kept by the lads, noting down daily whatever of interest transpires in the institution. The following extract is copied from this Log-book, of November 10, 1840, as kept by the pupils. It is proper to state, that Mr. Gordon, (the teacher,) whose name is mentioned, is not a phrenologist, and had no agency or hand in making the record:

"A mild fine day. Two gentlemen came here and felt our heads; they were both phrenologists. Mr. Gordon spoke to them. He asked them what boy has a large imagination? They felt our heads, and pointed to Coyle. Their judgments are correct; Coyle has a powerful imagination, and delights in similes and deep thoughts. Mr. Gordon again asked them to point out a boy of fine and generous dispositions, and who is fond of imitating others. One felt our heads, and pointed to Tom, and said he was fond of imitating others. He also said he possessed many fine qualities of the mind. He said, also, he is timid, and he is always frightened at pain, and, again, he is frightened at difficulties in his study. What boy is talented in mechanics? He felt our heads, and pointed to Cooke. We said his judgment was correct, because G. Cooke was a great mechanic, and can make any thing he sees, and he invents many curious things. One of the phrenologists felt our heads, and pointed to Aubin, and spoke to Mr. Gordon, and Mr. Gordon told us the gentleman says Aubin is fond of drawing. We know he is so, because his faculty of drawing is admirable. The phrenologists felt another of our schoolfellows' heads: we must not name him, because it would pain his heart; and the phrenologist said he is a vain and sly fellow, and is forgetful of kindness. We cannot say 'tis not true, but we pray it is not so. The phrenologists felt another of our schoolfellows' heads, and said he is a subtle and artful fellow; he always sets cunning schemes, and thinks himself successful, but he always fails in his deceitful designs. That is very true; we know it is true. They felt B.'s head, and spoke to Mr. Gordon, and said he is sluggish. We said, their opinions are right, because we have often observed that boy does not love to write or learn of himself, but we are obliged often to remind him of his duties. The phrenologists felt E.'s head, and spoke to Mr. Gordon and said, That boy is passionate, and when his temper is excited, his features appear frowning and furrowed with rage. We said, it is true, and it is very true. The phrenologists felt P.'s head, and spoke to Mr. Gordon and said, he was a cunning little fellow, but his habits are changing, and he is becoming more open. We said it is true; we know it is true. We do not say these things are true, because the phrenologists say they are true; but we say these things are true, because we know they are so by experience and observation of our schoolfellows."

MISCELLANY.

A Lecture on Temperance, Physiologically and Phrenologically considered. By O. S. FOWLER.

As it is our intention ere long to present an article in the Journal on this subject, we will for the present only avail ourselves of the following notice of the above performance, which appeared in a late number of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal:-"Mr. O. S. Fowler has constructed a pamphlet of twenty-four pages, in which he has discussed, phrenologically, ten propositions-showing, first, the laws which govern the relations existing between certain states of the body and those of the mind; next, the penalties attached to their violation, and the effects of alcoholic drinks of every kind and degree upon the physical and mental economy. In the first proposition, Mr. Fowler assumes that there exists reciprocal relations between the conditions of the body and the states of the mind-each influencing and being influenced by the other. As a whole, we view the undertaking as an ingenious contribution to the cause of temperance, logically, phrenologically, and medically considered. It may touch a string that no other argument has reached, and its circulation should, therefore, be encouraged by the temperance reformers. If phrenology supplies cogent reasons for living temperate lives, it is turning the science to a practical account at a momentous period. With these remarks, we recommend our friend Fowler's contribution to the cause of morals, health, and happiness-to all who feel their accountability to society for the manner in which they exert their influence."

Western Athenæum and Journal of Phrenology, published at Andersontown, Ia., and edited by Thomas Sim, M. D. This is a weekly newspaper, devoted partly to phrenology. Sixteen numbers have already been issued; and we learn, from a recent editorial notice, that the work has met with so good encouragement, that it may be considered as "now firmly established." There is in course of publication in this journal, A Text Book on Phrenology, by the editor, appearing in successive chapters in each paper, which promises to be a valuable treatise on the science. We hail the publication of this journal as a harbinger of good for phrenology in the "far west," and hope that it will prove a valuable auxiliary in diffusing more generally the principles of the science.

A Phrenological Chart and Table of Combinations. By W. FELCH. Mr. Felch belongs to Massachusetts, and is favourably known to the public as the author of a new system of grammar, in which he has made. an application of the principles of phrenology. In the chart before us, we find an extended series (numbering over one thousand) of phrenological combinations-the faculties, and their combined tendencies, being expressed in an abbreviated form-showing that every possible trait and shade of character can be clearly and fully explained on the principles of this science. Says Mr. Felch, in his prefatory remarks "the natural laws of mind, so far as we can discover or comprehend them, are but the laws of organic structure. To the study and observance of these laws, the Creator has bound us, by amazing rewards and amazing

penalties, of which the third and fourth generation' are not unusually the heirs. Know ye not,' says an apostle, that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? If this remark applies to the whole corporeal frame, more emphatically does it apply to that portion of it called the brain, which all admit to be the immediate organ or organs of the mind."

Bulwer a Phrenologist.—In a recent work by this celebrated writerviz. "Timon, but not of Athens"-we find the principles of phrenology repeatedly and distinctly recognised. The author has gone so far as to make his leading and favourite character a phrenologist, and represents him as holding an extended dialogue on the subject, from which we make the following extract:

"You are, then," said I, "a believer in the system of Gall and Spurzheim ?"

"Yes; there was a time when I had no faith in the science of phrenology. It was through a conversation that I one day had with an intelligent German, that my attention was first turned to it as a science. I began to study it perseveringly; and the result was, my complete conviction that all the faculties of the mind, and all those manifestations of it which make up the moral nature of man, depend on the organisation of the brain."

Phrenological Bequest.-We learn, from a late number of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, that Dr. Roberton, of Paris, an intimate friend and disciple of Dr. Spurzheim, in his last will and testament, made the following bequest: viz. to the Boston Phrenological Society, the whole of his extensive phrenological cabinet, which is represented to be unrivaled in any country; and with his own skull, and 1000 francs, to pay the expense of transportation to the United States. A copy of the Will was forwarded to Dr. Howe, the president of the society, by Mr. George Combe. This is a noble donation, and we hope it will prove the means of creating new life and activity among the members of the Boston Phrenological Society.

Case of Idiocy.-Mr. Bally, of Manchester, presented to the Phrenological Association, at its late meeting, the cast of the head and brain of an idiot, who died April 7th, 1840, aged twenty-eight years. The head measured in circumference 14 inches (average of adult head, 22); from ear to ear, over the crown, 6 inches (average, 13 to 14 inches). The brain weighed 13 ounces (average, 3 pounds and upwards). Mr. Bally gave a particular account of the dispositions and mental endowments of this idiot, which, of course, were of a very low grade, and corresponded to the great diminution in the size of the brain, affording a very good illustration of the phrenological principle, that the brain is the organ of the mind, or the instrument through which the mind acts in this world.

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We learn from the Boston papers, that Rev. Dr. Walker, Professor of Moral Philosophy in Harvard University, is now delivering a course of lectures on Natural Religion before the Lowell Institute of that city. Dr. W. advocates the theory that man is, by nature, endowed with a sentiment of religious worship, but, at the same time, discards all the positive demonstrations furnished in proof of this position by phrenology, because, forsooth, Voltaire had large Veneration!

(Presented to the Faculty of Pennsylvania Medical College as an Inaugural Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, by a member of the graduating class, March 1, 1841.)

The celebrated Dr. Rush, in enumerating the causes that retarded the progress of medicine, adduces as one of the principal, the neglect of cultivating those branches of science which are most intimately connected with medicine. These are, says he, chiefly "natural history and metaphysics." The former term he used in its widest sense, comprising both the animal and vegetable kingdom; but by the term metaphysics, he intended to include only that field of inquiry which relates to a knowledge of the operations and faculties of the human mind.

Though the above remark of Dr. Rush was made nearly a half century since, yet it may apply, if we mistake not, with equal force and propriety to the present state of medical science. While every other branch of knowledge connected with medicine has been rapidly progressing, that styled here metaphysics, has, to a very great extent, been treated with entire neglect by a large majority of this profession. Perhaps it may be safely stated, that in no other department of human improvement has there been a greater advancement for the last fifty years, than in that of medicine. Every year has witnessed some important developement of new truths, as well as a more safe and correct application of those already discovered. Anatomy, physiology, and surgery, have each within this period been enriched by many splendid discoveries and improvements. Pathology, which then was scarcely known or recognised as a distinct branch of medical study, has since received great attention, and has shed a vast amount of light upon the causes, symptoms, and treatment VOL. III.-16

of disease. The departments of materia medica and therapeutics have also been greatly improved by many new discoveries in chemistry and pharmacy. Add to these the experience and observations of many able and skilful physicians, and we have medicine in its present highly cultivated and improved state. But the same cause which Dr. Rush mentions as retarding the progress of this noble science, still exists. While every other branch of medical knowledge has been constantly advancing, a knowledge of mind, as far as medicine is concerned, has remained almost stationary for centuries. Dr. South

wood Smith very correctly observes, that "the degree in which the science of mind is neglected in our age and country-and may it not be justly added, in our profession-is truly deplorable." There must be some cause or reason for this state of things, and the writer proposes in the present essay to inquire

I. Why the cultivation of metaphysics is so generally neglected by medical men; and

II. To point out the intimate connection of mental philosophy with medicine; and

III. To offer some remarks upon the importance of a knowledge of this science to the physician.

In the first place, it cannot be adduced as a reason why mental science is no more successfully cultivated, that not sufficient talent, learning, and research, have been devoted to the subject. Some of the best minds that the world ever produced have laboured most assiduously in this field of study, and their productions bear the stamp of unwearied industry and profound attainments. Again: this neglect cannot be accounted for by any reasons deduced from the nature and unimportance of the subject. All writers on the philosophy of mind have borne their united testimony that a knowledge of the principles and applications of this science is of the highest possible importance. But the great and most efficient cause of this neglect, as we apprehend, remains to be stated-it is the erroneous mode of investigation that has been hitherto employed; the leading defects of which may be summed up under the following heads.

1st, The cultivators of metaphysics have omitted in their investigations almost entirely the intimate and necessary connection that exists between the mind and the body. In all their researches, they have viewed the mind as an abstract essence-as existing, and performing all its operations, independent of any material instrument or influences. They have treated not only with neglect, but with disrespect, that great law established by an all-wise Creator-viz. that mind, in this world, should be dependent on physical organisation for its manifestations. This law constitutes the only true foundation upon