The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-06-09
AMONG MADMEN.

INSANITY IN ITS VARIOUS PHASES -CLINICAL
INSTRUCTION IN THE CITY ASYLUM, OF NEW
YoRK-LEcTURE BY DIR. MACDONALD.
In tho lecture room Of the New York City Asylum
ards Island yesterday afternoon ranged
proper order eight patients OF the institution, VINO
were intended TO furnish the illustrative portion OF a
clinical lecture on insanity which delivered by
Professor Z. Macdonald, N. D., medical superin-
tendens OF tho asylum. Confronting them were
nearly hundred medical students, anxious TO
profit by the words OF experience and guid-
ance which Tell from DR.. Macdonald. Mnny more
patients were brought INTO tho room during the
progress OF the lecture, but the eight referred TO
were principally designed to illustrate the four phases
OF insanity which the lecturer directed the attcn-
ton OF his auditors. THESE afflicted men were OF very
different physical aspects, and furnished examples OF
very divergent degrees Of dethroned reason Some
were utterly incoherent and rambling thor talk,
others oil gay and airy methods as Mr.. MI
cawber himself while others again had sounded abys
IN. depths OF dependency ana depression. Dr.
Macdonald did not waste any time in tho gcnerai-
ties OF LIS theme. He asked his bearers 10 accept
without Argument question tho dehnition Of in.
SANITY which hims elf had been accustomed use
namely, that IT was physical disease OF the brain
that the standard by which II was determined
not comparison with an ideal condition with the
condition Of some other indvIdua but with the pre-
vous condition OF the insane person himself Atlcr
suue &c remarks usohs ana nailu.
cinaions no said lhat IN mania ana melanchoa there
was, he said, lar greater actvity vi miuu Than IN
pcrect health, whie IN oementla there Was no activ-
ity nina at all .Here, nov" said the Ieci urer,
bringing iorward one OF Inc patients, rs an example
Of mama. want you 10 observe ms physical condi-
ton. In TINS case, others OF The knu. diier-
cut parts OF the express Inherent motions Tic
man brought forward was Eugiish BY birth ana was
about lor,y-nve Years OF age. lie mad once been
cioXn ami st appeared to have leaning toward Cow
gaws anu motley, Tor be had decorated himself with
every fantastic trife he could lay hands HIS
ncr very livery and vivacious, but when per-
mitleG 10 Talk he Was utterly incohcrent
unntsiligble. His companion example OF mama
was also an Englishman, about iorty-eignt
years OF aye and had been some SIX years mo
asy ium. When permitted to speak he began 10 adj
dress the audience in most 1crvent aud energetic
but altogether ulinteliglbis way. He also gesticu-
lated vigorously his eyes flashed and twinklod. and
when iarly under way ~ was with dilliculty he
could be stopped. He appear eG all the timc 10 Oe
eagerly banL enforcing some weianty argument
Al iasi he moved OF wnh the attendants, saying 10
tho audience, IN pcremptory tones, as he lett, Wait
I'LL come back"
VICTIMS or MgLANcnoLIA.
In striking contrast TO these Two the next
paLent 10 winch Dr. Macdonald directed attention.
He was vlcdm Of meanchoi;a, was thirty Two years
age aud lrisn by birth. dis case was not q Dad
lnasmuch he had The AFFINITY to recognize that
there somelhin. wrong with him. He spoKe IN q
was one OF great ean choly. His chel aeiuson was
concerning the ndety Of his wife, atrifing matter
10 nave any bee IN his bonnet Hc admitted, how
that ho had NO Cause Tor his suspicons but yet
aLo gether unable TO shake them oil. He also
posed himself the victim Of various prosecutions
The part vi his friends common deiusion, the Ice
turcr explained, in this class OF patients The
patent illustrating The mcancholiac phase Of Insanity
also Irish about lorty-nve years oi age. he
was quiet, detected and harmless. Following these
patients came Two examples OF dementia, only
twenty and eighteen years of age rcspectivcl,.
Their Appearance was pitiabe In the extreme they
were entirely lstless, gave no heed 10 hing and
seemed aejected almost beyond conception. Both
wcro native born and the younger was under the IN
huence oil hereditary Insanity, his iatner ana three
tap 1hnte
anotner sister having been Insane. These patients,
DR.. Macdonald said were much younger than those
usually are VINO suffer from TINS form OF insanity.
HAPPY
The next patient ian example OF DR.. Macdonad's
fourth classification OF insanity was the very person
ncatiou OF everything airy aud volatile. lie was a
dapper iittle Englishmau, sixtytwo OF
seemed supremacy happy "a his crazos. His hal
lucnations were muititudinous. He esteemed
himself AZ once coal merchant ana
OF Shakespeare and Of the Bible, Trend Of Dr.
Martin Lutner and the husband of Queen Victoria
he ran tilt against all chronology anninated
time and distance He seemed Particularly ANXIOUS
address the auuicncc the moment he introduced.
.Gentemen,' he began, with the sweetest vi smiles.
swat tiiI get through SAID DR.. Macdonald
"0h. beg your pardon," rcpied the little man,
admirable suavity. Finally he gwen rein
and he proceeded. ''Gentlemen, my lecture will he
the corpus naentis that ~, tho human min1
he, explaining his Laiinity. Tnen he plunged into
Shakespeare, reciting The passage beginning, "lbe
cioud.capp'd towers" &c. ..II took me-" he said
1.-TWO nundrcd years 10 write the tragedies,
staDzas aud epigrams OF Shakespeare. l wrote
he recled Hamiets soliloquy. untn he came to tns
passage, "Ay, there's the rub ~ when he broke
refecvely, nj had 10 write that again should say,
'Ay, that's the reason"