The constitution of man : considered in relation to external objects / by George Combe.
- George Combe
- Date:
- 1844
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The constitution of man : considered in relation to external objects / by George Combe. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.
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![The second question is, Has man really advanced in happiness, in proportion to his increase in knowledge 1 We are apt to entertain erroneous notions of the plea- sures enjoyed by past ages. Fabulists have represent- ed them as peaceful, innocent and gay ; but if we look narrowly at the condition of the savage and barbarian of the present day, and recollect that these are the states of all individuals previous to the acquisition of know- ledge, we shall not much or long regret the pretended diminution of enjoyment by civilization. Phrenology renders the superiority of the latter condition certain, by showing it to be a law of nature, that, until the in- tellect is extensively informed, and the moral senti- ments assiduously exercised, the animal propensities bear the predominant sway ; and that wherever they are supreme, misery is an inevitable concomitant. In- deed, the answer to the objection that happiness has not increased with knowledge, appears to me to be found in the fact, that until phrenology was discovered, the nature of man was not scientifically known ; and in consequence, that not one of his institutions, civil or domestic, was correctly founded orf the principle of the supremacy of the moral sentiments, or in accordance with the other laws of his constitution. Owing to the same cause, also, much of his knowledge has necessa- rily remained partial, and inapplicable to use ; but after this science shall have been appreciated and applied, clouds of darkness, accumulated through long ages that are past, may be expected to roll away, as if touched by the rays of the meridian sun, and with them many of the miseries that attend total ignorance or imperfect information.* CHAPTER III. TO WHAT EXTENT ARE THE MISERIES OF MANKIND THE LAWS OF REFERABLE TO INFRINGEMENTS f NATURE 1 In the present chapter, I propose to inquire into some of the evils that have afflicted the human race ; also whether they have proceeded from abuses of institutions benevolent and wise in themselves, and calculated, when observed, to promote the happiness of man, or from a defective or vicious constitution of nature, which he can neither remedy nor improve. SECT. I. CALAMITIES ARISING FROM INFRINGEMENTS OF THE PHYSICAL LAWS. The proper way of viewing the Creator's institutions, is to look, first, to their uses, and to the advantages that flow from observance of them; and, secondly, to their abuses, and the evils consequent thereon. In Chapter II, some of the benefits conferred on man, by the law of gravitation, are enumerated; and I may here advert to the evils originating from that law, when human conduct is in opposition to it. For example, men are liable to fall from horses, carriages, stairs, pre- cipices, roofs, chimneys, ladders, masts, or slip in the street, &c. by which accidents life is frequently alto- gether extinguished, or rendered miserable from lame- ness and pain ; and the question arises, Is human na- ture provided with any means of protection against these evils, at all equal to their frequency and extent ] The lower animals are equally subject to this law; and the Creator has bestowed on them external senses, nerves, muscles, bones, an instinctive sense of equili- brium, the sense of danger, or cautiousness, and other faculties, to place them in accordance with it. These appear to afford sufficient protection to animals placed in all ordinary circumstances ; for we very rarely dis- * Readers who are strangers to phrenology, and the evidence on which it rests, may regard the observations in the text as ex- travagant and enthusiastic ; but I respectfully remind them, that, while they judge in comparative ignorance it has been my endea- vour to subject it to the severest scrutiny. Having found its f»roofs irrefragable ; and being convinced of its importance, I so- icit their indulgence in speaking of it as it appears to my own mind. cover any of them, in their natural condition, killed or mutilated by accidents referable to gravitation. Where their mode of life exposes them to extraordinary danger from this law, they are provided with additional securi- ties. The monkey, which climbs trees, enjoys great muscular energy in its legs, claws, and tail, far surpassing, in proportion to its gravitating tendency, or its bulk and weight, what is bestowed on the legs and arms of man ; so that, by means of them, it springs from branch to branch, in nearly complete security against the law in question. The goat, which browses on the brinks of precipices, has received a hoof and legs, that give precision and stability to its steps. Birds, which are destined to sleep on branches of trees, are provided with a muscle passing over the joints of each leg, and stretching down to the foot, which, being pressed by their weight, produces a proportionate contraction of their claws, so as to make them cling the faster, the greater their liability to fall. The fly, which walks and sleeps on perpendicular walls, and the ceilings of rooms, has a hollow in its foot, from which it expels the air, and the pressure of the atmosphere on the outside of the foot, holds it fast to the object on which the inside is placed. The sea-horse, which is destined to climb up the sides of ice-hills, is provided with a similar appa- ratus. The camel, whose native region is the sandy deserts of the torrid zone, has broad-spreading hoofs to support it on the loose soil. Fishes are furnished with air bladders, by dilating and contracting of which they can accommodate themselves with perfect preci- sion to the law of gravitation. In these instances, the lower animals, under the sole guidance of their instincts, appear to be placed admira- bly in harmony with gravitation, and guaranteed against its infringement. Is man, then, less an object of love with the Creator 1 Is he alone left exposed to the evils that spring inevitably from its neglect I His means of protection are different, but when understood and ap- plied, they will probably be found not less complete. Man, as well as the lower animals, has received bones, muscles, nerves, an instinct of equilibrium,* and or- gans of Cautiousness ; but not in equal perfection, in proportion to his figure, size, and weight, with those bestowed on them :—The difference, however, is far more than compensated by other organs, particularly those of Constructiveness and Reflection, in which he greatly surpasses them. Keeping in view that the ex- ternal world, in regard to man, is arranged on the prin- ciple of supremacy in moral sentiments and intellect, we shall probably find, that the calamities suffered by him from the law of gravitation, are referable to pre- dominance of the animal propensities, or to neglect of proper exercise of his intellectual powers. For exam-, pie, when coaches break down, ships sink, men fall from ladders, &c, how generally may the cause be traced to decay in the vehicle, the vessel, or ladder, which a predominating Acquisitiveness alone prevented from being repaired; or when men fall from houses, scaffolds, or slip on the streets, &c, how frequently should we find their muscular, nervous, and mental en- ergies, impaired by preceding debaucheries; in other words, by predominance of the animal faculties, which, for the time, diminished their natural means of accom- modating themselves to the law from which they suffer. Or, again, the slater, in using a ladder, assists himself by Constructiveness and Reflection ; but, in walking along the ridge of a house, or standing on a chimney, he takes no aid from these faculties ; he trusts to the mere instinctive power of equilibrium, in which he is inferior to the lower animals, and, in so doing, clearly violates the law of his nature, that requires him to use reflection, where instinct is deficient. Causality and Constructiveness could invent means by which, if ho slipped from a roof or chimney, his fall might be ar- rested. A small chain, for instance, attached by one * Vide Essay on Weight, Phren. Joum. vol ii. p 412.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21029131_0029.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
