ABSTRACT
Phrenology was articulated from the very beginning as the premier short-cut science. Through phrenology, according to Spurzheim, one could quickly and easily step to the forefront of scientific status. The earliest reception of Gall's ideas in Britain has been described as negative and critical from the very beginning. However this is not strictly the case, as a careful reading of the early journals shows. The reasons for their separation remain unclear. Spurzheim claimed he left Gall because the latter had taken all the credit for Spurzheim's discoveries. Spurzheim arrived in Britain in March 1814 with broken English and a box of skulls to try his own Gall-like lecture tour. Spurzheim essentially taught Gall's system, with a few modifications. Spurzheim told his British audiences that the aim of the system he espoused was 'the knowledge of human nature'. Spurzheim also fused the ancient four temperaments or humours with Gall's system.
