those which are decidedly evil. Such a line might be drawn from the middle of the face to the crown of the head. It would pass through a region neither good nor bad, and if we do not allow a small zone to cover the neutral ground we will make arbitrary divi sions where there is very little difference. To say among some of these smaller organs which inclines most to virtue, and which the most to vice, would require all the nice discrimination which

"could divide

A hair twixt south and southwest side."

I dislike arbitrary divisions and classifications; they generally come from narrow-minded men-men of mechanical minds, who cannot comprehend the rich diversity and intricacy of Nature, and therefore mangle and clip the truth until it is reduced within the grasp of their own understanding.

But as the convenience of such arrangements may compensate for their inaccuracy, we will endeavor to impress upon our minds certain great divisions which we will easily retain when we have entirely forgotten many of the special and smaller localities.

If we draw a line commencing at the external angle of the eye, or at the alæ of the nose, and proceeding directly to the crown of the head (the point or center from which the hair usually radiates in different directions) we separate the good and bad elements of human character. All above and upon that line may be considered good in their tendency, all below and behind it, evil. Those which are farthest above the line are highest in character, and those farthest below are of the lowest character, while those adjacent to the line approximate a neutral character. These extremes of good and evil are not however at those points, which appear farthest apart, as the organs are delineated on a plain surface. The hemispheres of good and evil have their greatest intensity of function in the center of each. Thus Philanthropy, in the center of the upper, and Felony in the center of the lower region, may be considered the extreme antipodal points and farthest from the line of division, which might be carried entirely around each hemisphere.

In speaking of the superior region as positively good, and the inferior as positively bad, I do not mean merely that the upper or gans are serviceable to society, and that the lower are injurious to the public good-the upper virtuous and the lower vicious;-especially I do not mean that the upper organs are beneficial only to others, and the lower injurious to others but beneficial to self.

On the contrary I regard the inferior or vicious organs as decidedly evil in their tendency, and not only evil to others, but evil to self-while I regard the superior organs as not only beneficial to others, but equally beneficial to those in whom they act. It is not true that any species of vicious or criminal conduct can promote our own happiness, and it is equally untrue that the exercise of any moral faculty can go without its reward.

Our evil passions are their own punishment and our virtues are their own reward!

This cheering principle is demonstrated by the most simple and conclusive experiments. Let any one of an impressible temperament place his hand upon the organs which we recognize as goodhe will receive from every portion of this region a soothing, cheering, elevating, brightening, happy, sustaining influence, an influence more vigorous in the posterior portion, more lucid in the anterior, more happy in the superior, central locations. He experiences both physical and mental pleasure-he is happy in proportion as the influence of the organs is imparted to him. He feels the same happiness which we derive from being thrown into society with the good and refined, and from receiving displays of respect, friendship, or affection toward ourselves.

Let him place his hand upon the inferior organs, and just in proportion as he feels their influence he will become morose, stern, gloomy, harsh, irritable, unprincipled, and wretched. He may not be capable of feeling their extreme influence, and just in proportion as he falls short of the full excitement he will be relieved of the unhappy effects, but in proportion as his impressibility is developed, he will receive a physical and mental injury from the contact. If he has any local pain or malaise, it will be increased-if he has any cause of dejection or misanthropy, it will seem exaggerated. The activity of his mind will be diminished, his elevated sentiments will disappear-all things around will seem utterly drearyhe will regard himself as a wretch, and he will be supremely wretched. In short, he will feel, from contact with the evil organs, just as if the same evil passions had been exercised upon himselfas if he had been the object of the prejudice, the hatred, the perfidy, the scorn, and the domineering tyranny of his fellow-beings.

Such being the fact, it is obvious that happiness can be obtained only by the cultivation of the superior organs, and that in proportion as the inferior are allowed to predominate we are punished by the laws of our own nature. No one of the impressible temperament can entertain any doubt upon this subject after feeling the miserable frame of mind produced by the inferior organs, and contrasting it with the happiness which he derives from the excitement of the superior organs of his brain.

To speak of the inferior organs as decidedly evil, may seem improper to those of a certain theologico-phrenological school, who would fain deny that there is any evil in man. The difference

between us however is rather verbal than real. No one denies that there are crimes in society, and bad passions in men. The only question is, whether these crimes and bad passions shall be ascribed to certain organs as their source, and the organs named from the crimes to which they give rise, or the organs shall be named from some of their milder and better regulated manifestations, and the crimes considered not the effects of the organs but of their perver sions.

In naming the organs, we must, as physiologists, name the func tions which they actually perform in modifying character, and not the regulated or restrained functions which they ought to perform in a properly balanced human being. The plan of humanity presents us a variety of passions, faculties, and emotions to be com bined in certain proportions, and forming, when thus properly combined, an admirable character. But if these proportions are disregarded and the inferior or subordinate elements are too freely used a horrible and disgusting compound is produced. Human character may be compared to a beverage in which the spirituous, the watery, the saccharine, the acid, the pungent, the bitter, and the aromatic elements, by their appropriate combination, form a delightful liquid. All of the elements of this liquid are necessary to its proper manufacture, and to the most perfect gratification of the palate and invigoration of the system; but if the bitter and acid elements largely predominate over the saccharine and aqueous we have a nauseous dose instead of a pleasant beverage; or if the alco holic substance predominates we have a wild intoxication instead of a gentle stimulus from its use.

Thus in man there are bitter, nauseous, and even poisonous elements of his constitution, which in their excesses are deadly, but which in their proper proportions are pleasant or medicinal influences. If these elements are poisonous when used alone, we prefer to call them poisons although they may be used medicinally or agreeably, when mixed in small quantities with more pleasant and healthy substances. In naming any substance, it is clearly more correct to name it from its character displayed in its uncombined condition, than to name it from the phenomena displayed in combination. It is certainly more appropriate to call oxygen a gas than a liquid or a solid, although it may be found as a liquid (in water) in combination with hydrogen, and as a solid in every calcareous rock.

Thus we should name the various elements of humanity according to the character which they display when the combinations are analyzed, and each element sufficiently freed from its controlling influences to expand into a full development of its peculiar nature.

Man, constituted as he should be, presents certain superior ele

*This is true of the human constitution in a material as well as in a moral sense. Thus hydrochloric acid, phosphorus, and sulphur, which are always present in the hu man body (although in small quantity) are formidable poisons when used in excess.

1850.1

Organology of the Brain.

ments of his character in an almost complete predominance. The perfect and unrestrained development of his highest powers is not compatible with life, it is compatible only with a state of entire spirituality, free from material incumbrance, but a general predominance and fuller development of the superior powers is essential to the symmetry of his constitution, while that of the inferior faculties requires to be narrowly circumscribed.

A full development of the tendencies of the inferior organs is shocking and repulsive-it violates the symmetry of human character, which requires the worst elements to be the most restrained. The organs of the front lobe, for instance, are legitimately entitled to a predominance over their antagonists in the occiput, in the proportion of two or three to one, and the coronal organs to a still greater predominance over the basilar. The intellectual organs, which produce a state of wakefulness, are required to act from 16 to 18 hours out of the 24, while their antagonists, which produce sleep, have but six or eight hours of full indulgence. Others of the superior organs have manifestly a still greater predominance than this, although their proportional activity may not be so easily estimated.

Thus acting for limited periods and in a circumscribed manner, never being allowed to escape the control of the higher powers, our inferior faculties perform an important part, and by their physical effects upon the body sustain the machinery of life in active motion. Like the imprisoned steam which propels our boats, they are useful and even necessary in proper subjugation, although terribly destructive whenever they break through their firm restraints.

But the character of these organs must not be drawn from the effects which they exhibit under control and modification. If this course were pursued we should have to determine the exact proportion of our faculties, and the condition from which the description of each should be derived. This would be an arbitrary and variable method, admitting of no fixed standard, and not only arbitrary but false. For if we describe the character of any organ as modified or restrained by others, we are describing a mixed and not a simple effect. We describe effects belonging not to the organ in question, but to its antagonists. Consequently our description is false, and no description can be just unless we give a full development of the function of the organ and describe its real functions by its effects. This is our course. We excite each organ to its fullest effect, and simply note the result. Thus understanding the true function we may afterward combine it in every manner and degree that we please in the formation of character. If the organ, when fully excited, produces sleep, we call it the organ of Sleep; if it renders the subject sick, we call it the organ of Disease; if it produces a vigorous action and proper balance of all the functions with no peculiar excitement, we call it the organ of Health. Thus we confine ourselves to the statement of facts without distorting them to fit a theory. But this cannot be said of the optimistic theory,

which recognizes no evil in man. This theory would recognize the basilar organs only in their restrained action, and considers crimes, etc., as the effects of their perversion. But what is the cause of this supposed perversion? There is no miraculous power exterior to man changing the laws of his nature; the criminal manifestations of his lower organs are the effects of those organs alone. Their excitement alone, sufficiently sustained and vigorous, produces all those excesses which we deplore. Bad passions and crimes are as conspicuous and remarkable a fact in the history of man, as noble emotions and heroic deeds of virtue. They have equally an organic cause in his brain, and when we have detected the local cause of either his virtues or his vices, we name that cause from its most remarkable effects. If we named his basilar organs only from their partial and restrained effects, we might with equal propriety name the coronal organs from their partial and restrained excitement-we might instead of Religion, Benevolence, or Conscientiousness, find terms of a more negative character expressing but a moderate degree of honesty, goodness, or religion.

This theoretical system of organology which we are considering, is cramped and artificial. It is unphilosophical to describe the character of an organ in any way but from the effects produced by its free uncontrolled action.

Yet I cannot condemn this disposition to view humanity in the best possible light, and to regard the inferior organs as essentially good, for they are good or evil according to their mode of being used. I would fain gratify this benevolent disposition, and if it were possible, would be willing to use such names for the inferior organs as might plainly show their tendency without implying that they act to the extent of controlling the whole character. For example, the terms Alimentiveness and Amativeness are sufficiently distinct in pointing out the tendency of these two organs without indicating their effect in predominance. Gluttony and drunkenness are the effects of the Alimentive organ, but not of its restrained and healthy action. Were it practicable to name all of the inferior organs in this general but comprehensive manner, it might be done with propriety, and would present a nomenclature in some respects more pleasing than that which we are compelled to adopt.

To revert to our dividing line between the good and evil, let us consider the course which it must pursue along the zone of neutral character. We may observe a succession of organs forming this zone, which we are unable to assign to either the superior or the inferior class, and as each organ of a neutral character has an antagonist of exactly the opposite character, both will be included in the neutral zone, as each must necessarily be equally neutral. Thus the organs of Ardor and Coolness-of Respiration, Innervation, and Restraint, of Sensibility and Hardihood, of Humility and Pride may be considered as of the neutral zone. The line, therefore, will run among these organs, and might be made to divide the different