the more admired for the sound and rational principles on which he advocates the advancement of human happiness. Notwithstanding what has been said of it in the way of criticism by some ingenious men, I am convinced that it is a work of great merit, and will be held in high estimation by every candid inquirer. It seems scarcely possible to conceive, that the book can be read with impartiality, or with the spirit in which it was written, without making the reader wiser and better. The refined tone of morality and the animated glow of philanthropy which pervade it, have secured him a high place in the first rank of moralists.

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ARTICLE XVIII.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE PHRENOLOGICAL SOCIETY

OF EDINBURGH.

ON Thursday, 13th November, 1828, the Phrenological Society held its first meeting for the season. The President, Dr A. Combe, delivered the following address from the chair:

"GENTLEMEN,-Eight sessions have now elapsed since the commencement of the Society, and when you are informed that you have this season been called together earlier than usual, on account of the accumulation of materials, you will have ample and pleasing assurance, that the interest taken in Phrenology is very far from being on the wane. And when you look at the donations which cover your table, and inquire whence they have come, you will find very unequivocal evidence, that, while Conscientiousness and Intellect remain constituent parts of the human mind, truth and science will ever have charms to recommend and defend them against all attacks both at home and abroad. We have now before us a very large donation from India; a very valuable donation of casts and documents from the United States of America; a skull and communication from Denmark; a skull from Behring's Straits, perhaps the most distant part of the habitable globe; four skulls from Switzerland; and, lastly, from Paris and from England we have various interesting publications, indicating a spread of knowledg and an amount of talent and of zeal, that cannot but be highly gratifying to every lover of truth, and consequently to every true Phrenologist.

"In addition to all these sources of satisfaction, we have also, I am glad to say, not only the offer, but the ipsa corpora, if I may so speak, of contributions both from members who have not hitherto been accustomed to come for

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ward, and also from strangers at a distance. This is a sign of the times which cannot be misinterpreted, and it is one which must be hailed with pleasure, especially by the older members of the Society, who, from the want of confidence or some other cause having prevented the younger from giving expression to their thoughts, were often obliged to take a greater and seemingly more invidious share in the Society's business than they would otherwise have done. The Society will, I am sure, benefit by and rejoice in the advantages which cannot fail to result from the application of fresh and vigorous minds to the further improvement of phrenological science.

"Since the Society separated, six months ago, we have gained many accessions, and Phrenology has gained many friends; but since that time also we have sustained a severe loss in the lamented death of our illustrious founder, Dr Gall, a man whose merits as a discoverer and faithful interpreter of nature as far transcend my powers of expression as his labours transcend in value those of his little-minded and feeble detractors. I shall, therefore, not even attempt to characterize him, but only mention, that, looking forward to the event which is now past, and anxious that the FIRST Phrenological Society should possess some direct and personal memorial of the FIRST Phrenologist, I made repeated efforts last season to induce Dr Gall to write to the Society. This he was himself desirous of doing; and he delayed from day to day only, as he told Dr Fossati, that he might write very fully, and explain to us his ideas on some doubtful points, to which he wished us to direct our attention; but, unhappily, before he had time to execute his purpose, disease had laid its heavy hand upon him, and in six months more death had consigned him to the tomb. Disappointed in this attempt, I next endeavoured to obtain such particulars of his life, illness, and death, as I thought might' interest the Society, and accordingly wrote to Dr Fossati, who attended him, expressing our deep regret at his de

cease, and urging Dr F. to send us all the information which he could obtain; but, although a promise has been given, which will no doubt be fulfilled when other duties permit, as yet, I am sorry to say, nothing very satisfactory has been communicated.

"In a letter to Dr Fossati, I mentioned that the Society was desirous to possess a marble bust of Dr Gall, and requested him to transmit any prints or casts that might be useful in enabling one of our own members to make a faithful and accurate likeness of the original. In compliance with this, Dr Fossati has sent a medal, which is not more interesting for the strong resemblance which it presents of Dr Gall than for the occasion which gave it existence. It was executed in 1820 by M. Barre, an eminent artist in Paris, by order of Count Potosky, a rich Polish nobleman, who took this method of expressing his deep gratitude to Dr Gall, who had cured him of an old and dangerous malady, for which he had in vain consulted the best medical men in Paris. On one side of the medal is the head of Dr Gall,' an admirable likeness; and on the other is Esculapius, standing at the bedside of the patient, chasing away with one hand the birds of darkness, and crushing a frog, the symbol of ignorance, under his right foot. Behind Esculapius is an altar, with a skull placed on it, to denote the particular kind of study to which Dr Gall was addicted. Near the couch are the arms of the count himself. This medal is very scarce, and, as a testimony honourable alike to Count Potosky and to Dr Gall, it is very valuable.

clusion of one of his lectures, Dr Gall was seized with a paralytic attack, from which he never perfectly recovered, and which ultimately carried him off, on 22d August, 1828, in the 72d year of his age; that his remains were followed to the grave by an immense concourse of friends and admirers, five of whom pronounced discourses over his grave, as is the custom in France on such occasions; that his death gave rise to a succession of eulogiums and attacks in the French newspapers that had scarcely ever been paralleled ; but that public sentiment was warmly and loudly expressed in his favour. In proof of this, I may be allowed to quote a few lines of a letter lately received from a French friend, with whom I was intimate in Paris, but who is no Phrenologist, and whose testimony is therefore impartial. After speaking of the political relations of France, he adds, You will, I am sure, be more affected by the death of Dr Gall than by any political events. In truth, it is an immense loss to science. Whatever opinion we may form of the system of that illustrious man, it must be acknowledged that he has made an immense stride in the sciences of medicine and of man. You must have <been satisfied with the homage paid to his memory by the side of his grave by whatever distinguished men Paris possesses. Nothing was wanting to his glory; not even the abuse and calumnies ' of our devots de gazette.'

"While we cannot but regret our loss, we have also much cause for gratitude. When we look to the untimely fate which too often cuts off the gifted and the excellent in genius and in disposition, almost at the outset of life, we can scarcely be too thankful that Dr Gall was left to us, during a long and active life, to bring his immortal discovery to a degree of perfection and stability which cannot fail to excite our surprise and admiration. In reading his works, we are absolutely overpowered by the extent, minuteness, and accuraof his research over all animated nature, and we instinccy tively feel that his was no common mind, and that perhaps no one but himself could have borne up against the difficulties which at first beset him, or could have advanced with the same undeviating constancy in the only true path of