The word phrenology comes from the Greek word phren, meaning the mind, and logus, meaning science—the science of the mind. The alleged science rests upon these principles: (1) The brain is the organ of the mind; (2) the mind may be divided into a certain number of faculties independent of one another; (3) each faculty resides in a definite region of the brain; (4) the size of each region is the true measure of the intellectual power of the organ therein residing. The phrenologist examines the outside of the skull, and, by measuring the various bumps and indentations thereon, claims to be able to tell how much brains are within and just what faculties are concealed under each and every portion of the skull. They claim to take into consideration various other things, such as the texture of the hair, the lung power, the brilliancy of the eye, the color of the skin, the general poise and shape of the head, and so on, but phrenology really means bumpology or craniology.

The real fathers of the theory are Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, although we find suggestions of it in the writings of some of the ancients, notably those of Aristotle and Pythagoras, and even so far back as the ancient Egyptians. Aristotle believed the brain to be a complex organ, but held that the small head was the standard of perfection—"Little head, little wit; big head not a bit." (For a lengthy treatise on phrenology and its history, see Enc. Britannica.)

If phrenology is sound, the brain is divided into compartments, each having a separate and distinct function to perform. But when the brain is dissected, no such compartments or divisions are revealed, even under the microscope. Neither the certical nor fibrous part of the brain reveals any such dividing lines or difference in texture. And not only this—the existence of the horizontal membrane separating the superior from the interior part of the whole brain, and the arrangement of the lateral ventricles, corpus callosum, the fornix and other parts, are of themselves almost conclusive proof that there can be no compartments such as phrenologists describe.

But even if the brain were divided into compartments, each resting against the skull, it would next be necessary for the phrenologist to prove that quantity means quality or that quantity means power. Otherwise, a person might have a large quantity of, say, combativeness, and a small quantity of, say, veneration, as donated by the size of the bumps, at the places where those faculties are supposed to reside, but the brain matter in the veneration compartment might be twice as dense, compact, active, powerful or flexible as the brain matter in the combativeness compartment, and hence the phrenologist would be deceived by outward appearances. The phrenologist must depend upon size, and he must assume that every part of the brain is of the same density, texture and power. For example, when he sees a head that is large and full in the upper forehead and small at the back, he at once declares that that person's casuality, eventuality and comparison, are highly developed, and that his amativeness and philoprogenitiveness are poorly developed. Size is the measure, and he assumes that size means volume, and that volume means power. Hence, a man with a large head must have more brains than a man with a small head, and the more brains he has, the greater his power, other things being equal. He forgets that many idiots have enormous heads, and that the heads of many of the world's greatest characters were very small. Several kinds of monkeys, the dolphin, the canary and the sparrow, all have larger brains than man, in proportion to the size of the body. The ground mole and field mouse have about the same proportion as man. The whale, the rat, the porpoise and the goose have more.

Again, the researches of physiologists of the highest authority seem to have established the fact that the brain acquires its full size and weight at the age of eight years! How can the phrenologist reconcile his philosophy to this stubborn fact? The skull and head continue to grow after the age of eight, but the brain remains the same in weight and size. Everybody knows how the skulls of children change as they grow up, and yet the brains never do. As the child acquires knowledge and develops his mental faculties, the brain remains the same size and weight. What then have bumps to do with his mind? We may polish our brains, but we cannot add to them. And so, when the phrenologist says that this pulpy matter called brains gradually grows larger and crowds the skull bones out so as to make bumps, or that it shrinks, for want of exercise, and makes the skull contract with it, causing indentations, he is not talking from facts but from a premise founded on a delusion.

If the theory of phrenology is true, then, if a person should have an accident or a disease, and lose a portion of his brain, he will lose control of those faculties which are supposed to be located within the lost part. Now, every physician knows of cases where patients have lost portions of their brains, and you will probably not find a single case where the patient lost control of the precise faculty said to be located in that portion. The medical books are full of proof of this. Once in a while a physician has to remove a portion of the brain where the faculty of, say tune, is located, or it is destroyed by accident or disease, but after the operation the patient has the same fondness and talent for music that he formerly had. The brains of able men have been examined after death, and certain portions have been found to be diseased; yet the patients had shown no signs of having lost any of their faculties.

These examples show that the brain is not and cannot be composed of a plurality of organs, each of which is the seat of a separate faculty, as claimed by the phrenologists, because if such were the case the destruction of one of these organs would result in the destruction of the particular faculty connected with it.

Again, the phrenologist assumes that all skulls are of the same thickness, and that every skull is of the same thickness at every point. There are variations of this rule, as he will tell you, but in the main the statement is true; for, if it were not so, bumps and indentations would be almost meaningless. But the fact is that some skulls are only one-eighth of an inch thick and some are a full inch in thickness. And there is no certain way of telling just how thick a skull is, except by an examination of its interior and not every subject is willing to undergo this inconvenience. The phrenologist may thump it with his knuckle and sound it, but he can never be certain how near he is to the brain nor how much brains are within. And still again, nearly every skull has thin parts and thick parts, and in some heads there are actual cavities in places. So, even if the size of the brain is the sure test of mentality, how is one to tell the size of a brain which is incased in a skull of unknown and variable thickness?

And then, the mistaken notion that there are just and only thirty-five or so faculties and that each acts independently of the others. As well might one say that the retina of the eye is divided into compartments, one to see flowers, one to see trees, one to see letters and figures, and so on; or that the ear-drum is divided into sections—one section to hear the voice, one to hear the violin and one to hear other sounds. If there is a separate compartment for every faculty there should be nearer thirty-five thousand compartments than thirty-five. But there are not even thirty-five faculties, and there are certainly not more than two or three compartments, if any. Aristotle divided the brain into only three parts. Veneration is the result of fear, admiration, love, respect, conscientiousness, and a dozen other things. Destructiveness and combativeness, continuity, stubbornness and many other faculties produce in greater or less degree, the same emotion and results. Form and size are the same faculty, the knowledge of extension including both. To say that each of these faculties has a separate plot or parcel of brains staked out for its own private and exclusive use is about as sensible as to say that there is a separate compartment of brains devoted to love of children, another for the love of parents, another for brothers, another for dogs, and so on. It requires no philosopher or psychologist to see that every single faculty is a part of an inseparable indivisible whole. Instead of endowing the mind with certain faculties and designating these according to the nature of their function, the phrenologist designates them according to the nature of object upon which they are exercised. According to this, to be logical, he should have as many faculties and compartments as there are things in the universe.

There are two ways of looking at phrenology. If there is a portion of brains for each faculty, then we must determine how many faculties there are, and we must assume that each portion or compartment performs only its own function, for otherwise, if a certain compartment frequently does the work of some other compartment, then the whole theory of phrenology falls, because it matters not how much or how little brains a person has in one compartment when other sections are to lend a hand in helping its weak or deficient neighbors. The phrenologist must assume that "comparison," for example, is the faculty that does all of the work in that line, and that "color" does all of the work in its particular line. Otherwise bumps would be meaningless. Fowler and Wells, the latest authorities, give thirty-nine distinct and separate faculties, each with its particular location. Now, many of these conflict, such as comparison, form and size, combativeness and destructiveness, firmness and continuity, cautiousness and secretiveness, veneration and spirituality and conjugal love, friendship, amativeness, inhabitiveness and philoprogenitiveness. True, these words of each group are not synonyms, but they require the same mental process, produce like emotions, or proceed from the same motives and sensations. If this be true, part of the bottom of phrenology falls out. There is redundancy. The faculty of cautiousness makes one cautious when one is exercising one or more of the other faculties, and continuity is the faculty which gives us the power of keeping one or more other faculties applied to the task. Nearly every organ must be endowed with the power of imagination, yet there is a faculty called ideality which is assumed to have a monopoly of this power. Nearly every faculty is also endowed with casuality, particularly calculation, constructiveness and comparison. And if the phrenologist should say that there is no redundancy here, that each of these things is a different and distinct faculty, surely if there is not redundancy, there is at least deficiency (either of which is fatal) in that according to his theory there should be separate faculties for mechanical constructiveness and literary constructiveness, separate faculties for love of children and love of cats, separate faculties for the English language and the Chinese language, and every language, and a separate faculty for every object of attention in the universe.

Until the phrenologist can find some way of measuring the quantity of neurine in the brain of his subject he cannot tell much about that person's mentality; and when he does this he is no longer a phrenologist.

Phrenology takes in a wide field which contains so many avenues of escape, that it is quite impossible to attack it at one point without letting it out at another, for its powers to evade the issue are almost unlimited. When the skull of Voltaire was examined, it was found to have the organ of Veneration developed to an extraordinary degree. The phrenologist would promptly explain: "His veneration for the Deity was so great and his sensibility upon the subject of devotion so exquisite that he became shocked and disgusted with the irreverence of even the most devout Christians, and that out of pure respect for the Deity he attempted to exterminate the Christian religion from the earth."

If you have a large bump of destructiveness, the phrenologist might declare you were like the early English who would often say: "It's a fine day; let's go out and kill somebody." Yet you may be only inclined to destroy delusions; or to destroy the rum demon; or to demolish gambling; or to combat vice.

The novel "Mr. Midshipman Easy," by Capt. Maryatt, might be recommended for the consideration of phrenologists. Prof. Easy built a great machine with tubes and pistons; the subject would get into the machine and, by suction, the professor would draw out the good organ indentations and by pressure suppress the "bad organ" bumps. If the brain grows, as phrenologists claim, this system ought to help the brain grow in the right direction and create perfect men.

The irregular formation of the skull, features, fingers and of other parts of the anatomy are mere accidents of nature, and are no more a test of a person's character and capacity than a cask is of its contents. The verdict of phrenology retards the moral and intellectual advancement of the subject and lessens the influence of reason, religion, environment and education.

After Professor Porson's death, his head was dissected, when, to the confusion of craniologists and the consolation of blockheads, it was discovered that he had a skull of extraordinary thickness. Professor Gall, on being called upon to reconcile the intellectual powers and tenacious memory of Porson with a skull that would have suited an ignorant prizefighter, replied: "How the ideas got into such a skull is their business, not mine; but, when they were once in, they certainly could never get out again."