Linguists adopt the term " spirit of language," to signify the sum-total of the peculiarities in any given language. The peculiarities of a language are ranged under the familiar heads of Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody. They adopt the term "genius of language," as synonymous with spirit of language. Thus each language has its own genius. Philologers indicate the relative number of words in a language, by describing it as rich, full, inexhaustible-as the German; or poor, meagre, &c., as the French. This, however, is not deemed a part of the genius of the language; and, accurately speaking, it is not; for it is no part of the orthography, etymology, &c., of the language. It appears that languages are similar to each other in three respects, viz. :— 1. Each language is a system of names for objects, events, relations, &c. 2. The original physical meaning of words became extended to the moral (as illustrated in the word rise,*) by tropes and other figures, and by elliptical expressions, in which a tone of voice or a gesture supplied the ellipsis. 3. The formation of compound words, by coalescing two or more words, or parts of words, into one. A language is a system of names for objects, events, relations, &c. Hence the language of a nation indicates the knowledge, habits, civilization, &c., of the nation at any given period; and is, therefore, as certain a guide to the historian, to interpret the mental condition of the nation at its various epochs, as the fossils found in the several strata of the earth are to the geologist, to interpret the concurrent physical and physiological conditions of the earth's surface at its various epochs. In this paper I have shewn, that Gall's facts and reasonings are inadequate to establish his organ of Philology; that the talent for philology cannot be the result or function of any one organ; that the organ of Verbal Memory is sufficient to confer the talent to acquire foreign languages; that one sense in which Dr Spurzheim adopts the term "spirit of language," has nothing to do with the spirit, but only with the richness, of a language; that another sense in which he adopts the term has reference, not to language, but to thought; and that the third sense in which he adopts the term is not defined and some remarks on language are added. * Phrenological Journal, vol. xvii., p. 151. IV. A Visit to Dr Ferrarese of Naples. By GEORGE COMBE. Dr Luigi Ferrarese, of Naples, is favourably known to the public as the author of a work on Phrenology, published by him several years ago, and as formerly physician in ordinary to the Government Lunatic Asylum at Aversa, near Naples. Happening to be in Naples in March 1844, I resolved to pay him a visit. At first I experienced some difficulty in discovering the place of his residence, but at length a friend ascertained that he lived in No. 1 Strada Confalone alla Salute, an obscure street; and there I found him in circumstances which indicated much depression, both physical and mental. He spoke with interest of Phrenology, and said that he had projected a Phrenological Journal, but knew that he would be stopped by the Government. He wished to shew the importance of the science in insanity, criminal legislation, education, and social arrangements; but in Naples there was no outlet for knowledge. Altogether, I have never had an interview with any phrenologist, foreign or British, who excited so strong a feeling of sympathy and regret, mingled with respect for his intellectual acquirements, as did Dr Ferrarese. He was much interested by the account which I gave him of the progress of Phrenology, and promised to visit me on an early day at our lodgings. He accordingly did so, and presented me with a number of books, his own works. He called a second time, an altered man in his whole appearance. He had no longer the neglected aspect which had formerly struck me; the expression of his countenance was much more cheerful; in short, I saw before me a surprising metamorphosis. In the course of conversation, the cause of his former, and, I fear, ordinary appearance, transpired. On 10th February 1839, he commenced a periodical, named "Il Gatto Letterato, Foglio periodico," dated in Capolago (a town in Italian Switzerland), but printed at Naples (without licence); and for a "Lettera di un Frenologo ad un Dottore degli Stati Pontifici" ("Letter from a Phrenologist to a Doctor in the Papal States"), he was called before the Santa Sede (Holy Tribunal); and afterwards, in 1840, for several other articles, he was seized and imprisoned for 28 days. He was suspended from his office of physician in ordinary to the Royal Lunatic Asylum at Aversa, and crushed to the earth by every engine of persecution which bigotry and tyranny, combined, could employ against him. This accounts for the condition in which I found him. He added, that the more he had been persecuted, the more ardently had he clung to Phrenology and science, and the more clearly did he perceive the importance to mankind of diffusing a knowledge of them. I asked him whether it would do him any injury, if I published in England an account of his persecutions: and he said, No; that he had mentioned them in one of his own prefaces. Two days later, Dr Ferrarese spent the evening with us. I asked him whether he was not imprisoned for printing without a licence, rather than for the opinions which he had expressed. He said, " For the opinions alone. The censorship," he continued, " is avoided here extensively, by printing in Naples, and putting the name of a foreign place of publication on the title-page." Many of his works have been so printed. They cannot be advertised, or sold publicly, but privately they obtain a wide circulation. He was introduced to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and had some conversation with him. The Grand Duke told him that, with his opinions, no place in Italy was safe for him, and that he should go to London or Philadelphia. "How can I go?" said Ferrarese. "I have a family depending on me, and am without the means of moving even from Naples. My circumstances are most straitened; but I prefer enduring all rather than give up my freedom of thought. If I had chosen to praise existing men, and their opinions, institutions, and practices, I might have been living in luxury, and driving my carriage." He mentioned that, two years before, in going home at night, he had been stabbed in the neck, first on one side, and next moment on the other: on the left side, the wound was within a hair's breadth of the carotid artery. Since that time, he had always had an armed man to attend him in walking out at night; and this evening, his attendant had been waiting for him during his whole visit. I endeavoured to learn the reputation which he bore among the medical profession in Naples; and the report was, that he wrote so severely, that he had alienated his friends. To those who know the very low state of medical education in the Neapolitan dominions; who know also that a physician, however talented, wealthy, and respectable, is not received at court, or admitted into aristocratic society; and that, in consequence, the manners, morals, skill, science, and attainments of the mass of the medical profession present innumerable points for condemnation, there will appear small cause for surprise, that an enlightened man, of Ferrarese's cast of mind, should write against them with severity. Nothing reached me against his character. He mentioned that his nervous system is so excitable, as to forbid him the use of all but the smallest quantity of the weak country wine largely diluted with water, and that he could not venture on drinking more than half a cup of tea. These facts tend to confirm the impression that his depressed circumstances owe their origin to his opinions, and not to moral deficiencies. He shewed me some proof-sheets of the second edition of the second volume of his work on Insanity, which is revised by the censor, approved of, and allowed to be published. The following is an extract from the "Letter from a Phrenologist to a Doctor of the Pontifical States," which gave rise to his being brought before the "Holy Tribunal." "I received the favour of your letter of 8th December 1838, in which you complain of me for having, in general terms, treated severely the enemies of Phrenology. Believe me, dear friend, that I have said of them only a little part of what they deserved. They are, in general, vile hypocrites, who, being unable by other means to prevent the rapid progress of a philosophy belonging to an enlightened age, and to modern civilization, resort to the arms of a spiritual doctrine and a spiritual power to protect themselves from the consequences of a contest with men of science on scientific grounds." He proceeds to mention, that they assail the phrenologists with the authorities of the great fathers of the Church, such as St Augustin and St Thomas Aquinas; of the holy council; and of the Bible; and invoke ruin on the poor devils who venture to maintain the cause of truth. The letter is severe, and, in his circumstances, not very prudent; but it contains the boiling over of the feelings of an enlightened and patriotic mind, borne down by persecuting power, and by the midnight darkness and ignorance of his countrymen. I subjoin a list of his works which I have brought home with me, and which are pervaded by Phrenology and its applications. I found him acquainted with almost all that had been written on the science in France, Italy, and Britain. Programma di Psicologia Medico-Forense. 8vo, pp. 40. Trattato della Monomania Suicida. 8vo, pp. 97. Napoli, Riflessioni sullo Asiatico Morbo Colera. 8vo, pp. 48. Ricerche intorno all' origine dell' Istinto. 8vo, pp. 45. Memorie risguardanti la dottrina Frenologica. 8vo, pp. 164. Napoli, 1838. With an appendix, "Frenologia Applicata." 8vo, pp. 24. Genevza, 1841. Allocuzioni Critiche su'l Moderno Eccleticismo. 8vo, pp. 408. Italia, 1838. (This is a discussion of Cousin's Philosophy, which he attacks.) Annali di Osservazioni Cliniche. Vol. i. 8vo, pp. 60. Napoli, 1839. Il Gatto Letterato. A periodical, 8vo, pp. 244. Capolago, 1839. L'Aristarco Giornale di Scienze, Lettera, e Arti. 8vo, pp. 72. Capolago, 1840. Programma dell' Analisi Filosofica delle Pene. 8vo, pp. 12. 1839. Annali di Cliniche Osservazioni per le R. R. Case dei folli di Aversa. Vol. i. 8vo, pp. 120. 1840. Delle Malattie della Mente, (second edition). 8vo, pp. 342. Napoli, 1841. Vol. i. Dissertazioni sulla Follia. (Appendix to the "Trattato delle Malattie della Mente). 8vo, pp. 82. Napoli, 1840. Delle Malattie della Mente. 8vo, vol. iii. 1843. Quistioni Medico-legali, intorno alle diverse specie di Follie, 8vo. Napoli, 1843. (This and the three preceding publications are portions of one work). V. Letter to the Editor of the Phrenological Journal on the Measurement of Heads. By Mr HENRY G. ATKINSON. SIR,-In the last (81 st) number of your Journal, p. 370, Mr Donovan has called the attention of your readers to the measurement of heads, and accuses me of over-estimating (in a paper on an idiot family in the Zoist) the size of well-developed heads, not being aware that my measurements were taken from the casts. And as I conceive that errors must continually arise from confounding the size of heads with measurements taken from casts, I shall beg permission to make a few remarks upon the subject. A cast of an ordinarysized head measures about an inch more in the greatest circumference over the parental feeling and perceptive faculties than the actual head, and the other measurements vary, of course, in proportion. And if a mould be taken from a cast, the impression from this will be again increased to the like extent; and thus the cast from every fresh mould would be an inch larger in circumference than the former. But as fresh moulds, when required, are mostly taken, or should be, |