Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 10th December 1853, Edition Country of 2, Page 16

Page 16
Page 16
16 of 24

On this page

  • Text (3)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      There Is Nothing Bo Monotonous As Philip...

      Mr . John Cliaprnan is publishing , in a neat octavo , a History of the Session 1852-3 , which we find is neither more nor less than a collection of the sketches contributed to the Leader during the last session by our correspondent , "A Stranger in Parliament . " Those who remember the articles will understand the sort of history they would make , and with how much greater clearness of view we should approach the consideration of the next session after possessing such a reminder of the events of the last . The " Stranger , " it vill be seen by his dedication and his preface , is intensely in earnest in pointing out that the moral of his "book is—Let us have a real Reform Bill .

      1192 The Leader. [Saturday, _. ' ¦¦¦¦" ¦...

      1192 THE LEADER . [ Saturday , _ . ' ¦¦¦¦ " ¦ ' ' — ; . ,, — ,... » .,..... 7 . ' ... — . ^ . J — -...- ¦ ' - ¦* ¦¦ - ' ¦¦¦ ¦ . - ¦ ' MTMTMrr" -T " **"" M" ™< l ^* " ' ^** IIg < ***** IM ' MIIBIB " ^ M > ia ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^^^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

      Books On O'Uft Table. The Poetical Wortc...

      BOOKS ON O ' Uft TABLE . The Poetical WorTcs of Robert Montgomery , XLA . Collected and Revised by tlic Author . Price 20 s . Chapman and Hall . Robert Montgomery has his admirers , as successive editions prove . ^ Here , in a compact double-columned volume of six hundred and fifty pages , the said admirers will find " corrected" all that the poet deems worthy of immortality . We cannot say that three successive efforts to read the poems enabled us to travel over many pages ; but in the notes we recognised a k indly spirit , and especially a generous appreciation of Shelley , which give us a more amiable idea of Mt . Montgomery than we had before . Those for whom this volume is destined we may inform that it is a handsome volume , of legible type , furnished with a good index . It is too late now to discuss the merits or demerits cf the works .

      Phrenology And Phrenologists. Elements O...

      PHRENOLOGY AND PHRENOLOGISTS . Elements of Psychological Medicine . An Introduction to the practical stiulij of Insanity , adapted for Students and junior Practitioners . By Daniel . Noblo . Price 7 s . 6 d . ' ^ urehill . It is notorious that a knowledge of Insanity forms no part of the medical student's curriculum ; it is notorious that only the keepers of private asylums , and the officers employed in general lunatic asylums , lrave any special knowledge of this Subject , and nevertheless it is also notorious , it is law of the land , that any person s freedom may be taken away , his children and property withdrawn from him , if-two medical men certify to the fact of his being insane . „ ,, . , ¦ ¦ : ,.,. ¦ -,... ' ,, ¦ workwhich is to

      To state these facts is to justify Dr . Noble's , designed instruct the student in the elements of Psychological Medicine ; to point out in what Insanity , rightly so-called , consists , thereby distinguishing it from Delirium to connect " it as far as may be with the present state of cerebral physiology ; and to explain the principles of treatment by constant reference to those more general principles applicable m ordinary medical practice . Although addressed principally to students , it is a book which all philosophic readers will gladly possess . The importance and interest of the subject will not suffer us to pass it over with a cursory indication of what Dr . Noble has attempted , we must pause awhile to consider some of the questions raised . , . . , ists dmitted

      And , first , of Phrenology . If the claims of Phrenolog are a , Insanity ceases to be a delicate and difficult branch of investigation , for the Phrenologists , who find little difficulty in anything , have explained it to their satisfaction . But Dr . Noble has . in this work emphatically avowed his conviction that Phrenology is not an acceptable system . He was once a phrenologist .. His former work On the Brain was written an support of Phrenology , and is often quoted as an authority . But although thus openly " committed" to the . system , although lie had gamed some kudos as a teacher , yet Years which bring the philosophic mindyears , and multiplied experience , acting in conjunction with the force of objections started by his critics , lrave made him abandon Phrenology , and openly avow his former error . stir in both But do not lot

      This recantation Avill make some camps . us exaggerate its significance . Dr . Noblo avows that . lie embraced Phrenology on very insufficient evidence . II , is not clear , however , that he abandoned it on evidence which to other minds would . have been conclusive . We note this , in passing , as a serious defect in the work before us . To take such a stop was bravo and honourable ; but for his own sake , and tho sake of truth , ho should have been explicit to the minutest detail . Wo must all desire to know what was the evidence which convinced him of his error . He has only given us generalities ; but what guarantee is there for liis not having been as hasty iu throwing down as in taking up Phrenology P It is desire for a clear and open arena in which the battle may no fought , which makes us challenge Dr . Noble on this head . We are not Phrenologiats , never were . But fair play and fair fight has always been our motto .

      That you may hear Dr . Noble ' s reasons , we will give Jill that have cogency ( omitting for his own sahe such reasons as thoso adduced at ; p . 49 and p . 52 ) : " If personal character , as dependent purely upon natural disposition , \ vero something readily aseortiuiiablo ; and if the nlia . ro which the individual faculties of tho mind possess in contributing to the formation of character , wero doterininiiblo with something likes moderate precision ; if , at tho n ; uno time , tho hizo of distinct portions of tho brain could bo verified to the name extent ; and if multiplied ol > - HorvatioriK had domonstratod Homo uniformity in tho results , as claimed by phrenologists ; this cerebral physiology , it muat bo admitted , would have boon established an a fact . And this in a eirouiriHtanee quite independent of tho question , an to how far phrenology may , in thin cane , be practically available in the business of life ; that is to nay , phrenology may he true an a physiology of the brain , and yet phronologintH may have perverted ' itH trutliH in reasoning upon Itn applicability , in attempting to tract ! it to its remote conscquencea .

      " Now my own conviction in , and Iian always boon , that 1 'lironologistn , in ron-Honing concerning the fnetn of phrenology , have gone sadly in advance of the premises : that 1 'hronology , in a word , an it in popularly understood , ooiifititilton a mixture of error and truth , the former preponderating largely . f have no faith and never had , in the notion thai , Hcicnco and philosophy , by tho nid of phrenology , would regenerate the world , or , in any extraordinary degree , contribute to social progress . ( ! on / iction in the jitstieoand accuracy of much that ( lall recorded as a fact , I have had for ninny years ; but I had never vory much faith

      in the additional facts professed to have been discovered by his successors . The leading phenomena that were cited by the earlier school of phrenologists , I have myself verified , —a matter quite apart from any interpretation which the phenomena themselves may rightly receive . For example : any one , who with moderate attention will examine the forms and dimensions of different heads , will very soon perceive that one which is excessively diminutive can never exercise ordinar y intelligence ; that a very small forehead never characterises persons eminent for their thinking , but that usually a capacious front and vigorous intellect go together ; that a head very high and broad in the coronal region , is commonly associated with great natural morality in particular individuals ; and , on the contrary ordinarilfound the

      that a low contracted head Is most y upon shoulders of depraved criminals . Again , it will be seen that a large occipital and basilar development is very generally found in persons of strong animal propensities . More particular correspondences , indeed , may be noticed ^ for instance , the crown of the head is usually Very much elevated from the opening of the ear , in persons of great natural self-reliance ; again , as regards the intellect and the forehead , the higher region comes out principally in those who are remarkable for their powers o f though and reflection , and the lower region in such as are inquisitive and distinguished for their stores of knowledge . Some other coincidences , moreover , are observable between me ntal character and configuration of head ; but the foregoing illustrations sufficiently exemplify the facts that may be verified without difficulty .

      "The enquiry next arises :- —What conclusions become fairly deducible from such circumstances ? Can the phrenological theory be sustained , of separate organs for the individual faculties of the mi nd ?—Upon these points I would observe that , reasoning from abundant data , it has already been admitted , as a scientific truth , that the brain is the organ of the mind . And there is no . Physiologist , who experiences a difficulty in admitting that its different parts may fulfil different functions . Independently of direct observations , there ia antece dent probability , indeed , that divisions of the brain have some correspondence with particular mental aptitudes . And it is quite certain that , in a very large proportion of cases , the form of the head shows the direction in which the cerebral hemispheres are developed . These propositions , which will generally be admitted , allow that there be tth in hre

      must lead every candid mind to maysome ru pnology . For my own part , I conceive the inference to be warranted , that , in some way or another , the anterior lobs of brain , maintains an especial connexion with the intellect ; that the superior convolutions , in like manner , have some organic association with the higher . sentiments ; and that the posterior portion of the cerebral mass , is peculiarly connected with the more animal propensities of our nature . But admitting these conclusions as true , I am far from believing that , even to the extent of the three reg ions , we have , in the size andconfiguratKm of . the Lead , anything like an exact measure of the respective psychical capacities and inherent tendencies for it may be certainly predicated that intimate conditions of quality , inappreciable by external signs , largely affect both functional power and activity .

      " But what remains to be said concerning the theory of separate cerebral organs ? Influenced by the present advanced state of our knowledge of the brain and nervous sy stem in man , and still more by certain facts in comparative anatomy , I have been led to the con clusion that it should at least be rejected as unproved . Yet I formerly thought differently , and freely avowed my opinion . If without adequate grounds I adopted this opinion , my doing so was largely owing to the confidence which . I had in the observations and reasonings of others . And , ° truly , if all that is recorded in phrenological books could be relied upon , much of the argument that is founded upon it would not only be plausible but just . My own later observations , conducted as they have been , without bias or prepossession , do not certainly satisfy me ; for I have been quite unable to establish the minute distinctions , and to verify the more detailed statements , set forth by thorough-going partisans . I cannot , under these altered circumstances , now profess myself to be an adherent of what is commonly understood by the phrenological system .

      " For some years , indeed , my confidence in the scientific character of phrenology lias gradually weakened . As I have grown older , I have had occasion to become better acquainted with the difficulties of determining , with anything like precision , the inherent and relative strength of particular talents and dispositions in different individuals ; and I have found that accurate estimates of cerebral development , according to the phrenological theory , are not so . very readily made , even by those moat experienced in cranioacopic investigations . Indeed , the perpetual variation amongst phrenologists themselves , in this respect , demonstrates that the process of verifying or falsifying their statements , is much more difficult than they themselves would represent it . It is obvious , moreover , upon refiecactions wliat

      tion , that , in many instances , it is impossible to determine from w their Hourco in the recesses of the human breast ; and it is a fact that wo are all prone to attribute the conduct of persons to motives which we associate with the character we have in our own minds assigned to them . Phrenologists , seeing the development of sonic particular organ in undue proportion , have do difficulty m recognising its assumed mental associate , even in the most indifferent circumstances . Altogether , I feel myself bound to say , tho organology of Gallfi deetrine must be abandoned . Honesty and candour compel me to this admission , though with some reluctance , for it involves the recantation of opinions for many Years entertained and avowed . " tho act and

      The reader will distinguish between our approbation of our approbation of the alleged motives . We think Dr . Noble right m renouncing tho phrenological ayHtem as unproven ; but whether ho win marshal ! bin evidence ho as to make it carry tho same conviction io other minds remains to be seen ; all we have to note hero ia , that at present ho has not done so . . , We believe in Phrenology but not in the Phrenologists : a parmiov which may cease if you consider tho somewhat analogous case ot a man beliovingmPhyNiology ' aa a Science , yet not believing m itai parlicuiiu applifntmiiH to medicine . We believe in Phrenology and in PhyMiolo ^ y , both as flciencoH having a positive basis ; but even m I > h y « iok >^ y tkoro a « thiiiSHtftUghtwhiohworejerMld ^ intolho old rubhiHh corner ; still moroifl tins the case with JJin >» ° fJ : further , there are medical doctrines which protend to a J l' ^ £ ' basin , . and which nevertheless wo reject ; m aIho do wo ™ J . " ^ ol * i " Xifl logical lioaehingH which pretend to have a bams in what Phrenology n »» cfltabliHhcd ifc

      . , . ., ., . _ ,. Phrenology has two aspoota—it w a bcionce and it w an ail . , „ , ! , !;; : ; a a ^ bJvhyMo ^ ^ d »\* o ^«? ™? oX !«» racier for the purpose of directing it . Ah n matter ot hoioi < : c only ^ for a moment permit acquiescence in Phrenology nn a ¦ ^*^ r ftIfc | 1 ( nl K U a » Art iH not alwayfl comin ^ nsnratc with ita «« W ^ Heienec ( in many respects being empirically m advanccyot it ) jroi v r oiio mwfc admit that until the Science is definitely eHtabh « hc ( l , the Art

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 10, 1853, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10121853/page/16/