botanist; proprietor and ed PHREN J, 1837-41; one of the 10 children of the Cheshire County magistrate, Holland Watson; destined for a military career but due to a knee injury, which left him with a limp, he turned to law (articling in Manchester) and then to medicine (studying in Edin, 1828- 32); a small inheritance freed him from the need to earn a living; first became acquainted with phrenology through CAMERON in Liverpool, c1823, and became an ardent advocate after meeting G. COMBE and other leading exponents in Edin; provided a testimonial for G. MACKENZIE, 1836; reacted against his father's Toryism and his Church upbringing; confessed himself a democrat and wrote on selfgovernment, 1848; M Br Assn; M EDIN PHREN SOC and M PHREN ASSN from Aug 1839; lectured on phrenology in Warrington, 1839, and at the Manchester Athenaeum, 1839, 1843; turned away from phrenology in 1841 and devoted himself to botany and evolution, applying for the chair of botany in Ireland in 1846. (DNB; MEB; DSB; "Portrait" drawn by Mr. Hughe "himself a phrenologist," NATURALIST, 4 [1839]: 264-9.)
Works as Listed by Roger Cooter (1989)
1171.1
— 1171.1 "Case of Deficiency of Speech in Concomitance with Great Deficiency in the Organ of Tune," PHREN J, 6 (1829/30): 103-4.
1171.2
— 1171.2 "Evidence Towards Ascertaining the Real Function of Comparison," PHREN J, 6 (1829/30): 383-97.
1171.3
— 1171.3 "Inquiry into the Function of Wit," PHREN J, 6 (1829/30): 451-69.
1171.5
— 1171.5 "Remarks on the Peculiarities of Memory. Read to the Phrenological Society," PHREN J, 7 (1831/2); 212-4.
1171.6
— 1171.6 "[Review of] Sir William Hamilton's prefix to Alexander Monro's The Anatomy of the Brain (1831)," PHREN J, 7 (1831/2): 434-44.
1171.7
— 1171.7 "Relation Between Cerebral Development and the Tendency to Particular Pursuits;--and on the Heads of Botanists," PHREN J, 8 (1832/4): 97-108.
1171.8
— 1171.8 "Comments on Mr. Hancock's 'Letter on the Functions of the Organs of Comparison and Wit,' " PHREN J, 9 (1834/6): 494-8.
1171.9
— 1171.9 "What is the Use of the Double Brain," PHREN J, 9 (1834/6): 608-11.
1171.10
— 1171.10 An Examination of Mr. [William] Scott's Attack Upon Mr. Combe's 'Constitution of Man'. London: Longmans & Co, for the author; 1836. Pp. 38. (Contained Watson's first defense of the transformation of species on Lamarckian grounds; reviewed PHREN J, 10 [1836/7]: 374-6.)
1171.11
— 1171.11 Statistics of Phrenology: Progress and Present State of that lands. London: Longman, 1836. [1836/7] 235-43.) Being a Sketch of the Science in the British Is- (Reviewed PHREN J, 10
1171.12
— 1171.12 "Answer to Mr. Hancock's Reply to Mr. Watson's Comments on ... Functions of Comparison and Wit," PHREN J, 10 (1836/7): 168-70.
1171.13
— 1171.13 "A Fact on the Connection Between Mental Emotions and Certain States of the Body," PHREN J, 10 (1836/7): 283-5.
1171.14
— 1171.14 *Strictures on Anti-Phrenology, in Two letters to Macvey Napier, Esq. and P. M. Roget, MD. Being An Exposure of the Article Called 'Phrenology,' Recently Published in the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica'. London: ("for private distribution"), Oct 1838. Pp. 31. Offprinted from PHREN J, 12 (1839): 1-29. (Authorship confirmed in Notes & Queries, 1880; the LIT GAZ, 1 Dec 1838: 755 referred to the author as "a reverend gentleman.")
1171.15
— 1171.15 "Introductory Explanations to the New Series," PHREN J, 11 (1838): 1-12.
1171.16
— 1171.16 "A Peculiar Revival of Memory," PHREN J, 11 (1838): 45-7.
1171.19
— 1171.19 "Religious and Medical Missionaries," PHREN J, 11 (1838): 72-3.
1171.20
— 1171.20 "Why do Birds Sing?" PHREN J, 11 (1838): 73-5. 1171.21 *On the Opinions of Phrenologists touching the Function of the Organ called Wit,' PHREN J, 11 (1838): 381-91.
Editorial Information
Identifier
1171.
Type
Person
Source
Roger Cooter, Phrenology in the British Isles (1989)
PDF page
343
Printed page
338
Database ID
3220
Original Transcription
1171. WATSON, Hewett Cottrell (1804-81), botanist; proprietor and
ed PHREN J, 1837-41; one of the 10 children of the Cheshire County
magistrate, Holland Watson; destined for a military career but due
to a knee injury, which left him with a limp, he turned to law (articling in Manchester) and then to medicine (studying in Edin, 1828-
32); a small inheritance freed him from the need to earn a living;
first became acquainted with phrenology through CAMERON in Liverpool, c1823, and became an ardent advocate after meeting G. COMBE
and other leading exponents in Edin; provided a testimonial for G.
MACKENZIE, 1836; reacted against his father's Toryism and his
Church upbringing; confessed himself a democrat and wrote on selfgovernment, 1848; M Br Assn; M EDIN PHREN SOC and M PHREN
ASSN from Aug 1839; lectured on phrenology in Warrington, 1839,
and at the Manchester Athenaeum, 1839, 1843; turned away from
phrenology in 1841 and devoted himself to botany and evolution, applying for the chair of botany in Ireland in 1846. (DNB; MEB;
DSB; "Portrait" drawn by Mr. Hughe "himself a phrenologist,"
NATURALIST, 4 [1839]: 264-9.)