me, that among the higher classes, he never applies just before dinner; as he has long since found that the chances of refusal are then much greater: but wait, says he, until they have crowned a hearty dinner with a bottle of wine, and are sitting at ease, watching the smoke as it rises in graceful curls from their Spanish cigar, and then is the time to find them in good humor. This same fact is illustrated in the case of children; they are never in good humor when hungry. It also accounts for the activity of Destructiveness during the excitement of intoxication, sometimes producing the wanton demolition of tumblers and bars; and even the heads of jovial companions frequently become objects of this propensity under these circumstances.

In most cases in which I have had an opportunity to examine the heads of murderers, I have found Destructiveness very large. I have in my possession the skull of Damon, who was executed in 1834, for the murder of his wife, at Fredonia, N. Y., in which this organ is very large, and Kindness small. The skull was presented to me, with a request that I would give an opinion of the character of the individual, while I was unacquainted with the circumstan

ces.

The first thing that struck me was the large size of Destructiveness. The circumstances of the offence were so revolting, and his conduct so brutal and unnatural, that his counsel, James Mullet, Esq., urged with uncommon ability and eloquence, the plea of insanity in his favor. "I assign," said he, "the prisoner's fatal act, with all its heart rending consequences, to one of those paroxysms of insanity, which sometimes shatter the strongest intellects,―hurl the proudest reason from her throne, and give to the angel aspect of man, the wildness and fury of a devil. I know that the use of argument, derived from the barbarity of an act, to prove insanity, is taking the aggravation of the crime to excuse the perpetration; still there are some bounds to human

depravity; and some acts so unnatural as to indicate the derangement of the functions of the mind. You, under the influence of a healthy organization, can scarcely endure the story of this shocking act; how then could he, with an equal regularity of organization, perform it? I have no doubt that this terrible disease has, many times before its horrid triumph, seized upon the prisoner, and that the dizziness in the head, of which he so frequently complained, were effects of a weaker form of that disorder, which, in its strength, swept away his reason, and reduced him to the miserable object he now is an object more fit for commiseration than for punishment-a being unworthy of death, yet unfit to go at large among his fellow men—a proper candidate for a hospital, but not for the gallows."

"The facts are few and briefly told, but the motives are involved in darkness. When we first look upon this transaction, we feel an involuntary shudder at its aspect. But when we examine it as rational men, and endeavor to search out the cause, we are involved in doubt and perplexity little less painful, and quite unusual in the examination of moral conduct. It is not, in general, very difficult to retrace moral effects to their probable causes, or from the conduct of human nature to infer the motive of action; but this case is an anomaly in moral investigation. We see the devastation and ruin spread around, but find no adequate cause. Like the unseen bolt of Heaven, it has marked its fiery way with desolation; but the cloud which brought it has passed away and left calm serenity in its place. When I say adequate cause, I do not mean a cause sufficient to justify the bloody deed. I mean a cause sufficient to produce such consequences by any of the known laws of human action, influenced by reason and a moral sense, even in their weakest, worst, and most depraved state, short of positive insanity."

The published accounts state, that the neighbors, on en

tering the house found Damon standing in the room, red with the blood of his wife; apparently in a state of unconcerned stupidity; while she lay dying in a corner of the room; and a bar of iron, stained with blood, stood near the fire place. He was present at the coroner's inquest, and was afterwards conveyed to the village in chains; but during the whole affair, he exhibited the same mysterious torpidity of feeling, and bluntness of sensibility. He even insisted on attending the funeral of his wife, but the public sentiment revolted at the proposition.

In the New-York State Prison, I examined an individual named Armstrong, who, when only fourteen years of age, murdered his cousin, a girl of eight, by cutting her throat with a case knife, without any apparent motive. His head was so strongly marked, that I requested an artist to take a drawing of him, a copy of which is below.

He was sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment, which is now nearly expired; and he is soon to be set at liberty, without even having admitted that he is sorry for his crime.

I have seen several murderers who had no more than medium Destructiveness; but in such cases the crime originated in a desire for money, or disappointed love, or ambi

tion, or in some other propensities, the appropriate organs of which were very large, and the higher powers that were designed to prevent the mischief, were deficient. Destructiveness in these cases was only an accessary, aiding and abetting more powerful propensities. The murderers of the unhappy Lyman, in Rochester, had Acquisitiveness much larger than Destructiveness. Feschi, who attempted the life of Louis Phillippe, had not large Destructiveness, but was evidently influenced by misguided Approbativeness, producing a desire of notoriety; he was continually associating his name with great characters; and was ambitious to be considered another Brutus.

Some of the most bloody and revolting crimes recorded in history, were committed through the influence of Conscientiousness, when misled by fanaticism and superstition. Such crimes may be attributed, mainly, to a blind ignorance of duty, rather than a desire to shed blood; therefore the Saviour prayed for the forgiveness of his murderers, "for," said he, "they know not what they do:" and St. Paul, verily thought that he did God service by shedding the blood of the saints. The fires of Destructiveness, never glow with such fearful and unextinguishable fury, as when kindled by the hands of those who act from a mistaken sense of duty. Martyrs, in all ages, have been the victims of ignorance rather than of cruelty. Conscientiousness and Credenciveness, when acting without knowledge, instead of raising man above the lower animals, as they were designed to do, only combined with the lower Ipseal propensities, and rendered him more unmerciful than the most ferocious beasts of prey.

I have just examined the head of Lougel, in Buffalo prison, who has been found guilty of murdering Mr. Rapp with a club. The circumstances were such, as very much to embarrass the court, on account of the difficulty of deter

mining whether or not the prisoner was insane. It appears that Mrs. Rapp had become enamoured of Lougel; and endeavored to persuade him to kill her husband, by whom she had six children. Lougel refused at first to listen to her; but whenever her husband was absent, she would throw her arms around him, and overwhelm him with embraces; employing all her arts to seduce him to her criminal purposes. At last he began to feel her influence, and conceived the strange idea, that she possessed a supernatural power over him, and that whatever she willed he could not resist. Actuated by this superstition, he committed the fatal act. He made no attempt to escape, or to conceal his of fence; but on the contrary, avowed it in the most unreserved manner; stating at the same time that it was not his own wish, but the supernatural influence of the woman, that urged him irresistibly on to the deed. When asked if he did not expect to be punished, he answered, that no human power could injure him; as the Virgin Mary had appeared to him in prison, and assured him of her protection. The court appointed a jury to ascertain whether he was insane; and after having the subject under consideration a long time, they found it impossible to agree. Another jury was then summoned, who, with the same evidence before them, agreed immediately that he was perfectly sane; and he was convicted accordingly. The Judges have however, deferred his sentence, to give his counsel an opportunity of appealing to the Supreme Court.

Mrs. Rapp has since been committed for trial. Her head is one of the worst I ever saw upon a woman. Destructiveness, Secretiveness, and Amativeness, enormously developed-Kindness, Perfectiveness, and Conscientiousness, very small.

Lougel, on the contrary, has Destructiveness only medium, and Combativeness something larger; but the upper