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Leader (1850-1860), 7th July 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 9, PRIZE TEMPERANCE TALE* IT appears from o...

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      Mr. Massey's History.* Itihe Third Volum...

      Revolution ,- - but they were far nearer to a philosophical comprehension of that prodigious outbreak against worn-out ideas as well as worn-out forms than those who take , as Mr . Massey seems inclined to do , the morbid if not insane sentimentality of Mr . Burke for their guide . Mr . Massey helps us somewhat with a collocation of facts illustrating Certain portions of the transactions of the , reign of George III ., but he contributes nOtliiog : to political or social ' philosophy . He can £ hink no thought that will live , and write no sentence that will * be remembered ; but , in an age singularly benevolent to mediocrities , lie will obtain that charitable appreciation which we have endeavoured iio bestow upon him .

      July 7, 18.60.J The Saturday Analyst And...

      July 7 , 18 . 60 . J The Saturday Analyst and Leader . " ¦ 633

      The Philosophy Of Insanity.* I T Is One ...

      THE PHILOSOPHY OF INSANITY . * I T is one of the triumphs of the benevolent principle of modern civilization , that our treatment of insane persona is thoroughly reformed . Kindness has taken the place of terror , and agreeable inducement now performs effectually work that was , in former times , attempted to be accomplished by force . As a consequence of the reformation of our mode of dealing with those suffering from mental weakness or alienation , our curative success has greatly increased , and if we must on the one hand lament the large numbers of those who fall victims to the wearing excitements and bitter disappointments of our imperfect social system , we nay , on the other , congratulate ourselves on the valuable efforts which are made to mitigate evils ,

      we are as yet unable to prevent . But while our empirical treatment of the insane has improved , we can scarcely claim a corresponding improvement in the pathology and philosophy of mental disorders , or to speak more strictly , of cerebral and nervous diseases ; for we must never forget thab if disease of the mind be possible , we ¦ possess no means of proving its existence or investigating its effects . The operations of the mind , whether they be healthy or morbid , may be considered apart from organization ; but insanity , as a medical subject , is a branch of physical science ^ and connected at every point With the condition of the apparatus , which , during mortal life , undergoes some definite change whenever thought , consciousness , or sensation occur . JFor generations anatomists and physiologists

      have examined brains and nerves , and watched with eagerness the performance of their functions , and the perfection of modern microscopes has facilitated an acquaintance with minute details of . structure , but we have not yet settled some of the foundationpomts of cerebral sciences JSTo physiologist of'reputation would contend in opposition to Gall , that the multifarious operations of the brain are performed by that organ acting as a mass 4 and yet few even among the most ardent phrenologistsrwould affirm that more than an approximation , known and felt to be imperfect , has yet . been made towards a distribution of functions to particular parts . We have advanced little in determining the relation of the brain to the spinal . marrow , to the various ganglia and the general system of nerves .

      and we have scarcely a guess as to the causes or nature of the changes which substitute morbid action for healthy performance . In the practical treatment of the insane , it is our humanity , not pur medicine that has improved ; and we are as far as ever from possessing a sufficiently complete knowledge of symptoms , to decide at what point restraint and compulsory medical measures ought to begin . Dr . Winslow and other gentlemeny more popularly than politely ^ nllpd " mnri HnrttmV' are constantly reminding us of the danger of allowing persons in the early stages of insanity to enjoy full liberty , until at last some desperate act obliges the law to interpose ; but , although we fully admit with Esquirol and other eminent authorities that nature gives warning 1 of coming danger , we do not believe

      that the " mad doctor , " with all his skill , really does know so much snore than the rest of the world , as to constitute him a safe guide . Nor is this impression weakened by the common fact that one set of doctors are arrayed against the other , in a manner utterly inconsistent with the existence and recognition of sound rules of observation and decision . If a man breaks his leg and a dozen surgeons are sent for , they will all give ' pretty much the same account of the nature and extent of the damage he has sustained ; but in enses of reputed insanity there will be no longer agreement , and only extreme manifestations of disorder will elicit anything like uniformity of opinion . Moreover , we nre not agreed as to the amount of insanity a man may be said to have a constitutional right to without suffering ? molestation , and we by no means sympathize with Dr . Winslow when he laments that juries return verdicts of " temporary insanity" in cases of suicide , when they would

      . require stronger evidence to consign a living man to the tutelage or imprisonment of doctors and friends . The book before us is a proof of the imperfection of medical science as far as it relates to insanity , for , notwithstanding the long experience and eminence of its author , it is little more than a collection of enses arranged with very little attempt at philosophy , and scarcely differing * from what a non-medical reader might compile as the curiosities of a rending which had extended among the stories of mental alienation . We do not say this out of any disrespect for I ) r . Winslow , for weave conscious that a profounder thinker would aipt linve dpne mtich more- with the-Baine-moterialfl ,-uUlioug > h-he would have avoided explaining nbnormal and morbid excitations of the animal faculties by suggesting- that they were ebullitions of innate depravity or original sin . Dr . Winslow has collected an important mass of materials tending to illustrate the mental condition of persons before , during , and niter attacks of insanity , and he adduces many facts to show that mental ¦ ¦ 1 ' '

      disorders . are more common among children than is usually known He likewise calls earnest attention to what he designates " masked affections of the mind , " and attributes much of the misery so often found in families to concealed or undetected insanity . This sad state of things he represents as " existing to a frightful extent , " and " unhappily oh . the increase . " Dr . Winslow is a good authority upon this deplorable subject , and we fear that his opinions rest upon foundations too strong to be overthrown . When persons who have been habitually kind suddenly become brutal , or those who have been habitually religious suddenly become profane , the evidence of insanity is very strong ; but Dr . Winslow describes another class of cases , in which the ordinary duties of life are regularly performed , and nothing indicates to ordinary observers the insidious progress of a disease that ultimately makes itself known by violent perversions of propensities or instincts .

      In one case , cited by Dr . Winslow , a lady was subject to paroxysms of passion , during which sije tore out handfuls of her husband ' s hair , and occasioned him serious alarm and distress . " She was , " says the Doctor , " clearly disordered in her mind ; but we could not detect evidence sufficient to justify us in signing a medical certificate authorizing her being-placed under control . We lamented that , owing to a defective state of the law , we could not grapple with the case . " There , will be many who will be very glad of the " defective state of the law , " and who would be very sorry to see the *' mad doctors *' ¦ -. " grappling" with such cases . A divorce

      upon the ground of incurable incompatibility of temper would surely be a preferable remedy to such a widening of the law of insanity , that anybody might be " grappled" with In confinement , whose temper was more fiery than a couple of medical men thought consistent with the absence of disease . We fully appreciate the services that Dr . Winslow will render by making society aware of the existence of insanity in the insidious forms he describes . Such knowledge will lead the patients , and those in contact with them , to resort to means likely to allay the morbid irritation ; but we should be very sorry to see such cases met by an application of force , except when absolutely necessary to prevent violent crime .

      What Dr . Winslow calls " paralysis of the moral sense , " is a most important subject for consideration , and here we can most readily go with his desire for the early application of restraint . When a boy , as in a case he mentions , systematically behaves with such brutality and cruelty that his " remaining at school is impossible , when he is detected pTaimiiig the murder of- two other boys whoni he does not like , it would certainly be wiser to treat him as a lunntic at once , thairwait until , after inflicting upon others a mass of minor miseries he may at last indulge in son % very desperate act . Dr . / Woodwardj _ jof the State Asylum , Massachusetts ; affirms , that" moral idiots , " asHie terms them , rarely exhibit rinu : h vigour of-mind ; and our readers will remember cases in which bur judges have persisted in treating as responsible criminals , persons who-were manifestations

      destitute of moral sense , and of feeble intellectual . As an instance of the effect of external influences in producing and allaying morbid mental conditions , Dr . Winslow cites the case of a . military man who was in the habit of walking backwards and forwards on the ramparts of a town . " When he walked "forwards , his ? face fronted the east , when the sky was hung with black , aiid alas ! his poor soul : then he was 'in deep despair : but when he turned towards the west , when the setting sun left behind a halo of glory and beaiitlTul evening ' s red , his happiness again returnetlT '' Eci ' ually ^ cux-ious , although in another way , is the account of a young lady who was subject to hallucinations , and whose morbid visions in many cases preceded the death of relatives or friends;—andpf the gentleman who when drunk declared that his family were in that condition , and insisted upon undressing them and putting them to bed . The perversions and abnormal actions of memory are among the

      most wonderful phenomena of certain forms of insanity , and ui the work before us many cases will be found seeming to-prove that all mental impressions are indestructible , and that the faintest impression once made may hereafter be recalled ; as when the servant girl repeated sentences of Hebrew and other learned tongues , under the influence of disease , and long after she had heard them spouted by a clergyman with whom she had lived . Equally wonderful are the phenomena of "double consciousness , " such as those exhibited by Miss It—— , who , after an attack of profound sleep , quite forgot all her acquired knowledge , and hnd to learn even spelling afresh . A second fit of somnolenoy came on , and after recovering from it she remembered all that belonged to her original stute . but was ignorant of what happened aftorwarda . For more than four years these attacks and transitions occurred , and friends regulated i / ueir intercourse with her according us their acquaintance dated from the

      old or new state . We have only been able to notice a few of the topics discussed by Dr . Winslow , and have been compelled to omit many of groat interest and importance . What we have said , however , will direct many of our readers to the work itself , which belongs as much to philosophy as to medicine , and will be found capable of entertaining- and instructing all who love to speculate on the wonderful nature nnd destiny of uvun .. — ..... _ ,. _„ — -, ~ , — , — .., — ; , _ .

      * On Obscure Diseases Of The Lira In And...

      * On Obscure Diseases of the lira in and Disorder a of the Mind . By Forbes Winslow , M . I ) . John Churchill .

      Prize Temperance Tale* It Appears From O...

      PRIZE TEMPERANCE TALE * IT appears from our statistical and other sources that the vice of intemperance / , instead of being on the wane , as we have hoard some sanguine people confidently uHnert , is still steadily increasing . We arc told that wo should bo perfectly horrified cuuld we bub

      ? Dancsbwy J/Omc. A Tale. By. Mrs. »«Nhv...

      ? Dancsbwy J / omc . A Tale . By . Mrs . »« NHV Wood . „ Scottish Temperance Loague . Iloulston & Wright , und W . rweedie .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1860, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07071860/page/9/