Genre:

Essay, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Phrenology, Psychology

People mentioned:

Franz J Gall , Johann C Spurzheim

    Considers phrenology to be a subject 'upon which the opinions of scientific men have always been so unanimous, and upon which so little has been said, either by the lecturer or the disputant'. Seeks to reduce this 'much-neglected branch of science' to a 'few natural elements, which may always be relied upon by the student'. Explains the nature of fifteen faculties including 'Adhesiveness', a faculty 'possessed in a strong degree by a criminal who has told a lie, and has come to the resolution of sticking to it', and 'Wit or mirthfulness', a faculty which 'disposes the mind to view objects and events in a ludicrous light', and is more fully developed in Punch than it was in Richard B Sheridan.