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

Vol. 1: [front matter], Intro, Nervous 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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7-SECRETIVENESS.

The organ is situated at the inferior edge of the parietal bones, immediately above Destructiveness, or in the middle of the lateral portion of the brain. Hindoo. When the organ of Destructiveness is much developed, it may be mistaken by the inexperienced observer for the organ of Secretiveness ; so that it is necessary to remark, that the latter organ is placed higher, and rather farther forward, than the former ; and

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that, instead of presenting the form of a segment of a circle, it is extended longitudinally. When both organs are highly developed, the lower and middle portion of the side of the

head is characterized by a general fulness. The reader may contrast the skulls represented on pages 256 and 264. The annexed figure is a sketch of the shaven head of a secretive gentleman with whom I was acquainted, and of whose character an account will be found in The"Phrenological Journal., viii. 206. Dr Gall gives the following history of the discovery of this organ. In early youth, he was struck with the character and form of the head of one of his companions, who, with amiable dispositions and good abilities, was distinguished for cunning and finesse. His head was very broad at the temples, and in his natural attitude it projected forward. Although a faithful friend, he experienced an extra ordinary pleasure in employing every possible device to make game of his schoolfellows, and to deceive them. His natural language was absolutely the expression of cunning, such as Dr Gall had often observed in cats and dogs when, playing together, they wished to give each other the slip. At a subsequent period, he had another companion, who, at first, appeared candour personified ; no one had ever distrusted him : but his gait and manner were those of a cat watching a mouse ; he proved false and perfidious, and deceived, in an unbecoming manner, his young schoolfellows, his tutors, and his parents. He carried his head in the same attitude as that before mentioned ; his face was hand some, and his head exceedingly broad at the temples. One of Dr Gall's patients, who died of phthisis, generally passed for a very honest man : after his death, Dr Gall was struck with the breadth of his head in the temporal region ; and shortly afterwards learned that he had cheated his acquaint-

296 SECRETIVENESS.

ances, and even his mother, of considerable sums of money. At Vienna he was often in the company of a physician, possessed of much information, but who, on account of his character of a cheat, was generally despised. Under pretence of dealing in objects of art, and lending on pledges, he robbed all who put confidence in him. He carried his tricks and cheats to such a length, that the government warned the public, through the medium of the public journals, to beware of him ; for he had practised his arts with such dexterity that he could never be legally condemned. He often told Dr Gall that he knew no pleasure equal to that of deceiving, especially persons who distrusted him most. As the head of this individual also was very broad at the temples, Dr Gall was impressed with the idea that there might be a primitive tendency towards cunning in the mind, and that it might be connected with this particular cerebral organ. His conjecture has been confirmed by a great number of observations.

The nature and object of this propensity appear to be the following. The various faculties of the human mind are liable to enter into involuntary activity from internal causes, as well as through external excitement. Thus Amativeness, becoming active, gives feelings corresponding to its nature ; Acquisitiveness inspires with strong desires for property ; and Love of Approbation fills the mind with projects of ambition. Every one must be conscious that these or similar feelings have at times rushed into his mind involuntarily, and refused to depart at the command of the will. Thoughts of all kinds, moreover, arise in the intellectual organs, and facts which ought not to be divulged occur to the recollection. If outward expression were given to these impulses and ideas, in all their vivacity, as they arise, social intercourse would frequently be rendered painful by the intrusion of offensive improprieties. Shakspeare, with great accuracy of observation, has portrayed this feature of the human mind. Iago says :

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" Utter my thoughts ! Why, say they 're vile and false-
As where's that palace whereinto foul things
Sometimes intrude not ? "Who has a breast so pure,
But some uncleanly apprehensions
Keep leets and law-days, and in sessions sit
With meditations lawful ?"-Othello, Act iii. Scene 5.

Some instinctive tendency, therefore, to restrain within the mind itself, and to conceal from the public eye, the various emotions and ideas which involuntarily present them selves, was necessary to prevent their outward expression ; and Nature has provided this power in the faculty of Secretiveness. It is an instinctive tendency to conceal, and the legitimate object of it is, to restrain the outward expression of our thoughts and emotions, till the understanding shall have pronounced judgment on its propriety. " A foolj" says Solomon, " uttereth all his mind ; but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.''¹

Besides, man and animals are occasionally liable to the assaults of enemies, which may be avoided by concealment, in cases where strength is wanting to repel them by force. Nature, therefore, by means of this propensity, enables them to add prudence, slyness, or cunning, according to the direction given to it by the other faculties of the individual, to their means of defence.

The primitive function of the faculty is to restrain the expression of the other powers ; in excess, it leads to cunning, and, in a state of deficiency, it leaves the other faculties to manifest themselves unrestrained by the curb which it supplies.

A sufficient endowment of this organ is essential to the formation of a prudent character. It then imposes a salutary restraint on the manifestations of the other faculties, and serves as a defence against prying curiosity. '' When Napoleon," says Sir Walter Scott, " thought himself closely

1 Prov. xxix. 11. Phren. Journ. x. 615.

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observed, he had the power of discharging from his countenance all expression, save that of a vague and indefinite smile, and presenting to the curious investigator the fixed eyes and rigid features of a marble bust."¹ I have observed this power in concomitance with large Secretiveness. Those in whom it is deficient, are too open for the general intercourse of society ; they are characterized by deficiency of tact-a headlong bluntness of manner, and the instantaneous expression of every thought and emotion as it flows into the mind, without regard to the proprieties required by time, place, or circumstances.

Mr Scott, in an excellent essay on this propensity, published in the Transactions of the Phrenological Society, observes, that it communicates the desire to discover the secrets of others, as well as to conceal our own. The author of Waverley, in his novel of Quentin Durrvard,² draws the character of Louis XL with exact fidelity to this principle of our nature. The king, says he, was " calm, crafty, and profoundly attentive to his own interest. He was careful in disguising his real sentiments and purposes from all who approached him, and frequently used the expressions, that the king knew not how to reign who knew not how to dissemble ; and that, for himself, if he thought his very cap knew his secrets, he would throw it into the fire. Like all astutious persons, he was as desirous of looking into the hearts of others, as of concealing his own." The representation here given is historically correct. According to this view, even a large development of the organ, if combined with high morality and an enlightened understanding, is a valuable endowment. Persons so constituted, possessing themselves the natural talent requisite for intrigue, are well fitted to divine and discover intrigues and secret machinations in others, and to defeat them. From the same cause, they read, with great acuteness, the natural language of con-

¹ Life of Napoleon, iv. 37.

2 Vol. i. p. 7, &c. See Phren. Journ., i. 177.

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cealment in other people, and are able, by the very air and manner of a man, to discover that he is hiding some object or intention, when a person in whom the organ is small could not perceive such a purpose. In many of the affairs of life also, secrecy is indispensable both to prudent conduct and to success. As a duty of friendship, it has ever been considered of prime importance. " Though thou drewest a sword at thy friend," says the son of Sirach, " yet despair not, for there may be a returning to favour ; if thou hast opened thy mouth against thy friend, fear not, for there may be a reconciliation ; excepting for upbraiding, or pride, or disclosing of secrets, or a treacherous wound ; for, for these things, every friend will depart.''¹ Secretiveness is an essential element of politeness, much of which consists in avoiding the expression of what is likely to be disagreeable. Montaigne has well distinguished the use from the abuse of this faculty : " A man," says he, " must not always tell all, for that were folly. But what a man says should be what he thinks, otherwise 'tis knavery."² Fielding's Parson Adams is a character in which Secretiveness is greatly defective. He had no power of concealment himself, and never suspected hidden purposes in others, or " saw farther into people than they desired to let him." Othello, in like manner, is thus described by Iago :

" The Moor is of a free and open nature,
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so ;
And will as tenderly be led by th' nose,
As asses are." Othello, Act i. scene 11.

When too energetic, or not properly directed, Secretive-ness is liable to great abuses. It then leads to a love for concealment, intrigue, and crooked policy, for their own sakes ; and to a feeling that it is wise and proper to wrap up the purposes of the mind in the profoundest mystery ; cunning is mistaken for ability, and deceit for practical wisdom.

¹ Eccles. xxii. 21. 2 Essays, B. ii. ch. 17. Cotton's Transl.

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It may prompt to the use of lies, hypocrisy, intrigue, or dissimulation, as means to gain an end. Persons in whom it predominates, judging of mankind in general by themselves, are never able to see the affairs of the world, or the conduct of others, in a plain and simple point of view, but imagine life to be a continual stratagem, in which every one is endeavouring to overreach his neighbour. Such persons conceive that the eye of the world is always looking into their breasts, to read the purposes that are there hatched, but the discovery of which they are resolved to prevent. In an argument, a secretive man will evade all admissions.

The propensity in some instances finds gratification in the most trifling mysteries ; an individual under its predominating influence will conceal his going out, his coming in, his engagements, and all his transactions ; even although communication of these would greatly facilitate domestic arrangements. Dr Johnson mentions of Pope, that he took so " great delight in artifice, that he endeavoured to attain all his purposes by indirect and unsuspected methods ; he hardly drank tea without a stratagem. He practised his arts on such small occasions, that Lady Bolingbroke used-to say in a French phrase, that he played the politician about cabbages and turnips."

Dr King relates, in his Anecdotes of his own Times (p. 237), a remarkable instance of secretive conduct in a gentleman named Howe, with whom he was acquainted. One morning Mr Howe rose very early, and told his wife that he was obliged to go to the Tower to transact some particular business ; and the same day, at noon, she received from him a note, stating that he was under the necessity of going to Holland, and should probably be absent three weeks or a month. He continued absent from her seventeen years, during which time she heard neither of nor from him. Instead, however, of going to Holland, he went no farther than to a street in the vicinity of his house, where he took a room, and remained in disguise during the whole time of his absence. In the second or third year after his disappearance, his wife

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was obliged to apply for an act of Parliament, to procure a proper settlement of his estate, and a provision out of it for herself; this act he suffered to be solicited and passed, and enjoyed the pleasure of observing the progress of it in the votes. About ten years after his disappearance, he contrived to make acquaintance with the occupant of a house opposite his wife's dwelling, and frequently dined there ; so that he could often see her at the window. He used also to attend the church which, she frequented, and chose a seat where he had a view of her, but could not easily be observed himself. " After he returned home," says Dr King, "he never would confess, even to his most intimate friends, what was the real cause of such a singular conduct : apparently there was none ; but whatever it was, he was certainly ashamed to own it." There can be little doubt that a predominant and engrossing Secretiveness was the chief feeling by which he was impelled.

This faculty prompts, says Dr Gall, the general of an army to the use of stratagems to deceive the enemy, while it leads him to conceal his own forces and enterprizes, and to make false attacks and counterfeit marches. Cicero remarks the difference of generals in this respect. "Among the Carthaginians," says he, " Hannibal, and among our own commanders Quintus Maximus, have the name of men extremely close and secret, silent, dissembling ; notably good at stratagems, or setting spies upon an enemy and disappointing their counsels....There are others, now, so far from this artifice, that they are simple and open, to the degree of not enduring any thing but what is done above board ; they will not suffer any thing that looks like treachery. These men are the servants of truth, and the enemies of fraud."¹ The same writer observes, that " there is no greater pest in human society, than a perverse craft, under the mask of simplicity."

Mercantile men in whom this organ predominates, occasionally conceal their circumstances from their wives and children, who proceed in the unsuspecting enjoyment of ima-
1De Officiis, lib. 1. 2 Ibid., lib. iii.

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ginary prosperity, till bankruptcy, like the explosion of a mine, involves them in instantaneous ruin. These individuals generally plead regard to the feelings of their relatives as their excuse ; but the distrust implied in such conduct is a greater injury to sensitive minds than the evils they attempt to veil. The real sources of their conduct are an overweening Self-esteem, which cannot stoop to acknowledge misconduct or misfortune, and an inordinate Secretiveness, inspiring them with an instinctive aversion to candid and unreserved communication. A favourite maxim with such men is, that secrecy is the soul of trade. It is so regarded only in narrow minds, misguided by this propensity.

Persons in whom Secretiveness is large, and -who believe that they really conceal their true character from the world, are much startled at the exposure which Phrenology is said to make of the dispositions of the mind ; and they feel great difficulty in believing it practicable to compare genuine mental feelings with development of brain, because they imagine that real motives and dispositions are never exhibited in conduct. Such persons err, however, in their estimate even of their own powers of concealment ; for Secretiveness does not alter the aim, but affects only the means of obtaining gratification of our ordinary desires : and, besides, if disguise be really the forte of their character, Phrenology has the advantage of them still ; for it discovers the organ of Secretiveness large in their brains ; and in their very concealment they manifest most powerfully the faculty whose organ is most fully developed.

Innumerable abuses of this propensity occur in the ordinary intercourse of society. How polite, acquiescent, and deferential, are some persons in their manners to all who are present ; and how severe in their vituperations when the same individuals are absent ! This conduct results from Secretiveness and Love of Approbation, aided perhaps by Veneration addressing itself to Love of Approbation in others, and endeavouring to please them by professions of respect. Conscientiousness in such individuals is always de-

SECRETIVENESS. 303

ficient. Many persons would not, for any consideration, mention a disagreeable truth to an acquaintance. This also arises from an abuse of Secretiveness, combined with great Love of Approbation.

The organ of Secretiveness is very large in the north American Indians, and also in the Peruvians of the Inca race. In the latter, it is so much developed that the longitudinal and lateral diameters of their skulls are nearly equal. They possess the power of concealment in an extraordinary degree. Dr Robertson, in his history of America, observes, that " The people of the rude tribes of America are remarkable for their artifice and duplicity. Impenetrably secret in forming their measures, they pursue them with a patient, undeviating attention, and there is no refinement of dissimulation which they cannot employ, in order to insure success. The natives of Peru were engaged above thirty years in concerting the plan of an insurrection ; and though it was communicated to a great number of persons in all different ranks, no indication of it ever transpired, during that long period ; no man betrayed his trust, or by an unguarded look or rash word, gave rise to any suspicion of what was intended. The dissimulation and craft of individuals, " continues Dr Robertson," is no less remarkable than that of nations. When set upon deceiving, they wrap themselves up so artificially, that it is impossible to penetrate into their intentions or to detect their designs."

To Mr Scott is due the merit of throwing great light on the influence of Secretiveness in producing humour. The power of representing, with a face of perfect gravity, some ludicrous incident, is one species of humour. The grave exterior, while the most ludicrous ideas are internally perceived, is a species of slyness, and is clearly attributable to Secretiveness. This kind of humour, also, is absolutely addressed to Secretiveness in others. We, as spectators, see the ludicrous, through the external gravity, and this gratifies our Secretiveness, which likes to penetrate disguises assumed by others, as well as to disguise itself. Another species of

304 SECRETIVENESS.

humour consists in detecting and exposing little concealed purposes and intentions in our friends, and holding them up to view in all their nothingness, when they are mystifying or concealing them as matters of real importance. " The man of humour," says Mr Scott, " delights in detecting these little pieces of deception ; and the ludicrous effect of this seems to arise from the incongruity which appears between the real and the assumed character-the contrast between what is intended to be apparent at the surface, and that which is seen to be at the bottom."¹ Secretiveness, however, affords only the slyness, the savoir faire, together with the tact of detecting little concealed weaknesses, implied in humour ; and the faculty of Wit is necessary, in addition, to produce ludicrous effect in the representation. Thus, a person with much Wit, and little Secretiveness, will not excel in humour, although he may shine in pure wit. A person, on the other hand, with much Secretiveness, and moderate Wit, may excel in humour, although, in intellectual witty combinations, he may make but an indifferent figure.

It is a curious fact, that the Germans, Italians, and English, in whom Secretiveness is large, delight in humour ; while the French, in whom the organ is moderate, can scarcely imagine what it is. In conformity with these differences in national development, the Germans, English, and Italians practise a prudent reserve in their intercourse with strangers, while the French are open to excess, and communicate even their private affairs to casual acquaintances. The French also delight to live, and even to die, in public ; while the Englishman shuts himself up in his house, which he denominates his castle, and debars all the world from observing his conduct. Other faculties contribute to these varieties of taste, but Secretiveness is an essential element in the relish for retirement.

I have uniformly found Secretiveness large in the heads of actors and artists,. of which I have been permitted to

¹ Phren. Trans, p. 174. See illustrative cases in Phren. Journ. ii, 596, iv. 503, and viii. 216, 221.

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examine a considerable number. In the cast of Miss Clara Fisher's head,^l it will be seen amply developed. The theory of its effects in aiding the former seems to be this : The actor must conceal or shade his real character, and put forth the natural language of an assumed one. Secretiveness will enable him to suppress the manifestations of all the faculties which are not essential to the character of the personage whom he, for the time, represents ; while, by withdrawing its restraint from the other faculties, it will allow them to develope themselves with full energy. Thus, suppose an actor, in whom Benevolence and Conscientiousness are large, to be called on to play Iago, a character in which selfishness and villany predominate, then Secretiveness will enable him to suppress the natural language of his own superior faculties, while, by withdrawing its influence from Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Self-Esteem, it will permit the most forcible expression of these in looks, tones, and gestures ; and this will be Iago to the life. It aids the artist in a similar way. A painter or sculptor, in executing a figure, first studies the mental feelings which he intends to portray, then goes to a mirror and produces the expression of them in his own person, and copies it in his picture or block of marble. In this process he resembles an actor, and Secretiveness assists him in the manner before explained.

In this analysis, I differ in one point from Mr Scott. He thinks that Secretiveness confers not only the negative power of suppressing the real character, but also the positive power of calling up, at will, the natural language of such faculties as we wish to exhibit for the time. Thus, some persons are able to load others with expressions of great esteem, attachment, and good-will, when internally they hate them. Mr Scott conceives that Secretiveness enables such individuals not only to disguise their enmity, but to call up, for the occasion, the natural language of Adhesiveness, Benevolence, Veneration, and Love of Approbation, and to use these as instruments of deception. This latter effect ap-

' Transactions of the Phrenological Society, p. 281.

U

306 SECRETIVENESS.

pears to me to depend on Imitation and Secretiveness combined. When both Secretiveness and Cautiousness are very large, there is a tendency to extreme reserve, and, when little knowledge of the world is possessed, to suspicion and terror of dark designs and sinister plots, hatching on every hand against the unhappy possessor of this combination. In general, these plots have no existence beyond the internal feelings produced by those faculties. Secretiveness, with small Conscientiousness, predisposes to lying, and, combined with Acquisitiveness, to theft. Indeed, Secretiveness is more invariably large in thieves than Acquisitiveness. It produces that capacity for sly cunning which is essential to a thief. An excellent elucidation, by Dr Andrew Combe, of the effects of Secretiveness, as a constituent element in the character of a thief, will be found in The Phrenological Journal, vol. i., p. 611 ; and farther remarks on this subject by Mr Hodgson and Dr Combe occur in vol. x., p. 451. The organ is large in David Haggart, and in a variety of executed thieves, whose casts have been obtained. It is very large in Linn¹ (see cut on p. 184), who, though ostensibly most artless, contrived to escape from confinement, without giving rise to suspicion, and managed matters so dexterously that no trace of him could be found. In Gottfried and Tardy (p. 144 and 255) the organ is much developed, and both were excessively cunning. Destructive-ness also being very large, they murdered by means of poison, a mode of committing the crime usually preferred by secretive persons. Another effect of great Secretiveness, especially when aided by much Firmness, is to produce the power of repressing, to an indefinite extent, all outward expression of pain, even when amounting to torture. Ann Ross (whose case is reported by Mr Richard Carmichael of Dublin²), with a view to excite the compassion of some pious and charitable ladies, thrust needles into her arm to produce disease, and carried

 

¹ Phren. Journ., x. p. 213.
² Phrenological Journal, ii. 42,

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the deception so far as to allow the limb to be amputated without revealing the cause. The needles were found on dissection, and she was more mortified by the discovery of the trick, than afflicted by the loss of her arm. She manifested the same faculty in a variety of other deceptions. I examined her head, and Mr Carmichael presented a cast of it to the Phrenological Society ; and in it the organs of Secretiveness and Firmness are decidedly large. The North American Indians are celebrated for their power of enduring torture, and the same combination is indicated in their skulls, many of which I saw in the United States.¹ It is not large in the Negroes, and they are an open-minded race compared with the astutious varieties of mankind. It is very large in the native Peruvians, whose power of concealment is a distinguishing feature in their national character.³ In the Laplanders, also, it is largely developed.³

Dr George Murray Paterson mentions that the Hindoos manifest Secretiveness in a high degree, in the form of cunning and duplicity ; and the organ is very large in their heads.⁴

This propensity, when predominantly active, produces a close sly look ; the mouth is instinctively kept closed ; the eye is half-shut, just sufficiently open to enable the secretive person to see out, but not so wide as to enable others to see in ; the voice is low ; the shoulders are drawn up towards the ears, and the footstep is soft, furtive, and gliding.⁵ The movements of the body are towards the side. The organ is

¹ Phrenological Journal, ii. 536. Blumenbach, Decas Prima, tab. ix.

" Robertson's History of America, b. iv. ; and Edinburgh Review, ix. 437.

³ Phrenological Journal, ix. 329. Blumenbach, Decas Quinta, p. 9.

* Trans, of the Phren. Soc. p. 443.

⁶ When I visited Dresden in 1837, I saw in the Royal Gallery of Paintings, " Saal B.C. No. 62," an admirable picture by Titian of Christ answering the question, « Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not V> There is great nobleness and depth of reflection in the head and countenance of Christ, and the natural language of Secretiveness is also very distinctly expressed. The head and face speak to the eye the very language recorded by Matthew (chap. xxii. verse 18), " "Why tempt ye me ye hypocrites Î Shew me the tribute-money.'' « Whose is this image and superscription V " Caesar's." " Render therefore unto Caesar tho

308 SECRETIVENESS.

large in the " old miser ;" and his countenance expresses the natural language of the faculty. If Cautiousness also is

large, the eye, when the individual is alarmed, rolls from side to side. Sir Walter Scott accurately describes the look produced by this faculty and Cautiousness in the following lines. Speaking of Cormac Doil, he says-

" For evil seemed that old man's eye, Dark and designing, fierce yet shy, Still he avoided forward look, But slow and circumspectly took A circling never-ceasing glance, By doubt and cunning marked at once ; Which shot a mischief-boding ray, From under eye-brows shagg'd and grey."

Lord of the Isles, Canto iv. p. 24.

When this organ is very large in the head of an author, it produces a curious effect on his style. The different mem-

things which are Caesar's ; and unto God, the things that are God's." Great depth of analysis of human nature, and astonishing powers of observation, are displayed by Titian, in adding the natural language of Secretiveness to this picture. The answer of Christ to the Pharisees was not a direct reply to an honest question ; but a designed and dexterous evasion of an insidious query. The Pharisees employed Secretiveness to entrap him into sedition; and, in his defence, he manifested a depth of Secretiveness far surpassing theirs ; he penetrated their hidden purpose, and exposed at once their malice and their guile. Nothing, therefore, could be

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bers of his sentences are involved, parenthetical, and often obscure, as if he were in doubt whether he selected the proper place for his expressions, and hesitated between what he ought to put down and what he might leave to be understood. He is also liable to quaintness. Pope's style occasionally indicates this quality, and the faculty was strongly manifested in his character. Dr Thomas Brown's style, also, is characterized by Secretiveness, and the organ was large in his head. Croly's poetry presents the expression of it. Goldsmith's writings indicate a very moderate endowment in him. This faculty, by enabling an author to work up his incidents and events, and to conceal the denouement of his plot or story till the most appropriate time and place for the elucidation, greatly aids him in producing effect. The organ was very large in Sir Walter Scott, and also in Swift and Burns.¹

The organ .of Secretiveness is possessed by the lower animals, and Dr Gall remarks that it requires a particular study in each species. In the common species of ape, for example, it commences above the origin of the zygomatic arch, and extends forward to nearly the middle of this bone. Its situation is the same in the tiger, cat, and fox. In carnivorous animals, also, and in birds distinguished for cunning, this region will in general be found large.

Dr Vimont observes, that, in man, this organ occupies more true to nature than to represent the natural language of Secretive-ness in the countenance. But humbler artists have not understood the nature or value of this expression. Near the picture is a copy of it, No. 440, by Flammingo Torre, one of Titian's pupils. The natural language of deep intellectual power is preserved in it, but that of Secretiveness is greatly diminished. When I was in the gallery, an artist had just finished another copy of it, and he had omitted the secretive expression altogether. In the original, the eyes and mouth are much closed : he had opened both considerably, and changed the character of the mental expression. He was an Englishman, employed by his countrymen to copy some of the great pictures in the Bresdeu Gallery. His head was large and well formed; but Secretiveness was not so fully developed as it generally is in artists who possess original talent ; and my impression is, that, in this particular, he did not feel or understand the character of the original.

¹ Phren. Joum. ix. C4.

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the middle region of the inferior margin of the parietal bone. In the carnivorous animals, such as the dog, the fox, the wolf, the marten, and pole-cat, the organ is placed exactly above the line which the shell-like articulation of the temporal bone forms : it occupies the middle of the inferior margin of the parietal bone. In birds of the crow genus, the organ commences a few lines above the little bony process, placed at the most remote part of the external meatus au-ditorius, and extends forward several lines. In granivorous birds, the organ is placed behind and above the external orbitary process. In herbivorous quadrupeds, and the rodentia, it is placed farther forward and a little higher than in carnivorous animals. It forms the rounded mass in the roebuck ; and contributes to increase the arch of the cranium in the hare, rabbit, and squirrel ;^J all as represented in his plates.

Manifestations of this propensity, clearly attributable to disease of the organ, are described by authors on insanity.² The cunning shewn by many of the insane, especially in concealing their true state, has often excited astonishment. Foderé speaks of two patients who had been long confined in the asylum at Marseilles. After an apparent cure of considerable duration, their friends demanded their dismissal. He, however, suspected deception, and determined to hold a long conversation with them. For an hour and a half, during which he avoided the kind of ideas in regard to which he knew them to be insane, they spoke, reasoned, and acted, like men of sound judgment. But when he introduced the subject which excited their deranged faculties, their eyes began to sparkle, the muscles of the face to contract, and an evident agitation took place, accompanied with an effort to preserve calmness. They were ordered to be detained. Pinel mentions the cunning and tricks of some lunatics as remarkable. Dr Marshal³ notices the case of a man in Beth-lem Hospital in 1789, who fancied he was a great man. " He

¹ Traité de Phrenologie, tome ii, p. 197-

⁵ See Dr A. Combe's Observations on Mental Derangement, pp. 182, 250. ³ Morbid Anatomy of the Brain, p. 102,

ACQUISITIVENESS. 311

was very crafty, and used much flattery to the keepers, calling them ' fine men, gentlemen,' especially when he wanted any indulgence ; but when his complacent looks and genteel expressions did not avail him, he became revengeful, made up some plausible story against them, and slyly told it to the steward. When fresh patients came into the house, he always introduced himself to them ; he was very civil to them, and, after gaining their confidence, he tried to get their money from them, which, if he could not do by other means, he had recourse to stratagem to get possession of it."

The regular metaphysicians have not admitted any faculty corresponding to this propensity, nor am I aware that they give any theory of cunning, although it is an obvious ingredient in human nature. The quality, however, is familiarly recognised by a variety of writers. Lord Bacon on his Essay on Cunning, graphically describes a number of the abuses of Secretiveness. "We take cunning,'' says he, "fora sinister or crooked wisdom, and certainly there is a great difference between a cunning man and a wise man, not only in point of honesty, but in point of ability. There be that can pack the cards and yet cannot play well ; so there are some that are good in canvasses and factions, that are otherwise weak men." In Peveril of the Peak, we have the following dialogue. " Your Grace holds his wisdom very high," said the attendant. "His cunning at least, I do,'' replied Buckingham, " which, in court-affairs, often takes the weather-gage of wisdom." The organ is regarded as established.

 

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Vol. 1: [front matter], Intro, Nervous system, Principles of Phrenology, Anatomy of the brain 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].