Articles
Phrenology
The phrenology is an area of divination which seeks to
determine a person's character, personality, and criminal
tendencies based on the shape of their head. Each bump and
fissure in the skull provided clues. While this was a popular
notion in the 19th century, it has since fallen
into disrepute. However, it was an influential theory in
19th-century psychiatry.
Phrenologists believed that the organs of the brain changed
the shape of the skull.a large swelling over a particular region indicated that
section of the brain was used a great deal. The valleys in the skull indicated
an area of little thought.
Phrenology was correct in certain aspects. They understood
that the brain was the home of our emotions, perception,
intelligence and more. They also knew that different parts
of the brain had different functions. However, it was only
possible to study dead brains–and dead brains told
few tales.
On rare occasions, scientists got to study the brain in
action. An interesting case out of Vermont led to greater
understanding of the brain. A foreman, a most capable and
efficient man, was involved in an accident that forced a
metal bar through his skull, deep into his brain. Despite
all odds, the man survived, though greatly changed. His
former sunny disposition was gone. In his place was an angry,
impatient, rude man who had extreme difficulty in planning.
Phrenology could not account for the foreman's changed behavior–the
shape of his skull was the same, but he was a completely
different man. Stories like this tolled the death knell
for the theory of phrenology.
With modern medicine and advances in neurology, phrenology
has been reduced to a pseudoscience. While Phrenologists
"read" the bumps and valleys of a skull, they
ascribed a significance to those features which was not
justified by human observation. In many cases, phrenology
was used to justify racism, among other crimes against humanity.
A 19th century
phrenology chart. The inscription on the neck reads, "
Know yourself."
A definition of
phrenology with chart from Webster's Academic Dictionary, circa 1895.
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