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    • j . «- j. , . ifn nrtlflllD ^U * -

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    rfthewer . It was * female , about six feet tongj and near five in circumference in the < f ^« W F . 1 > odyia perfectly smooth , and without any projections or inaqralities , gpaualir changing into a horizontal semicircnlar flat tail , with no-appearance whatever ot bud limbs . There is ho distinct neck ; the head is not very large , and is terminated by a large mouth and fleshy hps , somewhat resembling those of a cow . There are stiff bristles ^ JlSuP 1 Y'S * distantly scattered hairs over the body . Behind the head are two powwmu walr-fins , and just beneath them are the breasts , from which , on pressure being applied * flows a stream of beautiful white milt . The ears are minute holes , and the eyes i *! 2 L ? "Sl »_ c un * resem !) 1 ° s that ° f a horse . The colour is a dusky lead , with some UiWpmkish-white marbled blotches on the belly . The skin is about an inch thick on the l *** » i , » n 5 goarter of an inch on the belly . Beneath the skin is a layer of fiat of a greater W 4 leas thickhftssjgenerally about an inch , which is boiled down to make an oil rxatd for fight and for cooking . The intestines are very voluminous , the heart about the sire of a sbeepji , and the lungs about two feet long , and six or seven inches wide , very cellular and ¦ — ^ w ^ if - ^ n * — — — — ^^ - ^ - — - ^ ^^ _^*^__ *^ -- v h ¦ m ¦ ^ rs ¦ if ¥ » T # ri ^ n ^ ^ TH 1 8 atid be blown

    P 9 « Jgyi can out like a bladder . The skull is large and solid , with bo front «!§ $ ¦» . *? vertebrae extend to the very tip of tlie tail , but show no rudiments of posterior lotahs ; we ftofle limbs , on the contrary , are very highly developed , the bones exactly correapoodnig with , those of the human arm , having even the five fingers , with every joint dhtincfvvet enclosed in a Btiff inflexible skin , where not a j > int can have any motion . . ** The coir-fish feeds on grass a ^ the borders of the rivers ^ nd lakes , and swims quickly with ItheJnL and paddles ; ' and though the external organs of sight and hearing are so im-&S ? 5 *> to ^ w ^ Goies are said by the hunters to be remarkably acute , and to render necessary aUmtc ^ cuiUdn'and skill to capture the animals . T bejr bring forth one , or rarely two , J ^ g ^ Mwysifhich they clasp in their arms or paddles while giving suck . They , are harmmM ^ tir caught in a strong net , at the narrow entrance of a lake cr stream , and are killed ^^ dji 9 ng& wooden nplug with a mallet np their nostrils . Each yields from five to twentysNj&gpukfeis « f ioiL The flesh is very good , being something between beef and pork , and « i )> -6 n& farxished us with several meals , and was an agreeable change from our fish diet . " VMp . "Wallace did not observe the nails on the forehand , which the comparative anatomists tell as are to be seen there .

    •; .: ; ' * -. Tpra jaguar and thk cat . . •» . The jaguar , say the Indians , is the most canning animal in the forest : he can imitate the voice ofTalmost every bird and anhnal so exactly , as to draw them towards him : he fishes in this rivers , lashing the water with his tail to imitate falling fruit , and whenthe fish a ^ pjpoach ^ rhooks them up with his claws . He catches and eats turtles , and I hare myself found the tinbroken shells , which be has cleaned completely . out with his paws ; lie even Attacks'the cow-fish in its own element , and an ¦ eye-witness assured me he bad watched one dragging oat o £ the water this bulky animal , weighing as much as a large ox . *" " ^ JvjNSro&Portaguese trader told me he had ' seen Cwhat many persons had before assured an bnca on and

    ine ; often ^ hippened ) feeding a full-growiWive alligator , tearing eating its tail . (^ y ^ axpig ^^^ aidL ferajajg a jjard or ^ two , uieialli ^ ttor would begin to move towards the ^ fjl ^ i ^^^^ £ n ^ 5 rwpd *?** && oj ^ tt i ^ ani'again cdmnrierice « ating at the tail , during wl ^ tiiM the aflig ^ We had been observing a cat playing with a lia ^ bom behalvaig in exactly the same manner , the lizard only attempting to move when the <^ fora ; m ^ the cat would then immediately spring upon it again : and my informant assured me that he bad seen the jaguar treating the alligator exactly the same ^ nori " - " ' - '' " " ?' r" ¦ ' ¦ - • ' ' ¦ • / i ^ i < n- -liu-X- Y ' : . ' ¦ ¦ ' ¦¦¦ \ ¦¦ . ¦ - •¦ : _ ¦ how the Indiancatch turtles the

    ;;"; . ;; s . ^ TXeiKiiEanl ^ catch fall-grown turtle * , either with the hook , net , or arrow . The I ^ t % ^ e | &ojt ingenious method , and requires the most skill . The turtle never shows its h ^^ i ^ T ^ V ^ ter , only rising to-breathe , whicli it does by protruding its nostrils almost ijnp ^ ir ^ pulbl y " above the surface : the Indian ' s fceen eyes perceive this , even at a considerable dist ^^; 1 > & ^ off the smooth fiat shell , so ho shoots up i n ]^ iMy ^_ triflbf such accurate judgment , that the arrow falls nearly vertically upon the sl ^ l ; wHic ^ h it penetrates , and remains securely fixed in the turtle ' s back . The head of the arrow fits loosely * on to the shaft , and is connected with it by a long fine cord , carefully wound round it ; as the turtle dives , they separate , the light shaft forming a float or bnoy , which thelndian secures , and by the attached com draws the prize up into his canoe . In this manner almost all the turtles sold in the cities / have been p rocured , and the little square " vertlcaLhple of the arrow-head may generally lie seen in the shell , "

    ^ iWh ^ QT- w-e , , add , that there are chapters on the Physical Geography and Qeology of * he Amazon District , op its Zoology , Vegetation , and Aborigines , 4 nd that JDr . Latham has in an appendix given his valuable opinion on the yocabulariesof the Amazon , the reader trill understand the sort of work we axe introducing to his notice ,

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    We shotald do our utmost to encourage -the Beautiful , for th . e 'Jseful en-coura ge itself . —CrOBTHE .

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    PHEENOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY . It was mot to be expected that our observations on Phrenology and the Phrenologists ( vide No . 194 ) would be suffered to pass without remonstrance ; and , indeed , treating so large a subject in space so Han ted it was scarcely possible to make our position clearly intelligible . The question was , however , too important to be ignored ; and the occasion chosen by ua was one which naturally elicited an expression of our views . While admitting , frankly and admiringly , the Value of Gall ' s initiatory labours , we felt . it imperatively demanded of us to declare that these labours , so far from having been completed by his successors , are at present still perhaps a century behind completion ; and that every attempt dogmatically to systematise in itt&y T ) Ut ayprovisional way the phrenological materials , is to build with wet bricks . .

    tellect was in front , the propensities behind , and the sentiment in the middle ; and that , having guessed at sa much , they then at their leisure and convenience proceeded to map out these divisions into what they considered appropriate compartments . This ia the very reverse of f * ct , as every one who has folbwed Gall in his discoveries mjist know . Without knowing anything of the brain , or of anatomists or physiologists , Gall ' s . first observation was that people with prominent eyes had a good verbal memory ; " an 3 repeated observation having confirmed this , ' he conceived that if memory for words wa s indicated by an external sign , the same might be the case wjth other intellectual powers ; and , therefore , all individuals distinguished by any remarkable faculty became tho objects of Ms attention . By degrees he conceived himself to have found external characteristics which indicated a decided disposition for painting , music , and the mechanical arts . 3 e became acquainted also with some individuals remarkable for the determination of their character , and he

    observed a particular part of their heads to be very largely developed . This fact first suggested to him the idea of looking to the head for signs of the dispositions , or affective powers . ' And , again , Mr . Combe says : — ' Abandoning , therefore , every theory and preconceived opinion , Dr . Gall gave himself up entirely to the observation of nature . Being a friend to Dr . Nord , physician to a lunatic asylum in Vienna , he had opportunities , of which he availed himself , of making observations on the insane . He visited prisons , and resorted to schools ; he was introduced to the courts of princes , to colleges , and to seats of justice ; and wherever he heard © f an individual distinguished in any particular way , either by remarkable development or deficiencies , he observed and studied the' development of his head . In this manner , by an almost imperceptible induction , he at last conceived limself warranted in believing that particular mental powers are indicated by particular configurations of the head . '

    " I hare seen a skull marked by Dr . Gall many years after ho bad commenced these observations , and it goes very- little way towards bearing out the three grand divisions , in which people are found now so very easily to Relieve . It was marked with organs of murder and theft , and other abuses , not uses of faculties . You will note that Gall observed external characteristics , and what ha observed would not ham been less ' tie order of nature' had there been no brain or nervous system at all ; in fact , the greater part of the registered facts of phrenology are quite independent of fine-span theories About nervous tissue and centre . Temperament or quality of brain has external characteristics as well as the size and form . Now , if people will give up their belief ia generals aoS follow the method of Gall and his disciples , I have no doubt they will come to the same conclusions . Gall , however , devoted many years to patient investigation , and we must do the same .

    I am a phrenologist now of same ; twenty years standing ; bat after several years' careful examination of every head I could get at , botU , alive and in plaster , I came very much to Mr . Noble's conclusion . * I was unable to establish many of the minute distinctions . ' I then received the personal instruction of Mr . George Combe , who taught me how to observe ; and during the last seventeen years I have verified most of the facts ' of phrenologists , and have learned something besides . You say that the- great physiologists have , without hesitation , rejected phrenological doctrines , and the 'facts * on which they are founded . This is very true , but they lave known nothing of ' the facts upon which the doctrines are founded / because they have never followed Gall ' s method—they have reiased to look through his telescope . Gall observed , external characteristics ; generally speaking the physiologists have not known where to look fora single ; organ , but have gone on joking in the

    brain itself . The methods they have followed fdrdetettnining the functions of the brain have been vivisection , compa-fative anatomy , * xl& pathology } but the facts of phrenologists are not to be found through * ttiese mediums , therefore , ' M ' you say , they have Rejected them without hesitation . How long was it , may I ask , before ] scientific Europe could see Newton ' s facts ia optics ? To begin at the first step jnadq in , this direction- —the first fact observed does Mr . Noble deny that prominent eyes are indicative of good verbal memory ? Do you Sir ? Do the great physiologists" ? It is true there are large , and therefore prominent , eyes that are not connected with verbal memory ; but that" does * 'sot disprove the role , it only shows the necessity of ^ seeking into the caose ^ of the prominent eyes , that we may distinguish between a large Convolution of brain oa the super-orbitur plate behind the eye and a large eye-ball . All the facts of the phrenologists to me are as clear as this : and ' tha thickness ot

    the eknll , the form of its surfaces , and the frontal sinuses , ' of Valentin , present no greater difficulties than this first part . You say , ' vro reject what phrenologists scramble up into a hasty system , because we saj , 1 st , their basis is unsteady ; their cerebral physiology at fault ; their facts are equivocal , their psychology Ls imperfect , ' &c . There have been , sikfy years of careful observations of facts ; surely this is not over haste , and if the facts are equivocal , phrenologists , of all others , are most anxious to learn in what respect , as well as to learn in all other respects . Phrenologists' consider that at least thirty organs are established ; by that they do not mean their primitive functions are unalterably fixed , but that all the facts related with respect to them have been observed , and repeatedly verified . If you will point oat which are uutru . « , you will do phrenologists a great service . You say , 'Asa matter of science only , the most superficial acquaintance with the present state of

    physiology could for a moment permit acquiescence in phrenology as a system ? If we take tho list of mental faculties contained in Comb « s's " Constitution of Man , " with their uses and abuses , it certainly furnishes a more perfect system of psychology than any other with which I am acquainted , and yet I am not uncognisant of the history of philosophy . There may be undiscovered organs , but they cannot bo very numerous , for our own cpnsciousness supplies us wit !* no strong feelings and emotions -which havo not already received their location ia the system ; neither can the deficiencies of the phrenological system , which you represent as so great , l ) e supplied from tho old metaphysicians . Many of the organs may again admit of subdivision , and we may not have arrived at their primitive functions ; but . this does not invalidate what has been already discovered with respect to them . We may know most of tha properties of common air , and this knowledge ia not the less sound

    and useful from our afterwards discovering tliat atmospheric air is compounded of oxygen and nitrogen . You do well to distinguish , belween phrenology as a science and art : wo fully admit tho difficulty of precisely recognising the relative sizes of different organs from external examination of tlio head . " We -believe that not more than a general estimate of character can be arrived at , and we cannot be too cautious ia what we predicate from such examination ; but phrenology itself la a system of mental philosophy based upoa the observation of extreme cases , upon great excess or deficiency , and is quite independent of the judgment of character from development . The public , however , consider that manipulating

    the bead is phrenology ; and wo cannot too much reprobate the practice of those persons who « id thus to deceive tliem , and who hare brought tho science into disrepute by their presumptuous and confident assumption of accuracy in a department in whidi accuracy has not yet been attained . Taking development is not , and ought not , to bo represented as a certain science in tho present state of our knowledge ; mid it is probable tliat there always will bo extreme difficulty in judging , in ordinary canes , of tho relative development of thirtysix or more organs ; it , is difficult , also , to say what has been tho influence of education and circumstances upon them , nnd of their natural ausocUtions and combinations among themselves we know comparatively little : consequently , great uncertainty must attend the

    pro-Mr . Charles Bray , the author of The Philosophy of Necessity has addressed us a letter in reply to our article , the interest of which makes us forget its length . We insert it here : — * ' Sm , —Will you admit a few observations in reply to yours of last week upon the above subject . We hear every one now saying , ' We believe there U some truth in phrenology ;' ' we believe in the general divisions , but not in the particular organs , ' &c . A phrenologist lets this pass when coming from tho multitude , but from men like Mr . Noble , or from yourself , who miy ba supposed to know something of tho ' History of Philosophy , ' it is a different thing . Any one acquainted with the liistory of phrenology must know that it is from the verification of particulars that it bases its theory of the general divisions . Mr . Noble , although he believes in generals , has not been able to verify particulara 5 and he says , Altogether , I feel myself bound to 6 ay the organology of Gall's

    doctrine must b « abandoned ; ' aud you say , * The general distribution of intellect " , emotions , and propensities is confirmed . What then ? Docs that prove phrenological details to bo true ? ' How has the general distribution bocn confirmed , if tho details are not true ? Your idea of the subject appcara not to dift « r materially from tha common one ; viz ., that phrenologists first took for granted tliat the brain was the org ; an of mind , an < l that the in-

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    20 ' . T-H-g LEAPEK . [ Saturday ,

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 7, 1854, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2020/page/20/