Raphael's style as a painter, says, that " perfect human beauty he has not represented. No face of Raphael's is perfectly beautiful ; no figure of his, in the abstract, possesses the proportions that could raise it to a standard of imitation. Form to him was only a vehicle of character or pathos ; and to these he adapted it in a mode, and with a truth, which leaves all attempts at emendation hopeless. His composition always hastens to the most necessary point as its centre; and from that disseminates, to that leads back, its rays, all secondary ones. Group, form, and contrast, are subordinate to the event ; and commonplace is ever excluded. His expression is unmixed and pure, in strict unison with, and decided by, character, whether calm, animated, agitated, convulsed, or absorbed by the inspiring passion: it never contradicts its cause, and is equally remote from tameness and grimace. The moment of his

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choice never suffers the action to stagnate or to expire. .It is the moment of transition., the crisis big with the past, and pregnant with the future. His invention connects the utmost stretch of possibility with the most plausible degree of probability, in a manner that equally surprises our fancy, persuades our judgment, and affects our hearts."

In all this criticism we have the most exact description of the manifestations of Comparison and Causality, which give scope, depth, and force of intellectual conception, the power of combining means to attain an end, and the natural tendency to keep the means in their appropriate place, as subordinate to the main design.

Raphael's genius, accordingly, can be fully appreciated only after having exercised the higher intellectual faculties on his works. Sir Joshua Reynolds acknowledges that it was only after repeated visits, and deep reflection, that he discovered their merits, his first impression having been that of mortification and disappointment, from not seeing at once all their greatness. The excellence of Raphael's style, says he, is not on the surface, " but lies deep, and at the first view is seen but mistily. It is the florid style which strikes at once, and captivates the eye for a time, without ever satisfying the judgment." If, on the other hand, the knowing and constructive organs alone had predominated in Raphael, all these accessaries would have become principals ; and the critic who possessed reflective intellect, would have felt in his paintings a decided deficiency of design, story, interest, and object. Hence high reflecting organs are indispensable to historical painting : Haydon, who has manifested great power of conception in this line, possesses them in an eminent degree. The late SirH. Raeburn, whose style of portrait-painting, in point of dignity and force, approaches the historical, possessed also a full development of the upper part of the forehead, as well as large pictorial organs. In sculpture the same rule holds. The artist who has Form, Size, Constructiveness, and Ideality large, without high reflecting organs, may chisel a vase, or a wreath of flowers ; but he will never reach grandeur of
VOL. ii. _U

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conception, or confer dignity and power upon his productions.

It follows from these principles, that a sculptor or painter will represent one class of objects with greater truth and fidelity than another, according to the particular organs which predominate in his head. Thus, to model the exquisite grace, elegance, and symmetry of the female form, the constructive organs, Ideality, and the moral sentiments, with a fine temperament, may suffice, without much depth and power of reflection. To represent, on the other hand, whether on canvass or in marble, men of superior nature, profound in thought, and elevated and intense in emotion, the artist himself must possess great organs of sentiment and reflection, in addition to the organs of art before described, otherwise he will never be able adequately to conceive or to express these modes of mind. This fortunate combination occurs in conjunction with a fine temperament in Lawrence Macdonald, and hence the admirable qualities for which his sculpture is already so highly distinguished.

The same rules hold in architecture and music. An architect possessing only the knowing organs large, may produce the plan of a common house, or of any other simple object, with success; but he should never attempt a work in which profound thought and extensive combinations are indispensable to success. From not attending to this fact, many abortions in architectural designs occur in this country. An artist, with a constructive and knowing head, may produce a plan which will look well on paper, and which, as a mere drawing, may be really beautiful ; but if the reflecting organs be deficient, he will be incapable of considering the intended fabric in its relations to surrounding objects, and of divining how it will affect the mind, when presented in contrast with them :-hence, when executed, it may turn out a deformity. Add, however, the reflecting organs, and the effects of collateral objects will be anticipated and provided for. An architect, in whom the reflecting organs are large, and the knowing organs deficient, will fail in the practical arrangement of details.

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The musician, in like manner, who is able to express thought, feeling, and emotion, with exquisite effect, with whom sound is subordinate to sense, design, and expression, will be found to possess the higher powers in addition to the merely musical faculties.

In oratory, too, a person with Individuality, Eventuality, Comparison, Ideality, and Language, may be erudite, fluent, brilliant, and, if propensity and sentiment be added, vehement, pathetic, or sublime ; but, to give great comprehensiveness, deep sagacity, and a talent for profound elucidation of principle, Causality must be joined to the combination.

Taste in every branch of the fine arts is distinguishable from power and comprehensiveness, and depends, as already explained,¹ on a harmonious combination, and due cultivation, of the organs in general. In Raphael these requisites seem to have occurred ; and it is because nature rarely combines the particular organs which constitute a painter, high reflecting organs, large general size, harmonious proportion, and natural activity,-all in one person, that so few Raphaels appear.

In no instance is it a matter of indifference to the talents and dispositions of the individual, whether any particular organ be large or small. If it be large, although its abuses may be prevented by restraint imposed by the other faculties ; still its presence will operate on the mind. If, for instance, large Combativeness and Destructiveness be combined with a large development of the moral and intellectual organs, the whole life may be passed without the occurrence of any outrage ; and it may be asked, What effect, in this case, do the former organs produce ? We shall find the answer, by supposing all the other organs to remain large, while those are diminished in size, and tracing the effect of the change. The result would be an undue preponderance of moral and intellectual qualities, degenerating into effeminacy. Large Combativeness and Destructiveness give the elements of repulsion and aggression to such an extent as to permit the manifestation of manly enterprise and courage. Hence, in

¹ Vol, ii. p. 281.

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the case supposed, these organs would be duly performing their functions and adding force to the character in the struggles of active life, when the superficial observer would imagine them to be entirely inoperative.

In like manner, if an organ be greatly deficient, its small size cannot be compensated for by other organs, however large. Suppose, for example, that, in an individual, Benevolence, Veneration, Love of Approbation, arid Intellect, are all large, and Conscientiousness very deficient, it may be thought that the absence of Conscientiousness will be of small importance, as its influence will be compensated by that of the other faculties here named. This, however, will not be the case. The sentiment of duty originates from Conscientiousness (as explained in vol. i. p. 419), and the individual supposed would be benevolent, when Benevolence predominated ; religious, when Veneration was paramountly active ; obliging, when Love of Approbation glowed with fervour : but if all or any of these were, on any occasion, counteracted by the solicitations of the inferior propensities, he would not, if the organ of Conscientiousness were small, feel the obligation of duty enforcing the dictates of these other sentiments-, and increasing their restraining power : he would be deficient in the sentiments of justice, duty, and incumbency : he would obey the impulses of the higher faculties when inclined ; but if not inclined, he would not experience so strong a sense of demerit in neglecting their solicitation, as if the organ of Conscientiousness were large. Farther, the sentiments which we have supposed him to possess, would themselves, if not directed by Conscientiousness, be continually prone to run into abuse. Benevolence to one would tend to trench on justice due to another ; devotion might occasionally be substituted for charity, or charity for devotion.

If we take the opposite case, and suppose that an individual possesses great Intellect and Conscientiousness, with deficient Benevolence, Veneration, and Love of Approbation; then, if the propensities were strong, his conduct might be the reverse of amiable, notwithstanding his large Conscientiousness. With this combination he would be actuated by

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vigorous selfish feelings, which probably might overpower the single sentiment of duty, unaided by Benevolence, Veneration, and Love of Approbation ; and he might act wrong in opposition to the clear dictates of his own Conscientiousness. Video meliora proboque, détériora sequor, would be his motto. If his propensities, on the other hand, were moderate, he would be strictly just ; he would give every one his due, but he would probably not be actively benevolent and pious. The faculty of Benevolence inspires with the feeling of charity, and Conscientiousness enforces its dictates; but if (to suppose an extreme case) the feeling of charity were not inspired at all, Conscientiousness could not produce it, nor act upon it : It might impress the command. Do not injure another, because this is simply justice ; but it would not inspire with the desire to do Kirn good, this being beyond its limits.

Occasionally, very unusual combinations of particular organs present themselves, the effects of which cannot, by ordinary sagacity, be divined ; and in such cases the phrenologist ought not to predicate any thing, but to ask for information. As, however, nature is constant, he may speak with confidence the next time he meets with a similar case. Before it was ascertained that Secretiveness and Imitation confer the talent for acting, "I met with an instance of this combination, and predicated something from it, which was entirely erroneous. This occurrence was loudly and extensively proclaimed as subversive of Phrenology ; but to me it was a valuable lesson, and a discovery -of some importance : Ever afterwards I found that particular talent accompany that combination.

rule third.-Where all the organs appear in nearly equal proportions to each other, the individual, if left to himself, will exhibit opposite phases of character, according as the animal propensities or moral sentiments predominate for the time. He will pass his life in alternate sinning and repenting. If external influence be brought to operate upon

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him, his conduct will be greatly modified by it ; if placed, for instance, under strict discipline and moral restraint, these will cast the balance, for the time, in favour of the higher sentiments ; if exposed to the solicitation of profligate associates, the animal propensities will obtain triumphant sway. Maxwell, who was executed for housebreaking and theft, is an example of this combination. In his head the three orders of organs are well developed, but the region of the moral sentiments, lying above the asterisks, is rather deficient, in proportion to the basilar and occipital regions, manifesting the propensities. While subjected to the discipline of the army, he preserved a fair reputation ; but when he fell into want, his propensities assumed the ascendency, he joined a company of thieves, and adopted their practices : he was tried in Edinburgh on 11th December 1820, found guilty, condemned, and afterwards executed. He mentioned to a friend of mine, who visited him while under sentence of death, that in youth and early manhood he had been respectable; and he stated, that at these ages, he no more anticipated that he should die on the scaffold, than that he should be king of England. The following report of his conduct, when sentence of. death was pronounced on him, appeared in the Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle of 13th December 1820.

" The prisoner Maxwell, having obtained permission, addressed the Court and jury in substance as follows :-He confessed himself guilty of the crime for which he would soon have to answer before another tribunal, far more awful to him than that before which he was now placed. This Court, he said, could only inflict the sentence of death, whilst that could doom to eternal punishment : it was the only crime of the

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description of which he had ever been guilty. He admitted their Lordships and the jury had acted properly and agreeably to the evidence brought before them ; and he solemnly declared that the family of the Arniels, and the boy Batty, to whom he had foolishly told the story of the robbery, had spoken truth. It was true that he, along with four men, committed the robbery ; but the other witnesses, the M'Williams and Dollin, had perjured themselves ; and, so far from the other prisoners being concerned in the robbery, he had never so much as seen them till he saw them in Paisley jail. He stated these circumstances in order to guard the Court and jury against such evidence, and to strengthen, if possible, the humane recommendation of the jury in favour of Hamilton."-In this address there is a powerful manifestation of the moral feelings.

The characteristic quality of men possessing this combination is their liability to be swayed by external influences.

COMBINATIONS IN ACTIVITY.

WHERE several organs are pre-eminently large in the same individual, they have a natural tendency to combine in activity, and to prompt him to a line of conduct calculated to gratify them all. Where, however, all or the greater part of the organs are possessed in nearly equal proportions, important practical effects may be produced, by establishing Combinations in activity among particular organs, or groups of organs. For example, if Individuality, Eventuality, Comparison, Causality, Language, and Concentrativeness, be all large, they will naturally tend to act together, and the result of their combined activity will be a talent for public speaking, or literary composition. If Language be small, it will be extremely difficult to establish such a combination in activity, and this talent will not readily be evolved : But if two individuals possess this group of organs of equal and of average size, and if we train one of them to the Bar, and the other to a mechanical employment, the result will be an ac-

312 COMBINATIONS IN ACTIVITY.

quired facility in writing and debate in the former, which will be wanting in the latter. In the one, these organs will have been trained to act together, and to co-operate in producing the effect described ; whereas, in the other, a different combination in activity may have been established among the intellectual organs, giving pre-eminence to a different talent.

On the same principle, if a person having a favourable endowment of the organs of Propensity, Sentiment, and Intellect, were introduced for the first time into higher society than that to which he had been accustomed, he might lose for a moment the command of his faculties, -and exhibit awkwardness and embarrassment. This would arise from irregular and inharmonious, action in the different organs : Veneration, powerfully excited, would prompt him to manifest profound respect ; Love of Approbation would inspire him with a desire to acquit himself to advantage ; Cautiousness would produce alarm, lest he should fail in accomplishing this end ; Self-Esteem would feel compromised by the consciousness of embarrassment stealing on the mind ; and the Intellect, distracted by these conflicting emotions, might be unable to regulate the conduct with propriety. On the other hand, when familiarized with the situation, the sentiments would subside into a state of less energetic and more harmonious action ; the intellect, assuming the supremacy, would regulate and direct the feelings ; and then the individual might become a pattern of refined manners and the ornament of the circle, in which he had at first made an awkward debut.

It is in virtue of this principle that education produces its most important effects. If, for instance, we select two individuals, in each of whom all the organs are developed in an average degree, and educate one of them among persons of sordid and mercenary dispositions,-Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem would in him be cultivated into a high degree of activity, and self-interest and personal aggrandizement would be viewed as the great objects of his life. If Love of Appro-

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bation were trained into combined activity with these faculties, he would desire distinction in wealth or power : if Veneration were trained to act in concert with them, it would take the direction of admiring the rich and great ; and, Conscientiousness not being predominantly vigorous, would only intimate that such pursuits were unworthy, without possessing the power by itself of overcoming or controlling the whole combination against it. If the other individual, possessing the same development, were trained in the society of moral and religious persons, in whose habitual conduct the practice of benevolence and justice towards men, and of reverence of God, was regarded as the leading objects of human existence,-the Love of Approbation, acting with this combination, would desire esteem for honourable and virtuous actions ; and wealth would be viewed as the means of procuring gratification to these higher powers, but not as itself an object of paramount importance. And the practical conduct of the two individuals might be very different, in consequence of this difference of training, although their organs were equal in size.

The change of character exhibited by some individuals appears to be referable to new combinations in activity. It occurs generally in men in whom the organs of both the propensities and sentiments are large. In youth, the propensities take the lead, and intellect, acting in combination with them, produces sensual and immoral conduct. At a more advanced age, when the propensities have become less energetic, the individual may be placed in circumstances which powerfully excite his sentiments : The intellect will then act in combination with them, new interests will be felt, and higher views of duty and enjoyment arise : Life may thenceforward be regulated by reason arid moral feeling, sensual gratifications may be shunned and resisted, and the individual may appear like a different being. Religious impressions are frequently the causes which give commencement to this reformation ; and this is natural, because religion addresses the most powerful motives to the higher faculties. I

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have observed, however, that individuals in whom the organs of the moral and intellectual faculties decidedly predominate, do not exhibit this change, because at no period of their lives have they been strikingly vicious ; neither do men in whom these organs are very deficient and the organs of the propensities very large, permanently undergo it; because their minds are like the stony ground mentioned in Scripture, on which good seed fell, but in which it could not take root owing to the want of soil.

The principle now under discussion is not inconsistent with, the influence of size ; because it is only in individuals in whom the organs are nearly on an equality in point of size, that great effects can be produced by combinations in activity. In such cases the phrenologist, in estimating the effects of size, always inquires into the education bestowed.

The doctrine of combinations in activity explains several other mental phenomena of an interesting nature. In viewing the heads of the higher and lower classes of society in the aggregate, we do not perceive the animal organs preponderating in point of size in the latter, and those of the moral sentiments in the former, in any very palpable degree.^l The high polish, therefore, which characterizes the upper ranks, is the result of sustained harmony in the action of the different faculties" and especially in those of the moral sentiments, induced by long cultivation :-The rudeness observable in some of the lower orders results from a predominating combination in

¹ In some instances, however, a difference is palpable. I have observed that the development of the moral and intellectual organs in the pauper children in Edinburgh is less in proportion to that of the organs of the propensities, than in the children of the upper ranks. The temperament of the former is also much more lymphatic, owing, in some degree, to their less nutritious diet, and the inferior mental stimulus afforded by their external circumstances. One of the teachers of St Cuthbert's pauper school, who had previously taught children of corresponding ages belonging to the higher classes, remarked, that he had found the differences in their mental capacities to correspond with those in their brains. The pauper children, in general, were the offspring of the weakest or most immoral portion of the community.

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activity among the lower propensities ; while the awkwardness that frequently characterizes them, arises from the propensities, sentiments, and intellect, not being habituated to act together. If, however, an individual be very deficient in the higher organs, he will, in consequence of this defect, remain vulgar, although born and educated in the best society, and in spite of every effort to communicate refinement by training :--On the other hand, if a very favourable development of the organs of the higher sentiments and intellect, with a fine temperament, be possessed, the individual, in whatever rank he may move, will bear the stamp of nature's nobility.

Several other phenomena, which were complete enigmas to the older metaphysicians, are explained by this principle. Dr Adam Smith, in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, Chapter II, " On the influence of fortune upon the sentiments of mankind, with regard to the merit and demerit of actions," states the following case :-A person throws a large stone over a wall into the public street, without giving warning to those who may be passing, and without regarding where it may fall ; if it light upon a person's head, and knock out his brains, we would punish the offender pretty severely ; but if it fall upon the ground, and hurt nobody, we should be offended with the same measure of punishment, which, in the former event, we would reckon just, and yet the demerit in both cases is the same. Dr Smith gives no theory to account for these differences of moral determination. Phrenology explains them. If the stone fall upon an unhappy passenger, Benevolence in the spectator is outraged ;-if the sufferer had a wife and family, Philoprogenitiveness and Adhesiveness are offended. Self-Esteem and Cautiousness also are excited, by the idea that we might have shared the same fate : all these rouse Destructiveness, and the whole together loudly demand a smart infliction on the transgressor. In the other event, when the stone falls to the ground, and hurts nobody, the only faculties excited are Intellect and Conscientiousness, and probably Cautiousness, and these calmly consi-

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der the motive of the offender, which probably was the love of mere muscular action, and award a slight punishment against him" The proper sentence, in such a case, would be one that would be approved of by Intellect and the moral sentiments acting in combination, uninfluenced by the lower propensities.

Dr Smith states another case, A friend solicits a place for another, and after using the greatest efforts is unsuccessful. Gratitude in this ease is less warm than if the place had been obtained ; and yet the merit is the same. In the event of success, Self-Esteem, Acquisitiveness, and the other animal organs, are gratified, and excite Conscientiousness and Benevolence to gratitude. In the opposite result, the repressing influence of these faculties, disappointed and grieved, chills the glow of Benevolence and Conscientiousness, and feeble gratitude is felt.

When a person becomes judge in his own -cause, his intellect may present to him the facts exactly as they happened, but these excite in his mind, not simply the sentiment of Conscientiousness, but also Self-Love, Acquisitiveness, and if he has been grievously injured, Destructiveness. Hence the decision of his own mind, on his own case, proceeds from Intellect, influenced and directed by all these lower feelings acting along with Conscientiousness. Present the same case to an impartial spectator, favourably constituted, and his decision will be the result of Conscientiousness and Intellect, unalloyed by the intermixture of the selfish emotions.

Justice, then, as explained in vol i. p. 420, is the result of the combined activity of Intellect and Conscientiousness, informed, but not excited or misled, by all the other faculties. For example, if we are called on to judge of the conduct of a person accused,-in order to arrive at an absolutely just decision, the intellect must present to us a clear perception of his real motives and the tendency of his action ; if either of these be wanting, the sentiment of Conscientiousness will act not on a real, but on an imperfectly understood or imaginary case. In the next place, all the other faculties must be so

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far active, as to present their legitimate claims to gratification and protection before the intellect and Conscientiousness. If an individual sue another for compensation for an affront, intellect and Conscientiousness in the judge, acting in combination with very deficient Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation, will not pronounce so just a decision as if both of the last-mentioned organs were normally developed ; the judge will, in this case, be deficient in the faculties-through the medium of which alone a due sense of the injury done to the plaintiff can be presented to the reflecting faculties. But, on the other hand, all passionate or excited activity of the animal propensities must be excluded ; because, if offended Selfishness, or anger, or Acquisitiveness, or ambition, or Adhesiveness, mingle with Conscientiousness, the fountain is polluted, and the stream cannot be pure. It is an interesting fact, that the dictates of Conscientiousness when perfectly enlightened, and not misled by the lower feelings, will be found always to harmonize with the enlightened dictates of Benevolence and Veneration, and vice versa ; and hence, wherever any action or opinion is felt to stand in opposition to any of these sentiments, we may, without hesitation, suspect either that it is wrong, or that the intellect is not completely informed concerning its nature and legitimate consequences.

In party-politics, Adhesiveness, Love of Approbation, and Benevolence, not to mention Combativeness and Destructiveness, are extremely apt to enter into vivid activity, in surveying the conduct of an individual who has distinguished himself by zealous efforts upon our own side ; and our judgment of his conduct will, in consequence, be the determination of Intellect and Conscientiousness, disturbed and led astray by these inferior feelings.

The doctrine of the primitive functions of the faculties, explained in. the first part of this work, and of the Combinations now laid down, shews why Phrenology does not enable us to predict actions. Destructiveness, for example, is not a tendency to kill a man or a beast as a specific act, but

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a mere general propensity, capable of leading to destruction as its ultimate result, but which may be manifested in a great variety of ways (many of them justifiable, others unjustifiable), according as it is directed by the faculties, which, in each particular instance, act along with it ; thus, acting along with large Acquisitiveness, and in the absence of Conscientiousness, it may prompt to murder ; while, acting along with large Conscientiousness and Benevolence, it may prove the orphan's help, and the widow's stay, by arresting the arm of the oppressor.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE COMBINATIONS.¹

I cannot too earnestly repeat, that the principles now illustrated are practical and important. If any one require the assistance of a human being in affairs of moment, let him be assured that attention to the three elements-of temperament, development of mental organs, and education or training, will afford him more certain information regarding the inherent qualities of the subject and his practical capacities, than certificates of character and attainments, such as are commonly relied on. The size, however, to which this work has already extended, prevents me from doing more than making a few observations.

In one instance (as mentioned in vol. i. p. 423), I refused to hire a boy as a servant, because I found his head to belong to the inferior class, although he was introduced to me by a woman whose good conduct and discrimination I had long known, and who gave him an excellent character. That individual was at first greatly incensed at my refusing to engage the boy, but within a month she returned, and said

¹ I beg to refer the reader to an Essay by me " On the application of Phrenology to the purposes of the Guarantee Society for providing security for persons in situations of trust, where sureties are required, on payment of an annual premium," published in the Phrenological Journal, vol. xiv. p. 297 ; also to the same volume, p. 9.

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that she had been grossly deceived herself, in regard to the boy, who was the son of a respectable neighbour of hers, but that she had since learned that the lad was a thief, and had been dismissed from his previous service for stealing. On another occasion, I hired a female servant, because her head belonged to the superior class, although a former mistress gave her a very indifferent character,-the result was equally in favour of Phrenology. She turned out an excellent servant, and remained with me for several years, until she was respectably married.¹

When a servant is to be hired, the points to be attended to are the following :

First, The temperament.-If this be lymphatic, there will be little spontaneous activity ; work will be a burden ; and exhaustion will soon follow from forced application. If it be purely nervous there will be great vivacity, and strong natural tendency to activity ; but physical strength will not be present in a corresponding degree. Combinations of the sanguine and bilious, or bilious and nervous temperaments, are the best ; the bilious bestowing the quality of endurance, and the sanguine or nervous that of activity.

Second, The proportions of the different regions of the brain to each other.-If the base of the brain, the seat of the animal organs, be large, and the coronal region be shallow and narrow, the animal feelings will be strong, and the moral weak ; if both of these regions be large, and the anterior lobe of the brain small, the dispositions may be good, but the intellect will be weak. If all three be large, the moral and intellectual predominating, the best combination of qualities will be present.

Third, The proportions of particular organs to each other.

¹A report of eleven cases observed in the Dublin Penitentiary, is published in the Phrenological Journal, No. xxi. p. 88, in which the dispositions were inferred from development of brain ; and similar cases are recorded in " Testimonials" presented by me in 183ß, on becoming a candidate for the chair of Logic in the University of Edinburgh.

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-If the lower region of the forehead be largely developed, and the upper deficient, the intellect will execute well whatever work is placed before it ; but it will be limited in its capacity of foreseeing what ought to be done, if not pointed out, and of arranging details in reference to the whole. If the upper part of the forehead be large, and the lower deficient, the power of abstract thinking (which a servant rarely requires, and is almost never called on to exercise) will be considerable, but quite uncultivated, and destitute of materials to act on ; while the talent for observing details, the love of order and arrangement, and, in short, the elements of practical usefulness, will be deficient. The best combination of the intellectual organs for a servant, is that which occurs when the lower region of the forehead is large, the middle region immediately above the nose, up to the line of the hair, is also large, and the upper lateral region full. The dispositions depend on the combinations of the moral and animal organs. If Acquisitiveness, Secretiveness, Love of Approbation, and Veneration, be large, and Conscientiousness deficient, the servant will be selfish and cunning ; but extremely plausible, deferential, and polite ; eye-service will be rendered abundantly, but conscientious discharge of duty will be wanting. If Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Firmness, Self-Esteem, and Combativeness, be large, in combination with Cautiousness, Secretiveness, Love of Approbation, and Veneration moderate, there may be great fidelity and honesty, with heat of temper, unbending stiffness of deportment, and, in short, an exterior manner, the reverse of the former, but internal dispositions and practical conduct in situations of trust far superior. The combinations also determine the fitness of the individual for particular employments ; a female with small Philoprogenitiveness should never be employed as a nursery-maid ; nor one deficient in Order and Ideality as a lady's maid. A man deficient in Conscientiousness is unfit to be a butler or steward. The varieties of combination are extremely numerous, and the effects of them can be learned only by experience.

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Fourth, The education or training of the individual should be inquired into.-Phrenology shews only the natural qualities, but the direction which they have received must be ascertained by inquiry. No combination of organs will render an individual an expert cook, without having practised cookery, or an accomplished coachman, without having practically taken charge of horses, and learned to drive.

Fifth, The relation of the natural qualities of the master or mistress to those of the servant is of much importance.- If a mistress with a small brain, having Conscientiousness and Benevolence moderate, and Self-Esteem and Combativeness large, should hire a servant possessed of a large, active, and well-proportioned brain, the latter will instinctively feel that nature has made her the superior, although fortune has reversed their relative positions. The mistress will feel this too, but will maintain her authority by imperiousness, captiousness, or violence. In this condition, the best dispositions of the servant may be outraged, and conduct produced of a discreditable nature, when contemplated by itself, apart from the provocation. A servant with a small brain, but favourable combination, would prove a treasure to a mistress possessed of similar qualities ; whereas she would be felt to be too feeble and inefficient in her whole manner and mode of acting, by a lady whose brain was very large, very favourably combined, and very active. This principle explains why the same individual may be found to be an excellent servant in one family, and an unsuitable one in another.

Sixth, The qualities of servants, in reference to each other, ought to be considered.-Two individuals, possessing large and active brains, great Self-Esteem, Love of Approbation, and Combativeness, may, if they have large Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, prove excellent servants to their employers, whom they regard as legitimate objects of veneration and conscientiousness ; but may be very indifferent companions to each other. Each will desire deference and respect from the other, which neither will yield ; and in all probability, they will quarrel and manifest only

vol. II.

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the propensities in their intercourse with each other. Instruction in their own nature, and in the proper direction of their feelings, would, in many instances, remedy this evil. But while ignorance continues, it is advisable to rely chiefly on natural qualities : if, for example, one servant has Self-Esteem large, a companion should be selected in whom this organ is moderate ; and the same with Combativeness, When this is neglected, the natural language of Self-Esteem or Combativeness in the one involuntarily excites the same feeling in the other, and harmony is nearly impossible : whereas, if one has Self-Esteem large, and the other has it small, the natural expression of the former is not painful to the latter ; on the contrary, the absence of pretension, which attends a small Self-Esteem, renders the latter agreeable to the former, and a sincere reciprocal regard may arise between them.

It will be obvious to every reflecting person, that the circumstance of a servant being rejected by a phrenologist, is no proof of the individual being essentially bad ; it shews only, that, in one or other of the six points before mentioned, the individual did not suit the particular phrenologist, and no more. The servant may be admirably qualified for a different employer.

Similar remarks apply to the selection of clerks, partners in business, and all persons needed to fill confidential situations. I have been told that it is extremely difficult to prevent peculation in the Post-Office, and other departments of public and private business, in which extensive trust is necessarily confided to the individuals employed. If only persons in whom the moral and intellectual organs decidedly predominate were chosen to fill such situations, the evil would disappear.

In the United States of America, the extent of peculation by public officers, in the employment of government, of banking companies, and similar institutions, is very great. If those who appoint such officers, would be guided by Phre-

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nology, a remedy for the evil would be found. I have never known a man in whom the moral and intellectual organs were large, and Acquisitiveness and Secretiveness moderate, guilty of fraud. In choosing representatives in the legislative bodies also, Phrenology will enable the electors to discriminate between honest and able patriots and empty de-claimers.

These observations are offered as hints merely, and not as complete practical directions. The elements which compose human character are so numerous, their combinations so intricate, and so little has been done in the practical application of the science, in the manner now recommended, that it is impossible to be too modest either in giving directions or in promising results. Experience is the great teacher, and my sole object is to induce phrenologists to seek experience by practice. I am aware that many of my readers will be conscious that much greater attainments than they at present possess would be requisite, to enable them to act on the principles unfolded even in this brief statement ; and hence, many of them may consider the remarks as altogether unnecessary ; but several answers may be made to this objection. First, There are phrenologists who have practised on the rules here recommended, and experienced advantages from it ; and what has been done successfully and with benefit by some, may be accomplished by others. Secondly, Science is valueless unless it be practical ; practical sciences can be advanced only by experience ; and experience cannot be gained without a beginning. And, thirdly, Even those persons who are conscious of incapacity to practise these rules, may perceive the advantage of acting on them if they could ; and may feel that, until some mode of guiding the judgment in the selection of individuals who are to be placed in confidential situations, shall be resorted to, which shall bring into view the points before treated of, uncertainty, disappointment, and annoyance, must afflict both the employers and the employed. And, finally, There is no system of mental philosophy in existence which professes to afford even the least aid in ascer-

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taining the natural capacities and dispositions of individuals prior to experience of their actions, except Phrenology.

This application of Phrenology has suggested the question, Are individuals with "ill-shaped heads" to become "outcasts from society ?'' This is precisely the evil which, under the actual system of criminal legislation, exists, and which the phrenologists are labouring to remove. An unfavourably developed brain, and good natural dispositions, are two conditions which do not co-exist in nature. Phrenologists, therefore, by establishing the fact, that an imperfectly formed brain renders an individual naturally prone to vice, will afford an inducement to society to treat men so constituted as moral patients, and to use more effectual means for restraining their propensities than any that are at present adopted. This, in my opinion, would be preferable to the existing practice, which leaves individuals with the worst natural dispositions at liberty, in the most unfavourable circumstances, to follow their instinctive tendencies, and only punishes them after having committed crimes. At present these beings are surrounded by want, misery, and the means of intoxication. They transgress the criminal law, are confined for a time in jails and bridewells, calculated to excite their propensities, and to afford little cultivation to their moral powers ; and they are afterwards ejected into the immoral atmosphere from which they were taken ; a mode of treatment which could not exist, if Phrenology were believed and understood. It has been further asked by way of objection, " Does Mr Combe deny, that, in the case he mentions, the boy whom he rejected might have had a good character, notwithstanding the indications of his original propensities ? If he denies this, he denies a proposition which he himself has always stated, and from which he derives the practical value of Phrenology, namely, that the original propensities can be corrected, and even eradicated, by education, and other means.''

Answer : I have not stated that the " original propensities can be eradicated by education and other means." If so, Phrenology would necessarily be a dream. What I have said

DOCTRINE OF THE COMBINATIONS. 325

is this,-that all the faculties may be directed to proper objects, and, when so directed, their action will become good. But to guide strong animal propensities to virtue, there must be a directing power. If the individual possesses vigorous moral and intellectual organs, he will be a law and a guide unto himself. If, however, these be deficient, which was the case in the boy alluded to, then I certainly maintain that strong animal feelings will not guide themselves to virtue. In this case, the directing power must be supplied from without. The case of E. S., mentioned in vol. i. p. 271, is exactly in point, and illustrates the positions here maintained. If the boy had been placed from infancy in an asylum, from which temptation to vice was excluded, and in which the highest moral and intellectual treatment was administered, he might have had a good character, notwithstanding the form of his brain ; because, so situated, he could not have offended. But I was informed that he had been brought up in the ordinary circumstances of the labouring classes in this country, and extensive observation had convinced me, that that condition does not withdraw temptation from the propensities, and does not supply moral and intellectual stimulus to the higher faculties, sufficient to direct a mind constituted like his, to morality. I therefore inferred, that his good character was false ; which it actually proved to be. At present, society is greatly deficient in institutions in which the moral influence of higher minds can be brought habitually to bear on inferior minds, in the absence of external temptation.

I have endeavoured to suggest an improved method of Prison discipline, in a Letter addressed to Mr Mittermair, Professor of Criminal Jurisprudence in the University of Heidelberg, published in the Phren. Journ. vol. xvi. p. 6.

In consequence of the lamentable ignorance which too generally abounds of the nature of individuals, the mental deficiencies in which the tendency to crime originates are not understood, and still less is the great power of moral influence which the best order of minds could wield over the inferior duly appreciated. This influence, however, cannot

326 DOCTRINE OF THE COMBINATIONS.

exert itself efficiently, unless external temptation to evil be withdrawn, which cannot be the case without institutions formed for the purpose. Phrenology will hasten the day when these shall exist. Society is in possession, from history and observation, of a pretty accurate knowledge of human nature in general ; but this knowledge is too general to be practically useful. When an individual is presented to them, they cannot tell, previous to experience, whether he is naturally a Caligula or a Washington. Phrenology not only gives a scientific basis and form to the general knowledge of mankind already existing, but renders it available in particular instances ; it unfolds the natural qualities of individual men, and enables us to judge how far they will be inclined to and capable of following one course of action or another. I consider it, therefore, neither unjust nor inhumane to decline taking into my service individuals whom I know to be unfitted, by their mental qualities, for the duties which they would be called on to perform. In short, if the members of society, instead of giving false characters of profligate individuals (through Benevolence acting without Conscientiousness), and, in consequence, exposing each other to loss of property and life by criminal outrages, would treat as moral patients those persons whose mental deficiencies render them incapable of guiding themselves to virtue, they would benefit both themselves and the vicious.¹

¹ The chief object of this work is to unfold the fundamental facts and doctrines of Phrenology, as the science of the human mind. Its applications are treated of in other works. Besides those quoted in the work itself, the following may be consulted with advantage.

A Sketch of the Natural Laws of Man. 12mo, p. 220. By Dr Spurzheim.

Elementary Principles of Education. By Dr Spurzheim.

The Constitution of Man considered in relation to External Objects. By the author of the present work. The People's Edition; price Is. 6d. The Sixth Edition, 12mo. price 4s.

Moral Philosophy, or the duties of man considered in his individual, domestic, and social capacities. By George Combe. Second Edition, in 12mo. p. 442, price 7s. 6d.

Phrenology in connection with Physiognomy. By Dr Spurzheim.

Observations on Mental Derangement; being an application of the prin-

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