The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-27 00:00:00

PHRENOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

At the first meeting for the present session, Dr.
Elliotson, the President, announced that the meetings
would be held on the first and third Monday of every
month, and that on the second Monday of every month
a lecture would be delivered to the members and to such
of the public as might apply to the Secrett,ry for a ticket.
A feast was presented to the Society by Mr. Prideaux
of Southampton, exhibiting a large depression, obvious
to every one, at the spot in which Gall declared the
organ for judging of colour to exist. The gentleman
from whom the cast was taken affords a striking con-
firmation of Gall's discovery, for, though possessed of
good eyes, and having no defect of vision, he has never
been able to distinguish between dark green and dark
red, calls crimson velvet a sort of blue, and upon being
desired to name some surrounding object of the same
colour as a cake of yellow ochre, he named the grass
outside the window. When signal officer on board, he
was sorely puzzled at first, and learned gradually to
distinguish the fl igs by the relative positions of the light
and dark parts. Yet he caa distinguish the most minute
differences of deeper or fainter shade far better than
his wife. Thus, bright scarlet is almost the only
colour he can recognise with certainty • and he calls it
"the colour of a soldier's jacket." Bright yellow be
generally names correctly ; but sometimes he mistakes
it for light green. All other colours he is constantly
mistaking. When together, he can only distinguish a
slight difference among them, but cannot name any one
of them apart.

Dr. Elliotson mentioned, that in the majority of the
cases in medical records, the deficiency respected one
ray only, and that ray is the red. This was not known to
Gall,nor was the.fact known to him that the defect (which
is often hereditary, and occurs in more than one of the
same family) prevails far more frequently in the male
sex. The brothers of the gentleman in question have
the same defect in a slight degree. But his sisters are
free from it.

A singular cast, also presented by Mr. Prideaux,
was next exhibited, in which the forehead was narrow
and retreating, and indeed the head narrow throughout.
But the superior part of the head was of great height,
especially the back part of the superior regions. No
further inforniation bad yet been obtained, than that
the boy, from whom the cast was taken, is excessively
obstinate, and will be guided by none except his mother.
While the cast was being taken, he kicked violently all
who came near him.

At the second meeting of this session, Dr. Elliotson
delivered a lecture upon the functions of the nervous
system at large, and the brain in particular.
At the third meeting a paper upon temperaments.
by Mr. Prideaux, was read. The author pointed out,
as Dr. Elliotson-had done in his " Human Physiology,"
the impropriety of Dr. Thompson's calling the relative
development of the head, chest, and abdomen, in differ-
ent individuals "temperaments," and considered that
the best division of the temperaments was into the san-
guine, bilious, and lymphatic, rejecting the nervous,
which has lately been introduced. To firmness of tex-
ture he attributes capacity for rapid action ; to firmness
of texture and absolute size of organs, he attributes
power ; to firmness of texture and relative size, the re-
lative energy and tendency to frequent action.