New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-02-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
INSANITY AND ITS TREATMENT

Tinted States to the year 1888 inclusive, etc ny
GEORGE /. HARRISON, IL d, svo' PIP l'iI''
Philadelphia: Privately printed
A MANUAL OF PsYCHoIoGlcAL MEDICINE M HND
ALLIED NERVOUS DISEASES. ~ h. Z. MASn'
81 D. rp COS. Philadelphia p. Biakiston' cen !" W
INSANITY CONSIDERED IN Irs MEi,lVM2-iIiS' nm
RELATIONS. by T.. II; BucKRAM, a ~ ~ !" - ~
Mr. Harrison. formerly president OF tAe feAns!i'
xonja BOARD of Public Charities, is we!!-k2own ii
PHILADELPHIA fol bis earnest and long-continued Ia
bors in behalf Of the insane, and his careful study
nj the laws relating to them, both at home ana IN
foreign countries 1t in no small measure through
his efforts that the lunacy laws OF PennsyiVahla
have recently been improved. he having been
nron,inent member of the State Commission which
reported upon the subject to Governor Hoyt last
year. The present compilation is not oooKseuer 5
venture. but contribution TO the benevolent work
in which Mr. Harrison has been so usefIly en-
nloved. II brings together in systematic shape
The whole legislation of our own country respecting
the insane, with an abrdgment of the laws of Eng
land. Canada. France, Belgium, Germany and Rus
sia. Mr. Harrison's preface emphasizes, with facts
from his personal experience, what is well known
nv all WAC have paid attention to the subject, that
our legislation for the insane is still faulty ana Oh
ten chaotic The most cursory reading Oh Tue
statutes of several of the States will suffice 10 so"
how lax are the provisions against unjust lhcarcela
tion. how easy IL is for Interested persons W
prevent the discharge Of patients VINO na,o o"O0
been committed and how Intellectual are inc pro-
visions TO secure the proper treatment Oh INC iSa'
in public and private asylums IN ihos1 "a 'no
States the certificate of any two Respectable phy
.;c;onsn Is enough to imprison an alleged lunatc,
and some States do not even require 30 much us
that. II makes no difference who the doctors are
,rbev NAV be Young graduates, on whose diplomas
The ink is not vet dry. They may be dentists OF
corn-doctors. They may never have seen an insane
natient. They may be rogues, ready to do anything
for n fee And once behind the bars the victim is
belpless. The personal rights of man accused OF
crime are much more jealousy guarded by the law
than the personal rights of man accused OF Illness
Mr.. Harrison cites five instances within MS own
experience of the incarceration in nnatlc aSylumS
of persons afterward proved to be sane. Tho SUD-
iect of lunacy legislation Is likely to receive great
deal of attention in all the States before we reach
an inteligently devised system, and Mr. HarrlsonS
compendium will be found an invaluable aid in the
inevitable reform.
Diseases of the brain and nervous system nave
never been so carefully studied as now, ana the III
erature of mental pathology is being augmented
rapidly indeed more rapidly than the catalogue OF
important psychological discoveries. A great cause
of confusion and conflict in this class of subjects is
the indeterminateness of the fundamental positions
Is insanity for instance disease of the mind or OF
the bodv or of each-are questions which arc
still Disputed If not as fiercely as ever,
certainly with such obstinacy as TO pre-
vent anything like harmony among psychologists
and alcnists These questions, too, involve others
which launch the student into almost hopeleSsly
difficult paths. AS what Is the nature OF nina
How can it, supposing 1t to be separate entity
be liable to diseased If insanity is mental dis
case. what is tho use of treating it physically And
H. oho ha mat teri l.
ist and spritualist schools still in contention
over the premises of mental pathology, in fact and
mo- doubt this is one reason why medical expert tes-
tmony In criminal cases often seems so contradlc-
tory.
The anthor of Psychological Medicine" has en-
deavorod TO treat q vast range of allied subjects
within the compass of single bulky volume. In
doinp This he has not been aided by his methods of
collation., for there is undue proportion OF I'M
digest n asylum reports and crude statistics the
condo ,sation of which would have not only made
the book less clumsy but have left more space Tor
original matter Apart from this DR.. Mann has
done his work conscientiously and well. lie has
laid under contribution the best authorities upon
insanity. and he has sought to present the result of
the most advanced researches When all Is said
concerning brain disease that modern science feels
authorized to saw certain considerations APP
near to stand ont with particular distinctness.
II Is to be inferred that the compleXity and
heterogcnity of insanity increase with civilizations;
that civilization brings with it habits of living
which tend to the spread of brain and nervous
diseases that while medical science Is constantly
learning more about the physiology of these morbid
states. the psychological discoveries are compara-
lively few; that the treatment of insanity though
much more scientific aud humane than formerly, is
not in a corresponding ratio moro successful
,f%a Ito har
ful rs beneficial; that more people go mad than
ever before, and that radical reform is called
for in the medico-legal relations Of insanity 1t
seems to be demonstrated that civilization, while
giving increased intellectual power brings into
action whole system of nerves peculiarly liable to
arrangement and that it furnishes the progressive
portion of the race with acute sensbity capable
of infcting fortunes which may end in mental col
Lapse and physical death. DR.. Mann assures the
public that insanity and allied nervous diseases are
on the increase in this country, and he attributes
this increase to the anxiety, constant mental
strain, excess in Diet smoking and sometimes
drinking which are habitual with too many Amer
leans. lie tells us also that American women are
becoming fearfully addicted to habits which pro-
duce nervous diseases, and that the tendency OF
the people, and especially Of the jewellers
in cities. to succumb to these modern maladies
il 0utrunnlng the capacity VI eCieuCo w
discover remedies for the evils. Our author does
not appear anxious to take sides on the question of
the relations between Mind aud Body. He is con-
tent to deal with insanity morbid state of the
organ of mind. The question whether, when piano
is ont of tune it is the music or the instrument that
is disarranged indeed seems to be scarcely neces-
sary. Mind may be as much a separate entity as
music is, yet when the organ through which it is
physically manifested is out Of order, the mani
festation may be perverted or may cease. There
is no help for materialism in any theory of the re-
lation of mind to the organ through which
it is manifested. The theory of some physicists