adhesions being most firm on the anterior aspect. At this part the medulla was much diseased. Professor Todd of King's College examined this portion, and reports as follows: I find great destruction (from softening) of the medullary substance of the posterior columns, especially that of the right side; the antero-lateral columns seem to have been also the seat of the softening process to a less degree, but I do not find that they have suffered any loss of substance. In examining the softened parts by the microscope, I detected very few of the proper nerve-tubes; and those which I did observe were much altered from their natural appearance; they had become opaque, and had assumed an indistinctly fibrous aspect. I was unable to find any trace of gray matter.' The posterior roots of the nerves were unaffected. The preparation, it should be stated, had been preserved some time in spirits, before this examination was made by Dr Todd." On this the reviewer observes," It is needless to say how perplexing are morbid changes like these, when taken in connexion with the symptoms manifested during life. We remember a case that was brought under our notice some few years ago, the symptoms of which were precisely the converse of the above, viz. the persistence of voluntary motion, with the almost entire loss of sensation; and yet in this instance the morbid appearances were not very dissimilar. The gray matter was altogether destroyed, the interior of the spinal cord (in the lower cervical and upper dorsal regions) being converted into a cream-like substance. Verily, there are mysteries in these things, which our philosophy has not yet unravelled."

All this should make phrenologists cautious of founding too much on pathological cases; and, on the other hand, should prevent the ascription of too much weight to morbid cases that apparently are hostile to their conclusions. However puzzling appearances may sometimes be, we confide in the uniformity of nature, and expect that an improved pathology will, in the end, reconcile all seeming contradictions.

II. On the Heads and Intellectual Qualities of Sir Isaac Newton and Lord Bacon.

TO THE EDITOR.

SIR,-In the physiological lecture annually delivered by the various teachers of the department of medical knowledge in London, Phrenology is discussed either with favour or with hostility. One of the most eminent of these gentlemen, opposed to the science, is in the habit of selecting the cere

bral development of Sir I. Newton, as one in which the indications of Phrenology are by no means sufficient to explain the extraordinary powers of that remarkable man. He is in the habit of saying that Bacon's head, no doubt, exhibits in the fullest splendour the phrenological indications of intellectual endowment; but that the cerebral conformation of Newton, though certainly good, is quite insufficient to explain his stupendous" powers.

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These remarks are generally addressed to a large class of young men, little solicitous about metaphysical distinctions, and only eager to retain as many of the facts enunciated by the professor as possible. Now, Sir, it is to young men,-the rising generation of literature and science, that Phrenology must look for friends or opponents'; and it is therefore advisable that the fallacy of the illustration should be shewn, and the perfect agreement of the phrenological indications with the character of the man demonstrated.

It will hardly be disputed that the character of Bacon was on a much grander scale than that of Newton. Of the former it has been well said that his imagination, reason, and memory, were all extraordinary; he had the imagination of a poet, with the memory and judgment of a high priest of science, and withal great power of application, and a passionate love of all branches of knowledge. What, now, was Newton? in the whole course of his life he never exhibited extraordinary aptitude for any thing save mathematics; his early and only attachment inspired him with a vein of the most wretched rhymes; in later days, his mind appeared to be singularly devoid of passion and pride; and he had none of that eager and restless hungering for popularity which rendered almost abortive the wonderful acuteness of his contemporary, Hooke: hence he was able to apply his mathematical talents closely and continuously to important problems, undistracted by any little desire to secure the praise of the passing moment. "One thing at a time" was as much the principle on which he thought, as that on which the Black Prince fought and acted. Newton's head indicates mathematical talents of the highest order that is, genius; as any one may see in his bust by Roubilliac, in Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, to say nothing of his portrait by Lely at Hampton Court, and the other in the British Museum; and these in their free and unfettered action, explain the intellectual character of the man, and the origin of his towering reputation. Mathematics have been invented by the minds of men, and, not being the result of simple observation, have taken a stance somewhat superior to the other or inferior sciences, which are principally cultivated

by Individuality, Form, and Comparison. But mathematics are also the simple and necessary result of a large endowment of Weight, Form, Size, Order, and Number; and their working, uncontrolled by antagonistic propensities, with, it may be, a tolerable share of Causality and Comparison, will give the highest mathematical capacity; and such was the endowment of Sir I. Newton. He was capable, in virtue of the above perceptive faculties, of following out to its minutest ramification every mathematical consequence, and of drawing from each its easy and natural inference. He understood his exact and accurate though intricate premises so entirely that he could not be wrong in his conclusions; and when the idea of gravitation entered his mind, as it might that of an ordinary individual, it had no mathematical prejudices to encounter in him, and he instantly found many corroborations of this grand truth, until his confidence in the accuracy of Cassini induced him to lay the inquiry aside, afterwards to be resumed when the error of that astronomer was corrected. Such ideas may be said to resemble the seeds of vegetables, which may lie dormant in ungenial soil for years, but, when exposed to warmth and moisture, which are to them what genius is to truth, germinate and produce the perfect plant. The praise, then, to be claimed for Newton, is that of a mathematical capacity of the first order, and nothing else; and what phrenologist supposes that Causality, Comparison, Wit, and Ideality, are necessary to such a character? for it is these that give the majestic appearance to the anterior portion of the head, so remarkable in the portrait of Bacon, and which rendered him emphatically, as Walpole called him, " the prophet of arts." The idea of the Novum Organum was that of a great mind, and nobly was it worked out by the vast capacity of its conceiver. Newton's was a purely contemplative character; Bacon's contemplative and active. The former was a great philosopher; the latter a great statesman, and great philosopher, and withal an accomplished man of the world. The will of Newton impelled him to the incessant contemplation of one favourite science; that of Bacon made him desire and achieve the mild glory of philosophy, and the more thorny, but not more brilliant crown of political reputation. Lastly, Newton never appeared to possess that comprehensive acquaintance with the characters of men, which is given by Causality, Comparison, and Wit, and which so eminently characterized Bacon. Thus, Newton possessed a limited capacity of the highest order (for his theological writings, only remarkable when illustrated by his mathematical knowledge, add nothing to his fame); while Bacon's abilities were almost universal,

and have enabled him to attain and retain the highest reputation for political and scientific ability; for the blot of his life was the result of a defective moral endowment, and not of want of penetration.-I am, &c.

C. P.

III. Experimental Inquiry to determine whether Hypnotic and Mesmeric Manifestations can be adduced in proof of Phrenology. By JAMES BRAID, M.R.C.S.E., Manchester. (From the "Medical Times," No. 271, 30th November 1844.)

In a paper in the Medical Times (No. 258),* I intimated my intention of instituting a series of experiments, on a plan which I considered better calculated for testing Phrenology, than any which had been applied during the hypnotic mesmeric sleep. I shall now very briefly detail the result of the experiments performed for that purpose.

In the above paper, I explained the reasons which led me to consider that none of the experiments which had been performed for this purpose, during the mesmeric or hypnotic conditions, should be held as proof either for or against Phrenology. I especially contended for this, on the ground of the undoubted fact, that, through the laws of sympathy and association, it was quite possible to excite various and opposite feelings from the same points, according to circumstances.

In the Medical Times for the 13th of January 1844, I explained, as one of the peculiar features of the excitability of the nervous system induced by Hypnotism, that the mind is liable to manifest itself as entirely absorbed in whatever individual passion or emotion it may be directed to; and, moreover, that an idea being excited in the mind, associated with contact with ANY part of the body, whether head, trunk, or extremities-by continuing such contact the mind might be rivetted, for an almost indefinite length of time, to the same train of ideas, which would work themselves up into more and more vivid manifestation, according to the length of time afforded for that purpose. It thus appeared to me, that, by availing ourselves of these peculiarities, we might very readily determine the relative forces of the different emotions and propensities. For example, by exciting the various passions and emotions in succession, through auricular suggestion, and by fixing each new idea by mechanical contact with the same point of the patient,—as the suggestion and fixation

* Reprinted in the Phren. Jour., xvii. 359.

of the ideas would be the same in all, provided an equal length of time was allowed for each to develop the force of its manifestation, any difference in the relative force could only be attributable, on phrenological principles, to a corresponding difference in original development as regards size, or to greater or lesser activity of the respective organs, arising from the degree of exercise of corresponding portions of the brain. Then, again, by comparing the relative forces of the manifestations realized by such experiments, with the known character of the individual, provided they both coincided; by again comparing them with what a practical phrenologist should determine, simply from the cranial developments, as to what ought to be the character of such individual; if the latter was found to correspond with the former, then would Hypnotism be a proof in favour of Phrenology; but, if they differed, it would prove just as much the contrary.

On the 3d of August 1844, in the presence of a number of scientific friends, including Sir T. Willshire, Bart.; Mr Jewett, of Oxford; Capt. Thomas Brown; Mr Sowler, barrister (of this town), &c. &c., after explaining my views and intended mode of proceeding, we commenced as follows:We had the heads of five patients examined by Mr Bally, an eminent phrenologist of this town, and the relative forces or values of the phrenological developments of each carefully noted on his printed forms. Each of the subjects was then hypnotised separately, in another room, in the presence of the gentlemen already referred to, when all the leading emotions, denoted by phrenological organs, were excited succes.. sively, in the following manner, the resulting manifestations of each being carefully noted.

I considered that putting a ring on the same finger or thumb of a patient, was the most convenient and least objectionable mode of fixing the ideas suggested. This, therefore, was the mode of procedure. On each occasion I spoke aloud to this effect:-"Now, gentlemen, the moment I place this ring on his (or her) finger or thumb (as the case might be), you will observe that he (or she) will think of devotion;" at the same time putting the ring on the finger or thumb indicated. Immediately the emotion was manifested; and, having afforded it a certain time to develop itself, its relative force was determined on, and accurately noted on a blank form. The ring being removed, the patient, who had been kneeling, now arose; and another idea was then excited and fixed in the mind in the same manner. This new idea having been allowed time to develop itself in the same manner, and its relative force determined and recorded as in