Sorry, I mistook the reference to the new flick “From Hell” to be a reference to a late gothic painting. My understanding (based on TV ads) is that “From Hell” takes place in the time of Jack the Ripper, 1888. Reading this site
http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n02/historia/lobotomy.htm
will tell you that what MIGHT be considered a proto-lobotomy wasn’t practiced until 1892, and lobotomy via “holes in the head” --trepanning, I suppose, didn’t happen until the 1930’s.
Adam Yax: At one time, some Rhesus Monkeys had the upper parts of their skulls replaced with clear plastic domes. It was as gruesome as it was cruel. I don’t beleive one could “see what they were thinking” in the sense that there were any significant obserbable changes in the now-visible brains. I would have to guess that if you had such a sunroof (or is it a moon-roof?) and went outside in the sunshine, it’d cook your brain right quick.
If I may indulge in an opinion, trepanning to get rasied conciousness, special brain waves, or whatever it is that the proponents claim is about on par with relieving toothaches by shooting out the afected teeth with a gun (and yes, there are idiots who do this!).