It appears to us that Adam's case partakes of the character of the second and third classes, chiefly the third. That he does not fall within the first, is abundantly obvious from the statements of Mr Cannan and Dorothy Elliot, and also of the person by whom he was employed as a labourer at Dingwall. All these concur in representing his habitual temper as the reverse of ferocious. “ From his

childhood up to the nineteenth year of his age,” says Mr Cannan, “ he was generally considered mild, peaceable, obliging, merry, free from malice, honcst, forgiving, and not addicted to swearing or intemperance; and his emplover, in the evidence given at the trial, represented him as having been, during the preceding twelve months' while in his service, “ a steady, industrious, sober, harmless, and inoffensive man; witness never saw a frown on his face." We are farther told by Mr Cannan, that, when his mother scolded him," he never said any thing harsh in return." These are not indications of a mind naturally and inherently savage; and we are of opinion, that the idea of murdering his victim arose much less from any direct malevolence or cruelty towards her personally, than from his being unable to devise any bet-> ter way by which he could rid himself of an obstacle to the

gratification of his selfish desires. There is too much Destructiveness and too little morality to have revolted at such a way of attaining bis end; and his mind may have been reconciled to it by her age and homely appearance. Macbeth murdering Duncan is an analogous case. The two motives, unconnected with Destructiveness, by which Adam was chiefly actuated, appear to have been, 1st, a desire to get possession of the woman's money; and, 2dly, a wish to free himself of her society, which was far inferior in attractions to that of Dorothy

cause.

Elliot. We have sometimes thought that, when the feeling of the love of life is weak in an individual, the crime of murder is regarded with less detestation and horror than by persons differently constituted ; and it is not unlikely that some portion of the apparent callousness of Adam proceeded from such a

Firmness was so strong, that having resolved, in one of his sullen moods, and under the influence of the motives adverted to, to commit the murder, he would persist in carrying

, his resolution into effect, even though conscious of its criminality at the time. Indeed it was explicitly stated by Dorothy Elliot, that he never failed to execute what he had resolved upon or said he would do, and, even when satisfied that he was wrong, persisted in effecting his purpose.

We ought now to enter upon the consideration of the details of Adam's character and cerebral development; but our space being exhausted, we must confine ourselves for the present very few remarks. Our readers will easily perceive how closely the particulars given above correspond with the leading features in the development of Adam's head. The effects of Amativeness, Firmness, and Self-Esteem, which are the largest orgáns, appear at every step of his history. Secretiveness large and well cultivated, combined with Conscientiousness only rather full and Self-Esteem large, was the origin of his unprincipled fabrication of lies, and disregard of the rights of others when placed in competition with his own. Veneration was sufficient to antagonize Self-Esteem so far as to render his behaviour respectful ; although, being associated with moderate Wonder and Reflection, it was never strongly directed to any religious object. Under the dictates of Self-Esteem and Secretiveness, combined with a moderate endowment of the reflective faculties, he appears to have thought his schemes and movements unfathomable by other men; and in this way Cautiousness was apt to be on some occasions lulled into repose. The obstinacy with which he denied his guilt was very remarkable; and in accordance with this, and the general tenor of his character through life, the organ of Firmness (as is remarked in the Inverness Courier) was so prominent, as to give the head something of a conical appearance. We know," it is added, “ tlrat one or two gentlemen who were opposed to Phrenology, have acknowledged that the case of Adam almost made them converts to the truth of this science."

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. EDINBURGH.-On 3d December, the following gentlemen were elected office-bearers of the Phrenological Society for the ensuing year :-The Honourable Douglas Gordon Hally burton, M. P. President ; Sir G. S. Mackenzie, Bart., Dr Francis Farquharson, Bindon Blood, John Syme, VicePresidents;~Charles Maclaren, H. T. M. Witham, Dr John Scott, Phineas Deseret, Dr Patrick Neill, James Simpson, Councillors ; Dr William Gre. gory, Secretary ; – Robert Cox, Conservator of the Museum. The following donations were presented, and the Society's thanks voted to the donors :Cast of the head of Mary Ann Burdock, executed at Bristol on the 15th April 1835, for the murder, by poison, of Mrs Clara Ann Smith; and casts of two Peruvian skulls, one from the Temple of the Sun at Pachacamac, and the other from an ancient Peruvian tomb at Huacho, an India town north of Lima-all presented by Samuel Stuchbury, Esq. Bristol; cast of the skull of a mechanician at Alyth, presented by the Dundee Phrenological Society skull found in a stone-coffin in a cairn at Nether Urquhart, Fife, 16th March 1835, presented by the proprietor of the estate; Eloge Funebre de S. M. Don Pedro, and Manuel des Maladies Veneriennes, both by Count Godde de Liancourt, presented by the author ; Annals of Phrenology, No. 5, presented by the publishers ; two old skulls found at Gogar near Edinburgh, presented by Dr J. R. Sibbald ; cast of the brain of the whale lately exhibited by Dr Knox in Edinburgh, and mask of the late Rev. J. Brown Paterson, minister of Falkirk, both presented by Mr Anthony O'Neil; bust of' Dr Hahne. mann, the founder of homeopathy, presented by Dr Hirschfeld of Bremen ; cast of the interior and exterior of the skull of Dean Swift, presented by Dr R.T. Evanson, Dublin ; duplicates of the same, and cast of the skull of Esther Johnson, or “ Stella,” presented by Dr Houston, Dublin; cast of the head of John Adam, executed at Inverness, on 16th October 1835, for the murder of his wife, presented by Sir G. S. Mackenzie, Bart. ; cast of the head of George Campbell, executed at Glasgow on 29th September 1835 for murder, and skulls of a magpie and a starling, presentel by Dr Robert Macnish; cast of the skull of Michael Pickles, executed about twenty years ago at York, pre. sented by Dr Jubb, Halifax. The Secretary read a letter from Dr Evanson, Secretary of the Dublin Phrenological Society (published in our last Number), relative to a proposed British Association for the Advancement of Mental Science ; and the meeting expressed their cordial agreement in the resoluticn passed by the Dublin Society as to the desirableness and propriety of such an Association. With regard to the time and place of meeting, however, various opinions were entertained. Mr Hewett Watson suggests that the meetings ought to be held alternately in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, where phre. nologists are numerous, and the best collections exist.

LONDON.In the Lancet of 1912 December 1835, there is an interesting account of the proceedings of the London Phrenological Society, at the meet. ing on 20 November. Four skulls had been transmitted to Sir James Mac. grigor by Dr Stewart, principal medical officer of the army in the Mauritius, with the following letter, dated 27th December 1834:-“ Sir, I am commissioned to forward to England, and to your care, the skulls of four human subjects, which are considered of sufficient interest to claim the attention of all lovers of phrenological science. This I am directed to do upon condition that they shall be presented to the Phrenological Society of London, upon an engagement to furnish a copy of the result of their examination. Should they decline agreeing to this condition, it is requested that they may be forwarded to the cultivators of the same science in Edinburgh, and with the like injunction. The inclosed sealed packet contains matter relating to these skulls. This packet is to be retained in your possession unopened, until the report of the Society to which they are presented shall have been received; it is then to be opened, and the contents to be at your disposal ; the observations of the Society, or a certified copy thereof, to be transmitted hither for the informa. tion of all concerned in this island. The heads are numbered, and the re. VOL. IX.NO. XLVII.

vu

marks upon them, contained in the inclosed packet, bear corresponding num. bers. With the assurance that the interesting nature of the subject will, with you, be admitted as a sufficient apology for thus appealing to you in prosecution of a branch of knowledge now so generally and so highly cultivated, I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, As. STEWART, M.D.” The Society, as a body, never draw inferences from heads; but Dr Elliotson individually undertook the task. The skull No. 1. he described to be that of a gentle, open, and inoffensive person, free from glaring vice, though probably not a splendid instance of active virtue. From No. 2 he inferred pride, obstinacy, selfishness, deceit, cruelty, and quarrelsomeness as the leading characteristics; from No. 3, that the individual “ would be exceedingly cruel, would fear nothing, would yield to nothing, and would be proud and selfish in the highest degree ; and his vanity and caution must have been as striking as any part of his character. Veneration is large, so that he might have felt deference for those who were evidently his superiors.” Of No. 4. it was stated_“ This is by no means a bad skull. The individual might have been of a very respectable character, though not intellectually distinguished.” Dr Elliotson's notes (which are here necessarily abridged) having been transmitted to Sir James M'Grigor, the packet mentioned in Dr Stewart's letter was forwarded to the Society, containing accounts of the characters of two of the individuals to whom the skulls had belonged; these characters having been furnished by the Chief Judge of the Mauritius, Edward Blackburn, Esq. a zealous phrenologist. Upon the characters of the other two individuals it appears that no particular observations had been made. Nos. 1. and 3, were stated to be the skulls of a Government apprentice and a female slave, both of whom died a natural death, and of whose characters nothing is mentioned ; No. 2. to be the skull of a cunning, jealous, ferocious, and licentious negro, convicted of a barbarous attempt to murder a female ; and No. 4, to be the skull of an Indian murderer of very brutal dispositions. It thus appears, as Dr Elliotson stated, that there were two skulls of ordinary persons, and two of very depraved persons, and that the phrenological characters perfectly agreed with the biographical; the two former having probably been sent merely to occasion difficulty and put Phrenology to a severer test. While, however, one ordinary skull and one bad skull answered to the characters respectively given of them in the MS., it is remarkable that the other two skulls indicated each the character that was given of the other in the MS. by which they were accompanied. Dr Elliotson remarked that there was no possibility of mistaking the character of the skulls, and that, phrenology being true, he had no doubt that the skull marked 4 should have been marked 3, and that skull 3 should have been marked 4. He added that he had written to the Mauritius to this effect, confident that it would be discovered, either that a mistake had been made there, or that the skull had been wrongly marked, in order the more fully to test Phrenology. Two sketches of each skull are given in the Lancet.

Newcastle.—Extract from the Newcastle Chronicle of 19th December 1835 : -" The first meeting of the Phrenological Society was held on the 7th instant, in the Lecture Room of the Literary and Philosophical Society, and was very numerously attended ; Mr T. M. Greenhow in the Chair. At the request of the Committee of the Society, Mr J. Fife consented to deliver an address on the elementary principles of Phrenology. Mr Fife observed that he should best advance the objects of the Society by directing attention to the elementary principles on which Phrenology was founded ; and, upon the present occasion, he proposed to adduce those evidences of its truth which were drawn from works published long before the promulgation of the theory, or advanced by men who desired to refute it, though philosophers, poets, and artists, from the earliest periods, had assented to the common observation that intellect in its highest state was invariably accompanied by a peculiar configuration of the head. Mr Fife exhibited casts of the skulls of various of the most barbarous and uncultivated nations, as also of some of the lower animals most resembling man, and pointed out the marked differences between them and those of the inhabitants of civilized countries—a difference so constant and uniform as to make it a subject of great importance to persons disposed, from unacquaintance with Phrenology, to question the soundness of

the foundation on which that science is based. He explained in condensed and luminous manner, how from the mode in which the head is balanced on the body, the proportionate quantity of brain lying in the anterior part of the cranium regulated the attitude; an instance illustrative of this, is the forward position of the head, ascribed by Homer to the wise Ulysses, accounted for by a predominating proportion of his brain lying in the anterior part of his skull, or seat of intellect, and this development of the brow appearing to cause bis head to droop in a forward direction ; thus characterizing the peeuliar expression of dignity in the contour of the Greek statue_'a proof of the ancient poet having been an accurate observer of nature. The ancient Greeks have invariably attended to the shape of the head in the representations of their gods; and we observe by the specimens of their statuary which remain to us, that their beau ideal consisted in an upright and spacious forehead, widely different from those found in their figures of satyrs and fabulous monsters. Painters, whose art consists in accurate delineation of nature, have always represented the brow as the seat of intellect and intelligence, and the Italian and Flemish masters in particular have constantly and uniformly done so. Mr Fife related, that having on une occasion made a remark on some of the features of a Christ on the Cross, painted by an artist of his acquaintance, he argued that all the features were similar to what had been adhered to by artists from tinie immemorial--that, founded on a minute observation of nature, a particular outline had been carried out as the delineation of wisdom, piety, and benevolence. Shakspeare, Milton, and others, have associated dignity and intelligence with large and upright foreheads, and, as uniformly, the vil. lain and the idiot with a contrary contiguration. Mr Fife traced the progress of the studies and investigations of physiologists and anatomists in the middle and towards the close of the last century, which gradually led to the discovery of Phrenology by Dr Gall. He detailed the manner in which Gall so successfully demonstrated the anatomy of the brain; the circumstance which led to his discovery of the separate organs; and the opposition he met with from the Court of Vienna, lest his new view should lead to the doc. trine of Materialism, an apprehension which Mr Fife finished his address by shewing, in the most satisfactory manner, to be equally absurd and unphilosophical. Mr Fife proposed at some future period to go more into the details of Phrenology, and to answer, severally, the objections of the most plausible writers against the science. His address manifested an intimate ac. quaintance with the subject, and was particularly interesting to persons com. mencing the study of Phrenology. On the motion of Mr Turner, the follow. ing resolution was then passed, and the Secretary wag requested to communi. cate it to Mr Combe:-. That the Phrenological Society of Newcastle, at this its first meeting, desires to testify its cordial respect to George Combe, Esq., and its acknowledgment of the great obligations which its members feel them. selves under to that gentleman, for the information which they have derived from the excellent course of lectures lately delivered by him in this place ; and particularly, for the effective means which he afforded to the establish. ment of this society, hy the collection of busts, &c., obtained by means of his public lecture.' It was then announced that at the next meeting Mr M. H. Rankine would read a paper, entitled 'Some remarks on the doctrine of Hels vetius and his followers, respecting the causes of inequality in men's minds, as controverled by facts and Phrenology:"" We learn that the subsequent meetings of the Newcastle Phrenological Society have been numerously attended, and that the interest excited by Pbrenology in that town continues to increase.

BELFAST.--Extract from the Belfast Guardian, 5th February 1836 :Another public meeting of the Belfast Natural History Society, (the fourth of the present session) was held in the Museum on Wednesday evening the 13th January. Nearly two hundred persons were present, and a paper was read by Mr Grattan on the busts of Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, and Thurtell

, the murderer of Mr Weare, considered phrenologically. Some extremely valuable remarks were made in the course of the evening by Dr Drummond, President of the Society and Professor of Anatomy and