The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English: or, Medicine Simplified, 54th ed., One Million, Six Hundred; and Fifty Thousand
John Stuart Mill · en
/ ENERGY,
The combined action of these { HEALTH,
faculties express \ REPRODUCTION.
[Illustration: Fig. 79]
If this portion of the brain indicates a full development, we say of
such a temperament that it is VITAL, because the functions of its
nerve-centers are favorable to evolution. As degeneration observes
conditions, so endurance and development conform to certain laws, and it
is the duty of all truthful inquirers, who believe not only in the
progress of human intelligence, but in physical improvement from
generation to generation, to ascertain and comply with these essential
conditions. When the anterior and middle lobes of the brain are fully
developed at their inferior surfaces, it is regarded as an insane
temperament, _i.e._ containing the germs of mental and bodily
derangement.
How shall we distinguish the combination of organic elements, if not by
the manner in which they characterize the constitution? Every human
being is distinguished by natural peculiarities, both mental and
physical. These are indicated not only by the color of the eyes, hair,
and skin, and the mental expressions, but in the conformation and
capabilities of the corporeal system. The color, form, size, and texture
of a leaf indicate to the expert pomologist the nature of the fruit
which the tree will bear, but how much more important is it to
understand the harmonies of human development. If Prof. Agassiz could
determine the form and size of a fish by seeing its scales, and Prof.
Owen outline the skeleton of an unknown animal by viewing a portion of
its fossil, why should not the physician understand the language of
temperaments, since it opens to him the revelations of human
development? The sculptor blends character with form, the artist endows
the face with natural expression, the anatomist accurately traces the
nerves and arteries, the physiognomist reads character, which the
novelist delineates and the actor personates, because there are facts
behind all these, the materials wherewith to construct a science. In
organization there are permanent forces which operate uniformly, thus
revealing the order of nature.
THE TEMPERAMENTS CLASSIFIED.
[Illustration: Fig. 80]
We propose to speak of four constitutional variations entitled to
separate consideration; the lymphatic, the sanguine, the volitive, and
the encephalic. The brain controls all the voluntary, and modifies the
involuntary functions of the body. A particular cerebral development
modifies the functions of all the bodily organs, and thus tempers the
constitution. We shall, therefore, base our classification of
temperaments upon the mental and physiological characteristics, which
are portrayed by cerebral development. Such an arrangement is
illustrated by Fig. 80.
THE LYMPHATIC TEMPERAMENT.