The most perfect specimens of the Greek drama which time has spared to us, the tragedies of Sophocles now extant, contain, unfortunately, little to my purpose. We shall hereafter see that those plays have been unfortunately lost in which insanity must have been a prominent feature; but it also seems likely that Sophocles was intentionally sparing in his introduction of madness on the stage. We have had one instance of this in the case of Orestes, who is the most prominent mad hero of Æschylus and Euripides, and yet is portrayed by Sophocles as perfectly sane; and the story of Hercules, in its different treatment by Sophocles and Euripides, is another example.

I fear that the subject which I have undertaken will seem a very useless one to most of the readers of the “Journal of Mental Science.” As several of our systematic treatises on insanity contain very full accounts of the opinions and treatment adopted by the ancient physicians, it will naturally be supposed that the subject is either exhausted, or at least has no further practical interest. This is, however, by no means the case. As far as the statement of general principles goes, there can be little doubt that the passages scattered amongst the works of Aristotle which refer to insanity are of much greater value at the present day than any of the treatises of the classic psychiatrists.

Tumours of the brain have long been recognised as a cause of insanity, but different authors have regarded them in very different lights. Arnold quotes Morgagni and Bonetus, that tumours are one of 47 pathological changes found in the brains of the insane. Esquirol mentions them as among the morbid conditions found in the brains of the insane, but did not connect them with any particular symptoms. According to French statistics they occurred in the form of cancer in 22 out of 8,289 cases, that is, about 2·7 per 1,000. Dr. Sutherland mentions that he found 4 in 200 cases, or 20 per 1,000 cases. Tuke and Bucknill say that they only found 1 tumour in 400 autopsies, or 2·5 per 1,000. Leubuscher found tumours of the brain in four cases out of 358 autopsies, or at the rate of 11 5 per 1000. Fischer found not one case of tumour in 318 autopsies at the Prague Asylum. At the Carlisle Asylum we have performed 214 autopsies, and there have been 6 cases of tumours of the brain, which is at the rate of 28 per 1,000 cases.

In the following observations I propose to describe a feature in the mental condition of Epileptics, which, to the best of my knowledge, has not attracted that attention to which its frequency entitles it. I refer to the exaltation of the religious sentiment. Irritability, suspicion, impulsive violence, egotism, strong homicidal propensities are among the most commonly observed characteristics in the insane epileptic; but in strange contradiction with these we very frequently find combined a strong devotional feeling, manifesting itself, it may be, in simple piety or in decided religious delusions. I do not pretend that the forms of religious insanity to be afterwards noticed are peculiar to epilepsy, but they are very frequently found in connection with it, and, I believe, I have only to describe a few illustrative cases to bring to your recollection numerous others which have occurred in your own experience. The causes which combine to develope a devotional frame of mind in Epileptics are probably numerous. In congenital cases or those arising from diseases of childhood education no doubt exercises a powerful influence. The epileptic child is necessarily less able to join in the amusements and occupations of healthy children, and a large share of his time and attention may be devoted at home to religious instruction. The mysterious nature of the disease, the consciousness of infirmity and helplessness developes a craving for sympathy in the epileptic which we rarely see in other lunatics. In the wards and airing-courts of our asylums, epileptics may be distinguished from their fellow-patients by the fact that they are generally found associating in little groups of twos or threes. They sympathize with each other, lean on each other for help in the time of trouble, and however much they exhibit violence and viciousness to others, they rarely attack each other. Along with this desire for sympathy, the epileptic is mercifully endowed with strong hope. He is always getting over his trouble, he thinks the turns are less severe, and will tell you perhaps the day before a fatal seizure that he thinks he will have no more fits. We all know how much hope has helped the physician in his efforts to combat this disease with a whole battery of drugs, each of which in its turn seems for a time to promise success, only too surely to fail in the end. This craving for sympathy finds a deep response in the highest development of hope—religion; and the sufferings of this life are assuaged by the assurance of sympathy and aid from heaven, and of a blessed future where suffering and sorrow are no more.

There always must be some awkwardness about the classification of insanity. It is regarded as aberration of function of the nervous centres, the result of a number of nervous diseases. The physician who wishes to have a proper know ledge of insanity from a medical point of view must study the pathological conditions of which it is the symptom or the result, and when he has done so it is impossible for him to disconnect one series of observations from the other-the mental aberration from the accompanying disaese of tissue or pathological symptoms.

I may safely assume that anyone who chooses can now acquire some knowledge of the outlines of the story of Orestes, thanks to the admirable “Classics for English Readers,” recently published; and I, therefore, propose only to dwell upon such points as have a more special interest for us.

We have in the consideration of the influence of the emo tions upon the blood-vessels anticipated, to some extent, the fundamental principle of this section. The important part played by the vaso-motor nerves was there dwelt upon, chiefly in connection with the vascularity of the skin, which so manifestly results from emotional excitement. The circulation of the blood through the various organs of the body being affected by the same cause, the action of the emotions in inducing well-marked changes in nutrition and secretion is not extraordinary. But the question which at once arises, whether these variations in the circulation of the blood in the organs and tissues, adequately account for the alterations in nutrition and secretion, now referred to, deserves some consideration here.

Some months ago, in an article on “Colonial Lunacy Boards,” [in the number of the “Edinburgh Medical Journal” for March, 1872,] I had occasion to announce that the New Zealand Government had put upon paper certain “Resolutions” regarding Lunacy-Reform in the Colony, including a proposal forthwith to appoint at least one Commissioner in Lunacy, who should act as adviser to Government in all Lunacy matters, as well as supervise all the Lunatic Asylums of the Colony. I expressed a fear that the intentions apparently embodied in the said resolutions were “too good news to be true,” and that they would prove but formal suggestions—to be laid upon the table of the House of Assembly, there to remain [shelved] for an indefinite period, just as similar proposals for Lunacy Reform have been treated in the sister colony of New South Wales. Unfortunately for the insane, and for the Lunatic Hospitals, of New Zealand, my surmises have proved to be only too correct —my fears only too well founded. By the August mail (1872) I received two letters from tne Honourable Dr. Buchanan, of Dunedin, Member of the Legislative Council, and mover of the Parliamentary Resolutions above referred to. That the proposals which these resolutions contained, have not yet been adopted, is certainly no fault of his; for of his hearty interest and honest intention in the matter there can be no question. In his letters he gives the following most unsatisfactory account of the present state of affairs in New Zealand in regard to Lunacy Progress or Reform—a state of affairs which I quite agree with him in considering discreditable and disgraceful to its reputation as a British Colony!

Euripides introduces the story of Orestes into three of his tragedies, which were written at different times, and on no common plan; but they, nevertheless, follow the same general manner of treating the subject. Sophocles had apparently felt that he coxild best introduce novelty into the treatment of a subject already dramatized by the master hand of Æschylus, by bringing into prominence the sufferings of Electra, and her delivery by her brother Orestes. Euripides followed the same idea, and went farther.

The thermometrical observations made for a considerable period of time in a number of selected cases of general paralysis of the insane, form the subject of this paper. In all of them, the pulse and respiration associated with each temperature is added to make the observations more complete. The cases chosen exhibit a considerable variety in etiology, in duration, in degree and rate of progression of the motor symptoms, and also in the phases and forms of concurrent mental disorder.

Before proceeding to illustrate these several states, we wish to refer to the term Imagination, which, in its various significations, is directly or indirectly concerned with the greater part of the phenomena comprised under the Influence of the Mind upon the Body.

In the July number of the “Journal of Mental Science” is a paper of considerable interest by Dr. Clouston on “Tumours of the Brain and their Relation to its Mental Functions.” Only a few cases are there recorded. The following contribution is submitted to the members of the Medico-Psychological Association:—

During my residence in the St. Marylebone Infirmary, in three years and a-half, there were in 1039 post-mortem examinations 22 cases of tumours of the brain; one of these was transferred to the insane ward, and two were in a state of fatuity, leaving 19, or at the rate of about 18-3 per thou sand, in whom no mental derangement was observed.

I have ventured to undertake the responsibility of bringing this important subject forward, in the hope that any little I can dp may go some way towards abolishing a line of treat ment which I consider to be unsatisfactory in its results and demoralising in its tendencies. Unsatisfactory in its results by its failing to raise the percentage of the recoveries of our patients, and in its being of no real benefit to those so treated; and demoralising in its tendencies by ever being before the attendants as a tempting means by which they may easily get rid of a troublesome patient to gratify their own idle propensities.

The terse, but comprehensive expression of John Hunter contains in a nutshell the principle which underlies the greater part of the phenomena referred to in this section: “I am confident,” he says, “that I can fix my attention to any part until I have a sensation in that part.” Müller expresses the fact of the operation of the ideational upon the sensational centres in equally clear terms.

Having recently admitted into the West Riding Asylum no less than three general paralytics, who either came from prison, or had undergone imprisonment not long previous to admission, on account of the commission of larceny; and being of opinion, considering the stage at which, in each case, the disease had arrived on admission, that its commencement must have dated prior to the commission of the crime;—I have been led to make further enquiry as to these and other similar cases which have occurred within the experience and recollection of the present medical officers of the West Riding Asylum. The result is, that I am now enabled, by the kind permission of Dr. Crichton Browne, to record short details of six cases of general paralysis, all males, and admitted during the last four years, in which it appears to me the commission of the crime was a manifestation of the earlier mental symptoms of the disease. Such being the case, the patients ought not to have been held responsible for their actions. I feel it, therefore, a duty, to call the attention of medical officers of prisons, and “all whom it may concern,” to these facts, and to urge upon them the necessity of instituting a more searching enquiry into the mental condition of such cases, and also of cultivating a more extended acquaintance with the symptoms—especially the earlier ones—both mental and physical, of that very common and peculiar disease usually termed “general paralysis of the insane;” and this I would do in no dictatorial spirit, for I am well assured that those to whom my remarks are addressed are susceptible to the influence of that humane sentiment which leads us to shrink from inflicting punishment for crime committed by persons who are of unsound mind and consequently not legally responsible for their actions.