Macbeth: A Psychological Study.

Macbeth, the most awful creation of the poetic mind, is a study every way worthy of those to whom the storms of passion present the frequent cause of mental disease. The historian studies the temper of the mind in its most ardent heats, that he may gain a clue to the causation of human events; the statesman, that he may obtain foreknowledge of tendencies to human action; and the psychologist, for the more beneficent purpose of acquiring that knowledge as the means of alleviating the most terrible of calamities, and of doing that which the terrified physician in this tragedy dared not attempt, of “ministering to the mind diseased.” The philosopher studies the laws of storms, that he may teach the mariner to avoid the destructive circle of their influence; and the physician, whose noble object of study is the human mind, seizes every opportunity of making himself acquainted with the direction and events of its hurricane movements, that he may perchance lead some into a port of safety, or at least that he may assist in the restoration of the torn and shattered bark. But to stand on one side and calmly contemplate the phenomena of human passion, like the chorus in the old Greek drama, is the lot of few. When the elements of human passion are in fierce strife, there is no near standing-place for the foot of science, like the deck of the great steamer which allowed Scoresby to measure the force and speed of the wild Atlantic wave. The vortex of passion tends to draw in all who float near; and tranquil observation of its turmoil can only be made from a standing point more or less remote. On all actual occasions, indeed, it behoves the man whose object of study and of care is the human mind, to observe accurately its phenomena, and to test its springs and sources of action; but it behoves him to accept the testimony of those who have weathered the storm, and also gratefully to appreciate any assistance he may obtain from others who contemplate the same phenomena from different points of view to his own: and there is no one from whom he will derive help of such inestimable value, as from him whose high faculties enables him to contemplate human nature, as it were, from within. The Poet or maker, the same intrinsically with the Seer or gifted observer, is the best guide and helpmate with whom the psychologist can ally himself. He is like the native of a country to whom mountain and stream and every living thing are known, acting as instructor and guide to the naturalist, whose systems and classifications he may hold in slight esteem, but with whom he has a common love and a more personal knowledge for all their objects. Compared with the assistance which the psychologist derives from the true poet, that which he obtains from the metaphysician is as sketchy and indistinct as the theoretical description of a new country might be, given by one who had never been therein, as the description of Australia might be, drawn from the parallel of its climate and latitude with South America or China.

The Practice of Surgery in Connection with the Treatment of Lunacy.

Pursuing the consideration of those mechanical and surgical difficulties which beset the path of the practitioner in his treatment of insanity, I will again more particularly allude to those which result from the voracity, or unnatural appetites of classes of the insane, impelling them to swallow substances absolutely indigestible, or large portions of unmasticated food; and from paralysis of the nerves supplying the muscles of deglutition. A portion of this subject belongs equally to the sane world, as the remains of corroded knives, and other metallic substances in the museums of Guy's and other hospitals, and the works of authors on morbid appetite, sufficiently testify.

On Warm and Cold Baths in the Treatment of Insanity

The employment of warm and cold bathing in the treatment of the insane is of the highest antiquity. Three thousand years ago, long before Pindar had sung his famous αϱιστον μεν υδωϱ, or that Hippocrates, arid after him Celsus, Aretæus, and Galen, had given their testimony to the value of its application in head affections, and in nervous disorders; Melampus the Pylian, the first “alienist,” and indeed the first physician of whom we have any record, is said to have cured mania and melancholia by the administration of hellebore and the use of the warm bath. It may be mythical, that by the last prescription he restored the health of a princess, and gained a wife; but it is not the less true that his practice, as recorded or alluded to by Homer, Herodotus, and Ovid, was rational and successful; and that the first specialist appears to have well understood the efficacy of purgation, and the beneficial effects of bathing, in the treatment of mental disease.

On the Somatic and Psychical Causes of Disease in the Structure and Functions of the Brain, viewed more particularly in reference to Marriages of Consanguinity as a great social evil.

Insanity, together with many other forms of disease affecting the brain, are doubtless upon the increase. Our statistical tables and periodical registers all clearly and unmistakeably tell us this. It is no advantage either to society at large, or to individuals composing that society, to try to beg the question. We cannot disprove the fact. Better, therefore, let us try to search out its causes, that, if possible, they may be removed. By taking this course, we shall sooner find our-selves in a more hopeful position for arresting the onward march of a formidable enemy to our national peace and prosperity.