What was phrenology?

Phrenology was a science of character

divination, faculty psychology, theory
of brain and what the 19th-century
phrenologists called "the only true science of
mind." Phrenology came from the theories of
the idiosyncratic Viennese physician Franz
Joseph Gall (1758-1828). The basic tenets of
Gall's system were:

1.The brain is the organ of the mind.

2. The mind is composed of multiple, distinct, innate faculties.
3. Because they are distinct, each faculty must have a separate seat
or "organ" in the brain.
4. The size of an organ, other things being equal, is a measure of its
power.
5. The shape of the brain is determined by the development of the
various organs.
6. As the skull takes its shape from the brain, the surface of the skull
can be read as an accurate index of psychological aptitudes and
tendencies. (For a description in Gall's own words see: Letter to von
Retzer)
So it was believed that by examining the shape and unevenness of a
head or skull, one could discover the development of the particular
cerebral "organs" responsible for different intellectual aptitudes and
character traits. For example, a prominent protuberance in the
forehead at the position attributed to the organ of Benevolence was
meant to indicate that the individual had a "well developed" organ
ofBenev
olence a
nd
would
therefor
e be
expecte
d to
exhibit
benevol
ent
behavio
ur.

However, like so many popular sciences, Gall and the

phrenologists sought onlyconfirmations for their hypotheses and did
not apply the same standard to contradictory evidence. Any evidence
or anecdote which seemed to confirm the science was readily and
vociferously accepted as "proof" of the "truth" of phrenology. At the
same time, contradictory findings, such as a not very benevolent and
disagreeable person having a well-developed organ
of Benevolence were always explained away. This was often done by
claiming that the activity of other organs counteracted Benevolence.
What was never accepted by phrenologists, however, was that
admitting that the activity of a particular faculty could be
independent of the size of its organ undermined the most
fundamental assumptions of the science- and thereby rendered all of
its conclusions inconsistent and meaningless. (For a more in depth
account of the origins of phrenology see: van Wyhe 2002.)

The history of phrenology can be divided into three general

phases. The first, extending roughly from the mid-1790s to
the 1810s, saw only the Germans Gall and his disciple J.G.
Spurzheim as the practitioners and advocates of the science.
From 1815 a damning review in the prestigious Edinburgh
Review launched the science into general public view in the
English-speaking world instead of being restricted to elite
medical journals. From this time forward many more middle-class
men took up phrenology as a scientistic pursuit. These first
phrenologists sought to achieve recognition for themselves as
students of the greatest of all the sciences. It was meant to be a
certain science of human nature. Spurzheim faced down and refuted
his Edinburgh Review critic and thereby won many converts in
Edinburgh. The first phrenological society was founded in Edinburgh
in 1820, and many more followed throughout Britain and America in
later decades. In addition to societies these men established subject
journals, modelled on existing scientific journals and the
Phrenological Association, which first met in 1838, to mimic the
British Association for the Advancement of Science (from which
phrenology had been excluded). See Timeline and the 'Introductory
Statement' to the Phrenological Journal, 1823.

From its beginnings as a social activity

in Britain, phrenology attracted the
enthusiastic and the arrogant. Such
persons found "one of the most valuable
discoveries that ever graced the annals
of philosophy" to be just the thing for
them to enter the burgeoning world of
scientific societies. Furthermore, one
could enter that world at the head.
Many of these early phrenologists were
political and social reformers and a few
were ultra radicals- and many of the
histories of phrenology describe
phrenology as a reformist or radical
science. However, phrenology was also
of interest to many who were not intent
on bringing about social or political
change. Many devout evangelicals saw
in the
organs Veneration and Wonder additional evidence for the design of
a creator. Several Christian phrenological societies were founded by
these individuals. Most phrenologists, however, were much more
secular. They made phrenology a seminal environment for the
beginnings of 19th-century self-help philosophies, scientific
naturalism, and secularization generally. Nevertheless, it cannot be
ignored that the majority of people convinced by phrenology had not
social or political agenda but found the theory of cerebral
localization of character traits plausible. For practitioners of
phrenology the science bestowed an awesome authority which, they
claimed, could not be matched by any other science.
From Britain phrenology spread to America and France in the 1830s
and in the1840s it was re-introduced to Germany. It became far
more successful in America. Phrenology died away in Britain by the
early 1850s but a new movement was re-introduced to Britain by the
American "phrenological Fowlers" in the 1860s and
1870s. TheFowlers had begun lecturing and reading
heads for fees in New York in the 1830s. Their
phrenology was wholly borrowed from the British
modifications of Gall's system. The Fowlers swept
through Britain on a successful lecture tour before
establishing various phrenological institutions,
societies and publishing concerns. Less scientifically
pretentious and more overtly entrepreneurial, it is
largely this latter-day phrenology whose remnants are still seen
today. A phrenological bust in an antique shop will almost invariably
bear the label "L. N. Fowler". The latter phrenology movement was
largley responsible for the anthropometric (head reading) craze of
the latter 19th century and its well-known
anthropological/racial concerns. The early phrenological movement
was concerned more with providing practitioners with claims to
epistemological certainty and intellectual authority than disscussing
human races.
Phrenology evolved into wider and wider cultural space over time,
beginning with Gall and the highest scientific and social and cultural
elites, from Goethe to the king of Prussia, to the British and
American scientifically pretentious middle-class phrenological
societies of George Combe and finally to the disreputable practical
"professors" of phrenology, reading heads for profit and the mass
audiences of the Fowlers to the dawn of the 20th century. So-called
"practical" phrenologists like the Fowlers, far outnmubered, in the
long run, the interested medical men, the scientifically pretensious
and theoretical phrenologists. Many orignal texts are available at
this site which portray a broad range of phrenological literature-
from high brow to low brow.

What did phrenologists actually do?

Phrenologizing involved mostly head reading

and character analyses as well as speculation
on the interactions between the faculties
(which were spoken of as if each were a selfish
homunculus, seeking its own gratification).
Most phrenologists would run their bare finger
tips (Gall recommended using the palms of the
 hands) over a head to
distinguish any elevations or
indentations. Sometimes
callipers, measuring tapes and
other instruments were used. A
skilled phrenologist knew not
just the cartographic layout of
the head according to the latest
phrenological chart, but also
the personalities and pros and
cons, of each of the 35 odd
organs (the number of organs
gradually increased over time,
see: the Phrenological organs).
Phrenologists also diagnosed
one's temperament or humour-
an oft forgotten component of
phrenology. See a chapter from
Donovan's A Handbook of
Phrenology (1870) for a more
detailed description and
illustrations for head reading.

For an amusing late 19th-century personal reminiscence of being

phrenologized, click here. And for the character analysis and career
advice for girl under the age of seven in 1912, click here.

In the early days of phrenology, phrenologists often met weekly or

bi-weekly at their local phrenological society. Here they would hear
a lecture and marvel over new confirmations of phrenology. They
often kept small libraries of phrenological works and museums of
phrenological busts, skulls, and casts of the heads of the famous and
infamous or examples of different "races" of humans.

During phrenology's first heyday in the 1820s-1840s, many

employers could demand a character reference from a local
phrenologist to ensure that a prospective employee was honest and
hard-working. This belief that the protuberances on the skull
provided an accurate index of talents and abilities was particularly
urged to be applied to education and criminal reform. Phrenologists,
not unlike those who today believe in strong demarcations in "left-"
or "right-brains", thought they could determine the most suitable
career for the young and match prospective mates with greater
accuracy than 'old-fashioned love'. Visiting a phrenologist was akin
to seeking the advice of so-called psychics, clairvoyants or
astrologers today. A phrenologist was someone who claimed to have
access to special knowledge about people. The ignorant and gullible
were particularly susceptible to the pretensions of phrenologists.

Phrenology was spread, from the days of Gall, through

the end of the 19th century, largely by itinerant
lecturers, as was mesmerism. A pamphlet by a typical
"practical phrenologist" is H. Lundie's The Phrenological
Mirror. This pamphlet includes the prices for providing
delineations, the meaning of each organ per its size
(some of which are quite amusing) the four classical
humours or temperaments as appropriated by the
phrenologists, and two brief sections on how
one ought and ought not use one's organs. In effect, Lundie's
pamphlet, like most phrenology texts, was to serve as an owner's
manual for the human brain.

Phrenologists also spent considerable time and effort in defending

themselves and their science from criticism- always ready to portray
themselves as Galileo-like defenders of natural truth, condemned by
bigoted religious and close-minded scientific critics. Identical
arguments are used today by charlatans of all descriptions who
claim to have special knowledge or abilities. Those too rational or
cautious to believe without evidence are dismissed as "close-
minded".

What became of phrenology?

Phrenology has been almost universally considered completely

discredited as a science since the mid-19th century. Even during the
peak of its popularity between the 1820s and 1840s, phrenology was
always controversial and never achieved the status of an
accredited science, which was so coveted by its main
proponents, such as the Edinburgh lawyer, George
Combe and his circle.

Rather than portraying phrenology as having succumbed

to an inexorable progress of 'science' or representing the
Victorians as having become less 'gullible', phrenology
can be understood to have been diffused and absorbed
into a host of other practices and traditions- as such many of its
components live on. Alison Winter uses a similar approach to
understand the 'disappearance' of mesmerism. Phrenology, as all
popular fads, eventually became deeply unfashionable amongst the
well-to-do who had previously espoused it. It had degenerated into
a sect of zealous extremists. Many of the first generation
phrenologists were unable to pass on their discredited knowledge to
a new generation which had many more opportunities to participate
in popular sciences. Nevertheless, the British Phrenological Society
(founded by Lorenzo Niles Fowler in 1887) was only disbanded in
1967.
A legacy of phrenology lived on in other projects of measuring and
comparing human heads- most notoriously the attention to cranial
size, forehead shape etc. used by late 19th and early 20th century
racial anthropologists to confirm their belief that Europeans were
superior to other humans. Paul Broca was prominent in this
movement and he helped establish the Anthropological Society in
Paris in 1859.

The history of phrenology is now of interest to historians and those

seeking the early roots of modern cerebral localization and
neuroscience. Methodologically problematic as it was, phrenology
was the first system to attribute psychological behaviour to localized
regions of cerebral cortex, an approach that has, with refinements
and exceptions, been increasingly vindicated since the 1860s
following the work of Pierre-Paul Broca and others in France and
Carl Wernicke in Germany in the 1870s. Other main principles of
phrenology were generally confirmed at the end of the 19th century
by the work of David Ferrier, J. Hughlings Jackson, John Bucknill,
James Crichton-Browne and Charles Sherrington.

How much of it was true?

Ironically, most of phrenology's basic premises have been

vindicated, though the particulars of reading character from the
skull have not. For example, the principle that many functions are
localized in the brain is now a commonplace (although many other
functions are distributed). Also, areas of the brain that are more
frequently used (as the right hippocampus of London taxi drivers)
may become enlarged with use. (See The Journal of Neuroscience,
vol. 17, 1997.) This is exactly what phrenologists asserted.
Some personality or speech disorders correlate to specific atrophied
regions of the brain. From this we conclude that the affected part of
the brain was either necessary for or simply was that bit of the
personality or ability. Modern brain imaging techniques, such as
functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) make the localization
of functions demonstrable beyond doubt.
Palaeontologists make endocasts from the skulls of early hominids
to determine the shapes of their brains and have suggested that an
enlarged node at Broca's region is evidence of language use. This is
essentially phrenology in a new guise. Size is taken as evidence for
power and functions are believed to reside in specifcally bounded
regions.
All of the 'organs' or bumps identified by phrenologists are now
considered purely imaginary except for Gall's 'faculty for words or
verbal memory'- which was close to the present location of Broca's
and Wernicke's speech areas. However, following Spurzheim's
modifications of Gall's system, later phrenology abandoned this only
correct organ!
And finally, today we know that what was traditionally called "the
mind" is indeed nothing more than functioning human brain.
See Other websites about phrenology and the bibliography for more
information.

Terms and Definitions

Phrenology: This term came into general use around 1819/1820 in

Britain where it was coined by the physician T.I.M. Forster in 1815.
It is derived from the Greek roots: phren: 'mind' and logos:
'study/discourse'. Gall himself never approved of the term
phrenology. He called his system simply organology
and Schädellehre and later simply 'the physiology of the brain'. The
name phrenology really shows the far-reaching pretensions of the
phrenologists to extend their authority over a greater area than just
cerebral anatomy.

Craniology and cranioscopy: Additional, older terms for phrenology.

Contrary to what is often alleged, these terms were not favoured or
used by Gall, nor did they originally have different meanings. These
two terms, and other variants (such as craniotome, craniognomy, or
craniognosy), were used indiscriminately to refer to the doctrines of
Gall and the phrenologists before the term phrenology was seized
upon by Gall's former pupil, and the Saint Paul of phrenology, J.G.
Spurzheim and the more pretentious British phrenologists.
Beginning in the mid-1840s a new use for the
term cranioscopy arose, meaning specifically the study of the size,
shape, etc. of the skull, especially those of various 'races', as a part
of an overtly scientific anthropology. This use was first made by the
German physiologist and psychologist Carl Gustav Carus (1789-
1869).
Physiognomy, the study of internal character from external
appearances- most notably the face- was a partly aesthetic and
partly philosophical practice which preceded phrenology (its roots
lay as far back as the middle ages). Its main advocate in the late
eighteenth century was the Swiss clergyman J. G. Lavater (1741-
1801) in his Physiognomical Fragments (1775-8). See Other
Physiognomies. A few physiognomical works are available on-line,
see: Other phrenological texts on-line.

Faculty: phrenologists believed "the mind" was divided into a

number of discrete departments, each specialized for certain tasks
or tendencies, e.g. "the faculty of Benevolence means every mode of
benevolent feeling induced by means of the organ of Benevolence."
The cerebral organs and their faculties carried the same names- so
the lists of organs provided at this site are also lists of mental
faculties. Other faculty psychologies contained faculties like
memory, reason, intellect and so on. See: Phrenological Organs.

Organ: the "material instrument" by which a particular faculty was

believed to operate. The size of an organ was the measure of its
power or activity. The skull was said to take its shape from the
underlying brain and hence, the larger or smaller an organ, the skull
above it was expected to reflect this development. (Phrenologists
pointed to cases of hydrocephalus, collection of water in the brain, in
which the skull can become grotesquely distended while brain
function may be unimpaired). The phrenological organs were
mirrored in each hemisphere which is why some busts only have
organs marked on one side. (i.e. there were two of each except
Amativeness.) Phrenological Organs

Bumpology: is probably one of the best-known aspersions used to

lampoon phrenology. See: Ridiculing Phrenology.

Pseudoscience: Historians of science tend no longer use this term as

it is widely considered to be biased and judgmental. It implies the
application of a current conception of science, and proper scientific
attributes, onto historical phenomena. Such value judgments about
the so-called virtues and vices of historical subjects are now seen as
outside the scope of historians' projects. Many historians of science
today consider the use of this term naive. Nevertheless the word
was sometimes used by contemporaries to describe phrenology.

Further reading:
For a more in-depth look at the beginnings of phrenology see my
article 'The authority of human nature: the Schädellehre of Franz
Joseph Gall', British Journal for the History of Science, March, 2002,
pp. 17-42. For the following history of phrenology in Britain and
especially the naturalism that came out of it see my
book: Phrenology and the origins of Victorian scientific
naturalism (2004). (Amazon link)

The most complete primary source on phrenology on the internet is

Combe's A System of Phrenology, 2 vols., 5th edn, 1853. See also
Spurzheim, Phrenology: or the doctrine of the mental phenomena.
For a quick overview see: Spurzheim, Outlines of Phrenology; being
also a manual of reference for the marked busts. London, 1827.
[Illustrated html]

All phrenology texts online

Have a look at the next page: Phrenology in Literature some of the

best selling Victorian books were influenced by phrenology.

Also of interest: Ridiculing Phrenology. No science was ever abused

so much- but what effect did that have?

Acknowledgements: Many people have kindly contributed to this

project including: Aileen Fyfe, Jim & Anne Secord, Cordula van Wyhe,
Lisle Dalton, Wolfgang Schütz, Anthony Walsh, John Henderson, and
Antranig Basman.

The History of Phrenology on the Web

by John van Wyhe

The Phrenological Organs (the 'bumps')

This page provides lists of the phrenological organs and faculties according
to Gall, Spurzheim and later British phrenologists.
For an explanation of the the faculties/organs see the overview and the
primary phrenology texts.

Gall's original 27 faculties/organs

List of organs from Spurzheim's Physiognomical System (1815)

The phrenological organs according to George Combe (lists from 1834

& 1847) [Full descriptions and images of many are available through this
list]

Terms used to differentiate the sizes of organs according to Combe

The phrenological organs according to H. Lundie (1844)

See also: Other Lists on the Web

Gall's 27 faculties (used primarily by him 1790s-1828)

Gall's cerebral organs carried the names of their supposed functions or
faculties and were numbered: (the German & French are original- the
English is a translation)

1. impulse to propagation (Zeugungstrieb, 15. faculty of language (Sprachsinn, Sprach-Forschu

Fortpflanzung; Instinct de la génération, de la sinn; sens de langage, Talent de la philologie);
reproduction, de la propagation);

2. Tenderness for the offspring, or parental love 16. disposition for colouring, and the delighting in
(Jungenliebe, Kinderliebe; Amour de la progéniture); colours (Farbensinn; sens des rapports de couleurs);

3. friendly attachment or fidelity (Anhänglichkeit, 17. sense for sounds, musical talent (Tonsinn,
Freundschaftsinn; Attachement, amitié); Musiktalent; Talent de la musique, sens des rapport
tons);

4. valour, self-defense (Mut, Raufsinn, 18. arithmetic, counting, time (Zahlensinn, Zeitsinn;
Selbstverteidigungsinstinkt; Instinct de la défense de soi- des rapports des nombres);
même et de sa propriété);

5. murder, carnivorousness (Mord/Würgsinn;Instinct 19. mechanical skill (Kunstsinn, Bausinn; Sens de

carnassier); mécanique, de construction, Talent de l'architecture)

6. sense of cunning (Schlauheitssinn, List;ruse); 20. comparative perspicuity, sagacity (vergleichende

Scharfsinnorgan; Sagacité comparative);

7. larceny, sense of property (Diebessinn, 21. metaphysical perspicuity (Metaphysischer-

Eigenthumsinn; Sentiment de la propriété); Tiefsinn; Esprit métaphysique, profondeur d'esprit);

8. pride, arrogance, love of authority (Stolz, Hochmut, 22. wit, causality, sense of inference (Witz, Causalit
Herrschsucht; Orgueil, fierté, hauteur); Folgerungsvermögen; Esprit caustique);

9. ambition and vanity (Eitelkeit, Ruhmsucht, 23. poetic talent (Dichtergeist; Talent poétique);
Ehrgeiz; Vanité, ambition, amour de la gloire);

10. circumspection (Behutsamkeit, Vorsicht, 24. Good-nature, compassion, moral sense

Vorsichtigkeit; Circonspection); (Gutmüthigkeit, Mitleiden, moralischer Sinn; Bonté,
compassion, douceur);

11. aptness to receive an education, or the memoria realis 25. Mimic (Nachahmungssinn; Faculté d'imiter,
(Erziehungs-Fähigkeit, Sachsinn, mimique)
Sachgedächtnis; mémoire des choses et des faits,
perfectibilité);

12. sense of locality (Ortsinn, Raumsinn; Sens des 26. Theosophy, sense of God and religion (Organ de
localités); Theosophie, Sinn für Gott und die Religion; Sentime
religieux);

13. recollection of persons (Personensinn;mémoire des 27. Perseverance, firmness (Organ der Festigkeit,
personnes); Beständigkeit; Fermeté, constance, persévérance).

14. faculty for words, verbal memory (Wortsinn, Wort-

Gedächniss; sens des mots, mémoire verbale);

[See also Combe's rendition of Gall's list]

Gall's organ names varied and several were generally given, unlike the
singular names later used by Spurzheim and the phrenologists. Gall meant
to express his inexact understanding of the functions of the organs by using
multiple terms and he did not approve of the certainty presumed by
Spurzheim in using single terms. I have tried to reflect the variety of terms
used by collating contemporary lists. The English translations are partly
from: Dr. F .J. Gall's system of the functions of the brain extracted from
Charles Augustus Blöde's, account of Dr. Gall's lectures, held on the
abore[sic] subject at Dresden. n.p., 1807, to preserve a contemporary
flavour; with my own additions. The French names are Gall's own after he
settled in Paris (1807-1828). Gall never recognized additional organs beyond
these twenty-seven.

-The following list of Gall's organs is from K.A. Blöde, Dr. F. J. Gall's Lehre
über die Verrichtungen des Gehirns, nach dessen Dresden gehaltenen
Vorlesungen in einer fasslichen Ordnung mit gewissenhafter Treue
dargestellt. Dresden
, 2nd ed. 1806.*
Note that the
numbers of the
organs are different
from the above list.

1 Das Organ des

Geschlechtstriebes
2 Das Organ der
Kinder-oder Jungenliebe
3 Das Organ der Erziehungsfähigkeit, Memoria realis
4 Die Organe des Ortsinns
5 Das Organ des Personensinns (in der Augenhöle)
6 Das Organ des Farbensinns
7 Das Organ des Tonnsinns
8 Das Organ des Zahlensinns
9 Das Organ des Wortsinns (in der Augenhöle)
10 Das Organ des Sprachsinns
11 Das Organ des Kunstsinns
12 Das Organ der Freundschaft und Anhänglichkeit
13 Die Organe des Raufssinns
14 Das Organ des Mordsinns
15 Das Organ des Schlauheit
16 Das Organ des Diebsinns
17 Das Organ des Höhesinns
18 Die Organe der Ruhmsucht u. Eitelkeit
19 Die Organe der Bedächtlichkeit
20 Das Organ des vergleichenden Scharfssinns
21 Das Organ des philosophischen Scharfssinns (schließt die Organe Nr. 20.
mit ein)
22 Die Organe des Witzes
23 Das Organ des Induktionsvermögens (schließt die Organe Nr. 20. 21. u.
22. mit ein)
24 Das Organ der Gemüthigkeit
25 Das Organ der Theosophie
26 Das Organ der Festigkeit
27 Das Organ der Darstellungsgabe (schließt Nr. 24 mit ein)

List of organs from 1st & 2nd editions of

Spurzheim's Physiognomical System (1815)

Spurzheim first arranged Gall's organs in a taxonomic

hierarchy and added additional organs bringing the total to
thirty-two.

I. Organ of amativeness (physical love). [physical

love dropped in 2nd edition]
II. -- philoprogenitiveness, (love of offspring).
III. -- inhabitiveness. [has a "?" in 2nd]
IV. -- adhesiveness.
V. -- combativeness.
VI. -- destructiveness.
VII. -- constructiveness.
VIII. -- covetiveness.
IX. -- secretiveness.
X. -- self-love.
XI. -- approbation. [changed to love of approbation in 2nd ed]
XII. -- cautiousness.
XIII. -- benevolence.
XIV. -- veneration.
XV. -- hope.
XVI. -- ideality.
XVII. -- conscientiousness.
XVIII. -- firmness or determinateness [2nd word dropped in 2nd ed]
XIX. -- individuality.
XX. -- form.
XXI. -- size [has a "?" in 2nd]
XXII. -- weight ["and momenta?" added after weight in 2nd]
XXIII. -- colour [colouring in 2nd ed]
XXIV. -- space. [changed to locality in 2nd ed]
XXV. -- order?
XXVI. -- time?
XXVII. -- number.
XXVIII. -- tune.
XXIX. -- language.
XXX. -- comparison.
XXXI. -- causality.
XXXII. -- wit.
XXXIII. -- imitation.

The phrenological organs according to George Combe

This list is taken from Combe's Constitution of Man. Click

on an organ name and view the description from
Combe's System of Phrenology. You can find where each
organ is located and phrenologize on your very own by
comparing these descriptions with the engraving below.
Combe's list formed the basis for almost all later
phrenologists throughout the century.

Order I. FEELINGS. Genus I. PROPENSITIES-Common to Man with

the Lower Animals.

THE LOVE OF LIFE.-Organ not indicated on the bust.

1. AMATIVENESS-Produces sexual love.

2. PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.- Uses: Affection for young and tender beings.-
Abuses: Pampering and spoiling children.

3. CONCENTRATIVENESS.-Uses: It concentrates and renders permanent

emotions and ideas in the mind.- Abuses: Morbid dwelling on internal
emotions and ideas, to the neglect of external impressions.

3a. INHABITIVENESS.-Uses: It produces the desire of permanence in place.-

Abuses: Aversion to move abroad.

4. ADHESIVENESS.-Uses: Attachment friendship and society result from it.-

Abuses: Clanship for improper objects, attachment to worthless individuals.
It is generally strong in women.

5. COMBATIVENESS.- Uses: Courage to meet danger and overcome

difficulties, tendency to defend, to oppose and attack, and to resist unjust
encroachments.-Abuses: Love of contention, and tendency to provoke and
assault. This feeling obviously adapts man to a world in which danger and
difficulty abound.

6. DESTRUCTIVENESS.-Uses: Desire to destroy noxious objects, animate

and inanimate, and to use for food animals in which life has been
destroyed.-Abuses: Cruelty, murder, desire to torment, tendency to passion,
rage, and harshness and severity in speech and writing. This feeling places
man in harmony with death and destruction, which are woven into the
system of sublunary creation.

6a. APPETITE FOR FOOD.- Uses: Nutrition.-Abuses: Gluttony and

drunkenness.

7. SECRETIVENESS.-Uses: Tendency to restrain-with-in the mind the various

emotions and ideas that involuntarily present themselves, until the
judgement has approved of giving them utterance; it is simply the
propensity to conceal, and is an ingredient in prudence. Abuses: Cunning,
deceit, duplicity, and lying.

8. ACQUISITIVENESS.-Uses: Desire to possess, and tendency to

accumulate; the sense of property springs from it.-Abuses: Inordinate desire
of property, selfishness, avarice, theft.

9. CONSTRUCTIVENESS.-Uses: Desire to build and construct works of art.-

Abuses: Construction of engines to injure or destroy, and fabrication of
objects to deceive mankind.
 Genus II. SENTIMENTS. I. Sentiments common to Man with some of the
Lower Animals.

10. SELF-ESTEEM.-Uses: Self-respect, self-interest, love of independence,

personal dignity.-Abuses: Pride, disdain, overweening conceit, excessive
selfishness, love of dominion.

11. LOVE OF APPROBATION.-Uses: Desire of the esteem of others, love of

praise, desire of fame or glory.-Abuses: Vanity, ambition, thirst for praise
independently of praiseworthiness.

12. CAUTIOUSNESS.-Uses: It gives origin to the sentiment of fear, the

desire to shun danger, and circumspection ; and it is an ingredient in
prudence. The sense of security springs from its gratification.-
Abuses: Excessive timidity, poltroonery, unfounded apprehensions,
despondency, melancholy.

13. BENEVOLENCE-Uses: Desire of the happiness of others, compassion for

the distressed, universal charity, mildness of disposition, and a lively
sympathy with the enjoyment of all animated beings.-Abuses: Profusion,
injurious indulgence of the appetites and fancies of others, prodigality,
facility of temper.

II. Sentiments Proper to Man.

14. VENERATION.-Uses: Tendency to venerate or respect whatever is great

and good; it gives origin to religious emotion-Abuses: Senseless respect for
unworthy objects consecrated by time or situation, love of antiquated
customs, abject subserviency to persons in authority, superstitious awe. To
these Mr Scott adds, "undue deference to the opinions and reasonings of
men who are fallible like ourselves; the worship of false gods, polytheism,
paganism, idolatry."

15. FIRMNESS.-Uses: Determination, perseverance, steadiness of purpose.-

Abuses: Stubbornness, infatuation, tenacity in evil.

16. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS.-Uses: It gives origin to the sentiment of justice,

a respect for rights, openness to conviction, the love of truth.-Abuses:
Scrupulous adherence to noxious principles when ignorantly embraced,
excessive refinement in the views of duty and obligation, excess in remorse
or self-condemnation.
17. HOPE-Uses: Tendency to expect future good it cherishes faith.-Abuses:
Credulity with respect to the attainment of what is desired, absurd
expectations of felicity not founded on reason.

18. WONDER.-Uses: The desire of novelty; admiration of the new, the

unexpected, the grand, the wonderful, and extraordinary.-Abuses: Love of
the marvellous and occult ; senseless astonishment ; belief in false miracles,
in prodigies, magic, ghosts, and other supernatural absurdities.-Note.
Veneration, Hope, and Wonder, combined, give origin to religion; their
abuses produce superstition.

19. IDEALITY.-Uses: Love of the beautiful, desire of excellence, poetic

feeling.-Abuses: Extravagant and absurd enthusiasm, preference of the
showy and glaring to the solid and useful, a tendency to dwell in the regions
of fancy and to neglect the duties of life.

19a. Unascertained, supposed to be connected with the sentiment of the

Sublime.

20. WIT-Gives the feeling of the ludicrous, and disposes to mirth.

21. IMITATION-Copies the manners, gestures, and actions of others, and

appearances in nature generally.

Order II. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES.

Genus I. EXTERNAL SENSES.

Uses: To bring man into communication with external objects, and to enable
him to enjoy them.-Abuses: Excessive indulgence in the pleasures arising
from the senses, to the extent of impairing bodily health, and debilitating or
deteriorating the mind.

FEELING or TOUCH. TASTE. SMELL. HEARING. SIGHT.

Genus II. KNOWING FACULTIES WHICH PERCEIVE THE EXISTENCE AND

QUALITIES OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS

22. INDIVIDUALITY-Takes cognizance of existence and simple facts.

23. FORM-Renders man observant of form.

24. SIZE-Gives the idea of space, and enables us to appreciate dimension

and distance.
25. WEIGHT-Communicates the perception of momentum, weight, and
resistance; and aids equilibrium.

26. COLOURING-Gives perception of colours, their harmonies and discords.

Genus III. KNOWING FACULTIES WHICH PERCEIVE THE RELATIONS OF

EXTERNAL OBJECTS

27. LOCALITY-Gives the idea of relative position.

28. NUMBER-Gives the talent for calculation.

29. ORDER-Communicates the love of physical arrangement.

30. EVENTUALITY-Takes cognizance of occurrences or events.

31. TIME-Gives rise to time perception of duration.

32. TUNE.-The sense of Melody and Harmony arises from it.

33. LANGUAGE-Gives facility in acquiring a knowledge of arbitrary signs to

express thoughts, readiness in the use of them, and the power of inventing
and recollecting them.

Genus IV. REFLECTING FACULTIES, WHICH COMPARE, JUDGE, AND

DISCRIMINATE.

34. COMPARISON-Gives the power of discovering analogies, resemblances,

and differences.

35. CAUSALITY-Traces the dependences of phenomena, and the relation of

cause and effect.

Modes of actions of the faculties

Terms used to differentiate the sizes of organs according to George

Combe

"The observer should learn, by inspecting a skull, to distinguish the mastoid

process behind the ear, and several bony prominences which occur in every
head, from elevations produced by development of brain; as also to
discriminate bony excrescences sometimes formed by the sutures, when
such occur. The terms used to denote the gradations of size in the different
organs, in an increasing ration, are
Very small, Small, Rather small, Moderate, Rather full, Full, Rather large,
Large, Very large" G. Combe Elements of Phrenology.

The phrenological organs according to H. Lundie

The following list of 39 organs is taken from H. Lundie, The Phrenological

Mirror; or, Delineation Book (Leeds, 1844), and is the same as those used
by George Combe and the Edinburgh phrenologists with the exception of the
"newly discovered organs" which Combe did not
recognize as established.

Order 1st.-Feelings. Genus 1st. 20. Wit

Propensities.

1. Amativeness 21. Imitation

2. Philoprogenitiveness Order 2nd. Genus 1st.-Intellectual Faculties which perceive

existence and physical qualities.

3. Concentrativeness 22. Individuality

4. Adhesiveness 23. Form

5. Combativeness 24. Size

6. Destructiveness 25. Weight

Alimentiveness 26. Colour

7. Secretiveness 27. Locality

8. Acquisitiveness 28. Number

9. Constructiveness 29. Order

Genus 2nd.-Inferior Sentiments. 30. Eventuality

10. Self-Esteem 31. Time

11. Love of Approbation 32. Tune

12. Cautiousness 33. Language

Genus 3rd.-Superior Sentiments. Genus 2nd.-Reflective Faculties.

13. Benevolence 34. Comparision

14. Veneration 35. Causality

15. Firmness Newly Discovered Organs.

16. Conscientousness 36. Independence

17. Hope 37. Comicality

18. Wonder 38. Velocity

19. Ideality 39. Grotesque

Lists elsewhere on the web

-Spurzheim, Outlines of Phrenology; being also a manual of reference for the

marked busts. London, 1827. [Illustrated html]
-Spurzheim, Phrenology: or the doctrine of the mental phenomena.
Philadelphia, 1908. [A late edition of The physiognomical System 1815.
Illustrated html]
-Combe, A system of phrenology, 1853, Appendices 3 & 4.
-The organs according to Samuel R. Wells, after O.S. Fowler (n.d.) about 40
organs delineated. At the 'Phrenology and the Fine Arts' site.
-Combe, Elements of Phrenology (American ed.1834) by Peter Friesen.
-Two lists are opposed in Physiognomy: founded on Physiology (London,
1834) by Alexander Walker, at Ross Woodrow's physiognomy site. (Includes
images of two bust engravings.)
-Fossati, Dr. Jean, Antoine Laurent, Manuel pratique de Phrénologie ou
physiologie du cerveau d'après les doctrines de Gall, de Spurzheim, de
Comte et des autres phrénologistes (Paris, 1845). See a more easily viewed
digitization of Fossati's organ list at Marc Renneville's site.
 See also: Time line of phrenology.

and

Donovan's A Handbook of Phrenology (1870) for a more detailed description

and illustrations for head reading.

* I am grateful to Wolfgang Schütz for lending me an original copy of Blöde's

work.