I 
 
 
 IIMi 
 
 i 
 
 'jJSL
 
 t'r.GO
 
 D Hackee H.S.A.
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 ANDREW COMBE, M.D., 
 
 FELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF EDINBURGH ; ONE 
 
 OF THE PHYSICIANS IN ORDINARY, IN SCOTLAND, TO THE QUEEN; 
 
 AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL AND 
 
 ROYAL SOCIETY OF PHYSICIANS IN VIENNA. 
 
 GEORGE COMBE. 
 
 Res non verba quseso. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 MACLACHLAN AND STEWART ; 
 
 LONGMAN & CO., AND SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., 
 LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCL.
 
 Printed by NEILL & Co., Edinburgh.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 DR COMBE'S Executors were led to desire that a Me- 
 moir of his Life, and a selection from his Letters, 
 should be published, by the hope that they might prove 
 acceptable to medical students and young medical prac- 
 titioners, as supplying them with hints calculated to 
 assist the former in their studies, and the latter in 
 the discharge of their practical duties, to patients, as 
 containing his opinions on a variety of cases of chronic 
 maladies to which general rules are applicable, and of 
 his numerous friends and acquaintances, and that por- 
 tion of the public which knew him through the medium of 
 his books, as exhibiting him in his private capacity as a 
 sou, a brother, and a member of domestic society, and 
 above all, as a patient acting out in his own person, 
 in trying circumstances, and during a long course of 
 years, those principles of hygiene which he taught in 
 his writings, and recommended to general adoption. 
 
 The reasons which induced the Author of the present 
 work to undertake the duty of preparing it for the 
 press, although standing in the relation of a brother 
 to Dr Combe, were,^r*, that no other person could be 
 found who was in possession of the requisite knowledge
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 of his private life, and was at the same time willing 
 and otherwise qualified to execute the task ; and, 
 secondly, that from the copiousness of the materials 
 left, Dr Combe could be rendered, to a great extent, 
 his own biographer. 
 
 On examining the manuscripts, they were found to 
 be of so miscellaneous a character that they did not 
 admit of arrangement in reference to their subjects : 
 The chronological order, therefore, remained as the only 
 one available, and it has been followed. It is attended 
 with the disadvantages of desultoriness and repetition : 
 but any artificial classification according to topics 
 would have been accompanied by the greater evils of 
 constraint, and also of imperfect development ; for the 
 materials do not consist of essays written in a sys- 
 tematic form, but of familiar letters, in which topics of 
 importance are introduced, and partially discussed, with- 
 out any view to a full elucidation, or, in general, to 
 publication. They possess, however, the freedom and 
 freshness of spontaneous effusion, which is the natural 
 compensation for diffuseness and repetition ; and as Dr 
 Combe was a systematic thinker, they are characterised 
 by a degree of unity of design, and consistency of exe- 
 cution, which preserves them from being a collection of 
 mere heterogeneous thoughts and impressions. 
 
 It would be difficult to describe the painful anxiety 
 with which the Author of the work proceeded in the 
 execution of his duty. He endeavoured to view the 
 materials in the light in which they might be supposed 
 to appear to liberal and intelligent readers, and reject- 
 ed or admitted them according to his anticipation of
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 their probable judgments; but possessing no standard 
 of other men's thoughts and feelings adequate to guide 
 him in making a selection on such a principle, he at 
 times became perplexed, and hesitated in his course. 
 To obtain, if possible, some glimpse into the probability 
 of his success or failure, he solicited a number of in- 
 telligent persons, some of them the intimate friends of 
 Dr Combe, and others individuals who had never seen 
 either him or his biographer, to read the first half of 
 the work, and to favour him with their opinions, as a 
 guide to his conduct in preparing the remaining por- 
 tion of the Memoir. The impressions which they com- 
 municated in answer to his appeal were highly instruc- 
 tive to him, and the following condensed abstract of a 
 few of them, may, it is hoped, prove useful also to the 
 reader in preparing him for perusal of the volume. As 
 these communications were not intended for publication, 
 only the substance of them is here presented. 
 
 A physician in extensive practice in England, ex- 
 pressed himself to the following effect : " Dr Combe's 
 chief characteristics were sagacity, integrity, kindness, 
 prudence, and intellectual activity ; but he was not dis- 
 tinguished as an original thinker, and made no disco- 
 veries in science or medicine. The leading interest 
 of his Life, therefore, in England, will consist in its 
 exhibiting the history of a peculiar mind placed in pe- 
 culiar circumstances ; I mean a mind eminently Scotch, 
 formed under a Scotch education." 
 
 Another physician, also in extensive practice, said : 
 " Dr Combe belonged to the class of minds which is 
 original in the best sense of the word : He looked di- 
 
 a2
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 rectly through all that is artificial, and technical, and 
 routine, in the profession, and never stopped till he 
 reached Nature in her simplicity and power. From 
 that point he started, and laid down rules of practice 
 at once so sound, so clear, and so fruitful, that he is 
 justly entitled to be viewed as an eminent reformer in 
 medical science, as well as an invaluable instructor of 
 the public." 
 
 A non-professional individual, an entire stranger to 
 Dr Combe, wrote : " One fault of the Life is the mi- 
 nuteness of the details on the subject of Dr Combe's 
 health. All disease ends necessarily in recovery or 
 death, and it is the result only that interests the gene- 
 ral reader. The events of a sick-room are never agree- 
 able, nor are they instructive ; for every case of illness 
 is to a great extent peculiar, and the treatment adopted 
 in one instance cannot serve as a rule of action in an- 
 other." 
 
 On the same topic another non-professional corre- 
 spondent wrote : " I think you have acted very judi- 
 ciously and beneficially to the public in giving such 
 an ample and intelligible elucidation of the rise and 
 progress of your brother's pulmonary affection. I see 
 that in one of his letters he expresses his convic- 
 tion, that with a reasonable knowledge of the human 
 constitution and the laws of health on the part of his 
 parents and himself, the first attack might have been 
 prevented ; and this lesson may be read and applied by 
 thousands of parents in the present day. After he was 
 involved in it, his efforts in warding off its fatal termi- 
 nation not only teach us a great practical lesson in re-
 
 PREFACE. vil 
 
 gard to our conduct under the influence of disease, but 
 exhibit a beautiful picture of reason, morality, and me- 
 dical skill long triumphing over difficulties that seemed 
 insurmountable. Considering the great number of vic- 
 tims of pulmonary affections in this country, to whom 
 Dr Combe's case must be at once instructive, cheering, 
 and consolatory, I have to thank you sincerely for the 
 pains you have taken to present a faithful record of it 
 in his Life." 
 
 Another friend expressed himself thus : " I believe 
 the great obstacle to the general success of Dr Combe's 
 Life will be the extent to which it is pervaded by Phre- 
 nology. You are aware that the public in general do not 
 regard these doctrines as having a foundation in na- 
 ture ; and when they see Dr Combe passing his life in 
 defending them, and avowing that he acted on them, 
 a suspicion of the soundness of his judgment will na- 
 turally take possession of the reader's mind, which will 
 probably impair the effect of the many valuable obser- 
 vations which he introduces on other topics. At the 
 same time, I do not see how this evil could have been 
 avoided ; for it is clear that Dr Combe's whole heart 
 and soul were in Phrenology, and that he set a high 
 value on its consequences." 
 
 In reference to the same subject, another non-pro- 
 fessional and highly intelligent individual writes: 
 '* There is much that will interest general readers in 
 your brother's Life ; but I foresee that its permanent 
 value will depend on the circumstance of Phrenology 
 being generally admitted to be founded on physical 
 facts or not. If it should be received as true science,
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 then Dr Combe will be esteemed as one of its early and 
 strenuous defenders ; and the influence of his opinions, 
 and the strength of his reputation, will increase in pro- 
 portion as it is studied and valued. On this subject I 
 arn incapable of judging ; but if Phrenology be true, Dr 
 Combe will be more highly appreciated hereafter than 
 he can well be in the present day, when few are in pos- 
 session of adequate knowledge to authorise them to de- 
 cide on this disputed question." 
 
 The last remark that need be here introduced was : 
 " You have swelled your work occasionally with notices 
 of unknown individuals, with whom Dr Combe was only 
 cursorily or temporarily associated, and who exercised 
 no influence over his conduct or welfare. These had 
 better have been omitted." 
 
 His biographer begs to urge, in extenuation of this 
 charge, that the individuals referred to had conferred 
 essential benefits on Dr Combe, by acts of kindness ad- 
 ministered to him when he was thrown accidentally in 
 their way, and that in portions of his correspondence 
 which have been withheld from publication as essen- 
 tially private, he expresses himself as so strongly im- 
 pressed by their benevolence, that it would have been 
 unjust to his memory not to have acknowledged it in 
 his Life. 
 
 The effect of these communications on his biographer, 
 was to convince him that most readers will take their 
 own peculiar feelings and opinions as the standards by 
 which to try those of Dr Combe, and that very different 
 judgments will be pronounced by different individuals 
 on each of the topics here submitted to consideration.
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 Acting under this impression, lie followed the dictates 
 of his own understanding, aided by the counsels of the 
 other executors of Dr Combe, in preparing the second 
 half of the volume ; and he now awaits the verdict of 
 the Public on his labours, with the consciousness that 
 he has used his best efforts to discharge the duty which 
 he had undertaken. 
 
 To prevent erroneous impressions, the reader is re- 
 quested to peruse the paragraph commencing at the 
 bottom of page 406, before reading the letter dated 
 18th February 1841, printed on page 390, as the former 
 throws light on certain remarks made by Dr Combe in 
 the latter. 
 
 To avoid the appearance of egotism, the biographer 
 has, throughout, written of himself in the third person, 
 in preference to the first. 
 
 45 MELVILLE STREET, EDINBURGH, 
 Itt March 1850.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 137, line 14, for " indigatori" read indagatori 
 
 164, ... 29, for 8 grains of " calomel'' read columba
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Dr Combe's birth and parentage, 4. Infancy, 8, 11. Development 
 of his brain, 14. His school education, 11. Apprenticed to a sur- 
 geon, 17, 25. Nearly drowned, 22, 90. Residence with George 
 Combe, and its effects, 24. His remarks on his father's family, 
 31. His own mental condition in youth, 33, 38, 39, 44. Passes 
 at Surgeons' Hall, 40. Dr Spurzheim's arrival in Edinburgh, 
 effects of, 41. Andrew Combe studies in Paris, 48. Amusements 
 in Paris, 54, 64, 77. His professional prospects, 62. Studies 
 Phrenology, 65. Studies insanity under Esquirol, 68, 72. 
 Death of his mother, 79. Studies midwifery, 82. State of his 
 health, 84, 88, 91, 94, 97, 107, 111, 117, 201* 211, 241, 259, 287, 
 386, 393, 398, 423, 480, 515. Visits Switzerland and Lombardy, 
 85. Returns to London, 88, and thence to Edinburgh, 90. First 
 attack of pulmonary disease, 91. Passes the winter of 1820-1 in 
 Italy, 100. Cerebral development of distinguished men described, 
 113. Passes the winter of 1821-2 in France and Italy, 117. 
 Essay on the effects of injuries of the Brain, 123. His style, 122, 
 130, 534. His Essay on Phrenology read before the Medical So- 
 ciety, 131. Takes the degree of M.D., 137. His mode of acting in 
 medical practice, 140, 146, 240, 530. Essay on Size as a measure 
 of power, 150. On the exercise of the brain, 159. Influence of 
 disease on religious feelings, 165. On active and passive goodness, 
 167. On mental cultivation, 169, 176. His observations on the 
 case of Edward Davies, a lunatic, 185. Publishes a work on 
 Mental Derangement, 190. Contributions offered by Dr Combe 
 to the Edinburgh Review, 183, and to the Encyclopaedia Bri- 
 tannica, 195, and both declined. Dr Combe reviews "Aber- 
 crombie on the Intellectual Powers," 195. On the causes of the 
 liberty of nations, 197. Second attack of pulmonary disease, 201. 
 Proceeds to Paris, 205, thence by Marseilles to Naples, 208. 
 His rule as to professional remuneration, 210. Attacked with 
 inflammation of the lungs, 211. Arrives in Rome, 214. Returns 
 to Edinburgh, 217. Goes to London and Paris, 222. Resumes 
 practice, 224. Answers Dr Prichard's objections against Phre- 
 nology, 225. Remarks on spectral illusions, 228. Remarks on
 
 i CONTENTS. 
 
 Lunatic Asylum at Hanwell, 230. Publishes his work on Phy- 
 siology applied to Health and Education, 235. Confidence ob- 
 served in medical practice, 237. Proposes to withdraw from prac- 
 tice, 243. Visit to Coul, 246. Goes to Paris, 251. Returns to 
 Edinburgh, and partially resumes practice, 234. Projects esta- 
 blishing a lunatic asylum, 255. Becomes Physician to the King of 
 the Belgians, 256. Return of pulmonary disease, 259. Resigns 
 his appointment, 260. Remarks on the climate of Brussels, and 
 the situations of the Royal Palaces, 263. Departure from Brus- 
 sels, 265. Visit to Deanston, 267. Revisits Brussels, 269. 
 Stormy voyage home, 271. Dedication of " Physiology" to the 
 King of the Belgians, 272. Origin of his works, and his habits of 
 composition, 274. Publishes " The Physiology of Digestion," 
 275. His pecuniary resources in 1835-6, 278. His health in 
 1837, 287. Mode of acting under distressing occurrences, 295. 
 Is appointed a Physician-Extraordinary to the Queen, 333. Re- 
 visits Belgium and the Rhine, 336. Accident to, in a mail-coach, 
 364. Publishes " A Treatise on the Physiological and Moral 
 Management of Infancy," &c., 366. Danger of shipwreck, 373. 
 Reasons for resigning office as one of the managers of a lunatic 
 asylum, 382. Is attacked with haemoptysis, 386. Death of his 
 sister, Mrs Cox, 387. His prospects of death, 394. His motives 
 in writing his works, 399. His opinions on hereditary descent of 
 constitutional qualities, 402. Influence of Phrenology on his re- 
 ligious opinions, 406. Its advantages in his professional capacity, 
 409. State of his health in 1841-2, 423. Sails for Madeira, 431. 
 His mode of life there, 433. Returns to England, 455. Se- 
 cond voyage to Madeira, 463. His stay in Madeira, 471. Re- 
 turns to England, via Lisbon, 472. Passes the winter of 1844-5 
 in Edinburgh, 473. Severe illness in spring 1845, 474. Resi- 
 dence at Helensburgh and Row, 476. Spends the autumn in 
 Edinburgh, 479. State of his health in 1845, 475. Passes the 
 winter 1845-6 in Edinburgh, 480. Visits London and Kingston- 
 on-Thames, 491. Visits Cork, 493. Resides at Dunoon, 499. 
 State of his health in November 1846, 515. Passes the winter of 
 1846-7 in Edinburgh, 517. Voyage to America, 518. Obser- 
 vations on the Americans, 521. Returns to Liverpool, 524. Pro- 
 ceeds to Scotland, 525. Becomes ill at Crorgie Mill, 526. His 
 death, 527. His character, 530. Report of the post-mortem ex- 
 amination by Dr Scott, 538. Report on the cranium and brain 
 by Dr Handyside, 540. Report on the prepared cranium by Dr 
 James Cox, 541. Estimate of cerebral development, &c., 543. 
 APPENDIX, 549.
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 ANDREW COMBE, M.D. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARK:? AXDREW COMBE's PAREXTAGE A>*D BIRTH 
 
 ACCOUXT OF HIS FATHER'S PLACE OF RESIDENCE ANT) DOMESTIC 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES. 
 
 THE biography of any individual of a lively and active 
 disposition, which should faithfully represent the feel- 
 ings and intellectual qualities that animated him, the 
 circumstances in which he was placed, and the suffer- 
 ings and enjoyments which his conduct evolved, could 
 scarcely fail to prove interesting. It would be a repre- 
 sentation of human nature individualized, and would 
 have an intrinsic value, whether it should relate to a 
 person who had remained obscure, or to one whose in- 
 tellectual efforts had raised him to distinction. But to 
 give it this character, it must be both particular and 
 true. Great obstacles, however, meet the biographer 
 who desires to communicate these two qualities to his 
 work. In many instances, time has dried up the sources 
 of correct information ; in some, it is difficult to separate
 
 2 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 characteristic incidents from unimportant details ; while 
 in others, again, a conventional spirit may prompt him 
 to shrink from the exposure of imperfections and errors 
 in those whom he respected and loved. 
 
 Dr Combe was conscious that his parents, in common 
 with most persons of the age in which they lived, had, 
 with the best intentions, fallen into several important 
 errors in the moral and physical management of their 
 children, from which he suffered severely. While he 
 acquitted them of all blame, he could not avoid per- 
 ceiving that many of the evils alluded to, arose from 
 causes and circumstances which, by the aid of greater 
 knowledge than they possessed, might have been modi- 
 fied or avoided ; and during his active life, he endea- 
 voured, by diffusing practical information concerning 
 the laws of health, to save others from similar misfor- 
 tunes. 
 
 In 1841, when he regarded his death as approaching, 
 he, at the request of the author of the present work, 
 wrote a series of letters, with a view to eventual publi- 
 cation, in which he developed his own views and feelings 
 in regard to the circumstances and events of his early 
 life ; and thus his biographer is relieved from a degree 
 of responsibility which might otherwise have attached 
 to him in regard to the publication of details. 
 
 To the natural qualities of the Scottish people act- 
 ing in an imperfect state of civilisation, may be traced 
 many of the habits and practices which, in that age, 
 pressed severely on the young. The lowland Scotch, 
 descended from a Celtic stock imbued with Teutonic 
 blood, have long been celebrated for a " perfervidum 
 ingenium" or, in phrenological language,* for vigor- 
 ous propensities of Combativeness and Destructiveness, 
 
 * An explanation of the Phrenological nomenclature will be found 
 in the Appendix, No. I.
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3 
 
 which render them bold and energetic iii contending 
 with obstacles, but which also, when not thoroughly 
 disciplined, give them a tendency to harshness and iras- 
 cibility. To these qualities are added strong domestic 
 affections. They possess large organs of Amativeness, 
 Philoprogenitiveness, Adhesiveness, and Concentrative- 
 ness, whence spring an ardent love of home, of kindred, 
 and of offspring. They are endowed also with an ample 
 development of the organs of Acquisitiveness, Cautious- 
 ness, Secretiveness, Self-Esteem, Love of Approbation, 
 and Firmness, which confer on them those quiet, pru- 
 dent, persevering, self-respecting, and self-advancing 
 qualities, for which they are celebrated wherever they 
 are known. They possess, moreover, a large develop- 
 ment of the moral and religious organs, accompanied 
 by a natural seriousness of character, a deep interest in 
 religion, and a strong sense of moral responsibility. 
 Their intellectual organs fit them for all ordinary spheres 
 of enterprise and action. 
 
 This equable endowment of faculties affords the ele- 
 ments of much good and evil ; and renders the Scotch 
 in a remarkable degree susceptible of improvement by 
 training and education. At the time when Andrew 
 Combe began life, the problem of sustaining these groups 
 of faculties in a state of habitual harmonious action in 
 daily domestic life, had not been generally solved ; nor 
 has this object been, even now, universally accomplished. 
 There prevailed then, and perhaps prevails still, too 
 much sternness, distance, and severity, combined with 
 a strong, genuine, and unwavering, but often latent 
 attachment, in the intercourse between parents and 
 children, and also between children themselves of the 
 same family. 
 
 The Calvinistic faith of Scotland harmonises in a 
 striking manner with the combination of mental quali-
 
 4 PARENTAGE AND BIRTH. 
 
 ties now described ; and, where it meets with depth of 
 feeling and of thought, exercises a powerful influence 
 over the habitual conduct of the individual. 
 
 Although the treatment of the young, now alluded 
 to, is believed to be still common in Scotland,* it is 
 proper to observe, that, in many instances, an increas- 
 ing civilisation has changed the aspect of domestic man- 
 ners, and that improvement rapidly advances. 
 
 ANDREW COMBE was the fifteenth child and seventh 
 son of George Comb,-f- brewer at Livingston's Yards (a 
 small property lying under the south-west angle of 
 Edinburgh Castle), and of Marion Newton, his wife. As 
 the question of the descent of certain qualities of mind 
 and body from generation to generation is interesting 
 in itself, and still engages the attention of physiologists, 
 it may be allowable to mention a few particulars con- 
 cerning the families to which his parents belonged. 
 Andrew's father was born at Lennymains, a farm in 
 the parish of Cramond, near Edinburgh, on the 7th of 
 February 1745. His progenitors had for generations 
 been tenant-farmers in that district, lying six or seven 
 miles west from Edinburgh ; and one of the descendants 
 farms there still. The family was distinguished for 
 industry, prudence, and integrity. 
 
 Of the family of Newton nothing is known previous 
 to the year 1688. At that date, Abraham Newton held 
 in lease the farm of Ormiston, in the parish of East 
 
 * See " Jacobinism in the Nursery," in Chambers's Edinburgh 
 Journal, of 9th August 1845, New Series, vol. iv., p. 81, and in " Se- 
 lect Writings of Robert Chambers," vol. ii., p. 407. 
 
 f He wrote his name without the final e ; but among the papers 
 which he left, was a lease, dated in 1742, in favour of one of his fore- 
 fathers, in the signature to which the name was spelled Combe. His 
 family readopted the dropt letter.
 
 PARENTAGE AND BIRTH. O 
 
 C alder, and also the estate of Curriehill, in the parish 
 of Currie, both lying from seven to ten miles south- 
 west from Edinburgh. John Newton, his son, suc- 
 ceeded him as tenant of Curriehill ; and afterwards ac- 
 quired the property in fee-simple. 
 
 His eldest son, Abraham Newton, married Barbara 
 Cunningham ; and of this marriage Marion Newton, the 
 mother of Andrew Combe, was the youngest daughter. 
 Abraham Xewton died on the 29th of September 1791, 
 at the age of 76. 
 
 The heads of the Newton family, who became pro- 
 prietors of Curriehill, were enrolled as freeholders of 
 the county, nominated Justices of the Peace, and passed 
 into the rank of the smaller gentry of the district ; but 
 they continued to farm their own land, and to associate 
 with both the proprietors and tenants of the neighbour- 
 hood, till the close of their male line in 1838. 
 
 These facts indicate a hereditary transmission of 
 prudence, industry, and intelligence, with little ambi- 
 tion, through both of the lines of Andrew Combe's proge- 
 nitors ; qualities which appeared strikingly in himself. 
 
 Such were the descent and circumstances of Andrew 
 Combe's parents. But nature had done more for both of 
 them than adventitious circumstances. George Comb, 
 the father, was six feet two inches in stature, and of a ro- 
 bust frame. Bilious and nervous in temperament, and en- 
 dowed with a large brain, he was of an active and ener- 
 getic character. There is extant a portrait of him, by 
 Shiel, which represents the head as rather small in rela- 
 tion to his size ; but it is incorrect. He could not usually 
 find in the shops a hat large enough for his head, and 
 a block was made on which his hats were formed. The 
 organs of his propensities, except Combativeness, were 
 inferior in size to those of the moral sentiments and in- 
 tellect. His intellectual organs were well developed, but
 
 6 PARENTAGE AND BIRTH. 
 
 the reflecting region predominated. His education ex- 
 tended only to reading, writing, mensuration, and book- 
 keeping : He never learned either grammar or the art 
 of spelling. In the middle of last century, even the 
 gentry of Scotland were not, in general, better educated. 
 His chief characteristics were Conscientiousness and Be- 
 nevolence, combined with a constitutional temperance, 
 which never forsook him. He felt acutely his own edu- 
 cational deficiencies, and shrunk from writing even a 
 common letter. Several of his letters, however, remain ; 
 and if printed, with corrections in the grammar, spelling, 
 and punctuation, would do him credit, by the propriety 
 of feeling, thought, and expression, by which they are 
 characterised. He was fond of reading in the few inter- 
 vals which his business allowed him ; but his studies 
 were limited almost exclusively to " The Spectator," 
 and works of Calvinistic Divinity. Addison's Saturday 
 papers were his " week-day " delight ; and on Sundays 
 " Boston's Fourfold State," " Marshall's Gospel Mys- 
 tery of Sanctification," and similar works, furnished oc- 
 cupation for his thoughts after the stated services of the 
 Church. His sensitiveness to his own educational im- 
 perfections indicated a mind that possessed considerable 
 native power and sensibility, of the use of which it felt 
 itself deprived through lack of cultivation. Where the 
 mental faculties are feeble or dull, this want is but 
 little felt. 
 
 Conscientiousness and Benevolence were conspicu- 
 ously manifested in his actions. He was modest and re- 
 tiring, had an abhorrence of debt, and was so kind- 
 hearted that his brewery was the home of several half- 
 witted beings, who lent the labour of their muscles in 
 the rudest kind of work, and whom he paid and sup- 
 ported to his own obvious loss, because nobody else 
 would employ them.
 
 PARENTAGE AND BIRTH. 7 
 
 Marion Newton, the mother of Andrew Combe, was 
 born at Curriehill on the 18th of June 1757. She was 
 of middle stature, of a nervous and bilious temperament, 
 and full of life and energy. Her head was of an average 
 size, but very favourably proportioned. The percep- 
 tive organs predominated slightly over the reflecting 
 organs, giving her an eminently practical character : 
 Benevolence, Cautiousness, Conscientiousness, and Firm- 
 ness were largely developed, and in these qualities 
 there was an entire harmony between her and her hus- 
 band. At her marriage, although accomplished in al- 
 most every species of knowledge which constitutes a 
 skilful housewife, she was nearly destitute of scholastic 
 literary education and accomplishments beyond reading, 
 writing, and mental arithmetic. Her educational de- 
 ficiencies arose from the neglect of her parents, who 
 did not appreciate " book-learning ;" for she was re- 
 markably acute in acquiring every kind of knowledge 
 that was presented to her as useful and becoming. She 
 also, as she acquired experience in life, became acutely 
 conscious of the defects of her education, and often la- 
 mented them. 
 
 On the 28th of October 1775, George Comb and 
 Marion Newton subscribed their marriage-contract at 
 Curriehill. He was then in his 31st, and she in her 
 19th year; and they were shortly afterwards married. 
 
 Mrs Comb was remarkable, throughout her whole life, 
 for ceaseless activity. Early and late she was engaged 
 in the discharge of her household duties, and nothing 
 escaped her attention. She was never in a bustle, yet 
 she was quick in action. Clear and methodical in her 
 arrangements, she gave to every process a beginning, a 
 middle, and an end ; and in the evening, she generally 
 contrived to find leisure for needle-work or knitting. 
 She and her husband were kind and attentive to the
 
 8 PARENTAGE AND BIRTH. 
 
 neighbouring poor, even when economy was severely en- 
 forced on themselves by the pressure of the times. She 
 was the peace-maker in all misunderstandings among 
 the numerous relatives of the family, and was relied on 
 by them for assistance and advice in all cases of serious 
 illness and misfortune. 
 
 But the constant pressure of the cares of a large fa- 
 mily, precluded the manifestation, on her part, of much of 
 that sympathetic tenderness towards her children which 
 she really felt ; and hence, in their earlier years, many 
 of them never knew the pleasure which a mother's affec- 
 tion sheds over the minds of the young. Her sway was 
 one of general kindness and justice, rather than one of 
 endearment: favouritism was unknown. Andrew, as 
 will be afterwards seen, while he missed the sympathy 
 of maternal tenderness in his childhood, loved and 
 esteemed his mother when he became capable of appre- 
 ciating her excellent qualities, and of making allowance 
 for the circumstances in which she was placed. 
 
 At the time of his marriage, Andrew's father occu- 
 pied the brewery of Newgrange, situated a short dis- 
 tance from the east end of the Crosscauseway, on the 
 road to Dalkeith. In 1780, the brewery and lands of 
 Livingston's Yards were purchased by him, and thither 
 he immediately removed. Here Andrew Combe was 
 born on the 27th of October 1797. The family subse- 
 quently increased to seventeen children, of whom thirteen 
 survived till 1807. Immediately after birth, Andrew 
 was transferred to the care of Mary Robertson, wife of 
 John Robertsone, tailor in the village of Corstorphin, a 
 woman of extraordinary vigour, liveliness, and practi- 
 cal sense. She was in the prime of life, and Andrew 
 prospered under her care. When he was weaned and 
 was able to walk, she restored him to his parents \ cer- 
 tifying his condition in these emphatic terms : " He
 
 HIS FATHER'S PLACE OF RESIDENCE. 9 
 
 eats like a raven and sleeps like a dyke," i. ., lies as 
 still as a wall. 
 
 Mary Robertson reared many children of the middle 
 classes of Edinburgh, besides bringing np a family of 
 her own ; and Andrew Combe continued to respect her, 
 and to shew her kind attentions during his whole life. 
 She survived him a few months. From her practice 
 he drew some of his illustrations on the management 
 of infancy. She spoke pure vernacular Scotch ; but 
 such was the vigour of her faculties, that frequently 
 both her feelings and intellectual conceptions far ex- 
 ceeded the narrow limits of her vocabulary, and she in- 
 vented words, pregnant with force and expression, while 
 she talked. She was so judicious, active, and trust- 
 worthy, that during the incumbency of the Rev. Mr 
 Oliver, as minister of Corstorphine, she was the chief 
 medium through which the relief of the poor of the vil- 
 lage was administered. She died at an advanced age in 
 December 1847, respected by all who knew her. She 
 was greatly attached to Andrew, and followed his rise 
 and progress through life with almost a parent's pride, 
 pleasure, and affection. If the physical and mental 
 character of a nurse exercise any influence over the 
 constitution of her foster-child, Andrew was particu- 
 larly fortunate in being committed to the charge of this 
 lively and energetic woman. 
 
 The local situation of Livingston's Yards was low, 
 damp, and, in winter, much shaded from the sun ; and 
 the dwelling-house was insufficient to afford comfortable 
 accommodation to the large family which inhabited it. 
 These circumstances affected injuriously the physical 
 health of the children. 
 
 To complete the picture of domestic life at Living- 
 ston's Yards, it remains only to mention the Sunday's 
 occupations and discipline. The gate of the brewery was
 
 10 HIS FATHER'S PLACE OF RESIDENCE. 
 
 locked, and all, except the most necessary work, was 
 suspended. The children rose at eight, breakfasted at 
 nine, and were taken to the West Church at eleven. The 
 forenoon's service lasted till one. There was a lunch 
 between one and two. The afternoon's service lasted 
 from two till four. They then dined, and after dinner 
 portions of Psalms and of the Shorter Catechism with 
 the " Proofs" were prescribed to be learned by heart. 
 After these had been repeated, tea was served. Next 
 the children sat round a table and read the Bible aloud, 
 each a verse in turn, till a chapter for every reader had 
 been completed. After this, sermons or other pious 
 works were read till nine o'clock, when supper was 
 served, after which all retired to rest. Jaded and ex- 
 hausted in brain and body as the children were by the 
 performance of heavy tasks at school during six days 
 in the week, these Sundays shone no days of rest to 
 them.
 
 INFANCY AXD BOYHOOD. 11 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 AXDKEW COICBE'S L5TFAXCT AXD BOTHOOD. 
 
 ANDREW COMBE was a lively, active, shrewd, and 
 amusing child, and had a share of droll hnmonr, which 
 manifested itself more in his manner and actions than 
 in his speech. He was extremely shy, rather taciturn, 
 and slow in learning the use of words. 
 
 When he became fit for school his father selected the 
 nearest schoolmaster who had a fair reputation his 
 name was Brown and he was one of the teachers ap- 
 pointed by the Magistrates of Edinburgh. He kept an 
 English Academy in Frederick Street. Andrew thus 
 describes the teacher and the school. In a letter, dated 
 Edinburgh, 29th December 1841, addressed to his 
 brother George, then in Mannheim on the Rhine, he 
 says, 
 
 " During the last three weeks I have given you, perhaps, more than 
 enough of and about myself; but as you ask it. and as I have always 
 felt biography and human nature to be most attractive subjects, even 
 when the narrative concerned an anonymous person. I shall not affect 
 modesty, but answer your inquiries as far as I can. 
 
 " My first teacher was a decent, well-meaning, common-place man 
 Brown in Frederick Street. He was one of the Town's teachers, 
 and taught also in the High Street. I went to him in April or May 
 1803, and continued with him till 1805, learning nothing but reading 
 and spelling in a very humdrum fashion. Yon may judge of the ele- 
 gance of the English, and of my correctness of ear, when I tell you, 
 that three or four boys used to rise and stand round the table, utter- 
 ing a sound, in a sing-song fashion, which I could interpret into no- 
 thing but ' Sir, my good treacle ;' ' Sir, my good tread*: The result
 
 12 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 
 
 was, sometimes, after two orthree minutes' repetition, a sharpish order, 
 ' Sit down, boys, and be quiet.' More frequently Mr Brown's good- 
 nature prevailed, and a scamper out to the street for a few minutes 
 ensued. Not in the very least suspecting that the cabalistic words 
 were really' Sir, may I go out a little ?' I at last summoned courage 
 to join occasionally in the chorus, and enjoyed greatly the brief period 
 of freedom." 
 
 Andrew proceeds with his narrative as follows : 
 
 " In October 1805, I went to the High School under Mr Irvine, 
 who was then just appointed to succeed your former preceptor, Mr 
 Luke Fraser. I continued in his class four years, as usual, generally 
 ranging between the fifteenth and twenty-fifth place, out of about 120. 
 In the fourth year I began a move upwards, and ranged from the se- 
 cond to the fifteenth, but would never go dux. At the examination, 
 I stood either fifth or sixth. Mr Irvine was, upon the whole, a fair, 
 good teacher, without any prominent qualities ; but he communicated 
 nothing except Latin and its routine rules. He gave no incidental 
 information, inspired no ardour, and elicited no feeling. 
 
 " In October 1809, I moved to the Rector's Class, then under Dr 
 Adam, who soon died ; and in the interval which ensued between his 
 death and the appointment of his successor, we passed under the go- 
 vernment of Mr Luke Fraser, now, however, an altered man. Age 
 had made an impression on him, and he ruled with such a lax and un- 
 steady hand, that disorder and amusement became the order of the 
 day. In a short time one-half of the boys betook themselves to Ar- 
 thur's Seat every alternate day or so, and were never missed. In 
 truth, their progress was in no way thereby impeded. They inhaled 
 health, and enjoyed fun, while those who attended school, of whom I 
 was one, yawned, drawled, and played tricks by turns upon poor old 
 Mr Fraser. 
 
 " In course of time, Mr Pillans (now Professor of Humanity or 
 Latin in the University) succeeded to the charge of a most mutinous 
 and unbridled pack of boys. He tried a little quiet exhortation at 
 first, but soon ' arming himself,' as he called it, ' with a pair of spec- 
 tacles,' to detect offenders more easily, he assumed a more stern atti- 
 tude, and by the aid of firmness and the ' taws,' at last restored order. 
 I got little good from that session, and was only long enough under Mr 
 Pillans to discover that he was an abler man, and a stricter disci- 
 plinarian, and more of a gentleman withal, than any of my former in- 
 structors. 
 
 " In October 1810, I entered the College, and attended the classes
 
 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 13 
 
 for Latin and Greek, and I continued the same studies during the ses- 
 sion 1811-12. Professor , whom I attended faithfully, taught me 
 
 to/or^the Latin faster than the mere lapse of time could account for. 
 This result, real in itself, may have been caused by the drowsy mono- 
 tony which prevailed in the class, by impaired mental activity, and the 
 great rarity of examinations. Attendance, moreover, was so indiffer- 
 ently enforced, that my neighbour on the bench, who was present, in 
 all, only a few days, received a more handsome certificate for regu- 
 larity and progress than I, who never missed a day ! 
 
 " This was not encouraging. I certainly never spent two sessions 
 
 with less profit than the two with Professor . No attempt was 
 
 made to excite enthusiasm or rouse the mind. Dull monotony was 
 the prevailing feature of the hour." 
 
 " At the Greek class it was very different. Professor was not 
 
 considered a first-rate Grecian, but he kept us alive and at work ; 
 and if he was not remarkable for elegance of mind, he gave evidence 
 of industry and common sense. He was rather severe in manner, but 
 I liked him as a teacher, and in two sessions learned Greek enough 
 to read Homer with not great difficulty. I had real delight in the 
 beauty of the language, and above all in its nice shades of meaning, 
 which exercised agreeably my powers of discrimination. I had, how- 
 ever, too little of the faculty of Language to be a good or apt linguist. 
 
 " In 1806 or 1807, I went to old Mr Gray, to learn writing and 
 arithmetic, and, in a few years afterwards, algebra and geometry." 
 
 Mr Gray had been an able instructor in his day, but 
 by this time had lost much of his energy through ad- 
 vanced years, and his school was falling off. Andrew 
 proceeds in the following words : 
 
 " Writing and arithmetic I never excelled in. I droned over them 
 for several years. Mathematics I liked pretty well, and advanced fast 
 enough in them ; but being too young to see any use in them, I laid 
 them aside, and speedily forgot all their profundities. A few general 
 notions alone remained to me. Geography was no part of my educa- 
 tion ; and to yourself I am indebted for my first knowledge of French, 
 my stock of which I increased a little by acting as French tutor to our 
 sister Jean. Afterwards, by your advice, Iwas sent one quarter to Mons. 
 Dufresne (then one of the best French teachers in Edinburgh), and 
 another quarter to Dr Gardiner. This completed my preliminary 
 education." 
 
 This imperfect education, and an entire exclusion
 
 14 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 
 
 from literary and scientific society, promised little for 
 the future development of Andrew's mind. But springs 
 were in action, and an education was in progress, which 
 produced unexpected results. 
 
 Andrew Combe inherited from his mother a fine tex- 
 ture of body, and an active temperament ; and from his 
 father that element of continued perseverance indi- 
 cated by the bilious temperament. His mother's skin 
 was dark, yet delicate as satin ; her eye bright ; her 
 features regular, and the expression of her countenance 
 harmonious, animated, and pleasing. Her smile be- 
 spoke confidence and affection in strangers. In Andrew 
 these qualities were combined with a brain of full ave- 
 rage size, in which the anterior lobe was large, but the 
 organs of Individuality and Eventuality were minus, 
 while those of Comparison, Causality, and Wit, were 
 plus; the organs of the moral sentiments were all 
 largely developed, Veneration and Benevolence slightly 
 preponderating ; while the organs of the animal propen- 
 sities were rather under than above an average in size 
 in relation to the moral and intellectual. The result 
 was a constant activity of the faculties generally, a na- 
 tural refinement, and a predominant love of the pure, 
 the useful, the beneficent, the beautiful, and the intel- 
 lectual. The inferiority of the observing to the reflect- 
 ing organs, occasioned difficulty in learning details; and 
 for a long time, the reflecting faculties being ill supplied 
 with materials to act on, the intellectual progress was 
 slow. From the large development of the organs of the 
 feelings, and the absence of adequate instruction con- 
 cerning their nature, objects, and spheres of action, and 
 also of proper training, or regular and consistent moral 
 and intellectual discipline, Andrew, like the other chil- 
 dren of the family, was in constant action, but often 
 of a very unprofitable kind. He and his companions,
 
 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 15 
 
 however, educated and trained each other after a fa- 
 shion, by sympathy or practical collision ; and thus early 
 he learned, by experience, to distinguish differences of 
 character and talents, to accommodate himself to va- 
 rious tempers, to control his own, and, in pursuing his 
 own objects and gratifications, to take care that he 
 gave no just cause of offence to his neighbours. 
 
 From the predominance of reflecting intellect, Con- 
 centrativeness, Secretiveness, and the moral sentiments 
 in him, he was, from an early age, prone to inward re- 
 flection and self-judgment. In manhood he used fre- 
 quently to lament the want of clear and consistent ex- 
 positions of duty, and of a proper moral training. His 
 affective faculties, acting without guidance, produced 
 bashfulness, embarrassment, and awkwardness, in all 
 new and untried situations. Still the springs of a 
 powerful and a high character were there, and only 
 time and favourable circumstances were wanting for 
 their development in corresponding action. 
 
 In the family circle Andrew Combe heard only ver- 
 nacular Scotch spoken, and the ordinary incidents of life 
 and public news discussed; but there he saw, in his pa- 
 rents, examples of ceaseless activity, quiet endurance of 
 crosses and disappointments, a steady pursuit of the 
 useful and the good, and a positive sacrifice of all en- 
 joyments and considerations at the calls of duty. They 
 did not present to his imitation the polish of genteel 
 life, but he never heard a mean or a vulgar sentiment 
 uttered, a false principle approved of, or a make-believe 
 or affectation tolerated. Family opinion allowed no 
 compromise with truth, no ostentation, no domineering, 
 and no egotism. Among his brothers and sisters there 
 were occasional bursts of passion, sometimes harsh 
 words, and temporary sulks and resentments ; but these 
 were passing ebullitions of feeling that left no traces be-
 
 16 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 
 
 hind. In familiar intercourse with the workmen and 
 their children, Andrew learned to know and respect man 
 in his humblest condition ; and, throughout his life, in 
 his intercourse with individuals of all ranks, his first 
 and highest object of interest was the human being, ir- 
 respective of his station. 
 
 While his feelings were disciplined in this rough but 
 practical sphere, his intellectual faculties were not left 
 without cultivation. In observing the processes of his fa- 
 ther's trade, he came into contact with Nature, and from 
 his infancy saw the regular evolution of her powers, and 
 how far man could command them, and turn them to 
 his own advantage by acting in accordance with their 
 laws. He became acquainted with objects, with agents, 
 and with causes and consequences ; with the real, as 
 distinguished from the verbal and the conventional. 
 This instruction and training, although rude, imperfect, 
 and unsystematic, was in its character suited to his com- 
 bination of faculties. Had he been trained in a sphere 
 in which conventional manners, literature, and accom- 
 plishments, were chiefly valued, and had he been ex- 
 cluded from the direct observation of nature, he might 
 have been less deeply impressed with the paramount 
 importance of studying natural causation, and less skil- 
 ful in developing the laws of health. 
 
 It now became necessary that he should choose a pro- 
 fession. His father wished him to study medicine, but 
 left him free to follow the bent of his own inclinations. 
 To the question, " What profession will you choose ?" 
 Andrew returned only one answer, " I'll no be nae- 
 thing." There was such a mixture of the comical and 
 the serious in his manner when giving this response, 
 that the family were puzzled to divine precisely what 
 he meant by it ; and it became a standing joke with his 
 brothers and sisters to repeat the question and to hear
 
 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 17 
 
 him return the answer, " I'll no be naething."' His fa- 
 ther, never doubting that under this humour of expres- 
 sion there was a tacit approval of his selection of medi- 
 cine, proceeded to inquire after a suitable person who 
 should take him as an apprentice (an apprenticeship 
 being an indispensable condition of becoming a member 
 of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh) ; and 
 soon arranged with Mr Henry Johnston, who had risen 
 into repute as a general medical practitioner in Edin- 
 burgh, that he should receive Andrew under an inden- 
 ture for the usual term of years. At that time Mr 
 Johnston resided in Prince's Street. He did not sell 
 medicines to the public, but, following the then general 
 custom in Edinburgh (which still prevails in England), 
 he kept in his house a store of them, which he dis- 
 pensed to his own patients. The medicine-room was 
 called " the Shop," and there the apprentices compound- 
 ed drugs, which they afterwards delivered at the houses 
 of the sick. 
 
 The 9th day of April 1812 was fixed for his entry to 
 Mr Johnston's establishment, and he was desired to 
 dress himself for the occasion. His father was pre- 
 pared to accompany him and introduce him. Andrew 
 was sullen, did nothing, and said nothing. His brother 
 George, who was nine years older than himself, and had 
 reached to manhood, still lived in his father's house. 
 He saw with regret this unpleasant state of affairs, and 
 took an earnest and active part in endeavouring to in- 
 duce Andrew to enter on his profession. His father 
 assured Andrew that if he would name any other voca- 
 tion which he preferred, he should not be asked to move 
 one step in the intended career ; but no answer was re- 
 turned. George solicited and obtained his father's so- 
 lemn promise, which was never known to be broken, 
 that if Andrew would make trial of Mr Johnston's esta-
 
 18 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 
 
 blishment for one day, he should not be desired to return 
 if he disliked it. Still no answer was given. As an ap- 
 pointment for ten o'clock had been made with Mr John- 
 ston, and his time was valuable, it became necessary 
 either to resort to compulsion, or to abandon the ar- 
 rangement altogether. It was, however, against all 
 rule in the family to permit evasion of what was re- 
 garded as a duty, merely because the thing to be done 
 was disagreeable ; and as the kindest assurances had 
 been given, and no reason assigned for opposition, force 
 was at last resorted to. An attempt was made to sub- 
 stitute Andrew's best coat and vest for the house-gar- 
 ments in which he was dressed, and he resisted ; but 
 his resistance was overcome. A new consultation was 
 now held as to what was to be done ; and again it was 
 resolved that Andrew should not be allowed to conquer, 
 seeing that he still assigned no reason for his resist- 
 ance. He was, therefore, lifted from the ground ; he 
 refused to stand ; but his father supported one shoulder, 
 George carried the other, and his younger brother 
 James pushed him on behind ; and in this fashion he 
 was carried from the house, through the brewery, and 
 several hundred yards along the high road, before he 
 placed a foot on the ground. His elder brother John, ob- 
 serving what was passing, anxiously inquired, " What's 
 the matter ?" James replied, " We are taking Andrew 
 to the Doctor." " To the Doctor ! what's the matter 
 with him is he ill ?" James, " Oh not at all, we 
 are taking him to make him a doctor." At last An- 
 drew's sense of shame prevailed, and he walked quietly. 
 His father and George accompanied him to Mr John- 
 ston's house. Andrew was introduced and received, and 
 his father left him. George inquired what had passed 
 in Mr Johnston's presence. " Nothing particular," 
 replied his father ; " only my conscience smote me when
 
 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 19 
 
 Mr Johnston ' hoped that Andrew had come quite will- 
 ingly !' I replied, that I had given him a solemn pro- 
 mise that if he did not like the profession after a trial, 
 he should be at liberty to leave it." " Quite right," 
 said Mr Johnston ; and Andrew was conducted to the 
 laboratory. 
 
 Andrew returned to Mr Johnston's next morning 
 without being asked to do so ; and to the day of his 
 death he was fond of his profession. 
 
 At first sight this incident may appear homely and 
 harsh, and one which might, with propriety, have been 
 omitted in the present narrative; but, on the other 
 hand, when viewed as an illustration of the mental con- 
 dition and character of Andrew Combe and his father's 
 family, it is not without interest and instruction. The 
 stubborn taciturnity, on Andrew's part, which the occur- 
 rence unfolds, shews how imperfect his mental training 
 hadbeen. His determined resistance indicates a strength 
 of will, which, when more enlightened, became one great 
 element of his success in life ; while the equally reso- 
 lute perseverance of his parents in overcoming his re- 
 sistance, and insisting on his making a trial of his pro- 
 fession, at least for one day, tells in what a school of 
 determination he was reared. His dogged refusal either 
 to enter on his profession, or to give a reason why he 
 declined to do so, appeared to his parents to justify 
 compulsion; but when the following touching letter, 
 written at the distance of nearly thirty years after the 
 occurrence, and giving an account of the real state of his 
 feelings at the time, is read, the scene becomes doubly 
 interesting, as a moral and physiological lesson. 
 
 In a letter to George, dated 24th December 1841, 
 he says: 
 
 " I believe I am indebted, in a great measure, to you, for sending 
 me to a liberal profession, as, without your advice, it is more than
 
 20 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 
 
 likely that my father would have put me to some trade. This recalls 
 to mind my ludicrous transference to Mr Henry Johnston's, when 
 I was first ' made a doctor of ' by you and James. I have always af- 
 firmed, but always been laughed at by you and the family for saying, 
 that I really wished and meant to be a doctor, notwithstanding this 
 absurd way of shewing my willingness. Such, however, I now repeat 
 seriously, was the simple truth. For at least two years previously, I 
 looked upon that as my destination, and expected to be sent to a me- 
 dical practitioner sooner or later. I was pleased, too, with the desti- 
 nation. You notice my Wit and Secretiveness as being early predo- 
 minant, and I recollect well that my habitual phrase was, ' I'll no be 
 naething.' This was universally construed to mean, ' I'll be naething.' 
 The true meaning I had in view was, what the words bore, ' I will be 
 something ;' and the clue to the riddle was, that my "Wit was tickled at 
 school by the rule that ' two negatives make an affirmative,' and I 
 was diverted with the mystification their use and literal truth produced 
 in this instance. In no one instance did mortal man or woman hear 
 me say seriously (if ever), ' I'll be naething.' All this is as clear to me 
 as if of yesterday's occurrence, and the double entendre was a source of 
 internal chuckling to me. 
 
 " You may say, "Why, then, so unwilling to go to Mr Johnston's ? 
 That is a natural question, and touches upon another feature altoge- 
 ther. I was a dour (stubborn) boy, when not taken in the right way, 
 and for a time nothing would then move me. It happened so then. 
 I had been hitherto constantly at classes, and in the preceding sum- 
 mer my vacation had been dedicated to Mr Peter Couper's office.* 
 In spring 1812, I had fever near the end of the College session, and 
 on recovering went back to College, and was thence transferred, with- 
 out any interval, to Mr Johnston's shop. I felt grievously disap- 
 pointed that I was not first allowed two or three weeks at Redheughs,f 
 or somewhere else, to enjoy myself, as I had never been two days from 
 home (after my infancy) in my life, except with the family at sea- 
 
 * The College vacation lasted from April till November ; and An- 
 drew's father, unwilling to let him go idle during all that time, ob- 
 tained a desk for him in the office of Mr Peter Couper, "Writer to the 
 Signet, with whom his brother George was then acting as a clerk. It 
 is to this circumstance that Andrew here alludes. He used to say that 
 these six months in " the law," young as he was, and incapable of un- 
 derstanding thoroughly what he saw or did, had, nevertheless, left 
 useful impressions on his mind in regard to business habits and priii- 
 
 A farm near Corstorphine, then and still occupied by his cousin 
 Mr George Comb.
 
 ISFASCY ASD BOYHOOD. 21 
 
 bathing. I was first disappointed, and then threatened. This, with 
 a considerable feeling of shyness to go to sueh a * grand doetor' as one 
 living in a self-contained house in Prince's Street then seemed in my 
 eyes, was quite enough to rouse my stubbornness. Once committed, I 
 resolved not to yield, and hence the laughable extravaganza which 
 ensued." 
 
 On reading this explanation, one's compassion is ex- 
 cited for the boy ; yet he does not say that he erer 
 hinted at the real state of his feelings, or expressed a 
 desire to go to the country for a few weeks. Why was 
 he thns reserved ? The reason was simply this, that, 
 partly owing to the manners of the age, and partly to 
 the incessant occupation of his father and mother in 
 their spheres of imperative dnty, little opportunity was 
 left for confiding interchange of sentiment and sympa- 
 thy between the parents and the children ; and, more- 
 over, in the family circle, too little account was taken 
 of feelings, when duty was in question. Andrew, there- 
 fore, probably secretly dreaded that, if he had expressed 
 a wish for relaxation, he might have been charged with 
 an idle disposition ; the very suspicion of which would 
 have been painful to his feelings, and have brought dis- 
 credit on him in the family. Moreover, the father, mo- 
 ther, and children, were all equally unacquainted with 
 the laws of health, and did not understand Andrew's con- 
 dition. Had he explained his feelings, there was so 
 much sound judgment and kind affection in both of his 
 parents, that his wishes would unhesitatingly have been 
 complied with; but, from a dread, on the side of the 
 parents, of spoiling their children by over-indulgence, 
 and the fear, on the children^ part, of being misunder- 
 stood if they complained, an almost insurmountable bar- 
 rier to confidential communication then existed between 
 the two parties. 
 
 The following letter affords another striking and
 
 22 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 
 
 practical illustration of the injurious consequences of 
 this state of things. 
 
 " Before I forget," says Andrew, " I may mention two or three 
 occasions on which my life was in danger, although happily I es- 
 caped ; but I imagine that most people have similar escapes in the 
 course of their lives. The first is remarkable chiefly as exhibiting 
 the sad results of the sternness with which we were treated in early 
 life, and the mischief arising from visiting trifling faults with as much 
 severity as greater delinquencies. I could not have been above seven 
 or eight years old, if so much, when I Avas despatched to St Bernard's 
 well (a mineral spring on the brink of the rivulet called the Water 
 of Leith) with a penny in one hand and a bottle in the other, for 
 water. A boy named Inglis, a mere child, .accompanied me. On 
 reaching the place where the mill-stream was conducted along a wooden 
 aqueduct (now replaced by substantial stone), there was no foot-path 
 left, although when the water was low it was easy to pass along on the 
 rock or stones. The water was in flood when I wished to pass, and 
 the usual stepping places being covered, I attempted to walk along 
 where the rock was covered with green slime. My foot slipped, and 
 very gently but irresistibly, I glided into the Water of Leith, and was 
 floated off out of my depth. My companion stood where I had left him, 
 on terra jirma, and screamed lustily, but no one was within hearing. 
 I gave myself up for lost ; but after being carried down perhaps about 
 thirty yards in an oblique direction, I felt myself arrested by a very 
 large stone, against which I struck, and on the top of which I suc- 
 ceeded in scrambling. On the north side of this stone the water was 
 more broken, but much shallower, so that by a good leap, I was en- 
 abled to reach a footing and got out. Being on the wrong side of the 
 stream, I required to cross again, which I effected by walking up to 
 the bridge at the village. 
 
 " When safely extricated, the fear of returning home drenched, and 
 without either bottle or penny, beset me so forcibly, that although it 
 was a cold, clear, early spring day, I resolved to walk about in the 
 sunshine till my clothes should dry, rather than risk being abused for 
 getting wet. I did so for two or three hours, the half of the time in 
 a shiver. The water was intended for my own use, and when I reach- 
 ed home, it was supposed that I had drunk it, and no questions were 
 asked. Fortunately, my active locomotion prevented me from suffer- 
 ing from the immersion." 
 
 It is proper to remark that Andrew's apprehensions 
 of his mother's displeasure, described in this letter,
 
 INFANCY AND BOYHOOD. 23 
 
 arose from the custom of the age, of treating injurious 
 accidents, arising from simple carelessness, with undue 
 severity, as if they had been grave delinquencies ; a 
 practice which has not yet been altogether abandoned. 
 Moreover, the impression which the occurrence made on 
 his mind, inspired him with that earnest solicitude to 
 induce parents to study and act in harmony with the 
 faculties of their children, which communicates such a 
 charm to his writings.
 
 24 RESIDES WITH HIS BROTHER GEORGE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ANDREW COMBE (JOES TO RESIDE WITH HIS BROTHER GEORGE IS 
 BOUND APPRENTICE TO MR HENRY JOHNSTON, SURGEON IN EDIN- 
 BURGH MEAGRENESS OF HIS LITERARY ATTAINMENTS AT THIS PE- 
 RIOD. 
 
 IN the year 1812 Andrew's brother George entered 
 the Society of Writers to the Signet, and became the 
 occupant of a house in No. 11 Bank Street. This, al- 
 though in the Old Town, was a modern house. It stood 
 near the open ground surrounding the Bank of Scotland, 
 commanded an extensive and magnificent view, and was 
 favourably situated for health. With the double object 
 of relieving the crowded home at Livingston's Yards, 
 and passing into more favourable circumstances for 
 studying his profession, Andrew, from this time, be- 
 came an inmate of his brother's house. Their elder sis- 
 ter Jean accompanied them as mistress of the family ; 
 by which arrangement both brothers continued to en- 
 joy domestic female society, an advantage which they 
 highly prized. 
 
 Andrew has thus recorded his own opinion of this 
 change in his situation in a letter to George, dated 24th 
 December 1841 : 
 
 " Had our positions been reversed, and I the senior, would the re- 
 sults have been equal ? Very far from it ! Without you to lead me out 
 of the sphere in which I was brought up, and encourage me in think-
 
 IS BOUND APPRENTICE TO A SURGEON. 25 
 
 ing, it is more than probable that my sense of inferiority and shyness 
 would have kept me down for life. To Grod first, to you next, and to 
 Phrenology in the last place, I have long been sensible that I owe all 
 I have been or done. Your support and influence were, I believe, 
 the sine quibus non of my future advancement and developed powers. 
 To you, consequently, I have ever felt and expressed the greatest gra- 
 titude, and I consider your early adoption of me into your domestic 
 circle, as one of the greatest advantages I ever enjoyed." 
 
 This testimony is an example of Andrew's modest, 
 grateful, and affectionate disposition ; for he here under- 
 estimates his own powers, and ascribes too much to ad- 
 ventitious circumstances. The members of the family 
 were late in reaching maturity ; and from the predomi- 
 nance in him of the moral and reflecting organs, over 
 those of the propensities and observing intellect, he was 
 long enveloped in the mists of conflicting emotion, and 
 destitute of materials for profitable thought; but, as 
 nature had bestowed on him vigorous capacities, these, 
 sooner or later, would have surmounted all ordinary ob- 
 stacles, and led him to distinction. He lived to repay 
 manifold the obligations which he here acknowledges 
 himself to owe to his brother, by whom this tribute of 
 affection is estimated as a reward beyond all price. 
 
 Andrew continues the narrative of his early life in 
 the following words : 
 
 " In the month of May 1812, I was bound apprentice to Mr Henry 
 Johnston, with a promise to be released from the shop at the end of 
 two years ; but I was detained in it three years, and then released only 
 after some unpleasant words, when Mr Johnston said, that rather 
 than have me longer in it, he would exert himself to find a successor 
 for me. This was all that was asked of him, and which he ought to 
 have done from a sense of justice rather than from anger. 
 
 " We attended at the shop from ten till half-past three o'clock, and 
 from six till eight P.M., waiting on, with, on an average, not above half 
 an hour's occupation daily, except the time spent in the delivery of 
 the prescribed medicines. In summer, we often had nothing whatever 
 to do, and stood, like prisoners, looking through the iron bars of the 
 window (for the shop was on the ground-floor, and was thus secured
 
 26 IS BOUND APPRENTICE TO A SURGEON. 
 
 as a protection against thieves) at the sunny face of nature, and long- 
 ing to be free. Having no guidance or stimulus to study, and our 
 time being broken in upon at irregular intervals, novel-reading and 
 cards were the only means by which we could get the time spent ; 
 and I must plead guilty to having read a more enormous quantity of 
 trash, during these three years, than I can now bear to think of. The 
 consequences were bad. My moral nature was not perverted ; but, 
 in my haste to follow the story, I got into a rapid and slovenly way 
 of reading, which made it difficult for me afterwards to apply myself to 
 continuous study. I am certain, that my power of sustained attention 
 and profitable reading was thus impaired. The Edinburgh Subscrip- 
 tion Library, to which our father was a subscriber, afforded me a 
 command of novels. Every now and then my conscience troubled me, 
 and I became disgusted with them, and sought out books of solid and 
 useful reading, and also set to work upon such medical works as 
 chance threw in my way. Biography and voyages, I always read with 
 avidity, and whatever represented man or human nature in action, 
 had an attraction for me. 
 
 " This abuse of novels, I turned to account in after life, and, from 
 experience, was enabled to give such earnest and vivid advice on the 
 subject, to nervous young ladies and others, who suffered under a simi- 
 lar aberration, that I sometimes effected an amount of good which 
 would otherwise have been beyond my power. In some instances, I 
 successfully warned young persons against falling into this error.* 
 
 " In 1813-14, I attended the lectures of Dr John Barclay on Ana- 
 tomy, and Dr Hope on Chemistry ; but it was not till 1814-15, that 
 I could be said to have begun my studies. Before that time, all was 
 an undefined chaos, which began to assume a definite order and form 
 on the repetition of the same courses in 1814-15." 
 
 Perhaps some readers of this narrative may be dis- 
 posed to doubt whether the representations of the de- 
 ficiencies in Andrew Combe's early education have not 
 been too highly coloured. It will be recollected, that 
 he had attended the High School for five years, and 
 
 * To prevent misconception, it should be mentioned, that Dr Combe, 
 in other circumstances, advised individuals to make a temperate use 
 of novels, as a relaxation and variety from more arduous studies. In 
 particular, he more than once gave this counsel to his present bio- 
 grapher. And when himself in a feeble condition, he often enlivened 
 the passing hours in the same manner.
 
 HIS EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTS. 27 
 
 the University of Edinburgh, for Greek and Latin, two 
 sessions ; and the practical result in scholarship, which 
 he had attained, will now be exhibited. In the autumn 
 of 1814, being then nearly seventeen years of age, he had 
 obtained leave of absence, for a short time, from Mr 
 Johnston, and went on a visit to some of his relations 
 in Fife. He wrote to his brother George a letter de- 
 scriptive of his excursion, part of which is here printed 
 verbatim et literatim, as a specimen of the condition of 
 scholarship in which a young man of seventeen, of ear- 
 nest and reflective habits, and of no common abilities, 
 could emerge from a Scotch classical education. It is 
 only justice to the teachers and professors of Edin- 
 burgh, of the present day, to express a thorough con- 
 viction, that such a phenomenon could not now occur, 
 so great have been the improvements introduced into 
 the art of teaching since that date. 
 
 GLASGOW 15 August 1814. 
 
 DEAR GEORGE We arrived here on Saturday afternoon after a 
 very pleasant journey, we had a good deal of rain after we left Kir- 
 caldy, and arrived at Mr Arnot's about 4 o'Clock where we were 
 received very kindly, and staid there the whole of Tuesday, we set off 
 for Perth on Wednesday about 10 o'Clock ; at Ahernethy we saw the 
 tower, described in Hall's travels, there is only another like it in 
 Scotland which is at Brechin, John's head ached a good deal after 
 we set oif which was rather disagreable, we slept there all night, and 
 set off on Thursday morning about seven o'Clock to Kinross on the 
 top of the Coach, we arrived there about ^ past 9 then walked on to 
 Fossaway, saw the Rumbling Bridge and got our Dinner, and found 
 ourselves so comfortable that we walked on to Stirling where we ar- 
 rived about 8 o'Clock, and remained till Saturday when we walked 
 to Frankfield. * * * * 
 
 You was speaking of me going to the East Country before we sett 
 off, but I think that I will get off from Mr Johnston's another week 
 or two about the beginning of Sept r - and I think that it would be as 
 well to wait till then as if I was coming to Edin r - in a day or two to 
 go I might be detained for some days. What would you advise me 
 to do?
 
 2> HIS EDUCATIONAL ATTAUfMEST*. 
 
 When the style of this letter is contrasted with that 
 which Andrew Combe subsequently acquired, the most 
 iiiliiliial nil ain ! may take courage and pursue self-cul- 
 tivation with the hope of improTement. Andrew's fa- 
 culties were late in attaining maturity, and, moreover. 
 the system of teaching in his day was little calculated 
 to instruct him. At that time many schoolmasters only 
 prescribed tasks to be learned by their pupils, the 
 tnAmv being piifiHBMil by prirate tutors ; and these 
 * schoolmasters limited their own exertions to ascertain- 
 ing whether the lessons had been learned, and to pun- 
 ishing the scholars who failed- Andrew did not receive 
 the assistance of a tutor, and the tasks were gene- 
 rally beyond the reach of his unaided efforts ; hence his 
 poor success is accounted for. It is, therefore, only 
 justice to his teachers to add. that all their scholars 
 were mot so backward as he was. But in his case ano- 
 ther evil existed. The instruction was not adapted to 
 his particular combination of faculties. His preceptors 
 taught him Greek and Latin words and rules, but ne- 
 glected English style and composition. These were 
 supposed to come by nature. Moreover, extremely little 
 of substantive knowledge of things, events, or causes, 
 was communicated; and even when the classic authors 
 xead at the school contained valuable ideas, these were 
 rarely made the subjects of observation or reflection. 
 Words, syntax, and translation were all in al 1. The 
 boys in whom the observing organs were large, and par- 
 ticularly the organ of Language, took an interest in 
 this kind of teaching and profited by it ; but Andrew, 
 who could learn chiefly through the medium of Com- 
 parison and Causality, remained unimproved ; for, in 
 those days, these faculties, particularly that of Causa- 
 lity, had nearly an endless vacation at the High School, 
 and in the Greek and Latin classes of the University.
 
 HIS EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTS. 29 
 
 Andrew's sister Jean, with instruction in English com- 
 position, French, and Italian, excelled him immeasur- 
 ably in literary attainments at this period. 
 
 Although the foregoing letter contains striking evi- 
 dence of the deficiencies of Andrew's literary education, 
 it affords no criterion of his general intellectual state. 
 His mind had certainly imbibed many solid ideas, and 
 among his familiars his conversation was varied, preg- 
 nant with sound sense and good feeling, and often dis- 
 playing no little wit and humour. 
 
 The circumstances now mentioned serve to explain the 
 great interest which Andrew took in the subject of edu- 
 cation. In his own case, his parents had spared neither 
 zeal nor expense to give him profitable instruction, and 
 to fit him for a useful and respectable sphere of life ; 
 but, from the causes before mentioned, his time and 
 their money had been expended with very inadequate 
 advantage. 
 
 Those individuals in whom the observing organs and 
 that of Language predominate, cannot conceive the irk- 
 someness and unprofitableness of an education confined 
 chiefly to words and syntax when administered to boys 
 who are deficient in, or only moderately endowed with, 
 these organs, but in whom those of Comparison and 
 Causality and of the moral sentiments are large and 
 active. The latter communicate a positive craving to 
 learn the real, the true, and the useful, and to under- 
 stand the causes of the phenomena which diversify life. 
 To such minds the ordinary classical academies, as then 
 conducted, were hungry deserts. There is a difference 
 also in the modes by which these two classes of minds 
 gain knowledge. Those in whom the observing organs 
 predominate acquire their information directly by see- 
 ing, hearing, tasting, and touching; which acts are fol- 
 lowed by rapid intuitive perceptions of the qualities of
 
 30 HIS EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTS. 
 
 objects and of the general character of events. Those 
 in whom these organs are deficient, and the reflecting 
 organs predominate, are slow in observing ; and even 
 what they do see and hear makes very little impres- 
 sion on them until it be brought within the range of 
 their reflecting faculties. It becomes necessary, there- 
 fore, in teaching them a rule, if in grammar, to give them 
 a reason for it ; if in arithmetic, to explain on what prin- 
 ciple it is founded ; if in morals, not to rest it on mere 
 authority, but to shew them ivhy the act forbidden is 
 wrong, or that commanded is right ; in teaching them 
 history, to explain the causes and consequences of the 
 events, as well as the moral qualities of the actors. 
 This kind of instruction was too often omitted in the old 
 system of teaching, and hence some boys of profound 
 intellects and fine moral dispositions sat on the benches 
 dreary and desolate, without acquiring ideas or gratifi- 
 cation. They were considered as irretrievably dull, 
 and left the school stupified and demoralized rather 
 than improved. The correctness of this representa- 
 tion is not contradicted by the fact, that of the recorded 
 duxes at the High School of Edinburgh some stand re- 
 gistered in the country's history as men of superior 
 powers ; for these will be found to have had an ample 
 development of certain observing organs which in An- 
 drew were deficient, and also to have enjoyed the aid of 
 private tutors, an advantage which to him was denied. 
 In the High School of Edinburgh instruction in science 
 has recently been added to the classical curriculum; and 
 if this arrangement had existed in Andrew's day, it 
 would have exercised a highly beneficial influence on 
 his mental development.
 
 HEALTH AND MORAL CONDITION OF THE FAMILY. 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE HEALTH AND MORAL CONDITION OF THE FAMILY, AND ANDREW 
 COMBE'S REMARKS ON THESE SUBJECTS. 
 
 As already mentioned, George Comb and Marion New- 
 ton had, in all, seyenteen children. Of these, four died 
 in infancy ; and several of the more advanced members 
 of the family were cut off in the bloom of youth or early 
 manhood, from causes alluded to in the next letter. 
 His father, after suffering much severe distress on ac- 
 count of the illness of his eldest son, died suddenly of 
 apoplexy on the 29th of September 1815, in his seventy- 
 first year. 
 
 During these occurrences Andrew lent his best aid 
 and kindest sympathies to cheer and sustain his rela- 
 tives ; but his medical education was not sufficiently 
 advanced, nor were his faculties sufficiently matured, to 
 enable him to prevent or rectify any of the numerous 
 errors of which they were the victims. When, how- 
 ever, by enlarged knowledge, he became capable of ob- 
 serving the occurrences in their true light, they made 
 an indelible impression on his mind. The vivacity of 
 his moral affections caused him to feel keenly the depri- 
 vation of happiness which his father's family and him- 
 self had sustained in consequence of their want of know- 
 ledge ; and this feeling became a constant excitement 
 to him during life to endeavour to save other families 
 from similar calamities. The following letter was ad- 
 dressed by him to George, in reply to a request that he 
 should furnish his own remarks on those events.
 
 32 HEALTH AND MORAL CONDITION OF THE 
 
 " The statement you give of the vitiated air in which our parents 
 and the younger members of the family passed the night, and the ne- 
 glect of ventilation of clothes and bedding, to which may be added 
 the neglect of general ablution or bathing where warm water was 
 constantly at hand, sufficiently account for the appearance of scrofu- 
 lous disease and impaired constitutions in us. My book on Infancy 
 shews this in a very clear light. Our parents erred from sheer ig- 
 norance ; but what are we to think of the mechanical and tradesman- 
 like views of a medical man who could see all those causes of disease 
 subsisting, and producing their results for year after year, without its 
 ever occurring to him that it was part of his solemn duty to warn his 
 employers, and try to remedy the evil ? All parties were anxious to 
 cure the disease, but no one sought to remove its causes ; and yet so 
 entirely were these causes within the control of reason and know- 
 ledge, that my conviction has long been complete, that, if we had been 
 properly treated from infancy, we should, even with the constitutions 
 we possessed at birth, have survived in health and active usefulness 
 to a good old age, unless cut off by some acute disease. In my indi- 
 vidual case, I can trace with ease the causes which have combined to 
 impair my stamina and cut short my life ; and almost every one of them 
 could have been avoided with facility, had either our parents possessed 
 the knowledge which I have endeavoured by my writings to convey 
 to other parents, or their medical advisers had a proper sense of their 
 own duties, or of the responsibilities attached to them. Under all 
 disadvantages, I have shewn a tenacity of life which leaves a very 
 strong presumption, that under good management I might have gone 
 through an active life of seventy years." 
 
 These medical advisers were respectable practitioners, 
 and on a par with most of their brethren in the profes- 
 sion. In those days empiricism reigned supreme, and 
 the family medical adviser did not inquire into, or con- 
 sider the remote or exciting causes of the maladies 
 of his patients, but attacked only the symptoms pre- 
 sented to him. When these were overcome, his task 
 was accomplished. The patients might return to the 
 habits which had given rise to them, unwarned of the 
 consequences. Nature alone was considered to be in 
 fault. Medical skill was her opponent, but not her 
 guide. It was the practice in this family, when " dan-
 
 FAMILY AT LIVINGSTONS YARDS. 33 
 
 ger" became imminent, to call in the late Dr James 
 Gregory to consultation with the ordinary medical at- 
 tendant; but "danger' was never apprehended till death 
 was approaching, and the patient was beyond receiving 
 aid from human skill. 
 
 In a letter to George, dated 8th December 1841, An- 
 drew gives the following picture of his own mental con- 
 dition in early life. 
 
 " I had/" says he, i{ an early and great veneration for moral excel- 
 lence, and after having been cold or sullen in the days of my earliest 
 youth, I have gone to bed and cried for want of moral sympathy, and 
 formed strong resolutions to be for ever after kind and good, no mat- 
 ter how others might treat me. I reproached myself also for my 
 shortcomings in obligingness and active kindness, and felt that if met 
 with affection and confiding regard, I could make any effort or sacri- 
 fice in return, and rejoice in the happiness of doing so. But, as you 
 know, the affections and amenities of life were not cherished among 
 us individually, nearly so much as stern integrity and the omnipo- 
 tent sense of duty. This was from the very best intentions on the 
 part of our excellent parents, and arose much from the oppressive 
 spirit of their Calvinistic principles, and their own want of an enlight- 
 ened education. It was, however, a great evil, and upon me it ope- 
 rated in producing a distrust of myself, from an idea of my unworthi- 
 ness, which led me to rate myself below every other person, and, by 
 increasing my natural shyness, cramped the free expansion of both 
 feeling and intellect at a time when they were craving for gratifica- 
 tion. 
 
 " In my earliest reading days, I purchased, with one shilling and 
 sixpence of hoarded ' handsels' (Xew-year's gifts), a small volume of 
 moral and very simple plays, in which, of course, goodness prospered 
 and was honoured, and rice was punished and degraded. How I pored 
 over it, and how often I read it with fresh delight, I cannot describe ; 
 but many of my good resolutions owe their origin to its inspirations. 
 I cannot recollect the title, but I think one of the plays was the Farmer 
 Boy. 
 
 " Amidst all this sympathy, however, with affection and goodness, 
 it never once occurred to me that I could ever be the means of influ- 
 encing others to good. If I could only succeed in being good myself, 
 and in venerating good in others, and pleasing God, I considered my 
 utmost aims fulfilled. So far from ever hoping for distinction or fame, 
 
 C
 
 34 ANDREW COMBE'S MENTAL CONDITION. 
 
 I used to fancy myself living in some quiet, retired corner, in happy 
 removal from the cares, struggles, and wickedness of the world. 
 
 " The world then always presented itself to me in the characters 
 described by the Rev. David Dickson (afterwards D.D.), with such 
 fervour and reiteration, as the abode of nothing but the blackest sin 
 and misery. I shrunk from contact with it, even in thought ; and be- 
 lieving myself equally, or rather more in danger of hell-fire than all 
 the rest, I looked upon retirement from the world as affording the 
 only chance of escape from the dangers of eternal perdition. 
 
 " This was my state of mind from my earliest consciousness, and it 
 continued for years to depress and cramp my energies. I never could 
 fancy myself good enough to be of use in the world ; and instead of 
 aspiring to greatness, I have a vivid recollection of often looking at 
 Dr Dickson * in the pulpit, and thinking, ' Oh, if I only was clever 
 enough to be a minister, I would be sure to be saved.' This must 
 have begun before I was five years old. But I felt a woful conscious- 
 ness that I could never learn to preach, and there was thus no hope for 
 me in that quarter. Then it occurred to me, that even a precentor 
 was almost sure to be saved, as a ' church ' man ; but then I was 
 equally conscious that singing was as impossible as preaching to me. 
 
 " In this hopeful state I well recollect standing behind Matthew Aik- 
 man, a mason, when the new kiln was building (I could scarcely have 
 been seven years old then, but I forget the exact date), and at every 
 
 * The Rev. Dr David Dickson was one of the ministers of St Cuthbert's 
 parish, commonly called the " West Church " of Edinburgh. His personal cha- 
 racter was the opposite of this feature of his preaching. In private life he was 
 kind, indulgent, social, and cheerful, and was respected and beloved by his 
 people. Nevertheless, he considered it his duty to preach the terrors of the 
 law with such unrelenting severity, that his pulpit ministrations produced 
 effects similar to those now described on others of the younger members of his 
 congregation. When clergymen become acquainted with Phrenology, they will 
 understand the relationship between particular doctrines and particular endow- 
 ments of the human faculties, and be better able to judge of the effects which 
 their discourses are producing. The more fully the organs of the moral and 
 intellectual faculties are developed in any individual, and the more thoroughly 
 these are cultivated and directed to their natural objects, the less are stern doc- 
 trines of any kind calculated to benefit him. The sincerity and sensibility ac- 
 companying strong moral and intellectual faculties, lead the young to embrace 
 literally whatever they are taught by those whom they respect ; but if the doc- 
 trines be not in harmony with their nature, they produce painful and injurious 
 effects, and the best constituted minds suffer most severely. Had the moral 
 organs been less developed in Andrew Combe in proportion to those of the 
 animal propensities, he would have listened to these discourses with less dis- 
 agreeable emotions.
 
 ANDREW COMBE'S MEXTAL CONDITION. 35 
 
 stone he laid down upon another, the intense wish came upon me, ' Oh 
 that I were that stone, to he sure of never living again, and never go- 
 ing to hell !' For days I looked on in this mood. Once, soon after, 
 in a dream, I lay as if upon the declivity of the Castle-bank, and be- 
 gan slowly to slide down in spite of every exertion, when to my horror 
 I saw the month of hell, like a deep well full of fire and flames, just 
 below, and the devil with his fork ready to receive me on approaching 
 the brink. As I neared it, the horror was awful, and when my toes 
 reached the edge I awoke in a tremor. I offer no comment on the 
 fitness of doctrines which could induce such a state of mind in a well- 
 disposed child, sighing only for good, and for the power of doing God's 
 will. 
 
 " About a year or two later, in a very different frame of mind, when 
 pleased, I believe, with having acted on some of my good resolutions, 
 I dreamt that I lay on another part of the slope looking towards the 
 south, and at mid-day ; when suddenly, as I gazed at the sky, the 
 heavens opened, and I saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, sur- 
 rounded by angels, and by a splendour which almost dazzled me. and yet 
 all looking down upon me with a benignity of tenderness which moved 
 me to the very soul, and inspired me with the most vivid desire to render 
 myself worthy of the happiness. Even now I cannot help considering 
 these two scenes as strikingly illustrative of the two principles of teach- 
 ing religion. The threatenings of hell-fire terrified and bewildered 
 without improving me. The spirit of Jove from heaven, on the contrary, 
 inspired me with feelings of humble devotion and admiration of moral 
 excellence, which have not yet faded, and which repudiated the very- 
 notion of God being the * avenger,' and of his willingly destroying the 
 creatures he had made." 
 
 These descriptions are pregnant with instruction. 
 This family father, mother, and children had received 
 from nature moral dispositions and intellectual abilities 
 which left no room to complain of stinted gifts, and they 
 were sincerely anxious to apply their powers in the path 
 of dnty. Bnt their mental condition was one of chaos. 
 Their faculties were active, but in a state of conflict 
 among themselves through want of knowledge; and 
 many of the views of religion and of the world which 
 had been taught to them were in discord with their 
 own highest natural emotions. They were therefore 
 paralysed in action, and suffered.
 
 36 ANDREW COMBE'S MENTAL CONDITION. 
 
 Andrew continues : " Considering the moral and in- 
 tellectual qualities of the family, and the harmony in 
 which they have always lived, under all the disadvan- 
 tages of wrong or of no moral training, it seems to me 
 clear as noon-day that home might easily have been 
 rendered to them an earthly paradise, had our parents 
 known how to fulfil their own intentions. I have no 
 doubt, however, that we have derived some important 
 advantages from the almost sternness with which we 
 were treated, and our affections repressed." One of 
 these advantages was, that nothing could come amiss 
 to children who had been thus accustomed to suffer 
 self-denial and forego pleasure, and who were trained 
 to consider the fulfilment of duty as the sole object of 
 existence. So little was enjoyment recognised as an 
 allowable aim in life, that when, in the buoyancy of 
 youth, a natural feeling of gratitude, springing from the 
 spontaneous activity of the moral faculties, occasionally 
 led them to give utterance to expressions of satisfaction 
 with the world, their mother would say " Hush do 
 not talk so you do not know how long it may last ! " 
 There seemed to be in her mind so strong a conviction 
 that this was a world of woe, that she regarded a feel- 
 ing of enjoyment as sinful, and as indicative of some- 
 thing wrong in the religious condition of the individual. 
 At the same time she was naturally cheerful, contented, 
 and amiable ; and it was only when the cheerfulness of 
 her family vented itself in religious gratitude, that she 
 became alarmed. Her husband participated in her re- 
 ligious opinions so far as his natural qualities allowed 
 him to do so ; but in his latter days he did not scruple 
 to express his dissent from several points in the Cal- 
 vinistic creed, "just because he could not believe them." 
 He doubted, for example, the perdition of the heathen 
 to whom the gospel had never been preached, and of
 
 ANDREW COMBE'S MENTAL CONDITION. 37 
 
 unbaptised infants ; he had also great difficulties with 
 the doctrine of election, and the predestination of some 
 individuals to eternal punishment ; and he was far 
 from being convinced of the endless duration of hell- 
 fire.* When charged with inconsistency for doubting on 
 these points, he used to say, " It may be very wrong, 
 but I cannot help it." This shewed that the internal 
 moral and religious struggles which had distressed his 
 son were not unknown to himself; but he also had so 
 humble an idea of his own powers of judgment, that he 
 never ventured to modify, by his own convictions, the 
 
 * The doctrines stated in the text are rejected by some, and much 
 modified by other enlightened writers on Calvinistic Theology of the pre- 
 sent day ; but the Standards of the Church of Scotland, in which the 
 Combes were educated, remain unchanged. The answer to Question 19 
 of " The Shorter Catechism," is, " All mankind by their fall lost com- 
 munion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all 
 the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever." 
 
 " Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and 
 misery ? 
 
 " A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, 
 elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to de- 
 liver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into a 
 state of salvation by a Redeemer." 
 
 In the Larger Catechism, the 68th Question is thus stated : 
 
 " Are the elect only effectually called? 
 
 " A. All the elect, and they only, are effectually called,'' &c. 
 
 " Q. 60. Can they who have never heard the gospel, and so know not 
 Jesus Christ, nor believe in him, be saved by their living according to 
 the light of nature ? 
 
 " A. They who, having never heard the gospel, know not Jesus Christ, 
 and believe not in him, cannot be saved, be they never so diligent to 
 frame their lives according to the light of nature, or the laws of that re- 
 ligion which they profess," &c. 
 
 " Q. 29. What are the punishments of sin in the world to come ? 
 
 " A. The punishments of sin in the world to come, are, everlasting 
 separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most grievous tor- 
 ments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell-fire for ever." 
 
 The doctrine of the perdition of unbaptized infants does not appear in 
 the Standards of the Church, but it was taught by some of the evangeli- 
 cal divines of Scotland in the last century, and is still practically believed 
 by many of the Scotch people, who, when an infant becomes seriously in- 
 disposed, send for the minister to baptize it, with as much earnestness as 
 for the physician to cure it.
 
 38 ANDREW COMBE'S MENTAL CONDITION. 
 
 faith taught in the church, lest he should be wrong, 
 and lead his children into error. It was only after they 
 had attained to maturity, and had mustered courage to 
 break through the trammels of authority, and think for 
 themselves, that he candidly acknowledged to the elder 
 branches of them the state of his own mind. 
 
 Are there not thousands of parents in Great Bri- 
 tain and Ireland at this moment timidly concealing 
 their own convictions of truth from their children, 
 out of seeming deference to authorities which they no 
 longer respect ? And are there not thousands of child- 
 ren suffering agonies of mental distress, which a few 
 candid sentences spoken by their parents would remove ? 
 Parents shrink from the responsibility of leading their 
 children into possible error, by countenancing in them 
 any disregard of established authorities ; but do they 
 incur no responsibility in deliberately teaching them, as 
 true, views which they themselves no longer believe ? 
 
 It may be remarked, however, that the doctrines 
 alluded to do not produce the same effects on all minds. 
 There is a combination of faculties to which they are 
 agreeable, and it is through the influence of this class 
 that they are maintained in authority. 
 
 The continuation of Andrew's narrative shews that 
 benevolence and humanity were in him indigenous qua- 
 lities : 
 
 " Before I forget." says he, " I may mention here a strong feature 
 of my mind the aversion I have ever felt to contention and fighting, 
 both physical and moral, and which sometimes made me unduly averse 
 to argument and controversy, where perhaps I ought rather to have 
 sought than shunned them. Mere physical infirmity had something 
 to do with this, although its chief cause was the constitution of my 
 mind. As a boy, I never fought a battle, or had a regular downright 
 quarrel ; nor did I like to witness them, although they were often 
 enough going on among my companions. You may remember the 
 great dislike I had to be a soldier, and the amusement our brother 
 John (who was one of the 1st regiment of Edinburgh Volunteers) used
 
 ANDREW COMBE'S MENTAL CONDITION. 39 
 
 to have in trying to enlist me by forcing a shilling into my hand in 
 the King's name. Although possessed of little money, and having at 
 the time a profound sense of the value of a penny, I would never take 
 the shilling, even in jest. How I might have behaved in battle, had 
 I ever been forced into one, I cannot tell ; but even in my dreams, my 
 dislike to taking a part in warfare was as active and uniform as dur- 
 ing my waking hours. I disliked also, to the last, being present at or 
 having any concern with surgical operations, or the dressing of wounds ; 
 and yet had a consciousness that, under an absolute necessity, I could 
 go through an amputation, for example, with self-possession and cor- 
 rectness. Even common bloodletting was very disagreeable to me. I 
 do not think that my aversion to fighting was altogether from a fear 
 of being killed. I could have no fear of that kind in boyish battles, 
 and, moreover, on several occasions when I believed my life in imme- 
 diate danger, I retained complete self-possession, and my mind was 
 quickened rather than confused in its perceptions. I have always had 
 the feeling too, that if compelled to fight a duel, I could never bring 
 myself to fire at my adversary. I certainly, however, should have 
 made a ' shocking bad ' soldier ; and I thank Heaven I never was re- 
 quired to try whether discretion is really the better part of valour." 
 
 The phrenologist will find a simple explanation of 
 these facts by comparing the size of the organs of De- 
 stmctiveness, as shewn by the cast of Andrew's brain,* 
 with that of the organs of the moral sentiments. In 
 him the former is moderately developed in comparison 
 with the latter. The organs of Combativeness, how- 
 ever, were larger than those of Destructiveness ; and 
 these, when aided by his moral and intellectual convic- 
 tions, and supported by his Self-Esteem and Firmness, 
 enabled him to act with vigour in repelling any inva- 
 sion of what he considered his just rights, and also 
 firmly to oppose conduct which he regarded as unprin- 
 cipled and injurious to others, from whomsoever it pro- 
 ceeded. 
 
 * A description of his brain, and the development of the cerebral 
 organs, will be given in the last chapter of this work. Casts of the 
 skull and brain already form parts of several Phrenological Collec- 
 tions.
 
 40 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ANDREW COMBE CONTINUES HIS STUDIES TAKES A DIPLOMA FROM THE 
 ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF EDINBURGH AFTERWARDS PRO- 
 CEEDS TO PARIS, AND CONTINUES HIS MEDICAL STUDIES. 
 
 ANDREW COMBE'S description of the manner in which 
 he passed the years of his medical apprenticeship, has 
 already been given on p. 26. To the facts there stated, 
 however, it must be added, that towards the end of his 
 apprenticeship he did see a little practice, particular- 
 ly in the workhouse of St Cuthbert's parish, of which 
 Mr Johnston was the medical attendant. But it was to 
 the medical classes and attendance at the public hospital, 
 that he was chiefly indebted for his professional educa- 
 tion ; and from experience, as well as from subsequent 
 observation and reflection, he was ever afterwards averse 
 to the apprenticeship system. His own narrative pro- 
 ceeds thus : 
 
 " On 4th February 1817, I passed at Surgeons' Hall, at what I 
 then fancied rather a late age, 19 years. But I became afterwards 
 convinced, that it would have been better for me had I then been 
 only beginning my professional studies. In my correspondence on 
 medical education with Sir James Clark in 1838, when the London 
 University was established, I entered fully into this subject, and need 
 not do so here, as I must, as much as possible, avoid writing. I can- 
 not, however, refrain from repeating my deep and abiding sense of the 
 wide-spread injury inflicted on the profession and on society, by the 
 compulsory attendance on incapable and superannuated professors, 
 who, in mercy to themselves and to mankind, should be respectfully
 
 COKTmUES HIS STUDIES. 41 
 
 set aside, when they have not the good sense to resign after their ef- 
 ficiency is gone." 
 
 During the currency of Andrew's apprenticeship, an 
 event occurred which exercised an important influence 
 over his subsequent life. It was the arrival of Dr 
 Spurzheim in Edinburgh. 
 
 In the beginning of the present century, metaphysics 
 were still ardently studied by the young men attending 
 the Scottish universities. Dugald Stewart was then in 
 the full blaze of his fame. Magniloquent in style, liberal 
 in sentiment, and apparently ambitious to combine in 
 his own person the moral grandeur of Socrates with the 
 intellectual acumen of Aristotle and Bacon, he, by his 
 lectures and published works, threw a kind of halo round 
 t; the philosophy of mind," which dazzled and capti- 
 vated the young. His method of investigation seemed 
 so truly Baconian, and the objects pursued were so digni- 
 fied and useful, that it was regarded as scientific heresy 
 to doubt the splendour of his genius, or the practical 
 value of his labours. 
 
 Andrew's brother, George, had long been one of 
 Mr Stewart's admirers. It was true, that although he 
 had carefully studied every page of his metaphysical 
 works, discussed the subjects of them, chapter by chap- 
 ter, in a small debating society, which met weekly in 
 the University, and of which he was a member, and had 
 extended his studies into the works of Hutcheson, Reid, 
 Adam Smith, and other luminaries in mental science, 
 yet he had found extremely little that could be practi- 
 cally applied in elucidation of the phenomena of life, or 
 in the guidance of the understanding in the arena of busi- 
 ness. Nevertheless, he " believed" in Dugald Stewart; 
 and looked forward with unshaken confidence to great 
 practical results being ultimately evolved, when the 
 mighty labours and profound investigations of that
 
 42 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES. 
 
 distinguished philosopher should have reached their na- 
 tural termination. These expectations were kept alive 
 by Mr Stewart's magnificent promises of something im- 
 portant that was yet to be unfolded. George endea- 
 voured to apply the doctrines with which he had thus 
 become acquainted, in enlightening and expanding An- 
 drew's mind, and tried to inspire him with a becoming 
 love of mental science with what success will imme- 
 diately be seen. If the truth must be told, the blind 
 was simply attempting, to the best of his ability, to lead 
 the blind. All that Greorge had learned from his me- 
 taphysical studies, had failed to give him a glimpse 
 of the peculiar constitution of Andrew's mind, of his own 
 mind, of the differences between them, of the objects 
 and spheres of activity of the different faculties, of the 
 dependence of mental vigour on nervous health; in short, 
 of any one useful principle which could guide him in his 
 earnest desire to improve Andrew and himself. The 
 following description of Andrew's mental condition, 
 while he and his brother continued under the guidance 
 solely of common sense and of Scotch metaphysics, in 
 their pursuit after moral and intellectual improvement, 
 is given by Andrew in a letter to George : 
 
 " From the very moderate estimate," says he, " which I so early 
 formed of my own talents and worth, and from the mist in which a 
 large organ of Wonder in my own brain enveloped me, and the man- 
 ner in which it caused me to magnify the merits of all others not in- 
 timately known to me, and from the natural inspirations of an active 
 Cautiousness and Secretiveness, it was not till after I became ac- 
 quainted with Phrenology, and with my own mental constitution, that 
 the possibility of my becoming useful to mankind, or fitted to occupy 
 any except a very quiet station, ever occurred to me. I even shrunk 
 from being conspicuous in any way, in the belief that I could not sus- 
 tain a high position properly. We were so well drilled to humility, 
 by being called ' blockheads' at home, that I never felt encouraged 
 to take a brighter view of my own capabilities. Being nearly the 
 youngest in a numerous family, in which talent was not scarce, and
 
 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES. 43 
 
 feeling surpassed by my seniors, I gladly stood back to give them room, 
 and imagined that, in the world at large, the background was also my 
 natural position. So far did this go, that when, in the fourth year at 
 the High School, I might repeatedly have been dux, I never would 
 go higher than second, and preferred losing, to being in the conspi- 
 cuous place of dux. Your own ready command of your ideas, and 
 facility of utterance and composition, so different from the difficulty I 
 was conscious of in my mind, increased, sometimes to a painful extent, 
 the sense of inferiority which kept me in the background, and this 
 influence continued operative for many years after I came to live with 
 you. I wished to possess the same powers, but felt that it was not in 
 me. I recollect distinctly a conversation you had on the subject with 
 our cousin, John Sinclair, one day in Bank Street, at dinner, proba- 
 bly in 1814. You expressed your disappointment at my silence in 
 company, and my not engaging in conversation on r general topics, or in 
 writing. John tried to persuade you that it would come ; saying, that 
 I was evidently interested in the conversation of others, &c. I felt mor- 
 tified and distressed, because I was keenly alive to the want, and had 
 very faint hopes of John's prediction being ever verified. With this 
 abiding sense of inferiority in me, the hope of distinction or fame 
 would have been a ludicrous incongruity, which my Causality was 
 even then big enough to perceiTe. 
 
 " I had, however, glimpses of having more in me than met the eye, 
 and felt that if placed in circumstances of trust, where I must come out 
 and exert myself, away from my friends, who knew me as a ' blockhead,' 
 I should not be found wanting in sense ; but these bright moments were 
 few and far between. One disadvantage, and only one, diminished to 
 some extent the much greater benefits of my residence with you, and 
 it was this : very often, in conversation, the same sentiments, opinions, 
 and arguments, presented themselves to my mind as to yours, upon 
 whatever was said by others ; but before I could find words and ar- 
 rangement for them, you expressed them off-hand so much more clearly 
 and fluently than I could do, that after a time. I got into the habit of 
 thinking to myself, and leaving all the talk to you. Even my power 
 of thinking suffered at length from this, as well as that of expression : 
 for one ceases to think vividly and with precision, when the result is 
 neither uttered nor written. You also were the natural head of the 
 house, and were appealed to, and called upon to speak, while I could 
 indulge my natural indolence by listening. I felt the evil of this so 
 much, that had my health been trustworthy, I should probably have 
 been led to sacrifice the happiness derived from residing with yon, as 
 soon as increased practice would have warranted my taking a house 
 near you. But frail as I was at the best, I felt that the evils of our
 
 44 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES. 
 
 separation would have more than counterbalanced the probable advan- 
 tages to myself." 
 
 While Andrew was suffering these disadvantages from 
 his brother's greater maturity of intellect (for at that 
 period of their lives the difference of nine years between 
 their ages made a great difference in their mental de- 
 velopment), he did not communicate his dissatisfaction 
 to his brother, who, on his own part, was so ignorant of 
 practical mental science, that he was unacquainted with 
 the proper method of developing Andrew's latent powers. 
 Indeed, beyond a general impression, that he was a 
 sensible, amiable, and affectionate, although excessively 
 bashful and shy young man, his brother had no know- 
 ledge of the talents which lay hid in him. The time, 
 however, had now come, when both of them acquired 
 clearer views of themselves and of each other. 
 
 In the 49th Number of the Edinburgh Review, pub- 
 lished in July 1815, a " tremendous article," as it was 
 then styled, appeared against the Physiognomical Sys- 
 tem of Drs Gall and Spurzheim. It was known to be 
 written by Dr John Gordon, an amiable man, and one 
 of the most talented private lecturers on anatomy and 
 physiology in Edinburgh. It excited general attention, 
 and was loudly commended, and by every one believed 
 to be a " settler" of the question. Dr Spurzheim, who 
 happened to be then lecturing in Dublin, no sooner read 
 it, than he resolved to visit Edinburgh, and challenge 
 the reviewer to a public dissection of the brain, and dis- 
 cussion of the subject ; and he speedily fulfilled his re- 
 solution. The meeting between them excited intense 
 interest, and opinion became divided as to the merits of 
 the disputants. Dr Spurzheim also gave a course of 
 popular lectures on his doctrines, which was attended 
 by forty or fifty curious inquirers ; and the subject of
 
 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES. 45 
 
 " Craniology" was much talked of in the town. George 
 Combe, who then, like many other young men in Edin- 
 burgh, believed in the Edinburgh Review, as in a gospel 
 of political and scientific truth, had read the article, was 
 delighted with it, and joined in the ridicule of Drs Gall 
 and Spurzheim, without considering farther inquiry ne- 
 cessary. Germany was then known in Great Britain 
 chiefly through translations of " The Sorrows of Wer- 
 ter," and the most extravagant and trashy novels of 
 that country. In Edinburgh, men of education re- 
 garded it as the height of combined impudence and ab- 
 surdity, for a " German" to pretend to have made dis- 
 coveries in the anatomy of the brain and nervous system 
 unknown to the great medical teachers of that city, and 
 in mental science unknown to Dugald Stewart, the 
 most eminent of modern philosophers ! The ridicule 
 supposed to be implied in this idea was intense ; it fur- 
 nishes the key to the tone of that now extraordinary 
 article, which daguerreotyped effectually the state of me- 
 dical and metaphysical knowledge concerning the brain 
 and its functions, then possessed by the most accom- 
 plished men of science of the modern Athens.* 
 
 * This article has had an abiding influence on the scientific, and, 
 probably, as will ultimately be found, on the social and religious 
 condition of the northern metropolis. It led most of the men of emi- 
 nence in Edinburgh, of every profession, to commit themselves warmly 
 and irrevocably against the new philosophy ; and being once committed, 
 their minds were closed against a serious and impartial consideration of 
 the subject. Another effort was made by Lord Jeffrey, in a sarcastic 
 and laboriously reasoned article, published in October 1826, to main- 
 tain the position which the Review had adopted in 1815 ; and the re- 
 sult of these articles and other causes has been, that the University 
 of Edinburgh still ignores most of Dr Gall's discoveries. In the de- 
 partment of philosophy, she glories in teaching logic and moral philo- 
 sophy, without reference to special mental organs ; in the medical 
 chairs, while she has adopted Gall and Spurzheim's anatomy of the
 
 46 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES. 
 
 Dr Spurzheim's first course of lectures had termi- 
 nated, and neither George nor Andrew had entered the 
 door of his hall, or even seen him ; when, by mere acci- 
 dent, a young advocate accosted George in the street, 
 and asked him whether he would like to see Dr Spurz- 
 heim dissect a human brain in his house. George 
 gladly accepted the invitation, and soon saw that the 
 brain dissected by Dr Spurzheim exhibited a structure 
 very different from that which had been described in 
 the Edinburgh Review. He discovered also, that Dr 
 Spurzheim, so far from being an impudent and men- 
 dacious quack, as represented in the Review, was a re- 
 markably quiet, modest, and intelligent man, an acute 
 observer, and logical reasoner on all subjects connected 
 with human nature. He therefore attended his second 
 course of lectures, and was deeply interested by the 
 views presented to his consideration. Without being 
 led away by enthusiasm, he saw, from the first, that the 
 new doctrines, if true, were eminently practical ; and he 
 earnestly and deliberately, and through many difficul- 
 ties, set about the task of ascertaining whether nature 
 supported them or not. The result is detailed in the 
 works which he subsequently published on Phrenology. 
 
 George soon became intimately acquainted with Dr 
 Spurzheim, and, being honoured with his friendship, he 
 consulted him about the best method of completing 
 Andrew's professional instruction. For the first time 
 in his life, he obtained some practical information on the 
 subject of education, founded on the combined sciences 
 of physiology and mental philosophy. Andrew, in the 
 
 brain, she teaches it without recognising their physiology, or the con- 
 nection between particular mental powers and particular portions of 
 that organ ; and in her theological department, she repudiates the ac- 
 knowledgment of cerebral organization as exerting a practical influ- 
 ence on the primitive dispositions and capacities of individuals.
 
 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES. 47 
 
 continuation of his letter to George last quoted, de- 
 scribes the result as follows : 
 
 " To you," says he, " and to Phrenology, I owe the perception I 
 ultimately acquired of possessing powers of a higher kind than I at 
 first believed. You always treated me as a being capable of thinking, 
 and of taking an interest in general subjects and in human improve- 
 ment, and thus gradually opened my mind to their inherent im- 
 portance, and to the frivolity of the objects which occupy mankind at 
 large, apart from their mere business. Of my debt to Phrenology 
 (great and deep it was), I shall afterwards speak ; but before I for- 
 get, I must add here, that anterior to my acquaintance with it, one 
 of the most discouraging of all the things that oppressed me, was my 
 inaptitude for metaphysical study. I saw you and others reading and 
 delighting in Reid and Stewart, and heard you talking philosophy ; 
 and when I took up the same works, with an earnest intention to mas- 
 ter them, I could not find, or at least follow, a clear meaning through 
 any two or three consecutive pages, much less chapters ; and when I 
 left off, my mind was as unfurnished with meaning in a tangible form, 
 as when I began. I therefore concluded, that my intellect must be 
 grievously defective in some great talent which you and your friends 
 possessed, and that I was in reality the double-distilled blockhead 
 which my father used, half-seriously, half-jestingly, to call me.* I 
 have since ascribed this, in no small degree, to my deficient Even- 
 tuality ; but on reading Stewart in my maturer years, I often turned 
 away in disgust from the small performance of magnificent promises, 
 and the trifling shadows of meaning, half hidden under a ponderous 
 panoply of high-sounding words. His paltry fear of self-committal, 
 contrasted with the only fear which would have become him, but which 
 seems never to have occurred to his mind, viz., that' of leading his 
 readers into error, also repelled me at every page ; and I could detect 
 in his writings only an elegant mind of ordinary grasp, worshipping 
 its own efforts, rather than intent upon the advance of truth alone. 
 He desired truth, too ; but it was ' truth and I in company,' and not 
 ' truth, whatever may become of me.' But I must not wander. 
 
 " You ask me to give you some account of my introduction to Phre- 
 nology, and of its effects upon my life and practice. I have already 
 
 * His father was fond of applying epithets to his sons, in this half-earnest 
 and half-jesting way. One was called " Abram the Rascal," because he had a 
 good deal of comic humour, and was fond of playing tricks on his brothers and 
 sisters ; while George and Andrew were distinguished by the epithet of 
 " Blockheads."
 
 48 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES. 
 
 done so in various letters to different friends at different times ; but 
 I owe it so much, that I shall do so again, as clearly as the space and 
 circumstances will permit. It was, I think, in the summer of 1815, 
 that, on searching the Edinburgh Subscription Library for a book 
 which happened to be out, I accidentally laid my hands on ' Spurzheim's 
 Physiognomical System;' and, amused by the grotesqueness of some 
 of the plates, I brought it home for a few days, till the book I wanted 
 should be returned. You and I looked over it now and then, and 
 laughed heartily at some of the isolated anecdotes and remarks, and, 
 following the fashion of ridicule set by the Edinburgh Review, then 
 just out, neither of us thought of reading the book, and after some 
 days' amusement in turning it over, I carried it back unread. I was 
 then under eighteen years of age, and busy with my studies, and con- 
 ceived the subject to be quite out of my way. 
 
 " You afterwards met Dr Spurzheim, and attended his lectures, 
 and became impressed with the importance and probable truth of his 
 doctrines. I continued engaged in professional study ; but, in 1816 
 and part of 1817, I often heard you making remarks and arguing on 
 the subject. I became, in consequence, so far impressed, that, with- 
 out knowing much about it, I began to consider it as a serious matter 
 of inquiry, and not to be disposed of by ridicule. In this state of mind 
 I went to Paris in October 1817." 
 
 Andrew visited London on his way to Paris, and in 
 a letter to his mother, dated 9th October 1817, he gives 
 a particular account of his voyage in a sailing smack, 
 and of the wonders which the English metropolis pre- 
 sented to his mind. The letter is distinguished by 
 lucid composition, strong sense, and so great a maturity 
 of understanding, that a quarter of a century might 
 be supposed to have intervened between it and the let- 
 ter of 15th August 1814, copied,on p. 27. One object 
 which he describes as diversifying the scenery of the 
 Thames, can no longer be seen, and its removal indicates 
 the progress of civilization. After mentioning the Hulks 
 at Woolwich, he adds : " A little farther up we saw 
 about eight men hung in chains, on the banks of the 
 river ; two of them Blacks, for murdering their captain ; 
 and four smugglers, for running down a custom-house
 
 PROCEEDS TO PARIS. 49 
 
 boat, and chopping off the officers' hands, when they at- 
 tempted to catch hold of the smuggler's vessel/' 
 
 After a short stay in London, he proceeded to Paris, 
 and his first letter from that capital, dated loth October 
 1817, is addressed to his brother George. It contains 
 a sentence which is curions, as shewing his surprise at 
 finding his speech understood in London. At that time 
 teaching a correct pronunciation of the English language 
 rarely formed an object in a Scotch education. " I had,"" 
 says he, " some rather unexpected compliments paid me 
 for my speaking English so correctly. I never found it 
 necessary to repeat what I said a second time. I both 
 understood others at once, and made myself understood; 
 at which I have no doubt you will be surprised, and 
 much more so will our sister Jean." The words used 
 by Andrew in expressing his ideas, were probably well- 
 selected English terms ; but he and his relatives, dur- 
 ing their whole lives, spoke with so strong a Scotch 
 accent, that occasionally they were unintelligible to 
 English auditors not accustomed to their tones. An- 
 drew describes his journey to Dover, and then gives an 
 account of his voyage across the Channel, in " the Poll, 
 a small vessel of about 40 tons."' The weather was 
 rough at starting, but the wind was favourable. " I 
 was sitting on a stool,"' says he, " attempting to screen 
 myself, and expecting nothing, when a sea broke in 
 upon us, washed me off my feet, and many more of us. 
 I was not so much afraid, on coming to myself, as 
 astonished. I was lying on the deck in six inches of 
 water." On arriving at Calais, the wind dropt, and 
 they were close to the shore, at the mercy of the waves, 
 in a tremendous surf. " The Frenchmen had manned 
 two large boats to come through the surf to our relief, 
 and a great crowd had collected to see us. When they 
 saw us in safety, they laughed heartily at our drenched 
 
 D
 
 50 PROCEEDS TO PARIS. 
 
 appearance." He notices the great number of beggars, 
 both in London and Paris, and his disappointment at 
 the first aspect of the narrow and dirty streets of the 
 French capital. This letter is characteristic of his 
 mind. He took an interest in everything, and describes 
 the country from London to Dover, and from Calais to 
 Paris, noticing the differences between England and 
 France, in the fields, cattle, horses, ploughs, carriages, 
 and people. He also describes graphically his felloAv- 
 passengers. 
 
 His next letter, dated Paris, 22d October 1817, also 
 addressed to George, is written in French, and mentions 
 that he had occasionally breakfasted with Dr Spurz- 
 heim, and " soon discovered that he was a keen obser- 
 ver, and a man of solid judgment, and upright, kindly 
 feelings." From him he received advice on all points 
 respecting the employment of his time, and the studies 
 he should pursue. He describes his first visit to the 
 Hotel Dieu, or great public hospital for the sick, with 
 the condition of which he was much pleased. He adds, 
 " I never was in such excellent health as at present ; 
 and have a great appetite, and am said to be becoming- 
 fat." 
 
 In the following letter, dated Paris, 16th November 
 1817, addressed to his sister Jean, he gives an account 
 of the employment of his time. It may interest the 
 young reader, although to more experienced persons it 
 will present little that is not familiarly known. 
 
 " I will begin," says he, " with telling you how I live at present. I 
 get up, then, at a little past six o'clock, though I have been sometimes 
 a little later, from my not being accustomed to such early rising of 
 late. The surgeon is at the Hotel Dieu at half-past six o'clock, and 
 begins his visit, which occupies from two hours to two hours and a 
 half. After the visit, he gives a most excellent lecture, four times 
 a-week. I understand him better than any other lecturer. His lec- 
 ture, when there is no operation, generally finishes about half-past
 
 HIS STUDIES IN PARIS. 51 
 
 nine or ten. I then come home and breakfast at ten ;* and go to the 
 anatomical class till twelve, when Dr Sinclair, two other Englishmen, 
 and I, go to the dissecting-rooms at La Pitie, which is almost half-an- 
 hour's walk off. We remain there till four or half-past four ; dine 
 from five to six, and sometimes go to the Hotel Dieu in the evening 
 from six to seven. I then come home and study French, and read 
 French medical books. I will be obliged to buy several, as, though 
 there are libraries at the Ecole de Medeeine free for the students, 
 they do not give us the books horns ; and we can only sit there between 
 ten and twelve, three days in the week, during which time I am most 
 occupied with other duties. There are likewise booksellers, in whose 
 rooms I could read for 10s. a quarter ; but then I could go to them 
 only in the evening, when I am most inclined to beat home ; and 10s. 
 a quarter will go some way to buy the books altogether. Before the 
 classes began, we observed fashionable hours, breakfasting often at 
 eleven, and dining at six. Our rooms are very good, and the people 
 very civil and attentive. We are in a good situation every way, being 
 on one of the quays, near the Hotel Dieu and lectures. 
 
 " I had always thought that I should make more progress in the 
 French language if I boarded in a respectable French family ; but I 
 have discovered my mistake. There are very few boarding-houses, 
 and almost all are more than two-thirds filled with English, who never 
 speak a syllable of French, if they can avoid it. I think now that a 
 respectable French companion would be better ; but him I do not 
 know how to find. This is my plan for winter, and it is followed by 
 Dr Spurzheim's advice. By this arrangement I lose almost none of 
 my time, and am getting on with the language. I was obliged to re- 
 move to so great a distance from my French teacher, here called a ' Pro- 
 
 * In his " Physiology of Digestion considered with Relation to the Principles 
 of Dietetics, v he makes the following observations on this breakfast hour : 
 " During the first winter of my studies in Paris. I regularly accompanied the 
 surgical visits at the Hotel Dieu, which began at six o'clock in the morning, 
 and lasted till nine or frequently half- past nine. Xot being then aware of the 
 principle under discussion, I ate nothing till my return home ; but before the 
 day was done I felt more weariness than the mere exertion ought to have 
 produced. At last, on noticing for a time the regularity with which many of 
 the work-people passing along paid their respects at a small shop, the only one 
 then open, where fancy rolls were sold, along with wine and brandy, I thought 
 of following their example to the extent of trying how far a roll would add to 
 my comfort. I soon found great reason to be pleased with the expedient : and 
 discovered that I was not only less exhausted during the day, but more able 
 to follow the lecture which concluded the visit, and in possession of a keener 
 appetite for breakfast at my return ; and ever since, I hare acted on the prin- 
 ciple now inculcated, and with marked benefit/'
 
 52 HIS STUDIES IN PARIS. 
 
 fessor,' after I had received only three lessons (at four francs each ; 
 some charge six francs), that he could not come to me, nor I go to 
 him ; but he has kindly put me in a way of getting on by myself. He 
 gave me a Telemachus, having French on the one side and English 
 on the other. I read the French aloud to him, for the sake of the 
 pronunciation, which I found in general not far wrong when I under- 
 stood the sense thoroughly. Then I covered the French side, and 
 tried to convert the English into as good French as I could. After 
 doing so once, I read the page again from English into French, and 
 so a third time ; and next morning I wrote it as well as I could, and 
 then M. Michaud corrected it for me. I did two or three pages at 
 first, and now accomplish more. By this means I go on still, and cor- 
 rect from the French side. I expect in the end to make good French, 
 as I am picking up an idiom every now and then. I got a grammar 
 also, which helps me. The French whom I meet appear to be more 
 generally able to speak English than the English French, although 
 fewer of them go to England. 
 
 " Anatomy, however, is my principal object. It is very necessary, and 
 particularly so for a surgeon ; and the opportunities here are so good, 
 that I must set to it seriously. There are private rooms at La Pitie, 
 which are both more comfortable and convenient than the public ones. 
 They are drier, cleaner, and one can exclude idle men, and lock up 
 instruments, &c. We four have joined to hire one of them. It will 
 cost us only four francs each per month, which is not to be compared 
 with four guineas [for a season ?] at Edinburgh. The number of stu- 
 dents from Edinburgh is greater than I could have supposed, and many 
 more arrive daily. Dr Spurzheim remarked that he had always pre- 
 dicted that the University of Edinburgh would lose its reputation 
 when the Continent was thrown open, as the opportunities for anato- 
 mical study were not nearly so good, or so easily accessible, there as at 
 Paris. 
 
 " I never heard of the death of the Princess Charlotte till the 12th 
 November. It is an unfortunate and melancholy event; and wherever 
 two or three Englishmen come together, in the Louvre, gardens, or 
 elsewhere, it is the subject of their discourse. ... I like the 
 French and Paris both very well ; but Paris more than them, I be- 
 lieve. Dr H has a violent prejudice or antipathy, or whatever 
 else it is, which makes him think uncommonly little of the French. 
 He told me that Paris was the nastiest, dirtiest hole he had ever seen, 
 with some good public buildings. But at that time he was rather 
 unwell, and in low spirits ; besides which it had been rain, and the 
 streets were very dirty, and he had been marching backwards and
 
 LOVE OF HOME. 53 
 
 forwards from the Prefet's to the English Embassy, brushing his 
 pantaloons and the skirts of his greatcoat three times a-day ! He won- 
 dered at my coolness, and the many consolations I gave him. When 
 we had a bad dinner to-day, for example, I told him that we need 
 not come back to this restaurant to-morrow. I like plain dishes, and 
 in consequence fare better than he ; but in this instance the meats 
 were nearly invisible in candle-light, from their small size. He was 
 highly dissatisfied, and grumbled a good deal. I said nothing, but 
 resolved to make the best of the circumstances, and never enter the 
 door again. He acknowledged that my plan was the best, but he 
 considered it a comfort to express his displeasure. We had always had 
 good dinners before, but the houses were further off, and to them we 
 must go again." 
 
 Andrew Cotnbe possessed strong domestic affections, 
 and, in a letter of the same date, to his brother George, 
 he says, 
 
 " I was very anxious to hear from home, and was much more so 
 when I knew, from Dr Spurzheim, that a letter from home had been 
 lying for me for six days, and been returned to the General Post- 
 Office, because my new address had been mislaid. I very frequently 
 dreamt that I was at home, sometimes at dinner, and sometimes in my 
 own bed at home. I have now the satisfaction of having obtained the 
 letter." 
 
 On many subsequent occasions, he adverts to his dis- 
 appointment, when letters from home did not arrive on 
 the days when he expected them. He says, for in- 
 stance, 
 
 " Every day when I came in, I thought the letter must be here to- 
 day, till at last I feared that it had been lost. I am always happy to 
 receive a letter from home, after being sent away so suddenly from 
 the midst of so many of you ; and I like to write home, thinking you, 
 too, will be well pleased to hear of my doings." " I am rejoicing," says 
 he, on 28th June, " in the good state of the weather with you, as I 
 find my own home and country always uppermost in my thoughts. As 
 my windows look to the north, I sometimes, when not thinking, stretch 
 my vision, to try if I can see Arthur's Seat or the Calton Hill, or in 
 imagination I go to Livingston's Yards, and hear my mother welcome 
 me home ; or to your (George's) house, and sit down at your right 
 hand as usual, and then I see Mr Smith dropping in to supper, and
 
 54 LOVE OF HOME. 
 
 hear him laughing at the Doctor's long phiz ; when, in a moment, the 
 sight of the river Seine brings me back from my reverie." 
 
 His talent for humour has been alluded to ; and the 
 following letter, dated 16th January 1818, addressed to 
 his sister Margaret, exhibits an example in point. It 
 introduces us also into the circle of his social amuse- 
 ments in Paris. 
 
 " George suspects much of my present happiness depends on ' the 
 Beauty' [a young lady whom he had described]. I wish it were so, 
 or rather I am thankful it is not so, seeing I must leave her in a few 
 months. I doubt not she would produce a very powerful effect, did I 
 see her oftener ; but once in three or four weeks gives me time to 
 cool again. It is all one ; Jean will find some ' Beauty' for me to 
 fall in love with in Edinburgh when I come back ; and I am quite 
 convinced that the Edinburgh ' Beauties' are the best in every respect. 
 So I am contented again. By the bye, I have visited another French 
 family, and a philosopher too (if I can be permitted to judge from 
 seeing six dried snakes hanging up in his study, along with three 
 dried crabs, quite conclusive as to the fact, in my mind, at least), 
 where I saw some young ladies, and very amiable. As I like to be- 
 gin at the right end of my story, I ask if you know the ' Fete des 
 Rois.' It is a fete observed in every family, from the king's down- 
 wards. A dinner takes place, at which an immense pastry-cake is 
 presented, and cut into pieces. In one part of it is a bean, and who- 
 ever gets the piece with the bean in it is proclaimed king or queen, 
 and he presides over the dinner. When the king drinks, all the 
 company bawl out, ' Le roi boit, le roi boit,' when he finishes, ' Le 
 roi a bu;' and so for the queen. The king elects a queen, et vice 
 versa. On these occasions everybody is gay. I was asked to Mr 
 Schmidt's fete ; we got our cake, and could not find the beau ; and 
 we were all busy scolding the cook for not having put one in it, when 
 the bean was discovered in Miss S.'s slice. We saluted her as her 
 Majesty forthwith ; and I had the honour of being elected his Ma- 
 jesty. I began to drink ; and they bawled out so unexpectedly and 
 loudly, that I thought the house was on fire. His serene Majesty 
 nearly underwent the odious process of suffocation, and her Majesty 
 was nearly caught in the same manner. We enjoyed ourselves very 
 much, and in the evening we went to visit the philosopher. On enter- 
 ing, we found a dozen of them just at their dessert. Madame and Ma- 
 demoiselle were covered with kisses (as they always are), and then we
 
 LOVE OF HOME. 55 
 
 sat down. Though we had dined heartily, the old gentleman in- 
 sisted on our assisting to dispatch his grapes, raisins, prunes, &c., and 
 his excellent Champagne, made by himself on his own ground. I was 
 placed at table, and looked upon as an old acquaintance, though I be- 
 lieve they forgot even to tell who I was. If he was a philosopher, he 
 was not at all averse to enjoying the good things allowed us by Pro- 
 vidence in this vale of misery. They all appeared to find themselves 
 in a very comfortable state. They began dancing at last, to music 
 scraped out of a fiddle with three strings. It was enough for the pur- 
 pose. Madame S . danced for the first time since her marriage (eighteen 
 years ago), with a gentleman's hat on her head, to sustain her charac- 
 ter as a cavalier ; and a smart one, too, she was. At last, as a parting 
 ceremony, they danced to singing, going all round in a ring, with one 
 in the middle, who was to kiss whoever she or he liked best. This 
 part I joined, as no dancing was required, and as I thought five mi- 
 nutes would finish it. Madame S. was here kissed often, first as gen- 
 tleman, and then as lady. All this work, you know, was rather new 
 to me. (I think I have seen sixpence offered to my niece to kiss the 
 Doctor.) So when one young lady came to me by accident, and turned 
 up her cheek, I stooped down and kissed it most beautifully, and 
 thought I had done all that was necessary. It was a mistake, as the 
 lady soon convinced me, by holding up the other side too (in imita- 
 tion, I suppose, of the patient Quaker, who is directed, when smitten 
 on one side of the face, to turn up the other too). I repeated the cere- 
 mony. I need not say, figure to yourself a tall, thin personage, &c., 
 &c. ; that is unnecessary ; for you do figure him to yourself, and smile." 
 " William says you are afraid that some of the French beauties 
 may rnn away with me ; but I daresay you may keep your minds easy 
 on that point. You are no strangers to the difficulty of making the 
 Doctor march against his will,* and he has not yet been hit by the ar- 
 rows of * le petit Monsieur Cupid,' as the French call him." 
 
 Almost every letter written during his residence in 
 Paris breathes the same love of home. In a letter to 
 George, he says, 
 
 " The other evening, in taking a turn about my room, my thoughts 
 went more and more northward, till I found myself in the midst of the 
 family ; and I had such a pleasant discourse, that I actually caught 
 myself smiling more than once, at the questions and answers. After 
 a good deal of talk, I began to tell them how well they had rigged 
 
 * This refers to the incident mentioned on page 17.
 
 5(j PROFESSOR DUPUYTREN. 
 
 me out at parting, as not a button or a stitch has failed in any piece 
 of my apparel (stockings always excepted), and it is now twelve months 
 since I left home. The stockings have not often required my assist- 
 ance either ; but tell the female part of the family to beware of their 
 reputation, for before my return, I shall be able to darn as well as the 
 best of them. A hole is now the business of one minute, instead of 
 being the work of twenty minutes ; and it is so well finished, that, in 
 my silk stockings, you could not see even where it had been ! My 
 good Scotch shoes, however, are gone, and I sincerely regret them, as 
 the French are still incapable of making leather, and, of course, shoes !" 
 
 In the year 1818, this last remark was literally cor- 
 rect; for the high reputation which French shoes now 
 possess, has been gained by great improvements made 
 in the manufacture of leather since the peace of 1815. 
 
 In a letter to his mother, dated Paris, 23d January 
 1818, he mentions Professor Dupuytren in the follow- 
 ing terms : 
 
 " I must tell you an incident that occurred the other day at the 
 Hotel Dieu. Monsieur Dupuytren was scolding a Frenchman who 
 happened to be standing behind an Englishman, Dr M., and the lat- 
 ter, believing that Dupuytren was scolding him, defended himself, and 
 denied that he was to blame. Dupuytren, being in the midst of an 
 operation on a poor man in bed, got into a furious passion, and rated 
 Dr M. soundly, telling him that if he did not hold his tongue, he must 
 leave the Hospital. Dr M. was so much hurt, that he could not sleep, 
 and wrote to Dupuytren, explaining why he had replied to his attack. 
 Nobody believed that Dupuytren would answer his letter, but the fol- 
 lowing reply was returned : ' Je verrai toujours avec plaisir Mons. 
 M. suivre mes visites et mes lemons. Je le prie d'agreer 1'assurance de 
 ma parfaite consideration. DUPUYTREN.' And thus ended the mal- 
 entendu. Dupuytren cannot allow the business of the Hospital to be 
 interrupted by replies to his reproofs, and the French students receive 
 them in silence. His object is always to make them do their duty." 
 
 " George," he continues, " remarked, that when so many patients 
 die in the Hotel Dieu, there must be some faults in the treatment. 
 That there are some, I have no doubt, because I see them ; but upon 
 the whole the treatment is excellent. Very many of the patients are 
 in a desperate condition before they are brought in for advice ; but I 
 have seldom seen so much attention paid to really sick persons as by 
 Dupuytren. The kind, insinuating manner in which he speaks to
 
 PROFESSOR DUPUYTREN. 57 
 
 many of them, makes them almost forget their pains ; and during an 
 operation or dressing, he talks to them, asking them questions of all 
 kinds, to divert their attention from their sufferings, and often with 
 great success. To an obstreperous patient, of whichever sex, he is 
 rude. For a case requiring instantaneous decision, I have never seen 
 a surgeon equal to him (you know, however, that I have not yet seen 
 a great many of any kind). He acts without hesitation, and after he 
 has finished, he states, with great clearness and precision, the reasons 
 for and against particular modes of proceeding ; and his reasons are 
 generally very satisfactory, even when one would suppose that he had 
 had no time for consideration. I am sometimes inclined to think that 
 he could make any person submit to allow his head to be cut oft'. The 
 other day he made a little boy jump upon a table, to be operated upon 
 for the stone, quite pleased and joking. He asked him if ever he rode 
 at home ? ' Yes,' said the boy, ' often ; my father sends me out to ride.' 
 ' Ah !' said Dupuytren, ' your father gives you a fine horse to ride upon ?' 
 ' Ah, non, monsieur, c'est un aiie, ce n'est pas un cheval.' ' You ride 
 upon a nice ass, then, instead of a horse, do you ?' ' Ah, oui,' said 
 the little fellow, quite pleased. The operation was completed in two 
 minutes. The boy cried a little ; and when he saw the stone, ' Est- 
 ce gros comme ?a !' he exclaimed with astonishment. He is recovering 
 well." 
 
 In a subsequent letter, writing of the same Professor, 
 he says, 
 
 " I repeat what I have said already, that, of all professors, French 
 and English, endowed or unendowed, whom I have known, Dupuy- 
 tren discharges his duty in a more zealous way, and takes more pains 
 to instruct the students who attend him, than any man I have ever 
 seen. It is certainly meritorious in him, after a fatiguing visit of 
 three hours to nearly 280 patients, to sit down and give an account 
 of all the important cases under his care, mentioning their daily pro- 
 gress, his remedies, and the reasons of his treatment, without regard 
 to his own convenience and comfort ; for he must breakfast either be- 
 fore six o'clock in the morning, or not till eleven or half-past eleven 
 in the day. I was at first prejudiced against the French and French 
 surgery ; but by degrees I could not resist forming, from the facts I 
 saw before me, the opinions which I have expressed. Although I do 
 admire him, however, I must not devote my whole time to his instruc- 
 tions, but must attend other professors and different hospitals. In 
 future, I mean to keep my mind as open to their good qualities as to 
 our own."
 
 58 PROFESSOR DUPUYTREN. 
 
 " Ludicrous incidents," he continues, " occasionally present them- 
 selves in the Hospital. A patient who had all but recovered from a 
 broken arm, stole out one day without leave, just to see how the world 
 was going on. As he was staring at some object, a cabriolet rode him 
 down and broke the other arm. He returned, remarking that now 
 both arms were alike !" 
 
 Shortly afterwards he thus writes to his sister Jean : 
 
 " You may tell George, as it may interest him, that Dupuytren has 
 a powerful head. He has large organs of Individuality, Eventuality, 
 Comparison, and Causality ; in short, all before the ear is very full. 
 He has a good deal of Combativeness, and it is obvious that he has 
 no sympathy for a poltroon. As long as the patients suifer quietly, he 
 acts as if he were their guardian angel ; but when they complain, 
 especially Avhen they roar out for trifles, I would nearly as soon give 
 them the devil himself for their surgeon as Dupuytren." 
 
 This probably proceeded from a defect of temper in 
 this eminent operator ; for a patient is relieved by cry- 
 ing aloud under a severe operation. When acute pain 
 is felt, the nervous system receives a shock, the evil 
 effects of which are increased by the efforts used not to 
 give way to nature and cry. 
 
 In a letter to his sister Margaret, dated Paris, 6th 
 April 1818, in reference to his studies, he says : 
 
 " On 26th March I finished my dissections ; and I confess, for the 
 edification of my friends at home, that before beginning, I thought 
 myself a far better anatomist than I do now, after four months pretty 
 constant application. I am amazed to discover the vagueness of the 
 notions which I had mistaken for a complete knowledge of the human 
 structure ; but now I feel a degree of confidence in myself to perform 
 operations of which I was previously afraid. However, I have only 
 a kind of confidence yet, which I must, if possible, increase by prac- 
 tice here." 
 
 It may be proper to mention, as a trait of his charac- 
 ter, that, in a letter written at this time to his mother, 
 he gives an account of his pecuniary expenditure, classi-
 
 FRENCH MEDICAL STUDENTS. 59 
 
 fyiug it under the different heads of expenses of educa- 
 tion, of living, of clothes, and of pocket-money; and that 
 the items shew a combination of judicious disbursement 
 with economy, creditable equally to his judgment and 
 his tastes. In a letter to his sister Jean, he says : 
 
 " I have found the articles in the little bag extremely useful. 
 Sometimes, when in need of something or another, I have thought to 
 myself, ' Look into the hag, and see what your sister has put there !' 
 I looked accordingly, and generally found what I wanted. This shews 
 the great advantage of having a kind and thoughtful sister like you." 
 
 " For your encouragement in study, I may mention, that last week 
 I saw two young ladies attending a lecture on medical hotany. They 
 were in the midst of three hundred not very genteel students, and were 
 not taken notice of at all. Both appeared quite at home. At the 
 Bcole de Medecine, it is no rarity to see a few soldiers at lecture, 
 sometimes tailors, and even porters and charcoal-carters, standing with 
 their mouths wide open, as if to receive the words as they drop from 
 the Professor. As, however, there are lectures on the genteel side of 
 the town for both sexes at moderate prices, most of the ladies prefer 
 going there." 
 
 It is well known that in France the members of the 
 medical profession do not occupy the same social rank 
 as they do in the great cities of this country. The fol- 
 lowing remarks give a glimpse into one of the causes 
 of the lower estimation in which they are held. 
 
 " I have had my pocket picked at the bedside of a patient in the 
 Hotel Dieu. Luckily it contained only my pocket-handkerchief, with 
 which the young rascal escaped. The medical students here are such 
 a set, and held in such low estimation, that I am almost ashamed to 
 own that I belong to the fraternity. Indeed, I have sometimes said 
 to inquisitive people, that I am following the philosophical lectures at 
 the Faculte des Sciences." 
 
 In the summer of 1818, he attended a course of Lec- 
 tures on Botany by Mons. Desfontaines, and a course on 
 Chemistry by M. Langres.
 
 60 STUDIES PURSUED IN SUMMER 1818. 
 
 " These are delivered at the ' Jardin du Roi,' and are excellent. I 
 formerly thought botany a dry study, but now I find it extremely 
 pleasant. The class-room will accommodate one thousand students ; 
 and although the lecture begins at seven A.M., one must go at six, to 
 get a good place. Among the students are from forty to fifty ladies, 
 of whom four are English. They were loudly cheered when they en- 
 tered." " I go to the Hopital St Louis, for diseases of the skin, 
 where clinical lectures are given by Mons. Alibert, a very celebrated 
 man in Prance." He describes this professor as extremely vain. 
 " To make his hearers laugh," says he, " appears to be his principal 
 aim, and the next the spreading of his own fame. Yet with all these 
 faults, he is a genius; but vanity, vanity, with him all is vanity !" 
 
 He also followed a course on Geology, by Faujas St 
 Fond ; and one on Physiology, by Richerand. 
 
 " The Lecturers at the Jardin du Roi," says he, " are experienced 
 old men, free from the affectation and self-importance which charac- 
 terise so many of those at the Bcole de Medecine. Many men get a 
 name here for very slender attainments. Richerand, whose Physio- 
 logy has long been translated into English, is a celebrated man, and 
 yet he is young, pompous, and affected. His Physiology was the best 
 of its day, because there was no other ; but it is certainly no great 
 affair." 
 
 " I would like you to send me Euclid, as, in the autumnal months, 
 I mean to go over it with the assistance of my learned friend Collie. 
 I now see the great utility of mathematics, and am only sorry that 
 I learnt the little I know of them when so young that I did not dis- 
 cover their utility, although even then I really liked them. In the 
 ensuing winter I shall study the brain, as you recommend, with as 
 much attention as possible. I did not attempt it last winter, as it was 
 too complicated a structure for a beginner. Even with my recent 
 experience it must be difficult, but I shall do my best." 
 
 He mentions that he had attended Abbe Sicard's 
 examination of the Deaf and Dumb, and been greatly 
 interested by the attainments of the pupils. Their de- 
 finition of difficulty, he says, was " possibilite avec ob- 
 stacle." 
 
 He also commenced the study of Italian this sum- 
 mer.
 
 HIS OWN APPEARANCE AND HEALTH DESCRIBED. 61 
 
 In a letter of the 28th June he describes his own ap- 
 pearance : 
 
 " Madame Schmidt desires me to tell you that, before I come home, 
 you must have the doors of your houses a little elevated, as I have 
 grown tremendously tall since my arrival. Her husband says that a 
 man grows till he is five-and-twenty, and hence I have four-and-a-half 
 years still in which to increase. At this rate I should surely at last 
 become truly ' un grand homme.' However, Madame says that I am 
 ' assez gros ' for my height, and that I must not become fatter. This 
 is what other people say of me ; and for my own account, I believe 
 that I am just as I was when I left you, perhaps a little firmer, with 
 a long face, not quite mahogany tint, but, according to Dr H., verging 
 a little towards it. But with the heat here at 89-J and 90 all fore- 
 noon in the shade, whose face can be white, except the faces of the 
 ladies ? I can walk from one to four P.M. in the sun, or out of it, and 
 feel myself very comfortable, neither burnt nor annoyed. What the 
 cause is I do not know, but here I am much less oppressed than at 
 home with the thermometer at 70 ; and in winter, when it stood at 
 16, I still was not disagreeably affected. All that is left for me, is 
 to be thankful to find myself in such an accommodating condition of 
 health and strength. In such days I find a flannel vest next the skin 
 a luxury." 
 
 " In these mornings 200 students at least may be seen in the walks 
 of the Jardin du Hoi, breakfasting on a roll and cherries or currants, 
 or on bread alone, and frequently I now breakfast in the same manner. 
 In very warm weather it is more refreshing than drinking hot coffee 
 and milk. I have seen the time when I should have imagined myself 
 very ill supplied if put off with such a breakfast ; but I like the French 
 way of living because I feel myself well with it, though it was dis- 
 agreeable at first." 
 
 The following extract relates to an idiosyncrasy of 
 constitution in Andrew, remarkable in his younger 
 years, and which probably arose from the fruits men- 
 tioned passing into the acetous fermentation in his sto- 
 mach, owing to weakness of digestion, afterwards re- 
 moved by an improved tone in his general system. 
 
 " I am now thinking," says he, " what a fool I have been all my 
 life to refuse to eat grapes, strawberries, peaches, plums, &c. I am 
 verily astonished at myself; but tell my mother not to be afraid, for
 
 62 HIS OWN VIEW OF HIS PROSPECTS. 
 
 I don't think I shall ever eat butter, or eggs, or cheese.* I have re- 
 solved henceforth to partake of the good things of this life, whenever 
 I can get them, and not sit like a fool and see everybody eating and 
 enjoying themselves but myself. It is a curious revolution too ; for 
 when I left home, I thought I had hundreds of reasons for not eating 
 them, and now I can't see even the shadow of one reason for such 
 proceedings ; nor do I know how the change has been produced, or at 
 what period." 
 
 In a letter to George, dated 20th July 1818, he al- 
 ludes to his professional prospects in the following 
 terms : 
 
 " If our two heads are not of the same conformation nearly, I think 
 they should be, for it is a rare occurrence to find us differing in our 
 views ; but then we are not both doctors. I thank you sincerely for 
 your commendations, in addition to the many others already received. 
 My earnest wish is to be as small a burden on the family as possible, 
 while a burden I must be, and to cease to be so as soon as possible. 
 The prospect of the latter is farther distant than I could wish. Had 
 the war continued, it might have been an easier matter to provide for 
 myself than at present, when medical men are swarming everywhere. 
 But still, I should not have wished his Majesty's ministers to continue 
 the war for my sake. It only remains for me, without being too 
 much discouraged, to endeavour to make myself useful. If the life of 
 a medical man has any sweets, and, like others, it must have some, 
 the pleasure of being the means of relieving a fellow-creature, even 
 of the lowest grade, from suffering, is certainly none of the least. 
 Though I have done no great things, yet even in my small practice I 
 have tasted some half hours which I would not have exchanged for 
 any consideration. I cannot expect, as it were, to jump into practice, 
 but I shall do my best to make it the interest of people to employ me. 
 Still the thought gives me a little uneasiness, lest, in spite of my en- 
 deavours, I should not succeed. My residence in Paris will tell in my 
 favour, as there is a tendency in most persons to imagine that know- 
 ledge and experience gained in a foreign country are superior to those 
 of home-growth. They magnify the objects which they see only dimly 
 as through a glass." 
 
 He felt and gratefully acknowledged every act of 
 kindness shewn to him by any one. Almost every letter 
 
 * This peculiarity continued with him through life.
 
 HIS INTELLECTUAL CONDITION DESCRIBED. 63 
 
 contains expressions of his sense of the attentions which 
 he received from Dr Spurzheim and his wife, and from 
 other families in Paris to whom he had been introduced. 
 To his brother George, on 28th April 1818, he writes: 
 " I thank you for your last-mentioned compliment of 
 10. For the many such you have given me, I think 
 I must engage to keep your body in the best repair I 
 can henceforth, without cost to you, this being the only, 
 though poor return, I can give you for your kindness." 
 He literally fulfilled this promise as long as he lived ; 
 and to his judicious counsels, and constant watchful 
 care, his brother owed a regularly improving constitu- 
 tion, so that in advanced years he enjoyed a firmer hold 
 of life than he had ever been conscious of in youth. It 
 is proper to add, that Andrew, during his whole life, was 
 scrupulously exact in money transactions, and punctual 
 in payment of his debts ; and that, when, after the death 
 of his mother, he received his patrimony, he gratefully 
 reimbursed all the advances which had been made to 
 him during his professional education. 
 
 In a letter to his sister Jean, dated 25th August 
 1818, he says : 
 
 " It is a great fault in myself, the want of reflecting on what I read, 
 and I believe it is one of the evil consequences of my long and hurtful 
 silence ; because from neither asking the opinion of others, nor express- 
 ing my own, on the books which I read, I take a less firm hold of the 
 subject, than if I had started discussion on it. The consequence is 
 now, that although I have read a great many books, yet I scarcely 
 remember a line of any of them. I am anxious to get into intelligent 
 society, were it only to excite my reflecting faculties, by hearing and 
 giving opinions. I could speak like any other person, if I had people 
 to speak with, and then I should improve doubly. I know that I 
 have at least a share of reflecting faculties, because when attacked on 
 questions of importance by my two acute young friends, AV. and Gr., 
 and forced to draw on my own resources to answer them, I improved 
 more than I could have supposed. I shall ever consider my coming to 
 Paris as an era in my life. It has given me new ideas on many sub-
 
 64 HIS SUMMER RECREATIONS IN PARIS. 
 
 jects, and I have learned a good deal ; but I have still very much to 
 learn. * * * 
 
 " My faculties unfortunately require compulsion to excite them; but, 
 as you said, set them in motion, keep me employed, and I am happy 
 myself, and pleased with everything around me. Allow them to stag- 
 nate, and I am miserable and discontented. I have resolved, however, 
 not to become silent again, if I can find anything to say. It is said, 
 ' vir sapit qui patica loquitur;' but in my opinion, although he may be 
 a wise man when he begins to be silent, he will not long continue such 
 if he practise constantly on that rule. I am in good health and 
 spirits. Now that I have fairly discussed myself, what books would 
 you recommend to me to read ?" 
 
 The following extracts describe his summer recrea- 
 tions : 
 
 " I went out to Vincennes on Sunday after dinner. There is there 
 a delightful large park, and the road was crowded with carriages and 
 pedestrians. The evening was beautifully fine, and every body was 
 merry as usual. It gave me great pleasure to see the people happy 
 and enjoying themselves ; so that, although I do not dance myself, I 
 liked much to see every body else in motion." " I have been to Marly 
 also, St Germain, and other places. Little pedestrian excursions like 
 these, with one or two good companions, are delicious enjoyments. 
 "We are only sorry that we have nearly exhausted the neighbourhood 
 of Paris, except to the south. 
 
 " If you find this letter dull, you must know, that I have supjgfssed 
 much nonsense which I was going to write, to make way for graver sub- 
 jects ; but here are some little bits for you. George says that Madame 
 S.'s beautiful daughter seems to have made a deep impression on me ; 
 but I am sorry to say that, however deep the impression may have 
 been at first, it is now getting time to wear off, as unfortunately I have 
 seen her only once since I described her, and did not see her to-day 
 when I visited the family. But I have another lady to tell you of, 
 with whom I lately made rather an amusing figure. I was walking 
 with Mademoiselle H. and her father, and I very gallantly offered her 
 my arm, which she accepted. But, dolor ! after stretching her arm 
 as far as she could, she succeeded in attaining to mine only with the 
 ends of her two middle digits, and then from my gigantic stature one 
 of my steps equalled five or six of hers, so that, do as I liked, we could 
 not keep the step, but jostled and annoyed each other, till at last we 
 took a hearty laugh and separated."
 
 ANDREW COMBE STUDIES PHRENOLOGY. 65 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ANDREW COMBE STUDIES PHRENOLOGY, AND COMPLETES HIS MEDICAL 
 EDUCATION IN PARIS VISITS SWITZERLAND AND THE NORTH OF 
 ITALY AND RETURNS TO EDINBURGH. 
 
 IN the autumn of 1818 Andrew Combe commenced a 
 serious investigation of Phrenology ; and in his letters 
 to his relations, he gives numerous and interesting de- 
 tails of his observations. For example, in a letter to 
 George, dated in March 1819, he says : 
 
 " "With the exception of the functions of a few individual organs, 
 I knew actually nothing of the system till within the last year, and I 
 was astonished to find it so, as I thought that I had known more of 
 it after hearing so many convincing discourses on it in your circle. 
 I am not satisfied with my knowledge on various heads of it yet, hut 
 I know it hotter. Dr Spurzheim and his wife are very kind to me 
 indeed ; I see them often, and one morning lately I went to him with 
 a human brain, which I procured at the hospital after several weeks 
 watching, and I dissected it under his directions. This occupied me 
 two hours, and I received many useful instructions from him. He 
 lent me several plates also, and has promised me his and Gall's large 
 work as soon as a gentleman who now has it returns it." 
 
 The knowledge thus acquired exercised a powerful 
 and permanent influence on his subsequent pursuits ; 
 and as, at a later period, he published, in the preface 
 to his work on Mental Derangement, an account of these 
 studies, it may appropriately be introduced here : 
 
 " When yet a student," says he, " I joined in the general hurst of ridi- 
 cule with which the phrenological doctrines were received at the time 
 of Dr Spurzheim's visit to Great Britain in 1816-17 ; a piece of con- 
 
 E
 
 66 ANDREW COMBE STUDIES PHRENOLOGY. 
 
 duct which is explained, though far from justified, by the circum- 
 stance, that I was then totally unacquainted with their nature and 
 import. My attention was first seriously turned to the examination 
 of these doctrines during my residence at Paris, in the autumn of 
 1818, when Dr Spurzheim's Observations sur la Phrenologie, then just 
 published, were happily put into my hands, at a time when, from 
 there being no lectures in any of the Parisian schools, I had ample 
 leisure to peruse that work deliberately. I had not proceeded far 
 before I became impressed with the acuteness and profundity of many 
 of the author's remarks on the varied phenomena of human nature, 
 and with the simplicity of the principles by which he explained what 
 had previously seemed contradictory and unintelligible ; and, in pro- 
 portion as I advanced, the scrupulousness of statement, sobriety of 
 judgment, and moral earnestness, with which he advocated his views, 
 and inculcated their importance, made me begin to apprehend that to 
 condemn without inquiry was not the way to ascertain the truth of 
 Phrenology, or to become qualified to decide in a matter of medicine 
 or of philosophy. I therefore resolved to pause, in order to make my- 
 self acquainted with the principles of the new physiology, and to re- 
 sort, as he recommended, to observation and experience for the means 
 of verifying or disproving their accuracy, before again hazarding an 
 opinion on the subject. In carrying this resolution into effect in the 
 following winter session, I had the advantage of being able to attend 
 two courses of lectures delivered by Dr Spurzheim, at Paris, on the 
 Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology of the Brain and Nervous Sys- 
 tem, during one of which rather a striking confirmation of his doc- 
 trine occurred. In the middle of the lecture of 1st December 1818, 
 a brain was handed in, with a request that Dr Spurzheim would say 
 what dispositions it indicated, and he would then be informed how 
 far he was correct. Dr Spurzheim took the brain without any hesi- 
 tation, and, after premising that the experiment was not a fair one, 
 in as far as he was not made acquainted with the state of health, con- 
 stitution, or education of the individual, all of which it was essential 
 for him to be aware of before drawing positive inferences ; he added, 
 that, nevertheless, he would give an opinion on the supposition that 
 the brain had been a sound one, and endowed with ordinary activity : 
 after which, he proceeded to point out the peculiarities of develop- 
 ment which it presented." 
 
 After giving the details of the case, which our limits 
 prevent us from quoting, Dr Combe goes on to say, that, 
 altogether, the close coincidence between the facts, with
 
 ANDREW COMBE STUDIES PHRENOLOGY. 67 
 
 which he himself happened to be familiar, and the re- 
 marks of Dr Spurzheim, who had never seen the skull, 
 and judged from the brain alone, as it lay misshapen 
 on a flat dish, made a deep impression on his mind ; as 
 it went far to prove, not only that organic size had a 
 powerful influence on energy of function, but that there 
 actually were differences in different brains, appreciable 
 to the senses, and indicative of diversity of energy in 
 particular functions. He then proceeds as follows : 
 
 " In continuing the practical observations which I had begun to 
 make on living heads, I met at first with many difficulties, partly from 
 unacquaintance with the local situation of the alleged organs, and 
 with the limits of their respective functions ; and partly also from 
 want of experience in observing : and thus, while the general result 
 seemed to be confirmed, many apparent exceptions presented them- 
 selves, and gave rise to numerous doubts. In extending my observa- 
 tions, however, for the purpose of substantiating these objections, na- 
 tural solutions so invariably presented themselves, one after another, 
 in proportion as they were scrutinized, that, after two years' expe- 
 rience, the conviction of the truth of the fundamental principles, and 
 of the correctness of the functions ascribed to many of the larger or- 
 gans, became irresistible ; while I still hesitated in regard to several 
 of the smaller organs, the evidence of which I had not sufficiently ex- 
 amined. Actuated by the natural feeling of improbability that so 
 much should have been discovered in so short time by only two indi- 
 viduals, however eminent their talents and felicitous their opportuni- 
 ties, I still expected to meet with some important errors of detail, and, 
 so far from being disposed to adopt implicitly all the propositions of 
 Drs Grail and Spurzheim, I rather looked for, and expected to find, 
 some hasty conclusions or unsupported assumptions ; and my surprise 
 was extreme, to discover, that, in the whole extent of their inquiry, 
 they had proceeded with so much caution and accuracy, as, in all their 
 essential facts and inferences, to have rendered themselves apparently 
 invulnerable. 
 
 " On finding their statements in regard to the conditions required 
 for the healthy manifestations of mind, thus borne out, and aware 
 that a true physiology of the brain should not only derive confirma- 
 tion from its morbid phenomena, but that it was, in fact, the only 
 basis on which an intelligible and consistent view of the pathological 
 derangements of the mental faculties, and the means required for their
 
 68 ANDREW COMBE STUDIES PHRENOLOGY. 
 
 cure, could rest, I resolved not to lose the favourable opportunity of 
 prosecuting the inquiry, which then presented itself, in the announce- 
 ment of a course of clinical lectures on mental derangement, at the 
 Hospice de la Salpetriere, by the celebrated Esquirol, the friend, pupil, 
 and successor of Pinel. This course I accordingly attended in the 
 spring of 1819, being the first which was given ; and, amid the nume- 
 rous forms of disordered mind, congregated in so large an establish- 
 ment, I felt great interest in tracing the consistency which still ap- 
 peared to obtain between the phenomena and the physiological prin- 
 ciples unfolded by the teachers of the new philosophy. So closely, in- 
 deed, did the descriptions of the various forms and transitions of in- 
 sanity, and the distinctive features of the numerous cases referred to 
 by the Professor in illustration (the subjects of most of which were 
 then to be seen in the asylum), correspond with the doctrines which 
 I was then engaged in studying, that I very naturally supposed that 
 M. Esquirol himself must be a phrenologist." 
 
 In this supposition, however, he soon learned with 
 surprise that he was mistaken ; but at the subsequent 
 stages of Esquirol's course, he failed to discover in the 
 Professor's comments upon the doctrines of Dr Gall, 
 any facts or reasonings which tended to shake his own 
 previous impression of their general soundness and 
 accordingly he continued his inquiry. 
 
 " Feeling at every step I made in the examination of Dr Grail's 
 discoveries, a deeper and deeper sense of their importance and prac- 
 tical usefulness if they should prove to be true, and having made my- 
 self sufficiently acquainted with his principles to be able to follow their 
 application, I then entered upon the perusal of Dr Spurzheim's French 
 work, Sur la Folie, with much attention, and with constant reference 
 to the cases and phenomena brought under review in the wards and 
 lecture-room of the Salpetriere ; and, when thus employed, I became 
 still more alive to the value of Phrenology as a branch of professional 
 knowledge, and lost no opportunity of testing its evidences by a com- 
 parison with nature. Shortly after this, viz. in 1820, a treatise, en- 
 titled De la Folie, made its appearance from the pen of M. Greorget, 
 and met in many quarters with much commendation, for the preci- 
 sion, consistency, and soundness of its doctrines. This work proved 
 not only to be very ably written, but to be based throughout on the 
 principles of Phrenology, and to be devoted, in its whole substance, to
 
 ANDREW COMBE STUDIES PHRENOLOGY. 69 
 
 the advocacy of the same doctrines in regard to mental affections, 
 which, with some slight differences, it was the sole object of that pre- 
 viously published by Dr Spurzheim, to inculcate. Of the latter, how- 
 ever, M. Georget made no mention whatever, although he referred 
 to Dr Gall's writings and lectures as the sources of many of his ideas ; 
 and so oddly are opinions biassed by preconceived notions, that it is 
 said to have happened that the same critic, who expressed his disre- 
 spect for the views as published by the one author, bestowed his ap- 
 probation upon them as coming from the other. I am uncertain whe- 
 ther this allegation be strictly correct ; but I am quite secure in 
 stating, that Dr Spurzheim's book, although in substance the same, 
 met with a very different reception from that published by Dr Geor- 
 get.' ; 
 
 He very early became alive to the importance of the 
 practical applications of Phrenology. In a letter to 
 his sister Jean, dated in December 1818, he says : 
 
 " Collie and I were breakfasting lately with Dr Spurzheim ; and 
 Collie is quite delighted with the practical application which the 
 Doctor has made of his science in choosing a wife for himself. Dr S. 
 asked him many questions about the heads of the different tribes of 
 native East Indians, and of the Chinese, whom he had seen, but un- 
 fortunately he had not then attended to the forms of their brains, and 
 could tell him nothing about them. It would be the most interesting 
 study imaginable to compare the heads of these various tribes, differ- 
 ing so much in character among themselves, and so much from Euro- 
 peans. Dr S. regrets his inability to visit these countries ; and Col- 
 lie says that, much as he dislikes the navy, he would willingly go back 
 now to enjoy opportunities of making such examinations." 
 
 On page 14 it was remarked that two of the causes of 
 Andrew Combe's slow progress at school, were the pre- 
 dominance of the reflecting over the observing organs 
 in his brain, and the want of a field in which the reflect- 
 ing faculties conld profitably employ themselves. The 
 correctness of this observation is now apparent. He 
 was only in his twenty-first year when he wrote the 
 letters published in the preceding chapter, and made 
 the observations here recorded. The activity of his 
 mind, when objects congenial to his faculties were sup-
 
 70 LETTERS FROM PARIS. 
 
 plied, is conspicuous, even although he occasionally coin- 
 plains of indolent dispositions ; and the extensive range 
 of his moral affections is elucidated by an incident which 
 he mentions in a letter to George, dated Paris, 13th 
 December 1818 : 
 
 " I have been overwhelmed," says he, " with letters, and yet none 
 of them are from the family. Although it is pleasant to find ' people 
 pleased with people,' yet I would not like as many every month. The 
 old porteress of the hotel, seeing them coming daily for a while, said 
 to Collie, in giving one to me, ' Ah ! que Monsieur Combe est aime ! 
 On 1'envoye des tas de lettres !'" 
 
 This feature of his character remained unchanged 
 during his life. In human suffering, happiness, and 
 progress, he took a lively interest, which never slumber- 
 ed ; and it led him into an extensive correspondence, 
 from which the pages of the present work will be en- 
 riched. Another trait of character may be adverted to 
 in connection with this subject. There was in him 
 an earnestness and affectionateness of disposition, an 
 intellectual perspicacity, and a general soundness of 
 judgment, which thus early inspired his correspondents 
 with respect as well as liking for him ; and led them to 
 preserve his letters to an extent probably rare in the 
 case of so young a man, and one wholly undistinguished 
 by name, connections, or prospects. In the same letter 
 he continues : 
 
 " My friend C (whom he had lately introduced to his family) 
 
 tells me that you are very kind to him. I knew you would be so, and 
 I may add that all that kindness to him is set down in my book as 
 more than the same kindness to myself ; for although in general suffi- 
 ciently attentive to myself, yet I can on due occasions prefer another. 
 When I think on the kindness already shewn to me, I cannot express 
 the satisfaction I feel. Indeed you could never imagine that such a 
 happy interior existed under the covering of such a sober face." 
 
 His letters abound with remarks on the feelings of
 
 LETTERS FROM PARIS. 71 
 
 the French towards the English at the time of his 
 residence in Paris, and he mentions many amusing in- 
 stances of the forms in which their mortification and 
 dislike manifested themselves. In general, he bore their 
 ebullitions, both general and particular, with equanimity; 
 but occasionally the excess of their vanity, and the de- 
 grading nature of the charges brought by them against 
 his country, roused his indignation. In a letter to 
 George, dated 22d September 1818, he says : 
 
 " They will not lay aside their national vanity for ten minutes at 
 a time, nor speak to one as one of themselves. They cannot forget 
 for a moment that you are of a different nation. To he everlastingly 
 annoyed with glory on all occasions, in philosophical discussions at the 
 Institute, in medical lectures, and everywhere else, is too much of a 
 good thing. Put glory where glory should be ; hut glory and philoso- 
 phy make a curious compound, and glory and glauber-salts are more 
 ridiculous still." * * * " There is," he adds, " a difference be- 
 tween the conformation of the forehead of a French man and that of 
 a French woman ; the former slopes backwards from the nose rapidly, 
 indicating deficiency in the reflective organs, while the woman's fore- 
 head is much more perpendicular." 
 
 This remark is correct ; and the fact that, in Paris, 
 women exercise a greater influence in proportion to that 
 wielded by men, than women do in corresponding situ- 
 ations in England, harmonizes with it. This difference 
 in the development of the reflective organs in the male 
 and female heads does not generally prevail in the latter 
 country. 
 
 During the winter and spring of 1818-1819, Andrew 
 continued the study of his profession and of collateral 
 branches of knowledge, with the same ardour which he 
 had manifested in the preceding year; but it is unneces- 
 sary to enter into farther details. In some of his letters, 
 however, he introduces observations which appear to be 
 worth preserving, and a few of these shall now be selected. 
 
 In a letter to George, dated Paris, 8th February 1819,
 
 72 ESQUIROL'S LECTURES ON INSANITY. 
 
 after describing the extent to which the views of insanity 
 presented by Dr Esquirol, in his lectures at the Sal- 
 petriere, harmonize with the views of the physiology of 
 the brain which he had learned from Dr Spurzheim, he 
 continues : 
 
 " Almost all Esquirol 's cases were strong proofs of the truth of Phre- 
 nology, and many of his cures were effected by treating the diseased 
 faculty according to its nature. One very remarkable fact which he 
 mentioned, was the apparent 'penchant irresistible' to do certain acts ; 
 and in these cases he seldom saw an aliene who drew his conclusions 
 badly. It was in general upon the facts that he was mistaken ; and 
 supposing the facts to be as the aliene apprehended them, his conclu- 
 sions were perfectly sound. For example, at la Salpetriere, a middle- 
 aged country woman and a young girl slept in the same cell. The 
 girl, although generally quiet, had a strait waistcoat on. One morn- 
 ing she was found dead, and the other sitting, with her arms crossed, 
 quite composedly looking at her. Marks of violence were found on the 
 body. The woman was asked, Did you kill the girl ? ' Qu'oui !' dit 
 elle. ' Mais pourquoi ?' ' Je n'en sais rien,' said she ; and no effort 
 could obtain from her the specification of a single motive. In the 
 course of time she recovered her reason, and Bsquirol being anxious 
 to know why she had killed the girl (the more so, as the irresistibility 
 of impulses was making a noise at the time, and hers was regarded as 
 an example in point), questioned her cautiously, when she plainly and 
 openly made the following statement : ' The girl,' said she, ' wished 
 to mount up into my bed; I believed her to be a man, who came to insult 
 me. She persisted, and I resisted. I struck her blows with my fist ; 
 she fell to the ground and could not rise. She died.' ' Behold !' said 
 Esquirol, ' true reasoning, false facts, ignorance of motives at the time, 
 and unconsciousness of them afterwards, while the insanity lasted.' 
 The striking feature of these cases is, that during the disease the in- 
 dividual is unconscious of his motives, and says, with every appear- 
 ance of truth, that he does not know why he did the deed ; but after 
 his recovery, what he was unconscious of during his illness becomes 
 clear and present to his mind. How can we explain these phenomena ?" 
 
 Esquirol appears to have regarded the foregoing case 
 as one purely of intellectual delusion ; but if a con- 
 jecture might be hazarded as to the source of the wo- 
 man's mistake, the present writer would be disposed
 
 ESQUIROL'S LECTURES ON INSANITY. 73 
 
 to assign it to a morbid excitement of the organs of 
 Destmctiveness, which at once impelled her to violence, 
 and blinded her understanding to the circumstances in 
 which she was placed. 
 
 In the trials of homicidal maniacs which have taken 
 place in this country, there has occasionally been a con- 
 flict of opinion between the judges and the jury concern- 
 ing the character of the act charged in the indictment. 
 The legal definition of insanity requires aberration of 
 the intellectual faculties as an essential feature of the 
 malady, and does not recognise irresistibility of impulse 
 as insanity if the intellect be free from delusions. 
 Nevertheless, in some of the cases prosecuted as mur- 
 ders, the jury, although no intellectual derangement 
 could be proved, returned a verdict of insanity, from a 
 moral conviction that the action was that of a madman. 
 The subject is involved in much obscurity ; but such 
 light as Phrenology is able to shed on it will be found 
 in the Phrenological Journal, vol. xvi., p. 182, in a notice 
 of the trial of Daniel M'Xaughten.* 
 
 Andrew observes, that 
 
 Esquirol " has an excellent head, is a fine, pleasant, gentlemanly 
 man, of about thirty-five or forty years of age. How I wish that I 
 had an hour or two in my seat at your right hand at dinner, to discuss 
 all these subjects. ' What!' you will exclaim, ' Andrew discuss ?' Yes, 
 I think that, notwithstanding my quiet turn, I could now speak for an 
 hour or two very well."f 
 
 He continues : 
 
 " I have just read the French translation of Lady Morgan's work 
 on France. What a deal of imagination ! She has seen much of what 
 
 * See also pp. 304, 305, and 386 of same volume ; and vol. xvii., 
 pp. 33, 36, 89, 101, 102, 292 ; xviii., 375 ; xix., 227, 249, 347 ; xx., 
 162. On the general subject of insanity in relation to crime, Dr 
 Combe published two papers, in vol. Hi., p. 365, and vol. x., p. 121. 
 
 j- In the Phrenological Journal, vol. viii., p. 654, Dr Combe, in 
 an article in answer to Dr Prichard's objections against Phrenology, 
 discusses Dr Esquirol's facts and opinions on the merits of the science.
 
 74 PROFESSOR ANDRIEUX. 
 
 she describes with her oculi interni ; and Loth she and Sir Charles, who 
 writes three appendices, are often at open war with my ideas. The con- 
 clusions of the lady and her husband are sometimes at variance also 
 with their own facts, and their translator respects neither of them ! " 
 
 In mentioning the lectures of Andrieux on French 
 literature, he commends not only his discriminative 
 talents as a critic, but his justice and impartiality in 
 dealing with historical personages and events. As an 
 example, he reports part of his lecture on Joan of Arc. 
 The Professor condemned, as inconsistent with all cor- 
 rect notions of beauty, the heavy armour, shield, and 
 large stand of colours usually thrust upon the person 
 of the Maid of Orleans by painters and sculptors ; and 
 then proceeded to mention her history. 
 
 " ' On dit que ce sont les Anglais qui 1'ont sacrifice ; on 1'a toujours 
 dit ; mais ce n'est pas vrai. Ce sont les Fran?ais euxmemes qui 1'ont 
 perdue. The Duke of Burgundy sold her to the Duke of Luxem- 
 bourg ; he to another. Then the Bishop of Beauvais insisted on try- 
 ing her for sorcery. Judges were sent from Paris. They condemned 
 her to be burnt. Nor,' said he, ' was this all ; but the learned facul- 
 ties of Paris were consulted, and all of them reported in favour of 
 burning her except the faculty of medicine and another,' of which I 
 did not hear distinctly the name. The English auditors were greatly 
 pleased with this piece of justice ; but the Frenchmen hung their 
 heads, and not a sound was heard in approbation of the speaker." 
 
 Afterwards, he observes that " in another part of 
 his lectures Professor Andrieux exposed the bad effects 
 of conducting education by means of emulation, and 
 condemned the evil passions called forth by vanity. 
 ' On nous reproche,' dit il, ' a nous autres Francais 
 d'avoir beaucoup de vauite. II faut en convenir, nous 
 sommes tres vains,' " &c. In forming this estimate 
 of emulation as a motive in education, Professor An- 
 drieux was in advance of his age ; for, even in the present 
 day, few teachers have faith in the pleasures and advan-
 
 FRENCH SOCIETY. 75 
 
 tages of knowledge, as capable of affording to the young 
 sufficient motives to exertion, nnless reinforced by 
 strong appeals to egotism and the selfish passions. 
 They exclude from schools the principles and objects 
 of science, which form the natural stimulants to the 
 faculties, and substitute in their place languages and 
 other studies, for which comparatively few individuals 
 have a taste. Hence, extraneous and inferior motives 
 become necessary to supply the stimulus to study, 
 which nature, if permitted to enter the schools, would 
 afford. 
 
 Andrew continues : 
 
 " I have read Mr Buxton's work (on Prison Discipline), and in re- 
 gard to Xewgate at least, his description falls short of the truth. It 
 is really a hell upon earth ; and never did the Reverend David Dick- 
 son's descriptions of that abode bring home to my mind the horrors of 
 pandemonium so forcibly as did my visit to Xewgate. Last summer 
 I tried to gain admittance to two prisons here, bat was repulsed, ex- 
 cept on complying with one of two conditions, either, 1st, to commit 
 a crime, and come with an order from the Prefet to receive and detain 
 me ; or, 2<%, to come with an order from him to see the prison and 
 get out again. For the first, I have no inclination ; but I shall again 
 try the second." 
 
 In another letter he says : 
 
 " I have this winter seen a good deal more of French society than 
 last year, and in a greater variety of circles. I have observed some 
 things that appeared to me rather droll in a polite nation, and one 
 which is constantly accusing as of barbarism and rudeness in send- 
 ing the ladies away to the drawing-room after dinner, and leaving 
 them there so long by themselves. I refer to the entire separation 
 of the ladies from the gentlemen in some of their evening societies. 
 
 This is one point in which Lady Morgan and I agree. At "s 
 
 house, where good society is found, the ladies always range them- 
 selves on one side of the fire-place, and the gentlemen on the other ; 
 and often I have seen, for three hours, not a word pass from the one 
 party to the other. Nay more, I have seen the gentlemen form a ring 
 on their own side, and thus stand for an hour or two. one half of
 
 76 LETTERS FROM PARIS. 
 
 them, of course, with their backs to the ladies. This, Lady Morgan 
 observed, ' chez les princesses et gens du bon ton aussi.' Such man- 
 ners are worse than the English fashion of sending the ladies away to 
 a room by themselves. 
 
 " By the way, I must tell you a great compliment paid to me 
 
 by Monsieur and Madame . I often walk with them and 
 
 their daughter in the Champs Elysees ; but one day lately they al- 
 lowed me to conduct Mademoiselle to the Mint alone. It is very un- 
 common in Paris for a young lady to be permitted to walk alone with 
 
 any gentleman except a brother ; but Monsieur said that he 
 
 knew me to be Men sage" 
 
 " I fear that I shall never be able to like the French. So often, so 
 very often, do we meet with rubs and spite against the English, that it 
 is hard to bear, and harder still to love the authors of such abuse. I 
 can admire in them all that I find better than in our people at home, 
 and there is much to be admired. I can give them credit, also, for 
 many good qualities : but I cannot like them. I have never heard a 
 Frenchman abuse Scotland ; generally they speak well of it ; but 
 when they speak evil of ' les Anglais,' of course the Scotch are in- 
 cluded. When they praise Scotland to me, I am much inclined to 
 regard it as all flattery, and to believe that, behind my back, they 
 would praise England to an Englishman, if they wished particularly 
 to please him." 
 
 At the time when these letters were written, the 
 humiliation of France, by the then recent capture of 
 Paris and the dethronement of Napoleon, greatly ex- 
 asperated the French people against the British ; but, 
 nevertheless, there was probably a certain degree of 
 sincerity in their commendations of Scotland ; for his- 
 torical recollections of the ancient alliances between 
 the latter country and France still lingered in the me- 
 mories of the French, and gave rise to a more kindly 
 feeling towards Scotchmen, as portions of the British 
 nation, than that entertained towards the English them- 
 selves. 
 
 George had remarked, in a letter, that one of An- 
 drew's Parisian fellow-students, who had subsequently 
 come to Edinburgh, was very amiable, but appeared to 
 be rather deficient in general information. In allusion
 
 LETTERS FROM PARIS. 77 
 
 to this subject, Andrew, on 8th March 1819, wrote as 
 follows : 
 
 " Before left Paris to go to Edinburgh, my pen had begun to 
 
 trace the very observations you make on him ; but I stopped short, 
 thinking it unnecessary to do so, as you would soon find out the extent 
 
 of his attainments, and judge for yourself. My other friend is 
 
 even worse than he. With respect to general information, Collie has 
 
 a great advantage over us all. He is not at first so agreeable as . 
 
 It was some weeks before I liked him at all ; but after I did know 
 him, the more I saw of him I liked him the better ; and he is one of 
 the few persons of whose company I am never tired, at whatever time, 
 place, or occasion, we meet. It is since becoming acquainted with him 
 that I have perceived my own deficiency in that respect also, which I 
 must endeavour to supply, with your assistance, at my return. Here, 
 I have neither leisure from my professional studies, friends to direct 
 me, nor books." 
 
 In the same letter he adds : 
 
 " I am sure it will astonish you to hear, that at the season of the 
 Carnival, when everybody is merry, I went to the masked ball at the 
 opera, with three of the Passy ladies, and three gentlemen. All 
 
 the ladies wore masks, and Mr A also used one, as he was afraid 
 
 of being insulted, if known to be an Englishman. Collie and I went 
 without masks, trusting to our tongues, and, if necessary, our fists, for 
 protection. A mask speedily addressed me, ' Ah, Monsieur Bifteck, 
 comment trouTez vous le rosbif ?' I answered, ' Je le trouve miserable, 
 il faut aller en Angleterre pour le rosbif;' on which the mask 
 turned away. It was one of our own party, who, to play off a trick 
 upon me, changed his mask and dress; and when he rejoined the ladies, 
 he told them that Combe's face became red, and he saw that his blood 
 was rising, and thought it wise to go no farther. But he was in a 
 mistake, I like a joke about bifteck and rosbif with a Frenchman 
 very welL" 
 
 " I must add, that the ladies at Passy, one of whom, Miss S., has 
 a large organ of Wit, have discovered that I am neither triste nor 
 splenetic. That is fort drole, as few strangers doubt my being the one 
 or other. I remember well an old gentleman in black, in the hotel 
 at Calais, saying to me, in a slow, serious tone, suited, as he thought, 
 to the person he was addressing, ' Have you been studying long for a 
 preacher ? Have you taken orders yet ? Where do you expect to get 
 a church ? ! ! ' It is curious, too, that I am just now suffering a little 
 from teeth-cutting, for the first time, that I recollect of, in my life."
 
 78 DEATH OF MRS COMB. 
 
 " I have examined the Institution for the Blind here, from the cel- 
 lars to the garret, seen the boys at work, and obtained a large folio 
 sheet of their printing, and greatly admire the Institution and their 
 attainments. 
 
 " Have you mentioned your project of lecturing on Phrenology to 
 any one ? I should be afraid to open my mouth* before half a score 
 of people. You seem to be preparing in good time." 
 
 He occasionally overworked himself, and was visited 
 by languor (which he mistook for an idle disposition) 
 and depression. On 28th March 1819 he writes : " I 
 was depressed about a fortnight, and gradually reco- 
 vered ; but now I am in better spirits." 
 
 Although at this time he had nearly completed what 
 would generally be reckoned a good professional educa- 
 tion, yet he had not learned from any of his preceptors 
 the practical application of the principles of medicine 
 to the regulation of the habits of daily life ; and, both 
 then and subsequently, he suffered serious evils from 
 practical inattention to the laws of health. In the 
 course of years he profited by his sufferings, traced 
 them to their causes, and devoted his energies to teach- 
 ing others how to apply the knowledge of the human 
 constitution supplied by science, to warding off, as well 
 as to recovering from, disease. 
 
 In the spring of 1819 the health of his mother be- 
 gan to decline, but for some time no serious appre- 
 hensions were entertained concerning her condition. 
 Her ordinary medical attendant treated her for de- 
 rangement of the digestive system, and anticipated 
 an improvement of health with the advance of sum- 
 mer. Her son George, however, at length suspected 
 the existence of chronic inflammation of the liver, and 
 requested that Dr James Gregory might be called in 
 to consultation. He came, and confirmed this sus- 
 picion, and treated her accordingly. But the disease
 
 DEATH OF MRS COMB. 79 
 
 speedily passed into the acute form, and after enduring 
 great suffering, which she bore with heroic fortitude 
 and unbroken equanimity, she died on the 8th day of 
 May 1819. The shock was the more severely felt by 
 her family, as never previously had they known her to 
 be seriously indisposed. The following letter expresses 
 Andrew's feelings on receiving the intelligence of her 
 death. 
 
 PARIS, 16th May 1819. 
 
 " MY DEAB GEOEGE, It is with much grief I have to-day learnt 
 the death of my excellent mother. I received yours at three o'clock, 
 and at this moment, nine P.M., I can hardly believe, and hardly con- 
 ceive, what I find hut too legibly written on that sheet. 
 
 " Little did I imagine, from your last letter, that such an event 
 was to happen, although I had some suspicions of a more serious ill- 
 ness than you mentioned, even from your manner of expressing it. 
 Then, I really believed it was only a slight bilious attack, and re- 
 pressed my suspicions as destitute of foundation ; and even up to this 
 forenoon, I had been smiling and delighting myself with what was to 
 pass between my mother and me at my return, now drawing nearer, 
 in that same parlour where I had taken, it appears, a last, and, I own, 
 a bitter farewell of her. That farewell is fixed in my mind as if it 
 had happened yesterday. My mother was much affected. You say 
 she always thought that was the last time she was to see me.* At my 
 departure, I hardly looked forward to the period of my return, and 
 often I believed I should never see any of you again. It is only within 
 the last six months that I have looked forward with confidence to that 
 time ; and with a confidence every day increasing as the time drew 
 nearer. Often hare I expressed my thankfulness for the good health 
 and comfort of the family. Many and many a time have I been seated 
 in the parlour at Livingston's Yards, with my mother in the arm- 
 chair at the fireside, holding an ideal conversation, and amusing her 
 with all the wonders I had seen, and perhaps causing a smile of satis- 
 faction from my improved health and strength. Only two days ago, 
 in writing a long letter to Jean (which I have not sent away), I told 
 her to ' Give my mother my best respects.' With what pleasure, too, 
 
 * Mrs Comb feared that Andrew would die of consumption in Paris, 
 and when he left home, she thought that she should never see him again. 
 Shortly before her own death she mentioned this impression.
 
 80 DEATH OF MRS COMB. 
 
 since I came here, have I so often found myself in Livingston's Yards' 
 parlour between sermons ! Often had I figured to myself the satisfac- 
 tion I might one day afford her in her little ailments and sufferings, 
 by my attention, at least, if not by my power of relieving them. This 
 hope and this pleasure are now fled, and never shall I have an oppor- 
 tunity of shewing my gratitude for what she has done for me. 
 
 " Still, to me it is no small consolation, that though absent, I was in 
 some measure present and useful, from the services, attentions, and 
 
 kindness of my friend C ; and it is pleasing to me to learn, that 
 
 in her last moments she was soothed by the attentions of my friend. 
 Give C my most sincere thanks ; I will like him the better for it. 
 
 " I cannot figure to myself that my mother is dead. I left her in 
 the parlour, and there I involuntarily go to seek her. Had I but 
 seen her once more, it would have been a melancholy satisfaction. 
 
 " After all, I thank you for not having told me of her state, as I 
 would have been anxious to hear every day ; and though the blow be 
 heavier, better so than fourteen days' anxiety and uncertainty." 
 
 In subsequent letters he makes frequent and tender 
 allusions to his mother, one example of which may "be 
 cited. Writing, on the 4th of June, to his sister Jean, 
 he says : 
 
 " In returning from Passy we had a grand thunder-storm. In the 
 middle of the Champ de Mars the death of my mother struck me with 
 more force even than on receiving George's letter. There was some- 
 thing so solemn and grand in the awful peals of thunder and broad 
 sheets of lightning, diversified occasionally by zig-zag flashes, that 
 my imagination became excited, and at every flash I gazed at the 
 clouds as if to penetrate through them, and, by the vivid lightning, 
 once more to see her whom I fancied to be stationed beyond them." 
 
 To this letter he added a postscript in shorthand, 
 addressed to George, which does so much credit to his 
 affectionate and just appreciation of his sister's merits, 
 that it may be pardonable to quote it here, although it 
 relates to another member of the family : 
 
 " I always," says he, " had a favourable opinion of our sister Jean's 
 talents for letter-writing, but her last letter, and one which she sent 
 to me about six months ago, have given me a higher estimate of them 
 still. I read these letters often, and particularly the last one, and
 
 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES AT PARIS. 81 
 
 always with pleasure. I would tell her this plainly, had she not re- 
 quested me not to take any notice of what she said. But I am so 
 pleased that I cannot remain silent, and I therefore write in short- 
 hand, and address it to you, to give vent to my feelings/' 
 
 The members of this family were unfortunately too 
 familiar with death ; and on several trying occasions 
 had received from their parents the most striking prac- 
 tical lessons of patience and resignation under the rend- 
 ing asunder of the cords of domestic affection. Andrew, 
 therefore, endeavoured to find consolation to his wound- 
 ed feelings in the discharge of the duties imposed on 
 him bv his circumstances, and by degrees his usual 
 serenity of mind returned. 
 
 In a letter also addressed to Jean, he says : 
 
 " Mademoiselle has been ill. but is now recovering. I passed 
 
 an evening with the family lately, and she desired me to tell you that, 
 as soon as she is well, she will write to you, and tell you ' que je suis 
 bien mechant, et que je me moque de tout ;' but I assured her, that 
 you have so high an opinion of my solemnity that you will not believe 
 a word of it. Her father is attending a course of lectures on Xatu- 
 ral Philosophy, and he said to me lately, ' Spend your last Louis, if 
 necessary, in acquiring knowledge ; what you learn is worth more 
 than the moi>ey. I am, as you see me (well to do), but I would give 
 half of what I possess for knowledge, which I am now too old to 
 learn.' This gentleman was a German by birth, but long settled in 
 Paris, where he had acquired a fortune/' 
 
 In the same letter he says : 
 
 " Tell my niece Marion, that I shall scold her well on my return. 
 She was in a hurry, she says, when she wrote to me ; but that is 
 no excuse for bad writing. It is just falling out of the frying-pan 
 into the fire. If I were near her, I should scold her for being in a 
 hurry, as she knows that what is done in a hurry, is never well done. 
 And, besides, she had no business to be in a hurry at all. I would 
 rather hare received a good, well-written, sensible letter, such as she 
 generally writes, although it arrived twenty-four hours later than the 
 one she sent, a day earlier. However, I excuse her this time, in con- 
 sideration of its being the first offence." 
 
 F
 
 82 CONTINUES HIS STUDIES AT PARIS. 
 
 During the summer of 1819 he attended a course of 
 lectures on midwifery ; and in a letter to George he 
 writes : 
 
 " The course of midwifery which I am at present following, would 
 afford materials for the finest piece of burlesque, or mock heroic writ- 
 ing that ever was produced. The matter is excellent; but the profes- 
 sor has a great organ of Veneration, and not a little Wit ; and these 
 he contrives to combine in his discourses. He is a very sensible man ; 
 but he sees ' le cote ridicule' of everything. He told us, for example, 
 * * * * " He told us also, that a young woman, 
 
 on the occasion of her first confinement in the Hospital, was so asto- 
 nished by her sufferings, that she bawled out, ' Murder !' ' murder !' 
 as loud as she could roar ; and continued so urgently to utter that 
 cry, that at length the guard forced their way into the ward, and 
 demanded who was killing the woman ? The students explained the 
 circumstances to them ; when one of the soldiers took out his snuff- 
 box, gave the patient a pinch, and, addressing her at the same time, 
 said, ' Courage, Madame, un peu de courage !' and then retired." 
 
 In a letter dated 29th June, he mentions Dr Gall, 
 and remarks that 
 
 " He speaks French like a Highlandman or Welshman speaking 
 English. He is delivering a public course of lectures, at the request, 
 I believe, of the Minister of the Interior. His lecture-room is much 
 crowded. I should like very much to attend him, in order to learn 
 how far he and Dr Spurzheim differ ; but his hour interferes with 
 that of another course of lectures in which I am already engaged, and 
 I am thus prevented from attending." 
 
 In the same letter he makes the following remarks 
 on some of his own mental faculties : 
 
 " Did you observe how much of the organ of Tune I had, before 
 leaving home ?* I was always fond of some kinds of music ; princi- 
 pally of what the French call enjouee (an expression which I cannot 
 translate into English), and also of sweet melodious melancholy music. 
 I may add that the organ appears to have grown a little. Collie 
 
 * The organ was moderately developed in his head.
 
 STATE OF HIS HEALTH. 83 
 
 says it is doubled in size since I came here, but I think that it is only 
 larger. I cannot, however, judge correctly of my own head. 
 
 " But my Self-Esteem, Love of Approbation, and Cautiousness, are 
 my troublesome organs, which I should like to have diminished a 
 little ; particularly the Love of Approbation and Cautiousness, which 
 are, I think, after laziness, my greatest enemies. A man requires a 
 little of Self-Esteem. not only to keep his own place in the world, but 
 to save him from doing mean actions. My Destructiveness, too, is 
 sometimes troublesome. I have a great desire to know my own head ; 
 but I cannot examine it well without taking it off, which I am very 
 little inclined to do at present. This letter is very full of myself, and 
 I beg of you to excuse my bad breeding in being egotistical : but I 
 am in the dumps ; and when a man naturally grave is in that state, 
 you cannot expect from him either merriment or gaiety." 
 
 The organs of Self-Esteem, Love of Approbation, 
 Cautiousness, and Conscientiousness, when all largely 
 and equally developed, give rise, in early life, to shy- 
 ness, bashfuliiess, or mauvaise honte. It is the fear of 
 compromising himself, in the opinion of himself and 
 others, by doing or saying something unworthy of him- 
 self, that causes the embarrassment in an individual 
 thus constituted. Some persons, however, are shy 
 from a constitutional feebleness of cerebral organiza- 
 tion, which makes them shrink instinctively from all 
 contact with unknown circumstances. 
 
 In this and some other letters, Andrew accuses him- 
 self of " laziness," and mentions his being in " the 
 dumps." His constitution was naturally remarkably 
 active, and the " laziness " was probably mere lassi- 
 tude, arising from exhaustion of the brain after over- 
 exertion. We have already seen evidence of his cease- 
 less activity in study ; to the effects of which must be 
 added the fatigue and exhaustion occasioned by fre- 
 quent and extensive pedestrian excursions during the 
 heat of summer, undertaken partly in pursuit of botani- 
 cal objects, and partly for social enjoyment in visiting 
 his friends in the environs of Paris. In his letters,
 
 84 VISIT TO SWITZERLAND. 
 
 he makes no allusion to the natural connection be- 
 tween these exertions and the " laziness" which he felt. 
 That his course of life was the cause of that feeling, is 
 rendered more probable by his letter of the 29th of 
 June, in which he says : 
 
 " I have been making too much blood, and it has assailed my head. 
 It began by a kind of lethargy and oppression, with weakness even to 
 shaking sometimes ; and one day I had, during five minutes, dimness 
 of sight and confusion of ideas. Starvation and salts have relieved me. 
 I am not sick, for I have always been at my classes and other occupa- 
 tions as before, with this difference, that I fell asleep once or twice in 
 an hour. I have got a severe cold also, by night attendance at the 
 Lying-in Hospital. But don't be afraid ; I am not going to walk out 
 of the world this time yet." 
 
 It is deserving of remark, that in none of his letters 
 does he allude to having applied his scientific knowledge 
 to the regulation of his own habits, with the view of 
 preserving his health, as he subsequently did, when, by 
 increased sagacity and experience, he had discovered its 
 prophylactic uses. He had not been taught to make that 
 application by his professional instructors; and, impelled 
 by the ardour of youth, and not yet rendered wise by 
 experience, he proceeded to gratify his tastes nearly as 
 unmindful of the laws of health as if none such had 
 existed. 
 
 After having completed his studies, instead of seeking 
 temporary relaxation to recruit his diminished energies, 
 he and his friend Mr Collie left Paris on the 20th of 
 July 1819, to make a tour in Switzerland and the north 
 of Italy. Mr Collie (a native of Aberdeenshire) was 
 older than Andrew, and, having been in India, had seen 
 more of the world. Andrew thus describes him : 
 
 " Mr Collie has a good, large head, well cultivated ; and he is re- 
 markably industrious. I have been lucky in becoming acquainted 
 with him, as I have been assisted both by his advice and example ; 
 and he is so much of a friend as to tell me at once when I am doing 
 wrong."
 
 VISIT TO SWITZERLAND. 85 
 
 Mr Collie was subsequently selected, on account of 
 his scientific attainments, to act as surgeon of His Ma- 
 jesty's ship Blossom, under the command of Captain 
 Beechey, in her voyage of discovery to Behring's Straits. 
 He died in 1836.* 
 
 The two friends travelled in the diligence from Paris 
 to Miilhausen, and afterwards walked over a great part 
 of Switzerland, carrying knapsacks on their backs, 
 and sending their heavy luggage from town to town by 
 the public conveyances. They visited Schaifhausen, 
 Constance, Zurich, Lucerne, Bern, Lausanne, Geneva, 
 and Chamouni ; travelling thirty or forty English miles 
 a day, often under a burning sun, and occasionally in 
 storm and rain. They crossed the Simplon, visited 
 Milan and Turin, and Andrew returned to Paris by 
 Lyons. 
 
 Andrew kept a journal of his travels, and wrote 
 letters, which are still preserved; but they present 
 few remarks sufficiently new or characteristic to ren- 
 der it necessary to introduce them into the present work. 
 He observes, that he must be deficient in the mental 
 qualities which constitute a poet ; for although he had 
 vividly enjoyed the beautiful and sublime scenery of 
 Switzerland, he could never rise to the pitch of inspira- 
 tion necessary to write verses. He mentions with gra- 
 titude the great attentions he had received from Mr 
 Meyer of Zurich and his family, one of the younger 
 members of which had studied in Edinburgh and been 
 a friend of his brother George, and another had been his 
 own companion in Paris. This friendship continued till 
 Andrew's death. 
 
 The following extract from his journal affords an 
 example of his relish for the ludicrous : 
 
 " In the public library at Zurich, there is a bas-relief of the northern
 
 86 VISIT TO SWITZERLAND. 
 
 half of Switzerland, constructed, with great labour, by Miiller. It is 
 made of Paris plaster, and is from twelve to fourteen feet long, by 
 eight broad. All the towns, villages, castles, rivers, hills, mountains, 
 &c., are accurately represented from nature. The highest mountain 
 is. perhaps, eight or ten inches high, and has its glaciers as the real 
 one has. It is placed on a large table, and about four feet higher is a 
 wooden flat roof, like the top of a coach, supported by pillars. An Eng- 
 lishman, as they told me, visited it about fourteen days before we saw 
 it. The woman who conducted him, left him alone for a few minutes, 
 while he was examining it. At her return, imagine her astonishment 
 to find the gentleman coolly crawling on all fours, over lakes, moun- 
 tains, rivers, and glaciers, carrying villages and towns before him, 
 with more rapidity than the most violent storm, and ruining whole 
 cantons with the utmost sangfroid ! At the exclamation of the woman, 
 he raised his head suddenly and bruised it against the skies ! One 
 foot was pointed down, resting on the lake of Constance ; and the 
 knee of the other leg pressed upon Righi. Like the great Jove him- 
 self, his head was hovering over the highest mountains. Imagine to 
 yourself the extent of country lying between his inferior extremities ! 
 You will naturally wish to know what he was doing there. He was 
 surveying the road which he had already travelled, and exploring a 
 a passage over a mountain which he meant to attempt in a few days. 
 The woman called out in German [of which he did not understand 
 one word], that he had ' ruined the half of Switzerland,' and scolded 
 him soundly. He stood listening, mouth open, and quite cool, as if 
 he had done nothing amiss ! Such is the description given to me. 
 The account is, I believe, exaggerated, as I did not find many of the 
 towns and villages damaged ; but after seeing the model and the traces 
 of his visit, the incident appeared to me so ludicrous, that I left the 
 library with my ribs aching from the laughter it had excited." 
 
 His disregard of the laws of health at this time is 
 shewn in the following passage of his Journal : 
 
 " On reaching the top of the Simplon, we found the snow, which 
 had fallen during the night, about 200 feet lower than the road, and 
 flakes of snow still fell with the rain. We were wet to the knees, 
 and quite benumbed ; but this made us walk the quicker. About half 
 way we stopped for breakfast, but, from the coldness of our feet, we 
 could not sit more than half an hour. AVe walked on at the rate of 
 four miles an hour, and, in ll hours from starting, reached Domo 
 d'Ossola, being a distance of 42 English miles, twelve of them ascent 
 to a height of 6000 feet, and thirty descending. At our arrival, we
 
 VISIT TO MILAN AND TURIN. 87 
 
 were more famished than fatigued ; having found nothing to eat but 
 one cutlet since setting out. Collie became sick, and could not sup. 
 I did not eat much either. Next day, we breakfasted three times for 
 it, and dined twice.* 
 
 " Xext morning at five o'clock we set out, and after a walk of 
 23 miles, visited the Borromean Islands in the Lago Maggiore. "We 
 hired a boat to carry us to Sesto, 24 miles further on our road ; and 
 there we engaged a superb caleche to drive us to Milan, 25 miles dis- 
 tant. We arrived there at three P.M., on the 30th of August, and 
 drove to the Grand Albergo Imperiale. At the sight of it, my money- 
 belt was seized with involuntary spasmodic contractions, and sympa- 
 thetically felt an approaching absorption of its solid contents. In an 
 instant we were surrounded by a host of servants. The master him- 
 self appeared, and called to a waiter, ' Detachez les baggages.' The 
 waiter ran behind the caleche, but finding nothing there, he first 
 stared, and then made the tour of the vehicle. Next he looked into 
 the box below the coachman's seat, certain to find the luggage there ! 
 But no ! he was again disappointed. Addressing me with a curious 
 expression of countenance, he said, ' Et les baggages de Monsieur ?' 
 I pointed to the seat of the carriage. Thinking I meant the top, he 
 mounted, but found nothing there either ! He next turned to Col- 
 lie, and said, ' Et les baggages de Monsieur ?' Collie told him to look 
 within the caleche -. He did so ; and the mountain brought forth a 
 mouse ! Out came our two small packages, containing only the barest 
 necessaries, which we had carried with us in our walking journey. 
 Seeing such a magnificent hotel, we told the master plainly that we 
 were afraid that we had made a mistake, and that his style was be- 
 yond the dimensions of our purses. He politely said, Xo ; and gave us 
 two excellent apartments at the same rate as we had elsewhere paid 
 for a single room, not equal to one of them. 
 
 " We set off for Turin on the 2d September ; arrived there on the 
 3d ; left it on the 6th for Lyons ; which again we left on the 14th, 
 Mr Collie for Auvergne, and I for Paris. I arrived at Paris on the 
 19th, safe and sound, after a most satisfactory trip." 
 
 After taking a kind and affectionate farewell of his 
 friends in Paris, he returned, by Dieppe and Brighton, 
 to London, where he arrived in the end of October. In 
 
 * The reader will find a forcible exposition of the errors and dan- 
 gers of such proceedings in Dr Combe's Physiology applied to Health 
 and Education, chap, vi., p. 177, 13th edition.
 
 88 KETUitNS TO LONDON. 
 
 a letter to George, dated London, 10th November 181 9, 
 he writes as follows : 
 
 " Whatever may have been the cause, I certainly have been sad 
 since coming here ! After my return from Switzerland, I almost 
 thought I was to be more lively and more gay for life. I remarked 
 the difference myself. In company or out of it, I was all life, acti- 
 vity, and fun, except for about one week. I was more communicative, 
 or talkative, if you will (without a word of our journey), relished 
 pleasant society exceedingly, and had not half so serious a look as 
 usual. I was surprised and pleased at the change, as were many among 
 my friends. One gave one reason for it, and another another, while 
 1 could give none at all. But, alas, the golden age is gone ! No 
 longer does the sight of me make the beholder prepare to smile. No 
 longer have I the same flow of spirits. No, they are down nearly at 
 zero, though this afternoon they were raised 3f degrees by your 
 letter." 
 
 He ascribes his depression to the damp air and fogs 
 of London, adds, that he rejoices in thinking over the 
 scenery and incidents of his Swiss tour, and concludes 
 by saying : " I am daily more and more pleased that 
 we stretched across the Simplon. It is a source of plea- 
 sure and satisfaction which most amply repays mv fa- 
 tigue." It is probable, making due all allowance for 
 the influence of the fogs, that this depression was only 
 another example of cerebral exhaustion consequent on 
 excessive excitement and exertion. 
 
 Writing to George on the 26th November, he men- 
 tions that on arriving in London he was anxious to at- 
 tend a course of lectures on the practice of medicine, 
 one on surgery, and an hospital with clinical lectures ; 
 but after trying the lectures for two or three weeks, he 
 found nothing that he wanted except at Mr Abernethy's 
 and Mr Guthrie's, both on surgery, and both delivered 
 on the same nights. 
 
 " I went," says he, " to Mr Abernethy's lectures, which are deli- 
 vered only twice a-week, and was much gratified indeed. 1 have visited 
 one of the dispensaries, the dissecting-rooms, and gone occasionally to
 
 RETURNS TO LONDON. 89 
 
 the hospitals to see all the surgeons of eminence ; but the courses be- 
 gin here on the 1st of October, and I arrived only on the 29th, and 
 could not commence attendance for several days. Moreover, the lec- 
 tures are delivered only three times a week, and finish in twelve or 
 fourteen weeks, and are, therefore, very superficial. I really think, 
 therefore, that I could employ myself more usefully at home, at a 
 much less expense, and undoubtedly more comfortably. This uncer- 
 tainty and disappointment kept me debating in iny own mind what I 
 should do, and I felt, like Mahomet's coffin, suspended between Paris 
 and Edinburgh ; but, after serious deliberation, I have resolved to 
 make a descent on you immediately after arranging necessary affairs.'' 
 
 He describes the reception, in such circles as he had 
 access to in London, of his brother George's " Essays on 
 Phrenology," then just published, and concludes : 
 kt Once known, the work will stand on its own legs, and 
 repay all the cost you have incurred in printing and 
 publishing it." Thirty years' experience has confirmed 
 this prediction. 
 
 " The following passage," says he, " struck me on reading Verri : 
 ' II riso non viene mai sul labbro dell' uomo se non quando si fa qualche 
 confronto di se stesso con un altro con proprio vantaggio ; e il riso e 
 il segnale del trionfo dell' amor proprio paragonato.' At first I re- 
 garded it as foolish, but I was surprised to find, on reflection, that I 
 could not adduce a single exception to its truth ; nor can I yet." 
 
 Nevertheless, there are numerous exceptions. A 
 vain boy will laugh when he is unexpectedly praised. 
 A boy in whom the organs of Destructiveuess are large, 
 and those of Benevolence are small, will laugh heartily 
 when he sees any one severely hurt : an acquisitive boy 
 will laugh when unexpectedly presented with half-a- 
 crowu. Laughter, therefore, may proceed from the un- 
 expected gratification of a variety of other faculties be- 
 sides that of Self-Esteem. 
 
 His friend Mr Collie rejoined him in Paris, accom- 
 panied him to London, and remained there after he left 
 the latter city. Writing to that gentlemen from Edin-
 
 90 RETURNS TO EDINBURGH. 
 
 burgh on the 20th of December 1819, he describes his 
 embarkation for Leith, and his arrival in Edinburgh, 
 as follows : 
 
 " At the boat stairs, on the Thames, I mistook the thin ice for dry 
 freestone. The steps were slippery, my feet went from beneath me, 
 and I was sliding involuntarily into the water, when I seized hold of 
 the bow of the ' Ocean's' boat, which came to carry me into the 
 smack, and which just at that instant arrived near enough to be 
 grasped. Being in the dark, and not a soul near me but the man in 
 that boat, I really thought I was going to quit ' earth's troubled 
 waters for a colder stream.' " * * " I arrived, then, without being 
 drowned, and stood on deck admiring the banks and braes of Cale- 
 donia. I trotted up from Leith in anxious expectation ; but when I 
 came to the point where the road divides, and where one street leads to 
 my brother's, and one to my mother's, I felt pain take the place of 
 anxiety. Often in Paris I had thought and dreamed of that point ; 
 and fancied to which I should first turn. I always coloured vividly 
 the meeting with my mother, and figured to myself her smile of satis- 
 faction and happiness. At that point I felt that the tie connecting 
 me to her was torn asunder for ever, and much of the pleasure of my 
 return taken away. Before reaching my brother's I got more col- 
 lected. I found my sister alone, and tapped at the window. She let 
 me in, but my heart was full. I could not speak. The first sight of 
 her brought my mother, and her worth and loss, to my keenest recol- 
 lection. I sat down, but for twenty minutes could not master my 
 feelings enough to speak. My sister was much affected. After some 
 time the emotion subsided. I found all well and thriving. I went 
 up to the brewery and found my other sister alone, and my mother's 
 chair empty, where I had left her, with such a different expectation. 
 Never till my actual arrival could I, in common thinking, believe that 
 she was gone for ever. Often till then was I in imagination telling 
 her what I had been doing, and watching the kind expression of her 
 face. Her portrait, too, was there : but excuse me, Collie I have 
 said more than enough. 
 
 " The people here are in a terrible pother about the radicals. 
 Every gentleman who does not join the volunteers is set down as a 
 black-neb, i.e., disaffected ; and there being no troops here, the gentle- 
 men do garrison duty, and are hard drilled. The yeomanry were all 
 turned out, and marched to Glasgow to overawe the discontented, and 
 were billeted upon the inhabitants. In short, were the French landed 
 at Leith, the authorities could do no more, and say no more, than they 
 now do, to stultify themselves by doing and saying."
 
 FIRST ATTACK OF PCLMOJfABY DISEASE. 91 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ANDREW COMBE IS SEIZED WITH SYMPTOMS OP PULMONARY DIS- 
 EASE IX EDINBURGH PROCEEDS TO LONDON OX HIS WAY TO THE 
 
 SOUTH OF FRANCE IS FORCED TO RETURN HOME SUBSEQUENTLY 
 SAILS FROM GREENOCK TO LEGHORN HIS VOYAGE DESCRIBED 
 
 RETURN* TO SCOTLAND PASSES A SECOND WINTER IN MARSEILLES 
 
 AND LEGHORN AGAIN RETURNS TO SCOTLAND. 
 
 THE joy felt by Andrew and his relations on his return 
 home in December 1819 was great, but of short dura- 
 tion. His brother George had removed from Bank 
 Street, and now resided in Hermitage Place, Stock- 
 bridge, a suburb of Edinburgh then recently erected. 
 The house enjoyed a beautiful and uninterrupted pros- 
 pect of the country to the west, and was well sheltered 
 from the north and east ; but the situation was low and 
 the drainage insufficient. The bedroom which Andrew 
 had occupied before he left Edinburgh for Paris had 
 been little used during his absence, and he resumed 
 possession of it on his return. In a letter to George, 
 dated 23d January 1842, he gives the following de- 
 scription of it, and of the influence which its condition 
 exercised on his health. 
 
 " You remark, ' How much would twenty shillings expended in 
 coals in December 1819 have saved me of suffering, and my friends of 
 regret ! out that ignorance alone was the cause of the omission.' It 
 is quite true that the saving of the money had nothing whatever to do 
 with the matter. Sixpence would have sufficed to protect me, if we 
 had had the intelligence necessary to apply it. Being on the ground 
 floor, and without sun in the winter months, my room was not merely 
 cold, but the walls and bedding had imbibed that kind of damp which 
 every unoccupied room soon acquires even in warmer seasons ; and 
 all that was required was to have had a fire on for a couple of days
 
 92 FIKST ATTACK Ob' DISEASE. 
 
 before my return, and the mattresses and blankets placed before it 
 to air them thoroughly. Had this precaution been used, the coldness 
 of the weather would not have been either injurious or disagreeable. 
 What prevented me, even in my then ignorance, from suspecting the 
 truth, was that the sheets being quite dry, I felt nothing on first 
 lying down, and it was only after a quarter or half an hour that a 
 sense of chill used to steal over me, which made me draw the blan- 
 kets closer about me, and think how cold it was. If my medical edu- 
 cation had been rational, I would not have had any difficulty in dis- 
 covering the nature of, and cure for, the evil ; but so drily and un- 
 profitably was physiology then taught, that it was by far the most 
 tiresome of all the classes which I attended, and I studied it as a sort 
 of penance. When, in later life, I came to perceive its true nature 
 and relations, it became as great a pleasure as it had previously been 
 to me a bore." 
 
 While due weight is given to the error here men- 
 tioned, it is proper also to advert to the unfavourable 
 physical condition in which Andrew returned to Edin- 
 burgh. There is reason to believe, that both in his 
 studies and in his excursion to Switzerland, he had 
 drawn too largely on the stamina of his constitution ; 
 and that his " sadness" in London proceeded partly, at 
 least, from exhaustion, which continued after his arri- 
 val in Scotland. He was thus predisposed to suffer 
 from cold and damp, however applied, and to sustain 
 serious injury from influences which a more robust con- 
 stitution would have successfully resisted. 
 
 The bad effects of these combined causes did not, 
 however, immediately shew themselves; for during some 
 weeks he continued apparently in his usual state of 
 of health. On the 30th of January 1820, he wrote to 
 his friend Mr Collie a long letter in French, describing, 
 among other things, the vivid interest which had been 
 excited in the Royal Medical Society by an essay read 
 by Dr Hibbert against Phrenology. He mentions the 
 eager crowd of visitors, the hostile arguments adduced, 
 the answers given, and the protracted debate. In the
 
 FIRST ATTACK OF DISEASE. 93 
 
 same letter, after adverting to several facts bearing on 
 Phrenology, he adds : 
 
 " One thing is worthy of remark : My brother George has more of 
 the organ of Language than I ; much more Ideality ; and a little 
 less of Causality and Comparison. He easily finds words to express 
 his ideas ; and, in reasoning viva voce, brings to his aid arguments 
 Avhich I should not have been able to find. In a word, he has all his 
 reasons much more at his command than I have mine, and is able to 
 vanquish me for the moment ; but, leave me time for a little reflec- 
 tion, or allow me to write an answer to his written arguments, and 
 I shall accomplish more. I believe that I have more facility in learn- 
 ing a foreign language than he has, and that I understand its idioms 
 better; but he surpasses me in the number of words. You know 
 my organisation (Language moderate, Imitation rather large, Caus- 
 ality and Comparison both large : in George, Imitation is deficient). 
 It is principally in the idioms, or in the construction of a language, 
 that I surpass him ; but, put us both, for example, in China, without 
 knowing a word of the language, without books to aid us, and with- 
 out any one to instruct us, except by communication with the natives, 
 and he would learn much more rapidly than I." 
 
 The correctness of this last opinion may be doubt- 
 ed, for Andrew's larger organ of Imitation would, in 
 such circumstances, have probably compensated for his 
 smaller organ of Language. 
 
 On the 22d of February 1820, Andrew was one of 
 four individuals who founded the Phrenological Society, 
 of which, at a later period, he became an active and in- 
 fluential supporter. 
 
 The first mention which he makes of his indisposi- 
 tion occurs in a letter dated 1st March 1820 to Mr 
 Collie, written partly in Italian and partly in French. 
 
 " For some days," says he, " I have suffered from a terrible cold, 
 and, in consequence, am inactive and ill at ease ; excuse, therefore, 
 the dullness of this letter." 
 
 In a letter to the same gentleman, dated 27th March, 
 he says :
 
 94 FIRST ATTACK OF DISEASE. 
 
 " My cold continues unabated : for ten days rny brother has been 
 uneasy about me, although he does not know the worst. During 
 some days I have had pains in the left side of the chest, extending 
 from between the ribs to the sternum, which give me a good deal of 
 uneasiness in the mornings. I cough, but not a great deal. On going 
 to bed I feel myself cold perhaps for two hours, and in the morning I 
 have considerable perspirations, &c. I have taken a variety of reme- 
 dies without effect ; my digestive organs do not perform their duty, 
 and I believe that that is at the bottom of my ailments. Pray give 
 me your advice." 
 
 In another letter, dated the 6th May, he informs his 
 friend that he is no better ; that now haemoptysis is 
 added to the other symptoms ; and that he has gone to 
 reside with his sister Mrs Cox at Gorgie Mill, near 
 Edinburgh, for change of air. 
 
 In this letter he adds : " My brothers Abram and 
 James have purchased a boat to try a new method of 
 propulsion which they have invented." The result of 
 their first experiment, and its effects on Andrew, will 
 be afterwards stated. 
 
 For a considerable time after this period, Andrew's 
 history is that of a suffering invalid ; and many readers 
 will probably desire that this narrative should be con- 
 fined to a brief outline of the progress and result of the 
 malady. There are reasons, however, for publishing 
 his course of action more in detail, and these shall now 
 be mentioned. 
 
 One of the leading principles which Dr Combe sub- 
 sequently taught in his works, was that the human 
 body has been adapted by the Creator for healthy action 
 for a period of seventy years or more ; and that it con- 
 tains within itself provisions for resisting, and also for 
 recovering from, the inroads of disease, which require 
 only to be known, and respected in our habitual conduct, 
 to insure to us immunity, to a much greater extent than 
 is generally believed, from the evils of infirm health and
 
 DEATH OF ANDREW'S BROTHER JAMES. 95 
 
 premature decay. From the present period, his life 
 afforded a practical commentary on this view of our con- 
 stitution. The letters written by him during his various 
 illnesses, are records of the physical and moral means 
 by which he was thrice restored to personal enjoyment 
 and practical usefulness from conditions of health which 
 appeared all but desperate. While the description of 
 these means may appear tedious to the robust, who never 
 felt an ache, it will probably prove the most interest- 
 ing, instructive, and useful portion of the present work 
 to invalids whose maladies resemble his ; and of these 
 the number is unfortunately large. It is true, that in 
 his works he has frequently adduced his own personal 
 experience in support of the doctrines which he incul- 
 cates ; but in his letters we find examples of moral re- 
 straint and self-denial, of patience, resignation, and 
 equanimity, which could find no appropriate place in 
 his published works, and which, nevertheless, contri- 
 buted, probably as much as all his physical observances, 
 to the happy issues which we shall be able to exhibit. 
 These considerations, it is hoped, may serve as an apo- 
 logy for continuing the citations from his correspond- 
 ence. 
 
 On the first appearance of his indisposition Dr James 
 Gregory was called in as his medical adviser ; who, hav- 
 ing recognised him as a pupil, devoted to him the most 
 assiduous attention as a friend as well as a physician, 
 prescribed his course of action, and encouraged him to 
 hope for recovery. For some time no incident occurred 
 to diversify the ordinary life of an invalid ; but on the 
 19th of May his younger brother James was suddenly 
 cut off by inflammatory fever, in the twenty-first year of 
 his age. James was a remarkably robust young man, 
 who, in a fit of youthful enthusiasm for the sea, had made
 
 96 STATE OF ANDREW'S HEALTH. 
 
 a voyage to and from St Petersburg. Excited by the 
 then new application of steam-power to the propelling of 
 ships, he and his brother Abram had, as already men- 
 tioned, fitted up a boat with paddles and machinery of 
 their own invention, and embarked in her, with some 
 companions, on the Frith of Forth, to try the power of 
 the wheels. James applied his great strength, with all 
 the ardour and energy of youth, to the task of propulsion, 
 overheated and exhausted himself, and then cooled him- 
 self in a chill wind. Next day he fevered, and, with- 
 in a week after this excursion, died. This was after- 
 wards regarded by Andrew as another life sacrificed to 
 ignorance of the organic laws. Andrew attended his 
 funeral, and while lowering his body into -the grave, 
 already anticipated, as did all the other members of the 
 family, that within a brief space they should probably 
 return to lay him beside his brother. The writer of 
 this Memoir recollects well the calm, firm, resigned, 
 and touching expression of Andrew's countenance, while 
 this painful ceremony was performing, and he felt more 
 sympathy for the living than regret even for the dead. 
 Andrew, writing to Mr Collie on the 24th May, 
 
 " I little expected, dear friend, to follow the body of another brother 
 to the grave ; but what uncertainty in life ! My relations and myself 
 expected that I should be the next victim of death ; but his strength 
 has fallen before my weakness. I was beside James the two first days 
 of his illness, but began to suffer, and was obliged to return to the 
 country." " Before this event I had improved in health. My pulse 
 had fallen to 67 ; but now I am not so well. The pulse varies from 
 82 to 95, although to-day I feel better. I am advised again to change 
 the air, and on the 29th May shall go to Dunblane, attended by one 
 of my sisters." 
 
 On 25th May 1820 George removed from Stockbridge 
 to Brown Square, a locality selected chiefly with a view
 
 VOYAGE TO LONDON. 97 
 
 to Andrew's entering into practice. In a letter to Mr 
 Collie, dated Edinburgh, the 22d June, Andrew writes: 
 
 " I came home on Monday, after a three weeks' stay with my sister 
 and niece at Dunblane. It rained daily for fourteen days, so that I 
 was little out of doors. I am rather stouter, I believe, but not other- 
 wise improved. I am going to consult Dr Gregory to-day about going 
 to the South. If I do not get free of my complaints before winter, I 
 may then make ready for the world to come. My friends are uncom- 
 monly kind and anxious to do every thing for me. My brother George 
 has ever been my best friend, and the best friend to all the family. 
 He has sacrificed much in the hope of our living happy together in 
 our later years, when I should be settled in the world. I should liko 
 to repay him some of his kindness even in this world of woe, and but 
 six months ago, looked forward in anticipation. However, the face of 
 affairs is now changed. Our brother James, too, for whom he toiled, 
 and for whose advantage he persevered in carrying on the brewing 
 business* (to him a losing concern), is laid low r in the grave, at the 
 very moment of the dawn of better days, and of the brightest prospect 
 of future happiness. What a change ! But yesterday I went to my 
 old and w T ell-remembered home, where, not long ago, the smile of wel- 
 come, and the outstretched hands of many, ever met me at the door. 
 That home was as a deserted house, not a soul within. The idea 
 rushed upon my mind, ' What a change has a few years made, when 
 sixteen of us dwelt within, and when at least one-half were ever ready 
 to greet a visitor !' 
 
 " P.S. I have seen Dr Gregory, and am to sail for London on 
 Tuesday, and try a month or two in the country. During winter I am 
 advised to go either to the West Indies or the Mediterranean." 
 
 Accompanied by his sister Jean, he sailed for London, 
 and took lodgings at Greenwich, where he tried carriage 
 exercise, but found that it injured him so much, that 
 he not only gave up using it, but abandoned the design 
 of travelling through France to Marseilles, as a task 
 now beyond his strength. 
 
 * This alludes to George's having, by means of a head brewer and 
 salesman, preserved the brewing business at Livingston's Yards during 
 James's enthusiasm for the sea, in the expectation that he would one 
 day settle and resume it. This he did, and was prosperously carry- 
 ing it on when he died. 
 
 G
 
 98 VOYAGE TO LONDON. 
 
 In a letter to George, dated 12th July, he says : 
 
 " My great object in avoiding too much exercise, is to prevent even 
 the chance of another haemoptysis, which, in my present state, might 
 easily cause ulceration itself. Dr Gregory recommended me to be most 
 careful as to that, and to take no more exercise than would serve to di- 
 gest my food. This advice I have followed, and with very good effect ; 
 for, from a kind of feverish heat and flush after eating, and often in 
 the evening, and almost always in the morning, I now feel hardly the 
 shadow of the former evil. My cold fits, too, have disappeared for a 
 week past ; and I am altogether in better condition. Jean says I am 
 fatter, and I dare say it is true." 
 
 After a short stay he returned to Edinburgh by sea ; 
 and in his " Principles of Physiology applied to the 
 Preservation of Health" &c., he adds : 
 
 " Being extremely liable to sea-sickness, I was squeamish or sick 
 during the whole of both voyages, so much so, as to be in a state of 
 gentle perspiration for a great part of the time. After this I became 
 sensible, for the first time, of a slight improvement in my health and 
 strength, and a diminution of febrile excitement." 
 
 One rule which Andrew followed during this and all 
 his subsequent ailments, deserves to be particularly 
 mentioned. He never relied on his own skill as suf- 
 ficient to guide him in his treatment of himself, when 
 it was possible to obtain the benefit of other medical 
 advice. He used to say : Phrenology has at least 
 taught me one thing, that I have not two brains, one 
 to suffer from the disease under which I labour, and 
 another sound one to judge of my condition \ I cannot, 
 therefore, rely on my own judgment in prescribing for 
 myself. 
 
 In a letter to his niece Marion Cox, dated Greenwich, 
 19th July, he describes the effects of carriage exercise 
 on his health, and states his reasons for preferring a 
 voyage to the Mediterranean, rather than one to the 
 West Indies ; and continues :
 
 PREPARES TO SAUL TO THE MEDITERRANEAN. 99 
 
 " Tell your Uncle George, that I will be obliged to him to state 
 all these particulars to Dr Gregory, also that I hare a pain now under 
 the one, and then under the other scapula, and ask Aim to solve the 
 question of my winter residence. Should he think the West Indies 
 better, I am ready to go." 
 
 This was done accordingly, and Dr Gregory preferred 
 the Mediterranean. 
 
 Andrew passed the autumn in the house of his sister, 
 Mrs Cox, at Gorgie Mill, near Edinburgh. 
 
 " Here," says he, writing to Mr Collie, on the 18th of August, " I 
 live quietly, have abundance of milk, &c., and the benefit of exercise 
 on horseback ; and in the evenings some friend comes to visit me. I 
 am, in consequence, daily improving in health." 
 
 Preparations were made for his departure, and on 
 25th August he informs the same friend, that 
 
 " My sister Jean desires to accompany me in my voyage ; but I do 
 not wish her to do so. During her whole life she has been accustomed 
 to Iwme, and a society of numerous relations. In Greenwich even, she 
 suffered from having only the society of a sick brother. To see her 
 unhappy, or even not at her ease, and this on my account^ would do 
 me more harm than her care and attention would do me good. I am 
 accustomed to foreign manners, and I shall make acquaintances as I 
 did in Paris." 
 
 This tender consideration for other persons, amid all 
 his own sufferings, distinguished him through life. 
 
 During the autumn, his improvement in health was 
 so conspicuous, that some one had suggested doubts 
 about the necessity of his going to Italy. In a letter 
 to Mr Collie, dated the 23d September, adverting to 
 these suggestions, he says : 
 
 " If I remained at home and became worse, what reflections and 
 regrets ! In my opinion, it would be more consolatory to have done 
 every thing possible to preserve life and then to die, than to perish 
 with the conviction that, by acting differently, I might have saved 
 myself. I remember well the fate of my brother Walter, who recovered 
 during the autumn of 1813, but was allowed to resume his occupa-
 
 100 SAILS IN THE " FAME" FROM GREENOCK FOR LEGHORN. 
 
 tions in winter, relapsed, and died in the subsequent February of 
 1814." 
 
 The ship selected for his voyage was " the Fame" of 
 
 Greenock, Captain . She was a merchant brig of 
 
 about 200 tons burden, but had a tolerably good cabin ; 
 and as other invalid passengers had engaged berths in 
 her to Leghorn, the owners agreed to lay in a proper 
 stock of provisions adapted for their use. The day of 
 sailing was warranted to be in September ; but from 
 various causes it was postponed till the 16th of October. 
 To avoid fatigue, Andrew travelled to Greenock by the 
 Union Canal ; the rate of speed of the boats on which 
 at that time was only four miles an hour. His brother 
 George accompanied him, and fortunately the weather 
 proved fine, and their fellow-passengers highly intelli- 
 gent and agreeable. The first day they left the boat 
 before sunset, and slept at Kilsyth, in an excellent inn, 
 and next day reached Greenock. So thoroughly was 
 Andrew's mind reconciled to his circumstances, and so 
 cheerful were his dispositions, that he highly enjoyed 
 the first day's travelling ; and in writing to George at 
 the distance of twenty-one years, he alludes to it, and 
 asks, " Do you remember our pleasant evening in Kil- 
 syth inn ?" On other occasions, also, he mentions it. 
 
 The following letters contain a description of his 
 voyage. Writing from Leghorn to Mrs Cox he says : 
 
 " On going on board the Fame, on the Tuesday morning, affairs 
 were in a dreadful confusion. "We could not find room to stand, much 
 less to sit, in the cabin, for trunks, baskets, hams, kettles, hens, and 
 pigs. Hardly could we find room on deck. One begged you would 
 stand aside a little, another you Avould stand forward, a third would 
 thank you to stand back ; now a hen came cackling and flapping in 
 your face, then a pig squeaked that you were treading on its toes. 
 Here a goose was crying bo to the dog, and there the dog crying boiv 
 to the goose. The captain damned the pilot, the pilot cursed the mate, 
 and the mate in his turn sent the men to h-11. The latter black-
 
 VOYAGE DESCRIBED. 101 
 
 guarded each other, and thrashed the dogs. It was verily a confusion 
 of tongues like unto that of Babel. The men, out of respect for their 
 friends, were all tipsy, and the pilot was an obstinate old boy, who, 
 with such a ' glorious' crew, found no great difficulty in running us 
 upon a sand-bank. A number of the friends of the passengers ac- 
 companied us the first day, and each bore his part in the harmo- 
 nious concert. One cried, another laughed, while three or four more 
 all spoke at once. I first thanked my lucky stars that Jean was snug 
 at home, and then, being, as it were, an unconcerned spectator, I 
 surveyed the scene at leisure. After much to do we got the cabin 
 cleared a little for dinner. We sat on trunks, chairs, salt-herring 
 barrels, or whatever came readiest. I was seated in a corner on a bar- 
 rel of molasses, when dinner came. ' Where is the doctor,' wondered 
 somebody. He was soon found, and immediately placed on a trunk at 
 the head of the table, with his chin on a level with his plate. Pre- 
 sently. 4 A seat for the doctor ; a seat for the doctor ?' resounded ; 
 none was to be had. So one trunk was placed on the top of another, 
 and the doctor on the top of it in great state. He happened to 
 be in good spirits, notwithstanding all the chaos, so he joined with 
 the others, and begged to see the doctor properly accommodated, 
 as if the said doctor had been a third person. At dark our strangers 
 left us, some of them half tipsy. Presently the captain quarrelled 
 with the steward. The latter took to a boat unperceived, the cap- 
 tain followed him in another, seized him by the collar, hauled him 
 through the water, blackguarding the steward's wife all the time in 
 a terrible style. This hubbub over, we made our beds and turned 
 in. Presently the second mate tumbled down the stair like a pair 
 of old boots, dead drunk. He was stretched out like a corpse be- 
 fore the fire. The captain went ashore on Wednesday at daylight, 
 and hearing himself blamed by two old men for his seamanship of the 
 preceding day, he douced their ribs so effectually, by way of argument 
 to prove he was right, that he was obliged instantly to set sail, and 
 hire a stout steam-boat to pull him round the Cloch, to prevent in- 
 carceration for an assault and battery. This is his own account. He 
 told us, too, that he slew two bravadoes at Oporto, and un*lun<j a 
 Yankee's arm with a pistol-ball at New Orleans, besides many other 
 horrible and desperately gallant actions. Only a few days ago, since 
 our arrival here, he wished to get out of the town after the gates were 
 shut. The sentinel refused. The captain wrenched his musket from 
 him in the most gallant style, threw it into the canal, and pummelled 
 him to a jelly ; and upon this was apprehended, lodged in the guard- 
 house all night, scratched his breast with his penknife, swore next 
 morning it was a bayonet-wound, and got clear off, as having acted
 
 102 VOYAGE TO LEGHORN. 
 
 in self-defence. So says the noble captain, but unluckily nobody be- 
 lieves a syllable of his story."* 
 
 In a letter to George, dated Leghorn, 4th December 
 1820, he relates : 
 
 " We arrived safe here yesterday forenoon, being the Lord's day, 
 after a passage of forty-six or rather forty-seven days; and, con- 
 sidering the weather, I have very great reason to thank Providence 
 I can say I am as well as when I bid you adieu at Greenock. We 
 ran on a sand-bank, and on Wednesday were towed out by a steam- 
 boat as far as Gourock ; then the wind being fair, we set all sail, 
 and danced down the Frith at nine knots an hour. We were 
 visited off the Largs by the revenue cutter, whose captain dined on 
 board. We set him off at 2 P.M., fired the great gun, and gave 
 three cheers in answer to those of the cutter's crew. At dinner I 
 became sick, and went on deck, but all in vain. Next morning we 
 were off the Isle of Man, sick, horribly sick. On Saturday evening 
 the dead-lights were put in, and an awful night followed, with as dreary 
 and stormy a day as ever man saw. We had no observation, could not 
 tell where we were, and lay till it moderated on Monday, under a 
 close-reefed maintop, to prevent the ship from rolling and carrying 
 away her masts. Every other sail and spar was lowered. Then I had 
 some very philosophical reflections on the ad and disadvantages of 
 drowning, which was rather to be feared. Some tremendous seas 
 broke over the poop with such violence that I thought she had struck, 
 and up I ran undressed, to perish on deck, rather than die in the 
 cabin. The captain soon undeceived me. The second mate when at the 
 helm was knocked down by the tiller (the tiller-rope having snapt), 
 and received a severe contusion on ' Tune.' Next day I had to at- 
 tend him in his bed, sick myself every five minutes. For a week he 
 lay threatened with inflammation of the brain ; however, it was pre- 
 vented. On Monday we were near the Scilly Islands, with a hard 
 breeze against us. It was now discovered that the cutwater, or head- 
 work, was quite loose, and our lady Fame' broken in pieces. This 
 accident was a serious one, as it endangered the foremast. We turned 
 about to stand back to Cork and repair. On Tuesday evening the wind 
 became more fair, and we turned to the south, having only the half of 
 the foremast standing. We proceeded with dreadful weather to Cape 
 
 * Andrew gave an account of this individual and of his voyage, in the 
 Phrenological Journal, vol. i., p. 259 ; and the article is reprinted in 
 the " Selections from the Phrenological Journal."
 
 VOYAGE DESCRIBED. 103 
 
 Ortegal, near Fiiiisterre. It we could not double for twelve days, 
 and such another twelve I never wish to see again ; knocked about 
 by continual tempests in the Bay of Biscay, sick, watching, anxious, 
 and restless by day, wanting sleep by night, with a sea which stove in 
 part of the bulwarks even on the poop, came down the cabin stair, 
 swept across the cabin up into the beds on the lee-side. Luckily for 
 me I was on the weather side. The water, however, came through 
 both deck and sides, and wet both sheets and blankets. Our beds, I 
 may mention, were not wide enough to allow me to lie on my back ; 
 and when I was on the upper side, it took my utmost and unceasing 
 efforts to prevent my being pitched out. I stuck up an umbrella in 
 front like a post, but it had no effect. For ten days I never slept, 
 scarcely ate, but drank, perspired, and was sick in high style. With 
 what an eye did I look back to the comfortable scenery of Kilsyth inn, 
 and to our happy evening there ! and during the storm on Sunday, 
 with what feelings did I compare Livingstone's Yards between ser- 
 mons, to the idea of being drowned in half an hour ! 
 
 " Off Cape St Vincent, on 16th November, about 60 miles from 
 land, we saw a most melancholy sight, a poor wrecked brig, which, 
 less fortunate than ourselves, had foundered during the gales. Hav- 
 ing wood for her cargo, she was a little above water, with the waves 
 breaking over her. At first we thought her shattered masts were 
 covered with people, and to save them we bore down upon her. None 
 were to be found. I cannot describe the damp cast on the spirits of 
 all by this sight. The idea of what we had escaped came home to our 
 minds, and to our eyes. We reached Gibraltar on Thursday four- 
 weeks ; spoke the Braganza of London, which was to report us at 
 Lloyd's, as likewise a schooner from Oporto promised to do. 
 
 " Off Cape Finisterre the captain got a dreadful fright. He went 
 on deck while we were at supper, at six P.M., and instantly called up 
 the two mates from the cabin, with a tremulating voice ; ' Breakers 
 ahead and on all sides !' This consternation turned out to be caused 
 by a small phosphoric fish, which gave the sea the appearance of being 
 covered with foam, from its dazzling whiteness. In the ugly bay we 
 were scudding under bare poles, with a mountainous sea. The close- 
 reefed maintop-sail laid her nearly on her beam-ends, and more than 
 once made us fly across the cabin head-foremost. One of the crew re- 
 ceived a severe contusion on the arm, from the tiller-rope snapping, after 
 a heavy sea. I cured him too, though he was long unable to move his 
 hand. Just at the end of the first month (being the end of the stormy 
 weather), our cook was laid up with symptoms of enteritis, which 
 alarmed me, as up to that time my head was still swimming from 
 sickness. However, I bled him largely, and succeeded in restoring
 
 104 VOYAGE TO LEGliOllN. 
 
 him to usefulness and health better than he had enjoyed for many 
 months. 
 
 " After standing out such ill usage during the bad weather, I was 
 surprised, in attempting to cough, about eleven P.M., to find, as it were, 
 a sword stuck through my left side, and my breathing much impeded 
 and excessively painful. I felt my pulse, and in an hour hearing the 
 captain awake, I tried to sing out for assistance, but was unable from 
 pain. This continued with little improvement till seven A.M., when I 
 succeeded in attracting attention. I put on a large blister, and lay 
 still in bed. I felt much relieved, and in a few days was quite well 
 again. Though I have been long ill, I have been very fortunate in 
 never suffering acute pain till then, and then only for a day ; so that 
 some good, even in this wicked world, always accompanies the bad. 
 We had a fine view of Trafalgar, Gibraltar, Minorca, Majorca, Cor- 
 sica, and Sardinia. . . . When off Corsica, on Friday last, we took 
 the deep-sea line, to sound. It was all out (120 fathoms), when a cry 
 was heard from the brig, ' A turtle in sight ; give chase !' We had 
 long looked for some sleeping on the water, but found none. At this 
 call, of course, the deep-sea line was hauled in, and off we set in chase. 
 ' Gently, gently,' cries the captain, ' don't waken him.' ' Bear down, 
 bear down, without noise.' The captain posted himself in the bow, 
 ready to seize, and spoke of the turtle soup. We approached fast, 
 and at last came bump upon the trough of a grind-stone ! ! ! ' Famous 
 soup, captain,' said I. ' Yes, mock turtle.' 
 
 " In conclusion, I am, then, really in a good condition ; I may al- 
 most say without a cough, with a noble appetite, a good bed, and a 
 sound sleep. Such being the case in the month of December, I do 
 hope that I may yet be left a little longer in this terrestrial world, and 
 that I may yet enjoy as comfortable an evening as that of Kilsyth. 
 Time will shew ere long." 
 
 Iii his work on Physiology, before quoted, he ascribes 
 this improvement to " the flow of blood towards the 
 skin having been so powerful as to keep it generally 
 warm, always moist, and often wet with perspiration, 
 forced out by the retching and nausea ;" so that these 
 great sufferings really proved, in his case, remedial ad- 
 ministrations. 
 
 In a letter to Mr Collie, dated Leghorn, 23d Decem- 
 ber 1820, written in Italian, he mentions the state of 
 his health :
 
 BUST OF MR FRAXC18 HORNER. 105 
 
 " I am happy to be able to tell you that I could not be better. 
 The cough has left me, and, what is better still, my pulse has returned 
 to its usual state. I feel no pain in any quarter ; I have a good ap- 
 petite, and sleep well. I have established an issue in the sternum, 
 and it is doing me good. Meanwhile, I eat little after dinner."' 
 
 He mentions having made the acquaintance of Dr 
 Peebles, who had come to Leghorn six years previously 
 in a much more hopeless condition than himself, and 
 who had now regained so much health and strength, 
 that he was able to practise as a physician among the 
 English in that town and Pisa. Andrew enjoyed the 
 advantage, also, of finding one of his own cousins, Mrs 
 Scott (formerly Miss Jean Newton), in Leghorn. Her 
 husband, Mr John Scott, was established there as the 
 partner of an extensive mercantile house in London ; 
 and from them he received much kind attention. 
 
 " There is,'* he continues, " an English cemetery here, containing 
 many handsome monuments. Among others, that of Mr Homer in- 
 terested me greatly. He died, as you know, at Pisa, in 1817, still a 
 young man. There is a bust of him. _ His head is among the best I have 
 ever seen. The organs of the intellectual faculties are very large ; 
 those of the moral sentiments are beautifully developed ; and the or- 
 gans of Language are large." 
 
 On 13th January 1821, he writes to George: 
 
 " Often do I look forward to the day which will light me to Scot- 
 land again, there to remain for aye. Though I contrive to make my- 
 self pretty comfortable in every situation, still when absent there is 
 always a hankering wish to be near you arising in my mind. This 
 wish becomes every day more powerful, as the probability of" its final 
 accomplishment increases. Although I feel my left side quite free 
 and easy, and can mount 89 steps of our stair without stopping, yet I 
 think it imprudent to try my strength, or to go out in bad wea- 
 ther. * * * 
 
 " As to the Italians, I cannot give you any accurate account of 
 them, as I abstain from going into public places, or into situations 
 where I could observe their heads uncovered ; but they are dreadfully 
 abused here. Whether they deserve it or not, is another question.
 
 100 CHARACTER OF TUB ITALIANS. 
 
 I suspect they are not quite so bad as they are called. I cannot con- 
 wive from what cause such a universal degradation as is alleged, can 
 have taken place in their character. One thing I can say is, that t he 
 Bullish keep very much aloof from them in society. Their intor- 
 course is limited to haying from and selling to them, an intercourse 
 which affords very imperfect means of forming just opinions of tin MH. 
 The English, however, allow them to have a queer kind of honesty. 
 Mr Scott's porter, for example, is called a very honest man, and is one 
 with whom he coold trust anything; nevertheless, in making up his 
 monthly accounts, he never fails to charge a fourth or a fifth more 
 than he is entitled to, and often for work never done : yet he will not 
 steal. They are taught to look upon tm/wtt'fioM as perfectly compa- 
 tible with honesty ; and with this exception they are allowed to be 
 honest. The people in whose house my three invalid fellow-passen- 
 gers and I live, No. 818, Via Grande, are anuuringly honest -. and yet 
 they thought nothing of c#tti*$ */><m my b<et JHK&WC (which was well 
 sewed up), and making use of my bedding, without tolling mo one 
 word of their proceedings. This came out when I complained of cold, 
 and asked for another blanket. The landlady said she had no more. 
 I desired her to bring my package, and I would provide myself with 
 one from my own store. She then acknowledged that she had placed 
 one of my blankets on one bed, one on another, and the bedco\er o;i 
 a third ; and that my fellow-travellers must suffer, if I reclaimed my 
 own. The curious part of the affair was, that when I told her that I 
 should have expected at least to have been consulted before she opened 
 my sewed package, and appropriated its contents to her own purposes, 
 she made a long harangue of astonishment at my /<Y/i<7 cold : then 
 she fell into a towering passion with me for beixg cold : and ended by 
 expressing her surprise at my being so unreasonable as to complain, be- 
 cause she had used the blankets for theVomfort of my friends ! Is not 
 much of such conduct to be attributed to the example set before them 
 from their youth upwards * But then comes the question, How did 
 the first who acted in this way begin to set such an example ? If I 
 could see their heads, I should be able to judge whether Conscien- 
 tiousness is more deficient, or Acquisitiveness larger, in them than in 
 oar own people. 
 
 w Speaking of Phrenology, I saw, during the voyage, a striking ex- 
 ample in our captain of the extent to which Destructiveuess is an ele- 
 ment in satire. His organs of Wit were small, and he had none of 
 the talent ; but he had large organs of Destructiveness, and nothing 
 was so much to his mind as cutting satire. Without Destructiveness, 
 Wit gives a harmless merry sort of AWMMWI-. The organ named by
 
 TEMPERATURE OP PARIS AXD LEGHORN 107 
 
 Dr %*rzhetM 'Smataraltoe/ gires, m ym say . a Iwe of the wofder- 
 fid: bat thk art its prnutiT finctiML. I hcifere it to he awchw 
 emMeted with religiMi, Itgrcesakiadrf awetothei4ef 0*4, 
 
 for iassaaw, ad f the ether world, which -either VMeratw MT 
 MeaUty werid prodaee. 
 44 1 itrwglT srapfM* Oat L*r4 CtarterfeU raped lus rafee f p<- 
 
 tij*i** fixB aa <4d I taliaa awrttwr. Oi0MU 4Mb Can, who <Jii in 
 155*5, H trriiibec in a rry hnwMwoB rtyfe ; aad Chertw&eld'c niiet 
 
 U>k Uk t Ijiwnl SraBKbtiw*. 
 
 " Th* wfttdK-r, wish the ti/wytawa f tea <daj%, ba* lei akin to 
 r Afflgast -a*hr ia Seodaad. The fhenMMMfor has ranged fixaai 
 aM0mspMnu It quite 4eHgiitftiL 
 a* oat to racy S ia a week, I dbwt, it k nt stut- 
 We had tea eoid days; the ttci'MMMi(ter oa&*e<x- 
 rt^ww the ge^ral heat. Ia Paris, tit*- 
 heat IB lfarh 1*19 wa &XMI 53 s to 70, median 62; in April 65'- 
 
 learb^ thk towanb the auidk r ed ef Maj, speadrn^ Itajk Paris, 
 a*d wmm$ howe the in* fe* dajs f Jne." 
 
 In a letter to Mr Collie, dated 27th February, lie 
 continue* his Carourable reports of Ms health. " In 
 short," 9 says he, ~ I am stout and well, and hare twice 
 walked about five miles without fatigue. We have 
 been kindly invited to balk, routs, and other convivial 
 entertainments, but prudence forbade the indulgence. 
 and I refrained^ 
 
 On the 3d March, he wrote to his sister Jean as fol- 
 low*: 
 
 " Were I MW to ealark for Sertlaad, m* jMioge ^old l? r^err 
 tram what they wt whea I aiied for the siaae pl*w fixi 
 i. J1 5 Urt. 
 
 before the fields are agaia eorerod whh 
 
 ill gay, I shall be ia ti* riieiiw of 
 la Agw<, hope first are, ad 
 
 I left Leith ia Jme, Fr may mmths, I tbm^ht that mj 4wth 
 forai the bladk ark for 1821, a that of pr Jawa hW o 
 Yet hw sweet m hp ! Last J w*.
 
 108 LETTER FROM ABRAM COMBE. 
 
 when talking with George about my prospects, he told me that I should 
 certainly recover. Though my reason refused assent, still I felt some- 
 thing pleasing in the nattering assurance. I have got over the winter 
 so well, that I hope, in no long time, to be as stout as ever. As to 
 my staying abroad another winter, it is certainly the safest plan. 
 What makes me here long much for home, is my almost total want of 
 employment. I have no companion of my own kind, no opportunity 
 of studying out of doors or in ; and how can any man support that, 
 without a wish for home ?" 
 
 The following letter was written by Abram Combe, 
 Andrew's eldest brother, to him while residing in Leg- 
 horn ; and as Abram's philanthropic pursuits and pre- 
 mature death will subsequently be mentioned in this 
 narrative, it may not be improper to allow him to intro- 
 duce himself in this form and at this time to the reader. 
 
 " Edinburgh, 7th April 1821. 
 
 " DEAR ANDREW, I duly received your letter, and would have 
 written to you much earlier, had not the attention of our brother 
 George made it almost unnecessary. I, along with all the members of 
 the family, rejoice at your great improvement in health and strength, 
 and think it the safest and best mode for you to remain on the Conti- 
 nent for another year. At your time of life, with its business I may 
 say unbegun, you are apt to magnify the effects of every little expense, 
 and to have anxious fears for the future. You will be apt to look at 
 every person you see in health living upon the fruits of his own exer- 
 tions, and think that if among your friends, and similarly employed, you 
 would be content. Now if these fears or ideas give you any uneasi- 
 ness (at the same time of life they gave me a great deal), it is a great 
 pity ; for at no period of your after life will you have the opportuni- 
 ties that you now have of enjoying yourself, if your health continue 
 good. In after life, you will be surprised how such trifles should have 
 caused you uneasiness ; and as for your friends here, nothing would 
 hurt them so much as your entertaining an idea that they would wish 
 you to deprive yourself of any comfort or reasonable enjoyment within 
 your reach upon the ground of economy. When you return home, I 
 have no doubt that you will succeed, and soon be very independent ; 
 and my hopes on this score are strengthened from a knowledge of 
 what your late friend (for he is now gone) Mr Thomas Scott has ac- 
 complished in your profession. From his success I have the strongest 
 hopes of yours, and again request you to be as easy and comfortable,
 
 VISITS FLORENCE TURKISH MERCHANTS. 109 
 
 in the mean time, as possible ; and, should any unlucky circumstance 
 make your present expenditure too heavy a sum for your exertions to 
 redeem in after life, I, with George and Mrs Cox, will most freely 
 and cheerfully do all that is requisite. 
 
 " Having said enough on this point, I have to congratulate you on 
 that happy vein of humour which runs so naturally through all your 
 letters. I was much pleased and entertained with the descriptive 
 parts of your second letter to Greorge, and cannot help thinking that to 
 a stranger the effect of it would have been nearly the same as on us. 
 
 " You will be sorry to hear that Dr Gregory is dead. 
 
 " When George left you at Greenock, I met him, on his return, at 
 Lanark, where, through him, I had the felicity to be introduced to Mi- 
 Owen. I was delighted with the mode of conducting his extensive esta- 
 blishment. He has under him about 4000 souls, including the chil- 
 dren of all his workers, and his chief aim is to make them happy. By 
 the mildness of his system, he has succeeded to a wonderful degree. 
 He has banished misery and crime almost wholly from the village, and 
 punishments are unknown. He attributes almost all the miseries of 
 man to errors of education. But alas, he is not thought orthodox by 
 those who differ from him." 
 
 In April 1821 Andrew made an excursion to Flo- 
 rence, and there again failed to attend to the laws of 
 health. In a letter to George he mentions that on 
 his first arrival in that city he spent eight hours in 
 one day in visiting cold and damp churches ; but, on 
 reflection, he became aware of his imprudence, and 
 having happily escaped without injury, he formed the 
 resolution, which he kept, not to transgress in that 
 manner again. After a short stay in Florence he re- 
 turned to Leghorn. In a letter written from Leghorn 
 on the 16th April, he mentions an anecdote derived 
 from the best authority, which is interesting as illus- 
 trative of the character of the Turks. Their honesty 
 has frequently been praised, and Andrew writes that 
 
 " On Thursday a Turkish merchant came to Mr Scott to buy an 
 assortment of manufactured goods. He merely lifted the lid of the 
 box, and took the whole contents of it, without opening a single pack- 
 age, on Mr Scott's word. (The Italians examine every piece.) The
 
 110 HIS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS DESCRIBED. 
 
 Turk said that he could not remove it at present, and requested that 
 it might be kept for him. ' There is your money,' said he, handing 
 to Mr Scott a bag of coin, ' take out of it what you want, and give 
 me the remainder.' He went away, leaving the bag with Mr Scott ; 
 and after a short interval returned, and put it, with its diminished 
 contents, in his pocket, without counting the sum left." 
 
 Mr Scott mentioned that this was the ordinary mode 
 of transacting business between Turkish and English 
 merchants who knew each other ; but it is painful to 
 add that at a subsequent period, adventurers, who had 
 learned the existence of this custom, arrived from Eng- 
 land with cases of goods fraudulently assorted, which 
 they induced the Turks to purchase, tempted by their 
 cheapness. It was only after arriving in their own 
 cities, and examining the packages, that the Turks 
 discovered that they had been cheated. 
 
 On the 26th April Andrew sailed from Leghorn to 
 Marseilles, and travelled by the diligence to Paris. On 
 the 10th of June he wrote to George from that city as 
 follows : 
 
 " I met Professor Caldwell of the United States at Dr Spurzheim's 
 and have given him an introduction to you. He has a very powerful 
 and a very active brain. He does not go to Edinburgh, but he is*ex- 
 tremely anxious to have casts of the skulls, &c., in O'Neil's possession. 
 He sees already the value of Phrenology, and he is just the man for 
 spreading it. Individuality, Comparison, and Causality, also Self- 
 Bsteem, Love of Approbation, and Firmness, are very large. He re- 
 turns to America in six weeks.* 
 
 " As to my own condition. My body, I am glad to say, continues 
 well, but my mind is nearly as much at Edinburgh as here. I men- 
 tioned in my last to Abram, that on arriving I felt a strong desire to 
 
 * The anticipation expressed in this letter has been fully confirm- 
 ed by subsequent events. Professor Caldwell, on his return to the 
 United States, commenced an energetic advocacy of Phrenology, and 
 by his lectures and publications has been eminently successful in dif- 
 fusing a knowledge of it among his countrymen. Several of his works 
 have been reprinted in this country, and he still continues to advocate 
 and apply the science with a zeal unabated by age.
 
 HIS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS DESCRIBED. HI 
 
 continue north to Edinburgh. I suppressed that desire with the idea 
 that by going about the hospitals and classes, &c., I should soon 
 soften it down. In this I was, however, mistaken, as I found my 
 strength still unequal to the task of standing two or three hours at 
 bed-sides, and of sitting even two hours a-day at a lecture without a 
 lean to my back. The consequence is, that I am left the whole day 
 with nothing to do but read. And, besides having few books to read, 
 as I came away only for six months, it is not to be supposed that I 
 can spend the day very pleasantly sitting solus in my chamber of state, 
 without any body to speak to but Willis at a time. The more I am 
 in the open air, too, the better. It is not surprising, then, that this 
 desire of returning to the comforts of a home haunts me night and 
 day, and had Willis not been here I could not have supported it so 
 long. My earnest wish, then, is to return immediately, but by no 
 means to pass the winter at home, for the seeds of phthisis are not to 
 be dissipated in a day nor in a year ; and the alternative of going from 
 home, or going under ground, when left to the choice, is not difficult 
 to determine. Dr Spurzheim thinks I should winter here if my 
 health promises to stand it, because, though the winter is as severe as 
 to cold, it is yet much drier, and much less liable to check perspira- 
 tion. Now I make up my mind the more readily, that, in point of 
 expense, I can go home, remain three months, and return here with 
 little if any thing more than would keep me here all that time, and 
 even did it require more money, you and Abram have kindly assured 
 and shewn me that a few pounds would be willingly given for my 
 comfort, and the rest of the family have tacitly said the same. Some 
 of the good folks at Edinburgh will no doubt think me a maggoty 
 kind of a youth, to return to France again when there is nothing 
 apparently ailing me. But knowing your goodness as to ways and 
 means, I explicitly say that I would rather put up with my daily and 
 nightly visits of ennui, and all their consequences, than go home to 
 remain there next winter. My earnest wish is one day (and may that 
 day be an early one) to fix myself beside you, there to remain, and 
 with time I doubt not of success in my profession ; and that day, if 
 God grant that it ever arrive, I will see sooner and more safely by 
 absenting myself again. From inquiries which I have been making 
 I am not without hopes of finding a few patients in some of the de- 
 partments about 200 miles from Paris. Many English go there to 
 pass the winter I know. If there are no Army and Navy surgeons 
 there, or even if there are, I might pick up something. If I found I 
 could keep myself, or nearly so, I would even remain two years more. 
 I have consulted Dr Spurzheim, and he says I may go home at least 
 with safety, if not with advantage, which he even expects, but insists
 
 112 HIS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS DESCRIBED. 
 
 on my return before winter. Gregory, too, said last year that our 
 own summer was as good for me as any other. Last August and Sep- 
 tember I began again to relish my existence, and I was happy. The 
 riding, too, was of advantage. Having after many days' uneasiness 
 made up my mind, may I beg you to write me by return of post. It 
 will add to my happiness to find you approve my proposal, but tell 
 me fairly your opinion. Is there a steam-boat from London ? How 
 much is their fare ? Supposing I return, and I cannot indulge any 
 other supposition, I believe I would be as welcome at Grorgie as last 
 year, and my increased energies would permit of more extended enjoy- 
 ments, and with less fear of consequences. Do, then, write me if pos- 
 sible by return of post. 
 
 " Dr Willis ai'rived here fourteen days ago. He is really an ex- 
 cellent person ; and came just in time to keep my woe-begone counte- 
 nance in something like a Christian shape. I was rejoiced once more 
 to meet with one who knew and could speak about Phrenology, and I 
 believe we seldom speak of any thing else. If we be talking about a 
 man with a broken leg, we are sure at length to stumble upon his 
 head and so plunge into Phrenology. 
 
 " Wit appears to me to be a sentiment. It does not compare ; 
 when active, it forces you to see everything in a certain light, just as 
 Ideality prompts you to regard the works of nature or of art with a 
 certain elevated enthusiasm without giving you any positive idea. The 
 sober, serious reality does not please it when active, though it may when 
 inactive. It forces the other faculties to find something agreeable to 
 its feelings, and never feels comfortable till gratified ; but it does not 
 think ; for you find the wit always in proportion to the other faculties. 
 The same way, a large Constructiveness, with a powerful head, forms 
 new combinations : with a poor one, it simply constructs, and in a 
 grovelling way. 
 
 " Dr Willis says that you and he are agreed in giving no Benevolence 
 to animals. There I beg leave to differ from you both. Do you not 
 often find large and powerful animals snarled at, attacked, and bitten, 
 by their inferiors in size and strength, and yet do they not keep their 
 temper, and return good for evil ? This is not small Combativeness 
 either ; for dogs of this kind are often brave. A case the Doctor men- 
 tioned, when we put the question to him after our dispute, I think, set- 
 tles it. A swallow was tied by the leg to a string stretched across the 
 Court of the Institute. His brethren came in scores and pecked at the 
 string or thread, one after another, in their flying, and persevered till 
 they set the prisoner free, and immediately decamped. Other habits of 
 animals will convince you of the necessity of such a faculty, modified,
 
 PHRENOLOGY APPLIED. 113 
 
 of course, from what it is in man, but still retaining its base. Sub- 
 missiveness, or Veneration, which Willis was for giving animals in- 
 stead, will not do. Submissiveness would never make a dog good- 
 natured, or make it patient in suffering the attacks of other animals 
 of the same species. Hunting dogs give another example. There are 
 some dogs which, from the very beginning of their career, take up 
 the bird in their mouth without hurting it in the slightest degree. 
 Others, again, by all the drilling, whipping, &c., that you choose to 
 give them, can never do so. No doubt Combativeness and Destruc- 
 tiveness go for much there ; but what prevents the first one biting, 
 even with moderate Combativeness and Destructiveness ? He abstains 
 from it without drilling at all. A man's Veneration, I take it, would 
 go but a short way in preventing him being a butcher. Mr W. is my 
 authority for the dogs, and he knows them well ; and he used to speak 
 of one excellent in other respects, which he could never drill to spare 
 the game, though he could make it obey in other respects with the 
 same submissiveness as the others. 
 
 " When I look around me in the world, and behold those men whose 
 names are famous from the north even to the south, and from the rising 
 to the setting sun, and to whom mankind are accustomed almost to look 
 up as to a race superior to themselves, and when I see the heads Provi- 
 dence has been pleased to place on their shoulders, I am almost inclined 
 to suspect that we lay too much stress on Causality in our opinions of 
 others. Look at the head which makes a figure in the world, and see 
 how rarely that pre-eminence is occupied by Comparison and Causality. 
 Not once in thirty times is the head of reputation one of philosophic 
 excellence. The philosophic head is certainly of a superior mould to 
 that of the observing head, and its enjoyments are of a more elevated 
 nature ; and that appears to be the principal blessing attached to it, 
 because it is less dependent on circumstances for its happiness than the 
 other. For surely the observing head is the one for society, and for 
 this sublunary scene. In looking at a head, how apt are phrenolo- 
 gists to say, ' Ah ! that is a good or a bad head,' according to the 
 development of Comparison and Causality, when, in fact, the morale is 
 the most essential of all. Suppose now in my voyage that my com- 
 panions had been endowed with large Comparison and Causality, with 
 the captain's moral development. Instead of being happy in their 
 society, would I not have avoided them as I would have done the devil ? 
 Neither thoughts nor feelings would have been in harmony. In short, 
 Comparison and Causality hold, perhaps, the highest rank, but they 
 do not form the head par excellence, unless combined with the others 
 in due proportion. I hope you comprehend my meaning. Dr Spurz-
 
 114 CONSTITUENTS OF A PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERSTANDING. 
 
 heim made me a present of his ' Essai Philosophique' and Thesis. I 
 have attended a number of his lectures. They are excellent. That 
 on Natural Language was admirably given, and produced a wonderful 
 effect on his audience. If he has not Imitation, score it out. I say 
 he has it full. That of yesterday on the Pathology was excellent ; 
 and had I his ' Folie' now, I could do some good with it, for I must 
 own I did not fully understand his meaning ; and the reviewer, who 
 abused and ridiculed him for it, had been in the same condition. His 
 ' Essai Philosophique' is excellent too. I am reading Madame de Stael 
 Sur la Litterature. There are many good ideas in it besides fine writ- 
 ing." 
 
 The opinion stated in the preceding letter, that in 
 modern times the men who have acquired distinguished 
 reputation in literature and science, have had the organs 
 of the observing faculties more largely developed than 
 those of the reflecting powers, merits a passing remark. 
 As a general proposition, the observation is correct ; for 
 the reflecting organs are comparatively useless without 
 the observing in tolerable supply ; while the observing 
 organs are decidedly useful, even with a poor endow- 
 ment of the reflecting. When Bacon's philosophy was 
 at length appreciated, it called into activity the men in 
 whom the lower region of the forehead was largely de- 
 veloped. This class is pre-eminently adapted for ob- 
 serving phenomena and collecting facts. It is practi- 
 cally superior to the class in which the reflecting or- 
 gans are large and the observing organs small, and is 
 therefore better adapted than that class to a sound and 
 useful way of cultivating science. But it is not capa- 
 ble of achieving a profound and comprehensive inter- 
 pretation of nature, or of appreciating the recondite re- 
 lations of causation. In medical science, morals, and 
 politics, it furnishes empirical practitioners, men who 
 base their judgment on established maxims, and follow 
 routine courses of action ; who are eminently practical, 
 but who are too little alive to the natural causes with
 
 CONSTITUENTS OF A PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERSTANDING. 115 
 
 which they are dealing, and the more remote conse- 
 quences to which these inevitably lead. The purely 
 physical sciences have been less under the dominion of 
 this order of minds than the mixed sciences. In the 
 latter, for nearly a century, Bacon's recommendation to 
 observe Nature, has been allowed, to too great an ex- 
 tent, to divert attention from the duty of interpreting 
 her phenomena, and applying her agencies; and the 
 consequence has been, that in these departments Europe 
 possesses accumulations of facts with comparatively 
 little knowledge how to apply them. One example may 
 be quoted from Dr Combe's work on the Physiology 
 of Digestion. After mentioning the numerous and im- 
 portant researches of physiologists into the chemical 
 and nutritive elements of the different kinds of food, he 
 remarks : 
 
 " The necessity of adapting the diet and regimen to the individual 
 constitution and mode of life becomes so obvious as to excite surprise 
 that it should ever have been neglected. But, strange to say, although 
 the ancient writers attached much importance to this subject, the re- 
 lation between diet and constitution, as a practical consideration, has 
 of late been so entirely overlooked, and sound physiological principle 
 has been so little consulted with a view to the proper adaptation of 
 the one to the other, that we are at this moment in possession of very 
 little knowledge of any value regarding it, and a long time must 
 elapse before much more can be supplied." 
 
 In the present work, also, we have seen the results 
 of the teaching of the different branches of medical 
 science by men who were stored with knowledge of facts, 
 but who rarely thought of applying it to the regulation 
 of daily conduct. In family practice, such men allowed 
 their patients, unwarned and unguided, to follow habits 
 and pursuits inevitably leading to disease, perhaps to 
 death. The " Doctor" prescribed for the symptoms, and, 
 having conquered them, left the patient to the guidance
 
 116 CONSTITUENTS OF A PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERSTANDING. 
 
 of nature and his own common sense, considering it no 
 part of his duty to explain to him the causes which 
 had induced the malady, and the circumstances which 
 would promote or avert its return. At the time when 
 Andrew studied, so completely was the teaching of me- 
 dical science under the influence of this class of minds, 
 that he himself, although endowed by nature with large 
 organs of reflection, and with an eminently practical 
 understanding, was at first led servilely to follow in 
 their track, and remained blind to the lessons taught 
 by natural causation. If society shall, hereafter, recog- 
 nise in him any merit deserving of lasting remembrance, 
 it will be that of having laboured to raise his profession 
 above the sphere of empiricism, and to base its prac- 
 tice on observation of the designs of Nature, and her 
 modes of accomplishing her designs, as well as on single 
 facts and phenomena. 
 
 In the development of the intellectual organs, the 
 Germans present a striking contrast to the French and 
 English. In the former the reflecting organs generally 
 predominate in size over those of observation ; and, in 
 consequence, German philosophers frequently err by in- 
 dulging in profound speculation, without due consider- 
 ation of facts. A large and equal development of both 
 regions of the forehead, combined with large organs of 
 the moral sentiments, is necessary to the formation of 
 the highest order of philosophical understanding. 
 
 Andrew left Paris on the 25th of June, and arrived 
 in Edinburgh on the 3d of July 1821, in good spirits 
 and greatly improved health. He passed the summer 
 at Gorgie Mill, occupied himself with riding, walking, 
 reading, and society, and continued regularly to gain 
 strength. 
 
 In the beginning of October, he sailed from Leith for 
 London, and proceeded directly to Paris, where he
 
 ARRIVAL IN EDINBURGH AND RETURN TO FRANCE. 117 
 
 arrived on the 18th of that month. He remarks his 
 singularly bad luck in sea-voyages ; for he again had a 
 gale of wind on his voyage to London, and another in 
 crossing from Calais to Dover ; but sustained no injury 
 from them beyond a cold in the head, which speedily dis- 
 appeared. In a letter, dated Paris, the 20th of Octo- 
 ber, he says : " The great D - has honoured me 
 with a call, and I conclude that he wants something." 
 He had frequently remarked, that there is a class of 
 persons who never bestow kindness or shew attention 
 to a friend, except when they want something from 
 him; and then, taking advantage of his good-nature, 
 they will pay him a visit, ostensibly of friendship, but 
 which is invariably followed up by a solicitation for some 
 service to themselves. Andrew used to blame himself 
 for allowing such individuals to accomplish their ob- 
 jects at his expense, especially as he understood them 
 perfectly, and was not taken by surprise by their de- 
 mands ; but he felt it difficult to say " nay,"" to a per- 
 son who unhesitatingly threw himself upon his good- 
 nature for a kindness. He proceeds : 
 
 " I asked Dr Spurzheim, with whom I had a tete-a-tete breakfast 
 this morning, about the Christian Society lately established here. He 
 stated that its object is to endeavour to persuade men to practise Chris- 
 tian morality all the days of the week, and to allow each to believe 
 whatever articles of faith he considers to be sound, without squabbling 
 with, depreciating, or persecuting his neighbour." 
 
 The effects of his impaired health, and the want of 
 an active pursuit on his mental faculties, are strikingly 
 described by him : 
 
 " I told you that my visage was more than usually long. Monsieur 
 S., when I took leave of him in Paris, told me that I must try to be 
 gay ; that I was not half so cheerful as in former times, and that he 
 was uneasy about the change. I told him that I was quite aware of 
 it, but could not be gay, except when the spirit moved me. I was
 
 118 VISITS LYONS, AIX, AND MARSEILLES. 
 
 really low, though not at all miserable. It cost me an extraordinary 
 exertion to think about any thing ; or rather, I could not think at all, 
 and every little sentence that I uttered was formal and grave. All 
 my friends remarked that I could not speak French half so readily 
 as I did before I left Paris ; but the fact was, that I could not speak 
 either French or English, or any thing else, simply, because I had 
 nothing to say, and what I did say was without force, as there was 
 no mental impulse. However, things are mending." 
 
 He proceeded from Paris to Lyons, and writing from 
 that city on 4th November, he says : 
 
 " It is really astonishing what changes travelling makes in one's 
 state of mind. So very slightly is my wonder now excited by new 
 objects, that were I to-day in Lyons, to-morrow in Naples, and the 
 day after in Paris, I believe that I should feel it all as a matter of 
 course. I arrived in Paris with the same indifference that a man does 
 at his own door after his morning ride. This matter-of-course feel- 
 ing has its advantages, but it has also its disadvantages. Curiosity 
 being blunted, we are apt to miss much information that would be 
 both useful and interesting, and which the feeling of novelty would 
 prompt us to acquire." 
 
 He visited Nismes and Aix, and of the latter place 
 he writes : " I found that it would not do for a resi- 
 dence : It is a nice, clean, dry, well-built town ; but it 
 is almost deserted. There is no society, nobody to be 
 seen, and nothing earthly for a stranger to do." He, 
 therefore, proceeded to Marseilles, which he found an 
 agreeable residence. On his journey from Lyons, he 
 became acquainted with the celebrated Colonel Jones, 
 and some members of his wife's family. They also re- 
 mained at Marseilles, and through their kind attentions, 
 he was speedily introduced to as much society, French 
 and English, as he had strength to enjoy. Phrenology 
 was a passport to him everywhere. He maintained dis- 
 cussions in defence of it, examined heads, and explained 
 its applications. In a letter, dated llth December, he 
 writes :
 
 RESIDENCE IN MARSEILLES. 119 
 
 " The other night, after defending Phrenology with all my force, 
 from the attacks of a good head placed on the shoulders of a Monsieur 
 Baissez, Inspecteur des Enregistremens et des Domaines, this gentle- 
 man observed, that I might be in the right, ' mais que les jeunes gens 
 etaient toujours enthousiastes.' The next day, on meeting Colonel 
 Jones, I found out that I had been haranguing away in ' superb 
 French' for a long time, and the Colonel, as soon as we met, cried out 
 that he must study Phrenology thoroughly, for he never saw happi- 
 ness expressed on any face more strongly than on mine (prodigious !) 
 when engaged in that discussion." 
 
 He adverts to the state of his health, and reports it 
 in every respect satisfactory : 
 
 "At times, indeed," he adds, " I feel the pain, or rather uneasiness, in 
 the chest ; but it is to such a slight degree, that had my attention not 
 been previously directed to that quarter, I should not have noticed 
 it. As things have happened, had I the last twenty months to live 
 over again, I believe that I should adopt precisely the same measures. 
 A few months more will, I hope, bring me once more to your com- 
 fortable fireside, there to remain." 
 
 On the 9th of February 1822, he \vrites : 
 
 " As the cold continued, I gave up my evening parties by way of 
 precaution, and confined myself for four days during the strong and 
 keen north-west wind, which is rather severe upon invalids, and even 
 upon robust people, although the sky is always cloudless and serene. 
 For fourteen days it has been milder and very pleasant. I am. thank 
 God, still amazingly well. * * * I must do myself the satisfac- 
 tion to say, that no man could be more kind and attentive to me than 
 Colonel Jones has been. During the cold weather, he came to me 
 every morning with his newspaper, and told me what was going on, 
 and whether to go out or not, and sat with me an hour or so, and 
 sometimes came again in the evening. He lent me any books he 
 could supply me with. The ladies were likewise very kind; and, con- 
 sidering that I was utterly unknown to them, and that they are not 
 acquainted with a single person of my acquaintance, their kindness is 
 still greater. I have been more fortunate than any one of my fellow- 
 invalids who came here with letters. I left Lvons without knowing a 
 single soul living to the south of Paris, and without the means of be- 
 coming known. At Marseilles, I hear every one remarking the ex- 
 treme reserve of English families in receiving visitors whom nobody
 
 ]20 REVISITS LEGHORN. 
 
 knows ; so much so, that almost all the young men here are reduced to 
 the society of each other, although most of them have had one or two 
 introductions : yet I might be out every night if I chose. Part of my 
 facilities may arise from my being ' medical.' From the first I neither 
 put myself in the way of invitations, nor avoided them, but left every 
 one entirely at liberty to draw back or advance as they chose, although 
 iu some instances I was anxious enough to form acquaintances. I con- 
 sider myself very fortunate in having left Paris this winter, even 
 against Dr Spurzheim's advice ; for although it has never been very 
 cold, yet it has been so moist, changeable, and unhealthy, that pec- 
 toral complaints have become epidemical in some situations, and deli- 
 cate persons have taken the road to Pere la Chaise in unwonted num- 
 bers." 
 
 He received a letter from Leghorn soliciting him to 
 pay a visit to his friends in that city, in order to take 
 under his charge to Scotland a lady who, with a brother 
 then recently dead, had been his fellow-passenger in the 
 " Fame" from Greenock in the previous year. In com- 
 pliance with this request, he sailed from Marseilles on 
 the 21st February, again encountered a storm, and only 
 on the 1 st March landed at Leghorn. He mentions that, 
 when procuring his passport at Marseilles, he was mea- 
 sured by the police-officer, and found to be 6 feet 2 inches 
 in height, and that he must have grown an inch during 
 the past year ; at which he was much surprised. He 
 visited Pisa, and there and at Leghorn learned the fate 
 of all his invalid acquaintances of the preceding winter. 
 In a letter dated the 14th of March, to George, he says : 
 " I believe I am now the only one of last year's inva- 
 lids who is well ;" and he adds the names of several 
 who were dead. To what extent their fate may have 
 been influenced by their own acts of imprudence, or by 
 severer forms of disease than Andrew suffered under, it 
 is impossible to decide ; but his report is little encou- 
 raging to individuals labouring under pulmonary af- 
 fections.
 
 RETURNS TO EDINBURGH. 121 
 
 He and the lady before alluded to sailed from Leg- 
 horn on the 23d of March. They encountered a severe 
 storm, in which a French frigate was wrecked, and, 
 after abandoning their vessel on the coast, arrived at 
 Marseilles on the 8th of April. They proceeded by 
 Paris to London, and arrived in Edinburgh early in 
 May. 
 
 During the remainder of the year 1822, and the first 
 three months of 1823, he resided with Mrs Cox at 
 Gorgie Mill. Riding was resumed, and his health con- 
 tinued to improve. 
 
 " The excitement," says he, " given to the skin by riding was suffi- 
 cient to keep the feet warm, and to prevent even considerable changes 
 of temperature from being felt ; and rain was not more regarded, al- 
 though special attention was of course paid to taking off damp or wet 
 clothes, the moment the ride was at an end. Strength increased so 
 much under this plan, combined with sponging, friction, and other 
 means, that it was persevered in during the winter of 1822-3, with 
 the best effects." Principles of Physiology <i2)plied to the Preservation 
 of Health, chap. iv.
 
 122 ANDREW COMBE'S FIRST LITERARY ESSAY. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ANDREW COMBE'S FIRST LITERARY ESSAY HE COMMENCES MEDICAL 
 PRACTICE IN EDINBURGH ANSWERS DR BARCLAY'S OBJECTIONS 
 AGAINST PHRENOLOGY BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL MEDI- 
 CAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH DEFENDS PHRENOLOGY BEFORE THE 
 
 SOCIETY TAKES THE DEGREE OF M.D. IN THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 EDINBURGH. 
 
 IN 1823, Andrew Combe was so fully restored to 
 health that he fairly commenced his career as a medi- 
 cal practitioner in Edinburgh ; and his literary talents 
 also soon found a sphere of action. In a letter to 
 George, dated 9th December 1841, he states his views 
 of the advantages of his studies in Paris, and refers to 
 his first literary production : 
 
 " By sending me," says he, " to Paris at the age of twenty for 
 two years, you put me in the way of not only acquiring professional 
 knowledge, hut of appreciating at their true value the prejudices of 
 nation, and kindred, and locality, and in this way expanded my men- 
 tal horizon, and widened the range, without diminishing the intensity, 
 of my feelings, so as to influence my whole future happiness. The 
 spirit of toleration and charity for the differing opinions and feelings 
 of others was therehy cherished, much to my own advantage. By 
 afterwards encouraging me to write, and particularly hy pruning away 
 or lopping off fully one-half of the first essay I ever ventured upon, 
 you rendered me another essential service, although the said ' lopping' 
 seemed to me for the moment like a civil sort of manslaughter. The 
 improvement, however, therehy afforded was so ohvious, that in a few 
 hours I took heart again ; and the lesson was so fruitful, that it never 
 required to he repeated. The Essay on which you made the havoc 
 was, if I rightly recollect, one for the Society, on Phrenology as illus- 
 trative of Insanity, and it never was puhlished."
 
 COMMENCES MEDICAL PRACTICE IE EDI3TBUEGH. 123 
 
 The first of Ms printed Essays was one " On the 
 Effects of Injuries of the Brain npon the Manifesta- 
 tions of the Mind." It was read before the Phrenolo- 
 gical Society on the 9th Jannary 1823, and subse- 
 qnently published in the Society's " Transactions."* 
 Mr Rennell. the Christian Advocate of Cambridge, in 
 a pamphlet on Scepticism, published avowedly to refute 
 the doctrines of Phrenology, had asserted that "por- 
 tions of the brain, various in situation and size, have 
 been found to have been entirely disorganized, yet no 
 single power of the mind was impaired even to the day 
 of the patient's death;" and similar statements had been 
 hazarded by other opponents, particularly by the writer 
 of the celebrated attack in the Edinburgh Review. In 
 the Essay, Andrew analyzed and reduced to their true 
 value the chief cases referred to by the opponents in 
 support of their assertions, and shewed that they were 
 altogether insufficient to warrant the inferences deduced 
 from them. The Essay is interesting as an evidence 
 of the discriminating intellect and calm judgment which 
 he thus early brought to bear on professional subjects, 
 and instructive as an exhibition of the kind of facts and 
 arguments which were then relied on by men of emi- 
 nence in their several spheres (such as Mr Rennell, in 
 Cambridge, and Dr John Gordon of Edinburgh X as suf- 
 ficient to refute Dr Gall's Physiology of the Brain. 
 
 In the summer of 1823, Andrew took up his resi- 
 dence in the house of his brother George, as convenient 
 for medical practice. Having numerous relations and 
 connections in the city, and having already acquired 
 among them a reputation for solidity of judgment and 
 kindness of disposition, he was not long left unemploy- 
 ed. At the commencement of his career, his most ex- 
 
 * 8ro, pp. 448. Edinburgh : John Anderson jun. London : Simp- 
 kin, Marshall, and Co. 1824.
 
 124 COMMENCES MEDICAL PRACTICE IN EDINBURGH. 
 
 tensive practice, like that of most medical men in simi- 
 lar circumstances, was among the humbler classes of the 
 people ; but the gratitude of these frequently prompted 
 them to commend his skill and attention to persons of 
 a higher grade than themselves with whom they were 
 connected, and he was thus gradually and favourably 
 introduced to a more extensive and influential circle of 
 friends. Keferring to this period of his life, he says, in 
 his "Address to the Students of Anderson's University, 
 at the opening of Dr Weir's first Course of Lectures on 
 Phrenology :"* 
 
 " I have, for many years, declared that my obligations to Phreno- 
 logy, both in my private and professional capacity, are very great 
 greater, indeed, than to any other single branch of science. When I 
 began to avow belief in its doctrines at the outset of my career, I was 
 warned that if I persisted in doing so, it would prove an almost in- 
 surmountable barrier in the way of my professional success. Trusting 
 to the sustaining power of truth, I continued, nevertheless,, to avow 
 my convictions, and to advocate its cause, whenever the occasion re- 
 quired it ; and the result amply justified the reliance which I placed 
 on the omnipotence and stability of truth. My advocacy of Phreno- 
 logy did not prove any impediment in my professional career ; on the 
 contrary, it in many respects extended my field of usefulness, and 
 greatly contributed to my happiness, by giving a more definite and 
 consistent direction to the faculties which I possess. No doubt, some 
 who might otherwise have employed me, were at first deterred, by 
 their prejudices, from doing so ; but their place was more than sup- 
 plied by others, who, in their turn, would not have sought my advice 
 except for Phrenology ; and, ere long, many even of the prejudiced 
 ventured to return, and ultimately took place among my warmest 
 friends. The truth is, that, in the long run, professional success or 
 failure does not depend on a man holding this or that particular opi- 
 nion which happens, for the moment, to be popular or the reverse. 
 Success depends almost entirely on professional skill and attainments, 
 on general soundness of judgment, on readiness in resource, moral in- 
 tegrity, kindness of disposition, discretion, and persevering industry. 
 
 * 8vo, pp. 38. Maclachlan and Stewart, Edinburgh ; and Simp- 
 kin, Marshall, and Co., London. 1846.
 
 COMMENCES MEDICAL PRACTICE IX EDINBURGH. 125 
 
 These are the qualities which elicit confidence in the hour of danger ; 
 and YOU may depend upon it, that if you give decided evidence of your 
 possessing them in a high degree at the bedside of the patient, you 
 will compel even the most prejudiced of your opponents to respect your 
 opinions on this as well as on other subjects, even while they may dif- 
 fer from you. In the private relations of life, also, I have derived 
 the utmost advantage from the lights of Phrenology, and have gained 
 a firmer hold on the confidence of my patients, by pointing out to 
 them its great practical value in conducting the intellectual and mo- 
 ral training of the young, in promoting mutual forbearance and gene- 
 ral kindness of intercourse, and thereby adding to their general means 
 of happiness. It is for Dr TTeir to dwell upon all these points in de- 
 tail ; here I can onlv give you, in a few imperfect words, the general 
 results of my own experience, and leave you to attach what import- 
 ance to them you may think they deserve. 
 
 " But while I estimate thus highly the value of Phrenology, it is 
 right to warn you that it is of Phrenology as it exists in the minds of 
 its well-informed cultivators, after years of study and observation, that 
 I speak, and not of the fancy which many substitute for it in their 
 own minds, and designate by its name. Of the latter kind of Phre- 
 nology, nobody can have a lower opinion than I have. It neither is 
 nor ever can be of any use, either to its possessor or to others. The 
 Phrenology which I have here recommended to you, is a science which 
 cannot be mastered or judged of in a day, in a week, or in a month. 
 Like other sciences, it must he studied before it can be known. Many 
 entertain the notion that they have only to read a book or a pamphlet 
 to qualify themselves to estimate its bearings, and pronounce autho- 
 ritatively on its merits. This is a grand mistake ; as well might we 
 expect to become the equals of Liebig or Faraday, by reading a volume 
 on Chemistry. Till we become acquainted with Phrenology in its 
 details, with its evidences, and with its manifold applications to medi- 
 cine, education, and morals, we are in truth as incapable of forming 
 a correct opinion of its nature and uses, as we should be of those of 
 Chemistry while in a similar state of ignorance." 
 
 Soon after commencing practice, lie became deeply 
 sensible of the deficiency of ordinary medical education, 
 in not teaching, with sufficient earnestness and perspi- 
 cuity, the conditions which regulate the healthy action 
 of the bodily organs a knowledge of which conditions 
 was, in his opinion, of prime importance in the preven- 
 tion, detection, and treatment of disease. " It is true," '
 
 126 STATE OF PUBLIC OPINION ON PHRENOLOGY. 
 
 says he, " that many medical men, sooner or later, work 
 out this knowledge for themselves ; but I have no hesi- 
 tation in saying, that these are exceptions to the gene- 
 ral rule, and that the greater number pass through life 
 without a conception of its value in the prevention and 
 cure of disease. Even those who ultimately become 
 familiar with the subject, almost always attain their 
 knowledge only after having suifered from the want of 
 it, and rarely master it so completely as they would 
 have done had it been made a part of their elementary 
 education, to which they saw others attach importance. 
 In my own instance, it was only after having entered 
 upon practice that I first had occasion to feel and to 
 observe the evils arising from the ignorance which pre- 
 vails in society in regard to it." (Principles of Phy- 
 siology, &c., en. ii.) To the removal of this ignorance, 
 he subsequently devoted himself with a zeal that never 
 failed to distinguish his conduct when any end which 
 he thought important and attainable was to be accom- 
 plished ; and, after his mind had been fairly opened to 
 the importance of hygienic principles of action, he made 
 a point of reducing them to practice in his own personal 
 habits. 
 
 For several years before and after this period of An- 
 drew's life, Phrenology occupied so large a share of 
 public attention in Edinburgh, and he took such an 
 active part in the controversies to which it gave rise, 
 that it becomes necessary to advert to the state of feel- 
 ing and opinion in that city on its merits. Generally 
 speaking, the medical professors of the University, and 
 private medical lecturers, the members of debating 
 societies, the press, and the leaders of opinion at the 
 dinner-table and in the drawing-room, opened the flood- 
 gates of ridicule against it ; while only a few indivi- 
 duals, most of them unknown to fame and destitute of
 
 ANSWER TO DR BARCLAY'S OBJECTIONS. 127 
 
 social influence or authority, constituted its defenders. 
 In those days it was a common taunt, " Who are the 
 Phrenologists ? Men utterly unknown and unaccredited 
 in the world of science." The Phrenologists in vain 
 replied, that Phrenology itself is a science, and that the 
 merits of Dr Gall's discovery could no more be ade- 
 quately judged of by men who were eminent only in 
 Chemistry, Xatural Philosophy, or Belles Lettres, but 
 ignorant of it, than Geology or Medicine could be pro- 
 perly estimated by such persons without making them 
 the subjects of special study. This and all other ap- 
 peals to reason were borne down by ridicule, or by argu- 
 ments of the most flimsy and often self-contradictory 
 description. But there was one exception to this gene- 
 ral condemnation. Dr John Barclay was then the most 
 distinguished private lecturer on Anatomy and Physio- 
 log} 7 in Edinburgh. Dr John Gordon, the author of 
 the attack on Phrenology in the Edinburgh Review in 
 1815, a much younger man, was his rival in that de- 
 partment of medical instruction. While Dr Gordon 
 lived, Dr Barclay regarded Gall's Anatomy of the 
 Brain with rather a favourable eye. Afterwards, how- 
 ever, he obtained other lights on the merits of the new 
 doctrine. In 1822 he published an elaborate work on 
 " Life and Organization," in which he attacked Phreno- 
 logy, and denied that it had any foundation in nature. 
 Andrew Combe replied to him in an essay, entitled 
 " Observations on Dr Barclay's objections to Phreno- 
 logy," read before the Phrenological Society on the 3d 
 of April 1823, and which was subsequently published 
 in the Society's " Transactions," p. 393. " Dr Bar- 
 clay," says he, " assumes, without inquiry and without 
 evidence, that the facts (of Phrenology) have no foun- 
 dation ; and he then proceeds to shew, by argument, 
 that the phrenological conclusions are inconsistent, not
 
 128 ANSWER TO DK BARCLAY^ OBJECTIONS. 
 
 with their own premises, but with certain preconceived 
 notions of his own, altogether foreign to the question. 
 The result is, that he fights with a shadow, and the me- 
 rits of Phrenology remain exactly as he found them. 
 The following observations, therefore, are necessarily 
 limited to pointing out the insufficiency of Dr Barclay's 
 method of attack." He accordingly states each of Dr 
 Barclay's objections in succession, and replies to it. 
 The greatest compliment, perhaps, paid to this essay, 
 was one penned by a subsequent opponent of Phreno- 
 logy, who alluded to "the Satanic logic" of Andrew 
 Combe which had been directed against Dr Barclay. 
 As Andrew's " Observations " were calmly and respect- 
 fully written, the phrase " Satanic logic" referred solely 
 to the refutation which he had given, by logical reasoiiT 
 ing, to Dr Barclay's arguments. 
 
 In modern times, the chief interest of those contro- 
 versies consists in their forming an authentic record of 
 the state of opinion of men eminent in the medical and 
 other sciences, concerning the functions of the brain and 
 mental philosophy, when Dr Gall's discovery was pro- 
 pounded. The day has not yet arrived when justice can 
 be done by public opinion to the champions in these 
 discussions ; and it is probable that many readers of 
 the present work may consider that the mention made 
 of them here might with advantage have been omitted. 
 But the philosophical reputation of Andrew Combe is 
 indissolubly connected with the merits of Phrenology. 
 He has published, in a variety of forms, the acknow- 
 ledgment that it furnished the foundation of his most 
 fruitful thinking, and a constant and invaluable guide 
 of his actions ; and it is the conviction of his biographer, 
 that no complete estimate of his mind and works is 
 likely to be formed by scientific men until their know-
 
 PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL ESTABLISHED. 129 
 
 ledge of Phrenology shall resemble, more nearly than 
 it does at present, that which he himself possessed. 
 
 In 1823, he joined William Scott, James Simp- 
 son, Richard Poole, M.D., and George Combe, in esta- 
 blishing The Phrenological Journal, of which he con- 
 tinued to be a proprietor till the completion of the First 
 Series often volumes in 1837, and a contributor down 
 to the year preceding that of his death. Latterly, how- 
 ever, the mental labour which he was constantly de- 
 voting to the composition of his physiological works, 
 and to the improvement of the successive editions which 
 were rapidly called for, rendered it impossible for him 
 to write so much for the Journal as he had formerly 
 done ; but he continued to give his valuable advice and 
 suggestions to the editor on all subjects concerning 
 which it was thought necessary to consult him. From 
 first to last, indeed, many of the articles written by 
 other contributors had the benefit of his revisal before 
 being published ; and he, on his part, was always de- 
 sirous to submit his manuscripts to the judgment of 
 his friends, and to obtain their criticism on his argu- 
 ments and language. 
 
 As already mentioned by himself, on p. 122, the 
 style of the first paper which he wrote was so imper- 
 fect, that, when submitted to his brother George for 
 revisal, it underwent numerous alterations. At the 
 first aspect of the havoc which had been made in its 
 expressions and arrangement, Andrew felt mortified and 
 annoyed; but when he entered into the details, he 
 adopted, with grateful acknowledgments, the sugges- 
 tions which had been offered for its improvement. In 
 mentioning the circumstance afterwards, at the dis- 
 tance of many years, he remarked that that criticism, 
 which had at first appeared to him to be severe, had 
 proved a valuable lesson, for it conveyed to his mind the 
 
 i
 
 130 ESSAY BY ANDREW COMBE 
 
 first perception of the importance of style in didactic 
 writing. From this time he studied with care the art 
 of composition, and he frequently repaid, by his correc- 
 tions on his brother's writings, that service which he 
 acknowledged to have been done to himself at the com- 
 mencement of his literary career. At no time, how- 
 ever, was Dr Combe a fluent writer, when method and 
 precision were called for. He laboriously arranged his 
 thoughts in the order best suited for their clear enun- 
 ciation ; and in embodying them in language, his sole 
 aim was to express his meaning with plainness, preci- 
 sion, and as small an expenditure of words as was com- 
 patible with making a strong enough impression upon 
 readers of slow apprehension. For the latter purpose, 
 he, in his popular writings, resorted largely and most 
 usefully to repetition of the same idea in different lan- 
 guage, and in connection with different illustrations. 
 In composing, he deleted and interlined abundantly, 
 and often re-wrote his sentences. Most of his letters, 
 however, were written currente calamo. 
 
 A list of his contributions to The Phrenological Jour- 
 nal (some of which were reprinted in a volume of Selec- 
 tions, published in 1836) is subjoined in the Appendix, 
 No. II. Only a few of the most important of them 
 need be noticed in the present work. 
 
 By a law of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, 
 which he had joined, each member in his turn is obliged 
 to write a dissertation for discussion on a subject se- 
 lected by a committee. In 1823 the following question 
 was propounded by the committee : " Does Phreno- 
 logy afford a satisfactory explanation of the Moral and 
 Intellectual Faculties of Man ?" and the duty of writing 
 upon it was transferred by arrangement to Andrew 
 Combe. In executing this task he brought the results 
 of his instruction in the new Physiology of the Brain
 
 IS DEFESCE OF PHRENOLOGY. 131 
 
 under Dr Spurzheim, and of his study of Insanity under 
 Esquirol of his whole practical experience in observ- 
 ing the correspondence between development of brain 
 and the mental dispositions and talents of individuals, 
 acquired in his voyages, travels, and intercourse with 
 society, before described and also of his medical and 
 literary education generally to bear upon the subject ; 
 and he produced an essay which may be read with profit 
 even at the present day. 
 
 The evening of Friday, 21st November 1823, was 
 fixed for hearing the paper and discussing its merits. In 
 conformity with the rules of the society, three copies 
 had been previously circulated among the members for 
 fourteen days, and one copy lay nearly as long in their 
 hall: The nature of the essay was thus generally 
 known before the evening of debate. It attracted an 
 unusual attendance of members, and as the society ad- 
 mits visitors, the number of strangers was still greater. 
 The society's hall was found inadequate to contain one 
 half of the persons assembled for admission ; but Dr 
 Duncan junior having handsomely permitted the use 
 of his class-room in the College, an adjournment to it 
 was proposed and adopted. This apartment was seated 
 for three hundred students ; and as, on this occasion. 
 not only the benches, but the passages and area were 
 occupied, it was calculated that at least four hundred 
 persons were present. Andrew Combe being unable, 
 through weakness of the chest, consequent on his recent 
 indisposition, to read the essay himself, this duty was 
 performed by the president in the chair for the evening. 
 
 The essay being concluded, the president invited 
 the members to deliver their opinions, and added that 
 the society would be happy to hear visitors also, who 
 might consider themselves as members for the night. 
 The debate immediately commenced, and was supported
 
 132 ESSAY BY ANDREW COMBE 
 
 with much animation till two o'clock in the morning. 
 At this hour, a member moved an adjournment to Tues- 
 day evening, 25th November, at seven o'clock, in the 
 same place, which was unanimously agreed to. The 
 discussion recommenced at the time appointed, and 
 lasted without interruption till a quarter before four on 
 the following morning.* 
 
 The Editor of the Phrenological Journal, in comment- 
 ing on this debate, makes the following remarks : 
 
 " The opposition to Phrenology manifested on this occasion pro- 
 ceeded chiefly from members of the society, and the speeches in sup- 
 port of it from visitors. The gentlemen who spoke in opposition were 
 not young men attending the medical classes, as has been represented, 
 but gentlemen of mature years, decorated with literary, scientific, or 
 professional titles. The greater number of them held diplomas of 
 doctors in medicine, or of surgeons. Nor did they, on this occasion, 
 ruffle for the first time unfledged pinions ; for many of them were 
 gentlemen extensively travelled, and known, moreover, as debaters 
 in different societies for a period of several years. Nevertheless, we 
 are constrained to say, that they manifested throughout a profound 
 ignorance of Phrenology, with a deficiency either of ability or inclina- 
 tion to grapple fairly and manfully with its principles ; they indulged 
 in a spirit of cavilling on petty and isolated points, wandering through 
 a maze of random assertion, founding on hearsay statements ; and 
 when they ventured to allege a fact in support of their own views, 
 they coupled it with a positive declaration that its accuracy must be 
 received on their report, and that they had taken the most effectual 
 means to prevent the phrenologists from finding out the individuals alluded 
 to, so as to verify the assertion by their observations. The Phreno- 
 logical Transactions, on the other hand, replete with principles and 
 facts, were published before the debate, and in the hands of the Me- 
 dical Society ; we likewise furnished one of their members with a copy 
 of our First Number before publication, also containing many facts, 
 and it was placed on the Medical Society's table for a week before the 
 first night of discussion. These publications must have been diligently 
 read ; for members of the Medical Society not only visited the Phre- 
 nological Society's collection of casts on the regular days of exhibition, 
 but solicited and obtained private inspection of them day after day, 
 
 * Phrenological Journal, vol. i., p. 307.
 
 IN DEFENCE OF PHRENOLOGY. 133 
 
 and were incessant in examining and measuring them. Nevertheless, 
 in the whole discussion no opponent once ventured to attack the prin- 
 ciples stated and elucidated in Mr A. Comhe's essay then read : only one 
 called in question any part of the essay, and this was on a speculative 
 point ; and no member of the Medical Society, except one (of whom 
 we shall speak presently), denied the correctness of the facts stated 
 in the Phrenological Transactions or Journal, which they had the 
 means of verifying by an unrestrained inspection of the casts and 
 skulls. 
 
 " Our astonishment, therefore, was indescribable on hearing it re- 
 ported all over the town, after the termination of the discussion, that 
 the members of the Medical Society had completely refuted Phreno- 
 logy, and put it down for ever. There was no vote of the Society on 
 the question, so that this assertion must have had reference exclusively 
 to the supposed effect of the speeches. We traced the report, and 
 found it to originate with the members of the Society themselves, who 
 loudly proclaimed a victory at once brilliant and decisive. In antici- 
 pation of a discussion really interesting, we had requested a gentleman, 
 who is much interested in Phrenology, to take down the speeches in 
 short-hand, and three other friends to take notes ; on comparing 
 which, we found ourselves in possession of a very full and accurate 
 report of the debate. On hearing of the boasted triumph of the op- 
 ponents, we congratulated ourselves in possessing these materials, and 
 resolved, in perfect candour and good faith, to give the public an op- 
 portunity of judging between us and our opponents. Aware, however, 
 that we were liable to be viewed as partisans, and that if we reported 
 the speeches exactly as they were delivered, many persons might sus- 
 pect us of misrepresenting them ; and anxious, at the same time, to do 
 the speakers ample justice, we resolved to apply to themselves for 
 notes of their speeches, and to print whatever they furnished us with. 
 We accordingly sent a circular containing an offer to this effect, to 
 each of the speakers in the debate." 
 
 This proposal was met by an order issued by the So- 
 ciety, prohibiting its members from publishing their 
 speeches ; and as the Editor of the Journal then threat- 
 ened to publish a report from the materials provided 
 in the manner before mentioned, the Society applied to 
 the Court of Session for an " interdict," or injunction, 
 to restrain him from doing so, which was granted; and 
 thus the Society was left in possession of its self-appro- 
 priated laurels.
 
 134 PHRENOLOGICAL ESSAY BY ANDREW COMBE. 
 
 In any other condition of public opinion, there would 
 have been little difficulty in deciding with whom the vic- 
 tory in this contest had really rested; but so thoroughly 
 were nearly all the influential men in Edinburgh and 
 the conductors of the press committed against the pos- 
 sibility of Phrenology being true, that in this city the 
 cause reaped small benefit from the effort which had been 
 made on its behalf. Indeed, it may be doubted whether 
 ultimately the effect was not rather locally injurious. 
 The individuals who had taken the lead against Phreno- 
 logy, although older than Andrew, were still young, 
 and constituted the elite of the then rising generation 
 of medical men of this city. Influenced by the hostile 
 opinions of their seniors, and of general society, they 
 entered the lists of opposition without adequate inves- 
 tigation of the facts and consideration of the arguments 
 on which Phrenology was founded. It is no disparage- 
 ment to them to affirm, that not one of them had made 
 it a subject of serious, scientific, and practical study 
 and observation, in the manner and to the extent to 
 which he had done, as exhibited in the preceding pages. 
 Allowing to them, in comparison with him, every supe- 
 riority in general capacity and professional attainments 
 which their most ardent admirers could claim, there was 
 still a vast advantage on his side in knowledge of the 
 subject. Some of them have since risen to eminence in 
 their profession, and filled academical chairs, and from 
 these seats of influence, they have continued to sway the 
 judgment of another generation of students, and to lead 
 them in the path in which they themselves have walked. 
 The consequence is, that in the Scottish universities, 
 and in that of Edinburgh in particular, nearly as little 
 is at present known of Phrenology (speaking of accurate 
 and practical knowledge) as on the days when this de- 
 bate took place. Meantime, the knowledge and favour-
 
 RESULTS OF HIS ESSAY. 135 
 
 able opinion of general society has advanced, and few 
 men of talents and attainments would, in the present 
 day, venture to write and speak against Phrenology in 
 the style which was adopted in 1823. 
 
 Andrew's essay was subsequently published in the 
 Phrenological Journal, vol. i., p. 337, and also reprinted 
 in the " Selections" from that work, p. 317 ; and be- 
 yond the circle of his native city it served to raise his 
 reputation, and to advance the cause which he had 
 espoused. 
 
 These incidents, tedious and uninteresting as they 
 may appear to some readers, really carry in themselves 
 a certain degree of public importance. Even if Phre- 
 nology be unfounded, the men who at the period in 
 question staked their reputation publicly against it, 
 without due examination, cannot be regarded as having, 
 with a noble courage, stemmed the torrent of a gigantic 
 error, and saved future generations from wasting their 
 strength in wading through its muddy streams. On 
 this supposition, if they performed a public service, it 
 was only by accident, for which they deserve no com- 
 mendation : While, on the other hand, if Phrenology 
 be essentially true, they have earned the unfortunate 
 distinction of having assisted in heaping piles of rub- 
 bish, which it will require half a century to remove, in 
 the path of one of the greatest discoveries of any age ; 
 of having discouraged, so far as their influence extend- 
 ed, the youthful mind of Scotland, for two generations 
 at least, from embarking in a serious examination of 
 its foundations and applications ; and, consequently, of 
 having laboured to close against the rising intellect of 
 their countrymen the most fertile field of observation, 
 discovery, and practical utility, at that time presented to 
 its investigation. On the second supposition, an age of 
 mediocrity in cerebral physiology, and moral and intel-
 
 ] 36 LETTERS ON PHRENOLOGY, &C. 
 
 lectual philosophy, may be expected to await Scotland, 
 as the natural consequence of the part which her lead- 
 ing men then acted in regard to the new doctrines. 
 
 During the year 1824, Andrew continued busily en- 
 gaged with the practice of his profession, and in the 
 study and elucidation of Phrenology in the Phrenologi- 
 cal Society and Journal. On 15th October 1824 he 
 wrote to George, who was then delivering a course of 
 Lectures on Phrenology in Glasgow, as follows : 
 
 " I had a letter from Collie this afternoon, dated Aberdeen. He 
 made a run down there for a few days, as instead of getting off, he is 
 ordered to sea again in the Blossom frigate on a very long voyage, 
 viz., to double Cape Horn, run along the west coast of America, make 
 discoveries, and, when at Behring's Straits, to look in among the ice- 
 bergs for Captain Parry, and, at all events, be ready to pick up Cap- 
 tain Franklin's overland party, if they get so far ! So instead of a 
 merry visit to Paris, and a quiet fireside at Aberdeen, poor Collie 
 must trudge round the world at the least. At the same time, were I 
 in his situation, with Phrenology in my brain, I would not regret it 
 at all. He will have a glorious field, touching at so many places ; and 
 I have just written him in the strongest terms, to make use of his time, 
 and bring home skulls, measurements, and observations. I have given 
 him all sorts of motives ; told him how things are going on, how he 
 may raise his reputation, forward truth, and avoid useless regret from 
 doing nothing. So that I think, with the knowledge which he pos- 
 sesses, he will really do something. I almost wish I was with him 
 when I think on it." 
 
 In a letter to George, dated 29th December 1841, 
 he continues his professional history : 
 
 " In 1825," says he, " I graduated in Edinburgh, having hesitated 
 a long time whether to do so, as I was then so old, viz. 27| ! In pre- 
 paring for graduation, I paid a heavy penalty for having preferred at- 
 tending efficient private lecturers to inefficient professors, as I was com- 
 pelled to fee and attend the latter before I could become a candidate, 
 and this too, when my time was occupied to some extent by practice. 
 
 I had tried to attend old Dr in 1816, but finding it impossible 
 
 to do so with profit, I left him, and attended the lectures of Dr John
 
 HE TAKES THE DEGREE OF M.D. 137 
 
 Gordon. The result was, that I was compelled to attend Dr 
 
 eight years later, when he was still more inefficient than in 1816. In 
 like manner, I had sought that instruction from Dr Barclay which 
 Dr ought to have furnished ; and I was punished by being com- 
 pelled to attend Dr also, when the loss of time was of more se- 
 rious consequence to me. Such are the results of appointing incapable 
 and retaining inefficient professors to teach classes on which attend- 
 ance is compulsory. Old Dr , in the of , was another 
 
 example of utter inadequacy." 
 
 The subject of his Thesis was De Hypochondriasis 
 Sede, and the dedication was in the following terms : 
 " Viro ingenio et virtute ornato, Joanni Gaspar Spurz- 
 heim, felicissimo anatomise et physiologiae cerebri ner- 
 Torumque indigatori ; et in his utilioris inedecinse et 
 dignioris patri : necnon Phrenologise, fundatissimse et 
 nimquam periturse philosophise mentis, tarn sanse quam 
 morbidse, inter cultores etiam peritissimos, uno excepto, 
 principi ; hocce opusculuni, grati aninii testimoiiimn, 
 D.D.D. Andreas Combe." He subsequently enlarged it, 
 and published it in English in the Phrenological Jour- 
 nal, Yol. iii., p. 51, and " Selections," p. 244, where it 
 is entitled, " On the Seat and Nature of Hypochon- 
 driasis." 
 
 From this period his professional practice and repu- 
 tation continued steadily to rise ; and he must be allow- 
 ed to state once more the manner in which he consi- 
 dered that Phrenology contributed to his success. 
 
 In a letter to George, dated 14th December 1841, 
 Dr Combe writes : 
 
 " Perhaps the first benefit which I derived from the new philoso- 
 phy of mind, was a better knowledge of myself, and the clearing away 
 of sundry obscurities which impaired my usefulness, and with it my 
 happiness. From my large Wonder and Veneration, I invested every- 
 thing unknown to me with a depth and magnitude which seemed to 
 place it utterly beyond my powers. From the same feelings I invested
 
 138 USE OF PHRENOLOGY IN MEDICAL PRACTICE. 
 
 every one with whom I was not intimate with great and high quali- 
 ties, and an amount of knowledge which I could never hope to attain. 
 With these impressions, conjoined with active Caution, Secretiveness, 
 and Love of Approbation, I was afraid to place myself on the same 
 level with others, and often, after intimacy was almost forced upon me, 
 I marvelled to find myself, after all, just as clever and well-informed 
 as most of them. During my studies the same combination led me 
 to assign an unfathomable depth and extent to all new branches of 
 professional knowledge ; and it happened very often, that when I 
 understood a thing easily, I continued poring over it under the con- 
 viction that there must be a deeper and more important meaning 
 which my stupidity had not been able to reach. I studied, therefore, 
 hesitatingly, gropingly, and sometimes almost despondingly. I linger- 
 ed, wondered, and doubted, till I verily believe I impaired the elas- 
 ticity of my intellect. At least, I feel assured, that had I then known 
 the sources of these apprehensions, and been encouraged and animated 
 in my career, I would have advanced with a vigour, efficiency, and 
 pleasure, which would have influenced my whole future existence. To 
 Spurzheim's lectures I am indebted for the first relief I obtained from 
 these impediments. In his descriptions of Wonder, Cautiousness, 
 Veneration, Secretiveness, and Love of Approbation, I recognised my 
 own feelings ; and the thought came over me, ' So it is you and not the 
 external subjects that are mystifying and perplexing me !' In defi- 
 cient Eventuality and Language I recognised my real intellectual de- 
 fects, and in them and moderate Ideality I was able to trace the in- 
 feriority which I had always remarked in myself as compared with 
 you, and also the cause of my want of command over my knowledge 
 and words. I saw and was comforted. For the first time my mind 
 was in harmony with itself, and I could exert, without distrust, the 
 faculties which Grod had given me. I could now compare myself with 
 other men, and see that in some important respects I possessed advan- 
 tages of my own which might, in their turn, be employed to good ac- 
 count. I saw what I could and what I could not do ; and at once re- 
 signing the general intellectual excellence which I would have liked, 
 I dedicated myself to those branches in which I could reasonably ex- 
 pect to be useful to mankind and to myself. 
 
 " This was the first great benefit conferred upon me by Phrenology. 
 The next was its furnishing me with clear and consistent principles of 
 conduct towards others, or of moral and social duty. This also had a 
 great influence on my happiness, and increased very much the share of 
 toleration and charitable feeling towards others which I originally 
 possessed. Of its influence on my religious views you are sufficiently
 
 USE OP PHRENOLOGY IN MEDICAL PRACTICE. 139 
 
 aware. Professionally, also, Phrenology was of immense use to me ; 
 but on these topics I cannot now enlarge." 
 
 His remarks on the professional benefits which he 
 derived from Phrenology, written in the full maturity 
 of his judgment and experience, will be introduced 
 under the dates of 24th and 25th December 1841, and 
 23d January 1842.
 
 140 TREATMENT OF PATIENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DR COMBE'S TREATMENT OP HIS PATIENTS HIS CONDUCT TOWARDS 
 OTHER MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS. NOTICE OFABRAM COMBE AND HIS 
 
 EFFORTS TO CARRY MR OWEN'S VIEWS INTO PRACTICAL EFFECT 
 
 HIS ILLNESS AND DEATH. LETTER FROM DR COMBE TO A PATIENT. 
 PRACTICAL ADVICE RELATIVE TO A SUITABLE EMPLOYMENT FOR A 
 YOUNG LADY. DIGESTION AS AFFECTED BY EXERCISE. MR JEF- 
 FREY'S CRITICISM ON PHRENOLOGY DR COMBE, IN CONSEQUENCE, 
 WRITES A PHRENOLOGICAL ESSAY ON SIZE AS, C^ETERIS PARIBUS, 
 
 A MEASURE OF POWER. ESSAY ON " THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN" 
 
 FIRST READ BEFORE THE PHRENOLOGICAL SOCIETY. LETTER TO 
 
 A YOUNG PATIENT. 
 
 AT the time when Dr Combe entered the medical 
 profession, it was common for practising physicians 
 simply to prescribe medicines, and to lay down dietetic 
 rules to be observed by their patients, without explain- 
 ing to them the nature of their maladies, or the ra- 
 tionale of the cure. Blind faith and implicit obedience 
 were required of them. He early adopted the practice 
 of addressing the reason and enlisting the moral sym- 
 pathies of his patients, in every case in which this ap- 
 peared to him practicable. He preferred the intelli- 
 gent co-operation of a patient in the measures neces- 
 sary for the restoration of his health, to mere obser- 
 vance of rules ; and therefore communicated as much 
 of the nature of the disease as could be stated without 
 exciting injurious alarm, explained, as far as the indi-
 
 TREATMENT OF PATIENTS. 141 
 
 vidual could comprehend it, the process which Nature 
 followed in order to reach the condition of health, 
 and urged on him the necessity and advantage of com- 
 plying with her demands. He also stated to the pa- 
 tient, or his attendants, the occurrences which he knew 
 would take place in the progress of the malady before 
 his next visit, and instructed them how to act in the 
 emergencies as they occurred. In his communications, 
 he practised discretion, but avoided mystery; and 
 stated truth, as far as it could be revealed without di- 
 rect injury to his patient. The consequences of this 
 mode of proceeding were equally beneficial to his pa- 
 tients and to himself. They became convinced that it 
 was Nature that was dealing with them, and that al- 
 though they might " cheat the doctor," they could not 
 arrest the progress of her evolutions, or escape from 
 aggravated evils if they obstructed the course of her 
 sanative action. Under these convictions they obeyed 
 his injunctions with earnestness and attention. By 
 being premonished of approaching symptoms, which 
 were frequently steps in the progress of the cure, but 
 which, if not explained, might have been regarded as 
 aggravations of the malady, they were saved from 
 much alarm, and he from many unnecessary calls and 
 attendances. His present biographer had ample op- 
 portunities of remarking how few messages, even 
 during the busiest seasons of his practice, came to him 
 from patients under treatment, and how very rarely 
 he was called upon to visit them during the night. He 
 ascribed this comparative immunity from nocturnal 
 calls to the explanations and pre-arrangements now 
 adverted to. 
 
 In forming connections with new patients, he acted 
 with scrupulous delicacy towards those practitioners 
 whom they had previously consulted. As an example
 
 142 CONDUCT TOWARDS OTHER MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS. 
 
 in point, the following passage in a letter dated 10th 
 June 1825, addressed to his sister Jean, may be cited : 
 
 " I have nothing new to communicate, except, perhaps, to mention 
 
 that Esq. of has come to me as a patient, a good 
 
 deal to the annoyance of his former adviser. I waited upon the 
 
 latter and mentioned the circumstance to him, and offered to decline 
 attending if he could state any reasonable objection ; but he was very 
 liberal, and, although hurt, assured me had no objection." 
 
 In another letter to Jean, dated 26th June 1825, he 
 writes : 
 
 " I have always said that my large organs of Veneration have stood 
 in my way, from my youth upwards, and you folk have laughed at 
 the idea. But I can prove it by an example. Fourteen days ago, I 
 missed getting a capital patient by being mistaken for a minister in- 
 stead of a doctor. A lady from England, whom I met at last 
 
 summer, brought her husband, who was very ill, to Edinburgh for 
 
 medical advice, and placed him under the care of . She did not 
 
 like . Afterwards, when she learned that I was medical, she 
 
 expressed great regret at her mistake, for she would have been per- 
 fectly satisfied if I had had her husband under my charge. 
 
 " I have had a very kind invitation from to visit him in the 
 
 country, but I am so busy I cannot go. I have had more patients for 
 the last fortnight than I ever had before at one time." 
 
 The following allusion to one of Sir Walter Scott's 
 productions occurs in the same letter : 
 
 " ' The Great Unknown' is exciting the town by the ' Crusaders.' 
 I saw it played the day after the book was published. It is very 
 interesting, and Mrs H. Siddons was quite irresistible in the deli- 
 very of the epilogue. It was an excellent specimen of natural lan- 
 guage." 
 
 In May 1826, Abram Combe, Andrew's eldest sur- 
 viving brother, fell into bad health, and came from Or- 
 biston, in Lanarkshire, to Edinburgh, to enjoy the bene- 
 fit of Andrew's advice. Abram's introduction to Mr 
 Owen is mentioned on page 109 of this work. The effect 
 produced on his mind by the appearance of the happy
 
 ABRAM COMBE. 143 
 
 children, and the respectable, well-doing work-people, 
 above two thousand in number, whom he saw at -the 
 spinning-mills of New Lanark, was instantaneous and 
 indelible. From that day he became enthusiastic in 
 his desire to do something practical for the improve- 
 ment of the condition of the working-men of Edinburgh 
 and their families. He possessed large organs of the 
 moral sentiments and of the observing faculties, with 
 an active temperament ; but in him the organs of Cau- 
 sality were considerably smaller in relation to these 
 other organs than they were in Andrew. With similar 
 activity of mind, therefore, and similar desires to pro- 
 mote human enjoyment, the two brothers followed dif- 
 ferent lines of action. Abram took small account of 
 unfavourable innate dispositions and capacities, of the 
 force of inveterate habits, and of the effects of adverse 
 social influences which he had not the power to remove. 
 He at once resorted to the exposition of certain moral 
 and intellectual principles, and the institution of prac- 
 tical arrangements to carry them into effect. He be- 
 lieved implicitly, without the benefit of experience, in the 
 efficacy of these means to produce a certain and speedy 
 reclamation of the objects of his solicitude, from igno- 
 rance and vice, and to induce in them moral and indus- 
 trious habits, and all the social virtues necessary for 
 living in community. 
 
 Andrew, on the other hand, viewing the world through 
 the medium of his own organisation, sought to teach 
 principles which, by enlightening and vivifying the pub- 
 lic mind, might lead, by slow but certain steps, to gene- 
 ral improvement ; contenting himself in the mean time 
 with performing such acts of individual kindness as he 
 could accomplish in his private sphere. The brothers 
 held many amicable discussions on their respective views 
 of human nature, and the most efficacious mode of ad-
 
 144 DEATH OP ABRAM COMBE. 
 
 vancing its progress in virtue and happiness; but Abram 
 could not penetrate into natural causation to the depths 
 which Andrew reached, nor could he embrace so wide a 
 circle of probable contingencies ; and hence they never 
 arrived at similar conclusions concerning the merits of 
 Mr Owen's doctrines. 
 
 Abram commenced his efforts by trying to carry the 
 social principles into practice among a number of work- 
 men placed, by circumstances, under his personal in- 
 fluence ; and he subsequently induced a number of phi- 
 lanthropic individuals to join him in purchasing the 
 estate of Orbiston, and in erecting on it dwelling- 
 houses, school-rooms, work-shops, and other accommo- 
 dations, for three hundred persons. Their object was 
 to combine agricultural with manufacturing industry, 
 on the principle of the produce belonging in common to 
 all the co-operators. About 36,000 were expended 
 in this enterprize. 
 
 The proprietors invited such members of the work- 
 ing-classes as approved of Mr Owen's principles, to as- 
 semble on a certain day, with their wives and children, 
 at Orbiston, and to form a social community. The call 
 was speedily responded to ; the houses were filled, and 
 Abram Combe took the superintendence of the people 
 and their operations. He devoted nearly the whole of 
 his pecuniary resources and time to the promotion of 
 the scheme. For a brief period, he rejoiced in the hope 
 of success ; but, although still in the prime of life, and 
 of a vigorous constitution, his health gave way under 
 the influence of excessive physical and mental exertion. 
 This occurred in the beginning of summer, and although 
 Andrew gave him anxious instructions regarding his 
 health, he returned to his labours at Orbiston, and only 
 partially observed them. The consequence was, that 
 after a few months of imprudent exertion, he came
 
 DEATH OF ABBAM COMBE. 145 
 
 again to Edinburgh in the autumn of the same year, and 
 was seized with inflammation of the lungs in George's 
 house. The late Dr Abercrombie and Andrew did every 
 thing for his recovery that skill and kindness could 
 dictate, and they succeeded in saving him from imme- 
 diate death. But the malady ended in pulmonary con- 
 sumption, under which he sank in August 1827. 
 
 Abram had never been instructed in Physiology, and 
 had never studied Phrenology ; and Andrew frequently 
 lamented the zeal with which, under the influence of 
 the purest philanthropy, he devoted his life to objects 
 which a profounder knowledge of human nature might 
 have shewn him to be unattainable by the means and 
 in the circumstances then at his command. After his 
 death, the establishment at Orbiston was dissolved, the 
 people were dispersed, the land and buildings were sold, 
 a great loss was sustained, and of the large and solid 
 fabrics which he and his coadjutors reared, not one 
 stone now remains above another to serve as a memo- 
 rial of their benevolent intentions.* On his deathbed 
 he became convinced of the errors which he had com- 
 mitted in relation to his health, and lamented that the 
 elements of Physiology and other practical sciences had 
 not been taught to him at the High School of Edin- 
 burgh, in place of the Latin syntax and histories of the 
 Heathen Deities, which had formed the staple of his 
 early education. 
 
 In a letter to Jean, dated 12th June 1826, Dr Combe 
 says : u Mr Jeffrey is reviewing the t System of Phreno- 
 logy.' That is news worth staring at ; and yet it seems 
 true." As the article alluded to was not published till 
 the subsequent month of October, this mention of it in 
 
 * Abram Combe is the individual referred to in The Constitution 
 of Man, chap. T., sec. ii.. pages 168 and 248. Eighth edition, post 
 8vo.
 
 146 LETTER FROM DR COMBE TO A PATIENT. 
 
 June is curious, as indicating how deliberately it must 
 have been prepared, and how much it must have been 
 talked about before its appearance, for Andrew could 
 have heard of it only from common report. 
 
 The following letter, dated the 14th of June 1826, 
 addressed to a patient in the country, is an example of 
 the manner in which he gave medical advice. 
 
 To Miss A B . 
 
 " Your very welcome letter of llth reached me late last night, and 
 I am glad to be able to give you much consolation ; for every thing 
 you state, accords completely with what I told you a week ago, viz., 
 that your present ailments arose, in a much greater degree than you 
 supposed, from the state of the digestive organs. Your ' Cautious- 
 ness' being active, it was not unnatural for you to feel apprehensive 
 about the lungs ; but if they had been in great danger, neither would 
 
 Dr have ordered you porter and blue pill, nor would I have 
 
 prescribed the latter and sea-bathing. The vivacious activity of 
 ' Cautiousness' depresses all the functions of the body, and none more 
 than those connected with digestion, and hence it doubles the influ- 
 ence of actual derangement of the corresponding organs (the stomach, 
 liver, &c.) upon the general system ; while, on the other hand, that 
 very derangement reacts upon ' Cautiousness,' and aggravates the 
 evil. All parts of the body require a regular supply of nervous ener- 
 gy from the brain, and without this they stand still. It is like the 
 steam that puts the machinery in motion. Stop it, and the function 
 stops, as in syncope. Diminish it, or dilute it, the function will be- 
 come slower and feebler, while the organ itself remains otherwise 
 healthy. The breathing, for instance, of a man in a passion is hur- 
 ried and irregular ; but it is his brain, and not his lungs, that is at 
 fault. A panic-stricken person turns pale, scarcely breathes, and per- 
 haps falls to the ground ; but it is the brain, and not the face, the 
 lungs, or the muscles, that is affected. Hence you will see that a 
 slighter but more permanent emotion may affect, in a slighter but also 
 in a more permanent degree, any part, especially any otherwise weak 
 part of the system, and yet little or no actual disease be present in the 
 latter, and hence you cannot trust to your own apprehension for cor- 
 rect information. For example, two years ago I attended an elderly 
 lady for three months, who insisted that her liver and heart were 
 dreadfully diseased ; but there was no symptom of anything but an 
 affection of the head of twelve or fourteen years' standing. She 
 would not believe this, but referred everything to the liver. She
 
 LETTER FROM DR COMBE TO A PATIENT. 14J 
 
 and I, consequently, soon parted. Last month she died, and, having 
 expressed regret that the prejudice she entertained against me had 
 prevented her again calling me in, she left an urgent request that I 
 should be present at opening her body. The liver, stomach, and 
 heart were quite sound, but the brain was greatly diseased, shewing 
 that the pain, palpitations, &c., arose from it alone. I tell you this, 
 because you may see and take comfort from the fact, that all is not 
 disease that seems to be so ; and that ' Cautiousness,' with all its im- 
 posing gravity, is not to be trusted to, unless with a certificate from 
 'Causality' and 'Comparison' that it is right. Neither must you 
 listen to fear, if it tell you that your brain must he affected. The case 
 alluded to was, in this respect, as different from yours as possible. The 
 influence of 'Cautiousness' to which I allude, is nowhere more re- 
 markable than on the pulse ; it quickens it often in an extraordinary 
 degree, so that no counting can be depended on while the patient is 
 noticing the counter. I have seen a difference of twenty beats in the 
 space of five minutes, from attending to this. 
 
 " Now, as any one that has ever taken an emetic, or felt sea-sickness, 
 knows full well, the state of the digestive apparatus acts in its turn 
 upon the brain, and depresses the mental vigour ; and thus, while 
 bile, loaded stomach, &c., make one low and miserable, this state of 
 mind acts, in its turn, in making bad worse. But the reason of the 
 thing being known, half the evil is destroyed. In your case, then, 
 two things are quite obvious: 1st, The liver is not supplying a healthy 
 bile, and, in consequence, the functions of the stomach and bowels are 
 disordered. 2d, There is what is commonly designated nervous irri- 
 tability, depending, so far as I know, chiefly on overact ive ' Cau- 
 tiousness.' To the former, the appearances described are attributable ; 
 to the latter, that irritability of pulse depending, not on fever, but on 
 nervous excitement. To the two conjoined, I attribute the numbness 
 which I have sometimes seen to an annoying extent from the same 
 
 " The cough and other pectoral symptoms, I conceive, arise from 
 local sympathy with the liver. This often occurs. The perspiration 
 is easily accounted for. Now that the pain in the right side and shoul- 
 der is gone, I would advise you," &c. &c. [Here specific prescrip- 
 tions are given.] 
 
 His advice was sought by his friends, not merely in 
 medical cases, but in many of the ordinary emergencies 
 of life. The following letter, dated the 17th of July 
 1826, is his reply to an application for his opinion re- 
 garding the line of usefulness into which a young lady,
 
 148 EMPLOYMENT FOR A YOUNG LADY. 
 
 in dependent circumstances, known to him, might, with 
 the best prospects of success, be introduced. 
 
 " I am inclined to think Miss fit for higher duties than 
 
 any she has yet fulfilled. She has an ambition to do well, but 
 she has never yet been put in the right road. In her, the organs of 
 Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation are naturally very vigorous ; 
 they have been highly cultivated, and erected into ruling motives, and 
 their possessor is at the age of their most engrossing activity ; but 
 there is in her a capacity for moral and intellectual usefulness, which, 
 by judicious education, may be greatly improved. When we consider 
 how long time, and how much drilling and training it takes, to make 
 even predominant moral faculties act harmoniously and usefully to- 
 gether, we need not despair of her improvement, if she have perse- 
 verance sufficient, and be judiciously guided. The moderate size of 
 her organ of Individuality is her greatest drawback as an instructress. 
 Individuality is, par excellence, the teaching faculty. It delights in 
 details, and in patient repetition, while it is quick in observing the im- 
 pression made. In this she is rather deficient, and I doubt whether, 
 with the aid of her other faculties, which give her what is called 
 common sense, she will ever be very successful in communicating in- 
 struction to the young. Again, her Self-Esteem and Love of Appro- 
 bation will long stand in the way of her success in the position of a 
 governess ; but I think that, in favourable circumstances, they might 
 be brought under the control of her higher faculties. If, however, she 
 should be engaged by a family in whom these same faculties have the 
 ascendency, and by whom distinction is pursued, and respect shewn, 
 only in the line of Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation, she will be 
 deteriorated in character, and rendered miserable. They will look 
 down on her as an inferior, and neglect her, and this will mortify her 
 self-love, and sour her temper ; while they will worship world's idols, 
 from whose shrines she will be excluded by her humble position. In 
 opposite circumstances, and under the influence of right-principled and 
 generous superiors, she would rise in the moral and intellectual scale. 
 Every proper precaution should be used to place her in a situation 
 calculated to give scope to her best faculties, and to avoid exciting 
 those which are apt to impair her usefulness and happiness." 
 
 As already mentioned, Dr Combe desired to secure, 
 wherever it was possible, the intelligent co-operation of 
 his patients in the remedial measures which he pre- 
 scribed ; but experience soon convinced him that his en-
 
 MR JEFFREY'S CRITICISM ON PHRENOLOGY. 149 
 
 deavours to attain this end were greatly impeded by the 
 general ignorance of the functions of the hnman struc- 
 ture, which pervaded even educated persons in all ranks 
 of life. He thus early felt himself almost forced to pre- 
 pare for the press an exposition of the fundamental laws 
 of health which he laboured to enforce in practice ; such 
 a work being the only means of saving himself from the 
 ceaseless labour of teaching the same truths in suc- 
 cession to each patient whose conduct he desired to 
 guide. Accordingly, in a letter dated the 9th of Octo- 
 ber 1826, to Miss A B , he says : 
 
 " I told you what to do after eating, but I omitted to tell you what 
 to do before. Eating immediately after exercise, is known by wide 
 observation to be hurtful. Half-an-hour's rest is the least that is 
 proper ; but when no choice is left, a very moderate meal is the most 
 salubrious, if eaten immediately after exercise. I shall try some day 
 whether I have the power of making an intelligible exposition of some 
 of our chief functions, and then you will be able to try if you can pre- 
 serve them in health. I expected at last to have got a few days' re- 
 tjreation as a prelude to the winter campaign, but it is truly said ' there 
 is no rest for the wicked ;' for on Saturday night I got an urgent four- 
 times-a-day case, which I cannot leave for a day or two, and then very 
 likely something else will cast up. However, I have been so well this 
 season that I do not much care. I am very thankful for the past, 
 and can still amuse myself anticipating the future." 
 
 In October 1826, the expected criticism, from the 
 pen of Mr Jeffrey, of George Combe's " System of Phre- 
 nology," appeared in the Edinburgh Review. It was 
 an elaborate, eloquent, and sarcastic article, intended 
 to crush Phrenology for ever. George replied to it in 
 a Letter dated 31st October, addressed to Mr Jeffrey, 
 published first as a pamphlet, and subsequently in the 
 Phrenological Journal, vol. iv., page 1. Andrew con- 
 tributed largely to the physiological argument in the 
 
 reply. In a letter to Miss A B , dated 6th 
 
 December 1826, he writes :
 
 150 DIl COMBE ON SIZE AS, C^ETERIS PARIBUS, 
 
 " My brother's ' Letter ' is iu the second edition, 1000 copies having 
 been sold in a month, although a pamphlet rarely reaches a sale of 
 500. The Phrenological Society dined in Barry's Hotel, on the 23d 
 November, most sociably and agreeably. Among the toasts, the 
 health of Mr Jeffrey, as a great benefactor to the cause, was given 
 with much good taste and good feeling, and warmly received. A 
 letter from Professor Caldwell of the United States (mentioned on 
 page 110), and one from Dr Otto, Copenhagen, arrived very oppor- 
 tunely from opposite quarters, with the best news. The King of Den- 
 mark had attended Dr Gall's Lectures many years ago, and, having 
 read Dr Otto's book, he appointed him physician to the penitentiary, 
 that he might make useful observations if Phrenology was true, and 
 correct his ideas if it was not. This was liberal." 
 
 The ridicule with which Mr Jeffrey, and other oppo- 
 nents, had treated the fundamental principle of Phre- 
 nology, that, in the nervous system in general, size in 
 the organ is, cccteris paribus, a measure of the power of 
 its function, led Dr Combe to enter on an elaborate in- 
 vestigation of this subject ; and he produced an Essay 
 " On the influence of Organic Size on Energy of Func- 
 tion, particularly as applied to the Organs of the Ex- 
 ternal Senses and Brain," which was read before the 
 Phrenological Society on 30th November 1826, and 
 subsequently published in the Phrenological Journal, 
 vol. iv., p. 161. The introduction explains its scope 
 and object : 
 
 " To an individual unacquainted with physiology, and 
 whose attention has never before been directed to the 
 observation of the mutual connection of mind and mat- 
 ter, and who is not aware of the actual extent to which 
 the mental manifestations are affected by every change 
 in the condition of the brain, no part of the phrenologi- 
 cal doctrines seems at first sight so ' inherently absurd' 
 and destitute of foundation, as that fundamental prin- 
 ciple which affirms power or energy of function to be 
 always, cceteris paribus, in exact relation to the size of 
 the organ ; and yet, so far is this from being ' contrary
 
 A MEASURE OF POWER. 151 
 
 to the analogy of all our known organs,'* as is gene- 
 rally supposed by the unthinking, and taught even by 
 men of no mean reputation, that it is in reality a gene- 
 ral law of nature, pervading all created objects, animate 
 and inanimate, and, consequently, affecting the brain 
 in common with every other part of the body. As this, 
 however, is a cardinal point, in regard to which much 
 confusion and misapprehension prevail, it may not be 
 amiss to dedicate a few pages to its elucidation. 
 
 " The principle of Size, as maintained and demon- 
 strated by the Phrenologists, it may be proper to repeat, 
 is, not that organic size is the only, but that it is ONE 
 condition, and a most important one, in producing energy 
 of function and that hence, WHERE ALL OTHER CONDI- 
 TIONS ARE EQUAL, there increase of Size will in variably in- 
 dicate increased intensity of function. Now it is no small 
 presumption in favour of the inherent truth of this propo- 
 sition, that no opponent has yet ventured either to deny 
 or to dispute it, without having first misstated or mis- 
 represented its meaning. For, instead of fairly grappling 
 with it, as laid down in all the phrenological writings, 
 those of our opponents who have ever attacked it, and 
 Mr Jeffrey among the number, have chosen uniformly 
 to represent it as affirming, that organic size is the only 
 and exclusive condition of energy of function, and have 
 brought wit, fact, and argument into play, to upset, not 
 our statement, but this their own absurd misrepresenta- 
 tion ; and having succeeded in this very easy attempt, 
 they have done their best to make the world believe 
 that they had actually withdrawn the prop which alone 
 supported the phrenological edifice, and that, of course, 
 the latter was fast crumbling to its fall. How much 
 they have erred in thus proceeding, and how little of 
 
 * Edinburgh Review, No. Ixxxviii., p. 301.
 
 152 " THE CONSTITUTION OP MAN." 
 
 consistency and of truth is to be found in such state- 
 ments and opinions as, in support of their cause, they 
 have hazarded in regard to the organs of sense and ex- 
 ternal nature in general, will presently appear, when 
 we shall have shewn that the principle in dispute, in- 
 stead of being contrary to, is in reality in strict har- 
 mony with, ; the analogy of all our known organs. 1 " 
 
 This principle in physiology was now, for the first 
 time, scientifically discussed, and its universal truth 
 and great practical importance expounded. The conse- 
 quences, indeed, which flow from it, are not even at the 
 present day adequately or generally appreciated ; but 
 as Nature is persistent in her course of action, and litera 
 scripta manet, the time will come when the public mind 
 will awaken to its true import. Suffice it here to re- 
 mark, that if the power of each mental organ to execute 
 its function, bears, cceteris paribus, a relation to its size, 
 it follows that under this condition the size of the brain 
 in the moral and intellectual regions is, in each indi- 
 vidual, the measure of his capacity for moral and intel- 
 lectual improvement, and that in the case of races of 
 men, it forms the index of their natural adaptation for 
 civilization, and a useful guide to the laws and institu- 
 tions suited to their dispositions. 
 
 In a letter, dated 5th January 1827, also to Miss 
 A B , he writes : 
 
 " Last night my brother read one half of a paper On the Harmony 
 between the Mental and Moral Constitution of Man and the Laws of 
 Physical Nature, and will read the remainder next Thursday. It is 
 nearly a new application of Phrenology, and by far the most impor- 
 tant, in a practical point of view, that has yet been made. The Rev. 
 Drs Gordon and Thomson were present, and much interest seemed 
 to be excited. The main object is to shew that all the laws which 
 God has instituted for the government of this world, are characterised 
 by the purest benevolence, and have for their object the happiness of 
 His creatures ; and that there are no exceptions to this, and conse- 
 quently that, even in this world, a much higher degree of happiness
 
 DR COMBE'S PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS. 153 
 
 is attainable than has hitherto been witnessed. This, you will per- 
 ceive, is not new ; but the clearness, consistency, and practical facilities 
 which Phrenology communicates to it, make it in reality unlike and 
 superior to any exposition yet given. It is this which furnishes the 
 connecting link between, and the usefulness of, the different sciences, 
 instead of leaving them, as they now too much are, mere exercises for 
 the understanding. The full exposition will be too long for the Jour- 
 nal, but he thinks of publishing it separately." 
 
 This is the first notice of " The Constitution of Man, 
 considered in Relation to External Objects," a work 
 which has since obtained a large circulation, and led to 
 not a little controversy. 
 
 In consequence of the increasing success of George 
 and Andrew Combe in their several professions, they 
 left their residence in Brown Square, and in May 1827 
 removed to No. 25 Northumberland Street, in the New 
 Town. 
 
 The following letter, written by Dr Combe to his 
 niece, Miss Cox, in September 1827, records an incident 
 which gave him great pleasure, and served to encourage 
 him in his professional exertions : 
 
 " Tell your aunt Jean," says he, " that I stand in great need of a 
 friend to keep me down just now. Sir George and Lady Mackenzie 
 have left town to-day, and they have presented me with a handsome 
 silver coffee-pot, inscribed, ' To Andrew Combe, M.D., from Sir 
 George and Lady Mackenzie, in testimony of their high estimation of 
 his character, and of their deeply-felt gratitude for his most kind and 
 friendly, and unceasing exertions in behalf of their much-lamented 
 daughter 1827.' If I can stand this, you will think it more than 
 might have been expected ; and, in fact, it was so totally unexpected, 
 that my mind was for a time quite melted by it. To me it is a very 
 valuable memorial, and gratifies many faculties besides Self-Esteem 
 and Love of Approbation." 
 
 The high estimation here expressed by Sir George 
 and Lady Mackenzie for Dr Combe continued unabated 
 and unclouded during their lives. Sir George survived 
 him only about fifteen months, his first wife having 
 predeceased him.
 
 154 DECLINES TO BECOME PRESIDENT OF THE 
 
 The Phrenological Society having proposed to elect 
 him its president, he wrote the following humorous 
 letter, in which, under the guise of a third person, he 
 urges his own disqualifications for the office : Its only 
 interest consists in its containing a delineation by him- 
 self of some of the peculiarities of his personal appear- 
 ance and mental constitution. 
 
 " To WILLIAM SCOTT, Esq., President of the Phrenological Society. 
 
 " EDINBURGH, 26th November 1827. 
 
 " Having, on the evening of our last meeting, accidentally heard 
 that a plot is on foot to elevate to the dignity of President a very 
 worthy friend of mine, for whom I have long felt the greatest affection 
 and respect, hut of whose fitness for the office I entertain sundry well- 
 grounded doubts, I cannot refrain from calling upon you, whose influ- 
 ence in the Society's councils is justly so great, to consider the matter 
 well and anxiously, hefore you allow any body of conspirators, however 
 respectable, to put into your shoes a successor who may be totally un- 
 able to fill them. 
 
 " I urge the following reasons to shew my friend's inability to dis- 
 charge the duties of the office : 
 
 " First, then, a very essential requisite for the president seems to me 
 to be, the power of communicating his ideas with that degree, at least, 
 of fluency, that shall not lacerate the Benevolence of the members, in 
 their efforts at listening to and understanding him. Now, the very 
 opposite of this qualification the individual proposed has always been 
 eminently distinguished for displaying in a rare degree of perfection. 
 
 " Another requisite, perhaps not less essential, is, that he should have 
 some ready command of ideas connected with the subjects under dis- 
 cussion ; but I have my friend's own authority (and whose can be bet- 
 ter ?) for stating that this qualification, if possessed by him at all, is 
 so only in that minute degree that makes its existence altogether im- 
 perceptible (in any other case I should have added ' to the hearer,'' 
 but in his, I must say) to the bystander. 
 
 " A third requisite is, that in addition to the ideas and to the com- 
 mand of words already mentioned, he should (in accordance with the 
 law of size being a measure of power), have a thorax and larynx large 
 and powerful enough to receive and to expel with sufficient force and 
 velocity that quantity of air which is necessary to the production of 
 audible, and particularly of intelligible, sounds, endowments, which 
 I grieve to say, the proposed individual could never boast of enjoying.
 
 PHRENOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 155 
 
 "A fourth requisite is, that the person who is destined to occupy such 
 an ostensible situation in the Society's meetings should have an ex- 
 ternal aspect, or what Ave call the natural language, of perfect civility 
 at least, if not of suavity. Now, I have heard it alleged that your 
 proposed successor, although by no means ferocious in his habits, does 
 not always present this agreeable phasis of character in his outward 
 man, even when his inner is in a state of perfect tranquillity. 
 
 " A fifth consideration is, that looking forward to the approaching 
 visit of our great and illustrious founder (Dr Spurzheim), it becomes 
 a positive duty in the Society to have some one at its head, who, like 
 yourself, may be able to preside with dignity and success both at its 
 philosophical and convivial meetings ; a function for which I know 
 that the proposed gentleman holds himself remarkably unqualified ; 
 as he has every reason to believe, that at a convivial meeting in 
 particular, the very sight of his face (for by some strange mechani- 
 cal manoeuvre his body, notwithstanding its being two good ells in 
 length, frequently almost disappears from sight,)* at the head of a 
 table would suffice to spoil the enjoyment of a whole evening, how- 
 ever determined to be happy the company might be. I do not go 
 so far as to affirm, that the solemnity of his natural language would 
 actually endanger the curdling of the generous cream which gene- 
 rally accompanies the entrance of Mr Barry's much-admired puddings 
 and apple-pies ; but, for the sake of the company, even the slightest 
 tendency that way ought to be carefully avoided. 
 
 " A sixth reason is, that the person elected should, on occasion, be 
 able to say a few civil things in the way of compliment, and in an 
 agreeable way, as it is allowed on all hands, that as a persuader, ' Love 
 of Approbation' is too influential a personage to be treated with 
 neglect or disrespect. Now, it is historically recorded of the intended 
 victim of your Benevolence, that he has scarcely ever been heard to 
 utter a purely civil compliment in his whole life ; and when I add 
 that his hairs are beginning to turn grey, you will allow, that to ex- 
 pect him to begin now with success, would be in utter contradiction to 
 the first principles of phrenological science, and therefore not to be 
 thought of. 
 
 " Lastly, on all grand occasions, societies, as well as individuals, 
 should always set their best foot foremost, if they wish to command 
 respect. Now, I have no hesitation in saying (and I know that my 
 friend will excuse me for it,) that your proposed successor is by no 
 
 * Dr Combe's tall stature arose chiefly from the length of his lower 
 extremities, and as in sitting he reclined a good deal backwards, from 
 weakness, he appeared rather short at table.
 
 156 ADVICE TO A YOUNG PATIENT. 
 
 means the foot that ought to be put foremost on the occasion of such 
 an event as a visit from Dr Spurzheim. 
 
 " Finally, it is my firm belief that if you persist in nominating 
 the said gentleman to the said high office, you will excite his Cautious- 
 ness to such a degree as will not greatly add to the already dim lustre 
 of his manifestations. And, to conclude, if the Society will, in the 
 exercise of its undoubted wisdom, please to elect a better-qualified 
 person to succeed yourself, I shall answer for it, that the individual 
 proposed will be perfectly satisfied with the intention, and hold him- 
 self equally honoured as if he were seated in the chair which you, Sir, 
 have occupied with so much advantage to the Society ; and that he 
 will continue to discharge the duties of the private station for which 
 his development has fitted him, leaving to those for whom they were 
 intended the possession of the honours which they are best able to 
 bear. 
 
 " In thus freely stating and urging my opinions on this most im- 
 portant subject, you may perhaps wonder what motives can have in- 
 duced me, who may almost be styled the silent gentleman, to break 
 through my usual habits of taciturnity so far as to address you at 
 such length ; but the simple fact is, that your proposed successor is 
 one of my oldest and most intimate friends ; we played together in 
 infancy, were at school together in boyhood, studied together, and 
 travelled together in youth, shared together in many moving acci- 
 dents by sea and land, and have lived together so long that my hair, 
 like his, is already turning to grey. In this way, I feel interested in 
 his happiness and fortunes, as if they were my own ; and it is to save 
 him from new trials that I now exert myself and intrude upon your 
 attention, in the hope that you will take the case into your serious 
 consideration and act with true benevolence. Meantime, then, I re- 
 main, with great respect, Mr President, yours very sincerely, 
 
 ANDW. COMBE. 
 
 This epistle was read to the Society on 29th Novem- 
 ber 1827 ; but the members, although much amused by 
 Dr Combe's humorous representation of his own defi- 
 ciencies, declined to give effect to his objections, and 
 unanimously elected him to the chair, the duties of 
 which he ably discharged. 
 
 The following letter, written to a young patient, is 
 interesting and instructive. It is dated 10th February 
 1829. 
 
 To Miss C I) . 
 
 " My BEAR MADAM, I have already mentioned to you in convor-
 
 ADVICE TO A YOUNG PATIENT. 157 
 
 sation, the expectation which Dr Thomson and I formed of your future 
 progress towards recovery, provided you yourself lend that assistance 
 which we confidently anticipate from your own good sense, and which, 
 you will allow me to add, is doubly due from you towards those excel- 
 lent friends who have already sacrificed so much for you, and whose 
 duties towards you would he rendered light and pleasant in no small 
 degree by your zealously devoting yourself to do every, even the mi- 
 nutest thing, that can promote your restoration. I am anxious to 
 impress this upon you ; for, to speak plainly, I am afraid that your 
 persisting to lie with the chest uncovered and the feet cold, when you 
 have been so often warned of their bad effects in retarding your get- 
 ting well, is, when carefully examined, not only a failure in duty to- 
 wards yourself in neglecting that measure of health which the Crea- 
 tor has committed to your charge, but it is also a failure of duty to- 
 wards those who have so cheerfully dedicated their time and trouble 
 to your comfort and recovery. All of us are too apt to look only, or, 
 at least, too much, at what we have to expect from others, and con- 
 cern ourselves greatly too little about what we owe TO those about us ; 
 and, in reminding you of the necessity of exacting as little unneces- 
 sary trouble and attention as possible from your neighbours, I merely 
 do what I thank my friends for doing by me, and what in my heart 
 I believe you will inwardly thank me for in return. You have good 
 sense and good feeling enough to bear being put right, when you go 
 wrong, perhaps unconsciously to yourself. Suppose, for instance, 
 that by neglecting warmth to the feet and chest, and by sitting up in 
 bed for ten minutes now and then, you postpone the period of your re- 
 covery a month or six weeks (which is a very low estimate), what does 
 it amount to in plain language ? Just to this ; that for a certain 
 disagreeable feeling caused by stockings, &c., you consent to injure 
 your own health and impair your own usefulness, and, at the same 
 time, impose a duty of attendance and restraint upon your friends, for 
 a period of several weeks, when by sacrificing as much of your own 
 comfort for a time, as they habitually do of theirs for your sake, you 
 would spare them this extra demand upon their kindness. It is, in 
 fact, the same as if they were to refuse you a service because its per- 
 formance would be in some respects disagreeable to them. But this, 
 I am sure, requires only to be laid plainly befora you to insure every 
 exertion on your own part. I admit most readily that your patience 
 and judgment have been long and severely tried, and I am glad to 
 bear witness to the excellent manner in which you have, generally 
 speaking, sustained the trial ; but for this very reason that you have 
 done well, I would have you, if possible, do better. Perfection none 
 of us can reach ; but the higher we aim, the higher we are likely to
 
 158 ADVICE TO A YOUNG PATIENT. 
 
 attain. And if you knew the positive delight it gives to a professional 
 adviser to find every effort readily and cordially seconded by his pa- 
 tients, you would be impelled, even on that ground, to stretch a point 
 to fulfil his injunctions. Both as an adviser and as a patient, I can 
 say from experience, that there is not a more pleasing mode of mani- 
 festing grateful feelings for professional services than that of zealous 
 and hearty co-operation. 
 
 " Having said thus much, I shall add nothing more to induce you 
 NEVER to sit up, and ALWAYS to keep the chest and feet warm, except 
 the assurance that it will shorten the period of your probation by 
 several weeks ; and I, for one, shall rejoice to see it happily at an 
 end. 
 
 " As I am writing at any rate, you will not object to a few words 
 being appended on the subject of Phrenology. All knowledge is use- 
 ful, and is to be valued only for its use ; and, therefore, the first 
 question in acquiring a new truth, is, How may I turn it to account ? 
 Now, there is a use which, in your present situation, you may make 
 of Phrenology ; and it is simple enough. You may pass your faculties 
 in review daily, and inquire of each what it has been about. If it has 
 been too active, keep it resolutely within limits next day. If too in- 
 dolent, stir it. If Combativeness has advanced opposition, tell it so ; 
 and do not allow the organ of Language to supply it with a single 
 word till the fit is off. If Self-Esteem or Acquisitiveness ask any- 
 thing inconsiderately, set Conscientiousness and Benevolence to judge 
 between you and others by exchanging places. At night, ask Benevo- 
 lence what good it has led you to do to-day, in sparing others and add- 
 ing to their happiness. Put a similar question to Conscientiousness, 
 to Veneration, to Love of Approbation, to Adhesiveness, to intellect, 
 &c., and if they cannot give a distinct and satisfactory account of 
 themselves, take them to task, and resolve on enforcing better beha- 
 viour. Phrenology tells you that you have such faculties, and He 
 who made them did not make them in vain. To me it seems an in- 
 valuable service done by Phrenology, that it puts it out of a man's 
 power to blind himself to the purposes for which he exists ; and if he 
 fails to execute them, he does it not in ignorance, but in wilful negli- 
 gence. If Grod has implanted Conscientiousness, Benevolence, Vene- 
 ration, &c., He made them to be exercised ; and if we do not exercise 
 them, ours, in every sense, will be the fault and the punishment. 
 
 " On reading this over, I perceive in it a mixture of motives, sketched 
 rather than filled up ; but if you cannot discover the meaning, I shall 
 be happy to explain myself more fully. 
 
 " I shall expect the leaf to be fairly turned over and pinned down 
 when I see you again, and am meantime," <fec.
 
 LETTERS ON MEDICAL SUBJECTS. 159 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LETTERS BY DR COMBE Off MEDICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS : 
 
 ON THE EXERCISE OF THE BRAIN AND THE MIND ON THE IN- 
 FLUENCE OF DISEASE ON THE RELIGIOUS FEELINGS ON THE DIF- 
 FERENCE BETWEEN RECEIVING AND BESTOWING KINDNESS. TO A 
 YOUNG LADY ON MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. LETTER CHARACTERISTIC 
 OF DR COMBE. LETTER ON THE EDUCATION OF A YOUNG GENTLE- 
 MAN. LETTER TO DR CLARK TO A PATIENT. 
 
 IN 1829 and 1830, Dr Combe continued the practice 
 of his profession, and no incidents occurred requiring 
 special notice in his biography. His letters, during 
 these years, form a voluminous and striking record of 
 his zeal, activity, and judgment. The following are 
 selected, as being either characteristic of himself, or in- 
 teresting from their topics. 
 
 ON THE EXERCISE OF THE BRAIN AND MIND. 
 
 " EDINBURGH, 5th May 1830. 
 
 " To E F , Esq., Devonshire. 
 
 " I resolved to write to you, to draw your attention 
 to the principle which regulates the exercise of the 
 brain and mind, and which shews in what respect your 
 present state of health arises from the circumstances 
 and excitement in which you live. During life, every 
 active thought and every working of feeling are at- 
 tended by, and cannot occur without, a corresponding 
 action of the brain ; and as the latter is subjected by 
 the Creator to all the laws of organised and animal life,
 
 160 DR COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 it follows that all mental excitement implies an equal 
 degree of cerebral excitement ; and that if the mind be 
 very long or highly stimulated by any subject addressed 
 either to feeling or intellect, the brain will also enter 
 into the same state. When we are wearied by applica- 
 tion, and unable to continue study, for instance, from 
 exhausted power, it is not the immaterial principle 
 which is tired, or which requires repose and sleep ; it 
 is the material organ which, in obedience to the laws 
 which regulate the animal system, suffers fatigue from 
 over-exercise, and contracts disease. Hence it follows, 
 as a necessary inference, that however delightful the 
 study we are engaged in, or however important and high 
 in their nature the feelings we are cultivating may be, 
 if we go beyond that point, either in duration or inten- 
 sity, of exercise which the mind (influenced as it is by 
 the constitution of its organ) can bear with impunity, 
 we transgress a law of God in the very act of doing so, 
 as much as if we neglected these altogether. Now, from 
 every thing that I can learn, this seems to be your 
 course of action ; and it is so serious an error that I 
 must not allow you to go on committing it, without 
 making an effort to point it out to you, and to induce 
 you to forsake it. 
 
 " The brain, it must never be lost sight of, is regulated 
 by the same laws of exercise as all other parts of the 
 body. If too little employed, it becomes weak ; if mo- 
 derately and regularly exercised in all its parts, its 
 state becomes that of health and vigour ; and if too 
 much exercised, it becomes irritable and excitable, but 
 weak and incapable of resistance ; just as, when a man 
 over-works himself, he lies restless and uneasy, instead 
 of falling into the sound sleep which follows from mo- 
 derate exercise. If some mental powers are kept in 
 constant activity, and others are never used, you bring
 
 MEDICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1(51 
 
 opposite causes into operation to produce weakness and 
 disease in the same brain, and induce a proneness to 
 irregular action. But the Creator obviously endowed 
 man only with powers which He considered necessary, 
 and intended to be used; and in attaching infirmity as a 
 consequence to both neglect and excess of action, He 
 clearly pointed out His will to be, that all should be 
 employed, and that none should be allowed to engross 
 our whole time and attention, however exalted their ob- 
 jects and high their functions. 
 
 " Now my fear is, that you are living under an undue 
 excitement of the devotional feelings, and that you are 
 training these to a permanence of action which is in- 
 compatible with the health of the structure with which 
 God has connected them, under certain conditions which 
 you are infringing. Some constitutions can withstand 
 excitement longer than others, but sooner or later all 
 give way. Another effect also follows, which is worth 
 attending to. All the functions of the body are depend- 
 ent on the brain for nervous energy to enable them to 
 act, and if this be too much concentrated in the head by 
 continual mental activity, the other parts, such as the 
 stomach and lungs, suffer from the deficiency ; and im- 
 paired general health is the result. 
 
 " If, therefore, you are conscious that you are at 
 present (and will be still more so in - - shire) in 
 the way of having some of your feelings either intensely 
 excited or kept long in a state of activity, as I have 
 every reason to believe, I would just urge upon you 
 that a still higher duty calls upon you to forego the 
 pleasure attending the earlier stages of the excitement, 
 from the consideration that the consequences of putting 
 yourself in the way of it, will, in all probability, be 
 more serious than you or any other creature have a 
 right to expose yourself to. I had occasion frequently 
 
 L
 
 162 DR COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 to see a gentleman whose intellect and feelings were 
 kept in a state of great activity, with insufficient inter- 
 vals of rest and change of subject. His excellent con- 
 stitution enabled him to despise all warnings for about 
 two years, but then his account was summed up. His 
 fatigued and jaded brain fairly stood still, and the bal- 
 ance hung long between idiocy and fever. Fortunately 
 the latter prevailed, and for weeks he lay motionless 
 and almost senseless, and then slowly recovered. He 
 saw his error when too late, and was grateful that his 
 mind was left to him. 
 
 " This was an extreme case, for the application had 
 been intense ; but if I do not err, yours is similar in 
 nature, although different in degree. I may be allowed 
 to mention to you, as an example, the case of an indi- 
 vidual whom you do not know, and who presents so 
 strongly the appearance of a person some of whose facul- 
 ties are overstrained, and others weak from inactivity, 
 that I never think of him without anxiety. So far as 
 my limited intercourse with him went (but as this was 
 limited I speak with diffidence), he seemed to me so 
 much under the habitual dominion of excited devotional 
 feelings, that the faculties connected with other inter- 
 ests were so far weakened, that he could not by any 
 effort get his mind to dwell upon any other subject long 
 enough to see its true relations. This, however, is not 
 a healthy state ; for no mind is so well prepared to 
 take right views of the relation in which we stand to 
 God, and of the duties which He requires at our hands, 
 as that which is fully capable of comprehending and 
 becoming acquainted with the manifestations of His 
 power both in the internal and external creations, and 
 in the adaptation of all the parts of the latter to the 
 improvement and happiness of man. So far from being- 
 alive to external existences of any kind, or even of the
 
 MEDICAL A2TD MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 163 
 
 relation of the mind to the body, and the necessity of 
 yielding submission to the laws which God has ap- 
 pointed to regulate these, Mr presents the 
 
 aspect of a person walking through the world fixed in 
 contemplation on higher scenes, and scarcely aware of 
 being in it. 
 
 " Do not, however, misunderstand me. I do not wish 
 to see any one devoted exclusively to worldly interests 
 and pursuits. But as we are placed by higher wisdom 
 than our own in a material world, are charged with 
 duties having a reference to our situation, and gifted 
 with faculties to take cognizance of, and a due interest 
 in worldly things and worldly duties, I think that we 
 may err as much in holding these to be beneath us, as 
 in attaching too much importance to them. And in 
 addition to all this, it seems to me that the most bene- 
 ficial way of exciting religious feeling, is to cultivate 
 an acquaintance with the works of God, and to seek 
 constantly to act in obedience to all His laws. By 
 attending to the conditions of health, for example, and 
 to the due employment of all the powers of the mind 
 which He has given us, we shew our respect to Him ; 
 for the truest homage which we can render to any being, 
 is to seek to knaiu him and to obey his will ; and if He 
 has given us faculties which we do not choose to con- 
 sider worthy of employment, instead of being humble 
 instruments in His hand, we set ourselves up against 
 Him in ignorance and presumption. 
 
 " The obvious inference from all this is, that the Crea- 
 tor having given us faculties which take an interest in 
 our families, friends, and fellow-creatures, which are 
 intended to regulate our dealings and intercourse with 
 each other in the ordinary business of life, and which 
 delight in the contemplation and knowledge of the ex- 
 ternal world, and also given us muscles and other organs
 
 164 DR COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 wherewith to accomplish the commands of the will, ALL 
 of which require regular daily exercise to keep them in 
 health, we ought, instead of devoting our faculties ex- 
 clusively to one object, to employ them upon all in their 
 relative spheres, and to give due exercise to the body 
 at the same time. I am not well enough acquainted 
 with your mode of life to say how far you depart from 
 this rule ; but having the principle before you, you will 
 easily ascertain this for yourself. But as the fact is 
 obvious that you are living under too great and exclu- 
 sive excitement, I would strongly urge upon you the 
 necessity of adopting a variety of employments, and of 
 giving the brain repose and the body strength by 
 greater muscular exercise, with, if possible, an object 
 in view, such as digging in a garden, working with 
 tools, and riding. Coupled with this, I would recom- 
 mend the tepid bath, cold to the head, good diet, and 
 strict attention to the bowels. Walking, with an ob- 
 ject in view, is an admirable preventive, and was felt 
 so much to be so by one of my patients who suffered 
 from this cause, that he voluntarily walked twenty 
 miles a-day, for weeks in succession, botanising, and got 
 quite well. 
 
 " If you attend to these directions, viz., to avoid ex- 
 citement of the mind in the one exclusive direction, to 
 take an interest in other pursuits, and to persevere in 
 daily out-door exercise, such as gardening affords, you 
 will gain mental power and nervous vigour ; and, in 
 that state, taking eight grains calomel, and as many of 
 valerian, and three of carbonate of ammonia thrice 
 a-day, would be very useful ; but unless the cause be re- 
 moved, this or any other medicine would do no good." 
 The next letter relates to the case of a young lady 
 who was ill of consumption, and subsequently died. It 
 was written to Miss E F , and treats of
 
 MEDICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 165 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF DISEASE ON THE KELIGIOUS FEELINGS. 
 
 " EDINBURGH, IQth July 1830. 
 
 " I have only an hour's notice of an opportunity to 
 London, and so must again be very brief. Indeed, I 
 write chiefly to say that your kind remembrance of 
 Miss N , which I read to her from your note, gra- 
 tified her very much. She returns her affectionate re- 
 spects and best thanks. She has been unable to speak 
 for six days past, and may continue so a few days more. 
 She writes in pencil what she wishes to say. On Wed- 
 nesday she was very nervous, and between my morning 
 and evening visits wrote for me a few lines, which I am 
 sure will interest you. ' I have had very little hope of 
 recovery since the Sunday I was so nervous (about six 
 weeks ago) ; but I could look forward to death with 
 composure, except when I thought of my friends. To- 
 day the nervousness has returned : the prospect of death 
 terrifies me ; and the distress that I know my friends 
 will suffer after I am gone, makes me perfectly miser- 
 able. I confess I have a strong desire to live, I was 
 so happy when I was well. Shew this to Mr C., and 
 tell me truly if you think my state of mind very sin- 
 ful. I think Mr Wilkie (the clergyman) would.' 
 
 " My object in copying this interesting paper, is to 
 make a remark that may be useful to you. I told Miss 
 
 N , that assuredly her state was not sinful ; that 
 
 her fears at that time were morbid and involuntary, and 
 therefore not sinful ; that, formerly, when the nervous 
 feeling was absent, she viewed death with composure 
 and resignation ; and that that was the real state of her 
 mind, and for which alone she was answerable. I ex- 
 plained to her that apprehension and misery were often 
 excited by disease, and that despondency was thus
 
 166 DR COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 produced, which went oft* with the cause which gave 
 rise to it, although the danger and external situation 
 remained in other respects the same; and that the 
 judgment ought then to be directed to the task of sub- 
 mitting to the depression as to any other symptom, 
 but ought not to view it as a new light taken by a 
 healthy mind. I added, that by next day I was sure 
 the apprehension would be gone, although I could not 
 say her recovery could be more possible. 
 
 " These statements, and others of a similar nature, 
 cheered her ; and when I told her in answer to some 
 self-reproaches, that they were ill-founded, and that 
 had I ever seen her doing or thinking amiss when in 
 health, I had that respect for her qualities and sense, 
 that I would at once have told her, she burst out into 
 tears, with at the same time a smile of inward satis- 
 faction, and in a little was greatly relieved. Next day 
 she was, as I expected, easy and tranquil. She then 
 wrote, ' Did you ever know any one so ill as I am re- 
 cover ?' On answering that I could give her only a 
 glimmering of hope, she was perfectly resigned and 
 cheerful; and in a little asked me some questions re- 
 lating to ordinary life. Since then she has been quite 
 cheerful. 
 
 " If ever you happen to be oppressed with fears for 
 futurity, bear in mind that the dictates of reason and 
 those of disease are very different indeed in authority ; 
 and that the proper test of the soundness of your ap- 
 prehensions is, whether your own conscience approves 
 of them when your vigour of mind is entire ; and that 
 if you are once at ease on this score, you ought not to 
 suffer the depression of disease to assume the weight 
 of a higher authority. 
 
 " I am still almost as busy as before."
 
 MEDICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 167 
 
 The subject of the following letter to Miss G 
 H , is the 
 
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING THE MERE RECIPIENT, AND BEING 
 THE BESTOWER, OF GOODWILL. 
 
 " EDEN-BURGH, 17^ Atiwst 1830. 
 
 " There is a great difference between being the mere 
 recipient of goodwill and kindly feelings, and being the 
 bestower of them. The former is a very easy and very 
 agreeable function, requiring no exertion and confer- 
 ring no merit, and imparting no lively consciousness of 
 a successful fulfilment of duty. The latter alone is the 
 true cause and source of happiness, and alone entitles 
 to a feeling of self-approbation. The light in which to 
 view this subject is to suppose all the world to act on 
 the same principle. If we are content to receive good- 
 will, we may sit long enough before we are gratified, if 
 all the world is doing the same, as there will be nobody 
 to bestow it. If, on the other hand, all are acting on 
 the opposite principle of manifesting goodwill, all are 
 necessarily gratified both as dispensers and receivers. 
 Circumstances can scarcely form a sufficient reason for 
 not fulfilling the active part. They may modify the 
 extent to which we can go, but in the most unfavour- 
 able circumstances they may and ought to make the 
 desire at least to do good perfectly apparent. As an 
 
 example, take Miss X . I have often said that the 
 
 chief cause of the deep and extended interest felt in her 
 by all ages, sexes, and conditions of people who know 
 her, is the unwearied activity of her good feelings in 
 making or wishing to make others happy. Can any 
 situation be more unfavourable than hers for continuing 
 to shew this, now that she cannot speak, that the circle 
 of her interests is limited to her own small family, and 
 perhaps three or four friends besides, and that she has
 
 168 UK COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 death constantly in view ? I think not, and yet, circum- 
 scribed as her sphere is, there is not a day in which she 
 does not extend her influence in some way or other to 
 add to the happiness or lessen the suffering even of those 
 whom she never saw, but who are known to her through 
 her friends. An instance of a singular kind occurred 
 two days ago." (Here the details are given of the man- 
 ner in which she urged her friends to use certain mea- 
 sures, which she pointed out, for promoting the inter- 
 ests of a gentleman who was about to be married to a 
 young lady whom she highly esteemed, but who had no 
 fortune.) " Now whatever her success may be, here 
 was an active act of kindness to a fellow-creature, 
 which, if he ever knows it, cannot fail to be highly 
 gratifying, and which she performed without coining 
 forth from that retirement and delicacy of feeling which 
 we all admire, and without neglecting the seriousness 
 of her own situation, which many persons would have 
 held as justifying even forgetfulness of all worldly in- 
 terests. Yet it would be difficult to point out a purer 
 or a higher state of feeling in direct preparation for 
 that change which, in all probability, is awaiting her. 
 In like manner, in regard to Dr S , who is suffer- 
 ing most severely from acute rheumatic fever : Miss 
 
 N was once the victim of a similar attack, and 
 
 her whole sympathies are roused about his sufferings ; 
 an east wind and gloomy day make her think and almost 
 dream of ' the poor Doctor,' from recollecting how she 
 used to be affected by them. She can, it is true, do 
 him no good ; but the very interest she feels in his state 
 is grateful to his feelings. 
 
 " A mind manifesting such active kindness in cir- 
 cumstances which would apparently dispense with any 
 exhibition of it, and justify the concentration of the 
 thoughts upon one's own situation, is to me, and must
 
 MEDICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 160 
 
 be to all, an object of delightful contemplation, and 
 makes one grateful for the privilege one enjoys in 
 coming into contact with it. They who, having the 
 power within themselves, do not act and feel in a simi- 
 lar way, lose an amount of enjoyment in the exercise of 
 it, and a hold on the affections and moral nature of 
 others, which they would lament as privations if they 
 had once experienced the advantages and pleasures 
 attending it. You will easily see that my time is very 
 limited, as I have been obliged to write straight on, and 
 must now stop short, with kind love to you all." 
 
 LETTER TO A YOUNG LADY OX THE SUBJECT OF HER STUDIES AXD 
 MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 To Miss E F . 
 
 " EDINBURGH, August 1830. 
 
 " Your letter of 19th, communicating your mother's 
 safe arrival, and giving me an account of your doings 
 and studies, gratified me very much ; and as I have 
 sometimes, as you allege, been obliged to scold you for 
 your faults, it is not less just than pleasant for me to 
 tell you this. Every line of it indicates a healthful 
 tone and vigour of mind, which, to me, who have long 
 known that you were capable of higher manifestations 
 than you had ever ventured upon, and who was so 
 anxious to urge you by every motive to make the fullest 
 use of the powers which God has given you, to the in- 
 crease of your own happiness, and to the comfort of your 
 friends, were very pleasing. I always had a good opinion 
 of you ; but the respect I felt for you was for a long time 
 repressed by the consciousness that you were rather a 
 diminished edition of what Xature had made you, than 
 your true self. For some time past, however, you have
 
 170 . DR COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 been making great strides towards the assumption of 
 your own qualities ; and if you go on, your friends will 
 have the felicity of seeing you appear in full folio, with 
 a handsome binding and gilt leaves ; a tome, in short, of 
 due weight and authority, entitled to take its station 
 on the same Shelf with the wisest and the best. 
 
 " I mean to encourage, not to flatter you by the above 
 most misty simile. Your mind is gaining in power and 
 activity, and your higher feelings are assuming a more 
 direct control ; and the result will be, that you will be- 
 come happier and more independent, while, at the same 
 time, your moral nature will take a still kindlier and 
 livelier interest in the individuals into whose society 
 choice or circumstances may lead you. 
 
 " I was happy to learn that the ' Constitution of Man ' 
 had interested you, and that you had perceived its 
 utility, and the erroneousness of your prepossessions 
 against the views unfolded in it. Many estimable per- 
 sons cried out in alarm that it was a dangerous book ; 
 but all that has yet been proved against it is, thab it is 
 dangerous to error and to the existence of human pre- 
 judices. It points to the will of God as revealed in 
 his works, as of at least equal authority to his will as 
 revealed in his word; whereas many well-meaning people 
 hold it to be a sin to attend to the former at all, for- 
 getting altogether that before the word was, man had 
 no other guide than the laws and works of God : and in 
 the large portion of the earth where Christianity is un- 
 known, what other guides have they even now than the 
 natural moral law, debased and degraded as it is too 
 frequently by a mixture with absurd superstitions ? 
 Under the prevailing religious systems which ascribe 
 so much to grace and so little to man himself, the latter 
 is discouraged from strenuous exertion in the very field 
 in which he was sent to labour. While, on the other
 
 MEDICAL AXD MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 171 
 
 hand, the phrenological principles say, You are sent 
 here with certain capacities and certain duties to ful- 
 fil ; if you avail yourselves of your talents and advan- 
 tages, and faithfully discharge these duties, happiness 
 will follow in the amelioration of vour own nature, in 
 the greater happiness of those about you, and in the bet- 
 ter preparation which this will bring along with it for a 
 higher state of existence. Who is the most likely to 
 receive the blessing of God he who seeks in daily life 
 to fulfil the duties assigned him, or he who makes light 
 of these, and devotes himself to meditation and prayer ? 
 If you now read my two letters on Mental Exercise 
 as a means of Health, and the essay on Derangement 
 from Religious Excitement,* I think you will get hold 
 of views which will afford you much peace of mind, 
 and be the means of relieving you from anxiety iu the 
 day of sickness. The aim of the l Living Temple ' is 
 the same as that to which the application of Phreno- 
 logy to religion would lead ; but from Mr Wright's un- 
 acquaintance with the bodily and mental constitution 
 of man, he wanders widely and vaguely where the path 
 seems to the Phrenologist well-marked and straight. 
 But enough of this for one letter. If you wish it, and 
 either answer or ask questions, or take an interest in 
 it, I shall be very happy to resume the subject when 
 leisure permits. 
 
 " Only one word more before parting. I would re- 
 commend you to persevere with reading which requires 
 some thinking as you go along. If you read history, 
 for instance, stop to consider motives and characters, 
 and to estimate actions according to a scale of morality, 
 without being blinded either by their apparent glory, or 
 by a leaning for or against the nation by whom they 
 
 * See Phren. Journal, vol. vi., p. 109 and 283, and pp. 38 and 
 259.
 
 172 DR COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 were performed. It may at first sight seem of little 
 consequence to you whether A was right or B wrong, 
 or whether a glorious war of a century ago was just or 
 unjust; but observe that the same habit and spirit 
 which would make you think before you approved, ope- 
 rate in your judgments of private events and charac- 
 ters, and if you make a practice of seeking the moral 
 side of the question in an unbiassed spirit in a public 
 transaction, your tendency will invariably be to take 
 the moral qualities as the standard in private, and to 
 act upon the highest view to which your mind has been 
 accustomed. 
 
 " To obtain a general knowledge of the great laws of 
 Nature, I would strongly recommend your devoting 
 some attention to chemistry, for which your mind is ex- 
 cellently adapted, and in which, after crossing the 
 threshold, you would take great interest. The whole 
 religious and moral faculties rejoice in the views of the 
 Deity opened up in such a study. I know that in this, 
 as in other matters, it requires the mind to know a 
 little of the subject before an interest can be felt, but 
 after a short time every step leads on to another. It 
 is utter nonsense to say that a little knowledge will 
 make you less amiable, less humble, or less domestic. 
 The more the mind is liberalised and expanded, the 
 better you will become, and the fitter for any sphere in 
 which it may be your destiny to move. It was long 
 before we could get you to take any interest in Phre- 
 nology, because, till you knew generally what it was, 
 you had no point of contact with it. Now, you can 
 judge better what its advantages are likely to be. If 
 I have sermonised too long, set it down to regard and 
 affection for you, which wish to do you good ; and not 
 to any liking for spontaneous perorations. If I did not 
 see a large capacity for improvement in you, I could 
 not write to you so."
 
 MEDICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 173 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 " 4th November 1830. 
 
 " I now come to the second head of the discourse. I 
 am always very happy to have a letter from you, and 
 the longer it is, the better I like it ; and therefore I 
 have to thank you for the respectable length of the one 
 last received, although I fear I must get up another 
 scold some day or other to frighten you to serious ex- 
 ertion, in communicating your views of what you are 
 reading or doing. Recollect this is a duty, and not a 
 mere recreation, and that it is of importance to form 
 sound habits of thinking, by attempting to express 
 yourself on general principles. And recollect, also, that 
 as I have a kind of charge of your moral and intellectual 
 nature, I must have some credit by your improvement, 
 and not allow all your good resolutions to end in dreams, 
 so long at least as I can jog your conscience with the 
 point of my pen. If you had only gone to Chatham 
 with us that day, you would have been greatly edified by 
 the instructive and philosophical conversation Bob and 
 I had on the top of the coach on the subject of Habit 
 and Attention, as connected with moral and intellectual 
 education. How we fell on it I cannot tell, but I 
 scarcely ever had a more satisfactory conversation than 
 on that occasion. The principle we agreed upon and 
 discussed in its details was, that as promptitude in 
 thinking and readiness in decision on good grounds 
 were the grand requisites for right action, every effort 
 ought to be made from infancy upwards to secure their 
 attainment ; that habit was to be acquired only by re- 
 petition ; and that, therefore, whatever we did, or wished 
 to do, whether business, reading, amusement, conversa- 
 tion, or any thing else, we ought to set about with at-
 
 174 DR COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 tention, and direct the mind to it, without allowing dif- 
 ferent feelings, or a distinct train of thought, to be 
 sailing through the mind, when we were apparently en- 
 gaged in something totally different. If we listen, let 
 us listen with our whole powers ; if we play, let us 
 play with consentaneousness of action among the facul- 
 ties ; if we read, let us do it in the same way ; if we 
 hear of something affecting other people, let us try to 
 enter into it as if it were our own. A vigorous and 
 most useful command of mental power will thus be at- 
 tained, which is infinitely more valuable than any 
 amount of mere knowledge, and which will fit us for 
 reading Jacotot, or any other book with effect, and re- 
 flecting upon it, so as not to lose hold of it. This I 
 take to be something de Fellenbergish. 
 
 " 6th Nov. I daresay you will perceive the practical 
 application of the principle readily enough. We meet 
 almost daily with people whose conversation is either in- 
 different, or a positive bore, from its vapidity and inanity. 
 While they are with us we can, of course, do nothing of 
 importance with full attention ; and, therefore, to make 
 the most of them, the principle alluded to would recom- 
 mend our giving full attention even to them, and, if we 
 can, turning the conversation to a better account. By 
 doing so, we improve our own mental talents, and in- 
 crease the power of voluntary application. I was going 
 to write an article on this subject, but am too much 
 occupied otherwise : Think over it, and write one for 
 me. By the way, I would advise you to read ' Conver- 
 sations on Chemistry' with much attention, and you 
 will understand many things better, and find interest 
 where you have none now. I wish you were here to 
 attend my brother's course this season, which will be 
 greatly extended and full of practical knowledge."
 
 MEDICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 175 
 
 The following letter is 
 
 CHARACTERISTIC OF DR COMBE. 
 
 " To Mrs H- 
 
 " EDINBURGH, September 1830. 
 
 " Many, many thanks to you, for your kind and wel- 
 come letter. It makes another bright speck in my as- 
 sociations with you and yours, for it recalls many recol- 
 lections which I am fond of cherishing, and should be 
 more loath than ever to part with, now that you are all 
 away, and that I must draw so largely on the past for 
 the enjoyment of your society. After having expe- 
 rienced the delights of social intercourse with those on 
 whom we have been accustomed to rely in the full con- 
 fidence of rational friendship, it is hard to feel one's 
 faculties all at once deprived, as it were, of an outlet, 
 and obliged to seek out new channels for the inter- 
 change of thought and sentiment ; and yet thankful- 
 ness that I knew you at all, not unnaturally mingles 
 with regret at the little prospect which exists of the 
 broken circle being again permanently united. I once 
 imagined, that the principle of attachment was too 
 small an element in me to be the source of either plea- 
 sure or pain, and used to accuse myself of indiffer- 
 ence ; and it was not till I left home that I discovered 
 my mistake. Repeated separations by removal from 
 friends, whom I had known long enough to esteem and 
 regard, have taught me differently; and now I often 
 find my thoughts wandering with those with whom I had 
 contracted an intimacy, and even see friends who have 
 been dead for years, as distinctly before me as if we had 
 parted but yesterday. In retracing the past, one likes
 
 176 DR COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 to recall it hi its most pleasing forms, and for this rea- 
 son I shall long retain the memory of our sail to Eife 
 on that lovely evening, in the end of July. I had pre- 
 viously been far from well, and on that day experienced 
 the internal and indescribable sensations of returning 
 health, and was disposed to be happy. The face of 
 nature was in harmony with this state, and beamed 
 with beauty, almost for the first time, through a gloomy 
 summer. Whether I was unusually susceptible, or the 
 varied, rich, and placid scenes, had only their natural 
 influence, I cannot tell ; but certain it is, that that even- 
 ing was one of bright and pure enjoyment to me, and 
 to which I look back with peculiar delight. It was 
 doubly pleasing also to every feeling, to be able thus 
 naturally to associate you with all that is exquisite 
 and beautiful in the external world, and amiable and 
 excellent in the moral. Little M 's cheerful and in- 
 telligent joyousness, and lively sensibility, as displayed 
 in her song and occasional remarks, went entirely along 
 with the current of my sensations, and gave additional 
 interest to the scene." 
 
 The following letter, dated 5th August 1831, re- 
 lates to 
 
 THE EDUCATION OP A YOUNG GENTLEMAN. 
 
 "To K L , Esq. 
 
 " Edward is seventeen, essentially imaginative, with 
 a good opinion of himself, and without any fixed views 
 as to a profession. Had the latter been determined on, 
 it would have been comparatively easy to decide what 
 to do with him next winter ; but that not being the case, 
 the consideration becomes necessarily more general. 
 
 " So far as my knowledge of human nature goes, ac- 
 tive tendencies, when in excess, are not to be repressed
 
 MEDICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. ] 77 
 
 or removed by merely trying to prevent their exhibi- 
 tion. Too much imagination is not to be got the better 
 of by merely making the effort to arrest its flights, and 
 saying, ' Now, I will break myself off this, and force my 
 mind back to sober realities till I acquire the habit of 
 controlling it.' Too much pride, in like manner, is not 
 to be subdued by bidding the person refrain from doing 
 so and so, because that is mere pride. The better and 
 more effectual plan seems to be to employ actively the 
 mental powers which are conversant with real know- 
 ledge and the fixed laws of creation. Imagination is 
 thus left unexercised in its exclusive state ; and the 
 mind is strengthened to take pleasure in positive know- 
 ledge. Imagination has still ample healthy scope ; but 
 it comes in in conjunction with the other intellectual 
 powers, and acquires something of their definite preci- 
 sion, instead of launching out into the vague and bound- 
 less, which is, I suspect, Edward's tendency. And in 
 regard to pride, nothing seems to me so well calculated 
 to bring it into its proper sphere, as communicating a 
 knowledge of the nature and destinies of man, of his 
 faculties and their uses, and of the laws which regulate 
 the material world. If we thus call into action the 
 weaker faculties, we strengthen them positively by ex- 
 ercising them and creating a habit, and weaken those 
 in excess negatively by restraining them in their excess 
 of action. Whereas, if we merely check the excess 
 when it rises in the mind, we shall not impair the 
 vigour of its growth, but leave it to burst forth on 
 every new occasion. 
 
 " To apply this to Edward. He is verging on the 
 period of life when habits are apt to become fixed, but 
 when susceptibility still remains to receive and retain 
 what is sedulously and systematically impressed. With 
 him, then, it is now or never that his imaginative powers
 
 178 UK COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 must be placed under command ; and that can be done 
 only by serious study of natural and physical science, 
 which, from its precision and definiteness, leaves little 
 room for fancy, while, in the general views which it 
 opens up, a splendid field for healthy imagination is 
 afforded. 
 
 " As to his plan of going to Paris, it has many ad- 
 vantages ; but to a young man who does not feel the 
 necessity of restricting the indulgence of imagination, 
 and who is not under the implied control of a superior 
 whom he loves, and to whose better knowledge he yields 
 implicit obedience in attempting the direction of his 
 thoughts and studies, it presents many disadvantages. 
 There is so much constantly in the way to increase 
 (without his suspecting it) the very defects which you 
 wish to remedy, that I should hesitate much before 
 sending him there. That he would conduct himself in 
 every respect as a gentleman, I can well believe ; but 
 Paris, beyond any other place I know, contains an ac- 
 cumulation of objects calculated to distract attention, 
 and to weaken the mind (in one sense) by spreading it 
 over a multiplicity and variety of objects, instead of 
 teaching it concentration and fixity, which he requires. 
 He would acquire French, it is true ; but at the end of 
 the winter he would return to you more uncertain than 
 ever, with no plan of steady pursuit for the summer, 
 and with the evils of indecision increased. 
 
 " Whereas, by bringing him home, and setting him 
 to the diligent study of positive knowledge, you would 
 fix his mind, encourage it to steady application, culti- 
 vate his weaker intellectual powers, curb his imagina- 
 tion, give him information useful for every pursuit, and 
 have time to form a bent for him to a particular pro- 
 fession. At his age a decided and definite plan seems 
 to me of paramount importance in giving vigour and
 
 MEDFCAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 179 
 
 perseverance; and in this way an inferior plan, pursued 
 in an undeviating spirit, will do more good than a bet- 
 ter plan pursued in doubt. I need scarcely add, that I 
 have written what I thought, without meaning more 
 than to offer it to your own judgment who know all the 
 circumstances so much better. It is a great pleasure 
 to me to have friends like yourselves to whom I can 
 always speak unreservedly, without fearing afterwards 
 what will be the consequences." 
 
 The following is his first letter to Dr (now Sir James) 
 Clark. It relates to a request made by Dr Clark that 
 he would contribute articles to 
 
 THE MEDICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 " EDINBURGH, 23d October 1830. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, I had the pleasure of receiving your 
 letter inclosing the prospectus of the Medical Cyclopae- 
 dia yesterday evening, after it had gone to Dr J. S. 
 Combe in Leith, who, perceiving that it was for me, im- 
 mediately sent it up. Our friend Dr Scott mentioned to 
 me a few days ago what was proposed to be done by 
 the editors ; and, on reading over his copy of the pro- 
 spectus, I expressed my warm concurrence in the ge- 
 neral plan, and added, that if a list of articles wanted 
 could be transmitted here, I should be happy to give 
 any assistance in my power, if I found among them any 
 which I could conscientiously undertake. If ' Insanity' 
 had not been disposed of I might have taken it. 
 
 " It is proper to add, as you are not acquainted with 
 my mental qualities, that I doubt very much whether 
 I shall be able to be of any service to the editors. My 
 general style of writing is too stiff, and too unvaried in 
 the language, to suit a work like the Cyclopaedia ; and 
 the tendency of my mind is to go back to principles,
 
 180 DR COMBE'S LETTERS ON 
 
 rather than to give a perspicuous narrative. Having 
 very little command of words, I cannot write in that 
 easy, fluent manner which is to be desiderated in all 
 works that are meant to be read ; and, accordingly, the 
 charge of heaviness has often been brought against ar- 
 ticles written for other purposes. I state these facts 
 neither from affectation nor a wish to expose my own 
 defects, but simply because you ask me to assist in a 
 work which I approve of, and it is therefore necessary 
 to assign the reasons which stand in the way of my 
 doing any thing for it. Perhaps my friend Dr J. S. Combe 
 might take Delirium Tremens. I have seen little of 
 it, but he has been attached to the Leith Dispensary 
 for several years, and must have treated it often. He 
 has much acuteness, and very considerable general ta- 
 lent, as well as professional knowledge. I shall inquire, 
 and let you know if he agrees. 
 
 " I regretted very much not having been able to see 
 you again in London ; as, after reading your book on 
 Climate, I felt a strong desire to get better acquainted 
 with its author. I was a sufferer from pulmonary com- 
 plaints of a very serious aspect for several years, and 
 in the capacity of invalid spent a winter at Leghorn, 
 and another chiefly at Marseilles. Before setting out, I 
 would have given any consideration for such a guide ; 
 and after I was out, I would have given any thing to 
 have been able to prevent the misery I saw around me 
 from the indiscriminate removal of patients of every 
 kind from the comforts of home to the evils of exile, and 
 to the actual increase of the disease under which they 
 were labouring. Your book will do great good ; and I 
 have never read a work with the facts, sentiments, and 
 opinions of which I so thoroughly agreed. I am just 
 going out, so write rather hurriedly, but remain," &c.
 
 MEDICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 181 
 
 The next letter is presented as a specimen of the 
 style in which he occasionally addressed a patient who 
 hesitated to act according to his advice. The gentle- 
 man to whom it was written was highly educated and 
 in independent circumstances, and had been ordered to 
 travel in Italy for the restoration of his health. 
 
 To L M , ESQ. 
 
 " EDINBURGH, 27th October 1830. 
 
 " MY DEAR Sm, I regret exceedingly to learn that 
 you are still in London, when I was in hopes of hearing 
 from you of your arrival in Paris. I cannot look back 
 to this time last year, and review the evils you suffered 
 from your long residence even in Paris, and from the 
 inclemency of the weather, without much anxious solici- 
 tude at the delay you are now making, and at the risk 
 you are incurring of drawing upon yourself the almost 
 irreparable mischiefs of a relapse ; where, too, prudence 
 and an instant resolution to set out would go far to give 
 you absolute security. You promised faithfully to return 
 to the continent, and to spend the winter wherever was 
 considered best for you. I might fairly claim the fulfil- 
 ment of your promise, because, by the interest and trouble 
 I have felt and taken to promote your welfare, I have 
 earned a right to exact it ; and I know that you are not 
 the man to shrink from your word. But I would will- 
 ingly drop this plea, and address myself entirely to your 
 reason, and ask, Is it prudent or safe in you, after the 
 painful lesson of last year, and the marked relief you 
 obtained the moment you entered a milder climate, thus 
 to risk a recurrence of scenes which may endanger your 
 whole future happiness, and health of mind and body ? 
 Reason pleads strongly against such a proceeding, and 
 I am sure you must be sensible of this. I have told 
 you formerly, and now repeat, that in matters of health,
 
 182 LETTERS ON MEDICAL SUBJECTS. 
 
 I am entitled to urge my opinion and advice, and I 
 would not be your friend if I did not. I have devoted 
 years to the study and consideration of nervous dis- 
 eases, and under many advantages. I have thoroughly 
 investigated and thought over every, even the minutest, 
 iota of your case. I know what you have escaped from ; 
 I know what your present liability is, and where your 
 safety lies. Hitherto I have proffered no advice which 
 has not been serviceable to you; and, therefore, it is 
 neither presumption nor a blind impulse of self-esteem 
 in me to say, I am a better judge than yourself of what 
 you now require, and that you ought to follow my ad- 
 vice yet, even in opposition to your own inclination. 
 You will not say I am wrong in this conclusion. Your 
 head is too logical, and your mind too honest, to arrive 
 at a different result. 
 
 " Dr Abercrombie's book on the Intellectual Powers 
 is out. Not a shadow of allusion to Phrenology in it ! ! 
 I expected this."
 
 PR COMBE ON MENTAL DERANGEMENT. 183 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 DE COMBE PUBLISHES " OBSERVATIONS ON* MENTAL DERANGEMENT ; 
 BEING AN APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF PHRENOLOGY TO 
 THE ELUCIDATION OF THE CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, NATURE, AND TREAT- 
 MENT OF INSANITY." HIS OFFER TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE ENCY- 
 CLOPEDIA BRITANNICA REJECTED. 
 
 IT has been mentioned that Dr Combe, while study- 
 ing in Paris, had followed, with deep interest, the lec- 
 tures and demonstrations of Dr Spurzheim on the struc- 
 ture and functions of the brain, and of Dr Esquirol on 
 mental derangement and the treatment of the insane. 
 The advantages which he derived from these studies 
 became early apparent in his professional career. While 
 yet a young practitioner, he was consulted in important 
 cases of insanity, and in the treatment of nervous dis- 
 eases in general. It is difficult for individuals who 
 have grown up to manhood under the lights which 
 PineFs writings and Dr Gall's discovery of the func- 
 tions of the brain have shed on insanity, to conceive 
 the darkness, in regard to the nature and treatment of 
 this disease, in which not only educated men in general, 
 but those members of the medical profession itself who 
 had not studied these authors, were involved, during 
 the first quarter of the present century. Dr Combe 
 saw and desired to assist in dispelling this obscurity, and 
 with this view published several articles on insanity in 
 the Phrenological Journal ; but the circulation of that 
 work was too limited to enable him to make a general 
 impression on the public mind. He, therefore, re-
 
 184 DR COMBE'S WORK 
 
 quested his brother George to inquire of Professor Na- 
 pier, who had succeeded Mr Jeffrey as editor of the 
 Edinburgh Review, whether an article on insanity from 
 Dr Combe's pen would be admitted into that periodical. 
 
 George, who was a personal friend of Mr Napier, in 
 asking this question, mentioned that the article would 
 be written on phrenological principles, but that, out of 
 deference to the late editor of the Review, the nomen- 
 clature of Phrenology would, if desired, be avoided. 
 Mr Napier's answer, dated 4th December 1829, was to 
 the effect, that, with his present views, he would not 
 insert in the Review any article bottomed upon phre- 
 nological principles, however clear it might be kept of 
 the phrenological nomenclature ; but that, if Dr Combe's 
 article on insanity was not of that complexion, and was 
 otherwise suitable, in plan and execution, to the objects 
 and character of the Review, he should " have very 
 great satisfaction in giving it a place." 
 
 As Dr Combe could not write on insanity without 
 founding his views on phrenological principles, this was 
 a direct negative to his proposal. A case, however, 
 speedily presented itself, which forcibly awakened pub- 
 lic attention to the subject. The circumstances were 
 these : 
 
 The father of Mr Edward Davies, of Philpot Lane, 
 London, a tea-dealer, had died when he was an infant. 
 His mother had contracted a second marriage, and 
 when her son came of age, she had entered into the 
 tea-trade with him as his copartner. Afterwards she 
 resorted to legal measures to have him declared a luna- 
 tic, and in December 1829 a commission of inquiry sat 
 for ten days at Gray's Inn Coffeehouse on his state. 
 The jury, after an expense of 10,000 had been incur- 
 red, returned a unanimous verdict, finding " that Mi- 
 Edward Davies was of sound in hid, and capable of con-
 
 ON MENTAL DERANGEMENT. 185 
 
 ducting his own affairs, and taking care of his person. 
 The verdict was received with unequivocal marks of 
 approbation by the audience, and the London and pro- 
 vincial press poured out torrents of abuse, and almost 
 of execration, against the medical men who had given 
 testimony to his insanity ; styling them " the mad doc- 
 tors, 1 ' and insinuating that they had unworthily lent 
 themselves to the perpetration of cruelty and oppres- 
 sion. 
 
 Dr Combe could not remain a silent spectator of 
 these occurrences. He addressed a letter on the sub- 
 ject to the editor of the " Scotsman" newspaper. Mi- 
 Charles Maclaren, the enlightened editor of that jour- 
 nal, esteemed the communication so highly, that he 
 adopted and published it editorially, on the 6th Feb- 
 ruary 1830. As the article affords a specimen of Dr 
 Combe's early method of investing professional sub- 
 jects with general interest, the following extract from 
 it is presented. 
 
 After gently rebuking the press for the contumelies 
 which it had cast upon the medical witnesses, and re- 
 marking that if the " mad doctors" were little skilled 
 in the nature of insanity, the ordinary conductors of 
 the press probably knew still less of the disease, he 
 proceeds : 
 
 " Without pretending, at this distance, to decide whether Mr Davies 
 was really sane or insane, we are inclined to suspect, from the pub- 
 lished accounts, that, as is usual in most disputes, both parties were 
 somewhat in the wrong ; and that, while the newspaper writers erred 
 in holding him to be of perfectly sound mind, the Mail Doctors erred in 
 not having given a sufficiently explicit or correct view of the doctrine 
 of insanity. It is one thing, for instance, to determine that a man's 
 mind is in a state of disease, but it is another and very different mat- 
 ter to determine to what extent the a/ection has proceeded, and whether it 
 involves only one, or a few, or the ichok of the mental powers. In the case 
 of the stomach, for instance, we can, if asked the question, say very
 
 186 I>R COMBE'S WORK 
 
 certainly, even in a slight disturbance of its function, that it is in a 
 morbid condition ; but that is very far from necessarily implying that 
 it cannot digest food at all, or that digestion is entirely deranged. In 
 like manner, abstractly speaking, some of the manifestations of the 
 mind may be positively deranged, but still the patient be competent 
 to the ordinary affairs of life. For insanity is not a specific state, 
 always marked out by well-defined lines, which, when it occurs, neces- 
 sarily unfits a person for mingling in society and in business with his 
 fellow-men ; but, like affections of other organs, it is a morbid state, 
 which may manifest itself in every possible degree, from the most ob- 
 scure to the most striking departure from mental health. Every body 
 knows, for instance, and the Mad Doctors as well as the rest, that an 
 individual may be palpably and incurably insane on all subjects hinge- 
 ing upon one or two faculties of the mind, and yet be perfectly ra- 
 tional, and sound on all others ; and that in all matters of thought or 
 of business, which do not touch upon that point, he may continue for 
 years, and even for the remainder of a long life, to display as much 
 shrewdness, prudence, and good sense, as nine out of ten of those who 
 never had the fear of a strait waistcoat before their eyes ; and every 
 one conversant with the insane is aware that in practice every pos- 
 sible gradation is to be met with, from an isolated affection like the 
 above, to one involving all the faculties of the mind. And conse- 
 quently the true problem to be resolved, where the rights of liberty 
 and of property are concerned, is not so much whether mental de- 
 rangement exist, but whether it has extended so far as to deprive the in- 
 dividual of the power of sound judgment in his own affairs. Numerous 
 cases, indeed, exist around us of partial affections of the mind which 
 do not interfere in any marked degree with the business habits of the 
 patient ; and in which, therefore, it would be the height of cruelty and 
 injustice to deprive him of civil or moral liberty, but in which, at the 
 same time, every conscientious physician, if judicially examined on 
 the abstract question of the existence or nonexistence of insanity, 
 would be obliged to answer in the affirmative. Many circumstances 
 indicate this to have been the state of Davies. Some of the witnesses 
 prove that he entertained the most extravagant notions of his own 
 powers and importance, and that he habitually boasted of receiving 
 illumination from Heaven, of being the Son of Grod, and of being 
 under the special charge of supernatural beings, &c. It is also proved 
 that he was frequently flighty, wild, and incoherent ; all of which 
 symptoms might arise from morbid excitement of the single feeling 
 of self-esteem, without the other faculties necessarily participating in 
 the disease. And, accordingly, we have other witnesses who were in 
 the habit of transacting business with Mr Davies, giving it as their
 
 OX MENTAL DERANGEMENT. 187 
 
 decided opinion that he was not insane, because ' they had taken in- 
 structions from him on business, and never had met with a client 
 who better understood his own affairs.' Keeping the above distinc- 
 tion in view, we can see no difficulty in believing that Dr Burrows 
 and his brethren, in saying on oath that his mind was not sound, were 
 giving not only most conscientious but most true testimony ; and that 
 the jury and journalists holding competency to business as equivalent to 
 sanity, were equally conscientious and correct in pronouncing him to 
 be sane. But if this be the true solution of the contradictory opinions 
 laid before the world, it shews how careful we ought to be in under- 
 standing each other's meaning ; lest, like the two knights of the olden 
 time, we come to blows about the colour of the shield, when if each 
 had looked at the other side, he would have seen that his opponent 
 was right as well as himself. 
 
 " There is another condition involving all the faculties of the mind, 
 which may give rise to conscientious difference of opinion, and in which 
 the same distinction ought to be observed. It occurs chiefly in per- 
 sons of a highly excitable and irritable temperament, who, from 
 trifling causes, are carried away by trains of thinking or idiosyncrasies 
 of feeling, which less susceptible persons experience only after a suc- 
 cession of the most powerful impressions. Persons so constituted pass 
 years of their lives apparently on the verge of insanity, without its 
 ever becoming decided, unless a hereditary predisposition exist, in 
 which case they generally sooner or later lapse into lunacy. In the 
 mean time, however, they are remarkable for unequal spirits, for do- 
 ing odd things and manifesting strange feelings ; but upon the whole, 
 they conduct themselves so much like other people, that although 
 every one remarks that they have their peculiarities, few will venture 
 to pronounce them insane. But in such cases when the transition to 
 insanity does occur, it is so gradual, that the most experienced physi- 
 cian, even after maturest examination, is often left in doubt as to the 
 extent to which the disease has proceeded ; and, while he feels that 
 the individual is not in a condition to be left entirely to his own guid- 
 ance, he is at the same time conscious that he retains too much sound- 
 ness of mind not to be injured by the premature interference either of 
 friends, of doctors, or of lawyers. 
 
 " The point of difficulty for the physician, therefore, and that for 
 the solution of which we would most ardently long for the assistance 
 of an intelligent jury, is to determine, not the mere existence of a 
 mental affection, but the limit at ichich that affection begins to deprive the 
 individual of the power of proper self-direction, and at which, therefore, it 
 becomes the duty of the law, and of the friends, to step in for his protection. 
 The right solution of this problem is no easy task, for it requires in
 
 188 DR COMBE'S WORK 
 
 the jurors not only clearness of perception, and soundness of judgment, 
 but a knowledge of human nature, and an acquaintance with the 
 general functions of the body, and with the previous habits and con- 
 stitution of the suspected lunatic, which unhappily, under our imper- 
 fect systems of general education, very few persons are found to pos- 
 sess. And it is in vain to seek for any general rule to help us out of 
 the difficulty ; for every human being presents so many points of differ- 
 ence in mind and in body, and in the external circumstances modify- 
 ing both, that every new case requires the same patient examination, 
 the same careful analysis, and the same accurate consideration of all 
 the attendant phenomena, as the first that ever occurred to us ; and he 
 who, disregarding all these conditions, hastens to form his opinion from 
 the application of general rules, will inevitably fall into error, and be 
 the cause of much misery to those who confide in him. 
 
 Dr Combe also wrote a kind and encouraging letter, 
 dated 15th February 1830, to Dr Burrows, one of the 
 medical witnesses, who, on this occasion, had been most 
 severely handled by the press, and who was personally 
 unknown to him, expressive of his respect and sympathy 
 for him, under what he considered to be the persecution 
 which that gentleman had sustained. He concludes his 
 letter in these words : " It is somewhat singular, that 
 more than three months ago I had applied to Professor 
 Napier to be allowed to write an article on insanity (in- 
 tended to be a review of your book) for his last num- 
 ber; but he returned an answer that prevented my 
 doing so. From my phrenological tendencies, however, 
 you may easily suppose that, had I been biassed by per- 
 sonal feeling at all, I should rather have avoided no- 
 ticing your work and situation altogether; but it is 
 long since I have learnt to separate personal feeling 
 from estimates of opinions and doctrines, and if I had 
 now an opportunity of doing you justice before the pub- 
 lic, I should avail myself of it not the less readily that 
 you think lightly of a science which I consider of great 
 practical value, and nowhere more so than in its appli- 
 cation to the elucidation of insanity."
 
 ON MENTAL DERANGEMENT. 189 
 
 The result of Davies's case was singular and instruc- 
 tive. " The event," says the Globe (quoted in the Scots- 
 man of 14th April 1830), " has falsified the verdict. 
 It appears that Mr Davies has never since that ver- 
 dict was pronounced evinced ' a sound mind,' nor 
 ' been capable of managing- himself and his affairs.' 
 And, as the climax of this extraordinary case, he now 
 acknowledges that he was and still is insane, and justi- 
 fies those who have affirmed it, and has voluntarily 
 placed himself under the care of two of the physicians 
 who, on the inquiry, gave the strongest testimony of 
 his existing insanity." 
 
 These discussions led Dr Combe to prepare a work 
 on Insanity. As this was his first appearance as the 
 author of a volume, he felt considerable anxiety regard- 
 ing the impression which his work might make on his 
 professional brethren and the public. His non-phre- 
 nological friends were in alarm for his reputation, and 
 endeavoured to dissuade him from the enterprise. In 
 a letter to one of them who had objected to his intended 
 publication, he wrote as follows : 
 
 " In regard to our difference of opinion about publishing my views 
 on Insanity in a popular form, I suspect that we do not understand 
 each other very clearly, and doubt whether in a letter I could make 
 my meaning plain. I would never dream of proving Phrenology by 
 such an application as I have made of its principles. My work rests, 
 as its basis, on the truth of Phrenology being indisputable. If Phre- 
 nology is any thing, it is an exposition of the functions of the brain ; 
 and if insanity is any thing, it is disease of the brain, which implicates 
 the integrity of the mental functions. Now my notion is, that to treat 
 of the disease without reference to the uses of the brain, would be 
 tantamount to treating of deranged digestion without reference to the 
 uses of the stomach and its relations to the bile, the gastric juice, &c. 
 I could write very sensible-looking sentences on deranged digestion in 
 a general way, but in practice every one would feel the deficiency of 
 accurate or rather precise and definite knowledge, which they could 
 make use of in other cases. This is even felt as a defect in Dr
 
 190 DR COMBE'S WORK 
 
 Gfooch's excellent Observations, although in his case it is diminished 
 by a reference to the state of the brain generally. Everyone admits 
 his remarks to be highly judicious, but when the practitioner comes 
 to apply them, he finds very frequently a want of specific data suffi- 
 cient to enable him to apply them to the individual under his care ; 
 and before long, they slip out of his mind, and leave only a vague im- 
 pression that they were excellent. I readily grant that in many cases 
 there is no difficulty, and these are where the whole brain and the 
 whole mental faculties are deranged, and where, therefore, we may 
 act in many ways as if the whole brain were one organ with one func- 
 tion. If the means to be employed were merely the administration 
 of physical remedies, then it would be a matter of little moment 
 whether the theory of the disease Avere understood, supposing the effects 
 of particular remedies to be accurately known : but where much of the 
 cure depends on the regulation of the mental powers, some of which 
 are sound and others diseased, and on removing, moderating, or pre- 
 senting stimuli to particular faculties, &c., &c., the case is widely dif- 
 ferent." 
 
 Writing to a friend, under the date of November 
 1830, lie says : 
 
 " Dr Abercrombie expressed so much anxiety to see my forthcoming 
 work on Insanity, that I gave him the proof-sheets to read. He has 
 perused them, he says, with great interest and pleasure, thinks it full 
 of sound observation and accurate thinking, and likely to be very use- 
 ful. The consistency of the views, he says, is remarkable, and every 
 thing well brought out. He gives no opinion of the Phrenology in 
 them, except that it seems very consistent with the rest of the doc- 
 trine, and that the general aim and design of the book is unquestion- 
 ably sound. This opinion gives me great confidence, and does away 
 with many misgivings, as he spoke apparently from conviction, and it 
 was a great length for him to go. He will stop far short of this be- 
 fore the public." 
 
 In 1831 Dr Combe's work was published, under the 
 title of " Observations on Mental Derangement ; being an 
 application of the Principles of Phrenology to the Eluci- 
 dation of the Causes, Symptoms, Nature, and Treatment 
 of Insanity.' 1 '' 
 
 The favourable opinion which Dr Abercrombie had
 
 ON MENTAL DERANGEMENT. 191 
 
 expressed of the work was participated in by the public 
 and the medical profession. The first edition was in 
 due season exhausted, and a second called for; but Dr 
 Combe's other avocations and infirm health prevented 
 him from bestowing that degree of care on the revisal 
 and enlargement of the text which his growing lights 
 and experience suggested to him as necessary to do 
 justice to the subject ; and the treatise has, in conse- 
 quence, long been out of print. In the preface to the 
 eleventh edition of his " Principles of Physiology applied 
 to Health" &c., published in 1842, he says : " As 
 many inquiries continue to be made for a new edition 
 of my Observations on Cental Derangement, I avail my- 
 self of this opportunity to state, that infirm health 
 having prevented me from devoting much attention to 
 the treatment of insanity for some years past, and con- 
 sequently disqualified me for doing that justice to the 
 subject which its later progress and inherent import- 
 ance imperatively demand, I have, although with great 
 reluctance, abandoned all present intention of reprint- 
 ing the work." It has been the anxious desire of Dr 
 Combe's executors to supply the deficiencies here indi- 
 cated, and they hope that the means of doing so may be 
 found, so that copies of this valuable work may no longer 
 be sought for in vain. 
 
 In connection with this subject it may be mentioned, 
 that in June 1830, George Combe wrote to Mr Macvey 
 Napier, who had then recently been selected to edite a 
 new edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, asking him 
 whether Dr Combe might be permitted to contribute 
 the articles " Insanity" and " Phrenology" to that work. 
 This question was based on the assurance given to the 
 public in the prospectus, that the ablest writers in each 
 department should be solicited to undertake the several 
 treatises on literature and science for the Encyclopaedia.
 
 192 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. 
 
 Mr Napier returned a polite answer, mentioning, that 
 he was not ill pleased that Dr Combe had not offered 
 him the article on Insanity for the Edinburgh Review 
 (referred toon page 184), because he had a strong con- 
 viction that Dr C. could not do justice to his particu- 
 lar views without taking aid from Phrenology, and that 
 he (Mr Napier) would have been placed in the truly 
 disagreeable situation of " rejecting on that account" 
 an article otherwise able. This objection applied also 
 to his writing on Insanity for the Encyclopaedia. Mr 
 Napier added, that he did not mean to notice the 
 other subject in any distinct form, till he should reach 
 the head Phrenology, which was yet distant ; that he 
 would then commit it to the ablest and most distin- 
 guished writer whom he could prevail upon to under- 
 take the discussion of it, " suitably with the views I 
 may then entertain;" that, if there was no change in 
 his views, he should certainly not apply to any professed 
 phrenologist j and that he did not think he should con- 
 sult the interests of truth or science, the only interests 
 he should take into account, if he did any more than 
 he should think he consulted those interests, if he 
 should " take an article on animal magnetism from a 
 doctor in that school." The article on Phrenology was 
 accordingly committed to Dr P. M. Roget, an opponent 
 of the doctrine. 
 
 A principle is involved in this incident, which is de- 
 serving of serious consideration. Nothing could be 
 more becoming than Mr Napier's using his editorial 
 control over the Encyclopaedia, to advance the interests 
 of truth and science ; and the candid and courteous 
 manner in which he rejected Dr Combe's proffered con- 
 tributions deserves all commendation ; but the real im- 
 port of his letter is, that he did not consider Dr Combe 
 a fit person to be entrusted with the subjects in ques- 
 tion, because he was a phrenologist. We have seen what
 
 THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA. 193 
 
 means Dr Combe had adopted to ascertain the merits 
 of Phrenology, and it is no disparagement to Mr Na- 
 pier to affirm that he had not made it an object of se- 
 rious investigation. We ask, then, is it proper that 
 the editor of an Encyclopaedia, who professes to give 
 an accurate and honest representation of all sciences, 
 creeds, doctrines, and opinions, invested with sufficient 
 interest to merit public notice, should erect his indi- 
 vidual "views" concerning a much controverted sub- 
 ject, which he does not pretend to have studied, into a 
 standard by which it is to be tried, and into conformity 
 with which the representation of it must be moulded ? 
 If the editor happen to be a Eoman Catholic, must the 
 article " Protestantism" be written by a Roman Catho- 
 lic to adapt it to his views of truth ? Or, if he be a Pro- 
 testant, is it fair, or instructive to his readers, to em- 
 ploy a Protestant doctor to represent the adverse faith 
 of the Roman Catholic ? Would not the " interests of 
 truth and science" be better served, if the editors of 
 such works employed the ablest man in each department 
 to write upon his own subject, warning his readers 
 that this was the rule, and that the editor had used his 
 power of control only to the extent of excluding all 
 topics inconsistent with public decency and morality ? 
 
 A true representation of Protestantism would be one 
 which all enlightened, well-informed, and candid Pro- 
 testants would recognise to be correct; and the same rule 
 would hold good in regard to a view of Roman Catholic- 
 ism. Why should the same principle not be recognised in 
 the case of the sciences ? A true representation of " ani- 
 mal magnetism" would be one which the ablest profes- 
 sors of that doctrine would acknowledge to be consistent 
 with their own apprehensions of it ; while a delineation 
 of it which they should reject as false, would, de facto, 
 be false. The adoption of this principle does not exclude
 
 194 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANN1CA, 
 
 refutation of error. There would be great advantage, in 
 the case of new and controverted doctrines, in allowing 
 each party to state his own views, and leaving the readers 
 to judge and decide on the merits of each. The conse- 
 quences of the prevailing practice of hiring an indi- 
 vidual, hostile to a particular doctrine, first to give his 
 own misrepresentation of it, and then to refute that de- 
 lineation, is well stated by Messrs Chambers in the 
 introduction to the article ' ; Phrenology" in their " In- 
 formation for the People." 
 
 " It has of late," they remark, " been customary for the conductors 
 of popular Cyclopaedias to admit articles on Phrenology ; but in most, 
 if not all the instances in which this has been done, the articles were 
 the composition of persons who denied that Phrenology was a true 
 system of mental philosophy, and whose aim rather was to shew its 
 want of sound foundation, than simply to present a view of its doc- 
 trines. In every one of these instances, it was afterwards successfully 
 shewn by phrenological writers that their science had been misrepre- 
 sented, and its doctrines challenged on unfair grounds ; so that the 
 articles in question might as well not have been written, in so far as 
 the instruction of candid inquirers was concerned. We have resolved 
 to eschew this practical absurdity, by presenting a view of Phrenology 
 by one who believes it to be a true system of mind." * * * " With 
 these introductory remarks, we leave our readers to form their own 
 opinions concerning the science."
 
 KEV1EAV OF DR ABEKCUOMBIE'S WORK. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DR COMBE ON DR ABEECROMBIE's " INQUIRIES CONCERNING THE INTEL- 
 LECTUAL POWERS," &C. REMARKS ON THE CAUSES OF THE INDE- 
 PENDENCE AND LIBERTY OF NATIONS. ON NATURE BEING SYSTEM- 
 ATIC. ON THE DRAMA. 
 
 IN 1830, Dr John Abercrombie, who then stood at 
 the head of the medical profession in Edinburgh, pub- 
 lished a work on mental philosophy, under the title of 
 " Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers, and the 
 Investigation of Truth." Dr Combe looked forward to its 
 appearance with much interest, being curious to see how 
 Dr Abercrombie would treat the subject in relation to the 
 functions of the brain. When it appeared, he was not 
 a little surprised to find that all reference to the influ- 
 ence of the brain, in the state of health, on the mani- 
 festations of the mind, was omitted ; and that Phreno- 
 logy was never so much as alluded to. Dr Gall was 
 treated as if he had never existed. " The <mly field" 
 says Dr Abercrombie, " in which the mental philoso- 
 pher can pursue his researches with perfect confidence, 
 is his own mind. In his observations on the minds of 
 other men, he is obliged to judge of the phenomena by 
 external manifestations ; and, in this manner, a degree 
 of uncertainty attends his investigations which does not 
 occur in physical science. From this source, also, has 
 probably arisen much of that difference of opinion which 
 we meet with in regard to mental phenomena ; for each 
 inquirer having drawn his observations from one mind,
 
 196 REVIEW OF DR ABERCROMBIF/S WORK 
 
 namely, his own, it was scarcely to be expected that 
 there should not be some diversity, or that facts de- 
 rived in this manner should possess the character of be- 
 ing universal." (P. 2.) 
 
 Dr Combe published a review of this work in the 
 Phrenological Journal, vol. vii., p. 46, in which he freely, 
 but calmly and respectfully, exposed the imperfections 
 of Dr Abercrombie's method of investigation, and the 
 unsoundness of his conclusions. No interruption of the 
 good understanding which had previously existed be- 
 tween them ensued. Dr Combe, in a letter, dated 29th 
 November 1830, addressed to Mrs Henry Siddons, who 
 was then in London, mentions the work in the follow- 
 ing terms : 
 
 " I wanted to make some observations on Dr Abercrombie's book, 
 but fear I cannot now. The mode of inquiry and the intention are 
 good, but the results seem to me to be vitiated by a radical defect in 
 the application of his own rules. Dr Abercrombie sees and enforces 
 the value of facts as the only basis on which to raise a philosophic in- 
 duction ; but those which he gives as facts, although true, are incom- 
 plete, and consequently their true relations cannot appear. On page 2, 
 he says that the only field in which the mental philosopher can pursue 
 his inquiries with confidence is his own mind, and that great uncertainty 
 attends all observations made on others ; and he proceeds accordingly, 
 deriving all his facts from consciousness. Even taking his own mind as 
 a fair type of the human mind, and taking his facts as true, which is a 
 most generous admission, it is impossible to deduce from them fixed 
 general rules, because he nowhere takes into account the influence of the 
 organisation through which the mind operates, and, therefore, his facts 
 or results stand isolated from the circumstances or conditions which 
 influenced their production and manner of being. Let us take an ex- 
 treme case, and contrast the laws of Attention, Abstraction, &c., in 
 Dr Abercrombie and in an idiot. In the former, one order of sequence 
 is observed ; in the other, a very different one. What causes this 
 difference ? Dr Abercrombie never inquires, but those who do, say 
 it is a defective brain ; and when this is stated, Dr Abercrombie ad- 
 mits it. Is it philosophical, then, to omit a condition of such para- 
 mount influence, and to observe results and argue from them as if no 
 such condition existed ? Certainly not. Let us take an analogy in
 
 ON THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS. 197 
 
 caloric or the principle of heat. If I lay hold of a bar of iron heated 
 to 212, it burns my hand and excites pain. Suppose the iron to have 
 consciousness, it would hold, from the invariableness of the sequence, 
 that 212 degrees of heat would always burn. But then on going a 
 little farther, I find that I could roll myself in wool heated to 212, 
 and, instead of being burnt, feel only a little overheated ; and, there- 
 fore, the wool would, if animated, say to the iron, " You are quite 
 wrong, my Mend ; a temperature of 212 does XOT burn." Now, what 
 would be the business of the philosopher on perceiving the discre- 
 pancy ? He would say, " Nature is constant ; some cause for the dif- 
 ference exists ; let me observe the conditions of both bodies." On ex- 
 amination he would find the iron solid and dense, and an excellent 
 conductor, as it is called, of caloric ; and the wool soft and loose, and 
 a very slow conductor : the former, therefore, by its constitution, 
 parting with caloric with great rapidity so as to burn ; and the letter 
 so slowly as not to give it off fast enough to produce the same effect. 
 The analogy will be complete, if you suppose caloric to have conscious- 
 ness, instead of the iron or body with which it is combined. 
 
 " If, then, A.'s mind is connected with organs equal to 5, and B.'s 
 with organs equal to 20, is it enough to reflect on results, and to 
 neglect conditions affecting their production ? Yet Dr Abercrombie 
 does so ; and therefore I say his facts are incomplete, and do not war- 
 rant his inferences. I am astonished, I confess, at his omission ; he, 
 who has daily and hourly proofs before him of the immense import- 
 ance of the organic influence. If the Almighty and Omniscient Crea- 
 tor has seen fit to render organisation indispensable to mental mani- 
 festations while we are numbered with the living, what shall we 
 gain by deliberately shutting our eyes, and denying that He has done 
 right ? The dread of believing matter necessary to the workings of 
 mind amounts to nothing less than such a denial." 
 
 The following letter, dated 3d December 1830, also 
 addressed to Mrs Henry Siddons, refers to two able 
 essays which appeared in the Phrenological Journal, 
 vol. ii., p. 598, and vol. iii., p. 223, " On the Phreno- 
 logical Causes of THE DIFFERENT DEGREES OF LIBERTY 
 enjoyed by different Nations ;" and " On the Causes of 
 the INDEPENDENCE, as distinguished from the LIBERTY, 
 of Nations," by Mr George Lyon : Dr Combe writes as 
 follows :
 
 198 REMARKS ON THE CAUSES OF THE 
 
 " Now that you have more time, you would find many articles in 
 the former Numbers of the Journal which would interest you. There 
 are two on the Independence and Liberty of Nations, which are 
 sound in principle, and interesting in their illustrations, as bearing 
 upon your own late remarks on liberty. They shew that independ- 
 ence must, in the nature of things, precede libei'ty, as the feeling of 
 independence springs in no small degree from selfish principles, and 
 from impatience of the domination of others. Thus, the South Ameri- 
 can States were ripe for independence, but not for liberty ; and infinite 
 mischief has arisen from confounding the two. They could no longer 
 bear the tyranny and oppression of their ancient rulers, because they 
 felt this as degrading to pride, and as cramping their natural rights 
 and energies. They accordingly rose and expelled their rulers, there- 
 by securing themselves from foreign domination. But what is li- 
 berty ? Liberty gives the right of acting, every one according to his 
 own lights, in whatever career he may choose, provided he harms not 
 his neighbour. But what does this suppose ? It supposes him who 
 enjoys it to be possessed of such enlightened views of his social and 
 public relations, as shall enable him to see the line of duty in his pub- 
 lic and private conduct ; and of such moral energies as shall impel him, 
 seeing it, to follow it cheerfully, consistently, and steadily. Do the 
 ignorant South Americans possess either of these requisites ? Does 
 the Spaniard, or even the Russian, or the Italian, possess them ? I 
 doubt it much ; and, therefore, I doubt whether they are ripe for 
 liberty. Liberty befits only an enlightened and a moral people, and 
 its diffusion will therefore be best promoted by adding to the lights, 
 and elevating the morality, of the nation. Reform and improve the 
 people, and radical and all other reforms will rest upon a broad basis, 
 and not be placed, as there is some danger of their being, like a pyramid 
 on its apex. The institutions of society must be reformed in propor- 
 tion to the lights of the nation ; but if greater changes be made, evil 
 will result ; if less, then revolution will follow. If a man is of a base 
 nature, give him liberty, and he will steal, cheat, lie, and attack his 
 neighbour. If he is refined and moral, give him liberty, and he will 
 spread blessings around him with two-fold energy. The former must 
 be restrained by law ; the latter may be left to the guidance of his own 
 conscience. Nations are made up of individuals, and the conditions 
 required for safe freedom apply equally to both. 
 
 " Do you know, I am not sure that your dislike of system is not it- 
 self somewhat too systematic. Nature is systematic throughout all her 
 productions, and all the manifestations of her power and arrangement ; 
 and where she does not seem so, it is our ignorance alone that is at 
 fault. The more complete our knowledge, the more systematic does
 
 INDEPENDENCE AND LIBERTY OF NATIONS. 199 
 
 it invariably become ; and, consequently, to dread system, is to be 
 sceptical rather than philosophic. Scrutinize your facts, and repeat 
 your observations times without number, till you are convinced they 
 are correct ; but having done so, do not hesitate to draw fair logical 
 conclusions from them, and to trace natural relations between them. 
 This is all that systematising involves. If you fear to do this, you 
 betray a want of faith in the ordinations of the Creator, quite as much 
 as if you disbelieved the evidence of your senses. He has given you ob- 
 serving powers wherewith to gather facts, and has so constituted them, 
 as to enforce belief of external existences ; but He has also endowed 
 you with reflecting powers to trace relations and causes among them, 
 and to obtain general rules for your own guidance ; and you are bound 
 and impelled to obey the impulses of the latter, quite as much as the 
 former. If your dislike of system be limited to theories elaborated 
 from the brains of men, then you may dread them ; but if you extend 
 the feeling to systematic views, based on the broad foundation of facts, 
 I fear you then run against the laws of nature and of sound philosophy. 
 An acquaintance with ascertained science, such as natural philoso- 
 phy, chemistry, or mathematics, would shew you this in one moment, 
 and prove that in proportion as our knowledge advances, it, of it- 
 self, becomes more systematic. Keep in view the distinction be- 
 tween system based on observation, and system drawn from reflec- 
 tion alone, and you will modify your opinions. It is one of the 
 evils of an imaginative mind, that it is less accessible to the force 
 and value of facts, and too often prefers its own creations and laws 
 to those of the Creator. Dr Abercrombie is an example of a man 
 of great talent and acquirement, with a dread of system, going far 
 astray in his investigation, from disregard of facts. But having 
 explained what I mean in my note of 29th November, I need not 
 repeat it here. My conviction is, that his book will do an injury to 
 his kind, and retard the march of philosophy for years ; because, from 
 the speciousness of his method, and apparent scrupulosity as to facts, 
 it will be read with great confidence by those who have not the means 
 of detecting its deficiencies. I say this in perfect seriousness and hu- 
 mility ; and I am mistaken if you do not yet perceive where the fault 
 lies when your attention is fairly drawn to it. The error which, it 
 seems to me, the utilitarians are most apt to commit, is to assume a 
 variable standard. The real utility of a thing is often distant ; and 
 apparent utility often near, when, in fact, the ultimate result in the 
 latter case is evil ; and, besides, men differ in their views of utility. 
 It is better to take the standard given by the Creator, of what in the 
 constitution of things is right ; sure that, in the long run, it will be also 
 the most useful. The utilitarians hold out a wrong and difficult aim.
 
 200 ON THE DRAMA. 
 
 " I should like to see you write a history of your life, as connected 
 with your art, and unfolding the views which successively developed 
 themselves to your mind ; and the reflections which have occurred to 
 you in regard to the improvement of the Drama. You could give 
 much interesting matter, and contrihute essentially to the elevation 
 of the profession. The Drama has a foundation in nature, but, like 
 other things, it must advance along with the race, both in morality 
 and intelligence, otherwise it will fall in the scale of public estimation. 
 
 " In educating the moral feelings, and, in this respect, forming- 
 character, I should think your natural power great ; but I doubt 
 whether you do not ascribe too much to mere external advantages and 
 culture, and too little to original bent of mind ; whether, in short, 
 there is not more of theory in your views, and expectation of results, 
 than you would at first imagine. I may be wrong in this, but I give 
 you my opinion without reserve, as I know you prefer my doing so. 
 Do write, however, and be assured of success. You speak your ideas 
 admirably, and it is curious you find difficulty in writing them. I, on 
 the other hand, can scarcely utter three sentences in speech, and feel 
 much less difficulty with the pen in my hand. My command of lan- 
 guage is, indeed, always very limited, but it is greatest in writing."
 
 SECOND ATTACK OF PULMONARY DISEASE. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DR COMBE AGAIN SUFFERS FROM A PULMONARY AFFECTION PROCEEDS 
 
 TO NAPLES PASSES THE WINTER OF 1831-2 IN ITALY IS SEIZED 
 
 WITH INFLAMMATION OF THE PLEURA IN NAPLES, AND IS ATTENDED 
 
 BY MR RICHARD CARMICHAEL AND DR HIRSCHFELD RECOVERS 
 
 PROCEEDS TO ROME AND FLORENCE AFTERWARDS RETURNS BY 
 
 SEA TO LONDON AND EDINBURGH. 
 
 THE winter of 1830-1 had been a severe one, and Dr 
 Combe had undergone much mental anxiety and bodily 
 fatigue in the course of his practice ; haying, among 
 other patients, lost his sister Jean, and a friend in 
 whom he was deeply interested, by death, after pro- 
 tracted illness. He had been taxed beyond his powers, 
 and in August 1831, felt his health giving way, but he 
 was not at first seriously alarmed. Towards the end 
 of that mouth he joined a few friends in an excursion 
 to the Highlands, hoping to benefit by a change of air 
 and relaxation. The party, however, encountered very 
 bad weather, and he rapidly became worse. The fol- 
 lowing letter, dated Callander, 29th August, addressed 
 to Miss Cox, conveys a vivid idea of his condition : 
 
 " I daresay your tender heart will be melting to think of the water- 
 ing showers which have fallen so frequently and so heavily upon us, 
 poor health-and-pleasure-hunting creatures, now or lately journeying 
 in the Highlands. Truly, if you were melting, it was not without 
 cause ; for not only have I almost vanished from sight (I have hecome 
 so thin), but I have been, an involuntary, but not the less heavy drag 
 upon the comforts of my beloved and respected companions. Instead
 
 202 TRAVELS IN PRANCE AND ITALY. 
 
 of being of the least use to them, I have been unfit for every thing ; 
 three steps of a walk made me pant as if I had left my lungs at 
 home. Nine parts out of ten of them seemed in vacation, for work 
 they would not. My stomach, seeing them restive, also rebelled and 
 refused to digest ; and then my brain thought it might strike work 
 too ; so that on leaving Perth on Saturday morning, I resolved, if not 
 prodigiously improved within three days, to leave my friends and go 
 home the moment we reached Callander. Here we are ; my friends 
 go forward to the Trosachs, and you may expect me home by the 
 first conveyance I can find going to Edinburgh." 
 
 The following letters shew the decision and energy 
 with which he acted, and the spirit of cheerful resig- 
 nation with which he encountered this new crisis in his 
 life. On the 2d of September he wrote from Edinburgh 
 to a friend : 
 
 " After seeing Dr Scott, I have almost determined to start for 
 London to-morrow on an excursion, as the most efficient means of re- 
 storing me, if I am to be restored. Every thing else is uncertain." 
 
 From London, he wrote to Miss Cox a letter dated 
 the 7th of September, in which he says : 
 
 " We arrived yesterday at two o'clock, after a three days' passage 
 (in a steam-ship), with a head-wind, a rolling sea, sickness, and 170 
 passengers, short of every thing, even to water. I am, I think, rather 
 improved, with less of the decidedly feverish feelings, less of the cir- 
 cumscribed flush and lank hollowness of visage ; but I see clearly that 
 a good while will be requisite to do any good substantially, and, there- 
 fore, I mean to go to Paris via, Dieppe. I have no compunction in 
 absenting myself so long. If I return unwell, I go down hill and 
 benefit nobody but my executors, who may be as well off with myself, 
 as with any thing I could leave to them in my stead. If I come back 
 well, I may have inconvenienced my patients by my absence, and hurt 
 my practice, but then there will be something to compensate this, and 
 time to make it up. Most of my patients, I am thankful to say, are 
 exceedingly kind and indulgent. Having thus viewed both sides of 
 the question, I shall neglect nothing to realise the bright one, and 
 hope for the best." 
 
 During his absence, his friend Dr Scott took charge
 
 TRAVELS IN FRANCE AND ITALY. 203 
 
 of his patients and supplied his place to their and 
 his satisfaction. Nothing can exceed the kind and 
 anxious interest expressed by most of them, in letters 
 still extant, in his welfare. 
 
 His next letter is dated Paris, 12th September 1831, 
 and is addressed to George Combe. In it he writes 
 that his bad luck in voyages still pursued him ; that he 
 had had a stormy passage, and found the country be- 
 tween Boulogne and Paris deluged with rain, and the 
 weather, in Paris, by no means promising ; but that 
 his health had nevertheless improved. He adds : 
 
 " How all this will end I do not know. Had it been merely this 
 recent ailment, I would have been more sanguine, but I was almost a 
 shadow before it came on. I never expected long life ; and although 
 I shall do all in my power to prolong it, I shall not be taken by 
 surprise if it should be cut short sooner than was some time ago 
 probable. Do not, however, suppose from this, that I am either low- 
 spirited or nervous ; for that is far from being the case, as I am 
 comfortable in body and tranquil in mind in every respect. Only, I 
 wish to give you a true and accurate representation of my condition 
 and feelings." 
 
 It is worth remarking, that the socialist doctrines, 
 which in 1848 cost so much blood and treasure to 
 France, were already engaging public attention in 1831. 
 In a letter to Miss Cox, dated Paris, 16th September, 
 Dr Combe says : " The St Simonians have a news- 
 paper to advocate their doctrines. What I have seen 
 of it contains nearly the same doctrine as Mr Owen's, 
 except that they admit more fully the existence of dif- 
 ferent capacities, and the right of different degrees of 
 merit to different quantities of reward. I shall go and 
 hear them to-morrow. Their newspaper teems with 
 specious generalities and aspirations after a better mo- 
 rality, but it wants principles and a practical tendency. 
 I should, however, say little of it, as I have seen only 
 a few numbers of it. Dr Spurzheim knew St Simon,
 
 204 TRAVELS IN FRANCE AND ITALY. 
 
 and says it is a pity they should have made a saint and 
 chief of him, as he was immoral, and brimfull of vanity 
 and scandal." 
 
 From Paris Dr Combe proceeded to Orleans, Blois, 
 and Nantes. 
 
 The following letter, dated Orleans, 20th September 
 1831, addressed to Miss M N , contains a de- 
 scription of the state of Paris and of part of France at 
 the time of his visit : 
 
 " I arrived here yesterday evening after a twelve hours' drive from 
 Paris on a beautiful, sunny day, and through rather a rich, hut tedi- 
 ously level country, at least for the last fifty miles. In fact, it re- 
 minded me of the sea, and only lost its resemblance from the trees, 
 vines, and houses scattered over it, and which do not usually deck the 
 surface of the ocean. I was parboiled between a stout, elderly lady 
 and a stoutish member of the Legion of Honor, and in front of me 
 were placed a stout, ruddy-faced, elderly Proprietaire from near Blois, 
 and Monsieur son fils, an attenuated simple-minded youth of sixteen, 
 whom he had taken to see Paris, but whose wisdom and reflection had 
 not increased in proportion to the number of miles travelled, or of 
 objects looked at. Madame insisted on keeping the window on her 
 side up, and more than once I was nearly crying out for " secours 
 contre la suffocation,' as I saw every where in large letters ' secours 
 contre 1'incendie.' I could not procure either a cabriolet place or 
 one in the coupe, and was thankful to arrive. 
 
 " We left Paris at an interesting time. The discussion in the 
 Chamber of Deputies about the defeat of the poor Poles was about to 
 begin, and very much in proportion to the success of the Ministers in 
 defending themselves from the charge of indifference to their fate, will 
 be their success in preserving the peace of Paris and their own places. 
 Public sympathy was very strong, and went in its manifestations far 
 beyond the bounds of reason and morality. During Saturday and 
 Sunday, particularly on Saturday afternoon, Paris was much in the 
 condition of a besieged city. Troops of every kind were traversing 
 the streets (the light cavalry often at the gallop), and the drums call- 
 ing out the National Guard never ceased their noisy disturbance. 
 Gunsmiths' shops were broken open for arms, one within a few paces 
 of Dr Spurzheim and me in the Rue de Richelieu, and two or three bar- 
 ricades were thrown up on the Boulevards. The streets wore thronged 
 with people, many respectable, but many evidently out only for the
 
 TRAVELS IN PRANCE AND ITALY. 205 
 
 row. Being Saturday night, the workmen were let loose, and alto- 
 gether matters wore a sombre aspect. At eight the theatres were 
 emptied and shut. Fortunately the abundant display of military force 
 kept the mob in check, and nothing very serious occurred. One or 
 two were killed, and a number wounded with sabre and bayonet 
 wounds. If the Ministers do not make a satisfactory defence, it is 
 doubtful how far peace will be preserved. The public, begging their 
 pardon, seem to me unjust and irrational in this outcry against their 
 Ministers for not having aided the Poles. How could they ? Prussia, 
 Austria, and Russia would have been opposed to them ; and are they 
 already in a state to carry war into a territory so far removed from 
 their own, and with such powers leagued against them ? Without 
 going to war it is clear they could do nothing ; and for preferring 
 to remain at peace and organise their own disturbed government, 
 they are called ' laches,' ' traitres,' and I know not how many more 
 equally respectable names. From my own experience, I wonder less 
 than I did at so many people being on the street when fighting is 
 going on. The stimulus to curiosity becomes great in proportion as 
 the plot thickens, and then so many feelings get interested, that one 
 loses the single instinct of cautiousness among them, till some strong 
 appeal comes, and then it shrinks for the moment, to give way again. 
 Dr Spurzheim and I were in no actual danger, but we could not help 
 going into the thickest of the crowd, and returning repeatedly to the 
 Palais Royal as the focus, just to see what was likely to happen, and 
 when an uproar might have been begun at any given moment ; and, 
 in fact, we were not thirty yards off when it pleased the mob to break 
 open the gunsmith's shop in presence of the military ; but our curi- 
 osity once satisfied, we proceeded to give our gastronomies their turn, 
 and then went home. It is a fine country and a fine people, and I 
 trust order and happiness will soon be restored. Personally the King 
 (Louis-Philippe) is liked, and well spoken of by all parties, and so 
 are, I may say, all the members of his family. The pure republicans, 
 of course, dislike the office, while they like the man. 
 
 " Much is said of the stagnation of trade, bad times, &c., and the 
 worthy Proprietaire, among others, declared that the olden time was 
 that of ease, abundance, and tranquillity, while the present was that 
 of contention, want, and incessant struggling. Genius and its dis- 
 coveries, its machines a vapeur, its chemins de fer, its schools and its 
 colleges, all sounded delightfully, ' Mais en est on plus heureux ?' said 
 he, with a shrug of his shoulders, which swallowed up his head for 
 the moment. But even he, when relating his experience without re- 
 ference to this question, gave ample evidence of mistaking a dream 
 for a reality, when he praised the past at the expense of the present.
 
 206 TRAVELS IN FKANCE AND ITALY. 
 
 He became eloquent in describing tbe wretchedness and insecurity of 
 existence forty years ago, and said a man could scarcely stop to 
 speak to a more distant relation than a brother without danger. It 
 is a curious feature of age always to make this mistake. At present, 
 say the grumblers, there is neither commerce nor credit. In reality, 
 however, the innumerable, heavily-loaded waggons which we passed on 
 the way between Boulogne and Paris, and between Paris and Orleans, 
 at least three times greater than I saw ten years ago on the same 
 route, give one the idea of a vast improvement. Paris, too, seemed 
 busy, although it misses the hordes of English and other foreigners 
 who used to frequent it, and of whom I did not see one for ten I used to 
 see. The tickets out at the hotels, of appartemens meubles to let, are 
 numerous in proportion. Travelling, among the French themselves, 
 is very active. Everywhere the coaches are full ; and, on most roads, 
 three or four oppositions exist. It strike me that the natives are 
 more reserved than of old. At least, strangers at the table cl'hotes 
 rarely exchange words except of simple politeness. This has been the 
 case from Boulogne hither. 
 
 " The vintage is just commencing in fine situations ; and last even- 
 ing, during a lovely sunset, it was truly grateful to man's best feelings 
 to see the riches spread before him by a bountiful Providence, and him- 
 self in the midst of them enjoying their promise. Many of the vil- 
 lagers were strolling among their vineyards. Their expression is not 
 favourable ; but I could see no heads except those of beggars, who 
 cannot be taken as types. I had scarcely been an hour in my quar- 
 ters here when I was exercising my functions. The/ewme de chambre 
 was groaning under the agony of an inflamed wrist, for which nothing 
 had been done. She was astounded at my proffering advice to leech 
 it abundantly, but as I told her it was not a thing to be trifled with, 
 she wisely went to the Hotel Dieu to get it mended." 
 
 Dr Combe having, in the course of this excursion, 
 caught cold by sleeping in a damp bed at Tours, re- 
 turned, as soon as his strength permitted, to Paris, and 
 consulted Dr Spurzheim as to the best course to be fol- 
 lowed during the winter. By his advice he resolved to 
 pass that season in Italy, and wrote to Miss Cox, 
 soliciting her to become the companion of his travels, 
 In the month of October she accordingly joined him in 
 Paris ; and early in November they commenced their 
 journey to Naples. From that time to the day of his
 
 TRAVELS IX FRANCE AND ITALY. 207 
 
 death, she never ceased to be his constant, devoted, and 
 most useful companion, and, in seasons of sickness, his 
 nurse. In a letter to his brother George, dated Lyons, 
 9th November 1831, he writes : 
 
 " Here we are, and I stood the journey, as I have done all other 
 journeys, remarkably well. But I must go back in my narrative to 
 Paris, and mention, in justice to Dr Spurzheim's friendly kindness, 
 that from the day I sent to tell him I was troubled with pain, till 
 that of our departure, a period of nine days, he spent the best part 
 of an hour with me every day, although much occupied. He gave 
 me every encouragement to persevere in taking care and employing 
 every external resource ; and, indeed, the progress made since rny 
 return to Paris is itself a great point gained. He urges me to live, 
 if I wish to live, for my health alone ; not to make visits or calls, or 
 be in the way of receiving them, or of exposing myself to any excite- 
 ment of feeling or intellect, or to any exertion of body, farther than 
 sufficient for exercise : in short, to be tranquil, regular, and moderate 
 in every thing. 
 
 " These injunctions were his spontaneous effusions. They harmo- 
 nise with my own views, on which, by the way, I formerly acted with 
 profit ; and I mean to follow them. At our departure, he was in wait- 
 ing at the coach-office to see the last of me. His countenance was 
 radiant with Benevolence and Adhesiveness, and his advice was ear- 
 nest and from the heart." 
 
 He describes his condition minutely for the informa- 
 tion of his medical friends in Edinburgh, and sums up 
 the whole in these words : 
 
 " Taking the whole aspect of the case, it would have been difficult 
 to find any symptom characteristic of phthisis wanting, and yet out of 
 this odd state I have very considerably recovered. * * If Providence 
 be pleased to restore me this time, as there is the appearance of. I 
 may not only be uncommonly grateful, but consider myself as escaped 
 from a more pressing danger than I ever was in. The interest taken 
 in my fate almost confounds me." 
 
 Dr Combe and his niece embarked at Marseilles, and 
 arrived safely at Naples. The following letter, ad- 
 dressed to Mrs N , is dated Naples, 5th De- 
 cember 1831.
 
 208 LETTERS PROM NAPLES. 
 
 " Being now in some measure settled after three months' roaming, 
 not in search of the picturesque, I cannot resist the inclination I feel 
 to tell you how much all your kind letters and friendly sympathy 
 have gratified me. The effusions of the young ladies were very pleas- 
 ing as indications of natural character, as well as on account of the 
 
 genuine aifection contained in them. Thanks to Mr and to 
 
 you all, are all I can offer in return, except the assurance that the 
 interest with which I regard the happiness and progress of your 
 family is at least as sincere. To hear of your welfare Avill always de- 
 light me. * * * 
 
 " People speak of Naples, its bay, and Vesuvius, their splendid 
 magnificence and beauty ; but, nevertheless, Edinburgh, its frith and 
 Arthur's Seat, lose little by the comparison. If you would blow away 
 our clouds, haul down the sun a little nearer the High Street ; fix 
 the wind in the west 300 days in the year, giving it its swing the re- 
 maining sixty-five ; and light a tar-barrel occasionally on the top of 
 Arthur's Seat for an hour or two at a time, Naples would be sent forth- 
 with to the right-about to hide its diminished head in one of its own 
 caves. The bay is certainly very beautiful ; but from the little I 
 have yet seen, it seems inferior to the Forth and its bays as seen from 
 the Calton Hill. As to local situation as a town, Edinburgh has the 
 advantage. Naples has one or two magnificent streets, several palaces, 
 &c. ; but the rest is crowded, dirty, and disgusting, and few places 
 have any view at all. The opposite side of the bay is very picturesque, 
 and Vesuvius is a striking object, but it has not been performing for 
 some time, and rarely sends forth even a puff of smoke to gratify its 
 admirers ; which I hold not to be fair when one comes so far to see 
 it. I suppose it has the true Neapolitan or lazaroni temperament. 
 "When stimulated by necessity, it sets to work in earnest ; but the 
 necessity past, it relapses quietly and contentedly into the dolce far 
 niente, till roused again by another impulse. I have not yet had an 
 opportunity of examining its head, to know how far its development 
 may account for its conduct. If one occurs, I shall tell you the result. 
 
 " Providence has prospered our past undertakings. Even the sea 
 was as civil to me as possible ; for on board of the beautiful Eleonora, 
 I enjoyed five days out of the eight. I never retained land feelings, 
 appetites, and thoughts, so much at sea as on this occasion. Float- 
 ing along the surface of a clear, deep blue, gently rippled sea, with 
 an air of wind, a cloudless sky, and pleasant temperature, in a large 
 vessel with moral people, and in sight of land somewhere or other, 
 was no despicable treat for two expatriated voyagers at the end of 
 November. Our cabin was large, and high enough to admit of my 
 walking with my cap on, which I did in the evenings as in a room.
 
 LETTERS FROM NAPLES. 209 
 
 There were two decks, and, on looking ont from the cabin door, we 
 had a long vista between them the whole length of the vessel. The 
 crew abode there, and were, truly, not scant of room. I can hardly 
 tell you how much it adds to one's comfort to see a fraternity like 
 this living in peace and harmony, and each fulfilling his duties with 
 readiness and good will ; instead of the cursing, swearing, wrath, and 
 bad usage, which are still too commonly found among the crews of 
 our sailing: ships. The boys, three in number, were as well treated 
 by the men as they could be, instead of being the victims of petty ty- 
 ranny. "We had vespers on deck every afternoon at four, and the 
 chant lasted nearly half-an-hour. A lamp was at the same time 
 lighted in the cabin near to their patron saint. Off Elba, we over- 
 took another Neapolitan brig, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. 
 When a little separated, and our service was over, we heard theirs 
 begin ; and the effect, in harmony with the beautiful scene, and the 
 natural gratitude raised in the mind towards the Giver of all these 
 blessings, was fine. The sound at last died away, and we went below. 
 Peace and goodwill must be habitual to the crew, and not got up on 
 our account ; for in loving friendship we found established on board 
 two cats, two pigeons, two hens, and a dog, all as intimate as the most 
 ardent affection could make them." 
 
 One of the passengers in " the beautiful Eleonora"' 
 was Mons. Prosper Dumont, a young Frenchman of 
 literary tastes, then commencing his travels, and who 
 was also anxious to improve his knowledge of the Eng- 
 lish language. Dr Combe lent him some books to read, 
 and, among others, " The Constitution of Man ;" and 
 this work interested him so much, that he resolved to 
 publish a translation of it into French. On his return 
 to Franc*, he was appointed to an official situation, 
 first in the " Bibliotheque du Roi," in Fontainebleau, 
 and subsequently in the " Bibliotheque du Roi," in 
 Paris, and carried his design into execution. His 
 translation appeared in 1834, under the title of " Essai 
 sur la Constitution de 1'Homme," &c^ "traduit de 
 1' Anglais par M. Prosper Duinont." * 
 
 * 8vo, pp. 344. Paris, Chez Arthus Bertrand, Libraire-Editeur, 
 Rue Hautefeuille, No. 23. 
 
 O
 
 210 SIR WALTER SCOTT. 
 
 In a letter, dated 20th December 1831, addressed to 
 his brother George, Dr Combe gives directions about 
 the collection of several sums due to him for profes- 
 sional attendance ; and, as exemplifying the spirit in 
 which he acted towards his patients, the following ex- 
 tract is presented. The patient referred to was Miss 
 
 N , mentioned in the letters on pages 165 and 167, 
 
 who was now dead. He says : 
 
 " I attended her thirty-eight months in all, and first and last had 
 a good deal of trouble, being with her sometimes twice and even thrice 
 in one day. I need hardly say, that I by no means expect to be re- 
 munerated for all my visits ; for I made at least one-third of the 
 whole from motives of friendship, and the interest I felt in her situa- 
 tion. Many of my visits were not necessary in the way of prescribing, 
 but they were as purely medical as if they had been so. Miss N 
 was one of those persons whose mental state influences the general 
 health of the body in an unusual degree, and on that account, it be- 
 came of the first consequence to cherish and support her moral nature 
 in the struggle with disease. To this purpose many of my visits were 
 dedicated, and the effect of this on her fine nature was most satisfac- 
 tory. But for her equanimity and cheerfulness, she would never have 
 gone through the half of what she has done. Visiting her thus as a 
 friend as much as a physician, I can, of course, make no charge ; and 
 as individual visits, in a long attendance like this, can scarcely be 
 
 reckoned, Mr N must be requested just to give what his own 
 
 judgment dictates as right, and I shall be satisfied." 
 
 In the same letter he adds " Sir Walter Scott ar- 
 rived in the bay from Malta, in His M. S. Barham, 
 three days ago, and is enacting quarantine." The cho- 
 lera was then threatening Italy. 
 
 In a letter to his niece, Miss Eobiua Cox (now Mrs 
 William Ivory), dated Naples, 20th December 1831, 
 he writes : 
 
 " I saw Sir Walter Scott in an open carriage to-day, wrapt up in 
 a cloak. He looked pale and sodden-like, with little animation ; but 
 it was cold, which may have occasioned this appearance. He is said 
 not to be well, and the report is, that the Malta public were sorry
 
 DR COMBE'S ILKSBS8 AT NAPLES. 21 1 
 
 to see him suffering so much. Vesuvius began to throw out smoke 
 whenever Sir Walter made his appearance in the bay, and has con- 
 tinued smoking ever since, so that we are in hopes of an eruption 
 taking place soon. 
 
 '" The Neapolitans have astonishing faith in their own good luck, 
 if not in Providence, for every tenth shop is a lottery-office ; and, in- 
 stead of their not liking to be seen in it, as is the case in France, the 
 doors and windows are thrown wide open, and rarely fewer than eight 
 or ten people are in it at one time, as if proud to be seen there. The 
 begsrar and the gentleman meet in them on equal terms. 
 
 " The Neapolitan children are sadly maltreated. In infancy they 
 are swaddled and pinned, and look like so many bundles of cotton ; 
 and many persons of all ages are strongly. marked with the small- 
 pox." 
 
 On the 24th January 1832, Dr Combe was seized 
 with a severe attack of inflammation of the lungs. 
 By an extraordinary combination of circumstances, 
 he enjoyed the double benefit of the best medical ad- 
 vice, and the warmest moral support, in the trying 
 situation in which he was placed. Mr Richard Carmi- 
 chael, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of 
 Ireland, and one of the most eminent medical practi- 
 tioners of Dublin, had early embraced Phrenology, 
 and become personally intimate with Dr Combe. 
 Forced by the state of his own health to pass a sum- 
 mer in the Pyrennees and a winter in Italy, he came 
 to Naples, greatly restored in health, in the month of 
 January 1832, and speedily visited Dr Combe, who re- 
 cognised in him the qualities of a medical philosopher, 
 an experienced and skilful practitioner, and an enlight- 
 ened phrenologist. About the same time the late Dr 
 Edward Hirschfeld of Bremen, who some years pre- 
 viously had finished his medical education in Edinburgh, 
 and become a convert to Phrenology,* and an intimate 
 
 * Dr Hirschfeld afterwards published a German translation of 
 George Combe's " Constitution of Man," and " System of Phreno-
 
 212 ILLNESS AT NAPLES. 
 
 and highly esteemed friend of Dr Combe and his bro- 
 ther, also arrived in Naples on his marriage-excursion. 
 These two gentlemen found Dr Combe in a very preca- 
 rious condition, kindly attended and ably treated by 
 Dr Strange, an English physician in Naples ; and by 
 their combined efforts he was delivered from immediate 
 danger. The confidence which he reposed in their skill, 
 and the moral support which he derived from the pre- 
 sence of his friends, greatly aided the efforts of nature 
 in surmounting the disease ; and Dr Combe often looked 
 back to their arrival as one of the most fortunate events 
 of his life. To his niece, also, their presence was of 
 unspeakable advantage. Dr Hirschfeld remained with 
 them in Naples until Dr Combe was able to travel to 
 Rome, and accompanied him to that city. 
 
 With a view to relieve the anxiety of his friends, and 
 to spare their sympathetic feelings, Dr Combe was prompt 
 to report every alleviating circumstance attending his 
 illnesses, and in particular to assure them of his free- 
 dom from acute suffering. In temper and disposition, 
 also, he was, in such circumstances, not merely resigned, 
 but cheerful, and often droll, as many of his letters 
 shew. In a letter, dated Rome, 25th February 1832, 
 addressed to his brother George, after describing mi- 
 nutely his condition, and the remedies he had employed 
 to subdue the inflammation of the pleura, he says : 
 
 " I stood the journey fully as well as I expected, although it in- 
 creased the uneasiness in my side. My breathing is still very imper- 
 fect, and pulse about eighty-five, with some increase of expectoration. 
 I am nearly as long and lean as I was five months ago, and some- 
 times think that my amendment resembles a little that of our 
 
 logy." He was one of the editors of the Zeitschrift fur Phrenologie, 
 a quarterly journal, which appeared in 1843-4-5, at Heidelberg ; and 
 in 1844 he published an Umriss der Phrenoloyie at Bremen. But his 
 useful life was unfortunately terminated by typhus fever on 22d March 
 1845.
 
 ROME. 213 
 
 royal personages, who, according to the official bulletins of their health, 
 are ' better' and ' easier' every day, till we suddenly hear that they 
 are removed to ' a better world,' where, certainly, they are ' far bet- 
 ter' than here. However, I shall be very well pleased, if, in my case, 
 the parallel shall fail. The aspect and natural language of Rome 
 please me infinitely beyond those of Naples, and yet the air is cold 
 enough here too, but much less blowy. Whether it was the volcanic 
 and sulphureous subsoil below, and the electricity above, or what else 
 it was that gave the peculiar feel to the Neapolitan atmosphere during 
 the dry north winds, I know not ; but I was sensible of a kind of dis- 
 comfort in it which I can compare to nothing I ever experienced be- 
 fore. My illness and want of breath increased this ; and the same 
 wind having set in a month earlier than usual, it caught me before I 
 could escape, as we intended to do from the beginning, when our se- 
 cond month was out. Many a time I thought of Lord Byron's Fare- 
 well to his wife, when he spoke of the ' placid sleep which then came 
 o'er thee, which thou ne'er canst know again,' or words to that eft'ect ; 
 but I now sleep better, and have more of comfort here. I was even 
 glad that our niece was kept in continual activity, even to weariness, 
 as it saved her from depression, or any other greater evil. 
 
 " I have been attended to by Dr Hirschfeld in every possible way, 
 with a warm and friendly kindness which nothing could exceed. He 
 has been indeed a friend, a physician, and a brother ; and I have pro- 
 fited by his medical advice, as he took the trouble to ascertain my 
 condition before prescribing for me, and gave me the conviction that 
 he was thinking what he was doing ; which, as a patient, I find to be 
 a prodigous comfort. I have been attended, here, also by Dr Jenks, 
 who is very friendly and active."* 
 
 In his next letter, dated Rome, 8th March, he writes 
 thus : 
 
 " It is a strange world this, and well it is that the principle of 
 adaptation is so active and potent. My ideas now centre pretty much 
 
 * It may interest medical readers to notice that Dr Combe adds : 
 " Dr Jenks said that tubercles had nothing to do with the present ill- 
 ness, and that the lower part of the lung was pervious to air, which he 
 scarcely expected. But neither he nor Dr Hirschfeld was very will- 
 ing to say that tubercles were not formed in the upper part of the 
 lung, and I could not press them farther. The expectoration seems 
 to me almost characteristic of them, so far as one symptom can be so." 
 The real state of the lungs, as disclosed by the post-mortem examina- 
 tion, will be afterwards mentioned.
 
 214 ROME. 
 
 within the limits of my contracted horizon. The question, What can 
 I obtain to eat that I can swallow with any relish ? seems of as bound- 
 less interest as the fate of empires. What can I do to loosen the 
 tightened internal strap that cuts short my breath ? seems to me a far 
 more important problem than how shall the Reform Bill be got 
 through the Lords ; and so on with every other matter relating to self. 
 The other night, however, I hurt my side in attempting, in a dream, 
 to arrest the progress of the cholera ; which was surely very benevo- 
 lent. The cholera was earning down the street in full force, at the 
 head of a crowd of cholera patients. I was ordered to intercept their 
 progress, and in doing so, lay down at my whole length across the street 
 to kick them back, and make them tumble over me if they persisted 
 in pressing on. In effecting this, I turned over in bed unconsciously 
 on my sore side, and in that position passed two or three hours dis- 
 charging my duty. When I awoke, I was the worse for the effort." 
 
 The following letter, dated Rome, 18th March 1832, 
 addressed to his brother George, contains some remarks 
 on climate in relation to pulmonary disease, that may 
 be generally useful : 
 
 " Dr Jenks strongly recommends my passing the summer in Italy 
 or on the Continent, for the greater warmth, which he considers very 
 favourable for diseased lungs. Dr Hirschfeld agreed in this advice, 
 ' that I might be able to get more easily to proper winter quarters.' 
 My own experience is, that where tubercles are actually broken down, 
 and the lungs consequently ulcerated, heat hastens the process, and 
 not unfrequently leads to a very rapid decay ; while if the tubercles 
 are still in a crude state, moderate warmth of climate, such as suffices 
 to keep the action of the skin free, and admit of exercise, is beneficial, 
 but beyond this point heat is hurtful, as debilitating and relaxing. 
 Here, then, Dr Jenks and I differ a good deal, though perhaps not 
 radically. In past times, I have been better in moderately warm sum- 
 mers, and particulai'ly when riding about, than when warm weather 
 set in. At the same time I feel a certain degree of heat, say from 
 65 to 70, necessary to keep up a sufficient determination to the skin. 
 My notion is, then, to leave Italy in the beginning of May (for it I 
 am sure is too warm), and either to linger about the south of France, 
 moving slowly by Toulouse and the foot of the Pyrenuees to Bordeaux, 
 and try the effect of the heat without exposing myself to suffer from 
 it, and to be guided by the result ; or if a good deal stronger, to go
 
 ROME. 215 
 
 to M. Meyer's at Zurich, and try the experiment in his country, the 
 road home by water being open in the one case by Bordeaux, and the 
 other by the Rhine, in case of necessity, while both lead to Paris, 
 should I have reason to go there as the season advances. If there be 
 no open tubercles this course might be useful ; if there are, then I 
 am on the way home. I am anxious to have Dr Scott's and your view 
 of this. If the summer prove a good one in Scotland, I would as- 
 suredly like to come home, were it only for a month, for moral long- 
 ings and sympathies affect the frame as well as climate ; but while a 
 chance, i. t., a reasonable one, remains to me, I wish to avail myself of 
 it to the utmost, and having done so, I can submit, without repining, 
 to any result. 
 
 " It is long, you may say. to look foi-ward to a time I may never 
 see, viz.. next winter ; but I cannot help now stating that it will be a 
 very strong motive indeed that will make me spend it on the Conti- 
 nent. If I live and must be away from home, I am convinced, that, 
 taking one thing with another, I would have a better chance in the 
 south of England than any where in Italy or France. But it would 
 be waste of labour and time and paper to give reasons now, only I 
 wish you to know this from the beginning. Our worthy niece has 
 encountered many disagreeables ; but her cheerful and ready activity 
 has never failed her, although for weeks, in point of society, I was 
 merely an object for her to look at, not to converse with. Many in 
 her situation would have been devoured by depression and the feeling 
 of loneliness. Not so she. With her, the winter has passed easily, 
 and upon the whole pleasantly : without her, I would have been ill 
 off in body and mind.* 
 
 19$. We have had a pleasant drive to-day, and had occasion to 
 notice the difference of climate between Rome and Naples. The latter 
 abounds in orange trees, magnificent aloes, prickly plants, and others 
 peculiar to warm countries. Cotton even is cultivated. Here none 
 of these things are to be seen. One tolerably good-looking aloe 
 was to be remarked, but it turned out to be a tin one painted green. 
 Orange trees in villas are under cover. Even at Leghorn and Mar- 
 seilles many more signs of the south abound. Spring is a fortnight 
 farther advanced at Naples as regards vegetation ; but then it has 
 fine sloping exposures, and active volcanoes under ground ; and yet 
 the air here is far pleasanter to my feelings, and is, I believe, therino- 
 
 * In justice to Dr Combe it is proper to mention, that his letters 
 contain many and warm expressions of gratitude to his niece for her 
 invaluable services and untiring devotion to his welfare, but which, 
 in deference to what are known to be her feelings, are here suppressed.
 
 216 KETUliNS TO SCOTLAND. 
 
 metrically warmer in the shade, for in the sun it must be 10 higher 
 at Naples. I am advancing by almost imperceptible degrees." 
 
 He consulted Dr Spurzheim also about his plans, 
 who, in a letter, dated Paris, llth May 1832, addressed 
 to George, mentions, in the following terms, the advice 
 he had given him : " It is a long time since we have 
 interchanged letters ; but the principal reason of my 
 silence was to avoid the uneasy feeling inseparable from 
 speaking of the fate of your brother. I esteem him 
 too much not to mention him in a letter to you ; and 
 what could I do but lament his condition, or at least 
 to express my great fear for his preservation ? I wrote 
 to him at his request, and gave him freely my opinion. 
 I do not think that the hot climate is favourable to 
 tubercular complaints, when established, however fa- 
 vourable it may be to prevent them. His letter to me 
 shews great power of mind ; and I did not dissuade him 
 from returning amongst his friends at home, in case he 
 should not greatly improve from rambling about, and 
 from being a great deal in the open air." 
 
 Before the present attack of illness Dr Combe had 
 taken the usual steps to obtain admission into the 
 Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh as a fellow ; 
 but from the small hopes he entertained of his recovery, 
 the proceedings had, at his request, been suspended. 
 On the 2d of May 1832, however, a ballot took place 
 on his application, and he was duly elected. 
 
 In the beginning of May, Dr Combe left Home and 
 proceeded to Florence, and thence to Leghorn, where 
 he and his niece embarked on board of a sailing vessel 
 for London. Their voyage was slow, but agreeable, 
 and they arrived in London in the middle of July, he 
 decidedly improved in health. In a letter to George, 
 dated London, 14th July, he says : " If it were not a 
 point confirmed by experience that tubercles are incu-
 
 KETURNS TO SCOTLAND. 217 
 
 rable, I should now believe in the possibility of my 
 recovery ; but in the face of that opinion, I am only 
 thankful for the advantages received, and wait calmly 
 the result." He arrived in Edinburgh on the 17th July, 
 and took up his residence at Gorgie Mill. His friend, 
 Dr John Scott, again carefully examined him on his 
 return, and found the signs of the affection of the lungs 
 to be increased since his departure. There was con- 
 traction and flattening of the left side, more especially 
 under the clavicle to the second rib. The sound was 
 dull, and all the signs of extensive and numerous caverns 
 were discovered. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these unfavourable symptoms, 
 Dr Combe's health continued gradually to improve ; and 
 in Chap. IT. of his work on " The Principles of Physio- 
 logy" &c., he sums up the history of this attack in the 
 following words : " The author, aware that his only 
 chance lay in assisting nature to the utmost extent, 
 by placing every function in the circumstances best 
 fitted for its healthy performance, acted habitually 
 on the principle of yielding the strictest obedience to 
 the physiological laws, and rendering every other object 
 secondary to this. He did so in the full assurance that, 
 whether recovery followed or not, this was, at all events, 
 the most certain way to secure the greatest bodily ease 
 and the most perfect mental tranquillity, compatible 
 with his situation. The result was in the highest de- 
 gree satisfactory. From being obliged to pause twice 
 in getting out of bed, a slow but progressive improve- 
 ment took place, and by long and steady perseverance 
 continued, till, at the end of two or three mouths, he 
 was able to drive out and walk a little every day. 
 From month to month thereafter, the amendment was 
 so gradual as to be scarcely perceptible ; but, at the end 
 of a longer period, the difference was striking enough.
 
 218 RETURNS TO SCOTLAND. 
 
 Thus encouraged, the author continued true to his own 
 principles, in resisting every temptation to which im- 
 proving health exposed him : and the ultimate result 
 has been, that every successive year from 1832 up to 
 the present time, 1841, has, with one or two exceptions, 
 found him more healthy and vigorous than before ; and 
 that many of his professional friends, who long regarded 
 his partial convalescence as destined to be of very brief 
 duration, cannot yet refrain from an expression of sur- 
 prise on observing it to be still perceptibly advancing at 
 the end of ten years." He adds, that he publishes this 
 example, " both because, as an illustration of the ad- 
 vantages of acting in accordance with the laws of our 
 nature, it is as instructive as any with which he is ac- 
 quainted, and because it strikingly shews the gradual 
 accumulation of almost imperceptible influences operat- 
 ing surely, though slowly, in restoring him to a degree 
 of health and enjoyment which has richly repaid him 
 for all its attendant privations. Had he not been fully 
 aware of the gravity of his own situation, and, from 
 previous knowledge of the admirable adaptation of the 
 physiological laws to carry on the machinery of life, 
 disposed to place implicit reliance on the superior ad- 
 vantages of fulfilling them as the direct dictates of 
 Divine Wisdom, he never would have been able to per- 
 severe in the course chalked out for him, with that 
 ready and long-enduring regularity and cheerfulness 
 which have contributed so much to their successful ful- 
 filment and results. And, therefore, he feels himself 
 entitled to call upon those who, impatient at the slow- 
 ness of their progress, are apt after a time to disregard 
 all restrictions, to take a sounder view of their true po- 
 sition, to make themselves acquainted with the real dic- 
 tates of the organic laws ; and, having done so, to yield 
 them full, implicit, arid persevering obedience, in the
 
 COMMENCES " THE PRINCIPLES OF PHYSIOLOGY," &C. 219 
 
 certain assurance that they will reap their reward in 
 renewed health, if recovery be still possible ; and if not, 
 that they will thereby obtain more peace of mind and 
 bodily ease than by any other means which they can 
 use" 
 
 In the end of the autumn of 1832, he was sufficiently 
 recovered to resolve to pass the ensuing winter in Scot- 
 land, and even to resume his mental labours. In a 
 letter dated Gorgie Mill, 30th September 1832, ad- 
 dressed to Miss Stirling Graham of Duntrune, he gives 
 the following account of the origin of the work which 
 he subsequently published on Physiology applied to 
 Health and Education*: 
 
 " I am," says he, " not the only instance of idleness being a con- 
 sumer of time. I ride out with my niece Robina in the forenoon, and 
 walk or drive out in the afternoon, and the day is gone. I mean, 
 however, to attempt a little occupation to ease my conscience ; for ac- 
 cording to the wicked way of getting rid of temptation by yielding to 
 it, I may obtain relief by yielding to my conscience, which has been 
 abusing me sorely for vegetating and consuming the fruits of the 
 earth to no purpose. I began, a few days ago, a kind of anatomico- 
 physiological history of the human body and its functions, first to 
 enable my brother George to deliver it in lectures to his class, and 
 also with a view to publication, if it pleases me and I can finish it. It 
 would make a very useful volume, if it were well done." 
 
 In December of that year, he published a portion of 
 the work in the Phrenological Journal,* in an Essay 
 on the " Nature and Uses of the Skin, as connected 
 with the preservation of Health." 
 
 * Vol. viii., p. 1.
 
 220 ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOVERNESS 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LETTER ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OP A GOVERNESS IN RELATION TO 
 
 HER PUPILS. DR COMBE VISITS LONDON AND PARIS RESUMES HIS 
 
 PRACTICE ANSWERS DR PRICHARD's OBJECTIONS AGAINST PHRE- 
 NOLOGY. LETTER ON SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS. SIONTROSE LUNATIC 
 ASYLUM. VISITS HANWELL LUNATIC ASYLUM. LETTER TO A 
 MOTHER ON THE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MORAL MANAGEMENT OF 
 HER CHILDREN. 
 
 ALTHOUGH in the spring of 1833 Dr Combe's health 
 was much improved, he was still unable to resume me- 
 dical practice ; and the following letter on the necessity 
 of adapting the qualifications of a governess to the 
 mental condition of her pupils, is one of the few traces 
 remaining of his mental activity at this time. It is 
 dated 7th April 1833, and is addressed to Mrs 
 P . 
 
 " You seem to be under the impression, that because 
 
 the Misses are behind young ladies of their age, 
 
 both in acquirements and in development of intellect, 
 and feeling, it is not necessary to have a governess of 
 the highest talents, character, and experience, and that 
 in reality the exertions of such a person would be in a 
 manner lost upon them. Now, even granting that they 
 are as much behind as you think them, my inference 
 would be the contrary one. For it seems to me, that 
 on such a supposition it would be the MORE NECESSARY 
 to place them under the direction of one so much their 
 superior in every thing as to make them feel their de- 
 ficiencies, and afford them that stimulus to habitual ex-
 
 IN RELATION* TO HER PUPILS. 221 
 
 ertion in the exercise of both intellect and feeling, which 
 a person possessed of talent, activity, and moral energy, 
 can alone impart ; and that nothing short of the abso- 
 lute impossibility of meeting with such a person can 
 warrant the engaging of one of an inferior description. 
 If you again place them under a governess of merely 
 ordinary capacity and qualifications, you leave them 
 without that ever present motive to steady mental ap- 
 plication and correct moral feeling, which in coming to 
 you it was their chief aim to acquire. In considering 
 this, it is right to keep in mind that it is not deficiency 
 of mental power which ails them ; for their large brains 
 and many of their manifestations shew the contrary. 
 It is the want of the power of regular and sustained 
 activity ; and this can be supplied only by a person so 
 much more advanced and gifted than themselves as to 
 command their respect. Sluggish as their faculties 
 may be, they are yet powerful enough when active to 
 perceive very readily the weaknesses and deficiencies of 
 their instructors ; and, consequently, the moment they 
 discover either the ignorance or moderate talent of one 
 placed over them, all beneficial influence in stimulating 
 their own faculties is at end, and they will continue to 
 go on undisturbed in their own way, exerting themselves 
 when inclined, and relaxing without scruple when they 
 find the desire for activity gone. 
 
 " If, again, their faculties be wakening, which I be- 
 lieve, it is impossible to overrate the importance of 
 having a decidedly superior, steady, and energetic mind 
 to encourage and lead them on to still farther improve- 
 ment. For, without such a guide constantly at hand 
 to influence them in the right direction, there is much 
 risk of their nascent power being dissipated on the feel- 
 ing of the moment, and turned to no useful account." 
 
 As Dr Combe had generally been benefited by change
 
 222 DR COMBE VISITS LONDON AND PARIS. 
 
 of air, he went to London in April 1833, and afterwards 
 to Paris, accompanied by his nephew, Abram Cox (now 
 Dr Cox of Kingston on Thames), who had then just 
 finished his medical studies in Edinburgh, and by his 
 young friend Mr Walter Ainslie, both of whom desired to 
 complete their education in the French capital. From 
 London he writes to Miss Cox as follows : 
 
 " 2d May 1833. The public is excited about the 
 malt-duties and assessed taxes, and I see some shop- 
 windows exhibit ' No assessed taxes paid here? I like 
 freedom, but I do not like this spirit. It is at variance 
 with government of every kind. Sir Andrew Agnew is 
 the subject of numerous caricatures, of which I send 
 you two as a specimen. The serious people regret that 
 he has shewn so little tact and knowledge of existing 
 feeling, and gone to such extremes with the provisions 
 of his (Sunday observance) bill, as even those who would 
 have been happy to compel cessation from labour on 
 Sundays are against him. He has lost an opportunity 
 of doing much good." 
 
 In London he was seized with the influenza, which 
 then generally and severely affected Great Britain and 
 the continent of Europe ; but it did not prevent him 
 from prosecuting his journey. From Paris, on the 15th 
 of May 1833, he wrote to his brother George : 
 
 " Here, too, the influenza, or grippe, as they call it, 
 is very prevalent. Report says that 100,000 are ill ; 
 and in some banks only one clerk in seven is able for 
 duty. The heat is intense. The thermometer stands 
 daily at 80; being from 15 to 25 warmer than at 
 Leghorn last year at the same season. 
 
 " I went to-day to call for our valued friend Royer 
 [M. A. A. Royer, of the Jardin des Plantes], and was 
 much grieved to learn that he died a fortnight ago. 
 He was a good, kind-hearted man, and I regret his loss
 
 PARIS. 223 
 
 severely. He and Dr Spurzheim* were my best friends 
 when I was last here. Both were then well, and sorry 
 for me : now, both are gone, and I am left. Both are 
 often presented before me by memory Spurzheim as 
 I looked for the last time on his beaming benevolent 
 countenance at the coach-office door. Such is the fate 
 of man. Let us live as we ought to do while time is 
 ours. 
 
 " The graceful, elegant, and spirituel Andrieux, in 
 whose prelections on French eloquence I used to de- 
 light, is just dead ; and it is very gratifying to see the 
 respect paid to his remains, and the estimate formed of 
 his talents and character. He fascinated me, and dis- 
 played a meaning and beauty in the passages which he 
 quoted, which I might never have discovered by read- 
 ing them. He was a liberal, upright, and amiable man. 
 " It is disgusting to read the pertinacious, little, 
 quibbling, worrying, and dishonest attacks made on the 
 Royal family and government here. Opposition on prin- 
 ciple is an honourable and useful employment, and 
 commands respect even from those against whom it is 
 directed ; but here, a carping, selfish, and disappointed 
 spirit pervades the opposition, and the other is the ex- 
 ception. They provoke my Conscientiousness and Com- 
 bativeness." 
 
 The weather in Paris proved excessively warm, and 
 he speedily returned to Scotland, and passed the sum- 
 mer in visiting several friends in the country. In a 
 
 * In 1833 Dr Spurzheim received several pressing invitations 
 from the friends of Phrenology in the United States to go thither and 
 lecture, and in June of that year he sailed from Havre to New York. 
 He had nearly completed his first course of lectures in Boston, when 
 he was seized with nervous fever, and after a few days' illness, died 
 there on 10th November 1833. His death was deeply regretted, 
 and the inhabitants of Boston gave him a public funeral, and erected 
 a handsome monument to his memory.
 
 224 RESUMES HIS PRACTICE. 
 
 letter to Miss Cox, dated 29th August 1833, written 
 from Duntrune, near Dundee, the residence of Miss 
 Stirling Graham, he writes : " As to my health, pro- 
 spects, and employment, there is little doubt that a 
 profession subject to less exposure and anxiety would 
 give me a better chance of longer life ; but I am em- 
 barked in one, have no other, and must proceed. I 
 am now so well that I have no reason for longer de- 
 lay in resuming my duties, and will use every precau- 
 tion to prevent them from injuring me. I should like 
 to know what a sound-headed medical man thought 
 of my prospects ; but my medical friends seem to be 
 averse to minute examination and explicit statement, 
 confining themselves to general remarks, and thinking, 
 apparently, that it would not be agreeable to discuss 
 matters too particularly with me, and I have thus been 
 left very much to my own guidance and knowledge of 
 functions. I sometimes wonder whether I am to go 
 soon, or to patch up and last for some years ; which 
 last I am inclined to think will be the case." 
 
 On the 25th September 1833 George Combe was mar- 
 ried to Miss Cecilia Siddons, and removed to Charlotte 
 Square, leaving Dr Combe and Miss Cox in possession 
 of the house in Northumberland Street, in which they 
 had previously lived together. 
 
 Dr Combe now resumed the practice of his profes- 
 sion, and in intervals of leisure wrote articles for the 
 Phrenological Journal, and proceeded with his work on 
 " The Principles of Physiology applied to the Preserva- 
 tion of Health" &c. He was welcomed back by his pa- 
 tients with a cordial esteem ; and, but for his infirm 
 health, which still limited his powers of exertion, he 
 would have speedily recovered the ground which he had 
 lost in his practice by his long indisposition. 
 
 Among his other contributions to the Phrenological
 
 ANSWER TO DR PRICHAKD. 225 
 
 Journal,* is an answer to Dr Prichard's objections 
 against Phrenology, published by him in an article on 
 Temperament in the Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine. 
 " Dr Prichard," says he, " takes occasion to introduce 
 the subject of Phrenology, and to express his convic- 
 tion that its doctrines are untrue. He begins by stating 
 that nearly all that has been advanced of late by Eng- 
 lish writers against the science, was brought forward 
 many years since, in the most forcible manner, by the 
 Edinburgh Review ; and he complains that ' similar 
 objections are still frequently repeated, though most per- 
 sons have become, or might have become, aware of their 
 inconclusiveness.' It is pleasant to find an able op- 
 ponent like Dr Prichard thus doing justice upon his 
 coadjutors, and declaring that their arguments go for 
 nothing. We only fear that his successors will repay 
 him in kind, and affirm, with equal truth, that his ob- 
 jections are not less inconclusive than those which he 
 so properly and unreservedly condemns." He then 
 enters on a minute examination of Dr Prichard's argu- 
 ments, and meets his statement that the collection of 
 six hundred skulls and casts of skulls of insane persons 
 formed by Monsieur Esquirol, affords evidence adverse 
 to Phrenology, by a positive affirmation of the contrary, 
 founded on his own knowledge of that collection and 
 its indications. 
 
 " So far," says he, " from the evidence which these six hundred 
 skulls and casts afford being really adverse to Phrenology, the fact is 
 so much the reverse, that we would willingly peril the whole science 
 on the vei'y experiment which Dr Prichard proposes. We would even 
 admit Messrs Esquirol and Metivier to he the sole judges, provided 
 they would previously prove, to the satisfaction of impartial persons, 
 their " competency " to decide on the form and phrenological indica- 
 tions of the skulls, by each accurately pointing out the situations and 
 
 * Vol. viii., p. 649.
 
 226 ANSWER TO DR PRICHARD. 
 
 natural size of the cerebral organs, in any three skulls in the collec- 
 tion. But we expect, in return for this concession, that if they fail 
 in the preliminary attempt, and prove themselves ignorant "both of the 
 doctrine and its practice, Dr Prichard will in turn admit that their 
 opinion is valueless on account of that incompetency. "We know it to 
 be a fact, that when we visited Ivry in September 1831, they were in 
 the state of ignorance above represented, and that, nevertheless, they 
 then gave the same unhesitating testimony against Phrenology which 
 Dr Prichard says they gave to him. But we had the means of esti- 
 mating its real worth, which he had not ; and hence the error into 
 which he has fallen." 
 
 He concludes his remarks in these words : 
 
 " "We regret that we have been forced into this discussion about the 
 value of Esqtiirol's phrenological opinions ; because we can never for- 
 get the advantages which we enjoyed in being admitted to his instruc- 
 tive clinical lectures on insanity at the Salpetriere, and the very high 
 respect which we felt for the talent, zeal, unwearied interest, and con- 
 ciliating kindness, which characterised his whole conduct towards the 
 unhappy inmates of that vast establishment. His visits and lectures 
 were not only valuable professional, but highly important moral 
 lessons. No one could attend them for a season, and witness their 
 effects in soothing misery, cheering despondency, and inspiring hope 
 into the sinking heart, without being improved in his own moral feel- 
 ings, and impressed with a higher sense of the dignity of the profession. 
 Neither can we forget the personal kindness and attention with which, 
 on a more recent occasion, he conducted us through the hospital at Cha- 
 renton and his splendid private establishment at Ivry, and dedicated 
 three hours to the gratification of our curiosity in regard to the de- 
 tails. Gratitude for these advantages and acts of kindness would 
 have effectually prevented us from dragging forward opinions which 
 we think he has inconsiderately emitted, and which, so far as we 
 know, he has never obtruded. But when we find a physician of Dr 
 Prichard's reputation strenuously founding on them in a work of high 
 authority and wide circulation, and which exercises great influence 
 over the opinions of the rising generation, and thus may become the 
 means of retarding the progress of the greatest discovery of the age, 
 we can no longer allow personal considerations to stand in the way of 
 their entire refutation. But we have endeavoured to expose the fal- 
 lacy of Dr Prichard's arguments, and the erroneousness of M. Esqui- 
 rol's opinion, without failing in that respect which is due to both of 
 them as men of science and men of sense ; and trust that in this effort 
 we have not been unsuccessful."
 
 ESQUIROL. 227 
 
 Connected with this subject, the following extract of 
 a letter from Dr Combe to his brother George, dated 
 Paris, 22d October 1831, may be interesting to the 
 medical reader : 
 
 " Esquirol,'' says he, " has seen and observed a great deal, and 
 might give a valuable history of his experience. His detached articles 
 contain much that is useful. I asked him why he did not publish his 
 labours in a regular work. He answered, that at the time of the 
 insurrection of three days" (which placed Louis-Philippe on the 
 throne) " he had actually completed two-thirds of a book of this kind, 
 and had had it advertised, but that he had been so affected and dis- 
 turbed by these public events, that he had not been able to finish a 
 line since ; not that he suffered personally, but only in common with 
 those who loved their country and hated revolutions. I urged him 
 repeatedly to finish it, which he said he would attempt ; but when 
 a man's mind is affected in such a manner, and to such an extent, 
 I fear that little more is to be expected from him. I regret his con- 
 dition much. He said that we in Great Britain are in the highway 
 to a horrid and bloody revolution, let the Reform Bill pass or not. 
 He is also greatly alarmed about the approach of cholera, and says 
 that when it comes to Paris, he will run to the south. His own expres- 
 sion was, that he is ' d'une pusillanimite extreme ' in regard to it ; 
 and yet he never shrank from his duty in attending patients labour- 
 ing under typhus fever in the hospital. I infer from these circum- 
 stances that his best days are past, and that a man ought to work 
 when he is able, and not trust to the future." 
 
 It is gratifying to add that Monsieur Esquirol re- 
 covered from this state of mind, and in 1838 published 
 his intended work in two volumes, with an atlas, under 
 the title : " Des Maladies Mentales, considerees sous 
 les Rapports medical, hygienique, et medico-legal." In 
 the preface he says : " L'ouvrage que j'offre au public 
 est le resultat de quarante ans d'etude et d'observa- 
 tion." He died on the 12th December 1840. 
 
 The following letter, dated Edinburgh, 19th Novem- 
 ber 1833, from Dr Combe to his nephew Mr Robert 
 Cox, refers to the chapter on Spectral Illusions in the
 
 228 REMARKS ON SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS. 
 
 second edition of Mr Macnish's " Philosophy of Sleep," 
 which had been submitted in manuscript to Mr Cox, as 
 a friend of the author, for his suggestions : 
 
 " I have read the MS. carefully, and think the account given is 
 clear and satisfactory. Mr Macnish is right not to attempt to ex- 
 plain too much. To say that the organ of Size is affected when the 
 visions are colossal, and Form when faces, half faces, &c., are seen, 
 is in reality to advance nothing beyond an obvious inference from the 
 nature of the faculties of Size and Form. If we could give any ex- 
 planation why excitement of Size makes the vision colossal and not 
 microscopic, or why excitement of Form produces a vision of facets 
 or persons, rather than of trees or of houses, it would be something. 
 I think Mr M. is right also in not laying much stress on pain in the 
 superciliary ridge, for, so far as I have seen, the pain is more fre- 
 quently in the exciting organ (generally Wonder}. This was the case 
 in the instance of Dr A., mentioned at p. 197 of my book on Mental 
 Derangement, and in the Journal, vol. v., p. 585, as plagued by the 
 invisibles ; and in him an inflammatory deposit was found after death 
 in the region of Wonder. This case is remarkable as exhibiting the 
 mental phenomenon of belief in the existence and agency of the invi- 
 sibles, the PERCEPTION of them never having taken place, owing to 
 the knowing organs having escaped ; and as an illustration of this 
 point of doctrine, it may be worth Mr Macnish's attention. 
 
 " In a case of delirium tremens in an innkeeper, about whom I 
 was consulted, the spectral illusions continued several days, and had 
 a distinct reference to a large and active cerebellum, conjoined with 
 Wonder. The man refused to allow me to look at a blister which had 
 been placed between the shoulders, because he could not take off his 
 coat before the ladies who were in the room. When I assured him there 
 was no one in the room, he smiled at the joke as he conceived it to 
 be, and, in answer to my questions, described them as several in num- 
 her, well-dressed, and good-looking. At my request he rose up to 
 shake hands with them, and was astonished at finding them elude his 
 grasp, and his hand strike the wall. This, however, convinced him 
 that it was an illusion, and he forthwith took off his coat, but was un- 
 willing to converse longer on the subject. In a few days the ladies 
 vanished from his sight." 
 
 On the 22d March 1834, Dr Combe wrote to his 
 brother George as follows : " You will see an adver-
 
 MOXTROSE LUNATIC ASYLUM. 229 
 
 tisement in to-day's Advertiser about the Lunatic Asy- 
 lum at Montrose, which offers a liberal salary, &c., to 
 ' a medical gentleman ;' application to be made to your 
 friend Mr James Leighton. I should like you to write 
 to him, asking what are the duties, &c., and whether 
 the said gentleman is to control or to be controlled, &c. 
 
 " The reason of this application is, that I have a 
 hankering after some such charge, as better suited to 
 my present condition of body and mind than general 
 practice, for which I do not feel that I have adequate 
 stamina." 
 
 The same advertisement attracted the notice of l)r 
 W. A. F. Browne, who had studied Phrenology under 
 George Combe, and afterwards the subject of insanity 
 in Paris, under Esquirol, and who, moreover, had prac- 
 tically devoted himself to that branch of the profes- 
 sion ; and he wrote to Dr Combe and his brother, so- 
 liciting their influence in procuring the appointment for 
 him. As Dr Combe, from personal intimacy with Dr 
 Browne, entertained a high opinion of his merits, he im- 
 mediately gave up all idea of himself applying for the 
 situation, and cordially supported the pretensions of his 
 young friend. Dr Browne produced the highest testi- 
 monials of fitness for the office from men of distin- 
 guished reputation, and these procured for him the ap- 
 pointment; while Dr Combe's standing with the Sheriff 
 and some of the resident gentry of Forfarshire, who 
 had benefited by his medical judgment and experience, 
 rendered his recommendation not without weight in ac- 
 complishing this object.* 
 
 * Dr Browne gave such high satisfaction as resident medical super- 
 intendent of the Montrose Asylum, that he was subsequently chosen 
 to fill the corresponding office in the Crichton Royal institution for 
 the Insane, near Dumfries ; and in public estimation he now stands 
 in the first rank in this branch of the medical profession.
 
 230 HANWELL LUNATIC ASYLUM. 
 
 In May 1834, Dr Combe made a voyage to London 
 for change of air, and in a letter to Miss Cox, dated 49 
 Jermyn Street, llth May, he illustrates as follows the 
 effect of a certain combination of the cerebral organs, 
 which he had observed in one of the fellow-passen- 
 gers : 
 
 " Miss was somewhat of a brunette, of an active tempera- 
 ment, had large observing organs, particularly an enormous Individu- 
 ality, some Ideality, much Love of Approbation, and other good qua- 
 lities. This development made her desire to know every thing and 
 every body, and every place ; but as her reflecting organs were only 
 moderate in size, her knowledge, without the guidance of principle, 
 was often inaccurate, and she shed doubt and obscurity around her, in- 
 stead of certainty and light. She said that she knew this great person 
 and that great person, this lovely scene, and that dear delightful land- 
 scape, &c. She shewed me Lord A 's splendid property on the 
 
 Kent side of the Thames ! where he had none ; said his lordship lived 
 much in Edinburgh, which I doubted ; then was sure that he did in 
 winter, which I still doubted ; then was positive that his two daugh- 
 ters, Lady Mary and Lady spent the winters there, and were 
 
 there now, for she had met the latter, not long since. I once more 
 
 astonished her by philosophic doubt, and said that both Ladies 
 
 and were in London ; but as for Lady Mary, I surrendered her 
 
 to be located at her discretion, for I knew that no such lady existed. 
 I noticed the tendency of her Individuality to name every thing (vide 
 my theory in the Journal*) ; and it is astonishing how much it helps 
 one to do so. I know many things well, to which I can give no name, 
 many diseased states, for instance." 
 
 Dr Combe's Individuality was deficient. 
 
 During this excursion, he visited the Lunatic Asy- 
 lum at Hanwell, of which he gives the following descrip- 
 tion in a letter to Miss Cox, dated London, 16th May 
 1834: 
 
 " Mrs Maconochie and I went to Hanwell Asylum on Wednesday, 
 and spent four hours there with extreme satisfaction. It is entirely 
 a pauper asylum, and contains nearly 600 patients, and yet so adini- 
 
 * Phrenological Journal, vol. Hi., p. 120, on the Talent for recol- 
 lecting Names.
 
 HANWELL LUNATIC ASYLUM. 231 
 
 rably managed that order, quiet, and comfort, reigu throughout. 
 Scarcely fifty can be considered in a curable state, and the number of 
 very bad cases is thus unusually great ; and yet, even among the worst, 
 the idiotic, the furious, and the epileptic, there was an aspect of compa- 
 rative cheerfulness, perfect order, and confidence in the motives of the 
 managers, which is an admirable proof of the general system of treat- 
 ment being actively kind, discriminating, and judicious. Employment 
 is sedulously attended to, and with the best effects. Gardening, field- 
 cultivation, baking, brewing, shoemaking, tailoring, basketmaking, 
 straw-plaiting, washing, and many other things, are carried on by the 
 patients, and every indulgence, such as tobacco, &c., is made to depend 
 on work being done. Example goes very far in inducing most of them ; 
 and the consciousness of being considered useful impels many more, and 
 stimulates and comforts their best feelings, and connects them with 
 the sympathies of sane minds. The appearance and the reality of 
 forced confinement are thus greatly reduced, and apparatus of govern- 
 ment is so little visible that every one looks as if left to his own care. 
 This confidence has not been abused, no accident having ever hap- 
 pened among them ; while the moral feelings are manifestly cherished 
 and active. Their likings and dislikings are considered, and allow- 
 ance made for them. They are all addressed to the utmost possible 
 extent as rational creatures ; and, in every stage, this is found to be 
 the best and soundest treatment. I insist on this in my book, and 
 have sometimes been thought credulous for it. Were recent cases 
 sent to Hanwell, I feel assured that a vast proportion would be cured. 
 The sane part of the establishment is by far the most troublesome. 
 from the instinctive tendency which coarse uneducated keepers have 
 to resort to harshness and compulsion. Dr Ellis, the resident physi- 
 cian, is a cheerful, benevolent, and sensible man, blessed with a wife 
 who is a treasure, not to him only, but to the whole establishment. 
 She has a very large head of prodigious moral height and fine intel- 
 lect. The coronal region is quite predominating, and gives a kind 
 of prolonged tone at times that looks lymphatic, but which is truly 
 the sentiments luxuriating in their office. Her influence in tran- 
 quillizing and cheering the patients is manifestly very great ; and if 
 any body doubts the efficacy of morality and intelligence on the in- 
 sane, I would defy him to pass some days here and remain sceptical. 
 It gives one confidence in the ultimate destinies of human nature to 
 witness its aspect at Hauwell. I am pleased, you may suppose, to find 
 every principle laid down in my book on insanity borne out by years 
 of practice in this establishment. Both Dr and Mrs Ellis, I may add, 
 are themselves phrenologists, and aware of its value to a very consi- 
 derable extent."
 
 232 LETTER TO 1 A MOTHER 
 
 In the following letter, dated 4th August 1834, ad- 
 dressed to Mrs P Q , several views which he 
 
 subsequently published in his work on "The Physio- 
 logical and Moral Management of Infancy" may be 
 traced : 
 
 " On reading a note of the lessons and occupations given by 
 (a governess), I am quite satisfied that a chief cause of her indifferent 
 health is her having too much to do, too continued a strain on her 
 attention, and too little relaxation ; and I am not less convinced that 
 the children must suffer from the same cause, and that their powers 
 of active application, and progress in their studies, must be impaired 
 rather than improved. 
 
 " The prevailing error in modern education is having too little 
 regard to the physical condition and mental wants of the- young, 
 and applying to them rules which are fitted only for minds arrived 
 at maturity. The young are in a constant state of growth and tran- 
 sition up to twenty or twenty-five years of age, and consequently nei- 
 ther their brains nor their bodies can bear continued and formal ap- 
 plication without injury. But in despite of this, modern education de- 
 votes itself as assiduously to mental cultivation, as if the brain were 
 capable of unremitting action in the same direction ; and the result 
 is, that the power of steady attention is weakened, studies are prose- 
 cuted with monotonous indifference, and the bodily health is never 
 robust. Whereas, if, we would consent to look at the designs of the 
 Creator, we should see that the physical structure of man requires for 
 its perfect development the same playful muscular indulgence which 
 is so characteristic of the young cat, dog, or horse, and which is essen- 
 tial to their future strength and health. The enjoyment which the 
 young of the lower animals have in motion, may seem merely a plea- 
 sure granted to them by a beneficent Creator, but in reality it serves 
 the higher purpose of contributing to their perfection. Man is sub- 
 ject, in this respect, to the same law, and the appetite for motion and 
 play which all healthy children manifest, is a means granted to them 
 for the express purpose of developing their physical powers and mo- 
 ral feelings, which ought to be cultivated quite as much as mere in- 
 tellectual superiority, or, in fact, a great deal more, because without 
 this condition, real intellectual superiority can scarcely be obtained. 
 Even when children are allowed wholesome play, the latter is often 
 rendered unavailing by being stamped with the formality of the pa- 
 rents' mind, instead of being the effect of the child's own faculties. 
 We are so differently constituted, that no mature mind can prescribe
 
 ON THE MANAGEMENT OF HER CHILDREN. 233 
 
 real play for a child, or even one child for another. What one de- 
 lights in, another pronounces to be tiresome ; and if all are made to 
 adopt the same, the chief advantage is at once sacrificed. The great, 
 matter is to get children to do heartily what they are about. If 
 they are to have lessons, do not let these be so long continued as to 
 wear out or tire their powers of exertion. If they are to play, let them 
 do it in their own fashion, and not according to older people's rules, 
 except in forbidding what is wrong. By regulating too much for them, 
 we make them little men and women before their time, but we destroy 
 their elasticity as children, and sacrifice their future independence of 
 character ; and I think, too, we render them more selfish, by having 
 our attention so ostensibly and constantly fixed upon them. Place 
 them in safety, and leave them some freedom of action on their own 
 account, without the pressure of knowing that their every movement 
 is superintended. A child that knows itself watched, cannot by pos- 
 sibility turn its mind away from itself, and at last, if not attended to 
 on all occasions, it thinks itself neglected. 
 
 " I meet with no complaint from parents so frequently as that their 
 children do not apply properly, and that they are thus obliged to re- 
 strict them from relaxation, and keep them longer employed than 
 they would wish. But in nine instances out of ten, the fault is in the 
 unnatural demand made on the child's power of attention. If a child 
 want fixity of attention, the habit is not to be created by keeping at 
 it, but by requiring strenuous exertion for short periods, no matter 
 how short at first, and extending gradually as strength is gained. 
 
 " The object of this long preface is simply to express my convic- 
 tion that your children, and Miss too, will get greater mental 
 
 and bodily vigour by your giving them one-third or one-half fewer 
 hours of lessons, and leaving them more to the natural impulses of 
 children for their outdoor recreations ; and dividing better the times 
 of employment. They rise at half-past six, and have religious in- 
 struction from seven to half-past eight, and then breakfast. This 
 seems a defective arrangement, as, from the activity of nutrition 
 at that age, no child can profitably apply one hour and a half be- 
 fore eating ; and if it eat before application, the stomach is weak- 
 ened for its regular breakfast. Half an hour of any light employ- 
 ment is all that ought to precede breakfast. Let breakfast occupy 
 one hour, and add half an hour in the open air, and then both 
 mind and body will be ready to act. But writing ought to be 
 reserved for later in the day, as the posture constrains the body and 
 impedes digestion. Two hours of varied study may now be taken, 
 admitting 10 or 15 minutes of relaxation in the middle of it. Then 
 take an hour and a half outdoor exercise, followed by writing and
 
 234 LETTER TO A MOTHER. 
 
 arithmetic for another hour. Allow at the very least an hour, or, 
 still better, two hours for dinner and relaxation after it ; then take 
 music, or any thing requiring no great exertion, say for one hour, 
 then history or geography for another hour ; half an hour's play, 
 and, lastly, writing, &c., again. If, in walking out, a natural taste 
 for botanical inquiry leads them to examine objects, or they can be 
 led to it casually, cultivate it, but do not let the time for walking or 
 play be converted into a formal lesson time, as it is only entire free- 
 dom that can give it true relaxation. 
 
 " I have spoken more strongly on this subject, because of late my 
 attention has been directed more closely to the observation of the evil 
 consequences of the prevailing over-education of the mind and neglect 
 of the real feelings and wants of children. 
 
 " The latter can thrive only when treated according to their na- 
 ture as children, and not as sedate, thinking creatures, which they 
 are not. In the middle and higher classes, they are too little in the 
 society of other children, and, consequently, their feelings and moral 
 sentiments do not receive that practical education which is so suitable 
 for preparing them for active life. Moral and religious instruc- 
 tion is carefully provided ; but, from the want of opportunity of exer- 
 cising their feelings in practice on their equals, the half of the benefit 
 is lost. They are told how to feel and what to do, without having it 
 in their power adequately to practise the precepts which they receive. 
 The good conduct of children towards their parents, or towards grown 
 people, is but slender proof of their moral superiority, because, to- 
 wards them, many and mixed motives combine to enforce good con- 
 duct. The fair trial is Avhere the natural tendencies come freely out, 
 without any expectation of being seen by those whose displeasure 
 they fear, and hence this is the true field in which character ought 
 to be formed."
 
 HIS WORK OX HEALTH AND EDUCATION. 235 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PUBLISHES HIS WORK OX PHYSIOLOGY APPLIED TO HEALTH AXD 
 
 EDUCATION. LETTER OX THE DUTY OF COXFIDEXTIAL RESERVE 
 
 OX THE PART OF A PHYSICIAX. LETTER OX THE DUTY OF GITIXG 
 
 OPIXIOXS OX PRACTICAL MATTERS TO FRIEXDS. PREMOXITORY LET- 
 TER OF ADVICE TO A LADY. HE PROJECTS ESTABLISHIXG A LUXA- 
 
 TIC ASYLUM. PvELIXQUISHES PRACTICE FOR A TIME. LETTER FROM 
 
 COUL. LETTER FROM PAEIS. REMARKS OX BRIBERY AT ELECTIOXS. 
 
 LETTER TO MR RICHARD CARMICHAEL. DR COMBE IS APPOIXTED 
 
 PHYSICIAX TO THE KIXG OF THE BELGIAXS. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING his still feeble health, Dr Combe 
 completed, and, in March 1834, published his book on 
 " The Principles of Physiology applied to the Preser- 
 vation of Health, and to the Improvement of Physical 
 and Mental Education." This work has obtained such 
 an extensive circulation, that it is unnecessary to men- 
 tion its objects and contents. Suffice it to say, that so 
 diffident was its author, that he had some hesitation in 
 printing even 750 copies of the first edition. The im- 
 pression was sold to an eminent publisher in Edin- 
 burgh, who offered 40 for a second edition of 1000 
 copies, but which sum Dr Combe, considering it inade- 
 quate, declined to accept. 
 
 On the 14th November in that year, he wrote to the 
 late Mr John Murray, publisher in London, as follows: 
 " In March last I published a volume of about 380 
 pages in post 8vo, entitled 4 The Principles of Phy- 
 siology,' &c. The first edition, consisting of 750 co- 
 pies, was exhausted about the end of June or beginniug 
 of July. At the end of July a second edition of 1000
 
 236 WORK ON HEALTH AND EDUCATION. 
 
 was published, which is now so nearly exhausted that 
 I have commenced printing a third, which I intend 
 making 3000 copies. The object of the present letter 
 is to inquire whether you would be disposed to purchase 
 the proposed or any larger edition, and on what terms." 
 The proposed purchase was declined. Dr Combe sub- 
 sequently applied to other publishers ; but, finding it 
 difficult to conclude a satisfactory arrangement with 
 them, he ultimately adopted the mode of publication 
 which is the only resource of young authors who have 
 not acquired a recognised position in public estimation ; 
 namely, he printed this edition at his own expense, and 
 employed publishers in London and Edinburgh to sell 
 the copies on commission. The sales of this and his 
 subsequent works speedily became so extensive that he 
 found it advantageous to pursue this plan of publica- 
 tion with them all. " The Principles of Physiology cup- 
 lied to Health" &c., was eminently successful ; and at 
 the time of Dr Combe's death in 1847, 28,000 copies of 
 it had been sold, exclusive of numerous editions in the 
 United States of North America. 
 
 It is only justice to a class of men whose conduct 
 is often harshly spoken of in the biographies of au- 
 thors, to mention that Dr Combe did not consider 
 himself unkindly or ungenerously treated by the pub- 
 lishers to whom he offered his works. His estimate 
 of his own merits was so modest, that he was not 
 mortified by the caution which they practised in de- 
 clining to hazard their property on the faith of his 
 deserts being recognised by the public ; and in all his 
 subsequent transactions with them, as venders of his 
 books on commission, he recognised in them integrity 
 and punctuality. It is true that authors who dispose of 
 their works by the agency of publishers are subject to 
 deductions, in name of commission and other allow-
 
 HIS RESERVE ON CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS. 237 
 
 ances, amounting in all to abont forty-two per cent, 
 from the price at which the books are sold to the public, 
 and exclusive of the expenses of advertising, which also 
 are defrayed by the author. But as bookselling is an 
 open trade, and no safe and respectable establishment 
 will sell for authors on lower terms, we may rest as- 
 sured that experience has established the fact, that in 
 the present state of society, this is the minimum rate at 
 which the publishers' duty can be properly discharged ; 
 and that, therefore, there is no injustice in these charges. 
 
 The following letter to Miss A B , dated 
 
 4th November 1834, touches on a point of great im- 
 portance and delicacy as between a physician and his 
 patients : 
 
 " Many thanks for your note, the contents of which astonished nie. 
 Any charge more thoroughly at variance with my practice and cha- 
 racter than that of my allowing third persons to read letters addressed 
 to me professionally, could not have been devised. Within my memory, 
 I do not know even of one note, ktter, or even dinner invitation, which 
 either Miss Cox or any one of the family has opened or read with- 
 out my having put it into their hands for that purpose. It is so alien 
 to my feelings and principles to allow any such thing, that rather 
 than risk even an approach to it, 1 avoid speaking of notes, letters, 
 the health or affairs of friends, even, perhaps, when I ought to do so. 
 just for fear of either getting into the habit or saying too much. And 
 I am habitually accused at home of not mentioning ordinary occur- 
 rences, which people speak of to my inmates as if they knew all about 
 them from me, and then they express wonder. Did the Doctor not 
 tell you so and so ?' I abstain from such communications on principle, 
 because 1 both see and hear many things which ought not to be re- 
 peated ; and there are also many which, although of themselves in- 
 different, I do not repeat, just because mentioning them would leave 
 it doubtful how much farther I had gone. It was but two days agu 
 
 a very amiable friend and patient, Miss , made this very remark, 
 
 that of all the things, serious or indifferent, which in the course of a 
 very long illness and much conversation on all subjects she had told 
 me, not one had come back to her as frou^ me. although she lives sur- 
 rounded by our common friends ; and she could not help remarking 
 the fact, and the utility of it in obtaining confidence.
 
 238 ON THE DUTY OP ADVISING F1UENDS. 
 
 " In regard to letters which may be seen on my table, I take very 
 good care to leave none which may not be printed in the North Bri- 
 tish Advertiser every Saturday morning without hurting any body's 
 feelings." 
 
 The next letter, without a date, addressed to the 
 same correspondent, contains Dr Combe's remarks on 
 the duty of giving opinions to friends. 
 
 " I have often thought you wrong in being so very scrupulous 
 about giving your opinion to your friends, when called on in a legiti- 
 mate manner ; and resolved to tell you so. I suspect that Self-Esteem 
 has a lurking share in your refusal. Every body's opinion, as you 
 know well, is received by every other individual, not as abstract truth, 
 but as his or her opinion; and according to our estimate of the character 
 and judgment of the adviser do we place confidence in the opinion given. 
 In pronouncing your opinion, you do no more than say, that ' I, A 
 B , think so and so, but you, C D , may think differ- 
 ently, and be very right for all that.' Every one understands that 
 you mean to say so much and no more. As public opinion can be 
 known only by the expression of individual opinion, and we are en- 
 abled to place the truth in a clearer light in proportion as we know 
 how our statements affect different minds, I suspect it is a shrinking 
 from duty when we decline to give utterance to our opinions on mat- 
 ters of importance, when fairly and legitimately brought before us. 
 Even an erroneous judgment may help to advance truth. When we 
 discover that our representation has led to error, we should certainly 
 be warned to amend our statement. I beg that you will express your 
 sentiments plainly on my paper. If I shall see that your remarks 
 are sound, it will be my interest to adopt them ; and if not, you will at 
 least enable me to see what views may be taken of them by others, and 
 thus put me on my guard. If you analyse your feelings, I am pretty 
 certain that you will find Self-Esteem interfering with Conscientious- 
 ness in causing your scruples." 
 
 It was one of Dr Combe's maxims, that the duty of 
 a physician embraces the prevention as well as the cure 
 of disease, and that the highest walk of the medical 
 practitioner is that in which he acts as the friend 
 and adviser of his patients, to lead them to avoid the 
 causes of suffering. The following note, dated Edin- 
 burgh, 4th November 1834, addressed to Miss M
 
 LETTER OF PREMONITORY ADVICE. 239 
 
 N , affords an example of the way in which he act- 
 ed on this principle. 
 
 " I do not know what you and your nieces have in view this winter 
 in regard to attending classes and going out, but I think it right to 
 state to you thus early, that the state of health of both would, in my opi- 
 nion, make attendance on any winter lectures imprudent and unsafe ; 
 and I cannot resist the conviction that both of them suffered mate- 
 rially last season from that cause, joined to evening amusements. In 
 saying so, I am fully aware of the disappointment which they may 
 feel, and of the abstract desirableness of their missing no opportunity 
 of either instruction or enjoyment which they may now possess; but 
 it is a deep sense of the necessity of the abstinence which makes me, 
 notwithstanding, recommend it. 
 
 " The fact is, that, constructed as our lecture-rooms are, and ex- 
 posed, as the auditors must be, to cold on the one hand, and to heat 
 and crowding on the other, no delicate person ought to enter them ; 
 
 and that the Misses must at present be so classed, is only too 
 
 certain, for neither of them presents that healthy vigour of appear- 
 ance which alone can enable any one to withstand the exposure. Cold 
 feet one day, damp another, and heated air a third, may seem to 
 have produced no great mischief; but if truth and unvariableness be 
 characteristics of the laws of God, as I believe them to be, you may 
 rest assured that the consequences must be bad, and that the line of 
 duty lies in avoiding the cause of evil. I know well the struggle 
 your benevolence and affection will sustain, even to seem to deny them 
 a present enjoyment ; but the wish to yield cannot alter the nature 
 of the case, and true kindness unquestionably demands firmness on 
 your part, and a certain exercise of self-denial on theirs. You and 
 they will have your reward in due time. In my own instance (to take 
 an example), I know that I could attend lectures, &c., for perhaps 
 two, three, or four weeks, before any very obvious mischief would 
 shew itself ; but I know also, that were I to continue, I should find to 
 my cost that the evil had been gathering from the first, and Avould not 
 fail to manifest itself more actively than would be agreeable to me. 
 I am, it is true, a more delicate subject than they, but this makes a 
 difference in degree only, and not in kind ; and my anxiety is to see 
 them well and happy, instead of ill and wise, or rather ill and little 
 wiser, for they would lose half the benefit from infirm health. I may 
 add, that the same principle applies, though with less force, to your- 
 self. 
 
 " I would, therefore, earnestly recommend their devoting their
 
 240 LETTER DECLINING REMUNERATION. 
 
 forenoons to home and outdoor employments, regular exercise, and 
 seeing their friends. I would recommend also constant attention to 
 diet as a means of obtaining sound digestion. 
 
 " Another great rule is, when the stomach is weak, to give it less 
 work than when it is well. Let the diet be the same, but less in 
 quantity. 
 
 " As to visiting, society within reasonable hours, and in a pure at- 
 mosphere, is undoubtedly wholesome ; but without these conditions it 
 is hurtful. You can judge best when they are likely to be fulfilled. 
 
 " It may be, my dear Miss , that all this is unnecessary, and 
 
 that the young ladies have no intention of attending classes and going 
 about as they did last winter. In this case it is easy to toss my note 
 into the fire, and forget that it was written. But if otherwise, its 
 warning may be useful. 
 
 " Do not, however, suppose that I wish to alarm you. My sole 
 object is, if possible, to prevent an evil which I think ought not to be 
 incurred, and to secure real enjoyment by the rejection of what is only 
 apparent. I may be mistaken in my view, but believing it to be 
 sound, I cannot in honesty refrain from laying it before you." 
 
 Another example of his practice of extending to his 
 patients not only prophylactic advice, but every solace 
 which it was in his power to communicate, is exhibited 
 in the following note. It relates to a patient who had 
 been under his care in Edinburgh, but who was sub- 
 sequently removed to an asylum near Glasgow ; and it 
 shews also the means by which he avoided the charge of 
 intrusiveness, and the suspicion of mercenary motives, 
 when he acted on the spontaneous impulses of benevo- 
 lence. 
 
 " I have received your note with your very kind inclosure [of a 
 fee], which, however, I do not feel warranted in retaining ; because, 
 from the time Mr went to Glasgow, I considered my profes- 
 sional services to cease, and have since visited him solely from personal 
 regard and friendship. I have gone more frequently of late, only be- 
 cause he seemed to be in a frame of mind to derive pleasure and bene- 
 fit from such visits, and there was scarcely any other person who could 
 go without the risk of striking against some feeling, and doing more 
 harm than good. If my visits gave him pleasure, which I believe
 
 CONSULTS DR SCOTT. 241 
 
 they did, therein lay my gratification and reward, and I never thought 
 of going as his physician. 
 
 " I was doubtful even whether to take ray expenses, and did so at 
 last only to prevent any unpleasant feeling arising in your mind by 
 my refusing them." 
 
 The year 1834 concludes with the following evidence 
 that Dr Combe's professional duties and literary exer- 
 tions bore too heavily on his enfeebled frame. 
 
 On the 16th of December, he wrote the following let- 
 ter to his friend Dr Scott : 
 
 " As you are better acquainted with my past and present state of 
 health than any other person in Edinburgh, I wish to ask a question 
 or two, which I trust you will answer as explicitly and candidly as if 
 they were put to you by an uninterested party. 
 
 " You are aware that now, at the distance of two years and nine 
 months from the real commencement of my convalescence, I am still 
 unable for any considerable exertion or exposure, although in the en- 
 joyment of a comfortable share of health when exposure is avoided. 
 I can make day visits to a certain extent, but am obliged to decline all 
 night work or considerable exertion. This state of matters is not very 
 pleasant when any thing at all urgent comes in the way, nor can it be 
 very agreeable to the patients, although many of them seem as anxious 
 to save me as themselves. Were it to continue always thus, it would 
 be doing injustice to them, and be productive of discomfort to myself, 
 to persevere in any effort to which I am consciously inadequate. Were 
 the disability to be only for a time, and were there a reasonable hope 
 that I would regain stamina and breath enough again to take all 
 ordinary exposure and fatigue, there would be a motive for subjecting 
 myself and my employers to some present inconvenience. But when I 
 look back to the various occurrences of the preceding years, when I 
 was considered well, I confess I have misgivings as to being ever able 
 to take things as they come. What I want, then, is your open and 
 unbiassed opinion on this point ; as, if I ought to turn to something by 
 which I may maintain myself, and have a better chance for a prolonga- 
 tion of my days, it will obviously be better that I should do so while 
 my health is tolerable, than wait till it is broken and be too late. I 
 have enjoyed existence so far as I have gone, and would therefore 
 take all reasonable means of extending it, if accompanied with mode- 
 rately good health ; but I do not cling to it with any tenacity, nor 
 had I ever the feeling that I should live long.
 
 242 DR SCOTT'S OPINION OF HIS HEALTH. 
 
 " If you would like to join any one with you in this matter, you 
 might talk over it with Dr Abercrombie, who, I doubt not, will 
 readily oblige me so far as to take the circumstances into considera- 
 tion, and give a sound deliverance thereon. When you have made 
 up your minds will you write me the result ?" 
 
 Dr Scott returned the following answer, dated 17th 
 December 1834 : 
 
 " MY DEAR COMBE, I received your note, and have considered its 
 contents with the anxious attention required in a question of so im- 
 portant a nature, and one so connected with your welfare. I have 
 also consulted with Dr Abercrombie, and find that his views coincide 
 with my own. I shall therefore express my opinion in the open and 
 candid manner you request, though it has not been formed without 
 considerable hesitation and reluctance. 
 
 " Taking into consideration the whole history of your case, and 
 more particularly the occurrences of the last four years, I fear we 
 cannot entertain very sanguine hopes that in any given number of 
 years you will be much better enabled than you now are to undergo 
 the whole fatigue and exposure incidental to general practice. Night 
 work, I consider, will for a considerable period be entirely out of the 
 question. From past experience I have little doubt that, with proper 
 care, you may long be enabled to enjoy a comfortable state of health, 
 and to prolong a life so valuable to your friends and important to 
 mankind ; but from what has happened I believe that any extraordi- 
 nary fatigue or exposure would not be unattended with danger." 
 
 On the 20th of December Dr Combe addressed the 
 following letter to his brother George : 
 
 " I have often and seriously been considering my situation and 
 prospects ; and as I wish the benefit of your mature judgment in 
 coming to a decision, I think it best to give you a view of the matter 
 in writing, and to add my feelings as well as the plain facts. 
 
 " I am still, then, in the twenty-seventh month of convalescence, so 
 much of an invalid that I cannot expose myself in any way either to 
 the weather, to fatigue, or anxiety of mind, without being speedily 
 affected by it ; and, in consequence, I cannot pursue my professional 
 duties with the satisfaction and devotedness which are necessary both to 
 the welfare of the patient and to the ease of mind of the doctor. When 
 any thing occurs in the least urgent, I feel it unjust to the patient to
 
 PROJECTS A LUNATIC ASYLUM. 243 
 
 undertake his treatment and not be able to give the necessary attend- 
 ance, and am not relieved from this by the kind assistance of profes- 
 sional friends, because it is not in the nature of things that a stranger 
 coming in at the middle of a case can see exactly how to proceed. 
 
 " Such is the present state of things. If my strength were to re- 
 turn, and I could hope to be able, within a reasonable time, to resume 
 the usual duties of my profession, it would be no difficult matter to 
 submit to present inconveniences. But if there is little chance of 
 any such desirable event occurring, then it seems to me clear, that I 
 ought not to continue that charge for which I am and shall continue 
 to be inadequate. My impression has been from the first, that my 
 constitution is unequal to the required duties ; and this conviction has 
 been strengthened by the retrospect of the occurrences of the nine years 
 I was in practice ; but I went on, nevertheless, from a wish to be do- 
 ing something for myself, and an unwillingness to take a darker view 
 than my friends seemed to take, and thus damp their expectations pre- 
 maturely. But as time passes on, and I am becoming more and more 
 anxious to have something definite before me in the place of an un- 
 certainty, which is in itself detrimental, I thought the best plan was 
 to ask a candid and responsible opinion from Drs Scott and Aber- 
 crombie, both of whom know my history and constitution better than 
 any other medical men here. I inclose my note and their opinion, from 
 which you will see that my own impression is well founded, and that. 
 I cannot rationally expect to be much better than I am now. If, then, 
 I continue my duties, and by and by begin to go out when and where 
 I am sent for (which I must do sooner or later, if I mean to practise 
 at all), an end will speedily be put to them by my abrupt departure 
 for another world. Whereas, if I can fall upon any means of making 
 a livelihood, without being compelled to risk fatigue, exposure, and 
 anxiety, I may, to all appearance, being a ' sober' and a prudent man, 
 continue to live in tolerable health for a few years more, and help the 
 race with more practical ' wisdom,' before becoming the tenant of an 
 underground mansion on a perpetual lease ; and this I scarcely need 
 say, I would considerably prefer. If I go on with my present expe- 
 riment, till, in an evil hour, something happens to induce mischief, it 
 will be too late to change ; and it is because I am comfortable and fit 
 for something that I wish to preserve my advantages. 
 
 " Should you think that it would be wiser to withdraw from practice 
 in time, the question, and a very puzzling one it is, is, what shall I 
 do ? You, I know, have thought of my being a consulting physician. 
 It is quite true, and with all duo modesty be it said, I have often been 
 conscious of considerable discriminating power in investigating dis- 
 ease ; but to educate this to real excellence, requires a much wider
 
 244 PROJECTS A LUNATIC ASYLUM. 
 
 extent of practice than I have ever enjoyed or felt able for, and also 
 a greater power of reading, and wider intercourse with practical men, 
 to keep up with rapidly-advancing knowledge. I have felt the con- 
 viction for years, that if I had possessed bodily strength enough to give 
 my brain full play without exhausting it, I should have risen high, 
 and done good to medicine, by a greater infusion of sound principle, 
 and by doing away, as far as I could, with the exclusive or one-idea 1 dness 
 of many of its cultivators. But even when in my best health, I used 
 to be disturbed by the impediments caused by my weak physical con- 
 stitution, and by the feverish irritability which continued mental ex- 
 ertion brought on. It is the same physical deficiency which lies at 
 the bottom of my aversion to come forward more actively than I some- 
 times do, and which unfits me for contending with others, even when I 
 differ from them, and could put them right ; and for making those per- 
 sonal researches, which any one seeking to advance his art or himself 
 must enter upon. The natural conclusion from all this is, that even 
 were I already qualified to act as a consulting physician, my health 
 would not be adequate to my retaining my place as such, usefully or 
 creditably. My half-deafness is another serious obstacle, especially in 
 regard to affections of the chest, which constitute a full third of all 
 serious cases. 
 
 " Setting aside these two modes of practice, I am at a loss what to 
 look to next. Sometimes I think, that advertising for a resident part- 
 nership in an established thriving asylum might lead to some opening. 
 At other times, I think of opening an establishment near Edinburgh, 
 and sometimes of looking out for a public institution ; but difficulties 
 attend each. On the whole, I think most might be made of an asy- 
 lum of a better kind, even although it was not so good as theory would 
 dictate. Most of them are so indifferent, that one moderately good 
 ought to succeed. An inspectorship of asylums, had such a useful 
 office been an efficient and paid one, would have suited me particu- 
 larly, as our friend Dumont says of his inspectorship ; but as I have 
 nothing to look to in the shape of any appointment, I am anxious to 
 light upon some mode of subsistence, combining utility and the possi- 
 bility of continued existence. 
 
 " One thing you must keep in mind in thinking over this, and it is, 
 that I am not stating views which are of to-day or yesterday, but 
 which I have entertained with little change for a considerable length 
 of time, both when well and when ill ; and I should add, that, taking 
 my medical acquaintances over head, nineteen out of twenty will be 
 found to concur with Drs S. and A. In fact, had I been given to low 
 spirits, the kind of wondering surprise which most of them express at 
 seeing me so well as I am, would have made me sad long ago ; and I
 
 GIVES UP MEDICAL PRACTICE. 245 
 
 do not recollect an instance of any one of them having ever expressed 
 a belief, that I would again be able for ordinary practice at any dis- 
 tance of time so that I do not think it is my imagination which is 
 misleading me. 
 
 " 30th. I have kept this beside me till now, as you have been busy 
 about other matters ; but you can consider it at leisure, and let me 
 know.'' 
 
 Every reader will judge for himself of the spirit which 
 pervades this letter. On the back of it the following 
 memorandum, written by his brother, appears : " 2d 
 January 1835. I had a full and consolatory conversa- 
 tion with Dr Combe about this plan, and agreed to aid 
 him in getting an asylum established." 
 
 In January 1835, Dr Combe laid his case also before 
 Dr James Clark of London, who concurred with the 
 opinions given by Drs Scott and Abercrombie, as to 
 his inability to continue to discharge the active duties 
 of his profession. 
 
 The result of these consultations is recorded in the fol- 
 lowing note, addressed, in the same mouth, by Dr Combe 
 to one of his patients : " As I have not seen you to- 
 day, I take this method of informing you that, after 
 much deliberation and consulting with my professional 
 friends as to my prospects, I have finally resolved to 
 give up practice, and dedicate two or three years almost 
 exclusively to the recovery of my health, if that be still 
 attainable. * * * I have come to this resolution 
 reluctantly, not only because my profession was a means 
 of income, but because it was agreeable to my facul- 
 ties. I have long foreseen the probability of this re- 
 sult, and am, therefore, less disappointed. In the mean 
 time, I shall go to a larger house, and take a boarder 
 or two in addition to my two nephews, and occupy my- 
 self as I best can, taking every means to obey all the 
 laws of health to their utmost extent. If I regain
 
 246 LETTER FROM COT7L. 
 
 strength, my faculties will find profitable employment 
 in some way ; and if I do not, I shall have at least the 
 satisfaction of having done all in my power towards at- 
 taining it. 
 
 " I mention all this, that you may consider whom 
 you would call in, in case of any serious illness. As to 
 any general advice or superintendence, I shall claim 
 the privilege of an old friend to give a hint when I 
 think it can be useful." 
 
 As Dr Combe's health had always been benefited by 
 travelling and change of air, he accepted an invitation 
 from Sir George S. Mackenzie, to visit him at Coul, in 
 Ross-shire. The following letter to Miss Cox, written 
 there on 17th April 1835, describes the incidents of his 
 journey, in which he was accompanied by his nephew 
 James Cox. It is characteristic of his cheerful disposi- 
 tion, and shews also how readily his mind rebounded 
 into liveliness and activity, whenever it was relieved 
 from the pressure of too much anxiety and labour. 
 
 " We far-sighted mortals put off a journey for six weeks to have 
 the pleasure of fine spring weather, and we find ourselves rewarded 
 by a nip from the north, that runs through and through a long, lank, 
 lean lad, like a long two-edged sword. 
 
 " The world, however, is an excellent and admirable world, for all 
 that ; and if we get frost and snow, and north-easters, when we look 
 for zephyrs, roses, and butterflies, still it cannot be said that snow 
 shuts up coal-pits, or frost puts out the fire. But to begin at the be- 
 ginning, let us start from Princes' Street, on a fine, mild, breezy, 
 Monday morning, for Glasgow, after having stowed away a comfort- 
 able breakfast. One place only was left unoccupied inside the coach, 
 the worst, of course. It was sadly shorn of its dimensions by two 
 fat gentlemen, each three feet broad at the shoulders, and with arms 
 to match, between whom my long body was expected to deposit itself, 
 in apparent defiance of that law which holds matter to be impene- 
 trable. There was no remedy, however, and I got in one side so far 
 as to stick, and let the door be shut ; but the breath was almost squeezed 
 out of my chest, and my breakfast out of my stomach, before my
 
 LETTER FROM COUL. 247 
 
 corpus subsided so far as to reach the cushion. Opposite were three 
 
 very great men, Peter B and two great unknowns. By and by 
 
 the said Peter the great, finding the air impinging disagreeably upon 
 his frontispiece and windpipe, resolved to cut off its channel of com- 
 munication, by shutting the only open window. The sound of remon- 
 strance died away unheard in my larynx, from the absence of air in 
 my lungs to give it volume. Speedily the asphyxiating process com- 
 menced. Silence prevailed where eloquence was before heard, faces 
 became pale that were before rubicund, mouths opened that were be- 
 fore shut, sleep pressed down the eyelids that were before briskly 
 cocked for action, and sonorous rdle was heard. I was at last appre- 
 hensive that consciousness would vanish, and six bodies be found where 
 six souls had entered along with them, and paid for their transport ; 
 and, with an effort, I pushed out a hand to pull down the window. 
 "\Vhen this was effected, an eye twinkled, a huge mouth opened, a pair 
 of lungs expanded and engulfed a coachful of air, and presently 
 tongues moved once more. Our lives being thus protracted, we 
 reached Glasgow at length, and found that the boat was not to sail 
 till three o'clock ; a circumstance of great comfort, as it shewed that 
 we might have breakfasted at home, and come along comfortably at 
 nine o'clock. James outside had as much air as he could swallow, 
 and ran no risk of death from asphyxia. His mother will rejoice to 
 know this. 
 
 " Our boat, ' The Maid of Morven,' is closely verging upon that re- 
 spected class in society called, why I know not, ' old maids,' or, Scot- 
 tice, ' Sneckies.' Still she is a very clever and efficient personage, 
 when she sets about her work in time. On this occasion, however, 
 she was a quarter of an hour too late ; and, to make up for lost time, 
 panted down the Clyde at such a rate, that when she came near Port- 
 Glasgow she was quite out of breath, and had to sit down and rest her- 
 self for a couple of hours on a sand-bank, which opportunely pre- 
 sented itself, and where she found her friend 'Hercules' also reposing 
 himself after his labours, which had consisted in dragging an unwill- 
 ing vessel against wind and tide, in a direction opposite to ours. 
 While Hercules and the Maid were interchanging civilities, we 
 thought a book might be agreeable, and asked the Maid's man-ser- 
 vant where her library was. He said he was extremely sorry it was 
 all away bodily at the binding, except the almanac ' with a western 
 appendix.' Having procured and studied this, we asked for the back- 
 gammon box. The man brought the box, but lamented the absence 
 of three men from each party : they had run away, and taken the 
 dice and shaking-cup with them ! which he hoped we would excuse.
 
 248 LETTER FROM COUL. 
 
 There was no help for it but pazienza, and an invitation to tea, which 
 proved by its excellence to be worthy of the old Maid herself. 
 
 " After a few hoasts and blasts, which sounded very like steam rush- 
 ing out of a narrow pipe, the Maid recovered her wind, nodded adieu 
 to her companion, and danced off gaily in a wreath of smoke. On 
 she paddled all night. Being about as long as three mussel-shells, and 
 as broad as one, she gave us us no choice of accommodation, and so we 
 outstretched ourselves on her cushions, with pillows beneath our heads, 
 as we best could. Sleep soon followed ; and at the very time I was 
 in the loveliest fields of Elysium, a tug tug startled me ; when down 
 went my head, and ended my dream. This was a horrid monster of a 
 man, who had been looking about for a pillow for his own ugly head, 
 and finding none, came to rob me by stealth, trusting to the apoplexy 
 to hide the enormity of his offence ! Well, order being restored, on 
 we went ; but, alas, the evils of delay ! The rest which the Maid took 
 on the sand-bank did not much hasten the time of her arrival at Crinan ; 
 and accordingly, when she got there, it appeared that the tide had wait- 
 ed for her as long as possible, and, having business elsewhere, had at 
 last gone away, and left the canal door locked, and taken the key in her 
 pocket, with a promise, however, to come back as soon as she could, and 
 let us in. In five hours she redeemed her word, and away we went iu 
 high spirits. At two o'clock we reached the sea at the far end, where 
 it was blowing a genuine south-wester of fine quality, which made a 
 foaming sea, and stirred up one's perceptions very pleasingly. On 
 reefed sails being set, and the paddles put in motion, away went the 
 Maid, walking or galloping the waters like a thing of life ; and past 
 us flew rocks, foam, and islands, each in a greater hurry than the 
 last. ' There's metal in the old Maid's heels yet,' thought I, and 
 so it proved ; for she spanked along for a while, with wind, tide, and 
 steam, at twelve knots an hour, a pace which few young men could 
 keep up with long. Nevertheless, all her efforts served only to shew 
 the wild magnificence of Nature, and the inefficiency of poor man to 
 cope with or thwart her. On reaching Linnhe Loch, the lost quarter 
 of an hour once more demanded compensation. The tide had turned 
 against us, and caught us in a narrow gorge a mile in length, where 
 it ran with such violence, that the wind having failed, the Maid could 
 barely maintain her ground with all her power in play, and down 
 went the anchor along with our hopes of a bed. The quarter of an 
 hour would have carried us through ! 
 
 " Still, if a man do his best, we know very well that he can do no 
 more ; and wherefore grumble ? So did the Maid. She plied her 
 paddles well ; and if the water would go past her, instead of letting 
 her go past it, she could not help it. We, therefore, agreed, that she
 
 LETTER FROM COUL. 249 
 
 deserved well of her country, and that, beds or no beds, squall or no 
 squall, the world was still a capital world, and not to be despised, even 
 though it was not so agreeable to find oneself sprawling in it among 
 stools and tables, when one expected a good hotel and comfortable 
 bed. So, once more having slipped a comfortable tea under our belts, 
 we resigned ourselves to Morpheus. In the morning of Wednesday, 
 we found ourselves at the Caledonian Canal, in a clear, frosty, calm 
 morning, with Ben Nevis and his bairns enveloped in their fleecy 
 hosiery, to meet the altered temperature. It was snell, but beauti- 
 ful, and worth a nip or two of one's nose and ears to behold. On 
 reaching Loch Lochy, James and I remarked how magnificent a 
 heavy snow gust would look here. No sooner said than done. A 
 cloud came tumbling down the mountain side ; out flew the snow- 
 flakes ; and in a jiffy sweep came a gusty blast that ruffled abundantly 
 the surface of the waters, before lying placidly, awaiting the approach 
 of ' The Maid.' 
 
 " I9th April. I left you in the middle of a gust on Loch Lochy ; 
 and as that is not a pleasant position for a person of your tender feel- 
 ings to remain in, I must now come to your relief, and carry you on- 
 wards. 
 
 " At Glengary's country, we took in a Nova Scotia Celt, descended 
 from a Highland family in the neighbourhood, and connected, of 
 course, with cousins in all directions, whom he was now on his way to 
 visit. He mounted a shred of the tartan, in honour of his original 
 country ; but when the wind blew and the snow fell, he was glad to 
 veil his dignity, and hide himself in a Lowland cloak borrowed from a 
 passenger. We had also a handsome, big-nosed, wild-looking, black- 
 eyed Buenos-Ayrian on board, who kept up the steam by copious 
 libations of the mountain-dew. We had an excellent, clean, well-cooked 
 table, and very civil attendants, and arrived at Inverness on Wednesday 
 evening, at eight o'clock. The mountain sides were bare and leafless, 
 but there was a bleak grandeur in their aspect, as the clouds gathered 
 around them, and came down in heavy gusts upon the water. The 
 little hovels scattered over the slopes seemed like marks for the 
 winds to hit, and hurl down head-foremost into the lake ; and truly, 
 when one sees the wretched huts half house, half pig-sty which 
 shelter so many fellow-creatures thus isolated from society and the 
 comforts of civilisation, one cannot but be grateful for a happier 
 lot, and anxious to see the day when these poor wretches are to be 
 raised a little higher above the beasts that perish. On the Crinan 
 Canal, we met two or three large open boats loaded with swine, pigs, 
 and little stots (oxen), guided by long-legged, ragged, kilted, dirty- 
 looking Celts, so wobegone and wwhunian in their appearance, that
 
 250 LETTER FROM COUL. 
 
 the pigs seemed the happier, better fed, and better dressed of the two. 
 Truly, when we think it is by no choice or virtue of our own that we 
 are born to a dukedom or a dunghill, the debt which the more for- 
 tunate owes to the unfortunate becomes a very heavy one. 
 
 " On arriving at the Caledonian Hotel, Inverness, we were ushered 
 in among a party of vociferous, toddy-drinking, half-tipsy bagmen, one 
 of whom was holding forth in an if-you-have-tears-prepare-to-shed- 
 them-now style, about the examination of the perpetrator of a most 
 diabolical murder, with which the country side was ringing. He 
 gave the appearance and conduct of the accused, and the whole order 
 of the dialogue to the very life, as if he had not only seen it, but been 
 a magna pars in enacting the original. He described the appeals to the 
 murderer's feelings with great and melting pathos ; but the tear which 
 dimmed his eye was half-and-half diluted Grlenlivet whisky. I was 
 afraid that they would by and by quarrel with the presence of two 
 sober men, and asked for a parlour to ourselves. 
 
 " ' Oh, la bella primavera della nostra antica Scozzia !' said I to 
 myself, as I lay in my warm, comfortable bed yesterday morning, at 
 Inverness, dazzled by what I imagined to be the brilliancy of the 
 sun's rays reflected from the whitened walls of the opposite hostelry ; 
 ' yesterday was a little cool, it must be confessed,' continued I in my 
 soliloquy, shivering even at the recollection of the sharp-edged north- 
 easter, which swept in gusts along the surface of the Highland lochs, 
 as if about to tear the flesh from the bones of those, at least, who had 
 any on ; but to-day, to a certainty, we have the genial breath of 
 spring and Roger's ' sunny morning to cheer our bluid, and put a' 
 nature in a jovial mood ;' and in the joyful anticipation of the plea- 
 sure, I sprang out of bed at one bound, like a long-legged grasshop- 
 per wakened out of a dream, and in a hurry pulled open the window- 
 curtains, when instantly my teeth began to chatter, and my knees to 
 knock, on perceiving the snow falling in clouds, and the earth covered 
 to a depth of three inches ! Such is human life ! 
 
 " We staid at Inverness till Thursday morning, and had the satis- 
 faction of seeing the whole country in a three-inch mantle of snow, 
 and Fort-George standing out of the water like a white wall. We 
 crossed at Kessock-Ferry, hired a chaise, and got to Coul to lunch at 
 two o'clock, and found all well, and a hearty welcome. Sir Greorge 
 is immersed in medical practice among the poor people, and manifests 
 great kindness in attending to them. I was forthwith pressed into 
 the service, but soon felt it a hopeless burden. Fancy to yourself a 
 poor consumptive creature, with irritable lungs, living in an atmo- 
 sphere of thick smoke, with wind blowing in at every chink, the
 
 VISIT TO PARIS. 251 
 
 floor and bed dirty, the face and limbs unwashed, and add to this, 
 the clandestine administration of whisky, and a wretched diet ; 
 and then say what could Esculapius himself do for them if he were 
 here ? Three out of four I could touch only with gloves on, from the 
 itch.'' 
 
 After his return from Coul, he made an excursion to 
 France, and a few introductory explanations are neces- 
 sary to render his next letter intelligible to the reader. 
 In August 1817, his brother George travelled from 
 Paris to ilayence, in a French diligence. In those 
 days, time was not estimated at so high a value as it is 
 in this age of railroad locomotion ; and the diligence 
 travelled only about ten or twelve hours a-day, stopping 
 every evening at a town or village for supper and sleep- 
 ing, and starting the next morning at five or six o'clock. 
 In this manner, the transit from Paris to the Khine oc- 
 cupied nearly a week ; and as the same passengers had 
 taken their places for the whole journey, they became 
 better and better acquainted with each other as they 
 proceeded on their way. Among the passengers was 
 a Mons. S-^ , a German by birth, but who had been 
 long settled in Paris, where he had realised a fortune. 
 He was accompanied by his only child, Eugenie, then 
 a young lady of about eighteen years of age. He was 
 returning in advanced life, after a long separation, to 
 revisit his fatherland, and to introduce his daughter to 
 his surviving relatives. To great talents and extensive 
 information, the old gentleman added all the frank kind- 
 heartedness of the German, and he and George soon 
 
 became friends. On parting at Mayence, M. S 
 
 gave George many cordial invitations to visit him and 
 his wife and daughter in Paris ; and when, in the month 
 of October of the same year, Andrew went to that city, 
 he presented himself to M. S , bearing an introduc- 
 tion from George. They received him most affection-
 
 252 VISIT TO PARIS. 
 
 ately, and he soon became very intimate in the family. 
 The preceding pages, 54, 61, 81, bear evidence of the 
 happiness he enjoyed in their society. 
 
 In the course of Andrew's residence in Paris, M. 
 S - introduced to his daughter a lover whom he re- 
 garded as worthy to receive her hand, and to inherit 
 his fortune ; but, unfortunately for the old gentleman's 
 choice, the young lady had already found a lover for 
 herself, to whom she was warmly attached ; and as she 
 had taken her mother into her confidence, she now ap- 
 pealed to her for support. The mother, after seeing 
 both suitors, greatly preferred Eugenie's choice ; but the 
 father's friend held a superior social position- to that 
 of his rival, and was therefore strongly supported by 
 the father. 
 
 During Dr Combe's visits to the family, they had 
 frequently been struck by the acute and correct descrip- 
 tions which, with the aid of Phrenology, he gave them 
 of the talents and dispositions of individuals whom he 
 met in their circle, and whom they knew intimately ; 
 and as both parents loved Eugenie dearly, and aimed 
 only at her happiness, they took him into their coun- 
 sels, and asked him to examine the heads of the two 
 lovers, and to advise them honestly and confidentially 
 which was the superior man. He did so, and reported 
 that the father's friend was by nature selfish, cunning, 
 and ambitious ; while Eugenie's choice, in whom a good 
 development of the intellectual, was united to a large 
 development of the moral organs, evidently was the 
 higher natural character of the two. The father having, 
 it is believed, subsequently discovered the true cha- 
 racter of his candidate, yielded ; and in the course of 
 time Eugenie and her lover were married. The follow- 
 ing letter, dated Paris, 20th May 1835, addressed to
 
 VISIT TO PARIS. 253 
 
 Miss Cox, describes Dr Combe's visit to her after an 
 interval of sixteen years : 
 
 " You will be glad to know that, compared with 1833, I find my 
 system much invigorated, and not nearly so much mollified by the 
 rays of the solar luminary, although yesterday the temperature was 
 78. I have been throughout gratified morally and physically by this 
 journey. I went to see Eugenie's husband, and found him active, 
 kind, and intelligent, as I expected : he has risen to the head of 
 a public company, and is living handsomely, and very happily, with 
 his wife, children, and mother-in-law. Eugenie's father has been 
 
 dead for some years. She is at the Chateau de , 14 miles 
 
 off in the valley of Montmorency. I went out to breakfast yesterday, 
 and found her the same kind and affectionate creature as ever, and 
 astonished to see me drop from the clouds in a fine summer morning, 
 when they had lately believed me ' aussi haut que le parodist There 
 was a Swiss lady with her, who thought Eugenie seized with sudden 
 madness, when she saw her run out of the house, ' et ft jtter an cou 
 (Fun grand inconnu comme Monsieur,' and heard her telling that her 
 heart was like to jump out of its jacket (anatomice pericardium) with 
 joy and surprise. I was vn peu emu aussi de mon cote, as the meeting 
 recalled years in moments. I was delighted to find her mistress of a 
 handsome chateau, with a park of thirty acres, a garden, a pigeon- 
 house of ' 2800 habitans,' a ' NICE MAX ' for a husband, a pretty little 
 son, and a aentille little daughter as tall as herself, a cabriolet, cocks, 
 hens, turkeys, cow, horse, and wheelbarrow. She said she was ' tres 
 heureuse dans son menage? and that they often laughed at my examin- 
 ing the heads at the time of the 'grand embrouilkment avec k pere 
 
 S .' She inquired for Monsieur George, was glad to hear that 
 
 he was married ; and when I told her to whom, she cried, ' Ah, mon 
 Dieu, que j'en suis aise !' The best of friends must part, and so did 
 we at twelve o'clock. Eugenie sent me in her cabriolet eight miles 
 to St Denis, but unwilling to think that I was not to return. I was 
 truly delighted to see so much happiness and prosperity so well be- 
 stowed. She took me through the house, and promised me plants if 
 I would come and botanise again, and rosbif aux pommes-de-terre for 
 
 dinner as of old. On my return I fortunately found Madame S , 
 
 and was glad to see her looking well, moral, and happy, and devoted 
 to her grandaughter and son-in-law." 
 
 The rejected lover subsequently justified, by his con-
 
 254 RESUMES LIMITED PRACTICE. 
 
 duct, the opinion formed of him by the ladies and their 
 friend. 
 
 During the summer of 1835 Dr Combe resided chiefly 
 in Edinburgh, but was not allowed altogether to relin- 
 quish the practice of his profession. Appeals for advice 
 were still made to him, which he could not resist, and 
 he continued to labour to the limit of his strength. He, 
 however, resolutely abstained from going beyond it ; 
 and when it was known that he was benefited by loco- 
 motion and change of air, he was called in to consulta- 
 tions in the country, and treated as a guest and a friend, 
 greatly to the advantage of his health. In a letter 
 dated Edinburgh, 2d September 1835, to Miss Stirling 
 Graham, who had invited him to visit her at Duntrune, 
 he says : 
 
 " I shall be happy to avail myself of your kind invitation, if oppor- 
 tunity offers. For some months past I have been almost weekly in 
 the country, in one direction or another, and am just waiting a little 
 
 improvement in 's health, who is ill of fever, to go again to 
 
 Lanarkshire. I am unwilling to leave her till I see her in a fail- 
 way, as her's is the more pressing case. It is true Dr is equal 
 to the duty, but she and her friends have confidence in me, and moral 
 tranquillity is part of the means of cure. They have always shewn 
 me so much kindness, that I cannot do less than render them every 
 service in my power. As these excursions are useful to others and 
 advantageous to myself, I wish to be in the way when wanted, and 
 very probably I shall have another, beyond Dunbar, on my return from 
 Lanarkshire. If, however, I get quite free, it will give me great 
 pleasure to spend two or three days at Duntrune." 
 
 Writing to a friend who had taken an interest in the 
 election of a member of parliament for a borough in 
 which bribery was alleged to have been extensively re- 
 sorted to, he says : 
 
 " I cordially concur in desiring the approach of a healthier state 
 of moral feeling in all classes of society, and in all parties, on the sub- 
 ject of elections. The contention, corruption, and bitterness of feel-
 
 LETTER TO MR RICHARD CARMICHAEL. 255 
 
 ing engendered on these occasions, are heavy penalties paid for the 
 abuses now existing, and go far to counterbalance the blessings of a 
 representative government. I am quite aware that Whig morality 
 is, generally speaking, not one whit better in this respect than that 
 of the Tories : but the practice is so demoralising to both bribers and 
 bribees. that however much I might regret individual suffering and 
 annoyance, I should rejoice to see ZVEBY case meet with speedy and 
 complete exposure ; because, were exposure certain to follow, an end 
 would be put to the evil at once." 
 
 In a letter, dated Edinburgh, 25th November 1835, 
 addressed to Mr Richard Carraichael, of Dublin, Dr 
 Combe gives an account of the design which he had en- 
 tertained of establishing a lunatic asylum : 
 
 " Ever," says he, " since I saw the advantages which Phrenology 
 confers on the practitioner in the treatment of the insane, I have had 
 in view the establishment of an improved asylum. For the first few 
 years, it was necessary to pave the way, by advancing both the science 
 and myself as a professional man. In the former object, we have suc- 
 ceeded to a greater extent than could reasonably have been expected. 
 In the latter, my progress was becoming every day more satisfactory, 
 when bad health, as you know, put a stop to all my projects, and 
 forced me to seek the continuance of life as the most urgent necessity. 
 I therefore resolved to give up practice and dedicate every effort to 
 the recovery of health alone, as the means of fitting me for under- 
 taking an asylum as soon as I should be sufficiently recovered to ren- 
 der it probable that the capital embarked would not be thrown away 
 by my premature decease. Since January, I have accordingly acted 
 on this principle, and have been so far rewarded that I have gained 
 steadily in health ever since ; although I still feel myself easily af- 
 fected by anxiety or fatigue when either extends beyond one or two 
 days' duration. 
 
 " You will see by this, that I had no view to an immediate com- 
 mencement, because I thought that such a step would be hazardous, 
 my nephew being still too young to undertake the charge, should I 
 disappear. The plan floating through my mind was this : if I con- 
 tinued well, to proceed on a tour of inspection of similar establish- 
 ments, and even to reside in one of the best for some months to obtain 
 more practical experience ; to solicit my nephew to direct his atten- 
 tion to the subject also ; and thereafter, if I was likely to live, to ask 
 the co-operation of friends, and found an institution of the first order.
 
 256 LETTER FROM SIR JAMES CLARK. 
 
 and calculated for the higher class of patients. To effect this, not only 
 must we have a suitable building and grounds, but we must have 
 those who are to manage acquainted with their duties, and worthy of 
 the confidence which we claim. All this could not be done in less 
 than from two to three years." 
 
 He then asks Mr Carmichael's opinion of the scheme, 
 and enters into some details about his co-operation. 
 
 Mr Carmichael approved of the plan, and some efforts 
 were made towards finding a suitable locality for the 
 intended institution ; but before any decisive measures 
 were adopted, a new field of usefulness opened up to Dr 
 Combe, which appeared to him particularly suited to 
 his state of health and dispositions. 
 
 In the month of January 1836, Doctor (now Sir 
 James) Clark proposed to him to become physician to 
 Leopold I., King of the Belgians ; and in a letter dated 
 London, 16th January 1849, addressed to the author of 
 the present volume, Sir James gives the following ac- 
 count of his appointment : 
 
 " It is quite natural that you should wish to know 
 what led me to recommend your brother as physician 
 to the King of the Belgians. At that period I had but 
 a very slight personal acquaintance with Dr Combe ; 
 indeed, I had then forgotten that I had ever seen him. 
 He was known to me by his work on Physiology, by a 
 few letters, and by a written consultation, which was 
 submitted to me, and which alone would have enabled 
 me to form an opinion of his professional acquirements 
 and judgment. 
 
 " When the King of the Belgians expressed a desire 
 that I should recommend a physician to his nephew 
 the King of Portugal, Dr Combe immediately occurred 
 to me as a physician admirably qualified for such an 
 appointment ; and, at the same time, I thought that 
 the climate of Lisbon was likely to prove beneficial to
 
 LETTER TO CAPTAIN MACONOCHIE. 257 
 
 his health, which I knew to be delicate. The inquiries 
 which I instituted among my medical friends in Edin- 
 burgh satisfied me that I had formed a just estimate 
 of your brother's character and qualifications. 
 
 " In the mean time, however, it had been arranged 
 that a German physician should accompany the Prince 
 Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Portugal ; but so 
 strongly was the King of the Belgians impressed by 
 the character he had received of Dr Combe, that he ex- 
 pressed a strong desire to have him as his own physi- 
 cian. This was accordingly arranged to the satisfac- 
 tion of both, and Dr Combe immediately joined the 
 Royal Family at Brussels." 
 
 In a letter dated 20th February 1836, addressed to 
 Captain Macouochie, R.X., London, Dr Combe mentions 
 his appointment and views in the following terms : 
 
 " I write you, though rather hurriedly, because I know it will give 
 you all pleasure to learn that two days ago I received an offer to go to 
 Brussels as physician to the King of the Belgians, an offer which. I 
 must say, took me by surprise as much as its announcement will probably 
 astonish you. The advantages of the appointment, both as regards my 
 health and the duties belonging to the situation, are so obvious, that 
 I could not hesitate to accept of it. But as I am personally unknown 
 to the King, and he may, therefore, be little satisfied with his physi- 
 cian when he sees him ; and, moreover, as I am uncertain how the 
 climate and mode of life may affect me, I shall keep up my house here 
 under Miss Cox's auspices, at least till November, so that, if necessary 
 or advisable, I may quietly return and resume my occupations. 
 
 " The appointment is a highly honourable and responsible one, and 
 if I shall succeed in obtaining, on sufficient grounds, the confidence of 
 their Majesties, I shall sincerely rejoice. The cause of truth and 
 human improvement in which, for years past, I have been engaged, 
 will advance the faster even from the simple fact of its honest advo- 
 cacy being no barrier to personal advancement ; although, at first sight, 
 the prejudices by which we phrenologists are surrounded seem suffi- 
 cient to damp all hope of personal success. Dr Clark is the person 
 to whose recommendation and friendly partiality I am indebted for 
 the offer. 
 
 " I am over head and ears in proof-sheets, MSS., and other prepara- 
 
 R
 
 258 LETTER TO CAPTAIN MACONOCHIE. 
 
 tions. The third edition of my ' Physiology,' although 3000, is draw- 
 ing so fast to a close, that I shall not have a fourth part of a new edi- 
 tion ready in time. I have 200 pages of a new work on the Physio- 
 logy of Digestion printed, but I fear it will be suspended. The Boston 
 (U. S.) publishers wish a second edition of the work on Mental De- 
 rangement immediately, so that I have work enough on hand. But 
 I act upon the laws as well as write upon them, and am, consequently, 
 in improving health."
 
 DR COMBE'S ARRIVAL iy BRUSSELS. 259 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ARRIVAL IX BRUSSELS. RECURREXCE OF HIS PULMOXARY AFFECTIOX. 
 REMARKS OX THE LOCALITIES OF THE ROTAL PALACES, AXD OX 
 
 THE CLIMATE OF BELGIUM. BETURXS TO EDIXBURGH. VISIT TO 
 
 DEAXSTOX SPIXXIXG-MILLS. LETTERS DESCRIPTIVE OF HIS TAKTXG 
 LEAVE OF THE KLKG AXD QT7EEX OF THE BELGIAXS. REVISITS 
 BRUSSELS. HIS RECEPTIOX BY THE KIXG AXD QUEEX. VISITS 
 THEIR CHATEAU XEAR DIXAXT. RETURXS TO EDIXBURGH. PUB- 
 LISHES HIS WORK OX " THE PHYSIOLOGY OF DIGESTIOX," &C. 
 
 REASOXS FOR XOT WRITIXG OX " PHYSICAL EDUCATIOX," FOR MESSRS 
 TV. AXD R. CHAMBERS. DESCRIPTIOX OF SEVERAL LUXATIC ASY- 
 LUMS. HIS IXCOME IX 1835 AXD 1836. 
 
 DR COMBE left Edinburgh in the end of March 1836. 
 In London he was presented to the Duchess of Kent 
 and the Princess Victoria, and graciously received by 
 them. On former occasions, he remarked his bad luck 
 at sea ; and, in this instance also, he was unfortunate 
 in weather. The voyage from London to Ostend was 
 performed amidst a storm which forced the steamboat 
 in which he embarked to take refuge in Ramsgate; 
 and, when at length he arrived at Ostend, he saw an 
 English wreck on the strand, and found the country 
 deluged with melting snow and rain. Nevertheless, he 
 escaped without perceptible injury to his health. 
 
 In a letter to Miss Cox, dated Brussels, 5th April 
 1836, he says : 
 
 " I was taken in one of the royal carriages to Laeken, and ushered 
 into His Majesty's presence, and received most graciously and kindly. 
 You, who know how little I spoke of my private patients, will infer 
 that I shall speak still less about their Majesties, except merely in 
 regard to such general matters as any one may mention."
 
 260 RECURRENCE OF PULMONARY AFFECTION. 
 
 He acted on this principle so scrupulously, that his 
 letters, written during his residence in Brussels, con- 
 tain only general expressions of the high estimate which 
 he formed of King Leopold and his Queen, and of the 
 uniform kindness and consideration which he expe- 
 rienced from them. On the 9th of May, he requested 
 Miss Cox to come to him at Brussels, as his feeble 
 health prevented him from entering into general so- 
 ciety, and he was suffering from loneliness. She imme- 
 diately went to him ; but they were scarcely established 
 comfortably when he found that his strength was not 
 adequate to the due performance of his duties. On the 
 9th of June he wrote to his brother George as follows : 
 
 " You will be sorry as well as disappointed to learn, that my whole 
 plans are deranged at the very time when I was fancying myself settled, 
 and actually arranging with my predecessor about his going away and 
 leaving me in the sole charge. On Sunday morning I was disap- 
 pointed to find a rather severe return of haemoptysis, which con- 
 tinued all day, and gradually subsided only yesterday, as the day ad- 
 vanced. This was the first attack that had come on since I gave up 
 general practice at the end of 1834. I had been doing nothing to 
 occasion it ; and except a feeling of anxiety, without external cause, 
 for the two days preceding, which I attributed to an electrical and 
 warm atmosphere, I had no consciousness of any unhealthy condition. 
 * * * On Sunday my pulse was hardish, but not irregular, at 50, in- 
 stead of 66. Yesterday it was 50, and very soft and compressible. A 
 fortnight ago I had a slight return of the deadly coldness of my arm 
 on waking, as if the circulation was very languid. I may add also, 
 that (as you yourself have remarked in the tone of my letters), al- 
 though never feeling positively uncomfortable at any time, I have 
 never, except for a day occasionally, felt the same elasticity, and 
 active enjoyment of bodily and mental health, as formerly. This was 
 such a natural result of my previous bustle and fatigue, that I never 
 mentioned it, thinking it would pass away in proportion as I got 
 quietly domesticated here. But as yet it continues ; and although 
 our niece's benign countenance is always shining upon me, and I have 
 every external reason to be pleased with my functionary employments, 
 and with the footing on which I am treated by their Majesties, still 
 I have a strong feeling as if a month's tossing in the Bay of Biscay
 
 RECURRENCE OF PULMONARY AFFECTION. 261 
 
 would do me an unspeakable service. I have a kind of heat in the 
 chest under the sternum, but nothing to speak of. 
 
 " This unfortunate occurrence changed very much the current of 
 my thoughts, as it completely uprooted the confidence in my continued 
 health, which alone could justify my remaining, and made me thank- 
 ful that my predecessor was still here. The season has been very un- 
 favourable, and is sickly to an unusual degree ; chiefly fevers and 
 pulmonary diseases prevail. The Hotel de Ville register gives 1800 
 deaths this spring, whereas only 1500 occurred last spring, and, from 
 all accounts, consumption is very common. The low grounds are more 
 damp and extensive than I imagined ; and, even in the higher parts 
 of the town, there is a great deal of ague, a proof of a climate consi- 
 derably different from ours. 
 
 " Such being the facts, the very obvious question presented itself. 
 If goes away and I am left in sole charge, ought I to under- 
 take the heavy responsibility when I may be thus laid up at an hour's 
 notice, and most likely ichen most wanted, and when there is nobody 
 in Brussels au fait of the circumstances to take my place ? It seems 
 to me that it would be most injurious to the interests of my patients, 
 and both hurtful and extremely annoying to myself, were such a con- 
 tingency to happen.'' 
 
 He communicated the state of his health iii a letter 
 to Baron Stockmar, on the part of the King, and also 
 to Dr Clark ; and the result is mentioned in a letter 
 to his brother, dated Brussels, 21st June 1836 : 
 
 " I received your welcome letter on Sunday, and was glad to have 
 your opinion, such as it was, and your approval of the past. It 
 was impossible for you to speak more decidedly in your necessary 
 ignorance of all the circumstances of the case. Ere this you will be 
 aware that I have agreed to a farther trial, as the King, Baron Stock- 
 mar, and Dr Clark, all concurred in recommending it ; while all of 
 them agreed that the view which I took of my position, probable in- 
 efficiency, and consequent inability to undertake the whole responsi- 
 bility, was perfectly sound and undeniable. All agreed also to the 
 impossibility of asking me to live at Laeken ; and had they not, I 
 might have referred them to the chapter on the Nervous System in 
 my own ' Physiology' for proof, as in speaking of Governesses I unfold 
 the philosophy of solitude at some length. They, however, were too 
 much alive to its injurious influence on health even to think of pro- 
 posing it. Their views and mine, in short, coincide so completely,
 
 262 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 that if they could easily find a fit successor, I am sure they would say 
 at once, as Louis XI. said to Graleotti when he wanted to prevent 
 Tristan hanging him, ' Go in peace, go in peace,' and take care of 
 yourself. 
 
 " Had I been thoroughly aware, four months ago, of the real amount 
 of my stamina, I would have declined the appointment. As it is, I 
 have not a particle of regret that I accepted. I saw that the advan- 
 tages which it held out would extend their influence far heyond my 
 own personal sphere, and that it might be an instrument of much 
 good ; and believing myself well enough, at least to warrant the trial, 
 I accepted, and would never have forgiven myself had I done other- 
 wise. Having once undertaken the duty, however, I must look to 
 the King's interests as well as my own before giving it up. I have, 
 therefore, agreed to remain for the present, otherwise he would have 
 gone to Paris with a good deal of anxiety on his mind on the subject 
 of the young prince, and would have been hampered in all his move- 
 ments. But I am to be relieved as soon as a suitable successor can 
 be found." 
 
 The resolution to remain even temporarily at his 
 post, was nearly frustrated by an increase of his malady. 
 In a letter dated 7th July, also addressed to his bro- 
 ther George, he says : 
 
 " You naturally lay stress on my slow pulse and nervousness. 
 The latter, however, was a mere complication of three days' duration ; 
 and the former was a pulse disliked equally by Baron Stockmar, 
 Sommer, and Cannstadt, as indicating internal congestion in a weak- 
 ened frame. The heart acted strongly, but failed to send the blood 
 to the distant vessels in proper quantity. There was disagreeable 
 fever, with heat in the hands and feet, and a red, circumscribed flush 
 on the cheek, which even the Baron said was an inauspicious pheno- 
 menon, at variance with my statement one day, that I was ' very well.' 
 Subsequently to the appearance of these symptoms, and when they 
 were beginning to decline, I coughed up a distinct tubercle, &c. * * * 
 and, for a while, it was just a toss of a halfpenny whether I should go 
 rapidly down hill, or again recruit. For some days the chances were 
 against me ; but, by dint of care and tranquillity they turned in my 
 favour, and the expectoration is diminished by more than a half. Still, 
 a mere straw would stir it up again, and the heat is much against me. 
 In this state of matters I need not say that I am equally unfit to
 
 LOCALITIES OF THE ROYAL PALACES. 263 
 
 serve the King efficiently, and unwilling to throw away my life by re- 
 maining. The nervousness is, fortunately, gone." 
 
 Before leaving Brussels he applied all bis strength 
 to furnishing suggestions for the benefit of the health 
 of the Royal Family. In a letter, dated the 17th and 
 19th of July 1836, addressed to Dr Clark, be enters 
 into a searching analysis of the localities and sanitary 
 condition of the royal palaces : 
 
 " You request," says he, " that I should write out my observa- 
 tions ; and I shall endeavour to do so. The last ten days of cool 
 weather have been much in my favour, and I am in an improved con- 
 dition compared to two or three weeks ago. 
 
 " If the autumn here is attended with the rains usual to the sea- 
 son, assuredly the palace in Brussels must be a much more healthy 
 residence than that of Laeken after October. It not only stands 
 higher, and in a purer air, but it is more remote from the dampness 
 of the low grounds, and is, besides, surrounded by all the dryness of 
 well-paved streets and inhabited houses, from which the water runs 
 away without leaving damp. I am satisfied that this is a very im- 
 portant element in the salubrity of cities, and one not sufficiently 
 taken into account. 
 
 " In judging of climates, we must take into account not only the 
 nature of the locality, and the produce which it bears, but also the 
 prevalence or non-prevalence of fresh breezes and high winds as ordi- 
 nary elements. If there is generally little or no wind, the immediate 
 entourage of a place becomes of triple consequence, because the air 
 rests over it, or passes so slowly as to become imbued with all its ex- 
 halations. If it is also wooded, this result will be doubly sure, lie- 
 cause the wood both obstructs the free circulation of air from a dis- 
 tance and furnishes exhalations of its own. If, on the other hand, a 
 locality is visited daily by fresh breezes, as we have in that temple of 
 the winds Edinburgh, the immediate entourage is of less consequence, 
 because then the air comes freely from a distance, and the general 
 nature of the country is more influential on the climate of all its 
 parts. Xow, in Belgium, stiff breezes, such as we have, are rare, and 
 trees abound ; hence, from there being no rapid renewal of air, each 
 province seems to have its own peculiar climate, in a more decided 
 sense than different districts of our own country. It is true that, for 
 ten days past, we have had moderate breezes in plenty, and, in conse- 
 quence, every one is wondering where the wind comes from, and why
 
 264 REMARKS ON THE CLIMATE OF BELGIUM. 
 
 it is so cold. On the above principle, the masses of trees round 
 Laeken cannot fail to affect its healthiness, notwithstanding the beauty 
 of their appearance. If they do not attract or exhale moisture in 
 abundance, although in an invisible form, how does it happen, that 
 when trees are cut down, springs diminish or disappear, and wells dry 
 up, where previously water never failed ? To my eyes, the rounded 
 form and lymphatic constitutions of the northern and western Belgians 
 betoken humidity of climate ; and as to mental vivacity, how far are 
 they behind the French, who live in a drier and healthier atmosphere ! 
 Go into the market of a morning, when it is crowded in every corner 
 and dispatch is pre-eminently required, you find the same slow, good- 
 natured, and immoveable countenances, as if there was nobody pre- 
 sent but yourself, and you had half the day to devote to purchasing 
 a halfpenny worth of cabbage. Compare that with the active bustle 
 and impatience of the French, and still more of the Neapolitans, and 
 the difference will be palpable enough. The Belgians, be it observed, 
 do not want brains. They have more than the French ; but then 
 they require to be galvanised like the frog, to make them jump ; 
 whereas the brains of the French work so fast, that they require a 
 safety-valve and a regulator to make them useful." 
 
 He continues the subject in a letter to Dr Clark, 
 dated Brussels, 26th July 1836 : 
 
 " The king," says he, " comes positively on Monday evening ; and as 
 my friend Mr Burn Murdoch, of Coldoch and Grartincaber, came here 
 on Friday last, and he has great experience both in wood and draining, 
 I carried him out to Laeken on Saturday, and asked him to give me his 
 ideas in writing on the subject of its improvement. He set about it in 
 the most business-like manner, striding through marsh and water, 
 to ascertain levels, &c., to the great wonder of - why the man 
 should deliberately walk into a morass which he could see from the 
 gravel-walk at a distance. Mr M.'s property adjoins the famous 
 Blair-Drummond Moss, which, by draining and removing the peats, 
 has been converted into capital arable land. He says the level park 
 may be thoroughly drained and rendered dry, and that there is a vast 
 quantity of useless underwood, which serves only to generate damp, and 
 hurt the other trees ; and that many of the latter ought to be cut down 
 for the benefit of their neighbours, as well as for human health." 
 
 Dr Combe wrote a letter to the King, embodying the 
 foregoing and various other suggestions relative to the
 
 LEAVES BRUSSELS. 265 
 
 health of the Royal Family; and, among other prophy- 
 lactic measures, recommended that a residence should 
 be provided in one of the southern provinces of Bel- 
 gium, to which the children could be conveniently re- 
 moved urging the advantages not only of the drier air, 
 but of the mere change of locality, as conducive to 
 health. Effect was given to these suggestions, by exe- 
 cuting certain improvements on the grounds at Laeken, 
 and the purchase of an estate about twenty-four miles 
 beyond Dinant, in a dry and healthy situation, for a 
 summer retreat. 
 
 In a letter, dated Edinburgh, 8th August 1836, ad- 
 dressed to Mrs George Combe, he describes his depar- 
 ture from Brussels. 
 
 " Their Majesties returned on Thursday evening, the 28th. I saw 
 the Queen on Friday ; but the King was so very busy with affairs 
 of state, that, after waiting for two hours, he found it in vain to detain 
 ine longer that day. On Saturday I had a long interview with him, 
 when he was most kind and considerate, noticed that I was thinner, 
 and not so strong ; expressed great regret at my going, but said he 
 could not ask me to remain. He hoped I would return, when able, 
 and visit them for a week or two at a time, and in the mean time al- 
 low him to apply to me by letter, &c. ; whicli was all extremely gra- 
 tifying to me. The Queen also expressed herself very kindly, and 
 sent after me to Antwerp a beautiful lithographic print of his Ma- 
 jesty, which she has just had executed in Paris, from a drawing taken 
 when he was some years younger. I offered, if sufficiently recruited, 
 to go over for a week about the end of October, at which time I may 
 be of use in giving hints for their winter proceedings. The King 
 said he would rejoice to see me then and at all times ; so that we 
 parted on the very best terms. I have brought a small medallion 
 likeness of him for you. It is in bronze, of the size of a crown-piece, 
 very like, but indifferent as a work of art. 
 
 " Mr and Mrs Burn Murdoch and three sons made their appear- 
 ance in Brussels, and came home with us. I carried Mr M. to Laeken 
 in one of the King's carriages, to inspect the grounds, and offer me 
 suggestions about draining, thinning the wood, &c., which I urgently 
 recommended to the King, to improve its healthiness. Mr M. took 
 great pains with his survey ; and, as I was attending one of his boys,
 
 266 LEAVES BRUSSELS. 
 
 about whom he was alarmed, and he was thus very willing to oblige 
 me as well as the King, he drew up a most business-like report, which 
 I submitted to his Majesty. The King wished to thank him in per- 
 son, and told his secretary to desire me to bring him to the palace in 
 town on Sunday last, at two o'clock. By a mistake he was not men- 
 tioned, and I appeared without him. The King was disappointed, and 
 said he had still half an hour to spare, and if I could find him at his 
 hotel, I must bring him yet. I found him in the street, in his travel- 
 ling attire, and marched him off before he knew where he was. He 
 made a profound reverence, and was very graciously received. The 
 King talked about agriculture and soils with him, and alluded to pecu- 
 liarities in both, which he had observed in Berwickshire, the Lothians, 
 and Stirlingshire, eighteen years ago, and was quite accurate in his 
 recollection. After a few minutes our friend once more found himself 
 in the street, the whole affair having passed like a scene in a phan- 
 tasmagoria, in which he had been looking on rather than acting. 
 
 " The Hereditary Prince of Coburg, for whom I prescribed also, 
 gave me, at parting, three diamond studs, as an expression of respect ; 
 and the Lady of the Ambassador, a very handsome black cane, with 
 an ivory head ! We were becoming great friends (i. e., Sir Greorge, 
 and Lady Seymour, and I), when I came away. Sir George wondered 
 at my improved appearance since he first saw me, and said that if I 
 managed other people as well, I would be greatly missed among 
 them. 
 
 " The King saw my testimonial* on Monday forenoon, just be- 
 fore I took leave. Mr Conway took it to him. He had never asked 
 to see it, and I felt there would be an awkwardness in coining back to 
 the subscribers with it unseen. It was much better as it turned out. 
 He was left to form his own opinion of me, and when he did read it, 
 it was with more interest. He told Mr Conway that the perusal only 
 increased his regret that he was to lose me. 
 
 " I must reserve the rest till we meet. Antwerp is really and 
 truly a city of great interest. We spent two days there, and were 
 delighted. I never before could conceive Rubens' superiority ; now 
 I can to the utmost." 
 
 He immediately went to the country to recruit. The 
 
 * This refers to a written testimonial, expressive of high esteem 
 and personal regard, subscribed by the most eminent men in the mo- 
 dical and legal professions in Edinburgh, and presented to Dr Combe 
 immediately before he left Edinburgh. It was intended as a certifi- 
 cate of his professional skill and moral worth.
 
 VISITS DEANSTON SPINNING-MILLS. 267 
 
 following letter to his sister Margaret, dated Coldoch, 
 near Stirling, 18th August 1836, describes the first 
 excursion which he made after his return, and shews 
 how unbroken his spirit always remained under every 
 disappointment. 
 
 " I take the advantage of a rainy morning to let you know that I 
 am alive and thriving. Yesterday we rode in to Deanston, and saw the 
 
 mills and curiosities, and met there, by appointment, Mr and Mr 
 
 , and, not by appointment, that venerable old nobleman, Lord 
 
 Lyuedoch, and that remnant of the old burgh system Mr Chamberlain 
 , and some ladies. I was astonished on seeing the enormous water- 
 wheels revolving in all the solemnity and majesty of might. There are 
 four of them, each 38 feet in diameter and 12 in breadth, and of 100 
 horse power ; and two more are in progress. They are made of iron, 
 and as neat and clean as new pins. The power-looms are most re- 
 markable instances of human ingenuity, and struck me very forcibly. 
 They are placed in an extraordinarily large room, under one roof, 
 consisting of arches supported on hollow iron pillars, which also serve 
 the purpose of carrying off the water. I will not say what the di- 
 mensions of the room are, as you would, may be, not believe it. Won- 
 derful to tell, the roof not only supports itself over this vast ex- 
 tent, but bears the addition of a load of earth sufficient to form a 
 garden of equal size with the room itself. The whole mill is in fine 
 order, and well ventilated ; but still the confinement for so many 
 hours in a close in-door air, makes the people pale, and evidently im- 
 pairs their stamina. Lord Lynedoch seemed to bo much interested 
 in what he saw, and is himself as interesting a spectacle as the big 
 wheels and spinning-jennies. He is upwards of eighty-five, and trail, 
 but evidently with a still active mind, and the remains of a robust 
 body. Mirabile dictu, two carts suffice for the carriage of all the ma- 
 terials which employ 1100 work-people, and the wheels and spinning- 
 jennies to boot. I can scarcely believe it yet. 
 
 " We were all weighed in the Deanston machine. Mr 
 
 weighed 14 stone, Mr 14, and I 9 stone 4 Ib. ! I have 
 
 thus lost half a stone within the last twelve months, I think it was ; 
 and as I am now a good deal filled up from what I was six weeks 
 ago, I infer that I must have been more reduced in reality than I 
 was at the time aware of. I am bettor, however, even since I came 
 here, and ' eat like a raven, and sleep like a dyke/ without fever or 
 mischief of any kind. My cough, also, is nearly gone."
 
 268 LETTER TO MRS H. SIDDONS. 
 
 In a letter, dated Edinburgh, 29th August 1836, 
 addressed to Mrs Henry Siddons, lie writes thus : 
 
 " To yourself and to Lady Byron I ought to have written long ago, 
 but could not. Even after my return, although greatly better, I 
 felt a greater aversion to exertion, and taking any part in other 
 people's matters, than I have experienced for many a day ; and I re- 
 solved, in consequence, to avoid business of every kind, and to live as 
 a mere vegetable, in the open air and sunshine, till Providence should 
 increase my powers, and fit me for some further usefulness. I have 
 done so accordingly, and with decided advantage ; but I still want a 
 good deal to replace me where I was last autumn. By care, resigna- 
 tion, and patience, I hope to continue to recruit, and, at all events, I 
 have the unspeakable satisfaction of bodily ease and mental tranquil- 
 lity. I have suffered a good deal by my experiment, but / have not, 
 and never had, a shadow of reyret for having accepted the appointment. 
 Had I retained my health, I saw a field of usefulness opening up to 
 me, which would have much more than repaid me for any privation 
 attending absence from home for a few years. Experience proved to me 
 that I had not erred in the anticipation. But when health failed, and 
 the prospect of its total loss within a year or two, if I remained, pre- 
 sented itself, there was no room for hesitation, arid I decided to return. 
 Had I declined without the trial, I would never have been satisfied that 
 I had done right. Having made the trial, I am thoroughly at ease ; 
 and the mere loss of an honourable appointment is very soon got over 
 when it cannot be helped. As it is, I have the comfort of believing, 
 vainly perhaps, that my visit will not be without benefit to the Royal 
 Family. The King told me, with apparent sincerity and feeling, that 
 he regretted much my inability to remain, as he reposed entire confi- 
 dence in me, morally and professionally, and felt, he might rather 
 say, ' a positive affection for me.' This is flattering to me, perhaps 
 beyond what I ought to repeat : but it is not less honourable to him, 
 and to his own truth of character ; for I dealt with him as plainly 
 and honestly as with any private patient I ever had, and differed from 
 him quite as freely, where I thought he was wrong. I felt from the 
 first that there was integrity and good sense to rely upon, whatever 
 difference there might be between our opinions, and that even in 
 point of expediency (were so poor a principle to be recognised as a 
 guide), plain and straightforward dealing would be best and most 
 successful with him." 
 
 He revisited Brussels in November, and in a letter
 
 REVISITS BRUSSELS. 269 
 
 to Miss Cox, dated the 22d of that month, he describes 
 his reception by the Eoyal Family : 
 
 " On Sunday, at half-past ten, I was introduced to his Majesty at 
 Laekeu. He received me with much kindness, said I ' came like an 
 apparition, but a welcome one,' and then took me to the Queen, who 
 also was very kind. I was delighted to see them so well, and most 
 thankful that no advice was required for immediate use. I next pro- 
 ceeded to the garden, and found Monseigneur the little Prince at 
 work with his spade. On my approach he looked fixedly at me for a 
 moment, and then nodded half-a-dozen times, smiling as he did so, 
 and holding out his hand. At his age, nineteen months, I did not 
 expect that he would recognise me after the lapse of nearly four 
 months. It gladdened my heart to see him grown stout and healthy- 
 looking. Indeed, I have had an ample reward for all my trouble in 
 coming, in the gratification of seeing every thing going on so well ; 
 and, what to my nature is the most pleasing of all expressions of ap- 
 probation, most of my suggestions left in writing have been acted 
 upon, and the new doctor concurs so thoroughly in their propriety, 
 that no difficulty arises on that score. As regards the future, my 
 present visit will not be lost. I get acquainted with Dr Rieken and 
 his views, and can afterwards correspond with him more efficiently, if 
 need be. All this, then, is very well, and so let it remain. 
 
 " That very sagacious personage, ' every body,' says I have come 
 back an altered, or rather ' a new man,' and marvels much at the 
 change, adding, that now I am so well, surely I will never think of 
 leaving Brussels a second time. My reply to every body is, that, 
 true, I am a new man, but that the ' Satanic logic' which has made 
 me so, teaches me farther, that if I do not wish again to be converted 
 into the coughing good-for-nothing ' old' man I was, I should bid 
 them adieu in a very short time, as by staying I should be sure to be- 
 come the ' reformed transformed;' and this view poses ' every body.' 
 Their Majesties, too, congratulated me on my renovation, but were so 
 considerately kind (for it was true kindness), as not to ask me to re- 
 main." 
 
 In a letter to his brother, dated Brussels, 24th No- 
 vember 1836, he says : 
 
 " It was arranged that I should leave this on Saturday, and be 
 with you all on Saturday, 3d December ; but to-day it has been pro- 
 posed that I should accompany Mr Conway (the King's Private Secre-
 
 270 VISITS THE KING'S CHATEAU NEAR DINANT. 
 
 tary) on Monday to Dinant, in the province of Namur, to inspect a 
 chateau and property which his Majesty thinks of purchasing for the 
 benefit of a change of air in summer ; and as its value depends on its 
 suitableness and salubrity, I am as anxious to see the locality before 
 it be too late, as one so deeply interested in the Royal Family can 
 well be. This will make me remain a week longer." 
 
 He gives an account of this journey in the following 
 letter, dated Brussels, 2d December 1836, addressed to 
 his sister Margaret : 
 
 " I shall leave this to-morrow for Antwerp, whei'e I am to take 
 leave of the King, and embark on Sunday morning. 
 
 " We have had a tempesta stravagante of wind, which would have 
 done honour to Edinburgh, and of rain, which would have been 
 worthy of any tropical region in which rain falls by the puncheon 
 instead of by the drop. Many trees have been blown down in the 
 Park opposite my windows, houses have been unroofed, and chimneys 
 demolished in a style very unusual here. The magnificent spire of 
 the Hotel de Ville vibrated like an aspen leaf, and threatened to 
 shower its sculptured beauties on the people's heads, notwithstanding 
 the entreaties of the big St Michel on the top of it, who quivered 
 with fright at the thought of the tumble he and his flaming sword 
 would have before they reached the ground. Fortunately the wind 
 took pity on him, and allowed him to stand. Never was anything 
 seen like it in the memory of that remarkable personage, ' the oldest 
 inhabitant.' 
 
 " If you are acquainted with our friend Corporal Trim, the at- 
 tached follower of his master in Tristram Shandy, you will know at 
 once where I have been, when I add, that we slept one night at 
 Namur, where the said Corporal received his wound ; but strange to 
 say, the Namur people have no recollection of the event, and as little 
 of the Corporal, which shews what benefit they have derived from 
 the study of the literce humaniores ! We thence ascended fifteen miles 
 to Dinant, the road winding beautifully all the way by the side of the 
 Meuse, with precipitous rocks on one side, and green hills occasionally 
 peeping in on the other. We journeyed nine miles farther in the dark, 
 and saw nothing but the wind, the clouds, and the stars, and landed 
 in a chateau, where we spent the night ; but the howling wind drove 
 the rain into my room so abundantly, as to form a pretty little pond 
 in the middle, well adapted for skating on, if it had been big enough 
 and frozen. The temperature, however, was very high, and the 
 nearest ice seemed at least a month distant.
 
 RETURNS TO EDINBURGH. 271 
 
 " I am in an awfully depressed state of mind, from finding all my 
 
 efforts to see the lovely Miss rendered unavailing by the dear 
 
 papa never being at home when I call. If I had recollected, I might 
 have taken a romantic leap from a Namur rock, and relieved my 
 mind ; but I forgot till too late, and now it is not worth while. I 
 therefore went and talked philosophy and education with Mr Wyse, 
 statistics with M. Quetelet, gossip with his amiable wife, flirtation 
 
 with the beautiful Misses , radicalism with Dr , politics 
 
 with Mr Conway, great people with Mademoiselle , &c. &c., 
 
 and succeeded in banishing the lovely image of the lovely Miss 
 
 from my brains ! Marie declares, I am as much changed in my ap- 
 pearance as a silver sixpence is when turned into a gold sovereign. 
 When I took leave of the Queen to-day, her Majesty also paid me a 
 similar compliment." 
 
 His bad luck in sea-voyages again pursued him on 
 his return. In a letter to Miss Cox, dated London, 9th 
 December 1836, he writes : 
 
 " I think I hear you wondering what has become of me, and ex- 
 pressing a wise resolution never to let me out of your sight again, ex- 
 cept, perhaps, on a voyage in spring to China, or the whale-fishery. You 
 know well you make me do what you like ; and if I am buffeted about 
 for five days at a time in a mare stmvagante, at the mercy of the winds 
 and waves, \i\fulfilling your wishes, I must just submit, and thank Pro- 
 vidence for not drowning me. We left Antwerp on Sunday morn- 
 ing, in a gale that blew us against the pier with such force, that it 
 required an hour-and-a-half's hard work to detach us from it; and after 
 three hours more of steaming amidst wreck and ruin, we were obliged 
 to drop anchor, and be thankful we had a snug corner in which to lie 
 in safety. On Monday it blew a little less, and off we went, and got 
 as far as Flushing, when again ' the wind blew as 't wad blawn its 
 last,' and ' the rattling showers rose on the blast,' with such terrific 
 energy, that we were on the eve of turning tail and running back, when 
 the Victoria from London made her appearance, and made a signal to 
 us not to attempt a passage, but to run back to the anchorage ground, 
 three miles up the river ; which we did. There we lay two days with 
 plenty of company. The Rotterdam and Dunkirk boat, after beating 
 about for a week, dropped down beside us ; and three miles off lay the 
 large Hamburgh steamer, the Chieftain, a perfect wreck, after having 
 been driven from Lowestoff to Ostend, and then into the Scheldt. At 
 the first turn from Antwerp, a mast stuck up through the water. It 
 was a vessel which went down three days before. Next we came to
 
 272 DEDICATION TO KING LEOPOLD. 
 
 a fine new brig, Leopold I., stranded and damaged, and then to a 
 complete wreck. But, in the midst of these marks of ruin and devas- 
 tation, it was amusing to hear our captain and people talking so in- 
 nocently, with their mouths half full, as if it no way concerned them. 
 However, not to trouble you with disagreeables now past and forgotten, 
 I may just say, that we arrived safe at 7 P.M., last night, nothing the 
 worse ; and to-day, at the custom-house, I am told that eleven foreign 
 and other steamers are not yet forthcoming. "We left our anchorage 
 on Wednesday at 9 A.M., and had a long and rough road to come. 
 
 " I have not suffered, Dieu merci ; but although I joked about my 
 cold, it was really no joke. My ribs were literally sore to the touch 
 with coughing, and my breath half gone. During the first bad night 
 of it, I was like ' a birstled pea stotting in a frying-pan,' with its 
 violence. I was in good spirits notwithstanding, because I saw and 
 felt that I had done some good ; and that many of my suggestions had 
 been acted on, and with the results I anticipated to all parties. As 
 I said before, no compliment is so grateful to me as people acting on 
 what is laid before them. I told the Queen that I had to thank her 
 personally, for so kindly sending me the print of his Majesty, and that 
 it gave me much pleasure. She answered, in her pretty and sincere 
 tone, ' I am glad of it. I thought it would give you pleasure. I am 
 always very happy to do any thing which can give you pleasure. I 
 assure you, we feel very grateful for all your goodness.' On several 
 occasions afterwards she thanked me for coming, as did his Majesty ; 
 and the kind, sincere tone of both was very gratifying to me : but I 
 must not repeat any more of their expressions of satisfaction. 
 
 " My experience of Brussels was greatly confirmed by this expedi- 
 tion. I am positive I could not retain my health three mouths in it. 
 I began to feel the evil influence before I left for Dinant." 
 
 The King of the Belgians having in this handsome 
 manner expressed his appreciation of Dr Combe's merits, 
 and constituted him his consulting physician, Dr C. 
 dedicated his work on " The Principles of Physiology 
 applied to the Preservation of Health" &c., to his Ma- 
 jesty in the following terms : 
 
 " SIRE, In consenting to ascend the throne, to which 
 you were called by the fervent prayer of the Belgian 
 people, your Majesty was graciously pleased to declare, 
 that, having from early life been placed in many diffi-
 
 DEDICATION TO KING LEOPOLD. 273 
 
 cult and trying situations, you had long learned to 
 value power only as a means of advancing the solid and 
 lasting happiness of your fellow-creatures. How nobly 
 your Majesty has redeemed the pledge implied in this 
 generous assurance, the tranquillity, security, and in- 
 creasing prosperity of your Majesty's adopted country 
 proclaim in language which it requires not the aid of 
 individual testimony to confirm ; and I venture to refer 
 to it only because your Majesty's gracious permission 
 to dedicate to you a work having for its aim the pre- 
 vention and alleviation of human suffering is but an- 
 other proof of the sincerity of the feeling by which it 
 was dictated, and of the deep interest which your Ma- 
 jesty takes in everything connected with the welfare 
 and improvement of mankind. 
 
 " As every amelioration of the physical condition of 
 the people conduces not less to their advancement in in- 
 telligence and good conduct than to their bodily com- 
 fort, I am inclined to hope that, even in a moral point 
 of view, some good may be effected by the present ex- 
 position of the more important laws of the animal 
 economy, and of the numerous practical advantages to 
 be expected from their regular and adequate fulfil- 
 ment. 
 
 " While thus laying my little work before your Ma- 
 jesty as a sincere though humble tribute of respect and 
 admiration, may I be farther permitted to express my 
 profound gratitude for the condesceuding goodness with 
 which you have been pleased to receive my imperfect 
 services, as well as for the professional confidence with 
 which your Majesty continues to honour me." 
 
 The correspondence now shews, that this dedication 
 was not an empty compliment, but the expression of a 
 high estimation of the character, and a sincere grati- 
 tude for the kindness of the King. 
 
 s
 
 274 LETTER TO DR CLARK. 
 
 The following letter, dated 30th September 1836, 
 addressed to Dr Clark, gives an account of the origin 
 of Dr Combe's works, and of his habits of composi- 
 tion : 
 
 " If I have any credit at all in keeping well with an imperfect pair 
 of bellows to preserve the flame alive, it is simply in at once and with- 
 out scruple sacrificing everything, great or small, to health ; and truly 
 I have my reward in no despicable degree of active enjoyment amidst 
 all my frailties. You need not then fear my hurting myself with 
 writing and, by the way, you amuse me by envying my facility in 
 writing ! Know, then, that many a time and oft I have envied you in 
 this respect. I have no such facility in composing, especially since 
 my infirm health. "Witness the fact that my review of your book took 
 me upwards of three weeks, laying aside all other composition ; and 
 such is the proportion of time to all other subjects, even though I am 
 familiar with them. You have probably formed this notion from my 
 book on Digestion having appeared in about a year from its an- 
 nouncement. But, in reality, it and my former volume are the work 
 of years. So long ago as 1824 I had begun to write the latter, and 
 threw it aside in despair of making it intelligible. It happened, how- 
 ever, that from an early period I had many consultations and advices 
 to give in writing to patients who lived much in the country, or who 
 called for me while passing a short time in Edinburgh, and also to 
 strangers whom I never saw. For the sake of easy reference, as well 
 as to preserve a record, I at last got a copying machine, and for six 
 years past have taken a copy by it of all my business letters; and thus 
 there is scarcely a remark in my whole writings that has not, directly 
 or indirectly, come out of that correspondence, and consequently out 
 of actual observation ; and it is this practical quality, I believe, which 
 makes my writings interest so many readers. Here, too, you will 
 observe I have materials for writing which save me much trouble ; and 
 it was only from the frequent assurances of my correspondents, that 
 what I said was level to their comprehensions, and of much interest 
 to their minds, that at length I ventured to prepare and publish the 
 first volume. Dr Conolly, therefore, is not altogether correct in sup- 
 posing that the latter work is the offspring of the first. Its actual 
 preparation was, but not the material. Much of the second part is 
 taken from my letters. You may even remember my declining to 
 write for the Cyclopaedia some years ago, on account of the difficulty 
 and imperfect results of my labours, which plea was perfectly sincere." 
 
 In the midst of all these interruptions from bad
 
 PUBLISHES HIS PHYSIOLOGY OF DIGESTION. 275 
 
 health and important business, Dr Combe found time 
 to complete and publish his work on " The Physiology 
 of Digestion, considered ivith relation to the Principles of 
 Dietetics" of which the 9th edition. " edited, and adapt- 
 ed to the present state of Physiological and Chemical 
 Science,"' by his nephew, James Cox, M.D., appeared 
 in 1849. In Chapter VIII. of that work, he men- 
 tions very clearly the characteristic feature which dis- 
 tinguishes it from other treatises on Digestion : 
 
 " From the preceding exposition of the structure and functions of 
 the organs concerned in chymification, it will be evident to the re- 
 flecting reader, that although the kind or quality of the food mate- 
 rially increases or diminishes the facility with which it is acted upon 
 by the gastric juice, this is by no means the only circumstance affect- 
 ing the result, but, contrary to the popular opinion T the strictest ad- 
 herence to any prescribed form of diet will prove of comparatively 
 little service in warding off indigestion, especially in persons predis- 
 posed to its attacks, unless the other equally influential circumstances 
 by which digestion is promoted or retarded be also carefully attended 
 to. So completely is this proposition borne out by experience, that 
 examples are to be met with every day, where the same food which 
 is digested with ease when the other physiological laws are attended 
 to, remains for hours in the stomach undigested when they are in- 
 fringed or neglected. 
 
 " So far, however, from this great principle being generally recog- 
 nised and acted upon in practice, the proper quality of the food has 
 hitherto been almost universally regarded as the chief, if not the only 
 requisite, for the enjoyment of healthy digestion. Hence, while medi- 
 cal men are constantly questioned, whether this or that article of diet 
 is good or bad for the stomach, curiosity rarely, if ever, extends so far 
 as to inquire, whether Nature has annexed to sound digestion any 
 other conditions, which also it may be expedient to know and to ob- 
 serve. The consequence has been, that, while numerous works have 
 appeared, descriptive of the natural history and properties of ali- 
 mentary substances, none, so far as I am aware, has systematically 
 directed attention to the importance of a better acquaintance with, 
 and more habitual observance of, those other circumstances by which 
 digestion is so powerfully influenced. This omission is the more to 
 be regretted, because the physiological conditions of digestion exert 
 such an extensive influence over the assimilative and nutritive pro-
 
 276 LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 
 
 cesses, that the subject of Dietetics cannot be fully understood or 
 appreciated, without carefully studying their mode of action, and 
 directing attention to their practical consequences. And I feel assured 
 that, ere long, no treatise on Diet will be considered complete which 
 does not assign them that prominent place to which their relative im- 
 portance so clearly entitles them. 
 
 " Influenced by these considerations, and by the fact, that, in many 
 excellent works already existing, the constitution and properties of all 
 the alimentary substances in common use are examined and described 
 in ample detail, I have not hesitated to forsake the beaten path, and 
 to dedicate these pages chiefly to the elucidation of the more neglect- 
 ed, but, practically, not less important department of the inquiry ; 
 and with this view, I have, in the preceding chapters, entered more 
 into detail regarding the nature and laws of digestion, than I should 
 otherwise have thought advisable in a work intended for the unpro- 
 fessional reader. This course farther seemed to be necessary, because 
 I could not otherwise hope to carry along with me the conviction of 
 the reader, that, in so far as the practical rules or principles deduced 
 from these laws are correct interpretations of nature, they are, in 
 reality, expressions of the will and design of the beneficent Creator, 
 who instituted them for our advantage, and has given us a direct in- 
 terest in discovering and conforming to them." 
 
 Having been sounded on the subject of his writing a 
 Treatise on " Physical Education " for Messrs W. and 
 R. Chambers, he wrote to Miss Cox from Brussels as 
 follows : 
 
 " I find by experience that I write best, and by far most agreeably, 
 when I am not fettered by: another person's design or time. Not 
 having a versatile mind, I felt the review which I wrote for Dr For- 
 bes' Journal * rather a heavy undertaking ; and I am convinced that 
 I shall serve my fellow-men and myself best, by executing only my 
 own plans. If I could do it, there is no man I would help sooner than 
 Robert Chambers. He is engaged in an admirable cause." 
 
 In 1836 Dr Combe visited a number of lunatic asy- 
 lums, with a view to finding a suitable retreat for a 
 patient under his care ; and he describes their condition 
 
 * Review of Sir James Clark's " Treatise on Pulmonary Consump- 
 tion;" Br. and For. Med. Rev., No. 1, p. 70, January 1836.
 
 LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 277 
 
 in the following letter addressed to his brother George. 
 As the institutions alluded to hare been improved, and 
 their administrators changed, since the letter was 
 written, it forms a record of the past, rather than a 
 picture of the present : 
 
 " The result of my visits to several lunatic asylums has been com- 
 pletely to satisfy me that what I have said all along is true, viz., that 
 
 though 's is had, it is upon the whole ' the best of the bad.' 
 
 in locality and physical arrangements is unexceptionable and 
 
 enlivening ; but the superintendent is a rough-spun person, of con- 
 siderable good nature and a decided talent for cricket. The physi- 
 cian is a sensible, kind man, but with a strong dash of the four-footed 
 animal, and not much refinement. In the physical arrange- 
 ments are very good, though inferior to , but turns 
 
 out to be a very second-rate, Love-of-Approbation-and-lymphatic 
 personage, imbued with little real philanthropy or interest in his 
 patients, and as little knowledge. He is kindly disposed, but not 
 actively benevolent, and there is a vast difference between the two. 
 He seems to call himself a phrenologist, and yet he told me that no 
 one in his situation could apply Phrenology to practice unless directed 
 and sanctioned by the physician ; as if the whole moral treatment 
 was not utterly independent of the latter. He asked me to come back 
 and examine some heads of patients 'to test Phrenology;' and when 
 I agreed, I wrote to him explaining the real object of such examina- 
 tion, and the class of patients to which alone it is applicable, viz., 
 monomaniacs, and begged that he would select only sitfh cases, and 
 note their peculiarities. So little did he comprehend this, that he 
 brought in cases of general mania, and even one or two ' silly-minded,' 
 and requested me to point out the feature on which they were de- 
 ranged ! When, in return, I asked whether the general manifestations 
 or character corresponded with or differed from their predominant 
 organs, he could not answer. He was so ignorant of their history and 
 present manifestations, that he could not say whether they agreed or 
 not ! I begged of him to make inquiries on this point, and let me 
 know ; and I left my notes with him as a guide to him in his inquiry. 
 His account of eight patients since sent to me occupies about twenty 
 lines of wide writing. One is ' a clever tradesman,' another ' a nice- 
 looking young man,' a third is ' silly-minded,' and so on. If he asso- 
 ciated at all with his patients, except when acting as showman, such 
 disgraceful ignorance could not have occurred. When I found how 
 things stood, I declined examining any more.
 
 278 LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 
 
 " With Mr Browiie the result was very different. He knew every 
 feeling and peculiarity of every patient, and was evidently on the best 
 terras with them all. They smiled when he approached, and shewed 
 unequivocally that in private more than in public his benevolence 
 had been actively exercised in promoting their happiness. I per- 
 ceived a great difference to the better in their general expression 
 within the last two years ; their features betokened activity of mind 
 and feeling, where dull moroseness was seated before. In the phy- 
 sical arrangements he has also improved as far as was possible. His 
 yearly ' Report ' puts the one to shame. The one is the off- 
 spring of an enlightened and superior mind, intent on fulfilling an 
 important mission. The other is the feeble ' effort ' of a vain ostenta- 
 tion, proud of itself, and seeking the applause of others the main 
 object, the welfare of the patients, holds a second place. It is truly 
 gratifying to witness the success of Phrenology in Browne's hands." 
 
 The history of the year 1836 may properly be closed 
 by an account given by Dr Combe himself, in a letter 
 to a friend, of his pecuniary resources during the years 
 1835 and 1836. The letter is dated Brussels, 19th 
 May 1836 : 
 
 " I am much gratified," says he, " to know that is re- 
 covered. Do not be uneasy at your unexpected deficit as regards him. 
 My brother and some of my kindred are willing to help him, and as 
 I am now becoming ' desperately rich,' it will give me real pleasure 
 to turn a portion to such a good purpose. Last year, with practice, 
 books, and other sources of emolument, I must have received the best 
 part of 1000 ; and this year there is every probability of my gains 
 coming nearer 1200 ; so that I can look to the evil day, and also spare 
 something for him when he needs it. With an unbroken constitution, 
 I might have done more ; but it is, or ought to be, a first object with 
 every one to bear his own burden, and not throw it on the shoulders 
 of his neighbours so long as he can carry it himself ; and, therefore, 
 I look to my own probable future."
 
 CLIMATE FOE AN INVALID IN SPRING. 279 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CLIMATE FOR AN INVALID IN SPRING. LETTER TO MR W. A. F. BROWNE, 
 ON HIS WORK ON LUNATIC ASYLUMS. ADVANTAGES OP THE RE- 
 SPIRATOR. EFFECTS OF INORDINATE LOVE OF APPROBATION. 
 ADVICE IN A CASE OF MENTAL DEPRESSION. EFFECTS OF IMPAIRED 
 
 RESPIRATION. THE DOMESTIC CIRCLE AT COUL. LECTURES ON 
 
 PHRENOLOGY. LETTER TO MISS SEDGWICK OF NEW YORK. HIS 
 
 " DIGESTION" TRANSLATED INTO GERMAN. STATE OF THE MANU- 
 FACTURING POPULATION OF ENGLAND. HOW TO MEET UNAVOID- 
 ABLE EVILS. 
 
 IN the beginning of 1837, Dr Combe resumed his 
 professional practice, and extended his efforts in pro- 
 portion to his strength. To a patient who had con- 
 sulted him on the best 
 
 CLIMATE TOR AN INVALID IN SPRING, 
 
 He writes as follows : 
 
 " For a spring residence (during March and April) I do not know 
 that I can recommend any situation preferable to the country about 
 Bristol or Clifton. I know no place in Italy or France, where the 
 east winds in spring are not bitterly felt by invalids, and where, from 
 the great contrast between a hot sun and cold shade, the invalid can 
 escape mischief, without constant and prudent caution. Taking the 
 houses, living, and climate together, I conceive nine out of ten inva- 
 lids would profit more by passing the spring in the west of England, 
 selecting localities where the soil is dry and the air pure, the situa- 
 tion sheltered, and the east wind modified as much as an east wind 
 can be (for bad it is at the best), than by spending it at Nice, Rome,
 
 280 LETTER TO W. A. F. BROWNE, ESQ. 
 
 or any other southern city. I have spent three winters in the south, 
 and each time have returned with an increased conviction that I 
 should have been better at home, if I had not been quite accustomed 
 to continental houses and modes of life before I became ill." 
 
 On the 28th of January 1837, he wrote the following 
 letter to Mr W. A. F. Browne, then of Montrose, who 
 had requested him to revise some sheets of his work 
 entitled, " What Asylums were, are, and ought to be? 
 being the substance of Five Lectures delivered before 
 the Managers of the Montrose Royal Lunatic Asy- 
 lum."- 
 
 " The remarks which you quote from p. 236 of my Avork on De- 
 rangement, need not at all discourage you in your present course. 
 They were aimed chiefly against long descriptions of the many ma- 
 nifestations observable in individual cases, and incidentally against 
 the confounding of symptoms with the disease ; and more with a view 
 to medical treatment than to the moral. We are agreed that differ- 
 ent groups of mental symptoms may characterise the same morbid state 
 of DIFFERENT PARTS of the brain, or, in other words, the same dis- 
 ease in DIFFERENT PARTS ; and we are also agreed that excitement of 
 Self-Esteem, for instance, or, in other words, the same group of men- 
 tal symptoms, may attend what, for want of a better name, we may 
 call nervous excitement of the organs, requiring sedatives for its cure ; 
 and also vascular excitement, requiring bleeding, &c. If you make the 
 reader fully aware of this, I have no objection to a classification such 
 as you give for the purposes of moral treatment ; because such a classi- 
 fication is simple and necessary, and very different from the speci- 
 men I gave from Dr Mason Good, who, in common with other writers, 
 often makes a division where, in reality, it is the same faculties which 
 are concerned. At iii., p. 14, you notice the facility with which all the 
 cases may be reduced to ten or twelve heads. At the bottom of page 
 237 in my book, you will find the same remark made as a reason for 
 not entering into long details of symptoms. On this head, then, there 
 is less difference between us than you imagine. 
 
 " There is one point, however, on which I would add a word or two. 
 I am not aware whether you intend to introduce Phrenology openly 
 as your guide in the investigation and treatment of insanity. In the 
 first sheet there is no allusion to it, and it therefore seems possible that 
 you do not mean to notice it. If you really do not, I would strongly 
 advise a contrary course, as due both to the cause of truth and to your-
 
 OX HIS WORK OX LUXATIC ASYLUMS. 281 
 
 self. Still it seems to me so improbable that you should omit it, that 
 I cannot think it necessary to enter into the reasons here. With 
 's tactics in this respect I have always been dissatisfied ; and, be- 
 fore he did it, I remonstrated with him in vain. It is true, present 
 popularity is gained ; but my conviction is, that truth is retarded in 
 the long-run, and Phrenology itself thrown into the background, 
 branded with the stamp of folly by those who never suspect that what 
 they read is Phrenology. Xot a month ago I read a highly lauda- 
 tory review of a work, the principles and scope of which were strongly 
 recommended, and held out as a contrast to the ravings of phrenolo- 
 gists and the pretensions of Phrenology, and especially to the wild 
 and dangerous doctrines in the ' Constitution of Man ;' when, in point 
 of fact, the principles thus lauded were taken from the phrenologists, 
 many from my brother and many from myself ! Thus, while the fruit 
 is admired and cherished, the tree is cast into the furnace as fit only 
 to be burned up. I also was strongly advised by many friends to 
 dress up my book on Derangement in ordinary language, and make 
 no reference to Phrenology, and I was satisfied that I could thereby 
 have produced a more saleable and popular work ; but convinced that 
 the doing so would be dishonest, and in the end defeat its own pur- 
 pose and retard the advance of truth, I declined acting on the advice." 
 
 Mr Browne proved the sincerity of his conviction of 
 the importance of Phrenology in the treatment of the 
 insane, by dedicating his work to Dr Combe in the fol- 
 lowing terms : " Dedicated, with sincere respect and 
 gratitude, to Andrew Combe, M.D., &c., as an acknow- 
 ledgment of the benefits conferred on society by his 
 exposition of the application of Phrenology in the treat- 
 ment of insanity and nervous diseases ; and of private 
 benefits conferred, as the most enlightened preceptor, 
 the most disinterested adviser, and the kindest friend, 
 of the Author." 
 
 In the following letter to Dr Clark, dated Edinburgh, 
 10th February 1837, Dr Combe adverts to the 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF THE RESPIRATOR. 
 
 " I duly received yours of 29th January, and the pamphlets about 
 the respirator. The latter interests me much ; and, particularly, as 
 I was contriving a similar instrument some months ago out of safety- 
 lamp gauze, but had not mechanical skill enough to manage the thing 
 properly. I am sure it will be useful, and if Mr Jeffreys will send
 
 282 ADVANTAGES OF THE RESPIRATOR. 
 
 down a few for sale, I shall willingly notice and recommend them in 
 the Scotsman. If he prefers a druggist to a cutler, he might send 
 them with great safety to Duncan and Flockhart, North Bridge New 
 Buildings. 
 
 " You ask about the influenza and my health, and recommend con- 
 finement till it be over. I have, however, followed the opposite course 
 as the safest, and never remained a single day without exercise in the 
 open air, carefully managed, of course, but never interrupted ; and I 
 have escaped remarkably. Moreover, all my numerous kindred and 
 immediate friends whom I could influence, have followed the same 
 plan, and only one has had an attack, and it arose from his choosing 
 to work all day and take his exercise on the Glasgow road at ten 
 o'clock at night ! Of those much or wholly confined to the house, 
 scarcely one has escaped ; and the mortality for January has been 
 about 370 above the average. The more I see, the more faith I have 
 in a rational mode of life preserving health and restoring strength, 
 even under very unpromising circumstances ; and I have one striking 
 example now before me of a lady who, by her mode of life, was every 
 year becoming more delicate, susceptible of cold, of bilious fever, and 
 of nervous anxiety and depression, so that great part of every winter 
 she was confined to the house by cold or other illness in constant suc- 
 cession. In autumn, I accidentally saw a good deal of her habits, and, 
 after satisfying myself by continued observations in silence (for she 
 was not my patient), I at last gave her a very forcible exposition of 
 her errors, and urged upon her a total change as her only chance of 
 escaping continued suffering. An impression was made ;. a consider- 
 able, but not complete, reformation was begun, but, on her part, al- 
 most without hope. Four months have now elapsed, and she has not 
 had one day's sickness, or one day's confinement ; and, instead of walk- 
 ing the length of the street with effort, I lately met her returning 
 with active vigour from a walk of six miles. In my own instance, I 
 find my only safety lies in keeping up the tone of the general health. 
 If that goes down, I go down too. But, as I said before, I do every- 
 thing prudently, and avoid risk and needless exposure." 
 
 In a letter dated 26th February 1837, addressed to 
 a friend who had consulted him about the natural dis- 
 positions of a youth in whom he was interested, he gives 
 a description of the 
 
 EFFECTS OF INORDINATE LOVE OF APPROBATION. 
 
 " Unfortunately, Love of Approbation in him takes the direction 
 of personal vanity, instead of higher objects ; and hence, at any given
 
 EFFECTS OF INORDINATE LOVE OF APPROBATION. 283 
 
 moment, you can change the whole aspect of his character according 
 as you gratify or disturb his Love of Approbation. Flatter his per- 
 sonal vanity, allow him to boast of his feats, and of the great things 
 he intends to do when a great man, to ridicule those who pursue dif- 
 ferent objects or in a different way from himself, and let him imagine 
 that you concur in admiring his wonderful doings, and in an instant 
 you will have him in the full flow of openness, good humour, and folly. 
 But hint seriously that such exhibitions are manifestations of empty 
 vanity, that those he ridicules are more worthy of praise than him- 
 self, and that his boastings are childish and unworthy of his years, the 
 scene instantly changes, and a cloud of dissatisfaction comes over him 
 and continues till he thinks he may resume his favourite themes. 
 From Self-Esteem not being in due proportion to Love of Approba- 
 tion, there is a deficient sense of dignity ; a willingness to pick up 
 crumbs of approbation even at the hands of little schoolboys much 
 younger than himself, and a want of that sober-minded reliance on his 
 own powers which would make him care less for the wavering opinions 
 of his companions. It is true that he does not care for all kinds of 
 approbation, and thus seems sometimes callous to its influence. This, 
 however, is merely because he values only that kind which his limited 
 faculties comprehend. He cares not for approval in scientific pur- 
 suits, because he neither understands nor esteems them ; and, to make 
 approval be felt, it must come from a quarter which is looked up to 
 for some reason or other. My Love of Approbation may, for ex- 
 ample, make me wish to be held as a good doctor or an honest 
 man, because I understand what these qualities are, and value them ; 
 but it may be very indifferent although a herald were sent to pro- 
 claim at the cross that I am a bad painter or an indifferent mathe- 
 matician. In the same way would be very easy under a charge 
 
 of inferiority in science, but he would be greatly disturbed at any 
 charge of much less consequence that happened to touch his personal 
 vanity. It is this which makes it often difficult to distinguish the 
 workings of Love of Approbation from those of Self-Esteem ; and 
 yet, on reflection, it is seen that they obviously spring from distinct 
 sources. Love of Approbation lays a man open to every wind that 
 blows ; and hence it is a never-ending source of caprice, and of an 
 amiability with strangers which is often laid aside at home, the fa- 
 culty not thinking it worth the trouble to please home-folks." 
 
 The patient to whom the following letters are ad- 
 dressed, had been bred to business in Scotland, and 
 afterwards appointed to a public office in the south of
 
 284 ADVICE IN A CASE OF MENTAL DEPRESSION. 
 
 England ; but from over-exertion and other causes, he 
 had fallen into a state of 
 
 MENTAL DEPRESSION, 
 
 and contemplated the resignation of his office. Dr 
 Combe, who took a friendly interest in him, wrote to 
 him on the 2d of March 1837, as follows : 
 
 " I have just received your letter of yesterday, and am much dis- 
 tressed at its contents. That in your present state of mind and body 
 you should feel worried to death and disgusted with a multiplicity of 
 objects pressing upon you, is so very natural that I am only surprised 
 that you, with all your knowledge of the human constitution, should 
 seem to have expected to feel the contrary sensations of comfort and 
 contentment from the first moment of entering upon your new duties. 
 You know well, that before you went to at all, your brain 
 was lowered in vigour by long over-exertion ; that when you returned, 
 you exhausted it still more by extra labour and convivialities ; that, 
 after a short refreshment during your voyage, you felt more able, and 
 took a cheerful view of your situation ; that you then once more en- 
 tered upon an amount of exertion which nothing short of a cast- 
 iron brain could stand uninjured ; and when the natural, the unavoid- 
 able result follows when your spirit flags and every thought is a 
 burden, instead of making a practical use of your knowledge, in- 
 stead of labouring through the present week or two of evil, and wait- 
 ing for the comparative rest consequent on familiarity with your du- 
 ties, you throw aside every advantage which your philosophy ought 
 to provide, and, acting on present feeling unguided by sound judg- 
 ment, propose to renounce at once a situation which, judging from 
 your own letters, still seems one peculiarly fitted for your faculties. 
 I need not say that I deeply regret this precipitation. Not for one 
 moment would I wish to see you fixed in any employment inconsistent 
 with your happiness, however useful your being in it might be to 
 others. But when I see in your whole manifestations concurrent 
 proofs, not of your unfitness for the duties, nor of their real discord- 
 ance with your powers, but simply and purely of a morbid state of the 
 nervous system, which a little time and patience would soon remove, 
 I cannot but lament, for your own sake, that you should so readily 
 give way to a temporary aberration, and attribute to small Combative- 
 ness and Hope what is so clearly ascribable to a totally different and 
 much less abiding cause. I endeavoured to enforce upon you before, 
 the fact that you are incapable of judging of your own true state, and
 
 ADVICE IN A CASE OF MEKTAL DEPRESSION. 285 
 
 that you ought to place yourself in the hands of those who know from 
 experience what your condition is, and by what means you may be 
 
 extricated from it. Under a similar temporary affliction, would 
 
 scarcely rest a day till his villa should be sold for sixpence, pulled 
 down, or thrown into the sea ; and he ridiculed the notion that the 
 cause of his misery was in his own brain and not in his innocent pro- 
 perty. Almost on compulsion he agreed to use the means pointed out 
 for three months, before acting on his own notion. Before the end 
 of that time, he was in utter amazement at his folly, and was dis- 
 cussing good roasts of beef and bottles of claret in the very house the 
 existence of which had previously made him wish himself under the 
 clod. In your instance, time would bring about a similar change. 
 You once were active and punctual in business, and remarkable for 
 an easy grasp of details. Your health, but not your nature, is changed. 
 Give your brain a little time and fair play, and your former capacity 
 will return in improved vigour. You yourself testify that none of 
 your details are such as to excite anxiety, or give just cause for ' blue 
 devilism.' Then why act so hastily, and risk a permanent damage to 
 yourself on account of a fleeting evil ? Even in the best health, the 
 sudden entrance upon new duties is felt to be laborious and irk- 
 some, although a month's practice generally makes them almost mat- 
 ters of routine. Physiology tells you why, and shews that in suffer- 
 ing at first, you merely undergo a general law. If, therefore, you 
 have not actually resigned, I would beg of you not to do so imme- 
 diately. If you have given in your resignation before this reaches 
 you, you should still beg of your superiors not to act upon it till I see 
 you. State, which you may truly, that you felt disordered in health, 
 by excessive exertion previous to leaving Scotland, and by its con- 
 tinuance since your arrival in , and that thus dispirited you 
 
 resigned ; but that, being assured that with a little time you would 
 recover your fitness, you are desirous to be allowed to try. I will 
 go to you immediately, and see what your state and duties are ; and 
 if I can do any good, I will stay with you till you have experience to 
 some small extent to guide your judgment." 
 
 Dr Combe accordingly visited his patient in Eng- 
 land, and having become satisfied that the view which 
 he had taken of the case was correct, he again wrote to 
 him as follows : 
 
 " EDINBURGH, 12tA March 1837. 
 
 " I arrived here safely on Friday evening at 8 P.M., and my object 
 in writing to you now is simply to encourage you to persevere in well-
 
 286 ADVICE IN A CASE OF MENTAL DEPRESSION. 
 
 doing, and to set the 'blue devils' at defiance. In a little time your 
 mind and feelings will regain their tone, and you will wonder that 
 they should ever have been discomposed by your present impressions. 
 It is true that you will occasionally have periods of depression, in 
 which your morbid views will make an inroad upon your peace ; but by 
 perseverance and rational care, these will become both fewer and less 
 intense, while every attack fairly resisted and passed over, makes the 
 future victory more easy and certain. I need not urge upon you the 
 fact, that it is your bodily and mental state, and not your external 
 situation, which requires a remedy. If you were free from your office 
 at this moment, you would still be a sufferer, and your pains would 
 soon be aggravated by the consciousness of having committed a weak- 
 ness in deserting your post. Your mental discomfort would take 
 merely another shape, but would not on that account be cured. 
 Horace noted this of old, when he said so pithily, ' Co3lum, non ani- 
 mum, mutant, qui trans mare currunt.' Take counsel, then, of all 
 past experience, and of those who know your true situation, and you 
 will live to rejoice that you did so. If you were left at this moment 
 without some imperative employment, the means of restoration would 
 be greatly diminished ; and a situation more devoid of anxiety and 
 better fitted for your condition, you could not possibly have. Neither 
 must you allow your imagination to suppose you unfit for details ; 
 for it is notorious that your forte when in health lay in details, 
 and a better remedy for your present exhausted state cannot be de- 
 vised than is implied in attention to the ordinary matters of your 
 office. If, my dear Sir, you rely so far on the judgment of those who 
 are interested in you, I feel confident, that ere long you will look 
 back upon the present epoch as upon a troubled dream, and be thank- 
 ful that you were wakened out of it even by force. I just state the 
 case on its simple ground, of what is to be directly conducive to your own 
 recovery and welfare. You yourself will doubtless take the collateral 
 considerations into account, and do your best to prove to all concerned, 
 that your fitness for your situation, and zeal for the public service, 
 are equal to what they were induced to expect. By no other means, 
 in fact, can you hope ever to realise a brighter futurity for yourself; 
 for if once you were to give up under a temporary fit of disgust, in 
 spite of the best founded assurances of a healing and comforting future, 
 no one, not even yourself, could ever again take or expect advantage 
 from any better opening which might present itself." 
 
 The effect of these counsels was satisfactory. The 
 patient, who was acquainted with Phrenology, was in-
 
 VISIT TO COUL. 287 
 
 duced to persevere in the discharge of his duties, and 
 to obey the laws of health ; and in a few weeks improve- 
 ment commenced, which in due season terminated in 
 complete recovery. As such cases are not rare among 
 ardent and studious young men, the letters may interest 
 and benefit a pretty numerous class. 
 
 Dr Combe in a letter to his brother George, dated 
 6th May 1837, gives a view of his own health, even in 
 its best states, which shews with how many difficulties 
 he had to contend : 
 
 " The greatest evil I suffer under," says he, " is imperfect san- 
 guification in my obstructed lungs. It is this that impairs the 
 working power of my brain as much as that of my muscles, and thus 
 renders me more like a vegetable than is at all consistent with my 
 wishes and feelings. Sometimes, indeed, the thought of my useless- 
 ness, where there is so much good to be done, oppresses me, and makes 
 me think of all expedients to remove it, and especially to try a very 
 long voyage and much open air, which certainly act more beneficially 
 on me than anything else. But I have so much to be thankful for, 
 that I have really no right to complain." 
 
 This practical testimony to the lowering of mental 
 energy by imperfect sanguification in the lungs, may 
 be useful to persons who are apt to overlook the de- 
 pendence of moral and intellectual vigour on the air 
 they respire. It affords also a striking admonition to 
 those who, in their zeal to oppose Phrenology, have 
 hazarded the assertion, that the brain is not necessary 
 to the mental manifestations, and that the intellectual 
 powers continue unimpaired in vigour amidst all the 
 ravages of bodily disease. 
 
 In May he paid a visit to his friend, Sir George S. 
 Mackenzie, and in a letter to his brother George, dated 
 Coul, the 10th of that month, he gives the following 
 pleasing picture of his enjoyment in the family circle. 
 The letter is characteristic of Dr Combe's mind ; for
 
 288 ADVICE TO A CONVALESCENT PATIENT. 
 
 in the bosom of a cheerful, harmonious, and intelligent 
 family, in which the gravity of age was enlivened by the 
 buoyancy of youth, he ever found his highest gratifica- 
 tion. 
 
 " I can scarcely express the delight I have felt at the social happi- 
 ness of this family. Lady Mackenzie (Sir George's second wife) has 
 been a blessing to them all, as well as to Sir George, and there is an 
 ease and confidence among all the members of the family which 
 is admirable. Lady Mackenzie's vivacity, kindness, and practical 
 good sense, give her a most wholesome influence in blending different 
 elements of mental character into one harmonious compound ; and 
 her daughter's light-hearted but rational gaiety enlivens everybody, 
 and sometimes shakes my sober tabernacle, till my sides get sore with 
 laughing. Lady M. affirms most irreverently, that there is much 
 ' quiet ' mischief within me, but I assure her that it must be very 
 quiet, seeing that I always behave with such unexampled propriety 
 in thought, speech, and action !" 
 
 The earnest tone and practical sense of the following 
 letter of 
 
 ADVICE TO A CONVALESCENT PATIENT, 
 
 may render it interesting and instructive to some 
 readers. It is addressed to the wife of a gentleman 
 who had just recovered from a severe indisposition : 
 
 " I regret to hear that Mr has not been so well for a day 
 
 or two ; but it leads me to repeat very earnestly the caution I was 
 
 so anxious to enforce, when I visited him at , viz., that however 
 
 well Mr may feel, and however able he may consider himself for his 
 
 usual way of living and occupations, still he ought for some months to re- 
 gard himself as an invalid, and always to keep within the limits prescribed 
 to him. If he will yield this point to the experience of others, he will 
 go on safely to sound health and freedom ; but if he be led to neglect 
 it, he may in a week, or in a day, lose all that weeks and months have 
 gained, but which it will, every day that is delayed, become more 
 and more difficult to regain if once thrown away. For months past 
 his system has been disordered, and, for months to come, care will be 
 required to restore it. There is no means of sudden and lasting
 
 ADVICE TO A CONVALESCENT PATIENT. 289 
 
 recovery, no royal road to health by which he can at once attain his 
 object. The system suffered long before the crisis came, and a deli- 
 cacy necessarily remains, which can be cured only by continued care and 
 a right course. I know this well by personal experience, as well as 
 by observation on others ; but instead of repining at what is unalter- 
 able, I am thankful for the possibility of regaining any portion of 
 health, by a care which, after all, imposes few restrictions, and de- 
 prives me of few pleasures. If I cannot expose myself as formerly to 
 fatigue, or eat and drink whatever comes in my way, surely it is better 
 to avoid the exposure, and refrain from what is hurtful, and thus reap 
 useful activity and much enjoyment, than to incur the exposure, and 
 destroy my health and comfort by inattention to regimen. If I deny 
 myself wine, which I was once able to drink with benefit, I do so, be- 
 cause the balance is now on my side. If I refrain from evening parties, 
 which I once enjoyed, it is for the same good reason that more real 
 enjoyment attends the denial, than if I were to go there, and suffer for 
 doing so. It is the same with Mr . If he will resolutely fore- 
 go, for the present, indulgences not now safe for him, he will enjoy 
 greater present happiness than by giving way to them, and have the 
 farther comfort of thereby adding to his future stamina at the same 
 time. Whether, then, he regards merely the present, or the long- 
 enduring future, every motive ought to urge him to observe the neces- 
 sary restrictions, and for a sufficient length of time ; and he ought 
 never to lose sight of the fact, to me as plain as the sun at noon-day, 
 that he cannot by possibility be an accurate judge of his own state, or know 
 beforehand how much he is able to stand. No one in similar circum- 
 stances can judge for himself. He was not conscious how far his system 
 was suffering before he became seriously ill, and he cannot determine 
 the exact point to which he has reached in his recovery ; and therefore 
 he should continue to avoid all hurtful causes till it be ascertained that 
 he is strong enough in mind and body to resist them. A patient re- 
 covering from fever walks valiantly up and down his room, and begs to 
 be allowed to go into the open air, because he feels quite strong. He is 
 told that his strength is really not equal to the exertion, and answers 
 that he is sure it is, for he feels so strong. Remonstrance is in vain. 
 He goes out, totters at the door, and in five minutes is ready to sink. 
 
 In like manner, Mr m&yfeel very well and composed when all 
 
 disturbing causes are shut out, and yet be in a most unfit state for their 
 being let in upon him. In other words, he may feel, when attending 
 to the requisite restrictions, quite well and fit for any thing, and yet 
 be liable to suffer by any departure from them. Allow the system time 
 to confirm its increasing strength, and then he may go safely beyond the 
 limits ; but his safety lies in not venturing prematurely. As I told 
 
 T
 
 290 LETTER TO MISS SEDGWICK. 
 
 him repeatedly, it is possible that restrictions may be continued iu 
 this way a day or two, or a week or two, longer than is absolutely 
 necessary ; because no human power can tell the exact point to which 
 one can safely go ; but even granting this, what harm is done ? Abso- 
 lutely none. A few days sooner or later in a question of lasting 
 and possibly life-long importance, ought surely to be left out of the 
 account. 
 
 " I would therefore earnestly urge your husband to let business and 
 everything else devolve upon others for the present, and to shun 
 everything which can either lay hold of his feelings, or injure his 
 digestive and other functions. Let him get well, and then dispose of 
 himself as he chooses ; but till then, let him have confidence in those 
 who wish his happiness and know his state, and be guided by their 
 counsel. If he does, he will one day thank them. If not, I fear he 
 will miss his aim, and bring suffering on himself." 
 
 Miss Sedgwick of New York sent one of her publi- 
 cations to Dr Combe, and on the 22d of June 1837 he 
 wrote to her on the subject of 
 
 TEACHING PHYSIOLOGY TO CHILDREN AS PART OF THEIR EDUCATION. 
 
 " I should have answered sooner your very kind letter of 7th May, 
 which reached me on the 30th, but the little box which ought to have 
 accompanied it did not make its appearance till three days ago too 
 late to enable me to avail myself of sending a packet from this by the 
 return of the Roscoe. In the mean time, I cannot delay offering you 
 my best acknowledgments for your very gratifying letter and present, 
 which are among the most pleasing testimonies of the usefulness of 
 my labours which I have ever received. Your anecdote of my young 
 namesake is very cheering, because it is an evidence, among several 
 others, that young minds can be interested by, and turn to good 
 account, the knowledge of their own structure, and of the laws by 
 which our functions are regulated. It is by impressing the young 
 with useful truths that the greatest ultimate effect upon society is to 
 be produced ; and on that account I am peculiarly anxious to see 
 physiological information made a part of the ordinary instruction 
 communicated to the more advanced pupils at schools and academies 
 and, if possible, still more anxious to see its important applications to 
 the promotion of human happiness inculcated in the example of 
 parents and instructors. We cannot foresee the full extent to which 
 physiology may be made available, until we have the practice and its 
 results exhibited to the young in the conduct of their seniors ; and if
 
 LETTER TO MISS SEDGWICK. 291 
 
 ( 
 
 parents were duly impressed with the influence of their example as 
 unequivocal evidence of their own truthfulness in teaching precepts, 
 it would act as a strong stimulus to obedience in themselves to the 
 laws of God. For this, however, a long time will be required ; but 
 that it will arrive I have the most firm faith. Every succeeding 
 generation gets a step in advance ; and as education is only beginning 
 to be rightly understood, we may reasonably hope that our future 
 progress will be in an accelerated ratio. Your valuable little book 
 will teach a useful lesson to many parents as well as children, and by 
 its reference of ordinary events to their proper causes, will lead the 
 more reflecting among them to trace to their own conduct many of 
 the evils which, in charity to themselves, they are pleased to roll over 
 upon a Providence which seeks only their happiness. One inesti- 
 mable advantage will attend this course, which is with me a very 
 powerful impulse to write ; and it is this : So long as the people 
 are in ignorance of the true causes of events, and of the laws or prin- 
 ciples out of which they spring, there is a most mischievous but in- 
 evitable tendency always to throw the blame of every evil which be- 
 falls them, either upon the deficiencies of their neighbours, or upon 
 the decrees of Providence ; and the highest virtue which can ema- 
 nate from them is that of quiet resignation, with no provision what- 
 ever against a recurrence of the evil. But once teach them what the 
 laws of God are, what their purposes, and the results of transgressing 
 them, and immediately they get a standard to refer to, which leads 
 directly to the questions, In what have I failed ? and "What can I do 
 to avoid this another time ? Hence a more enlightened resignation 
 to present evil, greater charity for others, and a more earnest desire 
 for self-improvement, as our first and most binding duty. 
 
 " I was pleased to find you quote the passage about natural laws 
 having the weight and authority of the great Creator, and not those 
 of mere erring man ; and I was not less pleased to notice the conti- 
 nual reference which you consequently make to the great Giver of 
 all good. I cannot fancy a more delightful occupation than tracing 
 back every curious design in our economy to the wisdom and benefi- 
 cence from which it emanated, or a more convincing inducement to 
 our fulfilment of His purposes, especially in addressing the uncon- 
 taminated minds of the young. Much of the ultra-religious spirit of 
 the present day seems to me to arise from a gross perversion of God's 
 truth, and to lead to the worst consequences on private and public 
 morals. But the proper cure lies not in directly withstanding it, but in 
 diffusing widely a knowledge of truths in and about creation, which 
 no sane mind can dispute. By slow degrees this will undermine the 
 fabric of error, just as the progress of science and reason undermined
 
 292 HIS " DIGESTION" TRANSLATED INTO GERMAN. 
 
 witchcraft and active religious persecution. You are doing much 
 good in this way, and I trust will yet do much more. 
 
 " But I must not sermonize. I wish to send you, by the first op- 
 portunity, a copy of the fifth edition of my Physiology, which con- 
 tains a good deal of additional matter, and a chapter on the moral 
 treatment of the nervous and insane a subject in which the public 
 have a much deeper interest than is imagined, and on which they are 
 lamentably deficient in correct information. I pressed it on Miss 
 
 M 's attention before she went to America ; but her mind is 
 
 too much devoted to other subjects to admit of her taking it up with 
 spirit. If you would think of it, it is much in harmony with your 
 habits of thinking and feeling, and you might do infinite good by 
 writing such another story as the Poor Rich Man, &c." 
 
 In a letter to his nephew, Eobert Cox, dated 9th 
 June 1837, Dr Combe mentions that he is at press 
 with the sixth edition of his " Digestion ;" and that his 
 brother George has sent to him from Berlin a German 
 translation of the work by Dr Carl Rauber. The Ger- 
 man title, he says, when rendered into English, reads 
 thus : " The Laws of Digestion, and the thereupon- 
 founded modes of life for preventing and removing 
 disturbances in the lower region (abdomen), made very 
 clear to the general reader, by Dr Andreas Combe," 
 &c. The " Leipsic Journal of Literary Entertainment 
 and Instruction," also, had published four articles on 
 the work, in which the matter and the woodcuts were 
 much praised. 
 
 Dr Combe made an excursion through the manufac- 
 turing districts of Lancashire ; and in a letter, dated 
 Edinburgh, 15th July 1837, addressed to his brother 
 George, at Salzburg, he describes 
 
 THE COKDITION OF THE ENGLISH OPERATIVES 
 
 in the following terms : 
 
 " I was disappointed of a vessel to St Petersburgh from Leith, and, 
 after much delay, decided on sailing to Bremen, for which purpose I 
 went to Hull. There, however, the heat was so intense, that I feared
 
 HOW TO MEET UNAVOIDABLE EVILS. 293 
 
 to proceed to the Continent, and took steam to Selby, railway to 
 Leeds, coach to Manchester, and railway to Liverpool, where I stayed 
 some days. Up to Selby, the sail was very pleasant. From Selby 
 to Leeds the railway and country reminded me of Belgium. Leeds 
 I found very ' Boar-Lane' and ' Swine-Alley' looking, but curious. 
 The road between Leeds and Manchester runs through a very hilly, 
 densely-peopled, manufacturing country; and the evidently over- 
 wrought population astonished me not a little, and impressed me 
 more strongly than all the eloquence I ever read or listened to, with 
 the danger involved in neglecting the English operatives, and allow- 
 ing them to continue in their present condition ; and with the impera- 
 tive necessity of improving it by education, leisure, and a humanizing 
 participation in some of the enjoyments of life. Physically, the 
 people are well off. That is, their habitations are tolerable, and their 
 clothing sufficient. But their hard and unsmiling features, and gene- 
 ral expression, betoken frames habitually exhausted by excessive 
 labour, and incapable of experiencing gladdening emotions. Even 
 the very Quakers look grim, care-worn, and irritable. One cannot 
 think without shuddering, on the magazine of brute force thus col- 
 lecting, ready to burst forth when the day of adversity shall arrive, 
 and human patience shall be able no longer to restrain it. Then the 
 wealthy and the aristocratic will perceive that even selfishness should 
 have prescribed kindness as the best means of their own security. But 
 leisure must precede education, otherwise the latter will be a compa- 
 ratively useless gift." 
 
 In a letter, dated Edinburgh, 6th September 1837, 
 he admonishes a young friend in regard to 
 
 THE PROPER MODE OP ACTING UNDER UNAVOIDABLE EVILS. 
 
 " I have a word to say to you on the subject of the stoical comfort 
 you take to yourself when you resolve not to trouble yourself about 
 evils which cannot be remedied. I am afraid that your doctrine on 
 this subject is not perfectly sound, and will, therefore, lead to prac- 
 tical evils. At least I am satisfied that its wrong apprehension has 
 acted injuriously on some members of the family, and I fear also at 
 times on yourself. I agree most cordially with you in thinking it 
 wrong to look with a repining spirit upon unavoidable evils ; but I 
 differ from you, if you inculcate farther, that because they cannot 
 now be helped, the best way is to drive them altogether from your 
 mind. The proper mode of proceeding is to examine carefully the 
 causes of their occurrence, to discover how far, by a greater exercise of 
 prudence, they might have been prevented, and how, in future, simi-
 
 294 HOW TO MEET UNAVOIDABLE EVILS. 
 
 lar mishaps may be most effectually warded off. Self-improvement 
 necessarily follows such an examination as this, when conducted in a 
 right spirit ; and to neglect it, by forcibly withdrawing the mind 
 from the subject altogether, is voluntarily to sacrifice the benefits of 
 experience, and to leave ourselves equally exposed to the recurrence 
 of the evil as when we met it for the first time. But, following the 
 right course, we are naturally led to the next necessary step, viz., to 
 survey the matter in all its probable consequences, in order to find 
 out the best way for making the burden as light as possible, both to 
 ourselves and those who are sharing it with us. We have then a 
 more satisfactory peace of mind, arising from having actively dis- 
 charged our duty, than we can possibly acquire by merely thrusting 
 the subject from our minds, like an unwelcome guest out of our house. 
 Look abroad upon mankind, and you will see this principle everywhere 
 
 exemplified. I believe that Mr , who became bankrupt, often 
 
 acted upon the erroneous view of trying to dismiss disagreeable occur- 
 rences at once from his recollection ; but would he not now have been 
 happier had he tried, when his first loss was sustained, to follow out 
 what I conceive to be the true philosophical principle ? It would at 
 least have increased his chances of well-doing. The wrong way en- 
 courages indolence and self-delusion ; the right way activity of mind 
 and self-knowledge, besides multiplying rational resources. I am the 
 more anxious to guard you against mistake on this point, because our 
 philosophical principles have occasionally been mistaken, and harm 
 may result from a wrong impression and erroneous application of 
 them."
 
 ( 295 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XVIU. 
 
 DR COMBE ? S MODE OF ACTION WOKS A3TSOTED BT HAKJLSSDT6 CAKES. - 
 LETTEE OF COXGRATirLATIOSr TO SIR JAMES CLARK O3T HIS RECEIV- 
 rSTG A BAEOXETCT. - DEATH AJTD CHARACTER OF DR JOHX MACKIN- 
 TOSH. - THE ESTSIDIOrS OTROADS OF DISEASE. - HO1KEOPATHT. - RE- 
 PCBLICATIOX OF DR COMBE'S WORKS EST AMERICA. - SHOULD FRTESTDS 
 TELL EACH OTHER THEIR FAULTS ? - LETTER TO SIR JAMES CLARK. 
 - AXSWER TO PROFESSOR TDGDEMASTVS ESSAY " OS THE BRAIK OF 
 THE XERO COMPARED WTTH THAT OF THE ECROPEAy A3TD THE 
 
 DURLXG the summer and autumn of 1837, some un- 
 fortunate occurrences took place, which gave Dr Combe 
 great uneasiness on account of the parties concerned, 
 and made him feel it his duty to contribute, by anxious 
 deliberation and advice, to their extrication from em- 
 barrassment. In the course of his endeavours, he found 
 great difficulty in persuading some whose judgment he 
 convinced, but whose feelings impelled them in an oppo- 
 site direction, to adopt measures which, though unpa- 
 latable at the moment, would lead to permanent benefit, 
 instead of such as were fitted merely to bring present 
 relief, at the expense of prolonged suffering in the end. 
 In such a position, his health and comfort could not fail 
 to be impaired ; but through careful management he 
 escaped serious injury to the latter. A communica- 
 tion, dated 24th October 1837, addressed by him to Sir 
 James Clark, illustrates how completely he relied upon 
 his own principles in serious circumstances, and how 
 clearly and constantly he recognised in practice the con- 
 nection between the moral and physical conditions of
 
 296 DK JOHN MACKINTOSH. 
 
 " For a time," he writes, " I lost comfort by day, and rest by night ; 
 but by continually running away to the country and seeking a new 
 scene for a week or two, and returning to the battle-field, I succeeded 
 at last, to a certain extent, as regards the sufferers, and to a great 
 extent as regards my health ; but at the expense of utter idleness as 
 to all other employment, and a cost in comfort which I should be 
 loath again to encounter. The result, however, has added to my 
 former confidence in the benevolence and efficacy of the laws of na- 
 ture as intended for our preservation and restoration ; and thus by 
 another road we come back to our old topic the importance of hy- 
 giene as a branch of medical and general education." 
 
 The following letter, dated 4th November 1837, was 
 addressed by Dr Combe to Sir James Clark on his ob- 
 taining a baronetcy from the Queen, and it contains also 
 his opinion of Dr John Mackintosh, Surgeon to the 
 Ordnance Department in North Britain, a distinguished 
 lecturer on the Principles of Pathology and Practice of 
 Physic in Edinburgh. 
 
 " I heartily congratulate you and your excellent lady on your well- 
 deserved honours, which I saw announced in yesterday's newspaper. 
 Long may you both live in all happiness and prosperity to enjoy them. 
 You owe them to yourself alone, and that is the most gratifying con- 
 sideration attending them ; and there seems to be but one feeling on 
 the propriety of Her Majesty bestowing them. I have heard both 
 Whig and Tory differing on all other points, and coinciding in this. 
 
 " You have, of course, heard of poor Mackintosh's death. With a 
 good deal of rashness and occasional lack of discretion, Mackintosh 
 combined great zeal, activity, and acuteness, and did more to give a 
 salutary stimulus to our Medical School than any man either within 
 or without the walls of the College. He was boastful and confident 
 in his own opinions, and rashly disparaged every one from whom he 
 differed ; but there was with all this an earnestness of purpose, and 
 kind of generosity of feeling, which had an excellent effect on his 
 pupils ; and if he was boastful, his deeds were always at hand to sup- 
 port him, although not exactly to the extent which he claimed. He 
 inspired the students with enthusiasm for their profession, and made 
 them active thinkers, instead of passive recipients of precepts. His 
 self-esteem and want of prudent caution were his greatest enemies, and 
 led him, sooner or later, to quarrel with those who were intimate with 
 him. From the first I felt this, and always avoided intimacy. The
 
 THE INSIDIOUS INROADS OF DISEASE. 297 
 
 result was, that except once, when he imagined that I was the author 
 of a criticism praising a book which he knew I did not esteem, and 
 for which inconsistency he instantly assailed me, we always got on 
 well together ; and when I told him he wronged me, he was vexed 
 beyond measure at his injustice." 
 
 The subjects of the next letter are, The insidious in- 
 roads of disease, and Homoeopathy. It is dated 10th 
 November 1837, and is addressed to Dr Hirschfeld, 
 Bremen. 
 
 " My brother and I had the pleasure of receiving your very kind 
 letters a few days ago, and we rejoice to find that you are at last 
 conscious of renovated health and strength. I can well understand 
 your remark, that when you met my brother, you were not conscious 
 of being below the level of vigorous health, and learnt the fact only 
 by comparing your present with your past sensations. Before I became 
 decidedly ill, in August 1831, the conviction came upon me, all at once, 
 that for many months previously my health had been giving way to a 
 serious extent, and I recalled many indications which, in another, 
 would have instantly excited my attention; but my mind having 
 been constantly occupied by pressing duties external to myself, con- 
 sciousness did not come fairly into play with its information till mat- 
 ters had advanced so far as to incapacitate me for work. Early in 
 the season you would be blinded to your own situation in a somewhat 
 analogous way; but I am very glad that you learn, by renomtel 
 health, and not by increase of symptoms, what your past state was. 
 
 " You were not altogether wrong in half expecting me in autumn. 
 I had contemplated making the excursion then, if my health required 
 it ; but many circumstances rendered my presence necessary at home, 
 if I could remain. By short excursions, I have contrived to become 
 tolerably vigorous and healthful, and therefore trust to pass the win- 
 ter quietly at home. In spring, however, I look forward to the sa- 
 tisfaction of enjoying your society once more for a short time, and 
 renewing my acquaintance with Madame Hirschfeld, of whom my 
 niece and I retain a very agreeable recollection. I confess I shall be 
 thankful to have an opportunity of seeing something of homoeopathic 
 practice under the auspices of an intelligent, cautious, and truth- 
 seeking man like yourself ; for I can learn nothing by mere reading. 
 Many of Hahnemann's opinions seem to me so very unreasonable and 
 even contradictory, that I cannot adopt them ; and yet when I hear 
 unquestionable facts mentioned, and know that you, for example, are
 
 298 HOMCEOPATHY. 
 
 convinced by experience of their soundness, I cannot but pause before I con- 
 demn. As yet I have not been able to see any homoeopathic practice ; 
 and by facts and observation only can such a question be decided. 
 Every day convinces me more and more that the common practice of 
 medicine stands in need of as thorough reform as our political consti- 
 tution lately did ; and that, in England in particular, we err by 
 attempting to coerce Nature, and substituting our ways for hers, instead 
 of taking the animal machine as she has made it, and trying merely to 
 aid or restore the play of her own principles, as far more effective for 
 our good than any we can put in their place. I think, accordingly, that 
 we give greatly more medicine than is for the interest of any body except 
 the apothecary ; but that the infinitesimal doses of Hahnemann really 
 produce effects which last for days or weeks (sometimes forty days), is 
 so different from anything I have yet experienced, that, except from 
 personal observation, I cannot believe it possible ; and I hardly need 
 repeat to you, that I much desire to witness such results. I should 
 be thankful to see some exposition of the subject from your pen, and 
 hope you will fulfil your intention of writing one in the form of let- 
 ters. Many of the followers of Hahnemann, like those of Gall, are 
 conceited and ignorant men, whose advocacy is sufficient to injure any 
 cause, however good ; and therefore the greater is the necessity for a 
 shrewd, well-informed man like yourself, stating what you know in 
 regard to it. If you really think of writing in the form of letters 
 addressed to me, I shall be much gratified in accepting this mark of 
 your goodwill, and pleased to have given you a motive to fulfil a 
 right intention. All that I wish, however, in being so addressed, is 
 to be considered as an inquirer, willing and anxious to receive light 
 and truth, and not as already a follower. The sooner you shall set 
 about this purpose the better. 
 
 " I have left little room to return my best thanks for your kind 
 intention of sending me copies of the translations of my books. I 
 have been reading the German ' Digestion,' and get on tolerably well. 
 I am glad you like the book, and thank you for your friendly re- 
 marks on it. The London homo30pathists, I am told, recommend 
 both books, as harmonizing with their views more than those of any 
 other allopathist. Is this the fact ? I leave a short space for my 
 brother ; and, with friendly regards from Miss Cox and myself to 
 you and Mrs Hirschfeld, remain," &c. 
 
 The first paragraph of this letter contains the state- 
 ment of a fact which Dr Combe kept steadily in view 
 in practice, namely, that, in many instances, bad
 
 REPUBLICATIOff OP DR COMBE'S WORKS IN AMERICA. 299 
 
 health steals insidiously upon individuals, by a gra- 
 dual, and to themselves often imperceptible, process of 
 deterioration. From over-exertion of mind, sleeping 
 in small and ill-ventilated rooms, leading too sedentary 
 a life, inattention to the quantity and quality of food, 
 or to the proper intervals for taking it, or other simi- 
 lar causes, the tone of the vital organs is slowly im- 
 paired, and, in consequence, the individual becomes 
 liable to catch the first epidemic disease, or to suffer 
 from any sudden and severe lowering of temperature, 
 or other adverse influence to which he may happen to 
 be exposed. Impressed with this conviction, Dr Combe 
 kept an observant eye on such of his patients as were 
 within his personal reach, and spontaneously warned 
 them of the first indications of failing vigour, without 
 allowing them to proceed in their downward course 
 until a specific disease should develop itself, and he 
 should be sent for to give advice. Indeed, he regarded 
 the discharge of this duty as the most useful and hon- 
 ourable office of the physician. 
 
 In the United States the law permits works first 
 published in foreign countries to be printed there free 
 from the control of their authors, to whom it denies all 
 recompence from the sales. Dr Combe felt the injustice 
 of this rule, and in answer to an American publisher, 
 who requested him to prepare a work for him, he wrote 
 as follows : 
 
 ^/___ " EDINBURGH, November 1837. 
 
 " I have every reliance on your doing me as much justice as any 
 other firm, but still an agreement can never be quite satisfactory un- 
 less we know beforehand its precise terms. Take my past labours 
 for an example. My three books on Insanity, Physiology, and Diges- 
 tion, have all been successful in the States, and the only advantage I 
 have yet derived from that success, has been the consciousness of doing 
 good, and the pleasure of contesting a postage of three guineas on
 
 300 SHOULD FRIENDS TELL EACH OTHER THEIR FAULTS ? 
 
 three copies of the Physiology, sent to me by Messrs Harper from New 
 York."* 
 
 An English statute confers a copyright in the British 
 dominions on every author, the laws of whose own country 
 allow a similar protection to British authors ; and al- 
 though several of the Continental States of Europe have 
 reciprocated with Great Britain in this act of justice 
 to literary men, the United States of North America 
 have resisted all endeavours to induce them to act on 
 this principle. One consequence of their conduct is the 
 obstruction, by themselves, of the growth of a native 
 literature ; for publishers who are at liberty to appro- 
 priate, without recompence, the whole riches of the 
 English press, do not find it necessary to foster, by 
 adequate remuneration, the literary talent of their own 
 countrymen. 
 
 The following letter, written in 1837, contains 
 
 DR COMBE'S VIEWS ON THE INEXPEDIENCY or FRIENDS BECOMING 
 
 DIRECT CENSORS OF EACH OTHER'S FAULTS. 
 
 " I do not say that you have no faults, hut merely that the nature 
 and objects of our intercourse have not been such as to call into play 
 any worth commenting upon, except such as I have already adverted 
 to. But if I knew of serious faults in you, I am doubtful whether I 
 should tell you them plainly. I have thought a good deal on this 
 subject, and have had some experience to guide me ; and my impres- 
 sion is, that we exert a more healthful and permanent influence on 
 another by giving every possible encouragement to the good parts of 
 his character, than by direct notice of the bad ; and that by thus 
 strengthening the good, we give the person a more discerning percep- 
 tion of his own failings, and a greater control over them, than we can 
 ever attain by merely counselling him directly against his errors. 
 
 " In proportion as a monitor within exceeds in weight and autho- 
 
 * Subsequently, by sending early copies of his improved editions to 
 Messrs Marsh, Capen, and Lyon, of Boston, Dr Combe enabled them 
 to obtain priority in the American market, and they paid him some 
 compensation for this advantage. Afterwards he received also a small 
 sum from Messrs Harper.
 
 SHOULD FRIENDS TELL EACH OTHER THEIR FAULTS ? 301 
 
 rity a monitor without, so does the one method excel the other. It 
 is, besides, very difficult for two friends to preserve thorough confi- 
 dence in each other after the direct notice of faults. In spite of our 
 best endeavours, a feeling, however slight, of mortification creeps in 
 to disturb the permanence of the influence ; and though the fault may 
 be corrected, that feeling may destroy the future power of the coun- 
 sellor to benefit his friend. To take my own case, for example, I can 
 truly say that when witnessing the never-failing kindness and sym- 
 pathy shewn by you and yours with the sufferings of your fellow- 
 creatures. I have not only felt my own better feelings roused into 
 purer and higher action, but I have felt my selfishness rebuked within 
 me, and seen my deficiencies with a keener and more improving eye 
 than if you, or any one else, had plainly told me that you perceived 
 them, and wished to warn me against them. There are cases, and espe- 
 cially in the instance of the guardians of youth, in which the direct 
 notice of faults is called for, and proves beneficial ; but this seems to 
 me to hold good only where the one possesses a natural authority over 
 the other, and to which the other feds himself naturally subject. 
 Among equals in mature age, I doubt the propriety or benefit of the 
 plan of direct naming of faults, and whether we do not, in following 
 it, transgress the rule of ' Judge not,' &c. "We can rarely tell the pre- 
 cise motives of another. 
 
 " If you cultivate and encourage the good in another's character, 
 you necessarily strengthen the inward check, and leave the bad to 
 languish in comparative inactivity. At the same time you risk no 
 mortification, but, on the contrary, elicit confidence and mutual re- 
 spect. Try the rule by your own experience, and I think you will 
 agree with me. 
 
 " The same principle applies to the manner in which we should act 
 towards those who differ from us. Our real object is to improve our- 
 selves and them. We can attain this end only in proportion as their 
 and our good feelings travel together, and delight in the same con- 
 templations. If a strong difference starts up, and we proceed to take 
 each his own decided ground on it, we necessarily call into activity 
 our combative and lower feelings to aid in the contest ; but then un- 
 fortunately their impulse is to repel the more, the longer they are ex- 
 cited, and not to attract. The result consequently is, in nine cases 
 out often, to place the parties wider apart. If, on the other hand, 
 you seek points on which you harmonise as to essentials, your better 
 feelings come into play towards each other, and when occasion calls 
 naturally for a decided expression of opinion, it makes double the im- 
 pression on a candid mind, from the very circumstance of your not 
 having thrust it forward. I do not mean that one ought to hide his
 
 302 LETTER TO SIR JAMES CLARK. 
 
 opinions, and seem to adopt those of another ; far from it : but 
 merely that on ordinary occasions it is right to meet on friendly 
 grounds when you have it in your power. 
 
 " The same principle makes me, as I said before, always very un- 
 willing to speak about the unfavourable traits of a third party's cha- 
 racter, unless a direct occasion requires. It is the cultivation of the 
 better feelings which gives true happiness, and alleviates the numer- 
 ous evils to which we are subjected ; and if unnecessarily we denounce 
 any one's failings, we are thereby stirring up an unfavourable feeling 
 
 towards him. In the case of that youth, Mr , for example, if 
 
 I had been asked before he was engaged, what I thought of him, I 
 should have felt compelled to tell that I regarded him as very deficient 
 in the higher qualities of intellect, and so much satisfied with his own 
 talents and acquirements as would make him not a desirable tutor. 
 But the thing being concluded, to have expressed this opinion after- 
 wards, would have tended only to make his employer prejudiced 
 against him, and to place him under an additional disadvantage. I 
 communicated my views to you, because good may afterwards come out 
 of your knowing them ; and I have full confidence that you will not, 
 in the mean time, use this knowledge to his prejudice." 
 
 Among the trials of patience and forbearance which 
 Dr Combe, in common with other phrenologists, was 
 called on to sustain, none was more difficult to bear 
 than the injustice of a large portion of the British press 
 towards Dr Gall's Physiology of the Brain. A remark- 
 able example of this is mentioned in the following let- 
 ter to Sir James Clark, dated 25th November 1837, 
 which contains also allusions to other topics of general 
 interest : 
 
 
 
 " I delight in your success in getting hygiene introduced into the 
 curriculum of medical education ; and, if a good course can be devised, 
 you will have done something worth living for, even had you no other 
 claim on the goodwill of your fellow-mortals. I have been think- 
 ing over a plan, but am still undecided as to the best, and will set my 
 brain to work as soon as possible to arrive at a conclusion. You 
 suggest ' Elements of Hygiene' to me, without knowing that such a 
 project has been floating through my head for some months, and is, I 
 may say, resolved upon, when I can get time to execute it. Can you 
 name any good books to help me ? I am just now occupied with a small
 
 COMPARISON OF THE NEGRO AND EUROPEAN BRAIN. 303 
 
 volume on the Management of Children, from birth up to two or three 
 years, or, perhaps, up to puberty, as I have a good many useful ideas 
 stored up on the latter years. Can you help me with any sugges- 
 tions or points to be commented on ? If you will, I shall be exceed- 
 ingly obliged. My book on Insanity is out of print ; but I shall de- 
 lay a new edition for a year or two. About 100 copies per annum 
 have gone off very steadily. 
 
 " I wish you would procure the first Number of the New Series of 
 the Phrenological Journal, published in London on 1st December by 
 Simpkin and Co., and read my notice of Tiedemann. The Professor 
 has made a sad mess of his materials ; and although there is scarcely 
 one of his important conclusions which is not directly at variance with his 
 own facts, his article has been copied and lauded as a great discovery 
 by most of our scientific journals. Tell me what you think of it. 
 Being printed in London, I could not revise it, which I was sorry 
 for. The Journal is now out of our hands, as we had not time for it. 
 
 " Do you know your neighbour, Dr ? His pamphlet on 
 
 Moral Insanity, which he claims as original, appears to me to be merely 
 paraphrased from, without reference to, the phrenological books ; and 
 I may notice also, that the author of The Philosophy of Living, quotes 
 an account of Captain Murray's means of preserving the health of his 
 crew, without mentioning where he got it.* To the best of my know- 
 ledge, Captain M. never published any statement, and his letter to me 
 
 is the original document. gives the substance very correctly, 
 
 and with inverted commas, but the words are not the same as in Mur- 
 ray's letter, and I should like much to know whence he has taken it." 
 
 As Professor Tiedemann enjoys a deservedly high re- 
 putation as a physiologist, it is instructive to observe 
 to how great an extent prejudice against a rival in the 
 same field of inquiry was capable of blinding his gene- 
 rally clear and strong judgment. His Essay was pub- 
 lished in the Philosophical Transactions for 1836, Part 
 II., under the title of " The Brain of the Negro com- 
 pared with that of the European and the Orang-outang ;" 
 it was widely circulated, and strongly commended by 
 the British press. Dr Combe answered it, but coinpara- 
 
 * It was addressed to Dr Combe, and appeared first in " The Con- 
 stitution of Man," by George Combe, and subsequently in Dr Combe's 
 
 " PAet/i7.<l/iM nnnliail */> tT^Jtl, " J.* 
 
 Physiology applied to Health," <tc.
 
 304 PROFESSOR TIEDEMANN'S COMPARISON 
 
 tively only a few of the more honest and intrepid edi- 
 tors gave currency to the refutation. The question of 
 difference in the natural qualities of races has recently 
 acquired increased importance from the struggles of 
 the continental nations to rend asunder the artificial 
 bonds of political combination forced on them by con- 
 querors and statesmen, and to form themselves into 
 new unions composed of men of the same race. The 
 following extracts, therefore, from " Remarks on the fal- 
 lacy of Professor Tiedemanris Comparison of the Negro 
 Brain and Intellect with those of the European, by 
 Andrew Combe, M.D" (Phren. Journal, vol. xi., p. 13), 
 may probably interest the reader, not only as a speci- 
 men of Dr Combe's analytic and argumentative powers, 
 but by the inherent interest of the subject. 
 
 " Professor Tiedemann's elaborate Essay," observes Dr Combe, " is 
 remarkable in several points of view. It proceeds from the pen of 
 one of the first physiologists of Europe ; its materials have been 
 gathered from a personal examination ' of the most celebrated ana- 
 tomical museums, both on the Continent and in Great Britain ;' and 
 its subject is considered to be ' of great importance in the natural 
 history, anatomy, and physiology of Man ; interesting also in a poli- 
 tical and legislative point of view.' The mode of inquiry pursued in 
 it is based upon the two principles long considered by the phreno- 
 logists as demonstrated, but still scouted by many as unworthy of se- 
 rious discussion namely, first, that the brain is the organ of the 
 mind, and, secondly, that there is a constant relation, cceteris paribus, 
 between mental power and cerebral development. A fallacy, how- 
 ever, runs through almost all the author's applications of the above 
 principles, and consequently vitiates many of his most important con- 
 clusions. 
 
 " Tiedemann's grand objects are, to prove, 1st, that the opinion of 
 Negro inferiority expressed by Camper, Soemmering, Cuvier, and 
 almost all naturalists of any eminence, is incorrect ; 2dly, That the 
 Negro brain is equal in size and similar in structure to that of the 
 European ; and, Sdly, That consequently the former is equally capable 
 of civilization as the latter, and owes his present inferiority entirely 
 to bad treatment and unfavourable circumstances, and will lose it
 
 OF THE XEGRO AXD EUROPEAN BKAIN. 305 
 
 when placed in the position in society which has been recently assign- 
 ed to him by the ' noble British Government.' These positions are 
 urged by Tiedemann with so much philanthropic warmth, and with 
 such hearty zeal in the cause of the Xegro, that we feel no small 
 reluctance to enter the lists against him ; but having a thorough re- 
 liance on the supremacy of truth, and believing its diffusion to be 
 fraught with more ultimate happiness to the Xegro himself than he 
 can possibly derive from the propagation of an amiable error, we 
 offer no apology for attempting to shew that the prevailing opinion 
 remains unaffected by any evidence brought against it by Tiedemann, 
 and that <1e facto the Xegro brain is inferior in intellectual power to 
 that of the European. 
 
 " In pursuance of the above objects Tiedemann first inquires, 
 whether ' the Xegro has the same quantity of brain as the European ?' 
 and to ascertain the fact he institutes an elaborate comparison be- 
 tween the weight of the brain, as determined in upwards of fifty 
 Europeans of different ages and countries, and its weight in several 
 Xegroes examined either by himself or others ; and the results obtain- 
 ed are not only full of interest to the phrenologist, but well worthy of 
 the attention of those among our opponents who still continue to ridi- 
 cule the principle of size of brain being, carteris panl'iis. a measure of 
 mental power. Every one of the facts mentioned by Tiedemann adds 
 to the already overwhelming proofs adduced by the phrenologists ; but 
 coming in this instance from the pen of a hostile authority, they may 
 probably carry more weight with them than if found in a phreno- 
 logical essay. 
 
 " After quoting the statements of many authors, and detailing the 
 weights of fifty-two European brains examined by himself. Tiedemann 
 mentions that ' the weight of the brain in an adult male European 
 varies between 3 Ib. 2 oz. and 4 Ib. 6 oz. troy. The brain of men 
 who have distinguished themselves by their great talents is often very large. 
 The brain of the celebrated Cuvier weighed 4 Ibs. 11 oz. 4 dr. 30 gr. 
 troy, and that of the celebrated surgeon Dupuytren weighed 4 Ib. 
 10 oz. troy. The brain of men endowed with but feeble intellectual powers 
 is, on the contrary, often very small, particularly in congenital idiotismus.' 
 Here then is ample confirmation of the phrenological evidence, and 
 from a source which cannot be considered as biassed in our favour. 
 Tiedemann proceeds : * The female brain is lighter than that of the 
 male. It varies between 2 Ib. 8 oz. and 3 Ib. 11 oz. 7 never found 
 a female brain that weighed 4 Ib. The female brain weighs on an 
 average from four to eight ounces less than that of the male ; and this 
 difference is already perceptible in a new-born child.' This also corre- 
 
 U
 
 306 PROFESSOR TIEDEMANN'S COMPARISON 
 
 spends entirely with the long-repudiated statements of the phrenolo- 
 gists, and it is pleasant to see the fact thus broadly admitted. 
 
 " Tiedemann goes even beyond the phrenologists in his applications 
 of the principle of size being a measure of power. He says, ' There is 
 undoubtedly a very close connection between the absolute size of the brain and 
 the INTELLECTUAL powers and functions of the mind. This is evident 
 from the remarkable smallness of the brain in cases of congenital 
 idiotismus, few much exceeding in weight the brain of a new-born 
 child. Grail, Spurzheim, Haslam, Esquirol, and others, have already 
 observed this, which is also confirmed by my own researches. The 
 brain of very talented men is remarkable, on the other hand, for its 
 size' (page 502). Here, certainly, is ample corroboration of the in- 
 fluence of organic size on mental power ; but Tiedemann has fallen 
 into the very serious error of taking absolute size of the brain as a 
 measure of intellectual power only ; whereas it indicates, as might be 
 expected d, priori, absolute mental power, without determining whether 
 that power lies in extent of intellect, in strength of moral feeling, or 
 in the force of passion or affection. A brain of four pounds' weight may 
 be large in the anterior lobe and small in the middle and posterior 
 lobes ; or its chief size and weight may be in the posterior lobes, and 
 the anterior portions be actually small. In both cases Tiedemann 
 would infer equal 'intellectual' power; whereas the phrenologist 
 would perceive at a glance, that in the former the intellectual ability 
 would far preponderate, while in the latter the power of mind would 
 consist entirely in intensity of feeling, and the intellect, properly so 
 called, be rather weak than strong. 
 
 " If, for example, we compare the Charib with the Hindoo brain, 
 we find the entire mass of the former considei'ably to outweigh the 
 latter ; and, according to Tiedemann, we should find more intellec- 
 tual talent in the Charib. The fact, however, is notoriously the re- 
 verse ; and the explanation is very easy when we distinguish the regions 
 of the brain in which the size exists. In the Charib, the anterior lobe 
 is very small, in perfect harmony with his poverty of intellect ; but 
 the posterior and basilar regions of the brain are very large, also in 
 harmony with his ferocity and energy of passion. In the Hindoo, 
 again, the reverse holds ; the anterior lobe is well developed, and so 
 is his intellect ; but the basilar region, so large in the Charib, is 
 small in him ; and, consequently, in vehemence of passion, active 
 courage, and general force of character, the Hindoo is greatly inferior 
 to the more savage Charib. 
 
 " The same distinction occurs every day in social life. We meet 
 with an individual a criminal, for instance, in whom the brain is 
 absolutely large, but who is, nevertheless, stupid in intellect, and
 
 OF THE NEGRO AND EUROPEAN BRAIN. 307 
 
 powerful only in the department of the propensities ; while, on the 
 contrary, we find many an amiable member of society possessed of a 
 brain smaller in absolute size, but far superior to the criminal in the 
 size of its anterior lobe or organs of intellect, and, consequently, far 
 superior to the criminal in thinking power and general talents ; 
 results at utter variance with Tiedemann's rule, but perfectly recon- 
 cileable according to the phrenological application of the principle. 
 
 " Hence it is obvious, that of two brains, both precisely equal in 
 absolute weight, one may be very deficient in intellectual endowment, 
 compared to the other, and this deficiency be perfectly apparent on 
 inspection, when we attend to the region of the brain in which the 
 preponderance lies. But as Tiedemann, throughout the whole of his 
 experiments, utterly disregards this distinction, confounds intellectual 
 power, moral feeling, and brute propensity under one head, and treats 
 of the brain as if it consisted of only one lobe, with only one function, 
 namely, the manifestation of intellect, his inference that because the 
 Negro brain is equal in weight to the European, therefore the Xegro 
 is also his equal in intellectual power, falls to the ground, as unwar- 
 ranted by the evidence. To render his conclusion worth anything, 
 he must shew, not only that the two brains are equal in absolute size, 
 but that the anterior lobe, or seat of intellect, is equally developed in both ; 
 a position which he never attempts to substantiate, and which is at 
 vai-iance with some parts even of his own facts. 
 
 " Having obtained the weight of a sufficient number of European 
 brains, Tiedemann next endeavours to ascertain the weight of the 
 Negro brain ; but from the very small number of Negroes to be found 
 in Europe, he had great difficulty in obtaining anything like a fair 
 average : in fact, he gives the weight of only four Negro brains, one 
 of a boy of fourteen years of age, stated on the authority of Scemmer- 
 ing to have weighed 3 Ib. 6 oz. 6 dr. ; a second, of a tall and hand- 
 some Negro of twenty years of age, which weighed 3 Ib. 9 oz. 4 dr. ; a 
 third, of a large Negro, mentioned by Sir Astley Cooper, of 49 oz. ; 
 and a fourth, examined by himself, of a man twenty-five years of age, 
 which weighed 2 Ib. 3 oz. 2 dr. 
 
 " In comparing these results with the average weight of the Eu- 
 ropean brain, as stated by Tiedemann himself, it is singular to observe 
 the extent to which they are at variance with his inferences. The 
 European average runs, he says, from 3 Ib. 2 oz. to 4 Ib. 6 oz., while 
 the average of the four Negroes rises to only 3 Ib. 5 oz. 1 dr. or 
 3 oz. above the lowest European averages ; and the highest Negro falls 
 5 oz. short of the highest average European, and no less than 10 oz. 
 short of Cuvier's brain. And, as if these facts were not inconsistent 
 enough with his conclusions, Tiedemann first affirms that in the Ne-
 
 308 PROFESSOR TIEDEMANN'S COMPARISON 
 
 gro ' the length and height of the cerebral hemispheres do not visibly 
 differ from that of the European ; their breadth only being somewhat 
 less' (page 515) ; and immediately after subjoins three tables of the 
 ' Dimensions of the Cerebrum of Negroes,' ' Dimensions of the Cere- 
 brum of European Males,' and ' Dimensions of the Cerebrum of Eu- 
 ropean Females;' the figures of which directly contradict his asser- 
 tion ! This seems almost incredible, but on summing up the averages, 
 we find the following results, namely 
 
 Inches. Lines. 
 
 Negroes . . 5 11 
 
 Average length of brain in ^ 7 European males 6 2 \ 
 
 females 5 10 J 
 
 Negroes . . 4 8^- 
 
 Average greatest breadth in ^ 7 European males 5 11 
 
 , 3 females 5 41 
 
 f4 
 
 in in < 7 
 1.6 
 f 4 
 
 in < 7 
 ( 3 
 
 t 3 Negroes . .2 11 J 
 
 Average height of brain in < 7 European males 3 4 
 
 1 4 females 2 9fc 
 
 " From these tables it is evident that the dimensions of the brain 
 are smaller in the Negroes measured by Tiedemann than in the Eu- 
 ropean. * * * * 
 
 " Not having access to a sufficient number of the actual brains of 
 Negroes, Tiedemann has endeavoured to supply the want of direct 
 evidence by comparing the capacity of the Negro skull with that of 
 the European, and thus obtaining an index to the relative size of their 
 contained organs. For this purpose he filled the skulls with millet 
 seed, and carefully noted the quantity which each contained. In a 
 general sense, no objection lies against this mode of proceeding ; but 
 it is useless as a means of determining the proportions of size between 
 the different lobes of the brain, and consequently in estimating intel- 
 lectual capacity as distinguished from power of feeling. For Tiede- 
 mann's special purpose, his time, trouble, and zeal are utterly thrown 
 away, and one cannot help regretting that such should be the case. 
 Among other collections which he visited, was the Phrenological Mu- 
 seum in Edinburgh, to which we twice accompanied him, and from 
 which twenty-three of his observations were taken ; and we can bear 
 witness to the pains which he took to ensure accuracy in the indivi- 
 dual details ; and yet, strange to say, on summing up his table of 
 results, and striking an average (a proceeding which he seems not to 
 have thought of), HIS FACTS AND INFERENCES ARE ONCE MORE AT 
 UTTER VARIANCE ; and we only regret that the numerous editors who 
 have quoted his authority should not have minutely examined the 
 matter before so widely disseminating his errors. 
 
 " After giving several pages of tables comprehending the weight of
 
 OF THE NEGRO AND EUROPEAN BRAIN. 309 
 
 the quantity of millet seed required to fill Ethiopian, Caucasian, Mon- 
 golian, American, and Malayan skulls, Tiedemann says : ' It is evi- 
 dent, from the comparison of the cavum cranii of the Negro with that 
 of the European. Mongolian, American, and Malayan, that the cavity 
 of the skull of the Xegro in general is not smaller than that of the 
 European and other human races. The result of HAMILTON'S re- 
 searches is the same. I hope this will convince others, that the opinion 
 of many naturalists, such as Camper, Simmering, Cuvier, Lawrence, 
 and Virey, that the Negro has a smaller skull and brain than the 
 European, is ill-founded, and entirely refuted by my researches.' (Page 
 511.) Now we have already seen that the real question of interest, 
 as regards Negro improvement, is not so much the general size of his 
 brain, as the relative size of its anterior lobe and coronal region com- 
 pared to the basilar and posterior portions. But even as concerns 
 the absolute size of the whole brain, it is an extraordinary fact, that 
 Tiedemann's own tables give a decided superiority to the European 
 over the Negro brain, to the average extent of nearly four ounces ! 
 The average capacity of forty-one Negro skulls in his own tables 
 amounts only to 37 oz. 1 dr. 10 gr., while the average of 77 Euro- 
 peans of every nation, also in his own tables, amounts to 41 oz. 2 dr. 
 30 gr. Of the Negroes, indeed, three are females ; but even subtract- 
 ing these, the Negro average amounts only to 37 oz. 6 dr. 18 gr. 
 Here, then, on Tiedemann's own shewing, we have, first, an infe- 
 riority in the dimensions of the Negro brain and a greater narrowness 
 of its anterior lobe ; and, secondly, a marked inferiority in the capa- 
 city of the Negro skull to the extent of about one-tenth ; and yet he 
 very strangely infers that both are equal to those of the European, 
 and the Royal Society and half of our scientific men and journals 
 adopt and propagate both facts and inferences as literally correct and 
 of vast importance ! ! If the phrenologists had perpetrated such a 
 series of blunders, Sir William Hamilton and his allies would have 
 shouted in triumph over their stupidity. 
 
 " That a physiologist of Tiedemann's talent and merited reputation 
 should have failed so signally in an investigation which he recognizes 
 as one of so much importance, and upon which he has bestowed so 
 much labour, and with so benevolent an intention, is much to be la- 
 mented ; but the cause which has led to his failure is still more to be 
 lamented, because it is humiliating to him as a man of science, and is 
 the natural and just result of his own conduct. Well did Tiedemann 
 know that the great discovery of his immortal countryman Grail lay 
 directly in his way in the inquiry in which he was engaged, and that, if 
 true, it must be of great use to him in conducting his experiments. 
 Had he availed himself of its aid, he would have seen at once the
 
 310 COMPARISON OP THE NEGRO AND EUROPEAN BRAIN. 
 
 futility of any investigation based on considering the whole brain as 
 the organ of intellect, and would thus have avoided becoming the in- 
 strument of authoritatively diffusing mischievous error, where he was 
 anxious only for beneficent truth. Tiedemann, however, confiding in 
 the strength of his own merits and the durability of his own fame, 
 chose to treat the phrenological physiology of the brain with con- 
 temptuous silence, to disregard its facts, and to reject its aid as a 
 guide. He has preferred being a leader in the train of error, to be- 
 ing a subordinate in the march of truth ; and as he has chosen his 
 path so shall he be rewarded. His contribution to the Royal Society's 
 Transactions, although hailed at present as an honour to its author, 
 will ere long be regarded as a beacon to warn others how very little 
 first-rate talent, great industry, and a European reputation can ac- 
 complish when employed in a false direction, and how indispensable 
 to true greatness is the direct and undeviating pursuit of truth." 
 
 These extracts afford a specimen of, but do not do 
 full justice to Dr Combe's argument ; and those readers 
 who may wish to pursue the subject farther, are request- 
 ed to consult the original article in the Phrenological 
 Journal.
 
 ON HYGIENE AS A BRANCH OF MEDICAL EDUCATION. 311 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 LETTER TO SIR JAMES CLARK OX THE IMPORTANCE OF HYGIENE AS A 
 BRANCH OF MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 THE following letter is equally characteristic of Dr 
 Combe's mind, and valuable in itself. Although treat- 
 ing of what should, in his opinion, be a branch of me- 
 dical education, it will be found intelligible and in- 
 structive by the general reader. To facilitate its per- 
 usal it is printed in large type. It is addressed to Sir 
 James Clark. 
 
 " You ask me to help you to an outline of a course 
 of hygiene, that wise men may know what you propose 
 to have taught in such a chair. I acknowledge the 
 advantage ; but must, at the same time, confess the 
 difficulty of giving a satisfactory exposition or plan. 
 The subject is so comprehensive, that you will scarcely 
 succeed in giving any other kind of unity to its parts 
 than that which arises from unity of object. Hygiene 
 is denned to be c the art of preserving health and ward- 
 ing off disease ;' but this seems to me at once a tauto- 
 logical and a narrow definition. It is tautological, be- 
 cause whatever tends to preserve health tends, ipso 
 facto, to obviate disease. It is narrow, because hygiene 
 affords also the principles by the application of which 
 the development of the various organs may be promoted, 
 and their functions made to be executed with facility 
 and vigour ; or, in other words, it shews not only how 
 health may be preserved, but how man's bodily and 
 mental constitution may be most successfully improved.
 
 312 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HYGIENE AS A 
 
 u I should say that the province of hygiene is to ex- 
 amine the relations subsisting between the human con- 
 stitution, on the one hand, and the various external ob- 
 jects or influences by which it is surrounded, on the 
 other ; and to deduce, from that examination, the prin- 
 ciples or rules by which the highest health and effi- 
 ciency of all our functions, moral, intellectual, and cor- 
 poreal, may be most certainly secured, and by obedi- 
 ence to which we may, when once diseased, most speedily 
 and safely regain our health. But perhaps the true 
 nature of hygiene will be best exhibited, by contrasting 
 what at present is taught, with what we require at the 
 bed-side of the patient, and yet are left to pick up at 
 random in the best way we can. 
 
 "1. By anatomy, we are taught the structure of the 
 body. 
 
 "2. By physiology, we are taught the uses and modes 
 of action of our bodily organs. 
 
 " 3. By pathology, the doctrine of their diseases. 
 
 " 4. By therapeutics, the mode of action of medical 
 remedies, and their adaptation to certain morbid states. 
 
 " 5. By the practice of physic we are taught to discri- 
 minate individual diseases, and to treat them secundum 
 artem. 
 
 " 6. By morbid anatomy we are taught the organic 
 changes attendant on, or constituting, certain diseases. 
 
 " But, after we have learned all these excellent 
 things, how much remains to be found out ! As at pre- 
 sent taught, all these branches are thrown into the 
 pupil's mind like as many ' membra disjecta'' sciential, 
 concerning the natural positions and relations of which 
 he is nowhere informed. Although taught the struc- 
 ture and functions of the organism, he is nowhere told 
 how it is affected by the powerful agents in the midst
 
 BRANCH OF MEDICAL EDUCATION. 313 
 
 of which he lives. The influence of impure air, and its 
 mode of action in inducing disease and impeding re- 
 covery, is nowhere explained. The same holds of atmo- 
 spheric temperature and moisture, of localities, of diet, 
 and five hundred other subjects. He is told the proper- 
 ties of a remedy, and its application to the cure of dis- 
 ease; but he is left in ignorance of the principles where- 
 by light, sound, ventilation, diet, moral influence, and 
 other more powerful agents ought to be regulated, so as 
 to obtain their co-operation. The consequence is, that he 
 never thinks of them, but prescribes his pill or his po- 
 tion, and walks away ; and yet, in chronic diseases (the 
 most prevalent of all), these are really the agents from 
 which recovery can be procured. But it is useless to 
 pursue this. You see the defect as well as I do, and 
 the remedy is our next object. 
 
 " Adopting the definition of hygiene before stated, the 
 first thing requisite is to communicate a summary or 
 general description of the human body, the structure 
 and uses of its organs, the modifications in them caused 
 by differences of temperament, age, sex, &c.. so that the 
 nature of the object to be modified may be fully under- 
 stood, before treating of the external agents by which 
 the modification is effected. Anatomy and physiology 
 being studied previously, will afford the groundwork 
 of this division of the subject ; but, instead of taking, 
 as the teachers of them do, each organ and function in 
 succession, and separately, we must view the living being 
 as a whole, and study its parts in their united and mu- 
 tually-influencing character. At present instruction in 
 the latter is omitted, although this only can furnish a 
 real foundation to our knowledge in a practical point of 
 view. We may as well investigate the excellences and 
 defects of a steam-engine or piece of machinery by study- 
 ing every wheel separately, as those of the human body
 
 314 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HYGIENE AS A 
 
 by taking up one organ after another, without regard to 
 the combined action and reciprocal influence of the 
 whole of which it forms a part. As this general view 
 has no place at present in our curriculum, it seems to me 
 that hygiene ought to embrace it, as it forms its basis. 
 
 " Having thus obtained some acquaintance with the 
 qualities of the subject (human body), I should next 
 examine the objects for which it (man) exists. We 
 know the uses of its individual parts from physiology ; 
 but we must also inquire into its purposes as a whole or 
 unit, for all its portions combine towards one common end. 
 A general description of the objects of existence, and of 
 man's position as an inhabitant of the world, and as an 
 active member of society, must next be given ; because 
 it is one of the chief aims of hygiene to enable us to 
 adapt man to his situation in life, and to protect him 
 from any injurious influences incidental to it. This 
 branch of instruction would require a short survey of 
 man's moral, intellectual, and religious duties, and of 
 the effects of neglect of them, or of overstrained pur- 
 suit of them, on his health, and finally, of the great 
 classes or divisions of human employment, with the 
 advantages and disadvantages, in regard to health, of 
 each class, considered with reference to the laws of our 
 constitution. 
 
 " Having learned man's nature and the objects of his 
 existence, we come next to examine the agents to the 
 action of which his bodily organism is constantly ex- 
 posed ; and here the difficulty of arrangement begins. 
 If we take the physiological order, and examine the 
 agents which act upon each function in - succession, we 
 are apt to run into the old error of disjointing too much, 
 and of recurring several times to the same agent, as it 
 affects one or more functions. If we classify the agents 
 themselves, we fall into similar difficulties ; but upon
 
 BRANCH OF MEDICAL EDUCATION. 315 
 
 the whole I incline to the latter, while I can see no 
 arrangement by which simplicity can be attained and 
 repetition avoided. 
 
 " I should divide external agents into two great 
 classes the first to embrace all those to the imme- 
 diate action of which we are necessarily and always 
 subjected; and the second those to which we expose our- 
 selves voluntarily, and which, therefore, are almost or 
 altogether under our control. I should call the first 
 general, and the latter special, influences. 
 
 " The first, or necessary influences to which we are 
 exposed, and from which we can only partially protect 
 ourselves, include the climate under which we live, the 
 locality which we inhabit, the seasons of the year, em- 
 ployments, cultivation, hereditary tendencies, the state 
 of society in regard to morals, and everything else 
 which we have no power of avoiding. Hygiene should 
 teach the effects of climate on individual constitutions 
 or temperaments and different ages, and point out the 
 best means of adapting each to withstand its evils. 
 It ought also to shew how the different seasons af- 
 fect the balance of functions, and how each indivi- 
 dual may protect himself against the evils arising 
 from this source such as the bowel-complaints, inflam- 
 mations, &c., attending the vicissitudes of spring and 
 autumn; and the modifications of diet required for 
 winter's cold or summer's heat. As individuals are 
 generally fixed to a locality, it should teach us how to 
 make the most of our circumstances ; to cure damp, if 
 we can, by drains, clearing wood, &c. ; if not, to dwell 
 in upper storeys, to avoid damp at sunset or with an 
 empty stomach, &c. ; if exposed necessarily to cold, 
 then to seek sheltered situations and southern aspects, 
 and so forth : hygiene should shew the greater import- 
 ance of all this in earlv life.
 
 316 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HYGIENE AS A 
 
 " Agaiii as to the state of society. This is one of the 
 most potent influences from which we cannot free our- 
 selves. If it is irrational, our maniere d'etre must, to 
 a great extent, be irrational also, and hygiene should 
 teach us what our mode of living ought to be, and how 
 to protect ourselves, as far as possible, against the evil 
 practices and customs to which we must conform. Our 
 meals and hours of sleep and labour, for example, must 
 be regulated very much by those of the society in which 
 we live, because we must transact our business when 
 other men transact theirs. School-studies, entertain- 
 ments, and the times and modes of acquiring and prac- 
 tising accomplishments, all belong to the same cate- 
 gory; and therefore hygiene should both denounce what 
 is wrong, and shew how the evils of conformity may be 
 mitigated, by modifications approaching nearer to na- 
 ture than the common practice. In the same way, we 
 must take our hereditary tendencies to disease as exist- 
 ing evils; but hygiene should teach us how the infirmi- 
 ties which each entails may be best guarded against, and 
 what professions and modes of life are best calculated to 
 save us from their influences. It should also warn us 
 against transmitting them to our children, without 
 doing everything in our power to diminish their effects. 
 
 " The second, or special influences or agents, comprise 
 all the external conditions over which either we can 
 exert a controlling power, or from which we can with- 
 draw ourselves such as clothing, cleanliness, diet, 
 choice of situation in the town or district ; selection of 
 south or north aspects ; exposure to light or shade ; 
 regulation of ventilation and warmth in houses; living 
 on ground or high floors, in low or elevated situations ; 
 bathing ; attention to excretions, and to times and 
 quantities of sleep, exercise, and amusements; educa- 
 tion, society, moral influences, mental employments,
 
 BRANCH OF MEDICAL EDUCATION. 317 
 
 and bodily labour; and the adaptation of these to 
 different temperaments and ages. 
 
 " Having thus in one view, 1st, Man ; 2d, The objects 
 of his existence ; 3^7, The general, and 4th, The special 
 influences which act upon him, we should proceed to 
 apply our knowledge by shewing how he may fit him- 
 self for the purposes of life, and at the same time so 
 adapt himself to the general and special influences, as 
 to secure sound health and mental vigour. The prin- 
 ciples of education will fall to be explained and illus- 
 trated, by exposing the consequences of the prevalent 
 errors arising out of neglect of the laws of the animal 
 economy. In their education we should inculcate the 
 exposition of these things to their patients, as the duty 
 incumbent on medical men for the protection of the 
 families entrusted to their care. 
 
 " The next step should be to point out the applica- 
 tion of hygiene to promote recovery from disease, by 
 placing every important function, as far as possible, 
 under circumstances favourable to its normal action. 
 The lungs, for example, must have pure air, neither 
 too dry nor too moist, too hot nor too cold, and they 
 must have the power of free expansion. Hence the 
 necessity of a well-aired bed-room for a sick person, 
 free from damp or cold, and of the removal of all im- 
 pediments, in dress or otherwise, to free action of the 
 lungs. Hence also the mischief of making a sick- 
 room a place of reception for visitors, cooking in it, or 
 permitting any thing to affect the freshness and purity 
 of the air. 
 
 " The brain, in like manner, has its laws of action, 
 which must be attended to. On these depend the ne- 
 cessity of prohibiting gossip about diseases, the com- 
 munication of exciting news, reading, &c., and en- 
 forcing cheerful kindness and composure in a sick-room ;
 
 318 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HYGIENE AS A 
 
 also the management of light and heat, so as not to 
 counteract the effects we aim at in our treatment. In 
 pneumonia, for example, hygiene would direct us to 
 prohibit talking as hurtful to the lungs, and indirectly 
 also to the brain, by exciting it farther, where fever is 
 already present ; and it would lead us to regulate tem- 
 perature, air, quiet, &c., in accordance with the object 
 we aim at. It would shew how, nutrition being almost 
 suspended, and the power of oxygenation in the lungs 
 impaired, there is, in the first place, no need of food, and 
 in the second little power of assimilating it ; and that 
 consequently, when given, it first irritates by getting 
 into a stomach not naturally prepared for it, and de- 
 ficient in gastric juice to digest it, thus adding to the 
 already excited state of the system; and next, how, being 
 imperfectly digested, it disagrees with the bowels, pro- 
 duces imperfect chyle which is imperfectly sangui- 
 ned in the lungs, and thus occasions general excitement 
 which counteracts treatment. Hygiene would farther 
 point out the influence of external cold and heat, and 
 of dirt or cleanliness, on the skin, and the consequent 
 propriety of regulating its condition in these respects. 
 It would shew that the attendant cough arises from an 
 irritant to be expelled (I do not allude to the mere 
 tickling cough at the onset), and that to suppress it by 
 narcotics is to add to the danger, the proper and natu- 
 ral course being to relax and facilitate excretion. We 
 should go through the other principal functions in the 
 same way, and shew that the conditions of health in 
 all ought to be attended to at the bed-side, and not 
 merely a dose ordered, and the patient left, quoad ultra, 
 to his own whims. 
 
 " The great classes of disease might be shortly gone 
 over, and the applications of hygiene to their cure 
 pointed out. This would be medical hygiene.
 
 BRANCH OP MEDICAL EDUCATION. 319 
 
 " Haying shewn what man can and ought to do for 
 himself, and what the physician ought to do for the 
 families and individuals entrusted to his care, the lec- 
 turer might briefly advert to the duty devolving on 
 governments and communities with respect to render- 
 ing localities salubrious, affording ample space near 
 towns for exercises and amusements in the open air, 
 removing nuisances, supplying water, prohibiting dirt 
 and narrowness or crowding of streets, &c. ; over which 
 individuals have no control. 
 
 " Hygiene, according to my view, really forms the 
 connecting link by which all the branches of profes- 
 sional knowledge are bound together, and rendered avail- 
 able in promoting human health and happiness, and in 
 one sense is consequently the most important subject 
 for a course of lectures, although very oddly almost the 
 only one which has not been taught systematically ; 
 and I consider the absence of the connecting principle 
 as the main cause why medicine has advanced so 
 slowly, and still assumes so little of the aspect of a 
 certain science, notwithstanding all the talent, time, and 
 labour, devoted to its cultivation. In fact, medicine 
 has no principles worthy of the name, even at the pre- 
 sent day ; and, as I said formerly, no more striking proof 
 can be given of the necessity of making lectures on 
 hygiene imperative on students, than the very little 
 value now attached to preservative or preventive treat- 
 ment, and to those important auxiliaries to recovery 
 from illness which it is the province of hygiene to unfold. 
 If medicine rested on its proper foundation in the na- 
 ture and laws of the human constitution, there would 
 be no need of argument to convince any one of the 
 utility of hygiene. Unless we are acquainted with the 
 laws or conditions which regulate the healthy action 
 of the human bodv considered as a whole, and of its
 
 320 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HYGIENE AS A 
 
 various organs considered as component parts, how can 
 we lay down consistent principles either for the pre- 
 servation or for the recovery of health; or for the 
 moral and physical improvement of man ? Experience, 
 no doubt, teaches us many useful facts ; but the want of 
 a guiding and vivifying principle whereby to apply 
 them, robs them of half their value, and most of their 
 authority, as rules for others. Whereas, with such 
 knowledge to guide us, if a child is born with a predis- 
 position to any disease, we can point out the course of 
 education and mode of life best adapted to overcome 
 the tendency, and can make an impression upon an 
 enlightened parent, which, without principle to guide 
 us, we should attempt in vain. If any one possesses a 
 peculiar talent or disposition, hygiene shews him how 
 he may best cultivate and enjoy it without the risk of 
 injury to the other parts of his constitution. If he is 
 deficient in any bodily or mental gift, it equally furnishes 
 the best means by which the defect may be lessened or 
 compensated. If he is ill, by revealing to him the mode 
 of action of the circumstances by which he is surrounded 
 upon his different functions, it enables him to avoid 
 what is hurtful, and to pursue whatever will promote 
 his recovery. Whereas, if ignorant of the laws of 
 health, and of the relation of the human body to exter- 
 nal agents, not only will he run a much greater risk of 
 inadvertently losing his health, but the lack of know- 
 ledge will throw obstacles in the way of his recovery 
 from disease, by rendering him more liable heedlessly 
 to counteract the effects of the treatment prescribed 
 for him on the faith of its being carried into practical 
 effect. 
 
 " In a course of hygiene, I should further introduce 
 a notice of the duties of the physician towards his 
 patients ; because one cause, both of the frequent in-
 
 BRANCH OF MEDICAL EDUCATIOH. 321 
 
 efficiency of medical aid, and of the comparatively low 
 (and I may say at present falling) standing of the pro- 
 fession in public estimation, arises from the physician 
 having very imperfect notions of his own duties. In 
 consequence, his inadequate discharge of them places 
 him much below the rank to which the liberal exercise 
 of such a profession would carry him. I should include 
 this subject in a course of hygiene, because it has no 
 proper place in any other course, and because the me- 
 dical man is or ought to be the source of one of the 
 most powerful and beneficial hygienic influences to 
 which a patient can be exposed, although at present 
 this is little dreamt of by our practical men. The real 
 concern of a medical man ought to be the procuring 
 for the family of which he is the adviser the highest 
 health of which it is capable ; and had the public, on 
 their side, a just view of the office of a physician, 
 they would resort to him for advice as to their own 
 general management, and the education and bringing 
 up of their children, so as to secure the soundest health 
 for the latter which the constitution admitted of. Does 
 the medical man at present consider the former object 
 to be among his duties, or take any steps to fulfil it ? 
 And if the public were to apply for advice of the latter 
 kind, how many medical men are capable of giving it, 
 and founding it upon any better ground than individual 
 opinion ? Is it not notorious, that, as a general rule, 
 medical men attend only to the particular sick member 
 to whom they are called in ; and, so far from taking 
 cognizance of the causes of disease affecting the rest, 
 never think of laying down general principles for the 
 future guidance even of the one who is ill ? They pre- 
 scribe for him, and, having subdued the present attack, 
 they leave him to providence or chance. Look into the 
 families of medical men, and how very rarely do you 
 
 j.
 
 322 OP THE IMPORTANCE OF HYGIENE AS A 
 
 see any one precaution exercised, or any one advantage 
 secured, which physiology puts into their power! I 
 have seen the scrofulous offspring of sensible, well-in- 
 formed medical men sleeping with closed curtains, three 
 or four in a small room, where an empty one was close 
 at hand. I have many a time seen the children of 
 medical men damaged by stuffing and indiscriminate 
 eating, and neglect of open air and exercise. And if 
 they see no call for taking charge of their own flesh and 
 blood, how can they possibly take an interest in the 
 families of others ? The reason is simply, that they 
 have never been taught that such concern is a duty in- 
 cumbent on them as professional men ; and they have 
 never been so taught, because hygiene has been fancied 
 to be a thing which concerns nobody, if we except, 
 perhaps, hypochondriacs and old wives. If medical 
 men were consulted about the general education, mode 
 of bringing up, and professions, most suitable for dif- 
 ferent constitutions, and predispositions to disease, how 
 very few could give rational advice ! Is this creditable, 
 or calculated to raise the profession in public estima- 
 tion ? Why cannot all medical men give such advice ? 
 Simply, because they have not been taught hygiene. 
 
 " What an influential part the state of the mind and 
 general mode of life perform in the production and cure 
 of disease ! and yet how little do medical men interest 
 themselves in the feelings or social position of their 
 patients, so as to discover either what they feel or what 
 they suffer ! How little pains are bestowed in culti- 
 vating confidence and affording sympathy ! And yet 
 how powerfully does an unburdened mind, and cheerful 
 reliance on another, contribute to recovery! Or, in 
 other words, what a powerful hygienic instrument is the 
 physician himself! and yet how few know it ! 
 
 " I need not enter upon a detail of the physician's
 
 BRANCH OF MEDICAL EDUCATION. 323 
 
 duties ; you know how to fill up the picture. Another 
 branch is the duties of the patient towards the medical 
 adviser ; but this would concern the public more than 
 the medical man, although the latter also ought to have 
 a clear view of them. But suppose a physician thus 
 qualified and thus consulted, it would be as impossible 
 for him to make the exercise of his profession a mere 
 matter of trade, as it would be for the public to rate 
 him as a mere trader. He would necessarily raise him- 
 self to a high status, because he would display high qua- 
 lities. They may devise acts of Parliament to raise his 
 dignity, and put down quacks ; but it is for the profes- 
 sion itself to remedy the evil. In this, Parliament is 
 powerless. 
 
 " I must now bring this long letter to a close. I have 
 written what I think, because you asked me to do so ; 
 but I cannot say that I would follow the arrangement 
 sketched out. It is crude and wants correction, but it 
 will suggest ideas to you, or at least shew my willing- 
 ness to be of use in this great cause. 
 
 " EDUHJUBGH, 29th November 1837." 
 
 On 16th November 1841, Dr Combe wrote to George 
 Combe, then at Mannheim, in reference to this subject, 
 as follows : 
 
 " Apropos of hygiene, views of some value thus have passed 
 through my mind, which I could neither arrest nor elaborate ; and 
 now I fear the day is gone by even for the attempt. My books con- 
 tain many of these views, but not systematized sufficiently to arrest 
 the attention of the unreflecting mind. My correspondence with Sir 
 J. Clark, on the course of instruction for medical students (part of it 
 printed privately for the London University Committee on Educa- 
 tion), contains more of them, and in a more explicit form, but still 
 not digested. The bane of medicine and of medical education at pre- 
 sent is its partial and limited scope," &c., &c.
 
 324 UNIVERSITY, HIGH SCHOOL, AND 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 REMARKS ON THE UNIVERSITY, HIGH SCHOOL, AND NEW ACADEMY OF 
 EDINBURGH. OPINION ABOUT RETIRING ALLOWANCES TO PROFES- 
 SORS. PRACTICAL COMMENTARY ON THAT OPINION AFFORDED BY DR 
 
 COMBE'S OWN CONDUCT. is APPOINTED ONE OF THE PHYSICIANS EX- 
 TRAORDINARY TO THE QUEEN IN SCOTLAND. EFFECTS OF DIFFER- 
 ENT STYLES OF PREACHING. ON OBEDIENCE TO THE ORGANIC LAWS. 
 
 LETTER TO RICHARD CARMICHAEL, ESQ. VISIT TO BELGIUM 
 
 AND GERMANY. 
 
 THE subject of EDUCATION, both professional and 
 general, engaged much of Dr Combe's attention ; and 
 the following letter, dated 14th December 1837, ad- 
 dressed to Sir James Clark, contains his 
 
 REMARKS ON THE STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY, OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, 
 AND OF THE NEW ACADEMY, OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 These may still be read with interest, as many of the 
 improvements suggested remain to be accomplished. 
 Shortly before the date of the letter, the Universities 
 of Scotland had been visited by Royal Commissioners, 
 who, after making a minute examination into the con- 
 dition and modes of instruction of each, issued a valu- 
 able Report, which was widely circulated. In refer- 
 ence to it, Dr Combe writes : 
 
 " I have not seen the proposed constitution for our University, or 
 the Report of the Commissioners, but have applied for them, and may 
 probably send an opinion soon. The professorships are truly in a 
 sad state ; and a compulsory rule of retirement, at a given age, seems
 
 NEW ACADEMY OF EDINBURGH. 325 
 
 to me indispensable for efficiency. Think of old and others sit- 
 ting like incubi on our College, checking the now active zeal of our 
 students. Only yesterday he offered to ' make a bargain with them. 
 If they would give up making a noise, he would let them out five mi- 
 nutes before the hour' ! ! ! and this, too, in a class for teaching the prac- 
 tice of medicine ! Our Town-Council means well in its appointments 
 of professors, but there are rarely three persons in it who are quali- 
 fied to judge for themselves of any man's fitness ; and for many years 
 they were led by solicitation and local fame, although they are now 
 improving. If you give the patronage to Government, in spite of 
 fate it is liable to become a job. If I could see better patrons than 
 the Council, I should propose, without remorse, to take the charge 
 from them. Appointing men advanced in life, and no longer likely to 
 go along with the improvements of the time, is, I think, a great error. 
 Thirty or twenty years earlier, the same men might have done much, 
 but at an advanced age they look for repose, and will sit for years 
 like nightmares on their unhappy pupils. A teacher ought to be in 
 the prime of life, active and indefatigable, cheering on, not wet- 
 blanketing his pupils. 
 
 " The High School is faulty. Till within ten years past, it negli- 
 gently refrained from anything resembling improvement, and re- 
 posed on its past fame. It taught Latin and a little Greek in the 
 hum-drum way of its ancestors, and allowed writing and arithmetic to 
 be introduced in one apartment. In its exercises, it proposed ques- 
 tions for competition which would have puzzled the heads of our 
 best statesmen, and carefully avoided modern knowledge. Ten years 
 ago, the New Academy gave it a fillip, by improving classical teach- 
 ing, and by bestowing more attention on longs and shorts, on poetry, 
 and on Greek. Both, however, devoted their whole time to droning 
 over Latin and Greek, and taught nothing besides. The public de- 
 manded an addition of useful knowledge, and a restriction of the time 
 dedicated to classics, particularly for the hundreds destined for com- 
 merce and trade, and not for professions. In the Phrenological 
 Journal, and in my brother's lectures,* we called loudly for reform. 
 They resisted all change. Another institution (the Hill Street Aca- 
 demy) started up, combining Classics with French, German, History, 
 Mathematics, Drawing (Natural History and Chemistry on Saturdays), 
 &c., under Mr Cunningham, formerly Governor of Watson's Hospital. 
 It succeeded from the first, and with two hours a day devoted to Latin 
 
 * Lectures on Popular Education, by George Combe. 3d Edition. 
 1848.
 
 326 HIGH SCHOOL OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 and Greek, sent out equally good classical scholars as its rivals, and 
 with more vigorous minds, from their expansion on other subjects. It 
 soon reached, and now retains, upwards of 250 pupils, although Mr 
 C. hurt his health by over-exertion, and resigned. The High School 
 fell from 750 to less than 400, and the Academy in rather less pro- 
 portion. The masters raged against my brother and the phrenologi- 
 cal crew, declared the public under a delusion, and themselves the most 
 excellent, upright, and efficient, but most injured, of men. At last 
 they quietly modified their system a good deal, admitted French and 
 Mathematics, taught some useful knowledge, and history and geo- 
 graphy incidentally, but with care ; and then published an invitation 
 to the public to come to their school, and see how wrongfully they had 
 been abused, and how much knowledge they really taught, as if they 
 had done so always. The consequence is, that their numbers are a 
 little increased. With a splendid school-house free from rent, a public 
 status and public patronage, they require no aid and no endowment ; 
 and it would be wrong to give any to enable them to extinguish their 
 private competitors, who forced them to improve. Mr Cunningham's 
 institution flourishes with a heavy rent, and taxes superadded. Let 
 the High School improve, and it too will flourish. 
 
 " The Glasgow High School is a proof in point. The pupils fell 
 down to 300, and the seminary seemed marching to ruin. Two sen- 
 sible men remodelled it, and adapted it to the present times, and now 
 it numbers nearly 1000 pupils. Ask Mr D'Orsey for its history, and 
 you will obtain much useful information. 
 
 " The New Academy sends forth able classical scholars, but it is 
 still too narrow in its scope. It is proved by Mr Cunningham's ex- 
 perience, that two or three hours a day devoted to classics, and the 
 rest occupied with learning positive ideas, invigorates the mind more, 
 and produces faster progress even in classics, than the old method of 
 giving the whole time to the latter alone ; and it is natural it should 
 be so. 
 
 " One word on medical education. I am convinced more and more 
 that it is too hurried. How can so many new subjects be mastered 
 and digested in four years, and by a mind still immature ? The greatest 
 improvement remains behind. Instead of crowding the curriculum, 
 the time must be extended. If a young man began his studies even 
 at seventeen, can we say that at twenty-three he will be too late to 
 enter into practice ? Is his mind even then matured, and his know- 
 ledge of disease and of mankind such as to give full confidence to his 
 patients ? I passed Surgeons' Hall at nineteen and a quarter years, 
 and thought myself late ; but from that time to the present, I have
 
 HIGH SCHOOL OF EDINBURGH. 327 
 
 felt the conviction every day increase, that I should have been in ex- 
 cellent time had I then been in my first year of study." 
 
 These observations were correct at the time they 
 were made, twelve years ago; but changes have since 
 taken place. Mr Cunningham's seminary exists in 
 other hands, and retains a large number of pupils ; 
 while the High School is improved. The radical de- 
 fect of the latter, however, consists in its want of a 
 sound and self-consistent organism of some kind or 
 other. It was originally a Latin Grammar School, and, 
 in compliance with the demands of the age, other sub- 
 jects have been added, not interwoven into the sys- 
 tem, but superadded, like patches on an old garment. 
 Thus, the study of Greek, arithmetic, mathematics, 
 writing, German, French, and physical science, and the 
 practice of gymnastics, have been introduced ; but in- 
 stead of being arranged as integral parts of the system 
 of instruction, the prosecution or omission of each is left 
 to the discretion of the pupils or their parents, who, in 
 many instances, are ill qualified to judge of the import- 
 ance of the different elements of education. The pro- 
 spect of a remedy for this radical defect appears to be 
 still very distant, partly on account of the opposition of 
 the teachers, who seem to conceive that their interests 
 would be affected by a change; and partly owing to 
 the spirit reigning among the patrons of the school 
 (the Magistrates and Town-Council of Edinburgh), who 
 are of opinion that the school should be essentially, if 
 not exclusively, a classical seminary. This was made 
 apparent recently, when the introduction of physical 
 science was proposed by the present enlightened rector 
 of the school, Dr Schmitz. His suggestion was feebly 
 supported by the majority of the patrons ; and, when 
 at last adopted, it was carried into effect in such a 
 manner as to yield the least possible advantage to the
 
 328 HIGH SCHOOL OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 pupils. Under these circumstances, a thorough reform 
 of the system seems hopeless, until a great advance 
 shall take place in public intelligence on the subject of 
 education; meantime such improvements have been 
 introduced, under the direction of Dr Schmitz, as the 
 existing arrangements will allow. 
 
 Latin and Greek are still the principal subjects of 
 instruction ; but the} 7 are taught, not so much with a 
 view to form critical scholars, as to train the young 
 men to habits of correct and independent thinking. The 
 pupils are encouraged not to take any thing cognizable 
 by observation and reason on trust, but to inquire into 
 every subject, and, without looking to the right or to 
 the left, to adhere to that which recommends itself to 
 their minds as good, right, or true. Recently, also, 
 the study of history has *been extended so as to embrace 
 that of the middle ages and of modern times ; and the 
 subject is taught in such a manner as to make the his- 
 tory of one period or nation illustrate that of another. 
 This is an important improvement ; for, in studying 
 history, nothing should be regarded as dead. Every 
 portion of it is full of life ; and the thousand links that 
 connect the past with the present are just so many por- 
 tions of a great chain of causation of which our actual 
 condition is the practical result. In this study, more- 
 over, due importance is now attached to the development 
 of political, social, and moral principles, deducible from 
 the history of nations and individuals ; and thus the 
 minds of the pupils are enlarged. 
 
 We have seen evidence in the present work (page 27) 
 how sadly instruction in the English language and 
 literature was formerly neglected in the High School. 
 During the last two years, Dr Schmitz has introduced 
 into his own classes the study of the historical develop- 
 ment, and of the philosophical principles and laws of the
 
 HIGH SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. 329 
 
 English language, accompanied by practical exercises 
 and essays on this important subject. 
 
 As already mentioned, the patrons have likewise re- 
 cently introduced the study of the elements of science ; 
 but instead of incorporating it as an essential part of 
 the curriculum of the school, and appointing a compe- 
 tent master to teach it, they have engaged two uncon- 
 nected lecturers, one of whom lectures only for an hour 
 in the week. This is a very imperfect arrangement ; 
 for the time devoted to science is too limited, and, more- 
 over, lectures, even accompanied by examinations, are 
 not the mode of instruction suited to young minds. The 
 teacher should come down to the capacity of his pupils, 
 and put himself in as close a contact as possible with 
 their faculties. This can be accomplished only by his 
 resorting to the most familiar expositions of the truths 
 he desires to communicate, and, as it were, entering 
 into familiar conversation with them. 
 
 Justice requires me to add, that these improvements 
 are due chiefly to the present rector, Dr Schmitz, a na- 
 tive of Germany, and trained under the Prussian sys- 
 tem of education. His appointment to that office was 
 highly creditable to the patrons ; but they lose the best 
 advantages which they might derive from his intelli- 
 gence and experience, by refusing to sanction neces- 
 sary reforms of the constitution of the school, and the 
 adoption of a curriculum of instruction calculated to 
 place it in harmony with the real wants of the age. 
 
 In the following letter to Sir James Clark, dated 
 21st December 1837, Dr Combe states his opinion 
 about 
 
 RETIRING ALLOWANCES TO PROFESSORS. 
 
 " I am averse to the system of retiring pensions. They are against 
 the order of nature, and lead to many more evils than they cure.
 
 330 RETIRING ALLOWANCES TO PROFESSORS. 
 
 Without them individual cases of hardship and distress occur, but with 
 them come many evils, hoth of improvidence and negligence during 
 the active period of life. Pay a man well for what he does, but leave 
 his own futurity to his own care. The latter is that which everywhere 
 prevails in ordinary society, and thence springs much of the active in- 
 dustry and provident care, and welldoing, which one meets with in the 
 world. If a physician becomes old and useless, his patients provide 
 no retiring allowance for him, nor do they consider themselves 'thirled ' 
 nokntes volentes to his mill. The same holds with the lawyer, the 
 artist, the merchant, and the shopkeeper. Then why make a profes- 
 sor an exception ; him who has had the advantage over them of a cer- 
 tain income ? No doubt, a professor might break down with bad 
 health and lose his income. That would be a sad misfortune for him ; 
 but what class of society is exempt from the fate of humanity ? Take 
 my own case. I started in 1822-3, with an income of about 50 the 
 first year, which, in 1830-1, had risen beyond 700, and had I kept 
 well, would, I believe, have been now nearer 1500. Bad health 
 came : instead of receiving 700, 1 received nothing for two years, and 
 expended within 200 or 300 of all I possessed in regaining some 
 share of health. In one sense this was hard ; but what right had I to 
 complain, or to ask a retiring pension from my patients ? How many 
 around me in all professions run the same course !" 
 
 On 5th June 1849, the magistrates of Edinburgh 
 adopted a plan for providing a superannuation fund for 
 the various officers in their employment, which promises 
 to be equally simple and effectual. They resolved, that 
 in all future appointments provision shall be made for 
 the insurance of " a sum of money on the life of each 
 officer in the city's establishment, payable at death, or, 
 at all events, at sixty years of age ; so that, in the event 
 of any officer surviving that age, and becoming unfit to 
 discharge the duties of his office, the sum so insured 
 may be converted into a life annuity or superannuated 
 allowance, payable to or for behoof of such officer." 
 The city contributes a sum towards the payment of the 
 premium of insurance, equal to five per cent, per an- 
 num on the salaries of all officers admitted to the 
 scheme, each officer contributing the difference between
 
 RETIMJTG ALLOWANCES TO PROFESSORS. 331 
 
 that per-centage and the amount of the premium, which 
 contribution is retained from his salary quarterly. The 
 whole policies are made payable to the city-chamber- 
 lain for the time being, and are not attachable by the 
 creditors, nor are they subject to the control of the 
 officer in any way whatever. When an officer attains 
 sixty years of age, if he be still fit for duty, the sum 
 insured is invested to the best advantage in the name 
 of the chamberlain, and the interest is paid to the 
 officer. When he becomes unfit for duty, at, or subse- 
 quently to sixty, the sum insured is applied in purchas- 
 ing an alimentary annuity for him, which is not attach- 
 able by his creditors or assignable by himself. When 
 he dies before sixty, the sum insured " shall be dis- 
 posed of in such manner as in the circumstances of each 
 case may be deemed proper, but so that the magistrates 
 and council shall have no further charge of the pro- 
 ceeds ; due regard being always had to any desire, in 
 this respect, which may be expressed in any writing left 
 by any deceased officer." This regulation does not ex- 
 tend to the professors, teachers, and clergymen ap- 
 pointed to their offices by the magistrates and council ; 
 but the principle of requiring each of these public ser- 
 vants to insure a sum on his own life sufficient to pro- 
 vide a retiring allowance for him at sixty years of age, 
 appears equitable to the individual, and necessary for 
 the protection of the interests of the public. 
 
 The following letter, dated 6th January 1838, ad- 
 dressed to an eminent publisher, affords a commentary 
 on the maxim expressed in the foregoing letter, that 
 every man is bound to provide for himself. The gen- 
 tleman to whom the letter was addressed, probably con- 
 sidered that the increased sales consequent on lowness 
 of price, would render a book actually more profitable 
 to the author than it would prove if sold at a higher
 
 332 LETTER ON CHEAP EDITIONS OF BOOKS. 
 
 rate ; and although Dr Combe controverts this view in 
 reference to his own work, it is a point fairly open to 
 difference of opinion : 
 
 " You again allude to my writing for your Series of , and 
 to this request I again reply, 
 
 " First, That I can write well and comfortably only when follow- 
 ing the dictates of my own judgment, unfettered by any plan or wishes 
 of another. 
 
 " Secondly, That de facto my plan will be more comprehensive, and, 
 consequently, more extensive, than that contemplated by you ; and, 
 therefore, not what your Series requires. And, 
 
 " Thirdly, That from the low price at which your Series is sold, you 
 cannot afford to remunerate me at the same rate as the public will, 
 supposing that I successfully execute my plan ; and that if I am right 
 in this conclusion, the giving my treatise to you for publication would 
 be, not simply a benevolent exertion for the public good, but in re- 
 ality a contribution on my part to the public of so many pounds, shil- 
 lings, and pence as I can honestly gain by publishing it myself, over 
 what you can allow me. 
 
 Now, if I know myself, I have written, and still write, habitually 
 under a strong desire to be useful to my kind ; but considering that 
 uncertain health cuts me off from the emoluments of ordinary prac- 
 tice, that the same cause cut me off from a fixed income of 
 
 hundred pounds a year, attended by very little outlay, and a positive 
 prospect of honourable advancement, if not distinction ; and that 
 (although now by care comparatively well) I cannot count on useful 
 activity for even a single month, or week, or day, and consequently 
 may be thrown back at any time upon such pecuniary resources as I 
 have already secured, I think you will admit that, while bound to be 
 benevolent, I am not less bound to advance my own interests by every 
 legitimate means, and, consequently, to make the most I can of my 
 writings, before giving place to public considerations alone. 
 
 " My view of the matter is simply this. There is a large number 
 of mothers and parents who have both the desire and the means to 
 purchase a good book of this kind even at 4s. or 5s. ; and there is 
 nothing wrong, but the reverse, in supplying such a class of readers, 
 before bringing it to the level of a poorer order. Had I followed 
 your advice, for example, and brought out a 2s. edition of my Phy- 
 siology at the end of the third edition, do you think that I should 
 have derived as much advantage from it as from the sale of the 5000 
 copies since taken up at 7s. 6d. ? especially when you add to this that
 
 EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT STYLES OF PREACHING. 333 
 
 I have still the cheap field in reserve ? If, on the other hand, I have 
 gained more by the 7s. 6d. edition, is it not evident that the sum 
 lost by resorting at that time to the 2s. one, would have been neither 
 more nor less than a substantial contribution of 100, 200, or some 
 other sum, by Dr A. Combe, to the public, which, in the space of two 
 years, would be better proportioned to the Duke of Buccleugh's means 
 than to mine ? 
 
 " From these considerations, you will, I trust, perceive that it is 
 from no backwardness to assist you in a most excellent undertaking, 
 and from no undue selfishness, that I would probably decline your 
 proposal, even if I could fulfil your wishes more easily than I know 
 to be possible for me. Your liberality I never doubt ; but even were 
 the other difficulty removed, you could not afford the same remunera- 
 tion on a very cheap book, which I may, if successful, obtain from one 
 of an ordinary price." 
 
 In March 1838, Dr Combe was appointed one of the 
 Physicians Extraordinary to the Queen in Scotland, an 
 office of honour, but without duties or emolument. 
 
 On pages 33 and 34, he describes the effect which 
 the stern Calvinistic doctrines in which he was edu- 
 cated produced on his mind in youth ; and the fol- 
 lowing letter, dated 12th March 1838, addressed to a 
 sincerely religious lady, indicates his mature views on 
 the same subject : 
 
 " I cannot resist sending for your perusal an American paper, for- 
 warded to me by my brother William, and containing ' A Sermon,' 
 which delights me by its pure, and comprehensive, and directly prac- 
 tical spirit. It embraces man's whole nature, such as God has made 
 it, instead of inculcating the extravagant activity of merely two or 
 three feelings. Its views are those of Phrenology throughout, and it 
 is the first instance in which I have seen it effectively applied. It 
 interests me farther as bearing upon a point I formerly discussed with 
 you the superiority of eliciting good by direct appeals to the moral 
 and religious sentiments, and leaving the propensities with as little 
 undue stimulus as possible. The description in the sermon of the 
 inadequacy of fear and other inferior passions to serve as practical 
 motives to goodness, seems to me to be peculiarly excellent, and I shall 
 not try to describe the pain I have suffered in listening to such de- 
 nunciations from the pulpit as it condemns. I confess that ultimately 
 I found it impossible to sit and hear even Dr , without, not only
 
 334 EFFECTS OF OBEDIENCE TO THE ORGANIC LAWS. 
 
 pain, but positive moral injury ; while I could not but feel how deeply 
 attractive and beneficial his influence might have been had he direct- 
 ed his preaching to elevate and purify, rather than farther to degrade 
 human nature. That the very best of mankind are sinful creatures, 
 is too true ; but, after all, we are the creatures and children of a 
 beneficent God, and I cannot help feeling as if blasphemy or sacrilege 
 were uttered, when the work of His hands and mind is reviled as 
 irretrievably wicked." 
 
 In April 1838, Dr Combe was consulted by a lady 
 residing in a distant part of the country about her 
 health, and recommended to her a strict and persever- 
 ing observance of the laws of hygiene applicable to her 
 case. She misunderstood his meaning, and wrote to 
 him stating objections. This led him to address to her 
 a letter, dated 3d May 1838, 
 
 ON THE RESULTS OF OBEDIENCE TO THE ORGANIC LAWS. 
 
 " In your remarks on my statement, that the highest health will 
 always be on the side of those who most rigidly fulfil the organic 
 laws, you omit two very important and significant words, viz., ' cceteris 
 paribusj i. e., ' all other circumstances being equal.' To test the proposi- 
 tion, you must suppose another person in precisely similar circum- 
 stances with your own, similar in constitution and in health ; and 
 while you obey, let her disobey the organic laws. My assertion is, 
 that then you, and not she, would enjoy the highest health. I never 
 meant that the at best imperfect obedience which man can yield, will 
 insure absolute health under all circumstances of constitution, &c. 
 You yourself are an example of an infirmity of constitution from a 
 period of life too early to have been the result of intentional dis- 
 obedience on your own part. You have apparently inherited (not 
 disease, as you say, but) a peculiar delicacy of constitution, which 
 makes the hurtful agency of external influences more than usually 
 great, and which, consequently, would render the attainment of 
 absolute health, by any obedience, more than usually difficult ; but on 
 consideration, you must perceive that this constitutes no real excep- 
 tion. I have seen cases more or less analogous to yours ; but in all of 
 them I could, after full examination, trace a cause for the delicacy 
 either in the constitutional peculiarities of the parents, their tempo- 
 rary state of health after marriage, great anxiety suffered by the 
 mother during pregnancy, mismanagement, or some other circumstance
 
 LETTER TO MR RICHARD CARM1CHAEL. 335 
 
 after birth, which fully explained the infirm health of the child. In 
 such cases, even the most enlightened obedience may fail to secure 
 future health for the person ; but it will unquestionably secure a larger 
 share of it than if the laws be neglected. Besides, I see every day 
 more reason to confide in the advantages of persevering obedience, 
 even in apparently discouraging cases, as the result is slow but sure 
 improvement. Of this I can also speak from personal experience, in 
 being now not only alive, but in the possession of a degree of health, 
 not robust certainly, but sufficient to afford me much enjoyment, and 
 to allow me to lead a life of some usefulness at least. 
 
 " I notice your misconception of the proposition at so much length, 
 that you may not, by an erroneous estimate of it, be discouraged from 
 attending to circumstances which may really be influential for your 
 improvement." 
 
 On the 13th May 1838, Dr Combe wrote to the late 
 Mr Richard Cannichael, of Dublin, expressing his high 
 appreciation of an Essay which that gentleman had just 
 published in the Dublin Medical Journal on the treat- 
 ment of dyspeptic cases, and on the origin of gall- 
 stones. The greater portion of the letter is too techni- 
 cal for general readers, but its conclusion is in the 
 following terms : 
 
 " Your theory of the origin of gall-stones is very ingenious, and, 
 what is still better, apparently correct. At least I can see no valid 
 objection to it ; and I value it as leading to efficient prevention. In- 
 deed, the whole scope of your essay delights me, from the just weight 
 you attach to the organic laws, and the able way in which you incul- 
 cate them. Were they more kept in view as foundations for observa- 
 tion and reasoning, medicine would become at once more philosophic, 
 certain, and efficient. My faith in the power of Xature, duly aided 
 by the physician, is very great ; and I never see any one taking mat- 
 ters into his own hands, regardless of her wishes, without pain and 
 
 " Had not the over-exhaustion, from unremitting exertion of your 
 nervous system and brain, a great deal to do with the subsequent 
 sciatica and digestive derangement ? It seems to me that it had, by 
 directly impairing the nervous health. Had the brain been less 
 severely taxed, probably you might have escaped with only digestive 
 disorder and gall-stones, and struck off the sciatica from the list of 
 penalties. What do you think ?"
 
 336 VISIT TO BELGIUM AND GERMANY. 
 
 The second paragraph refers to a severe attack of 
 sciatica under which Mr Carmichael suffered for many 
 months, and from which he ultimately recovered by a 
 visit to the baths of Barege, and by passing the subse- 
 quent winter in Italy, where he afforded the valuable 
 assistance to Dr Combe mentioned on page 211.* 
 
 Immediately after the date of this letter Dr Combe 
 revisited Belgium ; and, writing from Cologne on 13th 
 June, to Mrs Henry Siddons, he 
 
 " By some means or other, I was about the busiest man in Brussels 
 during my stay there, and had no leisure to think either about home, 
 absent friends, or anything else. Much as I like to know what is 
 doing in the world, I have only once seen the English papers since I 
 left London, and can scarcely tell whether England is still an island 
 or a continent. Do not, however, ask too narrowly what I was about, 
 for I can scarcely tell. Every day I went to see the Royal Family 
 at Lacken, and spent from two to three hours visiting one after the 
 other, and then reporting to and ending with the King. On my re- 
 turn I had either old friends to call for, old patients to visit who were 
 wanting new advice, or new friends to receive, or business calls to 
 make on the King's physician and secretary ; and then in the evening 
 to dine at the palace table, and perhaps go afterwards to the opera. 
 
 What a noble river is the Rhine, gliding noiselessly by in one 
 mighty flood, like time flowing on to eternity ! I cannot look upon 
 it from my window without going back in thought to the changeable- 
 ness of man and to its unchangeableness. The Romans saw it many 
 centuries ago as I now see it, and where are they they who thought the 
 world their own ? Generations yet unborn will look upon it in their 
 turn, and cover its waters with their thousand barks, when we, the 
 
 * It is painful to record the death of this most skilful practitioner 
 and estimable man, which happened on 9th June 1849, while this 
 work was in the press. He not merely possessed a first-rate talent of 
 diagnosis, but was an original thinker, and successfully penetrated 
 into the causes of the phenomena which he observed. 'He had the 
 merit of being the first to explain the true theory of the origin of 
 scrofula, and his Essay, alluded to by Dr Combe, is also distinguished 
 by originality of thought. His dispositions were as kind and generous 
 as his intellect was penetrating and capacious. He mentioned to me in 
 conversation, that he entertained no doubt that the attack of sciatica 
 was the consequence of over-exertion of the brain, accompanied by too 
 long intervals of fasting between breakfast and dinner.
 
 VISIT TO BELGIUM AND GERMANY. 337 
 
 mighty we of to-day shall lie forgotten as if we had never been. Such 
 is time such the day and the hour in which we live or die ; and yet 
 how we bustle about its minor interests and selfish comforts, as if we 
 were to occupy our posts for ages ! The world, however, is not all filled 
 with small and selfish cares, but, as it moves on, every day brings its 
 own changes and its own improvements both in man and in machinery ; 
 and I cannot help fancying what Caesar would have thought had he 
 seen steamboats ploughing that noble river. But the shades of even- 
 ing fall apace, and the eye wanders to the mellowed and checkered 
 landscape, now clearing up after the rain ; so here I pause. 
 
 " Bonn, 14th June. The evening is splendid, and the face of na- 
 ture luxuriant and fresh as at summer dawn. In wandering out to- 
 wards the country, a lovelier scene could scarcely meet the eye ; and 
 as every path swarms with its gaily-dressed crowds (being the fete 
 Dieu), the world and mankind seem for once so much in harmony, that 
 the spirit rejoices as it surveys them both. I have seen comparatively 
 nothing of the Rhine, and was told it would disappoint me. Were 1 
 to turn home to-morrow, I should still say it had not disappointed me, 
 but surpassed what I expected. It recalls, like an occurrence of yes- 
 terday, a truly pathetic scene which marked the first day of my en- 
 trance into Switzerland nineteen years ago, the parting salute and 
 song dying on the gale of three hundred Swiss emigrants leaving their 
 country for the Brazils, in one of the finest days that ever shone, and 
 floating down the stream till they vanished from sight, an emblem 
 of their after fate. But I must not become sentimental in my old 
 age, and therefore change the subject. 
 
 " We witnessed to-day in Cologne a very large procession in ho- 
 nour of the fete Dieu, the music and attributes of which must have 
 had a powerful effect on the young minds engaged in it, but which I 
 felt as almost sickening, from its gross superstition and approach to 
 blasphemy. We had afterwards a very agreeable drive up to Bonn, 
 where we arrived at half-past three. Having had a letter to deliver 
 to the Princes of Saxe-Coburg, who are studying here, and whom the 
 King wished me to see, I went forthwith to call ; but it being &festa, 
 they were unfortunately in the country. In the morning, however, I 
 shall see them between seven and eight, before I leave for Cobleiitz. 
 I next called for Mr Wyse's family, but missed them also. I met him 
 in London, when he begged me to see them. 
 
 " My excursion so far has been fortunate and pleasant. Nothing 
 could be more kind than the reception given me by the King and 
 Queen of the Belgians. I saw a great deal of both their Majesties and 
 of the two Princes, and was much gratified with all. The good Queen 
 quite overwhelmed me the last two or three times I went, by expressing 
 
 Y
 
 338 VISIT TO BELGIUM AND GERMANY. 
 
 how grateful she felt for my kindness and interest in them, and 
 hoping I would not forget them ; nor, in truth, was the King less 
 unreserved or less warm : after telling me that my opinions gave him 
 great comfort, because he had confidence in them, he expressed a hope 
 that I would return, as he could not afford to lose his hold of me ; 
 calling me, as he said so and shook me cordially by the hand, ' Signer 
 Dottore mio.' I mention all this, not as a matter of boast, but as 
 traits which I conceive highly amiable in them. 
 
 " One day I had a very interesting conversation with the King 
 about the treatment of criminals and the causes of crime, Apropos to 
 my opinion of the penitentiary at Ghent, which I had gone to see. 
 It contains 1200 prisoners; and I told him I had been struck much 
 more than in any other prison with the miserably low and contracted 
 foreheads, and defective organisation, of a large proportion of them, 
 accompanied as it was by very low intelligence ; and I pointed out the 
 relation of this fact to the origin of crime. It was a subject he had 
 evidently considered maturely, and he regretted that legislators so 
 frequently made laws for facts, without regard either to their external 
 causes, or to their internal sources in human nature. He is evidently 
 more and more liked by the Belgians ; and I met some Orange people, 
 who concur now in the almost universal impression in Belgium, that 
 he has saved them from destruction, and carried them to great pros- 
 perity, by his prudence, uprightness, and conciliating spirit. 
 
 " 15$, Coblentz. Here we are, after a delightful journey, in a lovely 
 day, closed by magnificent flashes of lightning, which play upon the 
 rivers and hills as I write, and give sublimity to the beautiful. I 
 was kindly welcomed by the Princes this morning, who expressed re- 
 gret that I did not arrive early yesterday, that I might have accom- 
 panied them on an excursion with a party to the Drachenfels, which 
 turned out very pleasant. They asked me to spend the day ; but as I 
 could not, they gave me much excellent counsel about making the 
 most of my time, and even about good and bad inns, and were alto- 
 gether very kind." 
 
 In a letter dated Edinburgh, 13th July 1838, ad- 
 dressed to George Combe, then at Coul, Dr Combe, 
 after giving some details of his visit to the Royal Fa- 
 mily at Brussels, and to the Princes of Coburg at Bonn, 
 adds 
 
 " Of course, it was highly gratifying to me to be treated with so 
 much condescension and goodness ; but I can truly say, that at least
 
 VISIT TO BELGIUM AXD GERMA5Y. 339 
 
 half of the pleasure arose from finding the better feelings of our na- 
 ture thus exhibiting themselves unchecked by station, or the power- 
 ful misleading influences to which such rank is inevitably and con- 
 stantly exposed. The favourable impression which appears to have 
 been made by me on their Majesties arose. I believe, from their re- 
 cognising the interest which I felt in themselves and their children 
 as indiridu'ite, apart from their station, and from speaking honestly 
 what I thought. My mind was so full of the subject, that, in my 
 earnestiiess to make the desired impression, I often forgot the acci- 
 dental adjunct of rank. Of course I always spoke with great respect, 
 because I felt it ; but I mean to say that I often forgot the formal 
 phrases in which, in a court, respect is clothed. My visit was one of 
 great pleasure, and I hope of some usefulness also, as I was in great 
 vigour of mind and body." 
 
 He mentions that he prolonged his excursion to 
 Ems, Wiesbaden, Mentz, and Heidelberg ; and thence 
 to Cassel, Hanover, and Bremen, where he remained 
 some days with his esteemed friend Dr Hirschfeld. He 
 took a steam-ship from Hamburgh to Leith, where he 
 arrived safely, but, as usual with him, after a tedious 
 and disagreeable voyage. 
 
 In a letter to Mrs Maconochie, dated 19th November 
 1839, he writes : 
 
 " I attended Prince Albert (of whom the newspapers speak so much), 
 and his brother the Prince of Coburg, when resident in Brussels, and 
 received three beautiful diamond studs from them at pan ing. Prince 
 Albert is a frank, generous-minded, and handsome young man."
 
 340 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 LETTER BY DR COMBE TO SIR JAMES CLARK ON MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 THE following letter, dated London, 22d November 
 1849, from Sir James Clark to George Combe, explains 
 the circumstances which led Dr Combe to address Sir 
 James on the subject of medical education. 
 
 " I quite approve of your publishing, in the Memoir 
 of Dr Combe's life, his admirable letter on medical 
 education. It was addressed to me while the Senate 
 of the University of London was occupied in consider- 
 ing a course of study for the graduates of that univer- 
 sity. The members of the Medical Faculty, before 
 finally deciding upon the amount of general and pro- 
 fessional instruction and course of study to be required 
 of the Bachelors and Doctors of Medicine, were desi- 
 rous of obtaining the opinions of their medical brethren. 
 With this view, as chairman of the Medical Committee 
 appointed by the Senate to draw up a medical curricu- 
 lum, I applied to some of the most distinguished phy- 
 sicians and surgeons of this country. Among the va- 
 luable suggestions which we received, your brother's 
 letter was conspicuous for the enlightened and compre- 
 hensive views which it contained. He had evidently 
 thought much and deeply on the subject; and the pub- 
 lication of his matured opinion, in a matter of such im- 
 portance to the public as a sound system of medical 
 education, cannot fail to be of the highest utility. The
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 341 
 
 medical student cannot have a better guide during the 
 progress of his studies than this letter; and I may 
 add, that it would be well if every teacher of medicine 
 would make himself acquainted with the enlightened 
 views, on the principles upon which medical education 
 should be conducted, contained in it." 
 
 The letter and twenty-one others were printed for 
 the use of ;i the Committee of the Faculty of Medicine r? 
 of the London University, charged with preparing a 
 Report on an improved Curriculum for that Institu- 
 tion, but it was never published ; and it is hoped that 
 its intrinsic merits, and the recommendation of Sir 
 James Clark, will appear satisfactory reasons for in- 
 troducing it into the present work. 
 
 " EDEJTBUBGH, yowmter 2, 1838. 
 
 " MY DEAR Sm JAMES, Having now carefully con- 
 sidered the ' Report of the Committee of the Faculty of 
 Medicine on the subject of granting Degrees in Medi- 
 cine, 1 I proceed, in compliance with your request, to 
 give you my opinion of it. It appears to me that the 
 first thing to be done in judging of the propriety of the 
 course of education there recommended, is to determine 
 clearly, and never to lose sight of, the object for which 
 it is designed ; because very different opinions will ne- 
 cessarily be formed of it according to the notion which 
 each entertains of the purposes which the Committee 
 had in view. 
 
 " If the object of the Committee is to devise a scheme 
 of education by which young men may be fitted in the 
 shortest possible time for becoming mere traders in 
 medicine at the earliest possible age, then the course of 
 study sketched in the Report is undoubtedly far too 
 extensive and scientific ; whereas if it is wished, as I 
 take for granted it is, to secure for the student such a
 
 342 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 kind and amount of education as shall best qualify him 
 for the enlightened and faithful exercise of a liberal and 
 difficult profession, and raise him to that status and in- 
 fluence in society which high scientific attainments and 
 gentlemanly feelings and conduct must ever command, 
 and which it is equally the interest of all that medical 
 men should enjoy, then I confess my inability to fix 
 upon any part of the proposed curriculum which could 
 with propriety be dispensed with. 
 
 " Admitting, then, the desirableness of such a com- 
 prehensive and liberal scheme of education as that re- 
 commended by the Committee, the next point for con- 
 sideration is, whether the whole of it can be efficiently 
 gone through by young men of average mental ca- 
 pacities within the period assigned to it, viz., before 
 the age of twenty-one. But in reality this question 
 merges in one of still greater consequence, which is too 
 much lost sight of in the discussion, and to which I 
 would therefore direct special attention, viz., Is the 
 preliminary and professional education required by the 
 proposed curriculum calculated to fit the student for 
 becoming in due time an enlightened and efficient prac- 
 titioner, and would his fitness and efficiency be impaired 
 were any portion of it omitted ? If on both points the 
 answer be in the affirmative, it follows, as a matter of 
 justice to the public, whose health and lives are at 
 stake, as well as to the future practitioner himself, that 
 the whole of that education ought to be gone through, 
 whatever number of years it may occupy ; and that it 
 would be a wretched and culpable economy, which, un- 
 der such circumstances, should seek to curtail the time 
 at the expense of the practitioner's qualifications. If 
 any law of nature or unrepealable Act of the Imperial 
 Parliament existed, rendering it obligatory on all me- 
 dical students to complete their preliminary education
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 343 
 
 before their eighteenth, and their professional before 
 their twenty-second year, it would be a valid ground 
 for urging that the proposed course of study could not 
 be completed within the time specified. But as no such 
 obstacle exists either in remm natura or in the law of 
 the laud, it seems to me that the only argument which 
 ought to have any weight against the course of study, 
 would be one. shewing that it is needlessly extensive, 
 and pointing out what portions of it might be omitted 
 without in any way impairing the qualifications and 
 usefulness of the practitioner. But this has not been 
 done. 
 
 " Looking to qualification, then, as the real object to 
 be aimed at, the curriculum should be judged of by its 
 fitness to secure the amount of qualification considered 
 requisite; and under this conviction, I have always 
 attached much less importance than is usually done, to 
 the abstract possibility or impossibility of finishing the 
 compulsory part of professional education within a given 
 time, and have long thought that more harm than good 
 has been done by fixing too early a limit. The intelli- 
 gent exercise of medicine requires not only a greater 
 extent of scientific and general attainments, but also 
 readier comprehensiveness of mind, and greater accu- 
 racy of thinking and maturity of judgment, than per- 
 haps any other profession; and these are qualities 
 rarely to be met with in early youth. So generally is 
 this felt to be the case, that it is an all but universal 
 practice for those who are really devoted to the profes- 
 sion to continue their studies for two or three years, or 
 even more, after having gone through the prescribed 
 curriculum, and obtained their diplomas; and those 
 only follow a different course who are pressed by neces- 
 sity to encounter the responsibilities of practice, whe- 
 ther satisfied or not with their own qualifications : and
 
 344 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 if this be the case, does it not amount to a virtual re- 
 cognition, that the period now assigned by the curricu- 
 lum is too short, and ought to be extended ? In point 
 of fact, this later period of study is felt by all to be by 
 far the most instructive of the whole, because now the 
 mind is comparatively matured, and able to draw its 
 own inferences from the facts and observations of which 
 it could before make little or no use ; and it is precisely 
 those who enter upon practice too early who are most 
 apt to become routine practitioners, and to do the least 
 for the advancement of medicine as a science. Accord- 
 ingly, if we trace the history of those who have at- 
 tained eminence in the profession, we shall find that 
 they are almost without exception men who have con- 
 tinued their studies to a maturer age than that fixed 
 by the regulations, before entering upon practice ; and 
 that very few indeed of those who start at twenty-one 
 succeed in gaining the confidence of the public till after 
 the lapse of several years, and still fewer succeed in 
 becoming scientific practitioners. The common expres- 
 sion in regard to such a person is, that ' he is too 
 young,' i he can have no experience ;' &c., and he is 
 quietly left to continue his studies till greater solidity 
 of character and maturity of judgment begin to attract 
 those who before distrusted him. 
 
 " If I am at all correct in these views, and the course 
 of study recommended by the Committee is really cal- 
 culated to improve the qualifications of the practitioners, 
 as I firmly believe it to be, I can see no reason what- 
 ever for abridging it by any omissions, merely that the 
 period which it will occupy may be shortened. At the 
 same time I may state it as my opinion, without claim- 
 ing any great weight for it, that young men of fair 
 abilities and industrious habits may, without difficulty, 
 go through the whole prescribed course before the age
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 345 
 
 of twenty-one, taking for granted that an accurate 
 general knowledge of the collateral sciences is all that 
 is meant to be insisted on ; as I cannot suppose that the 
 Committee expect such an acquaintance with geometry, 
 natural philosophy, logic, and moral philosophy, as we 
 meet with only in those who devote their exclusive at- 
 tention to them. I, therefore, can see no objection to 
 twenty-one being fixed upon as the earliest age at which 
 candidates shall be admitted to examination. But I be- 
 lieve that there are many young men of less quickness 
 of apprehension and less favourable mental endowments 
 who will not be able to embrace so much with equal ease; 
 and as applied to them, the fault of the curriculum is, 
 not that it is too extensive, but that by assuming twenty- 
 one as the standard age, it crowds a greater number of 
 new subjects upon them at the beginning than they can 
 easily master, and thus risks their falling into confu- 
 sion, and becoming discouraged by their inability to 
 keep up with the number and pace of their teachers. 
 It is true that the curriculum does not force them 
 either to begin at seventeen or to embrace a given 
 number of subjects each year ; but the moral effects 
 are nearly the same as if it did, because all are na- 
 turally anxious to do as others do, and to follow the 
 plan laid down for their guidance. Even as regards 
 the most talented, I consider it an evil to proceed over 
 new ground at too quick a pace. It is not the mere 
 knowledge of a fact that makes it useful. It must be 
 digested and become a part and parcel of the mental 
 stores to give it practical value ; and this important 
 process is incompatible with rapid successive acquire- 
 ments. Hence one reason why we so often see exten- 
 sively informed men very deficient in the power of ap- 
 plying their knowledge. 
 
 " While, therefore, I would consider the course of
 
 346 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 study solely with reference to its intrinsic fitness to ac- 
 complish the end in view the proper qualification of the 
 practitioner and would not refuse to confer a degree 
 on a properly qualified person at the age of twenty-one, 
 I should rather encourage the student to devote a greater 
 number of years to the acquisition of general and pro- 
 fessional knowledge than is usually done ; and, in this 
 point of view, the two years' additional study required 
 for the degree of Doctor of Medicine seems to me a very 
 judicious regulation. 
 
 " Having thus stated my opinion in regard to the 
 proposed course of study, considered as a whole, I shall 
 now offer a few remarks on some of the details of which 
 it is composed. 
 
 " From the Report specifying so minutely the sub- 
 divisions of each branch of science, instead of, as is 
 usually done in curricula, giving merely the single head 
 under which they are all included, the preliminary edu- 
 cation required by the Committee has, at first sight, a 
 very formidable appearance ; of which, however, it be- 
 comes almost entirely divested on closer examination. 
 Thus, while no less than thirty-seven items are men- 
 tioned under the head of Natural Philosophy, exciting 
 alarm by their numerical array, it appears that not only 
 the whole thirty-seven, but many more, are quietly ad- 
 mitted into other curricula under the simple denomina- 
 tion of ' Natural Philosophy.' Individually, I think 
 that the Committee has acted judiciously as well as 
 honestly in thus specifying what they want ; but their 
 plain dealing may perhaps be the means of raising up 
 hasty objections against their plans. For taking the 
 preliminary education even in its fair sense, it will 
 probably be considered by many as too extensive, and 
 beyond the power of young men to acquire before the 
 age of eighteen ; and if we suppose that exclusive atten-
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATIOK. 347 
 
 tion is to be devoted to Latin and Greek for as great a 
 number of years as has hitherto been the custom, it 
 will be impossible not to agree in this opinion as re- 
 gards lads of ordinary abilities, and especially as re- 
 gards an acquaintance with logic and moral philosophy. 
 Assuming the mere elements of these two subjects to be 
 all that is required, I think that, even under the present 
 system of teaching, a clever boy might study the whole 
 within the prescribed time without any great difficulty; 
 and it may fairly be said, that none but clever youths 
 should be dedicated to an intellectual and scientific 
 profession. That even a youth of moderate talent might 
 go through the whole in a way to pass his examination 
 I believe, but certainly not in a way to be of perma- 
 nent advantage to himself; and the latter alone can be 
 the object of the Committee. As soon, however, as the 
 classics shall be generally taught on the more rational 
 plan now adopted in some of our best schools, viz., be- 
 ginning them at a somewhat maturer asre, and dedi- 
 cating to them about one-half of the daily time hitherto 
 given, so as at once to keep attention more fully alive, 
 and leave time and mental energy enough to embrace 
 other subjects at the same time, then I think there 
 will be no difficulty whatever in acquiring the requisite 
 amount of knowledge at the age mentioned. In this 
 opinion I am borne out by the experience of the Hill 
 Street Institution of this city, where the classics have 
 been taught on this plan for several years, and which 
 is now attended by 250 pupils. French, German, 
 drawing, history, composition, geography, and mathe- 
 matics, are taught to such as desire them, during the 
 hours set free by the restriction of the Latin and Greek ; 
 and it is found that the progress made in the latter is 
 quite as great as when double the number of hours 
 were devoted to them. The activity and energy of the
 
 348 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 boys are better sustained, and the power of application 
 to the other branches of knowledge is almost pure gain. 
 Much attention is also given to English literature and 
 composition ; and history and geography are taught as 
 much as possible incidentally to what is read. In the 
 High School and Edinburgh Academy, the amount of 
 other knowledge imparted during and along with clas- 
 sical education is now much greater than it used to be, 
 and with decidedly beneficial results to the general 
 mind. 
 
 " Considering the scheme of preliminary education 
 proposed by the Committee on its own abstract merits, 
 it does not seem to me too extensive. A broad basis of 
 general information is indispensable in a liberal profes- 
 sion like that of medicine, and the course chalked out 
 appears to be well calculated to prepare the mind for 
 entering upon the study with advantage, both because 
 it will strengthen and expand the intellect itself, and 
 also because it will lead the student to keep in view the 
 close relation which subsists between all branches of 
 science, and to study nature in a comprehensive spirit ; 
 the common fault being that, from the want of such 
 general principles, each pursues his own path of science 
 as exclusively, and in as isolated a point of view, as if 
 its objects had nothing in common with the rest of 
 nature, instead of all existing under the same general 
 laws, and presenting innumerable points of affinity to 
 each other, so that no one can be completely understood 
 without knowing something of the rest. 
 
 ". The only thing of which I doubt the propriety is, 
 requiring the study of logic and moral philosophy at so 
 early an age. For though a young man before eighteen 
 may easily acquire a sufficient acquaintance with one or 
 two books on these subjects, such as Whately and Paley, 
 to be able to answer questions readily, I am quite con-
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 349 
 
 vinced that his doing so will be the result merely of an 
 intellectual effort in which memory 'will be exercised 
 much more than judgment, and that the subjects will 
 not become really useful to him like those which he 
 feels and thoroughly understands, but will slip from 
 him the moment his examination is at an end, and pro- 
 bably leave a distaste for them ever after. To logic, 
 so far as connected with the structure of language, 
 there can be no objection at that age ; but as an ab- 
 stract branch of science I regard it, in its proper de- 
 velopment, as fit only for a more advanced period of 
 life. The whole basis and superstructure of moral phi- 
 losophy, too, imply for their appreciation a practical 
 knowledge of human nature, and of man's position in 
 society, of his proper aims and duties, and of his politi- 
 cal situation, which it is impossible for a mere youth 
 to possess ; and, in the absence of acquaintance with, 
 and interest in the real subjects, to train the mind to 
 the use of words and phrases descriptive of them (but 
 to him without correct meaning), is likely to be more 
 injurious than beneficial. A man must have seen and 
 felt some of the perplexities of his destiny, and begun 
 to reflect upon them in his own mind, before he can 
 take an intelligent interest in their discussion. To rea- 
 son about them sooner, is like reasoning without data ; 
 and besides, as the powers of reflection are always the 
 latest in arriving at maturity, we may fairly infer that 
 Nature meant the knowledge and experience to come 
 first. If, however, a merely superficial acquaintance 
 with logic and moral philosophy is all that is required, 
 this objection disappears; but then another the cui 
 bono ? comes in its place, which will not be so easily 
 set aside. 
 
 " Do not misunderstand me, however; so far from 
 objecting to these subjects being included, I object only
 
 350 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 to their being brought in at too early a period to admit 
 of advantage being derived from them. If there is one 
 fault greater than another, and one source of error 
 more prolific than another, in medical investigations, 
 it is the absence of a consistent and philosophic mode 
 of proceeding ; and no greater boon could be conferred 
 upon medicine, as a science, than to render its cultiva- 
 tors familiar with the laws or principles by which in- 
 quiry ought to be directed. I therefore regard what I 
 should term a system of Medical Logic as of inestimable 
 value in the education of the practitioner ; but I think 
 that the proper time for it would be after the student 
 had acquired a competent extent of knowledge, and a 
 certain maturity of mind. At present no such subject 
 is taught, and each is left to grope his own way ac- 
 cording to his own lights and circumstances ; and hence 
 the infinity of opinion and partial views taken of the 
 same subject by those to whom the student looks up 
 for guidance and advice ; and hence, I would add, in 
 no small degree, the slow pace at which medicine ad- 
 vances compared with other sciences. The student is 
 put in possession of each of the elements, as it were, 
 of his profession, but each is presented to him sepa- 
 rately, and he is nowhere instructed in the art of 
 combining them for a common purpose, or in the re- 
 lations which they bear to each other, although these 
 last are really the only objects for which the instruc- 
 tion is desirable. 
 
 " In regard to moral philosophy, also, I would make 
 a similar remark. I consider an acquaintance with it 
 essential to the well-informed practitioner. The medi- 
 cal man has not only duties to his patients, to society, 
 and to himself, to perform beyond the mere act of pre- 
 scribing, the true bearing of which he cannot under- 
 stand without a knowledge of the moral and mental
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 351 
 
 constitution of man; but in the treatment of almost 
 every disease, and especially those of the large and 
 important class of mental and nervous affections, he 
 cannot advance a step without his attention being ar- 
 rested by the mutual influence of mind and body, and 
 the necessity of knowing something more than is gene- 
 rally taught of the philosophy of human nature, and its 
 relations to the external world. But here, again, it is 
 obvious that it is only after having acquired the requi- 
 site elementary knowledge that such a course of in- 
 struction can be rightly understood and appreciated. 
 Its proper place, then, ought, in my opinion, to be to- 
 wards the end of the curriculum, and not, as is pro- 
 posed, at its beginning. There may no doubt be a dif- 
 ficulty in bringing in such subjects, as they are now 
 taught, towards the end of a professional education ; 
 but if they were taught with a special reference to 
 medicine, they might be made to constitute two of the 
 most valuable and directly practical of the whole. Even 
 as they are taught, they might, with propriety, be 
 required as a qualification for the degree of Doctor in 
 Medicine, in strict accordance with the regulation re- 
 quiring an acquaintance with mental affections. 
 
 " TJpon the whole, then, I incline to think it would 
 be better to omit logic and moral philosophy from the 
 preliminary education than to retain them where they 
 would be acquired by a mere exercise of memory with- 
 out any perception of their actual value or manifold 
 applications. But at the same time I consider a modi- 
 fication of them as applied to medicine to be extremely 
 wanted as a complement to professional education ; and 
 however much individual branches of medicine may be 
 advanced, I do not think it possible that it can assume 
 its due place as a science till something is done to im- 
 part to it a more liberal and philosophical character,
 
 352 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 or, in other words, till it is cultivated in a higher and 
 more comprehensive spirit. The mere addition of sub- 
 jects to the curriculum will not suffice to accomplish 
 the desired improvement, but much may be done by 
 greater unity of purpose and a better direction or, 
 what is the same thing, by taking philosophy to assist 
 and guide our efforts. 
 
 "Another reason against making logic and moral 
 philosophy imperative in the preliminary education, and 
 which ought perhaps to be stated, is, that they are at 
 present taught only in universities, and that I consider 
 it extremely desirable that the preliminary education 
 should not be of a nature to necessitate the removal of 
 a student from under his parent's roof before he is fit 
 to enter upon professional pursuits, and before his cha- 
 racter and habits are to some extent formed. With 
 the above exceptions, all the other preliminary branches 
 can be acquired in almost any of our larger towns, and 
 at a reasonable expense : but impose conditions im- 
 plying early removal to a university, and immediately 
 the whole affair assumes a more serious aspect in point 
 of both morals and money. 
 
 " In regard to languages, I attach much importance 
 to a command of German and French, much more so 
 than to Greek, at least to a profound knowledge of 
 Greek. The study of able foreign authors enlarges the 
 mind, destroys many prejudices, and imparts a ten- 
 dency to form opinions more upon real data than upon 
 mere authority ; and the student who enjoys fair op- 
 portunities of instruction can have little difficulty in 
 acquiring one or both. 
 
 "A general acquaintance with natural philosophy 
 and mathematics is not less desirable, both for furnish- 
 ing the mind with useful facts and for training to the 
 accurate observation of phenomena and their reference
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 353 
 
 to general laws, thereby obviating the propensity to 
 exclusiveness and isolation of subjects which seem to 
 me to be among the greatest impediments to the pro- 
 gress of medicine. 
 
 " Coming now to the proposed course of professional 
 study, I see much to commend and little to disapprove 
 of. It is comprehensive and well arranged, and, ac- 
 cording to my view, wants only a connecting link to 
 make it available. The introduction of comparative 
 anatomy, general pathology, and hygiene, and the sepa- 
 ration of therapeutics from their connection with either 
 physiology or inateria medica, are manifest improve- 
 ments, which cannot fail to have excellent effects. The 
 utility of comparative anatomy, especially if taught 
 with reference to the general principles of physiology, 
 will consist not only in the wide range of interesting 
 facts which it opens up, but in the exhibition of the 
 organic modifications, wonderful equally from their 
 simplicity and efficacy, by which the same general 
 function is fulfilled under every variety of circumstances, 
 and which it is impossible to contemplate without 
 enlarging our views of the human economy, and in- 
 creasing both our resources and our powers of thought. 
 
 " The introduction of general pathology, and the 
 separation of therapeutics, also strongly recommend 
 themselves, on due reflection, not only as affording 
 directly useful information not communicated in any 
 other course, but as well calculated to obviate that nar- 
 row and hurtful exclusiveness of thinking and pursuit 
 which is at present the bane of medicine. The subjects 
 of both are too important and extensive to admit of 
 their properly constituting portions of other courses. 
 At one time I was of opinion that general pathology 
 should be taught in the practice of physic class ; but 
 it is not so taught, and subsequent observation and re- 
 
 z
 
 354 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 flection have satisfied me that it is impossible to do so 
 with justice to either, while the latter may be taught 
 far more easily and efficiently to a student already ac- 
 quainted with the general doctrine of morbid action. 
 Without this latter information, so much caution will 
 be required to guard the student from hasty inferences, 
 and so much repetition will be rendered necessary, pre- 
 viously to entering upon the study of every individual 
 disease, that much time must be unavoidably lost, and 
 much instruction omitted which might otherwise have 
 been communicated. 
 
 " Nearly the same remarks apply to the separation of 
 therapeutics from materia medica and pharmacy, the ob- 
 jects of the two being very distinct from each other. The 
 latter teaches a knowledge of the nature, preparations, 
 combinations, and modes of administration of individual 
 remedies ; while the former teaches the general prin- 
 ciples by which the application of different classes of 
 remedies to the cure of different morbid states ought 
 to be regulated, and the conditions required to obtain 
 from each the kind of action which is wanted. Or, in 
 other words, pathology and therapeutics have for their 
 objects to teach the general laws or principles which 
 apply to every case of disease and action of a remedy ; 
 and if, instead of making the student acquainted with 
 these principles generally, we stop to treat of each of 
 them anew in discussing every individual disease and 
 every individual remedy used in the cure of that dis- 
 ease (which we must do if we do not teach them in 
 separate courses), it is evident that we must not only 
 involve ourselves in fruitless and time-consuming repe- 
 titions, but risk confusing the head of the student with 
 many different and apparently contradictory views of 
 the same thing, and inducing him to suppose that they 
 are as many separate entities. For example, if the
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 355 
 
 chemist were obliged to treat anew of the principles of 
 gravitation every time he had occasion to notice the 
 specific gravity of a new elementary body, instead of 
 having the theory of gravitation as applicable to all 
 bodies explained once for all, it is clear that he would 
 be entangled in eternal repetitions which would only 
 perplex the stndent. In like manner, if we treat first 
 of the reneral phenomena of disease, we save the neces- 
 sity of stopping afterwards to fence round every simple 
 statement with the many limitations which would other- 
 wise be essential in applying it to an individual case ; 
 while, by the same means, we avoid the risk of mis- 
 taking for a general fact what is in reality an acci- 
 dental occurrence peculiar to the instance before us. 
 
 " If, by the conjunction of physiology with general 
 anatomy, the Committee means that physiology should 
 be taught in close connection with organic structure, 
 without entering into the minute details of descriptive 
 or analytic anatomy, which I suppose they do, I con- 
 sider the course likely to impart a more philosophical 
 character, and consequently much greater interest, to 
 both anatomical and physiological study : but this is 
 so obvious that it requires no remark of mine to illus- 
 trate it. 
 
 " I am glad to see practical chemistry adopted as a 
 part of the curriculum. It has been taught in Edin- 
 burgh for several years, and may be rendered a most 
 useful branch of study. But where it is confined to the 
 mere repetition of the lecturer's public experiments, 
 according to certain formulae and directions, it is apt to 
 become a matter of routine, destitute of any vivifying 
 or improving influence. Where, however, the student 
 is made to work for himself, and is exercised in ana- 
 lysing and seeking real information through the medium 
 of experiments, it is a very valuable course, and fixes
 
 356 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 his knowledge in his memory in a way which no lec- 
 tures or reading can do. But a three months' course 
 of an hour a day will not enable one student out of 
 twenty to advance a step beyond the line of routine. 
 Mechanical dexterity is the slow growth of continued 
 practice, and hence skill in manipulating is only be- 
 ginning to be acquired when the course is broken off'. 
 If, in the examination for a degree, the student were 
 required to perform some not very complicated analysis, 
 I believe that it would tend much to increase the effi- 
 ciency of the practical course, from the greater atten- 
 tion which would in that case be directed to it. Thirty 
 lessons, however, cannot be of much use, however atten- 
 tive the pupil may be. 
 
 " With regard to clinical instruction, I feel very 
 doubtful how far it is wise to require it to be begun at 
 the end of the first year. The student cannot then 
 possess knowledge sufficient to appreciate what he sees ; 
 and, from not understanding how to proceed, he is apt 
 to become careless in observing, and prejudiced from 
 taking up imperfect views. Time is thus really lost, 
 and bad habits formed. It seems to me that it would 
 be quite early enough to begin at the end of the second 
 winter, if not at the end of the second year : knowing 
 something by that time of the nature of the healthy 
 functions, and of the general doctrines of pathology and 
 therapeutics, he would come to the bedside better pre- 
 pared to profit by the opportunity of studying and 
 tracing the progress of disease, and the effects of treat- 
 ment. But the whole system of clinical instruction re- 
 quires reformation. Too little is done in directing the 
 student's attention to the features and treatment of 
 ordinary diseases ; and it would be well if some pre- 
 liminary instructions in the art of observing were more 
 generally given. As conducted at present, clinical me-
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 357 
 
 dicine is of very little use or interest to the great ma- 
 jority of the students ; and it seems to me one of those 
 courses into which examinations might be introduced 
 with ninch benefit. Where there is only one lecture a 
 week, it is almost impossible that the student can de- 
 rive any advantage from it. Many an acute disease 
 runs its whole course in that time ; and once the phe- 
 nomena are past, it is in vain to attempt to bring them 
 again before the student in the light of, to him, per- 
 sonal experience. Conducted as it might be, the student 
 could scarcely hare clinical medicine too early or con- 
 tinue it too long, but at present it is otherwise ; and 
 when I recollect the admirable and instructive lectures 
 which Dupuytren gave daily at the Hotel Dieu, and the 
 interest with which he inspired his pupils, I cannot but 
 long to see some approach made to a better system in 
 our own schools. This, however, is not the occasion to 
 dilate upon such a subject. 
 
 " With regard to hygiene, the Committee seems to 
 ine entitled to great credit in assigning to it, for the 
 first time, a due place in medical education. It is a 
 subject the real nature and importance of which are, 
 generally speaking, so little understood by professional 
 men, that it is rarely associated in their minds with 
 any purposes of utility, and is not unfrequently men- 
 tioned among them with more ridicule than respect." 
 
 (Here Dr Combe introduces the substance of his let- 
 ter to Sir James Clark on hygiene, printed on pages 
 311-323. He continues) : 
 
 " One word more. It has been said that a separate 
 course of hygiene is not required, because it is sub- 
 stantially included in other courses : I can only say, 
 that although I attended all the medical classes regu- 
 larly, I never acquired any knowledge of it from any of 
 them, and that on conversing with several young friends
 
 358 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 who have lately finished their studies, I have not met 
 with one whose attention has been directed to the kind 
 of knowledge which I consider it the province of hygiene 
 to impart. 
 
 " But I have now trespassed so far on your patience 
 that I must hasten to a conclusion, particularly as I 
 have been so often interrupted in writing to you, that I 
 fear you will find this letter confused. The only apo- 
 logy I can offer for the ' tediousness' which I have 
 bestowed upon you is, that I know many objections will 
 be raised against rendering hygiene an imperative and 
 separate course, and, as I am most firmly persuaded 
 of its importance, I feel bound not only to express my 
 opinion when asked for by you, but to explain a few of 
 the reasons which give me confidence in its soundness. 
 I have long taken a deep interest in the subject of 
 education, both general and professional ; and without 
 claiming for my views any greater weight than their 
 abstract merits deserve, I may be permitted to state 
 that they are the results of much observation, and of as 
 much reflection as I am capable of bestowing upon 
 them. With regard to the subject of hygiene in par- 
 ticular, I have devoted much attention to it for many 
 years, and during a long period of professional inacti- 
 vity, from infirm health, have made it more than ever 
 an object of study, and, in consequence, am only the 
 more deeply impressed with its usefulness and import- 
 ance, and with the numerous evils arising from its 
 neglect. Having thus complied with your request, and 
 given you in ample detail both my opinions and the 
 grounds on which I entertain them, I leave you to make 
 any use of them you please. Some of them differ from 
 those which I have heard expressed by other profes- 
 sional men ; but while I claim no superiority for them 
 as mine, neither do I think that T ought to refrain
 
 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 359 
 
 from stating them merely because they are not enter- 
 tained by others. You wise men of the Senate will 
 attach weight to those only which seem to you well 
 founded; and to you therefore I leave them. 
 
 " I had sundry other remarks to offer, but must 
 break off. with again expressing a hope that the Faculty 
 will not be induced by any clamour of insufficiency of 
 time, expense, interests of particular schools, or any 
 similar reason, to give up any part of the improvements 
 they propose to introduce. The one great object ought 
 to be the due qualification of the practitioner ; and what- 
 ever will contribute to that end ought to be retained, 
 whether it may happen to agree with or differ from the 
 curricula of other universities or licensing bodies. The 
 sooner one uniform system of education and equality of 
 privileges prevails throughout the kingdom the better 
 for all parties ; but that uniformity should be obtained 
 by all coming up to a right standard, and not by the 
 highest being cut down to suit the local peculiarities 
 of any school. Schools and colleges are instituted for 
 the benefit of the public, and not for the private ad- 
 vantage of their professors ; and if any exist which are 
 not adapted to the wants of the day, there can be no 
 greater hardship in obliging them to undergo the re- 
 quisite modifications than necessarily attaches to all 
 other men and all other institutions, which must either 
 advance with the age they exist in, or, by falling be- 
 hind, lose the place they once filled. If in London, for 
 example, only three months' courses and one clinical lec- 
 ture a week can be had, where six months' courses and 
 three or four lectures are really required, you would de- 
 feat the whole scheme were you to cut down your de- 
 mands to the standard of these teachers merely to meet 
 their present convenience. Your only safety is in fixing 
 yourselves on the broad ground oftvhat is right in itself;
 
 360 MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 and you may then rest in the full assurance that ere 
 long those whose interests are concerned will adapt 
 themselves to what the public requires of them, or that 
 others will spring up to take their place. The longer 
 I live, the more I am convinced that medical education 
 is too limited and too hurried, rather than too ex- 
 tended ; for, after all, four years is but a short time for 
 a mind still immature to be occupied in mastering and 
 digesting so many subjects and so many details. In- 
 stead of the curriculum being curtailed, however, I feel 
 assured that ultimately the period of study will be ex- 
 tended. Supposing a young man to be engaged in the 
 acquisition of knowledge and experience till the age of 
 twenty-three instead of twenty-one, can it be said that 
 he will then be too old for entering upon independent 
 practice ? or that his mind is even then fully matured, 
 or his stock of knowledge such as to inspire full con- 
 fidence ? It is in vain to say that young men will not 
 enter the profession if these additions are made. The 
 result would inevitably be to attract a higher class of 
 minds, and to raise the character of the whole profes- 
 sion. Education has already been doubled within the 
 last twenty years, and God knows there is as yet no 
 scarcity of medical men in either town or country ; and, 
 improve it as you can, there will always be candidates 
 enough to satisfy the public wants. But I must once 
 more have done, and remain," &c.
 
 EXERCISE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. 361 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 EXERCISE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. STEINHAUER's STATUE OF THE 
 
 " SHELL-GIRL." MONARCHICAL AND REPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 ACCIDENT IN A MAIL-COACH. ON THE CLIMATES BEST ADAPTED 
 FOR PULMONARY COMPLAINTS. PUBLICATION OF " A TREATISE ON 
 THE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MORAL MANAGEMENT OF INFANCY." 
 CHARACTER OF DR COMBE ! S WORKS. ON THE NECESSITY OF EXER- 
 CISING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. RECOLLECTIONS OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 
 
 ARTICLE BY DR COMBE ON PHRENOLOGY IN THE BRITISH AND 
 
 FOREIGN MEDICAL REVIEW. REMARKS ON HIS HABITS OF COMPO- 
 SITION. MORBID EXCITEMENT OF APPREHENSION. 
 
 THE following letter, dated 19th July 1838, ad- 
 dressed to Mr A. J. D. D'Orsey, of the Glasgow High 
 School, contains a brief statement of Dr Combe's views 
 of the best kind of 
 
 EXERCISE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. 
 
 " For the early age of children at the infant school, I can scarcely 
 say that I would advise any gymnastic apparatus. The organism is 
 then so immature and delicate, that I should much prefer the cultiva- 
 tion of the natural motions of the body to any artificial exercises. I 
 consider the great aims in infant training to be the promotion of phy- 
 sical health, and that moral improvement which results from the 
 active exercise, in a right direction, of the moral powers, or, in other 
 words, the active formation of character. The cultivation of intellect 
 is generally much too prominent an object ; and that of the moral 
 faculties, as exercised in the conduct of the children towards each 
 other and towards their seniors, is too much lost sight of. The play- 
 ground and garden are excellent fields for eliciting moral manifesta- 
 tions, as well as for cultivating health ; and I would shorten, as far as 
 possible, the period of confinement within doors.
 
 362 STATUE OF " THE SHELL-GIRL." 
 
 " The physical training best adapted to the infant system seems to 
 me to be that which elicits freely the natural movements of the limbs, 
 joints, and trunk, in combination with a healthy and cheerful nervous 
 impulse. Hence various kinds of play with balls, &c., marching (and 
 even running) to the sound of music or in time, using constructive 
 materials, and such kinds of exercise, seem to be best. My inven- 
 tive faculties are not powerful enough to devise new games or exer- 
 cises, but the principle at that age is to follow the indications of na- 
 ture, and cultivate the graceful and efficient performance of easy and natu- 
 ral movements. Mr and Mrs Lowe, of this city, have greatly improved 
 the physical training of their pupils, by substituting graceful exercises 
 with the Indian sceptres, marching with a light weight on the head, 
 &c., for the violent and distorting practices lately prevalent. A 
 change of this kind, with more regard to moral action in the open air, 
 and less to intellectual book-teaching and confinement, is what is 
 wanted." 
 
 In a letter to Dr Hirschfeld of Bremen, dated 29th 
 July 1838, Dr Combe writes : " That beautiful statue 
 by the young Bremen sculptor still haunts my imagi- 
 nation ;" and he suggests that its yalue should be 
 ascertained, and that, to encourage the artist, a sum 
 should be raised by subscription to purchase it, and 
 that then the subscribers should draw lots for it among 
 themselves. He offers to subscribe 10, and to en- 
 deavour to procure other contributions. This com- 
 munication is creditable to Dr Combe's taste and judg- 
 ment; for the statue in question was that of "The Shell- 
 Girl " (Das Muschel Madchen), by Steinhauer. It was 
 subsequently purchased by Mr Liirmann, a merchant of 
 Bremen, and so highly esteemed by competent judges, 
 that the artist was provided with the means of pro- 
 ceeding to Eome, where the author of the present work 
 visited him in 1844, and found him holding a dis- 
 tinguished place among the sculptors of Germany. 
 
 Among Dr Combe's correspondents was an American 
 lady, the wife of his brother William, who had emi- 
 grated to the United States. She was a thorough ad-
 
 MONARCHICAL AND REPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS. 363 
 
 mirer of the political institutions of her own country, 
 and consequently grieved over the unhappy condition 
 of her husband's countrymen, who were forced to live 
 under a monarchy, and in a social state in which nobles 
 held rank and consideration above those of the people. 
 Dr Combe wrote to her on the 26th August 1838, ex- 
 pressing his views of 
 
 MONARCHICAL AND KEPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 . " On my return home I received your letter of the 20th of June ; 
 and as I had just come from a visit to the King and Queen of the 
 Belgians, and had also the honour of being presented to our own Sove- 
 reign, Queen Victoria, you will readily excuse me when I mention 
 that I (as well as your husband) read with much mirth your repub- 
 lican denunciations of monarchical governments, and your hearty 
 praise of a nation every individual of which is a sovereign in his own 
 person, and acknowledges none higher or greater than himself. I am 
 delighted that you are so thoroughly satisfied with the government 
 and constitution of the land you live in, but assure you honestly that 
 you may safely reserve your pity for more deserving objects, when 
 you incline to be concerned about the hard fate of the dwellers in 
 the mother-land ; for I consider it a matter of daily thankfulness that 
 we live under a constitution so much better suited to the character 
 and present moral and intellectual condition of our people than a 
 republic would be, and I rejoice in every thing which promises to 
 delay the arrival of such a change, till, by a great advance in civiliza- 
 tion, our non-sovereign people shall become better qualified to discharge 
 such a sacred trust than they now are, or are likely to be for some cen- 
 turies to come. I believe a republican form of government to be that 
 intended for man in the maturity of his civilization ; but I should as 
 soon attempt to put the garments of manhood on the child and the boy, 
 as desiderate a republic for any existing European nation in its present 
 state of advancement. It would be a black day for Britain were the 
 masses, with their present qualifications and habits, made the deposi- 
 tories of extreme power ; and whatever may be the course of events in 
 America, I trust Providence, in its wrath, will not afflict us with a 
 republic till we are better prepared for the high and right exercise of 
 its powers and privileges. In your eloquent denunciation of kings, 
 nobles, and dignified clergy, you are far too exclusive. I do not vene- 
 rate mere rank any more than you do, but neither can I regard its 
 possessors as worse than any aggregate number of the ' sovereign
 
 364 ACCIDENT IN A MAIL-COACH. 
 
 people.' Nay, I am so heterodox as to believe, that if you would put 
 the same power into the hands of the said sovereign people, the latter 
 would abuse it in a still more reckless and tyrannical fashion, just 
 because, not being used to it, they would fulfil the old adage, ' Put a 
 beggar on horseback and he will ride to the devil.' 
 
 " I confess, moreover, that even your animated description of the 
 pure independent spirit and unbiassed judgment of a free-born Ameri- 
 can citizen does not in the least excite my envy ; for every American 
 newspaper which I have ever opened, placed before me ample evi- 
 dence of the existence and activity of the same evil and selfish passions 
 on your side of the water, which we perceive and deplore here ; and if 
 ever you come over to the land of cakes, I daresay you will not dis- 
 cover that your liberty of speech is in any way abridged, even although 
 we have a Queen instead of a President for our executive. But that 
 kings are really of more use than you republicans imagine, I can bear 
 ocular evidence. During my late visit to Brussels I lived fourteen days 
 in the palace, and spent on an average one-and-a-half or two hours 
 daily with their Majesties or the children (visiting the one after the 
 other, I mean). During that time the King was engaged in mental 
 labour nearly eight hours a-day, and on my remonstrating, as he was 
 infirm in his health, he said, ' It is truth, but what can I do ? the 
 business must be done.' The question between Belgium and Holland 
 was then in agitation, and the universal feeling in the country was 
 that there was not a man in it except the King who united the know- 
 ledge, prudence, firmness, tact, and energy required to eifect a settle- 
 ment ; and that consequently the safety of Belgium and the prevention 
 of a general war depended on the health, life, and character, of that 
 one man. Hurl him from his throne, and you inflict misery on mil- 
 lions now prosperous and happy. This was the testimony not only of 
 adherents but of political opponents, and as I purposely travelled 
 through the greater part of Belgium, I was struck with the great ad- 
 vance made in two short years, and with the warmth of devotion 
 generally felt for him." 
 
 Dr Combe's mishaps in travelling have more than 
 once been alluded to. In a letter, dated Edinburgh, 
 16th October 1838, addressed to his brother George, 
 then in America, he relates another accident which 
 befell him : 
 
 " On Saturday afternoon, the 8th of September, when you were 
 sailing from Bristol, I started from Duntrune to meet Sir George
 
 CLIMATES ADAPTED TO PULMONARY AFFECTIONS. 365 
 
 Mackenzie at Perth, and to accompany him to Coul in the mail- 
 coach. At eleven P.M., when near Dunkeld, and in fine moonlight, 
 the coach ran against a coal-cart with a tremendous crash, knocked 
 it to pieces, and turned its fragments and horse round in the opposite 
 direction, and then came smash down on its own broadside. Luckily 
 the pole broke and let the horses loose. The iron support of the lamp 
 was driven through the coach just under Sir George's ribs, but with- 
 out hurting him. Fortunately for me, Sir George fell undermost, and 
 my light weight did him no harm. I asked him if he was hurt. He said 
 no ; upon which I climbed up and got out, and was followed by him 
 and another gentleman. The scene was a strange one. Letter-bags, 
 trunks, seats, and greatcoats strewed the road ; and on the bank sat 
 one passenger holding his arm, and another was rolling on the grass, 
 as if in great pain. His thigh was bruised, but not seriously. The 
 other had his shoulder-joint dislocated. Xot a word of grumbling or 
 lamentation was uttered, and every one who was capable was as active 
 as possible in remedying the evil, and after an hour's delay we reached 
 Dunkeld." 
 
 The following letter, dated 18th July 1839, ad- 
 dressed to a lady in England who had consulted him 
 
 ON THE CLIMATES BEST ADAPTED TO PULMONARY AFFECTIONS, 
 
 although containing nothing new, may interest and 
 prove useful to a numerous class of sufferers : 
 
 " From the account you give of your constitution and habitual state 
 of health, I think you will act wisely in removing for two or three 
 years to a milder climate. The propriety of the situations you prefer 
 will, however, depend much on the character of the colds to which you 
 are subject ; and the point to be attended to is, whether the symptoms 
 induced are those of excitement and irritation in the throat and chest, 
 or rather of relaxation and accompanied with expectoration. "With 
 the former state, the climates of Pau, Toulouse, Pisa, or Rome, would 
 agree best ; while for the moist, relaxed form of complaint, Nice 
 would be much preferable. From your nervous temperament and 
 sleeplessness, I should suppose your symptoms to be those of irritation, 
 in which case Pau would be a very eligible residence, as you could 
 easily remove to the Pyrenees during the two hottest months. For 
 the same state of constitution Rome and Pisa are very suitable, and 
 during summer the cooler climate of the mountains is also within
 
 366 PUBLISHES HIS TREATISE ON THE 
 
 easy reach ; but I am not acquainted with any situation in which you 
 could advantageously spend both summer and winter. 
 
 " If your state is that of relaxation (which any medical man could 
 easily decide), then Nice or the south of France, especially the for- 
 mer, would suit best. Aix, Montpelier, Marseilles, and Hyeres, are 
 all recommended, and have many advantages ; but they are one and 
 all subjected to biting blasts from the north-west, which require great 
 caution on the part of the invalid, as along with a cold piercing air 
 there is generally bright and deceitful sunshine. Aix and Hyeres 
 are considered to be less objectionable in this respect than the other 
 two places. I spent a winter at Marseilles, and found it an agree- 
 able residence, but it was a favourable season, and I was on my guard 
 against its evils. I know Pisa and Rome also from experience, and 
 consider them as upon the whole the best climates for the irritable 
 state of the chest, being if any thing superior to Pau. 
 
 " "With your sleeplessness and peculiar state I would advise your 
 going by sea, as far as your destination will permit. The constant 
 motion of a ship, and the exposure to the open air all day on deck, 
 would be very beneficial, as well as attended with less risk than 
 travelling, especially if you are a stranger to the Continent. If you 
 decide on Pau, you might find a vessel to Bordeaux ; and if on Italy, 
 you will readily find excellent vessels from Yarmouth to Leghorn, or 
 from Liverpool, if not from Hull. 
 
 " Without seeing you lean scarcely decide on the propriety of sea- 
 bathing ; but I consider it highly probable that the tepid salt-water 
 or shower-bath would be very serviceable, especially when joined to 
 daily systematic friction of the whole surface night and morning. 
 The tepid bath might be used twice a week, or the shower-bath daily, 
 if found to agree." 
 
 For a considerable time Dr Combe had been engaged 
 in preparing " A Treatise on the Physiological and 
 Moral Management of Infancy ; being a Practical Ex- 
 position of the Principles of Infant Training, for the use 
 of Parents" On bringing the work to a conclusion, 
 he wrote, under date the 12th November 1839, to his 
 brother George, then in Boston, U.S., as follows : 
 
 " My first sheet on ' Infancy ' is at present in the press, but the 
 whole may not be completed till March. How the book will be re- 
 ceived, I know not ; but it goes to the root of the matter, and in so 
 far will be original. It will probably startle some timid minds, from
 
 MANAGEMENT OF INFANCY. 367 
 
 treating of the health, state, and conduct of parents, as influencing 
 the health of their progeny. To many of the medical profession 
 also, its comprehensiveness and reference to principle will he new ; hut 
 years will elapse hefore the value of so treating the subject will he 
 thoroughly understood. As a first essay in a new line, it will have 
 numerous imperfections, and if it shall please any of my facetious 
 confreres to ridicule these, he may find specimens adapted to his pur- 
 pose. But, either from old age, good self-esteem, or a quiet con- 
 science, or from a combination of all the three, I feel much indiffer- 
 ence on that account, and trust that the loving puhlic will read and 
 act in a right spirit." 
 
 The work appeared in 1840, and was dedicated to 
 Sir James Clark. It was favourably received, both by 
 the profession and the public, and has since maintained 
 its reputation. It received many improvements from 
 the author's hand, down to the year of his death. It 
 was republished in America, with his sanction, by Dr 
 John Bell of Philadelphia, and is now in the sixth 
 edition in Great Britain. Dr James Cox, to whom it 
 has been submitted for revisal, has reported that in 
 the present state of physiological and medical science 
 it needs no correction. Dr Combe regarded this as 
 the most valuable of his works, and the public deci- 
 sion seems to have confirmed his judgment, for nine 
 thousand five hundred copies of it have been sold. 
 
 This was the last treatise which Dr Combe lived to 
 complete, and I avail myself of a general view of the 
 objects and characteristic merits of his works, pre- 
 sented by Mr Robert Cox, in a Memoir of his Life and 
 Writings, published in the Phrenological Jow^nal for 
 October 1847 : 
 
 " In preparing these works," says Mr Cox, " Dr 
 Combe's constant aim was to exhibit the relation sub- 
 sisting between the rules of conduct recommended, and 
 the particular laws of the organization according to 
 which their influence is exerted, so that the recommen- 
 dation might rest, as far as possible, on the foundation
 
 368 CHARACTER OF DR COMBE'S WORKS. 
 
 of nature and reason, and not on his mer<> personal au- 
 thority. He wished to make his readers understand 
 why certain courses are beneficial and others hurtful, 
 so that every individual might be enabled to adapt his 
 conduct rationally to his own peculiar circumstances. 
 He urges, that as every organ of the body has a speci- 
 fic constitution, and is regulated in its action by fixed 
 laws appointed by Divine Wisdom, success in avoiding 
 causes of disease, and in removing them wh 3n they come 
 into play, will greatly depend on the extent of our 
 knowledge of the nature and laws of the various organs, 
 and their relations to each other and to external ob- 
 jects. * In teaching dietetic rules and hygienic obser- 
 vances, therefore,' says he, ' the precepts delivered 
 should be connected with and supported by constant 
 reference to the physiological laws from which they 
 are deduced. Thus viewed, they come before the mind 
 of the reader as the mandates of the Creator ; andexpe- 
 rience will soon prove that by His appointment, health 
 and enjoyment flow from obedience, and sickness and 
 suffering from neglect and infringement of them.' The 
 words we have printed in italics express an idea on 
 which he frequently dwells with earnestness in his 
 works, and which he delighted in private conversation 
 to enforce. ' Wherever, indeed,' says he, 4 1 may have 
 unintentionally mistaken or misrepresented the natural 
 law, the inferences deduced from it must, of course, be 
 equally erroneous and unworthy of regard. But in 
 every instance in which I have drawn correct practical 
 rules from accurately observed phenomena, I am en- 
 titled to insist upon their habitual fulfilment as a duty 
 as clearly commanded by the Creator, as if written with 
 His own finger on tablets of brass. Fallible man may 
 obey or neglect the will of the Being who made him, 
 and reap enjoyment or suffering as the consequence ;
 
 NECESSITY OF EXERCISING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 369 
 
 but as he can neither create himself anew after a dif- 
 ferent model, nor alter the laws of that constitution 
 which God has seen to be best adapted for him, his true 
 happiness must necessarily lie in discarding the blind 
 guidance of his own imagination, and following, in pre- 
 ference, the dictate of a wisdom which never errs. Till 
 this truth be universally felt till we come to live, 
 move, and act, under the habitual consciousness that 
 the laws which regulate our bodily wellbeing are direct 
 emanations of Divine omniscience and power, and not 
 the mere offspring of human fancy it will be impos- 
 sible for us to escape the numerous evils inseparable 
 from ignorance and its attendant rashness and presump- 
 tion, or to secure for ourselves the many advantages 
 and sources of enjoyment which a kind Providence has 
 intentionally placed within our reach. 1 (On Digestion 
 and Diet, ch. vii.)" 
 
 The following letter, addressed to a lady who had 
 long suffered under a complication of distressing, al- 
 though not dangerous, maladies, contains a practical 
 
 view of THE NECESSITY OF EXERCISING THE NERVOUS 
 
 SYSTEM, as a means of preserving health. 
 
 " The nervous system,' like all other parts, is most directly strength- 
 ened by exercise of its own functions. It is therefore of much conse- 
 quence to keep the inind and feelings as fully employed, and as regu- 
 larly exercised, as possible, and never to yield to the dislike for men- 
 tal exertioijX^ich nervous debility generally brings along with it. 
 And in that state, the best thing we can do is to invite and encourage 
 others to stir us up even against our will at the time, particularly as 
 ihe feeling of inability is always much greater than the reality; and if 
 we act upon the feeling, we are apt to allow our whole faculties of 
 mind and body to become weakened from a mistaken belief of their 
 unfitness for exercise. So sensible of this am I in my own experience, 
 that scarcely a day passes in which I do not feel positively grateful 
 for being obliged to exert myself, and to do many things, and to see 
 many people, that, were I left to inclination, I fear I should often 
 neglect ; and the consequence is, that the more I have to do, and the 
 
 2 A
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 
 
 <5ater exertion I am making, the more I am able to do, and the 
 appier I hecome. Your system obeys the same laws ; and therefore 
 the more you force yourself to active communication with others, and 
 the more you exercise your mind and encourage your friends to rouse 
 you up, the more certainly and speedily will you acquire strength of 
 mind and health of body." 
 
 In a letter, dated 19th December 1839, addressed to 
 Miss Stirling Graham, then residing in Rome, Dr 
 Combe describes the recollections which remained on 
 his mind from his travels, even while labouring tinder 
 the distressing influence of disease. It expounds a 
 beautiful law of human nature, and is characteristic of 
 his own dispositions and experience : 
 
 " You should flourish like a green bay-tree, with so many sources 
 of quiet and elevating enjoyment about you, and come home stored 
 for life with new and abiding sources of interest. For myself, at 
 least, I can say, that the pleasures of actual travelling are the smallest 
 portion I derive from an excursion. The retrospect brightens many 
 an hour in after life. It is now twenty years since I stalked through 
 the valleys and over the mountains of Switzerland and Savoy, and 
 many and many a time since then has memory carried me back to the 
 renewed enjoyment of their beauty and grandeur, and to the recollec- 
 tion of friends, some still alive, and others long since dead, who then 
 shared in my pleasure. It is a blessed arrangement of God's provi- 
 dence, too, that in looking back upon the past, it is the bright sunshine 
 which dwells on the mind, while the suffering and sorrow disappear 
 like the shadow of the passing cloud. Little as I was able to see and 
 enjoy of Rome and Naples in 1831-32, it is the sunny Monte Pincio, 
 the blue unclouded sky, the ancient obelisk, the magnificent Duomo, 
 the gay Borghese gardens, the beautiful Bay of Naples, the pic- 
 turesque approach by sea to Castel-a-Mare, and other objects of a like 
 interest, that alone dwell in my mind. The unquiet nights in which 
 my lean frame felt multiplied into eiyht, and became too ponderous to 
 turn in bed ; the panting and ' scant of breath,' which made me rest 
 for two or three minutes as I rose from bed ; the laborious exertion 
 which it cost me to mount the said Monte Pincio, and all the other 
 drawbacks attending on sickness, have long ceased to haunt me, and 
 I can bring them back only by a special effort. It was the same 
 when ill in 1820-21-22. The sunny part alone remains ; and al- 
 though my illness then looked like a regularly-established impediment
 
 DR COMBE'S HABITS OF COMPOSITION. 371 
 
 to my ever entering upon the business of life, and might be supposed 
 enough to darken a cautious mind lite mine, still even the obscurity 
 of that time has been supplanted by the brishter enjoyments which, 
 amidst much infirmity, were placed within mv reach."' 
 
 The last literary effort of Dr Combe in 1839, was the 
 writing of an article on Phrenology for The British 
 and Foreign Medical Review. It appeared in Xo. xvii. 
 of that Journal, published in January 1840, and was so 
 highly appreciated by Dr Forbes, the editor of the work, 
 that he subsequently published it separately as a 
 pamphlet.* 
 
 Frequent allusion has been made to Dr Combe's 
 habits of composition. In writing to Mr H. C. Wat- 
 son in reference to his omission to call Mr Watson's 
 attention to some remarks by Dr Holland on Phreno- 
 logy, he again adverts to the difficulties which his in- 
 tellectual constitution placed in his way in writing : 
 
 " I am sorry," says he, " that it did escape me ; but you who know 
 the depression which my forehead presents at Eventuality, and my 
 difficult command of detached ideas and circumstances, should have 
 forbearance with such lapses, when you consider how thoroughly the 
 faculty is taxed with compulsory labour. If I had a larger endow- 
 ment in that place, I have no hesitation in saying that I could be 
 ten times more useful than I ever shall be ; but the absence of a ready 
 command of my materials makes writing a great labour to me : and 
 in regard to the article in Dr Forbes's Journal I may say. that no- 
 thing short of a strong sense of duty "would have induced me to un- 
 dertake it. This argues limited power." 
 
 In reference to a report by Dr Boardman, of Lectures 
 delivered by George Combe in America, Dr Combe, in 
 a letter to his brother, dated 16th February 1840, re- 
 marks, that in an able Introduction which Dr B. had 
 furnished to them, he had omitted to mention him on 
 
 * The title is, " Phrenology, Physiologically and Philosophically 
 Considered : with Reasons for its Study, and Directions for its Success- 
 ful Prosecution. Reprinted, inc. London : John Churchill. 1840."
 
 372 MORBID EXCITEMENT OF APPREHENSION. 
 
 page 75, in which he names the individuals who had 
 devoted their time and abilities to the cultivation and 
 diffusion of Phrenology. " Fame," says he, " is a matter 
 that, somehow or other, never had great attractions for 
 me, so that, essentially, I care little for this omission ; 
 but as a question of historical accuracy, the matter de- 
 serves notice, more especially in a publication in America, 
 where so few know that / am not you" 
 
 In the same letter he adverts to an inaccurate state- 
 ment given on page 279 of these Lectures, of a case 
 apparently of over-excited Cautiousness, which had oc- 
 curred in his own practice ; and furnishes the correct 
 version : 
 
 " After sailing about the Firth of Clyde, in his yacht, for some 
 time, Mr Henderson started, towards the middle of October, on his way 
 to the Forth via the Pentland Firth. He had two men and a boy as 
 his crew, but only one of the men could, in the least, be trusted. The 
 weather proved very boisterous ; the winds contrary, with heavy gales. 
 The consequence was a passage of a month's duration, of frequent 
 danger, and of unremitting watchfulness by night as well as by day. 
 Having no dependence on any one but himself, Mr H. was kept in 
 a state of continual excitement, and on the tenter-hooks of apprehen- 
 sion. This, at the same time, gratified his love of power, and of over- 
 coming difficulties. But the continued want of sleep, and excited ac- 
 tivity of Cautiousness, brought on a vague but deep sense of appre- 
 hension after his perils were over, and he continued to feel the appre- 
 hension for some weeks, without being able to name an object that 
 he feared. By the use of the bath and other means, the excitement 
 was gradually subdued." 
 
 There is no direct evidence that the organ of Cau- 
 tiousness was the special seat of this morbid feeling of 
 apprehension ; but those individuals who have become 
 convinced by observation that the normal function of the 
 organ is to manifest caution, will have little hesitation 
 in connecting, as Dr Combe obviously did, the emotion 
 described, with an excited condition of that portion of 
 the brain.
 
 AGAIX 15 DANGER OF SHIPWRECK. 373 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 DR COMBE AGAIX IX ULMIXEXT DAXGER OF SHIPWRECK. LETTER OX 
 IXSAXTTY AXD THE COXDITIOX OF THE IXSAXE, ADDRESSED BY HIM 
 
 TO A POPULAR WRITER. LETTER TO GRAHAM SPEIRS, ESQ., SHERIFF 
 
 OF THE COUXTT OF EDFXBURGH, OX HIS PROPOSED REGULATIOXS 
 
 FOK LUXATIC ASYLUMS, LETTER TO UR SPEIRS, DESCRIBING THE 
 
 CASE OF AX IXSAXE PATTEXT IX A PRIVATE ESTABLISHMEXT. 
 
 LETTER BY DR COMBE, STATIXG THE REASOXS FOR RESIGXIXG HIS 
 APPOIXTMEXT AS A MAXAGER OF THE MORXTXGSIDE LUXATIC 
 ASYLUM. ISFLUEXCE OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS OX HEALTH. 
 
 IT may appear trivial to advert so frequently to Dr 
 Combe's ill luck in travelling ; but it is singular, and 
 acquires a degree of interest from the very frequency 
 of its recurrence. In a letter, dated London, llth 
 June 1840, addressed to Mrs George Combe, he 
 writes : 
 
 " I left home on the 9th of May, and on the 13th embarked at 
 Hull for Rotterdam, in a disagreeable east wind. Afterwards an in- 
 tense fog came on, and we kept the bell ringing all night. At half- 
 past eight o'clock next morning, I heard a sudden shout of alarm, 
 'Port the helm! port! stop her! port f uttered in a powerful, sharp, 
 and anxious tone. I ran up on deck, and was just in time to witness 
 a large steam-ship looming through the mist, and running right upon 
 us ; hut fortunately, by great exertions on both sides, the positions of 
 the vessels were made slightly oblique before the crash took place. 
 This saved us. Both ships shivered and reeled to their centres, broke 
 off with a heavy rebound, and met again on their quarters, smashing 
 our quarter-boat, and knocking in our bulwarks. It proved to be 
 the Caledonia from Hamburgh. They believed themselves going
 
 374 THE CONDITION OP LUNATIC ASYLUMS, 
 
 down, and called on us to stay. We remained till the extent of the 
 damage was ascertained. The forecastle and part of their deck were 
 torn up, their main-yard broken, an arm of their anchor snapped off, 
 and a good deal of minor damage done ; but all so high up as to ad- 
 mit of our both proceeding. The Hamburgh captain came on board. 
 The greeting was brief and pithy : 'A bad job, this.' ' Yes; but thank 
 Heaven it is no worse !' Haifa minute later we should have met at 
 right angles, and the feebler vessel gone down instanter, but the lives 
 might have been saved by the surviving ship. I saw at a glance that 
 our obliquity was sufficient to save us, and I was intensely interested 
 in watching the effect on the people." 
 
 He adds that he proceeded to Brussels, visited the 
 Royal Family, and afterwards went to the Rhine, and 
 returned in good health to London on the 9th of June. 
 
 The following letters relate to insanity, the state of 
 the insane, and the regulation of lunatic asylums. 
 Some readers may conceive such topics more suitable 
 to a professional treatise than to a work like the pre- 
 sent ; but Dr Combe considered that the public have 
 a great interest in understanding these subjects in their 
 true lights, and that much suffering might be prevent- 
 ed, and still more mitigated, by diffusing sound know- 
 ledge of them among all classes of the community. At 
 present, many cases of apparent moral perversion, of 
 habitual idleness and incapacity, and of vicious indul- 
 gence, amounting occasionally to crime, are viewed as 
 purely wilful moral and intellectual errors, and are 
 treated by advice, reproof, threats, and punishment, 
 although very often they are really instances of par- 
 tial insanity, requiring a different mode of treatment. 
 In a great majority of such instances, the malady might 
 be traced up to mental derangement existing in some 
 member of the race from which such individuals are 
 descended. Suppose, for example, a case which is of 
 frequent occurrence that the father of a family is 
 himself of sound mind, but has a brother or sister
 
 AND OF THE IXSASE. 375 
 
 who is insane. His children are distinguished by a cer- 
 tain excitability and feebleness of mind, which, how- 
 ever, does not attract general attention, and they in 
 their turn marry. An idiot, however, is born in one of 
 their families ; a vicious and intractable yonng man 
 appears in a second ; and perhaps a helpless, idle, im- 
 becile being, plausible in conversation, but incapable 
 of persevering action, is found in a third. As no sus- 
 picion is entertained of any cerebral disease in these 
 children, they are treated for a long period as perfectly 
 normal in their mental constitutions. Much irritation 
 and disappointment in regard to their conduct and 
 progress are experienced, great expense is incurred, 
 heavy losses are sustained through their vice and in- 
 capacity, and only after a long tract of suffering and 
 misfortune, do their relatives begin to suspect that 
 something is wrong with their brains. It was, there- 
 fore, Dr Combe's earnest desire to enlighten the public 
 on the nature and causes of insanity ; and for this rea- 
 son the subject is introduced into his " Life,"' in the 
 various forms in which it presented itself to him in his 
 practical experience. 
 
 The following letter, dated 13th July 1840, was ad- 
 dressed to an author who had introduced 
 
 THE COSDITIOy OF UTSTATIC ASTtlTHS, AXD OF THE IXSAXE, 
 
 into a popular work, with a view tc convey information 
 on that subject. After commending the excellent in- 
 tentions of the author, and the ability displayed in 
 the book, he proceeds : 
 
 " As TOUT object is the high one of benefiting as well as amusing 
 mankind, and the subject upon which you touch has been one of in- 
 tense interest to me for years, you will perhaps allow me to offer a 
 few remarks on your management of it. considered in a moral point 
 of view, and to suggest some points in regard to which yon may, in a 
 future work, help to correct prevalent and pernicious errors. If I
 
 376 THE CONDITION OF LUNATIC ASYLUMS, 
 
 did not feel great respect for both your talents and motives, I should 
 not trouble you with my comments ; but I know that you will receive 
 kindly what is kindly meant. 
 
 " Two causes contribute powerfully to retard our knowledge of and 
 control over insanity. The first is the prevailing notion of its mys- 
 terious origin and nature, as if it involved some deep moral stigma, 
 or was inseparably bound up with something of horror, and altogether 
 beyond the influence of the ordinary laws of animated nature. The 
 second is the popular notion of the cruel treatment of lunatics, and 
 the great aversion thence arising either to have the patients removed 
 to an asylum, or even to admit that insanity really exists. Every 
 effort is consequently made by both patient and friends to suppress 
 and conceal the truth, and treatment is deferred from the early stage 
 in which it can generally cure, to that later stage in which all the 
 resources of art are too often unavailing. Before full justice can be 
 done to the unhappy lunatic, these prejudices must be destroyed, and 
 the wholesome and comforting truth made widely known, that in- 
 sanity is neither an anomalous visitation of a mysterious Providence, 
 nor an infliction involving any stigma, or incapable of cure. The 
 public must be taught to regard it simply as a disease of the body, 
 arising from natural causes, governed by the ordinary laws of the 
 animal economy, and, like other diseases, amenable to proper treat- 
 ment when early attended to ; and they must be led to regard asylums 
 as infirmaries for the cure and kind treatment of that disease, and 
 resort to them with the same confidence as they now do to other in- 
 firmaries for a fracture or a fever. Insanity, rightly considered, in- 
 volves no moral stigma any more than consumption or inflammation, 
 and the sooner the atmosphere of mystery and horror is cleared away 
 from it, the happier for the unfortunate sufferers. 
 
 " Such seem to be the objects which all must desire to effect ; and 
 yet such, I fear, will not be the tendency of your work. Your de- 
 scription of the general condition of the insane and of asylums was to 
 me painfully disagreeable, familiar as I have been with asylums of 
 every kind for nearly twenty years. That horrors did exist of a most 
 barbarous description is certain, and that in many asylums the treat- 
 ment is still very imperfect is also most true ; but in the worst which I 
 have seen, I have never witnessed patients acting and suffering as you 
 describe, and if you had been familiar with the phenomena of the 
 disease, I cannot believe that you would have painted the unfortunate 
 in such colours. I have no hesitation in saying, that there are many 
 asylums, through every ward of which you might pass twenty times 
 unannounced, and meet with nothing in the gestures, cries, or actions, 
 . to elicit any feeling but that of grateful sympathy and interest ; and
 
 AND OF THE INSANE. 377 
 
 that in the great majority you would seek in vain for any thing so 
 distressingly repugnant to feeling and humanity as your descriptions 
 present. I fear that your work will tend to confirm the already too 
 powerful prejudices, and to deter the humane from undertaking the 
 duty of caring for lunatics, hy describing the class as armed with the 
 whip, wielding the chain, and actuated hy hrutality. I wish much 
 that you could spend a day or a week in a well-regulated asylum, like 
 that of Dumfries. For myself I can only say, that a richer treat to 
 my best feelings never crosses my path, and that I never visit one such 
 place, without thankfulness to Providence that I live in times when 
 the misery of the wretched is treated with something of a heavenly 
 because well-directed compassion. Even in badly-managed asylums, 
 the errors are those of omission rather than of commission. The 
 active moral treatment is omitted, but there is little if any positive 
 bad treatment perpetrated, and everywhere treatment is rapidly im- 
 proving. The way to hasten improvement is to cheer and encourage 
 exertion, and not to call the- treatment worse than it is. 
 
 " Your work will strengthen the prejudice against asylums as moral 
 lazar-houses, and thus tend to prevent cures. There are cases best 
 treated at home, as you describe ; but they are few, and the expe- 
 rience of the best asylums has now demonstrated that by early removal, 
 in cases requiring it, 90 per 100 may be cured. In what other serious 
 diseases can a more favourable result be produced ? And what mis- 
 chief may thus be done by inducing delay, is shewn by the proportion 
 of cures rapidly diminishing as months pass over. I wish I could send 
 you my first work, ' Observations on Mental Derangement,' &c., in 
 which some of these things are treated ; but it is put of print, and I 
 have not a copy left. 
 
 " Your description of the power of kindness and reason is graphi- 
 cally true, and shews how much you could have done to disseminate 
 sound views, if you had known the subject more familiarly. I attended 
 a lady some years ago, who, in spite of the effects of four porters to 
 restrain her, got out of bed, broke the furniture and windows, and 
 committed violence on every one. I saw they were acting by sheer 
 force, and desired them to leave the room, every one of them. They 
 remonstrated but yielded on my insisting. My first reward was a 
 stunning slap on the face. I said quietly that this would never do, 
 and that she must not expose herself in such a way ; and keeping my 
 eye on her movements, I stood quietly till her agitation should sub- 
 side, telling her that then, and not till then, I would talk over matters. 
 To make a long story short, she calmed down so far, that in half-an- 
 hour she agreed to accompany me to an asylum, allowed me to re- 
 strain her hands during her removal, walked down stairs with me to
 
 378 REGULATIONS FOR PRIVATE LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 
 
 the coach, and begged of me to go in it, and put the attendant out- 
 side. She promised to restrain herself to the utmost, and succeeded 
 till near the place, when she warned me that she could no longer keep 
 quiet. Being cheered by me, however, she did command herself; and 
 after I had seen her to her room, we parted excellent friends. She, 
 like many others, acknowledged that she was conscious of her unfit- 
 ness to be at liberty, and that it was a relief to her to feel that kind 
 control was at hand : she felt as if a weight was removed, as she 
 had lived for some time labouring to conceal her state, and always 
 afraid of giving way and exposing herself and family." 
 
 The next letter, dated 3d October 1840, is addressed 
 to Graham Speirs, Esq., Sheriff of the county of Edin- 
 burgh, and contains Dr Combe's opinion regarding 
 certain 
 
 REGULATIONS FOB PRIVATE LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 
 
 " I have read the proposed regulations for private madhouses, and 
 concur in their propriety, with some slight exceptions ; if, as I sup- 
 pose, there is not power, under the act referred to, to go a step farther. 
 As a professional man, however, I am of opinion that no one should 
 be licensed to receive violent or furious lunatics into his house, unless 
 he has not only suitable accommodation for them, but a sufficient 
 number of qualified attendants to exercise the necessary control over 
 them under all ordinary circumstances, without recourse to coercion. 
 This seems to me to be called for even where there are only one or 
 two patients. CURE ought to be the primary object of all regulations ; 
 but nothing is so unfavourable to recovery as the excitement arising 
 out of contention with an inadequate controlling power, and out of 
 frequent recourse to physical restraint. In the early and most 
 curable state, many patients are excitable, and occasionally violent. 
 Suppose a private institution to receive even one patient in this state, 
 and to admit only one ; and that excitement ensues. One individual 
 cannot exercise an effective moral control over him, and there is 
 consequently no resource but the application of physical force and 
 restraint. A neighbour, perhaps, is called in, a struggle ensues, and, 
 at its close, that patient's chances of recovery are smaller than they 
 were at its commencement. But suppose you have attendants always 
 in the way, and exercising a restraining moral influence by their mere 
 presence, you may often prevent the excitement, and dispense with 
 restraint ; and when it does become necessary, your power is felt, the 
 struggle is avoided, or is rendered brief and unirritating, and the
 
 REGULATIONS FOR PRIVATE LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 379 
 
 excitement soon abates, leaving the patient's chances essentially un- 
 impaired. 
 
 " For imbecile, harmless, or incurable patients, I should hold your 
 first regulation to be sufficient. But I would either make it a condi- 
 tion of the license, that there should be at least two qualified keepers, 
 or I would prevent the receiving of excitable and curable cases into any 
 establishments where there were not adequate accommodation, and an 
 adequate number of attendants. For the first ten such patients, I 
 would require at least two attendants, whether the patients were only 
 one or ten. The few have a right to protection as well as the many, 
 and it is no hardship on any one to be refused a license where means 
 of proper treatment are not provided. It is not a matter of traffic. 
 An obligation of this kind would tend to throw the care of lunatics 
 into the hands of a better qualified class, and to save them from the 
 cruelties perpetrated where only one, or two, or three are left. Safe 
 custody is too exclusively looked to, and cure far too little. Where 
 a number are confined, the few excitable cases feel themselves under 
 control beyond their powers of resistance, and the tendency to dis- 
 putation and excitement gradually subsides. Hence in Hanwell, 
 Lincoln, Dumfries, and other places, with so many as 500 patients, 
 physical restraint is scarcely known. In Hanwell, with 800 patients 
 of all kinds, none has been exercised since August 1838, when Dr 
 Conolly found, I believe, 63 under it. 
 
 " If the power be possessed under the existing act, I should there- 
 fore be disposed to modify it so as to require a male or female keeper, 
 in addition to the master or mistress, for any number of curable 
 patients, say (making it very wide) under twenty, and one for every 
 twelve beyond that number. The quiet daily and hourly action of 
 the attendants upon the patients is, in reality, a most essential part 
 of the curative treatment. 
 
 " Where both male and female patients are received, at least two 
 airing-grounds should be provided. 
 
 " I dislike the very name of ' punishment ' as applicable to the 
 treatment of disease. The keeper should enter in the register ' every 
 occasion on which restraint has been used, the reasons for, and nature 
 and duration of such restraint.' 
 
 " One more remark occurs to me. The room for furious or ex- 
 cited patients should be as far removed as possible from the tranquil 
 patients. Their proximity is a harassing and hurtful peculiarity 
 almost inseparable from small establishments. Such establishments, 
 in fact, when used for recent cases, are often the means of obstruct- 
 ing recovery, from their inherent inadequacy, altogether apart from 
 the moral fitness of their proprietor."
 
 380 REGULATIONS FOR PRIVATE LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 
 
 The necessity for subjecting the custodiers of the in- 
 sane to official inspection and control, is strikingly il- 
 lustrated by the case described in the following letter, 
 also addressed to Mr Graham Speirs. The patient 
 was confined in a private house as a boarder, and not 
 in any of the public asylums : 
 
 " Early in December 1839, 1 was requested to visit Mr 
 
 siding with , and to report whether his condition was such as 
 
 to admit of any alleviation of suffering, or any addition to his com- 
 forts. I did so, and before seeing him, was told by his custodiers, 
 that he had been upwards of thirty years under their charge ; that 
 he had been seven years confined in a strait waistcoat, on account of 
 violence ; and for several years past had never been beyond the door, 
 as he had ' fits' of excitement, was very silly and dirty, and would 
 not allow himself to be clothed. I found him in a small back room, with- 
 out fire, in very cold weather ; the floor was wet with saliva, &c. ; the 
 smell was close and disagreeable. He himself was kneeling on his bed, 
 and his only dress was a flannel garment, with legs and arms, and a 
 body which was open and tied by strings behind. His feet and legs, 
 half way to the knee, were bare, as were his head, neck, and part of 
 the arms. His bed was in disorder, and partially wet ; and altogether 
 he presented as miserable a picture of wretchedness as I have seen for 
 a long time. I was told that he was idiotic, and insensible to every 
 thing. I spoke kindly and cheerfully to him. His eye brightened, 
 an expression of pleasure played for a moment on his features, and he 
 half looked up. I asked him a few questions, and found that he could 
 not speak more than a monosyllable ; but he understood me, gave me 
 his hand to feel his pulse, tried to shew me his tongue, and intimated 
 that he was very cold when I asked him. He came out of bed, went 
 to the next room to warm himself, and seemed pleased with the in- 
 terest I took in him. On leaving him I was told that he was in a 
 quiet fit, and that I must not judge from this. I did not, but re- 
 turned some days afterwards. All my former observations were con- 
 firmed ; and I accordingly reported, and stated the ground of my 
 opinion, that he was capable of improvement, though not of cure, and 
 strongly recommended his being sent to the Dumfries Asylum, where 
 I felt certain of his being well treated. Some of the relations scouted 
 my opinion, and declared he would die if removed ; others urged the 
 removal. It was ultimately thrown on my responsibility, but the 
 danger and difficulties were strongly insisted upon. A man came
 
 REGULATIONS FOK PRIVATE LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 381 
 
 from Dumfries by my desire to take charge of him, and on calling at 
 the house, he was so struck by the wretched appearance of the patient, 
 and the account given of him, that he also declined to act unless I at- 
 tended to superintend the proceedings, and warrant the use of compul- 
 sion if necessary. I went accordingly, half-doubtful whether I had not 
 deceived myself. But the result was again the same. When kindly 
 spoken to, Mr came out of bed, and instead of resisting cloth- 
 ing being put on, he welcomed the stockings and warm slippers, and 
 held up his foot and smiled. "When a warm cap was put on his head, 
 his contentment increased ; and when he was wrapped in a large 
 cloak, he lay back in his chair and laughed with amazed delight. 
 Instead of refusing to be separated from his keeper, he rose at once 
 when desired, and, supported by me on one side and the keeper on 
 the other, he walked down the stairs which he had not trodden for 
 years, and never attempted even to look back. The result was his 
 safe arrival at Dumfries, his wearing clothes, and assuming the ap- 
 pearance of a human being, and very soon his driving out, and also at- 
 tending chapel. His mind is gone, as might be expected from thirty- 
 four years of maltreatment and neglect ; but his enjoyments are ex- 
 tended, and he no longer shocks the feelings of those who see him. 
 
 " I have mentioned all these details, because they may serve to 
 direct your observation and inquiries into the doings of other private 
 houses. In this instance I am bound to add my conviction, that 
 acted to the best of his judgment, and not with unkind in- 
 tent. He, like many other better educated people, obviously took it 
 for granted that the patient had neither sense nor feeling, and that 
 anything might be said or done in his presence without its having any 
 influence upon him either for good or evil. This is still, I may sav, 
 the grand practical error in the management of many (especially pri- 
 vate and unseen) asylums ; and the patients are thus unintentionally 
 doomed to a negation of intellectual and moral interests and sympathy, 
 which not only gives pain and impedes cure, but in reality suffices to 
 produce insanity. I have long advocated the necessity of a public and 
 responsible inspector of asylums ; and the longer I live the urgent ne- 
 cessity becomes the more obvious. From having for many years taken 
 an interest in the insane and in asylums, I know that the casual offi- 
 cial visits of managers and of sheriffs are far from sufficient guaran- 
 tees of all being well within. They have neither the means nor the 
 opportunity of judging of the real state of things ; and their reports, 
 being written in the superintendent's own book, are always laudatory. 
 I scarcely need add my conviction, that a great deal might have been 
 done for this patient years ago. The readiness with which his feel-
 
 382 DUTIES OF A MANAGER OF A LUNATIC ASYLUM. 
 
 iiigs and understanding responded when addressed by their proper 
 objects, even after thirty-four years of neglect, proves this to my mind. 
 " I have troubled you with this long detail in writing, because I 
 have a difficulty in expressing myself clearly viva voce, and because I 
 believe you to be sincerely anxious to do your utmost for the protec- 
 tion, comfort, and recovery of the unhappy beings officially committed 
 to your guardianship." 
 
 Ill the annual Report of the Crichton Royal Institu- 
 tion, Dumfries, dated 1st June 1840, this case is ad- 
 verted to as follows : " Nothing could be attempted 
 except to augment the physical comforts and the capa- 
 bilities of enjoyment." (The means used are then de- 
 scribed, and the notice concludes) : " He has attended 
 chapel ; drives out in a carriage when in a state of com- 
 posure ; sits in the balcony when the weather permits, 
 and has never exhibited any of the violence or intract- 
 ableness which were declared to be inconsistent with 
 such privileges and pleasures." He died in 1844. Dr 
 Browne, in a letter to George Combe, dated 15th De- 
 cember 1849, after stating the result of his treatment, 
 remarks, that " such facts are, or rather were, of fre- 
 quent occurrence." 
 
 The following letter, in which Dr Combe states the 
 reasons which compel him to resign his office as one of 
 the managers of the Lunatic Asylum at Morningside, 
 near Edinburgh, is instructive, as shewing his opinion 
 of the duties implied in such an office. It is dated 28th 
 December 1840, and is addressed to one of the gentle- 
 men connected with the Institution : 
 
 " I have just received your note of 26th, proposing to substitute 
 my nephew, Dr Cox, for myself, as a visitor to the asylum when it 
 would be either inconvenient or fatiguing to me to go in person. I 
 feel obliged to you for this willingness to save me trouble, but I am 
 afraid, both from this and your former proposal, that our views of the 
 duties of visitors differ so materially, that we are not likely to coin- 
 cide in the propriety of fulfilling them by deputy, while the responsi- 
 bility, such as it is, remains with myself. If nothing more were to be
 
 DUTIES OP A MANAGER OF A LUX ATIC ASYLUM. 383 
 
 done than to go through the honse and report whether everything 
 seemed to be in order, and every officer in attendance, I should never 
 hesitate a moment to remain in the management when a wish to that 
 effect was expressed to me. But my view of the duty is a much more 
 serious one ; and I think that to discharge it properly, one would re- 
 quire not only to make frequent visits during the month, but to in- 
 vestigate the particulars of individual cases, commune with individual 
 patients, inquire what means, moral or medical, are made use of to 
 influence them, and whether anything can be done to increase their 
 comforts, or contribute to their chances of recovery. Such inquiries, 
 to be worth anything, should be made in the absence of those who 
 have charge, and finally compared with the superintendent's reports. 
 Of course, many unfounded complaints would be made by many patients; 
 but these would neither mislead the visitor nor prejudice the superin- 
 tendent in his good opinion ; while, independently of the relief it would 
 afford to the patient, there can be no doubt that occasionally omissions 
 or mistakes might thus be detected and corrected, to the benefit of all 
 concerned, and the public would have a double guarantee that every 
 thing was efficiently done for those in confinement. TVhereas, if the 
 visitors confine their inquiries to the mere externals of the establish- 
 ment, abuses may exist and be overlooked, without any one having 
 even a suspicion of their existence. For proof of this, you need only 
 
 go back to the days of and . Under them the visitors 
 
 went their rounds, they found the house clean and in order, and re- 
 ported that all was well ; and they could scarcely have done other- 
 wise. And yet, while they were thus conscientiously reporting what 
 they believed, I had evidence presented in the course of a single visit 
 to a patient in whom I was interested, that neglect was committed and 
 harshness exercised towards him ; and this evidence I derived, not from 
 any complaint made by him, but from my own observation. I refer to 
 this as a mere illustration of what may exist, and yet be entirely 
 unknown under the ordinary systems of visiting and looking only at 
 externals. The view which I took of my own duty as a visitor went, 
 therefore, a great deal farther, and I believed myself bound in con- 
 science either to extend my inquiries to a sufficient degree, or to re- 
 sign my office if that was not in my power. On making the trial, I 
 found that my physical strength was inadequate, and that, after 
 taking a general view of the house (also an important object), I was 
 unable to do more. The result consequently is, that my own mind 
 is not satisfied, and that instead of the pleasure arising from the con- 
 sciousness of a duty discharged, I have the unpleasant feeling of not 
 being able to fulfil my own views of what is required of me. On re- 
 flection, yon will easily see, that this is not a state of things which
 
 384 DUTIES OF A MANAGER OF A LUNATIC ASYLUM. 
 
 can be amended by employing another to act for me, so long as the 
 real responsibility is mine. You say that it would hurt the institu- 
 tion with the public were I to withdraw, as the reason would be mis- 
 construed. I can see no force whatever in this argument. It would 
 be doing a real injury to the institution to remain ostensibly in the 
 management and do nothing, but a positive benefit to withdraw and 
 put an efficient man in my place. Of misconstruction there is just as 
 little risk. The small section of the public that knows or concerns it- 
 self about me, knows well that this is neither the first nor the heaviest 
 sacrifice which infirm health has compelled me to make ; and the no- 
 tion of the institution suffering from such misconstruction, seems to 
 me purely imaginary. As I stated before, and as you are aware, my 
 interest in the institution is and will continue to be as great as ever, 
 although I be officially unconnected with it ; and if at any time I 
 can assist it, I shall not allow the opportunity to pass by unimproved. 
 
 " Before concluding I may add, as you refer to the Report-Book, 
 that, in my opinion, it is utterly useless, and that the only way to ob- 
 tain reports worth perusal, is for the visiting managers to report at the 
 end of the month by letter. I never yet heard of reports written in a 
 book under the eye, and lying in the custody of the officials, contain- 
 ing a notice of any abuse, however glaring ; and it is scarcely in 
 human nature to do otherwise. I beg, however, expressly to guard 
 myself from any personal application of this principle, or of the re- 
 marks in the body of my letter, to our present worthy and amiable 
 superintendent Dr M'Kinnon. In the view which I take of the duties 
 of visitors, I am not influenced by distrust either of him or of our 
 matron ; and so far from having any intention of expressing such 
 distrust, I firmly believe that nothing would give a more encouraging 
 stimulus to their exertions in behalf of the patients, than the con- 
 viction that their efforts would thus be known and appreciated. The 
 best of us are the better of being looked after in a kindly spirit, and 
 cheered on to improvement ; and I cannot fancy anything more dis- 
 heartening to a really zealous officer, than to find that nobody took 
 the trouble to look narrowly into his doings. 
 
 " As you mention that you spoke to Dr Maclagan, on Saturday, 
 after I left the meeting, you may shew him this explanation of my 
 motives : and I feel almost assured, that it will be satisfactory to his 
 judgment. I am not acting from caprice or want of consideration, 
 but from a settled conviction, which, as yet, has not been affected by 
 anything you have advanced." 
 
 Dr Combe having been requested by a friend of the 
 temperance cause to state, in writing, his opinion of the
 
 INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS ON HEALTH. 385 
 
 effects of alcoholic liquors on health, wrote a very ex- 
 plicit letter, stating his views on the subject ; but as 
 these are given at full length in his Physiology of Di- 
 gestion, p. 174, ninth edition, it is unnecessary to repeat 
 them here.
 
 386 ATTACK OF HAEMOPTYSIS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 DR COMBE IS ATTACKED BY HEMOPTYSIS. DESCRIBES THE DEATH 
 
 AND CHARACTER OF HIS SISTER MRS COX. SUFFERS FROM SUB- 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE BRONCHIJ3 AND LUNGS. LETTER TO MRS 
 
 MACONOCHIE ON CONVICT MANAGEMENT. DR COMBE, IN THE NEAR 
 
 PROSPECT OF DEATH, WRITES LETTERS ON THE FOLLOWING TO- 
 PICS : HIS MOTIVES IN WRITING HIS WORKS ; STATE OF MEDICAL 
 SCIENCE ; HIS REVERENCE FOR THE NATURAL LAWS OF GOD ; HIS 
 REASONS FOR ABSTAINING FROM MARRIAGE ; HIS VIEWS OF THE 
 LAW OF DESCENT OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES ; HORACE MANN's 
 OPINION OF HIS WORK ON INFANCY ; THE ADVANTAGES WHICH HE 
 HAS DERIVED FROM HIS KNOWLEDGE OF PHRENOLOGY ; HIS RELI- 
 GIOUS OPINIONS INFLUENCED BY IT ; THE PERFORMANCE OF SECU- 
 LAR DUTIES THE BEST PREPARATION FOR A FUTURE STATE ; SICK- 
 NESS AN UNSUITABLE SEASON FOR THE FORMATION OF RELIGIOUS 
 OPINIONS ; MAN'S NATURE ADAPTED TO HIS SPHERE ; DR COMBE'S 
 FEELINGS IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH ; HIS SOCIAL AND PROFES- 
 SIONAL CONDUCT INFLUENCED BY PHRENOLOGY ; ITS PHYSIOLOGI- 
 CAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL EVIDENCES MAY BE VIEWED SEPARATELY ; 
 ITS USE IN THE EDUCATION OF A YOUNG DIPLOMATIST ; ON THE 
 PROPER TIME FOR PUBLISHING NEW OPINIONS. 
 
 IT has already been mentioned that, in 1834, Dr 
 Combe was forced, by the infirm state of his health, to 
 renounce general, and confine himself to consulting 
 practice ; and that, as a means of supplying an income 
 adequate to his wants, he received into his house two 
 or three young medical students as boarders. After 
 his return from Brussels in 1836, he found his consult- 
 ing practice, and subsequently the profits of his books, 
 more than sufficient to meet his expenses, and he never 
 again undertook the charge of youth. Perhaps the 
 most vigorous period of his life was that which ex- 
 tended from 1837 to 1841. We are now arrived at the 
 latter year, which commences by a severe recurrence of 
 his pulmonary affection, from which he never thorough-
 
 DEATH AND CHARACTER OF MRS COX. 387 
 
 ly recovered ; and it may be regarded as the beginning 
 of the close of his career. 
 
 In January he was apparently well ; and as he had 
 derived much pleasure from his two visits to Germany, 
 and intended to return to that country, he joined his 
 brother George and his wife in taking lessons from the 
 late Dr Kombst in the German language. He had 
 attended only one day, when, on the 28th of January, 
 he was suddenly seized, in George Street, with an at- 
 tack of haemoptysis, which alarmed his friends, and 
 called for fresh sacrifices and increased care on his own 
 part. According to the adage that misfortunes never 
 come singly, it happened that at this time his sister, 
 Mrs Cox, was dangerously ill, and her condition excited 
 in him much tender interest and anxiety. As soon as 
 his own circumstances would permit, he was carried in 
 a sedan-chair to visit her at her residence in the vici- 
 nity of his house, and bestowed on her every solace 
 which affection and skill could dictate ; but she sank 
 under the malady, and died on the llth of February, 
 in her 62d year. In 1815, she had been left a widow 
 with six children, all young, to whom a seventh was 
 added after her husband's death, making five sons 
 and two daughters. By the successful exertions of her 
 husband in trade, the family were left in comfortable 
 circumstances, and continued to reside at Gorgie Mill, 
 where Dr Combe had passed many pleasant and profit- 
 able months, during various periods of convalescence 
 from the attacks of disease previously mentioned. Her 
 children were reared and educated by her, under the 
 direction of Dr Combe and his brother George, and be- 
 came greatly attached to their uncles. This volume 
 bears testimony to the manner in which they repaid 
 these cares. The following letters, addressed by Dr 
 Combe to two friends unconnected with the family, and
 
 388 DEATH AND CHARACTER OF MRS COX. 
 
 written, one of them shortly before, and the other after, 
 his sister's death, may, it is hoped, properly find a place 
 among his other correspondence ; because, although the 
 subject is her character, about which the reader may feel 
 little or no interest, yet the exhibition of the writer's 
 own feelings and opinions called forth by that event, 
 is strictly in accordance with the purposes of the pre- 
 sent work. 
 
 " EDINBURGH, 1st February 1841. 
 
 " I received your kind note this morning with pleasure. My 
 sister was always averse to having any ado made about her, and 
 therefore so long as there was any probability of her temporary re- 
 covery, we did not say much about her illness, although from the first 
 we were apprehensive. On Wednesday, however, I meant to tell 
 
 you about her, when I met the s at your house, which was 
 
 unfortunate, as they took up all the time I had previous to an ap- 
 pointment. On Thursday, when I saw her for the last time, it was 
 evident she was fast approaching her end ; and within half-an-hour 
 after I left her, my own attack of haemoptysis came on. Calm and 
 peaceful, she still thought only of others ; and it was by her express 
 desire that my nieces took a drive that day, and called at your door, 
 my other sister remaining with her. She very properly remarked, 
 that, if they wished to make her happy, they must keep themselves 
 well, and not unnecessarily confine themselves entirely. 
 
 " My parting with her on Wednesday and Thursday was so purely 
 peaceful and consolatory, that I submit almost without repining to 
 my inability to be with her again. She felt this also ; and as by that 
 time any professional aid was out of my power, she was only anxious 
 that I should take care of myself at home. Our whole intercourse 
 has been that of unclouded regard and kindness, especially since I 
 lived with her when ill in 1821 and 1822, when I came to know her 
 better than I had ever done before. When she married I was only 
 five years old, and, consequently, scarcely knew her as a sister, in one 
 sense of the word. But since 1821, my regard and respect for her 
 character have, if possible, gone on increasing. If she had enjoyed 
 the advantages of a good education,* she might have done honour to 
 
 * She was the second child of the family, and was educated only 
 practically, as her mother had been. The higher education of the 
 other and younger members of the family commenced after her 
 father and mother had acquired more knowledge of the value of in- 
 struction.
 
 DEATH AND CHARACTER OF MRS COX. 389 
 
 any station. For sound-ininded integrity, strong sense of duty, kind- 
 ness, and affection, I know few whom I could compare with her. She 
 would have died at the stake for truth in a good cause. As it was, 
 she felt her want of education and acquaintance with general society, 
 and was, in consequence, shy and retiring, where her natural powers 
 would have fitted her to lead. Of late, it has been a delight to us 
 to see her enjoying the evening of her days in the daily gratification 
 
 of her best feelings almost without alloy Her feelings 
 
 were very strong, and for years she struggled to restrain them, as if 
 it were almost sinful to shew great affection for her children and 
 friends ; but at length she took a sounder view, and believed that 
 Grod had given them to add to her happiness. Her mind was, in its 
 balance and natural qualities, the best and highest in our family ; 
 and one of the circumstances which contributed to give me a deep in- 
 terest in the cause of education was perceiving so clearly of what im- 
 mense advantage it would have been to her. She herself felt this deep- 
 ly; and nothing delighted her more than to listen to really instructive 
 and good conversation. Her satisfaction, for the same reason, at any 
 public expression of my brother's services or my own, was so intense 
 and believing (never doubting a word of it), as sometimes to melt me 
 with its depth and sincerity; while I could not but smile at the ready 
 simplicity which made her attach a world of meaning to every word 
 of praise. 
 
 " In many respects her mind and mine sympathised strongly ; and 
 at this time I was pleasingly struck with one feature of resemblance. 
 When I saw her she was happy in every respect, except in wishing 
 to see Abram [her youngest son, who was then in London]. She had 
 settled everything, thought of everybody, and left kind messages to 
 various friends, and seemed ready to depart in the full belief that the 
 God who had been so kind to her here would not desert her hereafter. 
 There was no repining, nor any wish to stay and enjoy this or that ; but 
 gratitude for the past, and hope for the future. It is often said that hap- 
 piness here makes one cling to life and to the world. My sister's is an 
 example of the contrary ; and I recollect, on various occasions, when 
 particularly happy, the feeling in my mind was something of the 
 same kind. Now I am thankful and ready to depart. Her husband 
 died at 42, cut off at the end of years of active and successful exer- 
 tion, when, in his own mind, he was just arranging to enjoy its fruits 
 in the bosom of his family. He, too, shewed the same cheerful resig- 
 nation. It seems to me, therefore, an error in those who maintain 
 that we ought not to enjoy what God has given us on earth, because 
 it will absorb and debase our minds. God knows the capacities and
 
 390 DEATH AND CHARACTER OF MRS COX. 
 
 desires He has given us, and would never contradict His own will. It 
 is the abuse of enjoyment that is wrong, not its use. 
 
 " I have written to you thus at length, because I have a pleasure 
 in the subject, and believe that you will have a sympathy with the 
 feelings which lead to it. I am alone, also, both that I may be quiet, 
 and because there are stronger calls in my sister's house on the atten- 
 tion of my usual companions. Abram fortunately arrived in time. 
 His mother could speak but little, but was much affected on seeing 
 him, and evidently much gratified. I trust she will be spared suf- 
 fering." 
 
 " EDINBURGH, 18th February 1841. 
 
 "Your friendly sympathy is very grateful to Miss Cox and myself; 
 we think so much alike on most things, that the mind naturally turns, 
 when deeply interested, to those with whom it can communicate in 
 fulness and sincerity. We have lost a true and a most affectionate 
 friend. I have rarely seen a higher-principled or finer-balanced mind 
 than my sister's." (He adds a particular description of her character, 
 similar to that already given on page 389.) " She had at the same 
 time a dread of everything approaching to meanness or dishonour, no 
 matter how specious or plausible it might look. She was bred in 
 the strictest principles of Calvinism, and, applying her strong sense 
 of duty to them as to everything else, she was most earnest in her 
 endeavours to believe and conform to every shade of doctrine and 
 feeling required of her. When her family grew up a little and left 
 her time to read and think, and also when phrenology gave her for 
 the first time consistent views of human nature and of God's provi- 
 dence, a change gradually came over her, by which her happiness 
 was greatly increased, from its putting an end to the constant struggle 
 which she had long maintained in trying to believe things against 
 which her reason and better feelings revolted ; and from its giving 
 her views of Grod's goodness and wisdom upon which her mind de- 
 lighted to dwell. For several years past she had thus insensibly 
 arrived at religious convictions, under which her high moral nature 
 assumed a still higher and purer standard and aim of action, and 
 her enjoyment became proportionally more intense and abiding. Still, 
 from the long years passed in early subjection to Calvinistic dogmas, 
 we feared that when she should approach her end, old associa- 
 tions might revive, and apprehension arise, excited by disease. The 
 force of truth, however, prevailed ; for never was a more peaceful 
 and confiding end than hers. From the first she felt that she was 
 dying, and I did not attempt to conceal it from her. The effect
 
 DEATH AND CHARACTER OF MRS COX. 391 
 
 was to rouse all her feelings, if possible, into more sustained activity. 
 She made every practicable arrangement to secure the comfort and 
 happiness of those she left behind ; and was unceasing in her out- 
 pouring of gratitude to God for past goodness and present ease. 
 She expressed the most entire reliance on God's goodness for her 
 future happiness ; and added, that if she was punished in another 
 world for her sins in this, it would be only in a way and to an ex- 
 tent requisite for her own happiness, and that she was anxious 
 now. in the prospect of death, to express her disgust at the doctrine, 
 that God would condemn any of his poor creatures to eternal misery. 
 She felt this to be an outrage on the Divine Being, and said, If a 
 parent shrunk from inflicting suffering on an erring child, was it not 
 sinful to think that God. the Father of all, would be less merciful and 
 less just than poor sinful man ? She then expressed to me the pity 
 
 she felt for Dr and others, who conscientiously believed, or 
 
 endeavoured to believe, the doctrine of eternal damnation. 
 
 " At a later stage of her decline, for a whole day, when her mind 
 was wandering, she unceasingly repeated, ' My God is a good God ;' 
 shewing how strongly her faith in His perfections was rooted. She 
 spoke in perfect humility and single-mindedness, and founded nothing 
 on her own merits. She said she had often foreseen what was now 
 passing, and had fancied us all assembled at her funeral ; begged 
 that we would dine together after it in her house, and said she wished 
 she could be with us. She then expressed a desire that her daughters 
 should not remain out of society, or long refrain from music or other 
 enjoyments, because these were beneficial in their effects, and she 
 had no wish that we should be sad when she was gone. She wished no 
 ' douce faces' around her deathbed. During the last few days of her 
 life, her mind wandered gently, but rarely in suffering : and the con- 
 stant theme of her speech then, as before, was thankfulness for her 
 lot, 
 
 " Altogether, she has left so many traces of her living and ener- 
 getic mind behind her, and in such an excellent spirit, that it is a 
 pleasure to look upon them ; and I find a difficulty in believing that 
 she is really dead. The lines you quote are thus most appropriate ; 
 I should like to know where you got them. Her loss naturally 
 weighs on our minds; but there are so many high and ennobling asso- 
 ciations connected with her memory, that grief is obscured by the very 
 excellencies which attached us to her. The kindest wish I can form 
 for any one, or for myself, is, that when our time comes, we may de- 
 part as she has done. If her faith be tried by its results, I know 
 not where to seek for a holier or a better."
 
 392 RENEWED AFFECTION OF THE LUNGS. 
 
 Dr Combe recovered pretty well from the attack of 
 haemoptysis, but in the second week of March he caught 
 cold, and was confined to bed by sub-inflammation of 
 the bronchise and substance of the lungs, till the 23d 
 of that month. Early in April he removed to Gorgie 
 Mill, and remained there till May. In a letter, dated 
 5th April, addressed to Sir James Clark, he gives a 
 brief recapitulation of the leading features of the pre- 
 vious attacks of pulmonary disease which he had sus- 
 tained, and describes his actual condition : 
 
 " In January 1832," he says, " in Naples, I had an attack of 
 pneumonia, involving the greater part of the right lung, and it was 
 by very slow degrees indeed, that it became permeable again. The 
 voyage home in June did a good deal for its improvement. At that 
 time the upper part was said to be dull on its own account. Now, 
 my medical friends report that the right lung is in a normal state ; 
 but whether it is still dull under the right clavicle, I do not know. 
 On percussion under the left one, over the first and second ribs, by Dr 
 Farquharson, on Saturday, there was a very distinct and singular 
 sensation, as if he tapped over a piece of semi-elastic wet sponge, or 
 honeycombed substance. This was over a well-defined space of about 
 one-and-a-half inches, by three-quarters of an inch broad. I told 
 you, that when in Brussels, I sometimes experienced, after a particu- 
 lar kind of cough or inspiration, a sensation in the top of the left 
 lung, as if a portion of it was blown up into a vesicle, and would easily 
 give way with an increased effort. I still experience that sensation 
 at times, and often, when I am not thinking about myself at all, it 
 comes suddenly along with a slight cough. I have no other symp- 
 toms worth mentioning. I am now in my usual state, only somewhat 
 thinner, weaker, and, I fancy, shorter-breathed, but in all these re- 
 spects improving." 
 
 Dr Combe's correspondence was long circumscribed 
 by this illness, and no letters requiring notice appear to 
 have been written by him, till the 14th of July, when 
 he addressed a few lines to his brother George, then at 
 Godesberg on the Rhine, mentioning that he hoped to 
 pay a visit to Mrs Hannay at Robgill Tower, an old 
 border-castle near Annan, and afterwards to go to For-
 
 RENEWED AFFECTION OF THE LUNGS. 393 
 
 farshire. In a postscript, his constant companion and 
 nurse, Miss Cox, mentions that her brother, Dr James 
 Cox, had examined his chest with the stethoscope, and 
 found, on the whole, symptoms of improvement, which 
 gave him ground for hoping that the patient might still 
 survive this attack. In August, Dr Combe proceeded 
 to London, and was examined by Sir James Clark ; and 
 on the 29th of that month he wrote from Gorgie Mill to 
 his brother George, as follows : 
 
 " Your and Cecilia's (Mrs Combe's) acceptable letters arrived yes- 
 terday. I had been meditating an epistle to you, and now reply to 
 your very kind offer to give up your plan of wintering in Germany, 
 and to come home for my advantage and comfort. I feel deeply 
 your and Cecilia's kindness and affection in this, knowing, as I 
 do, that you offer only what you are willing and ready to fulfil. 
 Were I to become worse, and begin to take the road down hill, it 
 would be a great comfort to have you near me, as from sympathy of 
 feeling, thought, and pursuit, as well as natural affection and old as- 
 sociation, your society is most valuable to me, especially in time of 
 need. At present, however, thank Heaven, I see no adequate reason 
 to require any such sacrifice on your parts, and think you should 
 carry out your own plans for the winter, without reference to me. I 
 I am entirely without suffering, and in the possession of mauy som-ces 
 of enjoyment ; and whatever the future may have in store for me, of 
 the present I cannot complain. So long as I keep within my ' tether,' 
 I go on comfortably ; and, of course, it is not often that I try to 
 stretch it. 
 
 " Sir James Clark kindly examined me carefully when in London, 
 ten days ago, and his account of the lung agreed with that given 
 by James Cox. Sir James was not sure what to say of the heart. 
 He thinks the right auricle probably dilated, but advised me to take 
 a little sauntering exercise, instead of refraining entirely, as James 
 had advised. Before examining me, he advised my going to Malta, 
 and afterwards to Rome. After examining me, and hearing my own 
 views, he said that he could not insist, and that, after all, I might be 
 as well at home, knowing, as he did, that I could take rational care 
 of myself. I incline greatly to remain at home ; although I should 
 march at once, if my removal to a warmer climate were pronounced 
 necessary. Our kind niece offers to go anywhere with me, if I wish 
 to go, although she. too, would naturally prefer her own comfortable
 
 394 RENEWED AFFECTION OF THE LUNGS. 
 
 home. At present, then, I incline to try how matters will go on with 
 me here. If I prosper, I shall remain. If not, I can still move to 
 the Mediterranean late in the year, for up to Christmas we rarely 
 have regular winter in Edinburgh." 
 
 On 28th September, George Combe received in Mann- 
 heim the following letter from Sir James Clark : 
 
 " Dr James Cox will be the bearer of this, and will state to you 
 the condition in which he left your brother. I intended, indeed, to 
 have written you on the subject before this time ; but it was a pain- 
 ful task, and I shrank from it from day to day. The painful truth 
 is, and you should know it, I found your brother much worse than I 
 expected when he was in London. He did not feel ill, and, except 
 greater weakness, one could not detect in his appearance that he was 
 in a worse state of health than when he was last in London. But upon 
 examining the chest, I was grieved indeed to find that the lungs, on 
 one side, were aifected to a considerable extent. Such being the case, 
 I gave up all idea of recommending him to go abroad, and willingly 
 consented to his own desire of remaining at home. I have advised 
 him to pass his time in the country, in visiting his friends, as long as 
 the weather remains mild ; and when the winter sets in, to shut him- 
 self up in his own house, taking the necessary steps to ensure a mild 
 temperature and pure air throughout the whole house. This plan 
 he will adopt, and I feel assured it is the best plan for him, all 
 things considered. I only wish that he were nearer me, that I might 
 watch him, and endeavour to prolong yet a little while so valuable a 
 life. My examination of your brother gave me great distress, more 
 than I ever suffered from the examination of a patient ; because it 
 gave me the painful conviction, that my dear friend's life could not, 
 in all human probability, be long preserved. Independently of my 
 personal attachment to your brother, I consider^ him a great benefac- 
 tor of his race ; and if God should spare him a few years longer, he 
 would do still more to promote the welfare of mankind. But I 
 must not dwell on this distressing subject ; Dr Cox will give you par- 
 ticulars." 
 
 In a letter dated Edinburgh, 1st October 1841, ad- 
 dressed to George Combe, Dr Combe writes : 
 
 " I have now obtained what I long sought for in vain, the explicit 
 opinion of Sir James Clark and of James Cox on my own state and
 
 RENEWED AFFECTION OF THE LUNGS. 395 
 
 prospects, and find that Sir James was anxious to make you fully 
 aware that I might die before the end of the winter, and could not be 
 expected to go on much beyond it, that you might arrange accord- 
 ingly. A kind motive kept them from telling me earlier ; but inju- 
 diciously. James Cox seemed so anxious for my going south, that, 
 backed as he was by the opinions of other friends, I wavered at times, 
 although satisfied in my own judgment, that no good and some consi- 
 derable harm might result. Now, I take the whole responsibility on 
 myself, and decide, once for all, that here I remain. The comforts of 
 home and friends are nearly all that are left for me ; and why throw 
 them away ? At present, however, matters move at such a pace that 
 I do not wish you as yet to change your plans on my account. I have 
 told Sir James that if, from the state of the heart or lungs, there is a 
 considerable probability of a sudden finale, I should, in that case, con- 
 sider it better for both you and myself, that you came home. Your 
 presence would then be a comfort not only to me, but to yourself and 
 the family. But if I am likely to go on for many months, I should 
 not wish you to come yet. James Cox would see you and tell you all 
 particulars, so that I need not repeat them. I am thankful to Pro- 
 vidence for having been spared so long and allowed so much enjoy- 
 ment. I am grateful also for present comfort ; and if the future be 
 within my power of bearing easily, I shall be more thankful still. 
 Many things I would have liked still to do ; but I have had years of 
 usefulness beyond what I once expected ; and if I cannot do more, I 
 have the satisfaction of having brought out my three books on Phy- 
 siology, Digestion, and Infancy, not to mention that on Insanity, 
 which, I hope, will help to give a better direction to the inquiries 
 of others, and turn the public mind to things that there is great need 
 of attending to. I may add that, ostensibly and externally, I am 
 much as when you saw me, not suffering in any way, not looking 
 worse than usual, and having no one grievance to complain of." 
 
 Amidst his own afflictions from bad health, and in 
 the near prospect of bidding adieu to life, Dr Combe 
 never lost interest in his fellow-creatures and the great 
 cause of human improvement. The following letter 
 affords a pleasing example in point. In prosecuting 
 his phrenological investigations, he had early become 
 convinced that a tendency to crime is, in most cases, 
 the result of an unfavourable conformation of brain, 
 generally accompanied by adverse circumstances. He
 
 396 LETTER ON CONVICT MANAGEMENT. 
 
 therefore took a deep interest in criminal legislation 
 and prison discipline, and regarded the principle of 
 vindictive punishment as inapplicable to the true cha- 
 racter and condition of offenders. He watched with 
 anxious attention the attempts of Captain Maconochie 
 to introduce an improved system of convict manage- 
 ment into Van Diemen's Land ; and, after receiving an 
 account of his appointment to Norfolk Island, and of 
 the success of his treatment on the outcasts of the con- 
 vict population banished to that isolated speck in the 
 ocean, he, on 12th October 1841, wrote the following 
 letter to Mrs Maconochie : 
 
 " A thousand thanks for your most welcome and deeply interest- 
 ing letter of last March, which reached me about a month ago at Dun- 
 trune. Your description of the effects upon the convicts, of Captain 
 Maconochie's mild and consistent principles of treatment, was very 
 touching and most cheering, as pointing out, more clearly than was ever 
 done before, the path towards improvement, not only in the treatment 
 of convicts, but in moral education, and, I may add, even in the 
 management of the insane. I need hardly say how much your friends 
 here sympathise with you and Captain Maconochie in the vexations, 
 hardships, and deprivations, to which you have been subjected through 
 the hostility of those wedded to the old and brutal system. But it is 
 a bright spot in a dark picture when the scene changes to Norfolk 
 Island, and you reap happiness in the exercise of an enlightened be- 
 nevolence, and change the wail of suffering and harsh voice of oppres- 
 sion into the hymn of gratitude and the cheerful and soothing tones 
 of peace and contentment. I earnestly hope that the Government at 
 home has long ere this made a permanent and satisfactory arrange- 
 ment for Captain Maconochie's continuance, and for supplying him 
 with adequate means. To think of the most unhappy outcasts of a 
 great nation being even without books of instruction from which to 
 learn something good, is not less revolting than extraordinary ; and 
 yet with what tenacity routine holds to past cruelties, even when there 
 is much kindness in the heart which is blinded by it ! Your oppo- 
 nents must be, many of them at least, sincere, but deluded and blinded 
 by mere habit, and yet at what a frightful cost ! I allowed Miss Stir- 
 ling Graham to read aloud to her family party the descriptive part 
 of your letter (not the private part), and it made some of them almost
 
 LETTER ON CONVICT MANAGEMENT. 397 
 
 melt into tears where you recounted the history of poor Docherty and 
 one or two others. I shewed it also to Mr Maclaren, who was deeply 
 interested by it ; and I felt so anxious that the facts should be known, 
 that I allowed him to print the general part of the letter in the Scots- 
 man. He added an admirable preface.* It excited great interest and 
 attention. If I did wrong in publishing this, you must forgive me ; 
 but I could not resist the opportunity of telling what was doing. I 
 sent you a copy of the paper, and sent others to Dr Channing, Miss 
 H. Martiueau, and others. * * * Great efforts are making in this 
 country for the improvement of prison discipline ; and, in addition to 
 the introduction of the separate system as far as possible into exist- 
 ing prisons, a large general prison or penitentiary is erecting at Perth 
 for the reception of convicts under long sentences, to be confined there 
 instead of being sent to Australia. I was a member of the County 
 Prison Board of last year, and took a warm interest in its proceed- 
 ings ; but the obstacles from ignorance and want of means were very 
 great, and much time will be required to put things on a proper foot- 
 ing. The separate system is certainly an improvement upon its pre- 
 decessors, but it also must be greatly improved before it can be con- 
 sidered efficient, or rather it must be superseded by a better system. 
 But I have no room to enter upon this very comprehensive subject 
 here." 
 
 After mentioning the state of his health, he adds : 
 
 " I am now told that it is scarcely expected that I shall survive 
 the winter, or go much beyond it. It may be, then, my dear friend, 
 that this will be the last time we shall hear from each other in this 
 world. If you write, and I be still alive when your letter comes, it 
 will give me pleasure to hear from you once more. If I am gone, my 
 brother will open your letter. May God bless and prosper you both 
 in so good an undertaking, and prosper your family around you. You 
 have many privations, but you must have many enjoyments also ; and 
 if your young people do not suffer from the absence of teachers and 
 want of access to a wider society, you will scarcely regret your tem- 
 porary expatriation." 
 
 In a letter dated 27th October 1841 (marked " my 
 birth-day"), addressed to George Combe in Mannheim, 
 he writes : 
 
 * The letter and Mr Maclaren's preface were reprinted in the Phre- 
 nological Journal, vol. xv., p. 22.
 
 398 SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT IN HIS HEALTH. 
 
 " Within the last few days I have felt more like what I used to 
 be. The perspirations are gone, and the emaciation not advancing ; 
 or, if so, less rapidly at all events. My chest has not been examined 
 for a week past, but I expect to find the left lung somewhat freer ; 
 and if I hold on as during the last week, most certainly you should 
 not think of coming home at present. A seton-issue was proposed 
 over the left first rib, but Dr Farquharson found it impossible, from 
 the absence of any substance to put it in. I have had three blisters on 
 within the last ten days, the last yesterday. To my own eye I have 
 not looked so ill as during some weeks of my illness in 1831-2 ; but 
 for ten days I was rapidly approaching to the same point. I have 
 advantages beyond many ; know pretty well how to manage, how far 
 to venture, and when to stop. I am blessed, thank Grod, with a con- 
 tented and cheerful mind, and with much faith in the advantage of 
 obeying the organic laws. If anybody in my condition can be patched 
 up for a few years more, I think the chances are that /may. If mat- 
 ters have already gone too far for this, I shall at least have smoothed 
 the way, and left no room for needless regret. My kind medical 
 friends all act as if I should myself know best what to do, and I am 
 thus left much to my own devices, with the discomfort of not being 
 always sure that I am right. I have, therefore, asked Dr Farquhar- 
 son to take the charge of me as he would do of any one who knew nothing of 
 medicine to tell me what to do, and I shall do it. I am not capable 
 of judging soundly for myself, and am anxious that I should not be 
 exposed to the disagreeable necessity of attempting to do so." 
 
 He used often in conversation to remark, " We have 
 not two brains, one to be sick, and another to judge 
 soundly of the sick one's condition." He, therefore, in 
 his various illnesses, uniformly resorted to the best pro- 
 fessional advice which he could command. 
 
 Under the conviction that Dr Combe was dying, and 
 in the fear that he might speedily become incapable of 
 further mental exertions, George Combe requested him 
 to supply a narrative of his earlier years, and to add a 
 brief mention of his views upon any topics not discussed 
 in his works, which had engaged his thoughts, and 
 which he should have wished to treat in ampler form 
 had his life been prolonged. In compliance with the
 
 HIS MOTIVES IN WRITING HIS WORKS. 399 
 
 request so made, Dr Combe wrote a series of letters, 
 several of which have been published in the first five 
 chapters of this work, and others of which shall now be 
 presented to the reader. In these there are some re- 
 petitions of facts and thoughts already stated ; but as 
 the letters were written in the near prospect of death, 
 and embody his maturest thoughts and most earnest 
 convictions, they derive an interest from these circum- 
 stances which appears to justify their publication, even 
 at the expense of going over, to some extent, the same 
 ground. 
 
 In a letter dated Edinburgh, 16th November 1841, 
 he describes as follows 
 
 HIS MOTIVES IT* WRITING HIS WORKS. 
 
 " I should like to be remembered by my friends, and associated in 
 their minds with pleasing recollections ; but for more than this I have 
 no desire. I think I can say I never wrote a line from a hope of fame 
 or emolument. Not that I was indifferent either to public opinion or 
 to the value of money ; for I wished that those who knew me at all 
 should think well of me, and I was very well pleased if reward fol- 
 lowed my labours. I can as honestly say, that though pleased and 
 gratified, I never felt elated even by the warmest eulogiums on my 
 writings. At first, I was doubtful whether I possessed the talent of 
 clear exposition. The public satisfied me on that score ; but I never 
 varied in my estimate of the utility of the ideas I sought to commu- 
 nicate. In like manner, I never felt carried away by expressed ap- 
 proval or praise in my private life, for I could never lose sight of the 
 length I really fell short of what I wished to be or do. Often when 
 most praised, my deficiencies came most strongly before me, and made 
 me feel rather shame than pleasure. In the exercise of my profes- 
 sion this was a common occurrence. People expressed obligations 
 and gratitude where, in my inner man, I was conscious only of the 
 shortcomings of knowledge and usefulness, and of the really small 
 amount of my own merits. In this way I have received more credit 
 and kindness than I had any valid claim to. 
 
 " I have been deeply sensible of the imperfections of medicine as a 
 science in which principles are yet, in a great measure, to be sought
 
 400 STATE OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 for ; and at times, when I felt my mind more than usually vigorous, 
 I fancied that, if I had enjoyed sustained health and energy, I might 
 have contributed to put things on a more solid foundation. But in- 
 firmity diminished my powers of application, and, along with my de- 
 ficient Eventuality, prevented me from acquiring the necessary ex- 
 tent of knowledge, and commanding easily what I possessed. Views 
 which I thought of some value thus passed through my mind, but 
 these I could neither arrest nor elaborate ; and now, I fear, the 
 day has gone by even for the attempt. My books contain many 
 of these views, but not systematised sufficiently to arrest the atten- 
 tion of an unreflecting mind. My correspondence with Sir J. Clark 
 on the course of instruction for medical students (part of it printed 
 privately by the London University Committee on Education) con- 
 tains more of them, and in a more explicit form, but still not di- 
 gested. The bane of medicine and of medical education at present, 
 is its partial and limited scope. Branches of knowledge, valuable in 
 themselves, are studied almost always separately, and without relation 
 to their general bearing upon the one grand object of the medical 
 art, viz., the healthy working or restoration of the whole bodily and 
 mental functions. We have abundance of courses of lectures on all 
 sorts of subjects, but are nowhere taught to groupe their results into 
 practical masses or principles. The higher faculties of the profes- 
 sional mind are thus left in a great measure unexercised. The limited 
 and exclusive knowledge of the observing powers is alone sought after, 
 and an irrational experience is substituted for that which alone is safe, 
 because comprehensive and true in spirit. The mind thus exercised 
 within narroAv limits becomes narrowed and occupied with small 
 things. Small feelings follow, and the natural result is that place in 
 public estimation which narrow-mindedness and cleverness in small 
 things deserve. The profession seeks to put down quacks, to obtain 
 medical reform by act of Parliament, and to acquire public influence ; 
 and a spirit is now active which will bring forth good fruit in due 
 time. An act of Parliament can remedy many absurdities connected 
 with the privileges of old colleges and corporations, and greatly 
 facilitate improvement ; but the grand reform must come from within, 
 and requires no act to legalise its appearance. Let the profession 
 cultivate their art in a liberal and comprehensive spirit, and give 
 evidence of the predominance of the scientific over the trade-like feel- 
 ing, and the public will no longer withhold, their respect or deny their 
 influence. 
 
 " I have been interrupted here, and had the thread of my discourse 
 broken. Medicine seems to me to be now in a transition state, and
 
 STATE OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. 401 
 
 about to occupy much higher ground, but a long time will be required 
 to bring about a change. Of late it has been cultivated in so ex- 
 clusive a spirit, and so much like a mere trade, that the higher order 
 of minds is rare among its members, and those who are capable of 
 better things all look forward to some great change. It seems as if 
 society at large were undergoing a revolution. Old principles hare 
 served their day, and will serve no longer, while the new re-organising 
 principles are still the subject of contention ; but good will come out 
 of present evil, and happy they who live to see it ! I recollect, one 
 evening, about a year ago, sketching out an improved system of medi- 
 cine, very much to my satisfaction, in the theatre a place, by the 
 way, where many of my good thoughts and resolutions first came in 
 force into my mind, although it is not generally looked upon as the 
 source of much good. But other occupations prevented me following 
 out my ideas at the time. 
 
 " One thing that I have long had a wish to publish, is a sketch of 
 the relative duties of doctor and patient a subject on which both stand 
 in need of information ; but this wish also I have not been able to 
 fulfil. Unhappily, I cannot expound my views wrw fixe, and never 
 could ; so that writing is my only fit channel of communication. I 
 have mentioned all these things to you as they occur, because they 
 may interest you after I am gone. * * * 
 
 " The late Rev. Mr of stopped me one day, to say 
 
 he had read my Physiology with great satisfaction, and that what 
 pleased him greatly was the vein of genuine piety which pervaded 
 every page, a piety uncontaminated by cant. Some of my good friends 
 who have considered me a lax observer of the outward forms of 
 piety, might laugh at this. Nevertheless, it gave me pleasure, be- 
 cause in my conscience I felt its truth. There is scarcely a single 
 page in all my three physiological works, in which such a feeling was 
 not active as I wrote. The unvarying tendency of my mind is to re- 
 gard the whole laws of the animal economy, and of the universe, as 
 the direct dictates of the Deity ; and in urging compliance with them, 
 it is with the earnestness and reverence due to a Divine command that 
 I do it. I almost lose the consciousness of self in the anxiety to attain 
 the end; and where I see clearly a law of God in our own nature, I 
 rely upon its efficiency for good with a faith and peace which no storm 
 can shake, and feel pity for those who remain blind to its origin, 
 wisdom, and beneficence. I therefore say it solemnly, and with the 
 prospect of death at no distant day, that I experienced great delight, 
 when writing my books, in the consciousness that I was, to the best 
 of my ability, expounding ' the ways of God to man,' and in so far 
 fulfilling one of the highest objects of human existence. God was, in- 
 
 2c
 
 402 DK COMBE'S VIEWS OF THE 
 
 deed, ever present to my thoughts ; but it was as the God of love, and 
 not the Grod of wrath as the Grod of mercy and justice, and not as 
 the Grod of vengeance or oppression. 
 
 i " There is one part of my conduct which I rejoice at having ad- 
 hered to, and which cost some sacrifice of feeling, viz., not having 
 married. If there is one circumstance which demonstrates more 
 clearly than another a practical unbelief, if not real ignorance, among 
 my brethren, of the importance of physiology as a guide to the im- 
 provement and happiness of the race, it is the culpable recklessness 
 with which medical men often marry, in flagrant opposition to the 
 clearest evidence of constitutional infirmity or actual disease in them- 
 selves or their partners, and thus bring misery on themselves and their 
 offspring. How very few see any harm or immorality in this ! From 
 the natural affections which I possess, I have always felt that man's 
 highest happiness here must be based upon the gratification of his 
 affections in the domestic circle ; and in my individual case, I believe 
 few things could have added so much to my enjoyment as having a 
 good wife and children. But one of the evils of my impaired health, 
 was its having rendered these ' forbidden fruits ' to me ; and although 
 I felt the deprivation, it is now a comfort to me to reflect that no one 
 is involved in my fate except myself." 
 
 In the following letter, Dr Combe, in reply to his 
 brother's inquiries, states his feelings in regard to the 
 share which his parents had in producing his own in- 
 firm state of health. But it is proper to remind the 
 reader of the facts stated on pages 5 and 14, that his 
 parents were healthy, strong, and active. Near rela- 
 tives of both, however, had died of consumption ; and 
 it is to this imperfection in the stocks of his family, 
 and to the effects of the unhealthy locality in which he 
 was reared, and the injudicious treatment under which 
 he suffered in childhood, that he now refers. 
 
 " In my own case, I may say that I have never felt 
 that God has been unjust in making me suffer through 
 the fault of my progenitors. On the contrary, infirm as 
 my constitution has been, my abiding feeling has long 
 been that of gratitude, that, with such a frail foundation, 
 so much enjoyment has been granted to me, when so
 
 LAW OF DESCENT OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 403 
 
 many around me, apparently more fortunate than my- 
 self, have encountered so much real suffering. My 
 health has been broken, it is true, and in the prime of 
 youth I was laid aside in idleness when others were 
 busy ; but of suffering in the shape of actual pain, few, 
 I imagine, have escaped with less. With regard to my 
 immediate progenitors, / never experienced a shadow 
 of unpleasant feeling towards them for their share in 
 my infirmities. I had the profound conviction that they 
 at all times anxiously desired my welfare and happi- 
 ness, and that they erred from sheer ignorance, which 
 they themselves could not avoid. I looked upon them 
 merely in the light of passive agents producing a result 
 to which their will gave no consent ; and my feelings to- 
 wards them never wavered on this account. I felt it as 
 a misfortune personal to myself to be so constituted ; 
 but I am unconscious of having felt anything more 
 against them or towards God on that account, than I 
 would have felt against the wind for blowing me over, or 
 a tile for falling upon my head. My abiding feeling was, 
 that I was an individual sufferer under the operation of 
 great laws of nature ordained by God for essentially 
 beneficent purposes, and that I had no right as an indi- 
 vidual to be exempted from certain parts of their appli- 
 cation any more than to be exempted from the action of 
 the wind in a storm. But in this I may be influenced 
 by a constitutional turn of mind. Having from infancy 
 been led to expect little, I have generally been con- 
 tented with the reality when it came ; and even now I 
 consider the injustice of the hereditary infirmity as 
 only apparent; and I might quite as reasonably complain 
 of the injustice of being blown over by the wind, or of 
 slipping on a piece of ice, as of that of inheriting con- 
 stitutional infirmity. 
 
 " If you ask, Why did not God effect his aim with-
 
 404 MAN'S NATURE ADAPTED TO HIS SPHERE. 
 
 out inflicting pain or suffering on any of us ? that just 
 opens up the question, Why did God see fit to make 
 man, man, and not an angel ? I can see why a watch- 
 maker makes a watch here and a clock there, because 
 my faculties and nature are on a par with the watch- 
 maker's ; but to understand why God made man what 
 he is, I must have the faculties and comprehension of 
 the Divine Being ; or, in other words, the creature must 
 be the equal of the Creator in intellect before he can 
 understand the cause of his own original formation. 
 Into that, therefore, I am quite contented not to in- 
 quire. 
 
 " All that really concerns me is the adaptation of 
 man's nature to the sphere in which God has seen fit 
 to place him, and the duties which He has assigned to 
 him. On every side I see evidences of this adaptation; 
 while I see many reasons for believing that, with a 
 different constitution, man would not have been so much 
 adapted to the circumstances in which he is placed. 
 Man's enjoyment must ever consist in the legitimate 
 exercise of the bodily and mental powers which God has 
 given him. But place him, with his present constitu- 
 tion, in a world where he has neither pain nor suffering 
 to apprehend as the result of his transgressions, he 
 would, of necessity, become indolent, and have active 
 happiness replaced by ennui. We cannot tell why God 
 has made one being an almost atomic animalcule, and 
 another a sheep, and a third a man. We cannot tell 
 why He has made us with the precise number and kind 
 of faculties which we possess : but, taking our condi- 
 tion such as He has made it, I see laws presiding over 
 our being which tend to the certain improvement of the 
 race ; and if I am placed nearer the beginning of the 
 chain, and am subjected to evils from which future gene- 
 rations will, by virtue of the same laws, partially pro-
 
 FEELINGS IN THE PROSPECT'OF DEATH. 405 
 
 tect themselves, I am in so far less fortunate than they. 
 But, on the other hand, I have had an advantage over 
 those who have gone before me ; and, viewing myself 
 as merely one atom in a great whole, I have no right 
 to complain of my relative position in creation. 
 
 " I regret, I need hardly say, the prospect of being 
 soon called away from a scene in which I have had 
 much enjoyment, and endeavoured to be of some use : 
 I would like to live, and would give a good deal to have 
 my existence prolonged on the same terms, and to com- 
 plete the development of views which, rightly or wrong- 
 ly, I believe to be important to human welfare. I feel 
 regret, too, that at the very time, apparently, when the 
 means of useful enjoyment came, as it were, for the first 
 time freely within my reach, I should be called upon to 
 leave all, and to leave the friends now gathered around 
 me. I even have felt considerable regret in think- 
 ing that now, when I had such a comfortable home, and 
 so many advantages around me, I was to be taken away 
 just when they had been secured. But this regret has 
 been greatly lessened by the consciousness, even when 
 buying the house and planning the required improve- 
 ments, that I was merely to be a passing occupant, and 
 had no permanent interest in them. I feel regret, then, 
 that such is to be my fate ; but I am unconscious of 
 repining, or of blaming either Providence or mankind, 
 and see no hardship in my case to warrant complaint. 
 I am led to think that in this I may owe something to 
 natural disposition,'as well as to intellectual perception." 
 In Dr Combe's next letter to his brother George, 
 dated 8th, 9th, 10th, and 14th December 1841, he 
 writes : 
 
 " Without any marked change from week to week, I believe I am 
 going slowly and gently down hill free from suffering, however, and 
 from any constitutional disturbance. For this I am very thankful,
 
 406 RELIGIOUS VIEWS INFLUENCED BY PHRENOLOGY. 
 
 whatever may be in store for me. It is probable that gradual decay 
 will be the course of the change, although at times I consider a sudden 
 termination as not unlikely. For the sake of every one about me, as 
 well as myself, the latter would be preferable ; but I shall try to sub- 
 mit with resignation to whatever may be my lot. 
 
 " In mentioning Horace Mann's opinion of my ' Infancy,' you re- 
 mind me to say, first, that I read his letter with great satisfaction 
 before sending it to you ; and, secondly, that the favourable judgment 
 pronounced by a man like him, gives me more real pleasure than the 
 undiscriminating praise of less competent judges. He satisfies me 
 that I was not mistaken in the belief that I had sketched, in outline 
 at least, principles which will be of service in promoting human wel- 
 fare and improvement, at the important period of life to which they re- 
 fer. Principles founded on the study of nature require only to be fully 
 developed, and purified from the errors of their expounder, to consti- 
 tute a safe guide to the latest generation. My exposition of the prin- 
 ciples of infant-management will, in due time, be superseded by a bet- 
 ter ; but it is a very great satisfaction to have lived to bring them to- 
 gether in a harmonious and practical form, and thus to have contribu- 
 ted to the eifecting of future and more rapid and certain improvement. 
 
 " I dare say many good men, with their present lights, would look 
 upon your estimate and mine of the value of the truths we try to dif- 
 fuse, as ludicrously extravagant, and indicating only morbidly active 
 self-esteem. But it may be truly said, that in placing faith in the 
 principles we advocate, we place faith in Grod's beneficent laws, and 
 not in our own feeble faculties. I believe that I rate my own powers 
 with a fair share of humility ; and yet I can see no trace of inconsis- 
 tency or presumption in declaring, in the face of the Avorld, that I 
 am convinced that such of the principles expounded in my writings 
 as are true will one day be widely diffused, and lead to an impor- 
 tant improvement in the condition of man. I can say so with all 
 humility, because the principles, so far as true, are of Grod's making, 
 not of mine, and I explain only what He has ordained. I am, of 
 course, equally at liberty to speak as I think of the ultimate effects 
 of your own works in this respect ; and with the prospect of early death 
 before me, I am not in a condition of mind favourable for uttering 
 phrases of mere flattery or inconsiderateness. 
 
 " In regard to the influence of Phrenology on my religious views I 
 think it right to add, that I never knew what peace of mind on religious 
 subjects was, till I arrived by slow degrees at my present views most 
 of them more than twenty years ago ; and that, such as they are, they 
 have stood the test of my illnesses in 1820-1-2, and 1831-2-3, and 
 continue to this hour to satisfy my judgment and support my faith in
 
 RELIGIOUS VIEWS INFLUENCED BY PHRENOLOGY. 407 
 
 unhesitating reliance upon the goodness of the Being who created me. 
 In this reliance, I am wholly uninfluenced by any real or supposed 
 merits of my own ; for I know my weakness on that score. As I told 
 you in a former letter (see p. 34), I am naturally strongly susceptible 
 of religious impressions, and my thoughts turn habitually to, and hare 
 always had great delight in, the investigation and contemplation of 
 the works, laws, and attributes of God. * * * Almost from in- 
 fancy, however, I felt repelled and puzzled by the representations, 
 from the pulpit and in the Catechism, of the corrupt condition and 
 dreadful prospects of man. Doubts thus arose in my mind regarding 
 these points, from what I heard at church and was taught at home, 
 and from the contradiction which I saw everywhere between doctrine 
 and practice. I never had read any heterodox book or heard any 
 heterodox conversation, or had any source but reflection on what I 
 heard from the pulpit and read in the Bible, from which to form my 
 opinions ; and I well recollect, that, even with you, I never touched 
 upon the subject till after my own mind was made up and then acci- 
 dent led to the discovery, that we had both passed through a similar 
 process of thought, and arrived at the same conclusions on the points 
 referred to. Phrenology was a great blessing to me in finally clear- 
 ing up and giving consistency to my views, and consequently in giving 
 me an abiding peace of mind. By explaining the source of my own 
 feelings, and of certain prevailing dogmas, in the workings of the 
 primitive faculties of the mind, often unregulated by knowledge or 
 reason, and elucidating the relations of man to his Creator and to 
 the external world, it effectually removed my difficulties, and threw 
 a clear and sustaining light upon obscurities which had previously 
 bewildered me. It thus gave me that firm and improving trust in 
 God, which has been to me the source of much happiness, and I hope 
 of some improvement, and has since been the abiding feeling of my 
 mind. 
 
 " December 14. I cannot agree with those religious persons who, 
 too exclusively intent upon a future existence, think it becoming, and 
 even an act of duty, to despise their present sphere, and treat it as 
 altogether unworthy of their thoughts. They seem to forget that it 
 was God who sent them hither, and who rules this world which they 
 seek to vilify. If we act in harmony with the conditions under which 
 the organism is placed, and with the moral laws, we not only reap 
 happiness for ourselves, but become instrumental in increasing the 
 happiness of others. At the same time, our nature becomes improved, 
 and we lire and rejoice in a purer moral atmosphere. This is the 
 certain result of rightly fulfilling the duties of the present world ; 
 and where can a more natural or lasting source of love and gratitude
 
 408 SICKNESS NOT A FIT SEASON 
 
 to Grod and submission to His will be found, than in such conduct 
 and such results ? or what can be a better or more natural prepara- 
 tion for a higher sphere of existence ? I think, therefore, that even 
 those who regard this world as merely a place of preparation for a 
 better, ought first to look to their duties in the world where they 
 now exist, in the assurance that the God who presides everywhere 
 will never assign it as a reason for excluding them from future hap- 
 piness that they have been too steadfast in obeying His will here. 
 
 11 Connected with this subject, I have been lately reading a small 
 work entitled ' Decapolis; or the Individual Obligation of Christians 
 to save Souls from Death. By the Rev. D. E. Ford. Eighth Thou- 
 sand.' It is in high repute, and although it contains a great deal from 
 which I dissent, there are some striking remarks in it, derived from 
 his experience of twenty years in actual life. "We hear a great deal 
 about a deathbed being a trial of a man's faith, and of sickness being 
 the fit season to make a proper impression upon a man's mind of the im- 
 portance of faith, and also of affliction being sent on purpose to open 
 men's eyes to their sinful condition. Physiology, which teaches the 
 dependence of sound thinking and feeling upon a healthy organism, 
 and the origin of much depression and anxiety in the opposite state 
 of disease, disclaims the propositions, and affirms that health is the sea- 
 son in which a man ought to make up his opinions, fix his faith, and 
 prepare to die ; and that the anxieties during illness of a man who 
 has done so, are to be regarded merely as symptoms of his disease, and 
 not as indications of his true state of mind. Mr Ford, a divine, and an 
 apparently pious man, has been led by experience to take precisely the 
 same views, and candidly avows that he attaches little weight to the 
 religious visitation of the sick. ' A pastorate of nearly twenty years,' 
 says he, ' has made me familiar with scenes of affliction. I can hardly 
 remember a case in which sickness did not dispose the mind to think 
 seriously of religion, especially when early associations led that way. 
 But how has it been with those who have returned to life again ? 
 They have left their religion in the chamber of affliction, and not a vestige 
 of piety has remained to attest the genuineness of their conversion,' &c. 
 (p. 30.) He continues : ' I have seen sinners brought to Grod amidst all 
 the varieties of Christian experience : some by the terrors of the law, 
 others by the attractions of the cross ; some by a long and almost im- 
 perceptible process, others comparatively in a moment ; but scarcely 
 in a single instance have I found conversion, or even real awakening, 
 dated from affliction. If ten were cleansed, where are the nine ? It 
 has happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is 
 turned to his own vomit again ; and the sow that was washed to her 
 wallowing in the mire, (2 Peter ii. 22.) Would that piety which
 
 FOR FORMING RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 409 
 
 could not stand the test of a return to life, have availed the soul in 
 death ? Let conscience say.' In other places Mr Ford returns to this 
 subject. ' Never can it be too deeply impressed on the minds of all 
 who are anxious to bring sinners to Christ, that health is the season of 
 benefit as well as of usefulness. . . . The sick demand our kind- 
 ness, our sympathy, and our prayers ; but if we wish to save men's 
 souls, our chief attention must be directed to those who need no other 
 physician. Through inattention to this point, some of the best ener- 
 gies of the church have been thrown away. Persons in all diseases, 
 and in all stages of disease, have been eagerly sought out, with the 
 benevolent intention of shewing them the way to heaven ; while the 
 healthful inmates of the same dwelling have been left to pursue their 
 own path to hell, without one word of entreaty or warning. In many 
 
 instances the visitation of the sick is perfectly useless I 
 
 have attended persons in malignant fevers, who seemed perfectly con- 
 scious at the time, and exceedingly thankful for my visits, but tcho, on re- 
 covery, had not the slightest recollection of anything that had taken place? 
 
 This is honestly stated, and is just what might have been expected ; 
 and yet when a sick person shews anxiety about the future, how much 
 importance is attached to it, as a proof of his sinful and dangerous 
 state ! It may be that, in the hour of trial, when my bodily frame 
 becomes enfeebled by disease, and my mind impaired in its action by 
 a decaying organism, the associations of childhood will (as often hap- 
 pens with respect to ordinary things and feelings) revive, and apprehen- 
 sion and distrust of the future again come into play. But if this should 
 happen, I beg beforehand that the result may be referred by my friends 
 to its true cause, and not to a rational conviction of my present views 
 being erroneous, and calculated to be the source of regret to myself. 
 When the mind is so far impaired by disease as to be unable to judge 
 soundly in regard to ordinary affairs, it surely cannot be considered as 
 in a fit state to examine anew the grounds of its religious opinions. Mr 
 Ford, indeed, settles the point clearly enough, and in his opinion I 
 entirely concur." 
 
 On the 24th December, he writes : 
 
 " To continue the subject left off at the end of my letter of 14th 
 December (see p. 139), I may mention that part of the advantages 
 conferred upon me in my professional capacity by Phrenology, con- 
 sisted, first, in the much clearer light which it threw upon the 
 origin and nature of nervous and mental diseases, and, secondly, in 
 the power which it gave me of discriminating the dispositions and 
 tendencies of individual patients, and appreciating the influence of 
 these qualities on the progress of their diseases, and in their con-
 
 410 USE OF PHRENOLOGY IN MEDICAL PRACTICE. 
 
 duct towards myself and those about them, and also in the facilities 
 which it afforded me in regulating and turning these dispositions to 
 account for their behoof. This knowledge not only enabled me to bear 
 without disturbance the many little rubs and disagreeables which the 
 irritability of disease calls forth from some characters on all around 
 them, and which, rightly viewed, are as harmless as, viewed in a wrong 
 light, they are harassing and vexatious ; but also enabled me to gain the 
 confidence of my patients, and soothe and sympathise with them in a 
 way which gave them great comfort, and promoted their recovery, with- 
 out calling for any mere flattery or sacrifice of truth in what I said to 
 them. It enabled me, in short, to address myself to the individual in 
 a way which ' the individual' felt to apply to him as a separate being 
 endowed with qualities of his own ; instead of merely addressing to each 
 words of comfort and good-nature equally applicable to every one, and 
 which, therefore, no one feels as appropriate to his own peculiar use. 
 I know many kind and good physicians who fail to exert any bene- 
 ficial moral influence on their patients, from this very generality of 
 speech. Their skill is appreciated, and, in acute diseases, they are 
 highly valued for decision ; but in the more chronic cases, constitu- 
 ting the large mass of human ailments, their efficiency is impaired by 
 want of individual appreciation. From the facilities which Phreno- 
 logy afforded me in discriminating the dispositions of my patients, 
 aided by some natural tact, I often excited the surprise of the patients 
 themselves, at the justness with which I entered into their feelings and 
 condition. I have not unfrequently been told, after a time, by those 
 whom I had not known before their illness, that they had great com- 
 fort in seeing me, because I seemed to ' know them so well ;' and they 
 were ' sure I was their friend,' as if ' I had always known them.' 
 Some patients of this kind, I have been told by themselves, on com- 
 paring notes with others similarly circumstanced, expressed much gra- 
 tification at the personal regard their doctor had for them, and were 
 astonished to be met with the same assurance from the other party ; 
 having previously been under the impression that an accurate appre- 
 ciation of, or sympathy with one, could arise only from some unusual 
 harmony of mind peculiar to them as individuals, and could not be ex- 
 tended to a second or a third party. This result, I need hardly say 
 to you, did not spring from flattery of their weaknesses, for, even had 
 I used that means, it would never have produced real regard or respect 
 for me. It was merely from shewing an interest in them, appealing to 
 their better feelings as individuals, and expounding honestly where they 
 had gone wrong, and how they ought to protect themselves for the future. 
 In short, I made it evident to them that my object was their indivi- 
 dual welfare, and that any influence I might gain over them was to be
 
 USE OF PHRENOLOGY IN MEDICAL PRACTICE. 411 
 
 exerted solely for their own good. Those who are not familiar with 
 the manner in which Phrenology mixes itself up with a man's whole 
 thoughts and feelings, when he has once gained a thorough knowledge 
 of it and is convinced of its truth, will be unable to conceive the extent 
 to which it really availed me in this way, and will fancy that I ascribe 
 to it what resulted entirely from natural tact ; but I, who know from 
 consciousness what passed within me, and am aware that without its 
 aid, to shew me clearly my own position relatively to my patients, and 
 how to act advantageously upon each, am a better judge in this ques- 
 tion than they are. I was in a position similar to that of a thorough 
 chemist, who, trained to philosophic thinking, lays useful results be- 
 fore the ' practical ' man, so clearly and simply, that the latter is apt 
 to imagine them destitute of depth, and the mere inspiration of ' com- 
 mon sense.' If the uninformed practical man requires to be shewn 
 how the other's chemical knowledge availed him so extensively, it is 
 obvious that the latter could not make the former comprehend him 
 without previously teaching him chemistry. The ignorant man does 
 not possess the elements of sound judgment in such a question. Pre- 
 cisely the same rule applies to my case. You can understand me, be- 
 cause you have the requisite knowledge. But one ignorant of Phre- 
 nology cannot understand me, because he has only the word ' Phreno- 
 logy' in his own mind, and very naturally is conscious of not being able 
 to turn it to much account. But neither could I when I was in a 
 similar state of ignorance. 
 
 " December 25. One great comfort I often derived from Phreno- 
 logy arose from its exposing so clearly the source, in another, of bad 
 temper, querulousness, anxiety, or depression ; and from the spirit of 
 humane toleration and calmness with which that knowledge enabled 
 me to meet their unreasonable manifestations in my patients, instead 
 of regarding them, as I often might have done, as personal and inten- 
 tional indignities. A sensible and kind patient, with large Cautious- 
 ness and moderate intellect, suffers, under the irritability of disease, a 
 fidgetty and restless anxiety and apprehension, which is often ex- 
 tremely troublesome to a medical adviser, and shews itself, at times, in 
 the shape of distrust of his skill, and attentions, and remedies. If one 
 regards this as the result of a settled conviction and as an intentional 
 exhibition of disrespect, it becomes annoying and intolerable to one's 
 feelings. But if it be viewed more accurately as a mere symptom, like 
 pain, disagreeable to the patient himself, and indicating only a morbid 
 condition of Cautiousness, it will rouse feelings of a very different kind; 
 and all our efforts will be excited to relieve him from it, as from the 
 pains of toothache, in the full assurance that the kindly feeling and 
 confidence first shewn will return (if they were ever really shaken)
 
 412 USE OF PHRENOLOGY IN MEDICAL PRACTICE. 
 
 with the removal of the morbid action. In the same way, even the 
 over-anxiety of the patient's friends, who, perhaps, are personally un- 
 acquainted with his medical adviser, sometimes leads them to speak 
 rashly in condemnation of the treatment pursued, and to recommend 
 some one else to be consulted. In a case of this kind, common sense 
 dictates that the physician should make allowance for the natural con- 
 cern of friends, and not inconsiderately take offence where, at bottom, 
 none is meant to be given. But even here, I have felt great comfort 
 in the clearness with which Phrenology shews that such exhibitions of 
 distrust are merely emanations of good feelings over-excited by inte- 
 rest in the suffering patient, and not at all intended to inflict pain on 
 others. A physician can easily tell whether he possesses the confi- 
 dence of a patient and his family or not. Where he feels that he does, 
 and yet meets with a rub of this kind, if he sees its true source in the 
 disease itself, he will rather smile than take offence, and good-hu- 
 mouredly endeavour to soothe the painful excitement of the patient's 
 mind, without for a moment letting it be imagined that he has taken 
 up the expression in a personal sense. The patient, conscious in his own 
 mind that he has wrongly given utterance to an expression of distrust 
 which he ought to have controlled, is relieved by finding that his ad- 
 viser has the good sense to perceive its true origin in disease ; and the 
 ultimate result is increased confidence in him, both professionally and 
 as a man. I have known soreness and painful quarrels arise between 
 well-meaning people, from overlooking the true meaning of peevish 
 complaints extorted by disease alone. Common sense is sufficient to 
 blunt the edge of such apparent attacks upon a professional man ; but 
 Phrenology, I would say, removes their sting entirely, and brings 
 them within the same category as a quick pulse or a throbbing pain. 
 Of course, I speak only of cases in which confidence is really felt. 
 Where it is not, the difference is easily discovered, and then the best 
 course for both parties is to cease their connexion, as unsuited to each 
 other. The same principle applies, I need hardly say, to ebullitions 
 of temper and impatience during illness. 
 
 " The aid which Phrenology affords in discriminating the true nature 
 of nervous and mental diseases, and inenabling the physician and attend- 
 ants to regulate their physical and especially their moral treatment, on 
 clear, consistent, and intelligible principles, is very great much greater, 
 indeed, than an uninformed though sensible on-looker could imagine 
 or believe. The advantage which a phrenological physician has in 
 his own intercourse with a nervous patient consists, not merely in the 
 clearer view which he obtains of the nature of the disease, but in the 
 facilities which he possesses for working upon the sound faculties of 
 the mind, and removing all objects calculated to rouse those which are
 
 USE OF PHRENOLOGY IN MEDICAL PRACTICE. 413 
 
 morbidly susceptible. Knowing the functions of the primitive powers 
 of the mind, he is aware what objects are specially related to each, 
 what ought to be avoided, and what cherished. He can enter into 
 conversation with the patient intelligently, and make him feel that 
 he really knows his true state. This is the first step to confidence in 
 nervous disease ; and confidence, as Esquirol long ago remarked, is 
 the first step to the cure of the insane. I have often been told most 
 feelingly by nervous, and sometimes by insane patients, that I under- 
 stood them better than any one they had come into contact with." 
 
 In a letter dated 23d January 1842, he continues 
 the subject as follows : 
 
 " In speaking of the benefits conferred upon me by Phrenology, I 
 mentioned the great assistance it had afforded me in discriminating 
 the exact mental condition of nervous and insane patients, and the 
 comfort many of them expressed in feeling that ' I understood them,' 1 
 and could appreciate their difficulties and contending emotions. I 
 added, that in this I was aided by natural tact, but that I was con- 
 scious of being guided to a great extent by my phrenological know- 
 ledge marking so clearly the limits between the morbid and healthy 
 manifestations, and enabling me to act accordingly with a consistency 
 and decision otherwise unattainable. Curiously enough, I had a note 
 yesterday from a former patient, which speaks to the point in such 
 a way as to relieve me from the charge of assuming more than the 
 reality, and corroborates my statement as to the comfort imparted to 
 the patient. I may therefore copy a part of it ; premising that the 
 lady's mental health had been overset by a lamentable occurrence, and 
 that at the time of her applying to me, her first attack was over, 
 but for many months her mind had been again vibrating between the 
 alternate states of depression and excitement which were every day 
 advancing more and more towards another paroxysm. Her friends, 
 under a most mistaken idea of her condition, rallied her for giving 
 way when she was depressed, and were delighted with, and encouraged 
 by every means in their power, ' the fine spirits ' of her period of ex- 
 citement ; and being a highly conscientious and excellent woman, she 
 tried to act upon their views, and of course brought matters only the 
 nearer to a crisis. She lived at a considerable distance, and I had 
 never seen her. Her letters, and the answers I got to inquiries, shewed 
 at once the true state of the case ; and when I entreated her and her 
 friends to be even more on their guard against the high than the low 
 spirits, and scrupulously to avoid cherishing excitement, they were 
 amazed and distrusted me, and she answered that she was glad to have
 
 414 USE OF PHRENOLOGY IN MEDICAL PRACTICE. 
 
 my decided opinion to guide her, for that in her own consciousness she 
 often felt as if in her excitement and high spirits she would lose com- 
 mand of her reason and go mad, while she had still so much regard for 
 the judgment of her friends that she was influenced by it. Farther and 
 more confidential correspondence led me to a clearer view of the state 
 of her feelings and understanding, and confirmed me in my opinion. I 
 acted accordingly, and with excellent effect. The friends co-operated, 
 and, the benefit being recognised, the danger was warded off, and at last 
 a state of even mental health restored. Personal intercourse afterwards 
 enabled me to understand the minuter shades of character, and to direct 
 her treatment with increased effect. She has now been above two 
 years in excellent health, and from gratitude has been sending me 
 game, fowls, &c., from the country during my illness ; and her note of 
 yesterday says : ' I have told you before what a blessing under Grod 
 you have been to me, and how much I am indebted to you for restored 
 health of mind and body. I feel more and more the value of the ad- 
 vices I have received from you from time to time ; and how pleasantly 
 have they all been given to me ! At first I felt confidence in you, and 
 oh ! the comfort it has been to me to feel you always understood me. 
 "When I told you of what I had mentally endured, I felt that I was 
 not an unintelligible mystery to you. It was not that you said you 
 understood me, but I quite felt that you did. You never misconstrued 
 or misunderstood me, and I feel you my true and valuable friend.' 
 The italics are her own, and she adds that in any future letters she 
 will not indulge in any such expression of her feelings, but that, in con- 
 sequence of a peculiarity of present circumstances, she could not re- 
 frain. ' I am well and peaceful and happy ; and I know you like to 
 hear this from myself.' These are examples of many similar ex- 
 pressions used by other patients ; but while I know that without 
 Phrenology many of these cases would have continued an ' unintelli- 
 gible mystery ' to me, so far as everything consistent and practical 
 was concerned, how could I make any one who was ignorant of Phre- 
 nology believe the fact ? No one not familiar with its views and ap- 
 plications could understand me." 
 
 " One of the improvements which I think may be beneficially in- 
 troduced into our expositions of Phrenology, is to draw a marked line 
 of distinction between its physiological and philosophical aspects, as 
 is partially done, but not sufficiently, in my article in Forbes's Re- 
 view.* If its physiological evidences were treated of separately from 
 its philosophical, it would be rendered clearer and more acceptable to 
 both classes of inquirers. At present the two are so mixed up, that 
 the attention of the physiologist fails to apply itself to or appreciate 
 
 * See page 371.
 
 TWO KINDS OF EVIDENCE OF PHRENOLOGY. 415 
 
 the philosophical evidence, from not getting either connectedly or as 
 a whole ; and vice versa with the philosopher. If, on the other hand, 
 it were made palpable from the outset that there are two kinds of 
 evidence which require to he judged differently, the one physiolo- 
 gical, shewing the connection between the mind and the brain, and 
 between individual faculties and individual cerebral parts, and the 
 other philosophical, resting, like other attempted systems of philoso- 
 phy, upon its adaptation to the phenomena of human nature, and its 
 applicability to the purposes of education and the practical affairs of 
 life, I believe that it would prove less difficult to enlist fresh minds 
 in the inquiry. The complement of the evidence would be the com- 
 bination of both to clench the conviction arising from each. It is 
 true that we are aware of the difference : but in our expositions we 
 have never yet brought forward the distinction with sufficient promi- 
 nence ; and the aspect of Phrenology might thus be rendered both 
 more scientific and more philosophical, and, consequently, more at- 
 tractive to prejudiced but thinking men. As a theory of mental phi- 
 losophy, it admits of proof by its universal application to human na- 
 ture ; and no one who has ever studied Stewart, Reid, or Brown, can 
 refuse to judge of its pretensions by proofs analogous to those founded 
 on in other metaphysical systems. As a branch of physiology, no 
 one who traces the concomitance of function and nervous fibre can 
 consistently refuse to apply the same method to the brain. We know 
 that the human brain, in its earliest type, is that of a reptile or fish, 
 and that it goes through the ascending gradation of animal existence, 
 till it becomes human. We know also that animals acquire new func- 
 tions with every addition to their nervous system. Now it is in this 
 department especially, that, had you and I been scientific comparative 
 . anatomists, we might have done more than has yet been done to give 
 Phrenology such a scientific and broad foundation as to compel the at- 
 tention of physiologists to its claims and importance. Yimont has done 
 a good deal, but he has left much to be supplied. You and I want the 
 requisite knowledge and opportunities of obtaining it." 
 
 In a letter written about the same time to Sir James 
 Clark, he once more expresses his opinion of the im- 
 portance of Phrenology as follows : 
 
 " I return my brother's letter on the studies most useful to a young 
 diplomatist, with many thanks. I concur in his views ; but he has 
 omitted (I suppose from its being too obvious to require remark) to 
 notice history, and especially historical memoirs and biographies of 
 public and political personages. The latter are invaluable, from 
 throwing light upon the private motives and causes of public events,
 
 416 ON THE PROPER TIME 
 
 and unveiling human nature far more than the mere history of events 
 can do. I could say much also in favour of Phrenology, as a key to 
 
 the human mind, and as invaluable to a character like 's. It 
 
 shews one where reliance can be safely placed, and gives just confi- 
 dence in the good of human nature, from shewing the solidity of its 
 foundations. By indicating where reliance would be unsafe, it pre- 
 vents general suspiciousness, and induces charitable feeling to predo- 
 minate even while providing against the doings of bad men, and 
 many more good things which I cannot now expound, and which, 
 without some knowledge of it, could not be rightly understood. I do 
 not mean that it prevents one from ever making mistakes ; but it greatly 
 diminishes their number, and adds to practical happiness. I would 
 not, had I the last twenty years to live over again, take 1000 a-year 
 and be without my phrenological knowledge." 
 
 In the following letter, dated in January 1842, and 
 addressed to his brother George, Dr Combe states his 
 opinion of 
 
 THE PEOPBK TIME FOR PUBLISHING NEW OPINIONS. 
 
 " You mentioned in a late letter the difficulty you 
 felt in determining, in some instances, between the duty 
 of consulting expediency, and that of publishing unre- 
 servedly all one's views, without reference to time or 
 consequences. In my letter of 21st December, I had, 
 by anticipation, stated some of my own opinions on the 
 subject. Soon afterwards I began to read D'Aubigne's 
 History of the Reformation, and was struck by the 
 difference between Luther and Erasmus in this respect. 
 Luther began by diffusing sounder views of faith and 
 justification, and at this time was not aware of the hol- 
 lowness of the whole system of Popery. He treated it 
 and the Pope with great veneration, and wished only 
 to correct a few important errors. Erasmus saw that 
 he was right, and applauded him. As Luther, however, 
 went on, his eyes opened, and he laid about him to 
 destroy, instead of simply amending. ' Stop, friend,' 
 says Erasmus, ' here you and I must part. Bring for- 
 ward truth quietly and discreetly, but don't knock
 
 FOR PUBLISHING NEW OPINIONS. 417 
 
 your head against the Pope's horns, or enthroned er- 
 rors. Leave them to fall at their own time.' D'Au- 
 bigne accuses Erasmus of timidity and worldly-minded- 
 ness, perhaps with some justice, and lauds Luther for 
 buckling on his armour and marching to the attack. 
 We know what followed. The Reformation came, and 
 all its good and evil consequences. But it is a matter for 
 grave consideration, whether more good would not have 
 resulted, had the plan been pursued of diffusing truth 
 quietly, and leaving Popery, indulgences, purgatory, 
 &c., to tumble at their leisure, by their own downward 
 tendency. The progress would unquestionably have 
 been slower ; but had light and reason been more widely 
 diffused among the masses as well as among the lead- 
 ing few, and had the latter had more time to scan their 
 true position, and familiarize their minds with their 
 own advances, is it not highly probable that the fatal 
 drag of enchaining creeds would have been avoided from 
 the first, and that, from the very dawn of the Reforma- 
 tion, religion would have advanced abreast of human 
 knowledge, and adapted itself to the minds of living 
 men, instead of becoming a Sunday abstraction ? Even 
 in Luther's day, a few thinking minds foresaw the 
 danger of creeds ; and I am much inclined to believe, 
 that had the Reformation been a slower and more gene- 
 ral and enlightened movement, mankind would have 
 been greatly the gainers. The Roman church had 
 placed itself in a position which rendered its downfal 
 inevitable ; and with time its subversion would have 
 been more complete, and the multifarious sects arising 
 out of creeds, would probably have had either no exist- 
 ence, or one less marked by the bitterness of conten- 
 tion. 
 
 " Luther's own history affords some curious illustra- 
 tions of the principle which I am disposed to adopt, 
 
 2 D
 
 418 ON THE PROPER TIME 
 
 with regard to the course to be pursued in the diffu- 
 sion of new truths. His biographer is a warm admirer 
 of Luther's courage and plain speaking at all hazards ; 
 and yet, when Luther lapses into defiance of his oppo- 
 nents, and unfolds his ultimate aims somewhat forcibly, 
 D'Aubigne cannot help remarking how fortunate it was 
 for the Reformation, that he did not fall into such un- 
 guarded expressions at an earlier period, and that God 
 did not permit him to see the whole truth from the 
 first, as otherwise he probably would have assumed a 
 bold tone, and brought evil upon himself and the cause, 
 from the public mind not being prepared and ready to 
 support him. Again, there is the striking testimony 
 of Luther himself. When he was shut up in the castle 
 of Wartburg for safety, after his excommunication by 
 the Pope, some of his more enthusiastic followers at 
 Wittenberg, left without his guidance, trusted entirely 
 to grace and the Spirit, put away instruction and all 
 sobriety of mind, abolished the mass, destroyed the 
 images, turned out the priests, and gave way to a tyran- 
 ny and licentiousness, which set the authorities at open 
 defiance, and regarded nothing. Luther hastened from 
 his shelter to restore order. He found them excited 
 and furious. He poured oil upon the troubled waters 
 with admirable skill. He gave notice that he would 
 preach. A prodigious crowd assembled. He appeared 
 calm and friendly in his manner, told them what the 
 spirit of the gospel was, and what it required. Faith 
 alone will not do. LOVE must be added to it. Observe 
 a mother with her babe, the mild food she begins with. 
 4 How have you done with your brother ? Have you been 
 long enough at the breast ? It is well ! but permit your 
 brother to drink as long as yourself.' In this way he 
 led them by general principles, which wounded no man, 
 into composure and sense, and then gradually diverged
 
 FOR PUBLISHING NEW OPINIONS. 419 
 
 into particulars. ' You say it is agreeable to Scripture 
 to abolish the mass. Be it so ; but what order, what 
 decency have you observed ?' &c. * The mass is a bad 
 thing. God is opposed to it. It ought to be abolished, 
 and the Supper put in its place ; but let none be torn 
 from it by force. We must leave results to God. It 
 is He who must conquer, not we. Our first aim must 
 be to luin the heart ; each will then withdraw from the 
 mass,' &c. &c. In the same calm and earnest manner 
 he referred to the breaking of the images, and the com- 
 pulsion they had exercised about the sacraments, and 
 shewed them that all this was a sad abuse. The result 
 was, that the tumult subsided, sedition was silenced, 
 authority re-established, and the burghers returned to 
 their senses and their dwellings. ' His moderation was 
 his strength,' says D'Aubigne. ' He allowed not a word to 
 escape him against the originators of these disorders; not 
 a word which could wound their feelings.'* 
 
 " Had Luther been always thus self-possessed and 
 true to his own principles, the results would have been 
 of a similar kind on other occasions. With regard to the 
 obstructive influence of creeds upon human progress, it 
 is instructive to remark, that at this time Luther saw 
 clearly the advantage of entire freedom. ' The most ab- 
 solute liberty prevailed at Wittenberg. Every one was 
 free to wear or lay aside the monastic habit. In coming 
 to the Lord's Supper, persons might receive only the ge- 
 neral absolution, or apply for a special one. It was re- 
 cognised as a principle to reject nothing but what con- 
 tradicts a clear and express declaration of Scripture. It 
 was no indifference which led to this course ; on the con- 
 trary, religion was recalled to its essential principle. 
 Piety only withdrew from the accessory forms in which 
 
 * Lib. tit., B. ix., chap. 8.
 
 420 ON THE PROPER TIME 
 
 it had been wellnigh lost, that it might rest on its true 
 basis. Thus was the Reformation itself preserved, and 
 the Churches teaching progressively developed in love and 
 truth.' 1 (Vol. iii., p. 100.) It was a personal quarrel, from 
 jealousy, with Carlstadt, which gave an impulse to his 
 passion, and led him to lay down the views which after- 
 wards he converted into a distinctive creed. But I 
 need not go on. With regard to martyrdom and moral 
 persecution, my conviction at present is, that one ought 
 to abide by them when truth requires it, but that every 
 thing should be done, in the way of diffusing truth, to 
 avoid drawing them on one. When new truths are put 
 forward on their own basis with calm earnestness, and 
 prevailing errors are not directly assailed without a 
 positive necessity for the assault, the public mind re- 
 mains more open to the admission and diffusion of the 
 truth, and a moral influence in their favour is gained 
 by prudent forbearance towards prevailing error; so that 
 when the public mind becomes prepared for the sub- 
 version of the latter, the effete opinions will be quietly 
 replaced by the living truths. All the evils of the Refor- 
 mation arose from, and were proportioned to, the amount 
 of public ignorance. Hence Belgium and other places 
 which received it hastily, went farthest in abusing it, 
 and relapsed permanently into Popery and bigotry; 
 while Brandenburg, which received it with distrust, 
 and yielded very slowly to the force of evidence, used it 
 best, and remained true. 
 
 " I give this simply as a principle worth consider- 
 ing attentively. My own mind is not quite made up 
 as to its universal applicability. But the evils of 
 knocking down without supplying the place of esta- 
 blished and influential errors, seem to me so great, that 
 if it were in my power at one blow to sweep away all 
 errors in religion, leaving the human mind, quoad ultra,
 
 FOB PUBLISHING NEW OPINIONS. 421 
 
 to its existing resources, I would not do it. Changes 
 in the belief and practical application of principles are 
 so very slow, that God seems to have purposely ren- 
 dered us tenacious even of error, to prevent our being 
 cast loose without compass or guide of any kind. The 
 more we cling to error, in ignorance that it is so, the 
 more shall we cling lovingly to truth when we come to 
 see it in all its manliness, purity, and beauty. So 
 necessary, indeed, does the adhesion to even erroneous 
 views seem to me as a part of the benevolent scheme 
 of Providence, that some time ago I resolved to write 
 an edifying essay ' On the uses of prejudice, passion, 
 misrepresentation, and abuse, as means of moral im- 
 provement and intellectual progress ? and I am confident 
 I could make out as clear a case in their favour as in 
 favour of physical pain as a protector to the animal 
 economy. My resolution, like many others, gave way 
 to the dictates of my infirm health. 
 
 " You know I once was desirous that should write 
 
 a Life of Calvin. It is a great work, which the world 
 still requires from some philosophic mind, and will be 
 rendered easier by a book lately published, highly com- 
 mended by the Athenceum, entitled, ' Histoire de la Vie 
 de Calvin. Par Mons. Audiu. Chez Marson, Paris.' 
 He had obtained original letters and documents, which 
 threw new light on Calvin's conduct. It has been said 
 in excuse for the burning of Servetus, that it was a 
 momentary aberration under excitement. But Audin 
 here produces an authentic letter of Calvin, written 
 six years before that time ; and in it Calvin declares, 
 that if Servetus place himself at any time within his 
 reach (at Geneva), he will take care that he shall not 
 leave it alive. He shews himself to have been nearly 
 without any of the domestic affections. He writes of his 
 mother's death simply as a fact, and requests his friend
 
 422 CHARACTER OP CALVIN. 
 
 to procure him a wife who will be obedient, economical, 
 and take care of his health. These, he says, are the 
 only * beauties ' he cares for. His only child dies, and 
 the loss never disturbs him for a moment. Such is 
 the man whose natural sternness imposed its heavy yoke 
 upon those who, eager to equal him, did their utmost 
 to crush their affections, as the best peace-offering to 
 God ! If Calvin were exhibited in his true light, calmly 
 and consistently, his worshippers would be less nume- 
 rous."
 
 DR COMBE'S CONDITION IN 1841-42. 423 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 DR COMBE'S RESIDENCE, STATE OF HEALTH, AND HABITS, IN THE WINTER 
 1841-2. HIS CONDITION IN APRIL 1842 DESCRIBED IN A LETTER TO 
 
 SIB JAMES CLARK. PASSES MOST OF THE SUMMER AT GORGIE MILL. 
 
 ANXIETY ABOUT HIS BROTHER GEORGE'S HEALTH. LETTER TO 
 
 MR WILLIAM TAIT ON THE DEATH OF MR ROBERT NICOLL. LETTER 
 
 TO MISS STIRLING GRAHAM, EXPRESSIVE OF SOME OF HIS FEEL- 
 
 IKGS IN THE NEAR PROSPECT OF DEATH. HE GOES TO LONDON, IS 
 
 EXAMINED BY SIR JAMES CLABK, AND ADVISED TO PASS THE AP- 
 PROACHING WINTER IN MADEIRA. PREPARES FOR THE VOYAGE. 
 
 KINDNESS OF DR LUND. LETTER OF ADVICE TO A FORMER PA- 
 TIENT AND FRIEND, WRITTEN ON THE EVE OF HIS DEPARTURE. 
 EMBARKS AT GREENOCK FOB MADEIRA. VOYAGE, AND SAFE ARRI- 
 VAL. HIS MODE OF LIFE IN MADEIRA. REMARKS ON WILBER- 
 
 FORCE, HOWARD, AND MRS FRY. MR WILLIAM DUNVILLE, AND HIS 
 SISTER MISS DUNVILLE, OF BELFAST, AND MR JOHN CLARK, ADD 
 
 GREATLY TO HIS SOCIAL ENJOYMENT. KINDNESS OF DR RENTON. 
 
 LETTERS TO MR CHABLES MACLAREN DESCRIPTIVE OF MADEIRA, &C. 
 DR COMBE RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 
 
 AFTER the death of Mrs Cox, her second daughter 
 Rohina, and third son Robert, joined Dr Combe and 
 Miss Cox, and formed a family circle. They purchased 
 the house Xo. 25 Rutland Street, lying near the west 
 end of the New Town, and fitted it up with a view to 
 Dr Combe's health and comfort. Double sashes were 
 given to the windows of the rooms occupied by him, 
 and a glazed frame was placed under the cupola of the 
 staircase ; by which means, and by the aid of moderate 
 fires, the temperature was kept high and steady, with- 
 out drying the air too much by over-heating it. The 
 house was sheltered from every wind, and presented
 
 424 DK COMBE'S RESIDENCE, STATE OF HEALTH, 
 
 almost all the advantages which an invalid in town 
 could expect to command. The society of his nieces 
 and nephew was of great advantage to Dr Combe, as 
 they were thoroughly acquainted with his habits and 
 principles of action, and saved him from every care con- 
 nected with household affairs. 
 
 In regard to his habits during the winter, it may be 
 mentioned that, unless absolute quietness was prescribed 
 for him, he joined the family in the drawing-room in 
 the evenings ; and made a point, at all events, of spend- 
 ing some time there every day, in order that his own 
 apartments might be thoroughly aired. He used the 
 warm bath once a week, and every day sponged his 
 skin and subjected it to friction. He generally dined 
 in the middle of the day, and went early to bed. He 
 had many little illnesses during the winter, and suf- 
 fered pain and other inconveniences ; but he made light 
 of these, not to annoy those interested in his welfare. 
 He encouraged visits from his intimate friends to the 
 full extent of his ability to profit by them, and was 
 deeply sensible of, and grateful for, their affectionate 
 interest and sympathy. It need scarcely be added, 
 that he did not fail, in his turn, to sympathise with 
 them in their afflictions ; and in every emergency he 
 was ready to give them the best advice and assistance 
 which his reduced strength allowed him to furnish. 
 
 In January 1842, Dr Scott and Dr Farquharson ex- 
 amined the state of Dr Combe's lungs. They found a 
 cavity in the left lobe of the lungs, and that the middle 
 of the second rib had sunk inward and become exter- 
 nally concave ; that the cavity was advancing towards 
 being closed up ; that this was, to a great extent, pro- 
 moted by a pleuritic effusion of lymph over the situation 
 of the cavity, which effusion had pressed its sides to- 
 gether, or nearly so ; and that a portion of the lung
 
 AND HABITS, IN THE WINTER 1841-42. 425 
 
 lying above the third rib was still dull, and with little 
 or no respiration. 
 
 " This," writes Dr Combe to his brother, " may be from a false 
 membrane and effusion over it ; but Dr Scott cannot tell positively. 
 The posterior portion has improved. If this closing be real, it is not 
 less a rare than lucky accident ; for where a cavity of any magnitude 
 is once formed in an infirm constitution, real recovery is so very rare 
 as to be positively denied by most men. If, by such a fortunate acci- 
 dent, the breach in the upper part be soldered up, there will remain 
 only the lower inflamed lobe. If this inflamed portion were all, I 
 should still hope, remembering, as I do, how very slowly my right lung 
 recovered from a state of inflammation ten years ago." 
 
 This favourable condition did not continue, and on 
 the 23d of March he wrote to Sir James Clark : 
 
 " Dr Scott made a careful examination of me in bed, and reported 
 enlargement of the cavity, two communications instead of one with 
 the bronchise, increase of dulness and disease in the middle lobe, with 
 improved respiration at the very top, and a retrogression in the lower 
 part, which he considers also tubercular. He thinks a diarrhrea which 
 I have just had, chiefly, not altogether, accidental. Over the whole of 
 the right lobe of the lungs, however, the respiration is puerile, with 
 the exception of a small space between the second and third ribs." 
 
 By puerile respiration is meant strong and full breath- 
 ing, as in healthy growing boys. 
 
 His moral condition at this time is shewn in the fol- 
 lowing letter, dated 2d April 1842, addressed to his 
 brother George : 
 
 " The course of phthisis," says he, " is sometimes so slow, that it is 
 quite possible I may go on even for eighteen months more ; but as I 
 said before, the end may come in autumn, or at any time within a year 
 afterwards, if not sooner, from accidental causes. I shall use all rea- 
 sonable means to prolong life, because it is right to do so ; but there 
 would be no great evil to myself or others in any shortening of the 
 decay. To my friends it is a source of painful anxiety which neces- 
 sarily interferes with their happiness in many ways ; and, for myself, 
 when I think of the fate of other younger and stronger men who have 
 gone before me, I am more disposed to be thankful for the past, than 
 to repine at being summoned now."
 
 426 DR COMBE'S STATE OF HEALTH IN 1842. 
 
 His physical state is strikingly described in the fol- 
 lowing letter, dated 5th April, to Sir James Clark, 
 which will be interesting to medical readers : 
 
 " There must be something unusual in my case, which it will be 
 advisable to examine after I am gone. The singular sensation on 
 percussion, the unusual pulsation along a parallel line with the ster- 
 num, which was once so marked, the irregularity in the heart, and 
 the marvellously quiet state of the system at large, all indicate some- 
 thing out of the usual course. Even at this present time, when I am 
 obviously going a step down hill every day, I continue with almost all 
 the sensations of health, and none of illness, so long as I keep within 
 my ' tether.' On exertion, my breathing is hurried ; but, when quiet, 
 it is easy and regular, about sixteen a minute. My pulse, even now, 
 two hours after a dinner of roast mutton and rice, is pacing quietly 
 along at sixty. My hands and feet are neither warm nor cold. I 
 have a good appetite, no thirst, a clean tongue, regular bowels, a mind 
 neither elevated nor depressed, nor yet anxious. My feelings and in- 
 terests remain warm and active as before, and my nights are as good 
 as can be expected with confinement to the house. On the other hand, 
 I have few of the sensations peculiar to illness. Even the cough has 
 returned to its original limit of half an hour on rising, and between 
 twelve and two in the day. All this is, and yet I discern intel- 
 lectually that I am marching at a steady pace towards the grave, 
 and am wearing down in substance and losing in colour with every 
 passing week. Since I must go, it is a privilege to be allowed to go 
 so quietly ; but it is so unusual, that it must be worth some trouble 
 to my survivors to discover how such a conjunction of apparent incom- 
 patibilities has taken place. 
 
 " I told you that I had a vague notion of taking a voyage from 
 the Clyde. This, however, is a mere figure of speech ; for it would 
 be very unfair towards my most devoted niece to risk placing her in 
 difficulties away from home unnecessarily, and with no prospect of ad- 
 vantage to compensate the probability of her suffering from my more 
 rapid decay. I have no serious intention of moving beyond the neigh- 
 bourhood, and there only when mild weather shall come. I have 
 written to my brother, to beg of him not to come home, as he had en- 
 gaged to lecture in the Heidelberg University in May, before he knew 
 of my late diarrhoea ; and I should be very sorry to hurry him away 
 needlessly from a good work on which his heart is intent, and that, 
 too, when everything concurs to favour his project." 
 
 On the 2d of May 1842, Dr Combe went to Gorg-ie
 
 AUXIETY ABOUT HIS BROTHER GEORGE'S HEALTH. 427 
 
 Mill, and passed the greater part of the summer there. 
 His health began gradually to improve, but he was still 
 unable for any serious exertion. He had a subject of 
 painful anxiety in the illness of his brother George, 
 who was attacked with dyspeptic and other maladies 
 in consequence of the cold and damp situation of Mann- 
 heim, where he and his wife had passed the winter, and 
 of his own too ardent exertions to learn the German 
 language. Dr Combe reproved, counselled, and admo- 
 nished him with a brother's affection and a physician's 
 skill, and induced him, after completing the course of 
 lectures alluded to in the immediately preceding letter, 
 to abandon, as beyond his strength, his purpose of at- 
 tempting to diffuse a knowledge of Phrenology in Ger- 
 many, where it had never been taught since Dr Gall 
 delivered a few cursory lectures on the subject at the 
 commencement of his career, and when his own views 
 were still imperfectly developed. 
 
 Dr Combe was incapable of undertaking any medical 
 practice ; yet, when special cases of suffering were pre- 
 sented to him, he could not resist giving the best advice in 
 his power. Mr William Tait, long an eminent publisher 
 in Edinburgh, now retired from business, has requested 
 his biographer to mention, that at this time Dr Combe 
 and his nephew, Dr James Cox, shewed great kindness 
 to Mr Robert Nicoll, the author of a volume of highly 
 esteemed Poems,* who had contracted a fatal illness in 
 the discharge of his duties as editor of the Leeds Times. 
 Mr Tait presented a copy of the volume to Dr Combe, con- 
 taining a Memoir of NicolTs Life, in which the following 
 information is given : " His office duties were of them- 
 selves incessant and harassing. The Leeds Times is a 
 paper of large size ; and in reporting, condensing news, 
 
 * Second edition. William Tait, Edinburgh. 1842.
 
 428 ON THE DEATH OF MR ROBERT NICOLL. 
 
 writiug a great deal for every number of the print, and 
 maintaining a wide correspondence with the working- 
 men reformers in different parts of the country, he had 
 no assistant." ..." He had long carried in his breast 
 the seeds of disease, which, under other circumstances, 
 might have been overcome, or have been kept dormant, 
 but which many causes now contributed to develop. 
 The finishing blow to his health was given by the gene- 
 ral election in the summer of the same year, when the 
 town of Leeds was contested by Sir William Moles- 
 worth, in opposition to Sir John Beckett. Into this 
 contest Nicoll naturally threw himself with his whole 
 heart and soul." The consequence was, his speedy de- 
 cline and death by consumption in December 1837, in 
 his twenty-fourth year. On 10th May 1842, Dr Combe 
 wrote a note to Mr Tait, acknowledging receipt of the 
 volume, in which he says : 
 
 " Had I not been laid up by illness I would have thanked you 
 sooner for your kind present of poor Nicoll's volume. I feel much 
 obliged for both it and the friendly notice of my own and Dr Cox's 
 small services in his behalf. I have read the Life with deep interest, 
 and cannot but feel increased regret from the conviction, that Nicoll 
 fell a sacrifice to external circumstances, and might have lived to 
 labour efficiently for many years had his constitution been less taxed. 
 The remark, that the proprietors of the Times seemed to know less of 
 him than any other body, expresses what often passed through my 
 mind when I saw him. Even to allow him to labour as he did in their 
 service (supposing it had been a matter of choice with him) was so 
 manifestly a killing of the goose that laid the golden eggs, that I could 
 not help regretting that they had seen him ' done to death,' when they 
 might so easily have relieved him of much of the drudgery. But it 
 is all past now, and I trust that the present publication may be use- 
 ful in saving some future Nicoll, as well as in delighting the admirers 
 of his high-toned effusions." 
 
 On 3d June 1842, he wrote from Gorgie Mill to Miss 
 Stirling Graham as follows : 
 
 " The longer I remain in this world, and the nearer the probable
 
 LETTER TO MISS STIRLING GRAHAM. 429 
 
 time of my leaving it, it seems only the more beautiful, and my affec- 
 tion for those I love becomes only the stronger. At least, I value 
 solid and lasting friends still more than I did in early youth, when 
 the novelty of the world and of mankind divided one's attention with 
 them. I sometimes think it strange, and, at the same time, a most 
 kind provision of nature, that even with the prospect of a removal at 
 no great distance, everything retains its interest just as much as if I 
 were to live for fifty years. So true is it, that it is the pursuit even 
 more than attainment of the end, which confers happiness. I read 
 about everything, and in my mind plan all sorts of improvements, 
 with as much zest as ever. Even the lively gossip of ' little Fanny 
 Burney," which I am now reading, amuses me as much as if I 
 had made one of Fanny's circle, although there is somewhat too 
 much flummery and ado about nothing to be quite suitable to my 
 taste. Do not think, however, that I am becoming sentimental or 
 lachrymose ; so much the reverse, that my niece declares that since 
 I came out here, I have been liker ' a big boy,' just escaped from 
 school, than anything else. It is quite true. Who could look upon 
 the rich and lovely face of creation, brightened by sunshine and shaded 
 by a passing cloud, and not rejoice in an emancipation from eight 
 months' confinement within stone walls, with only an occasional peep 
 at dark clouds and a smoky atmosphere ?" 
 
 In the month of August Dr Combe went to London 
 by sea, and took np his residence with his nephew Dr 
 Abram Cox at Kingston-on-Thames, where Sir James 
 Clark visited and examined him. In a letter dated 
 Kingston, 6th August, addressed to Miss Cox, he de- 
 scribes his condition, which is pretty similar to that 
 last stated, and adds : 
 
 " Sir James considers my case an uncommon one. and attaches more 
 importance than ever to my going regularly out (as I have always 
 done), and is most averse to caging me up again, especially for such a 
 great length of time. He suggests my going to Madeira. He thinks 
 no other place sufficiently promising of beneficial results to compen- 
 sate me for the sacrifice of home comforts. He will consider the 
 point, however, more fully. I go to Windsor on Tuesday to see the 
 Royal children, and on Wednesday shall return by the steamship to 
 Leith." 
 
 In September the Queen came to Scotland, attended
 
 430 DR COMBE ADVISED TO GO TO MADEIRA. 
 
 by Sir James Clark, who kindly availed himself of the 
 occasion to meet Dr Combe's other medical friends in 
 consultation ; and the result was a unanimous recom- 
 mendation by them that he should forthwith proceed to 
 Madeira. He and Miss Cox accordingly made all neces- 
 sary preparations for the voyage. In a letter dated 
 17th September 1842, addressed to his brother George, 
 he communicates this recommendation and his intention 
 to comply with it, and says : - 
 
 " I am already receiving numerous proofs of human benevolence in 
 all sorts of efforts made to smooth the way for me. Dr Lund, a very 
 amiable and talented person, who went to Madeira last winter for his 
 own health, and who is married and has a house there, has been home, 
 and, through Dr Scott, sent to me a most kind invitation to come and 
 live with him as his guest. He is to me an entire stranger. I have 
 written to thank him, and accept of his hospitality on arriving, until 
 we shall have had time to obtain a suitable lodging for ourselves." 
 
 When Dr Combe was on the eve of sailing for Ma- 
 deira, he accidentally met a friend whom he had for- 
 merly attended as a patient, and a few days afterwards 
 wrote to him the following letter, which is published at 
 the request of the gentleman to whom it was addressed. 
 In a note to Dr Combe's biographer, the gentleman 
 says : " You may wonder that it is so blackened. I 
 felt the kindness so deeply, that I laid it open in the 
 right-hand drawer of my writing-table, to be often under 
 my eye." 
 
 " Gorgie Mill, 29th October 1842. As our postponed departure gives 
 me a little time after our packing, I cannot employ it better than by 
 telling you (what has been on my conscience ever since), that it gave 
 me real pain and concern to see you the day we met. You were so 
 worn, bent, and aged-looking, as to prove not only how terribly you 
 must have been over-working, but also the real danger of your posi- 
 tion, if you do not draw in in time, and effectually. 
 
 " It is quite clear to me, that under your present system of over- 
 exertion, you stand almost at the mercy of any accidental attack of 
 illness. Wei'e you to take fever, for example, its danger would be
 
 LETTER OF AD1TICE TO A FORMER PATTEST. 431 
 
 threefold greater than if TOUT system was in a less exhausted state. 
 The same with every other form of disease ; and your present state 
 cannot go on lony without inducing some serious disease. And, after 
 all, where is your gain when your toil is at an end ? You seek. I 
 presume, a provision for your wife and family a most laudable pur- 
 pose, and worth every safe exertion. But under your present mode of 
 life, you risk leaving your children fatherless within a very small 
 number of years ; and where then will be the gain to them when their 
 guide and protector is removed ? and where even the pecuniary gain 
 which longer life would have ensured ? 
 
 " Take it at the best, and suppose yon reach a good old age and 
 accumulate wealth, what then ? You live for years a sickly and 
 decrepid man, unfit to enjoy the society of your children and the 
 wealth you have gathered, and disappointment is your surest reward. 
 And why should it be incumbent on you to make an adequate life pro- 
 vision for your children ? Have not you relieved your father of that 
 burden ; and is it not the law of God and nature, that each generation, 
 when grown np, should provide for itself ? Why then distrust Pro- 
 vidence, and destroy yourself for an object in itself erroneous ? I do 
 not wish to frighten you. It is not yet too late to avert the evil ; 
 but I cannot see yon walking straight towards a precipice without 
 trying to pull you back ; and I repeat* truly and candidly, that your 
 appearance gave me much pain. 7 cannot tell yon for to retrieve 
 yourself, but ' where there is a will there is a way,' and you have no 
 time to lose in needless delay. Think seriously of this ; and not only 
 think but aft, and one day yon will be thankful for it." 
 
 The usual mode of proceeding to Madeira is by 
 packets which sail from Southampton. They are com- 
 fortably fitted up for passengers, and are a great ac- 
 commodation to invalids ; but at that time the owners 
 of them did not provide bedding, and, in the state 
 of Dr Combe's health, he feared to encounter the fa- 
 tigue and risk of travelling from Edinburgh to South- 
 ampton encumbered by heavy baggage in the begin- 
 ning of winter. On the 1st of November 1842, there- 
 fore, he and Miss Cox sailed from Greenock on board 
 of the barque Hesperia, a first-class vessel of 269 tons, 
 but clipper-built. They had the society of other two 
 passengers during the royage. The ship sailed admi-
 
 432 VOYAGE TO MADEIRA. 
 
 rably, and soon cleared the land ; but in latitude 47, 
 a gale came on which lasted for a fortnight (being con- 
 trary the first week), and then the build of the vessel 
 began to tell against the comfort of the passengers. 
 She rolled terribly ; for twelve days there was no rest 
 by day or night. Dr Combe suffered severely from sea- 
 sickness, aggravated by smoke and dust driven through 
 the cabin by the inexorable wind. Prom the sharp- 
 ness of the build of the ship, she did not rise to the 
 waves, but ran through their tops ; and hence not only 
 was it impossible to sit on deck during this stormy 
 weather, but there was not always security against 
 the invasion of the sea into the cabin, even when the 
 hatches were closed. 
 
 About the 15th November, however, the wind be- 
 came more favourable, and the influence of a warmer 
 climate was perceptible. The passengers were thence- 
 forth enabled to spend the day on deck, and Dr Combe 
 quickly recovered the ground he had lost during the 
 gale. From this time the weather continued fine, and 
 on the 24th of November, the thermometer stood at 
 68 in the shade, and scarcely fell even after sunset. 
 The air was clear and mild, and the evening delight- 
 ful, the stars shining forth with all the brilliancy of a 
 frosty night in Scotland. Next day the ship reached 
 Funchal, and Dr Lund kindly sent off a boat for Dr 
 Combe, and had a palanquin in waiting on shore to con- 
 vey him to his house. He was welcomed on the beach 
 by Mr John Clark (the son of his friend Sir James), 
 who was spending some time in Madeira, and whose 
 friendly visits were most agreeable to him during his 
 own stay in the island. 
 
 Dr Combe and Miss Cox were hospitably entertained 
 by Dr Lund and his wife, until they found comfortable 
 apartments for themselves in the house of Mr David-
 
 DR COMBE'S MODE OF LIFE IN MADEIRA. 433 
 
 son, a native of Scotland, settled in Funchal as a 
 teacher. The house, like most others in Funchal, had 
 a square turret with glazed windows rising above the 
 roof, from which an extensive view of the sea, the 
 town, and the slope of the mountain above it, could be 
 commanded. Dr Combe rose at half-past six, and 
 wrote or read till eight, when breakfast was served. 
 When he was able, and the weather was fine, he ac- 
 cepted invitations to breakfast with his friends ; and 
 he always retained a vivid recollection of the pleasures 
 of these simple social meals. He rode on horseback 
 from an hour and a half to two hours every day when 
 the weather permitted. Horses accustomed to the 
 roads, with attendants, could be obtained on hire at a 
 trifling sum per hour. He started between nine and 
 ten o'clock, so as to avoid the heat of the day and to 
 be home in time sufficient to allow of an hour's rest 
 between the end of his excursion and his dinner, which 
 was served at one o'clock. He remained quietly in the 
 house till three or four o'clock P.M., by which time the 
 air was cool ; and he spent an hour or more in saunter- 
 ing and resting in the open air, or in paying a visit, 
 but always taking care to be at home before sunset. 
 He considered the time immediately before sunset as 
 more prejudicial to invalids than even the night air, 
 after the moisture had been fairly deposited. He never 
 went out at night on any account whatever. On a fine 
 evening he ascended the turret, and from it enjoyed 
 the sunset and view, which he thus describes in a let- 
 ter to Mrs H Gl . 
 
 " As I sit writing in my turret, I can cast my eyes about, and have 
 a different view from each of the four pairs of windows, every one 
 possessing attractions of its own. To the west, the sun is now setting 
 behind a ridge of hills, with a dark screen of dense and stormy-look- 
 ing clouds fringing its broken outline. To the east, the bold pro- 
 
 2 E
 
 434 MODE OP LIFE IN MADEIRA. 
 
 montory of the Brazen-head is half obscured by a sweeping blast, 
 which has just put a rainbow to flight. In front, stretches out before 
 me the pathless and now troubled sea, with its dozen vessels lying at 
 anchor (for there is no harbour), dimly seen for a moment, and then 
 again appearing all in brightness, and the little specks of boats has- 
 tening to the shore. To the north, the steep ascent to the mountain 
 tops presents itself, covered with neat white quintas or country-houses, 
 rising in successive terraces, amidst their vineyards, and the upper 
 regions enveloped in clouds and drenching rains. Near the top of 
 the nearest mountain, the Mount Church shines forth conspicuously 
 from among the trees at the height of nineteen hundred feet. Such 
 are the scenes amidst which I write, at nearly half-past 5 P.M., on the 
 5th of January (1843), while you are sitting at your snug fireside, 
 with your brilliant gas to illumine your darkness." 
 
 Occasionally he received visits from friends before 
 dinner, but the chief time for visiting was in the after- 
 noon. In seeking social enjoyment, however, for which 
 he had a great relish, he never allowed any temptation 
 to lead him away from the great object for which he 
 had gone to Madeira, namely, the improvement of his 
 health. He often regretted appearing ungracious in 
 declining proffered hospitalities ; but he did generally 
 decline them as forbidden pleasures, and explained his 
 motives for doing so : when these were understood, he 
 was not condemned. At home he had the benefit of 
 the society of Mr and Mrs Davidson, in whose house 
 he lodged, and also that of his two countrymen who had 
 come with him in the Hesperia, and who found accom- 
 modation in the same house. One of these accompanied 
 him pretty regularly in his rides, and Miss Cox occa- 
 sionally joined them. 
 
 Although Dr Combe was particularly fond of fine 
 natural scenery, and Madeira abounds in it, he never 
 once ventured to visit any spot, however enchanting 
 and celebrated, which he could not reach in a ride of 
 an hour and a half in going, and as much in return- 
 ing. Many pic-nic parties for excursions, generally
 
 MODE OF LIFE IX MADEIRA. 435 
 
 occupying the whole day, were formed by his acquaint- 
 ances ; bnt he resisted every solicitation to accompany 
 them, considering them beyond his strength. Within 
 his limits he tried, however, to vary the scenery of his 
 rides as much as possible, by exploring every path. Oc- 
 casionally he had a short sail in a boat ; but generally 
 the sea was too rough for pleasure. At six o'clock all 
 the inmates of the house assembled at the tea-table, 
 and talked over the incidents of the day, till seven, 
 when they retired to their private apartments. The 
 interval till ten o'clock was spent by Dr Combe in 
 reading, in a game at backgammon with his niece, or 
 in listening to her playing on the pianoforte; after 
 which he retired to rest. 
 
 Although, from this description, attention to his 
 health may be supposed to have constituted the busi- 
 ness of his life in Madeira, he read a good deal, and 
 wrote many letters. 
 
 The following letter, dated 18th January 1843, ad- 
 dressed to George Combe, contains some remarks on 
 the books which he had then been reading : 
 
 " Our friend was invited to a two o'clock dinner lately, 
 
 and he told me that the party ' Wilberforced it' the whole afternoon. 
 If you have read Wilberforce's Life by his sons, you will require no 
 elucidation of the phrase. If you hare not, get it, and read the first 
 thirty pages that turn up, and ex triyinta disce omnts. I never read 
 a hook so carelessly composed by men assuming the title of editors. 
 Erery accessible letter seems to have been printed, no matter how 
 manifold its repetitions, how obscure its hints, or how abrupt its ter- 
 mination. Nothing is retrenched, nothing explained, and nothing 
 completed. With some exercise of judgment, and a good deal of 
 trouble, one rery interesting volume might have been made out of the 
 FIVB. Cowper's letters are jewels compared to Wilberforce's, and, to 
 my mind, do far more to excite a deep sense of religion than all the 
 laboured efforts of Wilberforce. The one gives expression simply and 
 naturally to the thoughts and feelings which spring up spontaneously 
 as he writes. The other forces in tke <me topic in att his letters, and
 
 436 MODE OP LIFE IN MADEIRA. 
 
 ' lashes himself up' to a due fervour of expression, whether the mind 
 wills or not. On one occasion, Wilberforce despatched a very hurried 
 letter on a Saturday night, without any religious expressions in it. 
 In the night-time, his conscience troubled him so much for the omis- 
 sion, that he could not rest till he sat down next morning, and wrote 
 a second with the piety, and apologizing for his involuntary depar- 
 ture from his rule ! Only think what a perversion of a good prin- 
 ciple this was ! There is, however, much in the Life that is really 
 interesting. 
 
 ." I have lately read Taylor's Life of Howard, and, I am sorry to 
 say, with some diminution of my veneration for the purity of his 
 benevolence. It was not the simple inspiration of benevolence which 
 impelled him, as I had erroneously supposed, but a compound of va- 
 rious feelings, some of them not so high in character. In one sense, 
 his merit was only the greater on that account, but still one feels dif- 
 ferently towards him. Benevolence was, however, ob viously strong 
 in him, although by no means so predominant as in men like 
 Eustache,* Melancthon, Vincent de Paul, and others. I recollect 
 being disappointed in the very same way with Mrs Fry. I did not 
 find pure and unassuming benevolence so predominant in her as I 
 expected. I suspect there are many other cases of a similar kind, of 
 which Owen is also one, where the act, but not the impulse, is benevo- 
 lent, or benevolent only in the second degree, and springing from a 
 sense of duty in one, or vanity or self-esteem in another. The pa- 
 tronising benefactor has self-esteem at least as powerful as benevolence, 
 if not more so. The predominant benevolence avoids the ostentation 
 of patronising." 
 
 It may be mentioned also, that at all times Dr Combe 
 was a diligent peruser of the newspapers, and drew from 
 them much food for his social affections. Every inci- 
 dent of good or evil that affected masses of men in- 
 terested him deeply, and he watched with the most lively 
 attention all physical discoveries and moral improve- 
 ments, and looked forward, with the greatest satisfac- 
 tion, to their results in diminishing the sufferings or 
 increasing the happiness of the race. 
 
 * A benevolent Negro slave, named Eustache, who obtained the 
 " Prize of Virtue" from the Institute of France, for saving the lives 
 of his master and several hundred white men during the Negro insur- 
 rection in St Domingo. See Phren. Journ., vol. ix., p. 134.
 
 MODE OP LIFE IX MADEIRA. 437 
 
 In the early part of his residence at Funchal, a 
 young gentleman from Belfast called for, and introduced 
 himself to Dr Combe, stating that he did so to have the 
 pleasure of thanking him for the benefits he had de- 
 rived from the perusal of his works. Dr Combe found 
 in him a spirit congenial to his own; and a warm 
 friendship gradually sprung out of their continued in- 
 tercourse. This gentleman was Mr William Duuville. 
 He and his sister Miss Dunville had gone to Madeira 
 as companions to a near relative whose health was 
 delicate ; and as they were not themselves invalids, 
 they had their time and movements much at com- 
 mand. This enabled them to enjoy Dr Combe's so- 
 ciety at his own hours and in his own way ; and week 
 after week added to the esteem and affection which 
 an interchange of sentiments and thoughts recipro- 
 cally produced. The incident is thus particularly men- 
 tioned, because this friendship shed many rays of hap- 
 piness on all the remaining years of the life of Dr 
 Combe. After his return to Scotland, he visited his 
 young friends in the neighbourhood of Belfast, and was 
 equally gratified by the refined taste, simplicity of 
 manners, kindness of disposition, liberality, and intel- 
 ligence of their father and mother, as he had been by 
 the perception of these qualities in themselves. They 
 repaid his visits in Edinburgh ; and almost every year 
 until his death he was their guest for some weeks in 
 Ireland. In Mr John Clark, likewise, he recognised a 
 kindred spirit ; and he regretted the departure of that 
 gentleman from the island so early as March, the end 
 of April or beginning of May being the usual time of 
 returning to England. 
 
 Dr Combe derived much advantage, also, from the 
 skill, experience, and kind attention of Dr Renton, 
 who had been settled for a number of years as a medi-
 
 438 MADEIRA, ITS INHABITANTS, 
 
 cal practitioner in Funchal, and who, as well as Dr 
 Lund, was ever ready with information and advice. 
 
 During the spring of 1843, Dr Combe addressed to 
 his friend Mr Charles Maclaren two letters descriptive 
 of Madeira. They were published by Mr Maclaren in 
 the Scotsman; and, as they attracted some attention 
 at the time, and have been pronounced by competent 
 judges to be both interesting and useful to persons 
 visiting the island in search of health, it is considered 
 advisable to give them a place in the present work. 
 They were not published by Dr Combe in any other 
 form. 
 
 MADEIRA, ITS INHABITANTS, CLIMATE, AND INVALIDS. 
 
 " MADEIRA, 6th February 1843. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, We have now been here upwards of two months ; 
 and as you take an interest in climates, you will be glad to learn that 
 we find that of Madeira to correspond in every respect with the descrip- 
 tion of it given in Sir James Clark's excellent work. Considering, 
 indeed, that Sir James has never been here, his accuracy is wonder- 
 ful, and shews the discrimination he must have exercised in compiling 
 his description. The lowest temperature in December, at seven A.M., 
 in a NE. exposure, was 50 on Christmas day, when there was snow 
 on the mountains, and it felt cold. The lowest at the same hour in 
 January was 51, on the 15th, 16th, and 17th. The highest in De- 
 cember, at one P.M., was 72 on the llth and 13th ; and in January 
 71 on the 25th. On twelve days in December, it was, at the same 
 hour, 70 or 71 ; and in January, on four days, 70. Two or three 
 degrees may, however, be deducted from the one o'clock observations, 
 as a white wall, at the distance of about fifty yards, reflected the sun's 
 rays sufficiently to make a difference varying from two to four de- 
 grees, according to its brightness and continuance. In my room (a 
 large one, with two windows NNB., and one BSE., and without 
 fire), the highest temperature, at seven A.M. in December, was 67 
 on 14th, and the lowest 61 on the 31st. In January, 63 was the 
 highest, and 61 the lowest ; the average 62. This, be it remarked, 
 is rather an important fact, because we have scarcely any returns of 
 the temperature of inhabited rooms ; and yet, as we spend at least 
 four-fifths of our time within doors, it is of even more consequence to
 
 CLIMATE, AND INVALIDS. 439 
 
 have an equable and mild temperature within than without. One 
 may refrain from going out in a cold day, but it is not so easy to escape 
 from a cold room as from a cold external atmosphere. At nine P.M., 
 the highest temperature observed was 65 = on the llth December; 
 and the lowest 54 ; on December 15, 20, 23, and 2S. 
 
 ' I can easily imagine you reading this at home, with your toes on 
 the fender, before a cheerful sea-coal fire, and wishing you were luxu- 
 riating in our balmy atmosphere. I must not, however, even at the 
 risk of dispelling a pleasing dream, allow yon to believe that, to the 
 feliiMs it is always as warm as the thermometrieal indications would 
 lead one to expect. This is far from being the case. Explain it how 
 you may, it is the fact that, when the change first sets in, the healthy, 
 as well as the invalids, often growl about the chill air, and often suf- 
 fer from it too, in the shape of pulmonary and intestinal affections of 
 some severity, when, judging thermometrically, you would pronounce 
 them all a set of discontented grumblers.* Some bold spirits, in- 
 deed, acting on the conviction of understandings accustomed to implicit 
 faith in the thermometer, continue to sport their white summer jackets 
 and trousers, and affirm that it is not so cold as we take it to be ; but 
 it is precisely among this class of invalids that I have heard of the 
 heaviest punishments, in the form of catarrh and other chest attacks. 
 The last week of December, for example, felt cold, and the snow lay 
 on the mountains ; and yet, at one P.M., the thermometer did not fall 
 below 62. The same continued to be the case during the first ten 
 days in January, and also from the 14th to the 19th, and from the 
 27th to the 31st. When it first became cold, almost all the invalids, 
 and many healthy persons, suffered more or less severely, because 
 scarcely one of them was provident or wise enough to don his or her 
 winter clothing at once, and to secure warmth within doors, by wrap- 
 ping plaids round the feet, or even throwing some warm covering over 
 the shoulders. They preferred sitting with cold feet, chilled skins, 
 and blue noses, because, at AOHI, it would have been ridiculous to 
 complain of cold with the thermometer at 62. I was one of the very 
 few who escaped damage ; and I owed my safety to allowing every 
 one to laugh who felt inclined to do so, and at the same time clothing 
 myself as warmly as during our winter weather at home. I went 
 even farther, and wrapped myself up more warmly, when sitting in- 
 active within doors, than when going out to ride or walk. This is 
 the reverse of our tactics at home, where we put on a greatcoat to go 
 out, and take it off on coming in ; but experience proved that I was 
 right. Many expressed amazement that such a frail figure should 
 
 * See Appendix No. III. for an explanation of this fact.
 
 440 MADEIRA, ITS INHABITANTS, 
 
 venture out every day, and yet escape ; but every day brings forth 
 some fresh proof how much and how often invalids damage themselves 
 needlessly by imprudence or ignorance, and how great is the need of 
 making a general knowledge of our own functions a part of ordinary 
 education, and its applications a part of everyday practice. 
 
 In truth, it makes one sad to see so many examples of every chance 
 of recovery, although sought at such a sacrifice, thrown away by fol- 
 lies of conduct even on the part of sensible and thinking people. They 
 imagine climate to be everything, and to dispense with all care or 
 precaution on their part. One approved method of sacrificing health 
 and chances, consists in taking a few days' latitude in eating, drink- 
 ing, and scampering about to see sights, before settling down and see- 
 ing the doctor, because he will forbid such extravagancies. The ex- 
 citement of a new scene carries them through a few days of this ; and 
 while it lasts they are delighted to find themselves so much better 
 already ! The consequence too often is, that at the end of a week they 
 take to bed, and then send for the doctor, and, when the evil is done, 
 resolve to follow his advice in future. One of the latest arrivals, 
 landed a day or two before Christmas, just when the cold weather set 
 in, acted on the above principle. She began by scampering about, up 
 hill and down dale, on horseback, with some other passengers, and, 
 in a very cold wet night, went to the midnight service at the cathe- 
 dral. You will scarcely wonder to learn that she has since suffered 
 severely, and now affirms that the climate does not agree ivith her. An- 
 other approved way of sacrificing health here, consists in those who 
 have gained during the winter taking a week of scampering and fa- 
 tigue before leaving the island, to see the magnificent mountain 
 scenery, the nearest of which is three hours' fatiguing ride from Fun- 
 chal, and which ' it would be strange if they could not say when they 
 went home that they had seen;' for this is often the motive as- 
 signed. I have heard of several who have in this way thrown away 
 all the benefit obtained by six or eight months' residence and care. 
 The larger proportion err apparently from not knowing better. They 
 wish to be careful, but cannot tell how. Several hurt themselves 
 by insisting on going twice every Sunday to church, although the 
 fatigue and confined air exhaust them so much, that they generally 
 spend the next two days on the sofa or in bed. One young lady, with 
 whom we remonstrated, on the ground of its palpably bad effects, would 
 not desist, and affirmed that the air was pure and the fatigue nothing ; 
 but on going, a fortnight ago, to the sacrament, an hour after the 
 time of meeting, the vitiated air affected her so much that she nearly 
 lost consciousness, and was soon obliged to leave the church. From 
 that hour the fact became evident to her understanding, and she has
 
 CLIMATE, AND INVALIDS. 441 
 
 since abstained. But I need not edify you with any further disqui- 
 sitions on this part of our experience. 
 
 " The barren and wintry aspect of the island, and the scarcity 
 or almost total absence of trees on this side of it, took us both hy sur- 
 prise on our arrival. We had heard so much of the luxuriant vege- 
 tation and fertility, that we expected to see something very different 
 from the bare red-brown surface which presented itself. The beau- 
 tiful scenery is. we are now told, on the north side of the island; with 
 the grand and romantic appearance of which we were much struck, on 
 our approach to it by sea. The apparent barrenness of the Funchal 
 (or south) side of the mountains, in winter, arises from the almost 
 total absence of trees, and the universal prevalence of vineyards, 
 which, being leafless at that season, allow the deep red soil and rock 
 to shine through, and give a wintry character to the whole scene 
 which it does not deserve. So far from being really barren, the soil 
 is very deep and fertile ; and when the vines are in leaf, its richness 
 must be very apparent. The depth of soil is, in truth, remarkable, 
 when its purely volcanic origin and the steepness of the mountains are 
 considered. In general, the soil is trenched for young vines to the 
 depth of from five to seven feet ; and I have never seen them arrested 
 sooner by the rock. Even up at the Mount Church, 1900 feet high, 
 where we were yesterday, we found the same deep stratum of red earth. 
 The island is, as you know, merely a long ridge of volcanic mountains, 
 sloping on both sides rapidly to the sea, and rising to a height of 6000 
 feet. The quantity of enormous boulders brought down its precipitous 
 and rocky ravines by any considerable flood, as well as that of earthy de- 
 tritus, is inconceivably great. During the frightful storm of 24th, 25th, 
 and 26th October last, the soil, gravel, and boulders brought down and 
 left within the last half mile of its course, besides what was carried into 
 the sea, by one of the three rivers which emerge at Funchal, would suf- 
 fice, I am sure, to fill the bed of the Water of Leith from the bridge at 
 Stockbridge to that at the Water of Leith village to the depth of ten 
 or twelve feet ; and yet, at present there is not as much water running 
 in it as would fill the Crawley main pipe. The roaring of the torrent, 
 from the rapid course of the huge boulders, is described as having been 
 tremendous. Many of them were upwards of six feet square ; and 
 ever since, about, I should think, three hundred men and two or three 
 scores of oxen have been employed clearing out that same half mile 
 of the bed of the river, and blasting the larger boulders for removal. 
 The object is to get down to the old channel, that the river may not 
 again overflow at the next rainy season. They have laboured most 
 actively now for upwards of three months, and removed enormous 
 quantities of deposit, but apparently much remains untouched. Only
 
 442 MADEIRA, ITS INHABITANTS, 
 
 conceive such a state of knowledge and enterprise, that in such an 
 operation no mechanical instrument except a lever is ever used ; not 
 only is there neither a rope nor a pulley in use to raise the blocks up 
 to the banks a height in many places of twenty feet but there is no- 
 thing even with wheels not even a wheelbarrow ! Strings of men 
 and boys carry away the soil and gravel in buckets on their heads to the 
 sea-shore ; and powerful muscular fellows carry up large stones on 
 their heads, and deposit them on the adjoining banks. Never, in 
 short, was such a waste of muscular power seen. Everything is 
 literally effected by human hands, unaided by other tools than a lever, 
 hammer, and mattock. The only compensating advantage in all this 
 is, that the very disaster has furnished the means of at least six 
 months' employment to the above number of men, most of whom have 
 families. In the present deplorable state of the wine and general 
 trade in Funchal, this is a very important consideration ; as without 
 this employment, many families would have been reduced to absolute 
 destitution. 
 
 " The distress caused by the inundation in October, although really 
 great, was small compared to what would have happened from a simi- 
 lar inundation in Liverpool and many other towns, where thousands 
 of the poor live in cellars under ground. Even in the worst streets 
 here (and it was only they which suffered), there are no underground 
 or sunk storeys, and the ground-floor is almost always occupied as a 
 wine-vault, cellar, or, in some streets, as a shop. The inundation 
 consequently injured or destroyed a good deal of property, but scarcely 
 touched the actual dwellings of the poor, except in one or two streets, 
 where even the second or inhabited floor was partially flooded. The 
 greatest evil resulting to the poor was the dampness arising from the 
 wet mud deposited on the ground-floors, rendering those above them 
 also damp and cold. Much sickness was thus produced, and increased 
 by their destitute state. Many had their clothing or furniture lost or 
 destroyed in the attempt to remove it, and thus suffered doubly. A 
 subscription was raised for their relief, aud the English contributed 
 to the extent of two-thirds of the whole sum raised. This season, 
 about 380 English visitors have arrived. Of that number, the inva- 
 lids may be estimated at one-third, or 127, as almost all are accom- 
 panied by one or more friends, and many by a servant. 
 
 " 8th February. One of the most remarkable things here, is one 
 we hear little about. I allude to the system of levadas or irrigating 
 canals, which is so important as to constitute a distinct branch of civil 
 administration, and is admirably managed. In a country where a 
 mile of level ground is unknown, and where the mountain-side slopes 
 rapidly down to the sea in the face of a scorching sun, and rain sel-
 
 CLIMATE, AND INVALIDS. 443 
 
 dom falls except during two or three weeks in spring and autumn, you 
 may easily conceive what a demand there must be for water, where 
 every foot of earth is covered by vines, orange-trees, coffee-bushes, 
 sugar-cane, fig-trees, and ordinary vegetables. The exhalation during 
 the twelve hours of sunshine must be enormous, and without artificial 
 irrigation scarcely anything could grow and reach maturity. To pro- 
 vide against this want, channels are formed at a great height to con- 
 duct the water from the rivers along the sides of the mountains in a 
 succession of slightly inclined terraces, with a slope sufficient to allow 
 the water to run freely. From these main channels smaller ones 
 branch off to the vineyards and gardens, down which the stream may 
 be turned at pleasure. By damming up one course, and opening 
 another, the water may be conducted to every part in succession, till 
 the whole is thoroughly watered. Every vineyard and garden is en- 
 titled to so many hours of the water, and so many times a-month, ac- 
 cording to the rate of payment ; and the supply is given by a public 
 officer at the stated time, just as the water is turned on by our Water 
 Company, and cut off from refractory consumers. In the summer 
 months it is economised as much as possible, as the supply often falls 
 short of the demand. The depth of the soil enables it to drink up a 
 great deal, and also to furnish moisture to the vines for a considerable 
 time when a supply cannot be had. Owing to the great evaporation 
 from the surface of the sea, the air also is somewhat humid, and hence 
 the luxuriance which characterises the island in summer. The very 
 sound of the water in the levadas, where it runs sparkling down from 
 a higher to a lower level, is refreshing, when one is broiling under a 
 hot sun. In the town of Funchal, the levadas continue their course 
 under many of the streets, and are accessible by trap-doors. Foun- 
 tains also abound, from which the supply of spring water for domestic 
 purposes is obtained, and carried in small barrels on men's shoulders 
 into the houses. At each fountain there is a jug chained for the ac- 
 commodation of thirsty passers-by. The system of irrigation begins 
 at the height of about 1600 or 1700 feet, and if you saw the unequal 
 and broken surface of the mountain, you would admire the ingenuity 
 displayed in introducing it so successfully, where nature seemed to 
 forbid it. As a reservoir for occasional purposes, every country-house 
 has a large tank, which they take care to fill when the water is sup- 
 plied. Many tanks are large enough to serve as capital bathing 
 places, or even for swimming, being about twenty feet by twelve or 
 sixteen feet, and from six to eight feet deep. At the height of 2000 
 feet, the vineyards and garden cultivation cease, and the want of 
 water is much less felt. 
 
 " All round Funchal, and, I believe, on the south side of the island
 
 444 MADEIRA, ITS INHABITANTS, 
 
 generally, the vine is the great object of cultivation, to which every- 
 thing else gives way. It is not trained simply to a short pole, as 
 almost everywhere in France and Germany, but is carried over an 
 arched or horizontal trellis-work of cane, on which it branches out 
 with great luxuriance. The arches are called corridors, and are high 
 enough for one to walk under. The more common is the horizontal 
 frame, at the height of perhaps four feet from the ground, or some- 
 times a good deal more. Under the latter, cabbage, pease, potatoes, 
 and other garden produce, are generally grown in the spaces between 
 the vines. Canes are grown in great abundance on purpose to make 
 the frame-work, and they are very neatly put together. Those who 
 are very particular about their wine, grow nothing under the shade 
 of the vines, as other crops necessarily impoverish the soil to some 
 extent. In winter, however, when the vine enjoys a few months' 
 repose, a secondary crop of vegetables may be taken with little injury. 
 The peasants are obliged to turn everything to account, because they 
 have but a poor bargain of the soil. The almost universal rule is, 
 that Government takes a tenth of the produce, out of which it pays 
 not only the clergy, but almost all other expenses ; and of the remain- 
 ing nine-tenths, the proprietor and tenant get each one-half. Out of 
 the tenant's half, all the costs of cultivation and keeping up fences, 
 and making improvements, must be defrayed ; so that in the present 
 very bad times, when wine is almost unsaleable, the peasantry are in 
 a wretched state. Judging from their houses, huts, and food, their 
 lot must be a hard one even at the best, but at present it is peculiarly 
 bad. * * * * 
 
 " The absence of wheel-carriages and general traffic gives a pecu- 
 liar quietness to the streets, resembling a Sunday in some provincial 
 town. Heavy burdens are carried on very primitive sledges, being 
 nothing more than two flat pieces of wood nailed together, and drawn 
 by a couple of oxen. A boy walks before to shew them the way, and 
 regales them with a continued chorus of unearthly sounds. A man 
 with a goad walks behind, and joins in the eternal shouting, to which, 
 however, he adds the not less intelligible accompaniment of a poke in 
 the ribs with a goad, as a stimulant to increased muscular power. 
 Lighter goods are carried chiefly on mules, which are here of a small 
 breed, but strong and sure-footed. All travelling is performed on 
 horseback on account of the steepness and nature of the roads, although 
 for invalids a palanquin or hammock is sometimes preferred. Horses 
 may be hired at any time for about fifteenpence an hour, and a small 
 gratuity to the burroquero or attendant, who walks, trots, or runs be- 
 hind, often with a fly-flapper in his hand, of which he makes ample 
 use. When the pace is rapid or up hill, the burroquero lays hold of
 
 CLIMATB, AXD LSVAL1D8. 445 
 
 the tail of the horse and keeps op with ease. In this way he will 
 run his thirty, or even forty miles, without injury or much fatigue, 
 and that in the face of very steep ascents and bad roads. But as a na- 
 tural consequence of this severe exertion often repeated, many of them 
 die suddenly from disease of the heart and apoplexy. While they 
 last, however, they are fine robust and active fellows, full of good 
 nature, and very obliging. The streets and modern roads out of 
 Funchal are paved with small stones or large pebbles, and are verr 
 clean and even, but not pleasant for either walking or riding. The 
 continual clatter in riding almost prohibits conversation. We had 
 heard much of the steepness of the streets, and the nearly precipitous 
 roads out of town ; but in reality, most of the streets are only slightly 
 inclined, and not more than three of them are steeper than Duke 
 Street in Edinburgh. Portiotf of the roads are. however, very steep, 
 although even they are not absolutely perpendicular. I have seen 
 parts as steep as one in four, but these are rare and short One in 
 five of an ascent is more common, but in general they are not much 
 worse than our Nelson Street, with every now and then a steeper 
 pull. A few short descents to ravines are sufficiently bad to make 
 one boggle at descending them, but custom soon smooths down their 
 asperities, and enables one to ride down without concern. English 
 engineers with money in their pockets, could easily remedy the want 
 of carriage roads, which, for invalids, would be a very great advantage, 
 as the impossibility of driving out is at present a great hindrance to 
 their recovery. The want of baths in a place like this is another 
 evil which excites no little surprise, as even sea-bathing can be had 
 only at a risk, on account of the surf and steepness of the beach. A 
 prospectus of a bathing establishment was published last week, but I 
 doubt its being successful. There is neithe'r money nor enterprise 
 enough afloat for it. 
 
 " The English are very civilly used here, as they may well be, if 
 your confrere of the ZWaww be right in affirming, that but for us poor 
 invalids there would have been no coin at all in circulation during the 
 last six months. House-rents have risen greatly in consequence of our 
 increasing numbers, and also servants* wages ; but the necessaries of 
 life continue cheap and of very good quality. Excellent meat is to 
 be had at 4d. per lb. ; fowls at Is. 6d., bread* at 2d. per lb., potatoes, 
 green pease (in which we are revelling), and all other vegetables, at 
 reasonable rates. Fruits are indifferent. No attention is paid to the 
 fig or orange trees, and consequently the fruit of both is poor, although 
 the climate and soil are well adapted for them. The poor com- 
 prising nine-tenths of the population are very indifferently fed on 
 soup, cabbage, yams, Indian corn, porridge, salt fish, coarse bread (of
 
 446 MADEIRA, ITS INHABITANTS, 
 
 maize or indifferent wheat), fruit, &c. They scarcely ever taste fresh 
 meat. Every cottage above the rank of a mere hovel has its oven 
 built on the plan of our bakers' ovens, and projecting behind the 
 house. In Funchal, also, every house has one or more. We have 
 two, and most convenient they are for baking and cooking. Almost 
 every family bakes its own bread, and similar ovens attached to houses 
 and cottages in Scotland would be most useful and handy. Flour- 
 mills on a small scale are numerous, and a person carries a peck of 
 wheat to be ground, and waits to bring away the flour with him. The 
 hand-mill used by the ancient Romans is also still in use. I have 
 seen it in several cottages. But I must ' look to the end,' and be 
 brief in the rest of my remarks. 
 
 " The climate is complained of generally as relaxing, and to this 
 cause is attributed the want of energy among the people, and the 
 tendency to let things remain as they are, rather than go in search of 
 improvement. There is truth in the statement, but not, in my opinion, 
 the whole truth. The climate is somewhat relaxing from its humidity 
 and equable temperature, and in summer must be so to a still greater 
 degree. But so far as I can judge from my short experience, it is not 
 sufficiently so to account for the results. The great want seems to be 
 that of a mental and moral rather than of a physical stimulus. Isolated 
 as the island is, and out of the influence of all great public questions 
 affecting the continents of Europe and America, its population lives 
 in an unmoved or quiescent mental atmosphere, which contributes to 
 apathy and indolence far more than the merely physical influence of 
 the climate. It is only once or twice a-month that it hears what is 
 doing in the great world. The shock and the impulse given are dead 
 and gone before the next instalment arrives ; and the people feel, 
 moreover, that their feeble voice would never reach any other country 
 in such force as to be heard. On the island itself there is nothing 
 whatever to excite any interest. There is no public principle to dis- 
 cuss, no science to attract, nothing to grumble at or to amend, except 
 by the roundabout way of Lisbon, which rarely gives back even an 
 echo in response. Even for the trading and busy part of the com- 
 munity, business comes chiefly by fits and starts, and is as monotonous 
 as possible. There is no literature, no bookseller's shop in the whole 
 island, although a few books may be had in other shops, but very few. 
 With this dearth of wholesome stimulus, how can the mind become 
 otherwise than relaxed ? And once the mind becomes relaxed and 
 apathetic, I will give any man a dollar who will shew it to me asso- 
 ciated with a braced and active body. 
 
 " The only trades which seem to prosper here are shoe-making, 
 cabinet-making, and horse-letting. In some streets the shoemakers fill
 
 CLIMATE, AND INVALIDS. 447 
 
 almost every second shop ; they make whitish soft leather boots and 
 shoes for the West India as well as home market. The cabinetmakers 
 fill, perhaps, every fifth warehouse, and neat-handed fellows they are. 
 The burroqueros, too, are a numerous body ; and I never saw any- 
 where greater and more unremitting activity than among these three 
 classes of men, who have all a stimulus to exertion. Among them one 
 sees nothing of the relaxation complained of. Quite as little is it seen 
 among the workmen employed in the rivers, or among the peasants in 
 the vineyards, who feel that their existence and comforts are at stake. 
 Among the English visitors, you find relaxation enough and to spare. 
 But is it wonderful that it should abound in them, even holding the 
 climate guiltless ? They are planted down on a limited space, with 
 nothing whatever to do, with the same scene constantly before them, 
 separated from their ordinary occupations, interests, society, and re- 
 sources, without anything in the shape of amusement, and often en- 
 feebled by broken health. How, then, can their minds retain their 
 natural vigour under such a combination of adverse circumstances, let 
 the climate be what it may ? The demon of ennui becomes the fami- 
 liar of many of them. Some relieve themselves, especially after a 
 few weeks' residence, by a sustained roulade of grumbling a privilege 
 dear to Britons, and which enables them to bear many heavy burdens. 
 The English reading-room, with its library and billiard-table, is a 
 great resource to the young men. The idle gossip or play billiards ; 
 and the busy or reading portion have the choice of an excellent col- 
 lection of rational and amusing books, although at rather a high rate, 
 viz., fifteen dollars for six months. Gossip, as in all small and idle 
 communities, becomes the chief employment of society not by any 
 means from any peculiar malice in the individuals, who are collectively 
 above rather than below the average moral stature, but simply as a 
 vent for their mental faculties, which must do something, unless they 
 altogether retire with Rip Van Winkle to the valley of Sleepy Hol- 
 low, and spend the period of their expatriation in a pleasing dream. 
 
 " IQth February. The thermometer is historically stated never to 
 descend below 50 in Funchal. Nevertheless, while I write (7^ A.M.), 
 mine is eccentric enough to insist upon standing at 44, in the midst 
 of a torrent of rain, which, too, never falls when the wind is north- 
 east, and yet it is now pelting with fury from that very quarter ! 
 The rainy season has apparently begun. For two days heavy showers 
 have fallen, and the mountain tops have been thickly coated with 
 snow. We may now look for a fortnight of bad weather, as also for 
 the mail-steamer and breakfast, which latter will be doubly welcome 
 this cold morning. I was interrupted after beginning to write by a 
 stream of water flowing into my room from below each window, and
 
 448 MADEIRA, ITS INHABITANTS, 
 
 was obliged to sponge it up and try to keep out farther inundation. 
 Having thus earned my breakfast, I bid you adieu till I get it. 
 
 " As you are a man of a tender and compassionate heart, I am 
 glad you are not here to witness, as I do every day with infinite pity, 
 the miserable aspect of the poor children, who, in the main, are without 
 exception the dirtiest, most unhealthy-looking, and most unhappy ob- 
 jects I ever saw. The pale drawn blotched face, thin flabby legs, and 
 prominent belly, are the fit accompaniments of their woe-begone ex- 
 pression, and reveal the darkness, dirt, and starvation amidst which 
 they are brought up. I allude chiefly, of course, to the children of 
 the poorer classes in town, and of the peasantry in the neighbourhood 
 of Funchal. In some parts of the island they are said to fare better 
 and look better ; but it is truly painful to see those within our circuit 
 of about four miles from the town. Even the better cottages have 
 rarely any glass in their windows. The great majority are mere huts 
 or hovels, often dug half-way down into the damp earth, and without 
 either window or chimney, or anything except a low doorway, or a 
 mere square hole shut by a board. Darkness, dirt, and bad air prevail 
 within ; and, adding bad diet and cold, the wonder is not that the 
 children are sickly and suffering, but that they ever survive. In very 
 many instances, the only clothing for the first two or three years is a 
 very dirty shirt, and this even in winter.* Among the natives gene- 
 rally, deformity in all its various shapes, and also loss of limbs, pre- 
 vail more than I ever remarked elsewhere. Leprosy is also met with, 
 and has an hospital for itself, although long since banished from 
 among us by cleanliness and food. I am endeavouring to procure 
 tables of the births, deaths, and population, and shall be surprised if 
 the mortality among children is not far higher than the healthiness 
 of the climate, considered per se, leads many to imagine it. There are 
 many robust fine-looking men, and a very few good-looking young 
 women, especially, I am told, on the north side of the island ; but, 
 generally speaking, they are anything but a fine race, and the women 
 are frights. Both sexes early assume an appearance of age, and the 
 exuberant plumpness of youth is rarely seen. Among the soldiers, of 
 whom from 200 to 300 are daily drilled before our eyes, there are 
 scarcely any well set-up and well-formed men. They are clean, and 
 neat enough looking in uniform, and go through their evolutions re- 
 spectably ; but the round-shouldered slouch prevails, and you miss the 
 firm manly tread of our troops. 
 
 " The people, and especially the servants, are abused in the hear- 
 
 * Some remarks on the defective clothing of these children will be 
 found in Dr Combe's Treatise on Infancy, p. 112, 6th edit.
 
 CLIMATE, AND INVALIDS. 449 
 
 tiest fashion by our countrymen as dishonest, rapacious, and untrust- 
 worthy. They are, however, good-natured, obliging, and apt, and 
 perhaps not so much worse than ourselves as they are called. At 
 any rate, if thorough distrust and suspicion have any deteriorating 
 influence on character, some allowance may be made for them ; for 
 such are the feelings with which they are generally met and treated 
 by their English employers. The old English residents have no 
 difficulty in obtaining good servants ; and several speak of having 
 some still in their houses, after from seven to twenty-five years' 
 service. 
 
 " Very palpable traces of the Moorish features are not infrequent, 
 and specimens appear now and then apparently perfectly pure. As 
 a people, the natives of Madeira are far from deficient in quickness 
 or intelligence ; and with education and a good government, they 
 might rise much higher in the scale of civilisation. The revolutions 
 in their government proved this. The news of a free constitution 
 was received with great and almost universal satisfaction ; and for a 
 time a wide and active popular interest was excited, and, if report 
 be correct, shewed itself in a more rational and less capricious form 
 than in some other countries. But after a time, all this was officially 
 discouraged ; and now all is said to be again quiet, and attention is 
 directed chiefly to commercial evils. So, at least, I am told ; for I 
 have no personal means of knowing. Two journals appear weekly 
 the Defensor and the Impartial. They are published on Saturday, 
 and are as large as a sheet of ordinary scrolling paper. The De- 
 fensor is the Scotsman of Madeira, and read by us, of course, in honour 
 of you. 
 
 " To give you an idea of our position, I may mention that in 1842 
 the number of vessels arriving was 366 ; and of these 188 were Eng- 
 lish, including 12 Brazilian packets and 24 West India mail-steamers. 
 Almost every one of these 188 was outward bound ; and the oppor- 
 tunities home are so few and rare, that Madeira reminds me very 
 much of a mouse-trap, into which it is very easy to enter, but from 
 which it is uncommonly difficult to escape. I used to laugh at my 
 friend the ' Wanderer'* coming home from Madeira by the West Indies 
 and New York, and fancied he might have shortened the road, if in- 
 clined to do so. Now, however, I take a different view, and think 
 him a lucky and wise man who can get safely out of the trap by any 
 of its holes, no matter whether it be the same by which he entered 
 or not. 
 
 * Dr W. P. Cumining, author of " Notes of a Wanderer in Search 
 of Health." 
 
 2 F
 
 450 MADEIRA, ITS INHABITANTS, 
 
 " 11$ February. The Defensor of to-day says that the ultimatum of 
 a treaty with England has been forwarded from Lisbon to London 
 by the last steamer, and that a very favourable result is confidently 
 anticipated. ' Meantime,' it says, ' the picture presented by the island 
 cannot possibly be blacker ! Poverty augments in a fearful manner ! !' 
 It says, also, that the clearing of the river has been carried on with 
 a rapidity which has surprised it, and ' shews what Madeira hands can 
 do, even when ill paid. 1 This is quite true. The results are astonish- 
 ing, considering the means. The daily wage is said to be only lOd. 
 a-day for such hard work, but I can scarcely believe it. 
 
 6th March. Oh for Rowland Hill or Mr "Wallace ! No opportunity 
 till 8th March of sending away a letter begun on 6th February." 
 
 " MADEIRA, April 15, 1843. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, My former letter, dated in February, had re- 
 ference only to the two pi-eceding months of December and January. 
 At the time it was in progress, the rainy season or bad weather was 
 just setting in. The first week of February was fine and pleasant to 
 those who could move about, but rather cool for any one remaining 
 inactive. At seven in the morning, the thermometer usually stood 
 somewhere between 50 and 56, and between 64 and 69 in the 
 middle of the day. At the former hour, the lowest temperature of 
 the month (and also of the season) was 44 on the 10th, and 46 on 
 the 18th. The lowest at one P.M. was, on the same days, 53 and 55 
 respectively. The highest at seven in the morning was 61 on the 
 20th, and at one o'clock 72 on the 24th and 28th. The general 
 temperature in the morning was about 55, and at one o'clock about 
 64. On ten days the thermometer at one o'clock was at or above 
 68, and on only three days it fell below 60 in the middle of the day. 
 During the whole month the winter month par excellence the ther- 
 mometer in my large airy room, without either fire or fire-place, 
 never fell below 60 at seven in the morning, except on the llth, 12th, 
 and 13th, when it indicated 58 and 59. At one o'clock it stood on 
 two days at 60, on four at 61, on five at 63, and at either 64 or 
 65 on all the other days of the month ! 
 
 " As to the character of the weather, it was, as I said, fine, though 
 cool, during the first week. The 7th, however, proved to be the 
 beginning of a long tract of unusually bad weather. From that day 
 down to the 23d, or rather the 27th, we had an almost constantly 
 clouded sky, frequent heavy rains, occasional thunder, and continual 
 gales from south-west to north-west, which compelled the vessels in 
 the roadstead to put to sea, and prevented some of them from return- 
 ing till the 27th. On the night of the 16th, a momentary hurricane
 
 CLIMATE, AND INVALIDS. 451 
 
 of great fury wrecked the only vessel which, from being at the time 
 without either cargo or ballast, was unable to run out. For nearly 
 three weeks the mountains were more or less thickly coated with 
 snow, which descended lower and lay longer than for many years past. 
 I saw it one day, indeed, nearly as low as within 2000 feet of the 
 level of the sea. During all this time I felt cool, and sometimes even 
 cold, especially when sitting in a state of bodily inactivity. For 
 about a week the air was also heavy, damp, and relaxing, and among 
 those who exposed themselves unguardedly, clothed too lightly, or 
 lived too freely, indigestion and bowel-complaints were prevalent ; 
 but generally they were easily warded off by warm clothing, prudence, 
 and a somewhat sparer diet. 
 
 " During the month of March, again, the lowest temperature, at 
 half-past six A.M., was 53 on the 6th and 7th, and 54 on the 4th, 
 13th, 14th, 17th, 19th, and 28th ; and the highest at the same hour 
 was 64 on the 30th. On eight days it was at or above 60. At one 
 o'clock, the highest was 75 on the 26th and 29th, and the lowest 
 64 on the loth and 18th. On fourteen days it was at or above 70, 
 and the general temperature was about 68 or 69. In my room, 
 without fire, the lowest in the morning was 63, and the highest 66. 
 At one o'clock the lowest was 64, the highest 67, the average being 
 65. The greatest variation in my room during the month was scarcely 
 four degrees. The first week of March was fine, but felt cold in the 
 shade. The last three weeks were humid, but more boisterous and 
 relaxing than usual. Indigestion and bilious diarrhoea again pre- 
 vailed for ten days among the more delicate or incautious invalids. 
 From the 10th to the 27th it often blew heavily at sea, and for a 
 week no vessels could remain in the roadstead. During both months 
 there was a remarkable prevalence of west or south-west winds, the 
 ordinary wind and steady weather being from the north-east. The 
 season, as a whole, was considered as not only more boisterous and 
 unsettled, but also colder, moister, and more rainy than usual, and on 
 all hands complaints were heard of its severity. Even the Defensor 
 became eloquent on the subject of their inverno horroroso (horrible 
 winter) of twenty days. In some respects, however, I am inclined to 
 think that it was more abused than it deserved ; at least it fell 
 scarcely at all short of my expectations, and I consequently was not 
 so much disappointed as many were with the reality. 
 
 " After the first three days of April, the north-east wind resumed 
 its place, and brought with it an agreeable temperature and fine 
 weather. The thermometer ranged from 58 or 60 at six o'clock 
 A.M., to 70 or 74 at one o'clock, till Saturday the 8th, when the 
 pure este, or African east wind, set in dry and scorching, and raised
 
 452 MADEIRA, ITS INHABITANTS, 
 
 the thermometer in the shade, at one P.M., to 82 on the 8th, 88 on 
 the 9th, and 84 on the 10th ; while at six A.M. it reached 56, 72, 
 and 70, on the same days. The wind then returned to the north- 
 east, and the thermometer fell to from 70 to 75 at one o'clock, with 
 occasional showers. At my window the thermometer was affected at 
 the mid-day observation to the extent of 3 or 4, as formerly men- 
 tioned, by the reflection from a white wall at some distance ; but on 
 the 9th, one completely in the shade at the Deanery, 400 feet above 
 the sea, stood at 83. The hygrometer, which usually indicated 12, 
 stood at 52 at the extremity of the scale ; and the air was so dry, 
 that three pints of water sprinkled on the floor of my room from time 
 to time, were wholly dried up within two hours. Exercise was then 
 out of the question. On the morning of yesterday (the 14th), within 
 five days after the thermometer was at 88, the mountains were again 
 coated with snow, and the temperature so low as 52 at six A.M., and 
 to-day it is 53. At mid-day, however, it reached 68 even yesterday, 
 and it promises to be soon fine again. 
 
 " From this abstract you will see that, in some seasons at least, the 
 climate of Madeira is not free from the changes and inequalities with 
 which other regions are visited in a higher degree. But while this 
 is broadly admitted, due weight ought also to be attached to its re- 
 lative excellencies. What the invalid requires most is a mild and 
 equable temperature, and tolerably fine weather, during the months 
 of January, February, March, April, and May ; for there are many 
 places in Italy, along the shores of the Mediterranean, and even in 
 England, sufficiently mild and pleasant to constitute a suitable resi- 
 dence for him during the autumn months, extending up to Christmas. 
 But it is precisely during the above four or five months, that even the 
 best of our European climates often grievously disappoints our ex- 
 pectations, and makes the invalid regret having forsaken the com- 
 forts of home. Every one who has had any experience of Rome, Pisa, 
 Nice, Naples, or even Malta, is well aware, that during these months, 
 cold dry penetrating easterly or north winds prevail more or less, and 
 are productive not only of great discomfort, but of considerable danger 
 to the incautious invalid. Being generally accompanied with bright 
 sunshine, which gives to everything an appearance of warmth and 
 cheerfulness, the reverse of the reality, the invalid is often tempted 
 to expose himself unguardedly to their influence ; and after being 
 heated by the sun's rays, he suddenly finds himself, on turning into 
 the shade, chilled and shivering. Even in the house it is very diffi- 
 cult to protect one's self against these winds, and many relapses and 
 attacks of illness date their origin from them. After having myself 
 spent three winters in Italy and the south of France as an invalid, I
 
 CLIMATE, AXD INVALIDS. 453 
 
 have no hesitation in affirming that the winter just ended here, bad 
 as it is said to hare been by all who have resided some years on the 
 island, was, with all its imperfections, incomparably superior to the b&t 
 of the three I spent in the south of Europe, in the great requisites of 
 mildness, equability, and general fitness for the pulmonary invalid. 
 Even here, prudentt is no doubt required. But nowhere that I know 
 of will a rational-minded patient find a residence so free from objec- 
 tion, and combining so many advantages to reward the self-denial and 
 sacrifices incurred by him in his search after health. Xo climate, 
 indeed, were it as fine as that of paradise itself, can ever supersede 
 the necessity of constant attention to healthful habits, and a well- 
 devised regimen. A good climate is a powerful element in the resto- 
 ration of health, bnt it is only one out of many conditions ; and if 
 its influence be counteracted, as it often is, by thoughtlessness, rash- 
 ness, or ignorance, disappointment must ensue. So far, then, as dimak 
 alone is concerned, I give a most decided preference to Madeira over 
 Italy for the pulmonary invalid. This limitation is called for, be- 
 cause there are persons whom the isolation and monotony of this 
 island would weary and depress to an extent more than sufficient to 
 neutralise the superior advantages of its mere climate over that of Italy. 
 " Practically, you will have a better notion of the nature of the 
 climate when I tell you, that notwithstanding all our so-called se- 
 vere winter, I was not confined to the house by the weather more 
 than three or four whole days in four months, with the exception 
 of two days of the esk, when the excessive htat made it unsafe to 
 go out Except on two days, I found a greatcoat too warm to walk 
 in ; and after trying a Macintosh two or three times for fear of 
 rain, when riding out, I laid it aside as oppressive, and preferred 
 taking my chance of getting wet. On four occasions I was accord- 
 ingly overtaken by rain, and on one of them thoroughly drenched ; 
 bnt even then, by continuing my usual quiet pace, to avoid getting 
 overheated by riding faster. and changing my dress immediately on 
 my return, I escaped all injury. Within <fx/r$ here, instead of suffer- 
 ing painfully from the feeling of cold, as I did in both Rome and 
 Naples, and being injured in health by it, I felt scarcely any disagree- 
 able sensation which I could not readily obviate ; and out of doors, 
 gentle exercise on foot or on horseback kept me comfortably warm, 
 even in the coldest weather. The temperature of my room was, as 
 already remarked, only twice below 60, and in general stood at 65 C . 
 The extreme variation observed in it during four months of the worst 
 season was only from 58 = to 66, except during the three days of the 
 este, when it reached 71 ; but it very rarely varied more than 2 C in 
 twenty-four hours.
 
 454 CLIMATE OF MADEIRA. 
 
 " This great equability of temperature within doors, where one 
 spends at least five-sixths of one's time, constitutes, in my opinion, the 
 peculiar excellence of the climate ; and I question whether it is paral- 
 leled even in our best-regulated hothouses. In Italy, most certainly, 
 it is not to be found. When changes in the weather did occur here, 
 it frequently felt cool, and sometimes even cold ; but that sensation 
 was easily dispelled out of doors by exercise, and within by attention 
 to diet and sufficiency of clothing ; and from a good deal of observa- 
 tion, I am inclined to infer that where any one suffered from it, the 
 fault lay generally with himself, except in some few cases where the 
 power of generating caloric was morbidly impaired, or the patient 
 lived in an unfavourable locality. With a few exceptions, the gene- 
 ral weather of the last four months reminds me greatly of a good 
 (not hot) summer at home. There has been, however, much more 
 sunshine, and the air has been purer and softer. If such be the cha- 
 racter of a bad winter in Madeira, you may imagine what a good one 
 must be. 
 
 " In further corroboration of my own estimate of the climate, and 
 of the extent to which, even here, the advantage to be derived from 
 it depends on the prudence or imprudence of the patient himself, I 
 may mention a remark lately spontaneously made to me by the most 
 experienced of the English physicians residing on the island. In 
 talking of the weather, he said that the season had really been the 
 worst he remembered for a long time, but that ' nevertheless the invalids 
 generally had done remarkably well.'' The only explanation of the fact 
 which he could offer was, that the weather having been more un- 
 settled than usual, the invalids felt themselves obliged to be more than 
 usually prudent in their conduct and mode of life ; and hence the 
 happier results. From my own observation, I am convinced of the 
 truth of both the fact and the explanation ; and as it is calculated to 
 impress the delicate with the folly of trusting to change of climate 
 alone, and with the indispensable necessity of a steady and judicious 
 co-operation on their part with the efforts of their medical advisers, I 
 am anxious that the lesson should not be overlooked. At the same 
 time, I rejoice to be able to say, that there is now much more dis- 
 crimination shewn in the selection of the cases sent abroad for the 
 recovery of health. One meets much more rarely than formerly with 
 those distressing examples of patients sent out in the last stage of 
 irremediable disease, only to die amidst strangers in a foreign land. 
 A few such still occur ; but most of them have come of their own 
 accord, and against the opinion or remonstrances of their professional 
 advisers. 
 
 " During the cold weather, such as it is, the town or immediate
 
 RETURN TO ENGLAND. 455 
 
 neighbourhood of Funchal is the best, because the warmest and most 
 sheltered, situation for the invalid. An elevation of a few hundred 
 feet offers the advantages of a finer view, and perhaps purer air, but 
 it is also colder and more exposed." 
 
 On the 22d of April, Dr Combe and Miss Cox sailed 
 from Madeira in the " Vernon," one of the regular 
 packet-ships, on their return home. There were a 
 number of passengers on board, who formed agreeable 
 society, and Captain Webster paid every attention to 
 their comfort. As the weather was tolerably good, 
 the voyage proved rather pleasant, and was happily 
 terminated by the safe arrival of the ship at Cowes on 
 the 7th of May 1843.
 
 456 DR COMBE'S OPINION OF HOMCEOPATHY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 DR COMBE'S OPINION OP HOMOZOPATHY. HE PROCEEDS TO EDINBURGH. 
 
 ADVISES HIS BROTHER GEORGE TO VISIT THE GERMAN MINERAL 
 
 WATERING-PLACES FOR THE RESTORATION OF HIS HEALTH. PRAC- 
 TICAL REMARKS FOR HIS GUIDANCE. VISITS MR DUNVILLE AT 
 RUSH PARK, BELFAST. LETTER TO GEORGE COMBE ON ITALY AS A 
 WINTER CLIMATE FOR A CONVALESCENT PATIENT. DR COMBE IS 
 ORDERED TO PASS A SECOND WINTER IN MADEIRA HIS VOYAGE 
 CONDITION OF INVALID PASSENGERS ON BOARD. STATE OF MADEIRA 
 IN WINTER 1843-4. IMPRISONMENT OF DR K ALLEY. PRECAU- 
 TIONS TO BE USED IN VISITING GALLERIES OF ART AND RUINS IN 
 ITALY. EFFECTS ON PATIENTS OF THEIR SCEPTICISM ON THE SUB- 
 JECT OF MEDICINE. DR COMBE RETURNS TO ENGLAND VIA LISBON. 
 
 FROM Cowes Dr Combe proceeded to Kingston-on- 
 Thames, where he remained three weeks with his 
 nephew, Dr Abram Cox, until the weather should be- 
 come sufficiently mild to render it safe for him to pro- 
 ceed to Scotland. In a letter dated Kingston, 16th May 
 1843, addressed to George Combe, he again gives his 
 
 OPINION OF HOMCEOPATHY. 
 
 " I am not, and for a long time have not been, hostile to Homoeo- 
 pathy. I have long thought that the Homceopathists have made out 
 a case for serious enquiry, and on that ground urged our medical 
 nephews to avail themselves of the opportunities presented to them to 
 investigate its claims, and verify them in practical observation. If 
 I were to continue in my profession, I should consider it a duty to 
 test these claims. There are many analogies in their favour, not only 
 in Liebig, but in nature ; but there are also numerous difficulties.
 
 GERMAN MINERAL WATERS. 457 
 
 From personal knowledge I do not hold myself entitled either to adopt 
 or condemn the principles of the Homo3opathists." 
 
 Sir James Clark went to Kingston, and, after ex- 
 amining Dr Combe's condition minutely, on 23d May 
 wrote to George Combe as follows : 
 
 " You will be glad to hear that my examination of your brother's 
 chest was very satisfactory. I cannot say that there is any diminu- 
 tion in the extent of the disease. Much the greater part of the left 
 lung is implicated ; but the malady is evidently in a more subdued 
 state generally, and in no part could I discover any increase in its 
 progress. With a continuance of his judicious management of him- 
 self, I do entertain the hope that he may be spared to us ; and I am 
 strengthened in this hope by the sound state of the right lung, and 
 this, too, when many years ago it was considered to be extensively and 
 irrecoverably diseased. The effect of the winter in Madeira has, I 
 think, been good, both negatively and positively. By going there 
 your brother escaped deleterious influences to which he would have 
 been exposed had he remained at home, and his general health was 
 maintained in a good state. His system has escaped the injurious 
 effects of a Scotch winter ; or rather, the advantages of a summer at 
 home have been gained by the winter in Madeira. If the social ad- 
 vantages of Madeira were equal to its climate, I would be an advo- 
 cate for his spending several more winters there." 
 
 In the first week of June Dr Combe left London by 
 a steam-ship, and arrived without mishap at his own 
 house in Edinburgh. There he remained only a brief 
 space. His brother George had returned from Ger- 
 many in October 1842, still suffering in health, and 
 passed the winter 18423 in Edinburgh. In June 1843 
 Dr Combe found him improved, but not restored to his 
 ordinary condition ; and as he regarded too long-con- 
 tinued and too severe mental exertion as the cause of 
 George's indisposition, which had now assumed the 
 form of a general weakness of the vital functions, rather 
 than that of any serious specific disease, he strongly 
 recommended to him to proceed to Germany, take a 
 course of mineral waters at such of the Spas as might
 
 458 MEDICAL RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 be recommended by local physicians as most suitable 
 to his circumstances, and to pass the ensuing winter 
 at Rome or Naples in complete relaxation. This ad- 
 vice was immediately followed, and within a week after 
 Dr Combe's arrival in Edinburgh, Mr and Mrs Combe 
 set out for Ems. On the 7th June 1843, Dr Combe 
 wrote to his brother as follows : 
 
 " I have not had sufficient practical experience of any of the Ger- 
 man waters to warrant my acting as your guide in their use ; hut I 
 have seen more than enough to convince me, that, judiciously selected 
 and applied, they are capahle of doing your system a radical service. 
 For the details of their application, however, I must leave you to 
 local advice. But let me add one caution. In consulting any phy- 
 sician, in whatever country, ask him to point out which place it is best 
 for you to go to, before telling him which you would prefer. Such is human 
 weakness, and such are the aberrations into which Love of Approba- 
 tion sometimes leads even good men, that the mere indication of your 
 own wishes might supersede minute investigation and deliberate con- 
 sideration of your case, and you might, in consequence, be sent, not 
 to the best locality, but to one which might perhaps do, although 
 only the second or third best. One other hint I can give you from 
 experience. Turn a deaf ear to the opinions and counsels of those friends, 
 medical or not, who lie under no responsibility in directing you. Such men 
 never take a thorough view of all the circumstances, and their par- 
 tially-formed, and, therefore, often erroneous opinions, are apt to mis- 
 lead. Listen to them, and if they suggest anything really important, 
 communicate it to the practitioner on whom, by regular consultation, 
 you impose the responsibility ; but however plausible it may look, do 
 not receive it, or act upon it, in any other way." 
 
 This remark illustrates an important practical fact 
 in the operations of the human mind, and is the coun- 
 terpart of an observation made to the author of the 
 present work by a Scotch advocate in extensive prac- 
 tice. " How does it happen," said he, " that although 
 perfectly disposed, on proper occasions, to give to friends 
 legal advice gratuitously, I never feel satisfied that 
 the advice is safe for them to follow ? It is quite 
 otherwise when I receive a fee. So forciblv have I been
 
 ADVICE TO GEORGE COMBE ABOUT HIS VISIT TO ITALY. 459 
 
 struck with the difference, that I believe if I wanted 
 to take my own advice on my own affairs, I should 
 employ the left hand to put a fee into the right ! " 
 The explanation appears to be the same in both pro- 
 fessions. When the intellect has been long accustomed 
 to anxious labour under the high-pressure of moral and 
 professional responsibility (imposed by a fee), it be- 
 comes incapable of making the same amount of exertion 
 when this pressure is absent in other words, when no 
 feeling of responsibility exists. 
 
 Towards the end of June Dr Combe visited Mr and 
 Mrs Dunville, the father and mother of his Madeira 
 friends, at Rush Park, near Belfast, went to the Giant's 
 Causeway with them, and spent several weeks in their 
 society with great enjoyment. After his return, he 
 took up his residence for the rest of the summer at 
 Gorgie Mill. 
 
 In pursuance of the advice of Sir James Clark and 
 Dr Combe, George Combe took a course of the waters 
 of Ems, and afterwards one of those of Kissingen, under 
 local medical advice. Ttye immediate effect was to 
 lower the tone of his mind and body ; and under the 
 apprehension that the plan had failed, his wife wrote 
 to Dr Combe, describing his condition, and expressing 
 doubts of the soundness of the counsel under which he 
 had acted. After the close of the second course, he, in 
 pursuance of his medical instructions, proceeded to 
 travel through Germany, and afterwards to Italy, by 
 easy stages, and purely for recreation. Under this treat- 
 ment, the good effects of the waters speedily became 
 apparent, and Mrs Combe wrote to Dr Combe a letter 
 describing the improvement in her husband's condition, 
 making the amende honorable for her previous want of 
 faith, informing him of several most contradictory ac- 
 counts which she had received of Italy and Rome, and
 
 460 ITALY AS A WINTER RESIDENCE. 
 
 begging once more for the benefit of his experience and 
 advice. On the 22d August he wrote to her in answer 
 the following letter, which may perhaps prove useful to 
 other invalids projecting a residence in Italy : 
 
 " Your and George's joint letter, commencing on 22d July and end- 
 ing on the 9th of August, arrived only yesterday, and was consequent- 
 ly too late to be answered by the 20th to Salzburg. The spirit in 
 which you now write is highly gratifying to all my feelings, and the 
 moral sunshine which it sheds over my mind is an ample compensa- 
 tion for the former cloud in which you unintentionally enveloped me. 
 I see perfectly the force of your explanations, and give all due weight 
 to them. Even at the time, I did you the justice to believe that you 
 were not aware of the effect your letter was calculated to produce, and 
 that most of its expressions were biassed by the uncomfortable state 
 of your own bodily and mental health. The best way, then, dear 
 Cecy, is to let bygones be bygones, except in so far as they may, in 
 silence, afford aid for the future. There is one happiness in dealing 
 with you. You are honest and open to reason, when it is placed be- 
 fore you in a kind spirit. That compensates for many things. Most 
 heartily, then, do I excuse the past, and rejoice in the amended pro- 
 spects of you both. 
 
 " This brings me to the winter campaign. What is desirable for 
 George, and fortunately for yourself also, is a mild winter climate, 
 open-air exercise, without fatigue, but requiring some play of the 
 muscles ; cheerful society, moderate occupation, plain diet, and early 
 hours. The object of the mild climate is to equalize the external and 
 internal circulations for such a length of time as to allow the formerly 
 over-dilated internal vessels to regain their tone permanently. A 
 winter like ours tends to check this, by driving the blood from the 
 surface, and concentrating it too much in the abdomen, lungs, or 
 brain. I attach some importance to this winter, because, if spent in 
 a mild climate, it secures, as it were, three consecutive summers 
 (counting a southern winter as one) to repair the wanted tone. I 
 mention Rome merely as the best continental climate, as climate, and 
 offering other advantages of society and objects of interest, but I have 
 no exclusive preference for it over climates equally good. Pisa stands 
 in this position, but morally it is dull and depressing, although mild 
 and cheap. Florence is most unsuitable. Its climate is extremely 
 variable, often severe, and always trying. Malta might do, and is 
 much cheaper, and with pleasanter environs, boating, &c. ; but its 
 spring is not good, and it is farther away. Madeira, as a climate,
 
 ITALY AS A WINTER RESIDENCE. 461 
 
 would suit you both excellently ; but it is also dull, and out of the 
 way, and without many advantages of society. The Taylors go to 
 Rome, and would suit you well, and I have no doubt you could find 
 other quiet families, although dissipation is the order of the day. 
 
 " My conviction is, that all the accounts you have received of Rome 
 are true, and that it depends very much on the individual whether he 
 will reap enjoyment or disappointment there. So far as I have the 
 means of judging, you may live either reasonably (not cheaply) or ex- 
 travagantly with rational people, or the reverse. Lodging is the 
 chief expense, but it is not higher than here, and there are, as else- 
 where, good as well as bad landlords. We were two months in Rome, 
 and, from my very low state, were compelled to live very quietly; and 
 yet bad health and all (I had to rest three times in getting out of 
 bed at first for want of breath), we enjoyed it, and found more to 
 think about even in the outsides of the ruins than I imagined pos- 
 sible. For several weeks we had a drive daily in a two-horse caleche, 
 and were always pleased with the neatness, civility, and moderate 
 charge. Others spoke of the same hired carriages, or rather drivers, 
 as cheats and scoundrels. We can only say, that we should be glad 
 again to employ such scoundrels and carriages on the same terms. 
 That there are cheats in Rome in plenty I doubt not ; but I should be 
 glad to have a corner of London pointed out, or even of immaculate 
 Edinburgh, where one can traffic in perfect reliance on civility, open- 
 ness, and honesty, In how many lodging-houses in this country 
 would you rely on the first words (of acts either) of their proprietors ? 
 and yet it is possible to live in a lodging. Act, however, on the 
 principle, that human nature is nowhere perfect, that something must 
 be allowed for, and that we as well as they are at times unreasonable, 
 and you may get on in Rome as in other places. James says, that 
 those who are pleased are cheated too, but believe themselves not 
 cheated. Grant this, if he wishes it, and still I say, if I am cheated, 
 so as not to let me know, if, in short, I am not plundered, I shall 
 not repine. I can fancy your not liking Rome at all ; but I can also 
 fancy you, after being fairly settled, liking it greatly, as most do. If 
 you get comfortably settled, and find out a few rational people, you 
 will like it much. If not, you will heartily tire of it. All I can say 
 then is, that, quoad climate, it is a good place for you both ; but quoad 
 ultra you must judge for yourselves, and remain or run away as you 
 find it turn out. Only, get a dry airy lodging, with a sunny aspect. 
 Without that it won't do. 
 
 " As to travelling in Italy, and diet, my limited experience is 
 all favourable. I found the beds almost invariably excellent, the 
 people very civil and obliging, the living good, and the charges rea-
 
 462 ITALY AS A WINTER RESIDENCE. 
 
 sonable. A good vetturino generally takes you to the best houses. 
 Murray's Guide is very trustworthy. In Rome, you may have what 
 you choose to eat. I have a pleasanter impression of Italian than of 
 French inns. Once on a time I used to occupy myself in foreseeing 
 difficulties and disagreeables. Now-a-days I leave them to themselves, 
 till called upon to meet them ; as I found by experience that many of 
 them ran away before I got up to them, and that others which were in 
 the distance like mountains, became mole-hills on a nearer approach. 
 I can now set off anywhere on a day's notice with great equanimity, 
 though formerly I should have asked for six weeks to deliberate. 
 For yourselves, then, all I can say is, that I consider a mild winter 
 climate as the one thing needful the place and continuance to be 
 determined by considerations of which only yourselves can judge. I 
 do not even say that it is indispensable. It is certainly, for the reasons 
 stated, highly desirable, with a view to permanent restoration ; but there 
 are circumstances which would warrant a hope of continued improve- 
 ment even without it. Only I lay little stress upon James's descrip- 
 tion of the third heaven of Homan vanity and folly, as a drawback to 
 a rational residence in the capital of the world. Keep in mind, also, 
 that Sir James Clark, who recommends Rome to you, resided there 
 for years in constant professional contact with its invalids, and had 
 experience of all its drawbacks before he gave his opinion. 
 
 " With regard to my own winter quarters, I can give you no far- 
 ther information than when you left us. Acting on the principle 
 that enough for the day is the evil thereof, I am not yet concern- 
 ing myself about winter arrangements in any shape, and am waiting 
 the time when my wise men will open their oracular mouths and pro- 
 nounce upon my fate. All, therefore, I can say is, that if I must go 
 abroad, I shall most likely return to Madeira, on the simple ground 
 that, if I must forego the pleasures of home, it is better to resort at 
 once to the most advantageous climate, than to adopt the half measure 
 of going to Italy, Jersey, or the south of England. Malta, till the 
 end of January, would suit equally well, and has many advantages, 
 after which I have a hankering ; but moving in spring would be a 
 great drawback. Another plan, if I must move, is to try a long 
 voyage to the Cape, Sydney, or New Zealand, for example and it 
 would not take much to induce me to try the experiment in a good 
 ship for the benefit of myself and others. Many suspicions exist that 
 a long voyage would be useful in such cases ; but precise information 
 is greatly wanted, and I might do worse than make an experiment of 
 myself. I am not likely ever to be good for much as it is, so that if 
 it failed, little harm would be done. Whereas, if it effected positive 
 good, it would be a step made in advance, where progress is greatly
 
 VOYAGE TO MADEIRA. 463 
 
 needed, and where the welfare and happiness of thousands are at 
 stake. What say you to a New Zealand pic-nic ? My health con- 
 tinues as before." 
 
 On the 22d of September, Dr Combe wrote to his 
 brother, then at Milan : 
 
 " After a fortnight of suspense, Dr Scott decided, two days ago, 
 that I should return to Madeira, and we are now in the interesting pre- 
 dicament of inquiring about vessels. Our niece (Miss Cox), as usual, 
 devotes herself to my service, and is a great comfort to me. I have 
 edited, at the cost of a good deal of trouble, half of the October Num- 
 ber of the Phrenological Journal, in Robert Cox's absence, and hope 
 to send it to you in Rome." 
 
 On the 8th November 1843, Dr Combe and Miss 
 Cox sailed from Greenock on board of the " Duncan 
 Ritchie," an excellent ship of 600 tons burden, bound 
 for Valparaiso. The following letter, dated Madeira, 
 14th December, addressed to his brother George in 
 Rome, describes his voyage, and contains some prac- 
 tical remarks on the condition of the invalids who were 
 his fellow-passengers : * 
 
 " You have heard, or will have heard, rather, before this reaches 
 you, of our speedy voyage here in the Duncan Ritchie, Captain Wil- 
 son. We left at one P.M., of November 8, and disembarked before 
 breakfast on the 21st, having reached the back of the island on the 
 forenoon of the 19th. We ran before a sharp north-easter for four 
 or five days, at the rate of 200 and 220 miles a-day, going eleven knots 
 during squalls. The steamer of the 17th was nearly eleven days out, 
 owing to bad weather. After escaping all colds on land, one attacked 
 me after being three days on board, and pulled me down very rapidly. 
 It was caused by an unsuspected stream of cold air blowing from an open 
 chink right on my head as I lay in bed, and, consequently, was made 
 worse by lying a day in bed to cure it. On puttying up the chink, I 
 began to recover, and am now in my usual condition very comfort- 
 able and well for me. The more I go to sea, the more I am convinced 
 that my Leghorn voyage in 1820, bad as I believed it, had been in 
 reality more so by far than I fancied. The captain and crew all said 
 it was the worst weather they had ever encountered, but I set this
 
 464 CONDITION OF INVALID PASSENGERS. 
 
 down as mere exaggeration, and thought it just a ' stormy' passage. 
 But in the hardest gales I have experienced since, and in the Duncan's 
 squalls and ' dirty' nights, the sound of the wind was like the soft 
 hreathing of the lute, compared with its shrill and angry vibration 
 amidst the cordage of the Fame. The blows of the waves also, which 
 seemed in 1820 to threaten instant destruction, and made the Fame 
 tremble in every separate fibre, were specimens of ' physical force,' 
 to which the worst on any subsequent voyage can never be compared. 
 What an idle thing is presentiment, by the way ! I had, before I left 
 home, a strong involuntary presentiment that I should never reach 
 Madeira. But as I could assign no reason to myself, I acted as if I 
 were unconscious of it, with the exception of making a few additional 
 arrangements in case of the worst. Once on board, however, all pre- 
 sentiment of danger vanished, and I never felt even a doubt of our 
 safe arrival in due time. We were splendidly lodged, and were in 
 all fifteen passengers ; and although Duncan rolled constantly from 
 running before the wind with a heavy sea, it was in a deliberate 
 gentlemanly fashion, which admitted of sleep when one was fairly 
 propped in, or padded all round. For comfortable sailing, commend 
 
 me to a large ship, with a roomy poop cabin. and I were 
 
 lodged in a stern stateroom, with two stern windows, a water-closet, 
 and seat like a sofa. The stateroom was ten feet by nine. 
 
 " On board we had a large supply of invalids, attracted by a ' doc- 
 tor' being on board, and the effect was depressing to no small degree. 
 Three of them would have been better at home, and two more ought 
 to have been sent up the Rhine through Switzerland to Italy, as a 
 far more suitable climate. The latter have already left for London, 
 rather rashly, I think. But I did not know till they were off in a 
 hurry by a vessel just about to sail. My spirit was vexed and sad- 
 dened, and amazed at the deplorable state of ignorance in which every 
 one of these poor sufferers came on board. Not one of them had even 
 a glimmering of the nature of the animal system or its laws of action, 
 and not a tittle of direction had they from their medical advisers for their 
 guidance either on the voyage or on their arrival here ! They seemed 
 to have been sent for a ' change of climate,' as if that mighty change 
 were sufficient to absorb and neutralise all other agencies whatever, 
 good or bad. To me the conduct of their professional advisers seems 
 morally culpable in a high degree, as well as professionally defective 
 and unaccountable.* I have witnessed ignorance enough in my day 
 
 * In the Appendix, No. III., will be found an exposition of reasons 
 why every invalid, on being sent to a climate not practically known to 
 him, should be furnished by his medical adviser with specific instruc-
 
 CONDITION OP INVALID PASSENGERS. 465 
 
 among all classes of patients, but partly from less frequent contact 
 with it of late, and partly from its conglomerated intensity within 
 such a small circle, I never felt so nearly reduced to the apathy of 
 despair as on this occasion ; and even yet it requires an effort not to 
 despair of human advancement, and to put in play the very feeble 
 means one can individually command as a counterpoise. The more I 
 see, the more impressed I become with the all-importance of early and 
 systematic training, as the groundwork of future improvement. Mere 
 instruction, even in useful and interesting truths, goes but a small 
 way when not conveyed with an ever present purpose of its bearing 
 upon the regulation of conduct. As yet, this is an entire novelty 
 in education, except partially in some of the better class of infant 
 and pauper schools. It nowhere, that I know of, assumes the pre- 
 dominant place it ought to occupy as the one thing needful ; and, 
 consequently, the practical results of so-called education are speedily 
 obliterated and superseded by those of the real education uninten- 
 tionally effected by the manners, habits, and opinions of home. Mere 
 abstract information goes but a short way in influencing conduct, 
 when it happens to work against years of training in evil or ignorant 
 habits. The habit of * reading,* merely as reading, is of little use, 
 and of this we had glaring examples on board. Some of the young 
 men, who devoured with eagerness page after page of my work on 
 ' Physiology,' did so apparently without a suspicion that it was in- 
 tended to influence their conduct ; and accordingly set its printed dic- 
 tates at utter defiance, even while they were anxious about themselves, 
 and eager to get practical directions addressed exclusively to themselves. 
 Such messes as they made, morning, noon, and night, of ham. steak, 
 tea, porter, potatoes, meat, pudding, apples, almonds and raisins, I have 
 rarely had the luck to see ; and this after having been teamed, and 
 when they fancied they were unusually careful ! They wondered 
 they were troubled with bile, acidity, fulness, heat in the hands and 
 
 feet, and flatulence ! ' What can it be owing to,' quoth , 
 
 ' that I feel so thirsty, and my hands and feet are always burning, 
 and my system so full ?' This, too, was after I had entered into a 
 regular lecture to him on the danger of a fresh attack of haemoptysis, 
 
 tions how to regulate his habits, so as to derive the greatest advan- 
 tages from its influence, or what would, perhaps, be preferable, should 
 be earnestly counselled to place himself under the guidance of an ex- 
 perienced local physician, and to adhere strictly to his directions. 
 
 Dr Combe mentions that Dr Lund was a passenger on board of the 
 " Duncan Ritchie," and afforded great assistance to the invalids de- 
 scribed in the text. The ship was advertised to sail with a surgeon, 
 but provided none. 
 
 20
 
 466 IMPRISONMENT OF DR KALLEY. 
 
 and on moderation being indispensable ! The scene would have been 
 ridiculous, had not one seen Nature standing behind them all the 
 time ready to give them their due, and summing up the page now 
 and then, and making them ' pay up' before beginning a new ac- 
 count. 
 
 " Some very unfit and sad cases have been sent out to die, away 
 from the alleviating comforts of home and friends. A poor American 
 died yesterday in this condition, having left New York early in No- 
 vember, with the assurance that he would be nearly well before 
 reaching Madeira ! He never left his room. When I saw him the day 
 before his death, he told me with a smile of joy, that his brother and 
 sister, and some other friend, had arrived to take care of him, and 
 what a pleasure it was ; and under this happy delusion he died. 
 
 " In consequence of a kind invitation given to us before we left 
 home, we went to the house of Mrs John Dunville (Ambrosia's), and 
 remained for ten days as her guests, until we found suitable accom- 
 modation for ourselves. We are now very pleasantly situated in the 
 house of Counis, a Glenevese, who, with his wife and family, does all 
 he can to make us comfortable. We have a very cheerful, airy draw- 
 ing-room, the use of a dining-room for meals, and two nice bed-rooms, 
 and eat by ourselves, for 18, 15s. a-month ; 2 cheaper than last 
 year. There are only 135 where there were 390 strangers last sea- 
 son. This tells sadly on a small suffering place like Funchal. The 
 streets are green and dull, and the invalids who have come are more 
 prized." 
 
 (Dr Combe next mentions, that he had suffered great anxiety on 
 account of the serious illness of the two physicians settled at Funchal, 
 Dr Renton and Dr Broughton, that he had assisted in the treatment 
 of them to the best of his ability, and that both were then conva- 
 lescent.) 
 
 " Dr Kalley, who is now in prison on a charge of public blas- 
 phemy, for preaching against the Virgin, host, and images, writes, 
 and gets his friends to write and hold public meetings at home, to re- 
 monstrate with Government for not interfering to protect him from 
 ' popish persecution,' for ' the private exercise of his religion, as gua- 
 ranteed to British subjects in the treaty with Portugal !' His great friend, 
 the Rev. Reginald Smith, who was here last year, publishes a letter 
 in the Record the other day, calling for sympathy and protection for 
 him, and in enumerating his claims to our regard, says, ' / have been 
 present on several occasions when Dr K. addressed HUNDREDS of Por- 
 tuguese in their own tongue, in the most eloquent and successful 
 'strain,' &c. Dr K. answers to the accusation, nevertheless, ' I preach 
 only in my own house to my own friends ;' and this being the ' private
 
 IMPRISONMENT OF Dfi KALLEY. 467 
 
 exercise of my religion, is guaranteed to me by the treaty, and I won't 
 give it up.' He and Mrs Kalley date their letters, ' Common Jail 
 of Funchal,' and make sundry allusions to dungeons, and the penalty 
 of being burned alive, and confiscation of property if found guilty. 
 They don't tell that he inhabits large and airy rooms, not properly a 
 part of the ' common jail,' and holds levees and prayer-meetings in 
 them ; and that ht himself has no more fear, even if found guilty, of 
 being burnt alive or harshly dealt with, than he has of being planted 
 for life astride the frozen summit of Mont Blanc ! His whole argument 
 about its being the private exercise of his religion, looks very like an 
 evasion of the real charge against him, which is, that he contemns the 
 Portuguese law, and tries to proselytise Portuguese subjects. 
 
 " My paper is nearly filled up, although I have much more to say. 
 If I had had room I should have told you how, on our arrival, Senhor 
 Xuno, the health-officer, saluted me from afar ; how the captain (who 
 had never been at Madeira before) gravely consulted me whether to 
 bring the ship to anchor or stand off and on under easy sail ; how I, 
 with equal gravity, advised him to keep a clear conscience and let 
 down his anchor ; how he then begged I would point out the best an- 
 chorage-ground ; how Senhor Xuno and I were of one mind there- 
 anent, and directed him to drop under the stern of a smart slave- 
 chaser ; how I looked as grave thereupon as if I had been first pilot of 
 the port of Funchal, which has no port at all, which was the reason 
 of the captain asking me where he stfbuld anchor in the bay ; how the 
 captain, commenting on my character in my absence, assured the rest 
 of the passengers that I was * a very decent man ;' how he confirmed this 
 handsome testimony by a barrel of nice sea-biscuit which he heard 
 me praise ; how I have thereby been enabled to regale my friends at 
 no expense to myself ; how, since our arrival, two doctors fell ill, and 
 how the patients, to take the advantage of them, fell ill too ; how the 
 Portuguese lament that there are so very few invalids this season ; 
 how houses, cooks, and provisions, are thus at a discount, and civility 
 much on the increase ; how we are treated with profound respect by 
 some who thought nothing of us before ; how the letters in the Scots- 
 man have made the people wonder what I shall say next ; how we have 
 a real live Duchess on the island, who is said to be like no Duchess at 
 all ; how she is landed for affability, and for calling on those whose 
 acquaintance she is anxious to make ; how I have not yet seen her, 
 but have a profound respect for her greatness in the distance ; how I 
 do not wish to inspect it more nearly ; and many other wonderful 
 things for which I have now no room, and must, therefore, omit." 
 
 " P.S. You speak of spending four hours one forenoon in the Vati- 
 can. I strongly recommend to you never to take such spells of gal-
 
 468 PRECAUTION IN VISITING GALLERIES OP ART. 
 
 leries or sights. The bodily circulation stagnates during them, while 
 the nervous system is called on for extra exertion, and is liable to be 
 over-exhausted by the interest which the objects of art excite. Be- 
 sides, galleries and churches and ruins are cool in winter, and the ab- 
 sence of locomotion makes them doubly efficacious in checking free 
 cutaneous^circulation. Short visits are all you should make, and only 
 when^warmly clothed." 
 
 It may be mentioned, that the error here commented 
 on was committed through sheer ignorance of the phy- 
 siological effects of sauntering in the galleries of the 
 Vatican, absorbed in the pleasing excitement called 
 forth by the works of art there presented to every 
 visitor ; ancfthat it was not repeated after this admoni- 
 tion was received. The advice is published in the hope 
 that it may save some other invalids from the evils of 
 a similar transgression. 
 
 In the following letter, dated Madeira, 30th January 
 1844, addressed to Mrs H Gr , Dr Combe ad- 
 verts to the effects on a patient of 
 
 SCEPTICISM OK THE SUBJECT OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 " Your scepticism on the subject of medical science is not new to 
 me, although you never expressed it so strongly before. From the 
 time of my first real acquaintance with you (in 1838 ?), I had no dif- 
 ficulty in perceiving that such was the tendency, if not the settled 
 state, of your mind. It exhibited itself in many ways, and sometimes 
 extended itself to disregard of the physiological laws, as if you had 
 believed them to be the mere fancies of man, and not the expressions 
 
 of Almighty wisdom and power. Our friend Mrs has, in 
 
 like manner, had a deep-rooted scepticism, ever since I have known 
 her, on the subject of medicine. You say truly you wish it were 
 otherwise ; that you dislike doubt and scepticism on such subjects. I 
 heartily wish it were otherwise for your own sakes, because you have 
 both suffered not a little from your incredulity. Powerful and gene- 
 ral as the nervous system is in its influence over all the other func- 
 tions, and over the action of external agents, I am not going beyond 
 the strictest limits of fact and experience in saying, that in many in- 
 stances this unfortunate state of mind has been sufficient to counter- 
 act the beneficial operation of well-devised treatment, and is at all times 
 sufficient to diminish its good results. That it has been so again and
 
 SCEPTICISM 03T THE SUBJECT OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. 469 
 
 again in Mrs 1 know. That it has been so in you, I firmly be- 
 
 lieve, although my means of positive knowledge have not been such 
 as. in your case, to afford me legal proof! You may say that medicines 
 must be little worth, if disbelief in their virtues can counteract them 
 or modify their effects. But should we be warranted in inferring that 
 opium is not a narcotic, because, in one instance, a patient of Dr Gre- 
 gory's took a dose, believing it to be an aperient, and declared it had 
 acted better than any he had ever taken ? From this, yam would 
 argue uncertainty and distrust. I, on the other hand, looking to the 
 influence of mind and to general experience, would argue that, in the 
 administration of all remedies, even those of a marked specific cha- 
 racter, it is necessary to take the mind along with us, instead of dis- 
 regarding it, as is generally done. In the same way, in prescribing for 
 
 Mrs , could I rationally expect the same effects from medicines 
 
 which I knew to be positively beneficial in other cases like hers, with 
 this difference, that while she took the medicine i a settled conviction 
 of its failure, others took it with a hope of advantage ? I say it would 
 have been folly to do so, and experience taught me that such was the 
 influence of her settled scepticism, that it was better to refrain from 
 medicine in her case almost entirely, and trust to the stricter observ- 
 ance of the physiological laws for improvement. In other cases it was 
 far otherwise, for I saw marked benefit from the judicious use of re- 
 medies. I believe that you have suffered in this very way, and, in 
 consequence, been even injured by trfcitment which, in a different state 
 of mind, would have done much good. 
 
 " You may say so much for the esprit de corps even in sensible 
 men, among whom you rank me. But it is not altogether so. I am 
 done with medicine in this world, and have no infers* in exalting or 
 depressing it further than as an instrument of good or evil. So far 
 from being blind to its defects, or to the errors of its professors, very 
 few men have a more perfect perception of both than myself. I la- 
 ment them, and the ignorance which engenders them, and, still more, 
 their consequences in human suffering unprevented, unrelieved, or 
 even increased. But that does not prevent me from perceiving, at the 
 same time, how much an enlightened medical man can do for rational- 
 minded sufferers, and how much more medicine will be able to do when 
 both patients and practitioners shall have acquired a more correct 
 knowledge of their relative positions and duties. In the treatment 
 of disease, as in the making of a bargain, there are tiro parties con- 
 cerned, and misconduct on the part of either may cause a failure. 
 You say you ' are surprised at the systefnatic neglect of rational means 
 among the doctors, seeming to trust all to drugs and medicaments.' 
 I too am both surprised and mortified at this, and have been since I
 
 470 SCEPTICISM ON THE SUBJECT OP MEDICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 knew what practice was ; and I wrote my books to help in remedying 
 the defect. 
 
 " But I must not write a dissertation instead of a letter ; and I end 
 where I began, by saying, that while I am deeply impressed with the 
 defects of medicine, and the many errors committed in practice, I am 
 still more deeply impressed with the real and substantial benefits which 
 may be derived from medical aid, sense, and knowledge, in preventing 
 and curing disease, and in advancing human improvement and happi- 
 ness. I claim no immunity from professional errors in my own prac- 
 tice. I have done and recommended things which I should not do 
 again in the same circumstances ; but I also believe that I have been 
 the means of doing essential good where mischief would otherwise have 
 followed. I have no blind faith either in medicine or in medical men, 
 even the best of them ; but I thank Heaven I am not entirely scep- 
 tical as to the utility of either. In my book on Derangement, pub- 
 lished more than thirteen years ago, I urged on my readers to look to the 
 individual and not to the abstract type of disease for their guidance ; 
 and every day has added force to my conviction, that most of our prac- 
 tical errors result from overlooking this, and prescribing for ' sciatica ' 
 or * rheumatism,' for example, instead of for A. B. or B. C., the indi- 
 viduals suffering from sciatica, &c. a course that leads to the indis- 
 criminate application of remedies which, excellent in some cases, are 
 yet injurious in others, and might have been foreseen to be so. 
 
 " As an illustration of my meaning, I may mention the case of Dr 
 
 of this place. He had a severe rheumatic affection, with great 
 
 pain, fever, nervous restlessness, and an apparently full bounding 
 pulse. In my younger days I should have bled him as an act of neces- 
 sity ; and, even as it was, I had some anxious doubts in refraining. 
 Certain circumstances, not of a prominent kind, led me, however, to 
 suspect that the excitement was much more of a nervous than inflam- 
 matory character, and I abstained, but watching him anxiously all 
 the time, and prescribing only very mild means, and refusing even 
 leeches, which he wished for. The event shewed I was correct ; and, 
 had I bled him, I have reason to believe that his recovery would have 
 been greatly retarded, and his stamina much impaired, instead of be- 
 ing, as he now is, better than for many previous months. Had I pre- 
 scribed (as I once should have done, perhaps) for the prominent dis- 
 ease, instead of for the subject suffering it, I should have bled and 
 lowered him ; and, on the other hand, had he not been prescribed for 
 at all, the probability is, that he would have had more suffering and 
 a more tedious convalescence. At least I think so ; although in that, 
 too, I may be wrong. 
 
 " You ask if I read much here ? Alas ! no. I can neither read
 
 CLIMATE OF M ADEJLtA. 
 
 That k tfce chief penalty ore pays fir the eqv^ 
 
 iae arable dimafe. X 
 
 wealtkcr than since <wmr arrival. Mt ft k enmawaiiti j csmaWm; to tint 
 
 v ;/...: _ :-. :.:_ - i i 
 L!J like air, liUdi 
 
 I: = : : - v : .:.:-,- 
 
 awiwiklk ate ifette climate 
 
 B. 
 
 gsamitfe- Imexee t &m the air. Tan days a 
 
 by wa&ar to Cap* Giraiav a wry remarkable pramaatorj of nearly 
 
 2KMMD feet parpaft&oDlIar, eig^tt mflks to the eLmarA. We wen ax 
 
 daaksoofy 
 
 fcaia 
 
 , j"pJa 8 maaiyrftfhsl^^B ( r 
 
 fke plaaw^nws are sill .graea 2 The last two days 3 
 
 at 7 A-M. ; Mi to^Iaj at 7 fit mas agaia 1% 
 ham aiette MMlriftftralteravic 
 
 We ham aiette MMlriftftralteravic^jqriil; and I am 
 
 weffl as I was m aatuan, amd geancdlf caa^GaKMtei em my 
 KhneVto r MI ate 
 
 MvrwmaM Enmmy Pott ba^, h 
 wittfc tfhe mtaresmns 
 
 pair otr 
 
 The time during the remainder of his stay in Madeira 
 was spent by Dr Combe much in the same manner as 
 in the prerions season. His health, howeTer, was not, 
 so good, and by Dr Renton"s adviee, as well as in ac- 
 cordance with his own judgment, sereral changes of 
 residence were made during the latter portion of his 
 stay in the island. In the beginning of March, he and 
 his niece again became the guests of Mrs DunTflle for 
 ten days. Shortly afterwards, she took a large house
 
 472 RETURNS TO ENGLAND VIA LISBON. 
 
 (Palmeira) with extensive grounds in an elevated situa- 
 tion above Funchal ; and from the 25th of that mouth 
 till they left the island, they were most hospitably en- 
 tertained by her: as the situation was well adapted 
 to Dr Combe's habits and condition, he profited both in 
 health and enjoyment by her kind attention. He had 
 previously spent a few days at Santa Cruz, a few miles 
 from Funchal. On the 13th April 1844, change of 
 air still appearing advisable, he embraced an oppor- 
 tunity (at an earlier period of the season than he would 
 have thought proper if another had been likely to occur 
 within the next few weeks), and sailed by the " Aguia," 
 a Portuguese vessel, for Lisbon. The weather was fine, 
 and the voyage slow but agreeable. On the 27th April 
 they arrived at their destination, and remained in 
 Lisbon till the 7th of May, when they sailed for Eng- 
 land in the " Lady Mary Wood" steamship. After a 
 favourable passage, they arrived early in the morning 
 of the 12th, and proceeded directly to Kingston-on- 
 Thames. Here they spent a month, as the season was 
 still too early to allow of Dr Combe's return to Scot- 
 land.
 
 SUMMER OF 1844. 473 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 DR COMBE PASSES THE WIXTER 18445 IX EDIXBrEGH. SEVERE ILL- 
 
 XES> IX FEBRUARY 1S45. IX SPRIXG GOES TO HELEXSEFEGH. 
 
 INTERVIEW WITH THE RET. DR DAVID WELSH. LETTER TO A 
 
 FEIEXD OX THE PROFESSION OF A DIPLOMATIST. MAKES AX Ei- 
 
 CCRSIOX TO THE RHIXE, EXCOUXTERS BAD WEATHER, AXD IS 
 
 FORCED TO RETTRX. REMARKS OX " TESTIGES OF THE XATCRAL 
 
 HISTORY OF CREATIOX." HIS COXDITIOX IX SEPTEMBER 1S45. 
 
 TRAIT OF CHARACTER IX AX EVAXGELICAL LADY IX RELATIOX TO 
 
 THE THEATRE. DR COMBE PREPARES AX "ADDRESS" FOE THE 
 
 OPEXIXG OF DR WEIR T S LECTURES OX PHREXOLOGT TO THE STU- 
 DEXTS OF AXDERSOy S UXITERSITY, GLASGOW. LETTER TO DR 
 
 FORBES OX HOMtEOPATHT. ARTICLES BY DR COMBE " OX THE OB- 
 
 SERTATIOX OF XATTRE IX THE STO>Y AXD TREATMEXT OF DISEASE." 
 
 IX THE BRITISH AXD FOREIGX MEDICAL REVIEW. REMARK AS TO 
 
 GITIXG ADVICE EX REGARD TO THE PLAX OF A WORK. LETTER TO 
 RICHARD COBDEX, ESQ., M .P., OX THE IXJCRIOUS EFFECTS OF EX- 
 CESSIVE MEXTAL EXERTIOX OX HEALTH. LETTER TO HORACE MAXX 
 
 OX EDtTCATIOX. LETTER TO LORD DrXTERMLTXE OX MR MAXX's 
 
 REPORT. DR COMBE GOES TO KIXGSTOX-OX-THAMES. IXTEEVIEW 
 
 WITH MR COBDEX. REMARKS OX FREE TRADE AXD THE XATURAL 
 LAWS OF MAX. RETCRXS TO EDIXBURGH BY CORK. DUBLIX. LIVER- 
 POOL, AXD GLASGOW. ttF.VARKS OX THE COVE OF CORK AS A LOCA- 
 LITY FOR IXVALIDS ; OX THE PEOPLE ; AXD OX THE FLEET. 
 
 ON the 7th of June 1844, they proceeded to Scotland 
 by sea, and a few days after their arrival Mr and Mrs 
 George Combe returned from Italy restored in health. 
 The two brothers and their relatives, after an anxious 
 period of separation, enjoyed a happy meeting. Sub- 
 sequently Dr Combe visited his friends in Belfast, 
 and later in the season he hired the villa of Hollycot,
 
 474 ILLNESS IN SPRING 1845. 
 
 at Lasswade, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, 
 where he remained till the 30th of November remark- 
 ably well, although, from the severe illness of several 
 of his former patients and friends, he was exposed to 
 considerable anxiety and labour in giving advice by 
 letters. 
 
 After his return to Edinburgh he tried exercise on 
 horseback, which he continued for some time ; but it 
 proved too fatiguing, and subsequently he drove out in 
 an open carriage for two hours every day ; closing it, 
 however, when the weather was severely cold. Sir 
 James Clark had written to Dr Scott, recommending 
 that he should confine himself to the house during the 
 winter months ; but as he had gone out every day be- 
 fore this advice arrived without suffering from the ex- 
 posure, he, with Dr Scott's sanction, continued his 
 drives. It may be doubted whether he acted prudently 
 in doing so ; for a good deal of severe weather ensued, 
 he caught cold and was greatly troubled with deaf- 
 ness, and, on examination, the obstruction in his left 
 lung was found to be increased, although the right was 
 still sound. 
 
 During the early part of January 1845, his pulse 
 became slower and feebler, and his deafness increased, 
 accompanied by uneasy sensations in the head (the conse- 
 quence of languid circulation). An increase of nourish- 
 ing diet was tried, but it did not raise the pulse. On 
 25th January, however, he again rallied, and continued 
 tolerably well for some days ; but he was afterwards 
 seized with a severe cold, which, on 14th February, re- 
 duced him to such a state of weakness that he consider- 
 ed himself to be dying. He was supported for several 
 hours on the morning of that day by brandy and wine, 
 freely administered by his kind advisers, Dr Scott and 
 Dr Farquharson. His nephew, Dr James Cox, also
 
 ILLNESS IN SPRING 1845. 475 
 
 bestowed on him the most assiduous and valuable atten- 
 tions. He slowly recovered, and when able to write 
 described his condition in a letter to Dr John Bell of 
 Philadelphia, in the following terms : 
 
 " My health, ahout which you kindly interest yourself, is wonder- 
 fully good, considering that early in the spring I was kept alive for 
 several weeks only by the very free use of brandy, wine, and beef- 
 steaks, by night as well as by day ! Within twenty-four hours at 
 the worst period, I consumed more wine and brandy than in the five 
 preceding years put together ; for in general I could bear neither with- 
 out febrile excitement and cough ensuing. On this occasion it seemed 
 only to keep my heart going, and my head from becoming confused. 
 I had lost all distinct consciousness of my bodily form ; hearing, sight, 
 taste, and touch, and indeed all the nervous functions, were at a low 
 ebb, but not deranged in quality. For ten days I felt strong brandy or 
 peppermint exactly like tepid milk in my mouth. In my usual state, 
 its mere contact instantly excites cough. I heard and distinguished 
 the meaning of a sentence or two, and then it became an undis- 
 tinguishable sound. In like manner I saw objects distinctly for a 
 minute or so on opening my eyes, and then all outlines became con- 
 fused, till I could distinguish nothing. It was the same with touch. 
 The feeling of sinking was at times irftense, and for some weeks always 
 bad from one to three o'clock A.M., and then stimulus just kept me 
 up. The first night it attacked me in a decided form, I took three- 
 quarters of a pint of strong brandy, and a pint of strong sherry, in 
 about three hours, a quantity which would have killed me outright 
 any time within the last fifteen years. I mention all these details as 
 of physiological interest to you. I never saw any one in a similar 
 state, nor did my medical friends ; and they were at first alarmed at 
 the quantity of stimulus required, and would have shrunk from it, 
 had I not begun its use from a feeling of immediate sinking before 
 they could be sent for. They were encouraged only by observing the 
 good eifects of what I had previously taken. During this attack I 
 could not for six weeks raise my head from the pillow without be- 
 ginning to lose consciousness." 
 
 As soon as it was considered safe, he was carried to 
 Gorgie Mill, where he gradually regained strength ; an 
 effect which he ascribed to the mere change of locality. 
 Writing thence, on llth April, to another friend, in 
 reference to this attack, he says :
 
 476 MEETING WITH DR WELSH. 
 
 " My heart would be indeed of stone, were it not moved when I 
 think of the devoted kindness and affection showered on me by all 
 connected with me during my illness. My obligations to my sisters 
 and nieces are beyond expression. I have many comforts and sources 
 of happiness, and my eyes were moist at times with tears of gratitude, 
 never of pain." 
 
 To avoid the cold east winds which prevail in Edin- 
 burgh during the spring, Dr Combe, in April, accom- 
 panied his brother and his wife to Helensburgh, in 
 Dumbartonshire, where his health continued to improve. 
 Here an affecting interview took place between him and 
 the Rev. Dr David Welsh, who had at one time been 
 an intimate friend of him and his brother. Dr Welsh 
 was residing in the neighbourhood of Helensburgh, in 
 the last stage of decline from disease of the heart. 
 Having accidentally heard of Dr Combe's arrival, he 
 solicited an interview with him, and the benefit of his 
 advice. They met, and each was deeply moved by the 
 appearance of the other. Dr Welsh offered many 
 apologies to Dr Combe for having, in ignorance of his 
 frail condition, made such a call upon him -, and the 
 latter, forgetting his own weakness, only regretted that 
 Dr Welsh was beyond the reach of human aid. He 
 died a very few days after their first meeting. 
 
 From Helensburgh Dr Combe proceeded two miles 
 higher up the Gare Loch to Row, where he and his re- 
 latives remained for several weeks. He drove out every 
 good day in an open carriage, enjoyed the beautiful 
 scenery of the lake and surrounding country, and per- 
 ceptibly acquired strength. His first mental effort was 
 to write the following letter, dated " Row, 16th May 
 1846," to L M , Esq. : 
 
 " Your father will have told you how very much your affectionate 
 and very interesting letter gratified me when I received it about six 
 weeks ago. It so happened, that as I lay in bed on the morning of 
 its arrival, I was employed, in my own imagination, in writing you a
 
 OLD AND NEW DIPLOMACY. 477 
 
 long screed. From some cause or other, perhaps a lurking affection 
 for you, you had been often in my thoughts during my illness, and I 
 could not but rejoice that I saw you fairly launched in an honourable 
 and useful career, before I was myself removed, as at that time I ex- 
 pected soon to be. I always had the conviction that your powers and 
 higher nature would come out more and more in proportion to the 
 demands made on them, and that your health and happiness required 
 a field of useful exertion to be provided for you as a sine qua won. You 
 were never made to be a mere cumberer of the ground, orfrvges turn- 
 svmere natus ; but give you a definite position and an honourable aim, 
 and you will mount upwards higher and faster than those who know 
 you little could well imagine. I rejoice to learn, accordingly, that 
 your health has been good during the winter, and that you like your 
 employment. I rejoice farther to learn from your father that you 
 have decided to sick to diplomacy, where you have a fine field before 
 you both of usefulness and distinction. The old diplomacy of intrigue 
 must ere long die a natural death in all civilized countries, and an 
 appeal be made to higher and more permanent principles of action in 
 international intercourse. Intelligence, morality, and knowledge, will 
 consequently rise more and more to a premium, and even in meeting 
 and defeating intrigue, will be found of more potent avail than mere 
 savoirfaire. Your mind is obviously open to this altered and altering 
 state of things, and by thoroughly qualifying yourself, while your 
 more dreamy colleagues are rubbing their eyes and wiping their spec- 
 tacles, you may succeed in one day making yourself a very necessary 
 man, and in conferring most important benefits on your country and 
 kind. Do not shrink back, under the notion that you are nobody, and 
 are not likely ever to become a prominent man. Qualify yourself, and 
 no man can tell when the emergency may come. There is one thing 
 of which you will become more and more convinced the longer you 
 live, namely, that in the business of life the occasion is often present 
 when the man cannot be found. Your father will bear me out in this 
 to the fullest extent. How often do we look around us in vain for a 
 trustworthy upright man, combining adequate common sense, energy, 
 tact, discretion, and even moderate knowledge of principles of action ! 
 Be assured that the very same want is felt in diplomatic affairs, and 
 that the men in power, when it comes to the push, are thankful to 
 get a person they can trust without the enervating restraint of lead- 
 ing-strings to direct his every movement. 
 
 " My hope for and confidence in you is founded on my experience 
 of you and of mankind. Your aspirations are high, and they ought 
 to be so. Your intellect is active, and you like to go to fixed prin-
 
 478 VALUE OF PHRENOLOGY. 
 
 ciples rather than flounder about on the inviting banks of routine. 
 Your appreciation of the writings of such men as Gluizot, Arnold, and 
 Thiers, shews that your mind is fitted to embrace large and sound 
 views of public questions ; and your moral sense is strong enough to 
 give you a deep interest in eternal justice as the safest groundwork 
 you can have. Believing all this, I cannot but feel great and earnest 
 anxiety that you should go a step farther in your studies, and make 
 yourself thoroughly acquainted with Phrenology, and its relations to 
 everything in which man is concerned as a moral and intellectual 
 agent. I do not mean so much the physiological part of Phrenology, 
 although that would be very useful in many ways. I allude to Phre- 
 nology as the nearest approach we have to a system of the philosophy 
 of mind, or the philosophy of human nature. To you, more than to many 
 men, it would be valuable, by inspiring legitimate confidence and 
 diminishing anxiety. From experience, as well as from wide observa- 
 tion, I can speak strongly on this point. It gives an interest, too, in 
 reading and in conversation, from affording correct principles, and, as 
 it were, a correct standard of judgment. With its aid, such books 
 as Guizot's become doubly valuable, and their contents doubly appli- 
 cable, from the increased facility of adapting them to new cases. But 
 I feel that I am in danger of going beyond the point where you can 
 follow me. I see the data which warrant my opinion. To you they 
 are still unknown, and it would be unreasonable, therefore, to ask you 
 to agree with me farther. I shall, therefore, stop short with my 
 general opinions, and only ask of you to have so far confidence in my 
 judgment and knowledge (for I know you have in my friendship) as to 
 read attentively, and with a willing mind, 1st, My brother's Constitution 
 of Man ; 2d, His Moral Philosophy ; and, lastly, his Notes on America. 
 If the applications of the phrenological principles to human affairs in 
 these volumes should inspire you with an interest in the subject, you 
 will then be led to read his System of your own accord. Whatever 
 the result may be in this respect, you will not regret having read 
 the works alluded to, as they contain many thoughts, and suggest 
 many more, which can scarcely fail to be useful to you. 
 
 " In one sense, I am advising you to put the cart before the horse, 
 by taking the System last. But to read it with profit, you must feel 
 a previous interest in the subject ; and with a thinking man, that in- 
 terest is most easily excited by perceptions of utility. I need hardly 
 say, that in all his speculations I do not concur, nor will you ; but I 
 am mistaken if you do not go along with many applications of sound 
 principle made by him to the most important subjects that can occupy 
 human attention."
 
 " VESTIGES OP CREATION." 479 
 
 During the month of June Dr Combe was so much 
 benefited by the further change of locality in visiting 
 his friends near Belfast^ and accompanying Mr William 
 Dunville and his sister in an excursion to the county 
 of Wicklow, that he was induced to try a more ex- 
 tended tour through Belgium to the Rhine, with seve- 
 ral of his relations, in July. But the weather, which 
 had previously been fine, then became so very unfavour- 
 able, that after remaining for a week at Hombourg, he 
 and Miss Cox were forced to leave the rest of the party 
 and return home. He spent the autumn in Edinburgh, 
 driving to the country every day, and enjoying in a 
 quiet manner the society of friends, many of whom, at 
 this season, were passing through the city on their way 
 to the Highlands. It is hardly necessary to mention 
 that he was always desirous that strangers should see 
 what was most worthy of notice in his native city. 
 When able for conversation, he invited them to share 
 in his drives, and took great delight in pointing out to 
 them the many beautiful views in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Among the traces of his mental activity during 
 this summer is the following short criticism of " Ves- 
 tiges of the Natural History of Creation," contained 
 in a letter dated 29th August 1845, addressed to 
 George Combe : 
 
 " I have read the critique on the ' Vestiges of Creation ' in the Edin- 
 burgh Review, and think that it demolishes the theory of transition de- 
 velopment, which is that of the author. Many men, long before he 
 was horn, advocated the principle of the Creator acting in all his 
 doings on general and unvarying laws, which is quite a different ques- 
 tion from the other, and one on which my mind has long been made 
 up ; while the transition theory seemed to me to be attended with 
 greater difficulties than that of successive creations of new species of 
 animals. How creation was effected, or according to what laws, is 
 perhaps a question impenetrable by a created being, and I feel but 
 little interest in discussing it, because it is at present entirely con-
 
 480 DR COMBE'S MENTAL STATE. 
 
 jectural. To speculate on what you justly call a ' profound mystery,' 
 viz., ' the beginning of all things,' is an idle employment for beings 
 who have more practical work placed before them than they can ac- 
 complish." 
 
 His convalescence was extremely slow, and on the 
 24th September he wrote to Sir James Clark, asking- 
 advice : 
 
 " The worst of my condition is being unfit for any thing sufficient 
 to keep my interests and feelings alive. If I could even write, I 
 should be thankful. I wish much to clear up the subject of ' Patients 
 and Doctors,' but can do very little. * * * I cannot devise any 
 occupation at once sufficient to interest me, and not too much. I feel, 
 too, that I am a permanent drag upon the intercourse of the other 
 members of my household with society, and isolation is not good for 
 them. In this state of things, although enjoying many mercies, and 
 grateful for them every hour, I shall be less reluctant to quit the 
 field when the call comes, than might otherwise have been the case." 
 
 It was ultimately decided that he should pass the 
 winter in Edinburgh. That season proved uncommonly 
 mild, and he not only withstood its influence, but con- 
 tinued to gain strength. He was able to resume his 
 correspondence, and among other proofs of his renewed 
 mental vigour is a touching letter, dated 17th Novem- 
 ber 1845, addressed to Miss A B , on the 
 
 death of a lady who had long been one of his patients 
 and friends. Only one portion of it is suitable for publi- 
 cation ; and to enable the reader to appreciate the trait 
 of character which it records of his lamented friend, 
 it is proper to mention that she entertained highly 
 evangelical religious opinions : 
 
 " There was," says he, " a warmth, generosity, and purity of na- 
 ture about her, a rectitude of judgment and consistency of purpose, 
 which strongly attracted me, and excited my admiration. One little 
 
 trait which occurred during her severe illness at , when she 
 
 wished me not to come to visit her in the evening, as she knew I had 
 some reason for wishing to go to the theatre, lives in my memory as 
 freshly as if it had occurred yesterday, and has ever struck me as a
 
 ADDRESS TO STUDENTS OF ANDERSON'S UNIVERSITY. 481 
 
 remarkable example of the true Christian spirit. She disapproved 
 of the theatre, but said that she did not, on that account, wish to keep 
 me from going to it, unless I also saw it to be wrong. It would do me 
 no good, she remarked, to prevent me from going, if I saw no harm in 
 doing so ; and while she would rejoice to see me abstain from convic- 
 tion, she would not allow me to be kept away by a mere accident. 
 And she carried her point of setting me free that evening, in a spirit 
 of kindness which I shall never forget." 
 
 In the year 1845, the managers of Anderson's Uni- 
 versity in Glasgow resolved to establish a lectureship 
 of Phrenology in that Institution, in which " the rela- 
 tions of Phrenology to Physiology, Medicine, and Edu- 
 cation," should be embraced. The importance of this 
 lectureship will be apparent when it is mentioned, that 
 the total number of tickets issued by the medical Pro- 
 fessors attached to it, in the session 1844-5, was 606, 
 and the number of the students of anatomy was 124. 
 In consequence of a memorial from the Glasgow Phre- 
 nological Society, the trustees of the late W. B. Hender- 
 son, Esq., agreed, on certain conditions, to pay the sum 
 of 50 annually to the lecturer; allowing him, besides, 
 to draw moderate fees. Dr William Weir, one of the 
 physicians to the Royal Infirmary of Glasgow, a man 
 of talent, and an able phrenologist, was elected to the 
 chair, and Dr Combe wrote an " Address" to the 
 students, which, as the infirm state of his health pre- 
 vented him from attending, was read by George Combe 
 to a large audience on the opening of the class. It was 
 subsequently published in the Phrenological Journal, 
 vol. xix., p. 97, and also as a pamphlet, under the title 
 of " Phrenology its Nature and Uses : An Address to 
 the Students of Anderson's University, at the opening of 
 Dr Weir" 1 sfirstcourse of Lectures on Phrenology in that In- 
 stitution, January 7, 1846. By ANDREW COMBE, M.D."* 
 
 * These lectures were delivered during two seasons, but were so 
 little appreciated, that a sufficient number of students did not attend 
 
 2 H
 
 482 LETTER TO DR FORBES. 
 
 The thinking and style of this address (an extract from 
 which has been given on page 124) indicate a great re- 
 vival of Dr Combe's mental energies. 
 
 On the 4th January 1846, he wrote to Dr Forbes as 
 follows : 
 
 " I have just finished a rather hasty perusal of your article on 
 Homoeopathy in the recent Number of the British and Foreign Medi- 
 cal Review,* and rejoice that you have spoken out openly and honestly 
 what you believe to be truth regarding both homoeopathy and ' allo- 
 pathy.' In almost all your opinions I heartily concur ; and I consider 
 a full confession of all our faults the first step to future improvement. 
 In all probability you will be attacked for having exaggerated the 
 defects of allopathy, and admitted too much in favour of homoeopathy ; 
 but the result of discussion will be to extend the consciousness of the 
 said defects, and to prompt to their removal. I think that in your 
 estimate of homoaopathy you have stopped short one step too soon. 
 "When you were inclined some years ago to condemn mesmerism on 
 general reasoning, I urged, that as you considered it worthy of serious 
 notice at all, you ought to go a step farther, and test the facts; that if 
 you did so and found them true, you would thereby advance science 
 and save your own reputation ; if false, you would meet mesmerists on 
 their own battle-field, and knock them down with their own weapons, 
 and with an authority which would carry'weight whereas, if you 
 used only general reasoning or ridicule, you would leave them in pos- 
 session of their stronghold, and merely oppose opinion to alleged stub- 
 born fact. You followed this course with clairvoyance, and there stand 
 on sure ground. With homoaopathy, however, you have acted dif- 
 ferently. You admit too much for it to warrant you reposing on your 
 mere opinion against it. You are bound in reason and in logic to 
 make a trial for yourself, and draw such conclusions as your expe- 
 rience shall warrant. The test you propose is excellent, but it is not 
 in your power. The one I propose is not so conclusive, but it is the 
 best you can use, and valeat quantum. Had you shewn that the general 
 results of homoeopathic practice were less favourable, you might have 
 legitimately held them to be a sufficient justification for not testing it ; 
 but that will not avail you as things stand. You have placed your- 
 
 to render it expedient to continue them. In consequence, the grant 
 of 50 a-year was withdrawn by Mr Henderson's trustees, Dr Weir 
 resigned, and the lectureship was suppressed. 
 * Vol. xxi., p. 225.
 
 ON HOM<EOPATHY, &C. 483 
 
 self as a mark to be shot at by both parties, and fenced yourself only 
 on one side. I cannot get over the extreme improbability of such 
 visionary doses having palpable effects : but then we are too ignorant 
 to decide what may or may not be in nature ; and you admit that you 
 have men of great talent, skill, learning, experience, and honesty, 
 affirming their actual experience of active results, and can oppose 
 nothing to that affirmation except your opinion. I have often said 
 that if I were in practice, I should hold myself bound to test homoeopa- 
 thic practice. It has established its claim to a fair hearing, and only 
 useful knowledge can come out of an impartial and adequate trial of 
 its powers. 
 
 " I have for years been deeply impressed with all you say regard- 
 ing ordinary medical practice and science, and have earnestly wished 
 to be able to write a book on the subject before being gathered to 
 my fathers. My letter to our friend Clark on Medical Education in 
 1838, notices some of the defects and their causes ; and, in the begin- 
 ning of 1842, after this last attack seemed to indicate the near ap- 
 proach of my exit, I felt doubly anxious to express my views, and 
 wrote a long letter to my brother on the subject, to be made use of if 
 I did not survive to bring them out in a more satisfactory form. 
 Three months ago, also, feeling my mental condition somewhat im- 
 proved, the desire to discuss the subject returned strongly upon me, 
 and I wrote down whatever occurred to me in a note-book to serve as 
 material, and asked Sir James to point out, and request you to point out, 
 anything that you or he considered deserving of notice in the present 
 state of things. He never found leisure to answer my letter, and I 
 went on without such aid, and have now filled some 80 pages 12mo, 
 to be put together and published when Providence shall give me 
 working power sufficient for the purpose. In these notes, and in my 
 letter of 1842, the leading principle is, that medicine, as it now stands, 
 is to a great extent a fallacy, and often a hurtful fallacy, because not 
 in the least based on the order or laws of nature, and constantly in- 
 terfering with rather than aiding them. I insist on the prime ne- 
 cessity of first studying the natural history of diseases, and, having 
 done so, endeavouring to follow up the indications of Nature by placing 
 every function under the conditions most favourable for its action, and 
 to remove any obstructions in her way, but never to attempt to super- 
 sede her efforts, or substitute another method of cure for hers. As a 
 specimen of what I mean, I subjoin a few extracts from my crude notes 
 exactly as they stand. (Here extracts are given.) 
 
 " Having thus scribbled off reflections raised by your article, with 
 the same freedom as you have used in the article itself, and for which, 
 by the way, I give you high credit, I remain," Ac.
 
 484 ON THE OBSERVATION OF NATURE IN THE 
 
 This letter led to tlie publication by Dr Combe, of a 
 paper " On the Observation of Nature in the Study 
 and Treatment of Disease," in No. xlii. of the British 
 and Foreign Medical Review.* It includes the letter 
 addressed to his brother in 1842 ; and the following- 
 brief extract from the article exhibits the leading views 
 which it was the aim of the writer to enforce : 
 
 " The one great principle, then, to which a comprehensive review 
 of homeopathy, ' allopathy,' hydropathy, and all other systems of 
 medicine, seems irresistibly to lead, is, that in all cases and on all oc- 
 casions, Nature is truly the agent in the cure of disease ; and that, as she 
 acts in accordance with fixed and invariable laws, the aim of the physician 
 ought always to be to facilitate her efforts, by acting in harmony with, and 
 not in opposition to, those laws. Disease, as already remarked, is a 
 mode of action of a living organism, and not an entity apart from it. 
 In accordance with this view, experience shews that when we favour 
 the return to a normal action by simply natural means, recovery will 
 ensue in most cases, without the use of drugs at all. So far from 
 being always necessary to a cure, drugs are required only where the 
 power of Nature to resume her normal action proves inadequate or is 
 impeded by a removable obstruction. Even then it is still Nature 
 acting in accordance with her own laws that brings about the cure. 
 She may be aided, but she ought never to be thwarted ; and medicine will 
 advance towards the certainty of other sciences only in proportion as 
 we become saturated with this guiding principle." 
 
 His views were controverted in an able manner, but 
 under some misapprehension, by Dr J. A. Symonds of 
 Bristol, in No. xliv.,f to whom he replied in Nos. xlv. and 
 xlvi. ;| and a rejoinder by Dr S. appeared in No. xlvi. 
 
 * Vol. xxi., p. 505 ; April 1846. 
 
 J- Vol. xxii., p. 557 ; October 1846. 
 
 + Vol. xxiii., pp. 257 and 592 ; January and April 1847. 
 
 Ibid., p. 596. A pamphlet was subsequently published at Bristol 
 in 1847, under the title of " A Few Remarks on the Expectant Treat- 
 ment of Diseases, by AKE2TH2," and may be regarded as an appen- 
 dix to the controversy ; a brief and rather hostile criticism of it will 
 be found in the British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review, No. i., 
 January 1848, p. 257.
 
 STUDY AND TREATMENT OF DISEASE. 485 
 
 These contributions by Dr Combe to the Review, 
 were highly appreciated by its editor, and are among 
 the best specimens of the soundness, depth, and com- 
 prehensiveness of the writer s understanding. 
 
 George Combe having been consulted by a friend on 
 the plan of a work which he intended to write, applied 
 to Dr Combe for his opinion, and received in answer 
 the following characteristic note, dated 27th January 
 1846 : 
 
 " When Bonaparte was expounding with great energy to General 
 Dessolles the plan of operations he wished Moreau to adopt in cross- 
 ing the Rhine, Dessoles told him that his plan was ten times better 
 than Moreau's, but that it was not adapted to Moreau's genius, and 
 therefore he would do wisely to let Moreau follow his own, as he 
 would effect the end better by means of it, than by trying one uncon- 
 genial to his own understanding. The criticism was approved of, and 
 
 I feel its applicability to 's plan. He will execute his own 
 
 better than yours or mine, even if ours be better in the abstract ; and 
 therefore I say, ' laissez le faire,' although my views differ from 
 hk.3 
 
 On the 10th of March 1846, he wrote to Mr Richard 
 Cobden, M.P., the following observations on the inju- 
 rious influence of excessive mental exertion on health: 
 
 " MY DEAR SIB, My brother has shewn me your letter of the 7th, 
 and although personally unknown to you, I cannot refrain from express- 
 ing the satisfaction I feel at the improvement of your health, and still 
 more at the determination you have formed to allow nothing to inter- 
 fere with the means which may be requisite for its entire restoration. 
 To all classes in this country, your life and health are of much import- 
 ance ; for, morally and rationally, you exercise an influence over your 
 fellow-men, both at home and abroad, which no one can supply, and 
 which, if you be spared, will do more for the diffusion of sound social 
 feeling, and just and rational views of the real interests of men 
 and nations, than could be effected by any existing ' party,' however 
 liberal, in a generation. Believing this, it would be strange if I did 
 not feel deeply interested in the permanent restoration of that health 
 and energy of mind and body on which so much of the future must 
 depend. Convinced as I am not only by your own narrative, but
 
 486 ON THE INJURIOUS INFLUENCE OF EXCESSIVE 
 
 by the utter physical impossibility of any corporeal system going 
 through the years of unremitting and anxious toil which you have 
 done, without being severely shaken, and even endangered by it, I 
 cannot too earnestly charge you to adhere unalterably to your re- 
 solution, to take a long period of repose amidst new objects and 
 scenes, and in winter to resort to a milder climate. The present 
 sacrifice, great as it must be to yourself and to the public, will count 
 as nothing when the day of reckoning comes, and you find years of 
 active usefulness repay the months spent in laying that foundation for 
 the future, without which your superstructure will rest as upon the 
 treacherous sand which yields at the very moment it seems most firm. 
 When you were still engaged in active and exciting exertion, with 
 new claims arising around you at every instant, it would have been 
 in vain to preach moderation and care. Feeling, as you did, strength 
 for the work, you could not see that it was the nearly-exhausted 
 strength of an over-stimulated nervous system. But the interval of 
 illness and repose has fortunately allowed the excitement so far to 
 subside, as to give you a more accurate view of your real condition ; 
 and if it shall lead you to act wisely in time, and with that foresight 
 and decision which your character indicates, I for one shall rejoice 
 that ' you have been afflicted !' I have no wish, however, to alarm 
 you, and no reason. I believe it is yet time to be prudent and reap 
 the permanent reward ; but the course followed should be clear, un- 
 hesitating, and of sufficient duration to enable Nature to repair 
 thoroughly the ravages already made. 
 
 " I am not aware who your medical adviser is ; but from what you 
 say of his hints, I am thankful you are in the hands of one who ap- 
 parently knows what he is about, and is not disposed to trifle when he 
 sees an enemy advancing against his friend. 
 
 " I have observed so much of the evil from which I should like to 
 see you saved, that I am perhaps unconsciously going a step too far 
 in writing to you thus freely. But you will, I trust, forgive me. My 
 brother himself suffered severely from long-continued over-exertion 
 in an excellent cause, and remained blind to his danger till the ex- 
 citement subsided, although it was often placed strongly before him 
 for years. Fortunately, however, the collapse came in time to save 
 him ; and at the end of two or three years, he made up his lost 
 stamina. Another example was that of Mr Whiteside, the Irish Bar- 
 rister, who made one of the best speeches in defence of O'Connell. 
 Unremitting over-exertion had almost undermined his constitution, 
 and his labours during the trial were followed by greatly impaired 
 energies. The excitement and eclat, and the increase of business, kept 
 him up for a time, and blinded him to his real condition. Chance
 
 MENTAL EXERTION ON HEALTH. 487 
 
 threw him in my way the autumn before last, when he came to Scot- 
 land to relax. I urged him then most earnestly to throw business to 
 the dogs, and to spend the winter in a milder climate, far from courts 
 and excitement. He could not bring his mind to the sacrifice. In 
 vain I urged, that ambition could be gratified only by continuing to 
 live. He would try, he said, and cut and run, if he felt it necessary. 
 He returned to his business, and the consequence was, that after a 
 slight exposure to cold in March last year, inflammation in a small 
 part of one lung was developed, and, from his deficient stamina, be- 
 came nearly fatal. I saw him in the beginning of June in Dublin, 
 a confirmed invalid, but thought it still possible for him to escape, if 
 he would be submissive to advice. I joined iny entreaties and expos- 
 tulations as a friend to those of Sir Henry Marsh, aiid induced him 
 to go to the Continent. In London he saw Sir James Clark, who 
 backed us stoutly, and told him that he must winter in Italy, and not 
 shew face in England for a year, if he wished for either life or pro- 
 motion. He reluctantly consented, and notwithstanding sundry im- 
 prudences arising from a mercurial temperament, he wrote lately 
 from Naples, that he was in more vigorous health than for many 
 
 " Another painful and instructive example was that of the late Dr 
 James Hope of London, a fellow-student of mine. Ambitious of being 
 the first in his profession, he terribly overtaxed an ' iron constitu- 
 tion,' on which he relied for his defence against Nature. When 
 
 * Mr Whiteside passed a second winter in Rome, by which his 
 health was completely restored; and while this work is in the 
 press, he has given a public proof of the unimpaired energy of his 
 mental powers in a very able publication, under the title of " The 
 Past and the Present : an Address delivered at a Meeting of the 
 Working Classes' Association (Belfast) on October 22, 1849." In it 
 he pays the following eloquent tribute to the merits of the subject 
 of this memoir : " Reviewing and comparing the present with the 
 past, we have one important class of labourers in the field of humanity 
 to notice and to bless the sanitary reformers and, foremost among 
 them, must ever be named, with grateful respect, the late Dr Andrew 
 Combe. Like some of the great men whom I have referred to, he 
 was of weak constitution, yet he preserved his life long enough to 
 teach mankind how to prolong theirs. Gifted with a high order of 
 intellect, a higher moral nature, a rare judgment, and a generous spi- 
 rit of philanthropy, his thoughts, his writings, and his actions, were 
 all directed to make his fellow-creatures wiser, healthier, happier, than 
 he found them. His style of composition was lucid and persuasive, 
 the matter abundant, the subject all-important the physiology of 
 life."
 
 488 LETTEK TO ME HOKACE MANN, 
 
 urged to desist and go abroad for a year, he replied, that to do so 
 would be to forfeit all for which he had laboured, but that he would 
 spare himself as much as he could. In another year he was in his 
 grave, at the age of forty ; thus cutting off, perhaps, thirty years of 
 fame and usefulness, which might otherwise have been within his 
 easy reach. By acting differently, I have reached my forty-ninth year, 
 although condemned as consumptive in 1820, and ever since an in- 
 valid. I have not done much, certainly, but have done something in 
 a small way, which I felt to be worth living for. It is only the other 
 day, in a letter to a friend, I was expressing my thankfulness to have 
 been spared another year from last March, when I seemed to be near 
 my end ; and the occasion was the reading the concluding night's 
 debate, and your admirably-toned speech on the repeal of the corn- 
 laws, and the adoption of the principle of free trade. On look- 
 ing forward to the probable results of the discussion and vote, upon 
 generations yet unborn, I felt that now, come my day of departure 
 when it might, I could rejoice in the consciousness that a gigantiff step 
 had been made in the progress of human happiness and improvement, 
 and that I owed you and those engaged with you in the great strug- 
 gle a deep debt of gratitude. In the immediate money results of the 
 measure, many are doomed, I believe, to disappointment, while com- 
 paratively few foresee the most valuable of its probable consequences. 
 To guide and assist in working out these, by promoting- other mea- 
 sures of a kindred nature, your presence and exertions will be of 
 paramount importance ; and it is to preserve you for a long future 
 that I venture to urge, so strongly, that timely prudence which seems 
 in your case to be so much required. Your own mind will draw the 
 necessary conclusions from the examples I have mentioned, and I need 
 not inflict any disquisition upon you regarding them. I have already 
 sufficiently trespassed upon your time, and shall leave my brother to 
 add any hints from his own experience which he may think likely to 
 be useful." 
 
 On 30th April, I)r Combe wrote to Mr Horace Mann, 
 secretary to the Board of Education in Massachusetts, 
 the following letter on his Ninth Report, printed by 
 the Legislature of that state. As it contains observa- 
 tions on education, of general and permanent interest, 
 it is here presented to the reader : 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, I cannot resist the desire I feel to write you a 
 few lines expressive of the great gratification I have experienced in
 
 OX HIS REPORT O>" EDUCATION. 489 
 
 the perusal of your Ninth Report to the Board of Education. It 
 arrived here a few days ago, along with your note to my brother, of 
 13th February, and in his absence I took the opportunity of reading 
 it, I finished it yesterday, and at every successive page I felt my ad- 
 miration of it increase. If you had lived only to write that Report, 
 you would have been by it alone recognised as a benefactor to your 
 race. I can scarcely conceive anything so much calculated to meet 
 the peculiar wants of the day, or to convey and diffuse widely a true 
 sense of the nature and value of a sound education. Your exposition 
 of the errors and omissions in the moral training of our schools, and 
 of the inevitable consequences thence resulting to the character of the 
 future men and women who are to rule over us. and constitute our 
 general and domestic society, is most graphic and convincing. It ad- 
 dresses itself at once to intellect and to feeling, because it is a tran- 
 script of existing and influential realities, and is conveyed with a 
 moral earnestness which it is impossible to resist. 
 
 " You are right in saying at the end. that such an exposition is 
 new. Many thinking men have touched upon similar topics, but 
 without either grouping them, or following them out systematically 
 to their results. You have been placed in almost the only position for 
 accomplishing the work. The schoolmaster is usually too much occu- 
 pied with the direct calls upon his attention, to admit of his stopping 
 to analyse and reflect upon the operation of the principles by which the 
 moral and intellectual phenomena which distinguish character, are 
 produced or modified even by his own acts. The mere philosophical 
 visitor, on the other hand, although so familiar with principle as to 
 be able to predicate what results are likely to ensue from certain 
 school-practices, has yet no sufficient opportunity of d'Serrhw realitief, 
 to feel sure that the anticipated results actually follow. You com- 
 bine the advantages possessed by both. You are familiar with the 
 principles of human nature, with their mode of action, and proper fields 
 of exercise.* On entering a school, you come furnished with the 
 means of accurate observation, increased by those of extended compa- 
 rison with other schools ; and, like the calm onlooker at a perilous 
 game, you are able thus to detect a deal more of the play, and form a 
 more correct estimate of the chances, than those who are themselves 
 engaged in it. Every word you utter, thus bears the stamp of a 
 truthful reality, and tells upon the intelligent mind with a directness 
 and force, which only the densest prejudices can resist. 
 
 * Mr Mann is intimately acquainted with Phrenology and its ap- 
 plications ; and its influence in supplying him with guiding principles 
 is conspicuous in every work that proceeds from his pen. O. C.
 
 490 LETTER TO MR HORACE MANN. 
 
 " Your solemn warning to your countrymen, that the prosperity 
 and happiness of the nation depend on the nature of the education 
 given to the youth of both sexes now at school, is so impressively elo- 
 quent, and, at the same time, so clearly argued, that it can never be 
 forgotten. It will be like the good seed, and will do its own work 
 where there is even a vestige of soil among the stony places. It will 
 sink deeply into the true and earnest minds ; and they, in their turn, 
 will sow abundantly in a soil better prepared to receive the seed. The 
 lesson is greatly needed by the teachers and public of this and all 
 other countries, as well as your own ; for, as yet, education has been 
 more an intention than a reality. A few intellectual faculties have 
 been cultivated, and our moral nature left to be choked by the rank- 
 growing weeds of the propensities. Phrenology has done much, and 
 will yet do much more, to expose this grievous error and its source, 
 and your Report will be a most valuable aid in its correction. Many 
 of your remarks come home to me with peculiar force, as echoes of 
 deep convictions which have often haunted my mind without ever find- 
 ing adequate expression, but the fainter images of which appear in 
 my ' Physiology applied to Education.' At this very time, and for 
 months past, I have been devoting all my spare energies, which, un- 
 fortunately, are very small, to an attempt to do for medicine what you 
 are doing so efficiently for education, to direct men's minds to the 
 realities of Clod's laws, instead of to mere fancies of their own. I seek 
 to elevate the character and increase the dignity of the profession 
 by elevating its aims and improving its practice, just as you are doing 
 with the character and dignity of the schoolmaster. It seems to me 
 that we are at the commencement of a new era in education, profes- 
 sional as well as general, social, and political ; and I envy the power of 
 those who, like you, are able to contribute so energetically to its de- 
 velopment. You are labouring in a cause which will insure for you 
 the gratitude of generations yet unborn ; and I cannot help express- 
 ing my hearty sympathy with all you have done and are doing. May 
 you long be preserved in health and activity, to fulfil your mission and 
 benefit your race ! " 
 
 At a subsequent date (27th. August), Dr Combe wrote 
 to Lord Dunfermline, in relation to this Report, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 MY LORD, I read your warm approval of Mr Mann's Report with 
 great pleasure, and feel much obliged by your remarks. My brother
 
 LETTER TO LORD DCJfFERMLIXE. 491 
 
 means to recommend Mr Mann to send over a good many copies, and 
 if this cannot be done, we think it onght to be reprinted.* At present 
 it would not sell ; but when the question of National Education comes 
 before the public, it might find a ready welcome, and prove a very 
 useful auxiliary to those engaged in the discussion. Mr Mann's posi- 
 tion was eminently favourable/' [Here Dr Combe introduces some 
 remarks on the Report similar to those contained in his letter to Mr 
 Mann ; after which he proceeds :] " In this respect he somewhat re- 
 sembles Mr Cobden. He is equally at home with the facts and the 
 principles ; and being as thoroughly sincere and in earnest, he requires 
 only a fair hearing to make a deep and general impression ; and I hope 
 that the approaching discussions will call attention to his Report. 
 The extraordinary success of Mr Cobden's labours in educating the 
 middle classes in the principles of free trade affords great encourage- 
 ment for the future, in attempting educational improvement. 
 
 " It is very gratifying to me to receive the expression of your Lord- 
 ship's conviction, that the cause of secular education is decidedly ad- 
 vancing, and that something will be done commensurate with its im- 
 portance ; and I most heartily agree with you in looking to it as the 
 best security for the property, social order, and happiness of the coun- 
 try. Even Dr Candlish now professes his willingness to receive secu- 
 lar education from the Government without stigmatising it as ' god- 
 less' and * profane !' In so far he is at one with Dr Hook and Mr 
 Milner ; and the fact indicates a considerable change in a large and 
 influential portion of the public. If the Government made the clear 
 distinction, that their scheme of education is intended to fit man for 
 his position and duties in this world only, and that they left it entirely 
 to every man's church to prepare him for the next, it might calm the 
 fears of many. Still, however, bigotry, intolerance, and the love of 
 power, would play their part, although, probably, with less success. 
 But I must not encroach too far on your Lordship's patience with my 
 comments." 
 
 On the 20th of May he went to Kingston-on-Thames, 
 and remained with Dr Abram Cox till the middle of 
 July. He was remarkably fortunate and happy during 
 this yisit. The weather was fine, and he had regained 
 
 * Dr Hodgson republished " Report of an Educational Tour in 
 Germany, Ac. By Horace Mann ;" Simpkin. Marshall, and Co., Lon- 
 don, 1846. A notice of Mr Mann's personal history is given in the 
 Phrenological Journal, voL six., p. 348.
 
 492 INTERVIEW WITH MR COBDEN. 
 
 so much strength that he was able to drive out every 
 day, go to town, see his friends, and occupy himself in 
 several useful employments. He made the personal 
 acquaintance of Mr Cobden ; and in a letter to his bro- 
 ther, dated 20th June, he writes : 
 
 " I was greatly pleased with Mr Cobden. I know not when I have 
 spent three hours more happily than in an excursion with him to 
 Hampton Court Garden, and sauntering there with him, talking with- 
 out reserve on every topic that occurred. It was pleasing, too, to see 
 the respect with which various parties who recognised him, saluted 
 him. He came three hours more in the evening, when Sir James 
 Clark was with us, and much interesting talk followed. I did not 
 ask the question directly, how far the late movement in favour of free 
 trade was founded on an intelligent perception of the dictates of the 
 natural laws of man, and how far on mere empirical sense ; but the 
 impression left on my mind was, that the public promoters of the agi- 
 tation were acting merely on the dictates of good sense, general infor- 
 mation, and acute intellect, sharpened by interest in the subject, and 
 a belief that good to themselves, as well as to the nation, would en- 
 sue. But I think that few of them had a clear perception that they 
 were advocating the scheme devised by Providence, supported by its 
 power, and sanctioned by its wisdom. They, consequently, were more 
 apt to seize quickly all statements of fact and principle which told in 
 their favour, than to consider any that might militate against them ; 
 and thus, if tested by a call to apply the same principles to some new 
 but less popular public measure, to which their present doctrines were 
 equally applicable, many who are now eloquent in denouncing illi- 
 berality in all its shapes, might, I fear, under the influence of preju- 
 dice and supposed interest, go astray. Still, an important step in 
 public education has been made by the corn-law discussions of fact 
 and principle, and the people are, for the moment, in possession of 
 views which would carry them much farther, if their moral and intel- 
 lectual training could be continued under favourable circumstances. 
 I have no doubt that ' The Constitution of Man' has done something to 
 prepare the manufacturing mind, in particular, for the recent discus- 
 sions, and has indirectly helped many to a clearer perception of truths 
 which they believe themselves to have discovered by their own com- 
 mon sense. But I believe the number of those who consciously found 
 on the natural laws is small. Every truth brought out by a know- 
 ledge of these laws looks so plain and sensible, that many minds take
 
 REMAKES ON THE PEOPLE AND CLIMATE OF CORK. 493 
 
 it up and adhere to it, without regard to the evidence of its solid 
 foundation afforded by its harmony with a general principle. But 
 then, let higher minds point out that harmony, and drive it into them 
 by ' a damnable iteration' (without which no impression can be made), 
 and they will be ready to open their eyes and follow with alacrity.' 
 
 Dr Coinbe visited the Royal Family at Buckingham 
 Palace with Sir James Clark, who. on this, as on other 
 occasions, availed himself of his suggestions, founded 
 on his physiological and phrenological knowledge, re- 
 garding the physical and moral education of the Royal 
 children. 
 
 From London, Dr Combe and Miss Cox went by sea 
 to Cork, Dublin, Liverpool, and Glasgow, for the sake 
 of the voyages. Writing to George Combe from Liver- 
 pool on the 26th July, he says : 
 
 " The people of Cork seemed to me the most heterogeneous race I 
 ever saw. They are like no other people, and one is not like another. 
 They are not susceptible of classification. There was, however, much 
 less begging, and drunkenness, and rags, than I expected, and no per- 
 tinacity whatever in obtruding offers of service, of cars, or of anything 
 else ; but, on the contrary, much natural civility. We steamed down 
 to Cove and back again on Monday, 20th, to see its beauties and ad- 
 vantages as an invalid resort, and also to get a view of the experi- 
 mental squadron. The country and houses offer many indications of 
 a rainy climate. The vegetation was as green and humid as in May, 
 and the outside walls are generally slated down to the ground on the 
 exposed sides of the houses. The number of handsome villas along 
 the shores is very large ; but there is obviously nothing in the situa- 
 tion to make it worth an invalid's while to give up home for its bene- 
 fits, but very much the contrary. 
 
 " The fleet of eight large men-of-war, and nine war-steamers, was 
 a noble sight. Why I can scarcely tell ; but these majestic masses of 
 human construction, floating as if in all the calm consciousness of enor- 
 mous power, have always had a deep interest for me. But the same is 
 the case with even the elegant little cutter, skimming like a thing of life 
 over a summer's sea. In crossing from Dublin to I/fverpool on Thurs- 
 day in a strong southern gale, with driving clouds, slanting showers, 
 and broken and foaming sea boiling up with fierce energy on every 
 side, a large ship became visible, enveloped in a thick dark squall, about
 
 494 REMARKS ON THE FLEET. 
 
 half a mile off, and offered a perfect picture for the eye of an artist. 
 She was under close-reefed topsails three shreds of canvas as they 
 seemed, as hig as three handkerchiefs and there she lay, almost on her 
 broadside, part of the deck constantly under water, and yet going so 
 steadily, that for a time I fancied she was on her broadside on a sand- 
 bank, and we not passing her. We were going eleven knots, so that 
 she must have been going at least ten to keep up with us."
 
 EVILS OF ISOLATING CHILDREN. 495 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 LETTER FROM DR COMBE TO JOSS DUXVUJLE, OX THE ETTLS OP ISO- 
 LATING CHILDREN IX THEIR EDUCATIOX. LETTER TO MR JOHX 
 SCOTT, OX THE QUALIFICATIOXS XECESSART FOR A SUPERIXTEXDEXT 
 OF A LUNATIC ASYLUM. - LETTER TO GEORGE COMBE OX IXTBO- 
 DUCLJfG RELIGIOX EXTO COMMOX SCHOOLS. DR COMBE'S EFFORTS 
 IX RELATIOX TO A LAWSUIT IX THE COURTS OF PARIS, AT THE 
 IXSTAXCE OF THE PHREXOLOGICAL SOCIXTT AGAIXST DR ROBERT 
 VEBJTT. STATE OF DR COMBE'S HEALTH IX OCTOBER AXD XOTEM- 
 BER 1846. 
 
 ON the 9th of August 1846 Dr Combe wrote to Miss 
 DunTille the following letter, on the evils of isolating 
 children in their education : 
 
 " I trust that you will hare as much as possible other children as 
 companions for your nephew. The more I see and the longer I live, 
 I am the more struck with the evils of the prevailing system of iso- 
 lating children within their own family circle, however small, as if 
 no other children were good enough to be their companions. It cul- 
 tivates selfishness and feebleness of character, by destroying the elas- 
 ticity and vigour of action elicited by contact with other minds than 
 their own. At their age, too, it is most unnatural. I daily thank 
 Heaven more and more for having been left by my parents to mix 
 freely in the play and society of all the children in our neighbour- 
 hood without exception. They were all poor, sons of brewers, tanners, 
 journeymen printers, and so forth ; as the brewery was situated in a 
 poor quarter. Some of them were ragged and ill-fed ; but I am sure 
 that I owe **<* good and little harm to their companionship. In mo- 
 rality and amiability, I must even now do them the justice to say, 
 they were not my inferiors. The few black sheep were instinctively 
 shunned by the better sort, without bidding from father or mother; 
 and this stands tnu to natore at att ayes. Hence, fences are much leas
 
 496 QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE 
 
 needed than is supposed. As we grew up, a gradual separation ensued 
 as our pursuits and feelings diverged; but goodwill remained till 
 companionship ended in a friendly nod. The worst evil I suffered 
 was imbibing in a stronger form the Scottish pronunciation, which 
 will stick to me for ever ; but that I should have had at any rate, 
 only in a shade less deep, and it is a small price to pay for the ad- 
 vantages gained." 
 
 On the 14th of August he wrote to Mr John Scott, 
 the treasurer of the Royal Edinburgh Lunatic Asylum, 
 on the qualifications to be sought for in a superin- 
 tendent of that Institution : 
 
 " I regret very much my inability to attend the meeting of the 
 managers of the Asylum, to take into consideration Dr Mackinnon's 
 resignation. In common with the rest of the managers, I sincerely 
 lament that the infirm state of his health should have rendered it 
 necessary for him to take this step. * * * Should the managers 
 accept, unconditionally, his resignation, I would respectfully suggest 
 that the situation should be thrown open, and every effort made to 
 secure a thoroughly competent successor. From the great extension 
 of the asylum, the necessity becomes daily more urgent to place over 
 it a man not only of sound views and high attainments, but of the 
 highest obtainable qualifications and experience, and who shall also 
 possess that physical strength, natural activity, and mental energy, 
 without which, constant intercourse with the insane becomes a 
 drudgery, instead of a labour of love and moral interest. It is on 
 the resident medical officer that the success of every asylum, as a 
 means of cure, must ever mainly depend ; and it would be a serious 
 error to content ourselves with a person of merely average qualifica- 
 tions from a false regard to economy, and trust to the occasional visits 
 of a non-resident adviser to make up for his deficiencies. I have seen 
 many asylums, but never one that was really excellent as an instru- 
 ment of cure, unless there was an ever-vigilant and energetic spirit 
 presiding over it, and keeping a watchful eye equally on the patients 
 and on the attendants. Without a directing spirit being ever pre- 
 sent, there can be no efficient ministration on the part of the subor- 
 dinates ; no confiding and healthful reliance on the part of the 
 patients ; and none of that wholesome activity and unity of action and 
 of feeling, which bring about so many valuable results. With com- 
 mon kindness and common sense, it is not difficult to present the ex- 
 ternal features of order and comfort ; but it is an order which is con- 
 stantly in danger of falling into lifeless routine, and which leaves
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF A LUNATIC ASYLUM. 497 
 
 many a patient to move on in the dull round of disease, who, by in- 
 dividual care and attention might have been roused to healthful hope 
 and activity. It wants the prompt and life-like aspect which charac- 
 terises efficiency, where every man is made to feel instinctively what 
 he ought to do, and how to do it in the best manner. To the patient 
 himself, the difference is very great between feeling himself indivi- 
 dually the object of an intelligent and ever-active sympathy, and 
 being only one out of many one of a general mass as it were all 
 treated kindly, but with no regard to peculiarities of character or 
 condition. 
 
 " I have alluded to this subject, because, from the increased num- 
 ber of cures in all asylums since the introduction of an improved 
 moral treatment, a notion has been gaining ground of late, that no 
 peculiar advantage is to be obtained from the appointment of medical 
 men to the superintendence of institutions for the insane ; and that 
 any unprofessional man of good sense and good character may dis- 
 charge all the duties equally well, aided only by visits from a non-re- 
 sident physician. When in Ireland last year, I found that it had 
 even been proposed that Government should sanction such an arrange- 
 ment in the public asylums of that country. Were such a course to 
 be adopted, I feel assured that it would speedily put a stop to the 
 improvement which has been going on so rapidly for the last twenty 
 years ; and I conceive that the proposal must have arisen solely from 
 no advantage having been derived from appointing men who had no 
 knowledge of, or interest in, the subject, and no other qualification 
 than their being medical. If so, I perfectly agree with those who see 
 no superiority of qualification in such medical men over others not 
 belonging to the profession. I admit farther, that, in many instances, 
 kind treatment, removal from home, and ordinary attention to the 
 physical comforts of the patient, suffice to effect a cure without any 
 peculiar exercise of professional skill. But it is not less true, that 
 there are many cases in which a knowledge of the individual consti- 
 tution, and a more correct acquaintance with the laws of action of 
 the different bodily and mental functions, and with the manner in 
 which external causes act in disturbing or restoring health, would en- 
 able a reflecting physician to contribute successfully to a recovery, 
 where, from the want of that knowledge, a non-professional officer 
 would fail to be of any service. 
 
 " Another important ground of preference for a thoroughly quali- 
 fied professional superintendent is, that the thoughts and feelings of 
 the insane are in them the symptoms of the disease which requires to be 
 cured, and, as such, have a meaning which only a competent medical 
 authority can interpret with accuracy. They are the means by which 
 
 2 i
 
 498 QUALIFICATIONS FOR SUPERINTENDENT OF AN ASYLUM. 
 
 we form an opinion of the condition of the patient, and they can be- 
 come known to us in their ever-varying shades, only by a frequency 
 and familiarity of intercourse which no merely visiting physician can 
 enjoy. It often happens, that after removal to an asylum a marked 
 improvement ensues, which seems to promise an early and complete 
 recovery ; but after the lapse of a few weeks or months, all progress 
 ceases, and after vibrating for a while between sanity and insanity, 
 the patient begins to retrograde, unless some efficient means are re- 
 sorted to, to turn the scale once more in his favour. In cases of this 
 kind it will be observed, that the fate of the patient and the happi- 
 ness of families often depends not only on the professional skill and 
 sagacity of the medical adviser, but on his intimate and accurate 
 knowledge of the true condition of the patient. In the hands of a 
 vigilant and thoughtful physician, every effort will be made to carry 
 on the improvement to entire recovery by the judicious application of 
 some new stimulus or change of social position ; while, under the eye 
 of a man of routine, the time for action will be allowed to go by 
 till the disease has become rooted and incurable. I have the direct 
 testimony of experienced men, both abroad and at home, to the fre- 
 quent occurrence of such cases, which shew strongly how unwise it 
 would be, even in an economical view, to risk their accumulation, by 
 the appointment of any but a man of the highest qualification we can 
 command. I am quite aware how much good may be done by the 
 visits of a consulting physician working in harmony with a resident, 
 but I feel assured that Dr GHllespie will agree with me that they can 
 never supply his place. 
 
 " The last reason which I shall urge for recommending that every 
 effort should be made, consistent with the state of our funds, to secure 
 the services of a first-rate man is, that the Institution will, ere long, 
 be looked to for supplying more fully the means of instruction to the 
 students of our medical school, on a class of diseases from the study 
 of which they have been hitherto shut out, but which, nevertheless, 
 they are expected to understand. Experience has shewn, that under 
 proper regulations, the admission of a limited number of students, and 
 the delivery of clinical instruction, may be made advantageous even 
 to the patients. But I need not do more than hint at this part of 
 the subject, as I feel assured that the managers are most desirous to 
 act in a right spirit with regard to this and all other appointments." 
 
 When Dr Combe was in London, Mr Cobdeii pro- 
 posed to him to accompany himself and Mrs Cobden to 
 Egypt for the winter, but Sir James Clark put a nega-
 
 INTRODUCTION OF RELIGION INTO COMMON SCHOOLS. 499 
 
 tive on the plan, as beyond Dr Combe's strength ; and 
 he passed the remainder of the autumn of 1846 at 
 Dunoou, on the Clyde, and continued his usual habits. 
 A little later he was appointed one of the Physicians in 
 Ordinary to the Queen in Scotland; an honorary office, 
 without salary or duties. 
 
 On the 22d of October he wrote to his brother George, 
 then on a visit in Forfar shire, on the subject of the 
 
 INTRODUCTION OF RELIGION INTO COMMON SCHOOLS. 
 
 His remarks were called forth by reading the manu- 
 script of a pamphlet by his brother, on the right and 
 duty of Government to educate the people.* 
 
 " The most ticklish question concerns the propi'iety of separating 
 secular from religious instruction. You lay down a rule, that society 
 has an undoubted right to enforce secular instruction and training, 
 because these relate to man's fitness for his duties as a member of 
 society ; and you shew admirably, that he is not warranted in claim- 
 ing the benefits of his neighbours' enlightenment and prudence, while 
 he refuses to qualify himself to the utmost of his capacity for his own 
 social duties and burdens. You add, that society has not the same 
 right to enforce religious instruction, because it has its issues in 
 eternity, and thus concerns only the individual in his individual 
 capacity. 
 
 " I have thought much on this subject of late years, and my con- 
 viction has long been, that it is impossible and unnatural to separate 
 religious from secular instruction, because no such distinction exists 
 in rerun natura, and to attempt to enforce one, is to fight against a 
 shadow. Keep in mind, that we are not entitled to represent re- 
 ligion to be, what its fanatical abusers make it, viz.. a collection of 
 dogmas, belief in which is essential for the salvation of the soul. 
 
 " Religion, as represented by its more rational teachers and pro- 
 fessors, has a direct and constant bearing on our social conduct and 
 duties ; and is, in fact, intended to regulate these, as well as to secure 
 eternal happiness. It is unwarrantable, then, to treat of it as if it 
 were intended solely to obtain salvation. Take sincerely religious 
 
 * The title is, " Remarks on National Education." 8vo, pp. 38. 
 Fourth edition.
 
 500 ON THE INTRODUCTION OF RELIGION 
 
 and rational-minded people, and you find their whole conduct in- 
 fluenced and improved by their religion. In discussing the question, 
 therefore, we are bound to take the best form of religion as the 
 standard ; and if we do so, you will readily grant, that there is not 
 only no means of excluding it, but no act of social life in which 
 it should not exercise an influence. When I was apparently in ex- 
 tremis in February 1845, this truth came so vividly before me in con- 
 nection with the ' Physiology of Digestion,' which I was then re- 
 vising, that I recollect attempting to tell you, that I considered a pro- 
 per exposition of science and religion to be inseparable and identical ; 
 and that I wished much to have the power of bringing out their con- 
 nection in a more palpable way than had ever been done before. 
 Since then, I have often been haunted by the same desire, but with- 
 out being able to fulfil it; nor can I here do justice to my views. 
 
 " True religion (and there is none else) consists in knowing the 
 ways of God, in loving and adoring Him, and endeavouring in all 
 things to do His will. Now, education is nothing except in so far as 
 it enables us to attain these ends ; and therefore, instead of excluding 
 it, I would make all education anatomy, physic, physiology, natu- 
 ral philosophy, mathematics, and all religious, and thereby add 
 greatly to their interest and power. You say truly that whatever 
 rests upon the order of nature will work good, and should be taught. 
 So say I. "Whatever is at variance with the order of nature will 
 work evil, and therefore should be discountenanced. 
 
 " If you then ask, Do I advocate the teaching of what is called re- 
 ligion in our schools ? I say, No. I advocate strongly teaching reli- 
 gion, but not sectarianism. As I view the matter, it stands thus. 
 The nation consists of A, B, C, and D, each of whom is strongly im- 
 pressed with the importance of religious instruction to the welfare of 
 the young ; but along with religious truth, A has mixed up one great 
 error, the consequences of which are evil ; B another, C a third, and 
 D a fourth. Bach sees his neighbour's error and evil, but not his 
 own ; each is, consequently, determined to enforce instruction in 
 his error along with the truth common to all ; and each is reso- 
 lute not to yield place to the others. This is a fix. If you step in 
 and say, ' A's error relates only to eternity, and concerns him alone 
 let us, therefore, exclude his religion altogether,' B, C, and D will 
 instantly join hands with A, and exclaim against the exclusion, be- 
 cause, along with his error, it throws overboard much of the truth. 
 As none will yield, there is practically no mode of escape from the 
 difficulty, but to prohibit them all from teaching their peculiar creeds 
 in schools intended for the use of all, and to induce them to teach as 
 much of the truth upon which they are all agreed as can possibly be
 
 INTO COMMON SCHOOLS. 501 
 
 done. This is what is now actually done in the National Schools in 
 Ireland ; and the only additional way to do good is to use every 
 means of enlightening society as to what is religion, and what is not, 
 with a view to increase the points of their agreement." 
 
 Dr Coinbe pursued the subject in the following let- 
 ter, dated the 24th October, which is perhaps not sur- 
 passed iu value by any that he ever wrote. It was ad- 
 dressed to his brother, but never delivered to him ; the 
 reason of which is explained in a note by Dr Combe to Sir 
 James Clark, dated 21st December 1846 : " I send for 
 your perusal an unfinished letter I wrote two months ago 
 to my brother when he was in Forfarshire, the sequel to 
 one written two days earlier, pointing out corrections 
 in fact and principle required in his essay on education, 
 then in embryo. The present letter was not sent, be- 
 cause he returned home, and we discussed the subject 
 viva voce. He modified his views a good deal, and 
 made them what they now are." The letter inserted 
 below is taken from Dr Combe's letter-book, and to 
 this day his brother has never seen the original. In- 
 deed, it was only in February 1850, while preparing the 
 present work for the press, that the copy came under 
 his notice. The identity of views contained in the fol- 
 lowing letter and in George's two pamphlets subse- 
 quently published under the titles of " The Relation 
 between Religion and Science," 7 * and " What should 
 Secular Education embrace ?" f is naturally accounted 
 for by the constant and unreserved communication of 
 thought which took place between the brothers. 
 
 " I could not bring out my views fully in ray letter of 22d, nor 
 can I now ; hut I shall make a remark or two more. Conscious of 
 the immense power of the religious sentiments in the human mind, 
 and of the impossibility of separating them without violence from 
 
 * 8vo, pp. 46, third edition. t 8vo, pp. 36.
 
 502 ON THE INTRODUCTION OF RELIGION 
 
 their vital union with the moralities, I have all along felt that the 
 plan of excluding religion from education was inherently a defective 
 one, which could not continue to hold its place against the assaults of 
 reason and truth. In the past position of the question, it was the 
 best which could be followed, and was defensible as the smallest of 
 several evils among which society was compelled to choose. As such 
 I still advocate and defend it ; but I think it important that it should 
 be defended and advocated on its true grounds, and not as in itself 
 proper and desirable. Instead, therefore, of recommending the sepa- 
 ration of secular from religious instruction, as in themselves distinct, 
 I would adopt the true grounds, and in answer to the wish of some to 
 make all education religious, say, ' Yes, I agree with you entirely 
 that all education must be based on religion, and that the authority 
 of Glod should be recognised by us all as the only infallible standard 
 in everything ; but, that we may know what we are talking about, 
 let us understand distinctly what each of us means by religion.' 
 Standing on such a basis, we cannot be shaken by either Jew or 
 Gentile, Calvinist or Lutheran. Then comes the discussion, What is 
 religion ? A says it is a code embracing, suppose, ten principles in 
 all. On examination, B, C, and D find that, say, eight of these refer 
 to practical matters directly influencing conduct and character, and 
 that they approve of them as true ; but each affirms that the remain- 
 ing two are church dogmas, untrue, dangerous to salvation, and de- 
 serving of all reprobation. For these B proposes to substitute other 
 two ; but is, in his turn, voted wrong by A, C, and D. The latter two 
 follow with their substitutes, and are each condemned ; all, meanwhile, 
 admitting the eight practical principles to be sound and necessary to 
 happiness. Here it is plain, that if the children of all are to attend 
 the same school, a compromise must take place ; and, while all agree 
 to leave out the two articles, they may cordially unite in teaching the 
 remaining eight, and in endeavouring to insure their recognition by 
 the pupils as their best guides, and as indispensable links in that re- 
 ligious chain which binds them to their Creator, and imposes upon 
 them the primary duty of seeking to know and do His will in all things. 
 This done, let the parents and priests teach what they deem truth on 
 the two disputed points, in addition to the religious principles thus daily 
 and hourly inculcated and brought into practice among both teachers and 
 pupils. 
 
 " It may be said that this is what is done already. But there is a 
 difference. At present the line of separation between religious and 
 secular education is drawn sharp, and, in the school, the pupil is not 
 taught that the natural arrangements he studies or sees in play around 
 him, have been devised by Divine Wisdom for his guidance and hap-
 
 INTO COMMON SCHOOLS. 503 
 
 piness, nor are his feelings interested in securing obedience and grati- 
 tude to God as a moral and religious duty in return. The arrange- 
 ments of nature are taught simply as ' knowledge' coming from nobody, 
 and leading only to worldly advantage, not personal happiness. Re- 
 ligion, again, is taught not as the complement of that knowledge, 
 leading the mind back to God, and bearing at every moment on our 
 welfare, but as a something apart, which does not dovetail with our 
 conduct or duties. In short, the prominent idea in the minds of both 
 teachei-s and taught, under the present national system, is, that secu- 
 lar knowledge and religion are distinct, and have no natural connec- 
 tion ; and hence neither exercises its legitimate influence. 
 
 " But the result will be different if it be recognised universally that, 
 taught as it ought to be, all the knowledge conveyed is inherently reli- 
 gious, and calculated, necessarily, to bring the creature and the Crea- 
 tor into more immediate contact, and to develope feelings of love, ad- 
 miration, reverence, and submission to the Divine will. Let it be pro- 
 claimed and understood that the inevitable tendency of knowledge is 
 to lead the mind to the Creator, and that wherever it is taught with- 
 out this result, there is and must be a defect of method, or a fault in 
 the teacher, which ought instantly to be remedied. Let it be pro- 
 claimed to the four corners of the earth, that education, rightly con- 
 ducted, is religious in the highest degree, although embracing none 
 of the tenets peculiar to sects or parties, and that a ' godless educa- 
 tion' is a contradiction and a moral impossibility. It would be as 
 logical to speak of a solar light without a sun. Every truth, moral, 
 physical, or religious, springs from and leads directly to God ; and no 
 truth can be taught, the legitimate tendency of which is to turn us 
 away from God. 
 
 " Instead, therefore, of giving in to the opponents of national edu- 
 cation, and admitting a real separation between secular and religious 
 knowledge, I would proclaim it as the highest recommendation of 
 secular knowledge, that it is inherently religious, and that the opponents 
 are inflicting an enormous evil on society by preventing philosophers 
 and teachers from studying and expounding its religious bearings. 
 If this were done, it would lay the odium at the right door, and shew 
 that the sticklers for exclusive church-education are the real authors 
 of ' a gigantic scheme of godless education,' in attaching such import- 
 ance to their own peculiar tenets on certain abstract points, that rather 
 than yield the right of conscience to others, they are willing to con- 
 sign society at large to an absolute ignorance of the ways of God as 
 exhibited in the world in which He has placed them, and to all the 
 misery, temporal or eternal, certain to result from that ignorance. 
 
 " It must be admitted that, as at present taught, much of our know-
 
 504 ON THE INTRODUCTION OF RELIGION 
 
 ledge is not religious ; but this is an unnatural and avoidable, not 
 a necessary evil, and it has arisen, in a great measure, from the 
 denunciations of the party now opposed to the diffusion of educa- 
 tion. By stigmatizing as infidel and godless whatever knowledge 
 was not conjoined with their own peculiar creed, they deterred men 
 from touching upon or following out the religious aspects of know- 
 ledge ; and if they be allowed to maintain longer the wall of separa- 
 tion they have erected, the result will continue to be the same as in 
 times past. The only way to meet them, is to turn the tables and de- 
 nounce them as the obstructers and enemies of religious education, because 
 they refuse to allow any exposition of the Divine wisdom, and arrange- 
 ments, and will, which does not also assume the equal infallibility 
 and importance of their interpretation of His written wisdom and 
 ways. This is a tyranny to which human reason cannot continue to 
 submit, and the sooner they are put on the defensive the better. 
 
 " Science is, in its very essence, so inherently religious, and leads 
 back so directly to God at every step, and to His will as the rule of 
 our happiness, that nothing would be easier, or more delightful, or 
 more practically improving to human character and conduct, than to ex- 
 hibit even its minutest details as the emanations of the Divine wisdom, 
 and their indications as those of the Divine will for our guidance. 
 In a well-conducted school-room or college-hall, the religious senti- 
 ments might be nourished with the choicest food part passu with 
 every advance in intellectual knowledge. The constant practice of 
 exhibiting the Deity in every arrangement, would cultivate habitually 
 that devotional reverence and obedience to His will which are now in- 
 culcated only at stated times, and apart from everything naturally 
 calculated to excite them. So far from education or knowledge 
 proving hostile to the growth of religion in the minds of the young, 
 they would in truth constitute its most solid foundation, and best pre- 
 pare the soil for the seed to be afterwards sown by the parent and 
 priest, who would then receive from school a really religious child 
 fashioned to their hands, instead of being, as now, presented only with 
 the stony soil and the rebellious heart. 
 
 " The practical inference from all this is, that while we continue 
 to advocate the exclusion of sectarianism of every hue from our educa- 
 tional institutions, we are so far from wishing to exclude religion it- 
 self, that our chief desire is to see all education rendered much 
 more religious than it has ever been, or ever can be, under the pre- 
 sent system. To make religion bear its proper fruit, it must be- 
 come a part and parcel of everyday life. It must, in fact, be mixed 
 up with all we think, feel, and do ; and if science were taught as 
 it ought to be, it would be felt to lead to this, not only without
 
 IXTO COJIMOX SCHOOLS. 505 
 
 effort, bat necessarily. God is the creator and arranger of all things; 
 and wherever we point out a use and pre-arranged design, we ne- 
 cessarily point to Him. If we can then shew that the design has a 
 l?wdt*t purpose, and that its neglect leads to suffering, we thereby 
 necessarily exhibit the loving-kindness of God, and recognise it even 
 in our suffering. If we next point out harmony between apparently 
 unconnected relations, and shew how all bear on one common end\ 
 we necessarily give evidence of a wisdom, omniscience, and power, 
 calculate*! to gratify, in the highest degree, our sentiments of won- 
 der, reverence, and admiration. If we familiarise the mind with the 
 order and laws of God's providence, and their beneficent ends as rules 
 for our conduct, the very reverence thereby excited will prompt to 
 submission systematic submission, because cheerful and confiding 
 to His will as our surest trust. Here. then, is the legitimate field for 
 the daily, hourly, and unremitting exercise of the religious feelings in 
 the ordinary life of man, and for the exercise of that true, vivifying, 
 practical religion which sees God in all things, lives in His presence, 
 and delights in fulfilling His will. 
 
 " The slender influence of sectarian religion in regulating the daily 
 conduct of civilized man, and the exclusiveness with which its ma- 
 nifestations are reserved for stated times and seasons, together with 
 the small progress which it has made in leavening the mass, furnish 
 ample evidence that some grievous error deprives it of its legitimate 
 power, and limits its diffusion. The more narrowly we examine the 
 matter, the more evident will it become that the sticklers for a sec- 
 tarian education, as the only one allowable, are the great stumbling- 
 blocks in the way of true religion, and that the ignorance whkh they 
 cherish is the grand source of that apathy and irreligion against 
 which they clamour so lustily. Science is by them reviled and de- 
 spised as merely human knowledge. The epithet is ludicrously false 
 and illogical. AU tiwMw is divine. All knowledge refers to God, 
 or to God T s doings. There is no such thing as ' human" knowledge in 
 the proper sense of the word. What is true is of God, whether it re- 
 late to science or religion. What is not true is error, whether 
 espoused by infidel or priest. Lutheran or Catholic, Mahomedan or 
 Brahmin. Accurate knowledge (and titert if mm*. 4ikr) is not of human 
 but of Divine origin. If man mrenfe notions and styles them know- 
 ledge, that does not give them the character of real knowledge. They 
 remain human inventions or errors as much as before. But whenever 
 man discovers a trmA either in physics or philosophy, either by accident 
 or by design, he is certain that God is its author, and that if seen in 
 it* true relations to himself and to creation, it will be found charac- 
 terised by the wisdom, power, and goodness of its divine source.
 
 506 ON THE INTRODUCTION OP RELIGION 
 
 Nothing can shake him in this belief. Stigmatize him as you will, his 
 faith will remain firm and unhesitating, because he knows the attri- 
 butes of God to be unchangeable and eternal. ' Godless education,' 
 forsooth ! It is an absolute contradiction in terms ; and those who 
 obstruct the progress of religion by such an outcry have much to 
 answer for, and little know the evil they are doing. 
 
 " In times past man has erred by acting regardlessly of God's will 
 and plans, and his reward has been misery and crime. Instead of 
 attempting to create and legislate, let him study and understand what 
 God has created, and the laws already imprinted by Him on all that 
 exists. If his health is to be promoted, let him take for his guidance 
 the arrangements made by God for the healthy action of his various 
 functions, and act in the closest accordance with their dictates. If he has 
 a social duty to perform, let him consult the moral law imprinted on 
 his nature by the Deity, and copied into the records of Christianity. 
 If he wishes even to brew or to bake with profit and success, let him study 
 the laws of fei'mentation arranged by Divine Wisdom, and conform 
 to the conditions which they impose as indispensable for securing the 
 result. If he wishes to provide the means of travelling with speed 
 and safety, let him study the laws of gravitation and of motion, and 
 those which regulate the production and expansion of steam, and adapt 
 his machinery to fulfil the conditions imposed upon their use by the 
 Deity himself. If he does not, he will either fail or suffer. If he 
 does, he will move along with speed and safety. If he wishes to have 
 his coat dyed of a fast colour, let him study the qualities which God 
 has conferred on colouring objects, and the relations in which they 
 stand to the properties of the wool, and conform to their indications, 
 and he will have the guarantee of Omniscience for his success. In 
 short, he cannot stir in the performance of any act or duty without 
 either a direct or implied reference to the harmony and unchange- 
 ableness of the Divine laws. From thoughtlessness and an imperfect 
 education, he may neglect looking deeper than the surface, and see 
 only man and man's inventions, where, in truth, God reigns supreme 
 and alone, hidden from our view only by the ignorance of man. 
 Rightly directed, then, education, instead of being ' godless,' would 
 confer its chief benefits by removing the curtain which hides God 
 from our view. Instead of keeping Him, as an awful abstraction, in 
 a background too remote from the ordinary affairs of life for either 
 clear perception or wholesome influence, as is at present done by the 
 sectarian religionist, science and education would reveal Him to the 
 human understanding and feelings as an ever-present, ever-acting 
 Being, whom it was no longer possible to forget, and whose care and
 
 INTO COMMON SCHOOLS. 507 
 
 watchfulness over us are equalled only by His attributes of benevo- 
 lence and justice. 
 
 " Such, then, is the direct and legitimate tendency of that science 
 and knowledge so unjustly stigmatized as * human,' and * secular,' 
 and ' godless !' And why so stigmatized ? Merely because its culti- 
 vators and teachers refuse to mix up with it certain dogmas of an ab- 
 stract nature, on which the greatest differences of opinion prevail 
 among the numerous sects which constitute the religious world 5 The 
 truths on which all agree truths proceeding from, and leading di- 
 rectly to (rod as their author and source, and replete with blessings 
 to man are to be deliberately excluded and denounced, and the dis- 
 puted and abstract dogmas introduced in their place ! What can be 
 the results of such a course of proceeding ? If the tree is to be known 
 by its fruit, as the Scriptures say, we can have very little hesitation 
 in declaring the existing tree of sectarianism to be not worth the cul- 
 tivation ; for the burden of the complaints of all so-called evan- 
 gelical sects is, that, in spite of their utmost exertions, the cause of 
 religion retrogrades so much so, that, according to Dr Chalmers's 
 estimate, even in our highly-civilized communities, not one in twenty, 
 and, in many instances, not one in ninety or a hundred, lives under 
 its influence, or knows what it is. Admit this picture to be correct 
 in its main features, does it not point to some serious error, which 
 silently undermines our utmost exertions ? And if so, why persevere 
 blindly in the same course, and obstinately refuse to tread another 
 and more direct, though hitherto neglected, path to the same living 
 and true God, whom we all seek and profess to adore and obey f 
 
 " It may be said that, as now conduct*], education, when not ac- 
 companied by a creed, does not lead to God. That it does not in some 
 schools, is true ; and that in none does it go nearly so tar in this direction 
 as it might and ought to do, is also true. But this defect has arisen 
 in a great measure from the very prohibition attempted to be en- 
 forced of giving education without a creed ; and it admits of an easy 
 remedy the moment the prohibition shall be removed. Let it once 
 be known that doctrinal creeds are no longer to be taught in schools 
 as the condition of obtaining general education ; but that, on the 
 other hand, an accurate and extensive knowledge of the laws of God, 
 as exhibited in creation, and as regulating man's whole existence on 
 earth, will be considered indispensable in the teacher, and that his chief 
 duty will consist in impressing on his pupils the living conviction that 
 they can be happy in this world only in proportion as they act in ac- 
 cordance with these laws, and that it is God and not man who arranges 
 and upholds the moral laws under which society exists ; and then his 
 task will become at once more pleasing and more successful, and every
 
 508 ON THE INTRODUCTION OF RELIGION 
 
 day will add to the facilities and aids which he will meet with in ful- 
 filling it. Education will then be both moral and religious in its 
 every phase ; and its influence on conduct, now so small, will every 
 day become more visible, because backed by the Divine authority. 
 Education thus conducted would become the groundwork of that later 
 and more practical education which is now acquired in the actual 
 business of life, and compared with which our present school-educa- 
 tion avowedly bears a very small value. 
 
 " To insist on connecting dogmas about the corruption of human 
 nature, the Trinity, and the atonement, with the knowledge of exter- 
 nal creation, is to insist on mixing up matters which have no natural 
 connection or affinity, and which, consequently, can never be made to 
 assimilate. Let it be assumed that man has fallen from his original 
 condition, and that his nature is corrupt, the great fact remains, that 
 the world was created and received its present constitution from God before 
 man fell. Whatever may have happened to man, the laws of the 
 universe were not changed. The heavenly bodies moved in their or- 
 bits in obedience to the same forces which still operate. In our own 
 globe, we can demonstrate the present operation of the same physical 
 laws which were in action thousands or millions of years before man 
 was called into existence. It is worse than folly, it is impiety and 
 rebellion against the eternal God, to say that a knowledge of His 
 works shall not be communicated except in conjunction with a dis- 
 puted creed, which does not and cannot change their nature ; and 
 yet this is what must happen if the opponents of national education 
 have their way. The Christian revelation does not abrogate or su- 
 persede the pre-existing order of Nature. On the contrary, it rests 
 upon it as the only basis on which the superstructure of revelation can 
 be made to stand ; and therefore the more clearly the order of Na- 
 ture is expounded, the more easily will the true bearings of Chris- 
 tianity be appreciated, and its principles carried into practice. To 
 the orang-outang or the monkey, revelation is without meaning or 
 influence, because in their nature it can find no resting-place, and no 
 point of contact. To man it would be equally valueless, if its doc- 
 trines were not in harmony with his nature and constitution. And 
 therefore, even if education were to be confined solely to religious in- 
 struction, the most successful way would still be to begin by culti- 
 vating and developing the groundwork or soil of natural religion, in 
 which alone revelation can take root. 
 
 " If neither the state nor the people are to be allowed to teach 
 natural religion, and make use of it in promoting good conduct, 
 then it matters little who has the charge of educating the people in 
 our schools. So long as education is confined to reading, writing,
 
 INTO COMMON SCHOOLS. 509 
 
 arithmetic, and the communication of the elements of knowledge with- 
 out constant reference to its uses and its relation to its Divine Author, 
 it will prove both barren and godless, whether accompanied by a creed 
 or not The only education worth having is that which is to influ- 
 ence conduct, and thereby improve our condition. If such education 
 cannot be taught to the young, the more urgent the need to begin by 
 enlightening the old who direct the young. If prohibited from teach- 
 ing the children, let us begin by educating their parents. By perse- 
 verance we may produce an impression on their common sense in the 
 course of time, and thus at last get access to schools. As yet, natural 
 religion has never been taught to either old or young, and. therefore, it 
 cannot be said to have proved ineffective. Xo single work exists, so far 
 as I know, having for its aim to expound the close relation subsisting 
 between natural religion and human improvement. The existence 
 and operation of natural laws have been demonstrated, but N#f tk<?ir 
 applirativiti to, and bearings on, d>it1y and fovrly wndurt. Venera- 
 tion has been hitherto supposed to have its true scope in the adora- 
 tion of the Deity ; but its more important and equally elevated use in 
 prompting to willing submission to His laws and authority as an ear- 
 nest of our sincerity, has been almost overlooked. The religions and 
 moral feelings have never been made acquainted with their own inti- 
 mate and indissoluble union, or trained to act with the intellect in 
 studying and obeying the natural laws/' 
 
 In reference to this letter, Dr Combe, on the 12th 
 January 1847, wrote to Sir James Clark as follows : 
 
 " Your high estimate of my views encourages me much to prepare 
 them for the public. They give me great delight ; and when I was 
 apparently sinking in February 1845, I told my brother that my 
 chief regret was, that I had not been able to shew that all science 
 necessarily and directly leads back to God as its source and centre, 
 and derives its whole value as coming from Him. and that it cannot 
 be properly taught except as inseparable from religion. My convic- 
 tion is, that the true sphere of the religious, and, in some degree, of 
 the moral emotions, has been misunderstood, and that in legislating 
 for the moral, religious, intellectual, or physical nature of man, we 
 forget a great deal too much that man if *// a compound unit, no 
 doubt, hut still a being, afl of whose faculties were pre-arranged to 
 act together in harmony. It is just the same error as in medicine. 
 We look too much at the abstract disease, and too little at the living 
 individual who suffers from it." 
 
 Among other matters which occupied Dr Combe's
 
 510 LAWSUIT AGAINST DR ROBERT VERITY. 
 
 thoughts and pen during the last years of his life, was 
 a lawsuit in the French Courts at the instance of the 
 Phrenological Society (of Edinburgh) against Dr Robert 
 Verity of Paris, sole executor of the late Dr Roberton 
 of that city. As the case not only formed a subject of 
 deep and painful interest to Dr Combe, but involved 
 questions of international law affecting the property of 
 all British subjects dying in France, and leaving, as 
 their executors, British subjects resident in that coun- 
 try, a brief history of it may with propriety be here 
 introduced. So strongly did he feel in this matter, 
 that he contributed two hundred and twenty pounds to 
 the fund subscribed by members of the Phrenological 
 Society for carrying on the lawsuit against Dr Verity. 
 In a letter dated 30th August 1841, he intimated to 
 the Society " his intention, should no more urgent 
 claims come in the way in the interval between that 
 time and his death, to devote as much as 500 for the 
 purpose, if that should be required to establish our 
 right, or to do our utmost to establish it." More urgent 
 claims did intervene, so that the amount actually de- 
 voted by him to the purpose was only 200, in addition 
 to 20 subscribed independently of that sum. As no 
 private benefit could accrue to himself or any other 
 member of the Society from the legacy in question, pub- 
 lic spirit and virtuous indignation were his only induce- 
 ments to be so liberal. He was personally acquainted 
 with Dr Roberton, whose purpose in bequeathing the 
 chief part of his fortune to the Society appears from two 
 letters which he wrote to Sir George Mackenzie in 
 March 1840, and which are quoted in the Phrenological 
 Journal, vol. xv., p. 88. 
 
 The following report appeared in The Economist news- 
 paper of llth September 1847, and with a slight correc- 
 tion which has now been made, it is substantially correct.
 
 LAWSUIT AGAINST DR ROBERT VERITY. 51 1 
 
 " Dr Roberton, a native of Scotland, resided upwards of twenty- 
 five years in Paris, where he practised his profession, and left a for- 
 tune invested in French securities. He had never obtained letters of 
 ' authorisation' to fix his domicile in France, and was, therefore, in 
 the eye of the law, a foreigner at the time of his death. He executed 
 a testament in terms of the French law, in which he nominated Dr 
 Verity, an Englishman residing in Paris, his sole executor. He died 
 in Paris in September 1840, and Dr Verity entered on the execution 
 of the testament. It bestowed certain legacies on individuals named 
 in it, and constituted the Phrenological Society of Edinburgh the 
 residuary legatee, to whom Dr Verity was instructed to pay over the 
 free residue of the funds after paying all the special legacies and ex- 
 penses. 
 
 " Dr Verity uplifted about 400,000 francs, or 16,000 sterling, of 
 executry funds, and in due season the Society called on him to render 
 an account of his administration, and to pay the residue to them ; 
 which, according to their information, should have amounted to about 
 15,000 sterling. The executor met this demand with a denial of 
 the existence of the Society, and disputed its right to take up the 
 residue under the will. 
 
 " The Society took the advice of eminent lawyers in Edinburgh, 
 London, and Paris, and were assured that their title to the legacy was 
 unobjectionable ; and they, in consequence, commenced a suit in the 
 proper French Court in Paris, to compel the executor to account for 
 the funds, and to pay over the residue to them. Dr Verity met their 
 demand by denying their existence as a Society, and their right to 
 receive the legacy, and by denying also the right of the French Courts 
 to judge in the matter. The French Court, ' Le Tribunal de la 
 Seine,' sustained the objection to their own jurisdiction, and refused 
 to entertain the cause at all, as being one between foreigners, and con- 
 cerning the executry estate of a foreigner. 
 
 " The Society entered an appeal to the ' Cour Royale de Paris,' and 
 prayed that Court to reverse the decision, and, in the mean time, to 
 order Dr Verity to consign, in the hands of an officer of Court, the 
 amount of the residue of the estate. On the 8th of August 1842, the 
 ' Cour Royale' pronounced a decree, finding that, as both parties are 
 foreigners, the French tribunals cannot judge of any questions between 
 them ; but they ordered the executor to consign the residue of the 
 succession for safe custody. 
 
 " Dr Verity declined to comply with the order to consign, and the 
 Society applied to the Court for the means of compulsion. On the 4th 
 December 1843, the Court ordained the executor, within three days, 
 to consign the sum of 30,000 francs, to account of the residue (the
 
 512 LAWSUIT AGAINST DR ROBERT VERITY. 
 
 exact amount of which Dr Verity did not disclose), with 50 francs per 
 day of penalty, in the case of non-compliance. 
 
 " The executor entered an appeal against this judgment to the Court 
 of Cassation of Paris ; and on the 18th of August 1847, they reversed 
 the decree of 4th December 1843 (appointing him to consign the spe- 
 cific sum of 30,000 francs to account, under the penalty of 50 francs 
 per day in case of delay), on the ground that, Dr Verity being a fo- 
 reigner, the tribunals of France are incompetent to pronounce a sen- 
 tence of personal condemnation against him, and that the order to 
 consign, with a penalty attached to it, amounted to such a condemna- 
 tion. As the order of 8th August 1842, ordering Dr Verity to con- 
 sign the residue of the succession for safe custody, had not been ap- 
 pealed against, it never was before the Court of Cassation at all, but 
 was final and imperative. With the view of enabling the Society to 
 follow it out, the Court of Cassation remitted the case, with the fore- 
 going finding, to the ' Cour Royale de Rouen,' to do farther in the 
 matter as to them might seem proper.* 
 
 " The explanation given of the remit to the ' Cour Royale de Rouen,' 
 is, that that court and the ' Cour Royale de Paris ' are equal in au- 
 thority, and that, by the French practice, the court of appeal, when it 
 alters a judgment of an inferior tribunal, does not remit the case to 
 it to correct its own errors, but sends it to another court of equal 
 authority, which is supposed to be more free from bias or tendency to 
 err a second time. 
 
 * The case is reported in the Jurisprudence Generate du Royaume, 
 1847, Premiere Partie, p. 345. The judgment as there given is as fol- 
 lows : " LA COUR ; Vu 1'art. 14 c. civ. ; Attendu qu'il n'est pas 
 conteste que le demandeur en cassation et les defendeurs sont etrangers, 
 et que le proces engage entre eux est relatif a la succession d'un 
 etranger ; Que le debat ne portait que sur des valeurs mobilieres ; 
 Attendu que la demande sur laquelle a statue 1'arret attaque etait une 
 demande a fin de condamnation personnelle de Verity, laquelle pou- 
 vait etre executee sur ses biens propres; Que 1'arret attaque ne se 
 borne point, comme celui du 8 aout 1842, a ordonner le depot pro- 
 visoire des valeurs litigieuses, mais condamne personnellement Verity, 
 qui avait declare ne plus etre depositaire des valeurs inventories ou 
 de leur produit realise, a verser a la caisse des consignations une 
 somme determinee et 50 fr. par chaque jour de retard ; Attendu 
 qu'une pareille decision n'a plus le caractere d'une simple mesure con- 
 servatoire, que des juges incompetents au fond aient pu ordonner ; 
 Attendu que les tribunaux franjais sont incompetents pour statuer 
 sur une contestation entre etrangers et relative a la succession d'un 
 etranger : D'ou il suit que 1'arret attaque a meconnu les regies de 
 la competence et expressement viole 1'art. 14 c. civ. ; Casse, etc."
 
 LAWSUIT AGAINST DR ROBERT VERITY. 513 
 
 " As, however, the Court of Cassation had solemnly decided that 
 the tribunals of France are incompetent to enforce the order to con- 
 sign, the Phrenological Society did not carry the case farther. The 
 result of these decisions is practically the following : 
 
 " That when a British subject, having property in France, executes 
 a testament, perfect in all the forms of French law, and names a 
 British subject resident in France his executor, and directs him to pay 
 legacies, and account for the residue to a British subject, the French 
 tribunals, although they will recognise the validity of the testament, 
 and give him letters of administration to uplift the funds and put them 
 into his own pocket, deny the British legatees all title to sue him for 
 payment, and call him to account. They consider themselves com- 
 petent to order him to consign the executry fund for safe custody, 
 and will receive it if he chooses to comply with their order ; but they 
 consider themselves to have no power to compel him even to consign. 
 
 " The importance of these decisions to British subjects who are 
 resident in and have property in France, cannot be over-estimated. 
 We are informed that Dr Verity is Physician to the British Embassy 
 in Paris, and that the Phrenological Society has laid a statement of 
 the case before Lord Palmerston. We shall be anxious to learn the 
 result of their appeal to the British Government. According to our 
 information, the law of France rests on the Code Napoleon, which 
 was framed at a time when all Europe was combined against France, 
 and was intended to deny to foreigners of every nation, residents in 
 that country, the aid of the French courts to adjust their claims 
 against each other ; and it remains unaltered to the present day. The 
 Americans, Germans, Russians, and Italians, are all, equally with the 
 British, denied the benefit of the French tribunals, in such cases as the 
 present. This is the more intolerable in the case of British subjects, 
 because the courts, both of England and Scotland, exercise jurisdic- 
 tion over foreigners who have acquired a domicile within their terri- 
 tories, and open their halls equally to foreigners to sue each other and 
 to natives. 
 
 " In this narrative we have intentionally abstained from entering 
 into any of the minor details of the case. Dr Verity, for example, 
 alleged, in his pleadings before the French courts, that Dr Roberton 
 had left sisters living in Scotland, and that, on the advice of the Lord 
 Advocate of Scotland, he had paid the residue of the estate to them, 
 and obtained their discharge. The Phrenological Society denied that 
 Dr Verity had the right, on the opinion of any legal adviser, however 
 eminent, obtained not in an arbitration, but in private consultation, 
 to set aside the testament under which he was appointed to act ; and 
 they, moreover, denied the fact of his having paid the residue to the 
 
 2 K
 
 514 LAWSUIT AGAINST DR ROBERT VERITY. 
 
 sisters, and called on him to produce the discharge, which he never 
 did. They therefore affirmed that the residue had not been accounted 
 for, or paid to any party whatever, but was and is still in his own 
 possession. Into none of these questions, however, did the French 
 courts enter. They rested solely on their own incompetency to judge 
 of the rights of foreigners in any form whatever ; and it is in conse- 
 quence of this abstract result that the case acquires its great public 
 importance. As Dr Verity is domiciled in France, and has no known 
 property in Britain, the British courts cannot call him effectively to 
 account, and hence there appears to be no remedy in law applicable 
 to the case." 
 
 The application to Lord Palmerston, before alluded 
 to, represented that the law of France (as settled by 
 this decision), which prohibits the' Courts of that 
 country from exercising jurisdiction in cases between 
 foreigners, 
 
 " Is extremely illiberal and unjust, and contrasts, in a most un- 
 favourable manner, not only with the laws of Britain, but with those 
 of Germany, the United States of America, and, it is believed, every 
 other civilised country in the world, all of which, in such circum- 
 stances, would sustain action at the instance of one Frenchman against 
 another. The French law, while it lends its authority to a foreign 
 executor to uplift and receive the whole estate of the deceased foreign 
 testator, denies to the foreign legatee all right to call him to account. 
 It entices him to fraud, for it aids him to put the executry funds into 
 his own pocket, and protects him against every attempt by the legatee 
 to compel him to apply the funds according to the testament. Nor 
 is it in matters of succession alone that these consequences arise ; the 
 law in question directly leads to every species of fraud, injustice, and 
 oppression, among foreigners resident in France : and British subjects 
 
 are no doubt often victims The memorialists therefore 
 
 earnestly intreat your Lordship to enter into communication with the 
 French Government, with the view of obtaining an alteration of the 
 law ; and to take such farther measures for the public benefit as to 
 your Lordship may seem proper." 
 
 The memorial was presented to Lord Palmerston by 
 Mr William Gibson-Craig, M.P. for the city of Edin- 
 burgh, who, it is believed from time to time urged his 
 Lordship to give it consideration ; but, so far as the
 
 LETTER TO SIR JAMES CLARK. 515 
 
 Society has been able to learn, nothing has been done ex- 
 cept remitting the case to the law officers of the Crown for 
 their advice, by whom it appears to have been shelved ; 
 and thus the evil remains in full force to the present 
 day. To borrow a remark made by the Rev. Sydney 
 Smith, on the practice of locking passengers into rail- 
 way carriages, we presume that until a Bishop or a 
 Peer shall suffer a heavy loss under the French law, 
 the injustice which it perpetrates will not excite suffi- 
 cient public interest to induce the Government to apply 
 for its amendment. 
 
 In the end of autumn Dr Combe began to think of 
 his place of residence for the winter; and from Dunoon 
 he wrote, on the 5th of October, to Sir James Clark : 
 
 " My condition is very much what might follow from the circula- 
 tion of a preponderant share of venous blood ; i. e., all my functions 
 are lowered. I neither see, hear, feel, nor think, as I used to do ; 
 but now and then I have a comparatively brighter day. I am, how- 
 ever, in no way suffering or unhappy, but merely stupid and flat. 
 My digestion is not so vigorous as usual, and nutrition is also im- 
 paired. My diminished mental power is the greatest evil I am labour- 
 ing under." 
 
 Again, on the 4th of November, he wrote from Edin- 
 burgh to Sir James on the same subject : 
 
 " Many thanks for yours of 1st, with your opinion about my winter 
 proceedings. You ask what I think on the subject, and I shall answer 
 you as correctly as I can. Like yourself and our kind friend Scott, 
 I see reasons both for and against my going south ; but my chief diffi- 
 culty concerns the general health, still more directly than the lungs. 
 As formerly mentioned, I am conscious that my brain and nervous 
 system have been considerably impaired in tone, and partly to this 
 cause I attribute the deafness, confusion, and inability for mental 
 exertion, and the diminished powers of resistance which my system 
 shews in some respects. Another of the causes of this diminished tone 
 seems to me to consist in the reduced intercourse which I have with 
 active minds and with social interests. I cannot go into the world to 
 seek such contact, and if I try to bring the world to me, I am apt to
 
 516 LETTER TO SIR JAMES CLARK. 
 
 get more than enough at one time, and too little at another. If I 
 try to occupy myself with my own pursuits quietly at home, I can 
 succeed to a limited extent, but then comes the want of the fresh and 
 enlivening stimulus which contact with others can alone give. Pro- 
 fessional occupation I dare not resort to, because experience has shewn 
 that it is inadmissible. Besides, to be successful, intercourse must be 
 reciprocal. One must be able to go out as well as receive at home. 
 When friends kindly come to see me, they naturally address them- 
 selves more directly to me than to the family circle, because they wish 
 to entertain me ; but this necessitates reply, and throws the burden 
 as well as the pleasure too exclusively on me. In summer I can go 
 more into the houses of other people, and into contact with many ex- 
 ternal interests, as well as into the open air. There is consequently 
 an influence at work which it is impossible to escape, and not easy to 
 counteract, although my friends are most kind and most considerate. 
 " If you say, ' Well, then, go south, and you will have more freedom 
 of intercourse with society and external nature,' my answer is, ' Yes ; 
 but, per contra, I shall then be withdrawn to a considerable extent 
 from such interests and pursuits as I can engage in with a sense of 
 being useful ; and their place will scarcely be supplied by any thing I 
 am likely to meet with in the superficial kind of intercourse one is 
 limited to with strangers with whom one associates so little as in- 
 valids can do.' My mind, unfortunately, is not a spring always pour- 
 ing out. It requires supply and stimulus from without, and unless 
 on terms of reciprocity, is apt to lose its vigour. In this way I am 
 ' between the de'il and the deep sea,' and I can scarcely tell which to 
 prefer. An incidental evil I feel more every day is, that my mode of 
 life cuts off my niece and nephew, in no small degree, from their 
 natural place in society, by unintentionally but unavoidably inter- 
 posing barriers to reciprocity in their intercourse with society, as well 
 as my own. This is a heavy sacrifice on their part, which they make 
 ungrudgingly, but the evils of which are not, on that account, less 
 felt by me, or serious to themselves. I have sometimes thought that 
 if I were to make a voyage to the West Indies about the end of De- 
 cember, and come home by the United States, it would present some- 
 thing of novelty and interest, and might do good, particularly if I got 
 into a good habitat for two or three months at a suitable elevation ; 
 but then medical opinion seems to say that the West Indies would 
 prove unfavourable to an advanced case like mine. If it were other- 
 wise, I might be tempted to try a voyage there, and if it suited, come 
 home by New York, and see my brother William there. But the 
 pros and cons seem so equally balanced, as to make a decision rather 
 difficult ; and perhaps my best plan will be to go on in the mean time,
 
 LETTER TO SIR JAMES CLARK. 517 
 
 and if the weather threatens to be severe, or my condition deteriorates, 
 to make a more somewhere by sea, a proceeding not attended with 
 much risk. Sometimes I think seriously, \Fhat does it matter what I 
 do, seeing that I am good for so little as it is? bat I am thankful, 
 nevertheless, for the great comfort I enjoy, and the many alienations 
 I possess. If I could write, it would be something, for I hare many 
 ideas floating in my head ; but I am incapable of sufficiently-sustained 
 working to bring them out, 
 
 .' the south of England, I feel as if it would be neither fch 
 nor flesh. If I leare home at all, I would rather seek something good 
 enough to compensate what I leare behind. Be easy about my driring. 
 I never go out in an open carriage, and in bad days I stay at home. 
 I am sure I may be thankful to you and Scott for all your care of me, 
 and I am so." 
 
 The description here given by Dr Combe of his con- 
 dition is painfully correct His friends saw a per- 
 ceptible decay in his mental vigour, as well as in his 
 bodily strength. His power of attending to new sub- 
 jects was much limited, and, in consequence, his judg- 
 ment, in regard to them, became perceptibly feebler. In 
 employing his mind, he acted on the same principles 
 which guided him in managing his bodily functions. He 
 never forced Nature to make an effort at a time when 
 she was incapable of successfully doing so ; nor did he 
 draw upon her resources when he was conscious that she 
 had done all that she could accomplish without ex- 
 haustion. In consequence, his later writings were 
 penned chiefly in short portions, at times when by re- 
 pose he had accumulated strength; and he desisted 
 from writing, the moment he had embodied in language 
 the thoughts which he had elaborated, and expended 
 the cerebral vigour which he had acquired. But in 
 spite of his weakness, he was not only resigned, but 
 cheerful; and his sympathy with all that concerned 
 humanity was as constant as before. He was advised 
 to pass the winter of 1846-7 in Edinburgh, and did so 
 accordingly.
 
 518 VOYAGE TO NEW YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 DR COMBE TAKES A VOYAGE TO NEW YORK. VISITS PHILADELPHIA 
 . AND WEST POINT. IS FORCED BY HIS FAILING HEALTH TO RETURN 
 
 TO ENGLAND. LETTER TO SIR JAMES CLARK, DESCRIPTIVE OF HIS 
 
 VISIT. ARRIVES IN LIVERPOOL, AND PROCEEDS TO SCOTLAND. 
 
 DEATH OF HIS ELDEST SISTER, MRS YOUNG. IS ENGAGED IN WRIT- 
 ING ON THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF FEVER IN EMIGRANT SHIPS. 
 
 GOES TO GORGIE MILL. IS TAKEN ILL AND DIES. HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 IT has already appeared that sailing was, on several 
 occasions, highly beneficial to Dr Combe. During the 
 spring of 1847, he thought of trying the effect of a 
 voyage to New York. On this occasion he had also the 
 inducement of a strong desire to visit his brother Wil- 
 liam, who, as formerly mentioned, had long been settled 
 in the United States. His first step, however, was to 
 obtain the opinion of his medical friends on the pro- 
 ject. Writing to Sir James Clark, on the 22d of 
 March, he says : 
 
 " My motives for the proposed trip to America are these : 1st, I 
 feel a lengthened change necessary to bring up the tone of my ner- 
 vous system, which the comparative seclusion of winter always runs 
 down more or less. 2dly, Sailing always agrees with me ; and in a 
 comfortable ' liner,' with good company and fine May weather, it 
 might be useful. 3dly, I have a strong wish to see my brother Wil- 
 liam in New Jersey once more before I depart, and his two children, 
 whom I have never seen, but am much interested in ; and there is 
 no prospect of his being able to come and see us. 4tMy, I might stay 
 five or six weeks, and yet leave before intense heat sets in. My 
 gi-ounds of doubt are the kind of bustle that Jonathan lives in, and
 
 VOYAGE TO SBW YORK. 519 
 
 the heat. The latter, with quiet, I would not fear much ; but were 
 it and bustle conjoined, I should not like it. Mr idea is, to make 
 Jersey City, where my brother is, my headquarters, and to make a 
 voyage up the Hudson, and excursions to Philadelphia and Boston 
 by water and rail ; and to be guided by my sensations whether to 
 prolong or shorten my stay, and to boh at once if I find any proba- 
 bility of the change being attended with risk. I hare no wish to be 
 foolhardy, but I feel a necessity for mingling with the living world as 
 far as my strength will permit ; and I certainly was benefited by my 
 long excursions the last summer and the one before. I know that 
 self-denial will be needed to abstain from visiting many institutions 
 which I should like well to see ; but I have been well disciplined in 
 that school already, and trust not to forget my lesson. Under these 
 conditions., then, I suppose that you will still approve. My niece is 
 willing to go, and risk coming home without seeing anything, 
 which I hold to be very magnanimous. What I feel is the inability 
 for mental work, which seclusion increases. I have views which 
 I believe to be important, but am pained at being unable to put 
 forth. In other respects I am wonderfully well, considering that we 
 are now at the end of winter. I have had only one moderate cold 
 within the last six months, where other people have had them by the 
 half-dozen. James Cox examined my chest to-day, and thinks that 
 the left lung is upon the whole in a better state than at any time 
 within the last two years : which is certainly satisfactory for the end 
 of such a winter." 
 
 Sir James Clark and also Dr Scott having approved 
 of the projected voyage, Dr Combe accordingly sailed 
 from Liverpool on the 16th of April, in the packet-ship 
 " Montezuma," having previously satisfied himself, by 
 personal inspection, of the sufficiency of the accommo- 
 dation it afforded. There were nine cabin passengers, 
 and 360 (chiefly Irish) emigrants in the steerage; 
 and soon after leaving port, the disagreeable discovery 
 was made that this part of the ship extended under 
 the cabin, and, from its crowded and filthy state, 
 constantly vitiated the air above, by sending up un- 
 wholesome and offensive effluvia through openings and 
 crevices of the vessel In addition to this source of 
 injury and discomfort, the weather was often too se-
 
 520 VISITS PHILADELPHIA AND WEST POINT. 
 
 vere to allow Dr Combe to go on deck ; so that he did 
 not, as usual, derive advantage from the voyage. It 
 is to be observed, also, that before leaving home, his 
 strength had been impaired by the exertion of making 
 necessary arrangements, and receiving the numerous 
 friends who came to wish him a prosperous voyage, 
 and whom he could not, without great violence to his 
 feelings, avoid seeing and conversing with. Perhaps 
 the friends of invalids do not always sufficiently con- 
 sider, on such occasions, how much the strength is 
 tried in receiving a succession of visitors. 
 
 On 14th May, after an affecting meeting with his 
 brother William, who came on board when the ship 
 was at anchor, he landed at New York. On account 
 of William's house being under repair, he was invited 
 by Mr Andrew Boardman, Counsellor-at-Law, to take 
 up his residence in his house in Brooklyn, where he 
 remained for some days, receiving the kindest attention 
 from him and Mrs Boardman. 
 
 On the 18th he proceeded by railway to Philadelphia, 
 where several days were spent most agreeably, his 
 spirits being good, and his health in its usual state. 
 Accompanied by Dr John Bell, an eminent physician 
 of that city, he visited the Eastern Penitentiary, the 
 Girard College, and other places of public interest. 
 His inspection of the penitentiary confirmed the fa- 
 vourable opinion he had previously entertained of the 
 principles of " the separate system ;" but he considered 
 that the results would never be satisfactory till much 
 more ample provision should be made for the moral 
 and intellectual improvement of the criminals. 
 
 In returning, on the 22d, from Philadelphia to visit 
 his brother at Jersey City, in the vicinity of New York, 
 he unfortunately caught cold, which almost wholly 
 confined him to the house for a week. When somewhat
 
 LETTER TO SIR JAMES CLARK. 521 
 
 recovered, he thought it advisable to take a trip up 
 the Hudson for the benefit of change of air, and ac- 
 cordingly, along with his brother and niece, sailed np 
 the river to West Point. The uncommon heat of the 
 season, however, and the unavoidable fatigue and ex- 
 posure of travelling, which threatened serious damage 
 to his health, soon determined him to renounce all 
 hope of an intended visit to Mr Horace Mann, in Xew 
 England ; and on 8th June he commenced his home- 
 ward voyage, on board the " Mannion, M from New 
 York. In a letter to Sir James Clark, dated "The 
 Ship Marmion, at sea," the 13th of that month, he 
 says : 
 
 " You will have heard, before this reaches von, that we are on our 
 way home from Yankee-land, leaving much unvisited that it would 
 have delighted us to see, and many persons whom it would have re- 
 joiced us to meet. But as it is, we are glad we have gone across the 
 Atlantic, and thankful for all our mercies. As generally happens in 
 this world of ours, we had a mixture of good and evil, fortunate and 
 unfortunate, in our sojourn ; and after experience of what was likely 
 to ensue if I attempted more, I considered discretion to be, in this 
 instance, the better part of valour, and resolved to come off while my 
 skin was whole the chief end of our stay having been accomplished 
 by a fortnight spent under my brother's roof. I found that even with 
 every precaution I could take, travelling by either land or water was 
 attended with risks which I should not encounter, and that by re- 
 maining, I might forfeit in a few days all that I had gained by years 
 of care. True it is, that I set no great store by life, and that I am 
 good for very little here below ; but, nevertheless, I am willing to re- 
 main till duly dismissed, and do the best I can in the mean time. 
 Even if it shall turn out that I have suffered radically from the ex- 
 cursion, I shall in no way regret having made it. I undertook H 
 after full consideration, and some of its results have compensated me 
 already for the drawbacks attending it. 
 
 " My brother George will have told you that I caught cold on re- 
 turning from Philadelphia to Jersey City. Its severity was aggravated 
 by a variety of unavoidable causes unnecessary to mention. In a few 
 days I was pulled down so much that I resolved to try a change to 
 the more bracing air of West Point ; and it was in that excursion that
 
 522 LETTER TO SIR JAMES CLARK. 
 
 I perceived clearly the probability of increased damage from any 
 farther attempts at travelling. And yet, for persons in health, their 
 steamers and railway-cars are so commodious and well managed, that 
 I should very probably be laughed at by 99 in 100 of their occupants, 
 for supposing them unsuitable for pulmonary invalids. The river 
 boats are indeed marvellous. In size, speed, elegance, comfort, and 
 the perfection of order and cleanliness, they are unparalleled. In 
 furniture and decoration they are even splendid. Nowhere is con- 
 venience sacrificed to splendour ; and the beauty of the thing is, 
 that, all the sailing being in smooth water, one can enjoy the splen- 
 dour along with the convenience, which is not the case in our sea- 
 going steamers. Either Jonathan has partially reformed already, 
 or he feels ashamed to soil these elegant boats. Certain at least it 
 is, that both on the Hudson and the Delaware, the spitting was not 
 nearly so bad as I expected. Indeed there was very little, except near 
 the smoking and bar rooms. In the ferry and smaller steamers, where 
 the lower I beg Jonathan's pardon, the poorer classes abounded 
 more, there was much more of it, and once or twice it was disgusting 
 enough. Here on board, we have two Kentucky men who indulge in 
 it without respect to time, place, or circumstance. But among people 
 of ordinary good breeding it did not seem common. Speaking gene- 
 rally, I have seen even more to interest, and less to offend, than I was 
 prepared for. There is no country or people known to me, presenting 
 so many points of interesting observation to a reflecting mind as the 
 United States ; and I should willingly give all I have for a twelve- 
 month of sound lungs and health to spend among them, and be content 
 to make my exit at the end of that time. 
 
 " The newness of the country and people, and the intense indi- 
 viduality of character displayed by the latter, struck me most forcibly 
 from the first, and remain prominently in my mind still. This cha- 
 racteristic of the people has a good and also a bad side. It is at the 
 bottom of their energy and enterprise, as well as of their indepen- 
 dence. But it renders self so paramount in influence and prominent in 
 action as to make them hard, cold, and dry, in their manners, and 
 somewhat determined and regardless of others in fulfilling their 
 own views. But while they seem to know no difference between a 
 polite and agreeable manner and downright obsequiousness, and there- 
 fore abhor the one in common with the other, the radical civility is 
 there in greater force than one would be led to anticipate. This pro- 
 ceeds obviously from ill-directed independence or dignity ; for there 
 is no reason on earth why the suaviter should be banished from the 
 modo, and the fortiter alone usurp both the thing and the manner. 
 Several times I met with a surly sort of silence when I asked a civil
 
 DESCRIPTION OF HIS VISIT TO AMERICA. 523 
 
 and pertinent question of railway employes ; but I could scarcely call 
 them gentlemen ; and it seemed, in one or two instances, as if they 
 felt half-ashamed to give me a polite and direct answer, under the idea 
 that it would be held derogatory to their dignity to be questioned by 
 a ' stranger' about the arrangements for his luggage, particularly as 
 these were in themselves excellent, had I only known them as well as 
 they did. 
 
 '* 16th Here we are nearly half-way across the big Atlantic ferry, 
 and still fanned by damp zephyrs and favoured with seas so smooth, 
 that although lying over to one side a good deal, there has never been 
 motion enough to excite a creak or a groan among the timbers ; 
 whereas, in the Montezuma, the creaking was so incessant as almost 
 to drown my feeble voice and prevent me hearing when in the cabin. 
 On reading this over, I perceive that I have omitted to tell you part 
 of our steamboat experience. As my letter to my brother was sent 
 away from West Point, it contained no account of our return voyage. 
 As the gods would have it, the day was very wet, and, as compared 
 with the Saturday, very cold. On going on board, I consequently 
 made for the saloon. On entering the door, I was met by a close, 
 hot, suffocating blast, which, except that it was somewhat moist, and 
 without much sulphur, might have been supposed to emanate from 
 the depths of Pandemonium. On looking round, I saw the cabin 
 crowded, every window closed, and an anthracite stove in full puff. I 
 instantly retreated, preferring the cool moisture containing oxygen to 
 the hot air and effluvia deprived of it. This was shewing me both 
 sides of the picture the bright and the cloudy and, as neither 
 suited my condition, I had no hesitation in deciding to give up the 
 experiment ; particularly, as in a crowded boat it is impossible either 
 to recline or to escape from well-meant but troublesome and fa- 
 tiguing intrusion. Some of my friends thought me very easily scared, 
 that I should resolve on going back to England because I met with a 
 rainy day on the Hudson, when, perhaps, they would not have another 
 for a month. Others assured me the night-boats were very safe and 
 comfortable ; but they could not so easily explain what advantage I 
 was to derive from sleeping in a handsome state-room in the Isaac 
 Newton in a dark night, and disturbed by arriving at three or four in 
 the morning, when I might enjoy more space and equally fine scenery 
 in my own dark room, without the unseasonable morning disturbance. 
 But as it would have been equally vain and endless to attempt to ex- 
 plain the facts to every one, I just left them to vote me a capricious 
 and nervous invalid acting upon a whim. In some respects I have 
 suffered from evils which no foresight could have prevented. Among 
 others, the horrible fetid effluvia which came oozing up into the cabin
 
 524 ARRIVES IN LIVERPOOL. 
 
 of the Montezuma from the crowded 'tween-decks, especially during 
 the wet, damp, warm days, had an evil influence on my system as well 
 as comfort, and was a mischance which no mortal could have foreseen. 
 Everybody, without exception, said we should have no inconvenience 
 from the emigrants ; that we had a magnificent poop, and they were 
 all forward. Little did I imagine that they were to be also under us. 
 It was nearly a week before I discovered a hole under my feet where 
 the effluvia came up as through a chimney ; and it was four days more 
 before the carpenter was ordered to fill it up, and then only after a 
 third complaint from me, and an attempt to stop it up with old news- 
 papers. There were other unseen crevices through which it pene- 
 trated at all times in spite of open windows, &c. 
 
 " 22d June. Fourteen days out, and we expect to see land to-night. 
 If the wind holds, we should be in Liverpool by Friday. Up to Sun- 
 day it was like sailing on a mill-pond with zephyrs and summer skies, 
 only lying half over on our side. Since then the wind has got round to 
 north-west and raised a swell, but we go on steadily on our other 
 side. * * * The captain is an intelligent worthy man, but hard and 
 ungenial in manner. The Kentucky men are going to London and 
 Paris for three months to see the world, and know not a syllable of 
 French, very very little of geography, and speak English in a fashion 
 which is difficult to be understood. One of them asked me, as I lived 
 in Scotland, if I knew one Bob Burns, who was said to be a great poet, 
 but wrote mostly in the Scotch brogue ! ! I had difficulty in recog- 
 nising our bard under this title ; and the youth was amazed when I 
 told him that I did not know Bob personally, seeing as how he died 
 the year before I was born." 
 
 Dr Combe landed at Liverpool on 25th June, and 
 immediately proceeded to Scotland. Just a week after 
 his return, he suffered the loss of his eldest sister, Mrs 
 Young, who died in her seventieth year, after a few 
 days' confinement to bed. She had often expressed the 
 wish that she might not survive him ; and it was an 
 affecting fulfilment of that wish that he, in the absence 
 of his brother George, who was then on the Continent, 
 performed the duties of chief mourner at her funeral, 
 and laid her in the grave, where, exactly five weeks 
 later, he himself was destined to be placed beside her. 
 
 The succeeding month was pleasantly spent in pay- 
 ing visits to relations in the neighbourhood of Edin-
 
 SATCEE A^D CAUSES OF SHIP-FEVER. 525 
 
 burgh, and in taking frequent drives through some 
 picturesque districts of Linlithgowshire. After the 
 death of his sister Mrs Cox, mentioned on p. 388, her 
 eldest son, Mr John Cox, married a daughter of Mr J. 
 R. M'Cnlloch, the political economist, and continued 
 to carry on business at Gorgie MflL Dr Combe was 
 ever welcomed by them as their guest, with the same 
 warmth of affection and attention to his wants and com- 
 forts, which had been shewn to him by his sister ; and 
 towards the close of the month of July, he went to pay 
 them a visit. During this time he was engaged in prepar- 
 ing, at such intervals as his health allowed, a communi- 
 cation on the nature and causes of the ship-fever which, 
 in the spring and summer of 1847, had swept off so many 
 hundreds of unfortunate Irish and others during their 
 emigration to America,* Writing on 2d August to Mr 
 John Brown, corn-merchant in Liverpool, for information 
 about the regulations of emigrant ships, he says : u I 
 have not yet regained either my ordinary health or 
 power of thinking^, and, consequently, find writing rather 
 heavy work ; but my spirit is moved by these horrible 
 details from Quebec and New York, and I cannot rest 
 without doing something in the matter.^ The letter 
 from which this sentence is quoted, was the lait he ever 
 
 * According to * Report published by Mr Buchanan, chief emi- 
 grant-agent at Quebec, there arrived at* that port and Montreal, in 
 1847, op to the 10th of November, 3752 emigrants from Scotland, 
 32^38 from England, 54^29 from Ireland, and 7697 from Germany ; 
 total, 98406. Of these there died on the passage. . 5,293 
 
 Admitted into Grose Isle Quarantine Hospital, 8563, of 
 
 whom died, 3,452 
 
 Died in Quebec up to 9th October, . . . 1,041 
 
 Died in Montreal op to 1st November, 
 
 Total deaths, . 13,365 
 
 The subsequent mortality on the inland route is considered to have 
 railed the proportio. of deaths to at least 1 in 5 before the end of the
 
 526 DR COMBE'S ILLNESS. 
 
 wrote, and nothing could be more characteristic of the 
 man. In this work he was suddenly interrupted by a 
 severe attack of diarrhoea, which seized him at Gorgie 
 Mill, on the 2d of August, and speedily put an end to his 
 useful life. Despairing of recovery, he committed the 
 unfinished MS. to the care of his nephew, Robert Cox, 
 enjoining him to render it as fit for publication as pos- 
 sible, and to place it at the disposal of the editor of The 
 Times. It would have been, he said, a source of much 
 satisfaction to him had he been able to complete it be- 
 fore he died, as he was earnestly desirous to contribute 
 his exertions towards rousing the Government and the 
 public to a perception of the urgent necessity of imme- 
 diately establishing a Board of Health, and adopting 
 such preventive measures as might render impossible 
 a recurrence of such miseries as had lately been en- 
 dured. It seemed as if he felt that his recent oppor- 
 tunity of witnessing the condition of the Irish emi- 
 grants on board the vessel in which he sailed from Liver- 
 pool to New York laid him under a kind of obliga- 
 tion to record his experience for the public benefit 
 and as if the performance of this obligation would have 
 taken a burden off his mind. On examination of the 
 MS., it was found to require but little alteration beyond 
 an improved arrangement of some of the sentences, and 
 the pruning of a few redundancies ; and, notwithstand- 
 ing the absence of the author's own finishing touches, 
 it is not unworthy to constitute his final bequest to his 
 fellow-men. Nearly three columns of The Times of 
 17th September 1847 are occupied by this earnest ap- 
 peal.* 
 
 * It was reprinted in the Journal of Public Health, No. V., March 
 1848. By the Act 12th and 13th Viet., c. 23, which came into ope- 
 ration on 1st October 1849, some of the regulations suggested by Dr 
 Combe are made imperative on the owners of emigrant ships.
 
 HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 527 
 
 The diarrhcea under which Dr Combe suffered, baffled 
 all applications which the skill and experience of Drs 
 Scott and Farqnharson could suggest. By these rained 
 friends he was attended with assiduous care ; but to- 
 wards midnight, on the 9th of August 1847, he tran- 
 quilly expired. 
 
 The following account of his last days was given by 
 Miss Cox. in a letter dated 10th August, addressed 
 to George Combe at Brussels : 
 
 " You are too well prepared for the result of oar dear Doctor's 
 illness, to be surprised to hear that he breathed his last yesterday 
 at midnight. I am not very able for writing to-day ; but so long as 
 the scene is fresh in my mind, I am anxious to make up to you and 
 Cecy. as far as in my power, for your absence at such a time. By 
 learning a few particulars, you will become sharers with us in all 
 that has taken place, and in the feelings excited in our minds. Tour 
 absence, and that of my brother James, hare been perhaps the only 
 CMM of regret in Ac etraautamces, not only on my poor uncle's 
 account, but on your own ; because I feel you cannot but regret 
 having had no opportunity of exchanging thoughts and sympathies 
 with him since our return from America.* There has been so very 
 much to alleviate our distress, that the prevailing feeling with us all 
 is great thankfulness. My dear uncle has left the world with as little 
 suffering to himself as could possibly have been the case in such cir- 
 cumstances, and there never was the least jirniw in his mind during 
 the whole week of his illness. Almost from the first, there was more 
 ground for apprehension than in his former illness (in the spring of 
 1845). On this occasion, a cause of danger was apparent : it was for- 
 midable, and its features were all along different from those of the pre- 
 vious attack. He submitted patiently to all the discomforts and to 
 the increasing weakness of his condition, but at the same time he was 
 alive to every thing that ought to be done to give him a chance of 
 recovery, though he steadily and cheerfully looked on the probability 
 of death being the speedy termination. He said that although nature 
 would still cling to life, it was, in the eye of reason, better for him to die, 
 seeing that his powers had become so much enfeebled. No one was 
 more aware of his diminished energy than himself; he often talked of 
 
 * Dr Combe's return from America was not expected so early as 
 it took place, and George, in ignorance of its occurrence, had left 
 England on the day when Dr Combe arrived in Liverpool.
 
 528 HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 it, and said that his death would be no loss, so far as his usefulness was 
 concerned. Yet it is astonishing how much he contrived to do lately 
 for the benefit of others. The very day he was taken ill, he finished 
 a long letter which cost him a great deal of thought, besides writing 
 one to Mr Brown of Liverpool, enquiring about the rules of emigrant 
 ships ; and he had been busy for some time collecting materials for an 
 article he was preparing on ship-fever. 
 
 "During the past week, his character shone forth as bright and 
 unselfish as ever. He thought much of the welfare of others, men- 
 tioning to me various matters of friendship or business, whenever his 
 weakness allowed him to speak. He gave me many useful hints; 
 but I am aware there are, and must of necessity be, many things about 
 which I omitted to ask his opinion and wishes. He expressed a strong 
 desire that my brother James should edit and revise his works, and 
 adapt them to the knowledge of the day. 
 
 " Although strong stimulants and much opium were administered 
 to him, he never was stupified, but on the early part of yesterday his 
 mind shewed a tendency to waver ; but even then it was touching to 
 hear him talk with the utmost precision, and with a nice choice of 
 words ; his placid humour, too, occasionally came out, and then his 
 countenance was lighted up with the corresponding expression. 
 
 " There was not the same clinging to life which he shewed for- 
 merly4hat is to say, he perceived clearly that now there was an in- 
 telligible and adequate cause for death ; and he was perfectly re- 
 signed. His whole being, so to speak, was imbued with the convic- 
 tion of the beneficence and wisdom of God. Last night, when he could 
 scarcely articulate, he said, in answer to our enquiries, 'Happy, happy.' 
 His last hour approached so gradually, so gently, that we could 
 scarcely distinguish when he ceased to live ; and the expression of his 
 face is now, as before, pleasing, as all the little appearance of suffering 
 is gone off. 
 
 " He said again and again that he had no regrets ; and that if his 
 trip to America had hastened his end, or, as he expressed it, if his 
 life had been the price, he still did not regret what he had done, for 
 it had afforded him great satisfaction. 
 
 " It is only justice to my brother John and his wife to mention, 
 that throughout all this trying scene their affectionate attention to 
 our dear Doctor has been unwearied and most considerate. He has 
 so often been their inmate, and they knew him so intimately, that 
 they felt towards him as a parent rather than a friend. 
 
 " Robert and I have done every thing we thought you would ap- 
 prove of," &c.
 
 HIS CHARACTER. 529 
 
 It may perhaps lend an additional interest to his 
 Letter on Ship-FeTer, to mention, that the noxious in- 
 fluence of the effluvia on board the " Monterama" in 
 all probability hastened his death. The miasma of the 
 crowded hold, penetrating into the cabin, is supposed 
 to hare infected his feeble system giving rise to the 
 almost continual discomfort and languor under which 
 he ever afterwards laboured, and finally occasioning or 
 bringing to a forced maturity the disease which termi- 
 nated his life. The post-mortem examination of his 
 body shewed that the condition of his lungs was not 
 worse than usual, and that his death was to be ascribed 
 solely to disease of the bowels. 
 
 He was interred in the family burial-ground in the 
 West Churchyard, and the following inscription was 
 added to the tablet which contains the names of his 
 father, mother, and other relatives : 
 
 ANDREW COMBE, M.D., 
 
 FELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE 
 
 OF PHYSICIANS, EDINBURGH. 
 
 BORX 27TH OCTOBER 1797. 
 
 DIED 9ra AUGUST 1847. 
 
 The reader is now in a condition to appreciate Dr 
 Combe's remark on himself introduced on page 33, in 
 which he says, " I had an early and great veneration 
 for moral excellence, and after having been cold or 
 sullen in the days of my earliest youth, I have gone to 
 bed and cried for want of moral sympathy, and formed 
 strong resolutions to be for ever after kind and good, 
 no matter how others might treat me/" 
 
 2L
 
 530 HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 Dr Combe was of a tall stature, his height being up- 
 wards of six feet. His person was very slender, and, in 
 his later years, he stooped considerably in consequence 
 of his feeble health. His temperament was nervous- 
 bilious, with a slight infusion of the sanguine. The 
 expression of his voice, countenance, and dark beaming 
 eye, was that of intelligence, goodness, earnestness, and 
 affection. 
 
 There is a good portrait of Dr Combe in George 
 Combe's possession, painted, in 1836, by Mr Macnee of 
 Glasgow, and which has been engraved for the present 
 work. About 1832, Mr Lawrence Macdonald executed 
 a miniature bust of him, several copies of which are in 
 existence. There is also a daguerreotype likeness of 
 him, taken a few years ago in London. 
 
 In a will* written with his own hand in 1844, Dr 
 Combe distributed the chief part of his property among 
 his relations, preferring those who seemed to him to 
 stand most in need of his benefaction, and leaving suit- 
 able acknowledgments to such as he felt himself in- 
 debted to for special services. He also made the fol- 
 lowing bequests, which are published for the purpose 
 of letting it be seen what institutions he thought most 
 deserving or requiring his support. " I leave 100 
 sterling to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, an emi- 
 nently useful institution ; 50 to the Royal Edinburgh 
 Lunatic Asylum ; 50 to the Destitute Sick Society of 
 
 * After his will was recorded in Doctors' Commons, a London 
 newspaper published the particulars of his bequests to his relations 
 and private friends ; an act the prospect of which would have greatly 
 annoyed Dr Combe, could he have anticipated it, and which was very 
 unpleasant to his legatees. The information must have been derived 
 from the public register ; but although the law very properly requires 
 executors to record testaments, no sufficient reason can be discovered 
 why the conductors of newspapers also should be at liberty to publish 
 them, at their own discretion, as topics of gossip to persons who are not 
 in any other respect interested in their contents.
 
 HIS CHARACTER. 531 
 
 Edinburgh; 50 to the Deaf and Dumb Institution; 
 50 to the Asylum for the Blind ; 50 to the Phreno- 
 logical Society of Edinburgh ; and 20 to the Model 
 Infant School in the YenneL I select these as insti- 
 tutions about the utility of which there can be no 
 doubt, and because they are not so well supported as 
 they ought to be by the public. I ought to add that 
 I make these bequests from no love of ostentation, but 
 from a strong sense of duty. During my life, my 
 health was always so precarious as often to make it 
 doubtful whether I should be able to earn a subsistence 
 or be able to lay up any thing for my support in case 
 of being long incapacitated for practice. I was there- 
 fore obliged to lay out less money for charitable pur- 
 poses than I ought to have done, and the only compen- 
 sation in my power is to bestow for similar purposes 
 that which would have come with a better grace during 
 my life."* It is but justice to Dr Combe to say, 
 that, although his expenditure for charitable purposes 
 was fcss than he desired, yet he was, for many years, 
 a liberal contributor to the funds of benevolent and 
 useful institutions, besides responding with alacrity to 
 all private claims upon his bounty. The amount of 
 personal trouble, also, which he often took on behalf of 
 these whom he thought he could be of service to and 
 this even when he had little strength to spare was 
 such as to excite the admiration of those who were aware 
 of the circumstances. 
 
 * With all Dr Combe's lore of independence, and uncertainty about 
 die future, his high feelings of honour, and his strict sense of justice, 
 in regard to his pecuniary remuneration as a medical man, never de- 
 serted him. While this 'work was in the press, one of his patients 
 iahamul me, that baring sent him what he considered as only an 
 fajlitB Itmtrmiwm for a pretty long and anxious attendance in the 
 country, nearly one-half of it was returned the whole, as he said, 
 being more than he was entitled to, although the patient's circum- 
 stances by no meanscalkd for any abatement of what was a fair and 
 proper remuneration.
 
 532 HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 In a Memoir by Mr Robert Cox, reprinted, with 
 additions for private circulation, from the Phrenolo- 
 gical Journal, vol. xx., p. 373, he introduces the fol- 
 lowing remarks on Dr Combe's character, which are 
 in themselves so just, and at the same time so mo- 
 destly stated, that his present biographer (precluded 
 as he is, by relationship and circumstances, from offer- 
 ing any commentaries of his own) considers himself 
 justified in presenting them to the reader : 
 
 " As a friend, Dr Combe was eminently distinguished by stead- 
 fastness, fidelity, forbearance, gentleness, candour, and discretion. 
 He did not shrink from performing the painful duty of admonition 
 or reproof when the welfare of his friend appeared to him to demand 
 either ; but he so tempered his advice with mildness and genuine be- 
 nevolence, that any momentary irritation which the listener might 
 experience was speedily turned into gratitude and augmented esteem. 
 
 " We never knew a more quick and penetrating judge of human 
 character than Dr Combe, or one whom it was more difficult to im- 
 pose upon by plausible pretences. Selfishness in the garb of kindness 
 he detected with ease : and among his intimates he used to laugh 
 good-humouredly at the specious veils with which men often attempt 
 to screen their real motives from others, and not seldom succeed in 
 deceiving even themselves. To unpretending worth, on the other 
 hand, he was equally clear-sighted, and ever disposed to extend his 
 hearty encouragement and support. 
 
 " During his whole life he was a model of temperance in every re- 
 spect, having constitutionally a repugnance to all kinds of excess and 
 vicious indulgence. From infancy he displayed an unaccountable 
 antipathy to eggs, butter, and cheese, which articles he never could 
 bring himself to eat. Till above the age of thirty, he had a similar 
 dislike to strawberries. Milk, however, he was always very fond of; 
 and he attributed some portion of the infirmity of his constitution to 
 the very limited extent of the supply of it which had been afforded 
 him in boyhood, in consequence of a prejudice which his mother had 
 imbibed against it, perhaps from finding it unsuitable to her own sto- 
 mach. "When visiting, in his early years, an uncle who had a farm a 
 few miles from town, he used to relish extremely the copious draughts 
 of milk with which he was there regaled. 
 
 " With all the habitual gentleness and unobtrusiveness of his cha- 
 racter, Dr Combe possessed a bold, manly, and independent spirit,
 
 HIS CHARACTER. 533 
 
 which, although never degenerating into rashness or presumption, 
 both prompted and enabled him to resist encroachments on his right*, 
 and to display a dignified firmness of speech on occasions when the 
 mean, malevolent, or supercilious behaviour of others demanded or 
 authorised the expression of his feelings. Disagreeable duties of this 
 sort were performed with a degree of moral courage that is rarely found 
 in conjunction with so much kindliness and delicacy of feeling as he 
 possessed, so hearty a dislike to wound needlessly the feelings of others, 
 and so liberal an indulgence for the frailties of human nature : for 
 to him, if to any man, may be justly applied what has been affirmed 
 of the members of his profession generally That ' the medical ob- 
 server, viewing the errors of mankind without passion, and knowing 
 how many are inherited, how many are inherent in organization, how 
 many the result of unhappy circumstances, becomes a lenient judge 
 of his fellow-creatures, and above all things characterised by his 
 humanity.'* 
 
 " In pecuniary matters, Dr Combe followed the golden rule of adapt- 
 ing his expenses to his means, so as never to run into debt, or incur 
 the risk of forfeiting his independence. However limited his resources 
 might be, he always contrived to secure, by means of them, the com- 
 forts and solid enjoyments of life ; and in proportion as they increased 
 he enlarged his expenditure, but never at the dictates of mere osten- 
 tation. 
 
 " He was fond of harmless mirth, and possessed no inconsiderable 
 talent for humour. In the domestic circle this quality displayed it- 
 self in streams of good-natured jocularity, and in his familiar corre- 
 spondence the effusions of his wit were frequent and effective. He 
 was fond of children : and some who read these pages will remember 
 the heartiness with which, in their early youth, they used to shout 
 with merriment at the ' funny faces' he made for their amusement ; 
 and the storms of glee that arose when, feigning unconsciousness, he 
 allowed a regiment of his little friends to carry him in procession 
 through the room, on the floor of which they would deposit their som- 
 nolent burden, celebrating their achievement by dancing and shout- 
 ing around it. 
 
 " To musical talent he had no pretensions, nor was the quality of 
 his voice such as ever to induce him, in our hearing, to attempt the 
 utterance of a note. But he derived much enjoyment from such 
 4 sweet sounds' as are expressive of tender, plaintive, or sprightly 
 emotions. With respect to the fine arts generally, a similar state- 
 ment may be made. Destitute of skill in drawing, and apparently 
 
 * British and Foreign Medical Review, vol. v., p. 413.
 
 534 HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 without the least inclination to handle the pencil, he yet was a dis- 
 criminating admirer of eminent productions in painting and sculpture, 
 and took an interest in the philosophy of art. He also appreciated 
 highly the legitimate drama, when fitly represented on the stage. 
 
 " Beyond the simple rules of arithmetic, he received but little if 
 any instruction in the mathematical sciences ; and, in mature life, his 
 taste for them was not so strong as to induce him to devote any por- 
 tion of his leisure to their study. Of their high dignity and import- 
 ance as branches of human knowledge, he, however, entertained an 
 adequate opinion. 
 
 " The sciences in which he took the deepest interest were those 
 where the relation of cause and eifect is most amply displayed, and 
 which have the directest bearing upon human welfare. Such are 
 physiology, mental philosophy, chemistry, physics, and political eco- 
 nomy. To him the attraction of these sciences was not a little in- 
 creased by the impressive manner in which they exhibit the power, 
 goodness, and wisdom of the Deity. Towards those departments of 
 enquiry, which (in the words of Bacon) are ' only strong for disputa- 
 tions and contentions, but barren of the production of works for the 
 benefit of the life of man,' he seems never to have experienced the 
 slightest inclination. 
 
 " As a writer, Dr Combe is remarkable for the skill with which he 
 arranges his materials so as to open up his subject in the most natural 
 and intelligible way to the reader's apprehension. As observed by 
 himself in one of his critical papers, ' the subject of a work and its 
 mode of treatment being determined, nothing tends more to clearness 
 of exposition than simplicity of arrangement ; for in books, as well as 
 in speeches, it is a point of excellence to have a beginning, a middle, 
 and an end ; or, in other words, that things should follow each other 
 in their natural order, and not be scattered about or unnecessarily in- 
 termixed. In this respect, professional treatises in general cannot 
 lay claim to much merit.'* And elsewhere he advises the author of 
 a work he is reviewing, ' so far to improve his arrangement in future 
 editions, as to collect into one focus everything bearing upon the pre- 
 vention and cure of the disease treated of, and leave nothing to be 
 sought for by the reader from the other chapters. It is better that a 
 useful truth should be even thrice repeated, than that it should not 
 be found in the place where it is most wanted.' f In these passages, 
 Dr Combe recommends to others the principles which he himself has 
 practised with admirable success ; and the style which he has employ - 
 
 * British and Foreign Medical Review, vol. vii., p. 117. 
 f Id., vol. i., p. 83.
 
 HIS CHARACTER. 535 
 
 ed in his expositions is not less worthy of admiration for its clearness, 
 simplicity, precision, conciseness, and vigour. 
 
 " His talent for languages was not so great as to make him love 
 their study for its own sake. He could speak fluently French and 
 Italian, and latterly acquired sufficient knowledge of German to be 
 able to understand didactic works in that language without much dif- 
 ficulty. He was fond of the English classics, among whom our great 
 Dramatist held the highest place in his estimation. In re-perusing 
 the plays of Shakspeare, he constantly saw fresh reason for admira- 
 tion of the profound knowledge of human nature, and wonderful 
 power of terse and accurate description, which they display." 
 
 The following beautiful delineation of Dr Combe's 
 character originally appeared in the Scotsman of 21st 
 August 1847 : 
 
 " The decease of Dr Combe will have taken no one who knew him 
 by surprise, for he was for many years in that condition which makes 
 life a greater miracle than death ; but it will not on this account be 
 the less deplored, either as causing a blank in the circle of private 
 friendship, or as the signification of a public loss. Dr Combe be- 
 longed to that rare class of physicians who present professional know- 
 ledge in connection with the powers of a philosophical intellect, and yet, 
 in practical matters, appear constantly under the guidance of a rich 
 natural sagacity. All of his works are marked by a peculiar earnest- 
 ness, lucidity, and simplicity, characteristic of the author ; they pre- 
 sent hygienic principles with a clearness for which we know no parallel 
 in medical literature. To this must be ascribed much of the extra- 
 ordinary success they have met with, and, on this quality undoubtedly, 
 rests no small portion of their universally acknowledged utility. 
 Those, however, who look below the surface will not fail to trace a 
 deep philosophical spirit as pervading these works, something arising 
 from a perfect apprehension of, and a perfect allegiance to, the natu- 
 ral rule of God in our being. It has been a guidance we would 
 almost say an inspiration, of the author, without ever carrying him 
 for a moment where ordinary readers could not follow him. Here, 
 we think, is the true though latent strength of Dr Combe's popular 
 writings, and that which will probably give them a long-enduring 
 pre-eminence in their particular department. We always feel, in 
 reading them, that we are listening to one of those whom Nature has 
 appointed to expound and declare her mysteries for the edification of 
 her multitudinous family. In his own section of her priesthood,
 
 536 HIS CHAKACTEU. 
 
 certainly few have stood in his grade, fewer still become his su- 
 periors. 
 
 " The personal character and private life of Dr Combe formed a 
 beautiful and harmonious commentary upon his writings. In the 
 bosom of his family and the limited social circle to which his weakly 
 health confined him, he was the same benignant and gentle being 
 whom the world finds addressing it in these compositions. The same 
 clear sagacious intelligence, the same entire right-mindedness, shone 
 in his conversation. An answer to any query put to him, whether 
 respecting professional or miscellaneous matters, was precisely like a 
 passage of one of his books, earnest, direct, and conclusive. What- 
 ever, moreover, he called upon others to do or to avoid, that he did, 
 and that he avoided, in his own course of life ; for doctrine with him 
 was not something to be treated as external to himself, but as the ex- 
 pression of a system of Divine appointment, of which he was a part. 
 To his rigid though unostentatious adherence to the natural laws 
 which he explained, it was owing that he sustained himself for many 
 years in a certain measure of health and exemption from suffering, 
 while labouring under the pulmonary disease which so often threat- 
 ened to cut short his career. On this point, there is the more reason 
 to speak emphatically, when we reflect that the years thus redeemed 
 from the grave, were employed in that which will yet save many from 
 premature death ; as if it had been his aim to shew the value of even 
 the smallest remains of life and strength, and thus advance one of the 
 principles dearest to humanity. It was not, however, in any of these 
 respects that the character of Dr Combe made its best impression, but 
 in his perfect geniality and simplicity, and the untiring energy of his 
 practical benevolence. Here resided the true charm of his nature, 
 and that which made him the beloved of all who knew him. No ir- 
 ritability attended his infirm health ; no jealousy did he feel regard- 
 ing those whom superior strength enabled to outstrip him in the pro- 
 fessional race. Kindly and cordial to all, he did not seem to feel as 
 if he could have an enemy and therefore, we believe, he never had 
 one. It might almost have been said that he was too gentle and un- 
 obtrusive and so his friends, perhaps, would have thought him, had 
 it not, on the other hand, appeared as the most befitting character of 
 one who, they all knew, was not to be long spared to them, and on 
 whom the hues of a brighter aud more angelic being seemed already 
 to be shed." 
 
 The article here quoted, is reprinted in the conclu- 
 ding number of The British and Foreign Medical Re-
 
 HIS CHARACTER. 537 
 
 view* where Dr Forbes, in introducing it, pays the 
 tribute of friendship in the following terms : 
 
 ' We are indebted to the columns of that very superior newspaper, 
 The Scotsman, for the following excellent account of an excellent man 
 if ever such there was. We have reason to believe that it is from 
 the pen of a celebrated writer, as well as a kindred spirit, who knew 
 the deceased long and well Mr Robert Chambers.f In all that is 
 therein said in commendation of the character of Dr Combe, we so 
 entirely concur and we speak from long personal intercourse that 
 if we could wish any of the expressions altered, it would be only that 
 they might be made still stronger and more emphatic. Never, we 
 will venture to say, did the ranks of Physic lose a more estimable 
 member; and rarely very rarely has the grave closed over a 
 gentler, truer, wiser, or better man. His loss to his friends is a loss 
 that can never be supplied ; his loss to the community is one of the 
 greatest it could sustain in losing an individual. But he has fulfilled 
 his mission, and done his work as far as was permitted. May they 
 who are left to lament him, strive, as far as in them lies, to emulate 
 his bright example !" 
 
 * See a list of Dr Combe's Contributions to this Review in the 
 Appendix, Xo. IV., p. 560. 
 
 f Only the two paragraphs descriptive of Dr Com lie's character, and 
 which are extracted above, were written by Mr Chambers.
 
 538 REPORT OF POST-MOKTEM EXAMINATION, 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 REPORT OF THE POST-MORTEJI EXAMINATION, BY DR JOHN SCOTT. 
 REPORT OF THE EXAMINATION OF THE SKULL AND BRAIN, BY DR 
 HANDYSIDE. REMARKS ON THE PREPARED SKULL, BY DR JAMES 
 COX. ESTIMATE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRAIN OF DR 
 COMBE. PHRENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS BY GEORGE COMBE. 
 
 REPORT BY DR JOHN SCOTT. 
 
 THE skull was remarkably thin and regular in its 
 walls; the internal surface more deeply marked by 
 the bloodvessels than usual; the brain exceedingly 
 healthy. 
 
 The thorax was much contracted on the left side, 
 especially on the superior part, measuring fully two 
 inches less than the right, and being flattened and de- 
 pressed under the clavicle and the first two ribs. On 
 removing the sternum, the right lung was found very 
 large, passing to the left side of the sternum and filling 
 a space in the left side of nearly two inches in breadth, 
 and three in length. The right lung itself was adhe- 
 rent to the pleura costalis by scattered and firm adhe- 
 sions. The lower surface was more especially attached 
 to the diaphragm by very close adhesions. The lung 
 in its texture was in some places, especially towards 
 the lower part, congested, but everywhere pervious to 
 air, and without any tubercles. The bronchial tubes 
 were firmer and larger than natural.
 
 BY DR JOHN SCOTT. 539 
 
 The left lung was contracted to a very small size, and 
 adherent by very thick and strong false membranes, 
 especially in the summit, to the ribs ; the adhesions 
 were so strong that the lung was with difficulty re- 
 moved. The summit was particularly indurated and 
 infiltrated with black matter, but without any change in 
 its structure. It also contained many large and small 
 caverns. The lung was without any tubercle or creta- 
 ceous matter. The surface was black, and this colour was 
 found to pervade the pulmonary texture generally ; the 
 cellular appearance was, however, still visible. The up- 
 per lobe was dense in structure and hollowed out into 
 numerous caverns opening into each other in some in- 
 stances, in others single and of smaller size. These 
 extended from the summit of the lung, and chiefly oc- 
 cupied the anterior part, and opposite the first and se- 
 cond rib. The bronchial tubes, some of a large size, 
 opened directly into the caverns and were continuous 
 with them. The longitudinal fibres in the larger bron- 
 chial tubes were particularly strong, and the circular 
 ones in the smaller. The caverns themselves were re- 
 markably regular in shape, especially when single, and 
 were lined by a fine, smooth, thin membrane. The 
 opening of both small and large bronchial tubes was 
 easily perceived in them ; they were more generally 
 dilatations of the extreme terminations, than merely 
 dilatations of the large bronchiae. There was no em- 
 physema. 
 
 The lower lobe was fleshy, pretty firm, but retained 
 more of the natural appearance than the upper. The 
 heart was large, but not diseased. The kidneys seemed 
 natural in structure, but were filled with a greyish- 
 coloured thick fluid. The colon and rectum were thick- 
 ened throughout, and covered with minute ulcera- 
 tions, some very small, and others of considerable size.
 
 540 REPORT BY DR HANDYSIDE. 
 
 The muscular and mucous coat of the rectum was 
 thickened.* 
 
 REPORT BY DR P. D. HANUYSIDE, F.B.S.E. 
 
 A. THE CRANIUM. I. Texture thin, the tables hav- 
 ing closely coalesced; excepting, 1st, at the frontal 
 sinuses, which are large and well developed ; and, 2dly, 
 on both sides of the longitudinal sinus, where the inner 
 table of the cranium is opened up in texture over a 
 greater extent than is usual. 
 
 II. Regularity and Symmetry remarkable, excepting 
 that, 1st, on the left side of the vertex, the cranium is 
 quite diaphanous ; 2dly, the area of the cranium to the 
 left of the mesial line is greater than on the right side ; 
 and, 3dty, the internal occipital protuberance and the 
 crucial and lateral grooves on the two sides, are un- 
 equal in form and bulk. 
 
 B. THE ENCEPHALON. I. General Form a regular 
 ovate ; 1st, the longitudinal and oblique fissures are 
 very deep, including a greater number of secondary fis- 
 sures in the latter than is usual : depth of longitudinal 
 fissure at splenium of corpus callosum, 2\ inches ; depth 
 at genu of corpus callosum, 1^ inch ; 2dly, the sulci 
 (anfractuosities) deeper than usual ; greatest depth in 
 left hemisphere, f inch ; depth in right hemisphere, 
 | inch ; 3dly, the lobes and lobules, and other anatomi- 
 cal features of the encephalou, very strongly marked. 
 
 II. Proposition. 1st, the left side of the eucephalon 
 the greater ; 2dly, the corresponding gyri (convolu- 
 
 * The examination was made about thirteen hours after death. A 
 cast of the head was previously taken, and afterwards a cast of the 
 brain. The remains of the deceased, with the exception of the cra- 
 nium and its contents, were interred in the family burial-ground in 
 St Cuthbert's churchyard, immediately behind the manse.
 
 REMARKS OX THE PREPARED SKULL OF DR COMBE, oil 
 
 tions) of the opposite sides approach more to symmetry 
 then usual. 
 
 III. Bulk. Greatest Length, 7 inches. Greatest 
 Breadth, .5^ inches. Greatest depth, vertically to base 
 of interior lobe, 4 inches vertically to base of cere- 
 bellum. 4 inches. 
 
 IV. Weight (including pia mater ), 57 oz. avoirdu- 
 pois, [being about 7 oz. above the average; in Dr 
 Chalmers 53 oz., Dr Abercrombie and Baron Cuvier, 
 each 63 oz., and Baron Dupnytren, 64 oz.] 
 
 V. Structure, perfectly normal, including the mem- 
 branes and vessels. The cineritious matter is about a 
 third narrower than usual, and devoid of the internal 
 translucent pearly laminae frequently observed. The 
 encephalon in general is remarkable for its firmness of 
 texture. 
 
 REMARKS OK THE PREPARED SKC1.L, BY DR JAMES COX. 
 
 The dry skull, on careful examination, presents the 
 following characters : The texture of the bone is re- 
 markably firm and dense, and the plates of the skull 
 are generally in close approximation. The sutures 
 have, for the most part, been obliterated, and in this 
 respect, as well as in the density of texture, the skull 
 resembles that of a much older person. A transverse 
 section in the plain, about a quarter of an inch above 
 the super-orbital ridges, shews the walls to be re- 
 markably thin, except in the frontal region, where they 
 have acquired a thickness more than double that of 
 the parietal and occipital bones. This increased thick- 
 ness extends throughout the frontal bones, but is 
 greatest over the frontal tuberosities, and is owing to 
 an apparently abnormal deposit of osseous matter be- 
 tween the plates of skull, probably consequent on the 
 shrinking of the brain. The coronal region of the pa-
 
 542 DIMENSIONS OF THE SKULL OF DR COMBE. 
 
 rietal bones, likewise, presents an increased thickness, 
 but not to an extent that would have attracted atten- 
 tion but for the decided thickening of the frontal bones. 
 Tt is sufficient, however, completely to remove the dia- 
 phaneity remarked by Dr Handyside in the fresh state. 
 The internal surface of the skull is deeply marked by 
 the bloodvessels ; and along the course of the longitu- 
 dinal sinus, a considerable deposit of amorphous osseous 
 matter has taken place, extending about half an inch on 
 each side, and presenting an appearance which, in the 
 fresh state, might readily have been mistaken for an 
 opening up of the texture. This deposit likewise ap- 
 pears, but in diminished quantities, along the course of 
 the transverse sinuses. An abnormal deposition of 
 osseous matter thus seems to have been going on 
 throughout the skull, as evidenced by the density of 
 the texture, the obliteration of the sutures, the partial 
 thickening of the walls, and the amorphous deposit on 
 the internal surface. 
 
 DIMENSIONS OF THE SKULL. 
 
 Tape Measurements. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Greatest circumference, . . . . . 21 
 From occipital spine to top of nasal bone, over the vertex, 13J 
 ear to ear over the vertex, . . . 12f 
 
 Calliper Measurements. 
 
 From Philoprogenitiveness to Individuality, , . 7| 
 
 Concentrativeness to Comparison, . . 7 
 
 Ear to Philoprogenitiveness, . . . 4.1 
 
 Individuality, .... 4^ 
 
 Benevolence, . . '.' . gi 
 
 Firmness, . , ^ . 51 
 
 Destructiveness to Destructiveness, . v ... 5 
 
 Secretiveness to Secretiveness, . ,* . , 53. 
 
 Cautiousness to Cautiousness, . ' , : ' . 50. 
 
 Ideality to Ideality, . ' ' '.' . '.' 4| 
 
 Constructiveness to Constructiveness, <. > . 41 
 
 Mastoid process to mastoid process, . . 4
 
 DEVELOPMENT OP DR COMBE'S BRAIN. 
 
 543 
 
 ESTIMATE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OP THE BRAIN OF DR COMBE. 
 
 The terms indicating size, increase, imaU, moderate, rather full, full, rather 
 large, large. 
 
 THE REGIONS OF THE BRAIN COMPARED WITH EACH OTHER. 
 
 The basilar region, rather large; the coronal region, large; the an- 
 terior lobe, or region of the intellect, large. 
 
 THE ORGANS OF THE PROPENSITIES COMMON TO MAN AND ANIMALS, 
 COMPARED WITH EACH OTHER. 
 
 1. Araativeuess, rather large. 
 
 2. Philoprogenitiveness, large. 
 
 3. Concentrativeness, rather large. 
 a. Inhabitiveness, rather large. 
 
 4. Adhesiveness, large. 
 
 5. Combativeness, large. 
 
 6. Destructiveness,/tt//. 
 Alimentiveness, moderate. 
 
 The Love of Life, rather large. 
 
 7. Secretiveness, rather large. 
 
 8. Acquisitiveness, full. 
 
 9. Constructiveness, full. 
 
 10. Self-Esteem, rather large. 
 
 11. Love of Approbation, large. 
 
 12. Cautiousness, large. 
 
 THE ORGANS OF THE MORAL SENTIMENTS COMPARED WITH EACH 
 OTHER. 
 
 13. Benevolence, large. 
 
 14. Veneration, large. 
 
 15. Firmness, large. 
 
 16. Conscientiousness, rather large. 
 
 17. Hope, large. 
 
 18. Wonder, rather large on right 
 
 side ; full on left. 
 
 19. Ideality, full. 
 
 ? Unascertained, in front of 
 Cautiousness, rather large. 
 
 20. Wit, or Mirthfulness, rather 
 
 large. 
 
 21. Imitation, large on right side; 
 
 full on left. 
 
 THE ORGANS OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES COMPARED WITH 
 EACH OTHER. 
 
 22. Individuality, rather full. 
 
 23. Form, rather large. 
 
 24. Size, rather large. 
 
 25. Weight,/M. 
 
 26. Colouring, full. 
 
 27. Locality, rather large. 
 
 28. Number, full. 
 
 29. Order, rather large. 
 
 30. Eventuality, rather full. 
 
 31. Time, rather full. 
 
 32. Tune,/. 
 
 33. Language, rather full. 
 
 34. Comparison, large. 
 
 35. Causality, large.
 
 544 PHRENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS BY GEORGE COMBE. 
 PHRENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS BY GEORGE COMBE. 
 
 The phrenologist will experience little difficulty in 
 tracing the connection between the talents and dispo- 
 sitions of Dr Combe, and the development of his brain. 
 
 The size (above an average) corresponds to his gene- 
 ral force of character, while the nervous-bilious and 
 slightly sanguine temperament, was the fountain of his 
 mental activity. If, as is thought probable by many 
 physiologists, the extent of surface of the brain be im- 
 portant, the unusual depth of the fissures and sulci in 
 Dr Combe's brain may have increased both the activity 
 and power of his mind. The firmness of its texture, 
 probably, had a similar effect. 
 
 The general equability in the development of the dif- 
 ferent cerebral organs, gave rise to that soundness of 
 judgment* which characterised his life. 
 
 The large development of the moral and intellectual 
 organs corresponded with his habitual love of virtue, 
 and his deep interest in human welfare. In this re- 
 spect his brain was anomalous ; for in it the convolu- 
 tions forming the organs of the moral sentiments were 
 rounder aud larger, more plump and fully-developed, 
 than the convolutions constituting the organs of the 
 animal propensities the reverse of the ordinary rule. 
 
 The middle fossse in which the organs of Alimen- 
 tiveness and Destructiveness are situated are smaller 
 than usual, in proportion to the dimensions of the oc- 
 cipital fossse and the super-orbitar plate, and the ex- 
 ternal opening of the ear is high. This structure indi- 
 cates a very moderate development of these two organs, 
 and corresponds to his constitutional and habitual tem- 
 perance, and his extreme dislike to war, and even to being- 
 present at surgical operations, mentioned by himself on 
 
 * See System of Phrenology, by Gr. Combe, vol. ii., p. 234.
 
 PHRENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS BY GEOKGE COMBE. 545 
 
 page 39. The organ of the Love of Life (stated in the 
 phrenological works as only probable), lies in the inner 
 portions of these fossae, and in Dr Combe's brain was 
 more largely developed than the organs of Alimentive- 
 ness and Destmctiveness; and his correspondence shews, 
 that although always prepared to die, he had a strong 
 love of life. See page 405. 
 
 The large development of Combativeness, Self-Esteem, 
 and Firmness, gave him courage to face both moral and 
 physical danger and difficulties, and prevented his dis- 
 position from being rendered too soft for active life 
 by the smaller development of Destmctiveness ; which 
 would have been the result, had either Combativeness 
 or Firmness been deficient. 
 
 The large development of the organs of the domestic 
 affections Amatiyeness, Philoprogeuitiveness, and Ad- 
 hesiveness enables the phrenologist to appreciate the 
 extent of the sacrifice which he must have made in ab- 
 staining, on account of his infirm health, from marriage, 
 as mentioned by himself on page 402. 
 
 The large development of the organs of Veneration, 
 Hope, and Wonder, produced the strong religious emo- 
 tions which pervaded his whole being ; while the addi- 
 tion of large Benevolence and Conscientiousness, aided 
 by his powerful intellect, laid the foundation of his 
 sound and acute moral perceptions. 
 
 His pursuit of the beneficent, in preference to the 
 ornamental, corresponds with the preponderance of the 
 moral, religious, and reflecting organs, over those of 
 Ideality, Individuality, Colouring, Time, and Tune; while 
 these latter organs were still sufficiently developed to 
 give him a love of the beautiful and refined, although 
 unable artistically to produce them. 
 
 The large development of the anterior lobe corre- 
 sponds with his vigorous intellectual manifestations ; 
 
 2 M
 
 546 PHRENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS BY GEORGE COMBE. 
 
 while the peculiar character of his intellect is in strik- 
 ing accordance with the preponderance of the organs of 
 Concentrativeness, Causality, and Comparison, over 
 those of Individuality and Eventuality. When he in- 
 troduces details, it is with a view to their application 
 to establish or illustrate some important proposition 
 related to causation, duty, or interest, and rarely for 
 the sake of their intrinsic value or beauty. 
 
 The facts of the abnormal thickening of some por- 
 tions of the skull, of the cineritious matter of the con- 
 volutions being found " about a third narrower than 
 usual," and Dr Combe's frequent remarks in his later 
 years on the decay of his mental powers, may be noticed 
 as coincidences, the value of which will depend on the 
 occurrence of similar appearances in other cases, in 
 which mental vigour has decayed.* 
 
 The plump appearance of the brain contrasted strong- 
 ly with the emaciation of the body at large, and afforded 
 a striking illustration of the slowness with which the 
 nervous system is consumed under the action of causes 
 which quickly reduce the bulk of the fat, the blood, and 
 the muscles.f This physiological fact is interesting and 
 remarkable : " had the brain been as liable to absorp- 
 tion as the other tissues of the body, one day's absti- 
 nence would have been followed by fatuity." J 
 
 * The frontal sinus extends over the organs of Individuality, Size, 
 and Locality, but the dimensions of all the organs are estimated from 
 observations made on both the brain and the skull. 
 
 f Chossat found that, on an average, a warm-blooded animal loses 
 about two-fifths of its weight before it dies of hunger ; and he cal- 
 culated that, while the fat lost 0'933 of its total amount, the blood 
 lost 0750, the muscular system 0'423, the organs of respiration 0'222, 
 the bones - 167, and the brain and spinal cord only 0'019, of their 
 original substance, which he estimated from the weight of the same 
 organs in healthy animals that had been purposely killed. See his 
 Recherches Experimentales sur Vlnanition, p. 92. Paris, 1843. 
 
 J Dr Combe on Digestion, 9th edition, edited by Dr James Cox, 
 p. 86.
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 THE PHRENOLOGICAL BUST.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 Referred to on p. 2. 
 
 BRIEF OUTL1XE OF THE PHRENOLOGICAL FACULTIES, WITH THEIR USES 
 AXD ABUSES. 
 
 Order I. FEELIXGS. 
 
 Genus I. PROPENSITIES Common to Man teM the Lower Animal*. 
 
 THE LOVE OF LIFE. The organ lies before and a little below 
 Destructiveness. Its situation is not indicated by a number 
 on the bust. Uses: It gives the love of life, and instinct of 
 self-preservation. Combined with Hope, it desires to live for 
 ever. Abuses : Excessive love of life. When it is very largely 
 developed and combined with Cautiousness large, it gives an 
 anxious dread of death. 
 
 1. AMATIVEXESS. Uses: It produces love between the sexes : Mar- 
 
 riage springs from Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, and 
 Adhesiveness, acting in combination. Abuses: Promiscuous 
 intercourse with the opposite sex ; seduction ; marriage with 
 near relations ; marriage while labouring under any general 
 debility or serious disease ; marriage without possessing the 
 means of maintaining and educating a family. 
 
 2. PHILOPROGEXITIVEXESS. Uses: Affection for young and tender 
 
 beings. Abuses : Pampering and spoiling children. 
 
 3. COXCEXTRATIVEXESS. Uses : It concentrates and renders perma- 
 
 nent emotions and ideas in the mind. Abuses : Morbid dwell- 
 ing on internal emotions and ideas, to the neglect of external 
 impressions. 
 
 3 a. IXHABITITEXESS. Uses : It produces the desire of permanence in 
 place. Abuses : Aversion to move abroad. 
 
 4. AJDHESITE>-ESS. Uses: Attachment: friendship and society result 
 
 from it. Abuses: Clanship for improper objects, attachment 
 to worthless individuals. It is generally strong in women.
 
 550 APPENDIX, NO. I. 
 
 5. COMBATIVENESS. Uses : Courage to meet danger and overcome 
 
 difficulties ; tendency to defend, to oppose and attack, and to 
 resist unjust encroachments. Abuses : Love of contention, and 
 tendency to provoke and assault. This feeling obviously adapts 
 man to a world in which danger and difficulty abound. 
 
 6. DESTRUCTIVENESS. Uses : Desire to destroy noxious objects, ani- 
 
 mate and inanimate, and to use for food animals in which life 
 has been destroyed. Abuses : Cruelty, murder, desire to tor- 
 ment, tendency to passion, rage, and harshness and severity in 
 speech and writing. This feeling places man in harmony with 
 death and destruction, which are woven into the system of sub- 
 lunary creation. 
 
 6. a. APPETITE FOR FOOD. Uses: Nutrition. Abuses: Gluttony and 
 
 drunkenness. 
 
 7. SECRETIVENESS. Uses : Tendency to restrain within the mind 
 
 the various emotions and ideas that involuntarily present them- 
 selves, until the judgment has approved of giving them utter- 
 ance ; it is simply the propensity to conceal, and is an ingre- 
 dient in prudence. Abuses : Cunning, deceit, duplicity, and 
 lying- 
 
 8. ACQUISITIVENESS. Uses : Desire to possess, and tendency to ac- 
 
 cumulate ; the sense of property springs from it. Abuses : In- 
 ordinate desire of property, selfishness, avarice, theft. 
 
 9. CONSTRUCTIVENESS. Uses : Desire to build and construct works 
 
 of art. Abuses : Construction of engines to injure or destroy, 
 and fabrication of objects to deceive mankind. 
 
 Genus II. SENTIMENTS. 
 1. Sentiments common to Man with some of the Lower Animals. 
 
 10. SELF-ESTEEM. Uses: Self-respect, self-interest, love of indepen- 
 
 dence, personal dignity. Abuses : Pride, disdain, overweening 
 conceit, excessive selfishness, love of dominion. 
 
 11. LOVE OF APPROBATION. Uses: Desire of the esteem of others, 
 
 love of praise, desire of fame or glory. Abuses : Vanity, am- 
 bition, thirst for praise independently of praise worthiness. 
 
 12. CAUTIOUSNESS. Uses : It gives origin to the sentiment of fear, 
 
 the desire to shun danger, and circumspection ; and it is an 
 ingredient in prudence. The sense of security springs from 
 its gratification. Abuses: Excessive timidity, poltroonery, un- 
 founded apprehensions, despondency, melancholy. 
 
 13. BENEVOLENCE. Uses: Desire of the happiness of others, com-
 
 APPENDIX, SO. I. 551 
 
 passion for the distressed, universal charity, mildness of disposi- 
 tion, and a lively sympathy with the enjoyment of all animated 
 beings. Abuses : Profusion, injurious indulgence of the appe- 
 tites and fancies of others, prodigality, facility of temper. 
 
 2. Stttlimenti proper to J/a*. 
 
 14. VEN~EEATIOX. U&s : Tendency to venerate or respect whatever 
 
 is great and good ; it gives origin to religions emotion. 
 Abtifff : Senseless respect for unworthy objects consecrated by 
 time or situation, love of antiquated customs, abject subser- 
 viency to persons in authority, superstitious awe. To these 
 Mr Scott adds, " undue deference to the opinions and reason- 
 ings of men who are fallible like ourselves ; the worship of 
 false gods, polytheism, paganism, idolatry/' 
 
 15. PiRitszss. Uses: Determination, perseverance, steadiness of pur- 
 
 pose. Abuses : Stubbornness, infatuation, tenacity in evil. 
 
 16. CosscrExnorsxEss. Uses: It gives origin to the sentiment of 
 
 justice, a respect for rights, openness to conviction, the love of 
 truth. Abuses: Scrupulous adherence to noxious principles 
 when ignorantly embraced, excessive refinement in the views 
 of duty and obligation, excess in remorse or self-condemnation. 
 
 17. HOPE. Uses : Tendency to expect future good ; it cherishes 
 
 faith. Abuses : Credulity with respect to the attainment of 
 what is desired, absurd expectations of felicity not founded on 
 reason. 
 
 18. WOXDEK. Uses : The desire of novelty ; admiration of the new, 
 
 the unexpected, the grand, the wonderful, and extraordinary. 
 Abuses : Love of the marvellous and occult ; senseless astonish- 
 ment ; belief in false miracles, in prodigies, magic, ghosts, and 
 other supernatural absurdities. 3*ofe. Veneration, Hope, and 
 Wonder, combined, give origin to religion ; their abuses pro- 
 duce superstition. 
 
 19. LDKAIJTT. Uses : Love of the beautiful, desire of excellence, 
 
 poetic feeling. Abuses : Extravagant and absurd enthusiasm, 
 preference of the showy and glaring to the solid and useful, a 
 tendency to dwell in the regions of fancy and to neglect the 
 duties of life. 
 
 19 a. Unascertained, supposed to be connected with the sentiment of 
 the Sublime. 
 
 20. Wrr Gives the feeling of the ludicrous, and disposes to mirth. 
 
 21. IJUTATIOX Copies the manners, gestures, and actions of others, 
 
 and appearances in nature generally.
 
 552 APPENDIX, NO. I. 
 
 Order II. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 
 
 Genus I. EXTERNAL SENSES. 
 
 FEELING or TOUCH. 
 
 TASTE. 
 
 SMELL. 
 
 HEARING. 
 
 SIGHT. 
 
 Uses : To bring man into communication 
 with external objects, and to enable 
 him to enjoy them. Abuses : Exces- 
 sive indulgence in the pleasures arising 
 from the senses, to the extent of im- 
 pairing bodily health, and debilitating 
 or deteriorating the mind. 
 
 Genus II. KNOWING FACULTIES WHICH PERCEIVE THE EXIST- 
 ENCE AND QUALITIES OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 
 
 22. INDIVIDUALITY Takes cognizance of existence and simple facts. 
 
 23. FORM Renders man observant of form. 
 
 24. SIZE Gives the idea of space, and enables us to appreciate di- 
 
 mension and distance. 
 
 25. WEIGHT Communicates the perception of momentum, weight, 
 
 and resistance ; and aids equilibrium. 
 
 26. COLOURING Grives perception of colours, their harmonies and 
 
 discords. 
 
 Genus III. KNOWING FACULTIES WHICH PERCEIVE THE 
 RELATIONS OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 
 
 27. LOCALITY Grives the idea of relative position. 
 
 28. NUMBER Gives the talent for calculation. 
 
 29. ORDER Communicates the love of physical arrangement. 
 
 30. EVENTUALITY Takes cognizance of occurrences or events. 
 
 31. TIME Grives rise to the perception of duration. 
 
 32. TUNE. The sense of Melody and Harmony arises from it. 
 
 33. LANGUAGE Gives facility in acquiring a knowledge of arbi- 
 
 trary signs to express thoughts, readiness in the use of them, 
 and the power of inventing and recollecting them. 
 
 Genus IV. REFLECTING FACULTIES, WHICH COMPARE, JUDGE, 
 AND DISCRIMINATE. 
 
 34. COMPARISON Gives the power of discovering analogies, resem- 
 
 blances, and differences. 
 
 35. CAUSALITY Traces the dependences of phenomena, and the re- 
 
 lation of cause and effect.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. II. 553 
 
 No. II. 
 Referred to on p. 130. 
 
 LIST OF DE COMBE'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL 
 (SOME OF WHICH WERE REPRINTED IN A VOLUME OF SELECTIONS 
 PUBLISHED IN 1836). 
 
 VOL. I. 1823-4. 
 
 1. Bell oil the Functions of the Nerves. No. 1, p. 58. 
 
 2. On the alleged Claim of Reil to Dr Gall's Discoveries in the 
 Anatomy of the Brain. No. 1, p. 72. 
 
 3. Practical Application of Phrenology on a Voyage. No. 2, 
 p. 259 ; and Selections, p. 33. 
 
 4. Essay on the Question, " Does Phrenology afford a satisfactory 
 explanation of the Moral and Intellectual Faculties of Man ?" Read 
 to the Medical Society of Edinburgh, Nov. 21, 1823. No. 3, p. 1 ; 
 and Selections, p. 317. 
 
 This Essay occasioned a very long and animated debate in 
 the Medical Society on 21st and 25th November, and led 
 to some curious legal and other proceedings, narrated in 
 No. 2, p. 307 ; and in the present work, p. 130. 
 
 5. Flourens on the Nervous System. No. 3, p. 455. 
 
 6. Case of a Mechanical Genius. No 4, p. 509 ; and Selections, 
 p. 276. 
 
 7. Observations on Secretiveness. No. 4, p. 611. 
 
 VOL. II. 1824-5. 
 
 8. Dr Prichard and Phrenology. No. 5, p. 47. 
 
 9. Observations on the Functions of the Nerves. Spinal Marrow, 
 and Brain. No. 6, p. 206. 
 
 VOL. III. 1825-6. 
 
 10. On the Seat and Nature of Hypochondriasis, as illustrated by 
 Phrenology. No. 9, p. 51 ; and Selections, p. 244. 
 
 This is a translation (perhaps enlarged) of the author's 
 Graduation Thesis. 
 
 11. On the Talent for recollecting Names. No. 9, p. 120. 
 
 12. Tune involuntarily active, with Pain in the Organ. No. 11, 
 p. 362. 
 
 13. Insanity and Crimes Cases of Lecouffe, Feldtraann, and Jean 
 Pierre. No. 11, p. 365. 
 
 14. Case of Hypochondriasis. No. 11, p. 467. 
 
 15. On Education The Hamiltonian System. No. 12, p. 609.
 
 554 APPENDIX, NO. II. 
 
 VOL. IV. 1826-7. 
 
 16. Review of Spurzheim's " Anatomy of the Brain." No. 13, 
 p. 83. 
 
 17. Letter on Size as a Measure of Power. No. 13, p. 100. 
 
 18. Speeches at Dinner of the Phrenological Society. No. 13, 
 pp. 136 and 150. 
 
 19. On the Influence of Organic Size on Energy of Function, par- 
 ticularly as applied to the Organs of the External Senses and Brain. 
 No. 14, p. 161. 
 
 20. Influence of Education on the Direction of the Sentiments. 
 No. 15, p. 430. 
 
 21. Review of Dr Thomas on the Physiology of the Temperaments. 
 No. 15, p. 438 ; and Selections, p. 125. 
 
 22. Review of Voisin on the Causes and Cure of Stammering. 
 No. 15, p. 458 ; and Selections, p. 143. 
 
 23. Humorous " Letter to the Editor," on the Mental Faculties 
 and their Organs. No. 16, p. 591. 
 
 24. Additional Remarks on Dr Thomas's Theory of the Tempera- 
 men ts. No. 16, p. 604 ; and Selections, p. 205. 
 
 25. On the Functions of the Sense of Sight, considered chiefly in 
 its relations to Ideas of Form, Colour, Magnitude, and Distance. 
 No. 16, p. 608. 
 
 VOL. V. 1828-9. 
 
 26. Speech at Dinner given by the Phrenological Society to Dr 
 Spurzheim. No. 17, p. 118. 
 
 27. Phrenological Notice of Mr Wardrope's Case of Restoration 
 to Sight in a Lady of 46 Years of Age. No. 18, p. 286. 
 
 28. Address from the President's Chair at a Meeting of the Phre- 
 nological Society, Nov. 13, 1828. No. 19, p. 475. 
 
 29. Observations on Mental Derangement, and some of its Causes. 
 No. 20, p. 483. 
 
 VOL. VI. 1829-30. 
 
 30. On the Exciting or Occasional Causes of Mental Derangement. 
 No. 21, p. 38. 
 
 31. On Mental Exercise as a Means of Health. No. 21, p. 109. 
 
 32. Review of Professor Uccelli's " Compendio di Anatomia-Fisio- 
 logica-Comparata." No. 22, p. 201. 
 
 33. On the Exciting or Occasional Causes of Mental Derangement 
 (continued). No. 23, p. 258. 
 
 The substance of Nos. 29, 30, and 33 was afterwards embo- 
 died in Dr Combe's work on Mental Derangement.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. II. 555 
 
 34. Notice of Blumenbach's " Decades Collections sua? Craniorum 
 Diversarum Grentium." Xo. 23, p. 278. 
 
 35. On the Laws of Mental Exercise and Health. No. 23, p. 283. 
 
 36. Phrenology in London Mr Deville's Museum The Deaf and 
 Dumb. Xo. 26, p. 569. 
 
 37. Review of Macnish's " Philosophy of Sleep." No. 26, p. 576. 
 
 VOL. VII. 1831-2. 
 
 38. Review of Dr Abercrombie's " Inquiries concerning the Intel- 
 lectual Powers." No. 27, p. 46. 
 
 39. Notice of Woodbridge's "American Annals of Education," 
 No. I. No. 28, p. 165. 
 
 40. Notice of the American " Chronicle of the Times." No. 29, 
 p. 269. 
 
 41. Notice of " American Annals of Education," No. II. No. 29, 
 p. 273. 
 
 VOL. VIII. 1832-4. 
 
 42. On the Nature and Uses of the Skin, as connected with the 
 Preservation of Health. No. 34, p. 1. 
 
 43. Notice of Dr Barlow's Article on Physical Education in the 
 " Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine." No. 34, p. 37. 
 
 44. On the Structure and Functions of the Muscular System, 
 viewed in relation to the Principles of Exercise. No. 35, p. 164. 
 
 The substance of Nos. 31, 35, 42, and 44 was afterwards em- 
 bodied in Dr Combe's " Physiology applied to Health and 
 Education." 
 
 45. On the Factories' Regulation Bill. No. 36, p. 231. 
 
 46. Dr Spurzheim, the Marquis Moscati, and the London Phreno- 
 logical Society. No. 36, p. 237. 
 
 47. Review of Dr Caldwell's " Essay on Temperament." No. 37, 
 p. 367. 
 
 48. Notice of Dr Caldwell's " Thoughts on the Pathology, Pre- 
 vention, and Treatment of Intemperance, as a Form of Mental De- 
 rangement." No. 40, p. 624-7. 
 
 49. Injuries of the Brain not always attended by manifest Disor- 
 ders of Mind : Analogy between such Injuries and those of other Or- 
 gans. No. 40, p. 636. 
 
 50. Dr Prichard and Phrenology : Cyclopaedia of Practical Medi- 
 cine, article " Temperament." No. 40, p. 649.
 
 556 APPENDIX, NO. II. 
 
 VOL. IX. 1834-6. 
 
 51. Affection of the Faculty of Language from Injury of the Brain. 
 No. 41, p. 17. 
 
 52. Characteristics of the Caribs. No. 41, p. 20. 
 
 53. Opinions of Tiedemann respecting Phrenology. No. 41, 
 p. 48-49. 
 
 54. Notice of a work on Epilepsy by Dr Epps. No. 42, p. 188. 
 
 55. Notice of Scipion Pinel's " Physiologic de 1'Homme Aliene ap- 
 pliquee a 1'Analyse de 1'Homme Social." No. 43, p. 259. 
 
 56. A Singular Dream. No. 43, p. 278. 
 
 57. Remarks on the Study of Insanity, &c. No. 44, p. 315-17. 
 
 58. Observations on the Skull of Dean Swift. No. 45, p. 468-71. 
 
 59. Notice of the " Journal of the Phrenological Society of Paris," 
 for April 1835. No. 46, p. 505-10. 
 
 60. On the Importance of Physiology with reference to Education. 
 No. 47, p. 620. 
 
 VOL. X. 1836-7. 
 
 61. On Insanity and Crime : illustrated by Cases. No. 49, p. 121. 
 
 62. Remarks on the Possibility of enlarging the Cerebral Organs 
 by Exercise of the Mental Faculties. No. 51, p. 414. 
 
 63. On the Secretiveness of Thieves. No. 51, p. 455. 
 
 64. Notice of Mrs Barwell's " Nursery Government." No. 52, 
 p. 580. 
 
 65. Notice of a Paper by Professor Tiedemaun on a Comparison of 
 Negro and European Skulls. No. 52, p. 627. 
 
 VOL. XI. 1838. 
 
 66. Notice of Rogmanosi's Letter on Craniology. No. 55, p. 189. 
 
 67. Notice of Poupin's Illustrations of Phrenology. No. 55, p. 190. 
 
 68. Remarks on Dr Prichard's Third Attack on Phrenology, in 
 his " Treatise on Insanity." No. 57, p. 345. 
 
 VOL. XII. 1839. 
 
 69. Notice of Phrenological Works by Pietro Molossi. No. 59, 
 p. 165. 
 
 VOL. XIV. 1841. 
 
 70. Indications of the Progress of Phrenology in Italy. No. 67, 
 p. 127. 
 
 71. Phrenological Controversies in Italy Molossi. No. 68, p. 237.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. III. 557 
 
 VOL. XV. 1842. 
 
 72. Remarks on the Nature and Causes of Insanity : in a Letter 
 to the late Dr Mackintosh. No. 71, p. 119. 
 
 73. Notice of Schindler's " Life of Beethoven." No. 72, p. 255. 
 
 74. Notice of Dr Webster's " Observations on the Admission of 
 Medical Pupils to Bethlem Hospital." No. 73, p. 375. 
 
 VOL. XVI. 1843. 
 
 75. Notice of Medical Journals. No. 77, p. 385. 
 
 76. Notice of Brigham on the Brain ; Stark on the Responsibilitv 
 of Monomaniacs ; The Zoist, No. II. ; The People's Phrenological 
 Journal ; and The Phreno-Magnet. No. 77, p. 396-406. 
 
 VOL. XVIII. 1845. 
 
 77. On Merit and Demerit, as affected by the Doctrine of Moral 
 Necessity. No. 85, p. 337. (Written about twenty years before, 
 and lately found by accident among old papers.) 
 
 VOL. XIX. 1846. 
 
 78. Phrenology its Nature and Uses : An Address to the Stu- 
 dents of Anderson's University. No. 87, p. 97. 
 
 LIST OF PK COMBE'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
 PHRENOLOGICAL SOCIETY, PUBLISHED IN 1824. 
 
 1. On the Effects of Injuries of the Brain upon the Manifestations 
 of the Mind. P. 183. 
 
 2. Observations on Dr Barclay's Objections to Phrenology. P. 393. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 Referred to on p. 439. 
 SENSATION OF COLD IN DIFFERENT CLIMATES. 
 
 In an able article, entitled " Observations on the effects of Climate in 
 the Production of Diseases of the Lungs, dr., by Robert Laicson, Assistant- 
 Surgeon 47th Regimmt," published in the Edin. Med. and Surf/. Journal, 
 No. 160, a scientific and practical view is given of the causes why 
 the feeling of cold or heat is frequently so different as it is known to 
 be, from the real temperature indicated by the thermometer. " A 
 chill," says he, " may be shortly described, as that state of the body 
 which is produced by an abstraction of caloric from the surface, more 
 rapidly than, from the state of the health at the time, can be restored 
 by the exercise of its natural functions." This is attended by a feel- 
 ing of cold, the intensity of which is proportionate to the degree in 
 which the rate of abstraction exceeds that of the production of heat.
 
 558 APPENDIX, NO. III. 
 
 " The conditions of the atmosphere which influence the abstraction 
 of heat from the body are three, viz., its temperature, its motion, and 
 its hygrometric state ; and the character of a climate mainly depends 
 on the manner in which these are combined. 
 
 " I. When the temperature of the air is low, heat is rapidly ab- 
 sorbed from the surface of the body, and it could not preserve the 
 natural temperature, were radiation, and the free contact of the air, 
 not prevented by thick clothing. 
 
 " II. Air, of a given temperature, in a state of motion, deprives a 
 warm body of a much greater quantity of heat than air of the same 
 temperature at rest." According to Sir John Leslie, air with a 
 velocity of eight miles an hour would, in a given time, deprive a body 
 of double the quantity of heat which the same air would do in a state 
 of rest ; with a velocity of 16 miles an hour, three times the quantity ; 
 with one of 24 miles, four times ; and with one of 32 miles, five times. 
 
 " III. The hygrometric state of the air is, next to its temperature, 
 the most important condition which influences the abstraction of heat 
 from the human body. 
 
 " It is usual, in treating of aqueous vapour, to represent its elas- 
 ticity by the column of mercury it could support ; and as the absolute 
 weight of vapour that could exist in a given space is always propor- 
 tional to its elasticity, the quantity which could exist in the same 
 space, at di/erent temperatures, is usually indicated by the correspond- 
 ing elasticities. The quantity of aqueous vapour which can exist in 
 the atmosphere is very small at low temperatures, but it increases 
 with great rapidity as the temperature advances ; for at the tempera- 
 ture of 16'3 Fahrenheit, the elasticity is 100 inches, at 34'0 it is '200 
 inches, at 52'8 it is '400 inches, at 73'0 it is '800, and at 94'8 it is 
 1-600 inches, or it is doubled for every increase of 19'6. The air is 
 seldom or never completely saturated with moisture, and would not 
 begin to deposit it until cooled down more or less ; the temperature 
 at which the deposition commences is called the dew-point. When 
 air is not fully saturated with vapour, it is always capable of taking 
 up an additional quantity, which is pi'oportional to the difference be- 
 tween the elasticity of vapour at the dew-point, and at the tempera- 
 ture of the air : thus, were the temperature of the air 30'0, while 
 the dew-point was 16'3, the additional quantity of vapour the air 
 would be capable of taking up would be represented by '100 ; and, 
 were the temperature of the air 73'0, and the dew-point 52'8, it 
 would be represented by '400." 
 
 " The quantity of heat necessary for the formation of vapour is the 
 same, whatever may be the sensible temperature of the vapour, and, 
 of course, the quantity necessary for converting any portion of water
 
 APPEXDIX, SO- III. 559 
 
 into vapour is directly proportional to its bulk ; hence, in the above 
 examples, the heat required to vaporise as much water as would 
 saturate the air in the former, would be to that in the latter as 1 to 4."* 
 
 " Such are the conditions of the atmosphere which lead to the ab- 
 straction of heat from the body ; they are variously combined in dif- 
 ferent climates, <xdd air being the chief refrigerating agent in oM 
 dimxttf. and in warm climates and seasons, mipontio*. The injurious 
 action of the latter is very much facilitated by the high temperature in- 
 creasing the exhaling function of the skin, and thus, by rendering the 
 surface moist, bringing it into the most favourable condition for eva- 
 poration to produce its greatest effect. The light clothing, too, em- 
 ployed in warm climates, is readily saturated with perspiration, and 
 then, while it favours the increase of evaporation, affords a very in- 
 sufficient protection to the body from its immediate effects, 
 
 " The refrigerating influence of evaporation is not altogether in- 
 operative, even in the coldest weather. We often hear of a cold 
 piercing wind, the effect of which on the sensations cannot be esti- 
 mated by the indications of a thermometer ; such a wind has uni- 
 versally a low dew-point*' (i. ., contains little moisture), " and that 
 portion of air which passes through the dress, having its temperature 
 raised, has its capacity for moisture at the same time vastly increased, 
 its power of abstracting it from the surface is correspondingly great, 
 and the heat removed by the evaporation being in addition to that 
 removed by a current of air of a low temperature, the sensation of 
 cold experienced is proportionally acute." 
 
 These principles explain some interesting facts commented on by 
 Mr Lawson. The Statistical Reports on the Sickness, Mortality, 
 and Invaliding in the Army, for example, " exhibit a prevalence of 
 pulmonary disease in the West Indies, nearly as great, and a mortality 
 far greater than is observed either in this country or Canada ; and 
 according to a subsequent one, this class of diseases is much more 
 common and fatal in the Mediterranean than was previously sup- 
 posed." 
 
 Mr Lawson's principles may be applied in explanation of these 
 facts as follows: In Montreal, for example, the mean temperature of 
 the winter months is IF'3 Fahr., but the dew-point is low, the air is 
 dry, the clothing is thick, and the food generally nourishing. The 
 cold dry air supplies the lungs largely with oxygen, and the food with 
 carbon." The combination of these produces heat largely. The thick 
 clothing excludes, to a considerable extent, the contact of the air 
 with the skin. The supply of heat, therefore, is pretty nearly equal 
 to the abstraction, and chilk are less liable to occur. In King- 
 ston, Jamaica, again, the mean winter temperature is 78'5. * An
 
 560 APPENDIX, NO. IV. 
 
 individual may be in such a state of health, that, with the dress usu- 
 ally employed in the West Indies, the heat produced in the system 
 may be sufficient to replace that removed from the surface when he 
 remains at rest ; but should he simply move outside of his room into 
 the wind, he would immediately be exposed to a loss of heat, in a 
 given time, three or four times as great as what the powers of the 
 system were capable of restoring, the inevitable consequence of which 
 would be the reduction of the temperature of the surface (98) nearly 
 to that of the atmosphere (78'5), or, in other words, he would expe- 
 rience a decided chill. Such an occurrence is by no means uncom- 
 mon in the West Indies, among persons debilitated by previous dis- 
 ease." 
 
 Mr Lawson concludes as follows : " I trust I have shewn, that the 
 causes of pulmonary diseases are sufficiently common in many warm 
 climates, to render medical men cautious in their recommendation of 
 certain localities, and particular in their injunctions to their patients 
 to avoid all unnecessary exposure on their arrival in the place ulti- 
 mately selected." 
 
 No. IV. 
 Referred to on p. 537. 
 
 LIST OF DR COMBE'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO " THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN 
 MEDICAL REVIEW," EDITED BY DR FORBES. 
 
 1. Review of Sir James Clark's " Treatise on Pulmonary Con- 
 sumption." No. I., p. 70 ; Jan. 1836. 
 
 2. Review of " Parker on the Stomach in its Morbid States." 
 No. XIII., p. 115 ; Jan. 1839. 
 
 3. Article on Phrenology. No. XVII., p. 190; Jan. 1840.* 
 
 4. Letter to the Editor, " On the Observation of Nature in the 
 Treatment of Disease." No. XLIL, p. 505, April 1846. 
 
 5. Second Letter to the Editor, " On the Observation of Nature in 
 the Study and Treatment of Disease," (in answer to a Letter by Dr 
 Symonds in No. XLIV.) No. XLV., p. 257 ; Jan. 1847. 
 
 6. Third Letter to the Editor, " On the Observation of Nature in 
 the Treatment of Disease." No. XL VI., p. 592 ; April 1847. 
 
 * This article was separately issued as a pamphlet, with the fol- 
 lowing title : " Phrenology Physiologically and Philosophically con- 
 sidered ; with Reasons for its Study, and Directions for its Successful 
 Prosecution. Reprinted from The British and Foreign Medical Re- 
 view. London : John Churchill, 1840."
 
 I N D E X. 
 
 Abercrombie. Dr John, on ' The In- 
 tellectual Powers." reviewed, 195, 
 199. 
 
 Academy. Xew, of Edinburgh, 324. 
 
 Address to the Students of Anderson's 
 University, 481. 
 
 Albert, Prince, 339. 
 
 America, North, voyage to United 
 States of, 518. 
 
 Americans, remarks on, 521. 
 
 Anderson's University, Glasgow, Ad- 
 dress on Phrenology to Students of, 
 
 Andrieux, Professor, 74. 223. 
 Approbation, effects of inordinate 
 
 lx>ve of, 282. 
 Asylums, Lunatic, 229, 230, 277, 280, 
 
 375, 378, 380, 382, 496. 
 
 Barclay, Dr John, 127. 
 
 Belgians, King and Queen of the, 259, 
 
 265, 269, 272, 337, 338. 
 Benevolence, remarks on, 112. 
 Boardman, Andrew, 371, 520. 
 Brain, essay on effects of injuries of, 
 
 123. Report on Dr Combe's, 540. 
 British and Foreign Medical Review, 
 
 list of Dr Combe's contributions to, 
 
 371, 484, 553. 
 
 Browne, Dr W. A. F., 229, 280. 
 Burrows, Dr, 188. 
 Buxton on Prison Discipline, 75. 
 
 Caldwell, Dr, 110. 
 Calvin, John, remarks on, 421. 
 Calvinism, effects of, 3, 33, 333, 406. 
 Carmichael, Richard, 211, 255, 335. 
 Cheap publications, remarks about, 
 
 333. 
 Children, on the management of, 232, 
 
 366. Exercise for, 361. Evils of 
 
 isolating them, 495. 
 Clark, Sir James, letters to, 263, 264, 
 
 *T4> 296, 302, 311, 324, 329, 341, 
 
 480, 509, 515, 518, 521. Letters 
 
 from, 325, 394, 426, 457. 
 
 Clark, John Forbes, 437. 
 
 Climates for invalids, remarks on, 279, 
 
 365, 460. 
 Cobden, Richard, Letter to, on his 
 
 health, 485. Interview with, 492. 
 Collie, Alexander, 69, 77, 84, 136. 
 Comb, George, father of Andrew 
 
 Combe, 5. 
 
 Combe, Abram, 108 ; death of, 143. 
 Combe, Margaret, letter to, 270. 
 Combe, George, brother of Andrew, 
 
 93, 459. 
 
 Combe, James, death of, 96. 
 Combe, William, visit to, 520. Letter 
 
 to his wife, 363. 
 Combe, Jean, 97. 
 
 Combe, Mrs William, letter to, 363. 
 Confidence, professional, observance 
 
 of, 237. 
 " Constitution of Man" first read to 
 
 the Phrenological Society, 152. 
 
 Translated into French. 20*9; into 
 
 German, 211. 
 Convalescence, letter to a patient in a 
 
 state of, 288. 
 Cork, remarks on, 493. 
 Corn-law, repeal of, remarks on, 492. 
 Cox, Mrs, letters on the death of, 388, 
 
 390. 
 Cox, Miss, letters to, 253, 269. 274. 
 
 Letter from, on Dr Combe's death. 
 
 527. 
 
 Creation, " Vestiges of,' ? 479. 
 Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine, 179. 
 
 Davies, Edward, case of, 184. 
 
 Depression, mental, case of, 284. 
 
 Dickson, the Rev. Dr David, 34. 
 
 Digestion, work on " The Physiology 
 of," 275, 292. 
 
 Diplomacy, old and new, letter on, 476. 
 
 Disease, influence of, on religious feel- 
 ings, 165, 408. Prevention of, 239, 
 430. Insidious inroads of, 297. A 
 state not suitable for repentance, 
 406. 
 
 2N
 
 562 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 D'Orsey, A. J. D., letter to, 361. 
 
 Dumont, Prosper, 209. 
 
 Dunfermline, Lord, letter to, on edu- 
 cation, 490. 
 
 Dunville, William and Miss, 437, 495. 
 
 Dunville, Mrs, 471. 
 
 Dupuytren, Professor, remarks on, 56, 
 57,58. 
 
 Edinburgh, remarks on the Universi- 
 sity, High School, and New Acade- 
 my of, 324. 
 
 Edinburgh Review attacks Phrenolo- 
 gy, 44, 46, 149. 
 
 Education, 169, 176, 220, 282, 290. Me- 
 dical, 311, 324, 341, 400, 483, 488. 
 
 Eminent men, cerebral development 
 of, 113. 
 
 Esquirol, Professor, 68, 72. His col- 
 lection of skulls, 225. His health, 
 227. 
 
 Evils, mode of acting under unavoid- 
 able, 293. 
 
 Exercise, mental, as a means of pre- 
 serving health, 369. Exercise for 
 young children, 361. 
 
 Florence, climate of, 460. 
 
 Forbes, Dr, letter to, 482. Character 
 of Dr Combe by, 537. 
 
 French, character of, 71, 75, 76. 
 
 Friends, inexpediency of their be- 
 coming censors of each other, 300. 
 
 Fry, Mrs, remarks on, 436. 
 
 Gall, Dr, 82. 
 
 Goodness, active and passive, differ- 
 ence between, 167. 
 
 Governess, on the qualifications of a, 
 220. 
 
 Graham, Miss Stirling, letter to, 370. 
 
 Hanwell, Lunatic Asylum at, 230. 
 Hereditary descent of constitutional 
 
 qualities, 402. 
 
 High School of Edinburgh, 324. 
 Hirschfeld, Dr Edward, 211, 297, 363. 
 Homicidal maniacs, 72. 
 Homoeopathy, 297, 456, 482. 
 Hope, Dr James of Lon don, case of, 487 . 
 Howard, Life of, remarks on, 436. 
 Hygiene, on the importance of, as a 
 
 branch of Medical Education, 311. 
 
 Infancy, Treatise on the Management 
 of, 366, 406. Exercise in, 361. 
 
 Insanity, Dr Combe on, 183. See Asy- 
 lums. 
 
 nvalids, climates for, 279 ; in Madeira, 
 438 ; condition of, in voyage to 
 Madeira, 464. 
 
 talians, remarks on the, 105, 461. 
 Italy, travelling in, 461. 
 
 Jardin du Roi, lectures at, 61. 
 Jeffrey, Lord, his attack on Phreno- 
 logy, 149. 
 Jones, Colonel, 118. 
 
 Kalley, Dr, imprisonment of, in Ma- 
 deira, 466. 
 
 Leghorn, voyage to, 100, 102. 
 Luther, remarks on, 417. 
 Lyon, George, on the phrenological 
 causes of the liberty of nations, 197. 
 
 Mackenzie, Sir George, present to Dr 
 Combe, 153. Visits to, 246, 287. 
 
 Maclaren, Charles, communication to, 
 on the case of Davies, 185 ; on Ma- 
 deira, 438. 
 
 Maconochie, Captain, R.N., letter to, 
 257. 
 
 Maconochie, Mrs, letter to, 396. 
 
 Madeira, voyages to, 431, 463. Dr 
 Combe's mode of life in, 433. De- 
 scription of, 438, 471. 
 
 Malta, climate of, 460. 
 
 Mann, Horace, letter to, on education, 
 488. 
 
 Marriage, abstinence from, 402. 
 
 Medical Society of Edinburgh, Dr 
 Combe defends Phrenology in, 131. 
 
 Medical education, 311, 324, 341, 400, 
 483. 
 
 Medical responsibility, remarks on, 
 458. 
 
 Medicine, evils of scepticism on the 
 subject of, 468. Improvement of, 
 483. 
 
 Mental cultivation, 169, 176, 220, 282, 
 290. Derangement, Dr Combe's 
 work on, 183. Depression, letter 
 on, 284. See Asylums. 
 
 Monarchical and republican institu- 
 tions, remarks on, 363. 
 
 Montrose, Lunatic Asylum at, 229. 
 
 Napier, Macvey, declines Dr Combe's 
 contributions to the Edinburgh Re- 
 view, 184 ; also to the Encyclopae- 
 dia Britannica, 191. 
 
 Naples, Dr Combe's visit to, 208. 
 
 Negro and European brains compared 
 by Tiedemann, 303.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 563 
 
 Nervous system, necessity for exercise 
 
 of, 369. 
 
 New-tons of Cmriehill, 4, 5. 
 Newton, Marion, mother of Andrew 
 
 Combe, 7. 
 Nicol, Robert, case of, 427. 
 
 Operatives, English, on the condition 
 
 of, 292. 
 Opinions of friends, should they be 
 
 unreservedly stated to them, 238 ; 
 
 new, the proper time for publishing 
 
 them, 416. 
 Organic laws, effects of obedience to, 
 
 334. 
 Orleans, Maid of, 74. 
 
 Paris, state of, in 1831, 204 ; in 1833, 
 2-2-2 ; visit to, in 1835, 253. 
 
 Patients, letters to, 146, 149, 156, 159, 
 181, 239, 284, 288, 293, 334, 365, 
 369, 430, 458, 460. 
 
 Phrenology, Dr Combe's obligations to, 
 47, 124, 137. Studies in, 65. De- 
 fends it against Dr Barclay, 127. Size 
 a measure of power, 150. Article on, 
 in the British and Foreign Medical 
 Review, 371. Influence of, on his re- 
 ligious opinions, 406. Professional 
 advantages of, 409. Lectureship of, 
 481. Outline of, 549. 
 
 Phrenological Journal instituted, 129. 
 Dr Combe's contributions to, 553. 
 
 Phrenological Society founded, 93. Dr 
 Combe President of, 154. Dr Ro- 
 berton's legacy to, 511. 
 
 Physiology applied to Health and Edu- 
 cation, work on, 235. On teaching 
 it to children, 290. 
 
 Pisa, climate of, 460. 
 
 Plan of a work, remarks on, 485. 
 
 Pott-nwrtem examination, report of, 
 538. 
 
 Preaching, different styles of, 333. 
 
 Prichard, Dr, Answer to, 225. 
 
 Professional remuneration, 240, 530. 
 
 Professors, on retiring allowances to, 
 329. 
 
 Reformation, remarks on, 417. 
 
 Religion, letter on the introduction of, 
 into common schools, 499, 501, 509. 
 
 Religious opinions, 3, 33, 333, 406. 
 480. 
 
 Renton, Dr, 437. 
 
 Repentance, state of disease not suit- 
 able for, 408. 
 
 Respirator, the advantages of, 281. 
 
 Roberton, Dr, legacy to Phrenological 
 Society, 511. 
 
 Robertson, Mary, nurse of Andrew 
 Combe, 3. 
 
 Rome, Dr Combe's visit to, 214. Ad- 
 vantages of, 460. 
 
 Royer, A. A., 222. 
 
 Scotch, natural qualities of the, 2. 
 Scott, Dr John, letter to, 241. His 
 
 answer, 242. His report of the JHM- 
 
 mortem examination of Dr Combe, 
 
 538. 
 
 i Sedgwick, Miss, letter to, 290. 
 Ship-fever, remarks on, 525. 
 Siddons, Mrs H., letters to, 197, 268, 
 
 336. 
 Skin, Essay on the " Nature and Uses 
 
 of," 219. 
 
 Socialists in Paris, 203. 
 I Spectral illusions, remarks on, 228. 
 \ Speirs, Graham, letter to, on " Private 
 
 Lunatic Asylums," 378. 
 Spurzheim, Dr, 41, 44, 50, 206, 216, 
 
 223. 
 
 Steinhauer, sculptor, 362. 
 Stewart, Dugald, 41. Dr Combe's opi- 
 nion of, 47. 
 Sunday in the house of Dr Combe's 
 
 father, 9. 
 : Superintendent of a lunatic asylum, 
 
 on the qualifications of, 496. 
 
 I Tait, William, letter to, 427. 
 
 Theatre, 401. Conduct of a patient in 
 relation to, 480. 
 
 Tiedemann, commentary on his " Com- 
 parison of the Negro and European 
 Brain," 303. 
 
 University of Edinburgh, 324. 
 
 Verity, Dr Robert, case of, 510. 
 " Vestiges of Creation," 479. 
 
 | Welsh, Rev. Dr David, 476. 
 
 1 Whiteside, James, Queen's Counsel, 
 
 case of, 487. 
 i Wilberforce, Life of, remarks on, 435. 
 
 Young, Mrs, death of, 525. 
 
 APPENDIX, 549. 
 
 No. I. Outline of Phrenological 
 
 Faculties, 549. 
 
 II. List of Dr Combe's Contri- 
 butions to the Phrenologi- 
 cal Journal, &c.. 553. 
 
 III. Sensation of odd, 557. 
 
 IV. List of his Contributions to 
 
 the British and Foreign 
 Medical Review. 560.
 
 
 Printed by NEILL & Co., Edinburgh.
 

 
 UC SOUTHERN REGONA*. jBt 
 
 mourn 
 
 A 000 946 832 3 
 
 3 & 
 2> 3 
 3 
 
 j 
 
 L~ 
 
 A
 
 1 
 
 /?:^