escaped from the wound, and a portion was removed in the treatment; in all, about a tea-cupful was lost. The case seemed, indeed, a desperate one, but in a few weeks the lad recovered. Dr. Turner, having remarked that the portion of brain which was removed came chiefly from the organs of Combativeness on each side, suggested that the lad would probably become a coward on his

recovery.

During the first week or two, as he lay in a comatose or oppresed condition, his dreams, or more properly delirious wanderings of the mind, presented images of terror, under the influence of which he frequently started from the bed, as if endeavouring to escape. Upon his recovery, the usual debility of the convalescent probably prevented any particular observations of its effects on his character. Two years afterwards, the doctor saw him. He was perfectly cured, and his mind, intellectually, was unimpaired; but his character was changed. He was timid as the hare. He could not be induced to ride a horse; and even if he saw a horseman approaching in the road, he would run into the woods to escape. At an age at which boys are usually high-spirited and proud to show their independence, he was destitute of the feeling, and seemed to lean upon others. He would not even leave the house, and go a few hundred yards by himself, but was escorted about the farm by the negro women. He was quite intelligent, and able to converse over his own case in a full and satisfactory manner. He told a full story of his dreams of terror during the first fortnight after the accident.

He was quite unsocial, and indisposed to mingle in the athletic sports of boys. His cerebellum was undeveloped, his manners were timid and feminine, and his voice like that of the eunuch.

If this account should meet the eye of Dr. Turner, I would request him to make out and publish a more complete account of the foregoing case, and his subsequent observations.

Permit me to suggest to practical phrenologists the importance of another class of facts which may easily be collected, and which are sometimes not less valuable than those furnished by pathology. I refer to the materials to be collected from an accurate study of the various sensations in different regions of the head, connected with cephalic action. The other day, a young man gave me a minute account of an apparition which he had pursued, until it made a mysterious escape, and of others which followed him until he became familiar with them. Seeing that he was sincere I inquired into the condition of his perceptive organs, and found that he was at certain periods liable to an affection in which there was pain along the brows and just over the eyeballs. This generally terminated

after a free bleeding at the nose. Such affections of the perceptive organs may well be the foundation of popular superstitions, for it is difficult to resist the sincere and graphic accounts of those who are thus deceived, without being able to suspect the source of their delusion.

I have been fortunate in obtaining this class of facts; some of which, indeed, might not be credible to those who test every statement by its harmony with their preconceived opinions. I feel confident, however, to assert that peculiar conditions, or excessive action of any organ, will always be accompanied by a sensation of some kind at its site; and that every true principle in the science of phrenology may thus be sustained by the evidence of sensation.

Yours respectfully,

Jos. R. BUCHANAN.

New Orleans, December 20, 1839.

ARTICLE IV.

ON HUMAN CAPABILITY OF IMPROVEMENT.*

Man, existing in a savage state, without arts and industry, can scarcely be recognised as a rational being; he manifests only instincts; and instead of subduing external nature to his will, he picks up from its surface, as the brutes do, whatever enjoyments it spontaneously yields, and submits in sullen patience to its adverse influences, till they pass away. In civilised countries, on the other hand, he presents the most unequivocal evidence of the greatness of his rational faculties, by the sway which he exerts over physical nature; but even in these regions, when we examine closely into the condition of individuals, we discover that although the intellectual powers have achieved admirable conquests over matter, there is a deplorable deficiency of moral enjoyment; that although man has displayed the magnificence of his nature in triumphing over earth and sea, air and fire, and rendering them ministers to his will, he has not succeeded in infusing order and beauty into his moral condition; that his heart is often sick with anguish, while his eyes look on a lovely world as his own. Some sects regard this as the necessary result of man's imperfect nature, and disbelieve in the possi

*From the 29th number of the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal.

bility of his ever advancing by the use of reason so far as to do in the moral, what he has accomplished in the physical, world; call forth order, beauty, and enjoyment, where pain and sorrow at present reign. Other sects not only regard such an advance as attain. able, but teach that the Creator has forined man as a progressive and improvable being, with the direct object of his arranging his institutions and conduct in conformity to the Divine law, and thereby attaining to real enjoyment. They maintain, that, without being animated by this conviction in our daily conduct, and without resorting to the study of human and external nature, under the reliance on the divine goodness which it produces, we cannot be said to live with God in the world.

Thus, two great parties may be said to divide the religious world. The one, with which we have a great sympathy, believes the physical, moral, and intellectual constitution of this world to be greatly disordered; many and bitter were the proofs of this truth afforded by the pains and sorrows attending our early life and education; and we are still far from imagining that this world is a perfect institution. The burning deserts of Africa, the frozen regions of the poles, the noxious swamps, and the stony wastes every where abounding, proclaim that physical nature is not perfect; while the mental blindness, the heart's sickness, and the body's anguish, prove that human nature requires great amendment. The other party, however, contend, that the opinion generally entertained of the inherent defects and disorders of creation is exaggerated; and that there is a far greater provision made for human virtue and happiness in the functions and capabilities of nature, than is generally understood or believed; and that it is denying the Divine wisdom and goodness, to say that this world is essentially disordered in its constitution; that it is not arranged so as to favour virtue, but the reverse; that it is a world essentially wicked, against the seductions of which the pious require to maintain a constant struggle. They say, that, if we entertain these views as our theory of human nature, and act consistently, we shall be led to look with little interest on human science, and to listen with much incredulity to schemes for improving the dispositions, capabilities, and condition of the race, by teaching them the laws of the natural world, and inducing them to obey them. No system of political economy, of law, or of education, having for its object the promotion of human happiness and virtue, by a right ordering of the elements of nature, appears to be practical, according to the fundamental doctrine, that nature, physical, moral, and intellectual, is depraved and out of joint. Although extra-natural means of rectifying the disorder be admitted, these

means do not belong to the department of philosophy, and do not fall within the sphere of reason; whereas every scheme having the permanent improvement of man for its object, by increasing his health, enlarging his knowledge, strengthening his moral affections, amending his social institutions, and diminishing his passions, seems to require that the elements of his nature should in themselves be good; that they should be wisely adapted to each other and the external world; and that happiness and virtue should be an attainable result of their due application and arrangement.

These unfavourable views of human nature are perhaps entertained by some of our readers, while by many others they will be regarded as altogether erroneous; and this difference of opinion is itself of much importance. A practical as well as a theoretical conflict is permanently proceeding in society, founded on the two sets of opinions now adverted to. The belief in the right constitution of the world is so far instinctive, that individuals of all ranks, when they lay aside their sectarian peculiarities, combine cordially in promoting the study of science, the investigation of nature, the diffusion of knowledge, and the amelioration of social institutions, on natural principles; in full reliance that the great elements of the material and moral world are really constituted with the design of favouring happiness and virtue. On the other hand, we are surrounded by religious sects essentially founded on the opposite principle, of nature being in disorder, and of the only means of rectification being such as are afforded by an influence not belonging to this world's constitution, not cognisable by philosophy, and not falling within the sphere of reason. These sects, when they have acted in their proper character, have laboured for centuries to improve mankind by their own peculiar means; we do not mean to say whether successfully or unsuccessfully, but simply to call attention to the fact, that, in their efforts, the exposition of the natural constitution of the human mind, of the external world, of their relations and capabilities, has formed a very subordinate part. They have greatly omitted to cultivate the natural capabilities of the beings whom they have sought to improve, and nevertheless expected to accomplish this end without using the means. They have resembled the pious agriculturists of Scotland, of the olden time, who prayed for dry weather, when the natural humidity of the atmosphere was damaging their crops with rain, but omitted to drain their fields. Their prayers were not successful, because they did not use the means which Providence had placed within their own power for protecting their crops. Their posterity have applied their skill in draining, and have fitted their fields to a greater extent to the climate, in consequence of which, fair crops

have been reaped in 1829 and 1830, after rains which would have spread absolute desolation over the fields of our ancestors. The enlightened tenantry of this age must enjoy a higher impression of the benevolence of the Creator, so far as it can be inferred from this single instance, than could be obtained by their predecessors.

If there has been an omission on the part of some of the religious instructors of mankind, in not making the most of the natural capabilities of man, as a preliminary condition to the efficacy of divine influence, we may expect to discover discrepancy between the magnitude of the exertions made by them for human improvement and the practical result. Accordingly, to a person of a plain understanding, nothing appears more extraordinary than the contrast afforded between the unwearied exertions of religious sects, and the fruits produced. Compare the sedulous teaching of religion to both sexes in youth, the powerful efforts constantly made to maintain its influence in adult age, with the wide dereliction of its principles in the practical affairs of life, and the deficiency is conspicuous. We do not find the principles of religion pervading all the employments of individuals, and the institutions of society. The daily occupations of the artisan, and of every other member of society, ought to be founded on, and regulated by, its principles. But let us look at the fact. Does the man, who commences at six o'clock in the morning to break stones on the highway, and who, exposed to heat, cold, or wet, as the heavens happen to send, labours at this occupation, with only two hours' intermission, till six o'clock at night, for six days in the week, from youth to old age, appear to be employed like a rational being, possessed of moral feelings and an immortal soul, sent into this world to cultivate and improve these powers, in order to fit him for higher dignity and enjoyment hereafter? He appears more like a creature condemned to endure penance, but for what specific purpose, it is not very easy to discover. As the vivacity of his moral and intellectual powers depends on the condition of his brain, and as exposure to the rigour of a cold and variable climate, in the open air, tends, by the laws of nature, to impede the action of this organ, the first fact that strikes us is the direct contradiction between the professed end of his existence, viz. his moral and intellectual improvement, and the arrangement of his physical condition. In the next place, as instruction and exercise of all the mental powers are required by nature as essential to moral and intellectual improvement, the second circumstance that attracts notice is the total absence or inadequate extent of such instruction and exercise. This forms a second contrast between his actual condition and the professed end of his existence on earth. Similar observations are