bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
2. German Retrospect
Authors: Ireland W. W.
Published: August 2008

Dr. Nicholas Ostermayer, of Budapest, published in the “Allgemeine Zeitschrift” (xlvii. Band, p. 278) some experiments on the sedative and hypnotic properties of atropin and duboisin. Like atropin and hyoscyamin it belongs to the class of drugs which dilate the pupil, mydriatica. It comes from the sap of the duboisia myoporoides, a bush or small tree growing in Australia. The natives are aware of its stupefying properties, and put it in ponds to intoxicate the eels and make them rise to the surface. Gerrard discovered the alkaloid in 1878. Duquesnel showed how to crystallise it in 1880. It is a brownish substance, sparingly soluble in water, but readily dissolved in alcohol, ether, or chloroform. It has a close resemblance to hyoscyamin. Ostermayer found that 1 milligramme of duboisin given in two separate doses to a man in two hours induced drowsiness, delirium starting in the limbs, hallucinations of vision, and increased rapidity of the pulse and respirations.
Unruptured Tubal Pregnancy, with Cystic Tumour of the Opposite Ovary. Operation followed by Mania and Phlegmasia Dolens. Recovery
Authors: Butler-Smythe A. C.
Published: August 2008

E. D., aged 31, a short, stout, dark-featured woman, attended at the out-patient department of the Grosvenor Hospital on February 22nd, 1892. She gave the following history:—Healthy girlhood. Menstruation appeared at the age of 11. The periods were regular, but she had much pain during the flow, which usually lasted for four days, and never was excessive. Married at 27. No family. Two years ago she had an attack of “inflammation in the belly,” and was admitted into a London General Hospital. When there she was told she had a tumour, but nothing further being done she left that institution and went home. Had been in good health and quite regular up to Christmas, 1891, at which date her last period occurred. Soon afterwards she began to feel ill, and had attacks of sickness throughout the month of January. On the evening of February 10th she was suddenly seized with acute pain in the abdomen, and had attacks of sickness and faintness during the night. Turpentine stupes were applied, and gave some relief, and the pain passed off towards morning. Her doctor was then sent for, and he attended for three days, during which time she was kept in bed. At the patient's request, however, he discontinued his visits, but two days later, in consequence of a second attack of a similar nature, he was again called in, and remained in attendance for four days, the patient being kept in bed and under the influence of morphia. At the end of that time she got up, and not being satisfied about her condition she came to the Grosvenor Hospital, where she was seen by my colleague, Dr. Gibbons, who strongly advised her to come into the Hospital. Two days later she was admitted under his care.
2. Retrospect of Criminal Anthropology
Authors: Ellis Havelock
Published: August 2008

At the session of the International Medico-Legal Congress at Chicago last autumn some twenty papers bearing on various aspects of criminal anthropology were brought forward. They were nearly all by Americans, and for the most part have not yet been published. It is announced that they will appear in subsequent issues of the “Medico-Legal Journal.” Dr. G. H. Hill dealt with the disposal of the criminal insane; ex-Judge H. M. Somerville with their improved condition in relation to the law; Dr. W. B. Fletcher with the establishment of houses of detention for the alleged insane prior to commitment; Dr. F. C. Hoyt dealt with sexual perversion from the medico-legal standpoint; Dr. F. E. Daniels read a paper advocating the castration of habitual criminals and sexual perverts, a proposal not accepted by subsequent speakers, who advocated hypnotic treatment or isolation; Dr. N. O. B. Wingate dealt with journalistic “suggestion” as a factor in the production of crime, arguing that those persons who sow the seeds of contagion of mental diseases should be treated in the same way as in the case of physical contagion; Mr. G. T. Davidson, a New York lawyer, read a paper on the criminal aspect of suicide, protesting against a recent law in the State of New York which has made attempted suicide a felony, punishable by fine and imprisonment, and pointing out that confinement (unless accompanied by skilful medical treatment) can only intensify the moral misery and physical disturbance of would-be suicides; Dr. E. S. Talbot dealt with race degeneracy as exhibited in abnormalities of the jaws and teeth; Dr. Harriet Alexander read a paper on anthropometric researches among prostitutes; Dr. F. Lydston on anthropometric researches in the criminal class, and also on crimes among negroes; and Dr. J. G. Kiernan read a paper on simulation and conspiracy as tests of sanity, and another on psychiatry and criminal anthropology. A general account of the proceedings is given in the “Medico-Legal Journal” for last September (only recently issued), and some of the papers are reprinted in fall.
Presidential Address, delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, Dublin, June 12th, 1894
Authors: Norman Conolly
Published: August 2008

Gentlemen,—My first and most pleasing duty in taking this chair is to thank you very warmly for the honour you have done me in placing me here. Recalling the names of those who have occupied this position before me, I am abashed by my sense of my own unworthiness to fill it. When the question of my nomination as President of this Association was mooted, I would fain have stood aside, but the kindly representations of those members who said that it was Ireland's turn for an Annual Meeting made me feel that I could not evade the honourable task which was put upon me, even though I feel that I am very far from being the fittest of my contemporaries to undertake it. I have also been moved to accept your kindness and the distinguished honour you have conferred upon me in the hope that a meeting might be arranged in Dublin in such a way as to further the objects of the Association and to be of advantage to the members, particularly to those who live in Ireland. How far this hope may be fulfilled remains to be seen. I trust, in any case, that our present meeting may be so far successful that all our future Annual Meetings may be working meetings, and that under successors, I hope more competent than myself, the Association may be thereby materially aided in its forward path. For this meeting we have, I am happy to say, a very large and comprehensive programme, the members having heartily seconded the efforts of the General Secretary and myself to bring in good material. I desire no credit for this. I may say, with Montaigne, “I have brought you here a nosegay of sweet flowers; nothing is mine but the string that ties them together.” It is, perhaps, the function of the Chairman of such a meeting as this rather to aid and to suggest discussion than himself to take a very prominent part therein; rather to offer opportunities for others than to make them for himself; rather to be the whetstone than the chisel—
Hints towards the Prevention of Mental Disorders
Authors: Curwen
Published: August 2008

Every physician in charge of a hospital for the insane should do all in his power to aid in the advance of mental physiology, mental pathology, and physiological psychology, not only for his own immediate benefit as a study; but with the intent of reaching a better knowledge of the mental processes, and elucidating, as far as possible, the recondite problems of mind. These require careful and exact study, but that study will give power to the individual, while it will enable him more definitely to trace the intricate connection of cause and effect in the cases which call for his examination. It is certain that the more thoroughly these processes are studied the better will be the effect of treatment, and the more satisfactory will be the result to the patient and to the physician. He will learn more fully that while medical study than it has yet received; and by the knowledge thus obtained a way will be found for the more scientific application of medical, moral, and hygienic measures than they have heretofore received.
Observations on the Effect of Thyroid Feeding in some Forms of Insanity
Authors: Bruce Lewis C.
Published: August 2008

One of the best and latest descriptions of the functions of the thyroid gland is that by Victor Horsley.∗ This paper furnishes an account of recent work on the subject, and so fully details the results arrived at by other workers that I use it as my chief reference throughout this paper.
Trophic Intestinal Affections in the Insane. (With cases.)
Authors: Cowen Thomas Philip
Published: August 2008

From time to time cases of diarrhóa arise in asylum practice which are not due to any specific cause.∗
A Review of the last Twenty Years at the Worcester County and City Lunatic Asylum, with some conclusions derived therefrom
Authors: Cooke E. Marriott
Published: August 2008

As it is just twenty years since I first became connected with this asylum—a considerable slice out of what should be the most active part of my life, and the period during which my judgment ought to be maturing—it occurred to me that a résumé of the changes and new departures which have been made here during that time, together with a statement of the views I now entertain of their utility, and the opinions which experience has led me to form for my future guidance, might not inopportunely form the subject matter of a paper this afternoon.
Experimental Psychology in Relation to Insanity
Authors: Rivers W. H. R.
Published: August 2008

Up to the present time the experimental movement in psychology has been directed chiefly to the study of methods by which mental phenomena may be subjected to exact investigation, and by which they may receive for purposes of comparison some kind of quantitative expression. So far as these methods have been perfected they have been directed mainly to the investigation of general psychological laws, and of the relation of psychological to physiological processes. Comparatively little has been done in the way of application of these methods to elucidate practical questions; little attention has been paid to individual psychology and to the exact nature of the differences which distinguish the various types of normal and abnormal mind. The more theoretical work of experimental psychologists has naturally a great interest for students of insanity, and must affect their conceptions of abnormal mind, but the special question which I intend to consider is of a more direct and practical kind, viz., the possibility of using the methods of experimental psychology to help directly in the study of the problems of insanity.
Public Provision for Pauper Idiois and Imbeciles in England and Wales
Authors: Shuttleworth G. E.
Published: August 2008

My apology for bringing forward this subject at the present time is that considerable interest with regard to it has recently been evidenced by correspondence and comments in the medical journals, as well as by inquiries set on foot by the Lunacy Commissioners and the Local Government Board. The former have published in their 49th Annual Report, just issued, a “Return showing the Number of Pauper Idiot, Imbecile, and Epileptic Children in the Asylums, etc., on 1st September, 1894,”† and a return of similar character as to such children in workhouses has been issued by the latter. The upshot of the whole matter is that, according to these returns, there are in lunatic asylums 525 children of this class (335 males, 190 females), and in workhouses 485 (281 males, 204 females). The latter number includes, however, 93 children returned as “epileptic only,” so that of idiots and imbeciles in workhouses under 16 years of age there are but 392. Adding together those in lunatic asylums and in workhouses we find that a total of 917 youthful idiots and imbeciles are provided for by the Poor Law in these institutions. The Local Government Board return, however, gives us no information as to the large number of such children living with poor parents who receive on their behalf some parochial relief. In the Commissioners' return the children are classified as idiots and imbeciles respectively, 399 in the former, 126 in the latter class; and 154 are said to be in the opinion of the medical officers likely to be improved by special training. In the Local Government Board return the children are classified as “imbecile only,” “epileptic only,” and “both imbecile and epileptic;” and the number of children who, in the opinion of their medical officers, would be likely to be improved by special training is set down as 178. Consequently if we are guided solely by these returns we should be led to the conclusion that in England and Wales—excluding the Metropolitan district, for which separate arrangements exist—there are no more than 332 improvable pauper idiots and imbeciles under 16 years of age remaining to be provided for in addition to the 225 paupers already accommodated in voluntary institutions for the training of imbecile children. Indeed, deducting 52 now resident in the special idiot block of the Northampton County Asylum, there remain but 280, a number insufficient to fill a decent-sized special institution!
Criminal Responsibility in Relation to Insanity
Authors: Maudsley H.
Published: August 2008

Dr. Maudsley opened a discussion on “Criminal Responsibility in relation to Insanity,” in the Psychological Section of the Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association, held in London on 1st August, 1895. He said—I cannot help feeling that I am undertaking a task which is likely to be somewhat barren, for there is little to be said that has not been said over and over again, and will, I fear, have to be said over and over again; for, notwithstanding that the legal test has been condemned by eminent judges and that it has no foundation in science, it still flourishes in full vigour.
The Insanity of Love, a Study of Ariosto
Authors: Kornfeld H.
Published: August 2008

“Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it; if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.”
On the Non-Specific Nature of “General Paralysis of the Insane.”
Authors: Mortimer J. D. E.
Published: August 2008

Sirs,—I have read with much interest Dr. Farrar's article on “General Paralysis” (“Journal of Mental Science,” July 1895). His conclusion, that “general paralysis” is in no sense a specific disease, is identical with that at which I arrived after some years' study of a very large number of cases in the Portsmouth Borough Asylum, where, after spending much time and labour in trying to arrange them as I may say in duly labelled pigeon-holes, I began to see that “it was all a striving, and a striving, and an ending in nothing.”
The Uses and Limitations of Mechanical Restraint as a means of Treatment of the Insane
Authors: Deas P. Maury
Published: August 2008

I do not wish to enter into any dissertation on the question of mechanical restraint, as such, or to conduct the discussion in to an academic debate on the ethics of mechanical restraint. I want to take a more limited view. I want this discussion really to be, if possible, an interchange of views as to the best way of treating and managing certain difficult and exceptional cases which crop up every now and then. I propose to give you the benefit of my experience in dealing with some exceptionally difficult cases, in which I have found a modified use of mechanical restraint beneficial to the patient.
Mental States Associated with Visceral Disease in the Sane
Authors: Head Henry
Published: August 2008

The mental changes which accompany disturbances of the viscera may be classified under two groups, as follows:— (a) Those changes which accompany the disease directly, and are associated with the presence of some abnormal product or tissue change produced directly by the disease (for example, myxódema). These may be called the direct mental effects of visceral disease, and will be neglected in this communication. (b) Certain mental changes which are only present in those cases where the visceral disturbance causes what is known as referred pain associated with tenderness of the superficial structure of the body and scalp. Now this pain and tenderness are due to changes in some part of the central sympathetic system caused by disturbance of the internal organ to which sensory sympathetic nerves are supplied. Thus the mental changes of this group may be said to be indirect, for they are associated with visceral disturbances through the mediation of the sympathetic system. In this communication only the sensory and emotional changes are considered.
The Law of England in Relation to Single Patients
Authors: Weatherly L. A.
Published: August 2008

Law is often, I fear, somewhat unsatisfactory. In no class of cases is it more so than in those in which it attempts to carry out the clauses of the last Lunacy Act relating to single patients.
Insanity is Decreasing: a Statistical Item Suggesting that
Authors: Chapman T. A.
Published: August 2008

It has always appeared to me that the various figures that are supposed to indicate an increase of insanity are not only inconclusive, but do not really show anything of the sort, and that there are even some vague and indefinite indications that there is really a decrease in the annual production of insanity. Some years ago I tried to find some figures amongst the various statistics we possess that would throw some light on this point, but practically without success. It seemed that such increase in the annual admissions to asylums as was beyond that due to increase of population was more than accounted for by slighter (i.e., less demonstrative) cases of acute insanity and various forms of chronic, senile, and degenerative disorders being yearly sent to asylums more freely, but I could get no figures proving this. A somewhat suggestive fact in this direction is the often-made remark that acute mania is less abundant, melancholia more so than formerly; acute mania of an active (i.e., demonstrative) type was always sent to asylums pretty well up to its actual amount. Melancholia used to be very largely left at home or treated in workhouses. But where shall we find such facts embodied in figures. Acute mania of our statistics includes the milder as well as the more demonstrative cases, and so shows an increase just as the total figures do. There are, then, so far as I know, no figures showing the real annual occurrence of insanity that are comparable year by year. There are, indeed, no figures that give the actual annual production of insanity apart from chronic and recurrent cases. There are no figures of any definite form and intensity of acute insanity. True the Commissioners' Reports give us statistics of general paralysis, but this is precisely the one form of acute insanity that is not an insanity; that is, it belongs to a different natural order of diseases from the other diseases we mean by insanity. I have elsewhere stated that this always appears clearly on a comparison of the statistics of general paralysis with those of insanity proper, and the same opinion has been expressed by authorities who have approached the matter from a pathological and therapeutical standpoint. Its remarkable geographical distribution and its specially urban character equally show it to be different from the other insanities, which have no similar features. That this disease is increasing owing to the more and more urban character of our population affords no ground for assuming a similar progress in the true insanities. The annual recoveries must, however, be largely dependent on, and proportional to, the annually occurring cases, but will, of course, so regarded, be vitiated by the increase of population and by the increased admissions of milder forms of insanity and by the recoveries of recurrent cases.
The Early History of the Medico-Psychological Association
Authors: Wood T. Outterson
Published: August 2008

Our Association, which celebrated its jubilee at the Annual Meeting held at Birmingham in 1891, under the presidency of Mr. Whitcombe, numbers but few members who know much about its origin, formation, and early history, and it has occurred to me that it might be well if a record of it could be obtained and published while there yet remain among us some of the survivors of its earlier days. It will always be a regret to me that this was not taken in hand before the death of our greatly lamented colleague, Dr. Hack Tuke, who was one of our oldest and most devoted members, for he knew so much about its past history, and was personally acquainted with most, if not all, of the original members. Sir John C. Bucknill is, as far as I can ascertain, the sole surviving member of the Association in the days when the roll of members was a very small one, numbering between 30 and 40 at most, and his name first appears in our records in 1849.∗
Rest and Exercise in the Treatment of Nervous and Mental Diseases
Authors: Meyer L.
Published: August 2008

More than a generation ago (in 1860), in Hamburg, I made my first experiment in treating patients suffering from recent insanity, especially the excited, in bed. This treatment, continued in the Göttingen Asylum, forms a prominent part of my system. It may therefore be inferred that the first experiments were confirmed by many excellent results; while, on the other hand, there have not been wanting occasional failures, which, indeed, attend on every method of medical treatment. I am glad to have an opportunity of laying my experience in this matter before the Medico-Psychological Association. My contribution may be taken as a small tribute in recognition of all I have learned from Great Britain throughout my psychiatric career, both in theory and practice.
A Study of Forty-four cases of Fever occurring in the Insane
Authors: Keay J.
Published: August 2008

A case of Acute Mania.—Scarlet Fever.—Recovery.

F. M., a domestic servant, aged 20 years, was received into the Inverness Asylum on 13th June, 1894, suffering from acute mania of about a fortnight's duration. There was no assigned cause for the attack, nor was a hereditary tendency to mental or nervous disease admitted.
The Systematic Employment and Training of the Insane
Authors: O'Neill Edward D.
Published: August 2008

The subject-matter of this paper is one that I have always taken a great interest in since my connection with psychology, believing it to be the key-stone to modern treatment of the insane, and a valuable adjunct in setting a good example to a class of people who are prone to do evil as the result of their mental aberration, or the tendency to do nothing, or from want of something to do. It is a truism that work is a powerful antidote to low spirits, and if we contrast the asylum treatment of to-day with that of years ago, how strange and startling is the effect!
Pseudo-General Paralysis
Authors: Hyslop Theo. B.
Published: August 2008

By using the expression pseudo-general paralysis I am quite aware that I lay myself open to criticism. It may be said that the term is not only useless, but even misleading. Some will say the diseases under question are either instances of general paralysis, or, if not of general paralysis, they are other forms of disease and ought to be named accordingly. In anticipation of such an objection I venture to remark that the term general paralysis, as at present used, tends to cover many cases which are not truly general paralyses, but rather cases of insanity associated with a form of paralysis which strictly speaking is only partial. Or, to put the matter conversely, are we not too apt to include under the term general paralysis cases which are really cases of special paralyses associated with insanity?
On the Increase of Insanity, and the Boarding-out System
Authors: Bresler J.
Published: August 2008

Public opinion will Lave it that this is a neurotic age, and that insanity is increasing year by year. The facts which have called forth this opinion, and appear to confirm it, are not by any means flattering to our civilisation or to the resistive power of latter-day humanity. The multiplication of asylums, and the numerical increase of the insane written large on the statistical returns of every civilised country during the past decade, apparently admit of no dubiety in regard to this question. It is necessary, therefore, that we should scan these facts more closely, and thus endeavour to ascertain if the increase of lunacy is real or assumed.
Remarks on the Nursing Staff in Asylums
Authors: MacDonald P. W.
Published: August 2008

The subject matter of this paper can hardly fail to be of special interest at the present time, when so much attention is being given to, and so much done for, the nursing staff of every asylum.
A Case of Diabetic Insanity: Immediate Recovery on Disappearance of Sugar
Authors: Campbell Keith
Published: August 2008

I. C. was admitted into the Perth District Asylum on July 23rd, 1895, under the care of Dr. George M. Robertson.
The Hospital Treatment of the Insane in Asylums
Authors: Macpherson J.
Published: August 2008

It is scarcely 20 years since those interested in asylum administration in Scotland began to realise that the interests of the sick and infirm were not so adequately provided for in asylum construction as the requirements of such patients demanded. The desire to improve the efficiency of asylums by providing ampler accommodation for the treatment of that class of patients gradually extended itself so as to include within its scope the treatment of the acutely insane in combination with the sick and infirm, that is, all the inmates of asylums who especially require the services of the physician and the nurse. This idea again expanded itself until a rearrangement of the whole asylum population into two main portions was proposed. The smaller portion was to consist of the newly-admitted cases, of cases requiring special medical attention for any reason, and of the sick and infirm cases. The larger portion was to consist of the quieter chronic and industrious cases for whom the same active medical and nursing supervision was unnecessary. This, which may be called the hospital movement in the Scottish Asylums, has now attained practical expression, and has with considerable variety certainly, yet with conspicuous uniformity in its main principles, been adopted in upwards of 50 per cent. of the public asylums of the country.
The London County Council Asylum at Claybury, and a Sketch of its first Working Year
Authors: Jones Robert
Published: August 2008

This is the first asylum of the London County Council and the fifth for London, and it stands on a hill 230 feet above ordnance datum in a freehold estate of 269 acres, one-and-a-half miles from Woodford Station, on the Great Eastern Railway. It is about nine miles from the Royal Exchange. The ground was bought by the Middlesex Justices for £39,415. They first visited the spot on 27th February, 1886, almost seven years before patients were received. About 70 acres of the ground is woodland, and the soil is clay with beds of gravel interspersed. The Justices proceeded to fence in the estate, build two lodges, lay down a granite tramway from these to the building site, and level the top of the hill, a plateau of about a dozen acres in extent, for all the central and some of the outside blocks, and also to complete the foundations, when the Local Government Act of 1888 transferred the care of lunatics and the management of County Asylums to the County Councils.
Note on Weigert's Theory regarding the Structure of the Neuroglia
Authors: Robertson W. Ford
Published: August 2008

For some years past the leading authorities have been generally agreed that the neuroglia is a tissue composed exclusively of special cells and their processes. Ramon y Cajal, for example, describes it as consisting of small cells provided with very fine, wavy, and only slightly ramified processes, which, after a variable course, terminate freely or attach themselves to the surface of the capillaries. From observations made with the aid of a new method, Professor Weigert, of Frankfurt, has arrived at a theory regarding the constitution of the neuroglia which is diametrically opposed to this now generally accepted view. He published a preliminary note on the subject in 1890, but it was only a year ago that he gave a full account of his researches, together with a description of an important improvement in his method. This improved method, in which methyl violet is the staining agent employed, is one that is exceedingly complicated and troublesome to carry out. It gives preparations in which the neuroglia-fibres and the nuclei of the neuroglia-cells are stained violet, while the protoplasm of the cells remains unstained and invisible. The reaction succeeds only in the human subject, and, as a rule, only with tissues that are moderately fresh. The results that he has obtained with this method have led Weigert to advocate the view that the neuroglia-fibres, which have hitherto been regarded as processes of the Deiters' cells, are chemically distinct, and morphologically separate, from the cell-protoplasm; in other words that the fibres which are stained violet in his preparations are not processes of the cells, but are completely differentiated from them. It is clear that we cannot rightly understand the nature of the pathological changes that occur in the neuroglia until this question of the structure of the normal tissue is settled in our minds. Weigert's theory is certain to give rise to a large amount of discussion in the near future. I wish now to offer merely a small contribution to that discussion. I have for some weeks been working with Weigert's method in the course of a study of the normal histology and pathological anatomy of the neuroglia. Already I feel convinced in my own mind that Weigert has been led into an error by certain fallacious appearances produced by his method, and that the older view of the structure of the neuroglia is the correct one.
On Post-Operative Insanity, with Notes of a Case occurring three weeks after Laparotomy
Authors: Simpson J. Christian
Published: August 2008

The following case may serve the purpose of illustrating a few remarks on the subject of Post-Operative Insanity, which, perhaps, has not received as much attention in this country as might have been expected.
On Mental Auto-infection
Authors: Kornfeld H.
Published: August 2008

In popular estimation there is no surer relief from itching than by scratching. The lower classes have no better remedy for anger than cursing. The more educated indulge in reproaches and complaints often referring to other causes than the immediate source of irritation. Experience, however, has taught us that, in only too many instances, the practices thus indulged in are positively deleterious; and that abnormal feeling is further aggravated by giving way to these impulses of reflex action. Still, there is a momentary relief, and a feeling of comfort which in a great number of cases is all that can be expected by the physician.
Gheel and Lierneux, the Asylum-Colonies for the Insane in Belgium
Authors: Sibbald John
Published: August 2008

In the numbers of the Journal for January and April, 1896, I described the recent action of the Berlin authorities in placing a considerable number of the insane poor under care in private dwellings, which illustrates one of the latest ways in which this mode of providing for the insane has been organised. Having in the year 1895 revisited for the third time the well-known colony of the insane at Gheel, in Belgium, and having once in 1895 and again in 1896 visited the recently established Belgian colony at Lierneux, I now propose to describe the present position of these two colonies, which exemplify the oldest systematised method of providing for the insane in private dwellings.
Habit, as a Morbid Mental Condition, and its Treatment
Authors: Kesteven W. Henry
Published: August 2008

A habit is a voluntary nervous action, which by constant repetition has become automatic. It does not follow that the nervous action has originated in the individual in whom the habit is established. It may have been inherited in its automatic or habitual form.
Mania with Amaurosis and Paralysis: Suspected Glioma
Authors: Vincent W. J.
Published: August 2008

Eliza Elliott, aged 30, house-wife; married. Admitted into this asylum November 4th, 1896.
Remarks upon Golf in the Treatment of Mental Disorders
Authors: Cobbold C. S. W.
Published: August 2008

The following is a short summary of a paper read before this Branch in April, 1897.
Medico-Legal Cases
Authors: Mercier
Published: August 2008

[The Editors request that members will oblige by sending full newspaper reports of all oases of interest as published by the local press at the time of the assises.]

Regina v. Kempshall.

Catherine Kempshall, 32, of no occupation, was indicted for the wilful murder of Edgar Holland. Prisoner had lived with the deceased as his mistress; had brought an action against him for breach of promise of marriage, which was settled out of Court, the plaintiff to receive £1,000 without costs, to give up all letters and to undertake not to molest the defendant. This agreement the plaintiff subsequently repudiated on the ground that she was not a consenting party. The action was therefore proceeded with, and judgment was given against her in July, 1895. On the result being declared the prisoner had an outburst, which is described by the reporter as one of “positive frenzy,” in which she rushed at the defendant in Court exclaiming, “You beast! pay me! pay me!” and continued to struggle until she was quite exhausted. On the same day she was brought up at the Central Criminal Court for attempting to discharge a pistol at a sister of the defendant, and acquitted. Subsequently she appealed against the result of the trial of the civil action, and her appeal was dismissed. She continued for years a course of annoyance and molestation against the deceased, against his family, and against the solicitors and others who had been concerned in defending him. She broke the windows of a solicitor's office, she assaulted solicitors' clerks, she threatened repeatedly to murder not only the deceased but his solicitors; and she declared that solicitors, counsel, and judges had been bribed by the deceased to defeat the ends of justice and to persecute her. At length she went by appointment to meet the deceased and his solicitor at the office of the former. The deceased promised to provide for her, but remonstrated with her for pretending that he had promised to marry her, upon which she retorted, “You lie, you beast!” and discharged four shots from a revolver at him, inflicting wounds which were ultimately fatal.
The Late De, C. Lockhart Robertson: a Reminiscence
Authors: Hawkins Henry
Published: August 2008

It was in the summer of 1859 that the writer, then a candidate for the Chaplaincy of the Sussex Asylum, Haywards Heath, first made the acquaintance of Dr. Lockhart Robertson, who had recently been appointed Superintendent. In a few characteristic words he introduced himself, conveying the impression that he already felt himself in authority. His decisive manner and the keen glance of his eye intimated his capacity for government. Rule he did, and his strong will made itself felt not only in the wards and household, but also in the committee-room. The asylum, then newly constructed, had not received its first patients when Dr. Robertson made himself known to the future Chaplain. “It is easier,” says the proverb, “to walk on the road than to make the road.” and the Superintendent had to make the road; and this he did so successfully that many travelled along the iron way of the L.B. and S.C.R. to visit an asylum which gradually acquired a distinct reputation. No doubt he was ably seconded. Mr. Mortlock, whose valuable services are still at the disposal of that asylum, was Clerk and Steward; Mr. Knox—a shrewd Scotchman—was over the male staff; and Miss Buckle, almost from the commencement, had the management—which she continues to undertake—of the nurses. Of the assistant medical staff the writer would make mention of one to whom he was much attached, and who was suddenly cut off at his work in the asylum—Dr. W. Valentine Brown—a tablet to whose memory was placed in the chapel.
German Retrospect
Authors: Ireland William W.
Published: August 2008

The Effect of Poisons on Nerve Cells.—Nissl gave a demonstration of the result of his researches to the meeting of German alienists, held at Heidelberg, 18th September (Centralblatt für Nervenheilkunde, October, 1896). He thinks it useless to discuss the question how far the nerve cell which we see under the microscope resembles that in the living organism; but he aims at having a pattern or typical cell not altered by our treatment. For this purpose the animal should be killed in a particular manner, and the preparation always made in the same way. Then any deviation from the pattern cell must be owing to some other causes. In this way he has studied the changes in the large motor cells of the anterior horn of the spinal cord of the rabbit after administration of strychnine, veratria, arsenic, alcohol, phosphorus, and the toxin of tetanus. He had also studied the motor cells and the cells of Purkinje and those of spinal ganglia of the rabbit after giving lead, the cells in the sympathetic after poisoning by arsenic, and the cells of the cortex of the same animal after poisoning by alcohol, morphia, and lead. He had also studied the cells in the human brain in a case of poisoning by phosphorus and typhus fever. Nissl's method is to give the animal sufficient doses to maintain a toxic effect without ending life. He compares the cell thus acted upon with a healthy cell from the same locality. He has found that after the action of these poisons the effect is not uniform in all the nerve cells; some are more affected than others, while different cells are affected through different poisons. He observes that in some the nuclei are altered, becoming rounder and more homogeneous and take a deeper colour. Dr. Nissl gave twenty-four illustrations of his preparations coloured in his own methods; he also demonstrated the various kinds of nerve cells and pointed out the relation of different species of cells in the nervous centres of vertebrate animals to the different functions. He thought that with the help of a more thorough clinical and psychological analysis we might hope yet to find out the function of different cells in the nerve tissues. He observed that when there are marked alterations in the nuclei, the cells can no longer be restored to their normal functions. Hitzig observed that in tetanus there was found vacuolisation of the nerve cells on dyeing with carmine; but Nissl holds these vacuols to be an artificial product.
Statistics Relating to the Disappearance of Rigor Mortis
Authors: Blachford J. V.
Published: August 2008

Of 220 cases in which post-mortem examinations were held the following were the conditions as to rigor mortis. It will be seen that in only 11 cases does the condition recorded militate in any way against the statement that “far from commencing in the jaw, then attacking the arms and lastly the legs, and disappearing in the inverse order,” as was at one time taught, and as is stated at the present time in some of our text-books, in whatever order it may commence, it almost invariably disappears first from the jaw, afterwards from the arms and legs; in fact probably in the order of its appearance.
The Systematic Collection of Anthropological Data in Asylums
Authors: Goodall Edwin
Published: August 2008

It is not my purpose on the present occasion to relate a series of observations. I merely desire to ask your attention to a field of work hitherto little cultivated, either abroad or in this country, especially the latter. I have not, indeed, come across any account from which it is to be gathered that anthropological methods—which are what I now refer to— have been adopted systematically in any asylum for any length of time, although of late such have been in use in certain asylums of America, and also of Italy. In respect of France and Central Europe I have no certain information; but I have not seen any notice in the journals of the speciality of the employment of these methods in the asylums of those countries. That the grosser stigmata of degeneration have been observed in the course of ordinary clinical work in asylums for some time, we are all aware. It is common to hear at clinical examinations that a particular case has a “narrow” or “sloping” forehead, a “flat” occiput; possibly we are at times more venturesome, and describe the head as “dolico-” or “brachy-cephalic” (our remarks thereby acquiring a certain nuance of scientific gravity). Or perhaps the palate is noted to be “arched” or “Gothic,” “semi-V-shaped” or “semi-saddle-shaped;” or the chin to be “receding;” or, employing a dramatic generalisation, we pronounce the patient to be of a “simian” type. I need not illustrate further, my object being simply to bring to mind the fact that it has for long been thought worth while to record conditions ascribed to imperfections of development. I pass to the representation that if it is worth while to record such conditions at all, it is proper that there should be some system whereby they may bo recorded. There are pathological forms, as you are aware, in many asylums, on which systematic records of autopsies are kept; and if at some future period it is desired to ascertain with what frequency a particular diseased condition occurs, or whether the supposed significance of such condition is real, the accumulated facts are available for consultation. But if one desires to ascertain to what extent it is true that certain anomalies of palate or ear occur in the insane, or that they occur particularly in certain states of mental perversion, one looks in vain for records. and if, haply, observations on the point be forthcoming, what is their scientific value?
The Relation of Acquired Syphilis to Insanity. A Critical Digest
Authors: Dawson W. R.
Published: August 2008

Modern opinion as to the nature of syphilis regards it as an exanthematous fever, with a period of incubation, a stage of efflorescence, and an epoch of sequelæ, and in fact diverging in no essential from the type of its class save in its more protracted course, by which peculiarity all other seeming variations can be explained. If the periods of incubation and efflorescence be taken as one, each stage of the disease may be said to have its own characteristic nervous phenomena, including psychoses; and this fact may serve as a basis for the classification of the syphilitic insanities.
The Mismanagement of Drunkards
Authors: Wilson George R.
Published: August 2008

“It is to be hoped and expected that with the spread of knowledge and education alcoholic intemperance may come to be regarded always and everywhere as vicious and reprehensible. It is a grievous matter that it should be lightly regarded in any quarter as a venial offence, and I should gladly support some more rigorous form of punishment for the vice of occasional intemperance than can now be meted out.
A Communication on the Macroscopical and Microscopical Appearances of the Uterus and its Appendages in the Insane
Authors: Gordon-Munn J. G.
Published: August 2008

Whilst it is the object of this paper to deal with the subject in the main as limited by the title, it is well that some consideration be given to the general literature bearing upon the relations between diseased conditions of the uterus and appendages and diseased conditions of the mind.
The Responsibility of the Insane; Should they be punished? A Reply to Dr. Mercier
Authors: Noott Reginald H.
Published: August 2008

I feel that some apology is due for again opening a subject which seemed to have been disposed of by the report of a special committee of this Association, which sat at the latter part of the year 1894.
On the Bases and Possibilities of a Scientific Psychology and Classification in Mental Disease
Authors: Andriezen W. Lloyd
Published: August 2008

Since the middle of the nineteenth century psychology has gradually come to be recognised as a branch of biological science. This is due to the influence of the works of Darwin and Herbert Spencer, of the Clinical and Neurological School of Meynert, Golgi, Cajal, Flechsig, and others, and recent developments in the Psychometric School of Fechner and Wundt on the other. The Alienistic School can render powerful aid to this movement; and though there are indications of the current in the proper direction, as shown more particularly in the work of Mercier (1) and Bevan Lewis (2), the end, however, cannot as yet be said to have been achieved, nor the movement to have become general. Psychology still lingers on the borderland of metaphysics; it has not yet been established on the firm rock of natural science. And while it thus lingers progress in knowledge is slow and restricted.
Considerations on the Mental State in Aphasia
Authors: Norman Conolly
Published: August 2008

The subject of aphasia is one which has offered some of the most interesting problems presented to the physician for solution, and, although many remain unsolved, yet the study of aphasia has been more fertile of great discoveries as to the function than that, perhaps, of any other brain symptom or group of symptoms. The researches of Broca, indeed, were the beginning of localisation, and, as far as the cerebral cortex is concerned, formed the starting-point of any scientific knowledge which has since been attained.
Notes on Four Cases of Major Operations on the Insane
Authors: Sproat J. H.
Published: August 2008

G. D—, æt. 69, admitted September 21st, 1896, for the eighth time. He was maniacal on admission, and had remained so for twelve months.
On the Causes of the Increase of Suicide
Authors: Ireland William W.
Published: August 2008

It would perhaps be allowable to take it for granted that the number of suicides has been steadily increasing in most of those countries which furnish us with trustworthy statistics, but after the discussion in Section E at the last meeting of the British Medical Association, I think it better to go over some of the reasons which have led me to subscribe to the view generally received by those who have carefully inquired into the subject.
The Frequency, Causation, Prevention, and Treatment of Phthisis Pulmonalis in Asylums for the Insane; Essay for which was awarded the Bronze Medal of the Medico-Psychological Association, 1899
Authors: Crookshank F. G.
Published: August 2008

We are, for obvious reasons, forced to gauge the prevalence of phthisis in asylums by its mortality. Several questions at once present themselves:

What is the mortality from phthisis at the present time in the British Islands ? What is the mortality from phthisis in the asylums of the British Islands ?

Are these mortalities diminishing or increasing ? And what relation do they bear to one another ?

It is easy to propound these questions; it is extremely diffi cult to properly appraise the available data. For, first, if it be desired to compare the mortality from phthisis of asylum inmates with that of the general population, the comparison must be made on the basis of the ratio, in each case, of the annual deaths from phthisis to the average populations in volved. In other words, the phthisis death-rate, and not the percentage of deaths assigned to phthisis, must be estimated.