1-157-598 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Phrenology, 1820 (1886). Measuring the bumps on a boy's head to assess his future. On the wall in the background is a portrait of of Franz Josef Gall (1757-1828) the founder of the theory that the shape of skull related to intellectual capacity and behaviour. Although not based on fact, the theory became extremely popular in the early 19th century.