tutes the essence of humour; by giving the tact of concealment it enables the posssssor to exhibit a feigned exterior with all that gravity and apparent unconsciousness which highly gratifies the spectator who sees the deceit.

Article IV. is "on the Effect of Injuries of the Brain "upon the Manifestations of the Mind, by Mr Andrew "Combe." In this paper the whole cases of injuries of the brain which have been founded on by the opponents of phrenology are minutely analyzed, and the author arrives at the conclusion, that they rather confirm than militate against the science. The greater proportion of the cases, he shews, are so deficient in precise statement concerning the real condition of the mental powers, including the feelings among these as well as the intellect, and regarding the particular portions of the brain affected, that they do not at all bear on the question. The remainder of them are shewn to be easily explicable on, and perfectly consistent with the principle of the brain being a congeries of organs situated in two corresponding hemispheres, while they are absolutely subversive of the notion, that it is a single organ, and that every part of it is employed in manifesting every mental act.

66

Article IV. contains " Cases of Deficiency in the Power of perceiving Colours." The first is by Dr Butter, who states that Mr Robert Tucker, with eyes capable of perceiving all objects except colour, is yet deficient in this latter power to a remarkable degree, and that the structure of his eyes appears sound and complete, while he is very evidently defective in the part of the brain marked in phrenology as the organ of colour. The next case is reported by Mr G. Combe, and is that of Mr James Milne, whose powers of vision are also excellent in every respect, except in the perception of colour, and in whom the organ is also stated to be deficient. The case of Mr Sloane is next given exactly to the same effect; while masks of David Wilkie, Haydon, and Williams, all eminent painters, are referred to as exhibited to the society, in all of which the organ of colouring is said to be large. Mr Combe also mentions the case of a gentleman, to whom

66

a painted landscape "appeared to represent a group of objects on a plain surface, without any perceptible fore or "back ground;" in short, who was able to perceive colour, form, and relative position, but not perspective or distance. On contrasting a mask of his face and forehead with masks of Mr Douglas and Mr Gibson, two painters who excel in perspective, the organ of SIZE was discovered to be very deficient in the former gentleman, and very large in the two latter, the difference between the other organs not being remarkable.

Article V. contains "Notice of a Case in which the Patient "suddenly forgot the Use of spoken and written Languages, by Mr Alexander Hood of Kilmarnock. In the phrenological system there is a faculty and organ of language distinct from the faculties and organs which take cognizance of things. In the patient in question, the knowledge of things remained entire, his feelings and understanding were vigorous and sound, and his organs of articulation were unimpaired, and yet he could not communicate his ideas by speech or writing, on account of the entire loss of command over the words which express them; which power he previously possessed in an ordinary degree. The case is extremely interesting, and so minute and circumstantial as to leave no ambiguity concerning the extent of the patient's loss, and of the powers which were retained; and it goes far to shew that such a faculty and organ as those of language must exist. It does not prove directly where the organ is situated, because the patient recovered, and there was no operation; but the loss of the mental power had been preceded by a pain in the part of the head above the eye, where the organ is placed in the phrenological busts; and hence its position is indirectly confirmed. Cases similar to the foregoing, observed by Dr Spurzheim and Dr Gall, are also mentioned, and a notice of several affections of the same kind are quoted from notes of the late Dr Gregory's lectures, all tending to shew that the power of using artificial signs must be in connexion with a particular part of the brain.

Aricle VI. is " Remarks on the Cerebral Development of King Robert Bruce, compared with his Character, as ap❝pearing from History," by Mr William Scott. It is known that the grave of King Robert Bruce was discovered in the church of Dunfermline, and on November 5, 1819, opened by the Barons of Exchequer, at whose sight a cast of the skull was taken before re-interring the skeleton. Its authenticity is thus beyond question. Mr Scott mentions that it is remarkably large, which circumstance indicates a large brain; and size in the brain corresponds with power in the mind, the kind of power coinciding with the direction in which the brain is largest. In Bruce the organs of the lower propensities are said to have been very large, those of several of the moral sentiments, and of the knowing faculties to have been large, while those of benevolence and justice, and reflection, are mentioned as only moderate in development. Mr Scott enters into a minute analysis of his character, as appearing from history, and shews that it coincides in the most satisfactory manner with his cerebral development, not only in the mental qualities which he possessed, but also in those in which he was deficient. The article throughout is exceedingly entertaining, and displays at once an accurate knowledge of historical details, and that penetration and comprehensiveness of understanding which characterize a philoso phical mind. An excellent engraving of Bruce's skull is

prefixed.

Article VII. contains a "Report upon the Cast of Miss "Clara Fisher," by Mr George Combe. This wonderful child at nine years of age rivalled Kean in playing Richard III., Shylock, Falstaff, and a variety of other characters. Her head appears to be uncommonly large for her years, and the combination of powers which she possesses is analyzed, and shewn to correspond with the lines of acting in which she excels. A beautiful plate of Miss Fisher accompanies the report.

Article VIII. is the "Case of J. G., aged ten Years," by Mr D. Bridges, junior. The subject of this report is an ac

complished rogue of eight years of age, whose evil tendencies were distinctly announced by Mr G. Combe, on an examination of his head, without any previous knowledge of his character. He has been successively under the charge of Mrs Baron Cockburn, Mr Buchanan, one of Dr Chalmers's elders, and Mr Andrew Reston, assistant librarian to the School of Arts in Edinburgh, and who attempted to educate him to virtue without success. Letters from Mr David Waddell, tutor in Mrs Cockburn's family, Dr Chalmers, and Mr Reston, are given in the report, and altogether it is an instructive page of that curious and perplexing volume, human nature. A cast of his head was presented to the Society, and the cerebral organization and dispositions are said completely to correspond. The organ of conscientiousness is remarkably deficient, while that of secretiveness is very large. This is the origin of his duplicity, in which he is a complete adept. The intellectual organs are said to be largely developed, and the most convincing proofs are afforded of his talents being equally powerful; but they have hitherto been directed only to vice. The boy eloped from Mr Reston's house in February last, and has not since been heard of.

Article IX. is "On inferring Natural Dispositions and "Talents from Development of Brain." This article contains, 1st, A case reported by Mr Brian Donkin, in which a cast of the Rev. Mr M. was sent to Mr G. Combe, with information of the education and rank of the original; and he drew out a sketch of his natural talents and dispositions founded on the development of the brain, which was shewn to the friends of the clergyman, and acknowledged as characteristic and correct. An analysis of the principles on which the inferences were founded is added by Mr Combe, in which he shews that there is nothing empirical, or of the nature of fortune-telling, in this application of the science, but that it follows as a natural and unavoidable result, if the fundamental propositions of phrenology are founded in nature. 2dly, A report by Mr Robert Buchanan on the skull of Gorcon, who murdered a pedlar boy on Eskdale Muir; 3dly, A

report by Sir Geo. S. Mackenzie on the skull of Bellingham, the assassin of Mr Perceval; and, 4thly, A report by Mr G. Combe on the head of Mary Mackinnon, lately executed for the murder of William Howat. The dispositions of these various individuals, which led to their several crimes, are analyzed and compared with the development of their brains, and shewn to correspond. Each of them possesses certain qualities common to the three, and certain other faculties which characterize him or her as an individual; and the development of the organs in each is said to harmonize with this circumstance: the same organ being large in all when all manifested strongly a particular faculty, and the other organs being large or small according as the corresponding mental power was strongly or weakly manifested by the individual. These reports are interesting to all who direct their attention to criminal legislation and the improvement of prison-discipline. They throw light upon that variety of mental constitution which is prone to crime, and elucidate the ultimate causes of vice; without a knowledge of which, measures cannot be adopted upon philosophical principles for the reformation of criminals. In the three heads the organs of the lower propensities bear the same overpowering proportion to those of the intellect and moral sentiments, which we have described, in the present number, as characterizing the heads of murderers in the collection of the Phrenological Society, and in the Museum of Dublin. The mass of brain behind the ear is immense. This article is illustrated by two plates, in one of which the head of the Rev. Mr M. is contrasted with the heads of Mary Mackinnon and David Haggart, and in the other of which representations are given of the skulls of Gordon and Bellingham.

Article X. contains a few brief Observations, by Mr Carmichael of Dublin, on the mode of studying the natural Dispositions and Instincts of the lower Animals in Relation to their Cerebral Development; an object of much interest, but in regard to which little has been yet accomplished.

Article XI. consists of a Phrenological Analysis of some of