The Sun.
London, England, 1805-01-05 00:00:00

C RAtiffOLOGII.

Sit much attention has been excited in Germany
by Dr. Gate's System a deciding nn the Intel.
leetudi Lowers by the Formation and Texture of
the Skull .ind Brain, that our Readers uEly he de-
airous a understanding the principles of this 'motel
diXtrine.

The manner in which Dr. 041 distributes 'these
different faculties in the brain is very togenious ;
viral power occUpies the,centre, the yeti which is
Mott profound and best proteled the organs of
'sense ere -nearlytio the same direftion. Th(Ae of
the other iirtelleeluat funaions are placed suc.,
ceasively, and from the interior to the eat•
senior the intelleaual befngr according to this.
trangemeot,! the, moat ,xxteroal and. r the most
/elevated, their development is necessarily ;notion..
ceo.by the great ci-anvexity.Oilhe forehead, anti the,
obtosenesa of the facial angle, Which the Greek
artists have not increased in their ideal beauties,
:without giving them the ex... ression of a divine in.
itelligenee,,and all the appearances of a somior nature.
Dr. Gall, in particular, asserts, that the portion
'of the brain forming what is termed by anatomists
its, circumvolutions, appears proper to support his
new doarine ; and'without suffering himself 'to be
guided by the opinions of those,phystologists-Who
•
'have imagined that this yegion of the brain contri.
:butes in a particular manner; to the exercise, of
;thought, he hag there discovered a multittide of
;organs, tit
,which the various
,propensitiesaOd the
different iotelleapal , faculties correspond.
We shall now proceed to describe,tbe-itanner in'
which he divides the brain ; and though this dis.
aributio'n may appear rather singular to anatomists,
'it fordis the basis and the first part of Dr. Gall's
system.
Part r. The upper part of the spinal marrow
must be considered as the particUlar organ of vital
power. It is a well known fad, that, in various
parts of Germany, butchers employ no other method .
of killing their oxen than to thrust a sharp insult_
ment between the first and seCond-vertebrie of the
loco rt►.
Not far from the organ of vital power, and.near
the: upper extremity
,f the ,posterior part of the
brain, aro. situatedi accardisig. to ~Dr. Gall, two
1 proonnences, which-are the organs of procreative
poWer ; su that the principal organ aide is next .
to those Which nature has more particularly charged
with transmitting it. , .
,
The cerebral organs of toe stoles, that is, those
•
parts which form the origin of the nerves portico.
larla concerned in sensation,' .are placed 'anterior to
those Of vital and procreative power • but as their
rievilopment cannot be perceived externally; Dr, .
Pall does not introduce the consideration of theM
into his. system.
Nearer thetirctnference, and round the central
Petra above mentioned, Dr. Wl's sysiem places
!different organs, .atlapted to various funtlions,- Which
Are the .less closely conneeled with purely animal
life, the farther they are removed from the medul—
lary and internal parts. According. to this hypo.
theiis, between the organs of procreatiVe power,:
but hi her, is situated an Organ, the predominance
of which produces nervous andTspasmodic.affettions ;
above this, again, is another 'organ, whose dove. ,
lopuient contributes to the energy of. the tender
find benevolent affetlions ; whereas; on the sides,'
and at different distances, are placed the 'organs of
courage,-
.of cooping, and of deception.
n
er diferent kinds of 'memory, And the. apt i tilde
for tritisic and the arts.oldraaving and painting, have
organs situated in the anterior part of thetrain ;
thOsebelotiging to the aptitude for mechanical arts ,
arc 'mere. towards the sides ; lastly, those of meth.
ration arid 'observation arc placed rather higher.
these are Separated by kindness ; above them is
imagination, and, below the latter, and rather to.
wards the aides, are the organs of sagacity, of wit,
the external expression of which is said to be -very
perceptible in. the 'Ault' of the poet' Blurnauer, ,
forms part of Dr. Gall's museum,
According to the principles„of Ole .krain
contains several other organs,'which perform.
'rent' funelions. in the manifestation of the pass,kons,,
and. in the' exercise of ,thought.
Before we, establish the, theory, the. basis of which
we have Axed above, we ought to ascertain what
are those• faculties arid the,dispositions which, may;
be regarded as independent ;and, distinct. This
'knowledge' Dr. Gall 'asserts that he acquired byte
confortnin4 in his 'researches to the • following pre.,
cepts
Precept. t. It is necessary, in, general, to be: ac..,
(painted, with all the natural: rlifferenceh which:
skulls exhibit ; and to obtain this acquaintance, you-
must see and handle them a guod deal. To feel them,
you must not employ theends.of the fingers,_ but the
whole 'hand ; for it is not emittences,.slo ,;light
convexities, that you are to, find out, ‘atitl which
the points of the fingers would not, triable you to
dlicoater. • •.' •

Precept 2. Examine the heads of some persons
endued with particular talents ; then observe with
attention. the wt;ole form of their heads, carefully
noticing' those parts where remarkable. convexities
are situated. In like manner,,observcsb heath of
others, possessing the iiime.talents, compare diem,
and take notice whether the skulls Of the latter pre.
sent the same CtOrlVeXititS in the,saitte parts. A Si.
milar examination should be .made of the heads of
varionsindivithitils, whom you know to be destitute.
of the talents by which the farmer are ditt4Pg4islied•
Observe very attentively, whether, instead, of rhe
411
convexities foiind in'the firat.mentioned'heads, (WM:
are to be perceived in the latter, and whether there
may not even be depressions. If this be the case,
and the (aft be confirmed by several individuals
without "exception, you may then conclude, with a
tenSidetable degree of certainty, that in the, region
of the skull which has been so accurately observed,
resides the organ of that' talent which eminently
distinguishes the one, and is wanting in the others.
Precept 3. Similar researches should,be continued
on persons who are tatter stiangers. Remark, with
great attention, the, different 'convexities that ap-
pear on their skulls, and, actiording to the observa-
tions made in the manner above described, deduce
the faculties and`dispositions Of those persons, and
endeavour to discover, with prudence, whether the
consequences you have drawn from the examination
ate verified.

Precept 4. •You'itittst then endeavnur. to procure
a colle4ion of skulls of persons with the history 'of
whose lives'you are accurately -acquaintedb This
is an objet very difficult to be accumplivhed ; ,atsd
Dr. GALL, nutwithttanding all the paine he has

taken, .ppsiesses it yet bit a few; among which,
-however, are some very- interesting ones, as• Gene.
raMoititsiß's, 137,ii•Mktftle6. Orid:AL*ie
fititteb.;,
&c, together with those' of some fools, who.
-becility was such, that they were inceisintly'occu.
pied with one single idea.• Since it is so extremely
difficult to procure such a .Orics 'of bctaiht, it is, nt.-
cessary. to be contented with busts; which should-be
moulded with the utmost accuracy,' To this. col-
lation should be added the skulls of all the animals.
that can be obtained; in-order to ctompire ,them
with the human heads. The skullk,olaniinals which
possess very striking qualities. should, in. partictilar,
be examined. . • e -

Precept s. The' last method, which is of great
:importance for discovering the organs and their
seat, consists in Observing, with the most scrupu.
lons attention,. the different symptoms that take
place in diseallesand injuries, of. the brain. ,
In conforming to thence principles, and disseaing
:the brainsot a, great number, of persons of his ac.'
quaintance, Dr. G4.4t,t; declares that he has can.,
stantly observed a strikingconnedion between their
cerebral organs and their ptinPipal and- chartaeris.
tic faculties' ;' he, therefore thinks himself; justified
in assigning, bon experimental and positive man.
ncr, a particular instrument and, theatre t0.C411 of.
the modificatias of the heart and.understantling.—
fie adds, with a, view to increase the number. of
.proofs in favour Of his distribution of the region of
. thought, 'that: our intelleettial, and moral faculties
arc distinft, or even independent ; that it is possi-
ble to exercise them alternately, and that shedeve-
lopmenti the .Superiurit y, or even the ext inaion of
one of them, frequently produces do tiled OP the
others, which may., .canseqatntly, lie, supposed to
have their seat in different regions of the brain..
In fad, a. person: may use one of hia intellectual
faculties, while be suffers all the others to lie at.
rest.; and thus.forget the' fatigue of any labour, by
means of anew employment, roper for bringing,
into action those. funalons of the understanding,
which the.preceding. occtipatiotf. had not,employed.
It ,is thus that by varying the subjen, oar
,studies,
may easily; be prolonged; and a head' fatigued by
scientific Meditations, may be refreshed by reading,,
and by Ouse labtfurs which give snore employment
to the imagination. &bides, a great number of
cases inight.be mentioned, in which different per.
'sons Crave been seen to.lose one Or more of their iuM
`telleCtual tacultics, while they preserved the °theta
uninjured.
.celebrancci.Comie Poet of Vienna.

,

Anantieint salty tell, us, that when 134114"
opened.her k,z of Plagues,. Hope was found at the
bnttom. What a:mucli better story can Madam
Fortune, tell at. the present- era I when she ori's het
two boxes called Latirry Wheels ?—th.ey contain,
not only Hope, but a host of concomitant tram.
porting ideas and instead of Plagues fl, ing out,
'real substantikt blessings of many s 'rLusands of
Pounds sterling daily issue from them, to banish lb:
Plagues of an em....:ry Purse, and a myriad uthet
Plagues whiclie,h is heir to." A full
tion of there truthi wilt commence on so nearg
period as next Monday three weeltS. They cvlw
neglect to possess achance of partkipating of awe
blessings,be
si,
when 4 fOrtone so' kindly invites, desert
ro
without hope, with her frowns (lurk;