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the needs of mankind. The art of Astronomy, with the assistance of its handmaiden, the art of Mathematics, astounds the world with its achievements, and holds in one hand the balances with which it weighs the sun, and in the other the chain with which it surveys the distance to the Pleiades.
So with the Science and Art of Phrenology. The science is as absolute as Mathematics. In its principles there are no fallacies. To its rules there are absolutely no exceptions. The Art of Phrenology, on the other hand, is estimative, and the results of its application will depend on the graces, the gifts and the abilities of him who seeks to apply it. As we have brilliant astronomers and poor astronomers, as we have correct mathematicians and incorrect ones, so we may have phrenologists whose discoveries and whose workmanship may command the admiration of the world, those whose talents are of the order of mediocrity, and those who blunder on all occasions.
You have had Phrenology defined to you as the Science of Intelligence, and you naturally ask for a definition of intelligence itself.
Intelligence is the result of the radiation of magnetism from every object in the universe. Magnetism is radiated by different bodies in different degrees of intensity. Man is provided with seven distinct organs of sense, which receive and interpret these radiations. The lowest rate of vibration is received and interpreted by the sense of gender and the next stage by the sense of touch. Above that we have the senses of taste, hearing, sight, smell and clairvoyance. So that the human body is in reality a magnetic musical instrument of seven octaves, each octave constituting a separate sense and each sense subdivided into seven degrees. The radiation of magnetism from exterior objects strikes the human body in these different degrees of vibration and it is the ability of the body to receive these vibrations and of the brain to analyze them, which constitutes the intelligence of the individual. The absence of any organ of sense or the absence of any part of the brain needed in its analysis is accompanied by the corresponding absence or diminution of intelligence. Reasoning therefor from these premises it follows that by inspection of the organization of an individual and by careful examination of his organs of sense and brain capacity we are able to determine how much intelligence he possesses and in what direction it will be projected.
When we study its development and its deterioration, its faculties and their manifestation, we amass a glittering pile of brilliant facts; we classify those facts, reduce them to rules to serve the needs of the human race, and we have the science of Phrenology; and when we apply those rules in the practical delineation of character, we have the Art.
In regard to Phrenology being an exact science, I have shown you that the distinction must be drawn between the principles of the science and the results of their estimative application. The principles of the science are absolute. In his application of them the examiner is hampered by the frailties and fallibilities of the human intellect, just to the same extent that the skilled surgeon or the bright astronomer is subject to the same drawbacks. Would any sensible man decline the services of a skilled surgeon in the hour of need, because surgeons differ in judgment, or, in some cases, make mistakes. Astronomy is regarded as a wonderfully exact science because an eclipse can be computed one hundred years in advance to the fraction of a second, yet astronomers differ in regard to the distance of the sun from the earth to the trifling extent of six million miles. Shall we therefore reject astronomy?
Phrenology is not a fully-developed science. I am glad it is not. I would regret it if a bar should be set to the acquisition of knowledge upon this subject. As long as human intelligence advances, as long as the race improves, as long as men have eyes to see and intellects to comprehend scientific facts, Phrenology will advance. But when you ask me whether Phrenology is sufficiently developed to be of practical value to mankind in its application; when you ask me to compare its development with that of any other science, I answer unhesitatingly that Phrenology is the queen regnant of all sciences, of greater value to the human race than all other sciences combined, because it is the science of humanity itself. Greater than Astronomy because humanity is worth more than all the stars that scintillate in the heavens. Greater than Mathematics, because humanity is better than numbers. Greater than Geology and Zoology, as humanity is above the rocks and animals. Greater than Theology, because it teaches man to know himself, instead of presumptively speculating upon gods and dogmas.