105

A perfectly formed Female Head, with superior temperament.

See page 80. No. 1, Reptile, ascending to No. 4, Orang. This page, No. 5, Idiotic Human Animal, ascending to No. 8, Apollo,

good or evil, commences almost in the cradle; and the influence of the mother on the formation of character is too much overlooked, and its importance too much lost sight of. The elegant but superficial acquirements which at present too much usurp the attention of young ladies, might in some measure be discarded, and the science of Phrenology, Physiology, &c., be substituted in their place, in order the more perfectly to qualify them to perform aright those high and important duties which, as mothers and the heads of families, usually devolve on them. It might be added, however, that American and European ladies, particularly in the higher circles, are many of them distinguished for their varied and highly useful scientific attainments, clearly proving, in many branches, nothing inferior to the boasted superiority of the male sex.

It has been aptly remarked, by Napoleon, that no great man ever had a weak mother; and undoubtedly his judgment was perfectly correct in assigning to the maternal side the greatest influence on the formation of character. On her alone hang the destinies of this republic, for children are almost the creatures of an intelligent mother's will. The phrenologist, in giving his estimate of character, will not, of course, be generally aware of all these foregoing important conditions, which so obviously and very materially affect the character. It must, therefore, be conceded that there are peculiarities of character, which legitimately do not come under the cognizance of this science, and for which due allowance will be made by the candid inquirer after truth. It is the paramount object of the science to point out particular excellencies and aptitudes of character, or the natural talents and disposition, also to point out defects, and to apply its proper corrective, by cultivating and exercising its antagonist faculties or opposing forces. Probably no condition is so necessary for the perfect possession of our faculties, and enjoying them in their highest degree of perfection, than a perfectly sound state of health, a compact and vigorous constitution, and energetic physical powers. Indeed, this is a consideration which has been so entirely overlooked, and the inference naturally drawn from it, that without a healthy physical organization, it is in vain to expect a vigorous, clear, and healthy exhibition of the mental powers. Many have yet to learn that man, however great his intellectual powers may be, can no more with impunity overtask the organs by which he exercises his intellectual powers, or sustain consecutive action of thinking for forty-eight hours without intermission, than can an individual exercise his physical or muscular energies for the same space of time, without great consequent loss of energy and exhaustion, alike injurious in both cases, and probably the delicate organ of the mind would be the greatest sufferer. Indeed, we have so many corroborations of this, in the premature deaths of so many bright and precocious geniuses, who have fallen early victims to over-exertion of the mental faculties in early infancy, we are in bounden duty compelled to caution all who have the charge of infants, or very young children, to be extremely careful not to over-task the tender and delicate organs of the mind. It would be extremely absurd to expect them to exhibit extraordinary mental acquirements, or very great physical energy, before their brain or physical structure has attained a perfect form and consistency. The first consideration ought to be the establishing a sound and vigorous constitution, as on this will greatly depend their future happiness and welfare, and which an affectionate mother only can duly

estimate.

UNDENIABLE PROOFS OF PHRENOLOGY.

Phrenology has been established and rests its claims to support solely by an appeal to facts, by actual demonstration and by induction. This rigid mode of establishing the science invariably leads to the conviction, that,

1. We have no evidence of thought or mind without brain: we therefore affirm it to be the organ of the mind, or the instrument and modus operandi by which the intelligent principle carries on its operations.

2. Because, by anatomical researches, we invariably discover, in the endless chain of beings, the brains of men and animals to be precisely in accordance with the various peculiarities, dispositions, and talents they are known to possess. In men only of superior formed heads do we find large cerebral masses or volume of brain in the forehead or frontal, also in the coronal or superior portion, giving an innate feeling of justice, veneration, and charity, also the peculiar aptitude for poetry, painting, mechanism, and metaphysics, combining the highest order of intellectual pursuits.

3. Because in men we find an infinitely greater diversity of forms of head or brain than in any other created beings, of the same species, whatever. In man, also, we find an infinitely greater diversity of talents, sentiments, and feelings, singularly corroborative of the phrenological analysis of his nature.

4. Idiocy is incontrovertibly proved to result from a deficiency of the intellectual organs, or from disease of that particular portion of brain, the forehead. Partial insanity, or mental hallucination upon some subjects only, is ascertained, by post mortem examinations, to be the effect of either external or internal injuries of those portions of brain only which are affected. Dreaming also results from imperfect sleep; those portions of the brain in this case retaining a degree of consciousness, by which we afterwards recall some of these impressions. Perfect sleep being perfect unconsciousness, man, in this state, closely resembles vegetative existence.

5. Because the heads of infants and adults are both extremely dissimilar, and both strikingly illustrative of their characters. The very differently formed heads of the opposite sexes, but of the same variety or even family, are always in accordance with their various known characteristics.

6. The hereditary transmission of family peculiarities, talents, and dispositions, are in some cases strikingly singular, and can be accounted for on no other than the phrenological principle, or the correspondence and similarity of organization of the brain, form, and features "the like producing its kind." Human action is clearly referable to organization. "modified by circumstances,"

temperament, and education.

Human conduct is totally inexplicable upon any others of the numerous hypotheses of mental and moral philosophy which the ingenuity of men have been fabricating since the world began; and of them it may be said, before the progressive, onward march of this science of facts, they are

"Like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Dissolving, leaving not a wreck behind."

The tender infant, when first ushered into the world, with the finest formed head, or the finest formed legs, is alike incapable of either thinking or walking, from the want of strength and consistency, or maturity and perfection of the members or functions by which these operations are performed.

It is only in the full maturity and perfection of our physical being that we are enabled to exhibit our highest or happiest intellectual efforts, or the greatest amount of physical energies.

The disease, decay, and gradual extinction of animal and intellectual powers appear the natural concomitants of extreme old age; this period presenting the melancholy spectacle of the tottering, imbecile, and weak old man—a perfect wreck both of body and mind.

The great poet and pet of nature so beautifully illustrates these different periods of man's existence, that we must beg to quote him.

"At first the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms;

And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school; and then the lover,
Sighing like furnace with a woful ballad

Made to his mistress' eyebrow; then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth; and then the justice,
In fair, round belly, with good capon lined,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and modern instances.

And so he plays his part: the sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well-served, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice
Turning again toward childish treble pipes,
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange, eventful history,

Is second childishness, and mere oblivion

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

Concussions on the brain produce insensibility in a greater or less degree, proportionate to the injury sustained. The various degrees of intoxication are also productive of a corresponding degree of

mental imbecility, amounting, in extreme cases, to total insensibility. This is clearly referable to the combined effects of the rush of deleterious gases to the brain, generated by the chemical action of this liquid fire, or alcohol, on the contents of the stomach, also from the repletion of all the vessels, particularly of the brain, thus producing a greater or less degree of inflammation or disease of this organ of the mind. Deleterious or noxious gases inhaled into the brain produce effects on the mind analogous to their character. The first stages of inebriation and the effects of "laughing gas" are very similar. Hypochondriacism, loss of children and lovers, or the frustration of any long-cherished passion, react frequently with a fearful energy on the whole animal economy, producing insanity, disease, and even death. Excessive mental agitation, intemperance, or excesses in any form, are therefore as prejudicial to the mind as body, and ought to be most sedulously avoided by those who wish to preserve their bodily and mental vigor unimpaired.

Cheerfulness and good temper are highly conducive to health; and happy are those who can preserve unruffled their equanimity under privations and disappointments. Grief, unmanly grief, ought to be beneath the dignity of proud, aspiring man: for

"Every grief but adds a nail to our coffin, there's no doubt,
Whilst every laugh so merry draws one out."

HARMONY OF SCRIPTURE WITH PHRENOLOGY.

The coming of the Messiah was a remarkable advent in the history of the world. Of him only it may be said, "He spake as never man spake;" and whose life, actions, and words are a true exemplification of Phrenology, and in precise accordance with its principles as a guide to human action. This affords at once one of the most conclusive evidences of the divinity of our Saviour, exhibiting in his God-like life those divine attributes of Christian charity, love, and forgiveness, which were so singularly contrasted with the bloody and barbarous Jews of that period, and indeed we may say of the whole world which, at that period of time, from the dreadful and exterminating wars which the most enlightened nations were waging against each other, had converted human beings into monsters, and this smiling world into one vast arena of blood and slaughter, wherein whole nations were oftentimes found exterminating each other, without regard to age, sex, or condition; thus surpassing in ferocity even the lowest orders of brute creation, who but rarely war with their own kind.

One of the most touching, affecting, and beautiful illustrations of character, found on record, ancient or modern, is that of the termination of the Saviour's sufferings. When under the excruciating