Prospectus français et anglais : Treatise on human and comparative phrenology / [Vimont].

  • Vimont, Joseph.
Date:
1831
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Prospectus français et anglais : Treatise on human and comparative phrenology / [Vimont]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    PROSPECTUS FRANCAIS ET ANGLAIS. Toutes les sciences ont fait cl’inimenses progres dans ce siecle, grace ala methode experimentale employee par les savans a qui nous sommes rede- vables des plus pre'cieuses de'couvertes. Une seule cependant semble etre reste'e en arriere, et ce n’est pas la moins importante : la science de I’homme, qui compose a elle seule presque toute la philo- sopliie, a fort peu ajoute a ce que nous avaient laisse' les siecles pre'cedens. Les systemes toute- fois n’ont pas manque'; mais ne reposant la plu- part que sur des hypotheses et non sur des fails, ils ne peuvent satisfaire les esprits justes, et ne servent qu’a e'garer les autres. L’expe'rience de tons les temps a prouve qu’il existait des rapports entre les organes de I’homme, et ses facultes intellectuelles et morales. Un or- gane surtout, le cerveau, pre'sentait des rapports merveilleux : un homme d’un grand ge'nie, Gall, sut les de'couvrir et les analyser. Son systeme neanraoins avail besoin d’etre confirme' par de nouvelles expe'riences, c’est ce qu’a fait avec un grand succes M. le docteur Vimont: ce savant a fait plus, il a ge'ne'ralise' ce systeme en I’appliquant a tous les animaux verte'bre's, et les recherches faites sur chaque espece, n’ont fait que confirmer et de'velopper les de'couvertes relatives a I’homme. G’est done par Vanatomie comparee que I’auteur de cet Ouvrage a fait faire, selon nous, des pas immenses a la connaissance des faculte's psycolo- giques de I’homme et des animaux. II est reconnu aujourd’hui assez ge'ne'ralement que I’anatomie est ne'cessaire a quiconque veut e'tudier les faculte's de I’homme, mais I’on n’a peut- etre pas encore reconnu a cet e'gard toute I’utilite' de I’e'tude de I’anatomie compare'e. Cependant, si tout se tienl dans la nature, si les animaux forment entre eux commeune longue e'chelle dont I’homme All]the sciences have made an immense pro- gress in this age, on account of the experimental method employed by the learned to whom we are indebted for the most valuable discoveries. One alone seems to be left behind and it is not the least important. The study of man which con- stitutes within itself almost all philosophy, has added very little to the facts that we have received from the preceding ages. Systems however have not failed. But the most part of them being deduct- ed only from hypothesis and not from facts, they cannot satisfy men of fair understanding, and serve only to mislead others. The experience of all ages has proved that there were connexions between the organs of man and his intellectual and moral faculties. One organ espe- cially, the brain , presented .surprising relations. A man of great genius, Gall, knew how to dis- cover and analyse them. His system however had need of being confirmed by new experiments. This is what has been done with great success by D'’ Vimont; this learned man has done more, he has generalised this system in making its appli- cation to all vertebrated animals and the exami- nations repeated upon every species, have only confirmed and developed the discoveries relative to man. It is by comparative anatomy that the author of this work has made immense strides towards the knowledge of the psychological fa- culties of men and animals. It is generally known, now, that anatomy is necessary for those who wish to study the faculties of man; all the utility of the study of comparative anatomy is not yet perhaps sufficiently known. However all is connected in nature, if animals form a long chain of which man occupies the first link, will it not be useful in order to know him