GALL, DR. FRANZ JOSEPH, the founder of the system of phren ology, was born at Tiefenbrunn, in Suabia, on the 9tb of March 1757. If the story told of him be true, he, at a very early age, evinced habits of accurate observation ; for it is said that, when a boy at school, he amused himself with remarking the differences of character and talent among his brothers and sisters, his playmates and schoolfellows ; and he soon arrived at the conclusion that these characters and talents seldom changed by education. He observed, it is said, that the boys who were his most formidable competitors were all distinguishable by a peculiar expression of countenance, the result of unusual protrusion of the eyeball, which seemed to him a certain sign of talent. On his removal to another school he still found himself invariably beaten by his " bull-eyed " companions, as he called them, and making the same observations as before, he found all his playmates still distinguished for some peculiar talent or temper. He next went to the university of Vienna to pursue his studies for the medical profession, and at once began to search for prominent eyes among his fellow-students ; aU that he met with were, as he found, well known for their attainments in classics, or languages generally, or for powers of recitation ; in short, for talent in language ; and hence the prominent eye, which he had first thought indicated talent generally, he became convinced marked a facility for acquiring a knowledge in words, which was the principal study in the schools of hie boyhood. This coincidence of a peculiar talent with an external physiognomic sign, led him to suspect that there might be found some other mark for each talent, and remembering that at school there were a number of boys who had a singular facility in finding birds' neeta, and recollecting where they had been placed, while others, and especially himself, would forget the spot in a day or two, he began to search among his fellow students for all who indicated a similar knowledge and memory of places, that he might see in what feature that would be indicated, and he soon thought he found them all marked by a peculiar form of the eye-brow. He now felt convinced that by accurate observation of the shape of the head in different persons, he should find a mark for every kind of talent, and he lost no opportunity of examiniug the forms of the head in poets, painters, mechanics, musicians, and all distinguished in art or science. He found, as he fancied, external
signs in each class that separated them from the rest, and be thought ho could now clearly discern the character of each by their cranial formation before he inquired into their pursuits or reputation. He had observed that persons remarkable for determination of character had one part of their heads unusually large, and be was therefore led to seek whether there were not signs of the moral affections similar to those which he believed be had discovered to indicate the intellec tual powers. After some time he imagined that these affections also might be ascertained by discerning how far one portion of the head snrpassed the others in size. His mind was now completely engrossed with the pursuit of facts to support his belief that he should find a complete key to the human character, and his academic career was marked by no particular success.
To further his pursuit, he resorted to the works of the moat esteemed metaphysicians of ancient and modern days, but here he found nothing that at all favoured the view which be had been led to take of the human mind. He therefore gave them up, and resorted again to observation alone, and he now extended his field. Being on terms of intimacy with Dr. Nord, physician to a lunatic asylum in Vienna, he carefully examined all the insane there, observing the peculiar character of the insanity in each, and the corresponding forms of their heads : he frequented prisons and courts of justice, and made notes of the crimes and appearance of all the prisoners. In short, wherever there was any person made remarkable by good or bad qualities, by ignorance, or by talent, Dr. Gall lost no opportunity of making him a subject of his study. With the same views he was constant in his study of the heads and characters of both wild and domesticated animals. He had always felt sure, that the form of the skull in itself alone could stand in no relation to the intellect or disposition, but it was not till late in his pursuit that he resorted to anatomy to confirm his views. Having obtained his diploma, he made it his care, as far as possible, to ask for leave to examine the brains of all whose characters and heads he had studied during life, and satisfied himself that, as a general rule, the exterior of the skull corresponds in form with the brain contained within it.