The interval allowed was only five minutes, at the end of which I resumed the lecture; but so refreshing was the effects of the brief rest and, above all, the admission of pure air, that during the second hour the attention was as completely sustained as during the first.

His attitudes were supported by William Jolly an inspector of schools and noted by Frank Pierrepont Graves in connection with Spencer and T. The actual form of education set up by Combe was later regarded as "transient" though as a propagandist of general educational ideas he was more effective. He initiated a programme of public education about chemistry physiology history and moral philosophy.

George Combe (21 October 1788 – 14 August 1858) was a Scottish lawyer and writer on phrenology and education. In later years he devoted himself to the promotion of phrenology and founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820.