than that of home is required for the due training of the moral and social faculties. Infant schools were truly characterized by Lord Jeffrey as well-regulated nurseries.

Mr COMBE mentioned a case illustrative of the benefit of proceeding on sound physiological principles in the education of the young. A boy, who was extremely mischievous, was sent to Dr Howe of the Boston (U. S.) Institution for the Blind, as a pupil. He was so full of destructive energy, that he broke the benches, tore the chairs asunder, swung on the doors till he wrenched them off their hinges, and perpetrated all sorts of mischief on frangible objects; while he was so restless, that he was incapable of bending his attention to books. Dr Howe reasoned with him, appealed to his moral sentiments, and did every thing in his power to improve his habits by means of moral suasion; but with little success. He was satisfied that there must be causes for these dispositions, and endeavoured to discover them. He observed that the boy had large lungs, and a high sanguine temperament, which gave him great strength and restless activity; also, large organs of Destructiveness, that prompted him to exert those qualities habitually in injuring the objects around him. He thought of providing him with a legitimate field for the exercise of his dispositions. This was, to send him into the cellar every morning to saw and split wood for three hours together, for the use of the institution. This exercise had the desired effect. After undergoing it for some time, he became quite willing to sit still in school and receive instruction with the other boys; and the benches and chairs were safe. The boy himself was delighted with the change, and had soon sawn and split up all the wood in the cellar. He was then set to running, leaping, climbing poles, and disporting himself in various ways, in the gymnasium of the institution; and Dr Howe found that, as long as a proper and adequate vent for his excessive muscular activity was provided for him, he conducted himself with propriety, and was capable of mental application. In administering punishment, therefore, let the teacher ask himself, whether the infliction has a tendency to remove the cause of the evil which he desires to remedy. Annihilate the cause, and the effect will of course disappear.

Mr W. C. TREVELYAN read the following case of Derangement of Language and some of the Perceptive Faculties. A gentleman between fifty and sixty years of age, of temperate habits, nervo-bilious temperament, and with the moral sentiments and intellect predominating over the propensities, has, besides his professional duties as a clergyman, been for

several years engaged in writing a voluminous county history. One day, in the month of September 1839, he had been working without intermission in the compilation of an index for a volume of his history, then about to be published. Feeling drowsy, he laid himself down on a sofa, and slept for some time. On awaking he felt extremely cold, and, seeing a female in the room, he asked her who she was, not knowing his own wife. He afterwards became giddy and sleepy, but was recovered from his drowsiness by severe medical treatment. Since that time he can seldom remember rightly the name of any article, place, or person; neither can he recollect numbers. Though he recognises persons he was previously acquainted with, he can seldom mention their names. In talking on any subject he constantly calls one thing by the name of another, so as to render his conversation nearly useless. On attempting to read, a dull pain attacks the region of his perceptive organs, and particularly the organ of Language; he becomes giddy; and, before he can get to the end of a line, the whole appears a blank. His sight he considers as not so good as previously to the attack; complains much of a cold head; remembers better when his eyes are closed, or when stooping. He often shewed absence of mind in conversation and in reading, for many years previous to the attack. His reflective, moral, and animal organs appear unaltered; his appetite is good, his general health improved, and he enjoys bodily exercise. In conversation he reasons on his malady, and gives a clear account of the attack. When he was a boy at school he suffered occasionally from a dull pain in the region of the perceptive organs, and it has frequently recurred during his subsequent life.

Mr CоMBE hoped that, in the event of this gentleman not recovering, his brain would be examined after death, with the view of ascertaining whether the organs of Language and the other deranged faculties present a morbid appearance.

The next paper was a communication from Mr WILLIAM BALLY of Manchester, On the head of James Lowe, the Salford idiot, whose case is recorded in the Phrenological Journal, vol. ix., p. 126. Lowe died on 7th April 1840, and casts of his head and brain were exhibited to the meeting. In sawing the skull horizontally, it was found that the prominent superciliary ridge was of thick bone, with a large frontal sinus, so that

during life the size of the superciliary organs was undiscoverable. Mr Bally states the circumference of the head to be 14 inches; its size from ear to ear over the vertex, 64 inches; and the weight of the encephalon, exclusive only of the dura mater, 13 ounces avoirdupois. According to information by Mr T. F. Brownbill, surgeon, Lowe was of a quiet disposition if not annoyed; but, when excited into a passion, he would swear, and strike with his fists, or any weapon be could get hold of, and if unable to satisfy his vengeance upon the person who had irritated him, he would bite his own hands till they bled. When in this state, he became exceedingly stupid, and refused to be taken to attend to calls of nature. He had no idea of dressing or undressing himself. He loved to amuse himself with toys, and was very fond of coloured objects, frequently making caps of stained paper, belts, ribbons, &c. He was fond of those who treated him with kindness, but never seemed to forget those who had injured or provoked him. Often he would amuse himself with imitating a drunken man, and when in good humour would take off his shoes and dance, after which he would, with seeming pleasure, fight with his own shadow, and strike his knuckles against it on the wall. Occasionally he seemed much pleased in attempting to sing psalms, and then would kneel down with hands upraised, as if to pray. His appetite was very voracious and undiscriminating, and he would never fling away any part of his food. He was cleanly in his habits, with the exception of not attending to calls of nature. He never seemed to have a desire to associate with any females. Though attempts were often made to teach him to button and unbutton himself, he never learned to do so, but would impatiently tear off the buttons. He seemed to have no manual dexterity. His age at death was 24.

A communication from Mr CORNELIUS DONOVAN of London, On the head and character of François Courvoisier, the murderer of Lord William Russell, illustrated by a cast of the head, was next read. By means of a series of queries submitted to a very intelligent person, who lived with Courvoisier in the house of Mr Fector, M.P., for more than a year, Mr Donovan learned the following particulars respecting him :That he seemed to be attached to his employers and fellowservants, and from his obliging manners was well liked by both; that he was very amorous, and was thought to have an attachment to one female in particular ;-that he was particularly fond of children; by no means quarrelsome; fond of shooting; not in the habit of associating much with men, and not particularly fond of dress; was rather silent; had a very

tender feeling to all he thought to be in distress, and often relieved them at his own expense; was cheerful in general, always ready to join in the jokes of the servants' hall, and so ready to invent any thing in the way of joke or trick, that it was a common saying amongst the servants, if any artful trick was played off amongst them, that it was "one of François' artful manoeuvres ;" was not thought to entertain a high opinion of himself, or to be particularly religious; was not particularly close-minded; was very fond of money; very ingenious in planning any thing, but not in making it, and when alone was always doing something; not in the least musical; very temperate in eating and drinking; his actions and manners were counted sensible, and he was well liked by all his fellowservants. From another person equally well-informed, Mr Donovan received a letter containing this passage:-" Mr-, a hair-dresser of this town (Dover), had frequent interviews with Courvoisier in the course of his business, when the latter was valet to Mr Fector, M.P. He had the highest opinion of him, and strongly asserted the impossibility of his guilt, until the events of his trial brought to light the hidden things of darkness." With respect to the phrenological bearings of Courvoisier's head (on which subject see the last number of this Journal, p. 323), Mr Donovan, after remarking on the strong manifestations of Secretiveness presented in the career of the criminal, suggests for consideration the possible influence of that state of mind named maladie du pays, to which the Swiss are liable. His attention was lately drawn to the effect of large Concentrativeness by the case of a pupil of his, aged 23, with a very good head, and a large development of that organ; and who occasionally becomes so haunted by a subject, that, for a fortnight or longer, he cannot shake it off. This individual has taken excursions with the view of ridding himself of his troublesome guest, as he is unable during the attack to direct his attention to any other subject of thought. This engagement of the mind does not apply so much to legitimate subjects of study, as to certain fancies or crotchets. He has a small posterior region of the brain, but Destructiveness is large; and he says that, while thus under the influence of Concentrativeness (if such be the fact), he has had frequent thoughts of self-destruction. This case is given by Mr Donovan to illustrate the probable effect of the organ of Concentrativeness or Inhabitiveness (which he thinks large in Courvoisier's head); tending to render a person susceptible of being, as it were, taken possession of by a state of feeling contrary to the ordinary inclinations, and which is so absorbing as to deprive him of the usual degree of self-control.

The cast of Courvoisier's head having been placed on the table beside that of Thurtell, the murderer of Mr Weare, a remarkable similarity was pointed out between them. The organ of Benevolence, however, was larger in Thurtell.

Mr W. B. HODGSON considered Mr Donovan's suggestion as to Concentrativeness important. A strong tendency to brood over any subject must have a considerable influence on the results of the feelings as displayed in conduct. Mr H. mentioned the case of a lady with deficient Concentrativeness, an active temperament, and vivid feelings, in whom he had correctly inferred lively emotions, short-lived, but apt suddenly to return. When her father died, she was prone to forget his recent death, and would talk cheerfully with visiters, till, suddenly recollecting her bereavement, she changed her countenance and conversation. Mr Martin, a missionary, used in like manner, as he states in a published work, to forget the death of his sister; and was betrayed into such inconsistent states of feeling, that he wished he could either properly remember or altogether forget the event.

Mr COMBE, after expressing his concurrence with Mr Hodgson, remarked that nevertheless the discussion appeared to have no bearing on the case of Courvoisier, in whose head the part of the brain supposed to be the organ of Concentrativeness seemed to him but little developed. Yet, as the function of the organ is still uncertain, the tendency to brood over certain ideas may have been strong in Courvoisier, and may, in some degree, have influenced his actions.

The next paper was Observations on the Functions of Philoprogenitiveness, by Mr H. G. ATKINSON; in which he commented on Dr Epps's opinion, stated in a communication read on Saturday, that this faculty is the source of filial as well as parental affection. Phrenologists, he thought, should beware of ascribing to single causes the results of combined influences. The "protective feeling" of offspring towards their parents seemed to him to arise from Veneration and Benevolence acting together. Philoprogenitiveness he considered to be the source of tenderness of sentiment, as exemplified in the songs of Burns. In himself the organ is large, and he is exceedingly fond of children; he delights also to attend a sick friend, or even persons in whom he takes no interest while they are in health. He concluded by observing, that phrenology is still in a very imperfect state, and that we have yet many difficulties to contend with, the science being in the very infancy of its existence. There is not, said he, a single organ, the functions of which have yet been correctly ascertained and described: indeed it is maintained by many