Difficulties of imperfect knowledge in my first studies--First
investigation of Phrenology--Errors detected and corrected--The
PATHOGNOMIC SYSTEM organized--A brilliant discovery and its
results--Discovery of the sense of feeling and development of
Psychometry--Its vast importance and numerous applications--The
first experiments on the brain and the publication of
Anthropology--The discovery of Sarcognomy and its practical
value--Reception of the new Sciences--Honorable action of the
venerable Caldwell.
The very brief exposition of the structure and functions of the brain
already given, may serve as an introduction to the subject and prepare
the reader to appreciate the laborious investigations of many years,
by means of which so comprehensive a science was brought into
existence amid the hostile influences of established opinions and
established ignorance.
It is necessary now to present this statement to enable the reader to
realize more fully the positive character of the science.
My life has been devoted to the study of man, his destiny and his
happiness. Uncontrolled in education, I learned to endure no mental
restraint, and, thrown upon my own resources in boyhood, difficulties
but strengthened the passion for philosophical knowledge. Yet more
formidable difficulties were found in the limited condition of human
science, alike in libraries and colleges.
Anthropology, my favorite study, had no systematic development, and
the very word was unfamiliar, because there was really nothing to
which it could justly be applied. Its elementary sciences were in an
undeveloped state, and some of them not yet in existence. Mental
philosophy was very limited in its scope, and had little or nothing of
a practical and scientific nature. The soul was not recognised as a
subject for science. The body was studied apart from the soul, and the
brain, the home of the soul, was enveloped in mystery--so as to leave
even physiological science shrouded in darkness, as the central and
controlling organ of life was considered an inaccessible mystery. In
studying medicine, it seemed that I wandered through a wilderness
without a compass and with no cardinal points.
Phrenology promised much, and I examined it cautiously. It struck me
at first as an unsatisfactory system of mental philosophy, and I
stated my objections before its most celebrated and venerable
champion, in public, who assured me that I would be satisfied by
further investigation. As it seemed a very interesting department of
natural science, I began by comparing the heads of my acquaintances
with the phrenological map, and discovering so many striking
coincidences that I was gradually satisfied as to its substantial
truth, and I do not believe that any one has ever thus tested the
discoveries of Gall and Spurzheim, without perceiving their _general_
correctness, while many, with less critical observation, have accepted
them as absolutely true.
My interest increased with the extent of my observations, until, for
several years, I abandoned practical medicine for the exclusive study
of the science of the brain in the great volume of nature, with the
doctrines of Gall as the basis of the investigation. As it was my
purpose to seek the deficiencies as well as the merits of the new
science, I tested its accuracy by the careful examination of living
heads and skulls in comparison with ascertained character, and with
the anatomy of the brain, not forgetting the self-evident principles
of mental philosophy. Many thousand critical examinations were made
between the years 1834 and 1841, leading to many positive conclusions.
The first year's observations made me distinctly aware and certain of
several defects in the doctrines, as to the functions ascribed to
certain localities of the brain to which were ascribed, Mirthfulness,
Acquisitiveness, Adhesiveness, Constructiveness, Tune, Ideality,
Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Cautiousness. The functions of
these localities were evidently misunderstood, and the faculties
erroneously located.
The external senses were omitted from the catalogue of cerebral
organs, though evidently entitled to recognition, and the
physiological powers of the brain, the prime mover and most important
part of the constitution, were almost totally ignored.
Following the old route of exploration by cranioscopy, I sought to
supply these defects. I found the supposed Mirthfulness to be a
planning and reasoning organ, and the true Mirthfulness to be located
more interiorly. Acquisitiveness was evidently located farther back.
The so-called organ of Adhesiveness appeared to be incapable of
manifesting true friendship, and its absence was frequently
accompanied by strong capacities for friendship, of a disinterested
character. Constructiveness appeared to be located too low, and too
far back, running into the middle lobe, which is not the place for
intellect. Tune did not appear to correspond regularly to musical
talent. Many of the higher functions ascribed to Ideality were
conspicuous in heads which had that organ small, with a large
development just above it. Combativeness had evidently less influence
upon physical courage than was supposed, for it was sometimes well
developed in cowards, and rather small in brave men. Cautiousness was
evidently not the organ of fear, for the bravest men, of whom I met
many in the southwest, sometimes had it in predominant development,
and in the timid it was sometimes moderate, or small. Destructiveness
was frequently a characteristic of narrow heads (indeed this is the
case with the Thugs of India), and a broad development above the ears
was sometimes accompanied by a mild disposition. The height of the
head above the ears did not prove a correct criterion of moral
character, nor did the breadth indicate correctly the amount of the
selfish and violent passions.
I observed that the violent and selfish elements of character were
connected with occipital depth, and elongation; that the affections
were connected with the coronal region, that the sense of vision was
located in the brow, and the sense of feeling in the temples, near the
cheekbone, that the upper occipital region was the seat of energetic
powers, and the lower, of violent or criminal impulses, and that the
whole cerebrum was an apparatus of mingling convolutions, in which the
functions, gradually changing from point to point, presented
throughout a beautiful blending and connection.
Observing daily the comparative development of brain and body, with
their reciprocal influence, I traced the outlines of cerebral
physiology, and the laws of sympathetic connection or correspondence
between the body and the encephalon, by which, in a given
constitution, I would determine from the head the development of the
whole body, the peculiar distributions of the circulation, with the
consequent morbid tendencies, the relative perfection of the different
senses and different organs of the body, and the character of the
temperament.
Seeking continually for the fundamental laws of Anthropology,
criticising and rejecting all that appeared objectionable or
inconsistent, I acquired possession of numerous sound and
comprehensive principles concerning the fundamental laws of cerebral
science, which were at once touchstones for truth and efficient
instruments for further research.
These fundamental laws, though very obvious and easily perceived when
pointed out, had been overlooked by my predecessors, but are always
accepted readily by my auditors, when fully explained. As new facts
and principles led to the discovery of other facts and principles, a
system of philosophy (not speculative, but scientific) was thus
evolved, and a number of geometrical principles were established as
the basis of the science of the brain, so evidently true, though so
long overlooked, as to command the unanimous assent of all to whom
they have been presented; and, as the acceptance of these principles
involves the general acceptance of cerebral science, my labors as a
teacher have ever been singularly harmonious, and free from doubt,
antagonism, and contention.
The fundamental principle of the philosophy was geometric or
mathematical, as it examined the construction of the brain, and showed
an exact mathematical relation between each organ of the brain and its
effects on the body, in the spontaneous gestures, the circulation of
blood, the nervous forces, and local functions. Its leading
characteristic being the law of the expression of the vital forces and
feelings in outward acts. This doctrine was called the PATHOGNOMIC
SYSTEM.
I was preparing to publish in several volumes the reorganized science
as the Pathognomic System, when the consummation of my researches, by
a brilliant discovery, led me into a new world of knowledge--to the
full development of the science of Anthropology, according to which
the brain gives organic expression to functions which are essentially
located in the soul, and the body gives organic manifestation to
functions which are controlled in the brain, while the body reacts
upon the brain and the brain upon the soul. Thus, every element of
humanity has a triple representation--that in the soul, which is
purely psychic, yet by its influence becomes physiological in the
body; that in the body which is purely physiological, yet by its
influence becomes psychic in the soul, and that in the brain which
produces physiological effects in the body, and psychic effects in the
soul.
Thus, each of the three repositories of power is a
psycho-physiological representation of the man; more physical in the
body, more spiritual in the soul, but in the brain a more perfect
psycho-physiological representation of man as he is in the present
life. This full conception of the brain, which Gall did not attain,
involved the new science of CEREBRAL PHYSIOLOGY, in which the brain
may express the character of the body, as well as the soul, of which I
would only say at present that my first observations were directed to
ascertaining the cerebral seats of the external senses, vision,
hearing and feeling, and the influences of different portions of the
brain on different portions of the body.
The location of the sense of feeling, of which I became absolutely
certain in 1838, at the base of the middle lobe has since been
substantially confirmed by Ferrier's experiment on the monkey; but I
have not been concerned about the results of vivisection, knowing that
if I have made a true discovery, vivisection and pathology must
necessarily confirm it; and I am not aware that any of my discoveries
have been disturbed by the immense labors of vivisection.
The discovery of the organ of the sense of feeling led to an
investigation of its powers, and the phenomena exhibited when its
development was unusually large--hence came the initial fact of
psychometry. Early in 1841 I found a very large development of the
organ, in the head of the late Bishop Polk, then at Little Rock, the
capital of Arkansas, who subsequently became a confederate general.
After explaining to him his great sensibility to atmospheric,
electric, and all other physical conditions, he mentioned a still more
remarkable sensibility--that whenever he touched brass, he had
immediately the taste of brass in his mouth, whether he knew what he
was touching or not. I lost no time in verifying this observation by
many experiments upon other persons, and finding that there were many
in whom sensibility was developed to this extent, so that when I
placed pieces of metal in their hands, behind their backs, they could
tell what the metal was by its taste, or some other impression.
Further examinations showed that substances of any kind, held in the
hands of sensitives, yielded not only an impression upon the sense of
taste, by which they might be recognized, but an impression upon the
entire sensibility of the body. Medicines tried in this manner gave a
distinct impression--as distinct as if they had been swallowed--to a
majority of the members of a large medical class, in the leading
medical school at Cincinnati, and to those who had superior
psychometric capacities, the impression given in this manner enabled
them to describe the qualities and effects of the medicines as fully
and accurately as they are given in the works on materia medica.
This method of investigation I consider not only vastly more easy and
rapid than the method adopted by the followers of Hahnemann, but more
accurate and efficient than any other method known to the medical
profession, and destined, therefore, to produce a greater improvement
in our knowledge of the materia medica than we can derive from all
other methods combined, in the same length of time. I may hereafter
publish the practical demonstration of this, but the vast amount of
labor involved in my experimental researches has not yet permitted me
to take up this department, although it has yielded me some very
valuable discoveries.
It may require a century for mankind fully to realize the value of
Psychometry. It has been clearly, though I cannot say completely shown
in the "MANUAL OF PSYCHOMETRY," to which I would refer the reader. I
would simply state that the scientific discovery and exposition of
Psychometry is equivalent to the dawn of new intellectual
civilization, since it enables us to advance rapidly toward perfection
all sciences and forms of knowledge now known, and to introduce new
sciences heretofore unknown.
1. To the MEDICAL COLLEGE it will give a method of accurate diagnosis
which will supersede the blundering methods now existing--a method of
RAPIDLY enlarging and perfecting the materia medica--a method of
exploring all difficult questions in Biology and Pathology, and a
complete view of the constitution of man.
2. To the UNIVERSITY it offers a method of revising and correcting
history and biography--of enlarging our knowledge of Natural History,
Geology, and Astronomy, and exploring Ethnology.
3. To the CHURCH it offers a method of exploring the origins of all
religions, the future life of man, and the relations of terrestrial
and celestial life.
4. To the PHILANTHROPIST it offers the methods of investigating and
supervising education and social organization which may abolish all
existing evils.
The foregoing were the initial steps and results in the development of
Psychometry, simultaneously accompanied by those other discoveries in
1841, the scope and magnitude of which appear to me and to those who
have studied my demonstrations, to be far more important than anything
that has ever been discovered or done in Biological science, being
nothing less than a complete scientific demonstration of the functions
of the brain in all its psycho-physiological relations. To appreciate
their transcendent importance, it is necessary only to know that the
experiments have been carefully made, have often been repeated during
the past forty-five years, and that all they demonstrate may also be
demonstrated by other means, and fully established, if no such
experiments could be made.
The origin of this discovery was as follows. My advanced
investigations of the brain, between 1835 and 1841, had added so much
to the incomplete and inaccurate discoveries of Gall, and had brought
cerebral science into so much closer and more accurate relation with
cerebral anatomy and embryology, as illustrated by Tiedemann, that I
became profoundly aware of the position in which I found myself, as an
explorer, possessed of knowledge previously quite unknown, and yet, at
the same time, however true, not strictly demonstrable, since none
could fully realize its truth without following the same path and
studying with the same concentrated devotion the comparative
development of the brain in men and animals. Such zeal, success, and
assiduity I did not believe could be expected. There might not be one
man in a century to undertake such a task (for all the centuries of
civilization had produced but one such man--the illustrious Gall), and
when he appeared his voice would not be decisive. I would, therefore,
appear not as presenting positive knowledge, but as contributing
another theory, which the medical profession, regardless of my labors,
would treat as a mere hypothesis.[1]
[1] I would mention that in the progress of my discoveries,
especially in 1838-39, I came into frequent and intimate
association with the late Prof. Wm. Byrd Powell, M. D., the
most brilliant, and original of all American students of the
brain, whose lectures always excited a profound interest in
his hearers, and, in comparing notes with him, I found my
own original observations well sustained by his. Though
erratic in some of his theories, he was a bold student of
nature, and the accidental destruction of his manuscript by
fire, when too late in his life to repair the loss, was a
destruction of much that would have been deeply
interesting.
It was absolutely necessary that the functions of the brain should be
demonstrated as positively as those of the spinal nerves had been
demonstrated by Majendie and Bell. Two methods appeared possible. The
two agents were galvanism and the aura of the nervous system, commonly
called animal magnetism. My first experiments in 1841, satisfied me
that both were available, but that the _nervaura_ was far more
available, efficient, and satisfactory. Upon this I have relied ever
since, though I sometimes experiment with galvanism, to demonstrate
its efficiency, and Dr. De la Rua, of Cuba, informed me over twenty
years ago that he found very delicate galvanic currents available for
this purpose in his practice.
Animal magnetism or mesmerism had been involved in mystery and
empiricism. There had never been any scientific or anatomical
explanation of the phenomena, and this mystery I desired to dispel. My
first step was to ascertain that for experiments on the nervous system
we did not need the somnambulic or hypnotic condition, and that it was
especially to be avoided as a source of confusion and error. Whenever
the organ of sensibility, or sensitiveness, was sufficiently developed
and predominant, the conditions of neurological experiments for
scientific purposes were satisfactory, and to make such experiments,
the subjects, instead of being ignorant, passive, emotional, hysteric,
or inclined to trance, should be as intelligent as possible,
well-balanced and clear-headed,--competent to observe subjective
phenomena in a critical manner. Hence, my experiments, which have been
made upon all sorts of persons, were most decisive and satisfactory to
myself when made upon well-educated physicians, upon medical
professors, my learned colleagues, upon eminent lawyers or divines,
upon strong-minded farmers or hunters, entirely unacquainted with such
subjects, and incapable of psychological delusion, or upon persons of
very skeptical minds who would not admit anything until the phenomena
were made very plain and unquestionable.
While the nervaura of the human constitution (which is as distinctly
perceptible to the sensitive as its caloric and electricity) is
emitted from every portion of the surface of the head and body, the
quality and quantity of that which is emitted from the inner surface
of the hand, render it most available, and the application of the hand
of any one who has a respectable amount of vital and mental energy,
will produce a distinct local stimulation of functions wherever it may
be applied upon the head or body. In this manner it is easy to
demonstrate the amiable and pleasing influence of the superior regions
of the brain, the more energetic and vitalizing influence of its
posterior half, and the mild, subduing influence of the front.
In my first experiments, in the spring of 1841, I found so great
susceptibility that I could demonstrate promptly even the smallest
organs of the brain, and it was gratifying to find that the
illustrious Gall had ascertained, with so marvellous accuracy the
functions of the smallest organs in the front lobe, and the subject
could be engrossed in the thought of numbers and counting by touching
the organ of number or calculation. Eagerly did I proceed in testing
the accuracy of all the discoveries of Gall and the additions I had
made by craniological studies, as well as bringing out new functions
which I had not been able to anticipate or discover. Omitting the
history of those experiments, I would but briefly state that in 1842 I
published a complete map of the brain, in which the full development
of human faculties made a complete picture of the psycho-physiological
constitution of man, and thus presented for the first time a science
which might justly be called _Anthropology_.[2]
[2] I do not publish or circulate this map apart from the
explanatory volume (Outlines of Anthropology) for the reason
that it is impossible by any nomenclature of organs to
convey a correct idea of the functions, and hence, such a
map would tend to a great many misconceptions.
It is obvious that prior to 1842 there was nothing entitled to the
name of ANTHROPOLOGY, as there was no complete geography before the
discovery of America and circumnavigation of the globe. When man is
fully portrayed by the statement of all the psychic and all the
physiological faculties and functions found in his brain, which
contains the totality, and manifests them in the soul and body, it is
obvious that we have a true Anthropology, which, to complete its
fulness, requires only the study of the soul as an entity distinct
from the brain, and of the body as an anatomical and physiological
apparatus. The latter had already been well accomplished by the
medical profession, and the former very imperfectly by spiritual
psychologists. But neither the physiology, nor the pneumatology had
been placed in organic connection with the central cerebral science.
In consummating such tasks, I felt justified, in 1842, in adopting the
word Anthropology, as the representative of the new science, though at
that time it was so unfamiliar as to be misunderstood. This science,
as presented in my Outlines of Anthropology in 1854, embraced another
very important and entirely novel discovery--the psycho-physiological
relations of the surface of the body, the manner in which every
portion of the body responds to the brain and the soul, the final
solution of the great and hitherto impenetrable mystery of the triune
relations of soul, brain, and body. This discovery, constituting the
science of Sarcognomy, became the basis of a new medical philosophy,
explaining the influence of the body on the soul, in health, and
disease, and the reciprocal influence of the soul on the body.
This manifestly modified our views of therapeutics and revolutionized
electro-therapeutics by pointing out the exact physiological and
psychic effects of every portion of the surface of the body, when
subject to local treatment, and hence, originating new methods of
electric practice, in which many results were produced not heretofore
deemed possible. All this was fully presented in my work on
THERAPEUTIC SARCOGNOMY, published in 1885, which was speedily sold.
In contemplating these immense results of a successful investigation
of the functions of the brain, I can see no logical escape from the
conclusion that such a revelation of the functions of the brain is by
far the most important event that belongs to the history of vital
science--an event so romantically different from the common, slow
progress of science when cultivated by men of ability, that I do not
wonder at the incredulity which naturally opposes its recognition, and
seems to render the most unanimous and conclusive testimony from
honorable scientists apparently ineffective. The support of the
medical college in which I was Dean of the Faculty, the hearty
endorsement by the Faculty of Indiana State University, and by
numerous committees of investigation, seem to count as nothing with
the conservative portion of the medical profession, who have ever
understood how to ignore so simple and positive a demonstration as
that of Harvey, or so practical a demonstration as that of Hahnemann,
or so irresistible a mass of facts as those of modern psychic science.
The question will naturally arise among the enlightened lovers of
truth, why so grand and so _demonstrable_ a science should for
forty-five years have made so little progress toward general
recognition. It is sufficient to say that new and revolutionary truth
is never welcomed, and, if the discoverer is not active as a
propagandist it has no diffusion. I did not feel that there was any
receptiveness across the ocean for what was resisted here.
Nevertheless I did prepare and send to Edinburgh, in 1841, a brief
report of my discoveries accompanied by an endorsement or introduction
from the venerable Prof. Caldwell, the founder of the successful
medical college at Louisville, whose lectures were attended by four
hundred pupils. I supposed the gentlemen of the Phrenological Society
at Edinburgh the most liberal parties in Great Britain, but they
declined publishing my memoir as _too marvellous_, and proposed merely
to file it away as a caveat of the discovery. That ended all thoughts
of Europe; and, indeed, it seemed to me premature to urge such a
discovery and so grand a philosophy upon the world in the present
state of its intellectual civilization. I ceased to agitate the
subject for many years, and allowed myself to be drawn into the
political agitations connected with our civil war, to mitigate some of
its social and political evils.
Of late, however, an urgent and imperative sense of duty has put my
pen in motion as the remnant of my life will be hardly sufficient to
record the results of my investigations.
In the "New Education" and the "Manual of Psychometry--the dawn of a
new civilization"--I have appealed to the public, and three editions
of the former with two of the latter show that the public is not
indifferent. The recognition of the marvellous claims of Psychometry
will prepare the way for the supreme science of Anthropology, to which
the coming century will do justice.
In justice to the learned Prof. Caldwell and myself, I should not omit
to mention that this distinguished, eloquent, and venerable gentleman,
who, in his early life, was a cotemporary of the famous Dr. Rush, of
Philadelphia, and throughout his life was a champion of the most
progressive doctrines in Biology, not only gave his friendly
co-operation on the first presentation of my discoveries, but ten
years later honored me with a visit at Cincinnati, to become more
fully acquainted with them, and subsequently, by appointment of the
National Medical Association, prepared a report upon subjects of a
kindred nature, in which he incorporated a statement of my
discoveries. His subsequent illness and death, in 1854, at an advanced
age, prevented the delivery of this memoir.
In signal contrast to the honorable and candid course of Prof.
CALDWELL, and to the candid examination, followed by eulogistic
language of Prof. H. P. GATCHELL, ROBERT DALE OWEN, President
ANDREW WYLIE, Rev. JOHN PIERPONT, Dr. SAMUEL FORRY, Prof. WM.
DENTON, the eloquent Judge ROWAN, and a score of other eminently
intellectual men, it is my duty to record the melancholy fact
that the great majority of professional men, when tested, have
manifested an entire apathy, if not a positive aversion, to the
investigations and discoveries in which these momentous results
have been reached. While no aversion, disrespect, or suspicion
was shown toward myself, a stubborn aversion was shown to
investigations that might have revolutionary results--proving
that our false systems of education teach men not to think
independently, but to adhere closely to precedent authority,
fashion, popularity, and _habit_, which is the inertia of the
mental world.
The faculty of my alma mater (excepting Prof. Caldwell) refused
to investigate the subject, even when invited by their Board of
Trustees. The Boston Academy of Arts and Sciences, embracing the
men at the head of the medical profession, pretended to take up
the subject, but in a few hours dropped it, with polite
compliments to myself, in 1842. The American Medical
Association, in 1878, refused to entertain the subject because I
could not coincide with them in my sentiments, and accept their
code of bigotry. There was no formal action of the Association,
but my friend, Prof. Gross, then recognized as the Nestor of the
profession, and holding the highest position of authority,
informed me semi-officially, very courteously, that none of my
discoveries could ever be brought to the notice of the
Association, because I did not accept their code. Thus (without
mentioning other instances), I have stood before the public with
a _demonstrable_ science, challenging investigation by critical
opponents, who have so uniformly evaded or shrunk from the test
that I have ceased to care for their opinions, while I still
entertain as profound a respect as ever for the investigations
of the candid and manly, among whom I never fail to find
friendship and cordiality.
Looking back forty-five years, I remember with extreme pleasure
the friendly co-operation of ROWAN and CALDWELL. The American
medical profession never had a more dignified, imposing, and
high-toned representative than Prof. Caldwell. Nor was the legal
profession anywhere ever adorned by a more commanding and
gracious representative than the unsurpassed advocate, ROWAN,
who was widely known as the "OLD MONARCH." The nobility of such
men was shown in their noble bearing toward a dawning science,
In which they saw the grandeur of the future.
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT.
COLLEGE OF THERAPEUTICS.
Next Session Begins November 1, 1887.
This institution is the germ of what will be an immense revolution in
education hereafter, when the knowledge now given to small classes
will hold a conspicuous place in every college, and will be presented
in every high school.
The mountain mass of inertia, which opposes, passively, all
fundamental changes, cannot now resist scientific demonstration as it
has in the past. The instruction in the College of Therapeutics, is
thoroughly demonstrative, leaving no room for doubt, and it gives a
species of knowledge which ought to be a part of every one's
education--a knowledge of the constitution of man, not obtainable
to-day in any medical or literary college, nor in our mammoth
libraries. It is not merely as a deep philosophy that this interests
us, but as a guide in the preservation of health, and in the
regulation of spiritual phenomena, which would, to a very great
extent, supersede our reliance on the medical profession by giving us
the control of the vital powers, by which we may protect ourselves,
and control the development of the young.
Each student was made to feel the effects of local treatment on the
body, and the power of rapidly changing disease to health, and was
personally taught to perform the manipulations for this purpose, and
to investigate disease or portray character by the psychometric
methods as well as to test the value of medicines.
The various uses and scientific application of electricity were shown,
and many things entirely unknown and unrecognized in works on
Electro-Therapeutics. The entire class was placed under a medical
influence simultaneously by the agency of electricity--an operation so
marvelous that it would be considered incredible in medical colleges.
By these and other experiments and numerous illustrations and lucid
explanations of the brain and nervous system, the instruction was made
deeply interesting, and students have attended more than one course to
perfect themselves in the science. The following declaration of
sentiments shows how the course was regarded by the class:
"The summer class of 1887 in the College of Therapeutics,
feeling it their duty to add their testimony to that of many
others in reference to the grand scientific discoveries which
they have seen thoroughly demonstrated by Prof. J. R. Buchanan,
would say to the public that no one can attend such a course of
instruction as we have recently been engaged in, without
realizing that Therapeutic Sarcognomy greatly enlarges the
practical resources of the healing art for the medical
practitioner, magnetizer and electro-therapeutist, while
Psychometry, whose positive truths we have tested and proven,
like the sun's rays, illumines all the dark problems of medical
practice and of psycho-physiological sciences.
"Therapeutic Sarcognomy explains the very intricate and
mysterious relations of the soul, the brain and body, which
prior to Prof. Buchanan's discoveries were unknown to all
scientific teachers, and are even now only known to his students
and the readers of his works,
"We feel that we have been very fortunate in finding so valuable
a source of knowledge, whose future benefits to the human race,
in many ways, cannot be briefly stated, and we would assure all
who may attend this college, or read the published works of
Prof. Buchanan, and his monthly, the _Journal of Man_, that they
will, when acquainted with the subject, be ready to unite with
us in appreciating and honoring the greatest addition ever made
to biological and psychological sciences. Hoping that the time
is not for distant when all students in medical colleges may
obtain access to this most important knowledge, we give our
testimony to the public."
H. C. ALDRICH, M. D., D. D. S., _Chairman._
DR. JNO. C. SCHLARBAUM, _Secretary_.
Enlargement of the Journal.
If the readers of the JOURNAL knew how much very interesting matter is
crowded out of each number of the JOURNAL, they would be very anxious
for its enlargement.
Advertising in the Journal.
The financial success of monthly magazines, depends much upon a
liberal advertising patronage. I would say just to all my readers,
that the JOURNAL has a larger circulation than many medical journals
which are filled with advertisements. It is an excellent medium for
those who have new and valuable things to present, for it circulates
among the most progressive and enlightened class of people. The terms
are the same which are common in magazines.
[Hand pointing right]An advertising agent might find profitable
employment by applying to the editor of the JOURNAL.
Works of Prof. J. R. Buchanan.
THE NEW EDUCATION.--$1.50.
"It is incomparably the best work on education that I have ever
seen."--Prof. Wm. Denton. "I regard it as by far the best work on
education ever published".--Rev. B. F. Barrett.
MANUAL OF PSYCHOMETRY.--The dawn of a new civilization,--$2.16.
"The like of this work is not to be found in the whole literature of
the past."--_New York Home Journal_. "He has boldly navigated unknown
seas till he has found a far greater and more important world than the
Genoese navigator discovered."--_Hartford Times_. "There are striking
reflections upon almost every page, and a richness of language and
freshness of spirit that is peculiarly marked." _Medical Brief_, St.
Louis. "A century in advance of his time."--_People's Health Journal_,
Chicago.
PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL CHART OF SARCOGNOMY.--21x31 inches, $1. Showing
the vital powers of soul, brain, and body in their location, as a
guide for treatment. "Upon the psychic functions of the brain, Prof.
Buchanan is the highest living authority."--_American Homoeopathist._
THERAPEUTIC SARCOGNOMY.--Now in preparation, to be published next
winter.
OUTLINES OF ANTHROPOLOGY.--Now in preparation.
PRACTICE OF PSYCHOMETRY.--Mrs. C. H. Buchanan continues the practice
of Psychometry, 6 James Street, Boston. Personal interview, $2.
Written descriptions, $3. Elaborate descriptions, $5. The objects of
Psychometry are the description of character, constitution, health, or
disease, and such advice as circumstances require.
UNLIKE ANY OTHER PAPER.
The _Spectator_, unlike other home papers, seeks (1) to acquaint every
family with simple and efficient treatment for the various common
diseases, to, in a word, educate the people so they can avoid disease
and cure sickness, thus saving enormous doctors' bills, and many
precious lives. (2) To elevate and cultivate the moral nature,
awakening the conscience, and developing the noblest attributes of
manhood. (3) To give instructive and entertaining food to literary
taste, thus developing the mind. (4) To give just such hints to
housekeepers that they need to tell how to prepare delicious dishes,
to beautify homes, and to make the fireside the most attractive spot
in the world.--_Am. Spectator_.
MAYO'S ANAESTHETIC.
The suspension of pain, under dangerous surgical operations, is the
greatest triumph of Therapeutic Science in the present century. It
came first by mesmeric hypnotism, which was applicable only to a few,
and was restricted by the jealous hostility of the old medical
profession. Then came the nitrous oxide, introduced by Dr. Wells, of
Hartford, and promptly discountenanced by the enlightened (?) medical
profession of Boston, and set aside for the next candidate, ether,
discovered in the United States also, but far interior to the nitrous
oxide as a safe and pleasant agent. This was largely superseded by
chloroform, discovered much earlier by Liebig and others, but
introduced as an anaesthetic in 1847, by Prof. Simpson. This proved to
be the most powerful and dangerous of all. Thus the whole policy of
the medical profession was to discourage the safe, and encourage the
more dangerous agents. The magnetic sleep, the most perfect of all
anaesthetic agents, was expelled from the realm of college authority;
ether was substituted for nitrous oxide, and chloroform preferred to
ether, until frequent deaths gave warning.
Nitrous oxide, much the safest of the three, has not been the
favorite, but has held its ground, especially with dentists. But even
nitrous oxide is not perfect. It is not equal to the magnetic sleep,
when the latter is practicable, but fortunately it is applicable to
all. To perfect the nitrous oxide, making it universally safe and
pleasant, Dr. U. K. Mayo, of Boston, has combined it with certain
harmless vegetable nervines, which appear to control the fatal
tendency which belongs to all anaesthetics when carried too far. The
success of Dr. Mayo, in perfecting our best anaesthetic, is amply
attested by those who have used it. Dr. Thorndike, than whom, Boston
had no better surgeon, pronounced it "the safest the world has yet
seen." It has been administered to children and to patients in extreme
debility. Drs. Frizzell and Williams, say they have given it
"repeatedly in heart disease, severe lung diseases, Bright's disease,
etc., where the patients were so feeble as to require assistance in
walking, many of them under medical treatment, and the results have
been all that we could ask--no irritation, suffocation, nor
depression. We heartily commend it to all as the anaesthetic of the
age." Dr. Morrill, of Boston, administered Mayo's anaesthetic to his
wife with delightful results when "her lungs were so badly
disorganized, that the administration of ether or gas would be
entirely unsafe." The reputation of this anaesthetic is now well
established; in fact, it is not only safe and harmless, but has great
medical virtue for daily use in many diseases, and is coming into use
for such purposes. In a paper before the Georgia State Dental Society,
Dr. E. Parsons testified strongly to its superiority. "The nitrous
oxide, (says Dr. P.) causes the patient when fully under its influence
to have very like the appearance of a corpse," but under this new
anaesthetic "the patient appears like one in a natural sleep." The
language of the press, generally has been highly commendatory, and if
Dr. Mayo had occupied so conspicuous a rank as Prof. Simpson, of
Edinburgh, his new anaesthetic would have been adopted at once in every
college of America and Europe.
* * * * *
Mayo's Vegetable Anaesthetic.
A perfectly safe and pleasant substitute for chloroform, ether,
nitrous oxide gas, and all other anaesthetics. Discovered by Dr. U. K.
Mayo, April, 1883, and since administered by him and others in over
300,000 cases successfully. The youngest child, the most sensitive
lady, and those having heart disease, and lung complaint, inhale this
vapor with impunity. It stimulates the circulation of the blood and
builds up the tissues. Indorsed by the highest authority in the
professions, recommended in midwifery and all cases of nervous
prostration. Physicians, surgeons, dentists and private families
supplied with this vapor, liquefied, in cylinders of various
capacities. It should be administered the same as Nitrous Oxide, but
it does not produce headache and nausea as that sometimes does. For
further information pamphlets, testimonials, etc., apply to
DR. U. K. MAYO, Dentist,
378 Tremont St., Boston, Mass.
* * * * *
Religio-Philosophical Journal.
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_Concurrent Commendations from Widely Opposite Sources._
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* * * * *
FACTS,
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE,
DEVOTED TO
Mental and Spiritual Phenomena,
INCLUDING
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* * * * *
Transcriber's Note: The Table of Contents came from the first
issue of the volume. The article on ANTHROPOLOGY is continued
from the previous issue's page 32.