Phrenology Research Environment

SOLLY, Samuel (1805-1871)

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Metadata

Born: 1805

Died: 1871

Postnominals: MRCS

Editorial Description

1828, FRS 1837, FRCS 1843, the only med lecturer besides J. ELLIOTSON and William LAWRENCE to be a FRS while advocating phrenology from inside the med establishment; son of a Baltic merchant (probably S. Solly [d.1807] who was known for his interest in scientific culture, FRS 1792 and one of the hereditary proprietors of the Roy Inst); studied under B. TRAVERS at St. Thomas's Hosp and continued his studies in Paris; began practice, 1831; lectured on anatomy and physic at St. Thomas's, 1841, full surgeon, 1853; pres Roy Med & Chirur Soc, 1867-8; inspired by SPURZHEIM'S dissection of the brain at St Thomas's in 1823, he was not completely converted to phrenology until some time after 1836 when he witnessed convincing craniological demonstrations; joined the PHREN ASSN, and in 1843 served on its committee; publicly avowed himself a phrenologist in his lecture on the brain to the Roy Inst on 16 Feb 1844. (DNB)

Works as Listed by Roger Cooter (1989)

• 1054.1 — 1054.1 [On phrenology in his] The Human Brain: its Structure, Physiology and Diseases. With a Description of the Typical Forms of Brain in the Animal Kingdom. 2nd edn, London: Longman & Co, 1847: 337-43. (Lists his 5 reasons for believing in phrenology; contains prefatory letter by J. STREETER on the history of phrenology. Dedicated to B. TRAVERS.) 1st edn, 1836 (The Human Brain, its Configuration...) is without the phrenology.

Editorial Information

1054. SOLLY, Samuel (1805-71), MRCS 1828, FRS 1837, FRCS 1843,
the only med lecturer besides J. ELLIOTSON and William LAWRENCE
to be a FRS while advocating phrenology from inside the med establishment; son of a Baltic merchant (probably S. Solly [d.1807] who
was known for his interest in scientific culture, FRS 1792 and one
of the hereditary proprietors of the Roy Inst); studied under B.
TRAVERS at St. Thomas's Hosp and continued his studies in Paris;
began practice, 1831; lectured on anatomy and physic at St. Thomas's,
1841, full surgeon, 1853; pres Roy Med & Chirur Soc, 1867-8; inspired by SPURZHEIM'S dissection of the brain at St Thomas's in
1823, he was not completely converted to phrenology until some time
after 1836 when he witnessed convincing craniological demonstrations;
joined the PHREN ASSN, and in 1843 served on its committee; publicly
avowed himself a phrenologist in his lecture on the brain to the Roy
Inst on 16 Feb 1844. (DNB)