The Press. — London, England, 1855-09-15 00:00:00

rasa is very defective. The paper on which we write is passive, but the mind is not pas sive ; it is active from the instant that impres sions are received by it. Nor is Mr. Thompson's own image of the mind resembling pulp suffi ciently expressive of its active character. It is rather a most complicated and wonderful machine—a steam-engine for example—which remains inactive until fuel be supplied to it ; or it is a seed which contains in itself the germ of tree or flower, but requires elemental influences to nourish its growth and develop its powers. That principle of adaptation and depen dence which we observe in the physical world— as, to take the most familiar instance, the adaptation of the earth to the atmosphere and the sun—prevails in the relation of mind to sense and mutter. Apart from them—with all its exquisite construction—it is dead ; but this fact surely should not blind us to the variety and beauty of its original endowments. Take the case of the eye. Without light it has no perception—it can discern nothing. But with the aid of light the objects of the outward world are disclosed to it. What could he more irrational than to assert., on the one hand, that light constituted the eye, or on the other, that the eye, apart from light, had any innate conceptions of form and colour? The organism of the eye is per feet, though no light called its functions into exercise ; but without light it remains as though it existed not. For the eye substitute the mind, and for light the senses, with the instruction they are capable of imparting, and the analogy is as close as can be desired. If this view be correct, all the notions en tertained concerning innate ideas of the mind must be discarded. We believe that the doc trine has arisen from philosophers mistaking the laws of the mind, acting on the percep tions of experience, for innate and original ideas of the mind. To return to the image of the eye : when quickened and informed by light it acts according to laws naturally re sulting from its constitution. It perceives forms and colours in such manner as its organism prescribes, and it cannot help so perceiving them. In like manner the mind is subject to laws resulting from its constitution which it must obey ; and hence—the informa tion it receives from the senses acting on it in a manner more or less uniform—there has arisen the doctrine of innate ideas. As rea sonably might we speak of an innate sense of colour because all eyes agree that the fields are green and the sky is blue, as of innate ideas because all men are agreed on certain mental points. Causality is one of the laws of the mind. It cannot help reasoning from effect to cause. The savage who, returning to his village, finds that it has been burnt to the ground in his absence, is constrained to look for traces of the agency 1)3 which it has been destroyed, and soon determines, by the signs he discovers, whether the work has been occasioned by an enemy, and, if so, by what tribe. In his re searches he acts according to laws of reason, which are fundamentally the same among all races of mankind. But suppose that he ob serves his village swept away by a hurricane, or some lofty tree shivered by lightning— must he not in that case also reason on the agency by which the devastation has been effected ? In this.way the belief in a Supreme Being is forced on the understanding through the action of its natural laws working on ex perience ; but it is surely erroneous to con found such convictions with innate ideas. In one respect the analogy between the eye and the mind ceases. The eye is affected only to a small extent by the nature of its exercise. If constantly directed to iistant objects it be comes far-sighted ; if to very near objects, then near-sighted. The influence of external circumstances, and of habits of thought on the mind, is much greater. Such influence may constitute all tho difference between a Howard and a Robespierre. There are numerous other points in Mr. Thompson's essay which call for criticism, and particularly his remarks on the origin of evil, but we must refrain. His fundamental con ceptions of the mind, on the truth of which all must depend in metaphysical reasoning, are not remarkable for either originality or depth. THE PRESS. We see no reason why the science of natural theology should widely depart in its method from the practice observed in other sciences. It is likely to be better advanced by lessoning on facts concerning which all persons aro nearly agreed, than by disquisition on purely speculative judgments. Human knowledge would advance but slowly if before we ad• mitted the validity of facts we had to settle principles of consciousness, and determine whether the constitution of the mind enabled us to repose with certainty in its conclusions. Until the intellect has been warped by exces sive pride in its own ratiocinative power, or hopelessly perplexed by too subtle refinement, the belief in a Supreme Being must (notwith standing Mr. Thompson's assertion to the contrary) rest on the same kind of evidence in degree as our belief in other truths not imme diately cognisable by sense. With all respect for the ability displayed in this work, we still think that it is constructed on a wrong prin ciple ; and we view it us especially unfortunate that the two Burnett prizes should so strongly resemble each other, and both reveal more learned logic than original observation (in which both treatises are remarkably deficient) and sound thought. The Physician for All; his Philosophy, his Expe- rience - , and his Mission. By John Spurgin, M.D. London : Whittaker and Co. THIS is at the same time the most readable and the most eccentric medical book which has yet issued from the hands of a physician of eminence. Dr. Spurgin's theory of the extent of the duties of a physician embraces a wide circumference; he is, in fact, to be a "physician for all," and in his study of nature to perfect himself in the knowledge of disease under every form, rather than confine himself to the pathology and cure of one peculiar disease. Taking the constitution of the blood as the basis of health or disease, Dr. Spurgin denies the efficacy of one specific course of treatment for every form of a peculiar disease, and asserts that a man unfettered by such prejudices and free in his judgment is the one only who could take an enlarged view of the case and seek the best evidence before deciding for or against any mode of treatment. This first series is mainly intended to show that the wellbeing of animal and human life depends upon the nature and constitution of the blood; and here, upon the subject of the nature of the blood, Dr. Spurgin remarks how essential it is to keep in view the constitutional ten dencies of the individual whose maladies the physician may be called in to cure, and how hazardous is the practice of subjecting every case to the same course of treatment, even when falling under the same designation or nosological arrangement; for most true it is that " what is food for one may be poison for another." But medical writers partake of a failing very common to humanity. Each is apt to re gard his own method as the only right method. Their treatises on diseases too frequently present common ideas in a new dress, as if they originated them, and the common modes of practice exhibit a confined expe rience and limited power in the management of disorders, which surprise us no less than the modern prevalence of speciality as a legitimate claim on public confidence. A large experience of many diseases is more essential to the physician in the management of any one disease, than is that of one disease in the management of that one ; without it the practitioner is proportionately defective in his healing power, and not nn frequently have we witnessed the failure of the specialist in his own professed sphere of action and the success of a practice based upon a more enlarged view of things in the particular case. Upon the constitution of the blood his opinions are worthy of extract : It may be considered analogous to an impregnated egg; for although the ingredients are to all appearance consti tuted alike in most birds, insomuch that chemists with all their skill cannot determine by chemical characteristics the difference between the egg of an eagle and that of a dove, yet the natures of each respectively operate as the law, or the force, which render them essentially so diverse. The materials in both are chemically the same, but a different constitution and determination are as• signed them, according to the respective natures operative in each. The same reasoning applies exactly to the blood; in most animals the same materials compose it, but the nature of each animal determines a specific and absolute • difference in constitution, and this because the formative force and the nature have a reciprocal relation to each other—for as is the one such also is the other. But I refer my indulgent reader to my observations upon the nature of the blood throughout, and especially to the con clusion, that in the animal nature all is animal, and in the human all is human. To illustrate my meaning by one incident. I fre quently met a brother physician of great celebrity and of acute intellect in consultation upon an obstinate case which required very active treatment. The patient was bled again and again, th e s t a t e o f th e blood fully justifying the measure, presenting, as it did, the clearest signs of an 'inflammatory condition. At ono of our SATURDAY, interviews he expressed his surprise that this condition continued; I remarked, " that the nourishment taken by the patient, simple as it was, kept up the condition, on the principle that like makes like." " What !" said he, "do you mean to say that when I eat duck I be. come duck ?" "No! " I replied, " when you eat duck duck becomes you." " I beg your pardon; I ought to have known better," was the learned doctor's manly ad. mission. I put diet in the first place, because it is manifest. at first sight almost; this of itself is a vast field for the physician's eye to rest upon and his hand to work with, if regarded as a medical appliance only. It is according to what the blood is nourished by that its constitution is determined from without; the materials being atmo spheric, liquid, and solid. The organic functions also modify the blood's constitution according to their healthy or unhealthy performance, and also according to the quality and quantity of the materials which relate to them respectively; and it' these materials are deficient in quality and quantity, the organs themselves are proportionately embarrassed, and fail in their wonted degree and extent of service. In like manner, if the materials are vitiated or unwholesome, or of difficult assimilation, the constitution of the blood varies accordingly, and derives from this source a great number of its unhealthy and disordered conditions. To recapitulate them as causes or conse quences would be to rewrite all that has been written argue ad naueeam, upon the subject of diet, air, and regi men. Again, the materials serving for food may be most wholesome, and yet the constitution of the blood may be unhealthy and depraved; for the organic functions may themselves be acting in a disorderly tanner, and this either from internal pr external causes, as depending on the conditions of the blood itself, or on the state of the nerves, or on the defective service of one or more of the organs in particular. So again, the blood may be vitiated by unwholesome exhalations, by infectious and contagious miasmata, irrespective of food, or by here ditary taints and tendencies, or it may be subjected to exhausting drains upon its most essential constituents, through the dominion of last and passion, in the gratifi cation of which its nobler parts are immolated, as it were " passing through the fire to Moloch." Or its constitu tion may be overcharged with nutritious elements, and subject to inflammatory and fiery outbursts from the slightest causes, acting like so many stimulants, and in vading even the mental sphere, to the production of insane or foolish conceits, or of an intoxication of brain, either temporary or permanent. The book throughout is written in the same enter taining, conversational style,clear without being prolix. Dr. Spurgin's great point appears to be to establish the importance of the blood, and the vital relation it bears to every animal function of the system. The arguments in support of his views—many of the latter perfectly original it must be owned—are yet admirably well sustained and conclusive. Neither does Dr. Spurgin hesitate at all in giving prescrip tions in full which he has used successfully in various forms of gout, rheumatism, and other diseases. Upon the whole, it is a very able work, the result of labour, thought, and immense expe rience, and as such we cordially recommend it, not only to those who are interested professionally or otherwise in the investigation of the subject of which it treats, but to all general readers who desire to learn something of that which they are usually most ignorant of—the action and constitution of their own blood. Tales of France—Tales of Paris—Tales of Humour— Tales of Great Men. Four Vols. " Amusing Library for the Young." Londcn : Lambert and Co. Foua volumes of pleasant, entertaining stories, mostly translated from French authors, but not the less calculated to amuse and interest the young. In those of "Humour" there is a quiet undercurrent of harmless sarcasm► against familiar follies, which, not too deep for the perception of a child, tells admirably as a wholesome ►norat. Each volume is complete in itself, and, light and amusing, is iu every way adapted to fulfil the intention of the writer. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. BOOKS. Thought and Language. B. H. Smart. Longmans. Companion to the Chart of the Genealogy of Our Baviour. Rivingtons. Lissie Leigh ; and other Take. Chapman and Hall. Y'he Bike of Loch "hoe ; and other Poems. Philip J. Hamerton. Painter. The Battle Day ; and other Poems. Ernest J ones. Rontledge. La Providence l'oeme. Francois Charpentier, B.A. ltivingtons. The Watchman. Routledge. PAMPHLETS. Charge Delivered by the Right lion. and Rev. Thomas Lord Plunkett, D.D. Dublin : oldham. • _ _ - Two Sennone. Rev. Thomas S. Polehampton, M.A. litvingtous. The Transcendentalists : a Satire fur the Age. Rev. Archer Gurney. 7'he Third Napoleon. Robert Stcry. Bosworth. Hearne. PERIODICALS. The Irish Church Journal. Seeley. The IF of Scotland Magazine. Glasgow: Murray. AVM/ Book*. No. So. Sampson Low and Co. I I