able phrenologists, and was the opinion of Gall, that there was no primitive feeling of either hope, justice, or, he thought, fear, as described by Mr Combe; and in this opinion he himself was inclined to concur. But, however this might be, he delighted in the difficulties before us; for difficulties incite to exertion, and exertion in a good cause is pleasure. But he would have those who are in the habit of manipulating heads to be more cautious in predicating character; many errors are committed, to the injury of the science, and many others are disguised in the ambiguity of language. He did not now allude to any one in particular, but to all who practise manipulation, whether publicly or privately. It is necessary to be well acquainted with the philosophy of poetry, the arts, music, and mathematics, before you can say that such a one may be a poet, an artist, a musician, a mathematician. Let us remember what Gall has said-that before he could manipulate perfectly he must know all things perfectly, or at least the philosophy of them.

Messrs DEVILLE and BEAMISH expressed their dissent from the opinion of Dr Epps on Philoprogenitiveness.

Mr ROBERT Cox referred to the dispositions of the Esquimaux, whose love of young is powerful, but among whom the old and helpless are treated with great neglect, unless their own children be alive-in which case the behaviour of the latter is obedient and affectionate.

Mr COMBE begged leave to offer a remark on Mr Atkinson's statement, that phrenology is still in the infancy of its existence this was a statement which ought not to go forth without explanation. Much, no doubt, still remains to be discovered before phrenology shall reach maturity, but it is equally true that much has already been fully ascertained. Surely phrenologists are not in the infancy of their knowledge of the functions of the organs of Cautiousness, Philoprogenitiveness, and many others. Those who themselves have made few observations are apt to suppose that the facts ascertained by the observations of other inquirers are few; and in proportion to the extent of any student's field of observation, is his conviction that, in the main, phrenology rests on a stable foundation of facts. In its metaphysical department it may, with truth, be said to be still in its infancy; that is to say, little progress has been made in analyzing the faculties into their elementary or primitive principles. For example, we may all agree, that, when the organ of Cautiousness is largely developed, certain mental manifestations are found in connection with it; but very different opinions may be entertained as to the metaphysical character of the quality which distinguishes every form of these

manifestations. Uncertainty on the latter point is quite consistent with certainty on the former. With reference to Philoprogenitiveness, Mr Combe observed that, when an organ was powerfully active, it might be gratified by any thing that personated or was invested by the individual with the essential qualities of its natural objects. Thus, the doll gratified Philoprogenitiveness, although it was not a child; it was small and helpless, and in these qualities resembled a child. A young female would take a pillow, or wrap up a pocket handkerchief, and fondle it as a baby; but this was not a departure from the proper functions of Philoprogenitiveness. In like manner, an affectionate daughter might treat her old and feeble father as a baby, speak to him and feel towards him as such. It was his weakness and dependency that called her Philoprogenitiveness into play; but her Benevolence, Veneration, and Adhesiveness probably co-operated with that organ in producing her actions. He did not consider that in such cases Philoprogenitiveness performed any functions different from those usually ascribed to it. He questioned whether a lady with large Philoprogenitiveness, but small Benevolence, would treat an aged parent with tenderness and kindness.

A communication from Mr J. L. LEVISON On the Cerebellum of Birds was next read. Its object was to refute a statement said to have been made by Professor Rymer Jones, that the cerebellum is absent in birds. Mr Levison had made accurate casts of the brains of many birds, and could testify from observation against the averment of Professor Jones. The mistake must have arisen from his assuming the relative situation of the cerebellum in birds to be the same as in the mammals generally, that is, below the cerebrum; whereas the disposition of the cerebral and cranial parts is, in reality, very different. Professor Grant, in a lecture on the Osteology of Birds, published in the Lancet for 1833-4, p. 765, says that the hemispheres of the brain are so much developed backwards in birds, that they "not only cover the corpora quadrigemina and optic lobes, but even rest a little on the largelobed cerebellum." With respect to the size of the cerebellum in relation to the cerebral hemispheres in different birds, Mr Levison mentions that, in the common crow, it is as 1 to 10 or 12; in the black or brown grouse, as 1 to 6 or 7 ; in the red woodpecker, as 1 to 9; in the robin as 1 to 6; in the canary, as 1 to 5; and in the male domestic pigeon as 1 to 5. These proportions, he thinks, correspond with the strength of the amorous feeling in the different birds.

Another communication, from Mr NICHOLAS BREWER Of Lon

don, suggested the establishment of a Guarantee Society on the principles of an insurance company, with the object of providing security for persons in situations of trust, on payment of a small annual premium. Such a society already exists in London, and is doing well; but the committee of management derive no aid from phrenology, being guided only by previous character, the nature of the trust, and the average breaches of it which are found to occur. A society under the management of experienced phrenologists, who would derive much additional aid from examining the heads of applicants, would be still more profitable to the shareholders. The diffusion and improvement of phrenology would, moreover, be promoted; for the confidence which phrenologists have in their science would thus be made obvious to the public, and as every person guaranteed by the society should give a cast of his or her head, a collection of valuable facts would gradually be accumulated. "The Phrenological Guarantee Society" would have a tendency to advance the well-organized in society, and to keep the badly-organized where they would have little power of doing injury; and hence it would confer great benefits on the community at large. Owing to the lateness of the hour, no discussion took place on this proposal.

At a meeting of the council, held this day, and at which were present Messrs Trevelyan, Simpson, M'Clelland, Cunliff, Combe, Deville, Bastard, and Dr Maxwell, it was, after considerable discussion, unanimously resolved, that the next general meeting of the Association should be held in London, in the first week of June 1841; and the following gentlemen were appointed a committee in that city (with power to add to their number) to carry into effect all necessary measures, viz. Messrs Hewett C. Watson, Thames Ditton; James Deville, London; Thomas H. Bastard, London; Richard Beamish, F.R.S., Prestbury, Cheltenham; Henry G. Atkinson, London; and John Isaac Hawkins, London. Messrs Watson and Bastard were appointed joint secretaries and conveners of this committee. It was farther resolved, "that as the council and general committee have the power, according to the rules of the Association, of altering the laws, the same are hereby altered, so far as the above resolutions are not in accordance with the original constitution." Lastly, Dr Weir and Mr M'Clelland were appointed a committee to examine and docquet the treasurer's accounts.

In the evening at eight o'clock a meeting was held in the Lecture-Room of the Mechanics' Institution, North Hanover Street, to which the public were admitted. The room was

filled to overflowing, and must have contained 600 persons; besides whom many in vain attempted to gain admittance. A lecture, which lasted an hour and a half, was delivered by Mr COMBE, on the characters of nations in connection with the different forms and sizes of national crania. It was illustrated by the plates in Dr Morton's Crania Americana, and numerous specimens, and seemed to excite much interest. The meeting, after being addressed by Messrs Simpson, Deville, Hawkins, and Professor Gregory (whose speeches, as well as the lecture, we regret that our limits prevent us from reporting), broke up at half-past ten o'clock.

II. Dr Baillarger's Researches on the Structure of the Cortical Substance of the Cerebral Convolutions.

Dr Baillarger has published an interesting paper on this subject in the Mémoires de l'Académie Royale de Médecine (Paris, 1840). We avail ourselves of the summary given in the Medico-Chirurgical Review for October last, page 426:

"The object of the author is to shew that the cortical surface of the nervous centres is distinctly stratified, consisting of several alternating layers of grey and white medullary matter, and that these strata may be aptly compared to the alternating plates of different metals or other substances in a voltaic pile.

"After minutely describing numerous anatomical examinations of the cortical substance of the brain in man and in the lower animals, he sums up the results of his inquiries in the following among other conclusions:

"1. The cortical substance of the cerebral convolutions consists of six layers, alternately grey and white, proceeding from within outwards. If we examine a thin slice of the grey [the cortical?] substance placed between two pieces of glass, the six layers appear alternately transparent and opaque. 3. The white strata, which exist in the thickness of the cortical grey substance, are formed of two rows of vertical fibres.

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"14. The superposition of six strata, alternately of white and grey nervous matter, in the cortical substance of the brain, suggests the idea of a galvanic pile.

"15. This analogy between the structure of the cerebral surface and the arrangement of a galvanic apparatus, may be adduced as an argument in favour of the following two propositions:-The nervous, like the electrical, action, is in re

lation to surfaces and not to masses. The nervous influx, like the electrical stream, is transmitted by surfaces.'

"The opinion that there is some analogy between electricity and the mysterious cause of nervous action, is now admitted by many of the leading physiologists of the present day. It is therefore reasonable to expect, that there are some features of resemblance between the anatomical arrangements of the nervous centres and those of a galvanic apparatus. Different opinions have been held by different anatomists as to the part of the nervous system which may be most aptly compared to a pile.

"Rolando fixed upon the cerebellum; he says- If an apparatus, composed of different non-metallic substances, such as schistus, charcoal, muscular substance, and cerebral substance, and if the electrical organ of the gymnotus and torpedo, composed of albumino-cartilaginous and other similar substances, is known to generate a great quantity of electrical fluid, why may not a similar principle be developed by the numerous layers of the yellow and cineritious matter of the cerebellum ?'

"Our author, while he does not impugn the accuracy of Rolando's conclusion with respect to the cerebellum, alleges, with considerable shew of reason, that, if electrical action is developed by the nervous centres, it is much more probable that the seat of this development is not in one part only, but rather that it is diffused over their entire extent. 'Assuredly,' says he, if the Italian anatomist has been led from the circumstance of the superposition of two laminæ of nervous matter to affirm that the cerebellum may be compared to a voltaic pile, how much more readily must he have admitted the same thing for the brain, had he been aware of the stratified structure of its surface, in which I have shewn that six alternating laminæ can be proved to exist.' He adds In a future memoir I will shew that a similar arrangement can be demonstrated in the surface of the cerebellum itself, and also of the spinal cord; so that this stratified structure is common to the entire extent of the surface of the nervous centres. But it is not on the surface alone of these centres that such an arrangement exists; it is well known to be quite obvious in the substance of the corpora striata, tubercula quadrigemina, and in the tuber annulare also.'

"In confirmation of his views, that the nervous centres may be aptly compared to a galvanic apparatus, Dr Baillarger next alludes to the minute anatomy of the medullary matter; and suggests that the innumerable fibres which it everywhere sends into the cineritious matter, may be regarded as so many