Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-04-17
RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
THE PATHOLOGY OF MIND. BySHenry Mauds'ey NJ.
New York d. Appleton Co.

mis- Is Ill IdCI d ItCdSIlliS VI tllC SCCU4u
part of the work entitled Physiology and
Pathology of Mind, by the same author.
For all practical intents it is a new work,
however, having been entirely rewritten and
enlarged at least one-half. In Its present
form it is unquestionably the fullest and best
treatise on mental pathology in English.
The reputation and standing of DIR. Mauds-
ley do not require any certificates. His
latest work is certainly the most deeply in
teresting of all his writings or this weighty
and fascinating subject. His conclusions re-
garding the etiology of mental disease are
such as must perplex and startle those who
still cling to the old-fashioned notions of
free-will and responsibility. Insanity is in
large majority of cases hereditary. The
seeds of it may be implanted two or even
three generations before it is manifested I'm
mistakably. Alcoholism is potent breeder
of the insare temperament, and instances are
given in which the effects of drunkenness
may be traced through four generations,
ranging from epileptic tendencies to acute
mania, and ending at last in the extinction of
a family which had been fatally incapacitated
by the indulgence of great-greatgrandfathe
Few persons who have never examined the
subject will be prepared for the evidences
given in this volume of the ramifcations of
mental disease transmitted from distance.
The mysterious curse will sometimes
appear to skip one generation, only
to appear with renewed malignity
in the next. Or it will manifest itself
in epilepsy and epileptiform diseases. Or
these will again eliminate in insanity. Or
the inheritance will be expended in merely
eccentric manners. Or, in rare combinations,
it will issue in some great genius. How far
some of the most prominent figures in history
have had the insane temperament, or have
actually been insane, is curious speculation,
but there is evidently ground for concluding
that not a few of these persons were suffer-
ing from mental diseases Thus there is no
doubt that Mohammed was an epileptic, and
the same is true of Emanuel Swedenborg,
while it is well known that Napoleon suf-
fered attacks of the same disease, and there
is reason to believe that Julius Caesar also
belonged in the same category. The popular
notion about the thinness of the partition
that divides great wits from madness, in fact,
has scientific justification, and in some
cases, as particularly those of great religious
enthusiasts, it is perhaps a serious question
whether the manifestations on which their
n I IL lr
of mental alteration Dr. Maudsley says
that while it may not be true that particular
forms of religion foster insanity, it is certainly
true that persons having the insane temporal
ment are likely to be attracted. to particular
forms of religion. His remarks on this head
are worth quoting: 1.-The philosophical OBJ
''server who has given close attention to
the extremer forms of Professionalism
i'm their relation to character, such
Gas are known as Evangelicalism,
"must have noticed how often they go along
with an extraordinary insincerity or actual
"duplicity of character. mean not to in
"sinuate that the tendency of an evangelical
faith is to engender duplicity of character;
"the reason of the connection probably is
g that persons of that character are attracted
naturally to form of creed which, making
large use of the sort of emotion that springs
''from sef-feeling, yields them the gratifca-
s. ton of suitable emotional outlet, and by
"the habitual employment of conventional
"phraseology keeps out of sight, or at all
''events wells thickly, the gross variance be-
tween high profession and low practice
(which the use Of common language could
mot fail to bring clearly home" A nature
of this sort the author thinks is well fitted
to breed insanity. In fact his experience has
led him to look upon it 'as a singularly
defective cause of degeneracy in the next
generation" Il is evident that this state
ment opens up broad field of speculation
and reflection. 1t suggests the extent of the
influence which superstition must have had
insanity. 1t shows how the gloomy and at
the same time greedy professor of religion
may be preparing madness for his descendants
by his efforts to reconcile benefcent theory
with malevolent practice. 1t shows how the
inclination toward hypocrisy and deceit,
which is SO repulsively exhibited in the can't
ing professor, is of itself a natural
attribute of the insane temperament,
and how inevitably, if yielded to, it must
seek a still more pronounced manifestation.
For as DR.. Maudsley demonstrates, insan-
ity is at bottom neither more nor less than
failure to secure harmony with the environ
ments. The man who goes mad is he who
cannot adapt himself to his surroundings
who Willingly or unwittingly transgresses the
laws of Nature and who thus brings down
upon himself and his descendants the newt
able penalty. Nor is it possible to hope that
mental disease will ever be excluded from the
world, for, as our author observes, if all the
existing insanity could be eliminated to-day,
there would be fresh crop planted to-mor
row. Ignorance, impaired vitality, vicious
indulgence, overtaxed strength, greed of gain,
and many other constantly recurring causes,
are capable of sowing the seeds of insanity, |
and unfortunately the mental disease which |
is transmitted is usually more difficult to deal
with than that which affects the parent |
How tremendous are the responsibilities so
lightly and universally undertaken, this vol |
ume demonstrates, and how completely the |
destiny of the child may be blighted by the
sin or the deficiency of the parent. DIR. |
Maudsley, it need hardly be said, is an evolu-
ZIONIST of the most advanced school, and his |
lifelong researches into the physiology and !
pathology of mind have not seemed to him to
warrant the assumption of any other than |
physical and material existence. He has
found no spirit either in the brain itself or
in its workings.
OUR INDIAN WARDS. By George W. Manypenny.
Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.
The author of this book was Commissioner |
of Indian Affairs from March, 1858. to March,
1857, and Chairman of the Sioux Commission |
of 1876 He therefore speaks with the author