Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1870-05-04

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and came prepared with instruments and
charts to illustrate his evidence He said
! am q graduate of the University OF the
City of New York, and am a practicing
physician in this city for twenty-one years;
have been Surgeon General of the Army
during the war for two years, and Profess
or of Anatomy and Physiology, &c,
have devoted q consideral portion of my
professional life and the last five years eX-
clusively, to the study of the mind, and
| have written severals works on cerebral
| diseases.
EXAMINATION OF THE PRISONER.
saw the prisoner in the Tonbs on the
9th of March, 1870, having been requested
| by his counsel to make an examination of
him with a view to be produced to give ev-
idence as to his mental condition; / found
| his temperament was exceedingly eXcita-
BILE, that he was of an emotional DISPOSE
| ton and was very easily reused; his pulse
was frequent and was far above the aver
| age his pupils were dilated unequally one
! being contracted and the other quite large
| l made an examination with the ophtal-
| moscope, and found the retine of both eyes
were congested, that the vessels were tor
| tured and more numerous than they ought
| to be, and that there was disease of the OPP
| tic nerve; his -ensibilities at one side were
greater than al the other; his pulse was
| los, irregular and irritable while l had
my hand on it i made some remarks cal
| culated to excite il, and it Immediately in
| creased his eyes were red and watery, and
he complained of seeing flashes of light
before his eyes, and of hearing noises in his
| head; next visited him on the 10th of
| March, and found his face very much
flushed, twitching of the muscles of the
| face and lips, and especially about the fore
head and a throbbing of the temples and
arteries; his eyes were suffused, and there
was considerable heat of the head his
pulse varied from 104 to ia
MENTAL ToRTUREs APPLIED.
While determining the condition of his
pulse l mentioned Richardson's name to
him, and it Immediately rose from los to
12S; l also visited him on the 18th Of
March, when j found him again excited
and talking about his troubles; his pupils
were contracted, and felt the state of his
pulse four times with the following result:
los, 104, III and 1914 / next visited him
on the Dist of March, when the pulse was
ITO, and the other phenomena were SINH
lar to those noticed on the 18th; / again
saw him on the Goth of March, and this
time his pulse was l04 on this occasion
took with me three photographs of his
wife, and / suddenly produced them to
him at first he seemed to be incapable of
forming an idea, and looked quite stolid !;
this condition lasted for about fifteen sec
onds, when he became very much excited,
took the photographs out of my hand,
J rushed around the room with them, wept
profusely, and became very angry with ice
for having, as he said, brought these things
down on him; he afterward quieted down
: and wept a good deal; his face was no.
very much flushed his voice trembled
4 | his language was incOherent so much sc
: as to bear no relation to the idea which was
, too obviously in his mind his articulation
" was 80 defective that at one time he could
not speak NJ all his pulse rose to I42, AND
llsal
q | saw him on the Sd April in company
, with Dr. Austin Flint but | made no spe
cial examination of him beyond observing
his appearance and feeling his pulse which
e was l04, and subsequently los; | made an
n other examination of him on the Goth 0
70 April, and his pulse stood at 1872.
rHE-DYN A1IoGRAPI
. BY an instrument now extensively used
q dynamograph, which determines tn
II tone Of the nervous system, | ascertaine,
es ne was incapable of willing amy act of hi
muscle for any particular time. or if n
In was able to will it his muscles were incapa
bic OF putting it into execution.
d Q.-As the result of these different visit
e. 10 the prisoner, and the different examina
tions 30 which you submitted him, wha
= was the conclusion you arrived at as TO tn
+. existence of congestion of the brain? A.
- ] have no doubt ii existed at that time
~ though il was much better than on the 81
OF March the improvement / attribute I
= better fare and more regular living.
ri EMOTIONAL INSANITY.
Y The emotions are always difficult to cor
troll even when in their normal condition
but to a different degree in different pei
~ sons in circumstances of great excitement
" many persons act from the emotions rattle
OF than from the intellect for instance f;
ther seeing his child in the midst of burn
ing house, has been known to dash in afto
al it, although ii was absolutely certain this
I'd he could not save the child and would b
be destroyed himself 50, too, a mother ma
leap over the side of a vessel TO save he
drowning child, although the intelleC
would tell her that il was certain death fc
r herself; person who had control of til
lg emotions would not do such a thing; fo
time being, such person is practically in
80 sane; the emotions may be afflicted by a
:. insane eXaggeration without any know
I" exciting circumstances, as in melancholii
gs when person becomes very much depres
sed ana weeps all day long without bein
a able TO give any cause for il man, too
o. may be seized with an excessive love f.
- one particular woman, or for all women
- general, and be wholly unable % overcOm
Ut or control 1t; sometimes this kind of insaI
en- ity il cOunterbalanced by some strong me
tive for subduing it, i know a man of hig
ia. standing in this community who has tol
me that but for pride of family he woul
Bt l1iyacalf rive. d, n