Thus, at one time, the whole countenance will be pale, at another, very red; each of which indicates the existing states of body and mind. Or thus; when the system is in a perfectly healthy state, the whole face will be suffused with the glow of health and beauty, and have a red, but never an inflamed aspect; yet any permanent injury of health, which prostrates the bodily energies, will change this florid complexion into dullness of countenance indicating that but little blood comes to the surface or flows to the head and a corresponding stagnation of the physical and mental powers. Yet, after a time, this dullness frequently gives way to a fiery redness; not the floridness of health, but the redness of inflammation and false excitement, which indicates a corresponding depreciation of the mental faculties. Very red-faced persons, so far from being the most healthy, are frequently the most diseased, and are correspondingly more animal and sensual in character; because physiological inflammation irritates the propensities more, relatively, than the moral and intellectual faculties, though it may, for the time being, increase the latter also. When the moral and intellectual faculties greatly predominate over the animal, such redness of the face may not cause coarse animality, because while it heightens the animal nature, it also increases the intellectual and moral, which, being the larger, hold them in check, but when the animal about equals the moral and intellectual, this inflammation evinces a greater increase of animality than intellectuality and morality. Gross sensualists, and depraved sinners, generally have a fiery, red countenance. Stand aloof from them, for their passions are all on fire, ready to ignite and explode on provocations so slight that a healthy physiology would scarcely notice them. This point can hardly be more fully intelligible; but let readers note the difference between a healthy floridness of face, and the fiery redness of drunkards, debauchees, meat-eaters, etc. Nor does an inflamed physiology merely increase the animal nature, but gives a far more depraved and sensual cast to it, thus doubly increasing the tendency to depravity.
20.—HEALTH AND DISEASE AS AFFECTING MENTALITY.
Health and disease affects the mind as much as body. Virtue, goodness, etc., are only the healthy or normal exercise of our various faculties, while depravity and sin are only the sickly exercise of these same organs. Holiness and moral excellence, as well as badness, depend far less upon the relative SIZE of the phrenological organs, than upon their DIRECTION or tone and character, and this depends upon the STATE OF THE BODY. Or thus; a healthy physiology tends to produce a healthy action of the phrenological organs, which is virtue and happiness; while an unhealthy physiology produces that sickly exercise of the mental faculties, especially of the animal propensities, which constitutes depravity and produces misery. Hence those phrenologists who look exclusively to the predominant SIZE of the animal organs, for vicious manifestations, and regard their average size as indicative of virtue, have this great lesson to learn, that health of body produces health of mind and purity of feelings, while all forms of bodily disease, in the very nature of things, tend to corrupt the feelings and deprave the soul. While, therefore, phrenologists should scrutinize the size of organs closely, they should observe the STATE OF HEALTH much more minutely, for most of their errors are explainable on this ground: that the organs described produced vicious inclinations, not because they were so large but because they were physically SICK, and hence take on a morally DEFORMED mode of action. Phrenologists, look ye well to these points, more fully explained in our other phrenological works.
SECTION II.
PHRENOLOGICAL CONDITIONS AS INDICATING CHARACTER.
21.—DEFINITION AND PROOF.
Phrenology points out those relations established by nature between given developments and conditions of BRAIN and corresponding manifestations of MIND. Its simple yet comprehensive definition is this: every faculty of the mind is manifested by means of particular portions of the BRAIN called its organs, the size of which, other things being equal, is proportionate to its power of function. For example: it teaches that parental love is manifested by one organ, or portion of the brain; appetite by another, reason by a third, etc., which are large the stronger these corresponding mental powers.
Are, then, particular portions of the brain larger or smaller in proportion as particular mental characteristics are stronger or weaker? Our short-hand answer is illustrated by the following anecdote. A Mr. Juror was once summoned to attend court, but died before its sitting. It therefore devolved upon Mr. Simple to state to the court the reason of his non-appearance. Accordingly, when Mr. Juror’s name was called, Mr. Simple responded, “May it please the court, I have twenty-one reasons why Mr. Juror is not in attendance. The first is, he is DEAD. The second is—” “That ONE will answer,” responded the judge. “One such reason is amply sufficient.” But few of the many proofs that Phrenology is true will here be stated, yet those few are DECISIVE.