Brain and mind; or, Mental science considered in accordance withthe principles of phrenology, and in relation to modern physiology . riters and others, some attributingto it a wider province than that of appreciating the mirth-ful, and, consequently, including it among the reasoningfaculties. Mr. Combe considers the faculty from manysides in his System, and coincides himself with theopinion of Dr. Spurzheim that it is concerned in the man-ifestation of any form of intellectual conception combined THE SEMI-INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 137 with the sentiment of the incongruous. In other words,that it
Brain and mind; or, Mental science considered in accordance withthe principles of phrenology, and in relation to modern physiology . riters and others, some attributingto it a wider province than that of appreciating the mirth-ful, and, consequently, including it among the reasoningfaculties. Mr. Combe considers the faculty from manysides in his System, and coincides himself with theopinion of Dr. Spurzheim that it is concerned in the man-ifestation of any form of intellectual conception combined THE SEMI-INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 137 with the sentiment of the incongruous. In other words,that its function is to inspire witty and ludicrous associa-tions of ideas. Like the other organs, its expression variesin accordance with the mental culture and the influenceexercised upon it by other faculties. Mirthfulness is a very important element in the mentalconstitution. It would be a dreary world if all men werehabitually grave and solemn, and our social gatheringswould be deprived of a large share of their pleasurableand even profitable influences if the humorous elementwere wanting. It imparts an exhilarating influence to. Fig. 59.—Mirthfulness Large. mind and body, which is highly conducive to health, andwe have Scriptural authority for saying, A merry heartdoeth good like a medicine, while Shakspeare adds histestimony, to the effect that A merry heart lives long. In the heads of those writers whose works are remark-able for humor and wit, like Sterne, Goldsmith, Sheridan,Benjamin Franklin, Joseph C. Neal, Mr. Clemens ( MarkTwain ), and in eminent comedians, the organ, or ratherthe region of the head in which it lies, is very 60 shows a moderate or small development of the 138 BRAIN AND MIND. organ. Savage races are generally lacking in Mirthfulness,as they are also in Ideality. The American Indians fore-head is characterized by narrowness in the upper part,while it retreats rapidly, leaving the perceptive organsstrikingly conspicuous. The size of Mirthfu
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectphrenology, bookyear1
