- Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1828) : Franz Gall refers to Austrian anatomist who postulated that mental faculties were innate and related to the topical structures of the brain. Gall believed that the strengths of mental faculties varied from person to person and that they could be determined by examining the bumps and depressions on a person's skull. Such an examination came to be called Phrenology. Please see also Phrenology.