mildness to great irritability. I obtained information from time to time from friends who were in frequent communication with him, concerning his mental manifestations, which were to me extremely interesting. I repeatedly expressed a desire that great attention should be paid to the examination of his brain after death; and when at last, in the month of July 1836, he was cut off by fever at the age of 93, this wish was not forgotten. On the 15th of that month, Mr Craig, before mentioned, waited on me and invited me to attend the examination of Mr N.'s brain on Saturday the 16th; adding, that, as he intended to publish the case himself, it should be understood that I should not publish any report of it until after his had appeared. I agreed to this condition, and have fulfilled it. His report having now been published, I proceed to give my own; and as there are differences-some of them important-between the two accounts, I shall present the case in a documentary form, and leave the facts to speak for themselves.

I received the following note from Mr Craig :

"MY DEAR SIR,-May I trouble you at your earliest convenience to write out for me an account of the morbid appearances observed in Mr N.'s brain. I do not like to trust to my memory, not having taken notes during the dissection. I am, &c. JAMES CRAIG."

To this note I returned the following answer :

"MY DEAR SIR, EDINBURGH, 22d July 1836. "In compliance with your request, I enclose my notes of the morbid appearances of Mr N.'s skull, with remarks. I shall feel obliged by your correcting and supplying any thing that is wanting or erroneously stated. I hope you will be able to understand it, as I use the phrenological organs to describe the localities of the lesions.

"I understand that I shall not publish these notes until after you and Dr Abercrombie have published; but I presume I may do so then. The name may be suppressed. I am, &c. "GEORGE COMBE."

The notes enclosed in this letter shall immediately be given. In some instances in which my own information regarding certain details was not precise, I put a pencil note on the margin of the notes, addressed to Mr Craig, requesting him to correct what was erroneous, and supply items of information that were left deficient. He very obligingly did so; and the notes, as now printed, embody his additions and corrections. Of course, I do not regard him as at all committed to my phrenological opinions and explanations: the additions contributed by him re

lated merely to facts in the case or in the dissection. To prevent all misconceptions, I have here printed in italics the words which he supplied.

Notes of Mr N.'s case, drawn up by Mr Combe.

"At
16th July 1836.
James Craig, Esq. surgeon,
his assistant; A—— J-

Present-Dr Abercrombie; Ratho; R. Flockhart, Esq. Esq. W. S.; George Combe.

"The head of Mr N., who died on 15th July, was examined by Mr Craig and Dr Abercrombie. The following are Mr Combe's remarks:

"Mr N. was ninety-three years of age, having been born in October 1742.

Inches.

The skull, from Concentrativeness to Comparison, below the integuments, measured

7.2

From Destructiveness to Destructiveness, The inner diameter of the skull, from the lower edge trativeness to the top of Individuality,

5.6

of Concen

1.6

Inner diameter from Destructiveness to Destructiveness,

The depth from Veneration to the corpus callosum was
From Firmness to do.

From Benevolence to do.

"The development of the organs was as follows:

"The coronal region was remarkably large; the anterior lobe was rather high, and of average but not of great length; the temperament was nervous and sanguine.

"The portion of the skull-cap which covered the right hemisphere was regular, and of a moderate thickness; the portion which covered the left hemisphere was irregular in thickness; the inner table was thickened at the portions which covered Imitation and Wonder. The outer surface of the skull covering the left hemisphere appeared more depressed than the right

at these organs, and there was a thickening of the bone within. The super-orbitar plates presented each a deep transverse furrow at the posterior portion, corresponding to the organ of Language, and indicating its great size. The middle of each super-orbitar plate was raised, indicating a very moderate development of the organs of Colouring. The convolutions lying on each side of the crista galli, constituting the organs of Form, were very large.

"On attempting to remove the upper portion of the skull, the adhesion of the dura mater was very great. When the attachments were cut, and the skull was removed, strong marks of chronic inflammatory action presented themselves on the falx, and on the dura mater, covering Firmness, Veneration, Benevolence, Imitation, and Wonder, on both sides. The dura mater there, felt like buckram.

“There were small fungous depositions on the brain itself at Veneration and Firmness.

"There was effusion between the convolutions of Imitation and Benevolence.

"The brain was examined by cutting thin slices horizontally, commencing with the coronal surface of the right hemisphere. The whole of this hemisphere was found to be sound, except a tubercle about the size of a large barleycorn, at the surface of the brain, at the organ of Combativeness. The right ventricle was sound.

"The left hemisphere was examined by cutting thin slices, commencing at the coronal region. It presented appearances of vascularity, but no positive disorganization was found until the dissection reached down to the organ of Combativeness. Here a cavity was found occupying the centre of the organ of Combativeness, and extending into Adhesiveness and Philoprogenitiveness. There had been a deposition of blood, which had been absorbed, leaving a cavity with a yellowish membrane. The cavity rather exceeded two inches in extent; it ran obliquely outside of the left lateral ventricle, within half an inch of the surface of the organ of Combativeness. The diseased structure approached close upon the ventricle, but did not communicate with it. The ventricle was all sound.

"The brain was then taken out of the skull, and the base was examined in the same manner. There were evident marks of chronic inflammatory action in the blood vessels and pia mater. Great vascularity throughout.

"The right hemisphere was sound in structure.

"In the left hemisphere the internal carotid artery, at the crossing of the optic nerves, and the membranes at the point of junction between the middle and frontal lobes, bore strong marks of chronic inflammatory action; the arteries were brittle,

and the blood vessels highly vascular, particularly where Alimentiveness joins Language.

"In the left corpus striatum a small cavity was found, exactly of the same character with that found in the posterior lobe. It was situated about three inches backwards from the surface of the skull at the organ of Colouring, about a quarter of an inch farther back than the sella turcica, and about half an inch to the left of it. The extent of the cavity might be a quarter of an inch. Each organ extends from the surface to the medulla oblongata; so that this lesion was directly in the line of the fibres of the organ of Language, proceeding from the surface at the posterior edge of the super orbitar plate to the medulla. "There was a tubercle on the posterior part of the medulla oblongata.

"The cerebellum was sound.

"The thorax was opened. The lungs remarkably healthy; the left lung adhering extensively to the pleura; and effusion in the cavities. The semilunar valves of the aorta were considerably ossified. A good deal of effusion was found in the pericardium. The aorta ascendens was enormously large, almost aneurismal, but structure sound.

6:

Mr N. was a native of West Lothian, and received the rudiments of his education at the parish-school of

He was educated for the Scotch Church, and was a candidate for Professor Hill's chair in Edinburgh University. He went abroad as tutor in the family of a chargé d'affaires (Sir Gilbert Elliot) from the English Government to The prin

cipal fell sick, and the tutor conducted the business of the consulship, and so distinguished himself, that he was subsequently employed by the British Government in various diplomatic capacities. He subsequently rose to the highest employments as a British ambassador, and resided for nine years at in that capacity.

"He stated that in his youth he was passionate, which corresponds with his large Combativeness and ample Destructiveness. In middle and later life he was remarkably mild in temper, amiable, benevolent, just and good. This is in accordance with the large development of the moral organs, which decidedly predominated over the propensities.

"He was shrewd, penetrating, discreet, and conciliating; yet firm, emphatic, and decided. His intellect was clear and practical, dealing easily with the details of business; and he spoke, it is said, twelve or fourteen languages-(he understood fourteen, and could talk ten). He was extremely active. As a private individual he was the most amiable of human beings, universally beloved, and very highly esteemed.

"During the last fifteen years of his life he resided on his

own estate, five miles west from and devoted himself to the improvement of the parish-roads, and every species of usefulness which he could accomplish. He expended between L. 600 and L. 800 of his own funds on the roads, above all his allowances from the public assessments. In this way he gave bread to the industrious poor, whom he employed as labourers, and left a rich legacy in admirably made roads to the parish. "About twelve years before his death he began to see spectral illusions, which continued at intervals to appear till he died. [See Dr Abercrombie's work on the Intellectual Powers, 1st Ed. page 349; also farther remarks in last Edition.] They were human figures of all sizes, and in the costumes of all the ancient nations. Sometimes they were deliciously small and beautiful miniatures; sometimes they were robed in the ancient costume. His most frequent and pertinacious spectral visitor was an old woman with a cloak, such as were worn by the Scotch peasantry in his younger days. He also frequently saw his own countenance as a youth, and gradually becoming older, and disappeared. He was at all times aware that these were illusions.

"On 21st August 1832 he was taken ill, his temper suddenly changed, and he became extremely irritable. Simultaneously with this change of temper he lost the power of using language to express his thoughts. He could articulate perfectly, and he was always uttering words; but they ceased to be significant, and consisted of a mixture of all the languages which he had learned. Cccasionally, he mustered a very few English words in their proper order and signification, and was intelligible; but his speech immediately again fell into confusion. His intellectual perceptions meantime continued clear. He understood business, comprehended spoken language addressed to him, and used signs of things to express his meaning, so far as he could. He continued to the very close of his life excessively active for a man of his age, drove out in his carriage every day-(I do not think he was three days in the house) and was actually in Edinburgh the ninth day before he died. At one time he had often, for several mornings in succession, at breakfast, held out piece of bread to the servant, and addressed to him a great deal of gibberish, and was very angry because he was not understood. He went to into a baker's shop, bought a quartern loaf, paid for it, and carried it away under his arm. When he arrived at -, he presented it to his butler, and said, That's what I wanted. At the next meal he cut a portion of it, and a portion of the bread which the family were using, placed them together, pointed out the superior quality of the bread, and enabled the whole family to comprehend that he had been all along complaining of the bad quality of the bread which was provided for him. He seemed always