A Prophet and a Science Are Born Hugh M. Ayer* Upon this scene of conflict and confusion there appeared in 1842 a man whose ideas and teachings in the field of medi- cine and philosophy were strange and provocative of suspicion even in that period. His contribution to the confusion was to combine elements of phrenology, mesmerism, homeopathy, and eclecticism, and a host of his own ideas, and emerge with a system of moral philosophy and medical science which antici- pated parts of modern psychology, psychiatry, and spiritual- ism, and which contained many points now conceded by medi- cal scientists. The man was Joseph Rodes Buchanan, son of an early Kentucky doctor, and himself a graduate of the Louis- ville Medical Institute. Of Scots-Irish descent, Joseph Rodes Buchanan WELSborn at Frankfort, Kentucky, December 11,1814, the only surviving child of Joseph and Nancy Rodes Garth Buch8nan.l Although Joseph Buchanan died when his son was only fifteen years old, there are numerous indications that the influence of the father was a major factor in shaping the later life of his son. For that reason it seems advisable to give a brief resume of the life and ideas of Joseph Buchanan. Samuel Buchanan, the first of the family to come to America, arrived early in the eighteenth century. Andrew Buchanan, one of Samuel’s five sons, married Joanna Hay, and after serving as a captain in the French and Indian War moved his family to Virginia, where Joseph Buchanan, the father of Joseph Rodes Buchanan, was born on August 24, 1785.% In 1795, Joseph Buchanan moved from Virginia to Ten- nessee.’ His first fourteen months of formal education were

* Hu h M. A er ia a member of the history faculty at crrlver Mili- tary Acatfem Cufver Indiana This article ia a chapter of his mash‘s thesis at Inaana U&eraity, 1960, written under the direction of R Carlyle Buley. 1 Mrs. Henys: B.8 Hoyry to the author, LOniWille, Kentucky, March 14 1949. Tradition hyit that the Buchanan nqeoriginall was An- seian and that the farmly descended from the ‘:Lard of Anmyan,” upon whom the name of Buchanan was a conferred title. %JoannaHay was a daughter of Patrick Hay and is said to have been a direct dectcendant of the Earl of Lindsay. Mrs. Henry B. Howry to the author, Louisville, Kentucky March 14, 1949. Lewis Coll$s, of Kentuclcy (2 vole., Louisviile, 1924), 11, 218; The Bwgraphd g$zedia of Kentucley (Cincinnati, 1878), 88. * Collin!, History o Kentudcy, 11,218. Whether his parents accom- panied him is not revea{ ed. 380 Indiana Magazine of History obtained in a small school near Nashville, where he is said to have mastered the Latin language in nine months and to have distinguished himself by original composition. “ ‘He wa8 so fond of originality in all his essays, that he would not even condescend to write on any subject on which he had ever read anything.’ ”4 In 1804, at the age of nineteen, Joseph Buchanan migrated to Lexington, Kentucky, and entered Transylvania University. At that time he was delicate and diffident “and is said to have passed for a ~impleton.”~But this illusion was quickly dis- pelled when he detected and demonstrated an error in his mathematics textbook. The result of this episode was a con- troversy with one of his professors, followed by the publication of a brief mathematical work in which Buchanan demonstrated the sufficiency of gravity and pointed out “some defects in the speculations of Sir Isaac Newton.” Terminating his studies at the university in 1805, he be- gan the study of medicine under Dr. Samuel Brown in Lexing- ton, and by 1807 was practicing in Fort Gibson, Mississippi. While there he wrote a volume on fevers and took the manu- script to Philadelphia for publication ; but, although Dr. Ben- jamin Rush is said to have spoken highly of the work, Bu- chanan failed to find a publisher who was willing to bear the expense.6 Finding himself without funds, Buchanan occupied him- self for twenty-seven days by walking from Philadelphia to Lexington, where he resumed his medical studies. And in 1809, having acquired the A.B. degree, he was appointed to the chair of the Institutes of Medicine in the Transylvania Medical Department. The department was poorly organized, however, and apparently no classes were offered that year. The follow- ing year Buchanan resigned.’ Buchanan’s one year on the Transylvania faculty was not

4 Lewis Collins, Historical Sketches o Kentucky (Maysville, Ken- tucky, 1847), 559, quoting from an unreveaf ed source. 6 Emmet F. Horine, “Early Medicine in Kentucky and the M@aissippi Valley: A: Tribute to Daniel Drake, M.D.,” JouW of the Ifastory of Meduine (New York, 1946- ), I11 (1948), 266; The Bzbgraphtcal Enoy- cropedia of Kentucky, 88. 6 Merle E. Curti, “Joseph Buchanan,” DictioncMy of A?mt%xm Bwg- mphy (20 vols., New York, 1943), 111,215. 7 Horine, “Early Medicine in Kentucky and the Mississippi ValleE” Jou- of ths His of MediGins 111 266; Collins, Historiccrl Skstc 8 of Kentucky, 569; Zrt. Peterl The H‘iStory o t@ Medical DqeVt of Transylvantu Unavwaty (Fllson Club Pubf ication No. 20, Lolllsvrlle, 1905), 13-14. A Prophet and a Science Are Born 381 wasted, however, for the lectures which he had prepared dur- ing this period were published, in 1812, as The PhGosophy of Human Nature. This was his mosb important work and was “one of the earliest systematic and consistent presentations of materialism to be published in America.” Based mainly on the writings of Charles Darwin, David Hue, and David Hartley -whose teachings Buchanan f irs‘t encountered while working with Dr. Samuel Brown-the book falls in two general divi- sions. The first chapter was devoted to refuting the idea that the mind existed as an independent entity, and in the remain- ing chapters he presented experimental evidence to describe the operations and laws of human nature. Although he ulti- mately accepted the agnostic position, Buchanan attempted “to show that a materialistic explanation of mind is more in accord with reason and fact than a spiritual explanation.” This em- phasis on matter rather than on mind, plus his attempt to construct a materialistic monism, has caused some to refer to Buchanan as “the earliest native physiological psychologist.”* Joseph Buchanan refused to believe that there was in man a spiritual mind “possessed of an original activity, able to feed and think within itself or to commence thought, sentiment, and motion.” He accepted the theory that “matter alone is capable of displaying all the phenomena of animal life” and concluded that “the human system is thus a machine entirely material, composed of a great variety of elementary particles.” To Buchanan the mind was simply an organic state of matter, “a peculiar combination of materia1 elements, capable of display- ing the attributes of intellect,” and in no manner dependent upon any immaterial or spiritual element.@ These arguments were in direct oppmition to the later teachings of his son, who placed much stress upon the impor- tance of spiritual influence. But father and son were in agree- ment that “the brain or sensory organ is the seat of intellectual life and is intimately related and dependent upon the whole vital Joseph Buchanan again preceded his son in forming his

8 Niels H. Some, Liberal Ken.tu.cN,1780-1828 (Columbia University Studies in American Culture, No. 3, New York, 1939) 84-88; Curtl, “Joseph Budanan,” DzctioMly of Ameman Biogmph~?fII, 216. @JosephBuchanan The Philoso hy of Human Natu7-6 Richmond, Kentucky, 1812), 8-9, 18-13,34,37. $he writer is indebted to 6r. Emmet F. Horine of Louisville, Kentucky, for the we of this rare and valuable book. 10 Ibid, 89. 382 Indiana Magazine of History philosophy of the interrelations between men and between man and his environment. As early as 1812 he had formulated the theory, which was to be the fundamental basis of the teachings of his son in later years, that “physical agents cannot possibly co-exist . . . without exerting their energies on each other.” Thus, every substance on earth, vital or inanimate was af- fected by atmospheric elements, water, caloric, electricity, and all the rest. “The human body. . . becomes therefore depen- dent on them alike for its preservation and destruction, its life and death.”ll In reference to phrenology the elder Buchanan expressed doubt as to its validity, but at the same time used its theories as an argument for materialism. “According to the observa- tions of many ingenious men, the external form and internal texture of the brain, are very important circumstances to the intellect it embraces. If that intellect were purely spiritual and intrinsically active, it is very improbable that these trivial circumstances in the mere instrument of its operations could make an important difference in its powers : but if mentality be only an attribute of the living brain, it is then to be ex- pected, that a different proportion of parts in that organ, or a slight variation in its intrinsic structure, would produce the greatest difference of intellectual powers which occurs among men. The fact then, as stated above; that the various degrees of intelligent power observable among men, and other animals also, may be traced to varieties in the formation and texture of their nervous systems; is no inconsiderable argument for M& terialism.”12 Joseph Buchanan also denied the doctrine of a nervous fluid “or subtle matter secreted in the brain, and diffused through the whole system of the body” as one which merely complicated the situation. Granted there were such a fluid, what, he asked, was there to stimulate itP* He thought it much safer and simpler to accept what was to him the obvious explanation-that the nervous system was an entirely material one, stimulated by material things and acting upon material objects. These ide-11 embraced in Buchanan’s major work- coming from the press in 1812, could not have come to light at

11 Zbid., 39. 12 Zbid., 11. I* ZbX, 66. A Prophet and a Science Are Born 383 a more crucial time. It was a period of violent controversy between religious “liberalism” and infidelity. The campaign against anything smacking of vice or heresy was instigated and conducted mainly by John Campbell and the Presby- terians. It reached into all walks of life and was ever in search of objects to attack. In the eyes of the religionists The Philosophy of Human Nature was an outstanding example of infidelity. They could not swallow Buchanan’s materialism nor his denial of the in- fluence of the spiritual element in life. The fact that Bu- chanan also insisted on complete separation of church and state merely added to the ire of the Presbyterians-who main- tained that a true republican government, to be successful, must be in the hands of Christian citizens and Christian lead- ers-and he became the center of attack.l* The hardy philosopher rallied to the occasion, however, and under the pseudonyms “Civis,” “A Native Kentuckian,” and others, became the editorialist who “most ably and insis- tently presented” the views of the liberals. Thereafter he con- tinued to play a leading role in the controversy and his agita- tions were a major factor in eventually wresting from the Presbyterians their control of Transylvania University.16 Buchanan’s personal views in regard to religion as such seem to be an open question. Both his political and his reli- gious enemies accused him of atheism, but he has left no defi- nite assertion that such was his status. “On the contrary, his references to God were reverential, and he often spoke of him- self as a Christian.”16 It was in their ideas on education that Joseph Buchanan and his son were most nearly alike. After resigning from the Transylvania faculty in 1810, Joseph Buchanan went East to study the Pestalozzian system of education, and soon there- after he returned to Kentucky to establish a school based on its principles. In establishing his Pestalozzian school near Lexington, Buchanan was particularly interested in preparing boys to be men of science and business. He wanted to avoid the teaching of the dead languages as much aq possible, and he planned to

14 Some, Liberal Kentuclcy, 81, 111. Later Jose h Rod- Buchanan ahbecame a strong advocate of separation of chur2 and state. 16 Ibid., 139,83. 16 Ibid., 83. 384 Indiana Magazine of History exclude all religion from his teaching, whether Christian, deist, or atheist, as well as all politics. His system was to begin the students with simple material which they could easily master and advance from there to successively harder material ; noth- ing should be passed until mastered. “He wished to cultivate the memory and powers of recollection, on the principles of analogy and association.” Following the rule that the powers and habits of human beings were most effectively strengthened and confirmed by vigorous and systematic exercise, he em- ployed the methods of observation and experimentation, and rewarded the students who answered first and best.lT The suspicious Presbyterians frowned upon this system of education. They branded Buchanan as “a professed Infidel. .. [who] was about to establish a school on Neif‘s [sic] system, where youth are to stay from eight to twenty-one years, and thus be initiated into all the illusions of infidelity from their earliest infancy.”18 As a result of these attacks by religious parties, the school failed after two years, but Joseph Buchan- an’s “sanguine predictions” as to his new method of education “were fully realized, in the education of his own Having met with opposition and defeat in the field of education, Buchanan next turned his attention to journalism, and in 1813 formed a partnership with Robert Johnson to publish the Kentucky Palladium at Frankfort. This venture continued until 1816, and it was during this period-December 11, 1814-that Joseph Rodes Buchanan was born. In 1816 the Buchanan-Johnson partnership was dissolved, probably because of bankruptcy, and Buchanan became editor of the Light House at Harrodsburg. The outcome of this ven- ture is not known, but it must have been similar ta the pre- vious one, for in 1819 the Buchanan family was in Cincinnati, where the father established the Literary Cadet and Cheap City Advertiser. This soon merged with the Westem Spy to form the Western Spy and Literary Cadet, with Buchanan as editor. This in turn broke up in 1821, and the Buchanans apparently moved to Louisville soon thereafter.’O

1‘ Zbid., 95-100. 1s bid., 80, quoting from an article in A CTect Vim .by John F. Schemerhorn and Samuel J. Mdls, the Presbytensn Investigators who came west to study the religious situation. 19 Collins, Sketches of Kentucky, 560. 20 Sonne, Liberal Kentuclcy, 84-85, givea the best and most complete summary of Joseph Buchanan’s activities as an editor and journalist. A Prophet and a Science Are Bomt 386 The versatile Buchanan now turned his attention to inven- tive science, and, though he succeeded in making no lasting contributions to the mechanical age, created some interest and excitement among the local citizens. As early as 1805 he had invented an instrument which produced music from glasses of different chemical composition, but the gadget was never put into operation. In 1821 he constructed a spiral boiler which embraced improvements in the way of lightness, economy, and safety. The generation of steam in small tubes, incapable of explosion, was the fundamental idea of this boiler, and it: was Buchanan’s hope that the principle might be successfully ap- plied to aerial navigation. In 1824-1825 he applied his engine to a wagon with sufficient success to astonish “a throng of spectators” in Louisville. The engine was also tested on a small boat on the Ohio River and in 1824 it was applied to a cotton factory at Nicholasville, but apparently without much success.21 In 1826, Buchanan once more turned to his journalistic interests when, in collaboration with W. W. Worsley, he estab- lished the Louisville FOCUS,a newspaper with literary and scientific leanings ; and it was while engaged in this enterprise that he died, a victim of the yellow fever epidemic of 1829. Those who have studied the life and works of Joseph Bu- chanan speak of him only in the most glowing terms. One who was intimately acquainted with him remembered his “slender form, massive head, and thoughtful, intellectual face,” and characterized him as “a mechanical, medical, and political philosopher.”22 Simple in manner and taste,” amiable in pri- vate life. . . original and ingenious-ardent and enthusiastic, yet subjecting everything to the searching analysis of critical reason, he might have attained the highest rank in any pursuit upon which his energies had been concentrated ; but cultivating his intellect to the neglect of other powers, he scorned the pursuit of wealth ; abstracted himself from society, lived in continual pecuniary embarrassment . . . wasted his powers in desultory labors, lived and died comparatively indifferent to fame.”23

21Collins, His- of Kentuck 11, 174, 397; Curti, “Joseph Bu- chanan,” Dictionary of American 8iopaphy, 111, 215; Mrs. Henry B. Howry to the author, Louisville, Kentucky, March 14, 1949. ZZPeter, Transylvania University, 14, quoting from the inaugural address of Lewis Rogem at the Kentucky State Medical Society, 1873. 2s Collins, Sketches of Kentuclcy, 660. 386 Indiana Magazine of History Joseph Buchanan was an outstanding example of versa- tility in an age of versatile men. He was a doctor, editor, philosopher, educator, lawyer, scientist, and historian ; and at various times he made important contributions to each field. He was “essentially an intellectual pioneer working in an en- vironment which encouraged versatility rather than speciali- zation and profundity, [and] he contributed substantially to the development of culture’ in the Ohio River Valley.” It was only his inability to concentrate his efforts on a single task that saved him from fame. “His significance consists in hav- ing most thoroughly thought out a philosophy to supplant the recognized forms of dogmatic theology, and of having then proceeded to live by that philosophy. In his major work Bu- chanan not only attacked many fundamental theological con- cepts, but provided a theory of human nature and of morality, which he felt to be a satisfactory basis upon which to build human character.”2* Such was the diversified nature of the father of Joseph Rodes Buchanan. That the son of such a man would face both problems and opportunities unique in a pioneer setting goes without question. When young Buchanan was brn, his fa- ther’s most important works had already been accomplished; he was known as a doctor, teacher, author, and editor, and aa an advocate of “liberalism” he had been a leader of the ulti- mate victors in one of the West’s most violent controversies. Through his revolutionary ideas on education and philosophy he had won both loyal supporters and bitter enemies. Contro- versy followed him to the grave, and he left behind him a son capable of continuing the struggle. Of the early life of Joseph Rodes Buchanan very little has been recorded. The family moved about too much for him to have established strong ties in any one place; from Frankfort to Harrodsburg, thence to Cincinnati, and finally to Louisville, within less than a decade, was the trail of a restless father seeking his fortune. Books and education seem to have occupied a major por- tion of young Buchanan’s early years, and of that phase we have more information, with the influence and guidance of his father being everywhere evident. Even in childhood he was “noted for his uncommon maturity of mind,” and at the age of

24 Sonne, Liberal Kentuclcy, 86-86 82-83; Curti, “Joaeph Buchanm,’’ Dietiommy of Anzsrican Biogmphyt IIi, 216. A Prophet and a Science Are Born 387 seven he began the study of geometry, astronomy, history, and French.2s Four years later he stimulated his interest in so- ciology by reading the work of Robert Dale Owen on that sub- ject. And from Buchanan’s own pen there is the testimony that during his youth he had access to “daily packages of newspapers” which he read in a “desultory” manner.26 Joseph Buchanan’s ambition was to make a lawyer of his son and when the boy was only thirteen personally conducted him through the study of Blackstone’s Commentaries. Having studied law in 1847, and having later lectured to a private law class, Buchanan was, by pioneer standards, a well-qualified teacher of jurispr~dence.~~But young Buchanan had been too long and too closely associated with the all absorbing editorial activities of his father, and his first love was for the printer’s ink and the clatter of the press. For five years following the death of his father, Bu- chanan sustained himself by labor as a printer and teacher, at the same time vigorously continuing his studies. But in 1834, poor health having forced him to give up this work, he turned his attention to another of his father’s former pursuits and took up the study of medicine at Transylvania.es At Transylvania University he studied under professors Charles Caldwell and John Esten Cooke, and it may have been there that he first received two impressions which were to be- come almost an obsession for the rest of his life. As has been noted, Caldwell was the first to introduce the doctrines of phrenology to the West, and it seems likely that Caldwell, an ardent advocate of the system, may have been the first to stimulate in Buchanan an interest in the study of the brain.

25BWgraphical Encyclopedia of Kentucky, 652. Only John Stuart Mills, who began the study of Greek at the a of three, seem to have bettered this record. D. C. Somervell, English %ought in the Nineteenth Centurg (New York, 1936), 93. In Buchanan’s own words, before he was twelve years old, he had “mastered the.outlines of grammar, eography history, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, natural philosopay, mend hilosoph and political economy, and prepared to commence the study of paw.” “&ucation,” Bmhnan’s J.ourna2 of Man (6 vole., Cincinnati and Boston, 1849-1856), I, 193. 26 Harvey W. Felter, H+to?y of. the Eclectb Medical Institute, Cin- cinnati, Ohio, 1845-1902 (Cmcinnati, 1902), 98; Joseph R. Buchanan, “Nationalization of the Land as First Presented,” The Arm (41 vol~, Boston, 1889-1909), I11 (1890-1891), 406. 27 Collins, History of Kentucky, 11, 218. 38 Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky, 662; Joeeph R. Buchanan, Manual of Psychmtly: The Dawn of a New CtviIzzatiOn (Boston, 1886), 77,8243. 388 Indiana Magazine of History From the methods of Cooke, on the other hand, he probably first developed his antipathy toward the practices of members of the regular medical profession, which he so vociferously attacked in later years. He later described Cooke as “an honest and earnest man” but as one who used the “horrible system” of salivating by mercurials the majority of the sick, and spoke with disgust of thq time when Cooke had given to one man “altogether a pound and a half [of calomel] before he

At that time the medical department at Transylvania was the best and most prosperous one west of the Allegheny Moun- tains. As early as 1799, five hundreds dollars worth of books and apparatus had been bought,3o and the amounts spent had steadily increased through the years. “In their suitableness to their several purposes, her [Transylvania’s] buildings are not surpassed by those of any similar institution in the United States; of: her faculty, as a body their competency has never been called in question, but has been spoken of in terms of high commendation; her library . . . is one of the best selected in the country . . . and the chemical apparatus and anatomical museum . . . are amply sufficient. . . . In making these provi- sions . , . near thirty-five thousand dollars have been ex- pended.”51 But the Transylvania Medical Department was facing a crisis. In 1833 a state charter had authorized the establish- ment of a medical school at Louisville and certain elements had begun a campaign to have the Transylvania Medical Depart- ment removed to that location. Advocates of this plan pointed out the greater advantages of Louisville’s geographic location and compared it with the relatively isolated situation of Lex- ington. Its opponents, such as Caldwell, in the passage quoted above, expounded the excellent standing and reputation of the department at Lexington and thought that “the numerous scenes of seduction and dissipation, and the general distracting character of . . . [huisville] were eminently injurious to the

Zbid, 77-78. 80 Horine, “Early Medicine in Kentucky and the Mississippi Valley ” Joudof the gistmy of. Msdicins, 111,266. Will!- F. Nom9 Mu& cal Educatm an the Unrted States Befm the Cavd War (Phlladelphlg 1944), 289, sets the figure at $6,000. 81 A Centennial Hiat- of tha UnivsrSity of LoyisviUe (American Guide Series, Louisville, 1939), 26, uoting Dr. Charles Caldwell in fiaaylvanh ~ou7Yul.lof Medicine and & Asso&te ~bes,VII (lw), a ff. A Prophet and a Science Are Born 389 youth who resorted to it, for their education.”’* The two schools did not combine, but the controversy so disrupted the Transylvania department that it never regained its former prominence; and when the new Louisville Medical Institute began operations in 1837 both Caldwell, who had so bitterly opposed the plan, and Cooke were on the faculty of the Louis- ville school. Just how long Buchanan continued his studies at Tran- sylvania, or what his attitude toward the controversy was, is not recorded, and he was next heard of as a student at the Louisville Medical Institute. Speculation points to the prob ability that he changed schools in order to continue studying under Caldwell. On the other hand, the fact that a new medi- cal school had been established in his home town may have had something to do with his leaving Transylvania. The Louisville Medical Institute, well staffed with men prominent in their profession, seems b have been a BUCC~SS from the beginning. In 1839 its new building, consisting of three lecture rooms, four dissecting rooms, apartments for the faculty, and various other facilities, was completed. By the end of 1838 its library contained approximately twelve hun- dred volumes, and the following summer Dr. J. B. Flint was sent to Europe to purchase more.a3 The requirements for graduation were typical of similar institutions of the period. The only entrance requirements were the ability to read and write, while fees were relatively small-five dollars for matriculation, fifteen dollars for each course of lectures, and ten dollars for an optional dissecting ticket.a4 Two years of apprenticeship and two sessions of lec- tures of four months each comprised the practical experience and formal classroom requirements. The student, who had to be twenty years old and of good character, was then subjected to both public and private oral examinations, which were con- ducted by the faculty and two practicing physicians. Finally, the candidate was required to present a thesis in English, French, or Latin, on some subject relating to medicine. In this setting Joseph Rodes Buchanan completed his formal education and received the M.D. degree from the Louis- ville Medical Institute in 1841. The same year he married

a* Ibid., 26-27. Zbid, 26,48. 84 IM,47. 390 Indiana Magazine of History Anne Rowan, daughter of Judge John Rowan,86 thus early connecting himself with one of Kentucky’s most prominent fmilies; and one year later occurred the publication of his Sketches of Buchanan’s Discoveries in Neurobgg, which was his first important publication and which, containing the basic ideas of all his later teaching and writing, was the result of six years intensive work, It is impossible to say just when Buchanan first became interested in phrenology. He undoubtedly had heard of it through his father, and perhaps through his own reading, which was extensive; and any interest which he may have dis- played relative to the subject probably was further stimulated at Transylvania by Caldwell. At any rate, by 1835, Buchanan had devoted enough attention to the subject to have gained some recognition ; and during that year he traveled to Natchez, Mississippi-and perhaps other places in the South-where he “engaged in the study and diffusion of phrenological science.” The following year, having become convinced of “the substan- tial truth of the Gallian system of Phrenology,” he devoted himself “exclusively to the phrenological study of man.”se As for his reasons for taking up phrenology, there is Bu- chanan’s own testimony: “My life has been devoted to the study of man, his destiny and his happiness. Uncontrolled in education, I learned to brook no mental restraint, and thrown upon my own resources in boyhood, difficulties but strength- ened the passion for philosophical knowledge. “Anthropology had no systematic development, and its elementary sciences were in confusion. Mental philosophy was too limited in its scope, and had too little of the practical char- acter. In studying medicine it seemed that I had wandered through a wilderness without compass or cardinal points. Phrenology promised much and I examined it cautionsly [sic.] It struck me as an unsatisfactory system of mental philosophy, but one worthy of investigation as a natural sci-

~ ~~

85 H. A. Kelly and W.3 L. Burrage, Dictionary of AdanMedical Bwgraphks (New York, 1928 , 163. John Rowan was perhaps the out- standin lawyer of Kentucky (3uring the first half of the nineteenth cen- tury. firom 1804 to 1806 he was secretary of state for Kentucky, after which he served one term in the United States House of Representatives. In the early 1820’s he reentered the political field, servd two terms in the Kentucky state senate, and from 1825 to 1831 was a member of the United States Senate. 86 Buchanan Manual ofePsychmnet7y,51. Joseph R. Buchanan, “Let- ter VI-Dr. Buchanan to Miss Bremer,” Bucfranans Journal of Man, I11 (1851), 33. A Prophet and a Science Are Born 391

ence, and intensely interesting. I compared the heads of my acquaintance with phrenological drawings, and found many striking coincidences-thus was I satisfied of its substantial truth. “My interest increased with extent of my observations until I abandoned practical medicine for the exclusive study of Phrenology in the great volume of Nature. It was my object to detect the defects of the system of Gall and Spur~heim.”~~ But he was not satisfied merely to correct and expand the Gallian system of phrenology. Fundamentally, Buchanan was a philosopher seeking answers to all the questions which had troubled man from the dawn of time. He was searching for a “science of man,” in the broadest sense of the phrase--d science which would include not only the study of man’s mind but one which would comprehend the relationship between mind and body, between man and his fellow man, and between man and his environment-a science which would define and explain the connection between man and the universe, between man and God. According to Buchanan, up to that date there had been no true science of man, only four or five partial ones. Meta- physics was one such partial science ; phrenology was another, and the two differed in that the latter looked “at human na- ture as it is, instead of looking for a theoretical substratum.” Metaphysics had proved itself inadequate, and phrenology had failed to devise a true system of mental science because its discoveries were based only on an inadequate cranioscopy, in- competent of revealing the true nature of the brain. Physi- ology and anatomy also had failed because they revealed noth- ing of the power of the brain and therefore could not be philo- sophical. Natural history, social history, and animal magne- tism had brought to light many wonderful facts, but without giving any satisfactory explanation for the nature of man.** Thus Buchanan adopted phrenology merely as a stepping stone toward something infinitely more ambitious-a science which, if perfected would end all the age-old controversies relative to the cause, purpose, and ultimate fate of man. He was groping for something akin to what modern science calls

87Joeeph R. Buchanan, Outlinss o Lectures ion the Neurologiacl System of Anthr!pokgy,.aa Diammd Dmunwtrated and Taught in 1841 and 18.42 (Cmannati, 1864), 31. 88 ZM,54. 392 Indiana Magazine of History psychology and psychiatry ; but eventually Buchanan’s scheme went much further than either of these have dared to go. Such a science Buchanan first called anthropology. But this term he deemed inadequate; it implied only a science of man, whereas his science was to include not only man but every living thing. A more inclusive term was necessary. He decided on “neurology,” which he defined as the science of nervous matter-including man and all the animal kingdom.s8 Buchanan’s main criticism of the Gallian system was that it was neither complete nor symmetrical. “To the philosopher . . . it suggests the idea of an incomplete system arrested in the midst of its progress.” It seemed “deficient in analysis, and overladen with arbitrary incongruous details.” And it failed the test of practicality, a basic claim of phrenology, because it gave no organ of the brain for many of the actions of man. He thought that the phrenological system must refer “every decided or distinct tendency of human nature . . . to a definite cerebral source,” and that for each tendency there must be an opposite tendency-and an organ for it. Upon these arguments he based his conclusion that the Gallian sys- tem had two fundamental shortcomings: It was one-sided and unbalanced, and, in consequence of its incompleteness, it was inconsistent with itself.40 Buchanan regarded the phrenological system as a protest against the old metaphysicists, and declared “either we must go back to the old Metaphysical ground, and deny that our passions and faculties are connected with a definite portion of the brain . . . ; or we must adopt the Phrenological doctrine fully and unequivocally and carry it out to ib legitimate re- sults. This is what the Gallian system has failed to d~.”~~ All these deficiencies Buchanan set out to correct ; and with this work he evidently occupied most of his time as a student at the Louisville Medical Institute. The earlier phrenologists had relied upon three methods of investigation-vivisection, pathology, and cranioscopy. Buchanan rejected all three. Vivisection-operating on living animals-he dismissed as equally cruel and fruitless; path- ology was out because there was an insufficient knowledge of

~~ 80 Joseph R. Buchanan, “What is Neurology,” Buckn’s Journal of Man, I, 5. 4OBuchanan, System of Anthmpolgy, 4-6. 41 ZM,7. A Propkt and a Science Are Born 393 cerebral physiology “to guide us,” and, though he considered cranioscopy the most simple and most successful method used up to that time, even it could not perfect “nor positively dem- onstrate the science [of phrenology] .” Ita drawback was that irregular thickness of the skull sometimes led to wrong con- clusions. In general, Buchanan wrote, the outline of the cranium indicated the true outline of character; but over ac- tivity or under activity of any portion of the brain might cause variations and the character will depart from the outline of the cranium. “Whenever the organs become inactive through lack of exercise, they shrink in size, the bone thickens by growing inward, and the skull becomes opaque.” For these reasons bumps usually did not indicate brain development, which, therefore, must be inferred from the general contour of the cranium.** In order to avoid these difficulties Buchanan early de doped a new method of investigation, which he called the “sensitive mode.” In using this method he watched the sensa- tions which various mental activities had on his head. He noted that a scholarly lecture gave him a “marked sensation” in the upper portion of his forehead and concluded that this was the region of greatest intelligence. In the same manner he located the organs of irritability, anxiety, and many others. He also used the “intuitive method,” which relied upon the powers of clairvoyance to determine mental functions and lo- calities by direct perception, and believed that “a clairvoyant of a well disciplined philosophical mind, free from the errors of imagination, is the true telescope and microscope of Phreno- logical ~cience.”~’ Relying on these modes of investigation, Buchanan dis- covered many errors in the Gallian system. For example, he found cowardly men who had large bumps where Gall and Spunheim had located combativeness, and proved, to his own satisfaction, that “the height of the head above the earn did not prove a correct criterian of moral character.”u By 1839 he had, by his own admission, “acquired posses- sion of numerous, sound and comprehensive principles,” from which he soon formed a system of philosophy; and he had discovered certain mathematical laws to be the basis of an&+ 394 Indknu Magazine of History pology. “These principles being . . . based on anatomy and pathognomy were styled the PATHOGNOMIC SYSTEM."^^ This system Buchanan regarded as being near the true anthropology, but at the same time he realized that by the methods he was pursuing “a lifetime would scarcely be suffi- cient to re-organize the science,” and he determined “to find some shorter road to the arcana of Cerebral Physiology.”46 It occurred to him that if some external agent could be found which would stimulate the different portions of the brain “80 as to manifest, on the instant, and in a striking manner, their peculiar functions,” then both the speed and accuracy of his experiments would be greatly impr~ved.~‘Experimenting first with magnetism and then with galvanism he dismissed both as impractical for his purpose. He then tried a more ambitious plan, “believing that the nervous fluid, or nervaura, was closely analogous to galvanism, and was continually radi- ated by the human constitution, I applied this influence by touch to the head of a highly impressible and cultivated lady . . . with the successful result of exciting every point that I touched.” It was while lecturing in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the spring of 1841, that this wonderful discovery was made; and Buchanan was now satisfied that he had found the key to the true anthr~pology.~~ Buchanan’s explanation for this phenomenon was that in the nervous system of every living thing there was a nervaurk fluid or impulse, “which is radiated and conducted freely from the human hand.”4g This nervaura, flowing from the fingers of the operator, in turn would be strong enough to stimulate the organs of another person with which the fingers of the operator made contact, provided the organs of the subject were sufficiently sensitive, or “impressible,” to react to the stimulus. From this explanation he adopted the term “im- pressibility” to describe the capacity of an individual to re- spond to the nervauric impulses flowing from another person.

45 IW,33. 46 Joaepp R. Buchanan, Sketehss of Buchcsnan’s Diem& in Ne ro&gy (Lorude, 1842), 9. 47 Robert D. Owen Neurolo : An Account of SmExp~humk in Cerebral Physiology (lhd~n,la), 3. 48 Buehanan, f3ySte7n Of Anthropology, 88. 4s Joseph R. Buchanan, “Neurology in New York,“ Buohancnr’s Jotw nal of Man, I, 1-2. A Prophet and a Scieme Are Barn 896

The discoverer of this amazing power believed that it was comparable to “the discovery of Columbus,” and that it had been overlooked through the ages only because of its “very simplicity.” The revelation of the powers of impressibility changed neurology “from a mere anatomical description of nervous cords and masses, to a comprehensive science embrac- ing all the functions of mind and body.”50 He doubkl not that it opened up a whole new world for exploration and later wrote that had men been open-minded enough to accept it the year 1841 would have been “the most significant epoch in history- the year in which mankind added psychic to physical science.”51 Nor was he slow to put this new power to use. By 1842 he was almost overcome by the results of his experiments, and marveled that results of such magnitude had been so speedily and so correctly attained by one “whom neither years nor official honors have placed in [an] authoritative a position.” Triumphantly announcing that within a single month he had been able to learn more of the brain’s physiology than pre- viously had been acquired by all the physiologists and patho- logists who had worked on the subject, he boasted that: “It is in my power to excite, in a few moments, any portion of the brain, either large or small; to put that portion into full and vigorous action as an efficient portion of the character of the person upon whom I operate, and then, at will, suspend its ac- tion, and excite the action of its antagonist organ, or of any other, or group of organs that I choose to bring into play. “Thus I make my subjects alternately laugh and weep, reason profoundly of moral truths, and then, without any reason, draw the fist to strike; express the deepest humility, or self-sufficiency and levity; sit for hours with the greatest pa- tience, or leap up with passionate restlessness; express the finest moral sentimenta, or assume the manners and feelings of the miser and thief; indulge in eating, and drink strong liquor, or assume a moral dignity, despise sensuality and speak of food with loathing; feel the most exalted moral and reli- gious sentiments, or indulge in levity with an inclination to be v~igar.9952

60 Buchanan, “What 1s Neurology,” ibid., 6. 61 Jose h R. Buchanan Thtwa utb Sarcognom A Scientific Ezpo- sition of tb Mysterbus &tion orSouZ, Brain a?u?Body . . , (Borrton, 1884), 1-2. 62 Bochanm, Dismm’ee &I NwoZogt(, 4-6,6,10-11, 396 Indiana Magazim of History

Buchanan’s dream had been realized; he had found the key to the secrets of mind and body. With access to these secrets he devoted himself to the task of evolving and organ- izing a system of moral philosophy and pseudo-medical science which caused an even more violent reaction among medical scientists than had homeopathy, eclecticism, and all the other cults of the period.