Apparitions; Dreams; Occultism -- Early works to 1900; Parapsychology -- Early works to 1900
If we assume that there may be distinct portions of the brain, organs of
comparison, individuality, causality, &c., we naturally regard _them_ as
the source of that combined faculty which we denominate _judgment_. We
might argue, that if these organs were _permanently_ deficient, fatuity,
or, at least, extreme folly, would be the result. By parity of reasoning
we might infer, that if the function of such organs were _for a time
suspended_, imagination, having lost its mentor, would, as it were, run
wild, and an extravagant dream, granting an excitement, would be the
result. If the organ of colour be excited, and form be asleep, we may
have an _eccentric drawing_. If language and imagination are both awake,
a poem or romance; so it _may_ chance, that if _all_ the proper organs
are awake, there may be a rational dream.
I yield not to the too finely-spun hypotheses of Gall, and his first
whimsical topography of the cranium; the incipient idea of which, by the
by, he owes to the Arabian phrenologists who, even in the olden time,
had glimpses, although they decided on a different location. Imagination
was in the _frontal_ region, reason in the _medial_, and memory in the
_occipital_.
In Dr. Spurzheim’s beautiful demonstration of the brain, he exhibits it
almost as one large convoluted web. While the ultra-phrenologist is
unravelling these convolutions, it is strange that he sees not the
inconsistency of his cranial divisions. Some of the boundary lines of
his organs _must be drawn across_ these convolutions. It will ever be
impossible to decide the exact course of these, but the lines should be
drawn in the direction of their fibres; for if the faculty be seated in
one convolution, that faculty would proceed _in the course_ of its
fibres, and not across the fissure from one lobule to another. Now the
most frequent coincidence of the possession of great mental power, with
full development of the frontal region of the skull, will naturally lead
us to believe that it may depend on _causation_. Indeed a skull, as well
as expression, may be phrenologically _changed_ by culture or thought.
The skull of William Godwin, in early life, indicated an _intellectual_
development; then it became _sensual_, the _occipital_ organs being in
excess; and again, as his mind was subject to more moral culture, the
intellectual or _frontal_ again prevailed. I am informed, also, by Miss
A——, that there was observed a progressive development of the
intellectual region in the head of her father, an acute and deep
thinker.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account