Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-26
Copyright 1908. by John Elfreth watkins)


-HAT the weak chin .'unin-
tellectual forehead" eloquent
mouth" and "patrician nose" the
bumps" of "domesticity." "se-
cretiyeness," observation" etc.
and all of the other various and sundry
distingus hing marks of the human head
and face are misnomers, without the least
significance as indexes to mentality or
character. was explained and amply dem
onstrated to me yesterday by DIR. Aies
Hrdlicka. in charge of the laboratory OF
physical anthropology. United States Ma
tional Museum. DR.. Hrdlicka's answers
to my questions are based upon extensive
scientidc work which he has been carry
ing on. particularly during the past Ave
years, the results of which are being de-
scrabed In the technical publications Of
the National Museum and the bureau Of
ethnology.
DO you find any truth at all in the
science Of phrenologyr' 1 asked the an
thropoloeist at the outset.
mo. None whatever he replied. IAN
OF the widespread ideas about human
character showing In the confguration OF
the head and face have their origin In
the early years of the last century. The
principal opponents Of the pseudo SCI
ence' known as phrenology were Gall and
Spurzheim of the continent Of Europe.
later on Combe Of Edinburgh and in this
country Morton and Phillips Of Philadel.
phia
All of Them Mistaken.
The earliest pioneers in phrenology
did some actual good to science. They
stimulated the research in the localization
Of the brains functions. resulting in the
discovery that definite parts of the brain
controlled certain groups sof muscles. such
as those of the thumb. arm. leg. ETC. But
here their usefulness ended Before gain
Ing more complete knowledge from actual
observation they extended phrenology
along the lines of pure unwarranted
theory and claimed that mental activities.
as we'll as the muscles. had definite brain
centers which developed In proportion as
their respective functions were exercised
Then they took the. further step and
taught that special development OF any
mental faculty was accompanied by a
protrusion of the skull over the brain
center serving to this particular faculty
And then came easily the fnal step-be-
lief in ability to diagnose mental quail
ities oy these bumps. and the practice of
phrenology' or such diagnosticat ton Stu
dents using purely scientific methods have
discovered that such functions as hearing
She' seeing occupy certain areas Of the
brain. which are large and not clearly
circumscribed. and that there Is a definite
lobe OF the brain concerned with speech
But here the differentiation Of the BRAIN
20 lar as mental activities are concerned,
TO end. and no amount of study has
thus TAR been able to isolate our mental
functions. which-except SO far as thew
depend on sense impressions-seem to be
manifestations Of the gray matter of the
cerebrum-or greater brain'-at large"
OF what significance. them are the va
rious bumps on the skull?"
The various elevations of the skull are
FEATURES more or less common to all peo-
pie. but showing more in some than In
otners: according to sex. age individual
varfatione and health OF the bones They
have nothing whatever to do with men
tally or with any function of the brain.
some are due merely to differences in
muscular development. as in the case of
the head to which Is attached the strong
Hsament controlling the heads move
ments. The larger the head Of an animal
the larger this IL. In the horse. for ex-
tuberances OF the head are due to some
pathological condition, such as ricketts,.
water on the BRAIN injuries ETC., that
have at some time during the DEVELOPMENT
skull. There cannot possibly be shadow
OF reality In any characterization of men
tai qualities based on the shape or pro-
tuberances of the skull Those who claim
80 oo.o ~ uo 80 are oeiuOed. or,
which IL quite the rule. are charlatans
pure and simple. living on the credulity
OF those who do not know better
St1e OF Brain Counts, However.
DO none of the thousands of skulls
which you have here give you any index
to the mental powers Of the men to whom
they belonged?"
IF the brain case Of a skull shows, upon
measurement a large internal volume :.
large volume of the brain which belonged
therein proportion to the size of the re-
N ainder of the skeleton then We NAV be
tolerably sure that 1t belonged to a per
son of good general mental DEVELOPMENT
and aptitude. provided always the skull
IS not hydrocephalic On the other hand,