The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954)(about) |
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Saturday 27 November 1880
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2 corrections, most recently by JudithGabriel - Show corrections
EDWARD KELLY'S HEAD.
Mr. A. S. Hamilton, a follower of the art of phrenology, and who was conspicuous in the recent reprieve agitations, has made an examina- tion of a cast of Edward Kelly's head. It will be noted that this wretched hero of the criminal class makes but a very sorry figure in Mr. Hamilton's hands. The phrenologist writes in
the Melbourne Herald :—
Forty years of daily study of the links in the chain of connection which subsist between brainal development and human character,
between hereditary predispositions and the forces of external circumstances, have enabled me to arrive at clear convictions upon the questions of the qualities and degrees of crime, their cause, their punishment, and their cure. Of course, per- fect clearness of judgment upon matters of such magnitude and complexity is not to be expected ; but the evidence of science being palpable, the conclusions drawn are logical as far as they profess to reach. The following sketch of character is deduced from a careful examination of the cast of Edward Kelly taken immediately
after his execution.
Measurement with tape-line—Circumference of the head, 22 inches ; length over the head from occipital spine to root of nose, 13½ inches. From opening of ear to ditto over the head, 13¼ inches. From cautiousness to cautiousness, or from centre of parietal bone to ditto over the crown of the head, 5½ inches. Across the forehead from acquisitiveness to ditto, 8 inches. From constructiveness to ditto over benevo- lence, 9½ inches. From opening of ear to centre of individuality, 6 inches. From opening of ear to comparison, 6¼ inches. From self-esteem to comparison, 7 inches. These measurements to the phrenologist are remarkable. The head is scarcely of medium size for so big a man. The measurement from caution to caution is fully an inch less than it should be in a well-propor- tioned head ; and in the moral regions there is a deficiency of 1 inch. In the width from ac- quisitiveness to ditto there is fully 1 inch more than is usual ; therefore in circumspection and in moral regulating power there is a marked deficiency, while there is a woful lack of de- velopment in those organs which give reflective judgment and stability to character, as will be seen when the relative proportions of the dif- ferent organs are examined. Relative propor-
tion of the cerebral organs :—Very large, 20;
large, 18 ; nearly large, 16 ; feeble, 14 ; very feeble, 12 ; small, 10 ; very small, 8. It is to be understood that all organs marked under 18 are less than they should be in a well-balanced head, and that all marked 20, especially when they belong to the animal nature, are very dangerous to society, unless they are balanced by a large moral and reflec- tive development. Preservativeness 10, alimen- tiveness 18, adhesiveness 16, inhabitiveness 16, continuity 16, cautiousness 14, combative- ness 19, destructiveness 20, acquisitiveness 20, secretiveness 18, constructiveness 18, self- esteem 20, love of approbation 19, firmness 18, hope 18, veneration 17, benevolence 17, philo- progenitiveness 16, wonder 17, ideality 16, sub- limity 16, conscientiousness 14, imitation 18, tune and time 17, individuality 19, form 17, size 19, weight 19, colour 17, locality 20, number 17, order 17, eventuality 17, language 17, comparison 17, casuality 15, wit 16, ama- tiveness 19, marriage 16. A glance at these numbers will show that all the organs which impart a spirit of opposition, destructive fire and passion, love of gain, love of praise, love of power, and amorous desires, are all very strong ; and that cautiousness, affection, friend- ship, justice, love of offspring, benevolence, and reason, are all weak ; hence the danger to society of a man whose social affections are not strong enough to value the humanities of society, whose leading motives are utterly selfish, and whose spirit of revenge is aroused to a mur- derous extent towards those who resolve to ap- prehend him for his lawless conduct against society. It is no excuse for Edward Kelly's conduct to say that I could find many heads of as low a type as his in an hour's walk in Bourke-street, where the crowd is afloat which haunt the dens of infamy in that neighbourhood. But though the type is much more common than is generally believed, it differs from Kelly's in this, that there is not one head in a thousand of the criminal type so small in caution as his, and there are few heads among
the worst which would risk so much for the
love of power as is evinced in the head of Kelly
from his enormous self-esteem. This self-esteem, combined with large love of approbation and hope, would make him appear bright, dazzling, and heroic to those who could not see through the veil which vanity throw around him. His love of family, his pride in the Kellys, is chiefly inspired by his self-esteem, and by the homage which was paid to his so-called courage and libe- rality. Having no fear of the future, as hope is large, and no gloomy thoughts of the past, as cautiousness and casualty are small, he could undergo the banishment from society for a while in the hope of being enabled by a stroke of good luck to redeem his lost time as soon as he saw his way to escape from the vigilant eyes of the police who dogged his steps. This large hope bore him up as long as there was no appearance of imminent danger ; and when at last he resolved to make a desperate effort to strike terror into the police by fighting them single-handed in his bullet-proof mail, his hope and vanity so overpowered his judgment as to cause him to throw himself with the fury and imbecility of a madman into the arms of his captors. A little more caution and a little less conceit would certainly have enabled him to hold his life a little longer.
"A SOFT ANSWER," ETC.—Mamma: "You are very naughty children, and I am extremely dis- appointed with you all!" Tommy : " That is a pity, Mamma! We're all so thoroughly satisfied with you, you know!"—Punch