cera and that while PYTHAGORAS, PLATO, GALEN, HALLER, and some other Physiologists, placed the sentient soul or intellectual faculties in the brain, ARISTOTLE placed it in the heart, VAN HELMONT in the stomach, DES CARTES and his followers in the pineal gland, and Drelincourt and others in the cerebellum. He observed also, that a great number of Philosophers and Physiologists asserted, that all men are born with equal mental faculties; and that the differences observable among them are owing either to education, or to the accidental circumstances in which they are placed. If differences were accidental, he inferred, that there could be no natural signs of predominating faculties; and consequently that the project of learning, by observation, to distinguish the functions of the different portions of the brain, must be hopeless. This difficulty he combated by the reflection, that his brothers, sisters, and schoolfellows, had all received very nearly the same education, but that he had still observed each of them unfolding a distinct character, over which circumstances appeared to exert only a limited controul. He observed also, that not unfrequently those whose education had been conducted with the greatest care, and on whom the labours of teachers had been most assiduously bestowed, remained far behind their companions in attainments. "Often," says Dr GALL, “we were accused of want of will, or deficiency in zeal; but many of us could not, even with the most ardent desire, followed out by the most obstinate efforts, attain, in some pursuits, even to mediocrity; while in some other points, some of us surpassed our schoolfellows without an effort, and almost, it might be said, without perceiving it ourselves. But, in point of fact, our masters did not appear to attach much faith to the system which taught equality of mental faculties; for they thought themselves entitled to exact more from one scholar, and less from another. They spoke frequently of natural gifts, or of the gifts of God, and consoled their pupils in the words of the Gospel, by assuring them that each would be required to render an account, only in proportion to the gifts which he had received *" Being convinced by these facts, that there is a natural and constitutional diversity of talents and dispositions, he encountered in books still another obstacle to his success in determining the external signs of the mental powers. He found that, instead of faculties for languages, drawing, distinguishing places, music, and mechanical arts, corresponding to the different talents which he had observed in his schoolfellows, the metaphysicians spoke only of general powers, such as perception, conception, memory, imagination, and judgment; and when he endeavoured to discover external signs in the head, corresponding to these general faculties, or to determine the correctness of the physiological doctrines taught by the authors already mentioned, regarding the seat of the mind, he found perplexities without end, and difficulties insurmountable. Dr GALL, therefore, abandoning every theory and preconceived opinion, gave himself up entirely to the observation of nature. Being a friend to Dr NORD, Physician to a Lunatic Asylum in Vienna, he had opportunities, of which he availed himself, of making observations on the insane. He visited prisons, and resorted to schools; he was introduced to the courts of princes, to colleges, and the seats of justice; and wherever he heard of an individual distinguished in any particular way, either by remarkable endowment or deficiency, he observed and studied the de- ! velopment of his head. In this manner, by an almost imperceptible induction, he at last conceived himself warranted in believing, that particular mental powers are indicated by particular configurations of the head. Hitherto he had resorted only to physiognomical indications, as a means of discovering the functions of the brain. On reflection, however, he was convinced that Physiology is imperfect when separated from Anatomy. Having ob• Preface by Dr GALL to the " Anatomie, &c. du Cerveau," from which other facts in this work are taken 1 served a woman of fifty-four years of age, In every instance, when an individual, whose head he had observed while alive, happened to die, he used every means to be permitted to examine the brain, and frequently did so; and found, as a general fact, that, on removal of the skull, the brain, covered by the dura mater, presented a form corresponding to that which the skull had exhibited in life. The successive steps by which Dr GALL proceeded in his discoveries, are particularly deserving of attention. He did not, as many have imagined, first dissect the brain, and pretend, by that means, to discover the seats of the mental powers; neither did he, as others have conceived, first map out the skull into various compartments, and assign a faculty to each, according as his imagination led him to conceive the place appropriate to the power. On the contrary, he first observed a concomitance betwixt particular talents and dispositions, and particular forms of the head; he next ascertained, by removal of the skull, that the figure and size of the brain are indicated by these external forms; and it was only after these facts had been determined, that the brain was minutely dissected, and light thrown upon its structure. At Vienna, in 1796, Dr GALL, for the first time, delivered lectures on his system. In 1800, Dr J. G. SPURZHEIM✶ began the study of Phrenology under him, having in that year assisted, for the first • Born at Longuich, near Treves, on the Moselle, 31st December 1776. time, at one of his lectures. In 1804, he was associated with him in his labours; and, since that period, has not only added many valuable discoveries to those of Dr GALL, in the anatomy and physiology of the brain, but formed the truths brought to light, by their joint observations, into a beautiful and interesting system of mental philosophy. In Britain we are indebted chiefly to his personal exertions and printed works for a knowledge of the science. In the beginning of his inquiries, Dr GALL did not, and could not, foresee the result to which they would lead, or the relation which each successive fact, as it was discovered, would bear to the whole truths which time and experience might bring into view. He perceived, for instance, that the intensity of the desire for property, bore a relation to the size of one part of the brain; he announced this fact by itself, and called the part the organ of Theft, because he had found it largest in thieves. When he had discovered that the propensity to destroy was in connexion with another part of the brain, he announced this fact also as an isolated truth, and named the part the organ of Murder, because he had found it largest in criminals condemned for that crime. In a similar way, when he had discovered the connexion between the sentiment of Benevolence and another portion of the cerebral mass, he called the part the organ of Benevolence; and so on in regard to the other organs. This mode of proceeding has nothing in common with the formation of an hypothesis; and, so far from a disposition to invent a theory being conspicuous, there appears, in the disjointed items of information which Dr GALL at first presented to the public, a want of even an ordinary regard for systematic arrangement. His only object seems to have been to furnish a candid and uncoloured statement of the facts in nature which he had observed; leaving their value to be ascertained by time and farther investigation. As soon, however, as observation had brought to light the great body of the facts, and the functions of the faculties had been contemplated with a philosophical eye, a sys tem of mental philosophy appeared to emanate almost spontaneously from the previous chaos. When the process of discovery had proceeded a certain length, the facts were found to be connected by relations, which it was impossible sooner to perceive. Hence, at first, the doctrines appeared as a mere rude and undigested mass, of rather unseemly materials; the public mirth was, not unnaturally, excited, at the display of organs of Theft, Murder, and Cunning, as they were then named; and a degree of obloquy was brought upon the science, from which it is only now recovering. At this stage the doctrines were merely a species of physiognomy, and the apparent results were neither very prominent nor inviting. When, however, the study had been pursued for years, and the torch of philosophy had been applied to the facts discovered by observation, its real nature, as the science of the human mind, and its high utility, became apparent; and its character and name changed as it advanced. The following observations of Mr LOCKE are peculiarly applicable to its history and prospects. "Truth (says he) scarce ever yet carried it by vote any where, at its first appearance. New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed without any other reason, than because they are not common. But truth, like gold, is not the less so, for being newly brought out of the mine. 'Tis trial and examination must give it price, and not any antique fashion; and, though it be not yet current by the public stamp, yet it may, for all that, be as old as nature, and is certainly not the less genuine." Having now unfolded the principles and method of investigation of Phrenology, I solicit the attention of the reader to one question. We have heard much of Antiphrenologists; and I would ask, What does Antiphrenologist mean? Does it mean a person who, like Mr JEFFREY, denies that the mind in feeling and reflecting uses organs at all? To such a one I reply, that he ought to call himself an antiphysiologist; because, as already mentioned, every physiological |