iv PREFACE.
pleasure that I also record Mr. Combe’s liberality in providing this memoir
without having seen a word of my manuscript, or even knowing what I had
written; at the same time that I was under the necessity, owing to certain pre-
arrangements, of limiting him to a given number of pages, in which he acquiesced
with the most obliging frankness. By means of this Essay, which is accompanied
by two illustrative plates, the reader will he able to apply Phrenological rules to
every skull in the series here figured.
Neither care nor expense has been spared in the endeavor to give accuracy
to the lithographed illustrations of this work, which have been chiefly executed
by Mr. John Collins, one of the most successful cultivators of his art in this
country. Many of the plates have been drawn the second and third time; and in
several instances the entire edition was cancelled, in order to correct inaccuracies
that had previously escaped observation,
I have given much more space to the I ntroduction than was at first
intended, in the hope of inviting, throughout this country, a greater interest to
this important and attractive study. It is impossible to treat of such a subject,
without drawing largely on the researches of those distinguished men who have
devoted their time and talent to inquiries of this nature; among whom it is
especially necessary to mention Buffon, Blumenhach, Humboldt, Prichard, Lawrence,
Virey and Bory de St. Vincent; while, among the writers of this country,
I have derived much instruction from the writings of the late Dr. Barton, Professor
Caldwell, Dr. J. C. Warren, Professor Gibson, Dr. B. H. Coates and Dr. M’Culloh.
The “ Researches” of the last named gentleman, embody more facts relating to
the Aborigines of America than almost any other work. To these and other
sources of information, I have made specific acknowledgments throughout the
following pages. The great work on Mexican Antiquities by Lord Kingsborough
I have never seen; and Le Noir’s splendid work on the same subject, and Mr.
Delafield’s American Antiquities, did not reach this city until my last sheets were
already in press.
I t will he observed, by comparing the prospectus issued three years ago with
this work as now published, that I have greatly extended the original design by
the addition of eighteen plates and nearly two hundred minor illustrations,
together with a corresponding enlargement of the text. This object has been
chiefly attained through the liberal and unsolicited patronage of two individuals
PREFACE.
living at a remote distance from each other and from me, to whom I take this
occasion to express my grateful acknowledgments. The first of these gentlemen
is my venerable and much-honored uncle, James Morton, Esq., of Clonmel,
Ireland; the other, my friend William Maclure, Esq., late of this city, and now
resident in Mexico, well known as the distinguished President of the Academy
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. I claim, however, some merit for having
commenced publication when my subscription list bore but fifteen names; and I
persisted for a long time on my own resources, although frequently apprehensive
that an enterprise which never had gain for its object, would add pecuniary loss to
numberless vexations.
I do not even now consider my task as wholly completed. On the contrary
the illustrations of the Mexican nations are too few for satisfactory comparison
owing to the extreme difficulty of obtaining authentic crania of those people.
This deficiency, however, is likely to be soon obviated by the kindness of some
friends of science in Mexico; and these materials, when received, together with
some that came to hand too late for use, and many others that are expected, will
enable me to complete my design by the publication of a small Supplementary
Volume; in which it will further be my aim to extend and revise both the
Anatomical and Phrenological Tables, and to give basal views of at least a part of
the crania delineated. I shall also take occasion to measure the anterior and
posterior chambers of the skull in the four exotic races of men, in order to
institute a comparison between them respectively, and between them and the
American Race. But in order to accomplish this object, a very extended series
of crania is of course indispensable; and the author therefore respectfully solicits
the further aid of gentlemen interested in the cause of science, in procuring the
skulls o f all nations, and forwarding them to his address in this city. Nor can I
close this preface without recording my sincere thanks to George R. Gliddon, Esq.,
United States Consul at Cairo, in Egypt, for the singular zeal with which he has
promoted my wishes in this respect; the series of crania he has already obtained
for my use, of many nations, both ancient and modern, is perhaps without a rival
in any existing collection; and will enable me, when it reaches this country, to
pursue my comparisons on an extended scale.
Philadelphia, October, 1, 1839.
B