Phrenology

(fre-nol'o-je.) (From Gr. phrên, the mind, and logos, description.] A modern science, which profe es to teach, from the conformation of the human skull, the particular characters and propensities of men, presuming that the powers of the mind and the sensations are dependent on peculiar parts of the brain; the front portions governing the intellectual, the middle portions the sentimental, and the hinder portions the animal propensities; the degree of which is dependent on the projection or bulk of the parts. It was long ago observed by physiologists, that the characters of animals were determined by the formation of the forehead, and that their intelligence, in most cases, rose or fell in proportion to the elevation or depre ion of the skull. But it was reserved to Drs. Gall and Spurzheim to expand this germ of doctrine into a minute system, and to map out the whole cranium into small sections, each being the dwelling-place ofa certain faculty, propensity, or sentiment; all these sections amounting to thirty-five, and having certain names given to them to mark their specific qualities, their uses and abuses. Were P. an established science, and were it po ible to draw unerring deductions from the data which it lays down, its discovery would be the greatest step ever made in mental philosophy, and its application the most beneficial means ever used for the amelioration of the human race. By revealing individual character, it would give security to social intercourse, and make communication prompt and easy. It would disclose real merit and expose unworthine . The truly wise and good would at last attain their proper station in society, while the ignorant and vicious would be known and shunned But neither is P. an established science, nor, if it were, can it ever be applied with certainty to the illustration of individual character. Many of the organs are so heterogeneous in their nature, that they may indicate faculties or dispositions diametrically opposite, while others are furnished with compensating organs which balance their good or evil tendencies, and so render both ineffective. Thus you may have the organ of destructivene developed largely, and yet be a peaceable and good man. How is this accounted for? Your organs of cautiousne and benevolence are brought to bear upon it, so that it becomes harmle . The science, however, if not carried too far, is not unreasonable, since we generally find a peculiar form of skull to accompany peculiarities of disposition; and the ancient sculptors, though, as a science, P. was unknown to them, do not appear to have been re- [s. 707]