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Scientific
Phrenology: Being a practical mental science and guide to human character: an illustrated text-book. By Bernard Hollander ( Taken from John van Wyhe’s
site: The History of Phrenology on the Web
http://pages.britishlibrary.net/phrenology/ CHAPTER I: WHAT IS THE USE OF A BRAIN? ALL mental operations
take place in and through the superficial grey matter, or "cortex,"
of the brain. Organic life, nutrition, circulation, excretion, secretion,
motion, in fact all vital functions can be carried on without the cortex of
the brain ; but the manifestation of the intellectual and moral powers, the
affections, and propensities or instincts of self-preservation, cannot take
place without it. Provided that the cortex of the brain be
not affected, all the other portions of the system may be diseased, or
separately destroyed, even the spinal cord may become affected, without the
mental functions being impaired. Of course if the heart, the medulla
oblongata, or some other vital part be injured, death will precede any such
experiment. If, on the other hand, the superficial grey matter of the brain
becomes compressed, irritated, injured, or destroyed, the mental functions
get partially or totally deranged or become wholly extinct. When the
compression of the brain is removed, as in the case of an indented skull, or
a tumour, or the extravasated blood or accumulated pus is evacuated, or the
cerebral inflammation allayed, consciousness and the power of thought and
feeling return. We think and feel,
rejoice and weep, love and hate, hope and fear, plan and destroy, trust and
suspect, all through the agency of the brain-cortex. Its cells record all the
events, of whatever nature, which transpire within the sphere of existence of
the individual, not merely as concerns the intellectual knowledge acquired,
but likewise the emotions passed through, and the passions indulged in. We
can only manifest our intellectual aptitudes, moral dispositions, and
tendencies to self-preservation, through the mechanism of brain with which we
happen to be endowed, and according to the sort of experience we have
accumulated. Hence though the primitive mental powers and fundamental
anatomical parts of the brain of all men are the same, we all vary according
to the mental predispositions and brain-types we have inherited and the early
education we received. The cerebral mechanism is, by dint of its original
structure, apt or otherwise for certain pursuits, moral and animal
tendencies, hence our actions are the result of the inherited organic
constitution, past education and experiences, and the circumstances which
surround us. Grapes will not grow on the thistle, but we can improve or
debase the organisation we inherited. There is in every one of us an
individuality which we are conscious is not due to training or to circumstances,
and which, however these may modify it, cannot be entirely eradicated.
Originality is kept down by transmitted tendencies, which give colour to all
our deductions from experience, and, as it were, framed us in the pursuit of
knowledge and manifestation of character. We do not all see things alike, nor
does nature awaken in all similar tastes and sympathies. Not only is it true
that certain persons distinguish themselves at a very early age by
extraordinary attainments, but certain manifestations of good or bad temper,
and other feelings, occur in very early life, before any adequate cause is
apparent. The underlying impulses \which shape man's character have in great
measure come to him as inheritances of parental virtues or vices, and they
are the capital with which he and circumstances have to work, and which, in
spite of both, must always impart colour to his every act. Parents, therefore, who
indulge chronically in evil tendencies incur great
responsibility. It is not the idea that is inherited, for there are no innate
ideas, but the disposition. During the process of making new records,
that is during the individual life of the brain, its organic memories and
inherited habits get revived, and these modify the manner of the new
recording. Though the brain may be
represented as a unit yet it contains innumerable centres with afferent and
efferent fibres, and fibres which connect them all together, a network of
intricate organic paths, along which a stimulus started may travel in
countless, but not indefinite, directions. These centres represent
organically every minute detail of knowledge and experience, they register
every definite observation and thought, and every process of reasoning with
which the individual has at any time made himself familiar
; they represent every sentiment and emotion, every affection and
passion, and indeed every one of those mental processes which are needful for
the display of what constitutes human character. All the fundamental kinds of
psychical activity are carried on in more or less distinct parts of the
cerebral hemispheres. There is the same order in the organisation of the
cerebrum as in every other organ, the same physiological division of labour,
in which all organisation consists. See Plate i for
a diagrammatic representation of the direct brain-fibres, radiating from the
centre to the circumference.
The brain is more complicated,
and the convolutions more distinct and numerous, as we ascend the scale of
the animal kingdom. The essential differences obtaining in the encephalic
structure correspond to decided differences in its functions, and the
complexity of the structure is proportionate to the number of aptitudes and
propensities displayed. What can be the purpose of the difference in the
organisation of the brain in different animals, unless it be
the difference prevailing in relation to the variety of their instincts. If
it be admitted that their instincts are hereditary, then it must also be
admitted that they are due to some peculiarity in the brain-structure. One
species of animals is endowed with mental powers, in which another is
deficient, a fact that would be inexplicable, did not each particular
cerebral function reside in a particular portion of the brain. Suppose I
should enquire of my readers how it happens that certain species of animals
are devoid of the sense of smell, or some other sense, whilst they are in
full enjoyment of the rest. They would find no difficulty in such a
phenomenon. The functions of each sense, I should be told, require a
particular apparatus, and certain species may not possess one or the other of
them. But, if they admitted only one organ, through which all the senses
executed their functions, the absence of one or more in any animal would be
inexplicable. Now let the like reasoning be applied to the primitive mental
powers, the manifestation of which depends on the brain. There is scarcely
any species of animal which does not enjoy certain aptitudes and propensities
not to be found in other species. The unwieldy beaver and the nimble squirrel
are both admirable architects ; the dog, the docile,
intelligent and unwearied companion of man, has no skill in building. The
horse and bull have not the bloodthirsty propensities of the weasel and the
falcon. The sparrow and the turtle-dove do not utter the sweet notes of the
nightingale. Sheep live in flocks and rooks form communities
; the fox, the eagle, and the magpie, dislike the confinement imposed
on them by the care of their young, to which they impatiently submit during
some weeks only. The swallow, stork, fox, etc., are faithful in their
attachment to a single mate ; the dog, so susceptible
of affection, the stallion, and the stag, gratify their desires with the
first female of their species which they meet. Thus natural history, from
beginning to end, exhibits in each species of animals
different propensities and aptitudes. Does not, then, the conclusion
necessarily follow that the distinctive propensities and aptitudes of these
animals are relative to different cerebral parts ?
Were the brain the single and universal organ of them all, each animal ought
to possess them all indiscriminately. Or if the brain, as some suppose,
subserved to the intellect alone, it would be no longer possible to conceive
that man is elevated by superior intellectual faculties above all other
animals, to a far greater extent than the mere size and weight of the entire
brain would warrant. But, if it be supposed that each primitive mental power,
like each particular sense, depends on a special cerebral part, it is not
only conceivable that any one animal may be destitute of a certain cerebral
part possessed by another, but likewise that all animals generally may be
lacking in certain encephalic parts with which man is solely endowed. The intellect, moral
sentiments, affections, and propensities are so essentially different, that
there must be separate centres for them. No one supposes for an instant that
the same bundle of nerve-cells and fibres which is employed in intellectual
effort is that also through which the emotion of anger gets manifested. The mental powers
prevailing in every individual of the same species exist in very different degrees ; a circumstance only to be explained by the
different development of the several parts through which these powers are
manifested. The mastiff, bulldog, pug-dog, grey-hound, etc., are
distinguishable from each other, not by their shape only, but also by their
individual character, though they all have the character pertaining to dogs
generally. Individuals of the same variety likewise differ much from each
other, which would be impossible were each primitive quality not dependent on
a particular centre. Men possessing first-rate talents of a certain order are
sometimes perfectly insignificant in every other respect. Genius is in
well-nigh every instance partial, and limited to the exaltation of a few
mental powers, which could not be the case were the organ of mind single.
Moreover, genius not unfrequently appears at so early an age as to put study
or training, as a producing cause, entirely out of the question. No one will
deny that it is a natural gift. Have you not noticed that prodigies are quite
as childish as other children in everything but the talent by which they are
particularly distinguished. In partial idiocy the
individual is exceedingly deficient in most of the intellectual powers, and
frequently in some of the moral sentiments, and yet may possess a few of them
in considerable vigour. Thus an idiot may have a talent for imitation, for
drawing, or for music, and be incapable of comprehending a single abstract idea ; or he may show a hoarding inclination, a destructive
tendency, or the sexual instinct, and yet manifest no other power to any
perceptible extent. Were the brain a single
organ, then the innate dispositions of each man would be similar. But if the
main and accessory convolutions of the brain be appropriated to different
mental powers, then does every modification of character depend on a
different degree of development attained by these particular parts of the
brain, and their varying degree of activity. There are no
two skulls, nor two brains alike in their configuration, nor are the
characters of any two individuals found exactly to correspond. Look at Plate
2 and compare the narrow top-head of the rebel-chief Galishwe with the broad
upper region of Dr Earth, the missionary. There is a natural
inequality in men. No two are alike in character. There prevails among
individuals an infinite variety of intellectual endowment, of moral
sentiment, affections, and instincts of self-preservation. The force and
order of the impulses differ in every one. Some young folk, though lacking in
intelligence, possess an astonishing faculty for learning by heart ; others again remarkable for their intelligence
have great difficulty in committing to memory. So with grown-up men. One will
remember dates, another localities, a third
individuals, and a fourth events. One lacks wit and gets angry at all mirth
and fun, another is deficient in dignity, another
There is a natural
inequality in men. No two are alike in character. There prevails among
individuals an infinite variety of intellectual endowment, of moral
sentiment, affections, and instincts of self-preservation. The force and
order of the impulses differ in every one. Some young folk, though lacking in
intelligence, possess an astonishing faculty for learning by heart ; others again remarkable for their intelligence
have great difficulty in committing to memory. So with grown-up men. One will
remember dates, another localities, a third
individuals, and a fourth events. One lacks wit and gets angry at all mirth
and fun, another is deficient in dignity, another dislikes children. One
expects to find the enjoyment of life in wealth, another in power, a third in
rank, a fourth in fame, while not a few are found to seek it in a mere round
of excitement. Some folk are noted for their cruelty, others for their
courage, others again for their slyness. Then there
are persons who never had any friends and do not want any. Again, a little
observation shows us that some men, apart from all training, have a decided
capacity for certain pursuits. One man excels in history, another in
geography, a third in mathematics. Some become great musicians, others
eminent painters, others distinguished poets, or actors. Most of us are
wholly devoid in some mental power : some are
baffled by arithmetic, some have no skill for drawing, some are a dead-weight
at music. Such mental quality is vouchsafed to one and denied to another. Each
has a predilection, or a more decided talent, for a particular pursuit. There
is, then, in every man something which he does not derive from education, and
which even resists all training. We follow the line of least resistance, that
is to say, the line along which our most active dispositions and abilities
drive us. From his very childhood does a man show the character which will
distinguish him in adult years. He is haughty or
humble, prudent or careless, affectionate or cold, harsh or kindly, because
it is in his nature to be so ; in other words,
because his brain organisation is so constituted. Every physician should be
able to point out these innate capacities and dispositions, and be capable of
planning for instructors rules for each pupil, in order to perfect the good
qualities and correct the evil ones, and to put the youth in a state to
employ his powers in a manner useful to himself and society at large. Seeing
the vast difference there is in the shape of heads, it is surprising that it
has hitherto received so little attention. Compare, for instance, the
portraits of Fox and Scott, Plate 3. Education will act on the
pupil in proportion to his innate mental powers, it will sharpen his existing
aptitudes and dispositions, but it will not supply any new one
; it cannot transform a Some of man's primary
mental powers take higher range, and some lower, but all are useful and
necessary in their proper place. Happiness signifies a gratified state of
them all. The gratification of a mental power is achieved by its exercise. To
be agreeable, that exercise must be proportionate to the development of the
aptitude or disposition ; if it be insufficient,
discontent arises, and its excess produces weariness. As long as a particular
brain-centre contains an abundance of stored up nerve force, it responds
pleasurably to a stimulus ; if the natural appetite or disposition be too
freely exercised, the nerve energy that keeps it active is used up and it ceases
to respond. This is what the voluptuary discovers to his cost. Hence, to
achieve complete felicity is to have all the mental powers exercised in the
ratio of their respective development.
It is a law of our nature
that when a thing has been done once, it is more easily achieved a second
time, and with each repetition becomes ever more easy, till at length it
grows to be natural and there is an appetite or a craving for it. The force
of early habits is such that they generally determine our practice through
life, and when once built up and strengthened are seldom if ever to be
broken. Hence the necessity for constantly guarding against evil habits and
against the practice of indulging the animal nature as opposed to the moral
and spiritual ; even the first beginning should be guarded against, the one
first act that renders the repetition thereof more easy. The aim and purpose
of the teacher then should be to render easy the doing of right and the doing
of wrong difficult, and by want of practice
unnatural and impossible. Whatever makes a good or bad action familiar to the
mind renders its performance by so much the easier. Exercise of mind implies
exercise of brain. When any part is exercised, an afflux of blood takes place
towards it, attended with heat and increased action ;
and if this be carried too far, or be persisted in too long, morbid excitement
will take the place of healthy, and derangement of function will
follow. A morbid state of any brain centre may be induced either by causes
acting directly upon its function or by causes immediately affecting the
substance of which the centre is composed. The existence of such
evidence, as I have adduced in my book on " The Mental Functions of the
Brain," to the effect that injury to the head affects one or more of the
mental powers, according to the locality on which it was inflicted, while in
other respects the individual remains perfectly sound, can only be explained
on the principle that the several portions of the cerebral hemispheres have
different functions allotted to them. So unregardful have physicians been of
this fact that many of them deemed it quite unnecessary to state in their
clinical reports in which region of the skull the injury was inflicted. But
from the number of cases accurately observed and recorded, it is evident that
injury to the brain beneath the parietal eminence, the angular and
supra-marginal convolutions, leads to Melancholia in different degrees ; that
injury at the base of the temporal bone, the middle part of the inferior
temporal convolution, leads to a manifestation of irascibility, which may end
in Violent Mania, and so on ; and that when the effects of the injury are
removed in such wise as by lifting up an indented bone, the patient recovers
his mental equilibrium. From other cases it becomes apparent that after
injury in one particular region the " sense of
relation of tones," one of the factors of the " musical
faculty," may be lost, while in another region the memory of figures and
power of calculation may disappear, leaving the other intellectual powers
normal. These facts have not hitherto been observed sufficiently, but when
they come to be so the localisation of mental functions will make rapid
advance. Similarly it has been
observed that irritation of the frontal cells is characterised by an
acceleration of the intellectual processes of perception, association, and
reproduction, giving rise to a rapid flow of ideas; and that softening of the
same part leads to dementia, whereas irritation of the parietal, occipital
and temporal area affects chiefly the emotions and propensities, often
leaving the intellect quite unclouded. That emotional display which is seen
after injury or disease of the frontal lobe is merely the weakening of the
intellectual control, which leaves the predominant bias of the individual
free to exercise itself. In certain forms of poisoning, too, such as by
Alcohol, the highest mental powers are paralysed first, thereby depriving a
man of the controlling power over his natural tendencies. Hence some
intoxicated men get dejected, others gay ; some talk
foolishly, others are eloquent ; some become effusively benevolent, others
furiously maniacal, and so on. All these facts point to there being a
congeries of centres in the cortex of the brain, not merely for the purely
intellectual operations, but also for the emotions and propensities. Experiments made on the
inferior animals by means of electricity can throw no light on the mental functions
of the brain. It is only possible to observe those functions which come under
the direct observation of the senses, symptoms which are motor in character,
and which cannot be traced back to any volitional act of the subject. But if
each portion of the nervous system governing movement be an independent local
centre of power, it is a fair inference that each portion of the nervous
system governing the mental acts is likewise an independent centre of power. In favour of there being
distinct centres in the brain is furthermore the fact of its arterial supply.
The frontal lobes are fed by the internal carotid arteries, the parietal and
occipital lobes by the basilar artery, the union of the two vertebral
arteries. The inosculation in the Circle of Willis I believe to have been
overrated. The vaso-motor nerves of these two areas are also differently
derived. Those of the posterior area spring from the inferior cervical
ganglion, into which run the fibres ascending from the abdomen, by the
greater splanchnic nerve. On the other hand the carotid arteries derive their
vaso-motor supply from the middle and superior cervical ganglia. Last, but not least, we
have the observations of numerous investigators showing that certain regions
of the cerebrum are distinguished from other regions by broad differences in
structure. Not only does the structure in different convolutions assume to a
greater or less extent a variety of modifications, but even different parts
of the same convolution may vary with regard either to the arrangement or the
relative size of their cells. These structural differences must be correlated
with some difference of function. The group of cells whose function is purely
intellectual cannot possibly have the same construction as a group of cells
whose function is purely emotional. The two may be united by association
fibres, so that one may rouse the other, but the function of each group of
cells must be distinct. Though we may speak of a
centre, it is understood that as there are two hemispheres of the brain,
every centre is two-fold, and to this fact may be due those few instances in
which a particular centre got injured or destroyed without a loss of any
mental power being discoverable. This is especially the case in accidents to
the right half of the brain, which seems to be less active than the left.
Where the two halves are unequal, I have frequently observed that the right
represents what the individual is by nature, i.e. his inherited organisation, and the left what he has made of it. The more highly developed
the mental powers, the more connected will the various centres of the brain
become by means of intricate channels of the freest intercommunication.
Though the centres themselves are distinct, all of them are interunited, and
the activity of each depends on its relation to the others. It is therefore a
mistake to look for a protuberance of brain-matter, or a bump on its
outer-covering, the skull. No one centre is competent to manifest itself by
itself. Each acts as a portion of the brain to modify the general result of
cerebral action. It is through this solidarity and interdependence that no
portion of it can be injured or exhausted without its interfering in some way
with the functions of the other portions. There is, however, a great
difference between saying that the various brain-parts exert a mutual
influence, and saying that each part does not perform its own particular
function. The positions of the centres are not accidental, but are governed
by fixed principles. One centre fuses with another,
hence neighbouring centres are related in their mental manifestation. Centres
are of a higher character, and of later acquisition, in proportion as they
occupy a higher locality in the brain. Thus the highest mental powers will be
found farthest from the base of the brain, for the rigid base of the skull
does not admit of much extension. On the other hand, the vault of the skull
remains open in two places at least for some time after birth, and even in
later life is still capable of an increased arching to make room for
increased brain-mass. The lowest and most indispensable mental powers-for
instance, the instincts of self-preservation common to men and animals-will
be found at the base of the brain ; the highest mental powers, and of later
acquisition- for instance, the moral sentiments-are at the top of the head,
in the superior part of the frontal convolutions. |
