He spent a restless night, and early in the morning I called in a physician, who immediately sent for another; and a surgeon and assistant, under their directions, took about nine ounces of blood from him. Although he had never before witnessed the operation of bleeding, yet he held his arm freely to the lancet, and looked on with all the coolness of an old man well accustomed to it. Twelve leeches were applied to the throat, and the punctures were kept open for two hours with warm wet cloths: after which, ten more leeches were placed on the throat, followed by warm wet cloths as before. Mustard plasters were put on the legs, and opening medicine administered; but all these efforts were fruitless; the child died before five o'clock in the afternoon.

"On dissection, the only appearance of disease, was inflammation of the larynx, very strong at the glottis; diminishing in intensity downwards, and terminating in an almost imperceptible degree of inflammation at the commencement of the lungs. The heart, brain, and every other part of the body, were declared by the physicians to be in a state of the most perfect health. They acknowledged, however, that the brain exhibited some indications of former inflammation; but the immediate cause of death was, the inflammation of the glottis producing suffocation, by rendering the passage too narrow for respiration.

The brain, the heart, the diseased larynx, the skull, and a cast of the head, are now on the table for the inspection of the society; from which will be seen, that the skull is firm, hard, and free from any marks of disease; and the brain and heart present the appearance of having ceased their operations in a state of perfect health; but the high colour of the inflamed larynx is no longer visible, the part having been preserved in an alcoholic solution of bichloride of mercury.

"I have not dissected the brain, but if the society should be of opinion that any new light could be thrown on the subject, by that procedure, I will with cheerfulness have it performed.

"In order to enable the society to compare the external development of the organ of language with the corresponding part of the brain and of the skull, I have placed on the table, a bust which I modelled from the cast, and from memory shortly after death; in which the eyes so strongly resemble the original, that, on shewing the miniature copy of the same in ivory, now also on the table, to numerous friends in Vienna, a year or two after the child's death, those who had known him, without a single exception, picked it out as his likeness, from among several ivory miniature busts, with which it was always exhibited promiscuously, as if it were a copy from the antique, as the others mostly were.

My object in answering the searching queries of this indefatigably exploring child, on such a variety of subjects, was, to divide his attention, so that none of his faculties should be allowed an exhausting degree of exercise, which might have been the effect of confining him to a few pursuits. And in this mode of proceeding I conceive that I have acted in harmony with the mass of sound recommendation, contained in many papers in the Phrenological Journal.

"Whenever a conversation arose in his presence on any subject new to him, no matter how abstruse, he would for days, weeks, and even months afterwards, ask questions, ingeniously framed, to procure for himself a systematic view of the thing: and, until his queries were solved, his mind was fretted, and he often dwelt on the point with intense anxiety, reiterating the inquiry in various modifications, until he obtained the satisfaction he so ardently desired.

"Few of the statements in this paper rest on my authority; hundreds of persons in London, Rotterdam, Cologne, Frankfort, and Vienua, have repeatedly spoken with astonishment of the extraordinary nature of his inquiries, and of the perseverance with which he strove to procure the information.

"It has been said that so precocious a child ought to have been sent into the country among persons of no intelligence, and be inured to athletic sports, in order that his brain might, as much as possible, remain inactive, until the body should attain some degree of maturity.

"If the object be to rear an animal, then society, where animal propensity is dominant, would be likely to effect the purpose; but such innate, moral, and intellectual powers as this child possessed, if placed under animal guidance, would in all probability be perverted without loss of force, and, therefore, an arrant knave of the worst species might result from such injudicious association.

"But if the object be to train the child into a man, then the greater the moral and intellectual power, the greater need is there of judicious, moral, and intellectual guidance, for such a mind will make progress of some sort, no obstacles can prevent it; if, therefore, it be not directed into the right way, it will go astray, and proceed in the wrong.

"In reviewing my mode of treatment of the child in question, now seven years after his death, and after much discussion at the Phrenological and this Society, I really do not see in what I have essentially erred; and I am persuaded, that if Providence should place me in charge of such another prodigy, I should follow pretty near the same course with him, being satisfied that my procedure was, in the main, correct."

ARTICLE XII.

AMERICAN ANNALS OF PHRENOLOGY.

Vol. IV. BOSTON, 1836.

Nos. III. and IV. of

OUR Transatlantic fellow-labourer continues his career of usefulness, but the two last numbers have reached us too recently to admit of any lengthened notice. As usual, Professor Caldwell stands in the very front of the battle, and, in an examination of the philosophical opinions contained in Lord Brougham's Discourse on Natural Theology, deals his Lordship such a shower of ponderous and well-directed blows as utterly to demolish almost every one of the physiological positions on which his extraordinary metaphysical arguments are founded.

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We must confess, however, that the article which has most diverted us by the grotesque assumption of superior acumen, candour, and accuracy, is one by Mr Frothingham, on "New Phrenological Theories," in which, after telling us that he has "but recently directed his attention to the subject, and of course does not feel sufficient confidence in his own practical skill to compare all its theories with nature," he facetiously assures us that the science is extremely imperfect; that its alleged facts are inaccurate; that the skulls of the North American Indians are remarkable for an organization the opposite of their manifestations, and that to overcome these difficulties he begs leave to SUGGEST A THEORY" which "has resulted in the discovery, as I believe, of at least four of the most important faculties of the mind, with their respective organs-has thrown new light upon many of those which have been considered as established-and, if true, must materially change the structure of the whole phrenological edifice!" Verily these are great doings to be accomplished so speedily by one who has “so recently directed his attention to the subject," as "not to have acquired confidence in his own practical skill;" but we infer that the transcendant genius of Mr Frothingham has enabled him to surmount at once the numerous difficulties which render long study and great practical experience necessary to other less gifted men; and to uproot, by a single flourish of his pen, the anxiously digested results of whole years of multiplied observations on the part of others. From this dawn of future greatness, we anticipate that in a few months more we shall receive the whole phrenological edifice from his hands in a state of accuracy and completeness which shall enable us to give up farther research, and save ourselves the trouble of continuing a journal, once destined for its advancement. But Mr Frothingham assures us that "the happiest inspirations of great minds have been rejected as visionary, because above the common

mind;" and we stop lest we fall into this unlucky blunder in regard to his inspirations. ✨

The first faculty discovered by Mr Frothingham is "Watchfulness," its organ is situated in the forward part of Cautiousness. The second is "Associativeness," and its organ is situated under Self-Esteem. After describing, ad longum, the peculiar function of this faculty, and the various ways in which it acts, the author, with a very rigid and edifying adherence to the principles of inductive philosophy, remarks felicitously that "these and other manifestations are only predicted from the nature of the faculty. They have not been observed, there having been no opportunity for a very extensive observation of facts, owing to its recent discovery." Truly Mr F. must be a perfect treasure to our Transatlantic friends, and we almost wonder that he has not been appointed by the Government to draw up a geographical and statistical account of the Georgium Sidus, seeing that he could so easily "predict" its structure and political condition "from the nature" of the planet, and that "there are really no opportunities for a very extensive observation of facts" regarding it, "owing to" the confounded distance from us at which it is placed.

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Mr Frothingham has still his two other faculties and organs. to account for. The one, he hints, may probably be named Sagacity;" but he defers it and its companions until he "has made more extensive observations of their development and manifestations in individuals," after which he promises to present us with the most encouraging and the most practical system of mental philosophy which the world ever saw, and there we leave him.

Mr Frothingham fears that phrenologists will look upon his "theories," " as he calls them, with suspicion," &c., but as we are seriously still uncertain whether his whole lucubration is not intended as a clever mystification, and it has, at all events, afforded us much entertainment, we shall not fall into the snare by treating it as meant for philosophy. As a whole it contains traces of talent and thinking which, with due cultivation, greater modesty, and more extended knowledge, might do the author credit, and ultimately entitle him to rank higher than he is ever likely to do by such exhibitions as the present. With these remarks, dictated, we assure him, with no unfriendly spirit, we take leave of him, and trust that, before his next appearance, he will have considered the propriety of observing nature on a more extensive scale, before so unceremoniously substituting his Own "THEORIES" for the mass of facts already collected by other observers.

ARTICLE XIII.

DISCUSSION ON PHRENOLOGY AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE AT PARIS.

In

Most of our readers have heard of the famous four days' discussion on the subject of Phrenology, which occurred last spring in the French Academy of Medicine, and which was trumpeted about at the time as a death-blow to the science. the January Number of our esteemed contemporary the MedicoChirurgical Review, we find an abstract of the sentiments expressed by the different speakers, and willingly avail ourselves of the facility thus afforded, of transferring it to our own pages. We need scarcely add, that we attach no great value to discussions of this kind, apart from a direct reference to facts, and that on this as on most similar occasions, both parties left the matter precisely where they found it. Speaking generally, we cannot say that either of them manifested that minute and familiar acquaintance with the details of the science, which alone can enable any one to obtain a conviction of their truth, and to expose the sophistries of the opponents. Some of the speeches, such as those of Broussais and Adelon, were, however, very effective, so far as they went; but what follows is only a meagre outline of them:

"Here closed the discussion on the causes of apoplexy; and the other topic of debate-Phrenology-was introduced by M. Bouillaud. He took a rapid view of the rise and diffusion of this new system of mental philosophy, and shewed very ably that its leading principles had been recognised by many of the wisest physiologists long prior to the time of Dr Gall. M. B. did not hesitate to avow, that while he believed in the general axioms of the science, he was very far from yielding an assent to all its details, as expounded in any publication on the subject. *) For example, he did not think that the feeling of sexual desire, or, as it is denominated, Amativeness, has any

In his recent work on Medical Philosophy, M. B. has expressed sentiments to the same effect. His words are:-' Without doubt a good deal remains to be done to determine the precise seat of the intellectual and moral faculties and their instruments; without doubt the new science is still wrapped in obscurities and uncertainty. But the foundation of the doctrine rests upon such a numerous collection of facts and observations, that it is indestructible.' He then alludes to the incredulity of M. Magendie, who ranks Phrenology with necromancy, alchemy, and astrology, and has stated his opinion in this sentence: The efforts of that pseudo-science reduce themselves to assertions which cannot bear examination for an instant.' M. Bouillaud in reply says: In vain Cuvier and Napoleon opposed the doctrine of Gall. It triumphed over their resistance, and by a revenge worthy of itself, it makes use of the heads of these two great men to support its own principles. After such a victory, what can Phrenology have to fear from any other enemy?'