practical account. The science
of Astronomy never discovered a star, the science of Arithmetic never
computed the value of a fraction. The sciences are merely icebergs of
cold, hard facts piled up in crystallized principles and rules. Art is the
warm, living application of these principles and rules to serve 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
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