“From the preceding views it clearly appears, that the comparative standing of individual man, as relates to his race, is graduated by the predominance of his leading organs. Do his abdominal viscera preponderate? He has much of the animal in him, and his grade is low. Are his thoracic viscera most highly developed? His qualities are of a superior order; but he still partakes too much of the animal. Does his cerebral system predominate; and is it well developed in all its parts? He rises above the sphere of animal nature, and stands high in that of humanity. He is formed for an intellectual and moral being, with no more of animality in his constitution, than is necessary to give him practical energy of character.
“This subject may be farther illustrated by a reference to some of the animals below us. The worm commonly denominated a grub is but little else than a mass of abdominal matter. It is therefore one of the humblest and grossest of worms. The insect has also a large abdomen, with a very small chest, and a smaller head. Hence, though superior to the grub, it is low in the scale of animal nature. Reptiles and fish are more elevated, because their abdominal viscera preponderate less. But still they do preponderate; and therefore the rank of the animals is humble. In the hog the abdominal viscera are most strongly developed, and hence his standing among quadrupeds is low. The same is true of the bear and the ox, and also of the sheep and the goat, but in an inferior degree. The horse, especially the barb and the racehorse, furnish no bad specimens of the mixed or balanced temperament. When the latter is undergoing preparation for the course, the object of his keeper is to make the thoracic temperament preponderate as much as possible, for the time, in order to increase his vigor and endurance; in the language of the turf, to give him more strength and ‘better bottom.’ The warhorse approaches the thoracic temperament. In the canine race, more especially in the greyhound, the thoracic viscera hold the ascendency. Hence the muscular power of the dog is greater, and his grade among quadrupeds higher than those of most of the preceding animals. The same is true of the wolf, the panther, and the tiger. In some dogs there is a considerable cerebral development, but it is never large enoughto counterbalance the thoracic. Of all animals, the lion affords the most finished specimen of thoracic preponderance. In proportion to his size, his lungs and heart, especially the latter, are immensely large. And his muscular power corresponds to them. The magnitude of his heart is generally considered the cause of his boldness. Hence a very courageous man is said to have agreatheart, or to belion-hearted. All this is popular error. The heart is but a muscle; and, in man, has no more connexion with courage than the gastrocnemii muscles; nor, in the lion, than the muscles that move his tail. Courage is exclusively a cerebral attribute, and has its seat in an organ specifically appropriated to it. In none of the inferior animals does the brain preponderate. That preponderance belongs to humanity, and, as already mentioned, indicates its highest grade. Of all the beings below us, some of the ape tribe have the highest cerebral development. And they approach nearest to man in their degree of intellect. This is farther proof that, other things being alike, the brain gives the measure of mental power. I have lately seen a publication, in which it is gravely asserted, that the large orang-outang catches crabs with a stick, and makes a rude basket of osiers to contain them. Notwithstanding the well-known sagacity of that animal, this statement savors strongly of the ‘tale of a traveller.’”
“Considered in relation to these principles, temperament may be divided into seven varieties. 1, the mixed or balanced, in which the ruling organs are in fair proportion to each other; 2, the encephalic; 3, the thoracic; 4, the abdominal; 5, the encephalo-thoracic; 6, the encephalo-abdominal; and 7, the thoracico-abdominal.”
“1.The mixed or balanced variety.In this the name explains the temperament. The external marks of it are plain. They consist in a well-adjusted proportion between the sizes of the head, thorax, and abdomen. If the limbs are in harmony, the symmetry of the entire person is complete. Although individuals, in whom this temperament prevails, are usually above the middle height, and well-formed, they are not necessarily so. They may be of any stature, and any shape, straight or crooked, provided the three great cavities and their contents be accurately balanced. This is not the temperament of either early life or old age. It commences with manhood, and continues until the fortieth or forty-fifth year, and then passes into somewhat of the abdominal. The Apollo Belvidere, by Phidias, is an exquisite specimen of it. But some modern artists have violated it, in painting that statue, by making the chest and the head loo large. Although the manifestation ofstrength, majesty, and intellect, is heightened by this, the beauty of the youthful god is marred. The figure, though more imposing, has lost its charm.”
“2.The encephalic.In this variety the head is relatively large, but is not always equally developed in every part, a circumstance which varies greatly, as will presently appear, the characters of those who possess the temperament. The development of the thorax and abdomen is moderate, the person lean, and the countenance expressive of intense feeling and deep passion. In some individuals, however, the countenance beams with intelligence, without much passion, while, in others, manifestations of powerful intellect and passion are united. The thoracic and abdominal activity is never high; yet in many instances the personal hardihood and endurance are invincible. It is men of this temperament alone that can immortalize themselves by great achievements, good or bad. All history and observation testify to this. Is the development very large in the moral and intellectual regions of the brain, and so moderate in the animal as to be held fully in check? The individual will distinguish himself by a dignified purity of deportment, and by the performance of great and good deeds.”
“Are the animal and mere knowing compartments largely developed, and the moral and reflecting very slightly? As relates to vice and profligacy in their foulest shapes, this is the worst of all temperaments. Nothing more prone to depravity can be imagined. The person possessed of it delights in some sort of animality alone; and if he ever engages in anything higher or purer, it is for a sinister purpose, that he may return to his chosen indulgences in more security, or on a broader scale.”
“Is the development very large, and equally so in all the departments of the brain, animal, moral, and intellectual, giving to the head unusual size? The individual possessing it has a lofty and powerful character, is capable of attaining the highest renown, and making an impression, not to be erased, on the age and country in which he lives. His career may be occasionally stained by irregularities and checkered with clouds, but will be brilliant in the main. His designs are vast, because he feels his power, the instruments with which he works are men, and he wields them in masses. The termlittlehas no place in his vocabulary, nor its prototype in his thoughts. His aim is greatness of some kind—high achievement or deep catastrophe.”
“3.The thoracic.Under this variety the head is small, usually round, and covered with thick curling hair, the abdomen of limiteddimensions, the chest spacious and powerful, and the muscles swelling and firm. Whether fair and ruddy or otherwise, the complexion is strong. Respiration is full and deep, and the action of the heart regular and vigorous; and the pulse has great volume. Like the result, in every other kind of inordinate vital action, the animal temperature is high. This temperament, in which neither feeling nor intellect prevails, begins to show itself about puberty, and continues until the decline of life, when it undergoes a change. The Farnesian Hercules is thebeau idealof it. This shows that it was known to the ancient Greeks, who were probably indebted for their acquaintance with it to observations made on the persons of their wrestlers. In modern times it is strongly developed in boxers and porters, and sufficiently so in bakers, wood-choppers, operative agriculturists, and others who have been habituated to labor from their boyhood. I have observed no little of it among the London boatmen, the occupation of whose life is to ply the oar, a mode of exercise well calculated to develop the chest, together with the muscles of the upper extremities. I have seen good specimens of it also in the African race.”
“4.The abdominal.This temperament is easily recognised by the character it imparts to the person and intellect. The pelvis is broad in proportion to the shoulders and thorax, the abdomen large and prominent, and the adipose matter abundant, filling up the interstices of the muscles, and often forming a layer between them and the skin, in consequence of which the limbs are round and smooth and soft to the touch. In such constitutions, ecchymosis succeeds with unusual readiness, to slight contusions. Circulation in the skin being feeble, the complexion may be fair and delicate, but never very ruddy or strong. The size of the head is limited, the intellectual moderate, the eye deficient in lustre and the countenance in expression, and the movements heavy and seldom graceful. The abdominal viscera seem to draw everything into the vortex of their action. The amount of vitality is evidently below its common measure in the human system, and, in some instances, the flesh seems to hang as a load on the spirit.”
“5.The encephalo-thoracic.This temperament is a type of power both bodily and mental. Its compound name expresses fully the external appearances that mark it, as well as the attributes that always accompany them. With an abdomen of moderate dimensions, the head of the individual who possesses it is large and vigorous to conceive and direct, and his chest and muscles powerful to execute, and hardy to endure. It is the temperamentof masculine and comprehensive thought and strong propensity, united to energetic action, rather than of seclusion and profound meditation. As in all other cases, the character is varied in it according to the portion of the brain that is most largely developed. He to whom it belongs feels himself in his proper sphere when he is among men, and is well fitted to act his part in times of tumult and scenes of difficulty. Is his brain large in each of its compartments? If an occasion present itself, he not only mingles in the moral storm, but aspires to direct it. In case of his becoming a warrior, his genius and sword are alike formidable. In battle, previously to the invention of fire-arms, such a man was the terror of his enemies and the hope of his friends. Ulysses, as sketched by Homer, is as fairly thebeau idealof this temperament, as Hercules is of the thoracic. That chieftain was alike wise to counsel, intrepid to dare, and powerful to perform. Plato, so called from the uncommon breadth of his chest, who had also a very large head, is another excellent model of the same. Even in times of peace the corporeal attributes of a man of this description add to his influence. Jupiter, the emblem of wisdom and power, as represented by the ancient statuaries, with an immense head and trunk, and arms of matchless strength, is as finished a specimen of the encephalo-thoracic temperament, as Apollo is of the mixed.”
“6.The encephalo-abdominal.Here again the name bespeaks sufficiently the development, form, and character of those who possess the temperament. The head and abdomen are comparatively large, the thorax small, and the shoulders narrow. Hence the sensibility is keen, and the intellect, if not powerful, active and respectable. For the reasons given, when the abdominal temperament was considered, the limbs and person, under the present one, are round and smooth, and the flesh is soft; but, owing to the influence of a well-developed brain, and nerves that correspond to it, the movements are sprightly and the air graceful. Though rarely powerful, the character is attractive. This is the temperament of childhood and woman, much more than of adult life and man. Fine genius, but elegant and playful, rather than strong and brilliant, is often connected with it. It is females, in whom the encephalic development is larger than usual, that possess minds truly masculine.”
“7.The thoracico-abdominal.In this temperament the head is comparatively small, and the thorax and abdomen large, with a corresponding size of the muscles and bones, and much adipose substance. It is the temperament of mere animal strength andpatient endurance, without any of the elevated, sprightly, or attractive qualities of human nature. It forms good laborers and fatigue-men, but is entirely unfit for those whose province is to meditate, plan, and direct. It comports well enough with the character of soldiers of a certain description, but is altogether out of harmony with that of an officer. It is, I think, more favorable to health than any of the other temperaments, except perhaps the mixed. If those who possess it have weak intellects, their passions are usually moderate, and rarely hurry them into pernicious excesses. The tenor of their lives is but little interrupted by either irregularity or disease. Hence they retain their vigor uncommonly well, and are often day-laborers and industrious husbandmen at an advanced age. True, their appetite for food is strong; but they are not prone to an excessive indulgence of it; I mean at a single meal. Like those possessed of the abdominal temperament, they eat often rather than superabundantly at once. Besides, such is the strength of their chylopoetic viscera, that they subdue and digest without sustaining any injury, as much food as would produce disease in those of different constitutions. Nor are they so much endangered by vascular fulness as persons of the simple abdominal temperament. The reason of this is plain. Their bloodvessels are larger, and their excretions more copious, especially those by the skin and the organ of respiration. From the warmth of their constitutions, owing to an abundance of well-arterialized blood, and a concomitant vigorous circulation, they perspire freely, and secrete and exhale copiously from the lungs. This temperament is rarely found among women, and is not very common among men.”
Dr. C. maintains that at certain periods of life, one temperament passes into another, as the result of the natural changes which take place, in the progress of the growth and decay of the human body; and that every one, who attains longevity, partakes, in the progress of growth and decline, of five temperaments; the purelyabdominal, which prevails before birth; theencephalo-abdominal, which exists at birth, and for some years afterward; theencephalo-thoracic; themixed; and theabdominalof real senility. Thus passes the circle of life, beginning with the abdominal temperament of the foetal state, and terminating in that of extreme old age.
That there is an intimate connexion between temperament and personal beauty, will be manifest from the above view of the subject. Our limits, however, forbid an application of Dr. Caldwell’s views in illustration of Mr. Walker’s theory; these, however,have been given so much in detail, that the reader will be able to make the application for himself.
There is hardly any habit relating to female dress more destructive of grace and beauty, at least of deportment, than that of compressing the foot in a shoe of one half the proper size. It would seem that our ladies were trying to ape the fashion of the Chinese, in this respect, and though they do not at present carry it to the same extent, yet they carry it sufficiently far to destroy their comfort. We look in vain for the sprightly, light, and elastic step, where the feet are bound tight, and cramped up in disproportionately tight shoes; and it would be strange in such a case, if we did not find an unhappy and distressed expression of countenance—the muscles of the face sympathizing with the distorted and painful feet. Such a custom, also, interferes materially with taking that measure of exercise which is necessary to health. Mrs. Walker, in her work on Female Beauty, remarks as follows: “Ladies are very apt to torture their feet to make them appear small. This is exceedingly ridiculous: a very small foot is a deformity. True beauty of each part consists in the proportion it bears to the rest of the body. A tight or ill-made shoe, not only destroys the shape of the foot, it produces corns and bunions; and it tends to impede the circulation of the blood. Besides, the foot then swells, and appears larger than it is, and the ankles become thick and clumsy.”
The pernicious effect of tight or ill-made shoes, is evident also in the stiff and tottering gait of these victims of a foolish prejudice; they can neither stand upright, walk straight, nor enter a room properly.
To be too short, is one of the greatest defects a shoe can have; because it takes away all chance of yielding in that direction, and without offering any compensation for tightness in others, and in itself, it not only causes pain, and spoils the shape of the foot, by turning down the toes, and swelling of the instep, but is the cause of bad gait and carriage. Many diseases arise solely from the use of shoes of very thin materials in wet weather; but no female who has the slightest regard for her health, or indeed for the preservation of her beauty, will object to wear shoes thicker than are usually worn, if the pavement is at any time wet or damp.
The effect of alcoholic drinks upon beauty, has not been over-estimated by Mr. Walker, though he is doubtless mistaken in supposing that none but those who reside amid the artificial customs of city life, experience the deleterious influence of such beverages. Not only alcoholic stimulants, but tea and coffee, and especially opium, which has of late come into very extensive use as a substitute for the former, tend to produce an unhealthy action of the skin, from their influence upon the secerent system, causing blotches, pimples, and discolorations, in a greater or less degree. Where used moderately, they produce either an unnatural paleness, deadness, or duskiness of complexion, or a bloated appearance, far removed from the fresh roseate hue of health. Such is the effect of wine, cordials, and malt liquors, which are extensively employed by ladies, particularly in cities, during the period of nursing, under a mistaken impression that they cause a greater flow of milk, and tend to invigorate the system. Whoever desires to attain health, strength, and beauty, should not seek them through the agency of bitters, tonics, and cordials, or distilled, or fermented liquors, which only inflame the blood, but from free exercise in the open air, regular occupations, tranquillity of mind, a mild diet, and a proper allotment of time for sleep.
It has been remarked that the lower classes of females in cities, consume as much, and probably more intoxicating drinks, than men of the same class, and this is no doubt true. But to the honor of our countrywomen, a great change has been brought about within last few years, with respect to the use of alcoholic liquors, not only in this, but in other countries, with a corresponding improvement in health, happiness, and beauty. In advancing this blessed reform, the ladies have borne a conspicuous part—as they have in every other philanthropic work—and theircombinedinfluence is only needed, to banish such drinks entirely from civilized society.
THE FACIAL LINE OF CAMPER.
In order to determine the cerebral mass, and, consequently, the intellectual faculties, Camper draws a base line from the rootsof the upper incisors, to the external auditory passage; then another straight line, from the upper incisors to the most elevated point of the forehead: according to him, the intellectual faculties of the man or animal, are in direct proportion to the magnitude of the angle, made by those two lines. Lavater, with this idea for a basis, constructed a scale of perfection from the frog to the Apollo Belvidere. As nature really furnishes many proofs in support of this opinion, it has been generally received, even by anatomists and physiologists; and, notwithstanding the arguments by which it is victoriously opposed, the learned cannot resolve to abandon it. Cuvier himself furnishes a list of men and animals, in support of this doctrine; few naturalists oppose it, but almost all give it their support.[61]
Camper’s attempt necessarily failed; for his manner of drawing the lines and measuring the facial angle, enabled him to take into consideration the anterior parts only of the brain situated near the forehead: he entirely neglects the posterior, lateral, and inferior cerebral parts. This method, then, at most, could decide upon those faculties only, whose organs are placed near the forehead.
Cuvier estimates the facial angle of the new-born infant at ninety degrees; that of the adult, at eighty-five; that of decrepit old age, at fifty.
From this statement it appears, that, at different ages, changes take place in the form, either of the brain or the cranium; hereafter I shall prove that such changes really occur.
The forehead of the newborn infant is flattened; on the contrary, that of a child some months old, and until the age of eight or ten years, especially in the case of boys possessed of superior talents, it is projecting, and forms, notwithstanding the approximation to the age of puberty, a larger facial angle than in the adult; this angle, therefore, does not diminish in the inverse ratio of the age. In like manner we find decrepit old men, whose facial angle is as great as it was in the vigor of manhood; for, although in decrepitude the brain is subject to atrophy, there are old men, the exterior contour of whose crania undergoes no change. The angle, as stated by Cuvier, for different ages, were measured upon different individuals; if it were estimated upon the same persons at different epochs of his life, the result would be entirely different.
In general, the proportion between the forehead and the face, isdifferent in different individuals. No conclusion can be drawn from the proportions, which exist in one person, relative to those of another; among a hundred individuals of the same sex and age, no two can be found, in whom the same proportion exists between the forehead and the face; it necessarily follows, then, that no two will have the same facial angle. Physiologists seem to admit, that the proportion between the brain and the bones of the face, is different in different species of animals: but they appear to think that, in all the individuals of the same species, all the young, all the adults, all the old, there exists a constant proportion between the cerebral mass and the face.
The researches of Blumenbach show that threefourths of the animals known, have nearly the same facial angle; and yet what a disparity between their instincts and faculties! What information, then, do we derive from Camper’s facial angle?
Moreover, as Cuvier himself observes, the cerebral mass is by no means placed in all animals, immediately behind or beneath what is called the forehead. In a great many species of animals, on the contrary, the external table of the frontal is at a considerable distance from the internal, and this distance increases with the age of the animal. The brain of the swine is placed an inch lower than the frontal bones seem to indicate; that of the ox, in some parts three inches; that of the elephant, from six to thirteen. In other animals, the measurement is generally commenced at the frontal sinus instead of the cerebrum. From these considerations, Cuvier was induced to draw a tangent to the internal instead of the external surface of the cranium. The cerebrum of the wolf and many species of dogs, especially when the individuals are very old, is placed directly behind the frontal sinuses. In the wolf, especially the large and most ferocious variety, it is depressed as in the hyena; in the dog it is situated higher or lower, according to the species; but, notwithstanding this difference in the situation of the brain, the facial angle, as it is commonly measured, must be the same; from this the inference would be, that the dog, the wolf, and the hyena, have the same qualities, and each in the same degree. In the greater part of the rodentia, the morse, &c., the brain is so depressed and so placed behind the frontal sinuses, that the facial line cannot be drawn. The facial line of the cetacea, on account of the singular conformation of the head, would lead to results absolutely false.
I know many negroes, who, with very prominent jaws, are quite distinguished for their intellectual faculties; yet the projection ofthe jaws renders the facial angle much more acute, than it would be with the usual conformation of Europeans. In order that the same angle should exist in a European, the forehead must be flattened and retreating. But the foreheads of the negroes in question, on the contrary, are very projecting. Who, under these circumstances, would expect to find the same amount of intellect corresponding to the same facial angle?
The facial line cannot be applied to birds, as many naturalists have already observed.
From what has been said, we should expect that naturalists would at length renounce the facial angle of Camper; but the most ignorant are generally the most conceited.
In spite of this complete refutation of Camper’s facial line, Delpit extols it in the following terms:—
“If ever a relation of this kind presented characters of generality and fixedness, adequate to excite a reasonable confidence in matters belonging to the domain of empiricism, rather than that of science, it is the relation or proportion of magnitude, which Camper first perceived and revealed, by comparing the brain of man with that of the different species of animals. We here see a successive decrease of intelligence, proportionate to the acuteness of the facial angle and the consequent diminution of the cerebral cavity. This affords a constant and fixed relation. It can be appreciated with a sufficient degree of exactness by the direct light of comparative anatomy, and by observation of the habits and intelligence of the different classes of animals; it can also be verified by the comparison of men very unequally endowed with intellectual faculties, in whom the contraction of the cerebral cavity and the magnitude of the facial angle exhibit the most remarkable diversities. Here the physiognomical sign has, if I may be allowed the expression, a wide extent of acceptation; it rests upon a broad basis, upon a definite division, and one of easy comprehension and verification; for, if there is some discrepancy of opinion, in regard to the number and nomenclature of the faculties of the mind, the sentiments of the soul, the modifications or shades of character which give birth to particular passions, moral dispositions, habits, whether virtuous or vicious; if these classifications are, in a great measure, arbitrary, and the language used somewhat vague; if, in short, the greater part of these nominal faculties are mere abstractions of the mind, purely imaginary existences, and therefore cannot be actually located in any part of the brain; the case is quite different, when we merely seek to establish a general relationbetween a constant sign manifested in the organization, and the degree of reason, mind, or intellect, attributed to different men, or the degrees of sagacity attributed to different species of animals. Here, no one is at a loss, because there is ample latitude for comparing and judging; in the system of Gall, on the contrary, the comparisons rest upon minute points, which are subject to discussion, exceptions, a thousand uncertainties in the signs and various applications.”[62]
If the reader will review what I have said against Camper’s facial line, he will find a refutation of all this reasoning of Delpit; a proof that he defends it merely because it is in vogue. It is this very generality and fixedness, which render it, in almost all cases, inapplicable; this is the inherent defect in the supposed importance of Camper’s facial angle. It is implicitly supposed, that no difference but that of degree, exists between the capacities of the different species and individuals of the human race, and the different species and individuals of the animal kingdom. Thus the intelligence of men and other animals would always be proportioned to the magnitude of the facial angle. This being premised, I ask, which, out of two, three, four, &c., has the most intelligence, the dog, ape, beaver, the ant, or the bee? Ants and bees live in an admirable republic, and form astonishing constructions, which they know how to modify according to circumstances. The beaver and penduline build with equally marvellous skill, and with a foresight which seldom errs; the dog and the ape have very little foresight, and are incapable of the most insignificant construction. Which has the greater intelligence, Voltaire or Descartes? Could the former have been a mathematician and the latter a poet? Which has the higher degree of intellect, Mozart or Lessing, who, with all his genius, detested music? In short, which has the most intelligence, my dog who retraces his steps through the most complicated routes, or myself, who am always going astray? Measure now the facial angle of the ant, bee, beaver, penduline, ape, my dog, and of myself, and estimate the result. Acknowledge, then, that your division, so definite, so easy to be apprehended, is absolutely useless, and that you are obliged to advert to divers instincts, propensities, faculties, and their different degrees of energy, to which your facial angle is wholly inapplicable. Your intelligence, instinct, address, are inreality mere abstractions, imaginary existences. Do you consider the propensity to procreation, the love of offspring, the carnivorous instinct, the talent for music, poetry, &c., as imaginary existences? You see, then, that it is more convenient to tread the beaten path, than to verify observations.—Gall on the Functions of the Brain, page 195.
Footnotes:
[1]Utopia, Book II., chap. viii.
[2]I do not wish to be forced into any discussion of this last point. But, if necessary, I shall not decline it.
[3]We fear that Mr. Walker’s analogical reasoning here is not very conclusive. To reason from a living to a dead subject may be very logical but it is not altogether satisfactory.
[4]“The Magazine of The Fine Arts,” No. VI, for October 1833.
[5]I am not here called upon to vindicate the errors and absurdities which poets and others introduced into mythology.
[6] Appendix A.
[7]George IV., though the “first gentleman” in England, was guilty of cheating at a horserace.—Ed.
[8]The above remark is true of the same class of females in this country.—Ed.
[9]Appendix B.
[10]Appendix C.
[11]To the reader unaccustomed to inquiries of this kind, it may save trouble to peruse first the brief Summary of the contents of this important chapter, beginning in page 120.
[12]Regularity expresses the similarity of parts considered as constituting a whole; and uniformity, the similarity of parts considered separately.
[13]Appendix D
[14]The common character of these arts has been overlooked.
[15]Proportion is here employed, not as expressing an intrinsic relation, as in the beauty of inanimate beings, but as expressing an extrinsic relation to fitness for ends.
[16]“The Nervous System, Anatomical and Physiological: in which the Functions of the various Parts of the Brain are, for the first time, assigned.”
[17]Communicated by the writer to the “Magazine of the Fine Arts,” No. 11, for June, 1833.
[18]“Human Nature,” chap, ix., sec. 13.
[19]“Reflexions Critiques sur la Poesie et sur la Peinture.”
[20]“Reflexions sur la Poetique.”
[21]“Adventurer,” No. 110.
[22]Essay on Tragedy.
[23]To some it may appear, that the organs and functions of digestion, respiration, and generation, are not involved by this arrangement; but such a notion can originate only in superficial observation.
Digestion is a compound function easily reducible to some of the simple ones which have been enumerated. It consists of the motion of the stomach and contiguous parts, of the secretion of a liquid from its internal surface, and of that heat, which is the common result of all action, whether mechanical, vital, or mental, and which is better explained by such motion, than by chymical theories. Similarly compound are respiration and generation.
Thus, there is no organ nor function which is not involved by the simple and natural arrangement here sketched.
Compound, however, as the organs of digestion, respiration, and generation, are, yet, as they form so important a part of the system, it may be asked, with which of these classes they are most allied. The answer is obvious. All of them consist of tubular vessels of various diameter; and all of them transmit and transmute liquids. Possessing such strong characteristics of the nutritive or vital system, they are evidently most allied to it.
In short, digestion prepares the nutritive or vital matter, which is taken up by absorption—the first of the simple nutritive functions; respiration renovates it in the very middle of its course—between the two portions of the simple function of circulation; and generation, dependant on secretion—the last of these functions, communicates this nutritive matter, or propagates vitality to a new series of beings. In such arrangement, the digestive organs, therefore, precede, and the generative follow, the simple nutritive organs; while the respiratory occupy a middle place between the venous and the arterial circulation.
Nothing can be more improper, as the preceding observations show, than considering any one of these as a distinct class.
More fully, therefore, to enumerate the nutritive or vital organs, we may say, that, under them, are classed, first, the organs of digestion, the external and internal absorbent surfaces, and the vessels which absorb from these surfaces, or the organs of absorption; second, the heart, lungs, and bloodvessels, which derive their contents (the blood) from the absorbed lymph, or the organs of circulation; and third, the secreting cavities, glands, &c., which separate various matters from the blood, or the organs of secretion, and of which generation is the sequel.
[24]Appendix E.
[25]In perfect consistency with the assertion, that, though the organs of digestion, respiration, and generation, were really compound, still they were chiefly nutritive or vital, and properly belonged to that class, it is not less remarkable, that, in this division of the body, they are found to occupy that part, the trunk, in which the chief simple nutritive organs are contained. This also shows the impropriety of reckoning any of these a separate system from the vital.
[26]The bones resemble these, in containing the greatest quantity of earthy mineral matter.
[27]It is the possession of vessels which constitutes the vitality of vegetables.
[28]In animals, alone, is nervous matter discoverable.
[29]Plants have no real circulation, nor passage of their nutritive liquids through the same point.
[30]This arrangement of anatomy and physiology was first published by me in 1806; and, notwithstanding its being the arrangement of nature, it has not been adopted by any one that I know of, until very lately, when it was in some measure used by Dr. Roget, without acknowledgment.
The originality, as well as the truth and value, of this arrangement, will be illustrated by referring to any other published previous to 1806, or even to 1808, when I republished it in “Preliminary Lectures,” Edinburgh.
[31]The cause of this has never been explained; and it could not well be explained, without a perception of the views in my preceding physiological arrangement.—The brain, at this period, becomes more subservient to purposes connected with generation; the communication between the trunk and the head is more frequent, intense, and sustained; and the neck, which contains the communicating organs, necessarily increases in size. This unexplained circumstance led to the mistake of the craniologists respecting the cerebel. Here, therefore, as in other cases pointed out in my work on Physiognomy, Gall and Spurzheim ascribe to deeper-seated organs what belongs to more superficial ones.
[32]Appendix F.
[33]Appendix G.
[34]Memoire sur le Beau Physique.
[35]A curious but true remark is made by Moreau, namely, that if these conditions are met with without being united to a certain expression, and to the most complete combination of the elements of beauty of countenance, they frequently give an air of insensibility and of mental weakness, which greatly enfeebles the impression that a first view had caused.
[36]Statistical results in relation to the supply of hospitals and prisons, carry the expense of a man much beyond that of a woman.
[37]Appendix H.
[38]Appendix I.
[39]See the causes of this explained in my work on “Physiognomy.”
[40]Pallas—Voyages en Siberie.
[41]Humboldt’s Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain.
[42]It is remarkable that, in infants, the nose is almost always flat, and that, in some members of the same family, it always remains so, while, in others, it rises. This is attended by difference of function.
[43]“Physiognomy founded on Physiology, and applied to various Countries, Professions, and Individuals: with an Appendix on the Bones at Hythe—the Sculls of the ancient Inhabitants of Britain, and its Invaders: illustrated by Engravings.”—Smith, Elder, & Co., Cornhill.
[44]Of the best works on this subject, those of Mengs alone, I believe, have been translated; but the translation is so inaccurate as to be worthless.
[45]Thus it is not correct, as stated by Leonardo, that when some parts are broad or thick, all are broad; though, in peculiar combinations, that may occur.
[46]Lib. II. in Timæum Platonis.
[47]This member of the Royal Academy was suspected of having written that “republics had done more for the advancement of the fine arts than monarchies.” The late George III., who did not approve of truths of that kind, was thereby so much enraged, that he instantly sent for the list of the members of the academy, and therefrom erased the name of Barry. The academicians humbly submitted to the indignity which hereditary wisdom thus inflicted. It would appear, however, that bad principles are spreading among the Royal academicians; for the works of this expelled member are now daringly given by them as a prize to students at the academy!
[48]This rule is well explained, and variously illustrated by Donald Walker, in his work, equally philosophical, instructive, and amusing, entitled “Exercises for Ladies,” a knowledge of which, and the practice of its principles, would render beauty, and especially beauty of the shoulders and arms, far more common in every family.
[49]It was at the extremity of the modern Cape Crio, anciently Triopium, a promontory of Doris, a province of Caria, that was built the celebrated city of Cnidos. Here Venus was worshipped: here was seen this statue of that goddess, the most beautiful of the works of Praxiteles. A temple, far from spacious, and open on all sides, contained it, without concealing it from view; and, in whatever point of view it was examined, it excited equal admiration. No drapery veiled its charms; and so uncommon was its beauty, that it inflamed with a violent passion another Pygmalion.
[50]The phrenologists have told us that the head of this Venus is too small. They might as well have said, that the head of the Minerva, or of the Jupiter, is too large, or a hundred other ignorant inapplicabilities, and ridiculous pedantries. But to set aside ideal forms, I may observe, that sex makes a vast difference in the head, and a woman with a small head often produces a son with a large one.
[51]This is beautiful, but is evidently borrowed from the great philosophical poet’s
“Te, Dea, te fugiunt ventei, te nubila coeli,Adventumque tuum.”
[52]That, in plants, these odors are even necessary to their reproduction, is proved by their uniform existence at that period. And if being affected by odors implies a sense of smell, or some modification of it, then must plants possess it.
[53]In all grossly sensual nations and individuals, the lips are everted even at the angles.
[54]See this explained in “Physiognomy.”
[55]“Venere suol tenere alquanto aperte le labbra, come per indicare un languido desiderio ed amore.”—Storia delle Arti.
[56]In the Cupid, the form of the head is godlike. The hair not only curls with all the vigor of early years, but, with perfect knowledge of nature’s tendency, is bent into a ridge along the middle of the upper head. The brow, full, open, and charmingly rounded, is the evident throne of young observation, and it flows with such beauty into the parts behind, as if it actuallysaidits purpose was to fling its observations back on thought and will. Its beginnings at the eyebrows display exquisite knowledge: the bony ridge is admirably shown to be yet unformed; and while its outer extremity forms but the orbital convexity, or shell for the globe of the eye, the inner extremity of the eyebrow is with infinite art drawn over soft and hollow space, as if the few hairs that composed it made there its only convexity. In short, in every part of the face, fine and faint as is every youthful feature, no detail is lost; and this, added to the pointed chin and upper lip, declare the purpose of the little god.
[57]Appendix K.
[58]I speak not of paint here. It is now used only by meretricious persons and by those harridans of higher rank who resemble them in every respect, except that the former are ashamed of their profession, and the latter advertise it.
[59]Combe’s Phrenology.
[60]Physiologie des Temperamens on Constitutions. Paris, 1826.
[61]This doctrine is revived,Dict. des Sciences med.Delpit and Reydellet.
[62]Dictionnaire des Sciences Méd. t. xxxviii. p. 263.
Transcriber’s Note:Footnote 6 appears on page34; however, it has no corresponding marker.