ABSTRACT
Phrenology is not an exact, but an estimative science. It does not resemble mathematics, or even chemistry, in which measures of weight and number can be applied to facts; but, being a branch of physiology, it, like medical science, rests on evidence which can be observed and estimated only. We possess no means of ascertaining, in cubic inches, or in ounces, the exact quantity of cerebral matter which each organ contains, or of computing the precise degree of energy with which each faculty is manifested; we are able only to estimate through the eye and the hand the one, and by means of the intellect the other. It is true that when cases of large size and extreme deficiency in particular organs are selected as the tests of the truth of Phrenology, the differences are so palpable, that no observer, of ordinary acuteness, can fail to perceive them, nor can he, in such instances, easily mistake the degree of power with which the corresponding faculties are manifested. But still this evidence, palpable as it is, can be obtained by means only of observation and reflection, and cannot be substantiated by measurements of quantity and number.
