The different prevalent propensities in various individuals, the development of which appeared to be under the influence of a certain and constitutional organization, have received the name of temperaments; or, rather, this term applies to this peculiar organization of the constitution or idiosyncrasy. The Greek physiologists were the first to classify these peculiarities, or temperamenta,—the naturÆ of Hippocrates, the mixturÆ of Galen. They considered organized bodies as an assemblage of elements endowed with different properties, but combined in such manner that their union should constitute a whole, in which none of them should predominate in a healthy condition; but, on the contrary, they were to modify and temper each other, their simultaneous action being directed and controlled by the spirit of life, spiritus. It was the due combination of these elements that constituted a perfect temperament; their aberrancy produced disease of body or of mind.

The ancients divided these elements into cold and hot, dry and moist; from the combination of these principles they classified the fluids of the body. The blood was hot and moist, the bile hot and dry, the phlegm cold and damp, and the melancholy cold and dry. This division led to a further classification; and temperaments, according to the predominance of these elements, were divided into the sanguineous, the bilious, the phlegmatic, and the melancholic.

These supposed radical fluids, influencing the whole animal frame, were dependent upon certain organs for their specific production. The blood was furnished by the heart, the phlegm by the head, the yellow bile by the gall-duct, and the black bile or atrabile,—the principle of melancholy,—by the spleen. Notwithstanding the many revolutions in the doctrine of physiology that have shaken the schools since the days of Hippocrates, this classification of his has remained to a certain degree to the present day, and has laid the foundation of all the systems of temperaments, constitutions, and natural characters, that have at various periods been advanced by philosophers; the only novel introduction in this ancient classification being the nervous temperament, which, after all, is only a modification of the four other categories.

To illustrate the operations of these temperaments, it became necessary to adopt terms expressive of their combination, and temper and humour were adopted. Both are Latin terms; the first, in its original sense, imports mingling, modifying, tempering the four radical fluids, and producing that equilibrious condition of the frame, termed constitution. Humour was derived from the Greek ????, chumos; and its radical sense imported moisture, or fluid of any kind. Hence humid and humidity. This doctrine of fluidity is still applied to many functions that we cannot otherwise describe, and we talk, although in a figurative manner, of the nervous fluid, the vital fluid; and a good humour, a bad humour, a vein of humour, or a humorous vein, are illustrations of peculiar tempers and temperaments,—for temperaments are still distinguished by the same terms applied to them by the ancients, and we describe one man as choleric, or bilious, for choler (????) means bile; another as being melancholic; a third of a sanguine disposition; and a fourth of a phlegmatic habit. The sanguine, that imports a predominance of the blood, indicated a warm and ardent exuberance of spirits; whereas the phlegmatic, denoting a thin and cold watery fluid, referred to a frigid and spiritless indolence.

We thus see that modern physiology has scarcely advanced this branch of science, for the nervous temperament may be considered as merely a modification of the other ones; and it is more than probable that the old classification will long prevail, notwithstanding the ingenuity of modern hypotheses. Husson divided the temperaments into those that referred to the vascular system, to the nervous system, and to the muscular system, with subdivisions applied to regions and to organs; all these temperaments being either natural and primitive, or acquired. Dr. Thomas, of Paris, has founded his arrangement according to the predominance of the head, chest, or abdomen,—or the mental, circulatory, or digestive organs,—and according to the relative bulk and predominance of these three regions will be the relative energy of the mental, muscular, or abdominal functions. Notwithstanding the ingenuity of these systems, the old arrangement, as I have already observed, is likely to prevail; and as Blumenbach observes, that although this division was founded on an imaginary depravation of the elements of the blood, if made to stand alone it will prove both natural and intelligible.

This division I shall therefore endeavour to illustrate. In the sanguineous temperament the heart and arteries possess a predominant energy; the pulse is strong, frequent and regular; the veins blue, full, and large; the complexion florid, the countenance animated, the stature erect, the muscular forms marked and firm; the hair of a yellow, auburn, or chestnut colour; the nervous impressions acute, the perception quick, the memory retentive, the imagination lively and luxuriant, the disposition passionate but not vindictive, and passion is easily appeased; amorous, and fond of conviviality and good cheer.

In this temperament we find athletic strength and fortitude of mind in resisting the power of external agency, with mental tranquillity in the midst of danger; a calmness arising from a consciousness of power, and from less acuteness of external impressions and mental perceptions. Such a man, when roused to action, will endeavour to surmount every physical difficulty; but he will rarely attain pre-eminence in sciences and the fine arts, which require exquisite sensibility and mobility,—qualities seldom met with in such forms as those described by the poets in Hercules and Ajax.

In the choleric or bilious temperament the liver and biliary organs are as redundant in their power as the sanguineous vessels, and, for the most part, at the expense of the excernent or cellulous and lymphatic system. The pulse is strong and hard, but more frequent than in the sanguineous; the veins superficial and projecting; the sensibility extremely acute and easily excited, with a capacity of pondering for a long time on the same object. The skin is sallow, with a tendency to a yellow tinge; the hair black or dark brown; the body moderately fleshy, the muscles firm and well marked, the figure expressive; the temper of the mind abrupt, impetuous, and violent,—bold in the conception of a project, inflexible in its pursuit, persevering and dauntless in its execution. These are the temperaments that have urged men both to noble and to execrable deeds. Such were Alexander, Brutus, Mahomet, Cromwell, Charles the Twelfth, Robespierre, Napoleon. All these celebrated characters evinced from their earliest youth the ambitious nature of their dispositions; and though circumstances might have checked the development of their predominant passions, it was also to adventitious circumstances that they owed their elevation, and the opportunities of displaying their good or evil qualities. Most of these men were irascible, vindictive, and cruel, and equally susceptible of ardent love and mortal hate. In these temperaments we find a mixed exuberance of blood and bile in a constant struggle for predominance.

The melancholy or atrabilious temperament is of a different character. Here the biliary organs are brought into a constant and a morbid action, while the sanguineous system is weak and irregular. In these gloomy subjects the skin assumes a sallow, unearthly tinge, the pulse is hard and contracted, the digestive functions torpid and irregular, the imagination is gloomy and full of suspicion, and a dark gloom is shed on all around the morbid sufferer, for such he may be called, since the condition under which he labours may be considered one of disease. These subjects are prone to various monomanias; uncertain, fickle, and oftentimes capriciously cruel. Tiberius and Louis the Eleventh are quoted as examples of this temperament. Many melancholic individuals have displayed great genius, and at the same time great depth of thought. Richerand considers Tasso, Pascal, Zimmermann, and Rousseau as illustrating this unhappy disposition.

The fourth temperament is the phlegmatic, lymphatic, pituitous, or watery, for all these terms used by different physiologists are synonymous. Here the proportion of fluids is too considerable for that of the solids; hence the body attains a considerable, unwholesome bulk. The muscles are soft and flaccid, the skin fair and transparent, the hair flaxen or sandy, the pulse weak and slow, all the vital actions are languid, the memory little tenacious, and the attention wavering; an insurmountable indolence prevails; and, averse to mental and corporeal exercise, the far niente is their greatest enjoyment, and a nightcap is preferable to a diadem. These subjects are generally good, easy persons; susceptible of kindly feelings, but of a transient nature. Their mind is generally depraved by effeminacy, and their love is purely animal. They are not courageous; yet they show great tranquillity of mind in moments of danger, and would rather quietly sink than struggle with the waves. If their dwelling was on fire, they would calmly walk out of it, but not exert themselves to put down the conflagration; and, when hereditary power places them at the helm of a state, a wreck of the vessel may be speedily expected, unless the sceptre is wrested from their feeble hands by the choleric or the atrabilious enthusiast.

The fifth, or nervous temperament, as I have already stated, may be considered of a complex nature, as it influences the sanguineous as well as the choleric, the melancholy, and the phlegmatic. In this constitution the sentient system predominates, and there exists a great susceptibility to all external impressions. This temperament is generally acquired, and proceeds from a sedentary life, too great an enjoyment of sensual pleasures, and fanciful ideas brought on by romantic readings and romantic thoughts indulged in hours of idleness. The determination of such individuals is prompt, but uncertain; their affections warm for a while, are selfish and fickle; their sensations are vivid, but leave no impressions. Women, especially when educated in boarding-schools, essentially belong to this class, and are subject to hysterical and convulsive affections that render them a plague to others and a nuisance to themselves. In man the muscles are small, flabby, and wasted. The nervous may possess much vivacity of conception, but no depth of judgment; and, in general, their productions are as morbid as their mind. This condition frequently attends the melancholy temperament, “that wings the soul, and points her to the skies.”

Nervous excitability seldom prevails in the sanguineous constitution, where muscular masses are pronounced in athletic forms. Hence the sanguineous are not easily brought into action; but, when once roused, their energies are irresistible. This power is beautifully described by Virgil in the conflict between Entellus and Dares; still are these exertions governed by nervous influence, and the result of the excitability and contractibility of the muscular fibre, termed by Chaussier its myotility.

Mason Good has very justly observed that these temperaments, or generic constitutions, are perpetually running into each other, and consequently that not one of them, perhaps, is to be found in a state of full perfection in any individual; he further aids this remark by the following illustration: “Strictly speaking, Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox belonged equally, in the main, to the second temperament; there was the same ardour, genius and comprehensive judgment in both, with a considerable tendency to the sanguineous, and hence with more irritability, but more self-confidence, audacity, and sanguine expectation: the latter, while possessing the same general or bilious temperament, was at the same time more strongly inclined to the lymphatic, and hence his increased corporeal bulk, and with less bold and ardent expectation he possessed one of the sweetest and most benevolent dispositions to be met with in the history of the world. The first was formed to be revered, the second to be beloved; both to be admired and immortalized.”

I apprehend that a profound study of human temperaments and propensities may afford a more desirable guide in the education of youth, and the selection of men in the different concerns of life, than that of either physiognomy or phrenology; although the temperament must materially affect the general character of the countenance. Yet, from the apparent prevalence of any temperament we are not to form a rash and hasty judgment in regard to the future capacities or propensities of youth. As one temperament runs into another, and assumes a complex form, so can education regulate the one that naturally predominates, and modify it by a fusion with another. Thus, the restlessness of the bilious and choleric may be attuned to a phlegmatic state by the power of reason, and the brute courage and audacity of the sanguineous checked by inspiring sentiments of true valour. That every temperament, excepting perhaps the phlegmatic, is capable of displaying bravery, has been well described by Joanna Baillie in the following lines:

The brave man is not he who feels no fear,
For that were stupid and irrational;
But he whose noble soul its fear subdues,
And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from.
As for your youth, whom blood and blows delight,
Away with them!—there is not in their crew
One valiant spirit.