*

tions are correct, they were made under a wrong impression, and he must distinguish for himself those manifestations resulting from Won der, from those caused by the activity of Marvellousness. Mr. Geo. Combe, in treating of the organ of Wonder, after giving Dr. Spurzheim's views, proceeds as follows: "My own observations on this organ, are the following. I have met with persons exceedingly fond of news, which, if extravagant, were the more acceptable; prone to the expression of surprise and astonishment in ordinary discourse; deeply affected by tale's of wonder; delighting in the Arabian Night's Entertainments, and the mysterious incidents abounding in the Waverly Novels, and in them I have uniformly found the part of the brain in question largely developed." * "In other persons I have found the part of the brain in question small, and in them it was accompanied with a staid soberness of feeling, diametrically the opposite of the manifestations above described. Such individuals were annoyed by every thing new or strange; they scarcely felt or expressed surprise, and had no taste for narratives leaving the beaten track of probability or reality, and soaring into the regions of supernatural fiction. On analyzing these manifestations, they all appear to be referrable to the sentiment of Wonder, an emotion which is quite distinguishable from those hitherto enumerated." So far Mr. Combe; from the shape and situation of the organ of Wonder as laid down by him, as well as from the tenor of his remarks on it, he seems to have confined his attention to the developement between Ideality and Imitation, almost to the exclusion of that part of the organ next Veneration and Hope.

The following extract from an article "On the primary function of the organ of Wonder," by M. B. Sampson, Esq., published in the American Phrenological Journal, vol. 1st, page 204, appears more consistent with facts and will better serve to explain my ideas respecting the organ of Marvellousness, than any thing I have yet seen. After some preliminary remarks, Mr. Sampson proceeds as follows: "Our belief in the necessity of submission to a Supreme Being-our hope of future happiness-the duties of justice and universal love, are all written as with a pen of fire upon our nature, and teach man the great truths of his being, albeit he may roam as a savage over the wildest plains, or pass his days in the colleges of civilization. Now next to the feeling of dependence upon God, the truth that presses most closely upon the interests of a living man, is that by which he recognizes in himself the possession of an indestructible power, independent of and commanding his physical organization, and without the consciousness of which, all his aspirations for future happiness, all his yearning towards perfection, all his sense of responsibility for good or evil, can only be regarded as vain and idle

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.

A.

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 calculated 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 particular 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 destined 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. Man 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 resides not in the animals but in their Author. The Creator, therefore, in constituting the bee, or the beaver, or any other creature, 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