And when he cast his eyes about, "How many heads are there," says he, "So very like they are, indeed, He pull❜d a turnip from the ground; And so, indeed, it truly was His own in every sense; For CAST and JOKE alike were made The medical gentleman called on Mr Combe next day, and assured him that he meant no offence, and intended only a joke. Mr C. replied, that he treated the matter entirely as such; and that if the author of it was satisfied with his share of the wit, no feeling of uneasiness remained on the other side. The story got into the Caledonian Mercury, at the time, so that the above misrepresentation must have proceeded on the faith that the real facts were by this time forgotten. For nearly six months past, the opponents of phrenology have been chuckling over this story, as a delightful specimen of the accuracy of our science; and we have been equally amused with the proof it affords of their own gullibility. A human skull is an object which it is possible to imitate; and if, in the instance in question, or in any other instance, the imitation had been perfect, a cast from the fac-simile would have been just as completely indicative of natural talents and dispositions as a cast from the original skull itself, supposing phrenology to have a foundation in nature. There was a lack, therefore, not only of wit but of judgment, in the very conception of the trick. If the imitation was complete, no difference could exist betwixt a cast from a turnip, and a cast from the skull which it was made exactly to resemble; if it was imperfect, the author of the joke, by his very departure from nature, encountered an evident risk of his design being detected, and becoming, himself, the butt of the very ridicule which he meant to direct against the phrenologist. This has actually been the result. The imitation was execrably bad, and the cast smelt so strongly of turnip, that a cow could have discovered its origin. We do not mean to say, that the pot-house wits themselves would have been equally acute: far otherwise; for there cannot be even the shadow of doubt, that, had a cast, taken from a turnip as it grew, without any attempt to make it resemble a human head, been submitted to them, granting to them the unusual advantage of perfect sobriety, they would not have discovered the trick. An experienced phrenologist was the last person on whom the deception could pass; but all heads are alike -all turnips are heads, and all heads turnips, on the very shewing of the anti-phrenologists. 2. An enemy of phrenology is known to have deliberately averred, that he heard an eminent phrenologist say, that he had cut the acquaintance of several persons upon their unfavourable cerebral development alone ;-while the truth was, that he really heard the phrenologist say, that it was of the essence of the science to teach us to bear with our neighbour's peculiarities, knowing these to be the natural result of his cerebral develop ment. 3. It is boldly stated by some enemies of phrenology, and with amazing effect on the credulity of the public, that Dr Spurzheim himself,-Dr Spurzheim who has for nearly twenty years devoted every faculty of his mind to the new science, and who continues to teach it with indefatigable zeal,-that Dr Spurzheim ACKNOWLEDGES that he has been all along trying experiments on the "gullibility" of mankind, and laughing in his sleeve at his success!!! What must be the extent of that "gullibility" on which such a story can take effect! 4. "The author of The Gathering of the West,' politely re"fused to allow his head to be manupilized by the same hands "that so successfully developed the cerebral organization of Haggart the murderer."-Blackwood's Fables, No lxxii. p. 130. The truth. The author of "The Gathering of the "West" was in the company of the phrenologist who ascertained the cerebral organization of David Haggart, (nature having previously developed the said cerebral organization), and who published the result of his observations, which, in spite of the contemptible ribaldry to which it has given rise, all who understand phrenology, and do not misapply even its most elementary terms, held, and do still hold as affording a demonstration of the truth of the science. This phrenologist authorizes us to counter-state, that the author of "The Gathering of the West" requested him to examine his cranium. He declined, and remained firm, although much urged by that gentleman. The falsehood is not imputed to the said author, to whom we should not have alluded, had he not been first dragged forward by coarser hands, and thereby insulted as the subject of a malevolent falsehood, and had that falsehood not been directed against a phrenologist. III.-IMPERTINENCIES AND INSOLENCIES. Under this head we class all empty petulances, which merely indicate their author's over-respect for himself, and under-respect for his opponents, when he has not established, by his facts or arguments, even the shadow of a right to assume such a style;-all pertnesses, flippancies, and insulting jeers, in short, which require no other quality than effrontery, and which are always found in close connexion with disgraceful ignorance. Exempli gratia. 1. "Scotch Nonsense" was the suitable title which the doubtless philosophic editor of a well-known London newspaper had (of course by patient investigation of phrenology) qualified himself to give to an extract he was pleased to copy from the Caledonian Mercury, describing the cerebral development of Mrs McKinnon, lately executed in Edinburgh for murder, which so irresistibly illustrated the science. If phrenology be nonsense, it is assuredly not Scotch nonsense, having originated in Germany, and being counte nanced in England by men of the pitch at least of that editor. A Scotch phrenologist prepared, but did not send to the Caledonian Mercury, the following paragraph, for the eye of this enlightened anti-phrenologist. We are happy to supply the defect : "English Sense.-Many persons, no doubt, regard the doc"trines as too ridiculous to merit a serious refutation, but we cannot subscribe to this opinion. The writings of Drs Gall "and Spurzheim themselves are worthy of a calm and philoso"phical refutation, if they contain erroneous views; but when "other men of judgment, and not destitute of talent, come for"ward as supporters of their opinions, and not only so, but "when societies are formed for their cultivation, we suspect "that the tide of ridicule will soon begin to flow in an opposite "direction, if those who patronise the established system perse"vere in this supercilious treatment of their opponents. The contempt of the Chinese for the science and literature of "Europe does not arise from a more enlarged and comprehen"sive understanding in that nation, but it marks the extent to "which ignorance and prejudice possess the mastery over their "minds."-LONDON Medico-Chirurgical Review, March 1823. Blackwood again. 2. "Cranioscopy means the inspection of the cranium, and craniology a discourse on the cranium. Phrenology is deriv"ed from the Greek noun gvas, mind, or rather, perhaps, "from givitis, mentis delirium, the same root from which our "common English word phrensy takes its rise, and which signifies, according to Dr Johnson, on the authority of Milton, madness, frantickness. The Scottish writers, on this subject, "with the characteristic good sense of their countrymen, prefer "the appropriate term phrenology (first applied, nevertheless, by "Dr Spurzheim,) to the less significant terms employed by the "cranial philosophers of the south, or the fathers of skull-science "on the continent. Phrenitis, in the nosological systems of "Sauvages and Cullen, I need scarcely remark, is a cognate "word.”—Blackwood's Magazine, No liv. p. 73, note. 3. "The most inveterate enemies (we thank thee, Jew!) of "Gall and Spurzheim must now be convinced-convicted of "the blind folly of their opposition to the doctrines of those great discoverers in the philosophy of the human mind. For"tunately for mankind, David Haggart murdered the jailor of "the Dumfries prison, and that distinguished craniologist, Mr "George Combe, having, according to the method of induction Sed potius, Pony. such matetrs. We notice this, as that classical journal is particular in "prescribed by his predecessor Lord Bacon, and explained by "his contemporary Mr Macvey Napier, studied the natural "character of the murderer, as indicated by his cerebral organization, has been enabled to place phrenology among "the number of the exact sciences. Looking upon this "achievement as by far the greatest that has been performed in our day, we shall endeavour to present our readers with a "short sketch of Mr Combe's discoveries, which have thus "formed an era in the history of human knowledge. 66 "Mr George Combe, who possesses a tenderness of sensibili"ty rarely found united with great intellectual power, made "his experiments," &c. &c.-Blackwood's Magazine, No lix. p. 682. 4. "From the slight and imperfect sketch which we have now given of the conduct of this interesting young man, (Haggart), as furnished to us by Mr Combe, the world will "perceive the high character of that philosophy of which he is "the ablest expounder. For our own parts, we think that "Gall and Spurzheim, and Combe, have thrown greater light on the nature of man than all the other philosophers put to"gether since the world began. Indeed, there is now little or nothing to discover. The moral and intellectual geography "of the head of man, and, we understand, of all other animals, " is laid down with a minuteness of accuracy that must be very "galling to the feelings of an Arrowsmith or a Morrison. "Aristotle, Lord Bacon, and Locke, are mere impotent ninnies "in comparison with Gall, Spurzheim, and Combe; and, in"deed, any one page of Combe's great work on Phrenology, is "worth all that Bactrian, Samian sage e'er writ.' We propose that a collossal and equestrian statue be erected to him on the Calton-hill, instead of that absurd national monument "the Parthenon; and that a subscription be forthwith set a-going, under the auspices of Sir John Sinclair, who will "soon make Michael Linning hide his diminished head."Blackwood's Magazine, No lix. p. 690. 66 66 66 What immediately follows is little short of intuition. It is our friend the Literary Gazette once more, as promised. 5. "Poor Dr Stukely never dreamed that a future age would "produce a tribe of crazy sciolists, denominating themselves cra"niologists, (which they do not); that these visionary abortions "would establish in modern Athens, formerly known by the "name of Edinburgh, a Phrenological Society, (why not Crani"logical?) and open a toy-shop in the Strand for the sale of casts "from the heads of those worthies who have been executed for "murder, rape, and larceny; or, to employ the technical phraseology of this crew, who have been martyrs to excessive "destructiveness, amativeness, and secretiveness. How would |