6 in 1781, when at the High "became acquainted with B"School of Canongate; that B- was an excellent scholar, and generally dux of his class.' B- was employed by Mr Inglis, "the master, to assist him.' He was uncommonly good-natur"❝ed and obliging, and not deficient in point of understanding, "but quite the contrary.' 'Down to within these two or three years there was no material change on his mind; but during "this last period he was not so correct as he used to be.' "The Rev. A- J- of S deposed, that, about ten or "twelve years ago, B taught a school at Elphinston, and ap"plied to the presbytery of Haddington to be licensed. He was re"mitted to two or three of the presbytery, to examine him private"ly; and the report was favourable. He was taken, therefore, upon public trials, and was remitted to his studies,-a mild mode of "rejection. "JB, Esq., advocate, deposed, that B officiated as "his private teacher in 1799 or 1800, and it did not appear to the deponent, at that time, that there was any defect in his mind. "He saw him for half-an-hour in the house of J. A. Murray, Esq. "advocate, in summer 1818, and, for any thing he could see on "that occasion, there was no material alteration on the state of his "mind. His impression was, that his mind was entire, but that his manners, habits, and dress, were calculated to lead to a supposi"tion that his mind was imbecile. "J D- coach-maker in Edinburgh, deposed, that he was at the Canongate school with B- and about thirteen years ago he attended the deponent's son as a private teacher, and has "called upon him since. When at the Canongate school, B——— "was the best scholar in his class; he was not defective in under"standing, and was not made game of by the other boys. His mind " continued equally free from defect when he attended the depo"nent's son, and he considers his understanding as perfectly entire "at present. "The Rev. JS, Edinburgh, deposed, that, so far as "the deponent could judge from conversing with him, he seemed "to be possessed of all his faculties, as far as to be able to perform "the ordinary duties of life, and this in February 1818. "RR- shoemaker, deposed, that B was very sic"car (Anglicè hard) in his bargains, and spoke rationally on many "subjects; and his gestures were the worst thing about him. "Mr M—, cutler, PM- baker, and other tradesmen, all deposed that B- made bargains with them with "sufficient attention to his own interest, and conducted himself "rationally. "On the other side, "The Rev. JP, Edinburgh, deposed, that B "he attended the classes in the College together; that the boys "about the College treated him as a fool, and that his impression at and "this time was that B had been born a fool. He has observed no change on his faculties, and considers him still as an imbecile person. "PB, insurance-broker, considers him as a weak "minded man. "RW merchant, had a fixed impression that B "was silly in his mind. "Mrs P, 17, Crosscauseway, considers him as altogether cc. an imbecile and weak person, and incapable of managing his own "affairs. "R K-, writer, deposed, that his general impression was, "that B was crazy. all re "Dr A―, Dr W F, and Dr G W "ported that B was highly imbecile and deficient in understanding. "The sheriff of Edinburgh gave in a report to the same pur66 pose; and the Court held him to be imbecile, and refused his petition for recall of the curatory under which he had been placed. 66 66 "It is impossible to read these contradictory statements without "surprise; and an unreflecting mind might suspect want of discernment or candour on the part of the witnesses. But, in the first place, this case shews us how extremely vague the notions are which ordinary thinkers attach to the word faculties; and, "in the second place, the fact revealed by Phrenology, that some "faculties may be diseased or deficient, while others are entire, re"moves every difficulty. r "I have seen B, and can testify that his head presents a due "development of Language, Lower Individuality, Acquisitiveness, "Secretiveness, Conscientiousness, and Cautiousness; while the or"gans of the Reflecting Faculties, although distinctly marked, are "deficient in size. Hence the witnesses who had attended to the "manifestations of his faculty of Language alone, deposed that he "was an excellent scholar. The shoemakers and tradesmen who "had sold him goods, having found that, under the influence of his powerful Acquisitiveness, he drove a hard bargain, swore that he "was a shrewd and siccar man. The presbytery of Haddington, "at his first examination, which was confined to the languages, were pleased with his appearance; but the moment the manifes"tations of the Reflecting Faculties were required in a sermon, his "deficiencies of understanding appeared, and they according"ly rejected him. The medical gentlemen, and the sheriff who attempted to reason with him, pronounced the same opinion. The "individual appears to me to possess the sentiments and perceptive "faculties in a sound state, and in an average degree; while his "reasoning powers are rather deficient in strength than deranged. "The litigation in this case was prolonged to a ruinous extent, "and the Court was occupied for several days with long pleadings, "with the view of arriving at a distinct perception of the real state "of B's mind. It is obvious that each advocate might present a case of demonstrative evidence of sanity or insanity, according as he founded on the manifestations of the faculties whose organs were fully developed, or of those whose organs were deficient in size; and the difficulty to the Court in judging where the truth "lay, without a theory of mind at all capable of reconciling the apparent contradictions, must have been very great, To a Phrenologist, the case would have been clear from the first, and the dif"ferent parts of the evidence would have appeared, not in opposi"tion, but completely harmonious." 66 In a work where such a variety of subjects come under discussion, it is impossible to give an abridged view of the whole, and it would require a volume to state all our sentiments respecting the reasonings and views contained in it. We shall, therefore, rather go on at present, and select a few passages for extract that may be most likely to interest our readers; and from time to time we may give a short paper upon some of the views that we conceive to be questionable. The following is the answer to Dr Spurzheim's objections to the existence of an organ of Concentrativeness. Our readers are already in possession of Mr Combe's ideas respecting this faculty. "Dr Spurzheim, however, objects to these ideas, and states, that "his experience is in contradiction to them. Facts alone must de"termine between us. At the same time, there appears to be no thing in the notions of Dr Spurzheim concerning Inhabitiveness, "inconsistent with the more extensive views now taken of the func"tions of this faculty. "It has been objected by him, that Concentrativeness cannot "possibly be a primitive faculty, since it can neither act alone, nor appear diseased singly; and since its very existence only becomes apparent by the presence of other powers directed to one object.' "In answer, I observe that Concentrativeness, in bearing reference "to other powers, destined from their very nature, to act along with "it, resembles a variety of other faculties, about which there is no "doubt. Firmness produces perseverance, but we must always persevere in some effort; and the special feeling or intellectual exer"tion, in which determination is shewn, is furnished by other fa "culties. Thus perseverance in Observation is derived from Firm"ness acting along with Individuality; perseverance in Justice, "from that faculty aiding Conscientiousness. In like manner, ર "Self-esteem never acts alone; a man must esteem himself for knowledge, for wealth, for virtue, or for some other quality, and "these depend on other powers. It is the same with Cautiousness: we fear loss of friends from Cautiousness and Adhesiveness, or loss "of property from Cautiousness and Acquisitiveness. In this respect, then, Concentrativeness is not singular. 66 66 "As to disease of Concentrativeness, this organ appears to suffer "in those lunatics whose attention is immoveably fixed on some in"ternal impression, and who remain absorbed in silent and pro"found meditation, insensible alike to the threats and caresses of "those around them, and to the effects of external objects. They "differ from ordinary monomaniacs in this, that the latter, with "certain unsound feelings or intellectual perceptions, or with un"sound associations on the presentment of certain external objects, "can still direct their attention to other feelings or ideas, and con"cerning them can hold rational conversation. The state now at"tributed to diseased Concentrativeness must be distinguished also "from one for which it has been sometimes mistaken, viz. dementia approaching to idiocy, in which a fixed look and silent calmness appear, not from internal meditation, but from utter insensibility "to stimuli. In disease of Concentrativeness, the patient possesses "intense consciousness, and, when cured, is able to give an account "of all that passed in his mind during the malady; in dementia, "the period of the disease forms blank in existence, the individual "recollecting nothing. Dr A. Combe, to whom I owe these obser"vations, states, that he has heard Esquirol, in his lectures at the "Salpetrière, speak of cases such as those now described; and "he has seen examples which proved the accuracy of his account "of them, although, owing to the function not having been disco"vered at the time, he did not observe the condition of this particular organ. I am acquainted with a gentleman in whom the or"gan is large, and who, while labouring under a nervous affection, "in which Cautiousness and Conscientiousness were diseased, expe"rienced a feeling as if the power of concentrating his mind were "about to leave him, and who used vigorous efforts to preserve it. "He directed his attention to an object, frequently a spire at the "end of a long street, and resolutely maintained it immoveably fix"ed there for a considerable length of time, excluding all other "ideas from his mind. The consequence was, that in his then "weak state, a diseased fixity of mind ensued, in which feelings and "ideas stood as it were bound up and immoveable, and thereafter a "state in which every impression and emotion was floating and "fickle like images in water. He was then unacquainted with "Phrenology; but knows it now, and expresses his conviction that "the circumstances detailed were probably referable to a diseased "affection of the organ in question. "Dr Spurzheim objects farther, that no one, in concentrating "his mind, and directing his powers to one object, exhibits ges"tures and motions indicating activity in the back part of the head; "the whole of the natural language shews, that concentration "takes place in the forehead. With the greatest deference to "Dr Spurzheim's superior skill and accuracy, I take the liberty of VOL. III-No. IX. 66 stating, that, so far as my own observation goes, those persons "who really possess the power of concentration, while preparing to "make a powerful and combined exertion of all their powers, natu"rally draw the head and body backwards in the line of this organ. "Preachers and advocates in whom it is large, while speaking with "animation, move the head in the line of Concentrativeness and In"dividuality, or straight backwards and forwards, as if Concentra"tiveness supplied the impetus, and the organs in the forehead "served as the instruments to give it form and utterance. 66 6 "This organ,' continues Dr Spurzheim, ' is also commonly lar 66 6 ger in women than in men, and I leave every one to decide upon "the sex which supports the more close and vigorous attention.' In Scotland, and I may almost say in England, although my observations there have been less extensive, this is not the case; "the development being larger in men in general than in women. "It is, moreover,' says he, larger in Negroes and in the Celtic "tribes than in the Teutonic races; in the French, for instance, "it is larger than in the Germans. The national character of "these nations not only does not confirm the opinion of Mr Combe, but is in direct contradiction to it.' From this and some other objections of Dr Spurzheim, which I pass over without comment, "I am convinced that he has not correctly apprehended the quality "of mind which I designate by Concentrativeness. This must, no "doubt, be my fault; but it affords a good reason for not prolong"ing disputation. So far as my knowledge of French literature extends, it is not marked by deficiency of Concentrativeness. The "intellectual range of the French is limited, but no nation at"tains to greater perfection within the sphere which their faculties are calculated to reach: they write the best elementary works on "science of any people of Europe; and to this Concentrativeness is "essential. They bring their powers to bear in a regulated manner on the point under consideration, and present it clearly and defi"nitely to the understanding. The Germans have more powerful reflecting faculties than the French, and also greater perseverance; "but, if I may judge from the limited knowledge of their literature, which I have been able to obtain, they appear inferior to "them in Concentrativeness. They introduce more frequently ex"traneous ideas and feelings, and do not arrive at so neat and com"plete a whole in their compositions. 66 66 66 66 "The leading object of these discussions is to enable the reader to "form an idea of the mental quality, if it be such, intended to be "designated by Concentrativeness, so that he may be able to decide "on the function of the organ by his own observations. It acts along "with the feelings as well as with the intellect. Abstract reason"ing is not admitted in Phrenology as proof in favour of any organ "or faculty; and I have observed that, by leading the mind in"sensibly to adopt a conclusion for or against particular ideas, it "produces a tendency to seek support for opinions rather than truth, "and thereby retards the progress of accurate investigation.-The |