The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-12 00:00:00

FORWOOD'S PHRENOL OGY.

There is a class of persons, and by no means a
small one, who are born with unsound constitu-
tions, made of sickly material, with delicate fibres,
delicate all over, incapable of really healthy diges-
tion and assimilation, and, of course, incapable of
making good wholesome blood. Such persons
favourably circumstanced as to air, occupation, diet,
and education often improve and hold on for many
years without becoming victims to any particular
disease. The brain, however distinct its functions,
bodily or mental, may be from the functions of the
organs in the trunk, is nevertheless in close associa-
tion with the organs. From these it has to receive
its constant supply, through the blood, of food
wherewik hto repair its waste of fibre. Originally
partaking of the constitution of the rest of the
system, its aliment in such cases as are here alluded
to is liable to be of a very unwholesome kind, and
thus its natural delicacy and liability to diseased
action is continually aggravated more or less ac-
cording to circumstances.
In many instances a scrofulous diathesis is at
the root of this kind of constitution. This state
may not be indicated by the ordinary glandular signs
but it is discernible in the form and position of the
the teeth, their early decay, the size, form, and
consistency of the nails, the texture and colour of
the skin, the hair, the mode of breathing, the clear
and watery eye, and other minute indications
known only to keen and practical observers of such
signs and tokens. But too many medical men are
unacquainted with these nice symptoms, and do not
see the insidious evil that they indicate. When
persons with this kind of constitution happen to
have sufficiently large and fairly formed brains, not
primarily attacked by scrofulous action, they may
ride through life's voyage unwrecked, circumstances
favouring them, though they are even in danger
of attacks of acute disease, whether of body or
mind. Such attacks may not produce common in-
sanity, but only some of the various eccentric no-
tions on moral, religious, or other subjects, call
them "hobby riding," ruling passions," or " darling
ideas" of one class or another. Infelicitously or-
ganised in brain, such constitutions of body or
mind usually tell their story early in life, and at a
more or less rapid pace arrive at a tragic terminus
—best when this is the cemetery.
Of this class of constitutions was Forwood, exe-
cuted on the 11th inst. at Maidstone, for the mur-
der of his three children by poison in London, and
of his wife and one child at Ramsgate. I did not
see him alive, but I could discern some of the more
obscure signs of a scrofulous diathesis. His teeth
were for the most part decayed, his nails small,
short, and brittle, his head partially bald, though
he was only 35 years old, and on his chin, at one
side, there was an obvious scar, indicative of a
lanced abscess long gone by. He was, if not very
ill made, of a typeless figure. His feet were flat
and much turned outwards. Like many persons of
scrofulous habits he was a heavy feeder, and a great
bread eater. But his head was by no means of any
of the types exhibited in the numerous casts of the
heads of criminals in the phrenological collections.
He seems to have had a smattering of phrenology,
as of several subjects, and he requested of the Gover-
nor of Maidstone gad that a cast of his head might be
taken, a report thereon had from a competent
phrenologist, and also that his brains might be ex-
tracted and submitted to surgical analysis. The
second request was not complied with ; the first was,
and the work of taking the last and reporting thereon
has devolvedon me. A minute analysis of his mental
organisation, as bearing on his life, his crimes, and
his conduct since his apprehension and conviction,
your space would not permit me to enter into. In
another form such analysis may appear. It is a
very interesting case in a psychological, a medical,
and a judicial point of view.
Forwood's head, I repeat, cannot be classed with
any of the generally known criminal types. It
bears no resemblance to that of Rush, Greenacre,
Courvoisier, Palmer, Bellingham, Patch, Corder,
Burke, Bishop, Hare. In form it is proportionate,
and though it lacks coronal height as compared with
its width, there is nothing uneven nor obtrusive in
its general outline, nor any irregularity in the de-
velopment of its individual organs. Less than half
an inch more of height in the moral region would
have made the head positively handsome. The basilar
or animal region of the brain—posterior and lateral
—is by no means coarsely developed. The coro-
nal region does not show meagre conscientiousness,
neither " Self-Esteem" nor' Love of Approbation "
has a predominating organ, and of " Firmness"
there is a good development. I mention " Hope,"
" Sympathy," and the other organs of the class
moral, are fairly developed. The intellectual re-
gion, or forehead, though by no means of a superior
type, as regards the higher spheres of thought, is
far from being of a meagre and cramped type. All
the perceptive organs are excellently developed—
giving a more than ordinary power to acquire a
large share of practical and varied knowledge—had
education come to fertilise and utilise so competent
a congeries of capabilities. But such was not For-
wood's lot. He was probably exposed at an early
age, as many like him are, to most unfavourable
influences. He had little or no literary education,
yet he learned to write well, and to:express himself
in a fairly correct and grammatical way. He
had words at will, and was most fluent in
speech, and had evidently tried at reading
works on subjects which his limited education en
abled him only to acquire a smattering comprehen
sion of.

Probably Forwood found his way early into the
billiard-room. He would readily have become a
good player, and soon learn to do a bit of picking up
in order to keep himself in pocket-money. No
matter with what stock of native honesty he may
have matriculated in this college, he could not have
proceeded far without finding that he could not
afford to keep on billiard-playing and " keep a con-
science ;" and so he, no doubt, took the several de-

grees, independently of his troublesome companion
and impediment, and became in no brier time a
master in this smooth and gentlemanly art of be-
coming a confirmed and unscrupulous swindler, and
a clever picker up. The dice-box and pack of cards
are seldom far:from the board of green cloth—drops
of brandy come at call, and the maker of " can-

nons" and "hazards" " to a dead certainty" has,
in ninety-nine cases in a hundred, cannoned and
stranded himself into thorough swindlerism, and
become

" Outcast to virtue, peace, and fame,
His country's curse, his children's shame."
When Forwood had risen, or sunk, to the office
of marker his education had been pretty well com-
pleted, and his onward career accelerated to a rat-
tling pace.

Are our magistrates acting wisely in licensing
unlimitedly the billiard " guilt gardens," where
young clerks and " gents" of all classes are to be
seen in crowds every night pacing more or less
rapidly the road to ruin. Formerly one or two
tables were licensed in a house, now ten or a dozen
or more are under one roof—the haunts of smooth
sharks on the watch for prey of all sizes, from a
green shcpboy to a groggy country customer or
other novice, drunk or sober.

As regards For wood's sanity, the question has
been legally disposed of by a fair trial, and, I think,
properly. _ _

At the same time, I by no means question either
the motive or the judgment of whoever endeavoured
to save Forwood's life on the plea of his mental
unsoundness. Ido not think that came within
the class mad ; and I should not call him sound-
minded.

As to his ostentatious, stilted, and wordy decla-
rations on the subject of religious belief, they
were in harmony with the rest of his conduct

since his condemnation. As to the motiireheas

signed for murdering his children and wife, I am
disposed to view them merely as after thoughts,
and not improbably impostures on himself. He
was full of vanity, and the kind of craftiness
that is apt to blind the cunning, not alone to exter-
nal truth, but to cheat, most of all, and betray him
in whom it dominates.

I am, Sir,
Yours truly, and in pressure of time,
C. DONOVAN,
School of Phrenology, 111, Strand.
Jan. 12, 186 G.