The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-08-09
A TREATISE ON INSANITY.
seottlsh Poets and Men OF Gonius.

DR.. Henry Maudsley, physician TO the West
London Hospital, has made valuable oontri-
button to mental science in book called "The
Physiology and Pathology Of the Mind -
which is reproduced in a handsome octave
volume by D. Appleton & Co. It relates prin-
cipally to the subject of insanity, which, in all
points of view, is yearly becoming of greater
importance. Whatever may be thought of
DIR. Maudsley's metaphysical theories the
most cursory perusal of his book will convince
an Intelligent reader that it is the work of a
keen and trained observer, and of one whose
faculty for generalization is superior to that of
The average of medical writers. His style is
clear and vigorous. He is evidently man
who writes from deep convictions, based on
wide inductions of facts.
Setting aside the merely theoretical part of
his book. it will be found interesting and pro-
6table TO study his practical suggestions and
ao,oI,,sions He thinks that more truth about
tbe real oauses of insanity can be learned from
Sbakespeare's Lear than from all the soien-
ti6o treatises. The subtle insight of the great
dramatist inio character is more than an Offset
Cor lack of technical knowledge. The author
has sought to study actual cases., and to make
his deductions therefrom, attempting, by a
large induction of facts, what Shakespeare
accomplished by mere insight and knowledge
of human nature. lie first notes that insanity
increases with the growth of civilization. The
feyerish activity and great mental strain Incl
dent to highly civilized life tend to produce
derangement of the faculties. Over-popula-
ton, inadequate and filthy houses, and the
utter wretchedness of large classes in civilized
countries, are other causes. He says
"Perbaps one and certainly not the least, of
the i'll effects which come from some of the con-
ditions of our present civilization is seen in the
general dread and disdain of poverty in the
eager passion to become rich. The practical
gospel OF the age, testified everywhere by faith
and works, is that of money-getting; men are
estimated mainly by the amount of their wealth,
take social rank accordingly, and consequently
bend all their energies to acqnire that which
gains them esteem and influence. The result is
tnat in the higher departments of trade and
commerce speculations of all sorts are eagerly
entered on, and that many people are kept in
continued state of excitement and anxiety by the
fluctuations of the money market. In the lower
branches of trade there is the same eager desire
for petty gains; and the continued absorption
of the mind in these small acquisitions gene
rates a Int tleness OF mind and meanness of
spirit, where 1t does not lead to actual dis
honesty, which are nowhere displayed in more
pitiabe form than in certain petty tradesmen.
The occupation which a man isEentirely engaged
in does not fail to modify his character, and the
reaction upon the individuals nature of life
which is being spent with the sole aim of be-
coming rich is most baneful. 1t Is not that the
fluctuations of excitement unhinge the mer-
chants mind and lead to maniacal out breaks,
although that does sometimes happen; it is not
that failure in the paroxysm of some crisis
pr0strates his energies aud makes him melan-
Cholic, although that also is occasionally wit
messed; but it is that the eXclusiveness of his
life-aim and occupation too often saps the moral
or altruistic element in his nature, makes him
tfn aI kl.nk,.
and In his person deteriorates the nature Of
humanity
He also attributes much of insanity to de-
fective or erroneous education. Parental
vices are transmitted and gain larger growth
in the children; parental harshness and neglect
drive to morbid brooding or loss of self-control.
False religious views are causative of insanity.
The religion which practically amounts to
money getting, and which results in syste-
matte hypocrisy and upsetting of the normal
condition Of the mind, is noted. So also is the
morbid, self-feeling type of religion. Heredi-
tary taints, physical and moral, are strongly
operative, the tendency being in the down
ward direction. After going through detailed
examination of various causes, he gives his
concentrations. AS to a phase of insanity
which of late years has become so prominent
IN the courts, he says-
"It is evident from the foregoing reflections
that, from paLuOlOglcal point Oh view, the So
called moral causes of insanity may properly
fall under the head OF excessive stimulation or
excessive functional action; the mind is subject
to stress beyond what it is able to bear. OF
necessity, the depressing passions are the most
efficient causes of exhaustion, and consequent
disease; gI1ef, religious anxiety, disappointed
affection or ambition, the wounds of an exagge-
rated seltlove, and, above all perhaps, the
painful feeling of being unequal to responsibii-
ties, or other like conditions of mental agitation
and suffering, are most apt to reach violence
Of action by which the equilibrium is lost. 1t is
especially when the individual has, by a long
concentration of thought, affection, and desire
on certain aim or object grown into definite
relations with regard to it, and made it, as it
were, part of the inner life, that sudden and
entire change, shattering long cherished hopes,
IS most likely to produce insanity; for what is
more fraught with danger to the stability of the
strongest mind than sudden great change in
external circumstances, without the inner life
having been gradually adapted therefor"
A valuable feature of the work consists in
the large number of actual cases recorded
The facts are given succinctly, and yet SC
clearly as to enable every reader to under.
stand the special bearings Of each case.