The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-04-09 00:00:00

PHRENOLOGY.

On Tuesday evening Dr. Spursheisn delivered bis Tenth Lecture
on Phrenology, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern. In this lecture
he purposed to treat of some of the principal intellectual faculties.
The first of these was that of Wit. This faculty was called by
rnetapbvsicians a habit of association, but this statement was man*.
featly defective and insufficient. Why had some individuals the
power of associating ideas so as to produce the pleasurable emotio-
nal% of wit ? Here the systems of the metaphysicians left their
disciples in the dark. Thu power did not exist iore should be n aniform proms.
doe to any other faculty of tbe mind, and theref con.
sidered separate and original. There could be no doubt that in
some minds there was a special faculty to produce mirth and laugh.
i ter. It was the possession of this faculty in a peculiar degree which
constituted a wit. The organ of this faculty was quite ascertained.
In those in whom it was -fully developed, a tendency to make
every thing food for piety and amusement would be observed.
In some persons the faculty was so powerful that they were always
jesting. Nothing could induce them to be serious long. The
Professor showed several casts of individuals whom be had known
remarkable for the possession of peculiarly witty powers; and in
all these instances the organ was very fully developed. The direc.
tion of this power would depend on the other faculties combined
with it. If the individual was a painter, he would be fond of
droll subjects and caricature; if a musician, his compositions
would in like manner be marked by this disposition towards merri.
mem. In Voltaire the organ was large. After knowing this fact,
it was no longer difficult to account for his propensity to turn
every thing into ridicule. In Sterne it was equally full. The
head of a female child known to the Professor was shown, in
which the organ was very prominent; sad he stated, that this
girl, in a horn it was combined with the organ of Form, was
always employed in drawing said cutting out grotesque figures
calculated to excite the mirth of all who beheld them. The
next organ to which the Professor proceeded was that of
talon. This he considered to be a primitive faculty of the mind ;
and, in his opinion, it had a great sphere of activity. In general,
it more developed in children than in adults; and it was well
known that children learned more by imitation than grown persons.
This faculty was essential to graft actors. Without it, they could
not excel, though a good deal necessarily depended on the other
faculties with which it was combined. Too much attention could
not be given to the mutual control of the faculties. The activity
of the organs also exerted a powerful Influence on the manifesta-
tions ; a brain of mOseift doe, and great activity, would produce
more vivid manifests cat IpFh a 1 brain with little activity. It
was with the twain as with the bodily system • size was a general,
but net an infallihle kidicationof power. The. Professor afterwards
dilated at great length on the effects of the combination of the
faculties.