Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1858-09-08

1872 49, s..ss4Ss
g DEAra OF Gfosa1 ssi 81 The 6isyacf Bald
naOse brings intellieSl 8 &c tle deafh &c Nj George
Con bes asshor Of 7As. 0esse;t.fiea ~ Mr.
.Combe len Edinburk sssly % NJ SAahuls 4asiist
q ms srentsss IN the santh Of tos
his anHuas castcm, and had stopped stti3 hydro
pathic establishment in Surrey to visit friends fssid-
ing there when he was suddenly attacked BY pull
monAfy complaint, to which he Was subject, and
died ahat place SITTER Illness Of fsxs days-
HisAge WINS 70 years. es,, ;ii.s 81 's.z !.
Mr.: Combs ~ssa native Of Scotland, born in 1883.
dis parents were rigid Scotch Presbyterians, uned.
ucated and of moderate circumstances, and exees.
s'vey strict in the religious discipline Of family
which numbered seventeen members. The London
Ne'os in an elaborate notice Of Mr.. Combe, remarks
that 1.-THE want of knowledge, and the aceticism of
the well intenioRed parents, caused the death of
several Of their children, and radically injured the
health OF the rest. Such is the testimony Of the
two brothers, in their "reminiscences of the low,
damp situation of their fathers dwelling at the
brewery OF Lvingston's yards. near Edinburg and
OF its crowded and llared rooms and of the dreary
Sundays and dismal sectarian instruction which was
all that their parents attempted to give them in per-
son. No doubt this experience tended to turn the
attention OF the brothers George and Andrew to the
subject OF the conditions of health and to deepen
their convictions to the utmost that their nature ad
mitted"
George Combe was nine years older than his
writer to the Sgnet in 1872 and practiced his pro.
fesson in Edinburg. In the year 1915, the doc
trines of Gall and Spurzheim were brought under
discussion in Edinburg, and the attention of Mr..
Combe was directed to be the science of Phrenology
An interview with Spurzheim, who visited Edinbure
about the same time, led Mr.. Combe to careful ex.
animation of the new theory, and from an nvestiga-
ton he became believer and earnest champion
With his brother Andrew, he became phrenooeicaI.
" controversial. Letters were published, in which
the brothers described each others characteristics
as defined by the organs developed on their skulls.
and in spite of the sneers of the reviews and the re-
fusal of the encyclopedias to commit the handling
of the of Phrenoogy to the believers in the
new science, the public faith grew mainly through
the efforts Of George Combe, who saw in it new
solution of the problem of the structure and func-
tons of the BRAIN In 1926, the "Socety for the
the purpose of supplying good and cheap books to
the working classes but unfortunate circumstances
caused delay in the issue of its publications. and
it was only in 1927 that its first tract was printed
Six weeks before its appearance George Combe read
before the chronological Society of Edinburg the
first part OF work. to uhich he gave the title of
The Harmony betceen the Mental and Moral Con-
stitution of Nan and the Laos Of Physical Natur.
This was the germ Of his celebrated work, entitled
The Constitution Of Nan in RsLation to External
Objects. The Society for the diffusion of useful
knowledge having refused to publish among their
cheap series any work on Phrenology, Mr.. Combe
set himself in earnest to follow up the undertaking
he had already begun. Among the works on that
subject, which followed each other rapidly from his
pen, were the Elements, Outlines and System, OF
Phrenology. volume on Mo,al Philosophy and Leo
lures on Popular Education. In 1888, he married
Miss Cecilia Siddons, and four or five years later
gave up the practice of his profession. In 1885, he
visited the United States and remained here for two
years, lecturng on Phreno'ogy, and preparing a
journal of his tour, which was afterwards published
under the title of Notes. His reception in this
country was co, d al in the extreme. Spurzhem had
died here a few years before Mr.. Combe's arrival
and the believers in Phrenology looked to the latter
gentleman as the legitimate to the honors
paid to the lamented leader. The Constitution Of
Man, first published in 1928, was reprinted here
and reached an enormous sale. 1t is by this worl
that IT.. Combe is chiefly known. Its circulation ir
Great Britain soon ran up to 1OO, 900 COPIES and j
has been translated into several languages. Ate
his visit to the United States, Mr.. Combe passed
some years in travel on the continent The latte
years Of his life were period of infrm health, in
capacitatinp him for active efforts