ed from examining hundreds of crania that
phrenology "stood on a basis of fact, but was wrong as well
as deficient in some of its details. But though I could
point to several parts of the skull where the readings of
professionals as well as myself were always unreliable, I
could not discover the real function of the organs in these
places."

While the eye readily gives us the contour of heads that have not much
hair, there is but little accurate judgment without the use of the
hand, which is the first thing to be learned. Not the tips of the
fingers, but the whole hand should be laid upon the head gently, to
cover as much surface as possible, while with a gentle pressure we
cause the scalp to move slightly, and thus feel through it the exact
form of the cranium as correctly as if the bones were exposed to view.
If in this examination we find any sharp prominences, which might be
called bumps, we attribute them to the growth of bone, which does not
indicate the growth of the brain. The latter is indicated only by the
general contour.

A little anatomical knowledge will prevent us from being deceived, and
enable us to make due allowances. There are no great difficulties in
making a correct estimate, and the anatomists who have taught their
pupils that correct cranial observations could not be made, only
showed their own ignorance of the subject. We must consider the
cranium as though all osseous protuberances had been shaved off,
leaving the smooth, curving contour of the skull. The principal
projection to be removed is the superciliary ridge corresponding to
the brow at the base of the forehead. It is formed by the projection
of the external plate of the skull, leaving a separation or cavity
between it and the inner plate, which cavity is called the frontal
sinus, and is sometimes half an inch wide. As there is no positive
method of determining its dimensions in the living head, there must
ever be some doubt concerning the development of the perceptive organs
which it covers. The superciliary ridge at the external angle of the
brow extends really as much as three-quarters of an inch from the
brain. From this angle a ridge of bone (the temporal arch) extends
upward and backward, separating the lateral surface of the head from
the frontal and upper surfaces. This ridge is a convenient landmark,
but must be excluded from an estimate of development as it is merely
osseous. I