At length, after upwards of twenty years exertion and study, Dr. Gall delivered his first course of lectures, in 1796, at his house in Vienna. Supported by a vast accumulation of facts, he endeavoured to prove that the brain was the organ on which all external manifesta tions of the mind depended ; that different portions of the brain were devoted to particular intellectual faculties or moral affections ; that, exteris paribus, these were developed in a degree proportioned to the size of the part on which they depended; and that, the external surface of the skull corresponding in form with the surface of the brain, the character of each individual was clearly discernible by an examination of his head.
A doctrine so new, and so subversive of all that had been previously taught in psychology, produced no little excitement. To eomo the number of simple facts, the apparently clear and necessary deductions from them, and the ease with which tho new system seemed to lead to the knowledge of a science hitherto so obscure, were sufficient to secure at once their assent, while others said that Gall, beginning with a theory, had found at will facts to support it; that a plurality of powers in the same organ was too absurd to be imagined, and that the doctrine, leading on the one hand to fatalism, on the other to materialism, would, if received, be subversive of all the bonds of society, and opposed to the truths of religion. It was argued with all the ardour with which new doctrines are so generally assailed and defended, but Gall took little part in these disputes, and still continued to lecture and collect more facts.
He gained disciples daily, and in 1800 Dr. Spurzheim became his pupil. In 1804 this gentleman was associated with him in the study of his theory, and to this event phrenology probably owes much of its present clearness and popularity. Spurzheim possessed a mind peculiarly adapted for generalising facts, of which phrenology at that time almost entirely consisted, and besides being most ardent and industrious in the pursuit of additional support for the doctrines, he had much suavity of manner and power of conversation.
Soon after their association, Dre. Gall and Spurzhcim commenced a tour through the principal towns in Germany and Switzerland, diffusing their doctrines, and collecting everywhere with assiduous industry fresh evidence in their favour. In 1807 they arrived at Paris, which became at once the field of their principal labours, and of the most vehement discussion. It attracted the attention of Napoleon, who at first is said to have spoken in no measured terms of the :ravens of his country for "suffering themselves to be taught chemistry by an Englishman (Sir H. Davy), and anatomy by a German." He after wards however expressed his disbelief in it, and hence the reason (say the most ardent supporters of the doctrine), why in 1809 the com mission appointed by the Institute on the M6moire ' presented by Gall and Spurzheim, in March 1805, returned a report highly unfa vourable both to phrenology and its author. Undaunted however by
this severe check to their rising popularity, they continued to study and to teach both by lectures and by voluminous publications till 1813; when a dispute arising, partly as to the degree of credit which each merited for the condition at which phrenology had then arrived, partly from private motives, they separated. Dr. Gall remained in Paris; Dr. Spurzheim soon after proceeded to England.
Dr. Gall continued in Paris till his death, which occurred on the 22nd of August 1828. He had suffered for nearly two years previously from enlargement of the heart, which prevented him, except at intervals, from pursuing his lectures, and at length produced a slight attack of paralysis, from which he never recovered. At the post-mortem exami nation his skull was found to be of at least twice the usual thickness, and there was a small tumour in the cerebellum : a fact of some interest, from that being the portion of the brain in which be had placed the organ of amativeness, a propensity which had always been very strongly marked in him.
Whatever may be the merits of the phrenological system, Dr. Gall must always be looked upon as one of the remarkable men Of his age. The leading features of his mind were originality and independence of thought, a habit of observation, and invincible perseverance and industry. Nothing perhaps but a character like this in its founder, and the very popular and fascinating manners of his chief supporter, mull have upheld the doctrine of phrenology against the strong tide of rational opposition and ridicule with which it was smiled. Whether the system be received or not, it sill be granted that both in the col leetion of psychological facts which they hal formed, and have pub lished, and by the contributions which they have made to the study of the structure of the brain, to which their later labours had been par ticularly directed, they have conferred very great benefits on medical mimes. The character of Dr. Gall's writings is vivid and powerful ; his descriptions, though slight, are accurate and striking; but his works are too voluminous to be acceptable to the majority of readers, and hare therefore in this country been almost entirely superseded by those of Dr. Spurzheirn, to which however in substantial value they are far superior. They cotnrrise--' Philosophisch-Medicinische Cuter sachungen fiber Natur and Kunst IraKranken, and Gesunden Zustande des Metuchen,' Svo, Leipzig, 1800; 'Anatomic et Physiologic du Systeme Nerveux en gibadml, et du Cerveau en particulierx 116moire preeenti a Pin/that, Mars, 1S03;' and under the same title his groat work In 4 vols. 4to, and atlas folio, published in Paris, from 1810 to 1819, of which the first and half the second volume were written In con junction with Dr. Spurzheins ; and ' Sur l'Origine des qoalitste morales et dee Fecaltas intellectuelles de I'llomme,' 6 vols. Svo, Paris, 1825.