Alexander Macalister

“ The two founders of anatomical science, Erasistratus and Herophilus, who lived in the days of Ptolemy Soter, taught not only that the brain was the seat of sensation and of intellect, but also that there was therein a certain degree of localization of function. Erasistratus believed that the sensory nerves arose from the brain-membranes, the motor from the cerebral substance. Herophilus was apparently the first who held that the vital forces resided in and circulated from the ventricles of the brain, at least so we gather from Celsus and the other authors who have preserved his views. ”

“ The development of a more accurate anatomy in the 17th century seems to have diminished the interest in physiognomy, by substituting fact for fiction; and consequently the literature, though as great in quantity, became less valuable in quality. ”

“ The popular style, good illustrations and pious spirit pervading the writings of Lavater have given to them a popularity they little deserved, as there is no system in his work, which chiefly consists of rhapsodical comments upon the several portraits. Having a happy knack of estimating character, especially when acquainted with the histories of the persons in question, the good pastor contrived to write a graphic and readable book, but one much inferior to Porta’s or Aristotle’s as a systematic treatise. ”

“ Modern physiology, from its objective point of view, is engaged over finer and finer issues of microscopic and experimental work; and, from its subjective point of view, is becoming more and more psychological, seeking a higher level of interpretation, and a statement of the departmental life of the brain in terms of ever-increasing complexity. The motor centres, governing the voluntary purposeful movements of the body, are considered to be not simply motor, but “psycho-motor” ”

“ One of the oldest of this large family of predictive systems is that of palmistry, whereby the various irregularities and flexion-folds of the skin of the hand are interpreted as being associated with mental or moral dispositions and powers, as well as with the current of future events in the life of the individual. How far back in prehistoric times this system has been practised it is impossible to say, but in China it is said to have existed 3000 years before Christ, [1] and in Greek literature it is treated even in the most ancient writings as well-known belief. ”

“ Gall himself believed that there was but a single principle which saw, felt, tasted, heard, touched, thought and willed (Fonctions du cerveau, i. 243) ; and the American exponent of phrenology, Caldwell, says “the mind is as single in its power as it is in its substance; it is a quickening and operating principle, essential to all the mental faculties, but does not, by any means, possess them itself” (Elements, p. 16) . It is not easy to understand the supposed relation of this hypothetical substratum to the separate faculties acting on it. ”

“ Artificial malformations alter the apparent skull shape considerably while they affect the relative development of the parts of the brain cortex but little. All these and other cogent reasons of a like kind, whose force can be estimated by those accustomed to deal with the component soft parts of the head, should lead phrenologists to be careful in predicating relative brain-development from skull-shape. Psychology, physiology and experience alike contribute to discredit the practical working of the system and to show how worthless the so-called diagnoses of character really are. ”

“ The 18th century shows a still greater decline of interest in physiognomy. Historians of philosophy, like J. Meursius and Franz, re-edited some of the classical works, and G. G. Fulleborn reviewed the relation of physiognomy to philosophy. Indeed, the only name worthy of note is that of J. K. Lavater (q.v.) ”

“ Gall is the only writer of his creed in whose works original observations of value are to be found, and Dr B. Holländer has cited many interesting and carefully recorded anatomical and clinical facts in his writings. Although the study of the surface of the cerebrum is of the essence of phrenology, yet nowhere in the circle of phrenological literature are the convolutions of the brain accurately described; our knowledge of their order and disposition comes from the morphologist, not from the phrenologist. ”

“ When a directly opposite state of mind is induced to one with which a definite action is correlated, there is a strong and involuntary tendency to perform a reverse action. (3) When the sensorium is strongly excited nerve-force is generated in excess, and is transmitted in definite directions, depending on the connexions of nerve-cells and on habit. ”

“ While our knowledge of the anatomy of the brain, especially of the grey nuclei and of the white bands uniting them, has in recent years become much more accurate (see articles Brain and Muscle and Nerve) , our knowledge of the physiology of the nerve centres is still indefinite and fragmentary, even when the utmost allowance is made for the experimental work of C. S. Sherrington, A. S. F. Grünbaum, F. Goltz and others; and the hypotheses relating to the division of labour in the nerve centres is chiefly based on anatomical structure. ”

“ Then he studies the physiognomy of the sexes, and the characters derived from the different features, and from colour, hair, body, limbs, gait and voice. He compares the varieties of mankind to animals, the male to the lion, the female to the leopard. The general character of the work may be gathered from the following specimen. While discussing noses, he says that those with thick bulbous ends belong to persons who are insensitive, swinish; sharp-tipped belong to the irascible, those easily provoked, like dogs ”

“ A. B. Bonnet long ago believed each portion of the brain to have a specifically separate function, and Herbert Spencer has said that “no physiologist can long resist the conviction that different parts of the cerebrum subserve different kinds of mental action. Localization of function is the law of all organization; separateness of duty is universally accompanied with separateness of structure, and it would be marvellous were an exception to exist in the cerebral hemispheres. Let it be granted that the cerebral hemispheres are the seats of the higher psychical activities ”

“ Certain complex acts are of direct or indirect service, under certain conditions of the mind, in order to relieve or gratify certain sensations or desires; and whenever the same states of mind are induced the same sets of actions tend to be performed, even when they have ceased to be of use. ”

“ We know so little of the trophic action of the higher nerve centres that we cannot say how far tissue nutrition can be controlled in spots. That the nerve centres have a direct influence on local nutrition is, in some cases, capable of experimental demonstration, and, in another sphere, a few of the recorded instances of connexion between maternal impression and congenital deformity seem to indicate that this trophic influence may have wider limits and a more specific capacity of localization than at first sight seems possible. ”

“ The theory of Hippocrates was Pythagorean rather than Aristotelian, for, although in one passage in his work De corde he expresses himself doubtfully, yet elsewhere he clearly states that he considers the brain to be the index and messenger of the intellect. [5] The cerebral seat of sense-perception is also taught by Plato, [6] who puts into the mouth of Socrates the theory that the brain is the organ affected by the senses, whereby memory and opinion arise, and from whence knowledge springs. The classic poets also notice this dependence of mind on brain ”

“ He deprecates the craniology of Gall, as far as it deals with mere “bumps,” and honours him, with justice, as the recorder of many facts worth saving out of the wreck of his system; and he endeavours, though with doubtful success, to establish an unbroken connexion between phrenology, in the Greek sense, and our present knowledge of cerebral localization.
The substance of Holländer's first work is of two kinds. The one kind is a tabulated statement of many hundred cases of different forms of mania, with injury or disease limited to one portion of the brain ”

“ It must be both immaterial and unconnected with the brain, as the whole two thousand million cells supposed to exist in the cerebral hemispheres are all parcelled out among the faculties, and none are left for the unifying nous.
Each organ is considered as engaged, either independently in bringing forth its own product, or collectively with others in elaborating compound mental states, and according to their several degrees of development and activity they are considered capable of perceiving, conceiving, recollecting, judging or imagining each its own subject. ”

“ At birth the brain weighs one-tenth of the weight of the body, and averages about 11 oz. For the first year brain-growth and consequently expansion of the skull proceed with great rapidity, the growth during a large part of this period averaging one cubic centimetre daily. This enormous increase is chiefly due to the rapid development of medullated nerve-fibres, which are deficient in the foetal brain. During the second and third years growth takes place more slowly, the occipital and parietal lobes increasing more than the frontal or temporo-sphenoidal. ”

“ The teaching of anatomy with regard to phrenology may be summarized thus: (1) the rate of growth of brain is concurrent with the rate of development of mental faculty; (2) there is some degree of structural differentiation as there are varying rates of development of different parts of the cerebral surface; (3) there is no accordance between the regions of Gall and Spurzheim and definite areas of cerebral surface. ”

“ In another work the same author says it is “used to denote a particular power of feeling, thinking, perceiving, connected with a particular part of the brain.” The assumption is contained in the definition that the exercise of a faculty is the physical outcome of the activity of the organ, and in several of the standard works this is illustrated by misleading analogies between these and other organs; thus the organs of benevolence and of firmness are said to be as distinct as the liver and pancreas. The mind, according to another author, consists of the sum of all the faculties. ”