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All that lies before line AA is the anterior lobe, or organs of the intellectual faculties. It is larger in the Reverend Mr. M. than in the other two space above the horizontal dotted line B marks the region of the moral sentiments: The space fron A backwards, below B, indicates the region of the propensities, which in Burke and Hare is much larger in proportion to the size of the moral and intellectual regions than in the Reverend Mr. M.

These figures were drawn by Mr. Joseph, by the Camera lucida, from casts from nature. If deduction be made for the thickness of the integuments and skull in all the three, the proportion of the moral regions in Burke and Hare to the animal region will be very small.

By observing the proportions of the different regions, it will be discovered, that, in some instances, the greater mass of the brain lies between the ear and the forehead; in others between the ear and the occiput; and in others above the ear in perpendicular height. Great differences in breadth are also remarkable; some heads being narrow throughout, and some broad. row before, and broad behind, and vice versa. Reverend Mr. M., Mary Macinnes, Pallet, and contrasted with this view.*

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After becoming familiar with the general size and configuration of heads, the student may proceed to the observation of individual orguns; and, in studying them, the real dimensions, including both length and breadth, and not the mere prominence of each organ, should be looked for.

In estimating the size of the organs, both length and breadth must be attended to. The length of an organ is ascertained by the distance from the medulla oblongata to the peripheral surface. A line passing through the head from one ear to the other, would nearly touch the medulla oblongata, and hence the external opening of the ear is assumed as a convenient point from which to estimate length. The breadth of an organ is judged of by its peripheral expansion; and it is a general law of physiology, that the breadth of any organ throughout its whole course, bears a relation to its expansion at the surface: the optic and olfactory nerves are examples in point. It has been objected that the breadth of the organs cannot be ascertained, because the boundaries of them are not sufficiently determinate.

In answer, I observe, that although the boundaries of the different organs cannot be determined with mathematical precision, like those of a triangle, a square, or rhomboid; yet, in a single case, an accurate observer may make a very near approximation to the

* The Casts and Skulls, referred to in the subsequent pages, will soon be for sale by the publishers, M. C. & L.

truth; and, in a great multitude of cases, the very doctrine of chances, and of the compensation of errors, must satisfy any one that these boundaries may be defined with sufficient precision for all practical purposes. Even in the exact sciences themselves, an approximate solution is frequently all that is attainable; and if the opponents would only make themselves masters of the binomial theorem, or pay a little attention to the expansion of infinite series, they would not persist in calling for a degree of accuracy which is impossible, or in neglecting an important element in a calculation, because it is involved in a certain liability to error within very narrow limits. The absurdity of the reason assigned for this omission, is rendered still more apparent by the case of the prismatic spectrum, which I conceive to be exactly in point. Now, what is it that this beautiful phenomenon displays? The seven primary colors, arranged in a peculiar order, and glowing with an almost painful intensity. But each of these colors occupies a certain space in relation to the whole, the boundaries of which it may be impossible for the hand or eye to trace with geometrical precision, although the relative space in question has nevertheless been made the subject of measurement, and a very close approximation obtained from the mean of a vast number of trials. According to the principle followed by some antiphrenologists, however, breadth should be altogether neglected, because the boundaries of the respective colors are, forsooth, "purely ideal," as if a mathematical line were not the most perfect idealism or abstraction which the mind of man can possibly form. This idealism or abstraction, however, has no more to do with those approximations which may be obtained practically by repeated trials, than the mathematical definition of a line with a metallic rod; and it is a mere quibble to pretend, for example, that we ought not to measure the length of the rod, because it may not correspond with the definition of the line. Upon the strange principle which some opponents have adopted, they must be prepared to maintain, that the boundaries of a bill or hillock are purely ideal, and depend in every instance on the fancy of the measurer.

* Caledonian Mercury, 11th June, 1829.

The science of Geology affords another illustration. The leading rocks bear so many characteristic marks of distinction, that no ordinary observer can mistake them, yet particular specimens approach the same standard so nearly that the most skilful observers will sometimes err, and believe basalt to be clay-stone, or gneiss granite. In teaching this science, however, the leading features of the rocks are found sufficient to guide the student to knowledge of the principles; and his own sagacity, improved by experience, enables him in due time to deal successfully with the intricacies and difficulties of the study. The same rule ought to be followed in cultivating phrenology.

An organ may thus be likened to an inverted cone, with its apex in the medulla, and its base at the surface of the brain; the broader the base and longer the distance between it and the apex, the greater will be the size, or the quantity of matter which it will contain.* This simile, however, is introduced merely as an illustration, and I do not assert that the organs may be seen regularly disposed in the brain in the shape of cones. line from the ear to the forehead be much larger than from the ear backward, and the breadth nearly the same, we infer that the

Hence, if the

*“There are many convolutions," says Dr. Spurzheim, “in the middle line between the two hemispheres of the brain, and others at the basis and between the anterior and middle lobes, which do not appear on the surface; but it seems to me that a great part, at least, of every organ does present itself there, and further, that all the parts of each organ are equally developed, so that, though a portion only appear, the state of the whole may be inferred. The whole cerebellum does not reach the skull, yet its functions may be determined from the part which does. The cerebral parts, situated in the middle line between the hemispheres, seem proportionate to the superincumbent convolutions; at least I have always observed a proportion in the vertical direction between them."-Phrenology, p. 121.

The cerebral parts, situated around "and behind the orbit, also require some care and experience on the part of the phrenologist, to be judged of accurately. Their developement is discoverable from the position of the eye-ball, and from the figure of the superciliary ridge. According as the eye-ball is prominent or hidden in the orbit, depressed or pushed side ward, inward, or outward, we may judge of the developement of the organs situated around and behind it."—Ibid. Particular directions for observing the parts there situated will be given, when treating of the relative organs.

organs in the forehead predominate. If, on the other hand, the forehead be very narrow, as in Thurtell, and the hindhead very broad, we hold the posterior organs to predominate, although the length be the same in both directions.

The whole organs in a head should be examined, and their re1ative proportions noted. Errors may be committed at first; but without practice, there will be no expertness. Practice, with at least an average endowment of the organs of Form, Size, and Locality, are necessary to qualify a person to make observations with success. Individuals whose heads are very narrow between the eyes, and little developed at the top of the nose, where these organs are placed, experience great difficulty in distinguishing the situations and minute shades in the proportions of different organs. (See Note as to Dr. Gall, No. I. of Appendix.) If one organ be much developed, and the neighboring organs very little, the developed organ will present an elevation or protuberance; but if the neighboring organs be developed in proportion, no protuberance can be perceived, and the surface is smooth. The student should learn from books, plates, and casts, or personal instruction (and the last is by far the best,) to distinguish the form of each organ, and its appearance, when developed in different proportions to the others, because there are slight modifications in the position of them in each head.

The phrenological bust shows the situations of the organs, and their proportions, only in one head; and it is impossible by it to communicate more information.* The different appearances in all

Attempts have been made by opponents to represent certain changes, in the numbering and marking of the organs in busts recently published, as "a Revolution in Phrenology." A brief explanation will place this matter in its true light. The phrenological bust sold in the shops is an artificial head, the utility of which depends on the degree in which the delineation of the organs on it approaches to the appearances most generally presented by the organs in nature. The first bust sold in this country exhibited the organs as they would be found in a particular head, not very common in this country, the bust having been imported from the Continent, and national heads being modified as much as national features. On 1st October, 1824, a new bust was published in Edinburgh, in which the delineation approached nearer to the appearance and relative proportions presented by the organs in this country. Subsequent observations showed that this bust

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