Gall, which differed so
widely from the long confirmed habits of thinking, and having to contend
with so many prejudices, should encounter a large host of adversaries;
for if _phrenology_ be true, all other systems of the philosophy of the
human mind must consequently be false. The brain, which, from the
earliest periods, has generally been considered as the seat of our
mental functions, Dr. Gall regards as a congeries of organs, each organ
having a separate function of its own. This system, first promulgated by
him, is now rapidly advancing in the estimation of the world; and its
doctrines, which a few years since were thought too extravagant and
absurd for investigation, are now discussed in a more liberal and candid
manner. The _test_ for the science of phrenology, and a test by which
its validity alone can be tried, consists in an induction of facts and
observations; and by this mode it is that the disciples of Gall and
Spurzheim challenge their antagonists.
After a life of the most indefatigable industry and active benevolence,
Dr. Gall breathed his last at his country house at Montrouge, a short
distance from Paris, on August the 22nd, 1828, at the age of seventy-
one. The examination of his body took place forty hours after death, in
the presence of the following members of the faculty:--Messrs.
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