dreams. His reason will never prove the existence of a soul; it will show that its existence may be inferred from the tendency of his desires, and that every thing he sees is calculated to encourage the belief; but is it to be supposed that our Maker, who would not suffer us to remain without intuitive knowledge of our dependance upon his power, of his benevolence, justice and perfection, and of his intention to bestow upon us future happiness, would leave to the inference of reason, the belief that we possess an immortal and indestructible soul, by which those qualities and hopes may eventually find exercise in a higher sphere? To this question we believe that phrenology will answer, No! It will teach us that our Maker has endowed us with a faculty which gives us an intuitive belief in the existence of the soul, and its independent action on the physical world, which prompts us to dwell with reverential awe and wonder upon all the phenomena of life, and all the mysterious workings of the animate upon the inanimate world."

"This faculty, then, we believe is that which manifests itself through that portion of the brain which has been denominated the organ of Wonder," (Marvellousness.) "It gives faith-faith in the existence and indestructibility of the soul-faith in its power over matter-faith in its capabilities of eternal happiness or misery-and faith in all the surrounding and occult influences of that spirit from which it is an emenation." According to this view of the subject, Marvellousness is strictly a religious organ, and we find it situated in that region of the brain appropriated to the moral and religious sentiments, while Wonder is grouped with the kindred faculties of Imitation, Ideality and Sublimity. In the head referred to in the beginning of this essay, the organ of Wonder is large, and there is a corresponding manifestation: while the organ of Marvellousness is deficient in the brain, and its operation not seen in the character. In every other instance of supposed contradiction, the explanation furnished by the two organs has been equally satisfactory. The foregoing ideas having been somewhat matured, were submitted to a number of phrenological friends in the habit of making examinations. Every decided case of developement that has yet come under their notice, has served to establish these facts, that there is an organ of Wonder distinct from Marvellousness, and that the locations and functions as here described are correct.

The object of this communication is to have these views tested by a more extended series of observations than either my friends or myself have had opportunities of making.

As sufficient information is here communicated to enable any phrenologist to ascertain the location and size of the organs, and satisfy himself

as to the truth or falsity of my views, any further remarks are needless at present.

That the reader, may have, some idea of the differences of opinion among phrenologists that this discovery will remove, I would refer him to Dr. Gall's works, vol. 5th, from page 205 to 216; Spurzheim's Phrenology, vol. 1st, pages 235, and 236; Combe's System of Phrenology, from, page 290.to 203; and the American Phrenological Journal, vol. 1st, from page 201 to 210.

Philadelphia, April, 1841,

ARTICLE IV.

APPLICATION OF PHRENOLOGY TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY,*

No question is more frequently asked than, What is the use of Phrenology? and none is more difficult to answer; not because this science is of no use, but because, 1st, The very term "use" is not apprehended in the same sense by different individuals; and, 2dly, phrenology is cal culated to supply so many deficiences in human practice and institutions, that it would require volumes to unfold them, and to render their real importance thoroughly conspicuous. Owing to the want of a philosophy of mind, education is highly empirical; and instead of obtaining from it a correct view of the nature of man, and of the duties and objects, of life, each individual is left to form theories upon these points for himself, derived from the impressions made on his own mind by the partic-. ular circumstances in which he is placed. Hence when a young man, educated as a merchant, asks the use of any thing, the only answer which will thoroughly interest him will be one showing how much money can be made by it; and the gay young officer will expect to hear how it may tend to promotion, or the attainment of an advantageous matrimonial connexion. To expound to such persons principles affecting the general interests of society, and to talk to them of the promotion of the happiness of human beings in their various conditions of husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, teachers and pupils, and governors and subjects, appears like dreaming or indulging a warm imagination in fanciful speculation. The experience of six thousand years they conceive sufficient to show that a man is not destined in this

From the 22d No. of the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal.

life to be greatly different from what he always has been, and what he now is; and that any discovery pretending to improve his condition, however desirable in itself, is not at all to be expected or believed in by sensible and sober people. With a view of answering the question, therefore, What is the use of phronology? it is necessary to show, first, what society wants; and, secondly, that phrenology is calculated materially to assist in supplying the deficiencies.

To understand correctly the nature of man, it is instructive to 'compare it with that of the lower animals. The lower creatures are des'tined to act 'from 'instinct; and instinct is a tendency to act in a certain way, planted in the animal directly by the Creator, without its knowing the ultimate design, or the nature of the means by which its aim is to be accomplished. A bee, for example, constructs a cell, according to 'the most rigid principles in physical science, in virtue of which, it is necessary that the fabric should possess a 'particular form, and be joined 'to other cells at a particular angle, in preference to all others. The creature has no knowledge of these principles; but acts in accordance with them by an impulse obviously implanted by the author of its 'being. Mah is 'not directed by unerring impulses like this; before he could construct a fabric with similar success, he would require to become acquainted, by experiment and observation, with the nature of the materials and 'the laws which affected 'them, and to possess a clear conception of the whole 'design previous to its commencement. Another example may 'be given. A mother, among the inferior animals, is impelled by pure instinct to administer to her offspring that kind of protection, food, and training, which its nature and circumstances require; and so admirably does she fulfil this duty, even at the first call, that human sagacity could not improve, or rather not at all equal her treatment. Now these animals proceed without consciousness of the admirable wisdom displayed in their own actions, because they do not act from 'knowledge or design. It is certain that wherever design appears, 'there must be intelligence; 'But the wisdom tesides not in the animals but in their Author. The Creator, therefore, in constituting the bee, or the beaver, or any other creatufe, 'possessed perfect knowledge of the external circumstances in which He was about to place it; and conferred on it powers, or instincts of action, most admirably adapted to its preservation and enjoyment with reference to thesc. Hence, when enlightened men contemplate the Habits and powers of animals, and compare them with their condition, they perceive wisdom most conspicuously displayed.

One consequence of this constitution, however, is, that among the lower creatures there is no progression. Their endowments and con

dition having been appointed directly by Divine wisdom, improvement is impossible, without a change either of their nature or of the external world; they are placed at once at the highest point to which their constitution permits them to rise; and the possibility of their attempting to rise out of their condition is effectually cut off, by their being denied not only the means of recording, but even of acquiring knowledge of design and relations beyond the sphere of their own instincts. The fact that the domestic animals improve under human tuition, is not in real opposition to this principle; because the nature of the horse, dog, and other creatures destined to live with man, is constituted with reference to human influence. Man is one of the natural objects by which they are surrounded, and their powers are constituted so as to admit of his improving them.

Man also has received instincts which resemble those of the lower animals; such as the love of sex, of offspring, of society, of praise, the instinct of resentment, and many others. But he is distinguished by the addition of two orders of faculties, which the inferior creatures want, 1st, Moral Sentiments, such as a Love of Justice, of Piety, of Universal Happiness, of Perfection; and, 2dly, Reflecting faculties fitted to acquire knowledge of the properties of external objects, of their modes of action, and of their effects.

These two classes of faculties render man a very different being from the inferior creatures. The function of reason is to acquire knowledge of objects and their effects: man, therefore, is not carried to the most beneficial mode of promoting his own happiness in the direct and unreflecting manner in which the inferior creatures are impelled. The human female, for example, devoid of all instruction and experience, will feel as lively a joy at the birth of a child, as warm an attachment towards it, and will as ardently desire its welfare, as the most devoted among the inferior creatures; but in that condition of ignorance, she will not administer towards it the same perfect treatment, with reference to its wants, as the mother in the lower scale; and for this reason the animal is prompted by the Author of Nature to do exactly what His wisdom knows to be necessary; whereas the human being has been commanded to exert her reason in studying her own nature, and the proper treatment befitting her offspring; and if she shall have neglected to perform this duty, she and her children will suffer the penalty in being exposed to all the consequences of following pernicious courses.

In fitting the lower animals for their conditions, the Creator necessarily proceeded on a perfect knowledge-1st, Of the nature of the creatures; 2dly, Of the nature of the external circumstances in which they

were respectively to be placed; and it is the admirable adoption of the one to the other, and the tendency of both to promote the happiness of the creatures, which is the foundation of the grand and irresistible argument in favor of the existence of a wise and benevolent Deity; 3dly, He implanted in them impulses, or desires, and gave them also the skill to do precisely that which is most proper for the attainment of the ends of their existence. To carry man to the highest degree of happiness which his nature can reach, the same wise adaptation of his constitution to his external circumstances must be attained; but man is not directed unerringly by instinctive impulses; on the contrary, he has been furnished with reason, and been left by the exercise of it to discover, 1st. His own nature; 2dly, The nature of external objects and their effects; and, 3dly, To adapt the one to the other for his own advantage.

The only limit to this proposition is, that each of his faculties, corporeal and mental, and every external object, has received a definite constitution and is regulated by precise laws, so that the limits have been set to human aberration, and also to human attainments; but within these limits, vast materials for producing happiness by harmonious and wise combinations, or misery by discordant and foolish combinations, exist; and these must be discovered and put in practice by man before he can reach the full enjoyment of which his nature is susceptible.

When, therefore, man shall know his own constitution, not vaguely and generally, but thoroughly and practically, in all its departments, and also the qualities of external objects, animate and inanimate, and the relations between himself and them; and shall found his institutions and regulate his habitual conduct in harmony with them, so far as his nature will admit, it is presumable that he will appear as wisely adapted to his condition as a reasonable being, as the lower animals appear adapted to theirs as beings of instinct.

We do not pretend to predicate to what degree of perfection man is capable of being carried by these means. Looking at the condition of the inferior animals, we should not expect optimism, because disease, death, cold, heat, and famine are incident to them all; but on dispassionately comparing the enjoyments of the inferior creatures, in relation to their natures, with the past and present enjoyments of the human race in relation to their superior capacities, we fear that man does not surpass them to the extent which he ought to do if he made a proper use of the means of promoting his own happiness fairly in his power. All that we venture to hope for, however, is that man, by the proper employment of the means presented to him, may arrive at last at a condition of enjoyment of his moral existence as great in relation to their nature, as that