Phrenological bust by LN FowlerPhrenological bust by LN FowlerThe History of Phrenology on the Web

by John van Wyhe


George Combe's A System of Phrenology, 5th edn, 2 vols. 1853.

Vol. 1: [front matter], Intro, Nervous system, Principles of Phrenology, Anatomy of the brain, Division of the faculties 1.Amativeness 2.Philoprogenitiveness 3.Concentrativeness 4.Adhesiveness 5.Combativeness 6.Destructiveness, Alimentiveness, Love of Life 7.Secretiveness 8.Acquisitiveness 9.Constructiveness 10.Self-Esteem 11.Love of Approbation 12.Cautiousness 13.Benevolence 14.Veneration 15.Firmness 16.Conscientiousness 17.Hope 18.Wonder 19.Ideality 20.Wit or Mirthfulness 21.Imitation.
Vol. 2: [front matter], external senses, 22.Individuality 23.Form 24.Size 25.Weight 26.Colouring 27.Locality 28.Number 29.Order 30.Eventuality 31.Time 32.Tune 33.Language 34.Comparison, General observations on the Perceptive Faculties, 35.Causality, Modes of actions of the faculties, National character & development of brain, On the importance of including development of brain as an element in statistical inquiries, Into the manifestations of the animal, moral, and intellectual faculties of man, Statistics of Insanity, Statistics of Crime, Comparative phrenology, Mesmeric phrenology, Objections to phrenology considered, Materialism, Effects of injuries of the brain, Conclusion, Appendices: No. I, II, III, IV, V, [Index], [Works of Combe].


 

2. PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.

THE attachment of the inferior animals to their young has often been the subject of admiration. In them it is attributed to instinct. Instinct means an original propensity, impelling the animal endowed with it to act in a certain way' without intention or purpose. Is the attachment of human beings to their young the consequence of a similar innate feeling, or is it the result of reason, or a modification of be-

1 See Essay on the character and Cerebral Development of the Esquimaux by Mr Robert Cox ; Phren. Journ. viii. 296-7.

N

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nevolence or of other feelings? That it does not spring from reflection is abundantly evident. Reason only investigates causes and effects, and decides on a comparison of facts. The mother while she smiles with ineffable joy on her tender offspring, does not argue herself into the delightful emotion. The excitement is instantaneous ; the object requires only to be presented to her eye or imagination, and the glowing impulse of parental love arises in her mind. The affection appears not to be a modification of any other sentiment, but to spring from an original propensity ; for, on going into society, we find that the love of children bears no perceptible proportion to any other faculty of the mind. If it depended on Benevolence, no selfish individual could be ardently attached to offspring ; and yet the opposite is frequently the fact. If it were a modification of mere self-love, as some have supposed, then parental affection should be weak in proportion as generosity is strong ; but this theory also is contradicted by experience. Neither do we find love of young bear a definite relation to intellectual endowment. Sometimes a woman of limited understanding loves her children ardently ; occasionally another equally weak is indifferent about them. Some highly intellectual women add maternal affection to their other virtues ; while others, not less acute in understanding, look on offspring as a burden. There are, therefore, the strongest reasons for holding the love of young to be a primitive tendency of the mind ; and phrenological observations coincide with this conclusion.

The organ is situated immediately above the middle part of the cerebellum, and corresponds to the protuberance of the occiput.

The following cuts represent the organ large and small.1

1 It is proper to bear in mind, that these and all other contrasts, are given in this work not so much to prove Phrenology to be true; as to represent the appearances of the organs in different degrees of development.

Dr Gall gives the following account of its discovery. In the course of his observations he had remarked, that, in the human race, the upper part of the occiput is in general more prominent in the female skull than in the male ; and he inferred, that the part of the brain beneath must be the organ of some feeling which is stronger in women than in men. But the question presented itself, What is this quality ? During several years, various conjectures occurred to him, which he successively adopted and rejected ; and he frequently stated to his pupils the embarrassment he felt on the subject. He remarked at last, that, in this particular point, the skulls of monkeys bore a singular resemblance to those of women,-and concluded, that the cerebral part placed immediately under the prominence, was probably the organ of some quality or faculty for which the monkey tribes and women were distinguished in a remarkable degree. He was led the more to entertain this idea, because, from the discoveries he had already made in this region, he was aware that there was no reason to look there for the seat of any superior intellectual or moral faculty. He repeatedly revolved in his mind all the feelings manifested by the monkey tribe, so far as known to him. At last in one of those favourable moments when a lucky thought sometimes does more to elicit truth than years of labour and reflection, it suddenly occurred to him, in the midst of a lecture, that one of the most remarkable characteristics of monkeys is an extreme ardour of affection for their young. This quality had been noticed in them by the most distinguished naturalists ;

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and persons who have resided in countries where monkeys are common have also observed it, and remarked that it leads them to bestow caresses even on the young of the human species, especially Negro children, when these happen to fall in their way. The thought flashed upon his mind that this might be the feeling or quality of which he was in search. Impatient to put this conclusion to the test, by a comparison of all the male with the female skulls of animals in his extensive collection, he begged his hearers to go away and leave him to his researches ;-and, on making the examination, he found that in fact there existed the same difference between the male and female skull among the lower animals in general, which he had observed between the male and the female skull in the human species. This seemed a confirmation of the idea that the faculty of which this cerebral part is the organ, is affection for young-which, he had already remarked, was possessed in a greater degree by the females of the animal tribes than by the males. The inference appeared to him more plausible from the circumstance that this organ is placed in close vicinity to that of the instinct of propagation. Many subsequent observations established the conclusion.1

The faculty produces the innate love of young and delight in children.

The feeling is beautifully represented in the following lines of Lord Byron :

adah. Where were then the joys, The mother's joys of watching, nourishing, And loving him ? Soft! He awakes. Sweet Enoch !

(She goes to the child.)

Oh Cain ! Look on him ; see how full of life, Of strength, of bloom, of beauty, and of joy. How like to me,-how like to thee, when gentle, For then we are all alike : is't not so, Cain 1 Mother, and Sire, and Son, our features are Reflected in each other.

1 Gall Sur les Fonctions du Cerveau, vol. iii. p. 415.-Phren. Journ. vol. ii. p. 23.

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Look ! how he laughs, and stretches out his arms, And opens wide his blue eyes upon thine, To hail his father ; while his little form, Flutters as wing'd with joy. Talk not of pain ! The childless cherubs well might envy thee The pleasures of a parent ! Bless him, Cain, As yet he hath no words to thank thee, but His heart will, and thine own too.

Cain, Act III. Scene I.

The organ may be verified in the easiest manner by any person who chooses to observe nature. It is one of the most conspicuous and easily distinguished in the head, particularly in the human species ; and the manifestations may be recognised with equal facility. Those who possess the feeling in a strong degree, shew it in every word and look when children are concerned ; and these, again, by a reciprocal tact, or, as it is expressed by the author of Waverley, by a kind of " free-masonry," discover at once persons with whom they may be familiar, and use all manner of freedoms. It is common, when such an individual appears among them, to see him welcomed with a shout of delight. Other individuals, again, feel the most marked indifference towards children, and are unable to conceal it when betrayed into their company. Romping disconcerts them, and, having no sympathy with children's pranks and prattle, they look on them as the greatest annoyances. The same novelist justly remarks, that when such persons make advances to children for the purpose of recommending themselves to their parents, the awkwardness of their attempts is intuitively recognised by the children, and they fail in attracting reciprocal attention. On examining the heads of two persons thus differently constituted, a large development of this organ will be discovered in the one, which will not be found in the other.

It is a remarkable ordination of nature, that the direction of this feeling bears a reference to the weakness and helplessness of its objects, rather than to any other of their physical or moral qualities. The mother cloats with fondest de-

198 PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.

light on her infant in the first months of its existence, when it presents fewest attractions to other individuals ; and her solicitude and affection are bestowed longest and most intensely on the feeblest member of her family. On this principle, the youngest is the reigning favourite, unless there be some sickly being of maturer age ; who then shares with it the maternal sympathies. A lady told me, that the very stupidity of her girl of four years of age strongly excited her affection, there being a want of common acuteness in the child. The primitive function of the faculty seems to be to inspire with an interest in the helplessness of childhood ; but it gives also a softness of manner in treating the feeble and the delicate even in advanced life ; and persons in whom this organ is large in combination with Benevolence are better fitted for the duties of a sick-chamber than those in whom Philoprogenitiveness is small. The natural language of the faculty is soft, tender, and endearing. It is essential to a successful teacher of children. Individuals in whom the organ is deficient, have little sympathy with the feelings of the youthful mind, and their tones and manner of communicating instruction repel, instead of engaging, the affections of the scholar. This is one cause why some persons, whose manner, in intercourse with their equals, is unexceptionable, are nevertheless greatly disliked as teachers ; and children are generally in the right in their antipathies, although their parents and guardians, judging by their own feelings, imagine them actuated altogether by caprice.

It has been remarked by Mr Scott, that the fondness which unmarried females, or married ladies who have no children, somtimes lavish " on animals, generally of the smaller and more delicate kind, whom they nurse and pamper with a degree of devotedness and affection which can be compared only to that of a mother for her children," probably has its origin in this faculty. The feeling seems the same, its objects only being different ; and, instead of overwhelming such individuals with ridicule, they deserve our forbearance at least, if not respect, as " they are merely following the bent

PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 199

of a strong natural propensity, implanted in them for the wisest purposes, and which, in more favourable circumstances, would have rendered them affectionate mothers, and excellent mistresses of families." 1

This propensity furnishes the spirit of lullabies, and inspires the poet and dramatist in many of their representations. Wordsworth manifests it strongly, and some of the faults of his manner are clearly attributable to an excess of its influence. It characterizes the Lake school of poetry in general.

The feeling produced by this faculty is so intense and delightful, that none is more liable to abuse. When too energetic, and not regulated by judgment, it leads to pampering and spoiling children, to irrational anxieties regarding them, and sometimes to the most extravagant conceit of their supposed excellencies. When misapplied, it defeats the object of its institution ; for instead of conducing to the protection and happiness of the young, it renders them highly miserable. When the organ is deficient, indifference and regardlessness about offspring are the consequences. Children are then felt to be a heavy burden ; they are abandoned to the care of menials, or altogether neglected, and left to encounter the perils and distresses incident to tender age, without solace or protection. Instances have been known (such as the case of the Countess of Macclesfield, mother of the poet Savage), of mothers who conceived an unaccountable and seemingly causeless hatred against their own offspring, and who persecuted them with relentless severity. Dr Gall knew, at Vienna, a lady who loved her husband tenderly, and who managed the concerns of her household with intelligence and activity, but who sent from home, as soon as they saw the light, all the nine children to whom she successively gave birth, and for years never asked to see them. She was somewhat ashamed of this indifference, and could not account for it to herself. To quiet her conscience, she insisted upon her husband seeing them every day, and taking charge of

1 Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. pp. 499, 500.

200 PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.

their education. From deficiency of the organ also, combined with other feelings in a strong degree, probably arises the cruelty of such barbarous mothers as Isabel of Bavaria, of whom history relates that she stifled all the sentiments of affection due to her children.

Among twenty-nine infanticides whose heads Drs Gall and Spurzheim had occasion to examine, the organ of Philoprogenitiveness was very feebly developed in twenty-five. Dr Gall has oftener than once made the remark, that it is not this defect in development alone which determines a mother to child-murder ; but that individuals deficient in this respect yield sooner than others to those unfavourable circumstances which lead to the crime, because they are not endowed with that profound feeling which, in the heart of a good mother, will rise victorious over every such temptation. In selecting a nurse or child's maid, the phrenologist will be directed by the development of this organ. This application of the science, when mentioned to those who have not studied the subject, generally excites a smile ; and certainly, if the size of the part of the brain in question were no indication of instinctive affection for children, no test for qualification could be more justly deserving of ridicule than the one now recommended : but, on the other hand, if the organ be an unerring index of this disposition, (which it is, otherwise all we are now considering is a delusion), no weakness can be greater than that which would fear to appeal to it, because it might provoke a smile in those who are ignorant that nature has established the function.

The head of the male has generally a broader and rounder appearance, and that of the female a longer and narrower, when contrasted with each other.1 This arises partly from the organ of Philoprogenitiveness being more developed in the female head, and causing the occiput to project. The portion of brain placed in the occiput is greater in women than in men, though the entire female brain is smaller than

1 See Spurzheim's Phrenology in Connexion with the Study of Physiognomy, plate XII.

PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 201

that of the male. This difference is observable in the foetal skull of the two sexes, and is conspicuous in boys and girls. The manifestations even in the earliest period of life correspond ; for the girl shews attachment to dolls and infants, while the "boy is addicted to romping and athletic sports. A curious practical example of the difference in this feeling between males and females in general, occurs in Morier's Travels in Persia. " The surgeons of the Embassy," says he, " endeavoured to introduce vaccination among the Persians, and their efforts at first were very successful ; but on a sudden its progress was checked by the government itself. Several of the king's Ferashes were placed at the gate of the ambassador's hotel, nominally as a mark of attention to his Excellency, but really to stop all women from going to our surgeons. They said that if the people wanted their children to -be vaccinated, the fathers, and not the mothers, were to take them to the surgeons, by which means the eagerness for vaccination was stopped ; for we soon discovered that the males did not feel one-half the same anxiety for their offspring as the women."1

There are, nevertheless, exceptions to this general rule. Sometimes the occipital part of the brain is little developed in a woman, and has acquired a very large size in a man. In such cases, the dispositions correspond with the development. Dr Gall conjectures, that, in these instances, the woman will be found to resemble her father, and the man his mother, unless this peculiar confirmation be hereditary in the family. There are men thus organized who have a particular affection for children, and in whom the organs of Amativeness and Adhesiveness are small,-who bear the loss of an affectionate wife with a resignation which appears very philosophic, while the death of an infant plunges them into a deep and lasting grief. The want of children is with such men a constant source of uneasiness, and often this circumstance causes them to treat with unkindness a partner exceedingly estimable in all other respects.

1 Second Journey through Persia, p. 191.

202 PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.

Dr Gall observes, that we find this organ more developed in some nations than in others. It is generally large in Negroes ; and infanticide is a crime almost unknown among that variety of the human species. Persons well acquainted with their character assure us, that they never heard of such a crime committed by a black. The organ is commonly well developed even in male Negroes ; and we find that Negro men often consent to take charge of children.

Dr Murray Paterson states that the Hindoos, both male and female, are highly endowed with this feeling ;-it is manifested by them, he says, "in their predilection for domestic quiet ; in the happiness they seem to feel when surrounded by their children ; in the spirit of their lullabies ; and in their frequent and ardent embraces."1 Out of twelve Hindoo skulls originally in the possession of the Phrenological Society, eleven have this organ largely developed, and only one moderately so ; and many crania subsequently added shew the same configuration. In the skulls of the Ceylonese also, Philoprogenitiveness is equally great. In some of the older descriptions of Ceylon, the exposure of children is said to be common in the island ; but this is now ascertained to be at variance with truth. The feeling is manifested very strongly in both sexes.2

The feeling in question, so necessary for the preservation and continuance of the species, is found strong in the most savage and selfish tribes ; who, unless they possessed an instinctive propensity prompting them to take care of their children, would soon become extinct, without the intervention of famine, pestilence, or an exterminating enemy. A satisfactory answer is here afforded to those who object that there is no necessity for such a propensity as this, as the feeling of Benevolence alone would be sufficient to prompt parents to bestow the requisite care on their offspring. We have only to point to the Caribs, for example, and ask, what

1 Trans, of the Phren. Soc., p. 441. See also The Phrenological Journal, viii. 529.

' See Phren. Journ. vii. 639.

PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 203

reliance could be placed on the benevolence of such beings? And yet they shew attachment to their young, and submit to the inconveniences of rearing them, amidst all the toils, privations, and hardships, that abound in savage life. Another illustration of the same fact is furnished by the Esquimaux, in most of whose skulls in the Phrenological Society's collection this organ is very prominently deve-

loped. Blumenbach, I may add, remarks an " occiput protuberans" in an Esquimaux skull from Labrador, of which he gives a representation in his Third Decade, plate 24.1 His next plate contains an engraving of another Esquimaux skull, in which the same feature is observable ; and he notices the like conformation in the crania of two Greenlanders from the Danish colony of Godhavn, represented in his 36th and 37th plates. In accordance with this configuration, and in spite of the laziness and selfishness of the Esquimaux, their love of children is uncommonly powerful. " The affection of parents for their children," says Captain Parry, " was frequently displayed by these people, not only in the mere passive indulgence and abstinence from corporal punishment, for which the Esquimaux have before been remarked, but by a thousand playful endearments also, such as parents and nurses practise in our own country. Nothing, indeed, can

1 J. F. Blumenbachii Decas Tertia Collectionit suce Craniorum divenarum, Gentium lllustrata. Gottingae, 1795, p. 9.

204 PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.

well exceed the kindness with which they treat their children ; and this trait in their character deserves to be more insisted on, because it is in reality the only very amiable one which they possess." It is farther mentioned that " the custom of adoption is carried on to very great lengths among these people."1 The testimony of Captain Lyon is equally strong : " Nothing," he says, " can be more delightful than the fondness which parents shew to their little ones during infancy. The mothers carry them naked on their backs until they are stout and able walkers, and their whole time and attention are occupied in nursing and feeding them. The fathers make little toys, play with, and are constantly giving them whatever assistance lies in their power. A child is never corrected or scolded, but has its own way in everything.'32 The same author relates, that when he sent a supply of food to a party of starved natives whose " hunger was quite voracious,'1 " the grown people first supplied all the children, and afterwards divided the remainder in equal portions among themselves."3 Crantz describes the same trait in the inhabitants of the eastern coast of Greenland. "The Greenlanders," says he, " love their children excessively. The mothers suckle them wherever they go, and whatever they are about, in a conveniency made in their dress between their shoulders. They suckle them till they are three or four years old, and longer, because their country affords nothing to make proper food for a tender infant."* And, in another place, this traveller, after mentioning that " you will scarce find a Greenlander do good to another without the mercenary hope of some speedy retribution,'' informs us, that, " on the other hand, there are traces of a stronger love between parents and

1 Journals of Parry's First, Second, and Third Voyages. 12mo. London, 1828, vol. v. p. 273, 277.

2 Private Journal. London, 1824, p. 355-6.

3 Ib. p. 138.

4 History of Greenland, translated from the High Dutch. London, 1767, vol. i. p. 102. See also Egede's Description of Greenland. London, 1745, p. 146.

PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 205

children, and of the many passions arising from it, than there are in other nations. A mother cannot suffer her child to be out of her sight, and many a mother has drowned herself because her child hath been drowned." The contrast between this ardour of parental affection and want of general benevolence, seems to have made a forcible impression on Crantz, and has led him to throw out a conjecture-the soundness of which is confirmed by Phrenology-that the phenomenon can be accounted for only by supposing the existence of two independent faculties : For he adds,-" But just so it is with the irrational creatures ; they are insensible to the pleasure or pain of other animals, but their love and concern for their young is so much the stronger. This would almost lead one to think, that the Greenlanders act more from the instinct and movements which the irrational animals have in common with mankind, than from human reason."1 Captain Ross found the same strong attachment to children among the Arctic Highlanders, at the northern extremity of Baffin's Bay. He asked two of them whether they would allow one of their sons to go with him ; to which, says he, " they answered, they would not ; nor could either of them be tempted with any presents to consent to part with a child."

This, like the other cerebral organs, is liable to disease ; and derangement in the manifestations of the propensity is the consequence. Sometimes the most painful anxiety is felt about children, without any adequate external cause ; and this arises from involuntary activity of the organ.

Dr Andrew Combe attended a woman while labouring under a temporary alienation of mind, whose constant exclamations, during three days which the fit lasted, were about her children : she imagined that they were in distress, murdered, carried away, exposed to every calamity. On reco-

1 History of Greenland, i. 189.

2 Ross's Voyage. London, 1819, p. 134. See essay On the Character and Cerebral Development of the Esquimaux, by Mr Robert Cox ; Phren. Journ., viii. 294-6.

206 PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.

very, she complained of having had a pain in the hind part of her head during the attack, pointing to the situation of Philoprogenitiveness ; but she had no other recollection .of what had passed. She was altogether unacquainted with Phrenology. In April 1836, I saw, in the Lunatic Asylum of Glasgow, a woman who was labouring under diseased excitement of this faculty. She believed that her children were miserable, that they were carried away, injured, or murdered ; and, on approaching Mr Galbraith, the surgeon of the establishment, she gave expression to the most poignant maternal distress, begging to be liberated that she might go to their assistance. She threw her head backwards in the direction of this organ, and put into her voice such an intense expression of tenderness and anguish, that it was most painful to hear her supplications. In her this organ was very large, as was also the organ of Cautiousness, which seemed to be simultaneously affected.

Dr Gall mentions a case of a woman in the great hospital at Vienna, who was seized with a very peculiar kind of madness-maintaining that she was about to be delivered of six children. He was led, by his previous observations, to conjecture that this hallucination was owing partly to a great development, and partly to over-excitement, of the organ of Philoprogenitiveness. The patient died, and he mentions that the development of this organ in her head was quite extraordinary. The posterior lobes of the brain not only overhung the cerebellum more than is usual in females, but were rounded and voluminous in a very remarkable degree. At Paris, Dr Gall attended a young lady of perfect modesty, who laboured under mental disease. She lived in the best society, and went to Vienna accompanied by some most respectable friends. She had hardly arrived, when she ran to all her acquaintances, and announced to them, with the most lively joy, and in the openest manner, that she was pregnant. The circumstances of this declaration, and the known character of the lady, were sufficient to lead her friends to conclude her to be insane. In a short time

PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 207

her joy gave place to anguish of mind, and to a mournful and invincible taciturnity. Soon afterwards she died of consumption. In her, also, this organ was extremely developed ; and during her life she had been remarkable for her love of children. In the Lunatic Hospital at Amsterdam, Drs Gall and Spurzheim saw a female patient, who spoke of nothing but of being with child, though no such thing was the case. Her head was small, and the organ of Philoprogenitiveness alone was very largely developed. In another hospital for lunatics, they saw a man who maintained that he was with child of twins. They announced that he ought to have this organ large, and, on examining his head, found it to be so. These cases of the diseased state of the organ add to the already numerous proofs that this is an original and special propensity.

Mr Martin Kirtley of Barnard Castle has recorded, in The Phrenological Journal, vol. x. p. 426, the case of a lady who, from being unusually indifferent to her children, became extremely fond of them, and in whose head the organ of Philoprogenitiveness exhibited, at the same time, a remarkable increase of size. In vol. xi. p. 292, and vol. xii. p. 65, are published two cases of women who suddenly had acute pain in the situation of the organ, on witnessing accidents which befel their children. Additional illustrations of the organ may be seen in vol. xiv. pp. 24, 59, 73, 323.

Dr Gall states, that he examined, with all the attention in his power, the skulls of birds, from the smallest up to the greatest, and of mammiferous animals from the shrew-mouse to the elephant, and found throughout, that, in the females, the cerebral part which corresponds to the organ of Philoprogenitiveness in the human species, is more developed than in the males. He says, that if there had been presented to him, in water, the fresh brains of two adult animals of any species, one male and the other female, he could have distinguished the sexes. In the male, the cerebellum is larger, and the posterior lobes of the brain are smaller. In the female, on the contrary, the cerebellum is smaller, and

208 PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.

the posterior lobes, which include the convolutions connected with this faculty, are larger and longer. When these two organs are distinctly marked on the cranium, the two sexes may be distinguished by the simple inspection of the skull. In those species where the sexes differ very much in their regard for their young, the crania differ sometimes so much in their form, that they have been placed in collections as belonging to different varieties of the same species, though in fact they belonged to individuals of the same variety, but of different sexes.

Dr Gall adduces innumerable facts in support of this proposition ; but as these can hardly be made intelligible without the assistance of plates, I must refer those who wish to pursue this inquiry to his work, to that of Dr Vimont,1 and to observations in nature. In pursuing it, the utmost patience and attention are necessary in order to avoid mistakes. The differences will be found uniformly greatest in those species of which the males pay no regard to their young ; but it requires a practised eye and great attention to discern the difference in classes of which both the male and female bestow care on their offspring. The organ is largely developed in birds, with the exception of the cuckoo, which does not hatch its own eggs. Dr Vimont says, that the organ is larger in those birds in whose case incubation is long, than in those in whose habits it is short. There is, however, a marked difference even in females of the same species. Every cottager knows, and can distinguish in her poultry-yard, particular female fowls, ducks, geese, and turkeys, which cover their eggs and bring up their young ones with the greatest care, while there are others which spoil their nests, and neglect or abandon their young. On comparing the heads of the animals which shew these opposite qualities, a decided difference will be found at the organ of Philoprogenitiveness. Those, therefore, who wish to form collections with this view, should know not only the natural history of the species, but the peculiar disposition of the individuals selected, Dr Vimont disputes the accuracy of some of Dr

PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 209

Gall's observations on the seat of the organ in some of the lower animals.1

With regard to the name of this faculty, Dr Spurzheim observes : " As the English language possesses no single word that indicates love of offspring, I have employed two Greek roots, which, in conjunction, define accurately the primitive propensity. The title that results is long ; but I could not say Philogenitiveness, because that would indicate the love of producing offspring. As, however, progeny, is synonymous with offspring, and philoprogeny means love of offspring, I adopt the term Philoprogenitiveness for the faculty producing the love of offspring." Even this term, . however, seems liable to objection ; inasmuch as it represents the faculty as bearing relation exclusively to the offspring of its individual possessor, and this whether they be young or adult. Now, although it is highly probable that the feeling acts in parents toward their grown children ; yet, on the other hand, there cannot be a doubt that children in general, though not the person's own, are objects in which it takes an interest. Love of young, therefore, seems a more appropriate designation than Love of offspring. It is difficult to coin an English term to express the former idea ; but the German word Jungenliebe, employed by Dr Gall, seems unexceptionable.

It has often been asked, Why has Nature given us a special organ for the love of children, and none for the love of parents, brothers, and other relations ? In answer I observe, that it is not so much with the motives of Nature that the phrenologist is concerned, as with what she has done ; and that I am quite ready to admit the existence of special organs for filial affection, fraternal affection, and the like, whenever the existence of such shall be demonstrated. At present I do not perceive that although, for the preservation of the spe-

1 See observations by Mr H. C. Watson on the Excitumeut of Philoprogonitiveness in a cat : Phren. Jour. x. 283, 725.

210 PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.

cies, a special faculty for the love of young has been conferred, there is the same necessity for any other source of filial affection, for example, than the general faculty of Adhesiveness, along with Veneration and Benevolence. The inferior intensity of filial as compared with parental affection, is universally admitted. " Love," says Bishop Taylor, " descends more strongly than it ascends, and commonly falls from the parent upon the children in cataracts, and returns back again up to the parents but in small dews."1 And Mr Roscoe observes, that, " however the Author of Nature may have instilled affection into the breast of a parent as the means of preserving the race from destruction, we must allow that the corresponding sentiment in the mind of the offspring is merely the effect of a long-con tinned course of care partiality, and tenderness." 2

Almost all metaphysical writers admit the love of young as an instinctive propensity of the human mind. Phrenological observation has discovered the organ, and the effects of its different degrees of development, and also of its healthy and diseased states, on the manifestations of the feeling ; and to this extent adds to the stock of general knowledge.

Dr Vimont considers that two organs are included within the space assigned by Dr Gall to the organ of Philoprogenitiveness. He says, " The more I have studied the conduct of men and the habits of many species of animals, the more satisfied have I remained that the feeling which leads to attachment to one companion for life, is the result of a fundamental faculty. Some observations which I have made on the human species, and many more which I have collected amongst animals, have enabled me to fix the situation of the organ in man and animals. Before pointing out upon the brain and skull the place where it is to be found, I must enter into some anatomical details.

1 Life of Christ. * Roscoe's Life, by his Son, i. 04,

CONCENTRATIVENESS. 211

" The region of Philoprogenitiveness (de rattachement pour les petits) as laid down in the works or on the bust, which phrenologists have' in their hands, occupies too extended a space, and comprehends two distinct portions of the brain, the one placed at the middle part (No. 11, PI. LXXXVIII. Fig. 2), the other (No. 8.) more laterally and outwards. The first appears to me to be the seat of the organ of Philoprogenitiveness, the other that of attachment for life or marriage. I have already found this latter region well developed in two persons who had very early manifested the desire of being united to each other, and without being induced to do so by other motives than such as lead to four-fifths of marriages. I have found on the other hand the same region but little developed in persons who had naturally a repugnance for marriage. As a few observations will not suffice to establish a certainty, I would entreat phrenologists who have opportunities of making numerous observations to ascertain if new and carefully noted facts might be found to confirm my remarks." I have not been able to verify the correctness of Dr Vimont's observations on this subject.

 


Vol. 1: [front matter], Intro, Nervous system, Principles of Phrenology, Anatomy of the brain 1.Amativeness 2.Philoprogenitiveness 3.Concentrativeness 4.Adhesiveness 5.Combativeness 6.Destructiveness, Alimentiveness, Love of Life 7.Secretiveness 8.Acquisitiveness 9.Constructiveness 10.Self-Esteem 11.Love of Approbation 12.Cautiousness 13.Benevolence 14.Veneration 15.Firmness 16.Conscientiousness 17.Hope 18.Wonder 19.Ideality 20.Wit or Mirthfulness 21.Imitation.
Vol. 2: [front matter], external senses, 22.Individuality 23.Form 24.Size 25.Weight 26.Colouring 27.Locality 28.Number 29.Order 30.Eventuality 31.Time 32.Tune 33.Language 34.Comparison, General observations on the Perceptive Faculties, 35.Causality, Modes of actions of the faculties, National character & development of brain, On the importance of including development of brain as an element in statistical inquiries, Into the manifestations of the animal, moral, and intellectual faculties of man, Statistics of Insanity, Statistics of Crime, Comparative phrenology, Mesmeric phrenology, Objections to phrenology considered, Materialism, Effects of injuries of the brain, Conclusion, Appendices: No. I, II, III, IV, V, [Index], [Works of Combe].

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