the floor itself perpendicular, and grasp the ground to save themselves from falling off its surface"-which perfectly agrees with the above; and it appears to me, that this organ not only gives us the feeling of equilibrium, but also the perception, through vision, of the position of all objects as to their centre of gravity. If this be the fact, will it not give a beautiful explanation of the phenomenon which has so long puzzled philosophers, of objects being reflected in an inverted position on the retina? for if this part of the brain be largely developed, we see objects in the position in which they really exist; but if it be small, we see them approximating more or less to their reflected inverted position on the retina-as those who have it small see perpendiculars at other angles even when sober;-and if you ask them to draw a perpendicular line, they are sure to fail, and give it a deviation either to the right or left; and they actually imagine true perpendiculars to be incorrect. I have sometimes wondered that none of the numerous correspondents of the Journal has noticed the view given in my short paper, either in the way of contradiction or confirmation, more especially as the situation of the organ would lead us to infer that vision ministered to its operations; and in no published work is the inference drawn or supposed. I stated in the Journal that the idea was originally my brother's; and may now observe, that the way in which it first struck him is rather singular. He was in chapel and not much interested in the sermon, when, to while away the time, he began to exercise his perceptive organs upon some object before him. Individuality, he reflected, gave him the power to perceive the object as an individual existence; Form, its shape, and Size, its magnitude; but here he could go no farther by the eye, and, after some time, the thought struck him, that Weight might be the organ enabling him to ascertain the position of the object as to its centre of gravity, more especially as no organ had that function assigned to it. He mentioned the idea to me; it seemed plausible; and I immediately applied to nature for proof. I have in consequence found so much of the clearest evidence in its support, as to leave me without doubt on the subject. ARTICLE VIII. DUNDEE LUNATIC ASYLUM. THE following extract from the Fourteenth Report of the Directors of the Dundee Lunatic Asylum, for the year ending 31st May 1834, will be read with interest and delight by all who desire to see the treatment of the insane based upon sound physiology. We trust that each succeeding year will shew an increased proportion of the number of patients cured. 3 "It has been often said, that if a lunatic is ever to be raised to the use of reason, he must be treated as a rational being; for we cannot expect to regain the use of our faculties, if no opportunity is offered for their regular exercise. Experience shews that any change in our habits is generally accompanied with some degree of mental excitement, which may be either salutary or otherwise, according to the temperament of each individual. Our frame of body, constitution of mind, and the condition in which we are here placed, point out labour as a duty inseparably connected with our present state; and it is the proper and well regulated exercise of his mental and bodily powers that constitutes the health, comfort, and usefulness of man. Rest is found to be a punishment of a heavier and more afflicting nature than labour. Solitary confinement has been proved to be impracti cable, on account of its severity; for the mind either sinks into despondency, or the body yields to the power of death. retreat for lunatics, there must be nothing that bears the least resemblance to the treatment of a prison; and the habits that prevail in an Asylum must approximate as nearly as possible to the manners and pursuits of the world. These are views that have been long before the minds of the Directors-but it is only during the last year that their wishes have been fully realised. The patient, as far as his circumstances will allow, is now restored to the habits of real life. Those who have a taste for reading are supplied with newspapers and books, and no publication is withheld that can contribute to harmless amusement or useful instruction. The enlivening influence of music has also been employed to revive the spirits during an hour of gloomy weather, or when the tedious evenings of winter necessarily gave interruption to active employment. In a "In this, as well as in every other public Asylum, the great bulk of the patients have been accustomed to labour, and they resume their avocations with an alacrity and cheerfulness, which must have the happiest effect on their mental and corporeal health. However ample may be the day-rooms-however extensive the airing-grounds,-yet, if the unhappy patient be confined within this limited circle-with few companions with whom he can communicate in feelings of sympathy-the same objects continually presented to his view-and cut off from those exercises with which his comfort had been associated,-we are not to be surprised if he should feel heavily the tedium of life—that his mind should sink into despondency-or that the resumption of his former habits should alleviate his burden-banish those thoughts that perplexed his mind-and serve as a powerful auxiliary to the means employed for his restoration. "Arrangements have been formed, so that each patient, male and female, may return to their former occupations. On the VOL. IX.-NO. XLII. K male side, the tailor has more customers in the house than all his exertions can supply. The shoemaker has laboured, not only for the benefit of his fellow-patients, but his shoes have been purchased by the friends of the establishment; and the workmanship has also been much admired. There are nine looms in constant employment; and as one workman relieves another at stated intervals, the labour never becomes irksome or unpleasant. Several of the patients have likewise acquired considerable dexterity in the manufacture of door mats and mattrasses. Some of these articles have already been sold for the benefit of the house, and a farther supply will be provided if the public will give encouragement to this branch of the trade. In weather which does not admit of exercise in the open air, the patients are sometimes employed in teasing hemp and ropes; and though the employment be tedious and uninteresting, yet it has been found to be a happy substitute for complete idleness and vacuity. In an extensive establishment there must be daily services to perform, such as pumping water, carrying coals, cleaning and white-washing the rooms; and these exercises afford a constant resource against the influence of languor and ennui. The formation of a washing-green, a new airing-ground, and alterations on the old ones, opened up a new source of recreation to the patients during the last spring. It may likewise be mentioned, that some of them have been permitted to go several miles beyond the premises, to prepare gravel for the walks. But the grand field of operation is the garden and adjoining grounds; and there are to be seen, at the proper seasons, in well organized bands, inmates of the establishment sowing and planting, digging and raking, hoeing and wheeling, with a calmness and decorum undistinguished from the scenes of common life. "But though the field be not quite so extensive on the female side, yet there the spectacle is equally inviting and attractive. The kitchen, laundry, washing-house, and the extraordinary neatness which is universally admired throughout all the departments of this establishment, afford considerable scope to female industry. Many ply at the wheel with that activity and diligence which they had acquired when they derived from this exercise the means of their subsistence; and a workshop is now erecting, to give employment to those who had been formerly engaged in manufacturing pursuits. The needle, however, is the instrument most congenial to female taste; and knitting also is an exercise in which many of them are not unwilling to beguile their lonely hours. The higher classes amuse themselves with fancy work. Some are readily induced to make for themselves different articles of dress; others labour as cheerfully for the public benefit; and not only has a plentiful supply of female clothing been provided, but the contract for furnishing shirts for the males has been suspended by the industry excited within the House. The subjoined list will illustrate this statement, and shew the nature and variety of the employment of the patients, and the quantity of work executed by them in the course of the last year. "The Directors are not aware that these exercises have been introduced into any institution to so great an extent as into the Dundee Asylum; and it is with much satisfaction that they announce the extraordinary fact, that it happens not unfrequently, that out of one hundred and thirty patients, not a single individual is to be found subjected to any restraint whatever, but that all of them are pursuing, as nearly as may be, those avocations to which they had been accustomed during the period of health. The picture has lost much of its repulsive aspect-in many points of view, it is most interesting and attractive. The cell is abandoned, the chain is burst, the frown of the keeper is changed into an expression of satisfaction, the tone of command has passed into the voice of companionship, while keeper and patient join hand to hand in the same task, and unite their spirits in the same pursuits. "The effect of these exercises is apparent to all who are acquainted with this establishment. The condition of the patient has been greatly ameliorated; his cure is more effectually promoted; his labour has been a source of considerable emolument during the last year, and may in future be considered as constituting a permanent portion of the revenue of this institution. These are results that will be hailed by every one as most salutary and beneficial. Who can fail to be pleased with seeing the prisoner in the enjoyment of freedom, the languor of idleness converted into the cheerfulness of activity, and a permanent source of income opened up to an institution labouring under pecuniary difficulties? In these improvements the Directors claim no farther praise, than that of giving a willing and cordial assent to their introduction; to the Superintendent and Matron, by whom they were suggested, and by whose care and activity they have been carried into effect, is justly due all the credit, and all the reward." ARTICLE IX. OBSERVATIONS ON COMBATIVENESS; BEING AN ATTEMPT TO DETERMINE THE ELEMENTARY FACULTY TO WHICH THAT NAME IS ONE of the most efficacious methods employed by Dr Gall to determine the functions of the different parts of the brain, was to observe, at every opportunity, the heads of persons distinguished by any peculiarity of disposition or talent, and to note in what particular region a large development appeared in them all. Having, in the course of his researches, collected in his house a number of persons belonging to the lower ranks, such as porters and hackney-coachmen, his attention was drawn to the fact, that while some individuals were spoken of by their comrades as remarkable for provoking disputes and contentions, there were others, of a pacific disposition, whom they regarded with contempt, and called poltrons. As the most quarrelsome," says Gall, "found great pleasure in giving me very circumstantial narratives of their exploits, I was anxious to see whether any thing was to be found in the heads of these heroes which distinguished them from those of the poltrons. I ranged the quarrelers on one side, and the peaceable on the other, and examined carefully the heads of both. I found that, in all the quarrelers, the head, immediately behind and on a level with the top of the ears, was much broader than in the poltrons. On other occasions, I assembled, separately, those who were most distinguished for their bravery, and those who were most distinguished for their cowardice. I repeated my researches, and found my first observations confirmed. I therefore began to conjecture that an inclination to contention (penchant aux rixes) might really be the result of a particular organ. I endeavoured to find out, on the one hand, men of acknowledged superior bravery, and, on the other, men known to be great cowards. At the combats of wild beasts, at that time still exhibited in Vienna, there appeared a first-rate fighter of extreme intrepidity, who often presented himself in the arena, to sustain alone a fight with a wild boar or a bull, or any ferocious animal whatever. I found in him the region of the head just pointed out very broad and rounded (bombée). I took a cast of this head, and likewise of those of some other braves, that I might run no risk of forgetting their particular conformations. I examined also the heads of some of my comrades, who had been expelled from several universities for continual duel-fighting. Among these was one who knew no greater pleasure than that of establishing himself in an ale-house, and mocking the workmen who came thither to drink, and when he saw them disposed to come to blows, putting out the lights, and giving them battle in the dark, chair in hand. He was, in appearance, a little and weakly man. He reminded me of another of my comrades, a Swiss, who used to amuse himself at Strasburg by provoking quarrels with men much stronger and bigger than himself. I visited several schools, and had pointed out to me the scholars who were the most quarrelsome, and those who were the most cowardly. I prosecuted the same observations in the families of my acquaint |