Fig. 8. EXPLANATION. Figure 8 shews the connection of the nerves and spinal marrow with the brain. A is the brain, exposed by the removal of the back part of the skull. B the cerebellum. C C the spinal marrow. DD the nerves proceeding from the spinal marrow to the arms. E the nerves proceeding to the lower extremities. 0000 the nerves supplying the thorax and abdomen. Although this figure has no pretensions to minute anatomical accuracy, it furnishes a good general view of the connection of the different parts of the nervous system. A B... C- ..E Figure 9 is copied, with some unimportant additions, from Mr Solly's work on the human brain, p. 180. A the medulla oblongata, form ing, as it were, the top of the spinal marrow. a the corpus pyrami dale. B, pons Varolii. C, tubercula quadrigemina, with the fibres of the posterior columns passing in front of them. D, crus cerebri, with some of the fibres of the anterior columns. E, the thalamus nervi optici of one side, or posterior striated body. F, the anterior corpus striatum. G, substance of the hemisphere springing out from the front of the anterior corpus striatum. H, space between the corpus striatum and hemispheres, caused, in this figure, by the introduction of a small piece of wood I, the two surfaces being in contact in the natural state. K, fissura Sylvii. L, the cerebellum. T, the tentorium, separating the cerebellum from the brain. Although the connections which I have mentioned are the most direct and influential, yet there are connections also between the middle and posterior lobes, or the organs of the feelings and desires, and the nerves of motion, by means of which strong affections express themselves, through the medium of the muscles, instinctively, without the intervention of the will: anger, for instance, produces certain instinctive motions in the muscles of the face and body, which we designate as the natural language of this passion; pride produces a different kind of instinctive motions; and vanity a third kind; all easily recognised. Farther, there is such a connection between the anterior lobe and the nerves of sensation, that sensation can act directly on the will, but cannot be commanded by it in return. The nerves of sensation, for instance, transmit impressions from the extremities and surfaces of the body upwards and inwards to the brain, but do not transmit impressions outwards; while the nerves of voluntary motion transmit impressions from the brain outwards, but communicate none inwards and upwards. There is a connection also, by means of nerves, between the organs of respiration and digestion contained in the chest and abdomen, and the brain; and the influence of the brain is necessary to their action and development. The special connection of these nerves with the base of the middle lobe of the brain, has not yet been distinctly traced, but certain experiments have proved that it exists. For example, when Flourens removed all the superior portions of the brain, but allowed the base to remain uninjured, in some of the lower animals, they seemed like creatures asleep, destitute of consciousness and will; but they breathed and digested. When the base of the brain was removed, they instantly died. I hope that the artist will not now regard the proposition as extravagant, that there is a relation in nature between the size of different parts of the brain and particular characters of the body; and that he will allow me to proceed to explain some of them at greater length. As the power of action of all the vital organs, other conditions being equal, is in pro portion to their size, and as each communicates an influence, corresponding to its own character, to the general organism, it follows that that corporeal frame in which all the vital organs are most harmoniously developed, will be most favourably constituted equally for health, vigour, and beauty. Accordingly, it will be found, as a general rule, that when the whole head is of ample size (the moral and intellectual regions predominating), and when the chest and abdomen also are well and proportionately developed, the limbs will be most beautifully formed, the natural attitudes and motions most graceful, the mind and body most active, and the health most complete; in short, the man will be in the most perfect state. Of all these three classes of organs, the brain, perhaps, exerts the greatest influence over the others; and the knowledge of its influence is, therefore, important to the artist. If, for example, the anterior lobe is very large, it gives an intellectual expression to the whole figure. Who has not recognised the expression of great intellect in those figures of Napoleon, in which he is represented with his back to the spectator, looking on the sea from a rock in St Helena ? If the anterior lobe is very small, this intellectual expression is wanting. Who fails to recognise the idiot even by his slouching back and ungainly motions, without needing to look in his face? I venture to assure the artist. that when the coronal or moral region of the head is predominantly developed, the whole body, and especially the countenance, manifests a beaming, lively, easy, graceful goodness, which impresses the beholder with pleasurable emotions; and that when this region is small, and the basilar or animal region predominates, the expression of the countenance, and character of the whole body, in regard to both forms and motions, are low, ungraceful, dark, and disagreeable. These remarks will be best illustrated by examples. In the Palazzo adjoining the "Basilica di S. Giovanni in Laterano," in Rome, there is a large floor composed of ancient mosaics, removed from the Baths of Caracalla. They represent a number of gladiators about the size of life. In the figures, the size of the brain, regarded in the mass, is large, or at least full; but the coronal or moral region in all of them is excessively deficient, the head is extremely broad across the ears, and in the greater part the forehead is short, narrow, and low. In only one did I observe the anterior lobe large; but in him the coronal region is extraordinarily flat, and the base is large. In all of them, too, the lungs are large, and the abdomen of fair magnitude, neither too large nor too small. Here, then, the aggregate size of the brain is ample, the lungs are well developed, and the abdomen is in just proportion: What is wanting to the completeness of the figure? Moral and intellectual organs are wanting in the brain, and the animal region is in excess. What is the effect on the character of the body? Let the mosaics answer. In all the figures the limbs are strong but clumsy; they are coarse in texture, and ungraceful in form and proportions: and the features of the face, without being distorted by passion, or disfigured by constrained attitudes, are unharmonious in their lines, and low and even odious in expression. The figures are destitute of drapery, so that they can be scrutinized, and their different lineaments compared. As works of art, they are very humble in their pretensions; but, from the individuality of their forms, features, and expressions, they appear to be portraits of individual men. It is impossible for the phrenologist who reads their dispositions in their forms to regard them without disgust. Their brains proclaim sensual and ferocious propensities, with a lamentable deficiency in the moral and intellectual qualities; and their whole frames express the same cha racters. With some exceptions, the great masters in art, in ancient and modern times, appear to have perceived the relations which I am now illustrating. In the Royal Gallery at Florence, for instance, there is a Bacchus by Rubens, in which they are well observed. Bacchus is the personification of unthinking jollity; and the painter has bestowed on him a brain rather under the average in general size, in proportion to his body. As the drunken god does not reflect much, he has given him a small forehead, and placed the deficiency chiefly in the reflecting region; but as Bacchus greatly enjoys the pleasures of the table, the artist has very considerately endowed him with a broad head in the region of Alimentiveness and the Love of Life, while his moral organs are very moderate in size. How has he formed the remainder of the figure? He has given to it ample lungs, and a large abdomen. Here, then, as in the former instance, all the vital organs necessary for a perfect development of the human figure are present, except the brain in sufficient size, and the deficiency there appears chiefly in the moral and intellectual organs. differences between Bacchus and the gladiators are these: in Bacchus, the general size of the brain is less than in the gladiators, indicating less general mental power; in him the moral region, although low, is not so deficient as in the gladiators, and his thirst is not for blood, but only for wine; in him the abdomen is larger, in proportion to the brain and thorax, than in them, indicating in him greater nutritive than mental and The muscular power. In exact accordance with all these qualities, Rubens has bestowed on Bacchus fat flabby limbs, and a portly figure, and deprived him of all pretensions to deep thought, elegance, and grace. Nevertheless, he has refined the forms and the expression of the countenance as much as was compatible with the character, and, on the whole, produced as pleasing a representation of sensual enjoyment as genius could accomplish. The next example is furnished by the Theban Hercules, an ancient semi-colossal statue in the "Museo Chiaramonti," in the Vatican, Rome, No. 294. Hercules is the representative of great physical strength, employed in arduous labours, and generally for benign purposes. Hercules is no toper; he is not addicted to gourmanderie; he is not cruel or ferocious; yet he is not intellectual, and he is passively rather than actively moral, except in the aim of his feats of strength. How, then, has the ancient artist formed him? He has conferred on him a large chest, with an ample but firm abdomen, and a head rather below average in general size, in proportion to the body. These are the proportions which produce physical strength plus, and mental power minus. How has he shaped the head? He has bestowed a brain of average breadth over the ears, and pretty large behind, indicating animal propensity sufficient for health, strength, and physical enjoyment, but not so great as to produce predominating sensuality or ferocity. The anterior lobe is well developed in the lower ridge and in the middle perpendicular region, a combination of intellectual organs adapted to observation and practical action; but it is palpably deficient in Ideality, Wonder, and Wit, sentiments of elevation, refinement, and gaiety. The coronal or moral region is of an average size in proportion to the other parts. The countenance exhibits a healthy, easy, good-natured, yet grave expression, harmonizing admirably with the physiological effects which would follow from his peculiar combination of brain, thorax, and abdomen. How do the limbs correspond with this character? They are large, strong, and well proportioned; but they are neither fine in texture, nor highly graceful in form. The statue was found in 1802 "nella Campagna dell'Oriole," and an arm and the right leg were restored by Alessandro d'Este, after a model by Canova. It is an admirable personification of the man of bone and muscle, of activity and strength, but who is neither a sensualist nor a savage. In the "Stanza di Giove, No. 111," of the Royal Gallery in Florence, is Salvator Rosa's celebrated picture of the " Conspiracy of Catiline." History informs us that Catiline and his associates were men weak in intellect, strong in animal VOL. XVII.-N S. NO. XXVI. APRIL 1844. I |