...with a certain eagerness [he] asked me whether I would let him measure my head. Rather surprised, I said Yes, when he produced a thing like calipers and got the dimensions back and front and every way, taking notes carefully.
In Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” (1899) the narrator Charles Marlow has his head measured by a doctor. Claiming the measurement to be “in the interest of science”, this example of craniometry is central to the novel's exploration of the difference between "civilized people" and those described as "savages." The examination is performed prior to Marlows departure for Congo, suggesting that the characteristics of the adventurous narrator should be visibly measurable by the size of his skull.
The pseudoscience of phrenology suggested that specific personality traits could be identified by measuring bumps on the skull. Developed by Viennese physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758 - 1828), it rested on the idea that specific areas of the brain had specific functions. This was a novel concept, far from the perception of the brain as a fatty pulp, as exemplified in Rembrandt’s anatomy. The concept was met with opposition from established physiologists. Drawing on the claim by Descartes that the soul is immaterial and indivisible, it was considered impossible that the brain did not function as a united entity. That certain areas of the brain should be dedicated to specific tasks, was an appalling idea to conservative doctors.
Though the idea of cerebral localization later proved correct, the locations of the specific mental faculties in the phrenologic map of the brain were unsubstantiated. For instance, Gall localized “the love of children” at the back of the brain, and the ability for reasoning would be found at the frontal parts. Unsubstantiated was also the idea that mental qualities were determined by brain size and that the overlying skull fitted the brain like a glove. In phrenology, personality traits could be determined simply by measuring the area of the skull overlying the corresponding area of the brain. The bumps and dents in the cranium would serve as a map of the underlying personality. Gall was notoriously known for his collection of skulls.
Phrenology had its prime during the Victorian era when people would consult physicians and have their skull measured and mapped in the effort to learn about their own personality. It would later be applied to criminology, most infamously exemplified by Italian physician Cesare Lombrose who would postulate that criminals were “subhumans” identifiable by physical features of the skull and face. Phrenology would also provide a justification of European racism in its idea that certain physical features were suggesting an underlying character. In effect, the physiognomics of Europeans was interpreted as a more “civilized character” than lesser evolved “savages”. The racism inherent in phrenology is exemplified in Conrad’s work cited above and later also in the Quentin Tarantino movie “Django Unchained”.
Apparently Joseph Conrad’s doctor predicted the nonsense of phrenology. His measurements were futile, he admitted to Marlow, as “the changes take place inside, you know.”
And I hate to reduce Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” to a piece about phrenology. All debates about racism set aside, this novel is a masterpiece of early existentialism, and I have loved it since introduced to the line “I have wrestled with death. It is the most unexciting contest you can imagine.” Thank you, Conrad.
As a young doctor for reasons now inexplicable to me, I one morning managed to show up early for work. And stranger still, so did a few other young doctors. So, unlikely as it was, there we were, sitting around the conference table at a small neurological department in Denmark, drinking coffee, chatting, waiting for the senior neurologists. At the middle of the table stood a ceramic phrenology head, and we found it easy to joke about the foolishness of phrenology. We joked about rich Viennese women going to the phrenologist to have their skull examined in an obvious sham driven by the Barnum effect. But a wiser colleague said, “Well, they were probably no different from people of all times; just very interested in knowing something about themselves.” We all silently agreed and drank our coffee.
It is easy to criticize phrenology. But phrenology did have one thing going for it; it did propose the idea that certain areas of the brain are dedicated to specific tasks. This concept of cerebral localization would push neurology towards our current understanding of the brain. Although unsuccesfully introduced by Gall, the paradigm shift was later convincingly proved by Paul Broca.
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Conrad J: Heart of Darkness and other tales (Explanatory notes by Cedric Watts). Oxford University Press. 1990.
Zola-Morgan S: Localization of Brain Function: The Legacy of Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828). Annual Review of Neuroscience. 1995.
Porter R: The Greatest Benefit To Mankind - A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present. HarperCollinsPublishers. 1997.
Denby D: The Trouble with "Heart of Darkness". The New Yorker. 1995.
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