Ronnie
Jedi
Well,... Maybe. It just came to me the other day, What about bumps on the head or the shape of a head. I've been looking at Phrenology sites and understand that there is a bump or bulge over and to the back of the ears a sort of w-i-d-e spot that indicates COMBATIVENESS, DISTRUCTIVENESS AND SECRETIVENESS! A big head doesn't mean more brains just a thicker skull like senator Kennedy's. Or maybe he's got a Samsonite carrying case for another head. It's been very interesting anyway. ;)
http://pages.britishlibrary.net/phrenology/system/division.htm
<<SNIP>> Wish I knew how to place a picture here! ;)
6.-DESTRUCTIVENESS.
THIS organ is situated immediately above, and extends a little backwards and forwards from, the external opening of the ear, and corresponds to the lower portion of the squamous plate of the temporal bone.
The subjoined figures represent the skulls of Tardy and a Cingalese. A section of the latter will be found on page 144.
256 DESTRUCTIVENESS.
Tardy was a bloody pirate, and in him it is very large. In the Cingalese, who are mild, it is deficient. In Dr Gall's plates it extends a few lines farther back than in those given by Dr Spurzheim : and Dr Gall mentions, that when it is excessively large, the whole portion of the skull from the inferior margin of the parietal bones to the ears is elevated ; and that in cases of smaller development the prominence is confined to the lower part of the temporal bones. I have seen examples of both kinds. The external opening of the ear is much lower in some individuals than in others. Its depression is caused by the great size of the cerebral convolutions which lie over the petrous portion of the temporal bone and in the middle fossa of the skull, and is one sign of Destructiveness being large.
Dr Gall gives, in substance, the following account of the discovery of this organ. In comparing attentively the skulls of several of the lower animals, he observed a characteristic difference between those of the carnivorous and the graminivorous tribes. In graminivorous animals, only a small portion of the brain lies behind the external opening of the ear ; while in the carnivorous, a considerably larger mass is situated there. He found also, that the skulls of the latter were more prominent above the ear than those of the former. For a long time he merely communicated these observations to his hearers, without making the least application of them to Phrenology. He only pointed out that, by inspecting the cranium, even when the teeth are wanting, it is possible to distinguish whether the animals belong to the graminivorous or carnivorous genera. It happened, at length, that some one sent him the skull of a parricide ; but he put it aside,
DESTRUCTIVENESS. 257
without imagining that the skulls of murderers could be of any use to him in his researches. Shortly afterwards he received also the cranium of a highwayman, who, not satisfied with robbing, had murdered several of his victims. He placed these two crania side by side, and frequently examined them. Every time that he did so, he was struck by this circumstance, that, although they differed in almost every other point, each of them presented a distinct and corresponding prominence, immediately above the external opening of the ear. Having observed, however, the same prominence in some other crania in his collection, he thought that it might be by mere accident that this part was so much developed in the skulls of the murderers. It was only after a considerable time, that he began to reflect upon the different conformation of the brain in carnivorous and graminivorous animals ; and having then observed that the part which was large in carnivorous animals, was precisely that which was so much developed in the murderers, the question occurred to him, Is it possible that there can be any connection between the conformation of brain thus indicated and the propensity to kill I " At first," says Dr Gall, " I revolted from this idea ; but as my only business was to observe, and to state the result of my observations, I acknowledged no other law than that of truth."" " Let us not, therefore," says he, " fear to unfold the mysteries of nature ; for it is only when we shall have discovered the hidden springs of human actions, that we shall know how to guide the conduct of men.'1 This faculty has been subjected to much ridicule, owing partly to its Having been named by Dr Gall the penchant au meurtre, or propensity to kill. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that he spoke of the organ of murder. Killing being a necessary operation, he regarded this as a legitimate aim of the faculty when rightly directed ; but " I have never," says he, " in speaking of the instinct du meurtre, meant a propensity to homicide." The word Destructiveness employed by Dr Spurzheim is a more comprehensive appellation, and the propensity thus designated is recognised by
LOTS MORE AT THE LINK ABOVE.
NOTE TO LAURA... OMG! I DIDN'T SEE YOUR POST ON PHRENOLOGY UNTILL JUST NOW! (AFTER THIS POST) I'VE BEEN SICK AND BIZZY WITH THE LITTLE PSYCHOPATH THAT WE LIVE WITH. REALLY, IT JUST CAME TO ME OUT OF THIN AIR TO READ UP ON THIS SUBJECT. HAPPY DAY.... R
http://pages.britishlibrary.net/phrenology/system/division.htm
<<SNIP>> Wish I knew how to place a picture here! ;)
6.-DESTRUCTIVENESS.
THIS organ is situated immediately above, and extends a little backwards and forwards from, the external opening of the ear, and corresponds to the lower portion of the squamous plate of the temporal bone.
The subjoined figures represent the skulls of Tardy and a Cingalese. A section of the latter will be found on page 144.
256 DESTRUCTIVENESS.
Tardy was a bloody pirate, and in him it is very large. In the Cingalese, who are mild, it is deficient. In Dr Gall's plates it extends a few lines farther back than in those given by Dr Spurzheim : and Dr Gall mentions, that when it is excessively large, the whole portion of the skull from the inferior margin of the parietal bones to the ears is elevated ; and that in cases of smaller development the prominence is confined to the lower part of the temporal bones. I have seen examples of both kinds. The external opening of the ear is much lower in some individuals than in others. Its depression is caused by the great size of the cerebral convolutions which lie over the petrous portion of the temporal bone and in the middle fossa of the skull, and is one sign of Destructiveness being large.
Dr Gall gives, in substance, the following account of the discovery of this organ. In comparing attentively the skulls of several of the lower animals, he observed a characteristic difference between those of the carnivorous and the graminivorous tribes. In graminivorous animals, only a small portion of the brain lies behind the external opening of the ear ; while in the carnivorous, a considerably larger mass is situated there. He found also, that the skulls of the latter were more prominent above the ear than those of the former. For a long time he merely communicated these observations to his hearers, without making the least application of them to Phrenology. He only pointed out that, by inspecting the cranium, even when the teeth are wanting, it is possible to distinguish whether the animals belong to the graminivorous or carnivorous genera. It happened, at length, that some one sent him the skull of a parricide ; but he put it aside,
DESTRUCTIVENESS. 257
without imagining that the skulls of murderers could be of any use to him in his researches. Shortly afterwards he received also the cranium of a highwayman, who, not satisfied with robbing, had murdered several of his victims. He placed these two crania side by side, and frequently examined them. Every time that he did so, he was struck by this circumstance, that, although they differed in almost every other point, each of them presented a distinct and corresponding prominence, immediately above the external opening of the ear. Having observed, however, the same prominence in some other crania in his collection, he thought that it might be by mere accident that this part was so much developed in the skulls of the murderers. It was only after a considerable time, that he began to reflect upon the different conformation of the brain in carnivorous and graminivorous animals ; and having then observed that the part which was large in carnivorous animals, was precisely that which was so much developed in the murderers, the question occurred to him, Is it possible that there can be any connection between the conformation of brain thus indicated and the propensity to kill I " At first," says Dr Gall, " I revolted from this idea ; but as my only business was to observe, and to state the result of my observations, I acknowledged no other law than that of truth."" " Let us not, therefore," says he, " fear to unfold the mysteries of nature ; for it is only when we shall have discovered the hidden springs of human actions, that we shall know how to guide the conduct of men.'1 This faculty has been subjected to much ridicule, owing partly to its Having been named by Dr Gall the penchant au meurtre, or propensity to kill. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that he spoke of the organ of murder. Killing being a necessary operation, he regarded this as a legitimate aim of the faculty when rightly directed ; but " I have never," says he, " in speaking of the instinct du meurtre, meant a propensity to homicide." The word Destructiveness employed by Dr Spurzheim is a more comprehensive appellation, and the propensity thus designated is recognised by
LOTS MORE AT THE LINK ABOVE.
NOTE TO LAURA... OMG! I DIDN'T SEE YOUR POST ON PHRENOLOGY UNTILL JUST NOW! (AFTER THIS POST) I'VE BEEN SICK AND BIZZY WITH THE LITTLE PSYCHOPATH THAT WE LIVE WITH. REALLY, IT JUST CAME TO ME OUT OF THIN AIR TO READ UP ON THIS SUBJECT. HAPPY DAY.... R