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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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31.-TIME.

THE power of conceiving time, and of remembering the relation in which circumstances stand to each other in chronology, and also the power of observing time in performing music, are very different in different individuals. Many observations have been made on this organ ; and it is now regarded by most phrenologists as ascertained. The special faculty seems to be the power of judging of time, and of intervals of duration in general. By giving the perception of measured cadence, it appears to me one source of pleasure in dancing. It is essential to music and versification.

Mr Simpson, in an excellent essay on this faculty, published in The Phrenological Journal says: " We have found the organ largely developed in those who shew an intuitive knowledge of the lapse of minutes and hours, so as to name the time of the day, without having recourse to the clock ; and also in those who perceive those minuter divisions, and their harmonious relations, which constitute rhythm, and who, when they apply the tact to music, are called good timists,-a distinct power from that of the mere melodist, and often wanting in him ; while it is matter of the commonest observation, on the other hand, that this sensibility to rhythm, called time, is marked in those who have a very moderate perception of melody. Such persons are invariably accurate dancers, observing delicately the time, though indifferent to the melody of the violin. We have made many observations, both in persons who have both Time and Tune

¹ Vol. ii. p. 134.

TIME. 105

large, and in those who have only one of them in large endowment, and we have never found the manifestations fail. Very lately we were struck with the uncommon prominence of the organ of Time in a whole family of young people, and enquired whether or not they danced with accuracy, and loved dancing ? We were answered, that they did both in a remarkable degree ; and, as we lived near them for some weeks, we observed that dancing was a constant and favourite pastime of theirs, even out of doors. Their dancing-master informed us, that the accuracy of their time exceeded that of any pupils he had ever taught. There was thus evident in these young persons, an intense pleasure in accurate rhythmical movements."

The fact that many deaf and dumb persons dance with precision, and much pleasure, is thus accounted for by Mr Simpson. " That Time," says he, " may be marked with the utmost precision to the eye, is a fact familiar to every one who has seen a regiment of soldiers go through the manual and platoon exercise, without a single word of command, by obeying the movements of the fugle-man, who gives the time to the eye ; and who that has seen this done by a practised corps, is ignorant that there is great pleasure in witnessing the exquisitely timed movements of the exercise ? Now, suppose a dancer, unaided by music, were to keep his eye on any person or object which was marking dancing-time to his sight, it cannot be doubted that he could dance to it. A deaf person could perform the manual exercise from the time given by the fugle-man ; and just as easily could a deaf person dance with his eye upon the violin-bow, or the player's arm, or on the movement of the drumsticks.

" It is unnecessary to go farther, and shew that the sense of touch may be the channel through which the organ of Time is excited, as well as the sense of hearing and sight. No one will dispute that a soldier could perform the manual exercise to a succession of taps on the shoulder ; and to time, m the same way given, might a person dance.

" What we have said is confirmed by fact. It is well

106 TIME.

known that the deaf and dumb do dance, taking the time by the eye, either from the violin-player's arm, or at second hand, but instantaneously, from the other dancers. We are acquainted with a young lady and gentleman in England, both of rank, who are deaf and dumb, and who, in addition to many other accomplishments, dance with the greatest grace and precision."

Individuals are occasionally met with, who estimate the lapse of time so accurately that they are able to tell the hour without having recourse to a time-piece. A case of this sort was reported by M. Chavannes to the Society of Natural Sciences of Switzerland. The individual, whose name is Jean Daniel Chevalley, was visited by M. Chavannes, whose account of the case is recorded in the Bibliothèque Universelle, vol. xxvii. An abridgement of it, in the English Journal of the Arts and Sciences, is copied into a valuable paper on the faculty of Time in The Phrenological Journal, vol. iv. p. 517- The following is a portion of this curious case :-" Being on board the steam-boat on the lake of Geneva (July 14.1823), he soon attracted attention by his remarks, that so many minutes and seconds had passed since they had left Geneva, or passed other places ; and, after a while, he engaged to indicate to the crowd about him the passing of a quarter of an hour, or as many minutes and seconds as any one chose, and that during a conversation the most diversified with those standing by ; and farther to indicate by the voice the moment when the hand passed over the quarter-minutes, or half minutes, or any other subdivision previously stipulated, during the whole course of the experiment. This he did without mistake, notwithstanding the exertions of those around him to distract his attention, and clapped his hands at the conclusion of the time fixed.

" M. Chavannes then reverts to his own observations. The man said, ' I have acquired by imitation, labour, and patience, an internal movement, which neither thought, nor labour, nor anything can stop ; it is similar to that of a pendulum, which, at each motion of going and returning, gives me the

TIME. 107

space of three seconds, so that twenty of them make a minute, and these I add to others continually.³ The calculations by which he obtained subdivisions of the second were not clearly understood by M. Chavannes, but the man offered freely to give a proof of his power. On trying him for a number of minutes, he shook his head at the time appointed, altered his voice at the quarter, half, and three quarter minutes, and arrived accurately at the end of the period named. He seemed to assist himself in a slight degree by an application of mnemonics, and sometimes in idea applied religious names to his minutes up to the fifth, when he recommenced : this he carried through the hour, and then commenced again. On being told that the country people said he made use of his pulse as an indicator, he laughed at the notion, and said it was far too irregular for any such purpose.

" He admitted that his internal movement was not so sure and constant during the night ; nevertheless ' it is easy to comprehend,' he said, ' that when I have not been too much fatigued in the evening, and my sleep is soft, if, after having gently awakened me, I shall reflect a second or two, my answer will not be ten minutes in error. The approach of day renews the movement, if it has been stopped, or rectifies it, if it has been deranged, for the rest of the day.' When asked how he could renew the movement when it had ceased, he said, " Sir, I am only a poor man ; it is not a gift of Heaven ; I obtained this faculty as the result of labours and calculations too long to be described ; the experiment has been made at night many times, and I will make it for you when you please.' M. Chavannes had not, however, the opportunity of making this experiment, but he felt quite convinced of the man's powers. He states that the man is deaf, and cannot hear at present the sound of his clock or watch ; and farther, that neither of them vibrates twenty times in a minute, which is always the number indicated by the motions of Chevalley when he wishes to illustrate his internal movement : and he is convinced, according to what he has seen,

108 TIME.

that this man possesses a kind of internal movement, which indicates minutes and seconds with the utmost exactness"

An illiterate Highlander, who was long in the service of Sir G. S. Mackenzie as a ploughman, could tell the hour of the day with great exactness, and also the time of high water, although he resided seven miles from the sea. Sir George had not become acquainted with Phrenology at the period of this man's death.

Dr Hoppe of Copenhagen mentions an interesting case of a morbid affection of the organ of Time, which fell under his observation in 1827. " Last October," says he, " I was called to visit Mrs G., a nervous but very intelligent woman of my acquaintance, labouring under a moderate degree of delirium puerpérale. When spoken to, she was quite sensible, and gave reasonable answers. She stated, without being particularly questioned, that, though she was perfectly conscious of herself, and of everything around her, she had no conception of time ; so that sometimes an exceedingly long period, and at other times but a few moments, seemed to her to have elapsed since she fell into her present state. She experienced a like perturbation of thought when telling me what had happened since the preceding day. She expressed great astonishment at this state of her mind, of which she was perfectly aware. She knew persons and things, and reasoned and spoke as well as ever. It was only on a few occasions, when left to herself, that she fell into slight delirium. I did not at first think phrenologically about this case ; but when she, unquestioned, complained of pain and a ' strong sense of burning in a line (these were her words) across the forehead,' I was immediately struck, and asked her to point out the place with her finger. ' There,' said she, and laid the point of her finger most exactly upon one of the organs of Time, drawing it across the forehead to the other organ of Time. I asked if she felt pain in any other part of the head. ' No,' replied she, ' only in this line.' "^l

The following case is given by Dr Caldwell :-" A well-

¹ Phrenological Journal, vol. v. p. 458 ; and vi. 161.

TIME. 109

known citizen of Philadelphia, recently dead, was celebrated for his perception and recollection of the lapse of time. Respecting the date of events he was a perfect chronicle.

" In bets with gentlemen of his acquaintance, as to the day of the week, month, and year on which they had been married, he won many suppers, together with dozens and bottles of wine. Although but a child during our revolutionary war, and no reader of history, he could cite, with promptness and accuracy, the precise date of every distinguished event of that memorable conflict. What was still more extraordinary, he often won from ladies pairs of gloves and other fancy articles, in wagers respecting the day and hour of the birth of their children.

" He was an elegant dancer, walked the street with a measured military step, although he had never borne arms, and appeared as if beating time in all his movements. Nor was he at all remarkable for any other intellectual faculty."¹ It appears to me that Eventuality, in addition to Time, is necessary for such a memory of events as is here described. In the case of a similar talent described on p. 95, the organs of both Time and Eventuality were large. For dancing and walking elegantly, the organ of Weight, in addition to that of Time, is necessary.

The origin of the notion of time has greatly puzzled the metaphysicians. Lord Kames says, that we measure it by the number of ideas which pass in the mind ; but experience contradicts this supposition, for time never appears so short as when ideas are most numerous, and pass most rapidly through the mind. The opinion, that it depends on a separate faculty and organ, on the other hand, is in harmony with this fact; for, as the organ of Time may remain inactive while the others are vividly excited, it follows, that our perceptions of duration will, on such occasions, be indistinct, and time will, in consequence, appear brief.

The talent of using tenses properly in composition appears to be dependent on this organ.

¹ Elements of Phrenology, p. 126.

110 TUNE.

The lower animals seem to be endowed with the power of perceiving and appreciating intervals of time. " Mr Southey, in his Omniana, relates two instances of dogs, who had acquired such a knowledge of time, as enabled them to count the days of the week. He says : ' My grandfather had one which trudged two miles every Saturday to cater for himself in the shambles. I know another more extraordinary and well-authenticated example. A dog which had belonged to an Irishman, and was sold by him in England, would never touch a morsel of food upon Friday.¹ The same faculty of recollecting intervals of time exists, though in a more limited extent, in the horse. We know a horse,'' says the writer from whom I quote, " (and have witnessed the circumstance), which, being accustomed to be employed once a-week on a journey with the newsman of a provincial paper, always stopped at the houses of the several customers, although they were sixty or seventy in number. But further, there were two persons on the route who took one paper between them, and each claimed the privilege of having it first on the alternate Sunday. The horse soon became accustomed to this regulation, and, although the parties lived two miles distant, he stopped once a fortnight at the door of the half-customer at Thorpe, and once a fortnight at the door of the other half-customer at Chertsey ; and never did he forget this arrangement, which lasted several years, or stop unnecessarily, when he once thoroughly understood the rule."¹ Dr Vimont thinks it impossible to doubt that the lower animals possess the faculty of appreciating time ; and he relates several facts in support of this opinion.²

 

¹ Library of Entertaining Knowledge, vol. i. p. 55.-Another case of a dog which obviously distinguished the days of the week, will be found in the Phrenological Journal, vol. viii. p. 76.

2 Traité de Phrénologie, tome ii. p. 330.