Editing George Combe (section)

==Phrenological Society==
[[File:George Combe bust.JPG|thumb|upright|Sculpted portrait of Combe on the Museum of the [[Edinburgh Phrenological Society]] building in Edinburgh]]
In 1815, the ''[[Edinburgh Review]]'' contained an article on the system of "craniology" devised by [[Franz Joseph Gall]] and [[Johann Gaspar Spurzheim]], denouncing it as "a piece of thorough quackery from beginning to end".<ref name=":0"/> When Spurzheim came to Edinburgh in 1816, Combe was invited to a friend's house, where he watched Spurzheim dissect a human brain.<ref name=":0"/> Impressed by the demonstration, he attended a second series of Spurzheim's lectures. On investigating the subject for himself, he became satisfied that the fundamental principles of phrenology were true: "that the brain is the organ of mind; that the brain is an aggregate of several parts, each subserving a distinct mental faculty; and that the size of the cerebral organ is, ''caeteris paribus'', an index of power or energy of function."{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=750}}

[[File:George Combe c.1825 by Lawrence Macdonald.JPG|thumb|upright|Combe as sculpted by [[Lawrence Macdonald]] around 1825]]
[[File:45 Melville Street, Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|45 Melville Street, Edinburgh]]
His first essay on phrenology was published in ''[[Scots Magazine]]'' in 1817, and were followed by a series of papers ''Literary and Statistical Magazine''. The writings were collected and published in 1819 in book form as ''Essays on Phrenology'' and, in later editions, as ''A System of Phrenology''.<ref name=":0"/> In 1820, Combe helped to found the [[Phrenological Society of Edinburgh]], which in 1823 established a ''Phrenological Journal''. His lectures and writings also drew attention to phrenology in Europe and the United States.<ref name=":0"/>