Phrenology, or, The doctrine of the mind : and of the relations between its manifestations and the body / by J. Spurzheim.

  • Spurzheim, J. G. (Johann Gaspar), 1776-1832.
Date:
MDCCCXXV. [1825]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Phrenology, or, The doctrine of the mind : and of the relations between its manifestations and the body / by J. Spurzheim. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

    20/354 (page 4)
    sophy may be divided into natural and artificial. Among the natural, the most important is the difficulty which the examination of mankind presents. It may be observed in general, that knowledge is less ad- vanced, the more difficult the object of examination is. It is easy to describe minerals, their volume, figure, weight, density, colour, and other physical qualities. This may also be done at leisure. Hence, mineralogy is eminently advanced. Inquiries relating to botany and zoology are more difficult; and these sciences are consequently less forward. For the same reason we are, even as to plants and animals, better acquainted with their physical qualities than with their vital functions. Anatomy, being easier than physiology, is also more advanced. We may describe and make drawings of animals at leisure; we may anatomize and preserve them with ease; but it is more difficult to observe facts in their lives, to inquire into their instinctive labours, their propensities, and their particular faculties. Of the many books which treat on human nature, anatomical descriptions form the greatest portion. In anatomy the parts, in phy- siology the functions, most easily examined, are also the best known. It is infinitely easier to examine muscles and bones, than the nervous system ; anato- mical and physiological knowledge of the brain and nervous system has, therefore, made the slowest pro- gress. Till our days, the external forms of the brain and its parts only were known; their internal structure was quite overlooked ; and the physiological ideas on