iv TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND READERS. The Editor, in the forthcoming volume, proposes to draw especial attention to THE ADULTERATION OF FOODS,' in particular with reference to the revelations of the Sanitary Commission' of the Lancet. Articles on POPULAR PHYSIOLOGY and HYGIENE, in its general acceptation, will be given from time to time. The new number will commence a series of papers on Hydropathy, by the Editor. The first will be entitled WATER A NATURAL AGENT.' A very The Editor, in conclusion, asks his Subscribers to exert themselves in behalf of a work so much needed for popular distribution. In Manchester alone, upwards of 400 copies are circulated; and if other towns only subscribed in like proportion, the JOURNAL might be placed on a solid and more useful basis. Each individual who takes an interest in its issue should, without delay, personally canvass for new subscribers. powerful means of promoting its interests would be, by the insertion of advertisements. As an organ for advertisements, it presents a desirable medium. Its circulation is large, but not large enough to pay for a publication so expensive in size, and so cheap in its price. Its readers include a highly respectable class, in most of the principal towns of the United Kingdom. We now leave the issue in the hands of our Subscribers. THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH: A Monthly Magazine. PHRENOLOGICAL EXAMINATION; OR AN ANALYTIC AND SYNTHETIC VIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL TRAITS OF THE PRIMITIVE AND ACTUAL CHARACTER OF V. PRIESSNITZ, BY M. A. CASTLE, M.D. ETC. (Being a Phrenological Sketch to be amplified hereafter. Translated from the French.) PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. arrest ON glancing over the organography on the following page, we at once perceive that we have to deal with an exceptional organization of mind. Two mental elements which here present themselves prominently to view, our attention in the first place, and point out the true means of arriving at a Psychological Synthesis such as we desire to give, of the character of an individual, philosophically speaking, little understood either by his enthusiastic partisans or his systematic opponents. For, with the usual fate which attends on fame, so distinguished an individual as Priessnitz can scarcely hope to escape being made the object of every variety of criticism, more or less benevolent and conscientious, more or less ignorant, and more or less rational, as it may be; and few persons, even within the limited number of those who are really capable of forming a sound and impartial judgment on the subject, suspect how much danger there is of falling into error in a case, where it is desirable to obtain just views with regard to one of those eccentric beings, who, as much in the special aim as in the general tenour of their life, are widely different from the ordinary run of men-perhaps as an inevitable consequence of the providential mission In this which they fulfil among us. view, the latter class of judges are generally equally incompetent with but at the best, such a one as corothers to pronounce a neutral opinion, responds with the degree of sympathy with which the gifted individual has inspired them. With regard to ourselves, having a fixed basis in the cerebral organization from which to start in our investigations, the scientific analysis of a human mind manifesting its greatness and high utility with no assistance from the collective intelligence of humanity (that is, from the accumulated science of ages)—nay, in complete ignorance of those stores of learning so highly prized by men-for us, we repeat, such a study appears inasmuch as we do not conceive that it momentous to religion and humanity, can be approached otherwise than with a mind penetrated with complete faith in the existence of a Divine Providence, watching over us, in communion with us, and revealing his ways to us in proportion as we seek to know them. SECT. 1.-FIRMNESS AND BENEVOLENCE, THE MOST HIGHLY DEVELOPED ORGANS IN THIS ORGANIZATION. In permitting ourselves the above serious preamble, we are in truth actuated by the conviction that the General Affections, Expansive or Social (Sentiments). Desire for the approbation of others, for honour, for glory Instincts or Impulses conferring Physical and Moral Energy, the Militant Spirit. Instinct of resistances, of animal courage (defensive) Inclinations producing Instinctive Reserve, or a Retentive Effect. Imaginative Faculty, producing the feeling of the Beautiful, of the Great, of the Sublime. Interpretative Faculties in general. Instinct for mechanical arts, tendency and aptitude for constructing (architecture) Instinct to imitate, faculty of general interpretation (dramatic talent) Perceptive Faculties, producing a General Memory. Perception of entities, power of realising, memory of individual existences, sense of the existence of things (natural Disposition for symmetrical arrangement, for methodical systematic distribution Perceptive Faculties, conferring Special Aptitudes and Memory (Talents). Instinct of gravitation, of equilibrium, estimate of the pressure and resistance or density of substances (mechanical arts, arts of danse, of sculpture) Perception of shades of colour (painting) Appreciation of the musical relations of sounds, instinctive memory of melody Appreciation of the relative proportion of the sequences of time, the perceptive instinct of measure, of duration, Appreciation of numerical relations, arithmetical instinct, memory of figures, aptitude for calculation Perception of the relations of situation in space, memory of places (geography) Music The Superior Intellectual Faculties, or Reflective Powers. Perception of contrasts, faculty of discrimination, of definition, wit (vis comica) Faculty of seizing analogies and similitudes, or of synthetic induction Faculty of connecting cause and effect, of logical reasoning by analysis or of deduction from the known to the unknown AGE-50, 4th October, 1840. TEMPERAMENT-Sanguine, slightly Lymphatic. individual, whose character forms the object of our present scrutiny, will be revered by all posterity as the first (though perhaps unconsciously to himself) who opposed a barrier to those many erroneous and pernicious systems of medical practice, the consequences of which have long afflicted suffering humanity. Knowing as we do what species of being he is-how simple and unsophisticated is his life-knowing what simple element has, in his hands, worked marvels, such as the erudition of past ages had scarcely accounted within the range of possibility-far less rivalled; it is with peculiar interest that we trace in the mass of the brain, and this, in a manner palpable to the scientific eye, indubitable evidences of an organization specially endowed by nature. This is more particularly observable, as we have already stated, with regard to two of the constituent elements of this mind, of which one may be considered the basis of all heroism, whilst the other is the principal source of all truly noble inspiration, that is, having the good of humanity as its object: these two noble qualities are, Firmness and Benevolence. SECTION 2.-A RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE AT THE MANIFESTATIONS OF CHARAC- When we take into consideration the combined activity of the various constituent elements of Priesenitz mind, from their earliest manifestations in childhood to those in adult age and manhood, we find that he would be characterized by simplicity of tastes, by gentleness of disposition, and, when called for, by a very resolute will. Had this youthful intelligence been aided by careful elementary instruction, it must soon have eclipsed that of the majority of minds, by facility in learning and retaining but even without such advantages, the power of unassisted nature alone would always have conferred great rapidity and accuracy of observation, a remarkably retentive memory, and correct, N.B. For future consideration :-how far me dicine in its present state may be considered as a science: the degree of excellence to which it has already attained: the systems of Allopathy, Homeopathy and Hydropathy compared. though (as we shall hereafter explain) to a certain degree, limited powers of reasoning. Though more inapt and not so brilliant as many others in the art of expressing himself, or in anything whatsoever he might undertake (circumspection large: language insufficient) yet every word uttered by our young friend, would be full of meaning, and all his actions would bear the impress of a resolute character. The firmness, however, which we note as giving a peculiar stamp of strength and solidity to his whole character, would rarely be observable in the every-day intercourse of life; on the contrary, gentleness and a complying disposition, flowing directly from a benevolent and compassionate mind, would characterize his ordinary bearing. Anger, or fits of passion, would rarely trouble the calm and equanimity of his habitual manner, and his kindly disposition with friends and associates, would have its counterpart in his tender consideration for animals, and in the absence of harshness or cruelty of any description. The desire to please, or of the approbation of others, would at all times mingle with his more special affections, and enhance the general amiability of his manners; yet he would be quite free from the susceptibility or vanity which characterizes the majority of young men. He would be happy when others were pleased with him, but the ambition for distinction would rarely instigate his actions. All the affections, including that of love, would have a precocious activity in his character, and circumstances favouring, he would, at an early age, seek to unite his fate with that of a companion. Monotony would never be a source of suffering to him, since his desires need no other gratification than such as can be afforded by a few ties of affection; and his notions of happiness would be restricted to the narrow circle of domestic life, securing to him the material goods of existence. The objects of his desire, however simple they might be, would yet form a sufficient incentive to exertion, and their realization would be greatly promoted by his natural prudence and strength of will, as well as by his calm and practical intelligence. It follows, then, that he | tination, a priori? To this we reply would have succeeded more than commonly well, in whatever material career he might have chosen to embrace; his vivid perceptions giving him the rapid knowledge of every circumstance bearing upon the case, and his prudence keeping him always within the sphere of possibility, as recognized by his judgment. SECTION 3.-ON THE INSTINCTIVE NA- GENCE IN CONJUNCTION WITH IT. with sincerity, that neither a subsequent explanation, nor a divination previous to knowledge of the actual circumstances, would be phrenologically possible; and though we may, to a certain extent, throw light upon the subject, as will be seen in the sequel, by showing what influence the special and integral functions of the brain exercisc in promoting so remarkable a result as we here witness, we cannot as yet, in the present state of our knowledge, by a purely phrenological process, penetrate to the mysterious source of that subtle essence of the soul, which gives to its manifestations the intensity of genius. But we can readily conceive that from the moment the acuteness of his perceptions had revealed to him the powerful agency of water in curing disease, his practical intelligence would possess itself of the secret, and seek to turn it to account for the benefit of humanity; incited by his native benevolence, he would be led through new observations and experiments to the gradual development of a system of hydropathic treatment, which lengthened experience, added to his already singularly acute powers of observation An enquiry into the specific action of and analytical judgment, would confer water on the human frame, although on him the rapidity and sureness of very important in its results, as fixing instinct to modify, according to the the scientific and permanent value of the exigencies of the case. In the penetrahydropathic system of cure, is evidently ting glance with which he tracks the a subject far beyond the scope of the pre- lurkings of malady to their hidden source sent phrenological sketch, and we sim-in the unerring art with which he adply advert to it in reference to its connexion with a just appreciation of the integral value of this character, as that of the founder of this system. THE result of the preceding observations is rather to give us a knowledge of the general tendencies and aptitudes (that is, the synthesis) of this mental organization, than to direct our special attention to that particularity in the history of Priessnitz, by which he is known to fame, namely, his being the originator of a system of therapeutics, in which the agency of the simple element of water takes the place of the whole pharmacopæia; and, still more, the wonderful skill which he displays in wielding his new remedy, entitling him to rank as the first physician of the age. As regards those extraordinary natural qualifications which render Priessnitz so admirably fitted for the career which he has adopted, or rather, which has been marked out for him by a fortunate conjunction of natural and adventitious circumstances; it may very naturally be asked whether we should be able to furnish a posteriori the phrenological explanation of them; or whether, by the inductive means we possess in the phrenological data forming the basis of our psychological investigations, we should be able to infer the existence of these natural endowments and their des justs the fitting remedy to the evervarying necessities of the case-while we may discern the evidences of a truly philosophic mind (which though ignorant of, and indifferent to the usual modes of science, may be said to include a science within itself), in these its subtler manifestations, in the species of intuition which enables him to arrive at results, alike unattainable to mere science and experience, we also behold the attributes of a species of genius, which, as we have already observed, escapes the power of strict phrenological analysis.* N. B. For future consideration :-the telluric essence of instinct; also, the proportion of the intellectual ingredient, or the part which intelligence plays in the operations of instinct, and the proportion of instinct in intellectual operations. |