An essay on the system of Messrs. Gall and Spurzheim, read before the Physical Society ... 14th November, 1817 / [Charles Hepburn].
- Hepburn, Charles.
- Date:
- 1818
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: An essay on the system of Messrs. Gall and Spurzheim, read before the Physical Society ... 14th November, 1817 / [Charles Hepburn]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![]8 , nature liacl established some new laws, which were undis¬ covered. From what has been said upon the subject of hydroce¬ phalus, we maintain that, as the brain is composed of two layers of fibres, these, by any fluid passing1 upon the in¬ terior, may become distended into an horizontal form, and may even then perform its functions with little detri¬ ment. We should conclude from what has been said of injuries of the head, and hydrocephalus, either that the brain is the organ manifesting the mind; and in this case it cannot be destroyed in those hydrocephalic persons who manifest intellectual faculties ; or that the brain is not the organ manifesting the mind, because hydrocephalic persons, whose brain is disorganized, nevertheless mani¬ fest feelings and intellectual faculties. There are two skulls shewn at the museum of St, Thomas’s hospital, which are supposed by many to contradict this theory. With respect to that of the Carribee chief, I think it totally inadmissible as an objection. Messrs. Gall and Spurz- heim do not pretend to judge artificial heads ; and it cer¬ tainly is one. It is thought singular that the mind should have continued to manifest its faculties when the brain was pressed into such a form. It is a well known fact that the Chinese women are, during their infancy, subject to an operation in order to compress their feet: this is done with the idea of preventing their leaving home. I, however, understand, that although their feet are for many years pressed to a particular shape, still they are enabled to walk, and sometimes even run, with great facility. Now, therefore, if these women are enabled, after such an ex¬ tensive pressure, to perform the usual functions, and merely an alteration in shape has occurred; let us in the same manner reason with regard to this head of the Car¬ ribee chief. FI is skull was not flattened at single blow—- in a day, or in a year : from early age a gradual pressure formed it in the manner it is now displayed. The brain took a part in this gradual pressure; and, like the foot of the Chinese woman, it altered its form, but not its func¬ tions. We cannot pretend, as I have before said, to de¬ termine, by inspection, this man’s intellectual powers, although we might, in a general way, have some idea, ac-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30795916_0024.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
