VI. INTELLIGENCE, ETC. ABERDEEN. Mr. Andrew Moir, surgeon, delivered a course of lectures His on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Brain, during the past summer. class consisted of fifty auditors, forty of whom were members of the Phrenological Society. BIRMINGHAM. -In May and June last, Mr. Combe delivered a course of fourteen lectures on Phrenology, to a class of 300 auditors, in this town. At the conclusion of the last lecture, an elegant piece of plate was presented to Mr. Combe by his auditors, in testimony of their respect and gratitude. On receiving the present, Mr. Combe was addressed by Dr. Birt Davies, "who (according to the report in the Birmingham Journal, of June 23.) declared the high satisfaction he felt in being selected as the representative of the audience on that occasion. He was commissioned to offer to Mr. Combe the thanks of his hearers, for the very eloquent and clear manner in which he had explained the doctrines of the important science, of Phrenology. It was probable, that in many the impression received would be permanent, and would lead to the best possible tribute they could offer, namely, the establishment of a PHRENOLOGICAL SOCIETY, in order to give the means of preserving and increasing the stock of information obtained. It had, however, been thought desirable to request Mr. Combe's acceptance of a small but tangible and unperishing testimonial of their grateful respect. This he had now the pleasure of offering to him, in the name of his delighted auditory, as an evidence that he was estimated, not only for his talents as a lecturer, but as a benefactor of mankind at large." BLACKBURN. "A society for the study of this interesting and intellectual science has recently been established in Preston, under very distinguished patronage, and there is every prospect of its taking an important position in the Scientific Institutions of that town. Blackburn could once boast of a Phrenological Society, but we believe its operations were suspended at the time our Scientific Institution was brought to the hammer. There are, however, many admirers of Phrenology amongst us, and we hope they will, ere long, resuscitate the dying embers of the former society, and prosecute the study of a science which will amply repay them for the time and attention they may devote to it.". Blackburn Standard. CAMBRIDGE. The progress of Phrenology in this place is advancing at a sure though slow pace; it is taken up principally by the younger members of the University, and large quantities of Phrenological works, casts, and lettered busts, with several copies of this Journal, are disposed of in sale. This is all we could look for, considering the short time since the revival of the science in the place, for it had almost perished till within the last two years, as was stated in a former number. What is now wanting, is an efficient course of public lectures on the subject. An attempt was made to secure Mr. Combe's attendance last May, but his other arrangements prevented his visiting the University before the dispersion of its members for the Long Vacation. We still hope, however, to see an able lecturer undertaking the task; what we most fear is, lest, while such a one delays coming, some empiric should make the attempt, and so injure instead of promoting the cause. (From a Correspondent.) CERES. On the 4th of July Mr. W. B. Hodgson delivered a lecture on the evidences and applications of Phrenology. CUPAR. - Mr. W. B. Hodgson delivered a lecture on Education in the Academy, at Cupar, on the 9th of July. DUMFRIES. Phrenology. — On entering the Theatre, on Thursday evening, the 14th current, to hear Mr. Aitken's introductory lecture on Phrenology, we were delighted to see it filled that there were hundreds even in Dumfries willing and anxious to gain information on this subject numbers of whom, a few years ago, would have laughed at the idea that they would yet sit for two hours and hear a lecture on a subject whose only use then appeared to them to be the creation of a joke upon bumps."Dumfries Courier, July 4. - GUERNSEY. Mr. T. S. Prideaux lectured on Phrenology here, in May. The Guernsey Star, of May 10., commences a report of the first lecture, by saying, that it was delivered "to a very small, but very attentive audience, who were amply repaid by his clear and judicious remarks. We are sorry for the absentees, who lost a rich intellectual treat; but when we consider the little patronage bestowed on the Mechanics' Institution, and the total failure of the Scientific Society, we are not astonished that the inhabitants of Little Athens should be perfectly indifferent to Phrenology." KIRKCALDY.-During the month of May Mr. W. B. Hodgson delivered a course of nine lectures to an Association of the Working Classes. They were attended by an audience of upwards of 700. At their conclusion, a general wish was expressed that the subject should be resumed at some future period. LEEDS. Some discussions on Phrenology have recently occurred in this place, in the way of lectures or essays read at the Literary Institution; some for, and others against, the science. Dr. Thorpe, of Leeds, (as we learn from a friendly correspondent,) reproduced, for the thousandth time, the objections of Rudolphi, Barclay, and others, refuted over and over again, and now quite given up, as objections, by all the more intelligent men who still oppose the science. Mr. W. R. Scott, we hear, replied to Dr. Thorpe's essay, and showed that his objections were inconclusive. Country physicians, who are ignorant of Phrenology, and prejudiced against it, frequently presume on the supposed ignorance of their neighbours. But the more intelligent amongst the young medical men are first embracing and learning Phrenology; and we beg them to make a point of meeting and exposing the objections and misconceptions of their seniors. - LEVEN. Mr. W. B. Hodgson, of Edinburgh, concluded on Tuesday last a course of nine lectures on the science of Phrenology, under the auspices of the Leven Mechanics' Institution. The lectures were attended by about 200 individuals, amongst whom we observed many of the fair sex. Mr. H. is deservedly esteemed as a lecturer. He has the faculty of rendering himself easily understood, and the perspicacity and aptness of his illustrations were such as to convey to his audience a very favourable opinion of the superior talent of the lecturer-indeed, we could with great relish hear the same course over again and we experienced a feeling of regret when the concluding lecture was announced. - Scotsman, July 7. NEW YORK. "Dr. Caldwell's Phrenological Lectures draw towards a close, and we regret that they have not been quite so numerously attended as we expected. The great and respectful attention of his audiences, however, is evidence that he labours not in vain. He may rest assured that the seed sown will produce an abundant harvest. The professor's mode of lecturing is distinguished by great earnestness. He accumulates fact upon fact and argument upon argument. He illustrates with such clearness, and reasons with such force, that it seems impossible that any one should remain unconvinced. As a speaker, however, he is not faultless. He sometimes commences to illustrate a subject, proceeds for a time with great vigour; but suddenly another idea crosses his mind, and the first subject he will let drop to take up the intruder. He occasionally reminds us of the simile of Swift, who likened the man of many ideas to a well filled church, and the man of few ideas to one nearly empty. The people coming out of the first so crowd and push each other as to occasion some irregularity and confusion; from the second they walk out with order and deliberation. Upon the whole, however, his lectures may be characterised as rich in fact, rich in argument, and rich in expression." New York Whig, April 28. one PHILADELPHIA. "We have received the prospectus of a work to be entitled, The American Phrenological Journal and Miscellany,' which will be issued on the 1st of July next, by A. Waldie, of Philadelphia. We wish the undertaking entire success. We highly approve of the general objects which the editor states himself to have in view. But we must express our cntire disagreement with one of his implied opinions. He says, prominent object in giving it existence is to wrest Phrenology out of the hands of those, who, in ignorance of its true nature and tendencies, suppose that they find in it an instrument by which to subvert the truths of revealed religion, and lessen the bonds of human accountability, and moral obligation.' This clearly implies that Phrenology is now in the hands of unchristian, irreligious, and immoral men ;-else there would be no occasion to wrest it from them. A calumny which we little expected to hear from an advocate of the science." New York Whig, April 28. PRESTON. Phrenological Society. A society for the study and furtherance of this important and highly interesting science has been established in this town with every prospect of success. A meeting of the members was held on Monday evening last, when Mr. Corless was appointed president of the council; Mr. W. Harris, the secretary, and Mr. Lomas the treasurer of the society. It is intended to supply the library with the most popular phrenological periodicals and other publications of the day. A sufficient number of busts, casts, &c. will also be procured in due time. Ladies are eligible to be elected members, and it is hoped that the fair portion of the town who are attached to scientific pursuits will join the society without delay. Ladies and gentlemen wishing to become members will have an appointment of being ballotted for at the first general meeting, which will take place in about a week. James Simpson, Esq., of Edinburgh, has consented to act as corresponding member to the society."-Preston Chronicle, May 26. [The Society was formally opened on the 18th of July, by an eloquent and very able address from Mr. Corless.] SHEPPEY ISLE. On Wednesday, the 23d inst., Mr. Logan, of the London Phrenological Society, delivered his concluding lecture, to a crowded and highly interested audience, at the Isle of Sheppey Institution, Sheerness. The lecture throughout was received with the most marked attention, being illustrated by a numerous collection of skulls, casts, busts, &c.; and the science seems to be making some progress in Sheerness, if we may judge by the opinions expressed by some of the members of the Institution.". West Kent Advertiser, May 26. WISBECH. Mr. Craig delivered a lecture on Phrenology, to the Wisbech Mental Improvement Society, in June last. In a report of his lecture, introduced into the Star in the East newspaper, the caliper measurements of the head of an idiot are given, in confirmation of the influence of size of head on mental power; but, by the alleged measurements, the idiot's head is not less than are the heads of some persons of good sense and ability. Mr. Aitken's Lectures. "Mr. Aitken has finished his course of lectures at Thornhill to a numerous, and, considering the size of the place, a respect-able audience. Mr. A. deserves the thanks of phrenologists for the exertions he makes to extend a knowledge of their science, followed, as these exertions are, with so much success; - perhaps as many works on phrenology were purchased during Mr. A.'s visit to Dumfries and Thornhill as in all the time before. We understand Mr. Aitken is now lecturing in Annan, and proceeds afterwards to Carlisle. -We saw a few days ago a cast of the brain, very ingeniously contrived, made for Mr. Aitken, by Mr. Fraser, plasterer, Maxwelltown. This cast is composed of about twenty different pieces; each piece represents a group of organs, and centres to the medulla oblongata, so that by removing one of the pieces an audience would see in a moment distinctly the position and form of the group which it represents. This cast shows, in a beautiful manner, the connection of those organs in the brain which harmonize in their functions. We hope the phrenologists of this town will bestir themselves. There is a small society in the town at present, but so secret as to be almost unknown. We hope there will soon be a large one. The Dumfries phrenologists will receive a great accession of strength when W. F. Brown, Esq., surgeon to the new Lunatic Asylum, joins them." ·Dumfries Times, Aug. 1. 1838. [These casts representing the phrenological organs, as cones, extended from surface to centre of the brain, must be regarded at present as purely fanciful anatomy; and they are certainly better calculated to please the vulgar, than to render Phrenology credit-worthy in the eyes of anatomists and physiologists.] Editorial Ignorance. In a captious and most blundering notice of Mr. Hodgson's Lecture on Education, introduced into the Fifeshire Journal, of July 28th last, we have this passage quoted from the Lecture: ." Astronomy and geology have been brought to bear on history- the one fixing the date of certain events by the calculation of an eclipse, the other carrying back the creation of our world into remoter periods of antiquity than had formerly been imagined.” On this extract, the following very silly remark is made :- "That the stricter sciences, especially that of astronomy, throw light upon history, by defining and verifying dates, has been abundantly admitted for three centuries at least; but that geology, itself the most uncertain of all sciences, in regard to the truth of whose doctrines we are utterly destitute of any evidence whatever, should be considered to elucidate any point of date or of historical evidence, could be asserted only by one capable of believing the nonsense of phrenology or animal magnetism, or any of the modern quackeries by which weak or ill-informed minds seek to attain eminence which they were incapable of reaching by the highways of regularly recognised science." The writer of this remark, in all likelihood, is profoundly ignorant of the "doctrines" of geology, and, by a customary procedure of ignorant dogmatists, imputes the destitution of his own mind to the sciences which he names. The Encyclopædia Britannica on Phrenology. It was stated, in our last number, that Dr. Roget's article on Cranioscopy, published many years ago in the Encyclopædia Britannica, was destined to reappear in an altered form, in the new edition of that work now in course of publication. Since that notice was written, the Part containing the article in question has appeared. We are in no haste to make a full exposure of Dr. Roget's conduct touching Phrenology, because it is assuredly now beyond the power of his pen materially to interfere with its diffusion. But the Encyclopædia is a work of authority, and it is no doubt a good work on the whole; notwithstanding that a bulky compilation of this kind must be behind the knowledge of the day in many of its scientific articles. On this account we shall feel called upon to notice the article fully; that is, not because it is penned by Dr. Roget, but because it is printed in the Encyclopædia Britannica. Some years ago, the name of Dr. Roget would have had weight with men of science. We believe it has none at this day; the impression being, that he was unable to sustain the reputation yielded to him by anticipation. But with the multitude a belief may linger, that the Secretary of the Royal Society must be a man of talent. On asking a medical friend what would be the effect of Dr. Roget again coming forward as a writer against Phrenology, he gave us this "Troja laconic reply, containing a severe truth under a jingle of sound: fuit: Roget fuit." -- Phrenology versus Metaphysics. - If the science of education be not in its very infancy, it is yet far from its perfection. It resembles in this respect our knowledge of the faculties of the mind - for the one is and ought to be grafted upon the other. They who have most deeply pursued metaphysical inquiries they who have compared ancient and modern systems, can but be confounded and discouraged by the little practical good which has yet been derived from all that philosophers have written concerning the operations of mind. There can now be no question that every intellect is not only differently constituted, but that the qualities of each are especially adapted to very different objects. Dr. Johnson's often quoted analogy, that a strong man when he sets out for a walk may as readily go to the east as to the west, is now taken for what it is sheer nonsense. The same faculties will no more make a reasoner and a poet, a mechanic or an artist, than a piece of silk will make a frieze coat. We are yet ignorant of the capabilities of any and every species of intellect. We learn not, except after trial, and most generally by failure, what sort and what number of facts a mind can embrace and contain. We can neither compute the quantity of application nor the quickness of perception except by experiment-in short, we are unacquainted with the texture of the material of which our future edifice is to be constructed. It is even yet exceedingly doubtful whether in the old phrase there be any Royal Road to knowledge-whether the compendious methods of impartment which ingenious experimentalists have contrived, have any advantage over that laborious study which fixes so firmly all its acquisitions. The new philosophy of the phrenologists promises the world a vast improvement in these respects, and without venturing to pronounce upon the absolute efficacy of the science, it is only just to acknowledge that their system of mental organization appears to be so far more philosophical, that separate functions are allotted to separate organs, and thus a probable confusion is avoided which had assigned such very opposite operations to one and the same instrument. - Norwich Mercury, March 24. Watson the Calculator. "We have to record the death of an individual, a native of this parish, well known in this and adjoining counties as the Sussex calculator-George Watson, who died in the union house at Maresfield, a short time past, at the age of 51 years. His death was accelerated by his obstinacy during the late severe winter, in leaving the house and sleeping in barns, &c. George, who was an idiot in all things relating to common occurrences, was a |