It is always satisfactory when those reasonable conclusions, which we have previously formed from general considerations of the nature and tendencies of the particular causes which are in operation in any class of facts, are confirmed by accurate statistical inquiry. From a just consideration of the differences in the physical and moral constitution, as well as in the generally prevailing external circumstances, of the two sexes in civilized communities at the present day, it was, I think, à priori, highly probable that men should possess a somewhat greater liability to mental disorders than women; and this was a conclusion at which, independently of any statistical inquiry, the ancient physicians had even arrived. And it is thus important to observe, that it was by a faulty application of the methods of statistical analysis to this question, by the deservedly distinguished Esquirol, that a contrary conclusion was come to by that diligent, but, in statistical questions, not always accurate, inquirer; and that it has been chiefly on his authority, and on that of authors who, on this subject, have copied from him, that we have been in danger of admitting the erroneous doctrine that women are more liable to insanity than men.

It is still highly probable that different countries,* and perhaps even the same country at different periods, as well as different communities and different ranks and classes in the same country, may vary very much as regards the proportion in which men suffer from insanity more than women. Thus, it appears tolerably well ascertained, that a larger proportion of women, relatively to the other sex, become insane in France as compared with England; though, as we have seen, this is less certain as respects the metropolis when compared with the rest of this country. In this respect, we have seen that the statistics of our own metropolis appear to resemble those of France, rather than those of the rest of England.

In this point of view, the experience of the Society of Friends is not without considerable interest. At first sight it might appear that, in this community, women are actually more liable to insanity than men; for, without any greater facility existing for the admission of females, the number of

*The above table shews that, during 15 years, at the asylum at Schleswig, Holstein, the proportion of men admitted exceeded that of women by 52 per cent.; and at Siegburg, near Bonn, on the Rhine, during 9 years, by 78 per cent. According to the official return of Dr Holst, the existing number of the insane throughout Norway, in the year 1825, was in the proportion of 1 to 5081 of the male, and 1 to 597 of the female population.

*

women, members of that society, who have been admitted into the Retreat, has exceeded that of men by 18 per cent., or, in other words, only 45 men have been admitted to 55 women. But it is requisite to know the relative proportions of the two sexes in the Society of Friends, as a body, before we shall be justified in determining that insanity is really more prevalent amongst the females of that community. By returns, however, from all parts (each "monthly meeting") of England and Wales, it appears that, in the Society of Friends, the excess of women over men, at all ages, amounts to about 20 per cent.; and there can be little or no question that the excess of adult females is still greater.† Indeed, after 15 years of age, before which insanity seldom occurs, we can, I think, scarcely estimate the excess of females over males in this community at less than from 30 to 35 per cent. And thus assuming, as there is every reason for doing, that, as respects the proportion of the two sexes attacked, the experience of the Retreat represents that of the Society at large, it will appear that, in this community, there are still from 10 to 14 per cent. more men than women attacked with mental derangement. This is an excess on the side of men, considerably less, probably, than that which prevails in the kingdom generally. The progressive accumulation of females in an hospital for the insane is well illustrated by the experience of the Retreat, where, at the end of 45 years, the women exceeded the men by 30 per cent., and where the average number of women resident during the whole period was 35 per cent. higher than that of men. At the asylum for the Society of Friends at Frankford, Pennsylvania (1817-42), the proportion of men admitted exceeded that of women by 7 per cent. But in the general population of Pennsylvania and the adjacent states, in common, more or less, with nearly all newly-settled countries, the propor

* The numbers in the table refer to cases of all descriptions admitted at the Retreat; but the proportions are the same, when members of the Society of Friends are separately considered.

+ This larger number of women in the Society of Friends may, no doubt, be chiefly attributed to the larger proportions of men who emigrate, and leave the Society, and are disunited from it; for, on an examination of the registers of the Society from 1800 to 1837, I find that the births registered were in the proportion of 105.7 males to 100 females; viz. 8207 boys, and 7759 girls. In the whole of England and Wales in three years, 1838-1841, the births registered were in the proportion of 104.8 boys to 100 girls.-Fourth Report of the RegistrarGeneral, 1842, pp. 9, 10.

This asylum is more particularly appropriated to the Society of Friends in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware; but patients from other states are also admitted.

tion of males exceeds that of females by about 4 per cent., and, at from 20 to 40 years of age, by 6 per cent. There, however, may be, and probably is, less difference in this respect in the Society of Friends in the states alluded to, or the women may even preponderate in this community.

In nearly all points of view it may, in conclusion, be stated, that women have an advantage over men in reference to insanity; for not only do they appear to be somewhat less liable to mental derangement than men, but, when they become the subjects of it, the probability of their recovery is on the whole greater, and that of death very considerably less. After recovery from a first attack, however, the probability of a relapse, or of a second attack, is perhaps somewhat greater in women than in men. Still the more favourable results, as regards the female sex, in all these particulars, appears to be much less marked at the Retreat, than in nearly every other institution with which I am acquainted. This is worthy of notice, as it is probably due to the greater general regularity of life in the men of this community, as compared with that of men in the community at large; or, at least, than in those parts of it which furnish inmates in the asylums compared. RETREAT, YORK, August 1844.

III. Contributions towards a more exact and positive knowledge of the organ named Language, and its Function. RICHARD CULL. (Continued from p. 38).

By Mr

A statement of Dr Gall's mature views on the organ of Language, taken from the last edition of his work, was made in the first of these contributions. He considered the organ to consist of two parts, or distinct organs, each endowed with its own function. The posterior of the two he named the organ of Verbal Memory, the anterior that of Philology.

The evidence adduced by Gall to establish his proposition that a prominent eye is a sign of a good verbal memory, has been amply verified by other observers. The form of the super-orbitar plate, and the size of the superimposed portion of the brain, in relation with the talent of verbal memory, has been much less verified. And there are no records of cases in which the condition of the super-orbitar plate has been. observed in relation to Gall's views.

I proceed to examine the evidence of the anterior organ, named by Gall "Sens du langage de parole; talent de la philologie, etc.; Sprach-Forschungs-sinn." This evidence concerns, 1. The organ's existence; and, 2. Its function.

1. The organ's existence.-The external sign which indicates the existence of this organ is a certain appearance of the eye. The eye is prominent and depressed.* The first class of examples cited in illustration of this form of eye, consists of certain portraits of philologers contained in the work of Dominicus Custos, which was printed at Augsburg in 1612.† The class of examples next in importance consists of the portraits of eminent scholars, most of whom are long since deceased. The third class consists of certain living scholars; and the fourth class consists of some precocious linguists.+

The portraits give no actual evidence of the size of the cerebral organ, nor of the contour of the super-orbitar plate of the skull, but merely a representation, and that by light and shadow, not by outline, of the prominence and depression of the eye. It appears to me that such pictorial records are inadmissible to prove the fact of a largely developed cerebral organ in the men, until it is shewn, by a wide induction, 1st, That the depressed prominent eye is produced only by the great development of the cerebral part in question; and, 2dly, That the portraits are accurate representations of the men, especially of the upper part of the face. Gall does not state that he possessed, or ever saw, the skull of a philologer with the anterior part of the super-orbitar plate depressed; or the skull of a man endowed with a good verbal memory, but not a philologer, with the posterior part alone depressed. Both facts are necessary as direct evidence to support his views. If Gall had seen such skulls he certainly would have stated the fact, knowing, as he so well did, the value of direct and positive evidence.

Before quitting this part of the subject, it may be remarked, that those who adopt Gall's views are pressed by a difficulty in examining the development of these organs. When the socalled organ of Philology is well developed. its eye-sign entirely supersedes the eye-sign of the organ of Verbal Memory. A talent for verbal memory is, however, predicated on the development of the philological organ, because Gall regards verbal memory as a function common to both organs. § The difficulty is surmounted, but the doctrine of SPECIAL function is damaged, and that doctrine is the foundation of Phrenology.

2. Its Function.-In describing the function of this organ, Gall places the talent for verbal memory first:-" Les personnes qui ont les yeux ainsi conformés possèdent non-seuleGall sur les Fonctions du Cerveau, t. v. p. 30, 8vo ed. Paris, 1825. + Ibid., p. 32. Ibid., p. 31, et seq. § Ibid., p. 30.

*

ment une mémoire des mots excellente, mais elles se sentent une disposition particulière pour l'étude des langues, pour la critique, en général pour tout ce qui a rapport à la littérature. Elles rédigent des dictionnaires, écrivent l'histoire; elles sont très propres aux fonctions de bibliothécaire et de conservateur; elles rassemblent les richesses éparses de tous les siècles; elles compilent de savans volumes; elles approfondissent les antiquités; et pour peu qu'elles aient d'autres facultés encore, elles font l'admiration de tout le monde par leur vaste érudition."* In this description there is no mention of philology. After referring to the portraits of some eminent linguists, Gall says,-" Partout où je regarde le portrait d'un homme qui s'est fait un nom dans une partie qui suppose ce genre de mémoire, je trouve de grands yeux déprimés." Each item in these descriptions might belong to the organ of Verbal Memory. Hence the question arises, What meaning did Gall attach to the word philology? This question cannot be easily answered. He could not mean the combined sense of the two words of which it is composed ;‡ because he knew that each organ gives a love for its related object, and that the organ of Verbal Memory, therefore, must manifest a love for words. He seems to have adopted the word philology to express a knowledge of foreign languages. His ideas, however, on the subject of language, lacked precision, and were avowedly unsatisfactorily to himself.§ So far as I can gather, he places a man's native language as the object in relation to the organ of Verbal Memory, and foreign languages in relation to the organ of Philology.

The word phoλoyía was used in a very wide sense by Greek writers. It was adopted into the Latin language with a great latitude of meaning. It has been adopted into the English language, and into those of Southern Europe, with a similar laxity of signification. It is now, however, employed in a precise sense by philologers to comprise, 1. The Study of the Theory of Language; and, 2. The Origin, History, Analogies, Relationships and Theory of Languages. It is obvious, therefore, that an extensive, precise, and familiar knowledge of languages must be acquired before philological investigations can be made. The words linguist and philologist are not of synonymous signification. A lin

* Gall sur les Fonctions du Cerveau, t. v. p. 30, 8vo ed. Paris, 1825. † Gall, ibid. p. 35.

panoia, composed of praiw, I love, and λoyos, a word.

Gall, ibid. p. 13.

See Donnegan's Greek Lex. sub voce.

See Ernesti Clavis Ciceron. sub voce.