Predominating Organs.-Wonder, Cautiousness, Veneration, Benevolence, and Destructiveness. Autopsy. On removing the skull-cap, an effusion of blood, amounting to about two drachms, was observed, which appeared to have flowed from the occipital sinuses. A large patch of extravasated blood was seen upon the base of the left lobe of the cerebellum.* Great vascularity was observed upon the right hemisphere, immediately above the corpus callosum. The general vascularity of the membranes was increased, but that of the medullary matter diminished. On examining the anterior lobes, two large tumours were observed-the one situate in the substance of the anterior lobe of the left hemisphere; the other situate on the right side of the falx, but evidently arising from the left. The latter appeared not only to have compressed, and to have caused some degree of atrophy in the right hemisphere, but actually to have been united to it in substance. This tumour was about the size of a pigeon's egg, tuberculated in structure, and at its base connected with the other. The tumour first mentioned was about the size of a small hen's egg, and occupied the whole of the convolutions of one-third of the anterior lobe. On being cut into, its structure appeared to be dense, compact, and medullary. Around it posteriorly was detected a large apopletic cell, containing certainly half an ounce of coagulated blood. The medullary matter surrounding the cell was of soft consistence, and of a bright crome-yellow colour. As to the disease generally, it occupied the whole of the anterior lobe of the left hemisphere; while the atrophy of the right hemisphere, produced by the smaller tumour, extended chiefly to the convolutions corresponding to the superciliary ridge, The larger tumour occupied the situation of the convolutions, these having been moved; and only a thin medullary expansion remained covering the tumour. It was observed that the con This patch of blood was fluid, and must have been recent: it may have been produced during the attempts to remove the brain. volutions of the middle and posterior lobes of the right hemisphere seemed as if they were crushed and compacted together, in the manner described as taking place in hypertrophia cerebri.* The compactness here alluded to was likewise observed to exist in a great degree in the middle lobe of the left hemisphere. The rest of the brain, with the exception of the anterior lobe of the right hemisphere, which was affected by the pressure of the smaller tumour, was increased in density and firmness. The olfactory and optic nerves, but especially the latter, were distinctly atrophied. The corpus callosum and central parts of the brain seemed to be quite healthy. No effusion had taken place in either of the lateral ventricles. A small medullary tumour was detected upon the internal surface of the dura mater.t "W. A. F. BROWNE, Surgeon. "SAMUEL CLARKE, Student of Medicine. The instruction to be derived from a consideration of this case is of two kinds. It affords an additional proof of the correctness of the organology, or the location of the organs, and illustrates the phrenological doctrines on the subject of insanity. We have divided the course of the disease, in reference to its duration, into three periods. In reference to its nature, however, there appear to have been only two-a period of the preternatural excitement of one set of powers, and a period of the extinction of another set. Originally, the whole brain seems to have participated in the morbid action, as her disease is entered in the case-book as common insanity, by which is meant general mental disturbance. She is subsequently stated to have been refractory, noisy, and violent. Her Destructiveness and Combativeness were very large. Her tranquillity was afterwards restored; she became obedient and good-tempered-at peace with man, but at war with supernatural agencies. She now delivered herself up to superstitious delusions, and remained for many years engrossed and governed by their power. The large development and diseased activity of Wonder, affecting an ignorant and weakened intellect, impressed her with a belief in See a resumé of Dr Simm's paper on Hypertrophy and Atrophy of the Brain, published in the London Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. viii. p. 395. The brain is still in my possession, and exhibits the condition here described, with the exception of such features as are transitory, and have been, from their nature, obliterated. L 1 the existence of such beings. Her Caution led her to dread them, her Combativeness and Destructiveness to defy and oppose them, while the whole of the Knowing Organs gave reality to the vision, by embuing it with qualities borrowed from objects previously seen. One of the tumours was embedded in the substance of the brain occupying the greater part of the anterior lobe; the other, proceeding from the same origin,* was attached to the substance of the anterior lobe of the opposite side, compressing it, and by its weight and pressure causing the wasting of the whole region, but especially of the convolutions which rest upon the supraorbital plate. As to the precise commencement or the rapidity of the progress of these tumours, no evidence can be procured. No coma, no paralysis, no bodily symptom announced their existence; and if we except the striking change observed in her manner, and which, to an observer ignorant of Phrenology, would have conveyed no distinct idea at all, there were no grounds for suspecting disease in this part of the brain. It is probable that the growth of the tumours was very gradual, and that the formation of the apoplectic cell was sudden, and in consequence of the irritation which the presence of such a large foreign body must have produced. To the former are referrible the cessation of old habits, and imbecility; to the latter, the stupor which preceded death. When used by the uneducated, unaccustomed as they are to the higher operations of intellect, the word imbecility means an impairment or bereavement of the observing faculties of the ability to perceive and describe the qualities of external objects. In this sense the keeper obviously used the synonym "dottled," in indicating the situation of the patient. Of the manifestations of Causality and Comparison we have no means of judging. During the earlier stages of her alienation, they appear rarely to have been called into action; and when they were so, their exercise was as much perverted as that of the other powers. Latterly they had ceased to act, and, from the state of the brain, could not have acted. During the era of superstition, the Knowing Organs were peculiarly affected. Locality fixed the spirits to particular spots, Colour gave them the additional lity of redness, and Number conjured them up in legions. But as the disease proceeded, as a greater portion of brain was involved, and more severely injured, a difference in the manifestation became apparent. qua. The question may be here introduced-Could it be that this intense and long-continued activity induced the change of structure, the development of the tumours, which ultimately led to * The common origin has not yet been traced by dissection. the extinction of these very powers? That long-continued functional disease of other parts of the body, the heart for example, does cause organic disease, cannot now be doubted; and it would be difficult to point out any reason why the same law should not apply to the brain. Passion is frequently the exciting cause of apoplexy, thus breaking down and destroying the texture of the brain as effectually as a musket-ball, or the process of inflammation. May not, then, the irritation of a diseased mental impression, sustained for years, act in a like manner? Be this as it may, the following facts are certain. The tumours mutilated the organs of Tune and Time, and she who was formed for and fond of singing, ceases to sing, or be affected by music. Order is implicated; and first she is afflicted by the defilement of her aërial persecutors; and, secondly, she who was the pattern of neatness and cleanliness, becomes slovenly and dirty. Self-Esteem, which was large, prompted her to resume her former habits; but the effort was vain--she knew not how to do so. The disease of the organ of Language was indicated by her unusual taciturnity, and her peculiar mode of expression. Weight participated, and she could not walk without staggering. Locality was completely destroyed, and she lost her way in the common hall, with all the objects in which she had been for years familiar. The diseased phenomena of the other Knowing Organs, such as Form, Size, &c. were unfortunately not noticed. Indeed, it is remarkable that details of so many peculiarities, and those so strikingly illustrative of the pathology of the disease, have been preserved. The loss of others, which must have existed, and Many of Serres's cases of cerebellar apoplexy appear to countenance these views. Should they prove to be correct, many of the most obscure phenomena of insanity will become easily explicable-such, for instance, as the manner in which the indulgence of particular propensities, or the violent excitement of other powers, produces permanent disease. +We are inclined to regard Mr Browne's conjecture on this point as less plausible than the supposition that the deranged perceptions of his patient were the result, not the cause, of the disease. Vision-seeing, no doubt, indicates great exaltation of the functions of the Knowing Organs; but the ques. tion here arises, Did vision-seeing precede and give origin to the disease; or was not the order of events rather the reverse of this? The organ of Wonder, we admit, stimulates the Knowing Organs, so as to occasion the perception of apparitions; and it is intelligible that in this way disease of the anterior lobe might arise from functional excess. We are not aware, however, that any instance of such an occurrence has been recorded; while, on the contrary, there are many where disease of the Knowing Organs was the precursor of vision-seeing. Unless the organ of Wonder in Mr Browne's patient gave rise to the perception of apparitions during her whole life, we must conclude that disease was present before such perception took place. Besides, the organs of Order and Number, which are not essential for vision-seeing, and would therefore not be implicated in the supposed functional excess, were not withstanding affected by the disease-EDITOR. 1 might have proved still more valuable in the exposition, establishes the necessity for noting every particular in the conduct of the insane, however trivial the manifestation, and however chronic and incurable the malady may be. ARTICLE VIII. PHRENOLOGY SIMPLIFIED: Being an Exposition of the Principles and Applications of Phrenology to the Practical Uses of Life. Intended as a Sequel to the “Catechism of Phrenology." By a Member of the Phrenological Society of Edinburgh. Glasgow: W. R. M‘Phun. 1836. Pp. 208. THE anonymous compiler of this volume, calling himself a member of the Phrenological Society, states in his preface, that "in preparing it for the press, utility, more than originality, has been aimed at." This avowal is, no doubt, exceedingly candid; but its import would have been yet more clear had the writer mentioned that, of his 208 pages, about 188 are transcribed verbatim from works already in the hands of the public, generally without acknowledgment-thus leaving twenty which seem to have the attribute of "originality." In plain terms, we have never witnessed a grosser instance of barefaced plagiarism, or greater clumsiness in stringing stolen paragraphs together. The works chiefly plundered are the Phrenological Journal, Mr Combe's Constitution of Man, and treatises by Dr Caldwell. For more than three-fourths of his materials the compiler is indebted to our pages, so that in “aiming at utility" he has laid us pretty severely under contribution. From p. 24 to 68, he has copied nearly the whole of Dr Caldwell's Treatise on Penitentiary Discipline from the seventh volume of the Journal, awkwardly intermixing with it (“in illustration," he says of what we have just stated"! p. 32), extracts from the Constitution of Man, pp. 136 and 138, the Transactions of the Phrenological Society, p. 313, and our fifth volume, p. 557. At p. 51, he suddenly jumps from Dr Caldwell's essay to the Prospectus of the Phrenological Society of Paris (translated in our seventh volume, p. 295), wherein is set forth the utility of Phrenology to artists; but on p. 55 he resumes with Dr Caldwell the subject of prison-discipline! Then follow (p. 59) an anecdote from the Court Journal, and (p. 63) a second slice of the Prospectus of the Parisian Society. On p. 65 Dr Caldwell is rejoined at the point where he was parted from on p. 59, and nothing is found but extracts from his essay above named, and from his Thoughts on Physical |