Phrenological

Note 97: After the museum had moved to London, one guest performed a cursory Phrenological examination on the statue of a hairless mandarin official, which “being bald ... presents a fair mark all over to the ... phrenologist.”

The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005

Perceptive to the desires of his readership, Orson Fowler decided to perform a phrenological examination of the conquering hero and feature his findings in an issue of the American Phrenological Journal.

The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005

“Chinese Skulls,” American Phrenological Journal 10 (1848), 260.

The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005

Note 21: Orson Fowler, “The Chinese Junk,” American Phrenological Journal 9 (1847): 328.

The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005

Note 23: The American Phrenological Journal eventually achieved a circulation of 50,000.

The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005

Note 24: Orson Fowler, “The Phrenological Character of Chan and Eng, the Siamese Twins, with a Likeness,” American Phrenological Journal 8 (1846), 316 – 17.

The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005

Although a visit to the Cabinet was free, little else was: Fowler offered character readings for a fee, churned out a monthly magazine, The American Phrenological Journal, published a small library of self-help books, and sold phrenological kits complete with lecture notes, charts, busts, and skulls — all that the aspiring traveling practitioner needed to launch his own head-reading business.

The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005

Which is what MacNish himself did, depositing a plaster cast of his own skull with the secretary of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society, Robert Cox, who analyzed bumps on the head to see what was wrong with you.

American Connections James Burke 2007

In Manhattan, with the assistance of his brother and sister, Lorenzo and Charlotte, he opened the Phrenological Cabinet and filled it with skulls, skeletons, and busts to attract visitors.

The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005

Orson Fowler, “The Chinese Junk,” American Phrenological Journal 9 (1847): 328.

The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture: 1776-1876 2005