Phrenology proved, illustrated and applied : accompanied by a chart : embracing an analysis of the primary, mental powers in their various degrees of development, the phenomena produced by their combined activity, and the location of the phrenological organs in the head : together with a view of the moral and theological bearing of the science / by O. S. & L. N. Fowler ; assisted by Samuel Kirkham.

  • Fowler, O. S. (Orson Squire), 1809-1887.
Date:
1836
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Phrenology proved, illustrated and applied : accompanied by a chart : embracing an analysis of the primary, mental powers in their various degrees of development, the phenomena produced by their combined activity, and the location of the phrenological organs in the head : together with a view of the moral and theological bearing of the science / by O. S. & L. N. Fowler ; assisted by Samuel Kirkham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    boldness and daring in horsemanship. To make the expen. ment the more satisfactory, the author was blindfolded. The lad was described as possessed of extraordinary talent, and high moral feeling, joined with some cunning, but with small combat., and so extreme a development of cautious, as to make him timid and cowardly—too timid to run any risk, or venture near the brink of danger. All present allowed that the description, throughout, was very correct, except that the most marked feature of his character had been reversed. He was considered the most daring and reckless youth in the whole village. Many instances, however, were soon cited, of his unwillingness to mount horses with which he was not fully acquainted, and which were considered frac- tious. His brother also stated, that he was excessively afraid in the dark; and only a few days previous, his father had re- marked to some one present, that, although he affected great daring, bravado, and willingness to fight, &c, yet, when brought to the sticking point, he always contrived, and some- times very ingeniously, to get out of the scrape without com- ing to blows. Still the youth affected to be as courageous and as daring as ever, until, at supper, in the evening after his examination, when his mother, who doubtless knew best his real character, accosted him substantially as follows: My son, you know that you are a coward: why, then, do you persist in denying it? You know that I can never make you, old as you are, go to bed alone ; and that, Avhenev- er you are left alone in bed, you will get up and come down. I know it, mother, replied the humbled boy, but I did not wish the other boys to find out that I was a coward, because, when they do, they will call me out to fight. The real explanation is this. His very large self-e. and large approbat. created the demand for apparent bravery, and his very large intellect, and large secret., enabled him to devise this method of supplying his want of native courage with this counterfeit bravery ; while his predominating cau- tious., which caused his excessive fear, kept him from expos- ing himself to any real danger; and his self-e. gave him the self-confidence necessary to carry out the ingenious expedient which his intellect had devised. The following anecdote was related to the author. A Mr. S., in a certain engagement with the Indians, fought des- perately, even with a bravery which greatly astonished those who had known his father, who was always branded and