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The journal of mental science. 

London : Longman, Green, Longman & Roberts, 1859-1962. 

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nj p.32101074924133 


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THE JOURNAL 

OF 

MENTAL SCIENCE. 


EDITORS : 

John R. Lord, M.B. Thomas Drapes, M.B. 

Assistant Editors: 

Henry Devine, M.D. G. Douglas McRae, M.D. 

VOL. LXIV. 



LONDON: 

J. & A. CHURCHILL, 

7, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 

MDCCCCXVI1I. 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



“ In adopting our title of the Journal of Mental Science, published by authority 
of the Medico-Psychological Association, we profess that we cultivate in our pages 
mental science of a particular kind, namely, such mental science as appertains 
to medical men who are engaged in the treatment of the insane. But it has 
been objected that the term mental science is inapplicable, and that the term 
mental physiology or mental pathology, or psychology, or psychiatry (a term 
much affected by our German brethren), would have been more correct and ap¬ 
propriate ; and that, moreover, we do not deal in mental science, which is pro¬ 
perly the sphere of the aspiring metaphysical intellect. If mental science is 
strictly synonymous with metaphysics, these objections are certainly valid ; for 
although we do not eschew metaphysical discussion, the aim of this Journal is 
certainly bent upon more attainable objects than the pursuit of those recondite 
inquiries which have occupied the most ambitious intellects from the time of 
Plato to the present, with so much labour and so little result. But while we 
admit that metaphysics may be called one department of mental science, we main¬ 
tain that mental physiology and mental pathology are also mental science under 
a different aspect. While metaphysics may be called speculative mental science, 
mental physiology and pathology, with their vast range of inquiry into insanity, 
education, crime, and all things which tend to preserve mental health, or to pro¬ 
duce mental disease, are not less questions of mental science in its practical, that 
is in its sociological point of view. If it were not unjust to high mathematics 
to compare it in any way with abstruse metaphysics, it would illustrate our 
meaning to say that our practical mental science would fairly bear the same rela¬ 
tion to the mental science of the metaphysicians as applied mathematics bears to 
the pure science. In both instances the aim of the pure science is the attainment 
of abstract truth; its utility, however, frequently going no further than to serve 
as a gymnasium for the intellect. In both instances the mixed science aims at, 
and, to a certain extent, attains immediate practical results of the greatest utility 
to the welfare of mankind ; we therefore maintain that our Journal is not inaptly 
called the Journal of Mental Science, although the science may only attempt to 
deal with sociological and medical inquiries, relating either to the preservation of 
the health of the mind or to the amelioration or cure of its diseases; and although 
not soaring to the height of abstruse metaphysics, we only aim at such meta¬ 
physical knowledge as may be available to our purposes, as the mechanician uses 
the formularies of mathematics. This is our view of the kind of mental science 
which physicians engaged in the grave responsibility of caring for the mental 
health of their fellow-men may, in all modesty, pretend to cultivate; and while 
we cannot doubt that all additions to our certain knowledge in the speculative 
department of the science will be great gain, the necessities of duty and of danger 
must ever compel us to pursue that knowledge which is to be obtained in the 
practical departments of science with the earnestness of real workmen. The cap¬ 
tain of a ship would be none the worse for being well acquainted with the highei 
branches of astronomical science, but it is the practical part of that science as it 
is applicable to navigation which he is compelled to study.” — Sir J. C. Bucknill, 
M.D., F.N.S. 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



THE 

MEDICO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 
OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 


THE COUNCIL AND OFFICERS, 1917-18. 


president.— DAVID GEORGE THOMSON, M.D. 
PRESIDENT ELECT. —JOHN KEAY, M.D. 
bx-pkebidbnt and treasurer. —JAMES CHAMBERS, M.A., M.D. 

( JOHN R. LORD, M.B. 

EDITORS OP JOURNAL. | r, DRAPES, M.B. 


DIVISIONAL SECRETARY POH SOUTH-EASTERN DIVISION. 

J. NOEL SERGEANT, M.B. 

DIVISIONAL SECRETARY POR SOUTH-WESTERN DIVISION. 


G. N. BARTLETT, M.B. 

DIVISIONAL SECRETARY POR NORTHERN AND MIDLAND DIVISION. 

T. STEWART ADAIR, M.D. 


DIVISIONAL SECRETARY FOR SCOTTISH DIVISION. 

KOBT. B. CAMPBELL, M.D., F.R.C.P. 


DIVISIONAL SECRETARY FOR IRISH DIVISION. 

RICHARD R. LEEPER, P.R.C.S. 

GENERAL SECRETARY. —M. ABDY COLLINS, M.D. 

R. H. STEEN, M.D., M.R.C.P. (Acting Hon. Gen. Sec.). 

CHAIRMAN OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE. 

H. WOLSELEY-LEWIS, M.D., P.R.C.S. 

SECRETARY OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE. 

R. H. COLE, M l)., F.R.C.P. 

(both appointed by Parliamentary Committee, but with seats on Council). 

SECRETARY OF EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE. 

J. G. PORTER PHILLIPS, M.D., M.R.C.P. 

(appointed by Educational Committee, but with seat on Council). 
registrar. —ALFRED A. MILLER, M.B. 


MKMHBRS OF COUNCIL. 


REPRESENTATIVE. 


R. ARMSTRONG-JONES 
H. J. NORMAN 
T. E. K. STANS FIELD 
W. H. B. STODDART 
NORMAN LAVERS 
H. T. S. AVELINE 
J. GEDDES 
D. HUNTER 
C. C. EASTERBROOK 
It. L. OSWALD 


jS.E. Div. 

}S.W. Div. 
}N.&M. Div 
|Scotland. 


REPRESENTATIVE. 


F. E. RAINSFORD * 
J. MILLS / 


Ireland. 


NOMINATED. 

HELEN BOYLE 
GEOFFREY CLARKE 
RICHARD EAGER 

F. W. MOTT 
DAVID ORK 

G. E. SHUTTLEWORTH 


[The abore form the Council.] 


ENGLAND'S 


EXAMINERS. 

fj G. PORTER- PHILLIPS, M.D., B.S., M.R.C.P.Lond., 
.ndt M.P.C. 

I R. H. STEEN, M.D., M.R.C.P. 

I JAMES H. MACDONALD, M.B., ChB.. F.R.F.P.S.Glasg. 
Scotland | H> de M ALEXANDER, M.D., C.M.Edin. 

(F. E. RAINSFORD, M.D., B.A.Dubl., L.R.C.P.I. 
IRELAND- L.RC.P.&S.E. 

(m. J. NOLAN, L.R.C.P.&S.I., M.P.C. 

Examiners for the Nursing Certificate of the Association : 
final- R. B. CAMPBELL, M.D., F.R.C.P.E.; J. REDING TON, F.R.C.S., 
L.R.C.P.I.; HENRY DEVINE, M.D., B.S., M.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., M.P.C. 
Preliminary —DAVID ORK, M.D., C.M.Edin.; GEORGE DUNLOP ROBERTSON, 
LB.C.S. & P.Edin!, Dipl. Psych.; A. W. DANIEL, B.A., M.D., 

B.C.Cantab., M.K.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. 4 


AUDITORS. 

MAURICE CRAIG, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P. F. 




H. EDWARDS, M.D., M.R.C.P. 






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11 


PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE. 


T. S. ADAIR. 

SIR R. ARMSTRONG-JONES. 

H. T. S. AVELINE. 

FLETCH ER BEACH. 

E. H. RERESFORI). 

JAIMES V. BLACHFORD. 
DAVID BOWER. 

LEWIS C. BRUCE. 

R. B. CAMPBELL. 

JAMES CHAMBERS. 

R. H. COLE. 

M. A. COLLINS {ex officio). 

J. O’C. DON ELAN. 

THOS. DRAPES. 

J. R. GILMOUR. 

P. T. HUGHES. 

D. HUNTER. 

THEO. B. HYSLOP. 

N. T. KERR. 

R. L. LANGDON-DOWN. 

R. R. LEEPER. 

J. II. LORD. 

P. W. MACDONALD. 


T. W. McDOWALL. 

W. F. MENZ1ES. 

CHAS. A. MERCIER. 
JOHN MILLS. 

W. F. NELIS. 

M. J. NOLAN. 

JAMES ORR. 

BEDFORD PIERCE. 
HENRY RAYNER. 

G. M. ROBERTSON. 

SIR GEO. H. SAVAGE. 

G. £. SHUTTLEWORTH. 
R. PERCY SMITH. 

J. G. SOUTAR. 

J. BEVERIDGE SPENCE. 
T. E. K. STANSFIELD. 
R. H. STEEN. 

ROTHSAY C. STEWART. 

F. R. P. TAYLOR. 

DAVID G. THOMSON. 
ERNEST W. WHITE. 

J. R. WIIITWELL. 

H. WOLSELEY-LEW1S. 


EDUCATIONAL 

T. S. ADAIR. 

H. df M. ALEXANDER (ex officio). 

3. SIR R. ARMSTRONG-JONES. 

H. T. S. AVELINE. 

FLETCHER BEACH. 

J. V. BLACHFORD. 

1. J. S. BOLTON. 

LEWIS C. BRUCE. 

R. B. CAMPBELL. 

22. JAMES CHAMBERS. 

18. R. H. COLE. 

M. A. COLLINS (ex officio). 

2. MAURICE CRAIG. 

A. W. DANIEL (ex officio). 

H. DEVINE. 

J. FRANCIS DIXON. 

10. J. O’C. DONELAN. 

THOS. DRAPES. 

J. R. GILMOUR. 

17. B. HART. 

16. P. T. HUGHES. 

12. JOHN KEAY. 

N. T. KERR. 

R. R. LEEPER. 

13. J. h. Macdonald. 

P. W. MACDONALD. 

4 THOS. W. McDOWALL. 

15. W. TUACII MACKENZIE. 

21. E. D. MACNAMARA. 

8. R. MACPHAIL. 

W. F. MENZ1ES. 


COMMITTEE. 

C. A. MERCIER. 

JAMES MIDDLEMASS. 
ALFRED MILLER (ex officio). 
W. F. NELIS. 

MICHAEL J. NOLAN. 

25. H. J. NORMAN. 

DAVID ORR. 

JAMES ORR. 

5. L. R. OSWALD. 

23. J. G. PORTER PHILLIPS. 
BEDFORD PIERCE. 

F. E. RA1NSFORD (ex officio.) 
J. REDINGTON (ex officio.) 

14. WILLIAM REID (Aberdeen). 

G. 1). ROBERTSON (exofficio). 

6. GEORGE M. ROBERTSON. 

R. G. ROWS. 

20. W. SCO WCROFT. 

G. E. SHUTTLEWORTH. 

R. PERCY SMITH. 

J. G. SOUTAR. 

J. BEVERIDGE SPENCE. 

T. E. K. STANSFIELD. 

7. ROBERT’ H. STEEN. 

8. W. H. B. STODDART. 
FREDERICK R. P. TAYLOR. 
DAVID G. THOMSON. 

19. W. R. VINCENT. 

24. J. K. WILL 

H. WOLSELEY-LEWIS. 

9. JAMES COWAN WOODS. 


LIBRARY COMMITTEE. 


FLETCHER BEACH. 
HELEN BOYLE. 

M. A. COLLINS (ex officio). 
HENRY DEVINE. 
BERNARD HART. 

THEO. B. HYSLOP. 


E. MAPOTIIER. 

HENRY HAYNER (Chairman). 
R. H. STEEN (Secretary). 

W. H. B. STODDART. 

DAVID G. THOMSON (ex officio). 


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RESEARCH COMMITTEE. 


T. STEWART ADAIR. 

J. SHAW BOLTON. 

J. CHAMBERS. 

M. A. COLL1N8 ( ex-officio ) 
H. DEVINE. 

T. DRAPES. 

E. GOODAI.L. 

JOHN KEAY. 


J. R. LORD. 

DAVID ORR. 

FORD ROBERTSON. 

R. G. ROWS. 

R. PERCY SMITH. 

R. H. STEEN. 

D. G. THOMSON {ex-officio). 
W. J. TULLOCH. 


Lectures at:—(1) University of Leeds, (2) Guy’s Hospital; (3) St. Bartholomew’s 
Hospital; (4) University of l)urhum; (5) University of Glasgow; (61 University of 
Edinburgh and Medical College for Women, Edinburgh; (7) King’s College Hospital; 
(8) St. Thomas's Hospital; (9) St. George’s Hospital; (101 University of Dublin and 
National University of Ireland ; (11) Queen's University of Belfast; (12) Lecturer at 
School of Medicine, Royal Colleges and Medical College for Women, Edinburgh; 
(13) St. Mungo's College, Glasgow; (14) Aberdeen University; (15) St. Andrew’s 
University and Dundee University; (16) Birmingham University; (17) University 
College, London ; (18) St. Mury’s Hospital, London; (19) University of Sheffield; 
(20) Victoria University, Manchester; (21) Charing Cross Hospital; (22) Middlesex 
Hospital; (23) Royal Free Hospital; (24) London Hospital; (25) Westminster 
Hospital. 


LIST OF CHAIRMEN. 

1841. Dr. Blake, Nottingham. 

1842. Dr. de Vitre, Lancaster. 

1843. Dr. Conolly, Hauwell. 

1844. Dr. Thurnam, York Retreat. 

1847. Dr. Wintle, Warneford House, Oxford. 

1851. Dr. Conolly, Hanwell. 

1862. Dr. Wintle, Warneford House. 


LIST OF PRESIDENTS. 

1854. A. J. Sutherland, M.D., St. Luke’s Hospital, London. 

1855. J. Thurnam, M.D., Wilts County Asylum. 

1856. J. Hitchman, M.D., Derby County Asylum. 

1857. Forbes Winslow, M.D., Sussex House, Hammersmith. 

1858. John Conolly, M.D., County Asylum, Hauwell. 

1859. Sir Charles Hastings, D.C.L. 

1860. J. C. Buckuill, M. D., Devon County Asylum. 

1861. Joseph Lalor, M.D., Richmond Asylum, Dublin. 

1862. John Kirkman, M.I)., Suffolk County Asylum. 

1863. David Skae, M.D., Royal Edinburgh Asylum. 

1864. Henry Munro, M.I)., Brook House, Clapton. 

1866. Win. Wood, M.D., Kensington House. 

1866. W. A. F. Browne, M.D., Commissioner in Lunacy for Scotland. 

1867. C. A. Lockhart Robertson, M.D., Haywards Heath Asylum. 

1868. W. H. O. Sankey, M.D., Sandy well Park, Cheltenham. 

1869. T. Laycock, M.D., Edinburgh. 

1370. Robert Boyd, M.I)., County Asylum, Wells. 

1871. Henry Maudsley, M.I)., The Lawn, Hanwell. 

1872. Sir James Coxe, M.D., Commissioner in Lunacy for Scotland. 

1873. Harrington Tuke, M.D., Manor House, Chiswick. 

1874. T. L. Rogers, M.I)., County Asylum, Rainhill. 

1875. J. F. Duncan, M.D., Dublin. 

1876. W. H. Pnrsey, M.D., Warwick County Asylum. 

1877. G. Fielding Blandford, M.D., London. 

1878. Sir J. Crichton-Browne, M.D., Lord Chancellor’s Visitor. 

1879. J. A. Lush, M.D., Fisherton House, Salisbury. 

1880. G. W. Mould, M.R.C.S., Royal Asylum, Chendle. 


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IV 


1881. 

1882. 

1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

1886. 

1887. 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

1891. 

1892. 

1893. 

1894. 

1895. 

1896. 

1897. 

1898. 

1899. 

1900. 

1901. 
1902 

1903. 

1904. 

1905. 

1906. 

1907. 

1908. 

1909. 

1910. 

1911. 

1912. 

1913. 
1914- 


D. Hack Tuke, M.D., London. 

Sir W. T. Gairdner, M.D., Glasgow. 

W. Orange, M.D., State Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Broadmoor. 

Henry Rayner, M.D., County Asylum, Hanwell. 

J. A. Eames, M.D., District Asylum, Cork. 

Sir Geo. H. Savage, M.D., Bethlem Royal Hospital. 

Sir Fred. Needham, M.D., Barn wood House. Gloucester. 

Sir T. S. Clouston, M.D., Royal Edinburgh Asylum. 

H. Hayes Newington, F.R.C.P., Ticehurst, Sussex. 

David Yellowlees, M.I)., Gartnavel Asylum, Glasgow. 

E. B. Whitcombe, M.R.C.S., City Asylum, Birmingham. 

Robert Baker, M.D., The Retreat, York. 

J. Murray Lindsay, M.D., County Asylum, Derby. 

Conolly Norman, F.R.C.P.I., Richmond Asylum, Dublin. 

David Nicolson, C.B.,M.D., State Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Broadmoor. 
William Julius Mickle, M.D., Grove Hall Asylum, Bow. 

Thomas W. McDowall, M.D., Morpeth, Northumberland. 

A. R. Urquhart, M.D., James Murray’s Royal Asylum, Perth. 

J. B. Spence, M.D., Burntwood Asylum, nr. Lichfield, Staffordshire. 
Fletcher Beach, M.B., 79, Wimpole Street, W. 1. 

Oscar T. Woods, M.D., District Asylum, Cork, Ireland. 

J. Wigleswortli, M.D., F.R.C.P., Rainliill Asylum, near Liverpool. 
Erne8tW. White, M.B.,M.R.C.P.,City of London Asylum, Dartford, Kent. 
R. Percy Smith, M.D., F.R.C.P., 36, Queen Anne Street, Cavendish 
Square, Loudon, W. 1. 

T. Outtersou Wood, M.D., F.H.C.P., 40, Margaret Street, Cavendish 
Square, London, W. 1. 

Robert Armstrong-Jones, M.D.Lond., B.S., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S.Eng., 
Claybury Asylum, Wood lord Bridge, Essex. 

P. W. MacDonald, M.I)., County Asylum, Dorchester. 

Chas. A. Mercier, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S., 34, Wimpole Street, London, 
W. 1. 

W. Bevan-Lewis, M.Sc., L.It.C.P., late Medical Director, West Riding 
Asylum, Wakefield; Elsinore, Dyke Road Avenue, Brighton. 

John Macpherson, M.D., F.R.C.P.Edin., Commissioner in Lunacy, 8, 
Darnaway Street, Edinburgh. 

Wm. R. Dawson, B.A., M.D., F.R.C.P.I., D.P.H., Inspector of Lunatic 
Asylums, Dublin Castle, Dublin. 

J. Greig Soutar, M.B., Barnwood House, Gloucester. 

James Chambers, M.I)., M.Ch., The Priory, Roehampton, S.W. 

David G. Thomson, M.I)., C.M.Edin., County Asylum, Thorpe, Norfolk. 


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Honorary and Corresponding Members, 


▼ 


HONORARY MEMBERS. 

1896. Allbutt, Sir T. Clifford, K.C.B., M.D., D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.S., 

Regius Professor of Physic, Univ. Climb.. St. Radegund’s, Cambridge. 
1881. Benedikt, Prof. M., Franciskaner Platz 6, Vienna. 

1907. Bianchi, Prof. Leonardo, Manicomio Provinciale di Napoli. Musee N. 3, 
Naples, Italy. ( Corr. Mem., 1896.) 

1900. Blumer, G. Alder, M.D., L.R.C.P.Edin., Butler Hospital, Providence, 
U.S.A. (Ord. Mem., 1890.) 

1900. Bresler, Johannes, M.D., Oherurtzt, Liiben in Sclilesien, Germany. 

(Corr. Mem. 1896.) 

1881. Brosius, Dr., 

1902. Brush, Edward N., M.D., Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital, Tow-son, 
Maryland, U.S.A. 

1887. Chapin, John B., M.D., Canandaigua, N.Y., U.S.A. 

1917. Colies, John Mayne, LL.D. (Univ. Dub.), K.C., J.P., Registrar in Lunacy 
(Supreme Court of Judicature in Ireland), Lunacy Office, Four 
Courts, Dublin. 

1909. Collins, Sir William J., D.L., M.D., M.S., B.Sc.Lond., F.R.C.S.Eng., 
1, Albert Terrace, Regent’s Purk, N.W. 1. 

1912. Considine, Thomas Ivory, F.R.C.S.I., L.R.C.P.I., Inspector of Lunatic 
Asylums, Ireland, Office of Lunatic Asylums, Dublin Castle, Dublin. 
1902. Coupland, Sidney, M.D., F.R.C.l’.Lond., Commissioner of the Board of 
Control, 16, Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square, London, W. 1. 
1876. Crichton-Browne, Sir J., M.D.Edin., LL.D., D.Sc., F.R.S., Lord 
Chancellor’s Visitor, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, W.C. 2.. 
and 45, Hans Place, S.W. 1. (Pbesidknt, 1878.) 

1911. Donkin, Sir Horatio Bryan, M.A., M.D.Oxon., F.R.C.P.Lond. (Medical 

Adviser to Prison Commissioners and Director of Convict Prisons), 
28, Hyde Park Street, W. 2. 

1879. Echeverria, M. G., M.D. 

1895. Ferrier, Sir David, M.A., M.D., LL.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.S., 34, Cavendish 
Square, Loudon, W. 1. 

1872. Fraser, John, M.B., C.M., F.R.C.P.E., Formerly Commissioner in 
Lunacy, 54, Great King Street, Edinburgh. 

1909. Kraepelin, Dr. Emil, Professor of Psychiatry, The University, Munich. 
1887. Lentz, Dr., Asile d’Alien6s, Tournai, Belgique. 

1910. Macpherson, John, M.D., F.R.C.P.Edin., Commissioner in Lunacy, 8. 

Darnaway Street, Edinburgh. (Pbbsident, 1910-11.) (Ordinary 

Member from 1886.) 

1912. Maudsley, Henry, LL.D.Edin., (Hou.), M.D.Lond., F.R.C.P.Lond.. 

Heathbourne, Bushcy Heath, Herts. (Pbksidbnt, 1871.) (Formerly 
Editor, Journal of Mental Science.) 

1911. Moeli, Prof. Dr. Karl, Director, Herzberge Asylum, Berlin. 

1897. Morel, M. Jules, M.D., 56, Boulevard Leopold, Ghent, Belgium. 

1889. Needham, Sir Frederick, M.D.St. And., M.R.C.P.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., 
Commissioner of the Board of Coutrol, 19, Campdeu Hill Square, 
Kensington, VV. 8. (Pbbsident, 1887.) 

1909. Obersteiner, Dr. Heinrich, Professorof Neurology, The University, Vienna. 
1881. Peeters, M., M.D., Glieel, Belgium. 

1900. Ritti, Ant., 68, Boulevard Exelmans, Paris. (Corr. Mem., 1890.) 

1887. Schiile, Heinrich, M.D., Illenau, Baden, Germany. 

1911. Semelaigne, Rene, M.D.Paris, Secretaire des Seances de la Soci6t£ 
Medico-Psychologique de Paris, 16, Avenue de Madrid, Neuilly, 
Seine, France. (Corresponding Member from 1893.) 

1881. Tamburini, A., M.D., Reggio-Emilia, Italy. 

1901. Toulouse, Dr. Edouard, Directeur du Laboratoire de Psychologic experi¬ 

mental k l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes Paris et Medecin en chef de 
l’Asile de Villejuif, Seine, France. 


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1910. Trevor, Arthur Hill, B.A.Oxon., of the Iuner Temple, Barrister at Law, 
Commissioner of the Board of Control, 4, Albemarle Street, London, 
W. 1. 

1917. Urquhart, Alexander Reid, The late, M.D.Aber., LL.D.Aber., F.R.C.P. 

Edin., late Physician Superintendent, Jame9 Murray’s Royal Asylum, 
Perth. [Died August, 1917.] 


CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. 

1904. Bierao, Caetano, 48, Rua Formosa, Lisbonne, Portugal. 

1911. Boedeker, Prof. Dr. Justus Karl Edmund, Privat Docent and Director, 
Fichhenhof Asylum, Schlactensee, Berlin. 

1897. Buschan, Dr. G., Stettin, Germany. 

1904. Caroleh, Wilfrid, Manicomia de Sta. Crur, St. Andreo de Palamar, 
Barcelona, Spain. 

1896. Cowan, F. M., M.D., 107, Perponcher Straat, The Hague, Holland. 

1902. Estense, Benedetto Giovanni Selvatico, M.D., 116, Piazzn Porta Pia, Rome. 

1911. Falkenberg, Dr. Wilhelm, Oberarzt, Irrenanstalt, Herzberge, Berlin. 

1907. Ferrari, Giulio Cesare, M.D., Director of the Manicomio Provinciale, 
Imola, Bologna, Italy. 

1911. Friedlander, Prof. Dr. Adolf Albrecht, Director of the Hohe Mark Klinik, 
nr. Frankfort. 

1904. Koenig, William Julius, Deputy Superintendent, Dalldorf Asylum, Berlin. 

1880. Kornfeld, Dr. Hermann, Fr. Schlesien, Hauptpostluyerstr., Breslau. 

1889. Kowalowsky, Professor Paul, KharkofF, Russia. 

1895. Lindell, Emil Wilhelm, M.D., Sweden. 

1901. Manheimer-Gommfes, Dr., 32, Rue de 1’Arcade, Paris. 

1909. Moreira, Dr. Julien, M.D.Bahia, Professor and Director of the National 
Manicomium of Rio de Janeiro ( Editor of the Brazilian Archive$ oj 
Ptychiatry, etc.). 

1886. Parent, M. Victor, M.D., Toulouse. 

1909. Pilcz, Dr. Alexander (Professor of Psychiatry in the University of 
Vienna), Superintendent Landcssanatorium furNerven und Geistes- 
kranke Steinhof, Vienna. 

1890. R6gis, Dr. E., 54, Rue Huguerie, Bordeaux. 


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Members of the Association. 


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MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 

Alphabetical List of Members of the Association on December 31 st, 1917, with 
the year in which they joined. The Asterisk means Members who joined 
between 1841 and 1855. 

1900. Abbott, Henry Kingsmill, B.A., M.D.Dub., D.P.H.Ircl., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Hants County Asylum, Farehaui. 

1891. Adair, Tliomas Stewart, M.U., C.M.Edin., F.R.M.S., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Storthes Hall Asylum, Kirkburton, near Huddersfield. 
(Hon. Sec. N. and M. Division since 1908.) 

1910. Adam, George Henry, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Manager and Medical 
Superintendent, West Mailing Place, Kent. 

1913. Adams, John Barfield, L.R.C.P.iS.Edin., M.P.C., 119, Jledland Road, 
Bristol. 

1868. Adams, Josiab O., M.D.Durh., F.R.C.S.Eng., J.P., 117, Cazenove Road, 

Stamford Hill, N. 16. 

1886. Agar, S. Hollingsworth, jun., B. A.Cantab., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A., Hurst 
House, Henley-in-Arden. 

1869. Aldridge, Clias., M.D., C.M.Aber., L.R.C.P.Lond., Bellevue House, 

Plympton, Devon. 

1899. Alexander, Hugh de Maine, M.D., C.M.Edin., Medical Superintendent, 
Aberdeen City District Asylum, Kingseat, Newmachar, Aberdeen. 
1899. Allmatin, Dorah Elizabeth, M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., Assistaut Medical Officer, 
District Asylum, Armagh. 

1908. Andersou, James Richard Sumner, M.B., Ch.B.Glas., Senior Assistant 

Medical Officer, Cumberland and Westmorland Asylum, Garlands, 
Carlisle. 

1898. Anderson, John Sewell, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Senior Assistant 
Medical Officer, Hull City Asylum, Willerby, near Hull. 

1912. fAnuandale, James Scott, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Second Assistant Physician, 
District Asylum, Murthly, Pertli; R.A.M.C. 

1912. Apthorp, Frederick William, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.U.C.P.Edin., M.P.C., 

Senior Medical Officer, St. George’s Retreat, Raveusworth, Burgess 
Hill. 

1904. fArchdale, Mcrvyn Alex., M.B., B.S.Durh., (Medical Superintendent, East 

Riding Asylum, Beverley, Yorks) ; Capt. R.A.M.C., T.F., No. 16, 
General Hospital, British Expeditionary Force. 

1905. Arcbdall, Mervyn Thomas, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.S.A.Lond., Brynn-y- 

Nenadd Hall, Llanfairfechan, N. Wales. 

1882. fArmstrong-Jones, Sir Robert, M.D.Lond., B.S., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S.Eng., 
9, Bramhain Gardens, S.W. (and Pills Dinas, Carnarvon, North 
Wales; Hon. Major R.A.M.C. (Oen. Secretary from 1897 to 1906.) 
(Prbsidint 1906-7.) 

1910. fAudeu, G. A., M.A., M.D., B.C., D.P.H.Cantab., M.R.C.P.Lond., F.S.A. 

(Medical Superintendent, Educational Offices, Edmund Street, 
Birmingham); Captain R.A.M.C. (T.) on active service. 

1891. Aveline, Henry T. S., M.D.Durh., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., M.P.C., 
Medical Superintendent, County Asylum, Cotford, near Taunton. 
Somerset. (Hon. Sec. for S.W. Division, 1905-11.) 

1903. Bailey, William Henry, M.D.Lond.. M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A., D.P.H.Lond. 
Featlierstone Hall, Southall, Midd. 

1894. Baily, Percy J.. M.B., C.M.Edin., 24, Barrack Road, Bexhill-on-Sea. 

1909. fBain, John, M.A., M.B., B.Ch.Glasg.; Lt. R.A.M.C. (address uncom- 

municated). 

1913. fBainbridge, Charles Frederick, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Surg. R.Zf.R. 

Assistant Medical Officer, Devon County Asylum, Exeter. 

1906. Baird, Harvey, M.D., Ch.B.Edin. (Peritcnu, Winchelsea, Sussex); 

Lieut. R.A.M.C. 


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Members of the Association. 


1878. Baker, H. Morton, M.B., C.M.Edin.,7, Belsize Square, London, N.W.3. 
1888. Baker, John, M.D., C.M.Aberd., Medical Superintendent, State Asylum, 

Broadmoor, Berks. 

1916. fBallard, E. F. (13, Lyndliurst Road, Hove, Sussex); Capt. E.A.M.C. {T .) 
1904. Barham, Guy Foster, M.A.. M.L)., B.C.Cantab., M.It.C.S., L.ll.C.P.Lond., 

Acting Medical Superintendent, Claybury Asylum, Woodford 
Bridge, Essex. 

1913. fBarkley, James Morgan, M.B., Cli.B.Edin. (Senior Medical Officer, 
Bracebridge Asylum, Lincolnshire); c/o l)r. J. B. Hunter, Brace- 
bridge Heath, Lincoln ; Capt. E.A.M.C. 

1910. Bartlett, George Norton, M.B., B.S.Loud.. M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
Medical Superintendent, City Asylum, Exeter. 

1901. fBaskin, J. Lougheed, M.D.Brux., L. It.C.P.&S.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., 

Capt. E.A.M.C. ; attd. 43 E.G.A. 

1902. Baugh, Leonard I). H., M.B., Cli.B.Edin., The Pleasaunce, York. 

1874. Beach, Fletcher, M.B., F.R.C.P.Loud., formerly Medical Superintendent, 

Harenth Asylum, Hartford ; Cane Hill, Coulsdon, Surrey. ( Secre¬ 
tary Parliamentary Committee, 1896-1906. General Secretary, 
1889-1896. Phesident, 1900.) 

1892. Bendles, Cecil F., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Gresham House, Egharn Hill. 
Eg ham. 

1902. Beale-Browne, Thomas Richard, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., c/o 
P.M.O. Lngos, Nigeria, West Africa. 

1913. Bedford, Percy William Page, M.B., Cli.B.Edin., County Asylum, Lan¬ 

caster. 

1909. fBeeley, Arthur, M.Sc.Leeds, M.I)., B.S.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
D.P.H.Camb. ( Assistant Medical Officer, E. Sussex Educational 
Committee), Windybank, Kingston Road, Lewes; E.A.M.C. 

1914. fBennett, James Wodderspoon, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Marsden, Ilkley, 

Yorks); Capt. E.A.M.C., 10th Batt., Dnkeof Wellington W.R.R. 
1912. Benson, Henry Porter D’Arcy, M.D., C.M.Edin., M.R.C.P., F.R.C.S. 

Edin., Medical Superintendent, Farnhaui House, Finglas, Dublin. 
1914. fBenson, John Robinson, F.lt.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., Resident Physi¬ 
cian and Proprietor, Fiddington House, Market Lavington, Wilts. 

1899. Beresford, Edwyn H., M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superintendent, 

Tooting Bee Asylum, Tooting, S.W. 17. 

1912. Bcrncastle, Herbert M., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., Assistant Medical, 

Officer, Croydon Mental Hospital, Warlingliam, Surrey. 

1879. Bevnn-Lewis, William, M.Sc.Leeds, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Elsinore, 

Dyke Ron ! Avenue, Brighton. (Puesident, 1909-10.) 

1894. tBlacbford, James Vincent, M.D., B.S.Durh., M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
M.P.C. (City Asylum, Fishponds, Bristol); Lt.-Col. E.A.M.C., 
Beaufort War Hospital, Bristol. 

1913. Black, Robert Sinclair, M.A.Edin., M.D., C.M.Aberd., D.P.H., M.P.C., 

Medical Supt., Pietermaritzburg Mental Hospital, Natal, South 
Africa. 

1898. Blair, David, M.A., M.I)., C.M.Gla«g., Couuty Asylum, Lancaster. 

1897. Bland ford, Joseph John Guthrie. B.A., D.P.H.Camb., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 
Lond.; Rainhill Asylum, Lancashire. 

1904. Bodvel-Roberts, Hugh Frank, M.A.Cantab., M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
L.S.A..Middlesex County Asylum, Napsbury, near St. Albans, Herts. 

1900. Bolton, Joseph Shaw, M.D., B.S., D.Sc., F.R.C.l’.Lond., Medical Super¬ 

intendent, West Riding Asylum, Wakefield. 

1892. Bond, Charles Hubert, D.Sc., M.D., C.M.Edin., M.It.C.P.Lond., M.P.C., 
Commissioner of the Board of Control, 6(i, Victoria Street, S.W. 1. 
{Hon. General Secretary, 1906-12.) 

1877. Bower, D.ivid, M.I)., C.M.Aher., Springfield House, Bedford. {Chairman 
Parliamentary Committee, 1907-1910.) 

1877. Bowes, John Ireland, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A. (address uneommnnicated.) 

1917. fBowie, Edgar Ormond, L.A.H.Dub., Dip. Grant Med. Coll. Bombay, 

L.M.Coombe, Dublin; Lieut. I.M.S. (T.); e/o W. H. Hallibur¬ 
ton, Esq., 18, South Frederick Street, Dublin. 


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Members of the Association. 


IX 


Bowles, Alfreil, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 10, South Cliff, Eastbourne. 
Boycott, Arthur N., M.D.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical 
Superintendent, Herts County Asylum, Hill End, St. Albans, Herts. 
(Hon. Sec. for S.-E. Division, 1900-05.) 

Boyle, A. Helen A., M.D.Brux., L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., 9, The Drive, Hove, 
Brighton. 

Boys, A. H., L.R.C.P.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A.Loud., The White 
House, St. Albuns. 

Braine-Hsrtnell, George M. P., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical 
Superintendent, County and City Asylum, Powick, VVorcester. 
Brander. John, M.E., C.B.Edin., Assistant Medical Officer, London 
County Asylum, Bexley, Kent. 

1906. fBrown, Harry Egerton, M.l)., Ch.B.Glasg., M.P.C. (Mental Hospital, 
Fort Beaufort, Cape Province, S. Africa) Major, 8. A. Medical Corps. 
1908. fBrown, RobertCunyugham, M.D., B.S.Durh. (General Board of Lunacy, 
25, Palmerston Place, Ediubnrgh); Major, R.A.M.C., Administrator, 
Springlmrn and Woodside Central Hospital, Glasgow. 

1908. Brown, R. Dods, M.D., Ch.B., F.R.C.P., Dipl. Psych., D.P.H.Edin., 
Physician Superintendent, James Murray’s Royal Asylum, Perth. 

1912. fBrown, William, M.D., C.M.Glas., M.P.C., District Medical Officer, 

Adviser in Lunacy to Bristol Magistrates (1, Manor Road, Fish¬ 
ponds, Bristol); Capt. R.A.M. C.,T., 2nd Southern General Hospital, 
Southmead, Bristol. 

191G. Brown, William, M.A., M.B., B.Ch.Oxon., D.Sc.Lond., Reader in 
Psychology iu the University of London (King’s College), (King’s 
College, Strand, W.C. 2). Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1917. fBruce, Alexander Ninian, M.D., D.Sc., F.R.C.P.E., Lecturer on Ncuro- 
logy. University of Edinburgh, 8, Aiuslie Place, Edinburgh; Capt. 
(Temp.) R.A.M.C. 

1893. fBruce, Lewis C., M.D., F.R.C.P.Edin., M.P.C. (Medical Superintendent, 

District Asylum, Druid Park, Murthly, N.B.); Scottish Horse 
Brigade, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. ( Co-Editor of 
Journal 1911-1916; Hon. Sec. for Scottish Division, 1901-1907.) 

1913. fBrunton, George Llewellyn, M.D., Ch.B.Edin. (North Riding Asylum, 

Clifton, York); temp. Lt., R.A.M.C., 2nd Cavalry Field Ambulance, 
British Expeditionary Force, France. 

1912. fBuchanan, William Murdoch, M.B., Ch.B.Glas., Kirklands Asylum, 

Bothwell, Lanarkshire. Temp. Lient. R.A.M.C. 

1908. Bullmore, Charles Cecil, J.P., L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., 

Medical Superintendent, Flower House, Catford. 

1911. Buss, Howard Decimus, B.A., B.Sc.France, M.D.Brux.ACnpe, M.R.C.S., 
L.R.C.P., L.M.S.S.A.Lond., Assistant Medical Officer, Fort 
Beaufort Asylum, Cape Colony. 

1910. fCahir, John P., M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., 198, Camberwell New Road, Camber¬ 
well, S.E.5; Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1891. Caldecott, Charles, M.B., B.S.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical 
Superintendent, Earlswood Asylum, lledhill, Surrey. 

1913. fCameron, John Allan Munro, M.B., Ch.B.Glas. (Pathologist, Scalebor 

Park Asylum, Burloy-in-Whnrfedale, Yorks); R.A.M.C., British 
Expeditionary Force. 

1894. Campbell, Alfred Walter, M.D., C.M.Ediu., M.P.C., Macquarie Chambers, 

183, Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales. 

1909. fCampbell, Donald Graham, M.B.,'C.M.Edin. (•’Auchinellan,” 12, Reid- 

haven Street, Elgiu); Major R.A.M C. (T.) on active service. 

1914. fCampbell, Finlay Stewart, M.D., C.M.Glas., Deputy Director of Medical 

Services, Ministry of National Service, Ayr, Scotland. 

1880. Campbell, Patrick E., M.U., C.M.Edin., Medical Superintendent, Metro¬ 
politan Asylum, Caterham, Surrey. 

1897. Campbell, Robert Brown, M.D., C.M., F'.R.C.P.E., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Stirling District Asylum, Larbert. (Secretary for Scottish 
Division from 1910.) 


1900. 

1896. 

1898. 

1883. 

1891. 

1911. 


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Members of the Association. 

1905. Carre, Henry, L.R.C.P.&S.Irel., Woodilee Asylum, Lenzie, Glasgow. 

1891. Carswell, John, L.R.C.P.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glnsg., 43, Moray Place, 

Edinburgh ; Commissioner-General, Board of Control, Scotland. 
1874. Cassidy, D. M., M.D., C.M.McGill Coll., Montreal, D.Sc. (Public 
Health) F.R.C.S.Edin., Medical Superintendent, County Asylum, 
Lancaster; E.A.M.C. 

1888. Chambers, James, M.A., M.D.R.U.I., M.P.C., The Priory, Roehampton, 
S.W. 15 ( Co-Editor of Journal 1905-1914, Assistant Editor 
1900-05.) (Pbksident, 1913-14.) {Treasurer, 1917.) 

1911. fChambers, Walter Dnncauon. M.A., M.I)., Ch.B.Edin., M.P.C., Capt. 

E.A.M.C., Inniskillings (address uncommunicated). 

1865. Chapman, Thomas Algernon, M.D.Glas., L.R.C.S.Edin., F.Z.S., Betula, 
Reigate. 

1915. Ckeyne, Alfred William Harper, M.B., Ch.B.Aber., Assistant Medical 
Officer, Royal Asylum, Aberdeen. 

1917. Chisholm, Percy, L.R.C.P. AS.Edin., Assistant Medical Officer, Stirling 
District Asylum, Larbert. 

1907. Chislett, Charles G. A., M.B., Ch.B.Glasg., Medical Superintendent, 
Stonevetts, Chryston, Lanark. 

1880. Christie, J. VV. Stirling, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., Medical Superintendent, 
Countv Asylum, Stafford. 

1878. Clapham, Win. Crochley S., M.D., F.R.C.P.Ed., M.R.C.S.Eng., F.S.S., The 
Five Gables, Muyfield, Sussex. {Son. Sec. 2V. and M. Division, 
1897—1901.) 

1907. fClarke, Geoffrey, M.D.Lond. (Senior Assistant Medical Officer, London 
County Asylum, Bunstead, Sutton, Surrey); Lieut. E.A.M.C., 
No. 24 General Hospital, British Expeditionary Force. 

1910. fClarke, James Kilian P„ M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., D.P.H., High Street, 
Oakham; E.A.M.C. 

1907. Clarkson, Robert Durward, B.Sc., M.D., C.M.Edin., F.R.C.P.Edin. 

(Medical Officer, Scottish National Institute for the Education of 
Imbecile Children), The Park, Larbert, Stirling. 

1892. Cole, Robert Henry, M.D.Lond., F.R.C.P.Lond., 25, Upper Berkeley 

Street, W. 1. (Secretary of Parliamentary Committee since 
1912.) 

1900. Cole, Sydney John, M.A., M.D., B.Ch.Oxon., Medical Superintendent, 
Wilts County Asylum, Devizes. 

1906. Collier, Walter Edgar, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Assistant Medical 

Officer, Kent County Asylum, Maidstone. 

1903. fCollins, Michael Abdy, M.D., B.S.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. 

(Medical Superintendent, Ewell Colony, Epsom, Surrey) {Hon. 
General Secretary since 1912.); Capt. E.A.M.C., British Expedi¬ 
tionary Force. 

1910. Conlon, Thomas Peter, L.R.C.P.&S.Irel., Resident Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, District Asylum, Monaghan. 

1914. fConnolly, Victor Liudley, M.B., B.Cli.Belfast (Assistant Medical Officer 
Colney Hatch Asylum, N.) ; Lieut. E.A.M.C. 

1878. Cooke, Edward Marriott. M.D.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng., Commissioner in 
Lunacy; Acting Chairman Board of Control, 69, Onslow Square, 
S.W. 7. 

1910. Coombes, Percival Charles, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Surrey County Asylum, Netbcrne. 

1905. Cooper, K. D., L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., c/o Leopold & Co. 
Apollo, Bander, Bombay. 

1903. Cormac, Harry Dove, M.B., B.S.Madras, Medical Superintendent, 
Cheshire County Asylum, Macclesfield. 

1891. Corner, Harry, M.D.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., M.P.C., 37, Harley 
Street, W. 1. 

1917. Costello, Christopher, M.B., Assistant Medical Officer, Portrane Asylum, 
Ireland. 

1905. Cotter, James, L.R.C.P.&S.E., L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., Down District Asylum, 
Downpatrick. 


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XI 


Members of the Association. 

1897. Cotton, William, M.A., M.D.Ediu., D.P.H.Cantab., M.P.C. (c/o D. N. 

Cotton, Esq., 9, St. I>avid Street, Edinburgh) ; Capt. R.A.M.C., 
20, General Hospital, B.E.F., 1'rance. 

1910. Coupland, William Henry, L.R.C.S.&P.Edin., Medical Superintendent, 

Royal Albert Institution, Albert House, Haverbreaks, Lancaster. 

1913. Court, K. Percy, M.R.C.S.. L.R.C.P.Lond., Severalls Asylum, Colchester. 
1893. Cowcn, Thomas Philip, M.D., B.8. M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical 

Superintendent, County Asylum, Raiuhill, Lancashire. 

1911. Cox, Donald Maxwell, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (2, Royal Park, Clifton, 

Bristol) ; Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1893. Craig, Maurice, M.A., M.D., B.C.Cantab., F.R.C.P.Lond., M.P.C., 87, 

Harley Street, W. 1. (Hon. Secretary of Educational Committee, 
1905-8; Chairman of Educational Committee since 1912.) 

1897. Cribb, Harry Gifford, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superintendent, 
Winterton Asylum, Ferryhill, Durham. 

1911. Crichlow, Charles Adolphus, M.B, Ch.B.Glas. Roxburgh District 
Asylum, Melrose. 

1917. Crocket, James, M.D.Edin., D.P.H., Medical Superintendent, Colony of 
Mercy for Epileptics, Consumption Sanatoria of Scotland, Craigielea, 
Bridge of Weir. 

1914. Crookshank, Francis Graham, M.D., M.R.C.P.Lond., 15, Harley Street, 

W.l. 

1904. Cross, Harold Robert, L.S.A.Lond., F.R.G.S., Storthes Hall Asylum, 

Kirkburton, near Huddersfield. 

1915. Crosthwaite, Frederick Douglas. M.B., Ch.B.Edin., D.P.H.Cantab., 

Assistant Physician, Pretoria Mental Hospital, South Africa. 

1914. Cruickshank, J., M.D., Ch.B.Glas., Pathologist, Crichton Royal Hospital, 
Dumfries. 

1907. Daniel, Alfred Wilson, B.A., M.D., B.C.Cantab., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
Acting Medical Superintendent, London County Asvlum, Hanwell, 

W. 7. 

1896. Davidson, Andrew, M.D., C.M.Aber., M.P.C., Wyoming, Macquarie 
Street, Sydney, N.S.W. 

1914. Davies, Laura Katherine, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Pathologist and Assistant 

Medical Officer, Edinburgh City Asylum, Bangour, Dechmont, 
Linlithgowshire. 

1891. fDavis, Arthur N., L.R.C.P.&S.Edin. (Medical Superintendent, County 
Asylum, Exminster, Devon); Major R.A.M.C., T.F. 

1894. fDawsou, William R., B.A.,M.D.,B.Ch.Dubl., F.R.C.P.I., D.P.H., Inspector 

of Lunatics in Ireland, 7, Ailesbury Road, Dublin. (Hon. Sec. to 
Irish Division, 1902-11; PiiBSlDBNT, 1911-12.) Lt.-Col. R.A.M.C. 
1901. De Steiger, Adhle, M.D.Lond., Countv Asylum, Brentwood, Essex. 

1905. Devine. Henry, M.D., B.S., M.R.C.P.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng., M.P.C., 

Medical Superintendent, The Asylum, Milton, Portsmouth (Assist¬ 
ant Editor of the Journal since 1916). 

1904. Devon, James, L.R.C.P. & S.Ediu., 1, North Park Terrace, Hillhead, 

Glasgow. 

1903. Dickson, Thomas Graeme, L.R.C.P. & S.Edin., Medical Superintendent, 
Wye House Asylum, Buxton, Derbyshire. 

1915. fDillon, Frederick, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., (Clinical Assistant, West End 

Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Assistant Medical Officer, Northum¬ 
berland House, Green Lanes, Finsbury Park, N. 4.); Lieut. R.A.M.C. 
on actioe service, Craigenhall, Falkirk, N.B. 

1909. Dillon, Kathleen, L.R.C.P.AS.l., Assistant Medical Officer, District 
Asylum, Mullingar. 

1905. fDixon, J. Francis, M.A., M.D., B.Ch.Dubl., M.P.C. (Medical Super¬ 

intendent, Borough Mental Hospital, Huinberstone, Leicester); 
Major R.A.M.C. 

1879. Dodds, William J., M.D., C.M., D.Sc.Edin., Glencoiln, Bcllahoutton, 
Glasgow. 


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Digitized by 


xii Members of the Association. 

1908. Donald, Robert, M.D., Ch.B.Glas., 3, Gilmonr Street, Paisley. 

1889. fDonaldson, William Ireland, B.A., M.D., B.Ch.Dubl., Medical Super¬ 

intendent (County of London Manor Asylum, Epsom, Surrey). 
Lt.-Col. R.A.M.C. O.C. Manor County of London Wnr Hospital, 
Epsom. 

1892. Douelan, John O’Conor, L.R.C.P.&S.I., M.P.C., St. Dympbna’s, North 
Circular Road, Dublin (Med. Supt., Richmond Asylum, Dublin), 

1890. Douglas, William, M.D.R.U.I., M.R.C.S.Eng., F.R.G.S., Brandfold, 

Goudhurst, Kent. 

1905. Dove, Augustus Charles, M.D., B.S.Durli., M.R.C.S.Eng., “ Brightside,” 

Crouch End Hill, N. 2. 

1897. Dove, Emily Louisa, M.B.Lond., 11, Jenner House, Hunter Street, 
Brunswick Square, W.C. 1. 

1903. Dow, William Alex., M.D., B.S.Durh., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., D.P.H., 
H.M. Prison, Lewes. 

1910. Downey, Michael Henry, M.B., Ch.B.Melb., L.R.C.P. & S.Edin., 

L.R.F.P.&S. Glasg., Assistant Medical Officer, Parkside Asylum, 
Adelaide, South Australia. 

1884. Drapes, Thomas, M.B.Dubl., L.R.C.S.I., Medical Superintendent, District 
Asylum, EnniBCortby, Ireland. (Peksidhnt-BI.kct, 1910-11; Co- 
Editor of Journal *ince 1912.) 

1916. Drummond, William Blackley, M.B., C.M.Edin., F.R.C.P., Medical 

Superintendent, Balduvan Institution, Dundee. 

1907. Dryden, A. Mitchell, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Senior A.M.O., Woodilee Mental 
Hospital, Lenzie. 

1902. Dudgeon, Herbert Wm., M.D., B.S.Durh., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 

Medical Superintendent, Khanka Government Asylum, Egypt. 
1899. Dudley, Francis, L.R.C.P.&S.l., Senior Assistant Medical Officer, 
County Asylum, Bodmin, Cornwall. 

1915. Duff, Thomas, L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glasg., Collington 
Rise, Bexhill-on-Sea. 

1917. Dunn, Edwin Lindsay, M.B., B.Ch.Dub., Medical Superintendent, Berks 

County Asylum, Wallingford, Berks. 

1903. Dunston, John Thomas, M.D., B.S.Lond., Medical Superintendent, West 

Koppies Asylum, Pretoria, South Africa. 

1911. fDykes, Percy Armstrong, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., c/o Messrs. Holt 

and Co., 3, Whitehall Place, S.W. 1. Capt R.A.M.C. 

1899. Eades, Albert I.. L.R.C.P. & S.I., Medical Superintendent, North Riding 
Asylum, Clifton, Yorks. 

1906. fEager, Richard, M.D., Ch.B.Aber., M.P.C. (Assistant Medical Officer, 

Devon County Asylum, Exminster); Major R.A.M.C.,T.F., The 
Lord Derby War Hospital, Warrington, Lancs. 

1873. Eager, Wilson, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., L.S.A.Lond., St. Aubyn’s, Wood- 
bridge, Suffolk. 

1881. Earle, Leslie M., M.D., C.M.Edin., 108, Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park 
W. 2. 

1891. Earls, James Henry, M.D., M.Ch.R.U.I., D.P.H., L.S.A.Lond., M.P.C., 

Barrister-at-Law, Fenstanton, Christchurch Road, Streatham Hill, 
S.W. 2. 

1907. East, Wm. Norwood, M.D.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., M.P.C., 

H.M. Prison, Manchester; also 171, Cheetham Hill Road, 
Manchester. 

1895. Easterbrook, Charles C.,M.A.,M.D., F.R.C.P.Ed., M.P.C., J.P., Physician 
Superintendent, Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries. 

1914. Eder, M. D., B.Sc.Loud., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Medical Officer, 
Deptford School Clinic), 37, Welbeck Street, W. 1. 

1895. Edgerley, Samuel, M.A., M.D., C.M.Edin., M.P.C., Medical Superinten¬ 
dent, VVest Riding Asylum, Meuston, nr. Leeds. 

1897. Edwards, Francis Henry, M.D.Brux., M.li.C.P.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng., 
Medical Superintendent, Camberwell House, S.E.5. 


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xiii 


Members of the Association. 

1901 fElgee, Samuel Cliarleg, L.R.C.P.AS.I. (Colney Hatch Asylum, New 
Southgate). The Manor (County of London) War Hospital, 
Epsom ; Major B.A.M.C. 

1889. Elkins, Frank Ashby, M.D., C.M.Edin., M.P.C., Medical Superintendent, 
Metropolitan Asylum, Leavesden. Herts. 

1912. Ellerton, John Frederick Heise, M.D.Brux., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P. 
Eiiin., Rotlierwood, Leamington Spa. 

1917. Ellis, Vincent C., M.B., Assistant Medical Officer, Portrane Asylum, 
Ireland. 

1908. Ellison, Arthur, M.R.C.8., L.R.C.P.Eng., Deputy Medical Officer, H.M. 

Prison, Leeds, 120, Domestic Street, Holbeck, Leeds. 

1899. Ellison, F. C., B.A., M.D., B.Ch.Dub., Resident Medical Superintendent, 
District Asylum. Castlebar. 

1911. Ernslie, Isabella Galloway, M.D., Ch.B.Edin., West House, Royal Asylum, 
Morningside, Edinburgh. 

1911. English, Ada, M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., Assistant Medical Officer, District 
Asylum, Ballinasloe. 

1901. Erskinc, Win. J. A., M.D., C.M.Edin., Medical Superintendent, County 
Asylum, Whitecroft, Newcroft, I. of W. 

1895. Eurich, Frederick Wilhelm, M.D., C.M.Edin., 8, Moruington Villas, 
Maningham Lane, Bradford. 

1894. Eustace, Henry Marcus, B.A., M.D., B.Ch.Dubl., M.P.C., Medical 
Superintendent, Hainiistead aud Richfield Private Asylum, 
Glasnevin. Dublin. 

1909. Eustace, William Neilson, L.R.C.S.&P.lrel., 38th General Hospital, 

Salonika, c/o G.P.O., E.C. 1. 

1909. Evans, George, M.B.Lond., Senior Assistant Medical Officer, Severalls 
Asylum, Colchester. 

1891. Ewan, John Alfred, M.A. St. And., M.D., C.M.Edin., M.P.C., Greylees, 
Sleaford, Lines. 

1914. Ewing, Cecil Wilmot, L.R.C.P.I. & L.R.C.S.I., Second Assistant Medical 
Officer, Chartham Asylum, near Canterbury. 

1907. Exley, John, L.R.C.P.I., M.lt.C.S.Eng., Medical Officer, H.M. Prison; 
Grove House, New Wortley, Leeds. 

1894. Furquharson, William F., M.D., C.M.Edin., M.P.C., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Cuuuties Asvlum, Garlands, Carlisle. 

1907. fFarrieg, John Stothart, L.R.C.P.AS.Edin., L.R.F.P.AS.Gla*., R.N.B., 

communications to Yrthington, Carlisle. 

1917. Fearnsides, Edwin Greaves, M.D.Camb., B.C., M.A., 46, Queen Anne 
Street, Cavendish Square, W. 1. 

1903. fFennell, Charles Henrv, M.A.. M.D.Oxon, M.R.C.P.Loud., Reform Club, 
Pall Mall, S.W.; ’Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1908. Fenton, Henry Felix, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Assistant Medical Officer, 

County and City Asylum, Powick, Worcester. 

1907. Ferguson, J. J. Harrower, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Senior Assistant Medical 

Officer, Fife and Kinross Asylum, Cupar, Fife. 

1906. Fielding, Saville James, M.B., B.S.Durh., Medical Superintendent, 
Bethel Hospital, Norwich. 

1873. Finch, John E. M., M.A., M.D.Cantab., M.R.C.S.Eng.. L.S.A.Lond., 
Holmdale, Stonevgate, Leicester. 

1889. Finlay, David, M.D., C.M.Glasg., Medical Superintendent, County 
Asylum, Bridgend, Glamorgan. 

1906. Firth, Arthur Harcus, M.A., M.l)., B.Ch.Edin., Deputy Medical Super¬ 
intendent, Barnsley Hall, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. 

1903. Fitzgerald, Alexis, L.R.C.P. & S.I., Medical Superintendent, District 

Asylum, Waterford. 

1888. Fitz-Gerald, Gerald C., B.A., M.D., B.C.Cantab., M.P.C., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Kent County Asylum, Chartham, nr. Canterbury. 

1908. Fitzgerald, James Francis, L.R.C.P.AS.Irel., Assistant Medical Officer, 

District Asylum, Clonmel, co. Tipperary, Ireland. 

1904. Fleming, Wilfrid Louis Remi, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Suffolk House, 

Pirbright, Surrey. 


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xiv Members of the Association. 

1894. Fleury, Eleonora Lilian, M.D., B.Ch.R.U.I., Assistant Medical Officer, 
Richmond Asylum, Dublin. 

1908. fFlynn, Thos. Aloysius, L.R.C.P.&S.I., (County Asylum, Thorpe, 
Norwich); R.A.M.C. 

1902. Forde, Michael J., M.D., B.Ch.R.U.I., Assistant Medical Officer, Rich¬ 
mond Asylum, Dublin. 

1911. Forrester, Archibald Thomas William, M.D., B.S., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 

Lond., Senior Assistant Medical Officer, Leicester and Rutland 
Counties Asylum, Narborough. 

1916. fForsyth, Charles Wesley, M.B.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. (Assistant 
Medical Officer, Kesteven County Asylum, Sleaford, Lines.); Temp. 
Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1913. fForward, Ernest Lionel, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Assistant Medical 
Officer, The Coppice, Nottingham); Capt. R.A.M.C., 2/2 East 
Lancs. Field Ambulance. 

1913. Fothergill, Claude Francis, B.A., M.B., B.C.Cuntab., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 
Lond.; HetiRol, Chorley Wood, Herts. 

1912. Fox, Charles J., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., The Moat House, Alnechurcli 

Birmingham. 

1881. Fraser, Donald, M.D., C.M.Qlasg., F.R.F.P.S., 13, Royal Terrace 
West, Glasgow. 

1901. fFreuch, Louis Alexander, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., “ Locksley,” Willing- 

don, Eastbourne; Major R.A.M.C. 

1902. Fuller, Lawrence Otway, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Super¬ 

intendent, Three Counties’ Asylum, Arlesey, Beds. 


1914. +Gage, John Munro, L.R.C.P.&S.I., M.P.C., Temp. Capt. R.A.M.C. 
Royal Earlswood Institution, Redhill. Surrey. 

Gane, Edward Palmer Steward, M.D.Durh., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
City Asylum, Willerby, Hull. 

Garry, John William, M.B., B.Ch., N.U.I., Assistant Medical Officer 
Ennis District Asylum, Ireland. 

Gavin, Lawrence, M.B., Cb.B.Edin,, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S. 

Glasg., Superintendent, Mullingar District Asylum, Ireland. 

Geddes, John VV., M.B., C.M.Ediu., Medical Superintendent, Mental 
Hospital, Middlesbrough, Yorks. 

Gemmel, James Francis, M.B.Glasg., Medical Superintendent, County 
Asylum, Whittiuglmm, Preston. 

Gettings,Harold Salter, L.R.C.P. & S.Edin.,L.R.F.P.&S.G., D.P.H.Birm., 
Inoculation Dept., St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. 

GilfillHii, Samuel James, M.A., M.B., C.M.Edin., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, London County Asylum, Colney Hutch. 

Gill, Eustace Stanley Hayes, M.B., Ch.B.Liverp., Shaftesbury House, 
Formby, Liverpool. 

Gill, Stanley A., B.A.Dubl., M.D.Durh., M.R.C.P.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng., 
Shaftesbury House, Formby, Liverpool. 

1904. fGillespie, Daniel, M.D. B.Ch.R.U.I., Dipl. Psych. (Wadsley Asylum, 
near Sheffield); Maj. R.A.M.C., Wburncliffe War Hospital, Middle- 
wood Road, Sheffield. 

Gilmour, John Rutherford, M.B., C.M., F.R.C.P.Edin., M.I’.C., Medical 
Superintendent, West Riding Asylum, Scalebor Park, Burley-in- 
Wharfedale, Yorks. 

Gilmour, Richard Withers, M.B., B.S.Durh., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
Homewood House, West Meon, Hants. 

Glendinning, James, M.D.Glasg., L.R.C.S. Edin. Hill Crest, Lansdown 
Road, Abergavenny. 

Good, Thomas Saxty, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, County Asylum, Littlemore, Oxford. 

1889. fGoodall, Edwin, M.D., B.S., F.R.C.P.Lond., M.P.C. (Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, City Asylum, Cardiff); Lt.-Col. R.A.M.C., The Welsh 
Metropolitan War Hospital, Whitchurch, nr. Cardiff. 


1897. 

1906. 

1878. 

1897. 


1906. 

1912. 

1912. 

1896. 

1892. 

1914. 

1899. 

1912. 

1889. 


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XV 


Members of the Association. 

1899. fGordon, James Leslie, M.D., C.M.Aberd. (Medical Superintendent, 

Fountain Temporary Asylum, Tooting Grove, Tootiug Graveney, 
S.W. 17.) ; Temp. Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1905. Gordon-Munn, John Gordon, M.D.Edin., F.R.S.E., Heighatn Hall, 
Norwich. 

1901. fGostwyck, C. H. G., M.B., Cli.B., F.K.C.P.Edin., M.P.C., Dipl. Psych., 
(Stirling District Asylum, Larbert); Lt., R.A.M.C. on active 
tervice. 

1912. tGruham, Gilbert Malise, M.B., Ch.B.Ediu., B.N., H.M.S. “ Emperor of 
India.” 

1914. fGrahain, Norman Hell, B.A., R.U.I., M.B., B.Ch.Belfast, (Assistant 

Medical Officer, District Asylum, Belfast) ; Capt. R.A.M.C., 24, 
Ocean Buildings, Belfast. 

1894. Graham, Samuel, L.K.C.P.Lond., Resident Medical Superintendent, 
District Asylum, Antrim. 

1908. Graham, William S., M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., Assistant Medical Officer, 

Somerset and Bath Asylum, near Taunton. 

1915. Graves, T. Chivers, M.B., B.S., B.Sc. Loud., F.R.C.S.Eng., Medical Super¬ 

intendent, City Hiid County Asylum, Burgliill, Hereford. 

1916. Gray, Cyril, L.R.C.P.&.S.Edin., Gateshead Borough Asylum, Stannington, 

Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

1909. Greene, Thomas Adrian, L.R.C.S.AP.Irel., J.P., Medical Superintendent, 

District Asylum, Carlow. 

1886. Greenlees, T. Duncan, M.D., C.M.Edin., F.R.S.E., Rostrevor, Kirtleton 
Avenue, Weymouth. 

1912. fGreeson, Clarence Edward, M.D., Ch.B.Aberd., Surgeon, R.N., c/o Messrs. 
Holt & Co., 3, Whitehall Place, S.W. 1. 

1915. Griffith, Alfred Hume, M.D.Edin., D.P.H.Camb., Medical Superinten¬ 
dent, Lingfield Epileptic School Colony, The Homestead, Lingfield, 
Surrey. 

1915. Grigsby, Hamilton Marie, L.R.C.P.AS.Edin., 79, Victoria Road North, 

Southsea. 

1901. Grills, Galbraith Hamilton, M.D., B.Ch.R.U.I., Dipl. Psvch., Medical 
Superintendent, County Asylum, Chester. 

1916. Grimbly, Alan F., B.A., M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O., L.M.Rot.Dub. (Assistant 

Medical Officer, St. Edmondsbury, Lucan, Ireland) ; Surgeon, R.N., 
Royal Naval Hospital, Haslur. 

1900. Grove, Ernest George, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Bootham Park, 

York. 

1894. Gwynn, Charles Henry, M.D., C.M.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., co-Licensee, 
St. Mnry’s House, Whitchurch, Salop. 


1894. Halsted, Harold Cecil, M.D.Durh., M.lt.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond.. Manor 
Road, Selsey, Sussex. 

1901. Harding, William, M.D.Edin., M.R.C.P.Loud., Medical Superintendent, 
Northampton County Asylum, Berry \V T ood, Northampton. 

1899. Harmer, W. A., L.S.A., Resident Superintendent aud Licensee, Redlands 
Private Asylum, Tonbridge, Kent. 

1904. fHarper-Smith, George Hastie, B.A.Cantab., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 

(Senior Assistant Medienl Officer, Brighton County Borough 
Asylum, Haywards Heath), May Cottage, Lougbton, Essex; 
Capt. R.A.M.C. (T.). 

1898. Harris-Liston, L., M.D.Brux.,M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., L.S.A., Middleton 
Hall, Middleton St. George, Co. Durham. 

1905. Hart, Bernard, M.D.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng., 29 b, Wimpole Street, W. 1., 

aud Northumberland House, Finsbury Park, N. 4. 

1886. fHarvey, Bageual Crosbie, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.A.H.Dubl., Resident 
Medical Superintendent, District Asylum, Clonmel, Irelund. 

1892. Haslett, William John H., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., M.P.C., Resident 
Medical Superintendent, Hnlliford House, Sunbury-on-Thames. 
1891. Havelock, John G., M.D., C.M.Edin., Little Stodham, Li»s, Hants. 


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xvi Members of the Association. 

1890. Hay, J. F. S„ M.B., C.M.Aberd., Inspector-General of Asylums for New 
Zealand, Government Buildings, Wellinirton, New Zealand. 

1900. Haynes, Horace E., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A., J.P., Littleton Hall, Brent¬ 
wood, Essex. 

1895. Hearder, Frederic P., M.l)., C.M.Edin., Medical Superintendent, Mid- 
Yorkshire Institution, Whixley, Yorks. 

1911. fHeffernan, Capt. P., B.A., M.B., B.CIi.C.U.I. 

1916. tHenderson, David Kennedy, M.D.Edin., (Senior Assistant Physician, 
Koyal Asylum, Gartnavel, Glasgow) ; Temp. Lieut. R.A.M.C., c/o 
John Henderson and Sons, Solicitors, Dumfries, Scotland. 

1905. Henderson, George, M.A., M.B., Ch.B.Edin., 25, Commercial Road, 

Peck ham, S.E. 15. 

1906. Herbert, Thomas, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., York City Asylum, Fulford, 

York. 

1877. Hetherington, Charles E., B.A., M.B., M.Ch.Dubl., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, District Asylum, Londonderry, Ireland. 

1877. Hewson, It. W., L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., Medical Superintendent, Cotou Hill, 
Stafford. 

1914. Hewson, R. W. Dale, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., Coton Hill 
Hospital, Stafford. 

1912. Higson, William Davis, M.B., Ch.B.Liverp., D.P.H., Deputy Medical 

Officer, H.M. Prison, Brixton ; 7, Clovelly Gardens, Upper Tulse 
Hill, S.W. 2. 

1882. Hill, H. Gardiner, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A., Pentillie, Leopold Road, 
Wimbledon Park, S.W. 19. 

1914. tHills, Harold William, B.S., M.B., B.Sc.Lotid., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond .; 
Capt. R.A.M.C., Lord Derby War Hospital, Warrington. 

1907. fHine, T. Gny Macaulay, M.A., M.D., B.C.Cantab., 37, Hertford Street, 

Mayfair, W.; Temp. Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1909. Hodgson, Harold West, M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Assistant Medical 
Officer, Severalls Asylum, Colchester. 

1908. Hogg, Archibald. M.B., Ch.B.Glas., 54, High Street, Paisley, N.B. 

1900. Hollander, Bernard, M.D.Frcib., M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond, 57, Wimpole 

Street, W. 1. 

1912. Holyoak, Walter L., M.D., B.S.Lond., 45, Welbeck Street, W. 1. 

1903. Hopkins, Charles Leighton, B.A., M.B., B.C.Cantab., Medical Superin¬ 

tendent, York Citv Asylum, Fulford, York. 

1894. Hotchkis, Robert I)., M.A.Glastt., M.D., B.S.Durh., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 

Lond., M.P.C., Renfrew District Asylum, Dvkebur, Paisley N.B. 
1912. Hughes, Frank l’ercival, M.B., B.S.Loud., M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., The 
Grove, Pinner, Middlesex. 

1900. Hughes, Percy T., M.B., C.M.Edin., D.P.H., Medical Superintendent, 
Worcestershire County Asylum, Barnesley Hall, Bromsgrove. 

1904. Hughes, William Stanley, M.B., B.S.Lond., M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 

Medical Superintendent., Shropshire County Asylum, Bicton Heath, 
Shrewsbury. 

1897. Hunter, David, M.A., M.B., B.C.Cantab., L.S.A., Medical Superintendent, 
The Coppice, Nottingham. ( Secretary for S. E. Division, 1910-1913.) 

1909. fHuuter, Douglas William, M.B., Ch.B.Glusg., Assistant Medical Officer, 

10, Halltield Road, Bradford; Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1912. tHunter, George Yeates Cobb, Colonel, M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 

M.P.C., c/oMessrs. Griudlay & Co.. 54, Parliament Street, S.W. 1. 
1904. Hunter, Percy Douglas, M.It.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Three Counties 
Asylum, Arlesey, Beds. 

1888. Hyslop, Theo. B., M.D.. C.M.Edin., M.R.C.P.E., L.R.C.S.E., F.R.S.E.. 
M.P.C., 5, Portland Place, London, W. 1. 


1915. Ingall, Frank Ernest, F.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., D.P.H., Tue Brook 
Villa, Liverpool. 

1908. Inglis, J. P. Park, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Assistant Medical Officer, 
Caterham Asylum, Caterhnm, Surrey. 


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Members of the Association. xvii 

1906. Irwin, Peter Joseph, L.R.C.P.&S. I., Assistant Medical Officer, District 
Asylum, Litnerick. 

1914. fjames, George William Blomfield, M,B., B.S.Lond., 2, Charnwood 
Street, Derby; R.A.M.C. 

190,S. Jeffrey, Geo. Rutherford, M.I)., Ch.B.Glas., F.R.C.P.E., M.P.C., 
Medical Superintendent, Boot ham Park, York. 

1910. fJohnson, Cecil Webb, D.S.O., M.B., Ch.B.Vict. (“ Cricklcwood,” East 
Shecu, S.W.) ; Capt. (Temp. Major) R.A.M.C. ; 10th Middlesex 
Regiment, Fort William, Calcutta, India. 

1893. Johnston, Gerald Herbert, L.R.C.P.&S.Ediu., L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., Brooke 
House, Upper Clapton, N. 5. 

1906. Johnston,Thomas Leonard, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.R. F.P&S.Glos.,Medical 

Superintendent, Bracebridge Asylum, Lincoln. 

1912. Johnstone, Emma May, L.R.C.P.& S.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., M.P.C., 
Dipl. Psych., Holloway Sanatorium, Virginia Water, Surrey. 

1878. Johnstone, J. Carlyle, M.I)., C.M.Glas., Melrose, Roxburgh. 

1903. Johnstone, Thomas, M.D., C.M.Edin., M.lt.C.P.Lond., Anuandab-, 
Harrogate. 

1880. fjones, I). Johnston, M.D., C.M.Edin.; Temp. Major R.A.M.C. 

1879. Kay, Walter S., M.I)., C.M.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., The Grove, Starbech, 

Harrogate. 

1886. fKeay, John, M.D., C.M.Glasg., F.R.C.P.Edin. (Medical Superintendent, 
Baugour Village, Uphall, Linlithgowshire); Lt.-Col., R.A.M.C., 
Edinburgh War Hospital. B.mgour. 

1909. fKeith, William Brooks, M.B., Ch.B.Aberd., M.P.C., Capt., R.A.M.C., T., 
81st Field Ambulance, 27tb Division. 

1903. Kelly, Richard, M.D., B.Ch.Dub., Assistant Medical Officer, Storthes 
Hall Asylum, Kirkburtou, near Hudderstield. 

1907. Keene, George Henry, M.D., The Asylum, Goodmayes, 1 lford, Essex. 
1899. Kennedy, Hugh T. J., L.R.C.P.&S.l., Assistant Medical Officer, District 

Asylum, Enuiscorthy, Co. Wexford. 

1897. Kerr, Hugh, M.A., M.D.Glasg., Medical Superintendent, Bucks County 
Asylum, Stoue, Aylesbury, Bucks. 

1902. Kerr, Neil Thomson, M.B., C.M.Ed., Medical Superintendent, Lanark 

District Asylum, Hartwood, Slmtcs, N.B. 

1893. Kershaw, Herbert Warren, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., Dinsdale Park, 
near Darlington. 

1897. tKidd, Harold Andrew, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, West Sussex Asylum, Chichester) ; Lt.-Col. R.A.M.C., 
Uraylingwell War Hospital, Chichester. 

1916. Kilgarriff, Joseph O’Loughliu, A.B., M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O.Uuiv., Dublin, 
Assistant Medical Officer, County Asylum, Prestwick, Lancs. 

1903. King, Frank Raymond, B.A.Cantab., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., 

Medical Superintendent, Beckham House, Peck bam, S.E. 

1902. King-Turner, A. C., M.B.,C.M.Edin., Tne Retreat, Fairford, Gloucester¬ 

shire. 

1915. Kirwan, Richard R., M.B., B.Cli. R.U.I., Assistant Medical Officer, 
West Riding Asylum, Menston, Leeds. 

1915. Kitson, Frederick Hubert, M.B., Ch.B.Leeds, Assistant Medical Officer, 
West Riding Asylum, Wakefield. 

1903. Kough, Edward Fitzudain, B.A., M.B., B.Ch.Dubl., Senior Assistant 

Medical Officer, County Asylum, Gloucester. 


1898. Labey, Julius, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., L.S.A.Lond., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Public Asylum, Jersey. 

1902. Langdon-Down, Percival L., M.A., M.B., B.C.Cantab., Dixland, Hampton 
Wick, Middlesex. 

1896. Langdon-Down, Reginald L.. M.A., M.B., B.C.Cantab., M.R.C.P.Lond.. 
Normansfield, Hampton Wick. 



A 

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Digitized by 


xviii Members of the Association. 

1914. fLailell, Ri G. Macdonald, M.B., Ch.B.Vict., The Gables, Killinghall, 
Harrogate. 

1909. fLaurie, James, M.B., Ch.M.Glasg. ( Medical Officer, Smithston Asylum ), 
(Red House, Ardgowun Street, Greenock); Cupt. R.A.M.C., T.F., 
;ird Scottish Hospital. 

1902. Laval, Evariste, M.B.,C.M.Edin., The Guildhall, Westminster, S.W. 1. 

1898. Lavers, Norman, M.D.Brux., M.R.C.S., I R.C.P.Lond., Medical Super- 

intendeni, Bailbrook House, Bath. 

1892. Lawless, George Robert, F.K.C.S.I., L.R.C 1M„ Medical Superintendent, 
District Asylum, Armagh. 

1870. Lawrence, Alexander, M.A., M.D., C.M.Aberd., 26, Hough Green, 
Chester. 

1883. Layton, Henry A., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.l’.Ediu., 26, Kimbulton Rond, 
Bedford. 

1916. Leech, H. Brougham, M.D., B.Ch.Dublin, Assistant Medical Officer, 
County Asylum, Hatton, Warwick. 

1909. Leech, John Frederick Wolseley, M.D., B.Ch.Dubl. (County Asylum, 
Devizes, VVilts) ; Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1899. Leeper, Richard It., K.R.C.S.I., L.R.C.P.I., M.P.C., Medical Super¬ 

intendent, St. Patrick’s Hospital, Dublin. (Hun. Sec. to the Irish 
Hicision from 1911.) 

1883. Legge, Richard J., M.D., R.U.I., L.R.C.S.Edin., " Comerugli,” Leck- 

hnmptou Road, Cheltenham. 

1906. fLeggett, William, B.A., M.D., B.Ch.Dubl. (Assistant Medical Officer, 
Royal Asylum, Sunnyside. Montrose) ; Temp. Lieut. R.A.M.C. 
1916. Lewis, Edward, L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S.Edin., L F.P.S.Glasg., Cwirlai, Ty- 
Cross, Anglesey. 

1914. Lindsny, David George, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., Senior Assistant Medical 
Officer, Dundee District Asylum, West Green, Dundee. 

1908. Littlejohn, Edward Snlteine, M.R.C.8., L.R.C.P.Lond., Acting Medical 
Superintendent, London County Asylum, Cane Hill, Surrey. 

1916. Lloyd, Brindley Richard, M.B., B.S.Lond., D.P.H.Lond., Assistant 
Medical Officer, Peckham House, S.E. 15. 

1903. Logan, Thomas Stratford, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., D.P.H., 

Stone Asylum, Aylesbury, Bucks. 

1898. fLord, John R.,M.B.,C.M.Edin. (Medical Superintendent, Horton Asylum, 
Epsom); Lieut.-Colonel R.A.M.C., Horton County of London War 
Hospital, Epsom, Surrey. (Co-Editor of Journal since 1911; 
Assistant Editor of Journal, 1900-11.) 

1906. fLowry, James Arthur, M.D., B.Ch., R.U.I., R.A.M.C Medical Super¬ 
intendent, Surrey County Asylum, BrooLwood. 

1904. Lyall, C. II. Gibson, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., Leicester Borough Asylum, 

Leicester. 

1872. Lyle, Thomas, M.D., C.M.Glasg., 34, Jesmond Road, Newcastle-ou-Tyne. 

1906. fMacartbur, John, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Assistant Medical Officer, 
Colney Hatch Asylum, London, N. 11); R.A M.C., Mediterranean 
Expeditionary Force. 

1880 MacBryan, Henry C., L.R.C.P. & S. Edit)., Ivingsdown House, Box, Wilts. 

1900. McCliutoek, John, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., Resident Medical Superintendent, 

Grove House, All Stretton, Church Stretton, Salop. 

1901. MacDonald, James H., M.B., Cli.R., F.R.F.P.&S.Glasg., Govrji District 

Asylum,Huwkhead, Paisley, N.B. 

1884. MacDonald, P. W., M.D., C.M.Aberd., Grasmere, Spa Road, Weymouth. 

(First Hon. Sec. S. W. Dir. 1894 to 1905.) (Pbesident, 1907-8.) 
1911. fMacDonald, Ranald, M.D., Ch.B.Ediu. (London County Asylum, Bexley, 
Kent); Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1905. MacDonald, William Fraser, M.B., Ch.B.Kdin., M.P.C., 96, Polworth 

Terrace, Edinburgh. 

1905. McDougall, Alau, M.D., Ch.B.Vict., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical 
Director, The David Lewis Colony, Sanole Bridge, near Alderley 
Edge, Cheshire. 


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Members of the Association. xix 

1911. McDougnll, William, M.A., M.B., B.C.Cantab., M.Sc.Viet., 89, Banbury 
Road, Oxford. 

1906. McDownll, Colin Francis Frederick, M.D., B.S.Durh., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Ticehurst House, Ticehurst, Sussex. 

1870. McDowall, Thomas W., M.D.Edin., L.R.C.S.E., Medical Superintendent, 
Northumberland County Asylum, Morpeth. (PRESIDENT, 1897-8.) 
1895. Macfarlane, Neil M., M.D., C.M.Aber., Medical Superintendent, Govern¬ 
ment Hospital, Thlotse Heights, Leribe, Basutoland, South Africa. 

1902. McGregor, John, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Senior Assistant Medical Officer, 

County Asylum, Bridgend, Glam. 

1917. fMclver, Colin, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., Capt. e/o Messrs. Grindlay 

<fc Co., 54, Parliament Street. London. S.W. 1. 

1914. fMackay, Magnus Ross, M.l)., Ch.B.Edin., Capt. R.A.M.C./F.F., British 

Expeditionary Force, France. 

1917. Mnckny, Norman Douglas, M.D., B.Se., D.P.H., Dull-A von, Aberfeldy, 
Perthshire. 

1915. McKenna, Edward Joseph, M.B., B.Cli., R.U.I., Assistant Medical 

Officer. Carlow District Asylum. 

1911. Mackenzie, John Cosserat, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., County Mental Hospital, 
Burutwood, near Lichfield. 

1891. Mackenzie, Henry J., M.B., C.M.Edin., M.P.C., Assistant Medical ()fficer. 
The Retreat, York. 

1903. Mackenzie, Theodore Charles, M.D., Ch.B., F.R.C.P.Edin., M.P.C., 

Medical Superintendent, District Asylum, Inverness. 

1914. Macleod, Jan R., L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glasg., 7, Mayfield 
Gardens, Edinburgh. 

1917. McMaster, AlPert Victor, B.A., M.R.C.S.Eng., “ The Mount,” Hills Road, 
Cambridge. 

1904. Macnnmara, Eric Danvers, M.A.Cumb., M.D., B.C., F.R.C.P.Lond., 87, 

Harley Street, W. 1. 

1914. fMacneill, Celia M»ry Colquhoun. M.B., Ch.B.Edin. (Pathologist, North- 

field, Prestoupans); Leith War Hospital, Seafield, Leith. 

1910. fMacPlmil, Hector Duncan, M.A., M.D., Ch.B.Edin. (Assistant Medical 
Officer. City Asylum, Gosforth. Newcastle - on - Tyne); Major 
R.A.M.C., Northumberland War Hospital, Newcastle. 

1882. Macphail, S. Uutherlord, M.D., C.M.Edin., Derby Borough Asylum, 
Rowditch, Derby. 

1896. Macplierson, Charles, M.D.Glas., L.R.C.P.&S., D.P.H.Edin., Deputy 
Commissioner in Lunacy, 25, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh. 

1901. McRae, G. Douglas, M.D., C.M.Edin., F.R.C.P.Ed., Medical Super¬ 

intendent, District Asylum, Ayr, N.B. (Assistant Editor of the 
Journal since 1916). 

1902. fMacrae, Kenneth Duncan Cameron, M.B., Ch.B.Edin. (Bangour Village, 

Decbraont, Linlithgowshire) ; Lieut. R.A.M.C., M.E.F. 

1894. McWilliam, Alexander, M.A., M.B., C.M.Aber., Waterval, Odiham, 
Winchfield. Hants. 

1915. Manifold, Robert Fenton, M.B., D.Ch.Dub., Senior Assistant Medical 

Officer, Denbigh Asylum, North Wales. 

1908. fMapother, Edward, M.l)., B.S.Lond., F.lt.C.S.Eng. (Assistant Medical 
Officer, Loudon County Asylum,Long-Grove.Epsom); \j\owl.R.A.M.C. 

1903. Martian, John, B.A., M.B., B.Ch.Duhl., Medical Superintendent, County 

Asylum, Gloucester. 

1896. fMarr, Hamilton C., M.D., C.M., F.R.F.P AS.Glusg., M.P.C., Commis¬ 
sioner in Lunacy (10, Succoth Avenue, Edinburgh); (Hon. See. 
Scottieh Division, 1907-1910.); R.A.M.C. 

1913. fMarshall, Robert, M.B., Ch.B.Glas. (Assistant Medicnl Officer, Giirtloch 
Mental Hospital, Gnrtcosh, N.B.) ; Lieut. R.A.M.C., 19th General 
Hospital, British Expeditionary Force. 

1905. Marshall, Robert Macnab, M.l)., Ch.B.Glasg., M.P.C., 2, Clifton Place, 
Glasgow. 

1908. fMartin, Henry Cooke, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Assistant Medical Officer, 
Newport Borough Asylum, Caerleon; Lieut. R.A.M.C. 


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XX 


Digitized by 


Members of the Association. 

189G. fMartin, James Charles, L.R.C.S. & P.I., J.P., Assistant Medical Officer, 
District Asylum, Letterkenny. Donegal; Temp. Lieut. R.A.M.C. 
1908. Martin, James Ernest, M.B., B.S.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. 

Assistant Medical Officer, Loudon County Asylum, Long-Grove 
Epsom. 

1907. Martin, Mary Edith, L.Il.C.P.AS.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., L.S.A.Lond., 
M.P.C.Lond., Bail brook House, Bath. 

1914. fMartin, Samuel Edgar, M.B., B.Ch.Edin., Barrister-at-Law (Senior 

Assistant Medical Officer, St. Andrew’s Hospital, Northampton) ; 
Lieut. R.A.M.C., British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. 

1911. fMartin, William Lewis, M.A., B.Sc., M.B., C.M.Edin., D.P.H., M.P.C., 
Dipl. Psych. ( Certifying Physician in Lunacy, Edinburgh Parish 
Council), 56, Bruutsfield Place, Edinburgh; Major R.A.M.C. ( T .) 

1911. fMathieson, James Moir, M.B., Ch.B.Aber. (Assistant Medical Officer, 

Wadsley Asylum, Sheffield) ; Major R.A.M.C., The Wharncliffe 
War Hospital, Sheffield. 

1904. fMay, George Francis, M.D., C.M.McGill. L.S.A. (Wiuterton Asylum, 
Ferryhill, Durham); Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1912. Melville, William Spence, M.B., Ch.B.Glas., Woodilee Mental Hospital, 

Lenzie, Glasgow. 

1890. Menzies, William F., M.D.,B.Sc.Edin., M.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superin¬ 

tendent, Stafford County Asylum, Cheddleton, near Leek. 

1891. Mercier, Charles A., M.D.Lond., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S.Eng., late Lecturer 

on Insanity, Westminster Hospital; Moorcroft, Park stone, Dorset. 
( Secretary Educational Committee, 1893-1905. Chairman do. from 
1905-12.) (President, 1908-9.) 

1877. Merson, John, M.A., M.D., C.M.Aber., Medical Superintendent, Borough 
Asylum, Hull. 

1893. Middlemass, James, M.A., M.D., C.M., B.Sc.Edin., F.R.C.P., M.P.C., 
Medical Superintendent, Borough Asylum, Rvliope, Sunderland. 

1910. fMiddlemiss, James Ernest, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond.; 131, North 

Street, Leeds; Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1883. fMiles, George E., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Lieut.-Col., R.A.M.C., 
D Block, Royal Victoria Hospital, Netlcy, Hants; British Empire 
Club, St. James’ Square, S.W. 1. 

1887. Miller, Alfred, M.B., B.Ch.Dubl., Medical Superintendent, Hatton 
Asylum, Warwick. (Registrar since 1902.) 

1912. Miller, Richard, M.B., B.Ch.Dubl., Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, 

S.E. 1. 

1893. Mills, John. M.B., B.Ch., Dipl. Ment. Dis., It.U.L, Medical Superinten¬ 
dent, District Asylum, Balliuasloe, Ireland. 

1913. Milner, Ernest Arthur, M.B., C.M.Edin., Assistant Medical Officer, Royal 

Albert Institution, Lancaster. 

1911. Moll, Jan. Marius, Doc. in Arts and Med, Utrecht Univ., L.M.S.S.A. 

Lond., M.P.C., Box2587, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

1913. Molytieux, Benjamin Arthur, B.A., M.D., B.Ch.Dubl., St. Helens 

House, St. Helens, Hastings. 

1910. fMonnington, Richard Cahlicott, M.D., Ch.B., D.P.H.Edin. (Darenth 
Industrial Colony, Dartford, Kent) ; c/o Rev. T. P. Monnington, 
Lowick Green, Ulverston, Lancs.; Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1915. Monrad-Krohn, G. H., M.B., B.S., M.R.C.P.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng., 

Assistant Medical Officer, Rikshospitalet, Christiania. 

1914. fMontgomery, Edwin, F.R.C.S.I., L.R.C.P.I. Dipl. Psych. Munch., 

(Prestwich Asylum, Lancs.) ; Lieut. R.A.M.C., 77th Field 
Ambulance, British Expeditionary Force. 

1899. Moore, Win. D., M.D., M.Ch.R.U.I.. Medical Superintendent, Holloway 
Sanatorium, Virginia Water, Surrey. 

1914. fMorres, Frederick, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Assistant Medical 
Officer, Cane Hill Asylum, Coulsdon, Surrey); R.A.M.C., Lord 
Warden Hotel, Dover. 


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XX] 


Member & of the Association. 

1917. Morris, Bedlingtou Howel, M.B., B.S.Durh., Inspector-General of 
Hospitals, South Australia; Pembroke Street, College Park, 
St. Peter’s, S. Australia. 

1896. Morton, W. B., M.D.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Super¬ 
intendent, Won t'ord House, Exeter. 

1896. Mott. F. W., M.D., B.S., F.R.C.P.Lond., LL.D.Edin., F.R.S., 25, 
Nottingham Place, Marylebone, W. 1; Lieut.-Col. R.A.M.C. 

1896. Mould, Gilbert K., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., The Grange, Rotherham, 

Yorks. 

1897. Mould, Philip G., M.It.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., Ovordale, Whitelield, 

Manchester. 

iyi4. fMoyes, John Murray, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., D.P.M.Leeds, Crichton Royal 
Institution, Dumfries; R.A.M.C. 

19U7. Mules, Bertha Marv, M.D., B.S.Durh., Court Hall, Kenton, S. Devon. 
1911. fMuncaster, Anna Lilian, M.H., B.Ch.Edin. (County Asylum, Chester); 

homo address, 8, Craylockhail Terrace, Edinburgh ; at present 
serving with Serbian Red Cross Society. 

1917. Munro, Robert, m!B., Ch.B.Aberd., Assistant Medical Officer, Dorset 
County Asylum, Dorchester. 

1916 Murray, Jessie M., M.B., B.8.Durham, 14, Emlsleigh Street, Tavistock 
Square, London, W.C. 1. 

1909. Myers, Charles Samuel, M.A., D.So., M.D., B.C.Cantab., M.R.C.S., 

L.R.C.P.Lond., Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire. 

1903. fXavarra, Norman, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (City of London Mental 
Hospital, near Dartford, Kent) ; Temp. Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1910. Neill, Alexander W., M.D., Ch.B.Edin., Warneford Mental Hospital, 

Oxford. 

1903. Nelis, William E.,M.l).I)urh.,L.R.C.P.Edin.,L.R.F.P.&S.Glasg., Medical 
Superintendent, Newport Borough Asylum, Caerleou, Mon. 

1809. Nicolson, David, C.R., M.D.. C.M.Aber., M.R.C.P.Edin., F.S.A.Scot., 
201, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, W.C. 2 (President, 1895-6). 
1888. Nolan, Michael J., L.R.C.P.AS.L, M.P.C., Medical Superintendent, 
District Asylum, Downpatrick. 

1913. Nolan, James Noffi Green, M.B., B.Ch., A.B.Dub., The Hospital, Hel- 

lingly Asylum, Sussex. 

1909. fNorman, Hubert James, M.B., Ch.B., D.P.H.Edin. (Assistant Medical 

Officer, Camberwell House Asylum, S.E. 5); Napsbury War Hos¬ 
pital, St. Albans; Major R.A.M.C. 

1885. Oakshott, James A., M.D., M.Cli.R.U.I., The Green, Passage West, 
Co. Cork, Ireland. 

1916. O’Carroll, Joseph, M.D., F.R.C.P., Physician Richmond and Whitworth 
Hospitals; Lord Chancellor’s Medical Visitor in Lunacy; 43, 
Merrion Square, Dublin. 

1903. O’Doherty, Patrick, 15.A., M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., District Asylum, 

Omagh. 

1914. O’Flynu, Dominick Thomas, L.R.C.P. A S.I., Assistant Medical Officer 

London County Asylum, Hanwell, Middlesex. 

1901. Ogilvy, David, B.A., M.D., B.Ch.I)ub., Medical Superintendent, Loudon 

County Asylum, Long Grove, Epsom, Surrey. 

1911. fOliver, Norman H., Major, R.A.M.C., Special Hospital for Officers, 

Latchmere, Ham Common, Surrey. 

1892. O’Mara, Francis, L.R.C.P.AS.I., District Asylum, Ennis, Ireland. 

1902. Orr, David, M.D., C.M.Edin., M.P.C., Pathologist, County Asylum, 

Prestwich, Lancs. 

1910. Orr, James H. C., M.l)., Ch.B.Edin., Rosslynlee Asylum, Midlothian. 
1899. Osburne, Cecil A. P., F.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Edin., The Grove, Old Catton, 

Norwich. 

1914. Osburue, John C., M.B., B.Ch.Dub!., Assistant Medical Officer, Lindville 
Cork. 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



Digitized by 


xxii Members of the Association. 

1890. Oswald, L&ndcl R., M.B., C.M.Glasg., M.P.C., Physician Superin¬ 

tendent, Koyul Asylum, Gurtimvel, Glasgow. 

1916. fOverbeck-Wright, Alexander William, M.L)., Cli.B., M.P.C., D.P.H., 
Major l.M.S. Superintendent, Lunatic Asylum, Agra, U. P., India 
(at present on military duty); Lecturer on Mental Diseases, King 
George’s Hospital, Lucknow, and Agra Medical School, Agra. 
Address 12, Rubislaw Terrace, Aberdeen. 

1905. f Paine, Frederick, M.D.Brux., M.R.C.S.,M.R.C.P.Lond., Clay bury Asylum, 

Woodford Bridge, Essex ; R.A.M.C. 

1898. Parker, William Arnot, M.B., C.M.Glasg., M.P.C., Medical Super¬ 
intendent, Gartloch Asylum, Gartcosh, N.B. 

1898. Pasmore, Edwin Stephen, M.D., M.R.C.P.Lond., Chelshatn House, 

Chelsham, Surrey. 

1916. fPatch, Charles James Lodge, L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., Assistant Medical 
Officer, Renfrew District Asylum, Dykebar, Paisley; Capt. 
R.A.M. C. 

1899. Patrick, John, M.B., Ch.B., R.U.I., Medical Superintendent, Tyrone 

Asylum, Omagli, Ireland. 

1907. Peuchell", George Ernest, M.D.. B.S.Loud., M.K.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 

M.P.C., Medical Superintendent, Dorset County Asylum, Herrison, 
Dorchester. 

1910. fPearu, Oscar Phillips Napier, M.R.C.S., L.R.C. P., L.S.A.Loud., (Assis¬ 

tant Medical Officer, London County Asylum, Horton, Epsom) ; 
Capt. R.A.M.C., Lord Derby’s War Hospital, Warrington, Lancs. 
1915. fPennant, Dyfrig Haws, D.S.O., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 21, Bovintou 
Street, Roath Park, Cardiff; Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1913. Penny, Robert Augustus Greenwood, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Devon 
County Asylum, Exminster. 

1893. Perceval, Frank, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medicul Superintendent, 
County Asylum, l’restwich, Manchester. Lancashire. 

1911. Perdrau, Jean Ren4, M.B., B.S., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Senior 

Assistant Medical Officer and Pathologist, Lambeth Infirmary, 
Brook Street, S.E. 11. 

1911. fPetrie, Alfred Alexander Webster, M.D., B.S.Lond., Ch.B., F.R.C.S. 

Edin. (Assistant Medical Officer, Epileptic Colouy, Epsom); Lt. 
R.A.M.C. 

1878. Philipps, Sutherland Rees, M.D., C.M.Q.U.I., F.R.G.S., Bredon, Fisher 
Street, Paignton. 

1875. Philipsou, Sir George Hare, M.A., M.D.Cantab., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.C.P. 
Loud., 7, Eldon Square, Newcastle-ou-Tyne. 

1908. Phillips, John George Porter, M.D., B.S.Loud., M.R.C.S., M.R.C.P.Lond., 

M.P.C., Resident Physician and Superintendent, Bethlem Royal 
Hospital, Lambeth, S.E. 1. (Secretary of Educational Committee 

since 1912.) 

1910. fPhillips, John Robert Parry, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Loud. (Assistant Medical 
Officer, City Asylum, Bristol) ; Maj. R.A.M.C., Beaufort Wnr Hos¬ 
pital, Bristol. 

1906. Phillips, Nathaniel Richard, M.D.Brux., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Assis¬ 

tant Medical Officer, County Asylum, Abergnvenny, Monmouthshire. 
1905. Phillips, Norman Routh, M.D.Brux., M.K.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 67, 
Billing Road, Northampton. 

1891. Pierce, Bedford, M.D., F.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superintendent, The 

Retreat, York. {Hon. Secretary N. and M. Division 1900-8.) 
1888. Pietersen, J. F. G., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Ashwood House, Kingswin- 
ford, near Dudley, Stafford. 

1896. Planck, Charles, M.A.Camb., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Super¬ 
intendent, Brighton County and Borough Asylum, Haywards 
Heath. 

1912. ■fPlummer, Edgar Curuow, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Medical Superin¬ 

tendent, Laverstock House, Salisbury); Capt. R.A.M.C., British 
Expeditionary Force. 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



Members of the Association. xxiii 

1889. Pope, George Stevens, L.R.C.P.AS.Edin., L.R.F.P.&S.Glasg., Medical 
Superintendent, Somerset and Bath Asylum, “ Westfield,” near 
Wells, Somerset. 

1913. Potts, William A., M.A.Camb., M.D.Edin.&Birm., M.lt.C.S., L.R.C.l*. 

Bond., Medical Officer to the Birmingham Committee for the Care 
of the Feeble-minded, 118, Hagley Road, Birmingham. 

1876. Powell, Evan, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A., Medical Superintendent, City 
Lunatic Asylum, Nottingham. 

1910. Powell, .lames Farquharsou, M.lt.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.H.Lond., M.P.C., 
Assistant Medical Officer, 'lhe Asylum, Caterham, Surrey. 

1916. Power, Patrick William, L.K.C.P., L.R.C.S., Senior Assistant Medical 
Officer, County Asylum, Chester. 

190S. Prentice. Reginald Wickham, L.M.S.S.A.Lond., Beauworth Manor, 
Alresford, Hants. 

1901. Pugh, Robert, M.D., Ch.R.Edin., Medical Superintendent, Brecon and 
Radnor Asylum, Talgarth, S. Wales. 

1904. fltace, John Percy, M.lt.C.S., L.R.C.P., L.S.A.Loud., Journals and 
notices to Winterton Asylum, Ferrj'hill, Durham (Wheatley Hill, 
Doncaster); Capt. R.AM.C. 

1899. Itaiusford, F. E.. M.D., B.A.Dubl., L.R.C.P.I., L.R.C.P.&S.E., Resident 
Physician, Stewart Institute, Palmerston, co. Dublin. 

1894. ltambaut, Daniel F., M.A., M.D., H.Ch.Dub. (Medical Superintendent, 
St. Andrew's Hospital. Northampton. 

1910. fRankine, Surg. Roger Aiken, R.N., M.B., B.S., M.R.C.S.,L.lt.C.P.Lond., 

M.P.C. 

1889. fltaw, Nathan, M.l)., B.S.Durh., L.S.Sc., F.R.C.S.Kdin., M.R.C.P.Lond., 
M.P.C. (66, Rodney Street, Liverpool) ; Lt.-Col. R.A.M.C., Liverpool 
Merchants’ Hospital, A.P.O.S. 11, British Expcd. Force, France. 
1870. Rayner, Henry. M.D.Aberd., M.R.C.P.Edin., Upper Terrace House, 
Hampstead, N.W. 3. (President. 1881.) ( General Secretary, 

1887-89.) ( Co-Editor of Journal 1895-1911.) 

1913. fltead, Charles Stanford, M.B.Lond., M.R.C.S.. L.R.C.P.I.ond. (Assistant 

Medical Officer, Fisbcrton House, Salisbury); Lieut. R.A.M.C., 
Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley. 

1903. Read, George F., L.R.C.S.&P.Edin., Hospital for the Insane, New 
Norfolk, Tasmania. 

1899. Redington, John, F.R.C.S.&L.R.C.P. L, Portrane Asylum, Donabate, 
Co. Dublin. 

1911. flteeve, Ernest Frederick, M.B., B.S.Lond., M.lt.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 

(Senior Assistant Med cal Officer, County A-ylum, ltainhill, Lancs.) ; 
Lieut. R.A M.C. 

1911. tlieid, Daniel McKinley, M.D., Ch.B.GIasg. (Royal Asylum, Gartuavel, 
Glasgow); Lt., R.A.M.C. 

1910. tReid, William, M.A.St. And., M.B., Ch.B.Edin. (Senior Assistant Medical 
Officer. Burutwood Asylum, Lichfield) ; Major R.A.M.C. 

Reid, William, M.D., C.M.Aberd., Physician Superintendent, Royal 
Asylum, Aberdeen. 

Revington, George T., M.A.. M.D., B.Ch.Dubl., M.P.C., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Central Criminal Asylum, Dundrum, Ireland. 

Rice, David, M.D.Brux., M.lt.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., D.P.H., Medical 
Superintendent, City Asylum, Ilillesdon, Norwich. 

Richard, William J.. M.A., M.B., Ch.M.Glusg., Medical Officer. 
Richards, John, M.B., C.M.Edin., F.R.C.S.E., Medical Superintendent, 
Joint Counties Asylum. Carmarthen. 

Roberts, Henry Howard, M.D., Ch.R.Edin., D.P.H.Glasg., Ennerdale, 
Haddington, Scotland. 

1914. fRoberts, Ernest Theophilus, M.D., C.M.Edin., D.P.H.Camb., M.P.C. 

(129. Bath Street, Glasgow); Hawkstone, Cambusluug, Glasgow 
Capt. R.A.M.C. 


1887. 

1886. 

1899. 

1897. 

1899. 

1911. 


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XXIV 


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Members of the Association. 

1903. + Roberts, Norclilfe, M.D., B.S.Dnrh., (Senior Assistant Medical Officer, 
Horton Asylum, Epsom, Surrey) ; Major R.A.M.C., Horton County 
of London War Hospital, Epsom. 

1887. Robertson, Geo. M., M.D., C.M., F. R.C.P.Edin., M.P.C., Physician-Super¬ 

intendent, Royal Asylum, Morningside, Edinburgh. 

1908. Robertson, George Dunlop, L.R.C.S.&P.Edin., Dipl. Psych., Assistant 
Medical Officer. District Asylum, Hnrtwood, Lanark. 

1916. Robertson, June I., M.B., Ch.B.GIasg., Gartnavel Asylum, Glasgow. 

1895. Robertson, William Ford, M.D., C.M.Edin., 60, Northumberland Street, 
Edinburgh. 

1900. Robinson, Harry A., M.D., Ch.B.Vict., 140, Edge Lane, Liverpool. 

1911. fltobson, Cupt. Hubert Alan Hirst, l.M.S. , M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 

Punjaub Asylum, India. 

1914. fRodger, Murdoch Mann, M.D., Cb.B.Gifts., The Rowans, Bothwell, 

Scotland; Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1908. fRodgers, Frederick Millar, M.D., Ch.B.Vict., D.P.H. (Senior Medical 
Officer, County Asylum, Winwick, Lancs.); Temp. Major, R.A.M.C., 
Lord Derby’s War Hospital, Winwick. 

1908. Rollestou, Charles Frank, B.A., M.B., Cb.B.Dub., Assistant Medical 
Officer, County of London Manor Asylum, Epsom. 

1895. fRolleston, Lancelot W., M.B., B.S.Durh., (Medicai Superintendent, Mid¬ 

dlesex County Asylum); Lieut.Col. R.A.M.C., Napsbury War 
Hospital, Napsbury, near St. Albans. 

1888. Ross, Chisholm, M.D.Syd., M.B., C.M.Edin., 151, Macquarie Street, 

Sydney, New South Wales. 

1913. Ross, Derind Maxwell,M.B.,Ch.B.Edin., Morningside Asylum, Edinburgh. 
1910. fRoss, Donald, M.B , Ch.B.Edin., Argyll and Bute Asylum, Lochgilphead ; 
Temp. Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1905. Ross, Sheila Margaret, M.D., Ch.B.Edin., 83 a, Friar Gate, Derby. 

1899. Rotherham, Arthur, M.A., M.B., B.C.Cantab., Commissioner under 

Ment. Defec. Act, Board of Control, 66, Victoria Street, West¬ 
minster, S.W. 1. 

1906. Rowan, Marriott Logan, B.A., M.D.R.U.I., Medical Superintendent, 

Derby County Asylum, Mickleover. 

1883. Rowland, E. D., M.B., C.M.Edin., I.S.O. (attached R.A.M.C.), 71, Main 
Street, George Town, Demerara, British Guiana. 

1902. fRows, Richard Gundry, M.D.Loud., M.B.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Patho. 

logist, County Asylum, Lancaster). Major U.A.M.C., British Red 
Cross Military Hospital, Maghull, Liverpool. 

1877. Russell, Arthur P., M.B., C.M., M.R.C.P.Edin., The Lawn, Lincoln. 

1912. tltu6sell, John Ivison, M.B., Ch.B.Glasg. (Jeantield, 18, Woodcnd Drive, 

Jordan Hill, Glasgow; Temp. Cupt. R.A.M.C. 

1915. Russell, William, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., Dip.Psych.Edin., D.T.M.Edin.. 

Assistant Pnysician, Pretor ia Mental Hospital, S. Africa. 

1912. fRutherford, Cecil, M.B., B.Ch.Dubl. (Assistant Medical Officer. Holloway 

Sanatorium, Virginia Water, Surrey); Temp. Capt. R.A.M.C., No. 
16 Standard Hospital, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. 

1907. Rutherford, Henry Richard Charles, F.R.C.S.I., L.R.C.P.I., D.P.H., St. 

Patrick’s Hospital, James's St., Dublin. 

1896. Rutherford, James Muir, M.B., C.M.,F.R.C.P.Ediu.. M.P.C., BrDlington 

House, Bristol. 

1913. fRyan, Ernest Noel, B.A., M.D., B.Ch.Dub., R.A.M.C., 6th London 

Field Ambulance (T.). 

1902. Sail, Ernest Frederick, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superinten¬ 
dent. Borough Asylum, Canterbury. 

1908. Samuels, William Frederick, L.M.&L.S.Dubl., Medical Superintendent 

Central Asylum,Tangoug, Rambutan,Perak,Federated Malay States. 
1894. Sankev, Edward H. O., M.A., M.B., B.C.Cautab., Resident Medical 
Licensee, Boreatton Park Incensed House, Bnscluirch, Salop. 
Sankey, R. H. Heurtley, M.R.C.S.Eng., 3, Marston Ferry Road, 
Oxford. 


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Members of the Association. 


xxv 


Digitized by 


187S. Savage, Sir (Jeo. H., M.D., F.R.C.P.Lond., 26, Devonshire Place, W. 1. 

{Late Editor of Journal.) (Pbbsidbnt, 1886.) 

1906. fScanlan, John J.,L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., L.R.F.P.AS.Glasg.,D.P.H. (1 Castle 
Court, Cornhill, E.C.) ; Capt. R.A.M.C., 5th London Field 
Ambulance, 47tli (London) Division, British Expeditionary Force. 
1896. Scott, James, M.B., C.M.Edin.. 98, Baron’s Court Road, West Kensing¬ 
ton, W. 14. 

1915. Scott, Janies McAlpine, M.l)., Ch.B.Glasp., Junior Assistant Medical 
Officer, Stirling District Asylum, Larbert. 

1889. Scowcroft, Walter, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.I., Medical Superintendent, Royal 
Lunatic Hospital, Clieadle, near Manchester. 

1911. Scroope, Geoffrey, M.B., B.Ch.Dub., Assistant Medical Officer, Central 

Asylum, Duudrum. 

1880. Seccotnbe, George S., M.lt.C S., L.R.C.P.Lond., e/o Messrs. H. S. King 
and Co., 65, Cornhill, E.C. 3. 

1912. Sergeant, John Noel, M.B., B.S.Lond.,M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical 

Superintendent, Newlands House, Tooting Bee Common, S.W. 17. 
(Secretary South-Eastern Division from 1913.) 

1882. Seward, William J., M.B.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng., 15, Chandos Avenue, 
Oakleigh Park, N. 11. 

1913. fShand. George Ernest, M.D., Ch.B.Aberdeen ; (Senior Assistant Medical 

Officer,City Mental Hospital, Wiuson Green, Birmingham); Journals 
to Capt., R.A.M.C.,'So.ti Clearing Hospital, British Expeditionary 
Force. 

1901. fShaw, B. Henry, M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I. (Assistant Medical Officer, County 
Asylum, Stnfford) ; R.A.M.C. 

1909. fShaw, William Samuel J., M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., Major I.M.S., Superin¬ 
tendent, North Veravola, Poona, India. 

1905. Shaw, Charles John, M.D., Ch.B., F.R.C.P.E., Medical Superintendent, 
Hoyal Asylum, Montrose. 

1915. fShaw, Hugh Kirkland, M.B„ Ch.B.Edin. (Assistant Medical Officer, 
Stirling District Asylum, Larbert) ; Surgeon R.N. 

1917. Shaw, John Custanee, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, West Ham Borough Asylum, Goodmayes, Essex. 

1904. Shaw, Patrick, L.R.C.P.&S.Ediu., Senior Medical Officer (Hospital for 

the Insane, Kew, Victoria, Australia); “ Lingerwood,” Wills Street, 
Kew, Victoria, Australia. On active service. 

1909. Shepherd, George Ferguson, F.R.C.S., L.R.C.I’.Irel., D.P.H., 9, Ogle 
Terrace, South Shields. 

1900. Shera. John E. P., M.D.Brux., L.R.C.P.AS.Irel., Somerset County Asylum, 

Wells, Somerset. 

1912. Sheridan, Gerald Brinsley, M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., Assistant Medical 
Officer, Portrane Asylum, Donabate, Co. Dublin. 

1914. Sherlock, Edward Burhall, M.D., B.Sc., D.P.U.Lond., Medical Superin¬ 

tendent, Darenth Industrial Colony, Dartford. 

1914. fShield, Hubert, M.B., B.S.Durh. (Assistant Medical Officer, Gateshead 
Borough Asylum, Stnnnington, Newcastle-ou-Tvne); Capt.,.ft. A.M. C. 
( T .), 1st Nottingham Field Ambulance, British Expeditionary Force, 
France. 

1877. Shuttleworth, George E., B.A.Lond., M.D.Heidelb., M.K.C.S. and L.S.A 
Loud., 25, New Cavendish Street; 8, Lancaster Place, Hampstead, 
N.W. 1. 

1901. fSimpson, Alexander, M.A., M.D., C M.Aber. (Medical Superintendent, 

County Asylum, VVitiwick, Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire); Lt.-Col., 
R.A.M.C., Lord Derby War Hospital, Warrington. 

1905. Simpson, Edward Swan, M.D., Ch.B.Edin., East Riding Asylum, 

Beverley, Yorks. 

1888. Sinclair, Eric, M.D., C.M.Glnsg., Inspector-General of Insane, Richmond 
Terrace, Demain, Sydney, N.S.W. 

1891. Skeen, James Humphry, M.B., Ch.M.Aber., M.P.C., Medical Super¬ 
intendent, Fife and Kinross District Asylum, Cupar, N.B. 

1900. Skinner, Ernest VV., M.D., C.M.Edin., J.P., Mountstield, Rye, Sussex. 


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xxvi Members of the Association. 

1914. Slaney, Chas. Newnham, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Loud., The Elms, Parkbm-st, 

l.W. 

1901. Slater, George N. O., M.D.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Loud., Assistant 
Medical Officer, Essex County Asylum, Brentwood. 

1914. Smith, Charles Kelman, M.B., Cb.B.Aberd., Assistant Medical Officer, 
Parkside Asylum, Macclesfield. 

1910. fSmith, Gayton Warwick, M.D.Lond., B.S.Durh., D.P.H.Cantab., 

M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Loud., Assistant Medical Officer, Middlesex 
County Asylum, Tooting, S.W. 17 ; Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1905. Smith, George William, M.B., Ch.B.Edin. (Assistant Medical Officer, 

Holloway Sanatorium, Virginia Water, Surrey). 

1907. Smith, Henry Watson, M.D., Ch.B.Aberd., Medical Superintcudent, 
Lebanon Hospital for the Insane, Asfurujeh, near Beyrout, 
Syria. 

1899. Smith, John G., M.D., C.M.Ediu., Herts County Asylum, Hill End, St. 
Albans, Herts. 

1885. Smith, R. Percy, M.D., B.S., F.R.C.P.Lond., M.P.C.. 36, Queen 
Anne Street, Cavendish Square, W. 1. ( General Secretary, 1896-7. 
Chairman Educational Committee, 1899-1903.) (PHBS1DBNT, 
1904-5.) 

1913. Smith, Thomas Cyril, M.U., B.Ch.Ediu., County Asylum, Gloucester. 

1911. Smith, Thomas Waddelow, K.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Loud., M.P.C., Assistant 

Medical Officer, City Asylum, Mapperley Hill, Nottingham. 

1884. Smith, W. Beuttie, F.R.C.S.Edin., L.ll.C.P.Edin., 4, Collins Street, 

Melbourne, Victoria. 

1914. Smith, Walter H., B.A., M.D., B.Ch.Dub., Senior Assistant Medical 

Officer, County Asylum, Shrewsbury. 

1899. Smyth, Walter S., M.B., B.Ch.R.U. 1., Assistant Medical Officer, County 
Asylum. Antrim. 

1913. Somerville, Henry, B.Sc., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Loud., F.C.S., Harrold, 
Siiariibrook, Bedfordshire. 

1885. Soutur, James Greig, M.B., C.M.Ediu., M.P.C., Medical Superintendent, 

Barn wood House, Gloucester. (Pkesidbnt, 1912-13.) 

1906. Spark. Percy Churles, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Loud., Medical Superintendent, 

Londou County Asylum, Banstead, Surrey. 

1876. Spence, J. Beveridge, M.D., M.C.Q.U.I., Medical Superintendent, Burut- 
wood Asylum, near Lichfield. ( First Regittrar, 1892-1899; 
Chairman Parliamentary Committee, 1910-12.) (PBBSIDBNT, 
1899-1900.) 

1913. Spensley, Frank Oswold, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Loud., Senior Medical 

Officer, Darenth Asylum, Hartford, Kent. 

1891. fStansfield, T. E. K., M.B., C.M.Ediu., Medical Superintendent, London 
County Asylum, Bexley, Kent; Hon. Major, R.A.M.C. 

1901. Starkey, William, M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., Medical Superintendent, Borough 
Asylum, Blackadoo, Ivybridge, S. Devon. 

1907. fSteele, Patrick, M.D., Cli.B., M.R.C.P.Edin. (Assistant Medical Officer, 

District Asylum, Melrose; Lt. R.A.M.C. 

1898. Steen, Robert 11., M.D.Lond.. M.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superintendent, 
City of London Mental Hospital, Stone, Hartford. (Hon. Sec. S.E. 
Dirieion, 1905-10; Acting Hon. Gen. Sec. siuce 1915.) 

1914. Stephens, Harold Freize, M.R.C.S.Lond., L.R.C.P.Eng., 9, Belmont 

Avenue, Palmer’s Green, Middlesex. 

1914. fStevenson, George Henderson, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., D.P.H.Lond. (Joyce 

Green Hospital, Hartford, Kent) ; R.A.M.C. 

1912. fStevenson, William Edward, M.B.. B.S.Durh.; Lieut. 19th Battalion 

Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Wiuncell Down Camp, Winchester. 

1909. fSteward, Sidney John, M.D., D.S.O., B.C.Cantab., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 

Lond. (Assistant Medical Officer, Langtou Lodge, Farncombe, 
Surrey) ; Capt., R.A.M.C., T.R. 

1915. Stewart, A. H. L., M.R.C.S., 72, Wimpolo Street, W. 1. 

1868. Stewart, James, B.A.Belf., F.R.C.P.Ed., L.R.C.S.I., Junior Constitutional 
Club, Piccadilly, W. 1. 


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Members of the Association. xxvii 

1913. fStewart, Ronald, M.B., Ch.B.Glasg. (Gartlock Asylum, Gartcosh, 

Glasgow) ; Capt. R.A.M.C., No. 38 Hospital, Mediterranean Expe¬ 
ditionary Force. 

1887. Stewart, llitbsay C., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A.Lond., Medical Superinten¬ 
dent, County Asylum, Narborough, near Iadeester. 

1914. fStewart, Roy M.. M.B., Cli.B.Edin. (Assistant Medical Officer, County 

Asylum, Prcstwich) ; Capt. R.A.M.C., Mediterranean Expedi¬ 
tionary Force, c/o G.P.O. 

1905. Stilwell, Henry Francis, L.R.C.P.AS.E., Hayes Park, Hayes, Middlesex. 

1899. Stilwell, Reginald J., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Moorcroft House, Hil¬ 

lingdon, Middlesex. 

1897. Stoddart, William Henry Butter, M.D., B.S., F.R.C.P.Loud., M.R.C.S. 

Eng., M.P.C., Harcourt House, Cuvendisli Square, W. 1. (Hon. Sec. 
Educational Committee, 1908-1912.) 

1909. fStokes, Frederick Ernest, M.B., Ch.B.Glasg., D.P.H.Cautab. (Assistant 
Medical Officer, Borough Asylum, Portsmouth); Major, R.A.M.C. 
(T.), 2/3 Wessex Field Ambulance. 

1905. Stratbearu, John, M.D., Ch.B.Glasg., F.R.C.S.E., 23, Magdnlen Yard 
Road, Dundee. 

1903. Stratton, Percy Hnughton, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 10, Hanover 
Square, W. 1. 

1885. Street, C. T., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Huydock Lodge, Ashton, 
Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire. 

1909. fStuart, Frederick J., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Senior Assistant Medical 

Officer, Northampton County Asylum, Berry wood); Major R.A.M.C., 
War Hospital, Dunston, Northampton. 

1900. Sturrock, James Prain, M.A.St.Aud., M.D., C.M.Ediu., 25, Palmerston 

Place, Edinburgh. 

lSSG. Suffern, Alex. C., M.D., M.Ch.R.U.I. (Medical Superintendent, Rubery 
Hill Asylum,near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire); Lt.-Col. R..A.M.C., 
1st Birmingham War Hospital, Rubery Hill, Worcestershire. 

1894. Sullivan, William C., M.D., B.Ch.R.U.I., Hampton Criminal Lunatic 
Asylum, Retford, Notts. 

1910. fSutherlnnd, Joseph Roderick, M.B., Ch.B.Glasg., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 

Loud., D.P.H., County Sanatorium, Stonehousc, Lanarkshire. 

1908. Swift, Eric W. I)., M.B.Loud., Medical Superintendent, Government 
Asylum, Bloemfontein. 

1908. Tattersall, John. M.D.Lond., M.R.C.S., M R.C.P.Lond., Assistant 
Medical Officer, Loudon County Asylum, Hanwell, W. 7. 

1910. Taylor, Arthur Loudoun, B.Se., M.B., Ch.B., M.R.C.P.Edin., 30, 

Hnrtington Place, Edinburgh. 

1897. Taylor, Frederic Ryott Percival, M.D., B.S.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 

Lond., Medical Superintendent, East Sussex Asylum, Hellingly. 
1908. Thomas, Joseph 1)., B.A., M.B., B.C.Cantab., North woods House, Winter¬ 
bourne, Bristol. 

1911. fThomas, William Rees, M l)., B.S.Lond., M.R.C.S., M.R.C.P.Lond., 

M.P.C. (Mosside, Maghull, near Liverpool); Capt. R.A.M.C. British 
Red Cross War Hospital, Maghull, near Liverpool. 

1880. tThomson, David (i., M.D., C.M.Ediu. (Medical Superintendent, County 
Asylum, Thorpe, Norfolk); Lieut.-Col. R.A.M.C., Norfolk War 
Hospital, Thorpe, Norwich. (PRESIDENT, 1914-15.) 

1903. Thomson, Herbert Campbell, M.D., F.R.C.P.Loud., Assist. Physician 
Middlesex Hospital. 34, Queen Anne Street, W. 1. 

1905. fTidburv, Robert,M.D., M.Ch. R.U.I.(Hcathlands,Foxhall Road, Ipswich); 
Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1901. Tiglie, John V. G. B., M.B., B.Ch.R.U.I., Medical Superintendent, 

Gateshead Mental Hospital, Stanuington, Northumberland. 

1914. fTisdall, C. .1., M.B., Ch.B. (Crichton Roval Institution, Dumfries) ; 

R.A.M.C. 

1903. Tophtun, J. Arthur, B.A.Cantab., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., County 
Asylum, Chartham, Kent. 


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xxviii Members of the Association. 

1896. Townsend, Arthur A. 1)., M.D., B.Ch.Birm., M.R.C.S., L.H.C.P.Lond., 
Assistant Medical Officer, Hospital for Insane, Barnwood House, 
Gloucester. 

1904. Treadwell, Oliver Pereira Naylor, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A.Loud., 102, 
Belgravia Road, S.W. 1. 

1903. Tredgold, Alfred F., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (6, Dapdune Crescent, 

Guildford, Surrey). 

1908. Tuaeh-MacKenzie, William, M.D., Ch.B.Aberd., Medical Superintendent, 

Royal and District Asylums, Dundee. 

1881. Tnke, Charles Molesworth, M.R.C.S.Eng., Chiswick House, Chiswick. 

1888. Tuke, John Batty, M.D., C.M., F.K.C.P.Edin., Resident Physician, 

New Saughton Hall, Polton, Midlothian. 

1915. Tulloch, William John, M.D.St. Andrews, Director Western Asylums 
Research Institute, 10, Claytbon Road, Glasgow. 

1906. tTurnbull, Peter Mortimer, M.B., B.Cli.Aberd., Tooting Bee Asylum, 
Tooting, S.W. 17; Temp. Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1909. Turnbull, Robert Cyril, M.D.Lond.. M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical 

Superintendent, Essex County Asylum, Colchester. 

1889. Turner, Alfred, M.l)., C.M.Edin., Plyinpton House, Plympton, S. Devon. 
1906. Turner, Prank Douglas, M.B.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical 

Officer, Royal Eastern Counties Institution, Colchester. 

1890. Turner, John, M.B., C.M.Aberd., Medical Superintendent, Essex County 

Asylum, Brentwood. 

1917. Vevers, Oswald Henry, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Acting Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Laverstnck House, Salisbury. 

1904. Vincent, George A., M.B., B.Ch.Edin.,Assistant Medical Superintendent, 

St. Ann’s Asylum, Port of Spain, Trinidad, B.W.l. 

1894. fViucent, William James N., M.B., B.S.Durh., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. 

(Medical Superintendent, Wadsley Asylum, near Sheffield); Lt.-Col. 
R.A.M.C., Wharncliffe War Hospital, Sheffield. 

1914. Vining, Charles Wilfred, M.D., B.S.Loud., M.R.C.P.Lond., D.P.H., 
M.P.C., Assistant Physician, Leeds General Infirmary, 40, Park 
Square, Leeds. 

1913. jWalford, Harold It. S., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Assistant Medica 

Officer, Kent County Asylum, Banning Heath, Maidstone); Lieut. 
R.A.M.C. 

1914. Walker, Robert Clive, M.B., Cb.B.Edin., West Riding Asylum, Menston, 

near Leeds. 

1908. Wallace, John Andrew Leslie, M.D., Ch.B.Edin., M.P.C. 

1912. Wallace, Vivian, L.R.C.P. & S.I., Assistant Medical Officer, Muilingar 
District Asylum, Mullingar. 

1889. Warnock, John, C.M.G., M.D., C.M., B.Se.Edin., Medical Superintendent, 
Abbasiyeh Asylum, nr. Cairo, Egypt. 

1895. Waterston, Jane Elizabeth, M.D.Brux., L.li.C.P.I.,L.R.C.S.Edin., M.P.C., 

85, Parliament Street, Box 78, Cape Town, South Africa. 

1902. Watson, Frederick, M.B., C.M.Edin., Elm Lodge, Clay Hill, Enfield. 
1891 Watson, George A., M.1L, C.M.Edin., M.P.C., Lyons House, itainhill, 
Liverpool. 

1908. Watson,H. Ferguson,M.D.,Ch.B.Glas.,L.R.C.P.&S.E.,L.R.F.P.&S.Glas., 
D.P.H., Northcote, Edinburgh Road, Perth. 

1911. fWebber, Leonard Mortis, M.R.C.S., L.lt.C.P.Loud. (Assistant Medical 
Officer, Netherne, Merstham, Surrey); Temp. Lieut. R.A.M.C. 
1911. fWhite, Edward Barton C., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Seuior Assistant 
Medical Officer, CarditF City Mental Hospital, Whitchurch) ; Major, 
R.A.M.C., Welsh Metropolitan War Hospital, Whitchurch. 

1884. f White, Ernest William, M.B.Lond., M.R.C.P.Lond. (Betley House, nr. 

Shrewsbury). (Hon. Sec. South-Eastern Division, 1897-1900.) 
(Chairman Parliamentary Committee, 1904-7.) (Pbksidxnt 
1903—4.) ; Temp. Hon. Lieut.-Col. R.A.M.C. 


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XXIX 


Members of the Association. 

1905. fWhittington, Richard, M.A., M.D.Oxon., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
(Downford, Montpelier Road, Brighton); Major, R.A.M.C.,T.F., 
2nd East General Hospital, Brighton. 

1889. Whitwell, James Richard, M.B., C.M.Ediu., Medical Superintendent, 
Suffolk County Asylum, Melton Woodbridge. 

1903. Wigan, Charles Arthur, M.D.Durh., M.lt.C.S.Eng., L.S.A.Lond., Deep- 
dene, Portishead, Somerset. 

1883. Wiglesworth, Joseph, M.D., F.R.C.P.Lond., Springfield House, Wins- 
combe, Somerset. (Pkbsidbnt, 1902-3.) 

1913. fWilkins, William Douglas, M.B., Ch.B.Vict., M.lt.C.S., L.R.C.P. 

Lond. (County Mental Hospital, Cheddleton, Leek, Staff.); 
Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1900. fWilkinson, H. B.. M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Assistant Medical Officer 
Plymouth Borough Asylum, Blackudon, lvybridge, Soutli Devon); 
Lieut. R.A.M.C. 

1887. Will, John Kennedy, M.A., M.D., C.M.Aberd., M.P.C., Bethnal House, 
Cambridge Road, N.E. 1. 

1914. Williams, Charles, L.R.C.P. & S.Edin., L.S.A.Lond., Assistant Medical 

Officer, The Warneford, Oxford. 

1907. tWilliam*, Charles E. C., M.A., M.D., B.Ch.Dubl.; Greystoncg, Carnford 
Cliffs, Bournemouth ; Capt. R.A.M.C., No. 12 General Hospital, 
British Expeditionary Force, France. 

1905. Williams, David John, M.lt.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., Medical Superintendent, 
The Asylum, Kingston, Jamaica. 

1915. fWilliams, Gwilym Ambrose, L R.C.P.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng. (Pathologist 

and Assistant Medical Officer. East Sussex County Asylum, 
Hellinglv); R.A.M.C., 27th General Hospital, Mediterranean 

Expeditionary Force. 

1910. Wilson, Marguerite, M.B., Ch.B.Glasg., Gl, Selly Park Road, Selly 
Park, Birmingham. 

1912. Wilson, Samuel Alexander Kinnier, M.A., M.I)., B.Sc.Edin., F.R.C.P. 

Lond., Registrar, National Hospital, Queen’s Square, 14, Harley 
Street, W. 1. 

1897. Winder, W. H„ M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., D.P.H.Cantab., Deputy 
Medical Officer, H.M. Borstal Institution, Borstal, Kent. 

1875. Winslow, Henry Forhes, M.D.Lond., M.R.C.P.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng., 
164, Marine Parade, Brighton. 

1899. Wolseley-Lewis, Herbert. M.D.Brux., F.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond., 

Medical Superintendent, Kent County Asylum, Harming Heath, 
Mnidstone. (Secretary Parliamentary Committee, 1907-12. Chair¬ 
man tince 1912.) 

1869. Wood, T. Ontterson, M.D.Durh., M.R.C.P.Lond., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S. 

Edin., 7, Abbey Crescent, Torquay. (President, 1905-6.) 

1912. fWoods, James Cowan, M.I)., B.S.Lond., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
(10, Palace Green, Kensingtou, W. 8); Temp. Major R.A.M.C. 
1885. +Woods, J. F., M.D.Durh., M.R.C.S.Eng. (7, Harley Street, Cavendish 
Square, W.) ; Capt. R.A.M.C. 

1912. Wootton, John Charles, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond.. Haydock Lodge, 
Newton-le-Willows, Lancs. 

1900. fWorth, Reginald, M.B., B.S.Durb., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond. (Medical 

Superintendent, Middlesex Asylum, Tooting, S.W.17); Maj. 

R.A.M.C. 

1917. fWright, Maurice Beresford, M.D., C.M. (118, Harley Street, London, 
W. 1); Major R.A.M.C., 10, Palace Green, Kensington, W. 8. 

1862. Yellowlees, David, LL.D.Glas., M.D.Edin., F.R.F.P.iS.Glnsg., 6, Albert 
Gate, Dowan Hill, Glasgow. (President, 1890.) 

1914. fYellowlees, Henry, M.lL.Ch.B.Glas., 6, Albert Gate Dowan Hill, Glasgow ; 

Lt. R.A.M.C., 26th British Genernl Hospital, British Exped. Force. 
1910. Younger, Edward George, M.D.Brux.. M.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., L.S.A.Lond., 
D.P.H., Physician to the Finsbury Dispensary, 2, Mecklenburgh 
Square, W.C. 1. 


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Ordinary Members . 

... 627 

Honorary Membbrs . 

... 33 

Corresponding Members . 

... 18 

Total. 

... 678 


t Serving with H.M. Forces. 

Member» are particularly requested to tend changes of address, etc., to The 
Acting Honorary General Secretary, 11, Chandos Street, Cavendish 
Square, London, W., and in duplicate to the Printers of the Journal. 
Messrs. Adtard Sf Son Sf West Newman, Ltd., 23, Bartholomew Close, 
London, B.C. 


OBITUARY. 

Honorary Members. 

1898. Magnan, V., M.D., Agile de Ste. Anne, Paris. 

1917. Urquhart, Alexander Reid, M.D.Aber., LL.D.Aber., F.R.C.P.Kdin., late 
Physician Superintendent, James Murray’s Koval Asylum, Perth. 

Members. 

1906. Alexander, Edward Henry, M.B., C.M.Edin., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond, 
M.P.C., Physician Superintendent, Ashbourne Hall Asylum, Dunedin, 
New Zealand. 

1908. fBlandy, Gurth Swinncrton, M.D., Ch.13.Edin., M.C. (Assistant Medical 
Officer, Middlesex County Asylum, Napsbury, Herts) ; Capt. 
R.A.M-C. (T.) (killed in action). 

1892. Bullen, Frederick St. John, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A.Lond., 3, Richmond 

Park Road, Clifton, Bristol. 

1889. Cnllcott, James T., M.D., B.S.Durh., M.R.C.S.Eng., Medical Superin¬ 

tendent, Borough Asylum, Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

1890. Ellis, William Gilmore, M.D.Brux., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A.Lond., J.P., 

Principal Civil Medical Officer, Singapore, Straits Settlements. 

1884. Ewart, C. T., M.D., C.M.Aberd., Medical Superintendent, Claybnry 

Asylum, Woodford Bridge, Essex. 

1897. Fielding, James, M.l)., Viet. Univ., Canada, M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P. 

Ediu., 18, The Crescent, Norwich. 

1887. Graham, William, M.D.R.U.I., L.R.C.S.Edin., Medical Superintendent, 
District Lunatic Asylum, Belfast. 

1882. +Hyslop, James, Col. L.S.O., M.B., C.M.Edin., Medical Superintendent 
The Huts, Pietermaritzburg, Natal. 

1898. Macnnughton, George W. F., M.D., F.K.C.S.Edin., M.R.C.P.Lond.. 

M.P.C., 33, Lower Belgrave Street, Eaton Square, London, S.W. 1. 
1871. Mickle, William Julius. M.D.. F.R.C.P.Lond., Ottawa, Canada. 
(President, 1896-7.) 

1893. Murdoch, James William Aitken, M.B., C.M.Glasg., Medical Superin¬ 

tendent, Berks County Asylum, Wallingford. 

1873. Newington, H. Hayes. F.R.C.P.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., The Gables, Tice- 
hurst, Sussex. ( Chairman Parliamentary Committee, 1896-1904.) 
(President, 1889.) (Treasurer since 1894.) 

1892. Patterson, Arthur Edward, M.D., C.M.Aber., M.P.C., Senior Assistant 

Medical Officer, City of London Asylum, Hartford. 

1893. Rawes, William, M.D.Durh., F.R.C.S.Eng., Medical Sui)erinteudent, St. 

Luke’s Hospital, Old Street, London, E.C. 

1901. Smyth, Robt. B., M.A., M.B., Cli.B.Dubl., Medical Superintendent, 
County Asylum, Gloucester. 

1885. Tnke, T. Seymour, M.A., M.B., B.Ch.Oxon., M.R.C.S.Eng., Chiswick 

House, Chiswick, W. 

1885. Watson, William Riddell, L.R.C.S. A P.Edin., 6, Queen’s Mansions, 
Brook Green, LoudoD, W. 


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XXXI 


Lilt of those who have paiied the Examination for the Certificate of Efficiency 
in Psychological Medicine, entitling them to append M.P.C. (Med.-Psych. 
Certif.) to their names. 


Adams, J. Barfield. 

Clayton, Frank Herbert A. 

Adamson, Robert 0. 

Clayton, Thomas M. 

Adkins, Percy, R. 

Clinch, Thomas Aldous. 

Ainley, Fred Shaw. 

Colei, Richard A. 

Aiuslie, William, 

Collie, Frank Lang. 

Alcock, B. J. 

Collier, Joseph Henry 

Alexander, Edward H. 

Conolly, Richard M. 

Anderson, A. W. 

Conry, John. 

Anderson, Bruce Arnold. 

Cook, William Stewart. 

Anderson, John. 

Cooper. Alfred J. S. 

Andriezeu, W. 

Cope, George Patrick. 

Apthorp, F. W. 

Corner, Harry. 

Armour, E. F. 

Cotton, William. 

Attegalle. J. W. S. 

Coupcr, Sinclair. 

Aveline, H. T. S. 

Cowan, John J. 

Kallautyne, Harold S. 

Cowie, C. G. 

Barbour, William. 

Cowie, George. 

Barker, Alfred James Glanville. 

Cowper, John. 

Bashford, Ernest Francis. 

Cox, Walter H. 

Bazalgette, S. 

8 Craig, M. 

Begg, William. 

Cram, John. 

Belben, F. 

Crills, G. H. 

Bird, James Brown. 

Cross, Edward John. 

Blachford, J. Vincent. 

Cruickshank, George. 

Black, E. J. 

Cullen, George M. 

Black, Robert S. 

Cunningham, James F. 

Black, Victor. 

Dalgetty, Arthur B. 

Blackwood, John. 

Davidson, Andrew. 

Blandford, Henry E. 

Davidson, William. 

Bond, C. Hubert. 

6 Dawson, W. R. 

Bond, R. St. 0. S. 

Do Silva, W. H. 

Bowlati, Marcus M. 

11 Devine, H. 

Boyd, James Paton. 

Distin, Howard. 

Boyd, William 

Dixon. J. F. 

Bradley, J. T. 

Donald, Wm. D. D. 

Bristowe, Hubert Carpenter. 

Donaldson, R. L. S. 

Brodie, Robert C. 

Donelan, James O’Conor. 

Brough, C. 

Douglas, A. R. 

Brown, William. 

Downey, Augustine. 

Browne, Hy. E. 

Drummond, Russell J. 

Bruce, John. 

Eager, Richard. 

Bruce, Lewis C. 

Karnes, Henry Martyn. 

Brush, S. C. 

Earls, James H. 

Bulloch, William. 

East, W. Norwood. 

Calvert, William Dobree. 

Easterbrook, Charles C. 

Cameron, James. 

Eden, Richard A. S. 

Campbell, Alex Keith. 

Edgerley, S. 

Campbell, Alfred W. 

Edwards, Alex. H. 

Campbell, Peter. 

Elkins, Frank A. 

Carmichael, W. J. 

Ellis, Clarence J. 

Carruthers, Samuel W. 

English, Edgar. 

Carter, Arthur W. 

Eustace, J. N. 

Chambers, James. 

Eustnce, Henry Marcus. 

Chambers, W. I). 

Evans, P. C. 

Chapman, H. C. 

Ewan, John A. 

Christie, Willinm. 

Ezard, Ed. W. 

Clarke, Robert H. 

Falconer, A. R. 


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Falconer, James F. 

Farqnharsou, Wm. Fredk. 
Fennings, A. A. 

Ferguson, Robert. 

Findlay, O. Landsborough. 
Fitzgerald, Gerald. 

Fleck, David. 

Fortune, J. 

Fox, F. G. T. 

Fraser, Donald Allan. 

Fraser, Thomas. 

Frederick, Herbert John. 

Gage, J. M. 

Gaudin, Francis Neel. 

Gawn, Ernest K. 

Gemmell, William. 

Gennev, Fred. 8. 

Gibb, H. J. 

Gibson, Thomas. 

Giles, A. B. 

Gill, J. Macdonald. 

Gilraour, John R. 

Goldie, E. M. 

Goldschmidt, Oscar Bernard. 
Goodall, Edwin. 

Gostwyck, C. H. G. 

Graham, Dd. James. 

Graham, F. B. 

Grainger, Thomns. 

Grant, J. Wemyss. 

Grant, Lacklan. 

Gray, Alex. C. E. 

Gray, Theodore G. 

Griffiths, Edward H. 

Haldane, J. R. 

Hall, Harry Baker. 

Halsted, H. C. 

Haslnm, W. A. 

Haslett, William Johu Handfield. 
Hassell, Gray. 

Hector, William. 

Henderson, Jane B. 

Henderson, P. J. 

Hennan, George. 

Hewat, Matthew L. 

Hewitt, D. Walker. 

Hicks, John A., jun. 

Hitcliings, Robert. 

Holmes, William. 

Horton, .Tames Henry. 

Hotchkis, R. D. 

Howden, Robert. 

Hughes, Robert. 

Hunter, U. T. C. 

Hutchinson, P. J. 

2 Hyslop, Thos. B. 

Ingram, Peter R. 

Jeffery, G. R. 

Jagannadhan, Annie W. 

Johnston, John M. 

Johnstone, Emma M. 

Keith, W. Brooks 


Kelly, Elizabeth M. V'. 

Kelly, Francis. 

Kelso, Alexander. 

Kelson, W. H. 

Ker, Claude B. 

Kerr, Alexander L. 

Keyt, Frederick. 

King, David Barty. 

King, Frederick Truby. 

Laing, C. A. Barclay. 

Laing, J. H. W. 

Law, Thomas Brvden. 

Leeper, Richard R. 

Leslie, R. Murray. 

Livesay, Arthur W. Bligh. 
Livingstone, John. 

Lloyd, R. H. 

Lothian, Norman V. C. 

Low, Alexander. 

McAllum, Stewart. 

Macdonald, David. 

Macdonald, G. B. Douglas. 
Macdonald, John. 

Macdonald, W. F. 

Macevoy, Henry John. 
McGregor, George. 

Maclnnes, Ian Lamont. 
Mackenzie, Henry J. 

Mackenzie, John Cumming. 
Mackenzie, T. C. 

Mackenzie, William H. 
Mackenzie, William L. 

Mackie, George. 

McLean, H. J. 

Macmillan, John. 

5 Macnaughton, Geo. W. F. 
Macneice, J. G. 

Macpherson, John. 

Macvean, Donald A. 

Mallannah, Sreenagula. 

Marr, Hamilton C. 

Marsh, Ernest L. 

Marshall, R. M. 

Martin, A. A. 

Martin, A. J. 

Martin, M. E. 

Martin, Wm. Lewis. 

Masson, James. 

McDowall, Colin. 

Meikle, T. Gordon. 

Melville, Henry B. 

Middlemass, James. 

Miller, R. 

Miller, R. H. 

Mitchell, Alexander. 

Mitchell, Charles. 

Moffett, Elizabeth J. 

Moll, J. M. 

Monrad-Krohn, G. H. 

Monteith, James. 

Moore, Edward Erskine. 

1 Mortimer, John Desmond Ernest 


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xxxm 


Munro, M. 

Murison, Cecil C. 

Murison, T. D. 

Myers, J. W. 

Nair, Charles R. 

Nairn, Robert. 

Neil, James. 

Nixon, John Clarke. 

Nolan, J. N. (1. 

Nolan, Michael James. 
Norton, Everitt E. 
Oldershaw, G. F. 

Orr, David. 

Orr, Janies. 

Orr, J. Fraser. 

Oswald, Landel R. 
Overbeck-Wright, A. W. 
Owen, Corbet W. 

Paget, A. J. M. 

Parker, William A. 

Parrv, Charles P. 

Patterson, Arthur Edward. 
Patton, Walter S. 

Paul, William Moncriet. 
Peach ell, G. E. 

Pearce, Francis H. 

Pearce, Walter. 

Penfold, William James. 
Perdrau, J. A. 

Philip, James Farquhar. 

12 Philip, William Marshall. 
Phillips, J. G. Porter. 
Phillips. J. R. P. 

Pieris, William C. 
Pilkington, Frederick W. 
Pitcairn, John James. 
Porter, Charles. 

Powell, James F. 

Price, Arthur. 

Priug, Horace Reginald. 
Rainy, Harry, M.A. 

Ralph, Richard M. 

Rankine, R. A. 

Rannie, James. 

4 Raw, Nathan. 

Reid, Matthew A. 

Renton, Robert. 

Rice, P. J. 

Rigden, Alan. 

Ritchie, Thomas Morton. 
Rivers, W. H. R. 

Roberts, Ernest T. 
Robertson, G. D. 

3 Robertson, G. M. 

Robson, Francis Wm. Hope. 
Rorie, George A. 

Rose, Andrew. 

Ross, D. Maxwell. 

Ross, Donald. 

Rowand, Andrew. 

Rudall, James Ferdinand. 
Rust, James. 


Digitized by 



Rust, Montague. 

10 Rutherford, J. M. 

Sawyer, Jas. E. H. 

Scanlon, M. P. 

Scott, F. Riddle. 

Scott, George Brebner. 

Scott, J. Walter. 

Scott., William T. 

Senwright, H. G. 

Sheen, Alfred W. 

Simpson, John. 

Simpson, Samuel. 

Skae, F. M. T. 

Skeen, George. 

Skeen, James H. 

Slater, William Aruison. 

Slattery, J. B. 

Smith, Percy. 

Smith, T. Waddelow 
Smith, William Maule. 

Smyth, William Johnson. 
Snowball, Thomas. 

Soutar, James G. 

Sproat, J. H. 

Stanley, John Douglas. 

Staveley, William Henry Charles. 
Steel, John. 

Stephen, George. 

Stewart, William Day. 

Stoddart, John. 

9 Stoddart, William Hy. B. 
Strangmau, Lucia. 

Strong, D. R. T. 

Stuart, William James. 

Symes, G. D. 

Taylor, W. J. 

14 Thomas, W. Rees. 

Thompson, A. D. 

Thompson. George Matthew. 
Thomson, A. M. 

Thomson, Eric. 

Thomson, George Felix. 

Thomson, James H. 

Thorpe, Arnold E. 

Trotter, Robert Samuel. 

Turner, W. A. 

Umney, W. F. 

Vining, C. W. 

Walker, James. 

Wallace, J. A. L. 

Wallace, W. T. 

Wnrde, Wilfred B. 

Waters, John. 

Waterstou, Jane Elizabeth. 
Watson, George A. 

Welsh, David A. 

West, J. T. 

White, Hill Wilson. 

Whit well, Robert R. H. 
Wickham, Gilbert Henry. 

Will, John Kennedy. 

Williams, D. J. 


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Williamson, A. Maxwell. 
4 Wilson, G. R. 

Wilson, James. 

Wilson, John T. 

Wilson, Robert. 

Wood, David James. 


15 Woods, J. C. 

Yeates, Thomas. 
Yeoman, John B. 
Young, D. P. 

Younger, Henry J. 
Zimmer, Carl Raymond. 


1 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1887) was awarded. 

2 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1889) was awarded. 

3 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1890) was awarded. 

4 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1892) was awarded. 

5 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1895) was awarded. 

6 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1896) was awarded. 

7 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1897) was awarded. 

8 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1900) was awarded. 

9 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1901) was awnrded. 

10 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1906) was awarded. 

11 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1909) was awarded. 

12 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1911) was awarded. 

13 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1912) was awarded. 

14 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1913) was awarded. 

15 To whom the Gaskell Prize (1917) was awarded. 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE, JANUARY, 1918 . 



Alexander Reid Urquiiart, LL.D., M.D.Aberd., F.R.C.P.Edin. 

Obiit July 31 st, 1917 . President, 1898 . Co-Editor of Journal 1894 - 1910 . 


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Adlard & Son & /Vest Nnvman, Ltd. 

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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 





THE 

JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE 


[Published by Authority of the Medico-Psychological Association 
of Great Britain and Ireland.'] 


No. 264 [ToTr] JANUARY, 1918. Vol. LXIV. 


Part I.—Original Articles. 

Aphasia in Relation to Mental Disease. Presidential Address by 
R. Percy Smith, M.D., in the Section of Neurology of the Royal 
Society of Medicine, at Meeting held on October 25th, 1917. 

My first duty is to express my thanks to the members of the Section 
for having done me the honour to elect me as its President for the 
ensuing year, an honour which I felt bound to accept, although it 
involved the burden of a Presidential Address, in addition to one a 
year ago to the Section of Psychiatry, of which I am still President. 
Perhaps the accident that I was for some years the editor of Brain , 
which w'as at that time the journal of the Neurological Society, in 
succession to Dr. de Watteville, induced the Section to place me in this 
chair, to hold which, however, I feel myself unworthy in presence of 
and in succession to so many distinguished neurologists. 

To one whose work has lain for so many years in the domain of 
psychiatry the choice of a subject for a Presidential Address to this 
Section has seemed somewhat difficult, but it appeared to me that my 
best course was to search through my case-books for cases which 
might be of interest both to the neurologist and the alienist and lie in 
the borderland between the practices of the two, and as to which 
either of them may be consulted by the general practitioner. In this 
way many cases of disease of the nervous system where there has been 
more or less pronounced mental disorder have come before me. 

It has seemed to me that those cases in which there has been 
aphasia more or less pronounced whether with or without hemiplegia 
(apart from cases of general paralysis where it has been an occasional 
symptom), and in which I have been consulted as to the patient’s 
mental condition would be the most likely to be of interest to the 
Section. 

LXIV. I 


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The subject of aphasia has, of course, a voluminous literature, both 
from the side of neurology and of psychiatry, and with regard to this 
I think we owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Dr. Henry Head, the 
present editor of Brain , and our senior Vice-President, for having in 
vol. xxxviii of that journal reprinted many of the important papers 
of our great master, Hughlings Jackson, and so prevented them from 
passing into obscurity, and for having in his paper, “ Hughlings Jackson 
on Aphasia and Kindred Affections of Speech,” given so admirable a 
summary of the views and conclusions of that great English neuro¬ 
logist. I may also mention the valuable reviews and summaries 
given by James Collier ( Brain , 1908, xxxi, p. 523), and by S. A. K. 
Wilson (Review of Neurology and Psychiatry , 1909, vii, p. 151) on the 
subject. 

As recently as 1915 Head writes : “Speech is a function of mental 
activity and however much that mental activity may ultimately be 
linked up with the integrity of some portion of the brain substance the 
problem is primarily a psychological one,” and again, “no one but 
Plughlings Jackson has recognised that all the phenomena are primarily 
psychical and only in the second place susceptible of physiological or 
anatomical explanation ” (loc. cit , p. 4). 

Therefore, no apology is needed for examining those cases of aphasia 
which come under the notice of the alienist. In any particular case it 
is important to ascertain whether there has been mental disorder of any 
kind preceding more definite affection of the speech mechanism, as well 
as to see in what way cases beginning with aphasia are associated with 
mental disorder. There frequently arises also in any of these cases the 
question of business or testamentary capacity. 

Although during my tenure of office at Bethlem Hospital a few 
cases of aphasia associated with certifiable insanity were admitted, in 
some of which an autopsy was obtainable, the larger number of cases 
which I have met with in consulting practice have only been seen 
clinically, and there has been no opportunity of ascertaining how far 
the affection of speech corresponded with any particular pathological 
condition of the brain. With regard to this, however, I may again quote 
Head’s remarks in reference to Hughlings Jackson’s views : “ But no 
one has assimilated his views on defect of speech and applied them to 
a series of actual cases of this condition. We failed to appreciate how 
much closer these conceptions would lead us to the phenomena of 
aphasia than the glib generalities founded on the anatomical facts 
of cortical localisation.” And again, “ Neurology has become frozen 
stiffly in the grip of pseudo-metaphorical classifications which neither 
explain the condition nor correspond to the clinical fact ” (Joe. cit., p. 3). 

Hughlings Jackson has said, “We shall do no harm to clinical 
medicine, if we simply record all the facts ” (Brain, 1915, xxxviii, p. 37). 


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I hope, therefore, that the absence of pathological findings in this paper 
may not render this communication entirely worthless. 

The alienist may be called in consultation for the following reasons 
in cases where there is aphasia : 

(1) Because of the confused or incomprehensible speech of the 
patient and other conduct suggesting confusion or disorder of mind, 
the nature of the speech affection being misunderstood by his relatives, 
and not always recognised by the practitioner. This is especially soin 
those cases where there is no hemiplegia associated with the aphasia, 
but also occasionally in cases where there has been a previous transient 
hemiplegia, or even some slight right-sided paralytic signs or unrecog¬ 
nised hemianopia, so that in taking the history one may be confronted 
by such descriptions as “ talks incessantly, uses the same word again 
and again, shouts at times and shows excitement ”; “ on waking up was 
unable to speak, did not know anything, and was mumbling”; “could 
not find words, was worried and excited, then violent and resistive ”; 
“ was light-headed, could not see or read properly ” ; “ makes inarticu¬ 
late noises ”; “ talked babble, emotional and angry, but no loss of 
consciousness”; “talked gibberish, cannot put six words together”; 
“ said to be * mad ’ and could not speak properly ” ; “ was brought back 
home and did not know how to eat, was thought to be intoxicated ”; 
“speech incoherent”; “said to be childish and incompetent and 
imbecile ”; “ emotional and confused, unable to read, does not ask 
for anything or propose anything ”; “ speech inarticulate ” ; “ found 
walking about in his office unable to speak, then talked gibberish.” 
Sometimes such patients are found wandering in the street, unable to 
give any account of themselves, and are regarded at first as being 
demented. Brissot calls attention to the various speech disorders met 
with in insanity, which require careful differentiation from true aphasia 
of organic origin. 

(2) Because of definite signs of mental disorder predominating over 
the aphasic speech troubles. Previous attacks of insanity may have 
occurred and been recovered from and the attack of aphasia may occur 
in association with a return of the previous symptoms, or be masked 
by loss of memory, mental confusion, or apraxia. As Brissot says 
( L'aphasie dans ses rapports avec la dimence et les vlsanies, Paris, G. 
Steinheil, 1910): “Many aphasics are met with in asylums whose 
internment is justified by demential or vesanic troubles.” Ideas of 
persecution (sometimes justified) may be met with, or temporary 
excitement, delusions and hallucinations, coming on immediately after 
a “stroke.” During my residence at Bethlem Hospital some eleven 
patients who had either previously been aphasic, or were so at the time 
of admission, were admitted under certificates, and many such may be 
met with in the wards of county asylums. 


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4 APHASIA IN RELATION TO MENTAL DISEASE, [Jan., 

(3) To decide on the proper care and treatment of patients in whom 
aphasia of various degrees of severity is associated with disorder of 
mind and conduct. Many of these, of course, can be treated at home, 
if the means and accommodation allow of proper nursing and super¬ 
vision, but, as Savage has often said, “ the treatment of insanity 
frequently depends on the length of the purse,” and the infirmary 
wards of county asylums afford better care in such cases in the poorer 
classes than can be met with in any but the best of the workhouse 
infirmaries. 

(4) To assist in forming a prognosis as to mental recovery or other¬ 
wise, or in the diagnosis from other organic conditions, such as general 
paralysis. 

(5) To give an opinion as to the business or testamentary capacity 
of a patient suffering from aphasia, or occasionally to assist in the 
solution of the question of responsibility of an aphasic in criminal 
cases. 

(6) Occasionally it has happened to me to be consulted by a patient 
with manifest aphasia, about his or her own mental condition, as to 
why there was difficulty in writing letters, and in getting “ command of 
words,” and what was the outlook for the future. 

In all some forty-five cases of varying degrees of severity of aphasia 
and mental disorder have come under my notice in the last thirty years. 

Dejerine (Semiologie des affections du systhne nerveux , 1914) points 
out that the degree of change of intelligence in cases of aphasia depends 
on (1) the extent and intensity of the lesion, (2) its reaction on neigh¬ 
bouring regions, (3) on the state of the vessels, (4) on the condition 
of the circulation and kidneys, (5) especially on the age of the patient, 
and says : “ II ne faut pas oublier qu’un aphasique peut devenir dement, 
de meme qu’un dement peut devenir aphasique.” 

It will be wjell to give statistical particulars of my cases as to the 
age of the patient, the condition of the heart, vessels, and kidneys, the 
presence or absence of definite hemiplegia, and also as to heredity, 
previous attacks of insanity, and history of syphilis or alcohol. 

(1) Age .—The average age of the male patients was 57 6. But, 
excluding syphilitic cases, four of whom were under 40 years of age, 
the average age was 62. The average age in the cases with a history 
of syphilis was 47, showing the much more detrimental effect of this 
poison on the arterial supply of the brain than mere senile or presenile 
degenerative changes. The average age in women was 62, and there 
were no syphilitic cases. In each sex the average age was somewhat 
higher in those cases seen in consultation than in those found at 
Bethlem Hospital. 

(2) Definite heart disease, either valvular or degenerative, was found 
in 26 per cent, of the men and 22 per cent, of the women. 


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(3) Renal disease was found in 26 per cent, of the men and 
11 per cent, of the women, and there was glycosuria in one of 
each sex. 

(4) Arteriosclerosis was found in '29 'G per cent. of the men and nearly 
17 percent, of the women. 

(5) A history of alcoholism was found in 26 per cent, of the men and 
nearly 17 per cent, of the women. In many cases several of these 
factors were combined. 

(6) Definite hemiplegia more or less pronounced was found in 
nineteen out of twenty-seven cases in men In all but one of these 
cases the hemiplegia was on the right side at the time of observation, 
and in that one case the patient, who was syphilitic and was under care 
in Bethlem Hospital for acute mental excitement, suffered from seizures, 
with left hemiplegia and anaesthesia ending in coma and death. There 
was, however, a history of a former attack of right hemiplegia and 
aphasia which had ended in recovery. Post-mortem there was found 
obliteration of the right middle cerebral artery by syphilitic arteritis 
with recent softening of the area supplied by it, and also old syphilitic 
arteritis of the left middle cerebral with an old cavity in the left 
internal capsule accounting for the former attack. Ten women out of 
eighteen had right hemiplegia either early or late in the case, and one 
of them had had a previous attack of left hemiplegia. In no case was 
left hemiplegia immediately associated with aphasia. 

(7) A family history of insanity, neuroses, or alcoholism was found in 
33 per cent, of the men and 39 per cent, of the women. In one case 
the patient’s brother .and sister had both died of right hemiplegia with 
aphasia. 

(8) Previous attacks of insanity which had passed off had been 
present in three cases, but in many mental disorder or failure was 
present for some time before the onset of definite aphasia. 

The cases which have come under my notice seem to me to be 
divisible mainly into four groups, viz. : 

(1) Those in which dementia, or mental disorder or failure sometimes 
amounting to certifiable insanity, preceded the more definite and 
classical affection of speech designated as aphasia. 

(2) Those in which considerable mental failure was concurrent with 
or subsequent to an attack of aphasia. In severe and fatal cases the 
extreme mental dissolution of coma is seen. 

(3) A third group in which, although there is severe affection of 
speech, the patient possesses such a degree of mental capacity as to 
permit of business or testamentary capacity. 

(4) Cases in which there is some slight hampering of speech with 
very little mental disorder, although some may be present. 

With regard to the first group it will be manifest that a patient who 


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has already become disordered in mind is likely to have his mental 
capacity further deteriorated by the additional weight of an attack of 
aphasia, though this result does not always follow. 

Hughlings Jackson has well said: “To speak is not simply to utter 
words, it is to propositionise ” ; “ the unit of speech is a proposition.” 
And again : “ Loss of speech is, therefore, the loss of power to propo¬ 
sitionise. It is not only loss of power to propositionise aloud (to talk), 
but to propositionise either internally or externally, and it may exist 
when the patient remains able to utter some few words ” {Brain, 1915, 
xxxviii, pp. 113, 114). 

If, therefore, his mind has first failed and his ideas and propositions 
have become morbid ones or there has been such defect of memory 
that recent events are not recorded and the patient lives in the past, as 
in many senile cases, it will be evident that as he has been “lame in 
his thinking ” before the occurrence of definite aphasia, the lameness 
of thought will tend to be worse afterwards. The addition of 
“inferior speech” and “ inferior comprehension ” makes the ruin more 
complete. 

To quote Head {Brain, 1915, xxxviii, p. 23): “Suppose, however, 

‘ imperception ’ is added to the defect of speech, the formation of 
images, abitrary symbols and those unconscious processes which pre¬ 
cede their development will be disturbed. The ‘general intelligence’ 
will then appear to suffer greatly ; for the mind will be struck, not only 
on its emissory, but also on its receptive side.” 

In this first group “ imperception ” has in many cases preceded the 
defect of speech, and the “ general intelligence ” has already suffered. 

I have already pointed out that, excluding syphilitic cases, the average 
age of patients has reached the seventh decade of life, and that cardiac, 
arterial, or renal changes are frequent, therefore it may be safely assumed 
that there is commonly in these cases some degenerative-change in the 
cortex or other tissues of the brain with deficient blood supply, the 
occurrence of aphasia marking a more definite pathological change in 
some part of the speech areas of the cortex. This complication 
naturally increases the gravity of the prognosis so far as life is concerned, 
and such cases frequently die of cerebral haemorrhage or softening. 

A few selected cases are given : 

(a) Mrs. R—, widow, aet. 60, seen May 25th, 1908. No heredity, 
no history of alcohol. For several years memory had progressively 
failed so that it was said to have become blank. Two months before I 
saw her she had had seizures with loss of consciouness and stertorous 
breathing, after which she appeared not to recognise her children and 
lost control over the bladder. She was said to be “ incoherent and not 
able to put six words together.” When I saw her she had no hemi¬ 
plegia, she could not express herself, constantly using wrong words in 


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trying to answer questions. She could not name objects, and could not 
tell the time by a watch. She was word-blind, and could not read even 
her own name, or do what was written, and could not write. She was 
not, however, word-deaf, but did simple things she was told to do, and 
repeated words she heard. She was certainly deficient both in internal 
and external speech and very “ lame in thinking.” 

(b) Mrs. L—, a widow, set. 78, first seen in August, 1902. Father 
insane, sister had senile dementia, brother insane, two cousins insane. 
For some years there had been failure of recent memory ; for one year 
delusions, followed by excitement and confusion, with delusions of 
poisoning and of her son being arrested. She mistook the identity 
of people; for instance, mistook her daughter for her own sister, spoke 
of her husband, who had long been dead, as being alive, then gradually 
became more childish and demented, and lost control over the bladder. 
In 1905 she had a seizure, followed by right hemiplegia and loss of 
speech. She was unable to frame words, but understood such simple 
orders as to put her tongue out. On one occasion, however, an “occa¬ 
sional utterance” took place under emotional stress. An enema was 
being given with some difficulty, and a nurse told her not to worry, 
when she suddenly said : “ I will worry.” Apart from this, there was 
absence of external speech, and no test for reading or writing could be 
made in consequence of the profound dementia. Death followed very 
shortly. 

, (c) P,— jet. 63, an accountant, who had been pensioned five years 
before, in consequence of failing memory and confusion of ideas, by 
the railway company in whose employment he had been. There was a 
doubtful history of alcohol and his arteries were thickened. For nearly 
a year he had become much worse mentally, and was disorientated as 
to time and locality, did not recognise his own house, had forgotten his 
age, talked chiefly of his boyhood, thought he was still employed by the 
railway company, had been threatening violence to his wife and others, 
was dirty in habits, and apraxic in dressing. On examination, he was 
found to have slight paralysis of the right side of the face, but no other 
paralysis. He could talk in a hesitating way, but could not give the 
name of the town or road in which iie lived, could not give his 
son’s name, could not name objects— eg., “ glove,” “ watch,” or “ pen ” 
—but recognised the names when spoken ; he could not write his 
name correctly and had not written a letter for some months. He could 
not say what was the use of a pen, but when asked what I was doing 
said “writing.” He could read print, but did not understand what he 
had read. 

The association of apraxia in dressing and writing with some aphasia, 
but without hemiplegia, is interesting, and will be referred to later. 

{d) Mrs. B—, jet. 48, no heredity, had lived in the Tropics, and had 
suffered from malaria and dengue fever. There was a history of frequent 
“ whisky and soda,” and she acknowledged a craving for it. For some 
months she had become irritable, she had ceased to write letters, found 
everything an effort, was said to be talkative and muddled and to forget 
where she had put things, recent memory had failed, and she never 
knew the date or day of the week. She was advised to return to 
England, and on the voyage was alarmed by an impending attack by 


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torpedo. When seen on July 27th, 1917, her recent memory was found 
to be bad, but remote memory good, she could not name the month or 
day. She recognised her failure of memory and craving for alcohol, 
sleep was defective, and she dreamed of standing by the boats when the 
torpedo attack was impending. Heart, lungs, and urine were normal, 
knee-jerks were found to be absent without any other signs of tabes, and 
there was some tenderness of the muscles of the legs. Catamenia were 
irregular (impending climacteric). Speecli was then normal. She 
appeared to be a case of alcoholism with some failure of memory and 
alcoholic neuritis. She had never had a fit. She was advised against 
alcohol and against returning to the Tropics, which she had a great 
desire to do when her husband went back in the autumn. Four 
days afterwards, July 31st, she had a seizure in which she was generally 
convulsed, bit her tongue badly, passed water and motion, and was 
unconscious. When seen again on August 2nd, in consultation with 
Dr. Friend, she had recovered consciousness, and had no paralysis on 
either side of the face. Extensor plantar response was found on both 
sides, but knee-jerks were still absent. There was no ocular paralysis, 
pupils reacted normally, and optic discs were normal. She was, how¬ 
ever, aphasic. She talked a great deal, but her conversation was 
generally quite irrelevant, and she could not ask for anything or give any 
account of her symyptoms. When asked where she had seen me she 
said, “ I am getting nearer, I shall get old and die nearer, and will die 
in the streets (? Straits), I am getting old, I am getting in the streets * 
soon, 1 will have to 47, will die in the streets, I am getting tired 
and cross and nearer 80, soon nearer 97.” Then again she said, 

“ Somebody said, never soon die in the streets one day nearer 85 soon.” 
When asked to do so she at once put out her tongue, and it was pro¬ 
truded straight, but was badly bitten on the right side. After being 
asked several times, “ Which is Dr. Smith ?” she pointed and said, “ It 
is you.” Then she went back at once to her recurring utterances about 
dying soon. When asked if her tongue was sore she kept rubbing it on 
the right side, and after being asked several times “ Is it sore?” said 
distinctly “ Yes.” When asked if she had slept the night before, she 
said, “Oh yesterday will soon die on Saturday”; then again, “I am 
getting old and cross and stout nearer 50,” “ it was on Sunday morning 
will soon die all nearer 80.” When asked if she had headache, she did 
not answer for a long time, and then said “ No.” Her answers “ Yes ” 
and “ No ” apparently had propositional value. She could not give the 
address of the house, kept on saying “nearer 86.” She could not read 
or recognise letters, could not name objects— e.g. t watch, knife, etc.— 
but laughed at the suggestion that these objects were a toothbrush or 
pencil. She recognised the word “watch” when correctly applied, 
but could not tell the time. She could not name or count fingers. 
She could not write. She got out of bed when told to do so for testing 
knee-jerks and gait, but was rather slow in understanding what was 
wanted, and all the time kept on with the recurring utterance. She 
seemed to be word-blind but not word-deaf. Examination of the blood 
showed a negative Wassermann reaction. On August 23rd the aphasia 
had passed off with the exception of some difficulty in remembering 
names ; she had a very indistinct memory of the attack or of seeing me 


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and Dr. Friend ; her memory for dates was still very bad, but she had 
written a letter and could read. The attack having passed off so quickly, 
there was no apparent increase of mental failure, but she was evidently 
in need of nursing supervision. It is very likely, as Hughlings Jackson 
suggested, that the recurrent utterances referred, however imperfectly, to 
what she had been thinking or discussing about her case immediately 
before she had the seizure. 

The second group of cases— viz., those in which considerable menial 
failure is concurrent with or consequent on an attack of aphasia— 
contains many examples of the different ways in which aphasia may 
manifest itself, and here I make no claim as it were to “ pigeon-hole ’’ 
the cases according to the various speech-centres which have been 
described in works on aphasia. As Collier says (“ Recent Work on 
Aphasia,” Brain, 1908, xxxi, p. 539): “ Recorded cases show every 
degree both of severity and permanence, and they give no means of 
clinical distinction between cases claimed as examples of Rroca’s 
aphasia and of Wernicke’s aphasia respectively.” 

The following are some examples from my case-books: 

(a) Mrs. S—, set. 67, widow, seen November 27th, 1902. Sister and 
daughter had been insane. Her urine contained albumen and some 
sugar. On November 23rd she complained of headache, and the next 
day “ could not find words,” was worried and excited and repeated the 
word “come,” possibly a recurring utterance due to a feeling of need 
for help when the attack began. She became violent and resistive, 
especially after visits by relatives, who considered that she must have 
“ something on her mind ” to account for her conduct. When seen she 
had no hemiplegia. She took along time to understand what was said, 
but did simple things such as putting out her tongue when asked. She 
used w'ords in a wrong sense, saying “ upstairs ” instead of “downstairs.” 
Speaking of herself she said “ she is very bad.” Some of her utterances 
had a propositional value, for instance she said to the doctor, “ I don’t 
want you; go away.” She had other ejaculatory utterances such as, 
“ Albert wants to get to get,” and “ I don’t want it,” which were incom¬ 
prehensible to others. She could not find the word “ key ” when she 
wanted to open a box, but called it “ linen,” then took out some 
securities, but could not explain what she wanted to do with them. 
She could not read or write. She remained mentally enfeebled and 
unfit to manage herself or her affairs, and died four years later without 
any definite hemiplegia. 

\b) Mrs. D—, ret. 73, widow, seen November 23rd, 1904. Six years 
before she was said to be deaf, possibly there was some word-deafness 
at first, but there was no deafness when I saw her. She had begun to 
miscall objects and gradually lost speech, being able only to make 
inarticulate noises. Her friends had to stop her from going to church 
on account of these noises. There was no definite seizure or hemi¬ 
plegia at the outset. She refused to spend money, and was said to 
have the delusion of poverty. She became unable to care for herself, 
and needed constant supervision. When I saw her she could not 


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speak at all and did not try to, but occasionally made an inarticulate 
noise. She understood what was said, and at once got her daughter’s 
photograph when her name was mentioned. She could read what was 
written, and did what she was in this way instructed to do. She could 
write, but expressed herself wrongly, though the sense of it could be 
made out; for instance, she had written to her nurse, “ I will wash her 
hair,” meaning her own. In answer to my questions as to how she 
occupied herself and what her age was she wrote, 4 ‘ I am read papers, 
you are 73.” She wrote firmly and quickly in answer to written 
questions, but always using wrong expressions or pronouns. The 
proper names of relatives were given correctly. She had no paralysis. 
The chief defect seemed to be in the motor, or emissory side, as there 
was no word-deafness or word-blindness. She gradually failed, and 
died the next year, but no autopsy was made. 

There was no doubt in this case of the presence of “internal speech,” 
as shown by her ability to express her thoughts in writing, although 
there was some defect in this. 

(0) S—, ajt. 58, widower, seen May 31st, 19x1. Father died of 
apoplexy, mother of cancer. He had an enlarged and irregularly acting 
heart. Eighteen months before he had suffered suddenly from loss of 
speech while staying in an hotel, and since then had lost business 
capacity, so that his business failed, and had to be wound up. There 
was no hemiplegia. He had no energy, had lost control over his 
bladder, was apraxic in dressing and feeding himself, and speech was 
said to be “ incoherent.” On examination he was very conscious of 
his speech defect, recognised that he made mistakes in words, and had 
lost bladder control, and wept about it. He could understand every¬ 
thing said, but answered confusedly, could not always name objects, 
but knew their uses, for example called a watch “timepiece.” After 
naming “penknife” there was marked perseveration of idea, all subse¬ 
quent objects shown being called “penknife.” In attempting to write 
he was quite unable to finish words. 

This was again a case in which aphasia, apraxia, and agraphia were 
associated, without hemiplegia. 

(d) B—, aet. 83, married twice, had eleven children, had been a 
hard-headed business man, and was described as a bon viveur , and 
always full of energy. Until five years before he had ridden regularly, 
but then broke his leg, and ceased to take active exercise. Two years 
before he had had pneumonia, and since then he had shown signs of 
cardiac degeneration. For one year he had begun to lose words and to 
lose his memory. His speech became progressively worse, he was 
emotional and violent if opposed. He was disorientated in time and 
place, would get up in the middle of the night and mistake time, would 
insist on going to the City, but did nothing when there, and on returning 
could not always recognise his house. He lost control in cleanliness. 
When first seen on July 12th, 1917, he could slowly understand what 
to do when told— e.g., to put out his tongue, put his hand on his head, 
get out of bed’and walk round the room. He imitated movements. 
He tried to talk, but his speech was generally incomprehensible. He 
could not name a watch or other things, could not-tell the time, could 
not give his address or the name of the road, but recognised names of 


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objects when repeated to him. It was interesting that although lie had 
lived seventy-four years in this country he could not make sentences in 
English. He gave his first name in German, and made some attempt 
to answer in German. For instance, when asked if he knew me he 
said, “ nie gesehen.” He could say “ Yes ” in answer to some questions, 
but it was often irrelevant and of no propositional value. With regard 
to his attempt to answer in German, I subsequently learned from his 
son that the first nine years of his life had been spent in Germany. 
He was apraxic in various ways, especially in fastening his clothes, and 
when an attempt was made to get him to write, he did not seem to 
know the use of the pencil, holding it upside down or letting it drop. 
He could not write and could not read. He was undoubtedly word- 
blind, but not word-deaf. There was no hemiplegia, his tongue was 
not well protruded, but there were no other bulbar symptoms. A 
fortnight later he was more confused and silly, did not seem to under¬ 
stand so much, was vacant, and had been noisy and violent at times; 
he was also more apraxic. He said much less, but still tried to use 
German, and when asked if it was a cold day (it was really very hot) 
said “ein Bischen.” On August 3rd he made inarticulate noises, did 
not try to speak, was drowsy and confused, failed to recognise people, 
had no control over emunctories, and had pulmonary congestion with 
rise of temperature. There was still no definite paralysis. He died in 
a few days. 

It will be noted that in this case also there was apraxia and agraphia 
with no definite hemiplegia. 

(e) Mrs. M—, ret. 81, widow, seen October 3rd, 1904. There was a 
history of chronic arthritis, of phlebitis ten years before, and of a 
“threatening of a fit” at the same time. As a child she had lived in 
Italy, and then habitually talked Italian and French more than English. 
Since marriage, at the age of seventeen, she had lived in England. On 
August 5th, 1904, she had an attack or seizure in which she was said 
not to have lost consciousness but to have “ talked babble,” and was 
emotional and angry. When seen she appeared to understand what 
was said, but screamed when others did not understand her, she talked 
volubly, but could not frame intelligible sentences which contained 
many adjectives but no nouns. It was interesting that she spoke 
Italian and French but no English at this time, the law of dissolution 
holding good as in the previous case. She could not name objects in 
any language, but recognised wrong names. She was completely word- 
blind, could not read or do what was written, and could not write 
spontaneously or copy. There was at first no hemiplegia, but later 
weakness of the right side with deviation of the head and eyes and 
inability to stand developed. Some improvement followed for a time, 
in which she became more intelligible, and her English returned. 
Eventually she died. 

( f) B—, 02t. 56, widower, a German who had long been resident in 
this country, seen December 12th, 19x4. There was a history of 
syphilis thirty-five years before. In November, 19x3, he had had slight 
right hemiplegia with “ some difficulty in words,” which had passed off. 
His urine was albuminous, and he had hypertrophy of the left 
ventricle. One week before I saw him he had become dizzy, com- 


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12 APHASIA IN RELATION TO MENTAL DISEASE, [Jail., 

plained of weakness of the legs, and would have fallen if not prevented ; 
seemed unable to read, and was confused and emotional. The day 
before I saw him he was unable to sign his will, which had been drawn 
up and to which he had given his approval. On examination he had no 
paralysis, but some defect in localising sensation. He was apraxic in 
that he could not feed himself, although there was no paralysis, and on 
being given a pen held it with the nib reversed. He did not ask for 
anything or propose anything. He could answer questions slowly, but 
could not volunteer information about himself or talk spontaneously. 
He was not word-deaf and did what he was told. He could not name 
objects, but recognised the correct name. He could not even give 
the names in German, his native language, with the exception of a 
watch, which he called “ Uhr.” He could not tell the time by it, could 
not give his address, or name the locality in which he lived, or give the 
month. He seemed to be word-blind, or nearly so, could not read 
except one or two isolated words, and could not name the letters in words 
pointed out to him. He was quite unfit to exercise testamentary 
capacity or to transact business. He died shortly afterwards. 

(g) The last case of this group which I shall narrate was H—, ret. 62, 
married. There was a history of excess in alcohol and sexual irregu¬ 
larity. I saw him on October 12th, 1916. In the previous May he had 
had a seizure without resulting paralysis, but following which he was 
unable to read for some days. Three w r eeks ago he had had another 
attack, in which he could not speak for one whole night, and could not 
write or read, and had slight loss of power in the right arm and right 
side of the mouth. He then recovered speech, but became very 
depressed and worried, accused himself of moral lapses, especially of 
sodomy with women, and dreaded prosecution for this, although none 
was pending, and be could not remember the circumstances. He was 
completely obsessed by this dread, and had spoken of suicide. On 
examination he was found to have a systolic mitral murmur and 
auricular fibrillation. The hemiplegia had passed off. He talked con¬ 
nectedly and answered questions, did not seem depressed, and said he 
had exaggerated the idea of prosecution, and was not troubled about it 
any more. He could not give the name of pencil, chain, matchbox, 
etc., but after giving the name to a watch, he showed perseveration by 
afterwards calling everything a watch. He could repeat names of 
objects when told, and recognised their correctness. He could not tell 
the time or name coins or give their value. He was word-blind and 
totally unable to read. He could not write even his name spon¬ 
taneously, but could just copy it. He was quite unable to transact 
business. His condition was at first masked by his ability to talk. It 
was quite evident that he could “ propositionise,” but he had evidently 
had insane propositions, and this, together with the manifest organic 
disorder of at least the visual speech area, led to the advice that he 
should be sent away from home for care and treatment. While arrange¬ 
ments were being made for this he eluded his relations, although they 
had been warned, went out and bought a gun-licence and a revolver, 
and shot himself. 

It is difficult to say whether this result was determined by the 
morbid dreads which he had shown or by the difficulty in which he 


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found himself by his inability to write or read; no doubt both 
factors acted. Evidently he had sufficient speech, both internal and 
external, to enable him to come to a decision and carry out his desire. 

I have called attention to cases in which apraxia, agraphia, and 
aphasia were associated. I may say that of eight cases which have 
come before me in which apraxia in various forms was noted all were 
also agraphic, but none of them had definite right hemiplegia. In 
nearly all of them the aphasia was chiefly of the motor type. 

S. A. K. Wilson, in a comprehensive study of apraxia (Brain, 1908, 
xxxi, p. 164), calls attention to the reason for believing that there is a 
centre in the first and second convolution of the left side where move¬ 
ments are combined ideationally analogous to the centre for the co¬ 
ordination of movements requisite for speech in Broca’s area, and 
points out that in motor aphasia we have a form of apraxia, and that 
agraphia is a variety of apraxia, which may be either of sensory or 
motor origin, and that there may be agraphia without any paralysis. 
J. S. Collier (Brain, 1908, xxxi, p. 529) also refers to the evidence 
pointing to a lesion of the first and second frontal convolutions of the 
left side in cases of apraxia, and says “ the bearing of this evidence 
upon the localisation of a motor speech centre in the left third frontal 
convolution is obvious and striking, for motor aphasia bears the same 
relation to movements of the muscles concerned in speech as does 
apraxia to the movements of the limbs.” 

We now come to the third group, in which, in spite of severe 
affection of speech, the patient possesses internal language and such 
a degree of mental capacity as to permit of business or testamentary 
capacity. I shall refer to three cases of this nature. 

(a) M—, single, act. 64, seen May 31st, 1912. There was a history 
of syphilis twenty-five years before, and he had lived a great deal in 
South America, where Spanish was his usual language. In August, 

1909, he had a seizure, followed by right hemiplegia and loss of speech 
except for one or two Spanish words. Between July and December, 

1910, he had six fits, and two others up to May, 1912. He was con¬ 
sidered by a relative to whom he was unfriendly to be childish and in¬ 
competent, but he had always been found by his solicitor to be alive to 
what he thought right for himself. He had exercised volition in signing 
an authority to his solicitor, and had made a will twelve months before. 
On examination he was found to have right hemiplegia with wasting and 
contracture of the right arm. His right leg was weak, and he walked 
stiffly. His right knee-jerk was exaggerated. He was unable to speak 
spontaneously, but could say “ Yes ” and “No” correctly in answer to 
questions, and they certainly had propositional value. He could not 
say his own name, he could not give the names of places he had lived 
in, but recognised the name of a South American town, saying “ Yes, 
yes.” He could not always name objects seen, but could repeat the 
word when it was said, and afterwards there was perseveration of the 


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APHASIA IN RELATION TO MENTAL DISEASE, [Jan., 


idea when a fresh object was shown. He could not name coins, but 
knew if a wrong name was given. He could say the names of his 
solicitor and two relatives. His expression was that of intelligence, his 
hearing and sight were good, he was able to do what he was told, and 
could pick out objects of which he heard the names. He could not 
read aloud, but recognised one or two words and repeated them. He 
appeared to read to himself and could answer correctly “ Yes ” and 
“ No ” as to what it was about. His right arm being completely 
paralysed he could not write with it. He was, however, able to sign his 
name slowly with the left hand and had signed an authority in this way 
to his solicitor to receive money and make disbursements for him. He 
could copy from print to writing with his left hand, and could write 
slowly from dictation. In consequence of the laboriousness of writing 
with his left hand he did not write letters. He showed by gestures and 
by saying “No, no,” that he had antipathy to the relation who thought 
he was an imbecile. He knew perfectly well whom he wanted to 
manage his affairs. He could answer as to his income by exclusion 
when wrong amounts were suggested to him. He was quite happy in a 
nursing home. 

In this case there was no word-blindness or word-deafness, and it 
seems a fair presumption that this was one of the cases in which Broca’s 
region was chiefly affected as far as speech was concerned, and the 
history of seizures suggests cortical damage. Internal speech seemed to 
be unaffected. There was no difficulty in reporting that he was able to 
understand and execute a legal document, which was the question at issue. 

(b) D—, oet. 83, widower, seen March 13th, 1917. He had lived 
abroad for many years and most of his immediate relatives being well 
provided for he had made a will in December, 1915, leaving various 
legacies to friends and a nurse who had attended him through a severe 
illness five years previously and one to a nephew. On May 15th, 1916, 
he had an attack of right hemiplegia with aphasia. He was speechless 
except for occasional ejaculatory words. He could not read aloud or 
understand written language, he could write his name automatically, but 
could not copy it, and could write nothing else. He was certainly 
“word-blind.” He was not, however, “word-deaf,” but could under¬ 
stand what was said and do what he was told. He could by gesture 
express agreement with or dissent from leading questions. On July 7th, 
1916, he had another attack depriving him entirely of speech. His 
mind was said to be much more confused but not blank. Some months 
later he appears to have made some improvement in intelligence although 
he remained speechless, and was said to show dislike to the will he had 
made and appeared to want to improve the position under it of the 
relative who had shown much attention to him in his illness. Although 
he could not speak he went through the gesture of striking out the 
name of an old friend to whom he had left money, and he seemed 
agitated and emotional. He was unable to give instructions either 
orally or by writing to his solicitor, and neither the latter nor another 
physician considered him at that time to be in possession of testamentary 
capacity. Further improvement in his condition took place and he 
frequently conveyed the impression of dislike to his will as it stood and 
was often looking at it. When seen on March 14th, 1917, he was still 


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BY R. PERCY SMITH, M.D. 


15 


suffering from defect of speech, but the hemiplegia had to a great extent 
passed off. He could answer questions in monosyllables, but frequently 
used wrong words in trying to speak. He often took hold of his tongue, 
as if he felt it would not work properly and knew he was using wrong 
words. His answers “ Yes ” and “ No ” were to the point, and had 
propositional value, and his memory appeared to be good when 
interrogated about his past life and occupation, the names of his 
relatives, and the extent of his property. He gave assent readily and 
emphatically to the question as to whether he wished to alter his will. 
He occasionally said a short sentence, and gave the names of relations. 
He definitely expressed affection or dislike for individuals, and was 
found to have knowledge of those whom he would naturally benefit and 
of the reasons for doing so. All this was elicited by a long series of 
questions, and by propounding to him suggestions to which he was able 
by gesture and emphasis and by the tone of his answers to give reason¬ 
able assent or dissent. His expression was that of a man alert and 
appreciative of the position. He was unable to read aloud, but was 
able to read to himself and showed by answers that he appreciated what 
he read. He could not write his name but made attempts to do so. 
On this occasion he was neither word-deaf nor word-blind, the chief 
defect appearing to be a motor one both in speaking and writing. A 
full report was made as to his condition, and the opinion given that he 
now appeared to have testamentary capacity. At a subsequent inter¬ 
view with his solicitor and another physician it was possible to take 
instructions from him and a fresh will was executed. 

(c) Miss R—, ret. 60, seen April 12th, 1913. Brother and sister both 
had right hemiplegia and aphasia. Both ovaries had been removed some 
years before, and she had also had the operation of “short circuiting” 
in consequence of intestinal trouble. After this a drug habit had begun, 
dating from the use of morphia to relieve pain. In the autumn of 
1912 she had had a short attack of mania from which she had recovered. 
A short time before I saw her she had had an attack of what was 
supposed to be influenza, followed by right hemiplegia and hemi- 
anaesthesia. For three days she could not talk clearly and for ten days 
she could not sign her name. She had recovered writing to some 
extent but complained that she could not “ make the pen spell.” In 
talking she missed words and used wrong words, could not name 
objects, but knew their uses. She complained of losing her brain, and 
said she had better be locked up. She knew who were her relations 
and the extent of her means and whom she wished to benefit, and had 
no delusions. She was anxious to know if she was fit to make her will, 
and after a full consideration of her condition the opinion was given 
that she had testamentary capacity. 

In these testamentary cases the same general rules apply as in cases 
where there is no aphasia —namely, that the testator “shall understand 
the nature of the act and its effects; shall understand the extent of the 
property of which lie is disposing ; shall be able to comprehend and 
appreciate the claims to which he otjght to give effect; and, with a 
view to the latter object, that no disorder of the mind shall poison his 


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16 APHASIA IN RELATION TO MENTAL DISEASE, [Jan., 

affections, pervert his sense of right, or prevent the exercise of his 
natural faculties, that no insane delusions shall influence his will in 
disposing of his property, and bring about a disposal of it, which, if 
the mind had been sound should not have been made.” 

In cases such as I have mentioned the extreme importance of long 
unhurried interviews need not be emphasised. Moreover, there is the 
more need in such cases for an accurate record of the questions put to 
the patient and his answers, whether in faulty speech or writing, or 
associated with gestures and emotional emphasis. The use of shorthand 
in this respect is very great. 

Sir William Gairdner, in opening a discussion on “ Aphasia in 
Relation to Testamentary Capacity” (British Medical Association, 
Annual Meeting, Edinburgh, 1898; British. Medical Journal , 1898, ii, 
p. 581), laid stress on the point that “The fact of aphasia (unless it be 
very limited in extent) interferes either with the graphic and visual 
speech processes or with the auditory and vocal speech processes, and 
therefore throws the onus probandi upon those who consider the will 
genuine or wish to prove the will genuine.” 

Hughlings Jackson has well said : “ Such a question as ‘ Can an 
aphasic make a will ? ’ cannot be answered any more than the question, 

‘ Will a piece of string reach across the room ? ’ can be answered. 
The question should be : * Can this or that aphasic person make a 
will?’” {Brain, 1915, xxxviii, p. 115). 

In other words every case must be considered on its merits after the 
most careful examination. 

I shall not give any details of very slight cases, or of those cases 
which have come under my notice where a severe vascular lesion 
causes right hemiplegia and aphasia, ending quickly in death. 

It will be well to consider how far these cases correspond with 
Hughlings Jackson’s views on aphasia. I may take it that his great 
principle that dissolution occurs first in the most highly organised 
products of neural or mental activity, leaving the more lowly at liberty 
to express themselves freely in the resulting symptoms, is beyond 
dispute. Positive and negative symptoms are seen both in the mental 
state and in the condition of speech, but the preponderance of senile 
cases accounts for the fact that the negative side is the more con¬ 
spicuous, as shown by the frequent occurrence of loss of memory and 
perception, of judgment and control. 

The return to an early acquired language and the loss of a more 
recent one in attempting to speak has been exemplified in some of the 
cases narrated. 

Hughlings Jackson divided cases of aphasia into two classes : 

(1) Severe cases in which the patient is speechless or nearly so, or in 
which speech is very much damaged, and 


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BY R. PERCY SMITH, M.D. 


1 7 


(2) Cases in which there are plentiful movements but wrong move¬ 
ments, or plenty of words but mistakes in words. 

These groups have been exemplified in various degrees in my cases, 
as have also his differentiation of speech into superior and inferior, 
internal and external, his description of recurring utterances and 
occasional utterances, and his insistence as to the use of the words 
“ Yes ” and “ No ” as being in some cases of propositional value, though 
often otherwise. 

With regard to recurring utterances, I may refer to Jackson’s view 
{Brain, 1915, xxxvii, p. 158) that the lesion in the left half of the brain 
“ is not the cause of the recurring utterance,” and that if the patient 
had not been “ taken ill ” he would not have had such a recurring 
utterance as “he would have been able not to utter it ” (italics in 
original). 

Again, he says (p. 174) : “A patient who recovers soon from aphasia 
loses his recurring utterance, becomes able not to utter it.” In other 
words the higher centre has regained control and prevented the over 
action of lower centres. It appears to me that the case of one lady 
mentioned above is a good illustration of this. 

Hughlings Jackson held that speech was a part of mind and that we 
must get rid of the feeling that there was abrupt and constant separation 
into mind and speech. At the same time he pointed out clearly the 
fact that in some cases there may be great affection of external speech 
and yet little affection of mind, as shown by the evidences of internal 
speech especially in writing. In one of the cases I have narrated the 
patient having practically no external speech was also unable to write 
with his right hand and very little with his left, yet there was no doubt 
that he had considerable mental capacity. On the other hand, a 
patient who had a considerable amount of external speech, but who had 
lost writing, was so disordered in mind that he had delusions and 
committed suicide. 

I have shown that aphasia may supervene on pre-existing insanity 
or mental decay, no doubt due to vascular or degenerative changes, 
which might have led to the same result in the absence of the mental 
disorder, and that, on the other hand, aphasia may be the first symptom 
indicative of cerebral and mental decay. In such cases the question 
arises how far the mental disorder is intimately associated with the 
aphasic disturbance of speech or is due to widespread vascular and 
nutritive changes in the brain. The mental disorder does not neces¬ 
sarily amount to certifiable insanity, but may in varying degrees affect 
such mental processes as perception, memory, emotion, and volition, 
without much disorder of conduct. It appears to me that in all my 
cases, except those which may be looked upon as' examples of Broca’s 
aphasia, there has been some disorder of mind, though not always 


LXIV. 


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18 TOXI-INFECTION OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, [Jan., 

marked failure of intelligence. In a review of the question of aphasia 
(Reviezv of Neurology and Psychiatry, 1909, vii, p. 151) S. A. K. Wilson 
says : “Speech is but a specialised part of the intellect. And, therefore, 
there can be no disturbance of the function of speech, however slight, 
in which there is not a disturbance of certain psychical states.” He, 
however, combats Marie’s view “ that in cases of aphasia (/. e., in Marie’s 
sense) defect of intelligence only occurs and always occurs in lesions 
behind an imaginary line drawn from the posterior end of the island of 
Reil transversely to the lateral ventricle.” I cannot believe that the 
disorder of mind in such cases as I have observed is only associated 
with a lesion of a single centre of intellect specialised for language, but 
believe that, on the contrary, it is associated with widespread vascular 
and nutritive changes in the brain, such as are commonly found in 
senile or syphilitic cases. 

Once more to quote Hughlings Jackson (Brain, loc. cit., p. 167): 
“We must bear in mind that ‘will,’ ‘memory,’ and ‘emotion’ are only 
the names men have invented for different aspects of the ever present 
and yet always changing latest and highest mental states which in their 
totality constitute what we call consciousness.” 

In conclusion, I may say that my observation of those cases of 
aphasia which have come under my notice leads me to agree com¬ 
pletely with the views expressed by Henry Head in the Summary at the 
end of his paper, to which I have already referred. 


1 

Further Observe ,s on Experimental Toxi-Infection of the Central 
Nervous , .tem ('). By David Orr, M.D.; and Major Rows, 
R.A.M.C.’ V 

This communication is a continuation of our experimental work on 
the action of bacterial poisons upon the nervous system. 

In 1914 (2), after several series of experiments, we drew attention 
to the differences between lymphogenous and haematogenous infection. 
The first was induced by infecting the ascending lymph stream of 
nerves; the second by placing celloidin capsules containing a culture 
of bacteria in the abdominal cavity. Lymphogenous infection was 
found to be characterised by : 

(1) Reaction of the cells of the fixed tissues. 

(2) Proliferation of the cells of the adventitial sheath of veins and 
capillaries. 

(3) The appearance of scavenger cells to remove disintegrated 
myelin. 

(4) Nerve-cell degeneration and neuronophage phenomena. 


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1918.] BY DAVID ORR, M.D., AND MAJOR ROWS, R.A.M.C. I 9 


In haematogenous infection we found : 

(1) The nerve-cells suffered least of all. 

(2) Primary degeneration of the myelin sheath round the cord margin 
and along the postero-median septum. 

(3) (Edema of the cord. 

(4) Dilated vessels and hyaline thrombosis. 

In brief, lymphogenous infection produces an inflammatory lesion 
of the central nervous system, while in the hcematogenous variety 
inflammation is reduced to a minimum, and primary degeneration of 
the myelin sheath is a prominent feature. 

We drew attention to the implication of the sympathetic system in 
the abdominal operations, but did little more than hint at its role in 
the causation of the cord lesions. 

At this stage .certain conclusions were drawn— viz., that general 
paralysis and tabes dorsalis were lymphogenous infections ; and that 
the non-systemicdegenerative lesions found in cancer cachexia, pernicious 
anaemia, Addison’s disease, etc., came under the heading of haemato¬ 
genous infections. 

In the above experiments the results of toxic action were studied in 
the spinal cord only ; in the present series the research has been 
extended to the brain, and the capsule containing a culture of the 
Staphylococcus aureus was placed in contact with the common carotid 
artery in the neck. The experiments, though limited in number, have 
given positive results so far, and are worthy of record, as they help to 
explain the pathogenesis of certain obscure lesions of the central 
nervous system found in man. Hyaline thrombosis was found to be a 
constant result in the cord examined when the msules were placed 
in the abdominal cavity, and we find the same me 1 change in the 
vessels of the brain when the capsule is placed a'^ar.ist the carotid 
sheath. The lesions to be described are the direct result of this 
thrombotic change, and vary in kind with the situation c>f the local 
ischaemia and the degree to which the local vascular supply is interfered 
with. 

Rabbits were used for experiment, and we have observed two types 
of lesions so far. 

(1) Coagulation necrosis of the nerve cells in the cornu ainmonis, 
in the cerebral cortex, and in the amygdaloid nucleus. 

(2) Softening in the stratum moleculare of the cornu ammonis. 

Before entering upon a description of the lesions in the cornu 

ammonis, it is necessary to look for a moment at the structure of this 
organ. The cornu ammonis of the rabbit consists in, from without 
inwards, the alveus, the stratum moleculare, the lamina ganglionaris, 
which is composed of pyramidal cells, the stratum radiatum, and, most 
iuternal of all, the lamina involuta, whose tangential fibres surround 


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20 T 0 XI-INFECTI 0 N OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, [Jan., 

folia of the pia-arachnoid invaginated from the mesial surface of the 
cerebral cortex. 

In one case an area of about one-sixth of the circumference of the 
lamina ganglionaris showed a marked degree of coagulation necrosis of 
the pyramidal cells. 

In frontal sections, stained by toluidin blue, the cells of the lamina 
ganglionaris are densely packed together. Normally, each shows a 
thin cell body prolonged into an apical dendrite, which projects into the 
stratum radiatum ; the nucleus is relatively very large, is clear, round, 
or slightly oval; it possesses a nucleolus and two or three particles of 
chromatin. The chromophile material of the cell body is in an 
amorphous condition; the apical process stains exceedingly faintly, and 
is perceptible in the stratum radiatum for a short distance only. The 
area of the ganglionic lamina affected by coagulation necrosis stands out 
in marked relief owing to the strong affinity for the aniline dye possessed 
by the degenerated nerve-cells. This area is sharply marked off from, and 
is appreciably narrower than, the normal portion on either side. Even 
with a low power the distortion of the altered cells is perceptible, and 
the sharp definition of the degenerated zone is strongly suggestive of 
local vascular occlusion. With higher magnification the nerve-cell 
body and nucleus are seen to be deeply and diffusely stained; both 
are shrunken and much distorted. The axis-cylinder, which normally 
is scarcely distinguishable, can be followed into the molecular layer, in 
which it is seen to give off numerous branches. The apical proto¬ 
plasmic dendrite is quite prominent, is stained diffusely, at times 
slightly granular in appearance, and pursues a tortuous course into the 
stratum radiatum. These alterations are typical of the condition 
known as coagulation necrosis. 

With Van Gieson’s method the degenerated area is very distinct. 
Normally, the nerve-cell nucleus stains a violet colour by this method 
and is clear. In the affected cells the structure of the nucleus can no 
longer be seen, and the degenerated shrunken cell body is yellow in the 
centre, while its edge is of a reddish-orange colour. The tortuous apical 
process stains in a similar fashion, and can be followed for a consider¬ 
able distance into the stratum radiatum. 

In another case two small areas of coagulation necrosis were 
observed in the cornu ammonis, one at the inner and one at the outer 
pole. The morbid area at the inner pole of the cornu ammonis was 
larger than that at the outer, and not so extensive as in the experiment 
described above. 

By toluidin-blue staining there is no shrinkage of the ganglionic 
lamina in the areas affected, and the nerve-cells are not quite so dis¬ 
torted as in the previous case. Both cytoplasm and nucleus stain very 
diffusely. By Van Gieson’s method they stain a diffuse orange-yellow, 


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JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE, JANUARY, 1918 . 


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Fig. 1. — Photomicrograph of frontal section through brain of rabbit. Stained 
by toluidin blue. 1, cortex cerebri ; 2, ganglionic layer of cornu ammonis ; 
3, fimbria fornicis. The higher power photographs are taken in areas 2 
and 3. 




Fig. 2. —High-power view of lamina ganglionaris of cornu ammonis. Toluidin 
blue. 1, note the shrinkage and diffuse staining of the nerve-cells; 2, 
junction of morbid with normal area, in which the clear nucleus of the 
healthy nerve-cells is prominent. 


To illustrate paper by Dr. David Okr and Major Rows, R.A.M.C. 
By courtesy of the Editor of' Brain.' 


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1918.] BY DAVID ORR, M.D., AND MAJOR ROWS, R.A.M.C. 2 1 

and stand out sharply from the normal cells of the lamina. The centre 
oft he cell, i.e., the area occupied by the nucleus, is a deeper yellow than 
the periphery. 

The second type of lesion, ischremic softening, was met with in one 
experiment and consists in the softening proper plus the accompanying 
secondary inflammatory phenomena, the result of the irritative effects 
of degenerative products on the surrounding tissues, and in the reaction 
incidental to repair. The softening proper is situated in the stratum 
moleculare; it just touches the lamina ganglionaris on the one side 
and the fornix on the other. It consists in layers which can be 
differentiated into four for purposes of description. The first, in the 
centre, is composed of detritus, amongst which can be seen altered red- 
blood corpuscles, fragments of nuclei deeply stained, and some clear, 
faintly stained, distorted, oval nuclei. Immediately outside this area is 
a narrow band of round, deeply-stained nuclei, some of which are 
surrounded by a small quantity of protoplasm. These are loosely 
arranged and amongst them lie many granular epithelioid cells. The 
third layer of epithelioid cells or compound granular corpuscles is not 
sharply marked off from the second of small round cells, and is a dense 
layer. These epithelioid cells possess a large cell body of varying 
shape—the result of pressure—which is finely fenestrated, and the 
nucleus, almost invariably of medium size, is round or oval and clear. 
A large number of epithelioids show vacuolation, and it is worthy of 
note that in only a very small number the nucleus is of the small, dark, 
shrunken, and excentrically placed type so characteristic of the scavenger 
cell in softenings of long standing. Outside the area of scavenger cells 
the inflammatory phenomena consists in round cells, reaction on the 
part of the neuroglia, and in proliferation of the adventitial cells of the 
neighbouring vessels. 

The small round cells lie free in the tissue and possess a rounded or 
oval nucleus deeply stained and filled with chromatin. The cytoplasm 
is finely granular and varies considerably in quantity. In some it forms 
a very narrow band round the nucleus, in others it is in greater quantity, 
placed for the most part to one side of the nucleus and is vacuolated. 
These features are found in the plasma cell in the early phases of its 
development. 

The neuroglia participates actively in the inflammatory reaction, and 
round the area of softening there is much neuroglial proliferation and 
hypertrophy. In those cells undergoing active hypertrophy the nucleus 
is enlarged, round or oval, and clear; the cytoplasm is greatly increased 
in quantity, is vaguely granular, stains more deeply at its edge, and is 
prolonged into short, thick processes. This is the amoeboid type and 
between this an^ the normal are many pre-amoeboid stages. Lying 
amongst the above are cells with an oval, pale nucleus situated at one 


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22 TOXI-INFECTION OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, [Jan., 


extremity of a large protoplasmic body. There are others, somewhat 
similar in type to these, in which the body is more fusiform. Both 
varieties resemble young fibroblasts very closely. Many neuroglia cells 
are in a degenerative phase; the cytoplasm is disintegrating, and the 
nucleus has undergone shrinkage and stains diffusely. In another type 
of glia cell, found at the periphery of the softening, the nucleus is small, 
dark, and usually rounded, though in some instances it is slender. The 
cytoplasm streams away from either end of the nucleus in a thin 
elongated process which is not uncommonly branched, when the cell 
is quite indistinguishable from the “ stabchenzell” so frequently found 
in certain inflammatory conditions, and acknowledged to be a derivative 
of the neuroglia or adventitial cells, though for the most part from the 
former. 

There is a high degree of proliferation of the adventitia of the small 
vessels in the immediate vicinity of the softening. The adventitial 
nucleus has become rounded, reduced in size, rich in chromatin, and 
surrounded by a finely granular, protoplasmic body. The adventitial 
sheath is packed with young plasma cells similar to those lying free in 
the surrounding tissues. The small venules and capillaries at a little 
distance from this softened area show a lesser degree of adventitial 
proliferation. This reaction can be followed inwards as far as the 
median portion of the fornix, laterally amongst the venules of the lateral 
ventricles, and affects in a marked degree the small vessels in the 
stratum radiatum and the lamina involuta which form the inner parts 
of the cornu ammonis. 

In the cerebral cortex there are no gross lesions such as the ischaemic 
softening in the cornu ammonis, but the nerve-cells exhibit varying 
degrees of coagulation necrosis. A description of this morbid change 
has been already given in the case of the ganglionic layer of the cornu 
ammonis. The cortical cells show' precisely the same morbid features 
and staining reactions so characteristic of this type of affection. The 
coagulation necrosis is not distributed in a uniform manner throughout 
the cortex in each experiment. Sometimes the upper and lateral 
regions may contain the degenerate cells, while the mesial, insular, and 
under surfaces are quite normal or practically so. On the other hand, 
the morbid change may involve the mesial, upper, lateral, and under 
surfaces of the cerebrum, thus embracing the pallium and rhinen- 
cephalon. When the olfactory lobe shares in the necrotic change its 
necrosed cells show up very prominently, owing to the sharp contrast 
between the ganglionic layer and its covering clear molecular lamina. 

In the superior and lateral areas of the pallium the morbid change 
varies in degree from point to point, contiguous territories showing 
slight variations in intensity ; and all the cortical cell laminae are not 
involved in the necrotic change. For our present description we may 


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Fig. 3 .— 1 , Lamina ganglionaris of cornu ammonis; 2, area of ischaemic 
softening; 3, vessel showing periarteritis; 4, lateral ventricle. 



Fig. 4 .—1, Area of softening under higher magnification ; the central necrotic 
zone is surrounded by compound granular corpuscles and small round cells ; 
2, nerve-cells of lamina ganglionaris; 3, periarteritis. 


To illustrate paper by Dr. Okk and Major Rows, R.A.M.C. 


By courtesy of the Editor of * Brain.' 


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1918.] BY DAVID ORR, M.D., AND MAJOR ROWS, R.A.M.C. 23 


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divide the cortex into, from without inwards: (1) The molecular zone, 
(2) the external granular zone, (3) pyramidal layer, (4) internal granular 
zone, (5) ganglionic layer, (6) multiform layer. All these zones are not 
always distinct or present; certain variations in cell lamination occur in 
different portions of the cortical field, but the layers as given above 
serve our present purpose. 

The whole depth of the grey matter does not exhibit coagulation 
necrosis of the nerve-cells. The morbid change includes all the outer 
layers as far inwards as the ganglionic lamina ; it is rare to find morbid 
nerve-cells in the deepest or multiform layer. In the outer layers the 
degenerate nerve-cells may be very numerous or in fewer numbers 
according as one passes from one point to another, and granule and 
pyramidal cells are affected indiscriminately. 

So far we have not met with any proliferative changes in the 
neuroglia of the cortex, either in the molecular zone or elsewhere, but 
in the capillary walls there is evidence of an early reaction shown 
by the hyperchromatism and rounding of the wall nuclei. The vessels 
throughout the brain are dilated, congested, and are the seat of hyaline 
thrombotic changes to which further reference will be made. 

In addition to the cortical areas above referred to there are two other 
regions whose cells are necrotic, and one, the cornu ammonis, has 
already been dealt with. But there is another, the amygdaloid nucleus, 
whose cells show as intense a degree of morbidity as in any of the areas 
already described. The amygdaloid nucleus is situated in the anterior 
portion of the temporal lobe. Its lower part joins with the tail of the 
caudate nucleus, above it is carried into the putamen of the lenticular 
nucleus, while anteriorly it is continuous with the temporal grey cortex. 
In the sections under description, it appears as an elongated oval 
beneath the basal ganglia, and its cells show the shrinkage and diffuse 
staining so characteristic of coagulation necrosis, throwing the entire 
nucleus into sharp contrast with the surrounding parts. It is, perhaps, 
not without significance that in the experiment in which this nucleus 
was affected the cornu ammonis of the same side showed a definite 
band of coagulation necrosis in the ganglionic layer. Still, for the 
present, one would hesitate in the absence of more extensive observa¬ 
tion and confirmation to lay stress upon what may be a coincidence. 

The areas which show lesions in these experiments are the cortex of 
the pallium and rhinencephalon, the cornu ammonis, and the amygda¬ 
loid nucleus. In the cornu ammonis there are two distinct zones 
affected, and in each the pathological lesion is widely different in type. 
In the one where the ganglionic layer is the seat of the lesion the cells 
show coagulation necrosis, precisely the same variety of morbid change 
exhibited by the cells of the cerebral cortex and the amygdaloid 
nucleus; on the other hand, where the white matter of the cornu 


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24 TOXI-INFECTION OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, [Jan., 


ammonis is involved, i.e., in the stratum moleculare, the lesion is of a 
totally different nature. Here a localised ischaemic necrosis has 
occurred with all the hajmorrhagic and inflammatory phenomena 
peculiar to a thrombotic infarct. 

It is of importance to note that the above areas and no other are 
the seat of morbid changes, and that they are supplied by cortical vessels 
derived from the pia-arachnoid. This is obvious in so far as the pallial 
and olfactory cortices are concerned, but at first sight not quite so 
apparent in regard to the cornu ammonis and amygdaloid nucleus. 
VVe know, however, that the central portion of the cornu ammonis—the 
lamina involuta—is penetrated by folia of the pia-arachnoid accom¬ 
panied by vessels ; while the amygdaloid nucleus is continuous with the 
grey matter of the temporal lobe. The affected areas, therefore, all 
possess one important point in common, viz., their blood-vessels are 
derived from the pial system, a fact which explains the inclusion of the 
above-mentioned nuclei in the morbid process. 

The lesions in the brain agree anatomically with what was observed in 
the spinal cord in an earlier series of experiments on animals when, 
after the abdominal cavity had been infected by toxins, the myelin was 
found degenerated round the margin of the cord and on either side of 
the postero-median septum, while the central portions, including the 
grey matter, remained intact. Here, again, the degenerated elements 
lay within the zone of pial supply and had suffered exclusively. If we 
substitute grey for white matter in the two series of experiments the 
anatomical distribution of the morbid lesion is essentially similar, i.e, 
the peripheral portions of the central nervous system subserved by 
branches from the pial vascular system are affected. 

The morphological character of the lesions in the brain point very 
clearly to the disturbance of the circulation and therefore of nutrition. 
This, in the cerebral cortex, affects a wide area and finds its expression 
in the necrosis of nerve-cells in all laminre except the deep multiform 
layer, unaccompanied, however, by any local ischaemia indicative of 
complete vessel blockage. The evidence of a much more severe local 
nutritional disturbance is very obvious in the ganglionic and molecular 
layers of the cornu ammonis, where, in the former, a short segment of 
nerve-cells is necrosed, and sharply defined from the normal cells on 
either side ; and in the latter, where a necrotic softening with all the 
histological phenomena incidental to an infarction have occurred. The 
cause of the disturbance of the circulation is to be found in the morbid 
condition of the cerebral vessels, which are dilated, engorged, and show 
many varieties and degrees of hyaline degeneration of their contents. 

In some vessels the corpuscles are normal or nearly so, but the 
majority show hyaline changes, and as a result of this hyaline thrombosis 
has occurred, which is recognisable in its various stages from the early, 


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Fig. 5 .—To show: 1, the compound granular corpuscles surrounded by 2, 

small round cells. 


To illustrate paper by Dr. Okk and Major Rows, R.A.M.C 


By courtesy of the Editor of ‘ Brain.' 


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1918.] BY DAVID ORR, M.D., AND MAJOR ROWS, R.A.M.C. 25 

where the vessel is still permeable, to the complete, where occlusion 
becomes inevitable. Arteries, veins, and capillaries are affected, and 
the thrombotic change, accompanied by dilatation of the perivascular 
and pericellular spaces due to oedema, is found in the vessels of the 
pia-arachnoid, the grey, and the white matter. 

All elements of the blood participate in the thrombotic process. 
In incomplete thrombosis the hyaline material, in longitudinal section, 
is seen lying along the side of the intima as two bands of varying 
density, each of which connects with the other by trabeculae so forming 
a network in the lumen of the vessel. Within this network are many 
red corpuscles, obviously hyaline, and these at times clump together 
to form a homogeneous mass. The leucocytes also undergo hyaline 
degeneration. Their affinity for acid fuchsine is intensified, they lose 
their normal shape, become clumped into masses in which lie numerous 
granules deeply stained with haematoxyiin, and at times arranged in a 
fashion suggestive of a horse-shoe. We regard these granules as the 
remains of degenerate leucocyte nuclei. There are many hyaline 
threads in the vessel lumen to which the leucocytes contribute fre¬ 
quently, forming a hyaline syncytium. Purely fibrinous thrombi are 
not infrequently observed. 

We have previously observed these hyaline changes in our experi¬ 
ments upon the spinal cord. They are evidence of toxic action upon 
the blood elements. We find them also in man in cases of acute colitis, 
and their presence has been noted by others in measles, influenza, 
diphtheria, typhoid fever, malaria, pneumonia, and pyogenic infection. 
We have noted this type of vascular lesion also, and its effects, in the 
cervical enlargement of the cord in a case of cancer of the head of 
the pancreas. Here the resultant ischsemic softenings, situated in the 
posterior columns, had been followed by an acute ascending degenera¬ 
tion of the sensory fibres, which we traced, segment by segment, into 
the nucleus cuneatus and nucleus gracilis of the medulla. This obser¬ 
vation in a clinical case, confirmed by our experiments upon the rabbit’s 
brain, proves the ante-mortem genesis of the changes in the vessels. 

Reference has been made already to the effects of disturbances of the 
circulation and of nutrition upon the nervous elements, and attention 
has been directed to the different character of the lesions in the cerebral 
cortex and the cornu ammonis. Before attempting an explanation of 
this difference we must in the first place look at some points in connec¬ 
tion with the vascular supply of the brain. 

A concise statement in reference to this subject will be found in an 
article on hajmorrhagic encephalitis by Bignami and Nazari (Rivista 
Sperimentale di Freniatria , vol. xlii, fasc. 1), in which many important 
points are mentioned with a direct bearing upon our research. These 
authors have found that the lesions in the white and grey matter in 


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26 TOXI-INFECTION OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, [Jan., 


haemorrhagic encephalitis differ very materially, and their views regarding 
the cerebral circulation are based upon this. A sharp distinction is 
drawn between miliary haemorrhages, which are characterised by their 
ring-like form around a necrotic focus and by their situation in the 
white matter, and the haemorrhagic infiltration which follows thrombosis 
of the cerebral sinuses or meningeal veins. The haemorrhage in this 
latter condition is extensive, affects the grey cortex, and decreases from 
without inwards. There are no necrotic foci surrounded by a ring of 
haemorrhage, such as occur in the white matter. According to the 
opinion of the authors both conditions are caused by a local disturb¬ 
ance of the circulation and not by an inflammatory process. In the one 
case the thrombosis of the cerebral veins induces haemorrhage in the 
cortex from stasis; in the other, blockage of a pre-capillary arteriole 
results in a circumscribed necrosis in the white matter followed by 
haemorrhage in the immediately surrounding parts from the collateral 
vessels, the pathogenetic mechanism here being precisely the same as 
in infarction of other organs. If a similar lesion is not produced in the 
grey matter through occlusion of the arterioles it seems more than likely 
that there is some difference between the circulation in the cortex and the 
medullary substance. These observations incline the above-mentioned 
authors to the admission that although the pre-capillary arterioles in the 
white matter are physiologically terminal, those in the grey cortex are not 
so. In the white matter occlusion of an arteriole is followed by infarc¬ 
tion ; if this does not occur in (he grey matter, evidently then we must 
admit the possibility of an anastomosis which is functionally adequate. 

Many questions regarding the cerebral circulation are still only 
partially solved or remain obscure, but we are now in possession of 
certain facts which bear on the subject before us. All are agreed that 
the cortical arteries do not communicate with the basal arteries. Duret 
regards the cortical arteries as terminal, but Cordiat and Ferd do not 
agree with this, although they grant that anastomosis is not sufficient 
to permit of re establishment of the circulation when obstructed by 
thrombosis or embolus. Heubner supports the view that numerous 
anastomoses occur amongst the pial arteries, but that after their 
branches have penetrated the cortex anastomosis ceases. On this latter 
point he is supported by Duret and Beevor, who hold that the cortical 
arteries are terminal; but in spite of these definite statements, it would 
appear that the whole question is worthy of further study, since it has 
been shown that the myocardial arteries are not completely terminal in 
•the anatomical sense as has hitherto been held. 

Of great importance in the field of pathogenesis is a knowledge of 
the relationship between the short cortical and the long subcortical 
arterioles. Both are derived from pial arteries. The short are purely 
cortical, while the long pass straight down into the white matter, where 


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I 91 8.] BY DAVID ORR, M.D., AND MAJOR ROWS, R.A.M.C. 27 


each supplies a very narrow territory owing to the small number of 
branches given off. Cortical arteries divide at once and very frequently, 
forming a fine capillary network which is richest in the deepest cortical 
lamina. Further, it seems that the short cortical arterioles anastomose 
in the depth of the grey matter with the long or medullary branches. 
The important point to be specially noted, however, at this stage of 
our knowledge is that the cortical vascular network is far richer than 
that of the white matter. 

Whatever our present knowledge may be, from the anatomical side, 
of the ultimate distribution and connections of the cerebral vascular 
system, we seem to be justified in assuming from morbid lesions that 
there is a difference in the two systems which subserve the grey and 
white matter respectively. The evidence of this is seen in the histo¬ 
logical difference between the cortical and subcortical lesions. The 
former are diffuse, and consist in necrosis of the nerve-cell units; the 
latter—in the cornu ammonis—involve a circumscribed locality and are 
typical of infarction. As the arterioles which supply the cortex and the 
adjacent subcortical zone have a common origin—the pial arteries— 
and both systems are affected by toxic hyaline thrombosis in these 
experiments, the difference in type of the resultant lesions must depend 
upon the anatomical arrangement of fine capillary branches. The 
definite restriction of the subcortical lesion with its patho-histological 
elements can only be interpreted as ischcemic in origin, and secondary 
to blockage of a terminal artery. But the pathogenetic mechanism of 
the diffuse coagulation necrosis of the cortical nerve-cells presents a 
more complex problem and is very far from clear. From the character 
of this lesion we can say definitely that no infarction has occurred, and 
therefore, the presumption might be advanced that cortical arterioles 
are not terminal. The highest elements, the individual nerve units, 
alone have suffered, and in a manner which points to interference with 
their nutrition; but the histological picture is far from what one 
associates with an ischaemia, and rather suggests a stasis due to blockage 
of veins, a deficiency of nutriment from narrowing of the lumen of 
arterioles and capillaries; or both combined, as is most probable. It 
is only some anatomical factor within the cortex itself which could 
explain this different type of lesion, and for the present one would be 
inclined to ascribe importance to the richness of the cortical vascular 
network which may counterbalance the effects of mechanical inter¬ 
ference with the vascular supply. This seems to us the most reasonable 
view to take of a question which is still controversial, and stands in 
need of much special investigation. 

In the above observations we have two types of lesion which illustrate 
• how the two factors, degree and situation, can produce dissimilar patho¬ 
logical results, although the pathogenesis is the same; and if we apply 


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28 TOXI-INFECTION OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, [Jan., 


this to clinical neurology it becomes apparent that certain nervous 
syndromes, though widely different in symptomatology are patho- 
genetically one and the same disease. The difference in symtomatology 
is in large measure due to the anatomical site of the lesion, but the 
degree to which the nerve structures are involved is an equally important 
factor. These points are well illustrated by the implication of part of 
the pyramidal layer only of the cornu ammonis in two experiments, and 
a definite softening in its molecular layer in one other. Both varieties 
of morbid change are the result of blockage of vessels by hyaline 
thrombosis, and the picture to which this gives rise depends in the first 
place upon the calibre of the vessel implicated, and varies with the 
time which elapses between the onset of the lesion and its examination. 

One of the practical applications of these experiments is that they 
throw light upon the genesis of the infantile cerebropathies, which are 
now regarded as the result of toxi-infections of medium or even slight 
intensity, contracted, as a rule, between the fifth and eighth month of 
foetal life, or more rarely in early infancy. Infantile cerebropathies 
vary in range from aberrations in type of gyri or sulci to absence of the 
corpus callosum—sometimes accompanied by absence of the fornix— 
and on to such gross lesions as porencephaly or even absence of one 
hemisphere. Evidence of antecedent inflammation and vessel occlusion 
are found in the brain with both naked-eye and microscopic examina¬ 
tion, and the degree of interference with development, and the resulting 
mental deficiency, depend upon the extent of the lesion and the 
functional importance of the nervous tissues involved. Our later 
experiments can be closely correlated, therefore, with what is known at 
present of the pathogenesis of many forms of mental deficiency, and 
show how toxic hyaline thrombosis of capillaries or even larger vessels 
can contribute very largely in the production of nervous lesions of 
different degree. 

The precise mechanism of production of these thromboses is still 
obscure. Whether they are produced directly by the toxins spreading 
along the vessel sheaths, or more indirectly through a general intoxica¬ 
tion, must remain for the present open questions ; and as all vascular 
phenomena are closely connected with the sympathetic mechanisrrii 
this must come under examination in future experiments. 

Several arguments can be advanced in contradiction of the view 
that a general intoxication of the blood-stream is the sole pathogenetic 
factor in the causation of the thrombotic changes and of the lesions 
above described, and the most cogent is to be found in the distribution 
of the morbid changes, viz. : In the cortex of the brain, in the cornu 
ammonis, and amongst the white fibres round the periphery of the cord 
and the postero median septum. This has been already referred to, 
and it has been pointed out that these changes lie precisely within the 


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1918.] BY DAVID ORR, M.D., AND MAJOR ROWS, R.A.M.C. 2 Q 


area of the pial vascular supply. There must be some significance in 
the fact that this portion of the vascular system of the brain and spinal 
cord is, so far as our present knowledge goes, alone connected with 
nerves from the sympathetic system. It is accepted that sympathetic 
nerves—grey fibres—leave the prevertebral ganglia to supply the menin¬ 
geal vessels : they do not penetrate the nervous tissue however. This 
may be the explanation of the peculiar localisation of the nerve lesions 
under discussion; in any case it is a factor worthy of our consideration, 
especially when we remember that in the series of experiments in which 
the capsules were placed in the abdominal cavity we found inflammation 
of the prevertebral sympathetic ganglia, and primary degeneration of 
the spinal myelin in the area of pial vascular supply. The presumption 
would seem to be, therefore, that disturbance of sympathetic cell 
function can exert an effect on that portion of the cord whose vessels 
are under the control of the injured neurons; and it is reasonable to 
argue that in the experiments where the carotid sheath was infected a 
similar result in the brain would be obtained, as the carotid vessels 
are surrounded by a rich sympathetic plexus. As a matter of fact, 
we find both series of experiments entirely in agreement in this, 
that only the areas within the realm of pial supply show any morbid 
change of the nerve elements. 

Evidence has been gradually converging towards the opinion that 
there is a much closer interaction between the central nervous system 
and the sympathetic chain than we have been accustomed to believe. 
These two systems have been regarded far too much as separate organs, 
anatomically and physiologically. But recent studies in comparative 
anatomy, embryology, and research in connection with the ductless 
glands and their influence upon the entire nervous system demonstrate 
clearly that the sympathetic chain of ganglia exerts a powerful, though 
subconscious, influence upon the higher nerve centres, and, in all 
probability, assists in controlling the mechanism of nutritive exchange 
there; while the higher centres on the other hand, exercise an action 
upon the lower or vegetative functions subserved by the sympathetic 
system. There is thus a constant interaction between the two ; and 
hence further study of the symptomatology resulting from disturbance 
of the nervous mechanism must embrace both systems. 

References. 

(1) Bignami and NazAri. —Rivista Sperimentale di Freniatria, 1916, 
vol. xlii, fasc. 1, 109. 

(2) Orr and Rows.—“ Lymphogenous Infection of the Central 
Nervous System,” Brain , 1914, vol. xxxvi, pts. iii and iv, p. 271. 

(') This research has been carried on with the aid of a grant from the Lunacy 
Board of Control. 


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3 ® 


EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 


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Epilepsy and the Ductless Glands. By Guy P. U. Prior, M.R.C.S., 
L.R.C.P., Medical Superintendent, Mental Hospital, Rydalmere; 
and S. Evan Jones, M.B., Medical Officer, Mental Hospital, 
Callan Park, New South Wales. 

The actions of the ductless glands are very complex, and become 
greatly complicated when one of them is either under or over acting, 
because of its stimulating or inhibitory effect upon some other endocrine 
organ. To help in the difficulty of understanding their action, as an 
aid in diagnosing abnormalities in their secretion and in administering 
extracts of these glands, we drew up the following tables. So as to do 
no injustice to the authors upon whose works we have taken the liberty 
to base these tables, we should like to repeat that in many cases, the 
author to whom we attribute a statement, is himself frequently quoting 
someone else, and often does not support the view we have credited to 
him. It is only by reference to the original work that the author’s 
meaning can be appreciated. Accepting as probably correct Gower’s 
theory, that epilepsy is due to some chemical affecting the nerve-cells (i), 
and considering the great influence the endocrine glands have on 
chemical changes of the body, we have endeavoured to study these 
glands in their relation to epilepsy, and to discover if there is any 
evidence of their abnormal action in this disease. 


Explanation and Abbreviations in Tables. 


The statements as to the action of the glands have been taken from books or 
papers of various authors. In many cases the author to whom a statement is 
attributed is himself quoting some other authority, and does not of necessity 
support that statement. It is only by reference to the original work that the 
author’s meaning can be fully appreciated. . 

The authority for any given remark is indicated by an initial, as: 


S 

B 

P 

F 

Sajous = 
L. Pr. = 

B. Pr. « 

W. Pr. = 
W. L. Pr. = 
H. Pr. 
Herty.Pr. 
E. Pr. 

V. Pr. 

Ei & E2 


Schafer, The Endocrine Organs. 

Bell, Blair, The Sex Complex. 

Paton, Noel, Regulators of Metabolism. 

Falta, The Ductless Glandular Diseases. 

Sajous, paper in Practitioner, Feb., 1915. 
Leopold-Levi, paper in Practitioner, Feb., 1915. 
Bell, Blair, 


O 

T 


Waller, H. E., 

Williams, L.. „ „ „ Jan., 1915. 

Hertoghe, E., 

Herty, Pr., 

Elliott, T. R., 

Vincent, Swale 
statement is to be found in Endocrinology, 
vol. 1 or vol. 2. 

= increases. 

= diminishes. 

= ovarian. 

= testicular. 


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I 

Pituitary. 

i 

/ nsufficiency or 
Removal. 


Action or 
Overaction. 


Parathyroid, 

Removal or 
Insufficiency. 


Action or 
Overaction. 


Parathyroid. 




M.B. 

Pulse. 

Blood-pressure. 1. 

Slow. S. 

• 

Low. S. retained ; 

mperfect. 
sted or 

1 . S. 

ret small; 
ary deve- 
les; per- 
sial line. 


Anterior ^ytimulates 
has an .^.tuitary. S. 
thyroid »** 
ence. El. 

If thyroid 
ficient, P** 
tary secretK 
increased. 


Slows with Increases with of bones 
increased force, fall on repeatedbs. An- 


S. 


dose. S. 


imulates 
’oung. F 


Increases 

activity. S 


Rapid. S. 


r; . 

delayer 
\. F. 


Takes over 
action of thy¬ 
mus after sex¬ 
ual life is 
reached. P. 

Hyperplasia 
in pregnancy. 
B. 


Antagoni* _ 

P. 

Inhibitory 

S. 


Slows. Hertz After injec- 
Pr. j tion, first +. 

j later —. S. 
Lowers. P. 




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Thymec 
Thymus 
containing 
The fum 
the lymphc 
combinatio 
the osseou 
deveiopmei 
Atrophy 
young aniir 
Thymus 
plantation 


causes resu 


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Remarks. 


Thymectomised hens lay eggs without shells. 

Thymus is rich in nucleinates, its lymphoid cells 
containing a nucleo-protein rich in phosphorus. 

The function of the thymus is to supply through 
the lymphocytes the excess of phosphorus in organic 
combination or nucleins which the body, particularly 
the osseous and nervous systems, require during 
development and growth. Sajous. 

Atrophy of thymus is hastened by breeding from 
young animals, and is delayed by castration. W. Pr 
Thymus is absent in mentally weak children ; im¬ 
plantation of thymus in thymectom sed animals 
causes resumption of growth. Sajous. 


Adrenalin secretion, which, after absorbing oxygen 
from pulmonary air and being taken up by the red ' 
orpuscles, supplies the whole organism, including 
he blood, with its oxygen. Sajous. 

The cortex is the seat of manufacture of the lipoids 
af the body, and may be related to the formation of 
nyelin. S. 

Adrenalin normally in the blood plays no part in 
naintaining the tone of blood-vessels. P. 

Adrenalin produces same effect as stimulation of 
ympathetic nerve. S. 

Stimulation of splanchnic* raises blood-pressure; 
ut not if suprarenal vessels are ligatured. 

Adrenalin destroys toxic waste of muscular origin I 
nd reduces fatigue. Sajous. 

It is dangerous to give adrenalin while under the 
ifluence of chloroform. E. Pr. 


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Remarks. 


After removal of thyroids from newts, regeneration of amputated limbs is 
markedly interfered with. P. 

Thyroid insufficiency is sometimes associated with excessive development of 
mammary glands ; this mav be accompanied with hypertrophy of the parotids. 
L. Pr. 


Its secretion possesses both antitoxic and bactericidal properties. Sajous. 

Its secretion takes an active part indirectly in general immunity, by increasing 
the functional activity of the adrenals, and through these organs general oxida¬ 
tion and metabolism. Sajous. , 

The thyro-parathyroid secretion enhances oxidation by increasing the inflam¬ 
mability of phosphorus, which all cells, particularly their nuclei, contain. All 
pathogenic elements in which phosphorus is present are rendered more vulner¬ 
able to the digestive action of phagocytic. Sajous. 

Iodothyrin causes a marked increase in the output of sodium, sodium chloride, 
and phosphoric oxide. Sajous. 

Tadpoles fed with thyroid; growth stops and development occurs rapidly. 
Limbs grow and tail atrophies while tadpole is very small. P. 

Thyroid governs the formation and growth of tissues and the processes by j 
which waste material resulting from incessant regeneration of organs is eliminated. 
H. Pr. 

Children of mothers suffering from Graves’ disease are mostly degenerate. W. Pr. 

Castrated stags do not develop antlers; or, if already developed, they fall I 
off. P. 

Atrophy of ovary in birds, followed by assumption of male plumage. P. 


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19 * 8 -] 


HY GUY P. U. PRIOR, M.R.C.S. 


31 


Epileptiform convulsions may occur after removal of the thyroid 
parathyroid system (2), in extreme cases of Addison’s disease (3), in 
hypopituitarism (4); also in cases with minus parathyroid action, as when 
associated with tetany (9). In two young epileptics, who died suddenly, 
we found considerable enlargement of the thymus gland and small 
heart and aorta ; in both these cases the aorta would only admit one 
finger, and in both these cases the suprarenal glands microscopically 
showed a large extent of vacuolation. These cases, in their mode 
of death and in their tiost-mortem findings, much resemble status 
lymphaticus. 

Is there usually, in epilepsy, any change in the ductless glandular 
system, and can treatment with these glands in any way influence the 
disease for better or worse? We think that we can show that both 
these questions can be answered in the affirmative. 

Pituitary. 

Schafer says that in conditions of hypopituitarism a tendency to 
epilepsy has occasionally been described (4). Several authors have 
recorded cases of epilepsy making great improvement with anterior 
pituitary extract. Spears (5) relates a case of a man, set. 28, an epileptic 
since 6 years of age, with an average of three or four fits weekly, who, 
after four months’ treatment with anterior pituitary, had no fit, and has 
continued without for eight months. Tucker (6) records a number of 
cases that improved with the same treatment; and Joughin(7) the case 
of a girl, set. t6, who improved within two weeks of taking anterior 
pituitary extract, and has been without major seizures for two years. 
This case was clinically one of hypopituitarism. 

G. C. Johnston (8) claims that there are often changes about the 
pituitary in cases of epilepsy unattended by gross evidence of pituitary 
disorder, and advises the use of radiography in these cases. We have 
under our care eighty male epileptics, of whom four are clinically 
unmistakable cases of hypopituitarism. They all have abundance of 
adipose tissue, and have no hair on the body except pubic hair, two 
have no hair in the axilla, and the other very little. Three have but a 
scanty amount of hair on the face, one case has rather an abundant 
beard. All four have large mammary glands. They all have a low 
blood-pressure, their highest record being 115 mm. Hg., which was 
reached once in one case in the recumbent position ; the majority of 
their blood-pressure readings were higher lying down than standing. 

Although these cases, from their general appearance and clinical 
signs, may be taken to be typically apituitary, the improvement they 
have made on treatment with whole gland pituitary has been but 
slight. We have used the whole gland pituitary in preference to the 


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32 EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 

anterior gland, as one case in which we used this latter was so much 
worse while taking this that we had to discontinue the treatment, when 
improvement immediately followed. 

At the time of treating these cases we were unaware of the success 
that others had obtained with the anterior gland, and intend to give 
this a more extended trial. 

Case 43, witho'U any medicinal treatment', has an average of 7 fits a 
month, varying from 2 to 14. For four months he was taking pituitary 
extract, gr. 2^ t.i.d. ; for these months he averaged 10 fits a month, 
ranging from 8 to 14. 

Case 8 has been treated over a longer period; without treatment for 
a period of twelve months he averaged 13 attacks monthly, ranging 
from 7 to 15 ; for four months he was taking pituitary extract, for 
which time he averaged 10 fits a month, being a slight reduction from 
his former average. For a second period of four months, he received 
calcium chloride, gr. x, every four hours, with a resulting average of 
10 fits monthly. For three months he has been taking potass, brom., 
g. vii 4 tis horis, with an average of 5 fits a month. This patient 
appears to have received slight benefit from pituitary gland, but to 
have received more from bromide. 

Case 38.—For nine months, while being treated with pot. brom., 
gr. xx t.i.d., averages 18 attacks a month ; for two months he takes 
pituitary gland in addition to the bromide, when the average rises to 
22 monthly. With suprarenal gland for three months in place of the 
pituitary, the average number of attacks monthly drops to 18. For 
three months didymin, gr. xv, daily is given, and the average rises to 20. 

If, in any way, the epileptic attacks in this type of patient are directly 
associated with or due to insufficient pituitary action, an increased 
number of fits is to be expected with didymin, as the gonads are stated 
to inhibit the action of pituitary (10). 

Parathyroid. 

Falla (9) states that epileptic attacks in tetany are not rare, and that 
Redlich collected seventy-two cases where these diseases have been 
associated. He also states that in parathyroprivic individuals unilateral 
or bilateral epileptiform convulsions with loss of consciousness have been 
observed. Blair Bell (2) says that animals from which he removed both 
the thyroid and parathyroid glands died of convulsions. Know(n) 
records cases of epilepsy which improved with parathyroid and calcium 
lactate. One of our cases on admission presented many signs that 
might be accounted for by parathyroid insufficiency. 

Case 39.—A male, ict. 21, had an insane inheritance, and had suffered 
from epilepsy since he was two years old. 


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JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE, JANUARY 


To illustrate paper by Drs. Prior and Jones 


■\iiliird ir 1 Son &• West Newman, /. t,{. 


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JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE, JANUARY, 1918. 



Apituitary. 

To illustrate paper by Drs. Prior and Jonf.s. 


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Ad lard & Son 6r West AVr Ltd. 

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JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE, JANUARY, .918. 


Adlarrf Son or* /i \rst Newman ^ 


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191 8.] BY GUY P. U. PRIOR AND S. EVAN JONES. 



LXIV. 


3 


33 


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Case No. 26. Case No. 18. 

Charts showing the specific gravity and the amount of phosphates and chlorides in 
grammes per cent, in 12-hourly in Case No. 26, and in 24-hourly in Case No. 18, 
specimens of urine and their relations to epileptic attacks. 

Fits thus O. Equivalents in form of tremors thus-. 













































































































































































































































































































































































































































34 


EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 


On admission he was extremely thin and wasted, of light build, and 
with small bones, saliva flowed from his mouth in one constant stream, 
his teeth were carious, nails badly developed, he had but little appetite, 
mentally he was dull and tearful, all reflexes were so greatly exaggerated, 
together with tremor of tongue and facial muscles and inco-ordination 
of speech, that it was at first thought that he was an advanced infantile 
general paralytic. By referring to the table on parathyroid action it 
will be seen that most of this boy’s symptoms are consistent with under¬ 
action of this gland. His mother stated that for many months previous 
to admission he had been having more than 100 fits a month while 
taking bromides. During the first month under our observation, while 
having no treatment, he had 102 fits. He was for one month given a 
mixture of calcium lactate and potassium bromide and his fits fell to 
30 for the month. For six months he took parathyroid gland, gr. 
x-io daily, he put on weight, ceased to salivate, the reflexes became 
normal, and after two months of treatment he was sufficiently well to 
work at gardening. During the fifth month he became very dull, with 
unsteady gait and almost cessation of the epileptic attacks, having for 
this month only 6 fits. His blood-pressure was at this time very low, 
varying from 85 to 105 mm. Hg. ; because of this low blood-pressure, 
and because it is stated that parathyroid action is antagonistic to supra¬ 
renal, he was given for six weeks suprarenal gland extract instead of 
parathyroid, and the bromide and calcium were suspended. He 
improved in physical health, his blood-pressure rose, and the monthly 
average of his fits rose to 43. For the next three months he was 
again given parathyroid gland and the mixture of calcium and bromide. 
For this period he remains well, physically and mentally, and resumes 
his work and averages 14 attacks a month. 

Another case of similar type and build and with exaggerated reflexes 
we have treated in the same way. 

This patient, Case 40, has been an epileptic since 10 months of age, 
and is now ret. 26. A record of his attacks has been kept by his 
mother for several years. She states that for four months previous to 
admission he had averaged 18 fits a month while being treated; for 
two years previous to this he had averaged 10 attacks monthly. For 
the first month after admission, without treatment, he had 10 fits. For 
seven months he had been treated with parathyroid gland together with 
bromide and calcium chloride, with an average of 3 fits monthly, 
ranging from 1 to 4. Before being treated he was subject to attacks of 
irritability and violence, which were the reason of his being admitted. 
He has since had no trouble in this way, but is, in fact, a quiet and 
trusted worker. 

Case 7 is another case that has made considerable improvement on 
parathyroid gland. 

He had been an epileptic since 15 years of age. He was dull and 
lethargic, the sort of case that, apart from epilepsy, often improves on 
thyroid gland. This patient, without treatment, averaged 20 fits a 
month ; treated for nine months with calcium and bromide alone or in 
combination, together with thyroid or thymus glands, he averaged 


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1918.] BY GUY P. U. PRIOR AND S. EVAN JONES. 35 

24 fits a month ; treated for five months with parathyroid gland and 
calcium and bromide he averaged 10 fits a month. 

Thymus. 

In a former article (12) we stated that thymus gland was the one we 
had found most useful, and the only one from which apparent harm had 
not in some case or other occurred. After a more prolonged use we 
have seen in one or two cases more epileptic attacks taking place while 
this gland was being used and an immediate fall on its discontinuance. 
We believe that it has a distinct use in epilepsy. To form a clear idea 
as to what might be taken for thymus insufficiency is not easy, but there 
are several reasons why thymus might be expected to be useful in this 
disease. 

(1) Epilepsy more commonly commences at the time of life that the 
thymus becomes functionless. 

(2) It causes a retention of calcium (13), and in cases of thymus 
insufficiency there is an excessive excretion of this salt (14). 

(3) It prevents an excessive accumulation of acids in the body, 
especially phosphoric acid (16). Epileptic attacks can be increased by 
giving this acid to patients (17). It has been shown by Pugh (18), and 
confirmed by ourselves, that the blood of epileptics is less alkaline than 
normal, and at the time of taking a fit this becomes more accentuated. 

(4) The thymus is stated to be absent in the mentally deficient 
children (15); the majority of epileptics whose attacks commence in 
early life are mentally deficient. 

In thymus insufficiency there is increased action of the thyroid (19), 
suprarenals (20), and gonads (21). Thyroid and suprarenals will in 
some epileptics increase the number of attacks, but in many others 
suprarenal seems decidedly beneficial. Many epileptic patients show 
an increased sexual irritability at the time of taking fits, this irritability 
we think can be lessened by giving thymus gland. 

In our series of nineteen post-mortem examinations all but six showed 
microscopically some signs of persistence and activity of the thymus 
gland. In Cases 48 and 49 the thymus was of extreme size ; in both 
the thymus was about as large as the palm of the hand. Both were 
cases of sudden death in young and apparently healthy subjects, death 
in each case, for want of a better reason and with hardly sufficient 
justification, being attributed to suffocation while in a fit. In Case 50, 
also one of sudden death, in which there was no question of suffocation, 
as the patient, who was thought to be in his usual health, had a fit 
while an attendant was beside him, and died immediately afterwards, 
while on his back. This man had a large and very vascular thymus, he 
was an alcoholic, set. 37, and his first epileptic attack had occurred five 
years before. Might not the enlargement of his thymus be a com- 


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36 


EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 


pensatory one, to combat the chemical changes that alter the calcium 
metabolism in epilepsy or which lessen the alkalinity of the blood ? It 
is said by Blair Bell that this gland will enlarge after removal of the 
ovaries (22), and it is said to persist in eunuchs (23). 

Case 6.—For twelve months while taking bromides, had an average of 
16 attacks monthly; for sixteen months has been taking thymus gr. x 
daily, in addition to calcium and bromide, for which time he averaged 
8 fits a month. 

Case 37.—A lad, who, without treatment for eleven months, averaged 
6 fits a month. His epileptic attacks are preceded by much sexual 
irritability. For the first month on thymus gland he had no fit, a thing 
that had not been recorded against him before; for the first three 
months on this treatment he averaged if attacks a month, and during 
this time the sexual irritability was much less. For nine months on 
thymus gland he has averaged 4 fits a month. Whether the apparent 
wearing-off of effect is due to the action of the thymus in inhibiting or 
stimulating some other gland, it is difficult to say. 

In Case 3 it appears as if a change in the glandular treatment is 
helpful. This patient on bromide averaged about 100 attacks monthly; 
after three months’ treatment with calcium, bromide, and suprarenal 
gland, the average falls to 9 ; in the third month he has only 2 attacks. 
In another period of treatment, after the patient returns from leave of 
absence, when the number of attacks return to their former average, 
during the third month on suprarenal extract, he has 2 or 3 attacks 
daily, which immediately fall to about 2 weekly when thymus replaces 
the suprarenal gland. 

Case 28.—For seven months without treatment, averages iS attacks a 
month; on calcium lactate for three months averages 10; with 
calcium, bromide, and thymus for five months the average is 7 a 
month. 

Suprarenals. 

Of the suprarenal glands from fourteen epileptics examined micro¬ 
scopically eleven showed considerable vacuolation of the cortex. After 
removal of these glands, death is preceded by convulsions (36). 

Epilepsy may be associated with Addison’s disease (3), and the 
suprarenals play an important part in the calcium metabolism. From 
these facts, it might be expected that suprarenal extract would be of use 
in epilepsy. 

We have been much interested in seeing a reference to the work of 
Cotton. Carson-White, and Stevenson (25), who, by the aid of Abder- 
halden reaction, concluded that at least one type of epilepsy may be 
produced by over-action of these glands. They lessened the activity of 
the adrenals by giving pancreatin, and with good results. It is stated 
by Waller (37) that in cases of pneumonia the suprarenals are pro 
foundly affected. We have under our care a chronic case, who was an 
epileptic, and who, about sixteen years ago, had an attack of lobar 


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1918.] BY GUY P. U. PRIOR AND S. EVAN JONES. 


37 


pneumonia and has not had a fit since ; we have also read of one similar 
case, in which epilepsy ceased after an attack of acute pneumonia. We 
have seen 2 or 3 epileptic attacks occurring daily during the course of a 
double pneumonia. Is it not possible that the first two cases were of 
thekindin which there is over-action of this gland, which the attack of 
pneumonia might have reduced? We think we can show that in some 
cases suprarenal extract is of benefit to the epileptic patient. 

Case 20 was for twelve months taking bromide, with an average of 
41 fits monthly. With calcium chloride combined with bromide for 
nine months the average is reduced to 13 a month. For two months 
he receives suprarenal extract in addition, with a resulting monthly 
average of 10 fits. This patient has since died of pneumonia, and the 
result of the microscopic examination of his glands is given below, 
where it will be seen that his suprarenals had undergone fibrotic 
changes. 

Case 20.—For five months without treatment averages 33 fits a 
month. On bromide for three months and on bromide combined with 
calcium for five months, averages 28 attacks a month. On the latter 
treatment, together with suprarenal gr. x daily for eight months, averages 
17 attacks a month. 

Cases 30 and 23 have improved on suprarenal, the latter having 
without treatment for six months an average of 21 attacks monthly, 
with calcium and suprarenal extract and without bromide for three 
months, this average is reduced to 7. Case 30, having an average 
without treatment of 15 attacks a month, with calcium and bromide 
for eight months, an average of 9, which for the next five months is 
reduced to a monthly average of 4, when suprarenal gland is added. 
With the exception of Case 30, which is one of alcoholic origin, 
occurring late in life, they are all young patients, of poor physical 
development and with low blood-pressure. Suprarenal gland in 
Case 39, already referred to as having improved under parathyroid, 
seemed to increase the number of attacks, but while on the gland the 
patient made considerable physical improvement. 

Thyroid. 

It is said by Falta (38), that the thyroid is intimately associated with 
the control of the central nervous system, and that “ this is instanced in 
the association of epilepsy with thyroid disease, especially exophthalmic 
goitre.” He also records a case of epileptiform convulsions occurring 
for the first time while the patient was taking large doses of thyroid 
extract (39). 

Murray Auer (40), quoting from Bolton, says, “ Genuine epilepsy is 
a chronic auto-intoxication arising through metabolic processes in which, 
as a result of hypofunction of the thyroid and parathyroid glands, the 
poisons are not thoroughly neutralised or removed.” Auer confutes 
the statement. Thyroid is also stated to be harmful in epilepsy, as by 
its action the excretion of calcium is increased. In one case of 


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38 


EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 


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myxcedema we have seen epileptiform convulsions occurring shortly 
before death. We have seen epileptic cases made worse by the use of 
thyroid gland. 

Case 34.—A girl who never excreted more than a trace of calcium in 
her urine, was given thyroid extract gr. v. daily for four months, the 
average number of her fits remained almost unaltered. Without treat¬ 
ment for six months, the monthly average was 4, while taking thyroid 
it was 3 a month ; for three months she received calcium chloride 
as well as the thyroid extract, for which time the monthly average was 
the same as on thyroid alone. 

Case 9. —In this case thyroid was apparently of slight use. This 
patient, on bromide for twelve months, averaged 14 fits a month ; for 
seven months while taking thyroid gland as well as bromide, the average 
was 10 attacks a month ; for seven months on calcium chloride and 
thyroid, but without bromide, the average was 11 a month. 

Case 23.—Referred to as having improved with suprarenal extract, 
was for one month on thyroid gland, during which month she had the 
greatest number of fits ever recorded against her, viz., 34, which fell 
immediately the gland was discontinued. 

Gonads. 

In our series of post-mortem examinations the female patients have 
shown more constant changes in these glands than the male patients. 
The ovaries for the most part were found fibrotic with atrophy of the 
interstitial cells ; in one case the testicle showed atrophy of the corre¬ 
sponding cells. 

Menstruation in most epileptics is irregular. Of forty of our cases in 
whom the function was established, and upon whom note had been 
kept as to their catamenia for twelve months, in only three did the 
periods recur twelve times during the year. Eighteen of the total 
number menstruated six times or less in the twelve months, and eight 
of these only once. In only two cases was the period at all prolonged 
or the loss exccessive, and in these two only occasionally. 

This irregularity and slight loss might point to deficient ovarian 
action (26). In thyroid (27) or anterior pituitary (28) deficiency there 
may be absence of, or irregular menstruation, also when there is 
a deficiency of calcium in the system (29). The epileptic attacks are 
very apt to occur at about the time of the period, probably due to the 
increased amount of calcium excreted at these times. Contrary to 
what might have been expected, we do not find the average number of 
fits much greater in the months in which there is menstruation than in 
those in which there is amenorrhoea, but in the former the fits are 
mostly grouped around the period. One of the female patients at times 
shows pronounced erotic tendencies, but this is not especially associated 
with the fits or menses. The epileptic attacks in three male patients 


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_ [ 



IQ 1 8.] BY GUY P. U. PRIOR AND S. EVAN JONES. 39 


are directly associated with symptoms of sexual activity, two are sexually 
perverted, and in several sexual irritability is a common symptom, but 
we think that perverted or excessive sexual manifestations are not 
commoner in epileptics than in other insane patients. 

We have used didymin extract in cases with high blood-pressure, 
acting upon the dictum of Ludlum and Corsin-White (30), that Brown- 
Sequard fluid is useful in a somewhat similar type of cases of primary 
dementia. We have also used didymin or ovarian extract in cases that 
habitually excrete but little calcium in the urine ; with didymin we have 
increased the amount of calcium excreted, but cannot say that in these 
cases the epileptic attacks have been diminished, nor have we observed 
cases improve on ovarian extract. 

Case 19.—One with a high blood-pressure and an average of 35 fits 
a month while taking bromide, and 32 a month while taking calcium 
and bromide ; for six months has didymin gr. xv. daily in addition, for 
which time he averages 17 attacks a month. 

Report of Microscopical Examination of Endocrine Glands. 

Case 2.—L—, died October 9th, 1916, aet. 26. Pneumonia. 

Testis. —Tubular epithelial cells show mitotic figures. Large numbers 
of interstitial cells which contain yellow granular pigment. 

Thyroid. —Colloid vesicles large. Epithelium very much flattened. 
Colloid neutrophil. 

Pituitary: Pars anterior: —Eosinophil cells greatly predominate. 
Pars intermedia : No colloid vesicles. Pars posterior: Very few hyaline 
bodies. Some intermedia cells are seen invading this portion. 

Pineal. —Alveolar arrangement well shown. A large area shows 
degenerative changes like area of softening in brain. 

Thymus. —Not examined. 

Suprarenal. —Capsule much thickened. Cells stain well and show 
no degenerative changes. 

Pancreas. —Very few islets are seen, and these show degenerative 
changes, staining poorly and apparently disorganised. 

Case 20.—W. S. L. W—, died June 20th, 1916, set. 28. Suddenly. 

Testicle. —The tubular cells are actively proliferating and mitotic 
figures are seen. Groups of interstitial cells are present here and 
there, but appear to be deficient. 

Thyroid. —The vesicles vary in size, and are filled with eosinophil 
colloid. The epithelium is cubical. There is an increase of interstitial 
cells. 

Pituitary. —This organ was extremely small, and was evidently 
missed when the sections were being cut. 

Thymus. —This consists of fatty tissue with islets of thymus tissue here 
and there. These are acutely congested. 

Suprarenal. —The cytoplasm of the cortical cells has a reticular 
appearance. The medullary cells appear granular. There are several 
round cell masses in the medulla. 


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EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 


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Liver. —Shows congestion, fatty degeneration, and cloudy swelling. 

Pancreas. —Exhibits cloudy swelling: The islets appear normal. 

Case 58.—C. C—, died November 26th, set. 50. Pneumonia. 

Testicle. —The tubules are normal, and the usual interstitial cells are 
present, and contain yellow pigment. 

Thyroid. —The vesicles are very large, and the lining epithelium is 
flattened. There are no interstitial changes. 

Pituitary.—Anterior lobe: Is much larger than usual, the cells are 
mostly eosinophil. Pars intermedia: There are no colloid vesicles. 
Pars posterior: Is small, there are no hyaline bodies or invading cells. 

Suprarenal. —The cortical cells stain well and show very slight 
degenerative changes. The medulla is normal, and the cells contain 
much pigment. 

Thymus. —Apparently of persistent infantile type, with large masses 
of gland tissue. HassalPs corpuscles are in evidence. 

Liver. —Normal. 

Spleen. —The capsule is thickened, and arterioles show thickening of 
their walls. 

Case 56.—J. T—, died June 1st, 1916, set. 28. Status. Onset of 
fits at 17. 

Testicle. —Not examined. 

Thyroid. —Vesicles of uniform size, lining epithelium flattened. 
There is an increase of interstitial fibrous tissue. 

Pituitary .—Not examined. 

Thymus. —Not examined. 

Suprarenal. —The cortical cells stain very poorly, some show finely 
granular cytoplasm, but in most the cytoplasm does not stain at all, 
except as a network of fine threads. The medulla does not show these 
changes, and the cells contain much pigment, either fine yellow granules 
on large dark brown particles. 

Liver. —Exhibits cloudy swelling. 

Case 57.—G. J. D—, died April 4th, 1916, aet. 51. Convulsions. 

Testis. —Not examined. 

Thyroid. —The vesicular epithelium is cubical, in places the cells 
appear to be proliferating. There is also a great increase of the inter¬ 
stitial cellular elements. 

Pituitary. — Pars anterior: Eosinophil cells predominate. Pars inter¬ 
media : There is a large colloid vesicle, the lining cells are degenerating. 
Parsneurosa: Contains a few hyaline bodies. There are no invading 
cells. The whole organ is acutely congested. 

Thymus. —There are scattered foci of lymphoid tissue in which an 
occasional corpuscle may be seen. It is noticeable that the blood¬ 
vessels are large in proportion to the amount of gland tissue. The 
gland is probably of regenerative type. 

Suprarenal .—The cortical shells show advanced degenerative changes. 
Everywhere the cytoplasm fails to stain, except as a network of fine 
fibrils. The medullary cells appear normal and contain pigment. 

Liver .—Shows early fatty degeneration and chronic venous con¬ 
gestion. 


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Case No. 44. Case No. 60. 

Charts showing amount of urine passed, its specific gravity, the amount 
of phosphates and chlorides in grammes per cent, in 24-hourly 
specimens, and their relations to epileptic attacks. 

Fits thus O. Equivalents in form of tremors thus-. 


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42 EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS [Jan., 

Case 55.—G. W—, died, aet. 73. Epileptiform convulsions. 

Testicle. —Not sectioned. 

Thyroid. —Vesicles large, epithelium flattened. Very few interstitial 
cells. 

Pituitary.—Pars anterior: Cells mostly basophil. There are many 
small vesicles enclosed by cubical epithelium, some of which contain 
homogeneous neutrophil colloid. Many cells show vacuoles in their 
cytoplasm. Pars intermedia: There are several very large colloid 
vesicles containing neutrophil colloid. Pars posterior: Neuroglia net¬ 
work less dense than usual. Contains hyaloid bodies and pigment 
granules. No invading cells from pars intermedia. 

Thymus. —Not examined. 

Suprarenal. —This organ is very large. The cortex shows an 
extremely advanced stage of degeneration ; the nuclei stain well, but 
the cytoplasm appears as a network of fine threads with large spaces. 
Some cells show less advanced changes, and in these the cytoplasm is 
markedly granular. The medulla is affected to a less extent and some 
parts stain well. 

Liver. —Chronic venous congestion. Early fatty degeneration of cells 
of zones of hepatic vein. 

Case 54.—M. E. H—, died November 27th, 1916, set. 39. Broncho¬ 
pneumonia following status. 

Ovary. —This organ consists of more or less cellular fibrous tissue 
in which are a few corpora fibrosa. The blood-vessels are surrounded 
by very thick fibrous walls. The cortical zone is less cellular than the 
central portion. No follicles are seen. 

Thyroid. —The vesicles are of medium size, and are more or less 
uniform and filled with eosinophil colloid, except in some instances 
where the epithelium has proliferated and filled the vesicle. There is a 
slight degree of interstitial fibrosis and multiplication of interstitial cells. 
The vesicular epithelium is cubical. 

Pituitary. — Anterior lobe: Eosinophil cells predominate, with here 
and there nests of basophils. There are numbers of vesicles containing 
eosinophil colloid. Many cells contain large blood pigment granules. 
Pars intermedia : There are several vesicles containing eosinophil 
colloid. The lining epithelium is very much flattened. Pars posterior : 
There are very few hyaline bodies. No pigment granules and no 
invading cells are to be seen. 

Thymus .—Not examined. 

Suprarenal. —The cortex shows a slight degree of degenerative change. 
In many cells clear spaces having appearance of vacuoles are seen. The 
medullary cells contain much blood pigment, and in some are found 
homogeneous eosinophil globules. 

Liver. —Shows early fatty degeneration and infiltration. 

Case 53.—S. J. M—, died May 25th, 1916, set. 57. Exhaustion 
after series. Fits began at 16. 

Ovary. —This organ is small and intensely sclerosed. The sub- 
capsular layer consists of interlacing bundles of spindle cells, whilst the 
centre of the organ is occupied by large, faintly-staining masses of 
fibrous tissue with a few septa represented by fibroblasts (hyaloid 


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1918 .] BY GUY P. U. PRIOR AND S. EVAN JONES. 43 


bodies). The blood-vessels are surrounded by immensely thickened 
fibrous walls. There is no evidence of follicular tissue. 

Thyroid. —The colloid vesicles are mostly small and separated by 
proliferated cellular tissue. The vesicular epithelium is cubical. 

Pituitary. — Pars anterior: In subcapsular regions eosinophil cells 
predominate and vessels are distended; the central cells are chromo¬ 
phobe with a few basophils. Pars intermedia : There are a number of 
small colloid vesicles. A few eosinophil cells are seen passing towards 
the pars nervosa. Pars posterior: A number of eosinophil hyaline 
bodies are seen in the meshes, and yellow pigment granules are also 
present in considerable numbers. 

Thymus. —Not sectioned. Probably not found post-mortem. 

Suprarenal. —This is firmly attached to the kidney with only the 
fibrous renal capsule between the two organs, though in places this is 
absent and renal tubules and columns of suprarenal cells are seen inter¬ 
mixed. In some places in the suprarenal tissue small spaces lined by 
cubical epithelium are found; some are filled with a homogeneous 
neutrophil substance whilst others are empty. These, perhaps, repre¬ 
sent aberrant renal tubules. The suprarenal cells stain well except in 
one part, where in the subcapsular region degenerative changes are in 
evidence. 

Spleen. —Capsule is thickened and there is vascular sclerosis and 
waxy degeneration. 

Liver. —Shows an advanced stage of fatty infiltration. 

Case 51.—H. D—, died October 7th, 1916. Status epilepticus; 
set. 50. Has had fits since two years of age. 

Ovary. —Shows extreme degree of fibrosis. There are several large 
corpora fibrosa, and no Graafian follicles can be seen. 

Thyroid. —Not examined. 

Pituitary. — Pars anterior: Chromophobes predominate. Pars inter¬ 
media : There are no colloid vesicles. Pars posterior : This portion is 
more cellular than usual, but no hyaline bodies or invading intermedia 
cells are visible. 

Pineal. —There are numerous small particles of lime. 

Thymus. —There are numerous islets of true thymus tissue containing 
Hassall’s corpuscles, scattered amongst fatty areolar tissue. The type is 
regenerative. 

Pancreas. —The alveolar cells are normal, but there are very few islets 
of Langerhaus. 

Spleen. —The vessels are sclerosed. There are small haemorrhages in 
evidence. 

Suprarenal. —The cortical walls show a moderate degree of degenera¬ 
tion ; the medullary cells contain much pigment. 

Case 52.—M. M—.died June 15th, 1916, set. 50. Lymphadenoma. 

Ovary , thyroid , and pituitary. —Not sectioned. 

Thymus. —Vascular gland tissue is present, containing many Hassall’s 
corpuscles. The type is probably regenerative. 

Suprarenal. — Post-mortem changes present—skrinkage of cortical 
columns and cloudy swelling of cells. 


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44 EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 

Spleen. —Interstitial fibrosis ; large amount of granular pigment; 
chronic venous congestion. 

Liver .—Shows an extreme degree of fatty infiltration. 

Case 50.— C. H. B—, died August 12th, 1916, aet. 40. Suddenly, 
in a fit. Fits commenced at 34. 

Testis .—Not examined. 

Thyroid. —The vesicles are small and irregular and do not centain 
much colloid; the lining epithelium is cubical and appears to be 
actively proliferating, so that in places there are masses of cells. The 
intermedial tissue is increased. The blood-vessels are congested. 

Parathyroid. —This is attached to the above section and is 3 mm. in 
length by 2 mm. in breadth. Apparently it shows no abnormality. 

Pituitary. — Pars anterior: Eosinophil cells in excess. Pars inter¬ 
media : No colloid. Apparently there is an extensive effusion (of 
lymph), which in parts has a fibrillar structure, whilst in others it is 
granular; in it a few red cells may be seen, but no vessels or fibroblasts. 
In places cells of pars intermedia appear to be forming a layer. Pars 
posterior: Large numbers of darkly-staining intermedia cells are 
streaming out into this portion. Masses of pigment granules are to be 
seen in some numbers—the appearances suggest that they are derived 
from the invading cells. 

Thymus. —Represented by numerous small collections of lymphoid 
cells in fatty areolar tissue. Hassall’s corpuscles are present. The 
gland tissue is very vascular, the capillaries being large and thin-walled. 
The type is regenerative. 

Suprarenal. —The cortical cells exhibit degenerative changes—though 
the nuclei show up well the cytoplasm appears merely as a network or 
has a granular or vacuolar appearance. The cells of medulla stain 
well, but even amongst these the cytoplasm has a vascular appearance. 

Case 31. —W. S—, died suddenly November 1st, 1916, aet. 25. 
Aorta small. Thymus very large. Onset of fits at 15. 

Ovary .—This organ consists of fibro-cellular tissue, which in places is 
extremely vascular. Only one small follicle is seen in the section. 

Thyroid and pituitary. —Not examined. Pineal. —Normal. 

Thymus. —This is apparently of retrogressive infantile type. The 
thymus tissue contains numerous Hassall’s corpuscles \ there are also 
lime particles. 

Suprarenal. —Appears normal. 

Pancreas. —Cells are shrunken. Very few islets seen. 

Spleen. —Shows numerous small haemorrhages. 

Case 48.—C. E. P—, died August nth, 1916, suddenly, aet. 22. 
Fits commenced at 15. 

Testis. —Apparently normal. Interstitial cells are present. 

Thyroid and pituitary. —Not examined. 

Thymus. —This is a large organ of persistent infantile type. There is 
much gland tissue with numerous Hassall’s corpuscles. The blood¬ 
vessels are large and thick-walled. 

Suprarenal. —Both cortex and medulla show degenerative changes. 

Pineal. —Contains some particles of “ sand,” otherwise normal. 


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1 9 1 8.] BY GUY P. U. PRIOR AND S. EVAN JONES. 45 

Case 21.—C. A. R —, died February 27th, 1916. Status. A£t. 41. 
Fits since 2 years of age. 

Ovary. —This organ is small, and consists almost entirely of cellular 
fibrous tissue. Only one small Graafian follicle is seen. There are 
several corpora fibrosa, some in the early stage of formation being com¬ 
paratively cellular and containing spiral capillaries. The arterioles 
have thick walls, while the capillaries are very large and thin-walled. 

Thyroid. —The alveolar spaces are large and the lining epithelium 
moderately flattened. In places there are masses of proliferated inter¬ 
stitial cells. 

Pituitary.—Pars anterior: Cells are shrunken and are mostly 
chromophobe, though there are considerable numbers of eosinophils. 



Pars intermedia: There is one vesicle lined with cubical epithelium 
and containing basophil colloid. Within another space lined with 
cubical cells is seen a mass of pink-staining material broken up by 
numerous round cells. About some of these cells are more or less 
clear spaces having a faint reticular appearance. Pars posterior: There 
are no invading cells. A few hyaline bodies are seen. 

Thymus. —There are numerous foci of gland tissue with many Hassall's 
corpuscles. 

Suprarenal. —Both cortical and medullary cells show poorly-staining 
cytoplasm ; the change is more marked in the former. 

Liver. —Shows advanced fatty degeneration. 

Pancreas. —The acinar structure in parts is lost, so that the gland has 
the appearance of an adenoma. The islets of Langerhans stain faintly, 
and in the cell nuclei mitotic figures may be seen. 


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■ ■■ i ■ 


46 EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 

R£sum£ of Changes Found in the Endocrine Glands. 

Gonads .—Constant changes of the nature of obliterative fibrose are 
present in the female, but there are no corresponding changes in the 
male. 

Ovary .—The ovaries were examined in five of the six female patients. 
Microscopically they appeared shrunken and atrophic. Histological 
examination revealed constant and advanced changes. In all cases the 
organ was extremely fibrosed, the stroma being made up of fibro- 
cellular elements whose appearance resembled that in a fibroma. In 
areas the cellular elements had almost completely disappeared and the 
tissue stained faintly—these are the so-called corpora fibrosa. In two 
instances small Graafian follicles were seen, but were absent in the 
others. The arterioles were surrounded by relatively very thick fibrous 
coats, while the capillaries were thin-walled and large. These changes 
must be taken to indicate a great deficiency in the activity of the 
ovaries. 

Testis .—Of the eight males the gonads were examined in four, and 
in only one of these was a definite pathological change evident; this 
was in “W” 20, a case of dystrophia adiposa genitalis, whose testis 
showed a deficiency of interstitial cells. 

Thyroid Gland .—Two types were recognised on histological examina¬ 
tion. In one the vesicles were large and lined by flattened epithelium, 
whilst interstitial cells are few in number. In the other the vesicles 
were relatively small and lined by cubical epithelium which appeared 
to be proliferating, and there were large numbers and masses of inter¬ 
stitial cells. From the resemblance to the appearances seen in the 
thyroid in exophthalmic goitre, the latter type may be considered to 
represent an active phase, whilst the other represents a quiescent state. 
Of the eight males, the thyroid was not examined in one case ; of the 
other seven, four were classified as quiescent and three as active. Of 
the six females the thyroid was examined in three, in two it was of 
active type, in one it was of quiescent type. 

Parathyroid. 

The gland was not specially examined, but in one case 50 “ B ” (20) 
in which it was cut with the thyroid, no pathological changes were 
evident. 

Pituitary .—No constant changes were found, although there were 
frequently seen indications that suggested that the gland was over 
active in some cases. 

Thymus .—The thymus was present in five out of eight males and 
in four out of six females. In some cases it was as large as the palm 
of the hand, whilst in others it was only recognised on section of the 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 




Case No. 59.—Chart showing amount of urine'passed, its specific'gravity, 
the amount of phosphates and chlorides in grammes per cent, in 
12-hourly specimens, and their relations to epileptic attacks. 

Fits thus O. Equivalents in form of tremors thus-. 


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48 EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 

mediastinal fatty tissue. Two types were recognised : (1) The persistent 
infantile type has the macroscopic and microscopic appearance of the 
infantile thymus; this was present in two males and three females. 
(2) The regenerative type—in this the thymus tissue was recognised 
microscopically, and appeared in islets of true thymus tissue embedded 
in fat—this was the case in three males and one female. In all cases 
the glands were extremely vascular. 

Suprarenals. —Almost constant changes were found in the gland. 
The cortical cells failed to stain at all well; usually the nuclei stood 
out well, but the cytoplasm was coarsely granular or represented by a 
fine network enclosing clear spaces. It is difficult to determine whether 
the change is degenerative or merely exhaustive, but the fact that it is 
most advanced in cases that have died of status points to the latter 
conclusion. The medulla, as a rule, shows the change but slightly. 
In one series the granularity of the cortex was present in an advanced 
degree in six males and one female, moderately in one male and 
three females, and absent in one male and two females. 

Pancreas. —In several cases in which the pancreas was examined it 
was found that the islets of Langerhaus were few in number. In a 
further series of five epileptics, three males and two females, whose 
endocrine glands have been recently examined, the following changes 
were found. 


Gonads. 

Testes. —In two cases there were fibrotic changes affecting chiefly the 
basement membranes of the tubules. Ovaries : In one case advanced 
fibrosis was present, in the other the ovaries were not examined. 
Thyroid: In one male and two females the type was active, in two 
quiescent. Pituitary : Changes indicating unusual activity were present 
in two males and two females. Suprarenal: In all cases there was 
vacuolation of the cortex. Thymus: Active thymus tissue was present 
in three males and one female; in one male the type was persistent 
infantile, in the others regenerative. 

Chemistry. 

We, in a former paper (31), pointed out the chemical changes in the 
blood and urine that we had observed to occur before and after epileptic 
attacks. Since then we have in a certain number of cases made examina¬ 
tions of the urine twelve-hourly instead of every twenty-four hours, and 
have in this way found some of the changes more accentuated. In a 
twenty-four-hourly specimen of urine the pre- and post-epileptic effects 
often become confused. We have also in one case examined the blood 
twice daily, and in this way found the changes before a fit more pro- 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



1918.] BY GUY P. U. PRIOR AND S. EVAN JONES. 49 


nounced. To repeat, shortly, the changes we formerly stated or have 
since found to occur are : 

In the urine, before a fit or series: An increase in the calcium 
excreted; a fall in the amount of phosphates excreted; a fall in the 
amount of chlorides excreted. The calcium change varies in different 
patients, some habitually excrete little or none, and in these no change 
is observed. The change in the phosphates and chlorides, more especi¬ 
ally the former, is, with an occasional exception, constant. 

In the blood, before a fit or series : A fall in the degree of alkalinity ; 
a fall in the leucocyte count. The coagulation time, which we formerly 
thought was shortened before a fit, we have since seen in some cases 
lengthened, and in other cases the change is so variable as to be no 
guide. The calcium blood index was also variable, sometimes being 
high and sometimes low. 

After a fit or scries there is in the urine: An increase in the amount 
of phosphates excreted, which in some cases greatly exceed the inter- 
fit interval amount; there is also a rise in the amount of chlorides 
excreted, but this is not so marked or so consistent, and occurs earlier 
than the phosphatic rise. 

In the blood after an attack there is found : An increase in the 
number of leucocytes; a shortening of the coagulation time; a rise in 
the degree of alkalinity; a rise in the calcium blood index. 

We have also noted in many cases previous to an attack that there is an 
increase in the amount of urine passed, which in some cases habitually 
amounts to from roo to t3o oz. per diem, falling during a series or after 
an attack to from ro to t5 oz., this last being of much higher specific 
gravity than the former. We claim that by examinations of the urine 
twice daily and daily examinations of the blood, we can, in the majority 
of cases, foretell an epileptic attack, in some cases a day or two before, 
in others only a few hours before. 

The indications we find of greatest use, and subject to fewer excep¬ 
tions than the others, are the change in the percentage of the phos¬ 
phates and chlorides excreted, and the change in the leucocyte count; 
the other indications we have named are useful confirmatory points but 
are subject to more variation ; all these are subject to much alteration 
by other influences than the epileptic attacks. 

We believe that in many cases before an attack there is an increase 
in the amount of calcium excreted, in all a diminished amount of phos¬ 
phates excreted, with generally a fall in the amount of chlorides. Can 
these changes in any way directly or indirectly be connected with the 
epileptic attack ? We think they can. It is stated that calcium is for 
the most part excreted as calcium phosphate, that phosphorus is mostly 
excreted as the sodium or calcium salt, and that the chlorides are 
mostly excreted as sodium chloride. There being an increase in the 
LX IV. 4 


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50 EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, [Jan., 

calcium excreted, together with a fall in the phosphates and chlorides, 
we think this might be taken to show that there is a retention of sodium. 
Sabbatani (32) has stated that the surface of the brain is rendered more 
excitable by the application of sodium, and less excitable by the applica¬ 
tion of calcium salts. Substances that precipitate calcium heighten the 
excitability of nerve (33). Falta states that common salt given to children 
suffering from tetany brings about, full anodal hyperexcitability (34). 
Epileptics are known to improve on a restricted salt diet, but has the 
benefit that follows a saltless diet been attributed to the right cause ? 

In some cases before an attack there is a lengthening of the coagula¬ 
tion time, which may mean a diminished amount of fixed calcium.- In 
female epileptics attacks are commonest at the time of the menstrual 
period, when the coagulation time is lengthened and there is an increased 
loss of calcium. We think that these changes all point to a lessening 
of the calcium in the tissues and a retention of sodium, and that the 
bad effects of sodium chloride on epileptics may be due rather to the 
sodium than the chloride. Both the amount of calcium and phos¬ 
phorus excreted by the utine are greatly influenced by food and drugs, 
e.g. magnesium sulphate will increase the amount of calcium eliminated 
by the bowel and diminish that passed by the urine, lime will diminish 
the amount of phosphorus passed in the urine and increase that passed 
by the bowel (35). Until the faeces have been examined daily as to the 
quantity of these salts excreted, and the relation of the amount to that 
lost by the urine and to the epileptic attack, it is not possible to state 
the effect of these salts on the disease. We have endeavoured to abort 
attacks that we have foretold, by increasing the phosphates excreted, by 
creating a leucocytosis and increasing the calcium blood index and 
shortening the coagulation time, but so far with only partial success. 
Nuclein will cause a leucocytosis, and it is stated that it will cause an 
increase in the amount of phosphates excreted. Calcium injected sub¬ 
cutaneously will cause a shortening in the coagulation time and an 
increase in the calcium blood index; it is said to diminish the amount 
of phosphates excreted by the urine and to increase the amount elimi¬ 
nated by the bowel. We have often observed after its use a high 
leucocytosis. We used nuclein, thinking that its action might be similar 
to that of thymus extract, with the additional advantage that it can be 
subcutaneously injected. 

Case 35. — A female patient, to whom we gave injections of nuclein 
every third day, had previously averaged 20 fits a month; for the first 
month on this treatment she had no fit; at no time before had her 
record been less than 11 attacks a month. During the second month 
of this treatment her average returned to its former level. We dis¬ 
continued the treatment for several months, after which interval we 
gave her nuclein per os every alternate three days. For the first month, 


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1918.] BY GUY P. U. PRIOR AND S. EVAN JONES. 


51 


while taking this, she had 8 attacks, all at the time of her menstrual 
period, being her lowest record with the above exception. The con¬ 
stitutional effects of the fits were less than usual. For two more 
months this treatment was continued, but without benefit, except that 
the after-results of the attacks were rather less. 

We have given injections of nuclein in a few isolated cases, when the 
patients have told us that they were about to have an attack and the 
attack has not taken place. It is impossible to draw any conclusions 
from these results, but they are suggestive, and the action of this drug 
in epilepsy is worthy of study. If our idea as to sodium retention is 
correct, it is possible that nuclein might do good by promoting the 
excretion of sodium phosphate, and the leucocytosis that it causes may 
help to ward off the attack. 

Case 45 is the one in which we have tried nuclein most freely, and 
is the case in which we have continually endeavoured to abort attacks. 
This is a case of great interest, and is worth some remarks, we having 
made daily, or twice daily, observations on him for nine months. He 
came under our care in October, 1916, with but little as to his past 
history and only six months of his fits, which varied from 4 to 20, 
giving an average of 8^ attacks a month. He is a happy, good-natured 
imbecile, tet. 35, and said to have been an epileptic since childhood. 
Preceding a fit, for from a few to twenty-four hours, he has intense 
general clonic-muscular spasms, during which he is quite conscious, 
will talk rationally, and attend to his wants. It is while in these attacks 
that he will have the typical haut mal fits, the clonic spasms afterwards 
easing down for about half an hour, when they will return and con¬ 
tinue if not treated for from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, ceasing 
gradually. These attacks will, if not interfered with, recur with fair 
regularity about every ten days ; if postponed by treatment the tendency 
is to recur at a shorter interval. We have charted the observations 
made upon this patient, and we think have prevented the haut mal 
attacks by treatment at the time we expected them to occur, but have 
not been so successful with the accompanying attacks of spasms; but 
we think we have at times postponed them, and have lessened their 
severity. It will be seen, by reference to the chart, that this case shows 
a decided fall in the phosphatic excretion before an attack and a marked 
rise afterwards, that the quantity of urine excreted rises greatly at the 
time of the attack and falls after. There is a pre-fit fall and a post-fit 
rise in the chlorides excreted. The calcium excretion in this case is 
always low, seldom more than a trace, and is not sufficient to bear any 
direct relationship to the attacks. His blood changes for the most part 
are such as we have stated to occur. 


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5 2 


EPILEPSY AND THE DUCTLESS GLANDS, 


[Jan., 


Epitome of Treatment. 


Case No. 

Treatment. 

Gland. 

Number of 
months. 

Monthly average 
no. of tits. 

2 

K. Br. 

Nil 

12 

41 


Ca. Cl. et Br. 

Nil 

9 

«3 


Idem 

Suprarenal 

2 

IO 

3 

Nil 

Nil 

5 1 

110 


Ca. et Br. 

Suprarenal 

3 

9 


Idem 

Thymus 

3 

48 

6 

K. Br. 

Nil 

12 

l6 


Ca. et Br. 

Thymus 

l6 

8 

5 

K. Br. 

Nil 

12 

27 


Ca. et Br. 

Nil 

4 

'5 


Idem 

Thymus 

9 

14 

7 

Nil 

Nil 

3 

20 


Various treat- 





ment 

— 

9 

24 


Ca. et Br. 

Parathyroid 

5 

12 

'9 

K. Br. 

Nil 

4 

35 


Ca. et Br. 

Nil 

3 

3° 


Ca. 

Didymin 

3 

25 


Ca. 

Pituitary 

* 

33 


Ca. et Br. 

Didymin 

6 

17 

20 

Nil 

Nil 

5 

33 


Ca. et Br. 

Nil 

s 

28 


K. Br. 

Nil 

12 

22 


Idem 

Suprarenal 

6 

17 

39 

Nil 

Nil 

6 

100 


Ca. et Br. 

Nil 

1 

3° 


Ca. et Br. 

Parathyroid 

8 

17 


Idem 

Suprarenal 

2 

38 

40 

K. Br. 

Nil 

12 

IO 


Ca. et Br. 

Parathyroid 

IO 

3 

22 

Nil 

Nil 

5 

l 8 


K. Br. 

Nil 

4 

13 


K. Br. 

Parathyroid 

3 

18 


Ca. et Br. 

Parathyroid 

5 

9 

23 

Nil 

Nil 

6 

21 


Ca. 

Thyroid 

1 

34 


Ca. et Br. 

Suprarenal 

3 



Idem 

Thymus 

4 

8 


Ca. 

Suprarenal 

3 

7 


Ca. et Br. 

Nil 

4 

3 

24 

Nil 

Nil 

0 

9 


Ca. et Br. 

Nil 

6 

3 


Idem 

Thymus 

4 

2 

2S 

Nil 

Nil 

7 

18 


Ca. 

Nil 

3 

10 

i 

Ca. et Br. 

Thyroid et 





Thymus 

4 

9 


Idem 

Thymus 

5 

7 

29 

Nil 

Nil 

7 

10 


Ca. et Br. 

Nil 

4 

10 


Idem 

Thymus 

13 

7 

3 ° 

Nil 

Nil 

4 

15 


Ca. et Br. 

Nil 

8 

9 

1 

Idem 

Suprarenal 

5 

4 

1 


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1918 .] BY GUY P. U. PRIOR AND S. EVAN JONES. 


53 


Conclusions. 

Among statements and results which are apparently absolutely con¬ 
tradictory and opposed, is it possible to co-relate these more than 
confusioned actions ? 

We have seen that epileptiform convulsions, according to various 
authorities, may occur with apituitary, hypo- and hyper-thyroid, hypo- 
and hyper-suprarenal and aparathyroid conditions. All these glands 
play an important part in the calcium metabolism. In apituitary, 
hyperthyrord, hyposuprarenal, and aparathyroid affections, there is an 
increased loss of calcium from the tissues. If this salt has the influence 
that we think in the causation of epilepsy, this may be found to be the 
common ground upon which all these glands act. In over-action of the 
suprarenals there is a calcium retention, which makes it difficult to 
explain how an over- and an under-action of this gland can both cause 
convulsions. If an over-action of the suprarenals should be a factor 
in the causation of the phenomena it may be through these glands 
that the thyroid, pituitary, and parathyroid act, as thyroid secretion 
stimulates the suprarenals to action, and the cortex of the suprarenals 
hypertrophies in apituitarism, and there is an ill-understood relation¬ 
ship between the parathyroids and the suprarenals. The subject is 
full of difficulties, and probably not at present capable of explanation. 
That the ductless glands have some part in the production of epilepsy, 
and that their extracts may be beneficial in this disease, we think is 
proved. But, except in cases of apituitarism and marked cases of 
aparathyroid ism, it is not possible to give definite indications as to 
which gland will be useful in any given case. One can only be led by 
general glandular symptomatology. 

Our thanks are due to Dr. Oliver Latham for kindly preparing, and 
cutting of, and advising as to the sections ; and to Mr. R. C. Dent for 
much help in forming the tables upon the action of the glands. 

References. 

(1) Allbutt's Medicine, vol. viii. 

(2) Bell, W. Blair.—“ General Function of Ductless Glands in 
Female,” Lancet, April, 1911. 

(3) Falta, W.— Diseases of Ductless Glands, second edition, p. 336. 

(4) Schafer.— The Endocrine Organs, p. 111. 

(5) Reference in Endocrinology, vol. i, No. 1. 

(6) Ibid. 

(7) New York Medical Journal, 19x6, ciii. 

(8) New York State Journal of Medicine , 1916, xvi. 

(9) Falta, W.— Diseases of Ductless Glands, p. 182. 

(10) Paton, D. Noel.— Regulators of Metabolism, p. 186. 

(11) Know, H. A.—“Research in Epilepsy,” New York Med. 
Journ., 1917, cv, p. 406. 


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54 MUTISM IN THE SOLDIER AND ITS TREATMENT, [Jan., 


(12) “ Epilepsy : A Metabolic Disease,” Journ. Mint. Sci., January, 

1917. 

(13) Bell, W. Blair .—Sex Complex , p. 54. 

(14) Sajous, C. E. de M.—“The Theory of Internal Secretions,” 

The Practitioner, February, 1915, p. 180. 

(15) Ibid., p. 181. 

(16) Thursfield, H.—“Status Lymphaticus,” Clinical Journal, 

June 10th, 19x5. 

(17) Barr, Sir J.—“Lime Salts in Health and Disease,” Brit. Med. 

Journ., 1910, ii, p. 829. 

(18) Turner, W. A.— Epilepsy, 1907, p. 195. 

(19) , (20) Paton, D. Noel .—Regulators of Metabolism, p. 1 1 7. 

(21) Schafer.— The Endocrine Organs, p. 47. 

(22) Bell, W. Blair.— The Sex Complex , p. 19. 

(23) Schafer. — The Endocrine Organs, p. 134. 

(24) Falta, W.— The Ductless Glandular Diseases, p. 362. 

(25) Cotton, Carson-White, and Stevenson.—“Pathogenesis and 
Treatment of,” New York Med. Journ., 1916; Ref. Endocrinology, 
vol. i, No. 1. 

(26) Bell, W. Blair .—The Sex Complex, p. 185. 

(27) Ibid., p. 182. 

(28) Ibid., p. 190. 

(29) Bell, W. Blair, and Hicks, P.— Brit. Med. Journ., i, 1909, 

P- 592 . 

(30) Ludlum and Carson-White.—“ Thymus and Pituitary in 
Dementia Prsecox,” Amer. Journ. of Insanity, April, 1915. 

(31) “ Epilepsy : A Metabolic Disease,” Journ. Menf. Sci., January, 

1917. 

(32) , (33), (34) Falta.— Ductless Glandular Diseases, p. 195. 

(35) Martindale and Westcott .—The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 1915, 
vol. ii, p. 246. 

(36) Schafer .—The Endocrine Organs, p. 56. 

(37) Waller, H. E.—“ The Use of Hormones in Children’s Diseases,” 

The Practitioner, February, 1915. t 

(38) , (39) Falta, W .—The Ductless Glandular Diseases, p. 147. 

(40) Auer, Murray E.—“ Sensory Phenomena in Epilepsy,” Amer. 

Journ. of Insanity, January, 1916. 


Mutism in the Soldier and its Treatment. By Colin McDowall, 
M.D., late Capt. (Temp.), R.A.M.C., Ticehurst House, Tice- 
hurst. 

Many varieties of functional disturbance are found in men enlisted 
for the present war, and not the least interesting is mutism. In a 
hospital set apart for the treatment of nervous disorders many cases of 
complete loss of speech are met with, and these may be divided con¬ 
veniently into three main categories as follows : Mutism arising in the 
field, in hospital, and previous to participation in active service. 


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BY COLIN MCDOWALL, M.D. 


55 


Loss of speech occurring in the field is nearly always due to close 
proximity to the explosion of a shell or mine. The man is frequently 
blown into the air or knocked over and buried, but this is not always 
the case. Men have described to me how one shell after another fell 
near them in rapid succession, and though not close enough to inflict 
any physical injury, yet the mental effect was so great as to produce a 
state of complete helplessness and subsequent loss of voice through 
fear. The men can tell when a shell is near them by the sound pro¬ 
duced as it travels through the air, and some have described the sensa¬ 
tion of being thrown up by a shell explosion. One patient, a warrant 
officer, said that he felt as if he was being distended with air. On the 
other hand, many can give no details of any kind. It would appear 
that the main effect of shell explosions in one’s immediate neighbour¬ 
hood is to produce a highly emotional state. It is not to be wondered 
at that men under heavy shell fire experience many emotions. They 
know only too well what a shell can do, for they have seen what 
shells have done, and they can judge to a certain extent if a shell is 
about to fall near them. They cannot say how near, but the uncertainty, 
danger, and noise put what they call “ the wind up them.” That is the 
soldier’s expression for an emotional state characterised by fear. 

It is not so easy to prove how great a part emotion plays in the produc¬ 
tion of mutism in those cases in which a man is violently thrown into 
the air or is knocked over by concussion. The actual explosion lasts 
only a minute fraction of a second, but the mental effect, if the victim 
retains his consciousness, must be intense. That he has no recollection 
of the explosion in no way disproves that he was momentarily conscious 
of it. On admission, at any rate, these subjects of mutism exhibit many 
signs of extreme emotion due to terror—tremor often generalised, rapid 
breathing, marked corrugations of the forehead, and a restless, shifty 
manner. There is another type of case in which dulness, apathy, and 
depression are the leading features, and this type is most frequently 
observed when deafness is a superadded symptom. These cases are 
of such frequent occurrence that they will be referred to again. 

At a home hospital it is almost impossible to obtain reliable histories 
with details of the onset of the patient’s trouble, and men are only too 
ready to attribute their condition to shell-shock, though subsequent 
inquiry may fail to furnish any evidence. My belief is that mutism, as 
seen in soldiers, is due to various causes, but all of an emotional 
character, and once a condition of speechlessness has been produced 
this state is prolonged by the inability of the man to overcome an 
inhibition, and thus regain the control of a voluntary mechanism which 
he does not understand. In most instances ignorance, and in many 
indifference, prolongs the trouble. 

The symptoms accompanying mutism are not invariable, but the 


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56 MUTISM IN THE SOLDIER AND ITS TREATMENT, [Jan., 

point of most importance is the condition of the respiratory apparatus. 
Frequently a case cannot hold his breath for more than twelve or fifteen 
seconds. The respirations are rapid and shallow. The man is unable 
to take a deep breath, and he cannot blow out a match a yard away. 
The volume of breath on powerful exertion is only poor. Such is the 
condition in a typical case, and it does not appear to matter how long 
he has been ill, as cases of six or seven months’ duration have exhibited 
the same respiratory signs. This description, however, needs some 
qualifications. If a man is on the point of recovery his respiratory 
troubles are by no means so marked, and in the cases of home troopers, 
and indeed in all cases in which emotion could not be assigned as a 
causal factor, the respiratory disturbances are not present. Other, but 
not invariable, accompaniments of mutism, are inability to coughi 
whistle, and put out the tongue—the latter a suspicious indication of 
a not straightforward case. Some patients are unable to arrange the 
lips correctly for the production of certain sounds, and the tongue does 
not strike the teeth when an attempt is made to produce dentals. On 
recovery all have a certain amount of hesitation in their speech, and 
absence of this impediment must be considered a suspicious sign. 
The recurrence of mutism after some weeks and even months is quite 
common, and here, again, the emotional character of the cause is very 
evident. 

The first series of cases will refer to mutism occurring in the field. 

No. 62, an N.C.O., set. 23. No history of previous nervous disorder 
or heredity. A clerk who enlisted in the second month of the war, 
he did little training, but was chiefly employed in an office. He 
went to France, and on the way up the line had to fall out twice with a 
weakness in the legs. He was in the trenches one month. They were 
shelled out of their first line of trenches, and retired to the second. He 
was told that he was buried, but he cannot remember anything about 
it. He lost his speech and hearing, and could not see with the right 
eye. His hearing returned in two days; a month later when he came 
to Maghull he was mute, but two days afterwards he spoke. He was 
lying in bed half asleep when someone bumped against the side of his 
bed. He uttered an ejaculation. Three months later he went home 
for the day, and as he got out of the train he saw another N.C.O., a 
great friend of his, who he thought had been killed by the same shell 
that blew him up. Naturally he was much surprised and hurried up to 
greet him. He put out his hand and said “ How ”... but could 
say no more. He continued to be mute for ten days, but suddenly 
recovered his speech when he replied “ Good morning ” to my saluta¬ 
tion. He was very tremulous and speech was indistinct. The tremor 
quickly disappeared, but the stammering persisted for three months. 
Shortly afterwards he again lost his speech. He was incorrectly accused 
of having removed some writing paper from an office, and again he 
became very tremulous and his speech faint and hesitating. 


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BY COLIN MCDOWALL, M.D. 


57 


Such a history is quite a usual one following shell-shock and burial. 
Hearing returns before speech. The recovery of speech was spontaneous 
and could not be attributed to medical treatment. The circumstances 
attending the recurrence of mutism is interesting as demonstrating the 
relation to the obvious stimulation of the emotions. The unexpected 
meeting of the man he thought was dead, and the unfounded accusa¬ 
tion of pilfering, were not the only painful factors acting upon him, as 
he had a family trouble about which he sought my advice. The sub¬ 
sequent history was uneventful, and there have been no relapses. His 
neurasthenic state has greatly improved. Here, then, we have a not 
quite simple case of shell-shock, for he had in addition an irritating 
mental factor, and when this was removed the risk of relapse dis¬ 
appeared. Although it is not usual to find such complications in 
mutism, the possibility of their existence should not be overlooked. 
Shell explosion of itself is sufficient to produce loss of speech, but under 
proper treatment a simple case speedily responds. When relapses do 
occur, or suitable treatment proves unsuccessful, the whole mental field 
should be sifted and the sources of irritation removed. 

No. 54, private, set. 21, went to France in February, 1915. On 
April 23rd he was blown up by a “Jack Johnson.” He remembers 
hobbling away, but discovered that he was very shaky, and that he 
could not speak; but his memory of the shock is not very clear. When 
examined three months later he had no tremor, was mute, and could 
not whistle or cough. He passed out of my hands, but returned six 
months later looking very well and healthy. He was happy and 
cheerful, but still quite mute. He had various ill-defined pains : “ his 
heart felt like a bruise,” “ there was pain at the angle of the jaw,” etc. 
Breathing exercises were at once begun. He whispered clearly in 
twenty-four hours, and could phonate loudly in two or three days. He 
was discharged to his depot, and did quite well for a few months, 
when on saying good-bye to a draft that was on its way to France, he 
found himself giddy and upset, and his voice became whispering and 
feeble. He was readmitted to Maghull, and regained his voice in a 
few days. In this case it may be interesting to mention that a few 
months before war broke out this man was working on a submarine. 
He accidentally made contact with the electrical apparatus and received 
a violent shock. He lost his speech on this occasion for three hours. 
It is therefore possible that suggestion had something to do with his 
attack of mutism following shell-shock. The only other point of 
interest is the long continuation of the functional disability—he was 
dumb fully nine months. When first he regained his speech he talked 
only during inspiration. This condition I have not uncommonly seen 
in other cases. It appears to me probable that he could have recovered 
the power of speech sooner if he had made a determined effort. Men 
have come under my care suffering from various functional troubles 
after they had passed through numerous hospitals with little or no 
improvement in their condition. They had often been told “ you will 
get well now; this will be your last hospital.” This is no doubt very 


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58 MUTISM IN THE SOLDIER AND ITS TREATMENT, [Jan., 


sound suggestive treatment, but when not successful it becomes highly 
discouraging by repetition. So it is not difficult to imagine how 
heartily sick of hospitals these poor fellows become. They have no 
intelligent conception of their illness, no one takes the trouble to explain 
it to them, and so they drift on, tired of trying to bring back a faculty 
the simple rudiments of which they do not understand. But let them 
get into a hospital where the atmosphere is entirely different, and where 
they will come under new experiences, then they may be induced to 
make a stronger and possibly final effort. So far as my experience goes, 
nothing is easier to cure than mutism, and no class of case responds 
more readily to proper environment. For this reason they are always 
welcome in my ward. One recovered mute infects another with con¬ 
fidence and hope, more especially if the treatment adopted in each case 
is the same, and simple enough to appeal to the patient’s intelligence. 

Another man went to France after a year’s training, and five months 
later was blown up by a shell. He says that he lost consciousness for 
a time; he found himself the same evening in a dressing station, but 
he could not speak, and his hearing was imperfect. Fie was trembling. 
After five weeks his hearing had become normal. When he came 
under my observation he had been dumb for six months, excepting 
that he had been heard to say “ Dash ” when he burnt his fingers, 
about a month before I saw him. Under the usual treatment he spoke 
loudly and with only very slight hesitation after an interview of about 
quarter of an hour’s duration. It should be noted that in this case the 
patient could hold his breath tolerably well, and his breathing was not 
rapid. After recovery I suggested to him that he could have talked 
sooner if he had wished, and he admitted that he had not made a great 
effort to get well. He was happy in hospital, and having got quite used 
to dumb show the loss of speech had not been a great inconvenience. 
In fact, he had got into a groove, and was content to remain there. 
This type borders on the malingerer. In several respects he was rather 
an inferior man ; a barman in civilian life, rough, uneducated, rather 
cunning, but at the same time dull and lacking in initiative. 

No. 69, private. He was buried by a shell. “ This is what has been 
wrote to me; I don’t remember.” He was unconscious for six hours, 
and then found that he was deaf and dumb. After five weeks the 
hearing returned to one ear. He came to Maghull seven months after 
the shell explosion. This was his eighth hospital in England. When 
questioned as to what treatment he had had he answered, “ I had really 
no treatment, only experiments,” although in various hospitals electricity 
and anaesthetics had been tried. He regained his speech for three days 
in a previous hospital after a game of cards, but when he came to 
Maghull two months afterwards he was quite dumb, and in a very 
perverse frame of mind. He professed himself heartily tired of hospitals, 
and had no faith in himself or any medical man. Under the circum¬ 
stances it was thought prudent to leave him alone, and allow the 
hospital atmosphere to produce in the patient a more readily receptive 
mental attitude. Three nights later during sleep he was heard to call 
out loudly, “Take the wire off.” He was dreaming of the events 
immediately preceding the shell explosion. He spoke to the nurse 
who waked him. The next day he spoke, but only on inspiration. He 


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could fully expand the chest, and hold his breath for twenty-six seconds. 
For permission to quote this case I am indebted to Capt. Reeve. 

I have included this example of mutism relieved during a dream, 
because, though not unusual fora mute to speak in a dream, on regaining 
consciousness he usually becomes silent again. Dreams are occasionally 
the cause of men losing their power of speech. One case lost it eight 
times, always as the result of the same dream. On each occasion he 
woke up agitated, breathless, sweating, and speechless. 

Another example of deaf mutism occurring in the field may be given. 

No. 60, aet. 19, a shipyard worker, of fair education (Standard VII.) 
Since childhood he had a lisp. No heredities. Within three weeks of 
arrival in France he was blown up and completely buried by a shell. 
He remembers the shell coming, but when dug out he was deaf and 
dumb. He also remembers being carried away. He was in a French 
base hospital for some months, and then in one at home for a month. 
He was able to whisper during the latter period, but could not hear. 
He again lost his speech by bumping into a man in the street. When 
he first came under my care he appeared very dull and stupid ; the lips 
were kept open, but the complexion was florid and healthy. Treatment 
along the usual lines was adopted. He heard the raised voice almost 
at once ; a few minutes later he could hear a whisper. His speech then 
received attention and he spoke almost at once, and at the end of 
twenty-five minutes he left the room with perfect hearing and only very 
slight hesitation in his speech. This case is probably an example of the 
type referred to by Lieut.-Col. Myers when he deals with the stuperose 
condition associated with shell-shock. The man looked very dull. A 
sudden noise produced an immediate blinking of the eyelids. I wrote 
on a piece of paper “You can hear”; but he shook his head and 
appeared quite indifferent to his position. He was then given a mirror 
and instructed to look at my eyes as reflected in it. The unexpected 
noise was repeated, and he saw his own eyelids react. 

Such an experiment naturally raises the old problems. Was the man 
able to hear before ? Is this condition the result of prolonged stupor ? 
Was he a malingerer? Why did he not hear much louder sounds 
before ? All these questions, excepting malingering, are very difficult 
to answer. I do not consider these men malingerers. Some patients 
describe how they heard sounds, but were unable to distinguish them, 
as they all felt like vague rumblings. These men do not realise that 
this is hearing. They are not accustomed to describe things accurately, 
they take or leave things as they find them ; and if they cannot hear 
properly they are rather inclined to think that they cannot hear at all. 
Our patient had had a ralher long railway journey the day before I saw 
him, yet he denied that he had heard the train moving or anything else, 
and I am prepared to accept his statement. His mental condition was 
distinctly one of apathy, and he appeared to be quite indifferent to 


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6o MUTISM IN THE SOLDIER AND ITS TREATMENT, [Jan., 


external things, and wholly lacking in initiative and energy. Now that 
he has recovered his facial expression is entirely altered. 

The second group of which I desire to speak comprises those who 
develop mutism in hospitals after return from overseas. This group 
nowadays exceed the former, and this is no doubt due to the fact that 
treatment is undertaken in special hospitals in France. 

No. 104, a private in the R.E., married. He went to France in 
October, 1915, and was partially buried by a shell at Christmas, 1916. 
He was very shaky after the explosion, but would not report sick. 
Next day he was worse, and, although advised to do so, would not 
leave his company as his younger brother was in it. However, the 
following day he was obviously so unfit that he was sent to hospital. 
He could speak and hear. He returned to light duty, and then 
obtained leave to go home for ten days. Two days after arrival 
there one of his children became ill and died the same day. An 
inquiry was held, as it was thought that the cause of death was cerebro¬ 
spinal fever, and it was suggested that he had brought the infection 
with him. He was accordingly sent to an isolation hospital. He lost 
his speech suddenly as the result of “thinking.” Two months later he 
came under my care. He was mute, the head was shaking, and there 
was marked tremor of the arms and legs. He was very emotional and 
depressed. He could hold his breath for fifteen seconds only. His 
efforts to blow out a match were unsuccessful, and he made facial con¬ 
tortions when urged to increased efforts. The breathing was improved 
by demonstrations, and then the sudden artificial contraction of the 
abdominal muscles, applied in the middle of a long expiration, pro¬ 
duced a sound. He was very pleased, but became highly emotional. 
Next day he whispered, and on the following day he spoke, but with a 
very bad stammer. 

This is a fairly typical example of mutism occurring as the result of 
strong emotion. We have, firstly, the shell explosion ; next, the home¬ 
coming ; later, the tragedy of his child’s death ; and lastly, the sugges¬ 
tion that he might have been the cause of infection. The fact that 
in the first instance he refused to leave his brother is evidence how 
strongly family affairs entered into his life. 

No. 62, a private, tet. 24, single. He had been in France for eighteen 
months and seen a good deal of fighting. In August, 1916, he was 
wounded through the right side of the face, the bullet passing across 
the floor of the mouth, and making its exit in the side of the neck. The 
tongue was not injured. At the same time he received two other 
wounds, and when lying wounded, a shell exploded close to him, 
covering him with earth. When invalided to England he was able to 
talk, but not loudly. He was returned to his depot, and his voice 
became quite strong again, but shortly afterwards it began to fadeaway, 
and ultimately he became mute. He said that he received no treatment; 
the desire to treat him was not absent however, as the experiment of 


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1918.] BY COLIN MCDOWALL, M.D. 6 1 

throwing a bucket of cold water over him when he was in a hot bath 
was unsuccessfully tried. 

When first seen at Maghull he was an anxious-looking man; his 
respirations were 24 to the minute ; he could cough but not whistle, and 
he complained of a “feeling in the chest as if it were too tight.” The 
day following treatment he whispered, and the next day he spoke but 
with a very bad stutter. Why the voice disappeared completely is not 
easy of explanation, but one can readily understand how a man, 
wounded very close to the organ which, according to popular idea, is the 
principal apparatus of speech, might readily become mute. Pain 
itself would make speech difficult, at least for a time. Probably the 
return to his depot brought back all the old associations, and he was 
unable to overcome the resulting inhibition. 

It would be easy to multiply examples of this kind, but one only 
need be given, an instance of deaf-mutism. 

No. 85, private in the A.S.C., married, seven children, of whom five 
are in the Army. He gives his age as 48, but looks older. After 
working in France a year as a transport worker, he developed a “bad 
cold,” and went into hospital. His work had been too much for him. His 
speech left him apparently as the result of coughing. Gradually his 
hearing became more and more affected until he seemed to become 
quite deaf. The man added : “ I am nearly fifty now, and that was the 
age when my father became stone deaf.” When seen he was apparently 
a deaf-mute. He could cough loudly, but not whisper, nor could he 
make a satisfactory effort to use his lips in the formation of sounds, and 
could not lip-read at all. In appearance he was very depressed and 
helpless. He gave a history of having been in the trenches, but not 
specially exposed to heavy shell fire. In a month after his transfer to 
England he spoke in hospital. He stated that he could not hear 
properly, and could not carry on any form of conversation because of 
the impairment of hearing. He was sent home on ten days’ leave, and 
on his birthday his speech suddenly left him, and the deafness became 
absolute. When examined two months later at Maghull the breathing 
was normal. After treatment he whispered in twenty-four hours, and 
two days later speech was normal. The following day he could hear a 
sudden noise, and recovery followed very quickly. 

There are a few points in this case which may be noted. The 
speech was perfect before the hearing, and this held good for both 
occasions of his speech recovery. The very clear influence that sugges¬ 
tion played in the causation of his deafness is interesting. Lastly, the 
condition of his respiratory apparatus was normal. He had not been 
shell-shocked ; apparently he had not been subjected to any disturbing 
emotions; but, as he said, “ The work was too much for him.’* The 
special sense which had been his father’s weak spot was adopted by the 
son as that offering least resistance. 


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62 MUTISM IN THE SOLDIER AND ITS TREATMENT, [Jan., 


As to mutism occurring in soldiers without active service my experience 
is very limited. One man became speechless following an attack of 
bronchitis. He had suffered from aphonia before the war, and was a very 
neurotic subject with a bad heredity. In another case mutism developed 
after a boil on the face. Both these men were members of the R.A.M.C. 
No doubt they had heard a great deal about mutism, and probably had 
seen some cases in hospital. Neither showed anything unusual in 
breathing, and I have little doubt that the second man was not genuine. 

This brings me to the subject of malingering. No one who has seen 
much of functional nervous cases will dissent from the aphorism that 
before any treatment is adopted malingering must be excluded. In 
mutism the opportunity for the malingerer is immense. A man may be 
genuine at the beginning, then suddenly discover that he can speak, 
but maintain his former silence; or he may simulate dumbness from 
the beginning. Deafness may also be simulated, but the task is more 
difficult though not impossible. A much commoner form of shamming 
is aphonia. Such a man, after months in hospital, was “cured ” by one 
day’s strict isolation. 

No. 70, N.C.O., set. 30, reservist and ex-policeman. He was called 
up at the outbreak of the war and went through all the earlier fighting. 
At Christmas, 1914, he was blown over by a shell. The last thing he 
remembers is the approaching of the shell. He became deaf and dumb. 
A few weeks previously he had lost his speech as the result of shell 
explosion, but he never left the trenches, and his voice returned. This 
is the man’s own account. In France he had a variety of treatment; 
he was placed blindfolded close to a big gun when it was fired, and he 
had electric treatment and anaesthesia in hospital. He was admitted 
ultimately to Maghull. He could hear but not speak. He went to 
Liverpool with another soldier, and was the centre of attraction to a lot 
of people. His companion could talk, and was evidently soliciting 
sympathy by showing him off in the street. A detective, suspecting that 
begging was going on, asked for an explanation. This was accepted 
as satisfactory, and the same day our patient overstayed his leave, and 
when next seen was talking to a woman. Unfortunately for him the 
detective who had previously spoken to him was passing at the time 
dressed in mufti. He spotted our patient as the man who, a few hours 
previously, he had been told was deaf and dumb, and promptly arrested 
him. I saw him next day, and he gave the history of the events 
leading up to his arrest. He said that he met a woman and they had 
a quarrel; that she struck him on the chest; that he exclaimed “ Oh,” 
and at the same time his hearing returned. In the police court I had 
to admit that such a thing was not impossible, and so the man returned 
to hospital. Seven days later, for no apparent reason, his speech and 
hearing again left him. He said that his neck seemed to swell out. A 
few days later he again overstayed his leave and was arrested by the 
police. In the police-station, when being searched and his money taken 
from him, he said “ Money.” He returned to hospital and came under 
my charge. He was apparently unable to take long breaths or inhale 


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cigarette smoke. Treatment was persevered with for a week with no 
improvement. Strict isolation was begun, and within an hour he 
whispered, and next day phonated perfectly. He explained that he 
had had to “keep pushing the apple down.” When urged to make an 
effort to speak he had complained of pain in the larynx. 

It is probable that the first stage of his condition was genuine. It 
is certain that after his return to hospital the loss of speech and hearing 
was simulated. The fact that he was apparently unable to take a long 
breath and was unable in my presence to inhale need not be regarded 
as contrary to the diagnosis of simulation, as he was commonly seen by 
others to inhale cigarette smoke. 

It is difficult to give any satisfactory explanation of mutism and 
deafness. I have already said something about the former, but nothing 
about the other. Deafness corresponds to functional anaesthesia. It 
seems to be produced by a mental stimulus sufficiently powerful to 
deaden the central area for the reception of sounds. Functional deafness 
may engraft itself on a passing organic condition. Labyrinthine con¬ 
cussion is a recognised condition. Functional deafness is somewhat 
analogous to the state of amnesia frequently met with in soldiers 
returning from overseas. I have seen two instances where the amnesia 
persisted after the deafness was cured. No doubt cases seen at an 
earlier stage would show the alliance of the two conditions more clearly 
and more frequently. The loss of memory is an unconscious effort to 
blot out the horrors of the patient’s past experience. Probably in much 
the same way, deafness is a successful but involuntary means to shut 
out the present. Then ignorance, lack of self-confidence, and initiative 
maintain the disability. 

The forms of treatment of mutism are endtess in variety. My own 
may be briefly described as follows : The patient is asked to take a long 
breath. He is then told to hold his breath ; he fails, but very frequently 
persists that he succeeded. I then give him a cigarette which he is 
asked to inhale, when the patient at once discovers that he is incapable 
of holding his breath. He learns, possibly for the first time, that his 
respiratory apparatus is at fault. Exercises to promote correct breathing 
are then undertaken. The most important point is to obtain a good 
volume of breath without hesitation on expiration. He is asked to blow 
out a match at increasing distances ; then to breathe freely, trying to 
say “Ah ! ” at the same time ; then to sigh the sound “ow,” and later 
the sound “ ou.” Three long breaths and three sighs, together with the 
correct mouth formation, produce the sentence “ How are you”? Once 
deep breathing is established, a sudden squeeze of the abdominal wall 
will produce phonation. The immediate effect will be a display of 
emotion. Tears are frequently the precursor of speech. As soon'as a 
man can whisper faintly but sufficiently for others to hear I bring in 


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another patient or a nurse to show the patient that he can now be 
understood. The following day the same process is repeated, and as a 
rule the man will talk freely'after the third day. The method of suddenly 
squeezing the abdominal wall has already been described in a French 
journal, but I have lost the reference. 

Deafness is also dealt with on simple, common-sense lines. The 
patient is seated in a chair and holds a small mirror in his hand. I 
stand behind the man and instruct him to look at my eyes reflected in 
the mirror. After a suitable interview a sudden noise is made without 
any movement on my part. The patient will blink and the mirror will 
render him conscious that he has moved his eyelids. He is also 
conscious that the movement is a proof that he can hear. The whole 
performance is simplicity itself, and it appeals to the man’s common 
sense and he is convinced, against his inclination in some cases. 

In both these simple methods the principal agents are common sense 
and re-education. Lip-reading and the deaf and dumb alphabet should 
never be allowed. 


Clinical Notee and Cases. 


A Case of Porencephaly. By H. E. Bond, M.D., Dip.Psych.Med. 

(Cantab.), L.R.C.P. and S.(Edin.). 

The subject of this paper, R. I. M—, was admitted into the Jamaica 
Government Lunatic Asylum on April 13th, 1914, with a history of 
epilepsy. She was a well-developed woman, ret. 37, with a right-sided 
hemiplegia ; the right upper limb was flexed at the elbow, wrist, and 
finger-joints, a very limited range of movement being left. The 
muscles of the limb were quite wasted. The lower right limb was 
equally affected as regards wasting and limitation of movement. She 
could neither spit nor whistle, and saliva was continually dribbling 
from her mouth. She was suicidal but not dangerous. Previous 
history: There was no instrumental delivery at birth. She started to 
have fits when sixteen months old. The paralysis was noticed at that 
time, and she attended school for a period, but, owing to the severity of 
the fits, had to be taken away. No one of her relatives had been insane. 

During her stay in this institution she had fits periodically and 
suffered from recurrent attacks of pellagra. Apart from these she 
enjoyed fairly good health. For six months prior to her death there 
was a complete absence of fits, but she, however, gradually began to 
get very thin and emaciated, and had to be confined to bed up to the 
day of her death—September 2nd last. 

Post mortem examination revealed the following : The skull was very 


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thick, dense, and heavy ; the dura mater thickened, fibrous, but not 
adherent to the calvarium ; the pia-arachnoid opaque and cedematous ; 
brain, there was a notable disproportion between the two sides ; right 
hemisphere, simple convolutional pattern, congested, no wasting; left 
hemisphere, simple convolutional pattern, pale, general wasting; sec¬ 
tion, from the anterior to the posterior pole there was a well-marked 
cavity containing straw-coloured fluid which was not turbid. When the 
fluid was let out the cavity was smooth, there being a complete absence 
of the basal ganglia or any other vestige of brain matter. Lying across 
the floor of the cavity were remnants of the choroid plexus. There 
was an excess of cerebro-spinal fluid. The brain weighed 895 grm. 
Examination of the cerebellum, pons, and medulla showed nothing 
abnormal. No morbid changes calling for special note were found in 
any of the other viscera. 

For permission to publish particulars of this case I am indebted to 
Dr. D. J. Williams, Medical Superintendent. 


Some Notes on the Case and Post-mortem Examination of a 
Microceplialic Idiot—Absence of Corpus Callosum. By G. N. 
Bartlett, Medical Superintendent, Exeter City Asylum. 

E. G—, a female, was admitted in October, 1904, set. 14. 

Her general development and stature were much below normal, her 
height being recorded as 4 ft. 6i in., her weight 5 st. 2 lb., the circum¬ 
ference of the head 18 in., and the other cranial measurements as 
correspondingly small. Her vocabulary consisted of a few words and 
phrases and some bad language, and her speech was a very indistinct 
drawl. Her movements were clumsy, and her gait a shuffle but stable 
enough to allow her to knock another patient down. She had a double 
squint and was more than usually degenerate and repulsive in appear¬ 
ance, especially as facial contortions were common, and the mouth 
usually open and dribbling. She proved herself uneducable, even as 
regards her personal habits, and quite dependent, and in a short 
description her uncontrollable temper only need be mentioned; an 
exhibition of screaming, swearing, kicking, biting, scratching was forth¬ 
coming on the slightest provocation. Her habits were very dirty and 
destructive, and her table manners were repulsive. 

In 1909, ulceration at the angle of the mouth was recorded and 
regarded as syphilitic, but there was no amelioration under prolonged 
treatment. She was always thin and anaemic, and subject to digestive 
troubles due mainly to her habit of bolting food. Suspicions of tuber¬ 
culosis of the lungs and lesions of the spinal cord, aroused from time to 
time by her condition, were dispelled by negative examinations, and 
there was no apparent change in her movements and powers of 

LX IV. 5 


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co ordination up to the time of her death in October, 19x7, at the 
age of 27. 

The post-mortem examination revealed complete absence of the 
corpus callosum, a condition unsuspected during life, as in some other 
recorded cases of this rare abnormality. (I regret time prevents a study 
and paraphrase of the literature on this subject.) 

Other conditions found were microgyria in the occipital and frontal 
regions of the brain, and internal hydrocephalus, the lateral ventricles 
being enlarged out of all proportion to the size of the hemispheres, and 
the grey and white matter much attenuated. The remarkable smallness 
of the brain and other organs is shown by the appended weights. The 
kidneys were lobulated, and there was broncho pneumonia in both 
lungs. 


Weights. 

Encephalon . 

Right hemisphere . 

Left hemisphere . 

Cerebrum . . . . 

Pons and medulla . 

Heart. 

Right lung .... 
Left lung .... 

Liver. 

Kidneys .... 


870 grm 

380 

» 

335 

» 

8S 

u 

20 

>1 

140 

II 

235 

>1 

355 


640 

If 

65 

>1 


Occasional Note. 


Reform in Lunacy Law- 

At the November Meeting of the Parliamentary Committee it was 
resolved to form a sub-committee to consider the amendment of the 
existing'Lunacy Laws. This sub-committee has since been formed, 
consisting of twelve members, including the chairman and secretary of 
the parent committee, who will also act in these respective offices for 
this sub committee. It has already commenced its labours by a critical 
investigation of thc'important legal changes advocated in the Appendix 
of the Status Report, which report, as our readers are aware, was adopted 
by the Association at its Annual Meeting in July, 1914. It is now more 
than a quarter of a century since the last principal Lunacy Act came 
into operation, and although many amending measures have since been 
presented to Parliament, no further progress has been made. It is 
hoped that public attention has been awakened by the mental cases 


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resulting from the war, and that during the era of reconstruction that 
must inevitably follow when peace is finally declared, if not before, a 
more enlightened opinion may prevail which may lead to better 
provision being made for the treatment of certain types of mental 
disorder. The admission of voluntary boarders to County and Borough 
Asylums, for instance, should no longer be a stumbling block, and 
some alternative method should be devised with proper safeguards for 
dealing with cases of temporary or unconfirmed insanity ; and above 
all, exists the desirability of the establishment of psychiatric clinics 
whether as separate hospitals for mental disorders or by the allocation 
of special wards in general hospitals for these cases. Much has been 
written on this subject, and we call to mind the valuable introductory 
address of the Emeritus Lecturer in Psychiatry at the Middlesex Hospital 
Medical School, which appeared in our Journal for January, 1915. 
Whether such clinics can be contrived on a voluntary basis or by subsidy 
from the State, and whether some limited form of legal detention should 
be granted for cases that have overstepped the border-line of insanity, 
are matters that require careful consideration. Many of our members 
have no doubt pondered over these problems, and it would be of 
advantage to the sub-committee referred to if they would state their 
experience of defects in the present system of dealing with patients 
suffering from mental disorders, and how in their opinion these defects 
may be remedied. The Chairman or Secretary of the Parliamentary 
Committee would be grateful to receive such communications. Although 
the war while it lasts must continue to absorb our energies, nevertheless, 
it is incumbent on us to see that our speciality keeps in the van of 
progress, and the present time does not seem inopportune to give this 
matter of amending the Lunacy Laws our immediate attention. 


Part II—Reviews. 


A Text Book of Insanity and other Mental Disorders. Second 
Edition. By C. A. Mercier, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S. Pp. xx 
+ 348. London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. 1914. Price 
7 s. 6 d. net. 

The second edition of this illuminating volume appeared at the out¬ 
break of the war, and we regret that, owing to the exigencies of the 
times, the review of this publication has been so long delayed. Its 
size is about half as large again as that of the first edition, which, 
perhaps, the medical student will deplore, but the author acknowledges 
in the preface that the considerable additions he has made are intended 
for those who devote themselves to the special study of insanity. 

The introduction, excellent as it is, remains unchanged, as does also 
the chapter on the Causes of insanity. The chapter on Conduct con- 


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tains an account of those activities which other authors usually include 
in a preliminary discourse on psychology. In this portion there is also 
no alteration except the insertion of a fresh paragraph on the subject 
of the reproductive instinct. The chapter on Mind completes Part I, 
which is entitled “The Institutes of Insanity.” This interesting 
chapter, which has been much amplified and entirely remodelled, 
should be carefully read by every thoughtful student. Dr. Mercier has 
arrived at the conclusion that psychology as taught in the ordinary text¬ 
books is of little use in the elucidation of insanity. He laments the 
fact that the results of introspection have never been collated with the 
phenomena of disease, and he now endeavours to make an advance in 
this direction. Following Hughlings Jackson’s doctrine of evolutionary 
levels of the nervous system he has sketched out a fourfold division of 
grades or levels of Mind. He mentions five primary mental faculties 
that may become disordered, viz., Desire, Volition, Feeling, Thought, 
and Memory, but he increases these to seven by considering Feeling 
and Thought in their subjective and objective aspects. The four 
evolutionary levels apply to six out of these seven faculties—Memory 
not being susceptible to such levels. In this scheme which Dr. Mercier 
has devised there are, therefore, twenty-five compartments to be 
enumerated in which mental disorders can be mapped out. By Sub¬ 
jective Feeling the author means feeling of pleasure or pain graded as 
crude, euphoric, resthetic, and moral, and by Objective Feeling the 
residue that remains of compound feeling when pleasure or pain is 
abstracted and removed, classed in levels as sensation, emotion, 
resthetic, and social. By Subjective Thought Dr. Mercier introduces 
the consideration of self-estimation, which he says has not received 
recognition before and which is so often disordered in insanity, the four 
grades being physical, mental, possessive, and moral. By Objective 
Thought he refers to processes of reasoning as regards the environment, 
the evolutionary steps being perception, caution, ingenuity, and wisdom 
or prudence. The levels for Desire are racial, selfish i, selfish ii, and 
social, the levels for Volition being trivial ends, sub-subordinate, sub¬ 
ordinate, and main ends, whilst Memory is discussed as a whole and on 
a different basis. Fora due appreciation of these levels and the various 
disorders to which these sections of the primary faculties are subject 
the reader must refer to the lucid descriptions given in the book. His 
attention is particularly directed to the differentiation of mental dis¬ 
orders that may be regarded as sane from those that occur in insanity, 
as the title of the book implies. Dr. Mercier has tabulated these 
arbitrary divisions of Mind diagrammatically and suggests that blank 
forms should be used, so that disorders can be indicated thereon by 
shading, and he exhibits specimens accordingly. Probably some asylum 
medical officers have already made use of these forms in their routine 
work. 

Part II is headed “Forms, Types, and Kinds of insanity,” and 
begins with Classification, a subject on which the author is an acknow¬ 
ledged expert. He has followed a strictly logical method which has 
involved, in place of the double series—Forms and Varieties of insanity 
—which appeared in the first edition, the advent of a third series, viz.. 
Types, /.<?., acute or chronic insanity—with sundry subdivisions. Forms 


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of insanity—and here Dr. Mercier treats of insanity as the symptom— 
consist of disorders of the several faculties, but always with affection 
of the highest level of thought which renders the patient unable to 
recognise the disorder of which he is the subject—according to the 
author’s teaching. Kinds of insanity refer to insanity the disease, 
meaning thereby the whole group of correlated disorders from which a 
patient suffers and that can be traced to a single agent. Insanity the 
disease includes insanity of undevelopment as well as insanity of disso¬ 
lution, and the last-mentioned is then divided into two categories: 
Symptomatic and Idiopathic, the former being dependent and the latter 
independent of any bodily disease so far as is known. This we 
acknowledge to be an important step in classification and the further 
subdivisions are both practical and sound. It is to be remembered, 
however, that this table has to be used in connection with the Forms of 
insanity and Types of insanity already mentioned. It may be noted 
that General Paralysis is regarded as symptomatic insanity, and that 
Alcoholic insanity may be symptomatic or idiopathic as the case may 
be. Whether the tripartite nature and many subdivisions of this 
classification will render it too cumbrous for the average student 
remains to be seen. The delineations of each individual class of the 
three series are brief but excellent, some of them are rewritten, and 
there are a few new importations, such as the insanity of Childhood, 
Traumatic insanity, and Sequelar insanity. 

Part III, which deals with the Legal Relations of insanity, opens 
with a few fresh paragraphs of a practical nature, and has also the 
provisions of the Mental Deficiency Act, which has come into opera¬ 
tion since the first edition was published. 

The book is one that every asylum medical officer should study. He 
will not fail to recognise its systematic and orderly arrangement, to 
which fact is attributed the absence of an index. The psychology that 
is presented to him is plain and concise and the definitions are clear 
and acceptable, whilst logic at last reigns supreme in the difficult task 
of the classification of insanity. To refer to a few points of special 
interest he is asked to learn to discriminate between euphoria (elation) 
and exaltation, between dysphoria (misery) and abasement, to gain a 
due appreciation of the levels of thought, to observe the outgrowth 
of suspicion from an exaggeration of caution, and to regard morbid 
suspicion as lying at the root of stubbornness (or resistiveness). The 
author pays particular attention to this last-mentioned disorder, which 
he considers an invariable sign of deep insanity and although clinically 
differing widely from, in his opinion, is essentially allied to paranoia. 
Dr. Mercier deals in a somewhat novel manner with the faculty of 
memory, which, he points out, is not only concerned with recollection 
of the past but with remembrance of future events ; paradoxical though 
he acknowledges this to be, it is, however, true. Inasmuch as the 
author restricts the term dementia either to a type or a kind of 
insanity he uses the word “anoia ’’for the weakmindedness and defective 
conduct which every case of insanity exhibits in some degree. 

Most of us are in thorough accord with the doctrines of Dr. Mercier, 
whose writings have done so much to enhance the scientific status of 
psychiatry in this country. There may be a few points that some of us 


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do not quite see eye to eye with him in this book. For instance, the 
impression is left that there is, perhaps, a tendency to extol the influence 
of thought at the expense of feeling in the interaction of these con¬ 
stituent elements of mind, especially when we consider the beginnings 
of insanity. Can we subscribe to the view that a person is sane whose 
intellect is unclouded but whose feelings are deranged and prompt to 
insane action although self-control still exists but threatens to give 
way ? Again, is not the person rightly regarded as insane throughout 
whose instability is revealed by hallucinations or delusions which are 
from time to time relatively sane or insane—his normal insight being 
alternately present and absent ? Such cases occur to us when we think 
of the shading in Dr. Mercier’s diagrammatic forms. Further, we can 
recall patients suffering from obsessions, from morbid hesitation and 
vacillation, possessing full recognition of their disorders, yet requiring 
certification to promote their recovery. That disordered conduct is 
the earmark of insanity no one will deny, and it could not be other¬ 
wise seeing that our actions are but the outward expression of the 
mental mechanism within us. Surely this has been fully recognised by 
authors in the past as well as by the legislature, but all the same we 
owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Mercier for his special work on this 
matter—a summary of which this book contains. One word more—the 
reader must not hope to find in these pages any reference to sub¬ 
conscious mental activities or for any support of the newer terminology 
such as dementia pnecox or maniacal-depressive psychoses, and he 
must not be surprised to find a decided antipathy towards the Freudian 
psychology. But with these brief comments we heartily commend the 
book as one of the highest value and we feel assured it will be read by 
everyone who takes an interest in mental science, and it should rank in 
the foreground amongst text-books for students and practitioners of 
medicine. 


Alfredo Niceforo, I Germani: Storia di un’ Idea et di una “ Razza. ” 
Rome: Societal Editrice Periodici, 1917. Pp. 88. Lire 3.50. 

For many years before the war the Pan-Germanic idea of a 
“ Germanic race ” of tall blonde dolichocephals, assumed to be the 
noblest race in the world, the creators of civilisation, a race which had 
already been infiltrated into the finest figures of all European countries, 
and which was destined to dominate all countries, had secured con¬ 
siderable vogue. Naturally this vogue was mainly confined to Germany, 
and even in Germany was not accepted by most serious investigators. 
The original pioneer was, indeed, a distinguished Frenchman, Count 
Gobineau, although in his mind it was a much wider, vaguer, and more 
fluid idea thap it became later, and the most thorough-going champion 
of the idea at the present time is a Teutonised Englishman, Mr. H. S. 
Chamberlain. To-day this idea has become familiar to many who 
never before heard of it, and the author of the present little book sets 
himself, in a popular style but a scientific spirit, to combat it. 

Prof. Niceforo, well known as criminologist, anthropologist, and 
sociologist, is very well equipped for his task. Pie always keeps close 
to facts, and his tightly-packed footnotes on every page show how well 


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he possesses the literature of his subject. Moreover, he reveals a 
quality which to-day is rare; he is able throughout to preserve an 
atmosphere of calm scientific discussion; he never once indulges in 
the slightest vituperation of his opponents or even depreciation. It is 
unnecessary to remark how greatly this adds to the force of his 
arguments. 

Gobineau, with his rather vague idea of a special fair race which had 
created civilisation, had not specially identified it with the Germans. 
Durand de Gros (again not a German), who furnished another germ for 
the myth to work on, also had no eye on the Germans when he made 
the interesting observation that the inhabitants of towns and the higher 
social classes are more dolichocephalic than the dwellers in the country 
and the lower social classes. But a few ingenious and Chauvinistic 
German scholars put together these ideas and facts, and proceeded to 
argue that it is the German who represents this fair dolichocephalic 
aristocratic race, the creators of civilisation, even outside Germany by 
their migrations into other lands (it is argued, for instance, that Dante 
and all the leaders of the Italian Renaissance were really Germans by 
name or in physical type), and destined to dominate the world. 

In the course of his little book Prof. Niceforo convincingly demon¬ 
strates the fallacies and confusions on which this Pan-Germanic myth 
has been built up. Even if we choose to consider the fair dolicho- 
cephals as the most exalted type of men, they are not specifically 
German ; they are found all over Northern Europe, from Ireland to 
Russia, and constitute what is now commonly called the Nordic race. 
They are not even a majority, but only a small minority, of the popula¬ 
tion of Germany, which is mainly constituted of a very different race, 
the men of the brachycephalic so-called Alpine type. How little 
claim the Germans possess to be specially identified with the dolicho¬ 
cephalic race is shown by its existence long before there were any 
Germans. In Neolithic times all Europe was peopled by dolicho- 
cephals, and it seems probable that originally the fair dolichocephals 
of the North were of the same stock with the dark dolichocephals of 
the South (now commonly termed the Mediterranean race), from whom 
they became differentiated by the influences of the northern climate. 
On these and the other points raised by the Pan-Germanic myth the 
author writes clearly and concisely, not attempting to force the argu¬ 
ment at points where doubt still exists. His discussion is probably the 
best and most competent within brief compass yet published. 

Havelock Ellis. 


La Psichiatria Tcdesca neUa Storia e tiell'Atlualitii [ German Psychiatry 
in History and at the Present Day\ By Prof. E. Lugaro. 
Florence: Tipografia Galileiana, 1917. Pp. 357. 

When the social history of the last thirty years of the nineteenth 
century and of the first twelve of the twentieth comes to be written, the 
slavish credulity with which the fiction of the mental superiority of the 
German peoples was accepted by other and nobler nations will astonish 
the student. We are too close to the period, and many of us still 
suffer too much from the obsession, to be able to judge the phenonemon 


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fairly. Yet Prof. Lugaro’s book goes a long way to put us in the 
position of the future historical student. It places in the full glare of 
the limelight the work of German scientists stripped of self assertion, 
takes it at its real value, and compares it with that of other labourers, 
European, American, and Japanese in the scientific field. It helps us 
to view ancient and recent events, personalities, discoveries, and labours 
in their true perspective, and it honestly gives credit where credit 
is due. 

The keynote of the book is that thought is universal. “ If to the 
word thought is given its proper signification, that of the work of the 
intellect, it is evident that to speak of ‘ German thought ’ (or that of 
any other nationality) is to speak nonsense. There is no such thing as 
German thought, there cannot be, because thought does not recognise 
nationality.” 

“ Correct thought is the conscious image of reality, therefore it can 
only be one. Error, the spurious product of thought, may be multiple, 
particular, regional, individual. In that which they have of the essential, 
the correct, and the true, Chinese thought and European thought are 
identical. Also, apart from every historical connection, the thought of 
the Egyptians, of the Hindoos, of the Phoenicians, of the Greeks, of the 
Romans, of the Italians of the Renaissance, and of modern Europeans 
follows schematic lines of continuous and harmonious development.” 

After a few pages devoted to preliminary considerations, the author 
proceeds to sketch the history of the birth and progress of psychiatry 
from the earliest times to the present day. He touches on the origin, 
development, and reformation of asylums for the insane, and as the 
story unrolls itself, the reader observes, perhaps with astonishment, how 
in all these matters Germany has lagged woefully behind other nations. 

The Professor then passes on to a review of some of the chief mental 
disorders, roughly dividing them for the convenience of study into 
psychoses having an organic basis, and those which are functional, 
allowing, of course, for much overlapping. He points out how little 
of our knowledge of these conditions and of their treatment we owe to 
the Germans in comparison with what we owe to labourers of other 
nationalities. 

Afterwards he studies in detail the work of Griesinger, Krafft-Ebing, 
Schiile, Arndt, Meynert, Ziehen, Wernicke, Kraepelin, Freud, Adler, 
Specht, and Miinsterberg. 

The writer’s exposition of Freudism is a model of clearness. He 
shows us Freudism stripped of metaphysics, and Freudism stripped of 
metaphysics is a feeble affair. He warns the practitioner of psycho¬ 
analysis of the dangers and pitfalls which beset his feet. 

A considerable portion of the latter part of the book is devoted to 
the consideration of some general questions concerning the anatomy 
and physiology of the nervous system, and of the opposition with which 
many of them have been received by German scientists. The Professor 
rather apologises for what he considers a digression from the original 
plan of his book, which was intended to be a historical and critical 
examination of pure psychiatry, and of the work done by the Germans 
in that field. But the reader willingly excuses the digression, for it 
gives him the opportunity of studying certain physiological problems of 


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the greatest interest both to the physician and the alienist as expounded 
by a master of clearness and perspicuity. 

The last section of the book is devoted to the consideration of the 
“ German method,” and of Imperialism, one might almost say militarism, 
in German science, in German universities, and in German teaching 
generally. From a historical point of view this section is of the greatest 
importance, for it reveals with what subtlety and craft, with what 
methods worthy of a petty tradesman, the German scientist has wormed 
himself into the false position which he has occupied for so many years 
in the world of thought. 

Generally speaking, the book must be considered as a historical work, 
but frequently the physician and the pathological anatomist overcome 
the historian, and present us with miniature clinical pictures which 
arrest the attention from their vividness, and with thumbnail sketches 
of morbid conditions remarkable for suggestiveness of detail. In places 
the seriousness of the subject is relieved by a play of irony, which is 
seen, perhaps, more than anywhere else in the descriptions of the 
individual work of the leading German scientists ; for example, in the 
pages devoted to the consideration of the theories of Theodor Meynert, 
who “places his clinical study of mental diseases on the solid pedestal 
of anatomy,” and immediately drifts hopelessly away into more or less 
pure psychology. 

For the English reader, what is most pleasing in Prof. Lugaro’s book 
is the generous homage he pays to English work. Look at the long 
line of English physicians and alienists, from Sydenham to Clouston, 
whose names he quotes ! Does it not fill one with honest pride? And 
it is not to the honoured dead alone that he refers. As one reads the 
pages of his book, one realises that for clinical research and experimental 
work Englishmen still living stand second to none. 

But the writer does not forget the other great schools of the world. 
He metes out praise as unstintingly as it is well deserved to those of 
his own country, to those of France and America, and to the modern 
Spanish schools, particularly to that of Barcelona. Lugaro is just also 
to the Germans. Where they have done honest work he credits them 
with it. But where they have stolen other people’s ideas without 
acknowledgment, and where they have robbed others of the fruits of 
their labours, he holds them up to the derision of the world as thieves 
and plagiarists. 

In conclusion, it is to be said that the book is remarkable for the 
enormous amount of information, both historical and scientific, which 
it contains, it is well printed, and it is provided with indexes, which are 
complete and useful. J. Barfield Adams. 

Automatic S/eep (Le Sommcil Automatique). By Dr. Georges Boyer. 

Paris : Alfred Leclerc. Pp. 92. 1914. 

The first fifty-two pages of this contribution to the pathology of sleep 
are devoted to a somewhat extended consideration of certain aspects of 
normal and abnormal psychology, which serve to pave the way to the 
study of the particular symptom indicated in the title. 

Chapter I is occupied by the consideration of automatic as con¬ 
trasted with voluntary activity. It includes a study of the historical 


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development of the term “ automatic,” a r£sum<! of the meanings which 
have been attached to it, and an enumeration of the various psycho¬ 
logical phenomena which are associated with an act or thought to which 
the term “voluntary” can rightly be ascribed. 

These preliminary considerations enable the author to detail the 
various grades and types of automatism, from a simple reflex to a com¬ 
plicated reaction of defence, and to demonstrate how each of these acts 
lacks certain psychological elements which differentiate it from a volun¬ 
tary activity. He then devotes attention to pathological automatism 
both in the sphere of thought and action, dividing abnormal automatic 
acts into three groups, according as to whether the disorder is one of 
inhibition, consciousness, or personality. The chapter concludes with 
a schematic presentation which serves to classify the various phenomena 
grouped under the term “ automatic.” 

The next chapter deals with the relation of sleep and the will. The 
author develops in detail the conception, with which the name of 
Claparede is especially associated, that sleep is a positive function, a 
positive act comparable with other acts which the will directs, and not 
merely a passive function or negative state, a kind of abdication of the 
higher powers of mind. He shows that, in normal circumstances, sleep 
does not occur apart from the will of the individual; its usual rhythm 
can be modified by the will, and the will is also actually present, in a 
lesser degree, during sleep itself. The hypnique function is not purely 
physiological, it is not dependent solely on the lower centres, but 
dependent on the control of the higher centres, as are co-ordinated 
movements directed voluntarily to a certain end. 

The two essential elements of sleep—muscular relaxation and 
generalised attention—are both under the control of the will, and the 
need of sleep, the preliminary state of fatigue does not determine, ipso 
facto , the arrival of sleep, any more than hunger automatically leads to 
the act of eating. Sleep is thus a positive act, a consent, an act of 
will, and like voluntary thought, a mental disposition, an attitude. 

The author reserves the term “automatic sleep” to that condition in 
which patients affirm that their sleep is unnatural, that they are sent to 
sleep, mesmerised, hypnotised, forced to sleep, and so on. The two 
essential characters of this symptom are its involuntary nature, and the 
fact that it is ascribed to external agency. It is explained as a disorder 
of sleep itself, in the same way as an hallucination is a disorder of 
perception. Like an hallucination it obtrudes itself against the will, 
it ceases to be under the control of the personality, and it becomes 
a phenomenon'which the patient regards as due to an external agency. 

It is certainly of interest to bring this symptom into line with other 
morbid phenomena, but to merely lay emphasis on the fact of dissocia¬ 
tion would seem to be somewhat inadequate as an explanation. The 
cases cited are evidently instances of dementia prsecox, and the 
delusional interpretations in regard to sleep are no more than one 
manifestation of the whole morbid picture. A further analysis would, 
no doubt, reveal more than the mere fact of automatism ; it would 
suggest the underlying mechanism and reveal theabnormal trends which 
find expression in this particular way. 

While in this respect the treatment of the main theme is somewhat 


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superficial and unconvincing, the essay as a whole is an interesting 
example of the French school of psychology. Perhaps its chief interest 
and value lie in the emphasis which is laid upon the important relation 
between sleep and the will. This aspect of the psychology of sleep is 
of considerable clinical importance, and it deserves full recognition and 
study. The want of sleep in neurasthenic and psychasthenic patients, 
a symptom often so prominent, is often no more than a want of confi¬ 
dence, a lack of will-power in respect to sleep. It is one expression of 
a general inability to perform acts under the control of the will. For 
this chapter alone, as well as the general discussion upon auto¬ 
matism and volition, the book well repays attention. 

H. Dkvine. 


The Ideal Nurse. By Charles A. Mercier, M.D., F.R.C.P 
F.R.C.S., etc. 

Although delivered some eight years ago in the form of an address 
to the nursing staff of the Retreat at York, this little brochure belongs 
to that class of publications which time cannot wither nor custom 
stale. Embodying, as it does, an ideal to reach which should be the 
aim of all those who have adopted as their idle in life the nursing of 
the insane, it at the same time gives practical instruction and guidance 
as to how this object is to be attained. Nor is its use intended to be 
limited to those only who are engaged in asylum nursing. It contains 
matter which cannot fail to attract the attention of all those who 
follow any branch of the nursing profession, and to afford help, 
teaching, and encouragement to them in their daily work. 

Some people have hands and no brains. Others have brains and no 
hands. The fortunate ones have both. Perhaps in no case is this 
more obvious than in that of the operating surgeon, whose success will 
be proportionate to his possession of these two essential attributes. 
But Dr. Mercier holds, and rightly holds, that the same is true as 
regards the nursing avocation. The ideally endowed nurse is one who 
has both keenness and agility of brain, and skill and dexterity in the 
use of her hands. The first depends largely on heritage; one must 
be born with it, and those who have it not are in nowise deserving of 
blame. The last can be acquired ; and even persons who are naturally 
slow and plodding in their mental operations by sheer hard work and 
untiring perseverance can eventually become really efficient nurses. 
In this connection Dr. Mercier puts in striking contrast cleverness and 
capability. “A person who is not clever may make a first-rate nurse ; 
but a nurse, however brilliantly clever, who is not capable is worthless. 

. . . If you are not born clever, no amount of pains and study will 

make you so ; but anyone may become capable by taking pains.” 
Sympathy is another [prime essential. Someone has said that success 
in the medical profession depends on one part knowledge, and three 
parts sympathy. The same, no doubt, is true in the case of the 
nursing profession. This consideration leads not unnaturally up to 
what is practically a lay-sermon with i Cor. xiii as its text, St. Paul’s 
well-known eulogy on Charity, which occupies almost the whole of the 
latter half of the address, and is full of practical suggestions as to how 


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to carry out in one’s life and work the principles enunciated by the great 
apostle. It might well be designated the philosophy of loving-kindness, 
a term which the preacher prefers to the Biblical word Charity. 

Some of Dr. Mercier’s observations come almost under the category 
of aphorisms, such as: The only way to learn how to do a thing 
is to do it.—The intelligent worker is he or she who knows when 
it is proper and necessary to break a rule. Rules are necessary 
because workers are stupid.—Never, under any circumstances, attempt 
to coax a patient by a lie.—Rejoinder and retaliation is a confession of 
defeat.—I have spent a lifetime amongst the insane, and the most 
salient result of my experience is that I never despair of a patient’s 
recovery. 

We can confidently recommend this little book—unique of its kind 
—not merely to attendants and nurses, but to every one who is engaged 
in the treatment of the insane. It might, with great advantage to both 
nurse and patient, be carried in the pocket, and referred to with the 
same regularity and constancy as that with which a priest peruses his 
breviary. The principles there laid down should be known by heart, 
and thoroughly assimilated, and every effort made to carry them out in 
practice. The keynote of the address is encouragement, its motto 
“ Sursum corda,’’ and we cannot conclude this notice more appropriately 
than by quoting the inspiriting words which occur just at its close : 
“When you watch the subsidence of excitement, the removal of 
depression, the dispersion of suspicion, the gradual return to sanity ; 
when you open the gates and say farewell, and bid God-speed to a 
patient whom you have nursed through the valley of the shadow of death, 
and raised out of the mire of tribulation ; when you send him home 
clothed and in his right mind, and think of the load of misery you have 
been instrumental in removing from him and from his family; you 
taste a joy as refined and as pure as that of the angels of heaven over 
the sinner that repenteth,” 


The Third Annual Report of the Board of Control for the year 1916. 

The third report of the Board, ordered to be printed on October 
17th, 1917, is very much abbreviated as compared with the first. In 
Appendix A there are only nine tables instead of twenty-four, and in 
Appendix B only five instead of fourteen. 

This economy of printing is no doubt justified by the state of war, 
but it could be wished that similar care had been exercised in matter in 
which the saving, instead of amounting to a few score pounds, would have 
amounted to so many thousands. The want of these tables reduces the 
report to a stereotyped repetition of the baldest facts and renders any 
attempt at criticism or interpretation almost impossible. 

The decrease in the number of the notified insane is again a striking 
and interesting phenomenon, opening the door to much speculation in 
regard to the influences producing this result. 

The actual decrease for the year 1916 was 3,159, the total 134,029 on 
January 1st, 1917, being less by that number than at the commence¬ 
ment of the year under review. The number on January 1st, 1915 
(the highest recorded) was 140,466, and if the average annual increase 


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of the preceding decade had continued, the present year would have 
opened with 144,968, or 10,939 niore than the actual number. 

The total decrease on the two years, therefore, is 6,437, and this 
result has been brought about by decrease in the admissions, those in 
1915 and 1916 being respectively 2,055 an d 2,527 less than in 1914, 
together with the increase of deaths, which in 1915 and 1916 were 2,157 
and 2,376 more than in 1914. The recoveries were 305 and 648 less 
in these compared years, whilst the discharged not recovered were 
increased by 707 and 367 respectively. 

The want of the usual tables makes it very difficult to follow out sati s- 
factorily the incidence of these factors in the relation to sex, but there is 
no doubt that the reduction is somewhat larger in the males. These 
on January 1st, 1916, being 46 per cent, of the total insane population 
as compared with 46^2 per cent, on January 1st, 1915. On the other 
hand, the decrease in the admissions for 1916 shows only a diminution 
on those of 1915 by 17 per cent, for men as compared with 27 per cent. 
for women (in actual numbers, 168 men and 304 women). 

In the absence of the necessary facts only conjectures can be made 
whether the stimulus and excitement of war has acted beneficially on a 
number of persons who, under ordinary conditions, would have become 
insane, or whether, as already suggested, the restrictions in the use of 
alcohol have led to lessened intemperance and improved general 
health, etc. 

In regard to men, as the report points out, there are certainly a large 
number who are being treated in hospitals and homes who will ulti¬ 
mately gravitate into asylums. When the actual facts become obvious 
it is quite possible that the diminution will prove to have been larger 
among women. 

The increase in the number of deaths appears to have been largely 
due to senile decay, in addition to a larger mortality from phthisis. 

The drain of attendants for military service has been met every¬ 
where, the report shows, by employing female nursing in suitable wards 
on the male side of asylums; as a result it appears that out of 5,289 
attendants of military age over 3,000 have been called to the colours, 
many of whom have been wounded or killed. 

The voluntary boarder system has been threatened by an innovation 
that might seriously impair its usefulness. 

The report records that at the Bodmin Assizes, two men who pleaded 
guilty to acts of gross indecency were bound over to come up for 
judgment when called upon, provided that they agreed to go as “volun¬ 
tary boarders” to two provincial licensed houses. It is not astonishing 
that the Board writes that this has caused them great anxiety or that 
they have laid their grave objections to this procedure before the Lord 
Chancellor and the Home Secretary. 

That these persons can be considered as “voluntary boarders ” does 
not seem possible to a non-legal mind. It is not stated whether the 
boarding—whether voluntary or not—was for any fixed period ; whether, 
for example, forty-eight hours’ residence w'ould be sufficient to comply 
with the Judge’s direction ? or whether, on the other hand, if a fixed 
period of boarding, say six months, was required. In the latter case it 
would approximate to a sentence for that period. Neither is any 


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indication stated whether the hoarding period should be determined by 
the medical authority of the licensed house or by the boarders them¬ 
selves, or by the judicial authority. 

The further question arises whether any licensed house would 
voluntarily receive Such persons, or whether they, if designated by the 
Judge for that purpose, would be bound to receive them. 

The proposition certainly seems an impossible one : and it must be 
hoped that the learned Judge will himself see this. 

The total average cost per head for maintenance for all asylums 
showed a further increase of 6f d. per week on the previous year; and 
this appears to be a moderate rise in relation to the increased cost of 
food, etc. 

Mental deficiency care would appear to be progressing as satisfactorily 
as war conditions will permit. The report speaks highly of the valuable 
help of voluntary associations in the supervision of defectives. The 
Brighton Guardianship Society is specially cited as an example. The 
number of mental defectives on the register of the Board are: January ist, 
1918, 6,836, of whom nearly 6,000 were in certified institutions; but 
this does not include a very large number, who are at present cared for 
by the Education and Poor Law authorities, as well as many others not 
yet dealt with in any public way. 1 

The training of teachers and attendants on the mentally defectives 
is receiving the attention of the Board, and the hope is expressed that 
the next annual report will contain an account of a practical and 
inexpensive scheme for this purpose. 

During the year eight certified institutions were established. The 
reports of the visits by the Board to the various institutions are given 
in full, and contain a considerable amount of information interesting to 
those specially concerned in the administration of the Act. 

As stated at the outset, there is little in the report affording a basis 
for critipism, and in the present stress of work thrown on the Board, 
it would be unfair to expect any of the new departures in the treatment 
of the insane, which we may hope may be dealt with when the country 
again enjoys the opportunities of progress afforded by a lasting peace. 


Part III.—Epitome of Current Literature. 


1. Physiological Psychology. 

The Nature of Mental Process. {Psychol. Rev., May, 1917.) Carr, 
Harvey. 

The author proposes the view that the mental functions with which 
psychology is concerned are in reality psycho-physical and at times 
neural, and that psychology must attempt to comprehend these functions 
in their entirety. That is to say that psychology must not be content 
to deal with the conscious and subjective elements of psycho-physical 
events, leaving their neural correlates to physiology, but include within 
its domain all the neural events involved. This, Carr points out, is 
unorthodox as a definition of the scope of psychology, but is entirely in 


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1918.] CLINICAL NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY. 

• 

harmony with the prevailing biological point of view. The new defini¬ 
tion of the mental permits a restatement and solution of the mind-body 
problem more in accordance with common sense, the distinction of 
mind and body being regarded as “ merely a distinction of two systems 
of organic function.” 

Carr remarks that the subjective conception of mental process con¬ 
stitutes an inadequate tool for the physician who attempts to comprehend 
physical disorder. To diagnose a case as “ purely mental,” and to give 
the impression that it could not in any way be stated in neural terms, 
is “a crude and preposterous conception.” But, unlike Watson and 
other critics, Carr is inclined to put the blame less on medicine than on 
psychology. Medicine has merely accepted current conceptions set up 
by psycholQgy, which has introduced into medicine old philosophical 
problems regarding the relations of mind and body. These old problems 
vanish at once if we assume that the disordered mental functions are in 
reality psycho-physical events. 

This psycho-physical conception of mental process, the author claims, 
offers a mediating point of contact for the two extremes of subjectivism 
and behaviourism. It permits mental processes to be studied from 
the standpoint of immediate experience, or of objective observation, or 
of clinical data. It differs from subjectivism by allowing an objective 
method of approach. It differs from behaviourism by admitting that 
the study of conscious data can give much useful information. 
Behaviourism, logically defined, includes the whole field of organic 
function. But psychology should be content with a more modest 
programme, still allowing a place beside it to biology and physiology. 
The parallelism of mental and physical still remains as a working 
hypothesis, but it is the total activity that becomes the object of study ; 
the dichotomy involved is not one of process but merely of method of 
approach. 

There are no immutable boundaries between sciences. A science 
must take up whatever is pertinent to its primary interest. If mental 
acts are a means of organic adjustment they must be studied. If neural 
events are an essential part of the act, they, too, must be included. 

Havelock Ellis. 


2. Clinical Neurology and Psychiatry. 

The Voltaic Vertigo Test in Epilepsy \Le Vertigini Voltaiche tiegli 
Epilettici\ (Rivista di Patologia e Nervosa e Meniale, October , 
1917.) Bono la. Dr. F. 

In epilepsy, the writer remarks, vertigo, as a subjective state, occurs 
rather frequently, either as the aura or as a symptom. 

The vertiginous sensation represents an illusion of the failure of 
our static relations with our surroundings ; a momentary suspension, 
in other words, of that complex of the sensations of the orientation of 
our body which is furnished to us principally by stimuli transmitted to 
us from the semicircular canals and the vestibule, and secondarily by 
visual sensations. 

The very important part played by the semicircular canals and the 
vestibulein our static sense is proved by observing either the results 


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of direct stimulation of these organs, or the failure of specific reaction 
when they are imperfect. In fact, the compensatory movements 
(nystagmus, rotation, and inclination of the head), which are observed 
in men and animals undergoing the tests of rotary vertigo and of 
voltaic veitigo, are not observed in animals deprived of the semicircular 
canals, nor in men suffering from profound lesions of the labyrinth. 
The vertiginous sensations which are put in evidence by the rotary 
tests (Barany), or by tests in which the galvanic current is employed 
(Babinski), have, therefore, origin in an irritation of the semicircular 
canals, an irritation which translates itself objectively by the compensa¬ 
tory movements referred to above, and which Ewald has demonstrated 
to be of a purely reflex origin. 

The nervous terminations in the semicircular canals and in the 
vestibule are stimulated in the ordinary way by displacements of the 
endolymph, and these stimulations are perceived by us as alterations 
of our position in space. In the case of rotary vertigo, the vertigo is 
also produced by movements of the endolymph ; in the case of voltaic 
vertigo by the current; and in the case of the vertigo, which accom¬ 
panies inflammatory conditions of the internal ear, by the propagation 
to the nerve of the pathogenic stimulus ; in all cases the nerve responds 
to the stimulus by its own peculiar form of irritability, which is trans¬ 
lated in its sphere of cortical projection by the sensation of movement, 
of vertigo. Experiment has demonstrated that the character of the 
vertiginous sensation varies with the localisation of the stimulus in the 
different semicircular canals and in the vestibule. 

The commonest and safest methods of experimenting on the vestib¬ 
ular labyrinth are the test of rotation, and that of the voltaic vertigo 
of Babinski. The writer prefers the last, because it is easier and more 
sensitive than the'other, and because the results are more sure, more 
constant, and more demonstrable. The technique is as follows : The 
electrodes (of 2 to 3 cm. diameter) are applied in front of the tragus, 
and the circuit is closed. If the labyrinth be normal, with a current 
of from 1 to 4 milliamperes, there is an inclination of the head con¬ 
stantly towards the positive pole, whatever be the direction of the 
current, a sensation of vertigo more or less intense, and often a rotary 
nystagmus directed towards the negative pole. If the current be 
increased, there is also an inclination of the whole body towards the 
positive pole. 

If there are bilateral vestibular lesions, there is an exaggeration 
of resistance which may reach to 15 or 20 milliamperes, and may 
even surpass them, there is a remarkable delay in the appearance of 
the vertiginous sensation, there is a failure of the inclination of the 
head towards the positive pole, which is often replaced by a move¬ 
ment of the head backwards or forwards, and there is an almost constant 
failure of nystagmus. If the lesion be unilateral or chiefly on one 
side, one observes a constant inclination of the head to that side, 
whatever be the direction of the current. Also, after the test of voltaic 
vertigo, one often observes alterations in the test of the index of 
Barany, and lateral deviation of the body during walking, reactional 
movements caused by the cerebellum under the influence of labyrinthic 
excitement. 


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1918.] CLINICAL NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY. 81 

After devoting some paragraphs to the most recent views of the 
anatomy of the vestibular nerve, its origin, and connections, the writer 
proceeds to speak of the results of his experiments. 

The test of voltaic vertigo was applied to thirty-two patients suffering 
from so-called essential epilepsy, and in five cases opportunity was 
taken of repeating the experiment within six hours of an epileptic 
attack. 

The writer employed the following as control cases. 

Three patients suffering from cranial injuries without osseous 
lesions, but who suffered from epileptiform attacks and vertiginous 
sensations. 

Two patients suffering from convulsions of a clearly Jacksonian type. 

Two suffering from unemic intoxication with convulsive attacks. 

Twenty soldiers, sixteen of whom suffered from attacks of what the 
writer has elsewhere described under the name of “ convulsive states 
of neuropathies,” and four of whom suffered from typical hysterical 
convulsions. 

The test in the control cases gave the following results: 

(a) In two of the three patients suffering from cranial injury there 
was a remarkable increase of the vertigo, and a very great resist¬ 
ance to the appearance of the compensatory movements, accom¬ 
panied in one by a constant inclination of the head to the right, 
and in the other of the head backwards. 

(b) In the two urcemics and in the two patients suffering from 
Jacksonian convulsions (without any sign of intracranial injury) the 
vertigo was normal. 

(1 c) In the cases of the sixteen soldiers suffering from organic 
convulsive attacks, but not epileptiform (convulsive states of 
neuropathies), the sensation of vertigo was rather accentuated. 

(d) In the four hysterical cases the vestibular reaction was 
normal. 

With regard to the thirty-two epileptic patients, the writer gives a 
very careful account of his observations, which are arranged in seven 
categories. Briefly, it may be said that in no case was the reaction to 
the voltaic vertigo normal. In the epileptics with a vertiginous aura, 
the vertigo was very much stronger than in the other subjects. In the 
hours immediately succeeding (within six) an attack the voltaic test 
produced a sense of vertigo much less accentuated than at a later 
period. In no'case did the voltaic test produce an attack of epilepsy. 
It may be added that none of the thirty-two patients presented any 
alteration of any importance of the cochlear labyrinth or any other parts 
of the ear. 

The writer considers that the alterations, which he has observed in 
the vestibular labyrinth of epileptics, are very difficult of interpretation. 
They may be interpreted as phenomena of pathological hypo-excita¬ 
bility, materialising, perhaps, in sclerotic processes, which the writer 
can only associate with the disequilibrium of the blood-pressure and 
that of the cerebro-spinal fluid so frequent and so serious in epileptics. 
This disequilibrium, through the communications existing between the 
cavities of the labyrinth and the intra-arachnoid spaces, and through 
the vessels of the membranous walls of the labyrinth, may have a 
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dangerous conlre-coup on the delicate terminations of the crests and 
acoustic maculae of the vestibular nerve, and go a long way to produce 
the sclerotic processes, of which very likely the alterations of the 
voltaic vertigo are the exponents. 

J. Barfield Adams. 


Emotional Hysteria \E 7 stcrismo Emotivo\ (Annali di Nevrologia, 
Anno xxxiv, fuse. 3.) D’Onghia , Dr. Filippo. 

At the commencement of his paper the writer draws the reader’s 
attention to the fact that Neri did not meet with any of the ordinary 
phenomena of hysteria among the 2,000 survivors of the earthquake at 
Messina whom he examined. 

Very often, he remarks, hysterical manifestations are caused by 
trifling emotions and even every-day annoyances. The lady, who will 
fall into convulsions on account of some miserable quarrel with her 
husband, will very likely the next day, when something really tragic 
occurs in her life, find all the energy that the situation requires, and 
will put aside her hysteria. 

An earthquake occurs unexpectedly. Frequently it arouses an 
individual from his sleep, and permits only of one thought, that of 
saving himself. Nothing artificial can prevent the accomplishment 
of this one aspiration. It is not possible that the nervous energy, 
which is absolutely necessary to the organism at that supreme moment 
of peril, can remain useless in a paralysed limb which prevents the 
individual from saving himself, or in a tongue dumb and silent, which 
prevents him from crying aloud for assistance. *• It is not possible, 
above all, that another personality, an inferior and encumbering person¬ 
ality, should substitute itself for, or overcome the first and true 
(personality) and subdue it.” 

“ War, on the other hand, and especially the war of to-day, is such 
that the nervous resistance of the individual is put to a very hard 
proof.” 

“ During the long hours in the trenches, with limbs cramped by the 
uncomfortable position and suffering from excessive cold or excessive 
heat, when the surrounding silence is only broken by the distant roar 
of cannon and the nearer rattle of musketry, by the groaning of the 
projectiles of the former and the whistling of the bullets of the latter, 
and finally, by the moans of a comrade, who, while moving to satisfy 
some need, has been wounded to death by some invisible enemy 
sharp-shooter, that is the time and the manner in which the nervous 
tendencies of an individual acquire consistency and colour. And 
when, at an ill-omened moment, the cannon thunders louder, and the 
roaring is followed by a howling that shakes and overturns everything, 
what marvel that this latent tendency, this potential neurosis, I might say, 
is translated into an actual neurosis ? ” 

“ Here, also, the danger is imminent, and no one, unless he be in 
the fulness of health and strength, can sustain it; but, contrary to 
what happens in an earthquake, the neurosis itself may be the means 
of the salvation of the individual, by bringing about his removal to the 
rear.” 


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“ The idea, I know, is neither new nor strange; but meanwhile it 
seems to me that it may be the fundamental point of the question, 
that it creates a true psychological contrast between the survivor from 
an earthquake and the soldier in a war. It is the pathogenesis itself 
of hysteria which offers us the explanation of the phenomenon.” 

“ Each one of us possesses two personalities which, in normal con¬ 
ditions, co-operate harmoniously in our conservation and in our well¬ 
being—consciousness and subconsciousness. In hysteria the second 
sometimes usurps authority over the first, and causes the well-known 
morbid manifestations, which may succeed in encumbering the life of 
the patient. But when the actual existence of the patient is menaced, 
the two personalities recover themselves and unite their energies in 
common defence. We all know that hysterical symptoms, previously 
rebellious to every form of treatment, disappear iu the moment of 
peril; the paralytic recovers the movement of his limbs, the dumb 
regains his speech, the blind his sight, etc.” 

“ But if these morbid manifestations, which previously constituted an 
obstacle to the free activity of the patient, can become, in some con¬ 
tingency, useful and beneficial to him, the subconsciousness does not 
hesitate to reproduce them, feigning, I might almost say, for its own sake, 
a set of morbid symptoms, which may be the only means of saving the 
individual by removing him from the place of peril.” 

“ Then the conclusion to which we must come, will be, I believe, 
rather different from that at which Babinski and Dagnan-Bouveret 
have arrived; that is to say, it is not so much the intensity or the 
quality of the emotion which determines the appearance of the symptoms 
of hysteria as the conditions in which the emotion is produced, and the 
utility, more or less, which the individual may derive from the neurosis 
which his subconsciousness charges itself with placing on the scene.” 

The paper is illustrated with reports of a few cases in which hysterical 
symptoms manifested themselves amongwounded soldiers. Dr. D’Onghia 
explains the paucity of the cases because, being attached to a field 
hospital, few such came under his care, as patients suffering from nervous 
and mental diseases are removed as soon as possible to hospitals in the 
second line. J. Barfiei.d Adams. 


The Mechanism of Paranoia ( Journ. of Nerv. and Ment. Dis. April, 
1917.) Abbot, E. Stanley. 

The author points out that cases diagnosed as paranoia have rapidly 
diminished during the past half century. Before that period the mere 
presence of delusions was often considered sufficient justification for 
the application of this label. But in 1904 Kraepelin estimated the 
proportion of cases of paranoia as only 1 per cent., and by 1915 had 
still further reduced it. Abbot believes, however, that there will 
remain an irreducible minimum of cases showing elaborated delusions 
with the absence of all other symptoms except such as are wholly 
secondary. After describing such a case in detail he considers the 
mechanism of such cases generally. 

Man has to adapt himself to the variations of his environment. To 
do this he must reason about it. The more accurately he reasons 


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about it the more successful, other things being equal, will his 
adjustments be. There are three ways in which he may fail : 
(1) He maybe ignorant, as we all are, more or less; (2) he may be 
mistaken; (3) he may be prejudiced, and apt to associate feelings 
that are unjustified, or too intense, or both, with certain groups of new 
ideas, so that when the ideas come into his head the train of thought 
is determined by the associated feelings, as we may see among politicians 
who regard politicians of the opposing party as a set of scoundrels. It 
is this association with feelings which makes prejudice so much more 
persistent than ignorance or mistake. Prejudice may even grow and 
become complex, as we may see in many anti-vivisectionists in whom 
embryonic delusional systems are found. 

This mechanism of prejudice is the mechanism that is operative 
in all true paranoia and fully accounts for the psychosis. The apparent 
beginning of the psychosis is usually always an episode which arouses 
several strongly toned affects. These affects predispose the patient to 
see effects where there were none, to see causality where there was 
only coincidence, to take possibility for probability, or even actuality, 
and to ignore inherent improbabilities, or even impossibilities. But 
this is the mechanism of prejudice. 

In ordinary normal life prejudices are limited and do not tend to 
become elaborated or extreme. It will probably be found that there 
is an unbroken series of cases extending from the simple unelaborated 
prejudices such as we all have, through the cynic, the optimist or the 
pessimist; then the anti-vivisectio/iist and some other ardent reformers; 
then religious exhorters and extreme anti-Catholics; then founders of 
religious sects; then unrecognised paranoiacs in private life; finally 
those whose anti-social acts bting them into the asylum. 

The more intimately personal the subject matter of the systematised 
delusion is, the stronger, the more durable, the more difficult to uproot. 

Paranoiacs do not tend to become demented, any more than people 
with prejudices. Kraepelin mentions a patient ?et. 90, who had been 
a paranoiac for forty three years but was not demented. Abbot believes, 
however, that the delirium may continue to grow, and that the patient’s 
judgment and reason diminish in relation to his delusional system, while 
remaining good in relation to other matters. His deterioration—unlike 
what is seen in all other dementing psychoses—is only in the line of his 
delusional evolution. This fact, Abbot believes, is consistent with the 
mechanism he has outlined. Havelock Ellis. 


3. Sociology. 

Criminology and Social Psychology. ( Medico■ Legal'J,ourtt ., April , 1917.) 
Schroeder , T. 

The author, a well-known New York lawyer, desires to promote 
“a genetic, synthetic, and practical criminology.” It should also be 
a general social psychological method, but he considers that it is in a 
prison it may best be begun and worked out. First comes classification. 
On the basis of a physical examination all curable physical evils must 
be discovered and relieved at the outset. Then the subject is to be 
turned over to the psychological laboratory, and if there are any defects 


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which may be regarded as congenital removed for special training, and 
if he is morbidly inefficient, sent to a suitable psychiatric institutions. 
Among those now remaining in the prison will be found the important 
group of recidivists who are physically and mentally little below the 
average level. These require careful study, for they are symptomatic 
of general psycho-social disorder, and demand a sympathetic under¬ 
standing. In dealing with them, “ the newly conceived need for 
reforming the convict and restoring him to society replaces in our 
interest the older idea of punishment.” The secret of the social 
inadequacy of these criminals is largely to be found in their emotional 
attitudes, and therefore Schroeder urges the importance of a psycho¬ 
analytic department in every prison laboratory. If sexual taboos and 
ignorances are found influential in determining the emotional impera¬ 
tives which lead to anti-social conduct, it becomes necessary “to establish 
a technique for the conscious reconditioning of the desires, so as to 
make them progressively more mature; this should be a deliberate 
part of the working programme of a prison laboratory.” Beyond this 
is the possibility of a higher synthesis in unifying the measures for the 
improvement of all our educational systems, so that we may advance 
to the discovery of the factors in social psychology which determine the 
criminal mind. 

There are other methods which could be efficiently applied in prison. 
Thus, for instance, a technique might be developed for class instruction, 
aiming to discover and eliminate emotional conflicts, and to adapt the 
desires to more mature aims. This involves a new sort of sex education, 
dealing with emotions rather than with physical factors, and is a kind of 
hygiene also needed outside prisons. As, indeed, we approach the 
treatment of criminals with a larger vision, we shall find ourselves 
anxious to help them, not alone for their own sakes, but in a still 
higher degree as symptomatic products of unhealthy and infantile 
stages in our psycho-social development as a whole. In learning how 
to deal w’ith the criminal we are learning how to deal with society. 
We select the criminal in the first place simply because the so-called 
normal psyche can best be studied in its exaggerations. The criminal 
must in future be studied with the desire to find out what is immature 
or inefficient in the human factor of his larger environment. Thus it 
is that criminology leads on to social psychology. We have to “under¬ 
stand and acknowledge the criminal tendencies in ourselves.” Some 
day, the author believes, we may perhaps be able to eliminate from 
healthy members of society all those impulses to anti-social behaviour, 
only a small fraction of which are now penalised, and which may be 
manifested even in our desire to inflict punishment. In these and 
similar ways a prison psychological laboratory may be performing a larger 
social service, even while merely carrying on effectively its own special 
work. Havelock Ellis. 


4. Asylum Reports for 1916. 

Bethlem Royal Hospital .—The report of this institution is less 
curtailed than most of the annual reports, and it contains much 
interesting reading. Bethlem is fortunate in having started life some 


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hundreds of years ago with a correct definition as the “ Hospitium 
mente Captorum Londinense.” 

Most of us entirely approve of the name hospital, but probably few 
approve of the reason for the name, and under no condition could the 
existing legal definition, based as it is upon the financial condition of 
the patient, be held as wise, good, or valid ; it seems to us a very serious 
defect in the existing Lunacy Act that it should implicitly hold the 
view that because a man is poor he should be deprived of any privilege 
whatever to which a slightly richer man is entitled, and that the 
historically unpleasant name, of Greek derivation, of institutions for 
the treatment of mental disease, should be specially reserved for the 
poor—and that because a man is poor he is not allowed to place him¬ 
self under treatment for mental disease when he himself feels he 
requires it. Few medical superintendents can have been in office 
long without feeling this hardship of the poor, suffering from mental 
affliction. Those institutions for mental diseases that have assumed 
an unofficial title of a more pleasant kind have invariably, we believe, 
discovered that a new and better atmosphere is created, which is 
much appreciated both by the patients and their friends : moreover, 
the name itself has some effect in inducing relatives to part with their 
patients at an earlier date—and thus the patients come under treatment 
more readily; for instance, in Bethlem we find that 76 per cent, of the 
patients are admitted within six months of the declared inception of 
the disease; whereas, taking at random two county asylums, the pro¬ 
portion varies between 29 and 45 per cent. only. 

Dr. Porter Phillips makes some wise remarks on the subject of 
future research : 

“ I feel that I must again repeat, as I have done on former occasions, that for 
the physical basis of the actual causation in the greater majority of these cases, 
we must, in future, exert all our energies in the direction of biochemistry, and, to 
some extent, to psycho-analysis ; with regard to the former suggested research I 
would like strongly to recommend that when more favourable opportunities 
present themselves, a pathological chemist be appointed on the staff of this 
hospital.” 

As regards causation, we note that alcohol was not a very promi¬ 
nent factor, and that masturbation was considered to be the principal 
factor in producing mental disease in two cases; but Dr. Porter Phillips 
agrees with most other mental specialists in holding the opinion that 
the war has played but a small part in the aetiology of mental disease. 

The recovery rate for the year under review was 59'3 per cent, on the 
direct admissions, which compares very favourably with former years, 
but, of course, is not in any way comparable with other institutions for 
the treatment of mental disease, which have to receive all types of 
cases. 

The causes of death include one due to senile dementia and one 
due to dementia alone—a somewhat unusual form of classification. 


Beds , Herts , and Hunts. —Dr. Fuller has been fortunate in having 
been able to get carried out more structural improvements than is 
generally to be expected during war time, and most of these were 
urgently necessary for the convenient and proper administration of the 


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kitchen and stores, the more so as this institution has been generous 
enough to receive on the usual terms patients from the two temporary 
military hospitals established at Thorpe and Napsbury. 

The admissions for the year were somewhat lower than what is 
regarded as normal for the contributing area, on account of agencies 
which appear to be common to all such institutions during the present 
stress. Amongst the admissions, the leading aetiological factor was 
considered to be moral, including domestic worry and adverse circum¬ 
stances (and here we note that the older classification of causes is used 
in the letter-press, and the newer in the table), which appeared to be 
potent in nearly 27 per cent, of the total cases, and in twenty-three cases 
out of 149 this particular form of stress was deemed to be the principal, 
essential, or chief factor. Heredity takes only second position as the 
aetiological factor in about 21 per cent, of the cases admitted, and 
alcoholic excess accounts for a little over 9 per cent. 

The recovery rate was 42^4 per cent, on the direct admissions, and of 
these recoveries it is particularly noteworthy that one case >s indicated 
of recovery after a mental illness of nearly fourteen years, a case which 
might fairly give cause for serious thought to a Divorce Commission 
contemplating drastic reform in case of mental disease in one or other 
partners in marriage. Amongst the recoveries another interesting case 
occurs of recovery in a male general paralytic, and in this connection it 
would be interesting to know whether this was a case really yielding to 
active treatment by some of the newer remedies administered intra¬ 
venously or intramuscularly, since we know that this treatment is in so 
many cases quite disappointing in such advanced cases of lesions of the 
nervous system and, so complete and deceptive are the remissions in 
these cases, that the greatest caution is necessary in deciding that 
recovery has actually occurred in any given case. 

The mortality for the year was 11 per cent., and of the total number 
of deaths 36 per cent, were due to some form of tubercular disease. 

In the midst of all the troubles and administrative anxieties of an 
overcrowded and understaffed asylum, and all the other difficulties 
incidental to war time, Dr. Fuller was unfortunate enough to be hampered 
in addition by several puzzling and elusive cases of, fortunately, isolated 
foci of enteric fever and diphtheria. 

Essex County (a) Brentwood. —Dr. Turner continues his very valu¬ 
able record of the clinico-pathological and pathological work during 
the year, and it is to be hoped that this work, which represents the 
skilful and detailed observations of a highly-trained clinician and 
pathologist, will at some later date see light in a different form more 
accessible to pathologists generally. The work as reported is in itself 
so condensed that it hardly lends itself to review in an adequate form 
in the space at our disposal; a few points, however, may be referred to. 

Sclerosis of one or other (in one case both), cornu ammonis. This 
was found in the proportion of 37*5 per cent, of males and 36 per 
cent, of females suffering from epilepsy, chiefly in the congenitally 
defective. 

As regards his continued observations on the presence or otherwise of 
the sulcus lunatus and the stripe of Gennari, Dr. Turner remarks that— 


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“ These results do not lend much support to the idea that a greater stretch of 
stripe on the external surface of the cerebrum and the presence of a sulcus 
lunatus are signs of degeneracy." 

Subdural haemorrhages were noted in only one male case, and they 
occurred in no single case of general paralysis (male or female). Pachy- 
meningeal haemorrhages certainly appear to be less commonly found at 
post-tnortem examinations than they were years ago, and the reason may 
be attributable to some change occurring in the course of the disease. 

As regards the presence of gliosis, the findings of which Dr. Turner 
shows in a table, he draws the following conclusions: 

“ These results, drawn from this year's findings only, are quite in accord with 
those of previous years. So that speaking from the study of a fairly wide field of 
cortex—from a large number of cases—there does not seem to be any warranty 
for the statement so frequently repeated in text-books, and generally given on the 
authority of Alzheimer and Mott, that gliosis is a pathological feature charac¬ 
teristic of dementia praecox.” 

Colloid bodies, which are so commonly seen in certain types of 
cases associated with degenerative changes, he found in a peculiar 
form, observed chiefly in cases of Korsakow’s disease. This consisted 
in the deposition of an enormous number of these bodies in the imme¬ 
diate neighbourhood of the vessels in the white matter at the tip of the 
temporal lobe. 

The pathological report contains much more that is both interesting 
and valuable, and excerpts, taken at random, give but a poor idea of the 
amount of work involved and the extreme and minute care taken in 
this laboratory ; the report should, however, be read by all interested 
in the pathology of mental disease. 

The recovery rate calculated on the direct admissions was 21 6 per 
cent., which suggests that Dr. Turner uses great discrimination in the 
use of the word recovery in mental disease. The death-rate was 
17 per cent, on the daily number resident, and of the deaths about 
12 per cent, were due to pulmonary tuberculosis. 

The administration of the institution must have been during the 
past year no light task, seeing that ninety-nine members of the staff of 
all kinds have joined the forces, and this includes departures from the 
medical and clerical staff, one head attendant, two head nurses, and an 
assistant matron. We should like to congratulate Dr. Turner on 
maintaining his high standard of work under such difficulties. 

Essex County ( b ), Scveralls. —Dr. Turnbull feels, like many under 
similar circumstances, some of whom have even entirely suppressed 
their annual reports for the duration of the war, that it is difficult, and 
perhaps out of place, to present a report at any great length, but 
deplores the difficulties of administration under the conditions, in which, 
as he says : “ The normal routine of asylum life has to be modified daily 
in process of adjustment to altering circumstances.” 

Having already suffered from the invasion of the military at an early 
date, his difficulties then became acute in finding accommodation for 
the influx of patients from Napsbury, Wandsworth, and Norwich City, 
amounting to 429 in all. How this was met is told in the Commissioners’ 
report: 


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“ Owing to the arrangement that had to be made in order to receive additional 
patients from other asylums it has been found necessary to use one of the wards 
on the male side for female patients, and to accommodate the displaced male 
patients a new ward has been formed containing thirty-nine beds. An annexe to 
this new ward has also been contrived by using the committee rooms and offices 
on the first floor over the main entrance as day-rooms and dormitories, etc.” 


The Commissioners’ report also contained some interesting sugges¬ 
tions. It is somewhat extraordinary to read recommendations in the 
case of an asylum so recently built as this of “ outside staircases to west 
ward on the femak^side and 13 ward on the male side, which at present 
have no second exits for use in case of fire.” And, again, as regards 
the recommendations of the provision of verandahs attached to all the 
hospital wards, it seems difficult to understand why they are not com¬ 
pulsorily embodied in all original plans nowadays, so that they would 
form part of a coherent scheme, rather than adapted excrescences of 
modified convenience ; in addition, committees are apt to resent being 
instructed to add what are called essential structures to institutions 
almost immediately after the original plan is completed. 

The admissions for the year numbered 724, including transfers, as 
mentioned above, and the percentage of recoveries on the direct 
admissions was thirty, the death-rate being as low as 9^5 per cent., the 
deaths from tuberculosis not being high. 

Dr. Turnbull, like many others, has not been able to escape the 
penalty of overcrowding, which showed itself in the form of an out¬ 
break of scabies, and latterly of enteric fever. 

In the financial portion of the report it is noted.-’that, under the 
heading “ Other payments,” the details of which are set out in full, an 
item occurs showing payment of “ fees for recertification of patients.” 
Assuming that this refers to “ lapsed certificates,” it appears to establish 
a principle previously in doubt, and one frequently not admitted by local 
government auditors. 

Royal Eastern Counties' Institution , Colchester .—The report of this 
institution shows an excellent record for the year. The average daily 
number resident was 498, a considerable increase, in part probably due 
to the incidence of the Mental Deficiency Act, and the greater activity 
of local authorities in these matters, 86 cases having been received 
during the current year under review; of these only 18 were under 10 
years of age, and the average age was as high as 14^ ; it seems a pity that 
the more educable of these should not come under the care of the 
authorities at an earlier age seeing the excellent training facility here 
provided. An idea of the mental standard and qualities of those 
admitted is shewn by the classification which Dr. Turner gives : 

Twenty-two high-grade cases. 

Seventeen fair and promising cases. 

Nineteen not promising, not containing material that may be improved 
with education. 

Twenty-eight hospital patients incapable of education. 

Giving the satisfactory proportion of some 67 per cent, capable ot 
benefiting by the training school. 

The above form of classification has the merit of being intensely 


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practical and indeed necessary, but one must confess that reading the 
report from a medical point of view one would like to hear some details 
of the fundamental types of idiocy and imbecility in each group. 

Great praise is due to Dr. Turner for the personal and detailed care 
in which the cases are graded for educative purposes, a matter which 
requires a considerable degree of knowledge and experience. The 
following extract concerning the working of the Peckover schools and 
shops portrays something of the plan adopted : 

“Undoubtedly we have striven to keep the school work and methods of training 
up-to-date ; we have adopted new ideas wherever they seemed good, though it 
must be confessed the new ideas are sometimes only old methods revived or in a 
little different dress. The children who go to school are divided into four classes, 
though each class is subdivided at least once. In the upper classes ordinary school 
subjects are taught in the morning, combined with plenty of practical object- 
lessons and drill, and in the afternoon all classes do some kind of manual work. 
Girls and boys are mixed in the same class for the morning subjects. This has 
enabled us to grade the different patients much more evenly than if the boys and ’ 
girls were kept in separate classes. A particular patient can be thus placed in.the 
class to which he or she belongs by reason of their mental abilities, and no attention 
need be paid to the question of sex. For the afternoon session the patients are 
again regraded, some of those who are in the first class for manual work may be 
much lower for ordinary school subjects. The lower classes take manual work 
both morning and afternoon. Some of the teaching in these classes is very 
simple, but one is often surprised at the results. I have had a large number of 
blocks and bricks of all sizes and various shapes made in the carpenter's shop. 
These have been painted different colours, but each colour has been made as bright 
as possible. One of the drawbacks to the Montessori apparatus in my opinion is 
the absence of any bright colouring. There is nothing to strike a defective 
child’s imagination. Any patient who improves sufficiently is at once put into a 
higher class.” 

That this education results in an improvement of real practical value 
is shewn by the following paragraph from Dr. Turner’s report : 

“ The work in the training shops has fortunately gone on throughout the year 
without interruption. I have already mentioned how much the institution is 
indebted to the carpenter's shop for the furnishing of the new house on East Hill. 
The wood-carving shop has suffered more than most of the shops. Suitable wood 
canhot be obtained, and even if it could, people are not disposed to buy articles 
which may be called luxuries. Many of the best wood-carvers have been drafted 
into other shops where the work is more strictly utilitarian. The brush shop has 
turned out many hundred more brushes than in any previous year. In addition 
to private orders the brush contracts for two large asylums have been obtained, 
and the shop has had to work at high-pressure throughout the year. All the frocks, 
suits, and uniforms required for clothing the patients and staff have been made in 
the institution, as well as the greater part of the underclothing for the patients. 
We have been enabled to do this, because the girls’ workroom now contains a 
large number of higher grade young women, who do good work in this way. When 
the new workroom is built we ought to make and repair everthing that is wanted 
in the way of clothing. The number of jerseys, stockings, and socks knitted on | 
the machines has increased by nearly 100 per cent. Five thousand five hundred 
pairs of boots have been repaired in addition to the new boots made. The mat 
shop has had plenty of work throughout the year. The excellence and durability 
of the mats made by the patients is now so well known that there are always 
plenty of orders. The basket shop is not so well known, and we could put through 
more orders than we receive for baskets and hampers. The elder girls have been 
of great assistance in the laundry, and have enabled us to do without that increase 
in laundry staff which would otherwise have been necessary; indeed, the number 
of paid hands in the laundry is now one less, than when the number of patients was 
half the present figure. The farm has had an excellent year. The value of the 


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farm to the institution is very evident at the present time, and more land would be 
a great advantage, not only from the point of view of supplies, but because it 
provided good work for the stronger patients.” 

Both the ordinary death-rate and the tubercular death-rate was 
comparatively low. 

City of London .—This report, like so many more, is so seriously 
curtailed that a great deal that is generally interesting in it fails to 
come under review. 

This institution has given accommodation to a considerable number 
of patients from Napsbury and St. Luke’s Hospital, but nowhere do we 
find Dr. Steen complaining of overcrowding, nor in the report is there 
any sign indicating a condition prejudicial to the general health of the 
community; indeed, except for a small outbreak of influenza, the year 
under review appears to have been remarkably free from .epidemic 
disease. Forty-five members of the staff were absent on military service, 
but the remainder of the staff appear to have risen to the occasion 
demanded of them, and the Committee are able to express their high 
appreciation of their work. 

The admission rate for the year was 169, but owing to the absence 
of the aetiological table there is no information as to causation. The 
average for the previous ten years was 143, and the previous five years 
was 135 ; there was, therefore, some enhancement in the admission rate 
for the year, though Dr. Steen clearly is of opinion that the war and its 
concomitant conditions do not at present, at any rate, produce any 
appreciable effect on the community in this direction. 

"To sum up: there are so far no evidences that there has been any increase in 
insanity during the past two and a half years, and it is highly probable that there 
has been an appreciable decrease,” 

and this is the conclusion gained from a perusal of most of the asylum 
reports in the country. 

The recovery rate for the year was $2'$ per cent., and the death-rate 
as low as 7^4 per cent .; the usual death-rate, however, of this institution 
is lower than the average of the counties generally, which we understand 
Dr. Steen attributes partly to the excellent Site and subsoil, partly also 
no doubt to the very extensive use of the verandah system. 

In the farm balance-sheet, we note that although “ cartage done for 
the asylum ” is represented, and “ value of pig-wash ” is charged for, 
for some reason there does not appear to be any charge made for the 
labour of patients, which in many institutions, at certain times of the 
year particularly, is an important item, and in these days of increased 
wages still more so. It is difficult to assess this really accurately on 
account of its fluctuating quality and quantity ; it is generally considered, 
however, that an approximate estimate should be made to give greater 
correctness to the farm account for comparison with non-asylum farm 
accounts. 

Borough of Middlesbrough .—The Borough admissions for the year 
1916 were 66, which showed a decrease of 13 as compared with the 
previous year; the total direct admissions were 83 and the indirect 6, 
and from a table shown by Dr. Geddes, the proportion of certified 


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92 EPITOME. [Jan., 

insanity of the poor class, to the population of the Borough, has risen 
from 1 in 517 in 1894 to 1 in 408 in 1916, the population itself having 
risen from 75,532 in the former year to 125,718 in the latter. 

The recovery rate is stated to be the “ very satisfactory one of 49^4 ” 
calculated on the direct admissions. It is very remarkable to notice in 
the different annual reports what each medical superintendent regards 
as a satisfactory recovery rate; at the one end of the scale we find 
Dr. Whitwell referring to 158 as a satisfactory recovery rate, and from 
this, through the whole gamut, culminating in a recovery rate of 50 
per cent, and over. The question really is, are we to do our best to 
achieve a scientific standard to represent recovery in mental disease, or 
are we to accept the lay or legal view, namely, that a man is recovered 
when he appears to be, according to the understanding of the uninitiated ? 
The public, though they may be stupid in the matter of mental disease, 
cannot help noting the large number of “recoveries” that are con¬ 
tinually coming back to asylums (for instance, in one series of asylums 
during a period of sixteen years the returned “ recoveries ’’amounted to 
nearly 30 per cent.), and the result of these observations made by the 
public is that many of them are beginning to think that they are quite 
as well able to form an opinion in this matter as the mental expert. On 
the other hand, we have the remarkable and curious fact that according 
to the existing Lunacy Law there is not anything called “ recovery ” of 
poor (pauper) patients, but only according to Sect. 83, of patients in 
hospitals or licensed houses. Again, it is very seriously implied by that 
Act that after all, the final court of appeal as to a man’s mental con¬ 
dition is not the doctor but the layman. If, then, we are to accept the 
idea that a man is recovered, the moment he has ceased to be certifiable, 
not only by the doctor but by the layman (Sec. 38 (6) b ), then a high 
recovery rate is not only inevitable but dreadful; but if we are to accept 
the undoubtedly more scientific, and probably more correct, view that 
though many patients appear to the uninitiated to be well mentally, 
much fewer really recover, then the high recovery rate must go, and the 
low one rule, which to some people would seem appalling. 

The death-rate for the year was 10 3, and the deaths included one 
unusual case from shock following the reduction under an anesthetic of 
a dislocation of the hip-joint sustained in an epileptic fit. 

County of Salop and Borough of IVenlock .—Although the dissolution 
is now complete between the counties of Shropshire and Montgomery 
so far as mental disease is concerned, the Asylum at Bicton still 
continues to receive Montgomery cases, the current receptions under 
contract at 21 s. per week and some of the residual cases at 14*. per 
week, it seems probable that the general increase in cost of everything 
will shortly render the latter figure untenable from a business point of 
view. The number of patients at present in the Asylum, owing to the 
dissolution of the Counties, is practically the same as obtained thirty 
years ago, as is shown in an interesting table of the population move¬ 
ments since the year 1876 Dr. Hughes also shows the ratio of the 
insane to the population in the various contributing Union areas taking 
the 1911 census as a basis, from which it appears that the more purely 
agricultural areas, such as Drayton for instance (1 in 588), tend to have 


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the smaller proportion of mental diseases; this seems to suggest the 
absence of that serious depletion of the country for the supply of the 
urban areas, which sometimes occurs. The borough of Shrewsbury 
shows the highest ratio, namely i in 280, the corresponding figures for 
England and Wales being at present 1 in 266. 

The admission rate for the year was lower than usual; owing, however, 
to the great reduction in the statistical tables, and as in other asylums 
the general volume of the report, there is nothing to be gleaned as to 
the relative value of the causative conditions in operation. The recovery 
rate was 4i - 4 per cent., calculated on the direct admissions, which must 
be regarded as a high one from an institution which takes every kind 
of case without selection. The death-rate is remarkably low, namely, 
8 9 on the average daily number resident, 17 9 per cent, being due to 
some form of tuberculosis. 

Dr. Hughes is to be congratulated on the loyalty of his subordinate 
staff who so readily assumed the extra work thrown upon them by war 
conditions, since he is able to report that married men, artisans, and 
tradesmen willingly and readily consented to take turn to sleep in the 
asylum if and when necessary, artisans and tradesmen in addition 
volunteering to undertake ward duties after their working hours, an 
unassuming and useful form of patriotism which might to advantage be 
emulated in other walks of life. 

Warwick County. —Dr. Miller received during the year 224 patients 
of both sexes, from Rubery Hill, Hollymoor, and Northampton Asylums, 
which had been converted into temporary military hospitals ; the normal 
number, for which accommodation is provided, is not shown in the 
report, but it is readily seen that this great influx caused considerable 
overcrowding, which had indeed already been in existence, as it was 
referred to in the report of the previous year. At Warwick County 
Asylum they are unique to some extent in having such a considerable 
area of covered airing-court which they were able to use successfully as 
a dormitory for male patients, ninety patients having been comfortably 
housed there for the past one and a half years. Tiie great diminution 
of the staff (seventy-six of whom are on military service), together with 
the sudden great increase of patients, necessarily, as in other similar 
asylums, limited the freedom and liberty of the patients, though judging 
from the very satisfactory and healthy state of the farm account, the 
patients must have been fully employed in farming operations, and 
Dr. Miller was even able to assist neighbouring farmers by the loan of 
patient labour. 

Amongst the admissions we note there was a larger proportion than 
usual of congenital cases ; this is a thing which is disappointing to most 
medical superintendents, who had hoped that with the advent of the 
Mental Deficiency Act they would have been relieved of this particular 
class of patients for which they, as a rule, have no suitable accommodation, 
and for whom they have no means of training. It is, of course, true 
that under present circumstances the provisions of the Mental Deficiency 
Act cannot be carried out, and to all intents and purposes it is in 
abeyance, but in many counties the medical superintendent of the 
county asylum is not in such close touch as he should, in our opinion, 


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94 epitome. [Jan., 

be with the Mental Deficiency Committee, whose official adviser, we 
believe he undoubtedly ought to be (and sometimes is). The result is 
that the Mental Deficiency Committee in some cases deliberately and 
of intention takes advantage of Sec. 30, ii, of the Act, to shirk any 
responsibility of dealing with cases that have been touched by the Poor 
Law, although in the summary of the report of the Royal Commission 
upon the Care and Control of the Feeble-minded it is definitely stated 
that “ we have come to the conclusion that intervention by the Poor 
Law in the case of mentally defective persons should be based on the 
principle that such persons are suffering from mental incapacity,” and 
in the Mental Deficiency Act it is clearly intended that the county 
asylum should not be utilised for the disposal of inconvenient imbeciles 
in the workhouse, since provision for their removal or transfer occurs 
in Sec. 16 (II) to an institution for defectives. Unfortunately, however, 
under Sec. 341 Lunacy Act, 1890, the term lunatic means “idiot or 
person of unsound mind,” and thus unless proper direction be given 
to the actions of Mental; Deficiency Committees when the Mental 
Deficiency Act comes into actual being and force, there would appear 
to be a possibility (if nothing more) of a repetition of some of the defects 
of the Lunacy Act of 1890, in that the poorer class of cases will be 
deprived of opportunities of education and treatment to which they are 
justly and rightly entitled. Warwick County Asylum has already resident 
200 congenital cases. 

The total admissions for the year were 230, and as to. causation, 

“ stress either sudden or prolonged ” is assigned as the cause of the 
attack in a large percentage of cases, though owing to the necessary 
shortness of the report there is no table to show whether this was 
regarded chiefly as a principal or contributory factor. Alcoholic excess as 
a factor of either kind only occurred in a little over 5 per cent, of the 
admissions. The recovery rate was 33 per cent, on the gross number of 
admissions. The two largest factors in the death-rate were senility and 
tubercular disease, the latter accounting for 19-8 per cent., and of this 
Dr. Miller observes: 

“ The deaths due to tuberculosis and pneumonia are more numerous than in 
previous years. This will no doubt be found to be the case in all overcrowded 
asylums. There has been much inevitable overcrowding in this asylum, a factor 
which in my experience has had marked influence on the incidence of the diseases 
mentioned, and our dietary has of necessity been considerably reduced, which also 
has no doubt tended to diminish resistance in constitutions already enfeebled and 
prone to disease.” 

Royal Edinburgh Asylums , Morningside. 

There is much to be learned from the Scottish institutions as regards 
the grading of patients, so that a man may not necessarily become what 
is called “ a pauper ” from the mere fact of losing his earning power 
through mental disease, any more than he does by entering a public 
hospital for bodily disease, unless in fact he really is poor to the degree 
of practical destitution. Thus at Morningside we find accommodation 
for private patients providing their own clothing at a sum as low as 
15*. 4 d. per week, for intermediates at ic)s. 9 d. per week, and rate-paid 
at i6r. id. per week, and it is certain that many of these former classes 
in an English county would of necessity be classed as rate-paid or— 


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unfortunate word—pauper patients. Moreover, in order to maintain 
these figures as low as possible, consistent with the high cost of living, 
the Board of Managers resolved to suspend in the meantime the opera¬ 
tion of the Sinking Fund, so far as repayment of debt is concerned, and 
to increase the rates of board only to such an extent as to provide an 
income sufficient to meet ordinary expenditure. But Morningside is 
fortunate in having excellent charity and benevolent funds for the 
assistance of the less fortunate. On these, however, in the year under 
review so great was the call that the expenditure exceeded the 
income. 

The total number of cases admitted during the year was 424. Owing 
to an unfortunate printer’s error in Table I it is not quite dear exactly 
what proportion of these were first admissions, but approximately 344 is 
the number, therefore the figures do not show any increase of insanity 
in the contributing area. 

On the subject of aetiology, Dr. Robertson speaks strqpgly of alcohol 
as an exciting cause amongst the admissions for the year, but concludes 
from the figures that during the year under review there has been 
slightly less drinking to excess amongst men and slightly more amongst 
women, but, on the whole, less than during the past few years. 

" There is no doubt whatsoever that the amount of alcoholic insanity admitted 
has been decidedly less since the war began than in previous years, and there is no 
evidence in the statistics at my disposal that women since then have been drinking 
more.” 

This is an observation of considerable importance, having in view the 
great prevalence of loose statements on this subject and especially 
calling to mind the fact that the above result has been achieved in an 
area which has not been under that strict Government control which is 
said to produce such beneficent results. Syphilis seems to have been a 
definitely determined cause in 14.7 per cent, of the cases of insanity 
occurring amongst men. 

“ In other words, one in every seven men suffered from irrecoverable insanity 
produced by a preventible cause and by a very curable disease, provided that the 
remedies which medical science has discovered were made use of at an early stage 
by those who became infected with it. At last, however, something is to be done 
for its organised treatment. I would impress upon the public bodies concerned 
that they cannot do too much. The return, so far as the prevention of this 
incurable form of insanity is concerned, would not be immediate, for it does not 
develop as a rule till twelve years after infection, but in the end the country will be 
amply repaid for all outlays, whatever these may be. Leith provides a higher 
percentage of this form of insanity, in comparison with its population, than any 
other district in Scotland, and Edinburgh comes third on the list. The Inverness 
district, including the northern counties, comes last, with only one-eighteenth of 
the percentage, at the head of the list.” 

In the retiological table we note that the older form of the Medico- 
Psychological Association is used, so that the convenient term “etio¬ 
logical factor ” with all its latitude is replaced by the more exacting 
phrase “ probable cause.” There are several interesting points in this 
table, to two of which we would draw attention, namely, a case of 
mental disease in which the “probable cause” assigned was mastur¬ 
bation as a predisposing factor, and another of cancer of the breast, in a 
similar relationship. By predisposition, one generally means not really 


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a cause but an initial and sometimes innate condition resulting in less 
resistance to a stress which we may call exciting or precipitating ; pre¬ 
disposition to an end is thus a state of equilibrium of less stability than 
normal, but of varying degree. It is not, therefore, easily conceivable 
that an act such as masturbation, or a condition such as cancer of the 
breast, should be a predisposing cause; in each case there must have 
been a chain of events preceding them, of which this particular event is 
but a terminal incident of comparatively small import. Such incidents 
may, of course, be terminal factors, or in the one case a mere symptom 
—whether they ever rank as “ predisposing causes ” is certainly open to 
doubt. 

Dr. Robertson gives some well-timed and temperate remarks on the 
subject of spiritualism and its relation to mental diseases ; he regards 
the publication of Raymond as lamentable, a view accepted by many, 
and shows how dangerous spiritualism may be to those of neurotic 
temperament. 

" 1 would remind inquirers into the subject that if they would meet those who 
are hearing messages from spirits every hour of the day, who are seeing forms, 
angelic and human, surrounding them that are invisible to ordinary persons, and 
who are receiving other manifestations of an equally occult nature, they only 
require to go to a mental hospital to find them. It is true that the modern 
physician, by a long study of these phenomena, has come to regard them as 
symptoms of! disease, and has renounced the doctrine of possession by spirits, 
though it had, the double merit of simplicity and of antiquity to support it. If 
honest mediums do exist who hear inaudible messages or feel communications 
without words, or see forms invisible to others, the mental physician accustomed 
to ‘symptoms’ is inclined to regard their ' gifts’ as being, if not morbid, at least 
as closely related to the morbid, with no element of anything ‘ occult ’ about 
them. 

“ I desire to warn those who may possibly inherit a latent tendency to nervous 
disorders to have nothing to do with practical inquiries of a spiritualistic nature, 
lest they should awaken this dormant proclivity to hallucinations within their 
brains. I have known such a person who had lost her son following the procedure 
in vogue at present, under advice, first hearing of him through mediums, then 
getting into touch with him herself and receiving messages from him, some as 
impressions and others as audible words, then increasing her circle of spiritual 
acquaintances and living more for her spiritual world than for this, to the neglect 
of her husband and household, till finally God conversed with her in a low musical 
voice at all times, and confided His plans for the future to her. I would ask 
spiritualists where in this case does spiritualism end and mental disorder begin ? 
Do they overlap ? Dcf they exist ? Or is there such a state as disordered mental 
function at all ? Or is it that spiritualism was wholly absent from the case ? 

“ While inquiries into spiritualism sometimes lead to insanity in the predisposed, 
I have found more frequently that to persons suffering from the simple forms and 
early stages of mental derangement, the theory of spiritualism has a great fascina¬ 
tion. It is simple—a child can understand it—indeed, it is the explanation of the 
primitive savage for all the actions produced by the mysterious forces of nature. 
When, therefore, a person suffering from the early symptoms of insanity hears 
imaginary voices, or experiences strange feelings and impressions, he finds in 
spiritualism a ready and a comforting explanation of these phenomena, and he 
becomes interested in the subject. However injurious spiritualism may be to these 
persons in retarding recovery, it would be wrong to say that it was the cause of 
their derangement.” 

In another book on spiritualism recently published (The Dangers of 
Spiritualism, Raupert), we notice that several of the cases there set out 
in detail were obvious cases of crude mental disease familiar to all 
mental students. 


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Of the admissions, the melancholic form of manic-depressive insanity 
was predominant, the difference in the proportion of the cases in different 
areas is very marked, and appears at present inexplicable. Another 
noteworthy feature in the admissions is the somewhat large proportion 
of cases of “ infective-exhaustive ” insanity (presumably confusional 
insanity), namely sixty-four in 424 admissions. 

The recovery rate for the year was 30 per cent, calculated on the 
admissions. In some quarters much capital has been made out of the 
fact that, on the figures as published of mental disease, there has been no 
increase in the recovery rate during the past fifty years ; we would go 
still farther, and claim that there has been an actual diminution in the 
recovery rate, as shown in statistics, for this period, as almost any 
asylum tables will show. The fact of the matter is that our knowledge 
in these matters has increased, and we are now better able to 
differentiate between true and false recovery than we have ever been, 
and instead of the deduction being that the study and knowledge of 
insanity has not progressed, the deduction should really be that it is 
because the study and knowledge of mental diseases has progressed, 
that the recovery rate, as shown by statistics, has not increased or even 
become lower. In the tables before us, showing the history of the 
annual admissions since the opening of the asylum, it seems clear that 
in the earlier years, some forty years ago when the recovery rates soared 
to 48—55 per cent, on the admissions, a large number of these cases 
were made up of non-recovered cases ; in one year the relapsed cases 
formed 38 per cent, of the total admissions, and in the preceding forty 
years they formed 31 per cent., while in the year under review they only 
formed 23 per cent. While discussing the subject of recovery rates in 
mental diseases over a period the very pertinent question might with 
justice be asked, has the recovery rate in any disease of the nervous 
system increased greatly in the same period ? The answer is in the 
negative, but there are keen and earnest men working at both nervous 
and mental disease, and those who cavil at results have forgotten 
Tennyson’s line : “ Science moves but slowly, slowly, creeping on from 
point to point,” and clamour for immediate and dramatic developments. 
As regards the “ ill-considered advertisements for subscriptions for 
hostels,” which disfigured a well-known daily paper, Dr. Robertson 
makes some sound remarks ; we ourselves challenged each statement 
in the paper as it was published, and were perhaps to some extent 
responsible for their modification in the later issues. 

“ In connection with the care of neurasthenic but not insane soldiers, I observe 
ill-considered advertisements for subscriptions for hostels, which are doing a 
public disservice by contrasting unfavourably the useful and excellent work done 
in asylums, in the advocacy of their own schemes. Practically all asylums in this 
country have large farms, gardens, and grounds attached to them, yet there 
recently appeared the suggestion, by a suppressio veri, that ‘work on the land’ is 
the distinctive feature of these places. There is no antagonism between hostels 
and mental hospitals, as both varieties of establishments are necessary for appro¬ 
priate cases, and, so far as I know, no case of neurasthenia only has been sent to 
an asylum. The converse, however, does not hold good, for a neurasthenic officer 
recently sent to a home found the patient on one side of him suffering from 
convulsions, and a deranged patient making trenches of his bedding on the other. 
He would rather have been in a well-appointed mental hospital provided with 
ample resources of every kind and good classification." 

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Both the ordinary death-rate and the tubercular death-rate were low 
for the year. 

Roxburgh District .—We miss Dr. Carlyle Johnston’s hand in this 
year’s report, and regret that his unsatisfactory health compelled him to 
resign an office which he had held with great credit to himself and 
marked advantage to the institution under his control for thirty-one 
years. We hope that the removal of his responsibilities will allow him 
to regain his health and enjoy his well-earned pension for many years. 

The admissions for the year numbered seventy-one, a somewhat 
lower admission rate than that of recent years, which Dr. Steele points 
out is largely due to the diminution in the civil population by the opera¬ 
tion of the Military Service Act. Of these admissions twenty were re- 
admissions consisting of patients who had mostly been intermingling 
with the ordinary community for periods varying from one year or less 
up to thirty-five years. 

As to aetiology, alcoholic cases do not appear to assume large pro¬ 
portions, and in no case is this regarded as a predisposing factor. 
Adolescence and senility Dr. Steele regards as predisposing causes, an 
attitude we are strongly inclined to think may be the correct one if this 
nomenclature is used, but in one case senility is regarded as an exciting 
cause, and this is due doubtless to the dilemma in which the former 
tables of the Medico-Psychological Association continually landed us, 
which is avoided by the use of the terms “ principal ” and ‘ contribu¬ 
tory,” which are more elastic, and give more latitude in apportioning 
the relative values of the factors in causation. 

Dr. Steele, like most other Medical Superintendents, speaks with 
considerable caution as to the effect of the war and its concomitant 
conditions on the production of mental disease in the community. 

“ The admissions included two soldiers from the Army. The question as to 
what influence the war is having on the causation of mental disease is a difficult 
one, and cannot be satisfactorily answered until the number of men who have 
become insane whilst on active service is known. The likelihood is that there may 
be some, though possibly not a very marked, increase in the numbers of the 
mentally affected. It seems only reasonable to expect that some men of a neurotic 
temperament and with hereditary predisposition, who, under the comparatively 
quiet and uneventful conditions of peace, might have avoided a mental breakdown, 
may succumb to the physical and mental strain of service in the field.” 

The recovery rate for the year was 3o - 9 per cent. The mortality rate 
was 107 per cent, of the average number resident, and 20 per cent, of 
the deaths were due to some form of tuberculosis. Amongst the deaths 
we note the case of a female patient between seventy-five and eighty 
years of age in whom the cause of death assigned was purpura, we assume 
this was not a case of true purpura, so rare at such an age, but a case 
of cachectic purpura, so common in senile debility, but so rarely the 
actual cause of death. 

Glasgcnv Royal Asylum , Gartnavel. —The number of patients resident 
in this institution shows but little increase at the end of the year com¬ 
pared with the number at the commencement, in fact, the average 
number resident has only shown minor fluctuations for many years back. 
The admissions for the year were slightly higher than in the previous year, 


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which was, however, an unusually low one. There is a very striking 
difference in different asylums in the United Kingdom in the proportion 
of male and female cases, and various explanations are given of this in 
different areas. Dr. Oswald points out, firstly, that the male admissions 
to Gartnavel have always been fewer than the female; and, secondly, that 
the excess of females over males, both in admissions and in “ number 
remaining,” applies only to private patients : 

“ for in the rate-supported class the admissions of males to the asylums of Scotland 
in 1915 was considerably in excess of the females, and at the close of 1915 there 
were four hundred fewer women than men resident. The difference is to be 
explained by the fact that the man is usually the bread-winner, and when he 
becomes ill there is no one to support him as a paying patient, whereas in the case 
of a woman becoming mentally affected she can be maintained, for a time at all 
events, by her wage-earning relatives. 

“ Apart from this class distinction, the admissions into all Scottish asylums in 
1915 show that insanity was nearly equally divided between the sexes, the increased 
frequency of general paralysis and alcoholic insanity in men being balanced by the 
greater number of women who suffered from melancholia, or who broke down at 
the climacteric period." 

That some slow-acting agency is gradually producing variations in the 
type of mental disease occurring in the community is clearly shown in 
many cases, though its varying degree is very striking in different areas, 
and it would appear to be a corollary to the proposition that evolutionary 
changes are occurring in the race type, and its mentality, and on this 
subject Dr. Oswald remarks : 

“ It is believed by some that mental disorders are changing in type, and that 
states of depression are becoming more common, and states of mental excitement 
less so. Acute mania—excluding that due to general paralysis or alcohol—is 
certainly now less frequently met with, and, among the poor at all events, melan¬ 
cholia, due often to an impaired physical condition, is the most common of all the 
psychoses. Among the educated classes delusional insanity is, however, very often 
the form the illness takes, and such cases are among the most troublesome of all 
to treat.” 

Of the causes of insanity amongst the admissions for the year, the 
largest single cause appears to be alcohol ; with or without the addition 
of predisposing causes it accounted for 14 percent, of all the admissions. 
Stress of various kinds is regarded as the “determining factor,” with or 
without predisposing cause added, in another 14 per cent., and here Dr. 
Oswald explains that in cases where more factors than one seemed to 
operate, he tabulates the illness as being due to the cause which, having 
regard to all the circumstances, he believed to be the determining 
factor. The table of causes which he shows is somewhat different in 
arrangement to the older form of that adopted by the Association, and 
an improvement on it—it is doubtful, however, whether the new table 
of etiological factors would not be better for showing the probable 
relationship in the etiology when more than one factor appears. We 
certainly confess to some diffidence in accepting without qualification 
or modification the view that senility and adolescence are in themselves 
the causes of mental disease, since it argues that the effect of the inci¬ 
dence of the adolescent period and that of senility is to produce mental 
disease, a somewhat difficult thesis to hold. 

The death-rate was the unusually low one of 5'3 per cent, on the 

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average number resident, and the tubercular disease death-rate was 
practically negligible. 


Aberdeen Royal Asylum .—It is probable that there are greater possi¬ 
bilities of refinements in classification of patients in some of the Scottish 
Asylums than exists in the majority of English County Asylums; the 
fact that this institution of a total population of 885 at the time of 
writing has four distinct divisions, namely,—Main Institution, Hospital, 
Elmhill House, and Daviot Branch is evidence of this, and possibly the 
relatively larger number of female nurses employed in the male division 
compared with the average English County Asylum is thus explained. 
Possibly also national temperament and type of case affect this question. 
In many parts of England, however, at the present time there is to be 
found a greater difficulty in filling female than male vacancies on the 
nursing staff, owing to reasons that are frequently called patriotic, but 
are more commonly financial and social. 

“There have been many changes in the nursing staff, caused, for the most part, 
by the war. Every endeavour has been made to release men for military purposes, 
and, as far as possible, to replace them by female nurses. There are now sixteen 
nurses in the Male Division, occupying such positions as are considered prudent 
and desirable. For long it has been found that, with the aid of male attendants, 
they are admirably suited for the care of the sick, infirm, and debilitated patients. 
The unfortunate circumstance is that, at the present time, the limit to this system 
has been reached in this institution.” 

The admissions for the year, both private and parish, show a decrease 
of five in the former case and forty-one in the latter, but, in spite of this, 
Ur. Reid points out that the admission rate is the second highest since 
the opening of the District Asylum in 1904, and the incidence was 
highest between the ages of 40 to 55. 

As regards causation, alcoholic intemperance does not appear to form 
a prominent factor, and syphilis occupies a similar position. In the 
aetiological table we notice with some interest that puberty and senility 
are regarded chiefly as factors of an undeterminable position as regards 
importance, while adolescence is frequently promoted to the position of 
a predisposing cause. The difficulty of correctly placing these factors 
in their proper relationship is very great, as is shown in report after 
report—it seems safe to regard them as contributory factors without 
necessarily committing oneself to their degree of potency in each case. 

Of the deaths, tuberculosis of all kinds showed a death rate of about 
11 per cent., and it will be remembered that in previous reports Dr. Reid 
has on occasion shown extremely low tubercular rates, which he attri¬ 
butes to the extensive use of the verandah system, and free exercise in 
the open air in all weathers. 


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NOTES AND NEWS. 


IOI 


Part IV—Notes and News. 


THE MEDICO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN 

AND IRELAND. 

The Quarterly Meeting of the Association was held at No. ii, Chandos 
Street, London, W. i, on Tuesday, November 27th, 1917, Lieut.-Colonel David G. 
Thomson, M.D., R.A.M.C. (President), in the chair. 

There were present: Sir George H. Savage, Sir R. Armstrong-Jones, and Drs. 
T. Stewart Adair, Fletcher Beach, David Bower, A. Helen Boyle, James Chambers, 
Maurice Craig, R. H. Cole, A. W. Daniel, J. F. Dixon, T. Drapes, R. Eager, J. 
H. Earls, C. F. Fothergill, A. Hume Griffith, N. Lavers, T. S. Logan, M. E. 
Martin, A. Miller, A. W. Neill, Bedford Pierce, J. G. Porter Phillips, J. N. 
Sergeant, G. E. Shuttleworth, R. P. Smith, T. E. K. Stansfield, James Stewart, 
R. C. Stewart, C. M. Tukc, H. Wolsley-Lewis, and R. H. Steen (Acting Hon. 
General Secretary). 

Present at the Council Meeting : Lieut.-Colonel D. G. Thomson, M.D., R.A.M.C. 
(President), in the chair, Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, and Drs. T. S. Adair, A. 
Helen Boyle, James Chambers, R. H. Cole, Thos. Drapes, R. Eager, J. G. Porter 
Phillips, J. N. Sergeant, G. E. Shuttleworth, T. E. K. Stansfield, H. Wolseley- 
Lewis, and R. H. Steen (Acting Hon. General Secretary). 

Dr. Bedford Pierce attended on the invitation of the President. 

The following sent communications expressing regret at their inability to be 
present: Drs. C. C. Easterbrook, J. G. Soutar, John Keay, E. W. White, N. 
Lavers, H. T. S. Aveline, G. D. McRae, C. A.Crichlow, W. R. Watson, and A. N. 
Boycott. 

The minutes of the May meeting were taken as read, they having already 
appeared in the July number of the Journal, and signed as correct. 

The President said he had to inform the meeting that a Special Meeting of 
the Council was held on September 20th for the purpose of appointing a Treasurer. 
At that meeting the Council, acting within its powers, appointed Dr. Chambers, 
of Roehampton, to be the Association’s Treasurer, in place of the late Dr. Hayes 
Newington. 

Before beginning the actual business it was his painful duty to report to the 
meeting the deaths, tragically enough on the same day, of two of the great pillars 
of this Association—Dr. Hayes Newington and Dr. Urquhart. Both died shortly 
after the last Quarterly Meeting. In the ordinary course it would have fallen to 
his duty to pronounce a panegyric on the work and worth of those two deceased 
members, but, opportunely, in the October issue of the Journal of Mental Science, 
there appeared an excellent account of the careers of both. Under those circum¬ 
stances he did not propose to detain the meeting with any long story of the life’s 
work of those two men : it was well known to all those present, and he felt that 
any words of his would be but feeble, and could not in any way supplement what 
had been so well said in the articles referred to. He asked the meeting to pass, 
by upstanding, a resolution of condolence with the families of Dr. Newington and 
Dr. Urquhart, which he formally moved. 

The vote was passed accordingly. 

In addition to those two gentlemen, death had laid its hand heavily on other 
members, and these losses were equally sad and deserving of sympathy. The first 
was that of Dr. William Graham, who was Medical Superintendent of Belfast 
District Asylum. Any of the members who were at the British Medical Associa¬ 
tion meeting in Belfast some years ago, and who visited the asylum at Purdysburn, 
would know what valuable and splendid work Dr. Graham did there. The tragedy 
of his somewhat premature death was described in the British Medical Journal, 
p. 674. His death was the sequel of an accident, which happened while he was 
still in the prime of life and energy. 

Another of the deaths was that of Col. James Hyslop, D.S.O., who was Deputy 
Director of Medical Services of the Union of South Africa. He died at the 
Sanatorium, Pietermartizburg, on October 5th, at the age of 60. He also was 
known for the general good work which he did in the South African States, and 


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for his special work in the asylum at Pietermaritzburg. He moved a resolution of 
condolence with the relatives of those deceased members. 

This also was carried by members upstanding. 

The following gentlemen were duly elected members: 

McIvek, Colin, Capt., I.M.S., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., c/o Messrs. Grindlay 
& Co., 54, Parliament Street, S.W. 

Proposed by Drs. J. G. Porter Phillips, W. H. B. Stoddart, and R. H. 

Steen. 

Wright, Maurice B., Major, R.A.M.C., M.D., C.M.Edin., Mental Specialist, 
Eastern Command, 118, Harley Street, London, W. 

Proposed by Drs. J. C. Woods, Maurice Craig, and R. H. Steen. 

Dr. Adair and Dr. Sergeant acted as scrutineers. 

The President said a letter had been received from Dr. David Orr, of Prestwich 
Asylum, expressing the regret of himself and his co-author that neither were able 
to attend to present their paper in person, as they were unable to leave in con¬ 
sequence of emergency war work. Dr. Devine, a colleague of Dr. Rows, would 
present the paper. 

Paper. 

Dr. David Orr and Major R. G. Rows, R.A.M.C.: " Further Observations on 
Experimental Toxi-infections of the Central Nervous System ” (with lantern 
illustrations). (See p. 18). 

The President expressed the thanks of the meeting to the authors for having 
made the Association privy to the important work they were carrying out in this 
domain of pathology. 

Sir George Savage said he would like to suggest that when important and 
intricate scientific contributions, such as this one, were presented to the Associa¬ 
tion at its meetings, it would be a great advantage—certainly it would be to him— 
if a precis could be circulated beforehand. 

The President expressed his agreement with what Sir George Savage had 
said. The suggestion wotdd be carefully considered by the Council, and he did 
not doubt it would be acted upon. It was a common practice in societies which 
were doing scientific work, and he did not see why it should not be followed by 
this Association. 

It only remained for him to thank Dr. Orr and Major Rows for their contribu¬ 
tion ; they kept the Association up to date with researches, and members could 
imagine the zeal and energy with which they were pursuing their work, at this 
time when everybody was working so strenuously. 


NORTHERN AND MIDLAND DIVISION. 

The Autumn Meeting of the Northern and Midland Division was held by the 
kind invitation of Dr. Jeffrey at Bootham Park, York, on Thursday, October 25th, 
1917. 

Dr. Jeffrey presided. 

The following seventeen members were present : Drs. M. A. Archdale, J. G. 
Blandford, A. J. Eades, J. W. Geddes, F. P. Hearder, T. Herbert, G. R. Jeffrey, 
W. S. Kay, R. McD. Ladell, T. W. McDowall, H. J. Mackenzie, H. D. MacPhail, 
S. R. Macphail, B. Pierce, M. L. Rowan, J. B. Tighe, and T. S. Adair, and one 
visitor, Dr. C. S. Lowson. 

Several apologies for non-attendance were received. 

The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. 

Drs. McDowall, Pierce, and Street were unanimously re-elected to form the 
Divisional Committee for the ensuing year. 

Dr. Bedford Pierce gave some notes of an interesting case he had had under his 
care of a patient with a peculiar periodicity, being to all intents and purposes 
insane one day and sane the next. This condition was kept up for a long period— 
the patient finally left the asylum. She came back at a later date, but on this 
occasion had lost the periodical character of her insanity. 

The question of rationing in the asylums, and the present difficulties in the way 
of obtaining satisfactory food supplies wasthen generally discussed and considered. 
A good many different experiences were given both as to the results of using a 


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diminished allowance of bread and as to the difficulty of obtaining and using 
satisfactory substitutes. 

A very interesting meeting was terminated by a hearty vote of thanks to Dr. 
Jeffrey for so kindly welcoming and entertaining the members. 


SOUTH-EASTERN DIVISION. 

The Autumn Meeting of the South Eastern Division of the Medico-Psycho¬ 
logical Association was held at the Springfield War Hospital, Beechcroft Road, 
Upper Tooting, S.W. 17, at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday, October 4th, 1917. 

The following members were present : Drs. D. Bower, J. Chambers, M. D. Eder, 
J. H. Earls, C. F. Fothergill, E. G. Fearnsidcs, A. H. Griffith, S. f. Gilfillan, H.E. 
Haynes, H. J. Norman, N. Oliver, G. E. Shuttleworth, R. H. Steen, R. Worth, 
and J. Noel Sergeant (Hon. Div. Sec ). 

Major Worth took the Chair. 

The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. 

Dr. Fearnsides was unanimously elected an ordinary member. 

The date and place of the Spring Meeting were left to the discretion of the 
Secretary. 

Major Worth was elected a member of the Divisional Committee of Manage¬ 
ment in place of Dr. R. P. Smith, who had intimated his inability to act. 

Major Worth called upon Dr. Fearnsides to read his paper on “ Neurasthenia 
and Shell Shock," and then read his own paper on “ The After-care of Shell Shock 
Cases.” 

A short discussion followed, in which Drs. Eder, Fearnsides, Sergeant, Steen, 
and Worth took part. 

At this stage the members availed themselves of the tea which had been 
hospitably provided, and carried on the discussion in a more informal manner, 
after which a brief clinical exhibition of some interesting cases terminated a most 
enjoyable and instructive meeting, for which the gratitude and thanks of the 
members are due to Major Worth. 


SOUTH-WESTERN DIVISION. 

The Autumn Meeting of the above Division was held, by the kind permission 
of Dr. MacBryan, at 17, Belmont, Bath, on Friday, October 2Gth, 1917, at 2.30 p.m. 

The following members were present: Dr. Aveline, Lt.-Col. J. R. Benson, Drs. 
Lavers, MacBryan, MacDonald, Nelis, and the Hon. Div. Secretary, Dr. Bartlett. 

Dr. MacDonald was voted to the chair. 

Letters of regret for non-attendance from Drs. Devine and Soutar were read. 

The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. 

Dr. Bartlett was nominated as Hon. Divisional Secretary, Dr. Aveline kindly 
expressing his willingness to undertake the duties should Dr. Bartlett be called for 
military service. 

Drs. Aveline and MacBryan were nominated representative members of Council. 

The place of the Spring Meeting (April 26th, 1918) was left in the hands of the 
Secretary for arrangement. 

The decease of the Treasurer, Dr. Hayes Newington, was recorded with regret, 
and comment made on the great loss thereby sustained by the Association. The 
Hon. Secretary was requested to convey the deep sympathies of the members 
present to his sorrowing relatives. 

Dr. Bartlett reported and made comments on the case and post-mortem exami¬ 
nation of a microcephalic idiot, the chief point of interest being the absence of the 
corpus callosum. 

The institution in asylums of Lord Devonport’s scale for flour, meat, and sugar 
provided an interesting discussion, in which all the members present participated. 
The following points were discussed : (1) the exceeding of this scale in the case 
of flour only as regards the patients’ dietary; (2) the best methods to prevent 
waste in institution catering; (3) the value of the saving effected by the substitu¬ 
tion of the flour used over and above the allowance by other cereal foods ; (4) the 
difficulties arising in catering for the staff; (5) the staff diet scale published in 
asylum reports, and how far this is binding on asylum authorities; (6) the right of 


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the staff to claim the full pre-war issue on this scale ; (7) the comparison of the 
cost of the reduced rations with the full pre-war issue on which the value of 
emoluments for superannuation purposes was fixed; (8) the right of the staff to 
claim a diet, equivalent in value to the amount fixed as board emolument; (9) the 
grounds on which permanent increases in salary and war bonuses had been gene¬ 
rally given, and to what extent the reduction in food was thereby compensated ; 

(10) the payment of a weekly sum of money in lieu of the rations deducted, as at 
present conceded in some asylums, and the basis on which this sum is computed ; 

(11) the making up of the deducted diet with available substitutes, and so forming 
an acceptable and variable diet, as already favoured by some asylums. It was 
generally agreed that if all waste could be stopped there would be little, if any, 
need for rationing. The principle of fixed allowances was not considered as con¬ 
ducive to economy. There was a concensus of opinion that the fresh difficulties 
created through forced changes in the administration of institutions have produced 
troubles of an unexpected character, and considerably added to the cares and 
anxieties in the successful administration of asylums. Further, the different 
methods of dealing with the difficulties associated with the introduction of rationing 
the staff have not tended towards a general or ready acceptance of the many earnest 
and well-intentioned endeavours to meet and cope with unforeseen troubles. Apart 
from any question of right (which could only be determined by a test case) it was 
thought that the all round increase of wages fairly met any reduction in the 
dietary, and, further, it had to be remembered that the question of rationing 
applied to everyone. 


SCOTTISH DIVISION. 

A Meeting of the Scottish Division of the Medico-Psychological Association 
was held at the Edinburgh War Hospital, Bangour, on Friday, November 16th, 
1917 - 

Present: Lieut.-Col. Keay, Major Hotchkis, Capt. Laurie, R.A.M.C.; Drs. 
Dods Brown, Crichlow, Carlyle Johnstone, Kerr, Mackenzie, G. M. Robertson, 
Ferguson Watson, and Dr. R. B. Campbell, Divisional Secretary. 

Lieut.-Col. Keay occupied the chair. 

Before taking up the ordinary business of the meeting the Chairman referred 
in appropriate terms to the loss which the Association and the Scottish Division 
had sustained since last meeting through the death of Dr. A. R. Urquhart, formerly 
Medical Superintendent of Murray's Royal Asylum, Perth. He stated that Dr. 
Urquhart had taken a very active part in the affairs of the Association, having been 
President in 1898, co-editor of the Journal of Mental Science, and Divisional 
Secretary for Scotland for several years. 

It was unanimously resolved that it be recorded in the minutes that the members 
of the Scottish Division of the Medico-Psychological Association desire to express 
their deep sense of the loss sustained by the death of Dr. A. R. Urquhart, and 
their sympathy with his relatives in their bereavement, and the Secretary was 
instructed to transmit an excerpt of the minutes to the relatives. 

The Chairman also suitably referred to the great loss which the Association 
had sustained through the death of Dr. H. Hayes Newington, a former President, 
and Treasurer of the Association since 1894. 

It was unanimously resolved that it be recorded in the minutes that the 
members of the Scottish Division of the Medico-Psychological Association desire 
to express their deep sense of the loss the Association has sustained by the death 
of Dr. H. Hayes Newington, and their sympathy with his relatives in their 
bereavement. The Secretary was instructed to transmit an excerpt of the Minute 
to his relatives. 

The minutes of last Divisional meeting were read and approved, and the 
Chairman was authorised to sign them. 

Apologies for absence were intimated from Lieut.-Col. Thomson, President of 
the Association; Majors Eager and Stansfield ; Capts. Stewart Campbell and 
Steele; and Drs. Yellowlees, Fraser, Easterbrook, Alexander, Tuach Mackenzie, 
and Shaw. 

The Secretary submitted a letter of acknowledgment received from the 


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relatives of the late Dr. Turnbull, thanking the members of the Division for their 
kind letter of sympathy. 

A letter was also submitted from Dr. Carlyle Johnstone thanking the members 
of the Association for their kind expressions towards him on his retirement from 
the Medical Superintendentship of Roxburgh District Asylum. 

The business Committee was appointed, consisting of the nominated member 
and the two representative members of the Council, along with Drs. Carlyle John¬ 
stone, Maxwell Ross, and the Divisional Secretary. 

Drs. L. R. Oswald and J. H. Skeen were nominated by the Division for the 
position of Representative Members of Council, and Dr. R. B. Campbell was 
nominated for the position of Divisional Secretary. 

The members were then conducted over part of the hospital by Lieut.-Col. Keay. 
The orthopaidic workshops were first visited, when an opportunity was given to 
seethe various ways in which incapacitated soldiers were being trained in useful 
forms of employment. The electrical department was next visited, when Major 
Rankine, Officer in Charge, explained the various forms of treatment, etc. Lieut.- 
Col. Stiles then gave a most instructive and interesting demonstration of various 
nerve injuries caused by wounds, explaining the surgical methods which had been 
successfully adopted to overcome many nerve lesions. 

A vote of thanks to Lieut.-Col. Keay, Lient.-Col. Stiles, and Major Rankine for 
the great trouble which they had taken to make such an interesting and successlul 
meeting, concluded the business of the meeting. 

After the meeting the members were kindly entertained to tea by Lieut.-Col. 
and Mrs. Keay. 


IRISH DIVISION. 

The Autumn Meeting of the Irish Division was held on Thursday, November 
1st, 1917, at the Royal College of Physicians. 

Members present: Dr. J. O’C. Donelan, Dr. Drapes, Dr. Gavan, Dr. T. A. 
Greene, Dr. Mills, Dr. Rainsford, Dr. Rcdington, Dr. Rutherford, and Dr. Leeper 
(Hon. Sec). 

Dr. Drapes having been moved to the chair, the minutes of the previous meeting 
were read and signed. 

Letters of apology for unavoidable absence were received from Dr. Hetherington, 
Londonderry, and Dr. Greene apologised to the meeting for the unavoidable 
absence of Dr. Nolan of Downpatrick. 

A ballot for the election of two new members was next proceeded with, and 
Dr. Redington was appointed scrutineer. 

The Chairman declared that Dr. Christopher Costello and Dr. Vincent C. 
Ellis, Assistant Medical Officers of Portrane Asylum, Donabate, were elected 
unanimously. 

It was proposed and seconded that in future elections of members, the word 
“unanimous” should be omitted in declaring thv.- result of the ballot. 

The Secretary was directed to forward a resolution of condolence to Dr. 
Oakshott, of Waterford upon the death of his only son, who fell gallantly 
leading'his men in action at the Front. 

Dr. Mills next read his paper on "Homicidal Impulse,” which produced a 
most interesting discussion. 

Dr. Mills said: I have chosen to speak on a subject on which there are wide 
diversities of opinion, and the views I intend to express are based on accumulated 
experience in the treatment of various insanities, and I will welcome criticism of 
my view's, and hope to receive help and enlightenment therefrom. I regret that 
pressure of other duties and pre-occupation of my time with the details of admini¬ 
strative work incumbent on my office have prevented me from presenting a 
scholarly exposition of authorities, as is usually done when papers are read at 
meetings of the Medico-Psychological Association, but I offer for criticism my 
views as regards the alienation of patients suffering from what I call the homicidal 
impulse. The class of cases I propose to speak of from personal experience are 
those outlined in the following words of Bianchi, translated by MacDonald, 
quoted from the chapter on “ Fixed Ideas and Obsessions ” : 

“ We now come to describe another group of obsessions—the obsessive 


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impulses. These are ideas which have a motor content, which present themselves 
before the consciousness, and, either directly or through the law of contrast, exert 
irresistible power of translating themselves into action. These are the so-called 
impulsive ideas ; they are the reflex of identical precepts, or they arise through 
contrast. Once they have reached the field of consciousness these precepts fix 
themselves there, in open contrast with the sentiments and tendencies of the 
subject.” 

The foregoing quotation seems to me to provide an admirable synopsis of the 
type of cases I am dealing with, but a very insufficient and unsatisfactory elucida¬ 
tion of the underlying motives. I have in mind some cases in which the dominant 
obsession was towards sudden, impulsive, reckless, brutal, unprovoked violence 
against others. The first was that of L. M—, who is generally pleasant, suave, 
agreeable, good-tempered, and well-mannered, fairly well educated and intelligent, 
and answering questions with a ready treacherous smile. He has lived for years 
the institutional life of fellowship, if not comradeship, with others, and has 
suddenly made attacks on them with a furious malevolence that the Anthropoid 
might envy but could not excel. If it were not that help was forthcoming, one at 
least of the protagonists would be in very much the condition in which Kipling 
tells us that Bertrand and Bimi were found, and yet a few minutes afterwards he is 
quiet and composed, wears the same treacherous smile, assumes the air of an 
injured person, plausibly justifies himself by a series of explanations, and when 
controverted on one point with great readiness adopts another, and maintains it 
without regard to his previous explanation, and without any hesitation about lying 
freely. The explanations generally take the form of an implied necessity for self- 
defence, but when it is pointed out to him that he has never previously complained 
of the individual whom he attacked, he laughs it off without remark. He has 
killed a man, and shows as little remorse, grief, contrition, or regret at the act as 
a spider would at the death of a fly. There is a certain periodicity about the 
attacks which cannot be measured by time sequence, but their imminence is 
recognisable by the attendants, who know by his increased restlessness, irritability, 
and impatience that he is approaching the explosive period. His personal or 
family history gives no clue to his obsession. There is an indefinite history of 
sunstroke in England, admission to Lincoln Asylum, and discharge in three 
weeks. I am unable to offer any explanation of his motives, but suggest it may 
be an atavistic tendency to eliminate rivals. He has had at times persecutory 
delusions and hallucinations of a transitory nature. 

I recall another case, that of P. McG—, who was dull, depressed, and melan¬ 
choly for some time, but, after what may be euphemistically called partial 
recovery, discovered that his mission in life was to kill a man. He exercised a 
rare and refreshing judgment in the matter, and, though he said it did not matter 
whom he killed, he invariably selected for attack a senile dement or imbecile. 
One day he chose for his victim an imbecile friend of a very powerful patient, who 
intervened vigorously and with marked effect. The extraordinary and unexplain¬ 
able result is that the impulse has disappeared, and he is now a useful worker, but 
talks a jargon which requires skilled interpretation. I have no explanation to 
offer of this case. 

I quote another case, that of M. Q—. She belongs to the tramp class, is 
without education, and of low intelligence. Her husband deserted her for other 
women, which seems to have embittered her. She has many hallucinations of 
sight, smell, hearing, and taste, and persecutory delusions. There is no evidence 
of phthisis or syphilis, except the suggestive fact that of thirteen children eight 
were stillborn or died of convulsions in infancy, and only two now survive. She 
makes treacherous premeditated attacks, always with a certain amount of previous 
planning, on other patients and attendants, and when questioned is always 
unctuous and self-satisfied, and explains that she only acted in self-defence. She 
is utterly devoid of any moral recognition of her position, and her only point of 
view, which seems to determine her acts, is that of self-defence. When she begins 
she goes out to kill heedless of the consequences. 

Dr. Rainsford remarked that in private asylum practice, cases suffering from 
homicidal impulse were rare. Formerly, in Bristol Asylum, he had seen a 
patient who had made a murderous assault on himself. This was a case in which 
no marked delusions seemed to have preceded the homicidal effort. He was much 


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struck by the remarks of Dr. Mills, assigning as a possible cause of homicidal 
impulse an atavistic tendency to a primitive state, and that the act was one of 
involuntary self-defence. 

Dr. Gavan drew attention to the fact that in many cases the patient’s homicidal 
act was not caused by delusions and hallucinations. It seemed to be due to an 
uncontrollable impulse. He had an experience of such a case in Mullingar 
Asylum. The patient seemed to have no moral sense: he had burnt hay, 
apparently in pure wanton mischief, and had suddenly made serious attacks upon 
people. 

Dr. Redington also spoke of cases of homicidal impulse. He stated that 
observers had recorded cases in which an aura was present with a sensation of 
thirst and burning at the pit of the stomach. These sensations in the patient 
preceded the attack of homicidal impulse, and sometimes a patient himself gave 
notice of the attack to the attendants, and begged to be specially looked after. 

Dr. J. O'C. Donelan gave an interesting account of a case under his care, 
where a soldier had suddenly seized a rifle and bayonet in barracks and run it 
through a fellow comrade who was sitting at the fire. This man stated that he 
had no clear knowledge of murdering his comrade, but he believed that such 
was a fact, and he believed he saw somebody perpetrating the murder; he did not 
realise that he himself was the murderer, but accepted the fact that he had killed 
his comrade, because he was told he did it. This man had an epileptic sister. 

Dr. Leeper stated that, in his opinion, genuine cases of homicidal impulse were 
nearly always associated with masked epilepsy —epilepsie larvce. From the 
wide experiences of those present of homicidal impulse, arising apparently 
causelessly, and which no foresight nor knowledge that we possess would enable 
one to foresee, it was impressed upon us of the constant dangers attending the 
lives of those who dwelt amongst the insane. 

Dr. Drapes stated that homicidal impulses, they all knew, were likely to arise 
in epileptic, paranoid, stuperose, and maniacal patients. Stuporose patients were 
particularly anxious ones, as from an apparently lethargic condition, the patient 
suddenly became actively homicidal. 

Other members having joined in the discussion, Dr. Mills thanked the meeting 
for the very kind way in which his paper had been received, and for the discussion 
which it had produced. He had in Ballinasloc Asylum, a remarkable case where 
an old dement, for many years trusted as a harmless patient, had suddenly made 
a most determined homicidal attack upon an inmate. In many cases no apparent 
motive for this attack could be found to exist. This case seemed to be due to 
the survival of some atavistic tendency which might have been common enough 
in the Stone Age of humanity. It was not always possible to get any corroborative 
history of epilepsy or insanity occurring in the patient's person or family. 

A most interesting discussion on “The Alimentary System in reference to 
Mental Affections’’ was opened by Dr. Rainsford, who expressed his surprise 
at finding that there was not much helpful literature on the subject available; 
and that the most interesting paper bearing on the subject was a paper by 
Dr. Wm. Eustace, read at the Irish Division. 

He said that Punch’s celebrated advice to the harassed wife inquiring how best 
to manage an irritable husband—" Feed the brute ”—probably embodied more 
psychological truth than was generally understood. Wc are all conscious of the 
sense of bien ctre which follows on a good dinner, well digested, and of the opposite 
feelings when faulty digestion interferes with the happiness which would otherwise 
result. He had been much interested in a recent communication to the Journal 
from Dr. Mercier on the “ Influence of dietary on various mental states.” 
Dr. Mercier found that from a review of a number of cases of mental disorders 
due to errors of diet, that— 

(1) Deficiency of meat was a potent cause of confusion of mind. 

(2) Excess of fat in diet caused severe headache, migraine, and general 

mental confusion. 

(3) Frequently excess of starch and sugar caused mental depression. 

Dr. Rainsford was of opinion that toxremic conditions had their origin in the 
large intestine, and that the toxins there generated were carried into the blood, 
and thereby affected the higher nerve centres and so gave rise to various states 
of mental disorder. He put forward as supporting this view, the beneficial effect 


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he had observed from the administration of intestinal antiseptics, notably the liq. 
hydrarg. perchlorid. (B.P.), and quoted various cases illustrative of this. He also 
suggested that in many cases various delusions and hallucinations met with in 
mental cases would be found on close examination to have a physical basis instanc¬ 
ing the delusion of having gone long walks in cases of peripheral neuritis, and of 
rats in the stomach in cases of chronic irritative dyspepsia. 

In epilepsy, Dr. Hughlings Jackson long since pointed out the benefit that 
resulted from a salt-free diet. In a few cases it was found that a daily dose 
of 5ii of salt notably increased the number of fits, and in some cases marked 
diuresis supervened, up to 130 oz. of urine being passed in twenty-four hours. 
It had been stated that where ingestion of salt was accompanied by marked 
diuresis which was not compensated by drinking water a rise in protein meta¬ 
bolism occurred. 

In Dr. Eustace’s paper, read at the Summer Meeting of the Irish Division, 
1914, it was pointed out that auto-intoxication might occur in various ways: 
(a) histogenic, (A) organopathic, (c) gastro-intestinal; and that under certain 
circumstances toxins developed by microbes become excessive and get into the 
blood-tract. Putrefaction of proteid gives rise to various organic poisons—indol. 
phenol, and skatol—that the liver has a great destroying power, using up ammonia 
and amino-acids forming urea, and transforms offensive aromatic products into 
less offensive material. 

The influence of various physical disorders on the course of a mental attack 
was also dealt with, and cases were quoted showing the effect of the incidence 
/of tubercle, pneumonia, and sharp febrile attacks generally. 

Attention was drawn to a recent paper by Drs. Orr, Rows, and Stephenson, 
on “The Spread of Infection by ascending Lymph Stream of Nerves from the 
Peripheral Inflammatory Foci to the Central Nervous System,” in which it was 
stated that experiments had shown that the infection of the lymph system of the 
peripheral nerves caused an ascending neuritis which spread upwards to pass over 
the posterior root ganglia and along the spinal roots to the cord. 

In conclusion, Dr. Rainsford apologised for the very scrappy nature of his 
remarks, but expressed a hope that succeeding speakers would find in them 
something which, from their wide experience and knowledge, would suggest to 
them thoughts which would illumine the discussion, and diffuse more information 
on the subject. 

The Chairman said they all owed a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Rainsford 
for the able way in which he had introduced the subject under discussion, which 
had elicited some valuable comments from the members. 

Dr. J. O'C. Donelan mentioned the marked beneficial results to patients 
by treatment with naphthaline. This substance acted as a powerful intestinal 
antiseptic, and he had found it very useful in cases where there was intestinal stasis 
and evidence of toxaemia in mental states. 

Other members spoke in similar terms of the value of purgation and a course 
of intestinal and antiseptic treatment, saline injections, and other means of dealing 
with cases of insanity whose condition depended upon morbid states of their 
alimentary system. 

It was proposed by Dr. Rainsford, and seconded by Dr. Donelan, that the 
best thanks of the Irish Division be tendered to the President and Fellows of 
the Royal College of Physicians for their kindness in allowing the Division to 
meet in the College, which was passed unanimously. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

Royal College of Physicians, 
Edinburgh; 

December 17 th, 1917. 

Sir, —We have the honour to transmit to you a Statement adopted by the Royal 
College of Physicians of Edinburgh dealing with the question of the establishment 
of a Ministry of Health. 

The College was led to take up the consideration of this matter by the attention 


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which has been recently given to it, and by the general interest aroused by its dis¬ 
cussion in the public press. 

The opening paragraphs of the Statement explain the position the College 
occupies under Royal Charter, and we would emphasise the fact that under the 
privileges conferred by the Charter it is the duty of the College to consider 
“any matters affecting the general interests of the medical profession and the 
public.” 

Acting on this privilege the College has considered the question of the establish¬ 
ment of a Ministry of Health, and has accepted the general proposition that it 
would be to the advantage of the public health were the various existing health 
agencies co-ordinated and brought under the supervision, control, and initiative of 
a Board of Health, constituted on the lines suggested in the Statement, and pre¬ 
sided over by a Minister of State. 

The only aspect of the question which leads to a divergence of view is as to the 
desirability of proceeding with a scheme of such magnitude at this strenuous and 
anxious time in the nation’s history, when the medical forces of the country are 
largely disorganised. In the circumstances the prevailing opinion of the College 
is that the establishment of a Ministry of Health ought to be postponed until after 
the war. 

We have the honour to be 
• Your most obedient Servants, 

William Russell, M.D., 
President. 

A. Dingwall-Fordyce, M.D., 
Secretary. 


Statement by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh regarding the 
Proposal to Institute a Ministry of Health. 

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh was erected by Royal Charter 
granted by His Majesty King Charles the Second, 29th November, 1681, and 
incorporated anew by Royal Charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, 
16th August, 1861. 

The Royal College has been, and continues to be largely concerned with 
matters affecting the Health of the nation. It has taken considerable part in 
developing medical science and practice. It is therefore particularly interested 
in all proposals which have for their aim the erection of a State Department of 
Health. 

The Fellows of the College have given careful consideration to the subject. The 
statement which follows is the outcome of deliberations, which had regard to the 
great questions of Health and the urgent need of their recognition and effective 
handling by the State. The standpoint of tho College is frankly medical, not 
political or departmental. 

The administration of Health measures has in the past been developed in 
connection with a number of Government Departments, such as the Local Govern¬ 
ment Board, Home Office, Board of Education, Insurance Commission. 

Each of the several Departments has worked within the limts of certain Acts 
of the Legislature dealing with definite subjects and conferring definite powers. 

The Health of the Community has received benefit from the work of the 
Departments ; but the operations of the Departments have not attained that com¬ 
prehensive measure of success which the extent and gravity of the Health problem 
demand. 

As regards Health questions, the sphere of the several Departments is limited, 
and, with increasing legislation, the overlapping which inevitably follows from 
their separation becomes steadily aggravated. 

A fundamental weakness lies in the fact that in none of the Departments con¬ 
cerned is the control vested in a Minister appointed primarily to deal with Health 
problems. 

From this division of interest and responsibility departmental difficulties are apt 
to arise : policy in regard to matters pertaining to Health tends to become subject 
to considerations of departmental jurisdiction : and the essential interest of Health 
questions is liable to be obscured. 


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Under the restrictions of the present system it has been impossible to evolve 
concerted means for dealing with the complex and ever-widening problems of 
National Health. Not until these restrictions are removed will it be possible to 
attain effective and adequate machinery. 

What is required is the creation of a Ministry which shall concern itself with 
Health matters pure and simple, and to whose jurisdiction shall be transferred 
from other Departments the operations of all existing enactments in so far as they 
deal with Health. 

This opens up another aspect of the question, namely, the immense extent of the 
issues involved. 

Existing Acts deal only with sections and fragments of the subject. A multitude 
of conditions affecting Health are not included in the purview of the Acts, and 
have hitherto been left untouched. 

The Minister of Health must handle the whole problem. He must be concerned 
not only with questions already dealt with by the Legislature, such as infectious 
Diseases, Infant Welfare, etc., but also with fresh questions arising from time to 
time, e.g., conditions causing or affecting forms of sickness and disease not yet 
included within the operation of Health Acts. 

Such matters are frequently brought to light in the work of the medical pro¬ 
fession. Beyond the treatment of individual cases by medical practitioners there 
are large questions concerning conditions to which sickness is due. These are 
certainly matters for a Ministry of Health. 

To enable the Ministry to carry out its wide and highly complex functions, a 
Board of Health should be constituted, and its members selected in such a way as 
to ensure that the attention of the Ministry of Health would be directed to all 
matters affecting Health. 

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh is, therefore, of opinion that it 
is essential, in the public interest, that a Government Department should be erected 
to deal exclusively with Health. 

The Royal College suggests : 

I. That the Department should consist of the Minister and a Board of Health, 

of which the Minister should be Chairman and whose Members should be 

elected on the ground of experience and interest in matters pertaining to 

Health. 

II. That the Purposes of the Department should be: 

1. To administer the Health Acts. 

2. To devise executive measures for dealing with Health problems not 

hitherto defined by legislative measures. 

3. To institute inquiries with a view to introduce measures for improving 

conditions affecting Health. 

4. To develop facilities for investigation of problems in Health and 

Disease as they may arise. 

III. That the Board should include three Groups of Members : 

1. Administrative officials. 

2. Laymen with wide experience of Health problems, or in the adminis¬ 

tration of hospitals and other health agencies, official or voluntary. 

3. Medical members who have had experience in : 

(а) Public Health Service. 

(б) General Practice. 

( c ) Special Clinical Departments, including Industrial Medicine. 

(d) Medical Research. 

(e) Medical Statistics. 

In name and by Authority of the College, 

William Russell, M.D., 
President. 

A. Dingvvall-Fordvce, M.D., 

Edinburgh : Secretary. 

6 th December, 1917. 


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ERRATUM. 

To the Editor of the Journal of Mental Science. 

Dear Sir, — In the obituary notice of the late Dr. Urquhart it should have been 
stated that he succeeded Dr. William I.auder Lindsay in 1879 instead of, as recorded, 
Dr. Murray Lindsay (a brother who was Superintendent of the Derby Asylum) in 
1880. I am, 

Yours truly, 

Tipperlinn House, George M. Robertson. 

Morningside Place, Edinburgh ; 

January 12/A, 1918. 

OBITUARY. 

Julius Mickle, M.D.(Toronto), F.R.C.P.(Lond.) 

To most of the present members of the Association it is only his name and his 
connection with a standard book on General Paralysis of the Insane that remains; 
but with him has passed away one of the senior members of the Medico- 
Psychological Association. He was elected in 1871, and thus for forty-seven 
years has been a member. He was Assistant-Physician, for short periods, to the 
Derby and County Asylums, but his life's work was done at Grove Hall, Bow. 
This was really a private asylum, belonging to Mr. Byas, that was taken over by 
the East India Company for the soldiers and other employees of the Company, 
and the experience of Dr. Mickle, therefore, was chiefly with old soldiers who had 
served abroad. As a result of this experience he was specially interested in 
brain disease due to syphilis, and to tropical conditions such as sunstroke and 
arterial degeneration. 

But before entering on a discussion of his work and his professional position, 
one must look at him as a man. He was tall, soldierly in aspect, with a long 
black beard. He was very formally courteous in manner, but distant, and not 
given to any wide social life. His surroundings at Bow, in the East End of 
London, to a great extent cut him off from general society, and he was a self- 
contained man. His work and his duty tied him to the East End. He, however, 
when called upon to preside at meetings, or even at public dinners, proved a 
capable and genial host. 

A most painstaking observer and recorder, one might say that he was rather a 
fact-heaper than a philosopher. His power of extracting the observations and 
records of work of others was most praiseworthy. His published works were 
encyclopaedic ; anything that anyone had ever recorded on the subject he was 
interested in was plainly set out by him. One result of this was that we had all 
the facts, but one was left in doubt as to their bearings and as to the recorder’s own 
opinion as to their relative values. This voluminous collecting of facts and 
recording is well referred to by the late Sir John Bucknill in Drain. As I have 
said, dignified and reserved, but with good power of control, he managed a rather 
difficult body of old soldiers with ability and success. Yet he passed what one 
would have thought was a rather unsatisfied life. He was unmarried, and, as far 
as I know, had no special hobbies, and was not given to sport of any kind. He 
was a general reader. He continued at Bow until the institution was closed ten 
years ago, and then, for some years, he lived at Bayswater. But later his general 
health failed and he returned to Canada. 

Next as to his professional position. He was an M.D. of Toronto, and after 
being a student at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, he took the M.R.C.S. and 
L.S.A., and in 1879 he became M.R.C.P. London, and in 1887 was elected as a 
Fellow of the College. He was an active member of the British Medical Associa¬ 
tion ; he was Secretary to the Section of Psychology at the meeting in Liverpool 
in 1883, Vice-President at Glasgow in 1888, and President at the annual meeting 
in London in 1895, and again in Toronto in 1906, when he received the honorary 
degree of LL.D. He was President of the Medico-Psychological Association in 
1896, and was also President, later, of the Neurological Society. At each of these 
he gave an important introductory address. He delivered the Gulstonian Lectures 


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[Jan., 


at the Royal College of Physicians in 1888. From these facts it will be seen that 
his work and position were well recognised by the profession. 

And now to proceed to speak more in detail as to his life’s work. His name 
will always be associated with his book on General Paralysis, which passed 
through two editions, the second being a much larger and more complete study 
of the subject than the first. It certainly was the most complete collection of all 
facts recorded by English and foreign observers up to 1886. In a way, it is 
bewildering from its completeness as to the opinions and observations of others. 
His own observations and methods of study are fully given, and are invaluable 
as a kind of dictionary of general paralysis of the insane. But one is left in 
doubt, on many points, as to the conclusions which he himself had arrived at. 
In this book he nowhere states that he has made up his mind as to the relationship 
existing between syphilis and general paralysis, although, as I shall point out 
later, he recognised that there was very strong evidence that it was chiefly 
associated with a history of earlier syphilis in the patient. He gave, among the 
causes of general paralysis, various pathological changes which he had met with 
post-mortem. Thus, the presence of gummata and gummatous changes in the 
membranes of the brain, the arterial degeneration also met with in these cases. 
But the discovery of the spirochrete had not been made, and so the real pathology 
of the disease was still not understood by him. The description of the various 
symptoms is excellent, and one recognises them as the work of a careful and 
accurate observer. He was always proud of being the first physician to associate 
the cortical changes in the brain met with in general paralysis as evidences of 
localisation of function. He very carefully recorded the localities of the cortex 
of the brain to which there were adhesions of the membranes, and associated 
them with the clinical symptoms observed. Later, I shall refer to the use 
he made of these observations in a classification. He differs from most recent 
writers, however, in his classifications, and I fear that at present we are not in 
a position to make a natural system or order of classification of general paralysis. 
I may take one or two individual instances of what I may call his meticulous 
care in reporting the opinions of others while leaving one in doubt as Jto his 
judgment and his experience. Under the head of the ophthalmoscope, he accepts 
the tact that with ataxic symptoms there may be atrophy of the disc. He says that 
the reports of the ophthalmoscopic observances in general paralysis seem to have 
been extremely confusing, and he gives several pages bearing out these opinions. 
He even quotes fully the observations of Sir Clifford Allbutt that have since 
been hardly confirmed, as to the relationship between general paralysis and 
changes in the optic discs. This one section in reference to the eye conditions 
met with in general paralysis is a very good example of the infinite care which 
he took in recording symptoms. 

A very interesting chapter is on the pathology of the varieties which he 
noticed, and he is particularly careful in guarding against the consideration 
of the classification as being anything more than a classification of varieties. 
He gives five different groups, and, briefly, one may refer to these from the 
pathological side. I may say that with each group, besides the pathological 
findings, he gives also the associated clinical symptoms. 

The first group shows cerebral hyperasmia and softening, usually generalised, 
but particularly affecting the cortical substance of the superior external, and, 
to a less extent, the internal, fronto-parietal regions. The second group, atrophy 
of the brain, much intracranial serum, ventricles dilated and much granulated, 
gyri of the brain wasted, especially on the upper surface and at the frontal region, 
the corresponding grey cortex being either softened or, occasionally, of about 
normal consistence; watery and sodden, and at times a fair colour, even mottled. 
Third group: The left cerebral hemisphere is much more diseased than the right, 
and is atrophied, usually atrophy of the grey cortex. Fourth group: Lesions 
which are more marked on the right side than on the left cerebral hemisphere. 
The general description of the changes in the left hemisphere in the last group 
is transferred to the right. Fifth group : There is local, reddish, occasionally pale, 
induration of the cerebral cortex, sometimes of wide distribution in its lesser 
degrees, more marked in the frontal lobes or their anterior portions, and 
affecting either one hemisphere or both. The indurated part is usually atrophied : 
the non-indurated is of ordinary colour, or pale. 


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Each symptom of each variety of general paralysis is given in careful detail. 

As to the causation, I have already referred to the fact that he looked upon 
syphilis as a chief cause, not as the only one, and he gives dozens of contributing 
causes, and he seems to consider alcohol as almost as important a cause as syphilis. 
He was also in advance of his time in recognising that the early symptoms of 
general paralysis may be functional, purely functional—that, in fact, they may be 
hysterical or neurasthenic. And he gives good examples of how easily one may 
be mistaken in relationship as to whether symptoms are due to functional or to 
organic disorder. His contributions on brain syphilis, apart from general paralysis, 
are very numerous, most of them appearing in Brain. In these he recognises 
the mental symptoms associated with the various diseases of the different parts of 
the brain, recognising the arterial degeneration, the thickening and inflammation 
of the membranes, and the special inflammatory changes taking place in the cortex. 
He gives many examples of the coarse gummatous changes which may be met with 
in association with mental disorder and syphilis. 

Besides his work in relationship with syphilis and general paralysis, he paid a 
very great deal of attention to heart affections, or, perhaps one had better say, the 
relationship of mental disorder to disorders of circulation. Under this head one 
might place his Gulstonian Lectures, and one 1 would refer to the synopsis of these 
lectures and the opinions which he formed that are given in Tuke’s Dictionary of 
Psychological Medicine under “Mental Symptoms with various forms of Heart 
Disease,” vol. i, p. 178. I must say that here again we have a most painstaking 
collection of mental symptoms associated also with certain pathological changes, 
but they are not by any means convincing as to the relationship between the two. 
Besides the Gulstonian Lectures, he wrote on a possible relationship between 
aneurysm and mental disorder, his experience of aneurysms being, as might have 
been expected, rather common in the case of the soldiers from the Tropics. He 
points out that in association with aortic aneurysm you might have insanity, or 
mental disorder of one kind or another, which may depend upon morbid impres¬ 
sions from the mere size of the tumour; secondly, from alterations produced by 
the tumour on the circulation; third, the effect of the compression of this tumour 
on other organs. He found general hallucinations were common, also delusions 
of annoyance and ideas of persecution, and it is not surprising that there was a 
good deal of emotional disorder with hypochondriacal and melancholic symptoms. 

Besides these subjects, he wrote also on katatonia, and he fully recognised the 
relationships of katatonia to mental stupor, and his description is quite up to our 
present knowledge. 

Next I would refer to one of his largest contributions, and that was “ Atypical 
Brains and their Relationship to Mental Disorders.” Here again, I think, one 
sees one of the marked weaknesses of Mickle. He observed and recorded in the 
most elaborate way variations in the convolutions which he met with post-mortem, 
and he seems to associate them, very distinctly, with a theory of evolution. For 
instance, one may put it in this way.- that a slightly atypical brain might represent 
a more primitive state of mankind; that such a brain was typically primitive. 
Another group of atypical brains represents accidental but defective development 
—arrest, one may say, of development both physical and mental. Then he refers 
also to what might be called reversion, so that some atypical brains rather resemble 
the convolutional arrangement met with in lower animals. This latter classifica¬ 
tion or idea is so like the one which was propounded by Prof. Benedikt, of Vienna, 
when he exhibited the brains of murderers from Austria, and pointed out how cer¬ 
tain convolutions resembled those that were to be met with in carnivora, that one 
looks upon both his theory and that of Dr. Mickle with some surprise and amusement. 

Dr. Mickle not only was a careful observer of pathological processes, he also 
was a careful student of treatments. He had very strong views that digitalis was 
about the best remedy that could be given in many cases of mania and mental 
excitement. He wrote upon this subject, and he also wrote upon antifebrin in 
cases of pyrexia. 

In dealing with Dr. Mickle, one finds it absolutely impossible to cover all the 
ground concerning the work which he did. But, to sum up. For progress in 
science it is necessary to have, first, careful observation of facts; next, to have a 
complete and accurate record of such facts and their truth established; last, and 
highest, an arranging and philosophising on these facts, passing thus from positive 


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I 14 


knowledge into the possible, from the definite to the indefinite, which, later, is to 
become more definite and a stage for further advance. Mickle was a careful 
observer and a most indefatigable collector and recorder, but his collection of facts 
was so general as to be rather a heap than an arranged group. He toiled, but he 
hardly constructed. And now he has left very many valuable collections, from 
which others may select. Born in a colony, living his life in the Mother-country, 
when failing in general and mental health he returned to die in his home colony. 

Bibliography. 

Journal of Mental Science. —Vol. XVIII, "Temperature in G.P.” XIX,“ Digi¬ 
talis in Mania.” XX, “ Case of Ataxic Aphasia.” XXI, “Case of G.P., with 
Autopsy.” XXIII, “ Unilateral Sweating in G.P.” ; " Syphilis and G.P.” XXIV, 
“ Varieties of G.P.” XXV, " Syphilis and Mental Alienation." XXVI, " G.P.” 
XXVIII, “ Cerebro-Spinal Localisation”; “G.P. from Cranial Injury”; “ Hallu¬ 
cinations in G.P."; “ Knee-jerk in G.P.” XIX, “ Tubercular Meningitis in Insane 
Adult”; “Unilateral Sweating”; "Visceral Syphilitic Lesions in Insane free 
from Cerebral Syphilis.” XXX, “ Pathological Specimens of Heart and Brains ” ; 
"Rectal Feeding and Medication”; “Brain Disease of Traumatic Origin”; 
“ Spinal Sclerosis following Brain Lesion”; “Cerebral Localisation”; XXXII, 
“G.P. Digest”; “Abnormal Forms of Breathing.” XXXIV, “ Antifebrin in 
Pyrexia ”; " Insanity in Relation to Heart and Lung Disease.” 

Brain. —Vol. Ill, “Review on G.P.” V, “Blindness and Cerebral Atrophy.'' 
X, “ Syphilis and G.P.” XII, “Aortic Aneurysm and Insanity”; “ Katatonia.” 
XIV, “Katatonia, with Autopsy.” XV, “Traumatic Factor in Mental Disease." 
XVII, “G.P. Digest.” XVIII, “Syphilis of the Nervous System.” XXI, 
“ Nervous Syphilis, Digest." 

Hack Tube’s Dictionary of Psychological Medicine. —“Sunstroke and General 
Paralysis,” “Temperature in General Paralysis,” “Association of Mental and 
Cardiac Disease," " Pupillary Signs in G.P.I.,” “ Antifebrin,” “ Digitalis in 
Insanity,” “Spinal Durhrematomata in G.P.,” “G.P. following Rheumatic 
Affections,” “ Diagnosis of Post-febrile Paralysis,” “ Treatment of Acute Mania,” 
“Traumatic Factor in Mental Disease.” 

G. H. S. 


William Graham. 

Death, in these latter days, brings few surprises, it is with numbed emotions 
that we accept the daily sacrifice of our best; yet, even thus environed, the swift 
passing of William Graham seemed unbelievable. No personality was less 
suggestive of mortality ; no man went his way less conscious of the suspended 
sword. Independent, fearless, and untiring, he planned and worked without 
thought of untoward interruption ; and as he lay on his death-bed he was meditat¬ 
ing, and writing of, large schemes of travel and research, to be undertaken when 
his practical work for the insane should be ended. 

William Graham was born at Dundrod, in the Co. Antrim, on November 25th, 
1859. He was educated in the Queen’s College, Belfast; obtained the M.D. 
degree of the old Royal University of Ireland in 1882, and became L.R.C.S. of 
Edinburgh in the following year. Specialised study in London and on the Conti¬ 
nent resulted in his appointment in April, 1884, as Assistant Medical Officer at the 
Belfast District Asylum. In the December of 1886 he was appointed Resident 
Medical Superintendent of the Armagh District Asylum, being then probably the 
youngest superintendent in the United Kingdom. The latter appointment owed 
nothing to influence in high places. William Graham was selected on his observed 
merits to fill a troublesome post; a choice which he more than justified. 

The Armagh Asylum, under Dr. Graham, inaugurated in Ireland a high standard 
of internal equipment, and when his ten years’ service there ended the inspectors 
devoted more than two pages of their annual report to an enumeration of the 
substantial and permanent improvements effected under his rule—a tribute as 
well-deserved as it was exceptional. 

In the autumn of 1897 he received further promotion, returning to the Belfast 
Asylum as Superintendent, and there found ample scope for his large activities. The 
Belfast Asylum was built in the year 1829 for 104 patients, and was subsequently 


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enlarged to 400 beds, while at this time the asylum population had risen to over 
700. To meet this pressure the Governors had recently purchased, but had not 
begun to develop, an estate of 295 (now over 400) acres at Purdysburn, a few 
miles outside Belfast. The new Superintendent saw his opportunity, and followed 
it up with characteristic enthusiasm. His plans were accepted and liberally 
executed by a progressive asylum committee, and the product is the Purdysburn 
Villa Colony— nearly, but not quite, completed. For twenty strenuous years he 
combined the duties of superintendent with personal supervision of every detail in 
the construction of the new villa colony. This is not the place or moment for 
any description of his achievement. The colony has been visited by many 
members of the Association and is recognised as perhaps the best that has been 
done for the insane poor in the United Kingdom. In recreation the doctor was 
as energetic as in work. He took his rest on horseback, in the hunting-field, or 
on the polo-ground. 

No fitter memorial can be raised to William Graham than the continuation of 
the colony as he designed it. Ireland, in these matters, has fallen somewhat back 
in the race; and one hopes that, for example and encouragement, the original 
design of the model villa colony will be worthily completed. 

The. successful superintendent, the creator of the model villa colony, was 
sufficiently well known, though he shunned publicity and made no bid for pro¬ 
fessional or popular fame. There was another William Graham whose acquaint¬ 
ance was made with difficulty ; not so much from conscious reserve on his part, but 
because this other personality was accessible only in moments of comparative 
repose, and such moments were rare. In his speculative moods he was the best of 
companions and conversationalists; ready either to talk or to listen, and never 
dogmatising. He was profoundly interested in every branch of psychology; his 
study was of the mind in apparent health, as well as of the mind disordered. The 
particular mental twists which determine humanity to its divergent opinions and 
beliefs, aspirations and negations, were of unceasing interest. A man of few 
prejudicesand no intolerances, he postulated no categories of the impossible or the 
incredible. His attitude was consistently that of student and observer. An 
evening of talk over the fire at Purdysburn House was a realisation of Stevenson’s 
aphorism: “The tendency of all living talk draws it back and back into the 
common focus of humanity.” 

He was inevitably attracted by the theories of Freud, and put them on trial in 
asylum practice, but the analysis practised by Graham did not conspicuously recall 
the distinctive hypothesis of Freudism round which controversy has gathered. In 
the early summer of 1914 he started on an expedition to the South Sea Islands, 
“ to see,” as he put it, “ mankind in the rough.” The outbreak of war closed the 
route to the South Sea, but he was enabled to view humanity in various develop¬ 
ment over a great portion of the globe. 

During the last few months of his life he undertook additional responsibilities 
as Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the new war hospital now occupying the 
buildings of the old Belfast Asylum. The inevitable routine and clerical duties 
were in many details uncongenial, but success, as usual, attended his true pro¬ 
fessional work, to the very great benefit of his soldier patients. 

He died on November 5th, 1917. A slight accident had caused fracture of the 
femur, and the sudden and unexpected end resulted from an embolism occurring 
while he lay disabled. He was fortunate in his death. Pain he could have borne, 
but not easily the gradual failures of old age. 

“To believe in immortality is one thing, but it is first needful to believe in 
life.” 

William Graham “ believed in life.” 


Dr. Henry Maudsley. 

We regret to have to record the recent death of Dr. Henry Maudsley. Owing 
to limitations of space an obituary notice of our late colleague must be deferred 
till the April number of the Journal. 


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I l6 NOTES AND NEWS. [Jan., 

MEDICO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN 

AND IRELAND. 

The following resolution was passed at the meeting of Council held on Novem¬ 
ber 27th, 1917: 

“ That in the case of a Member of the Medico-Psychological Association on 
Foreign Service who makes a request that his subscription should lapse during 
such service, the Treasurer should report the name of the Member to the Council, 
who should have the power to sanction this request." 


NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS. 

N.B .—The Editors will be glad to receive contributions of interest, clinical 
records, etc., from any members who can find time to write (whether these have 
been read at meetings or not) for publication in the Journal. They will also feel 
obliged if contributors will send in their papers at as early a date in each quarter 
as possible.- 

Writers are requested kindly to bear in mind that, according to Lix(a) of the 
Articles of Association, “ all papers read at the Annual, General, or Divisional 
Meetings of the Association shall be the property of the Association, unless the 
author shall have previously obtained the written consent of the Editors to the 
contrary.” 

Papers read at Association Meetings should, therefore, not be published in other 
Journals without such sanction having been previously granted. 


The Editors regret that owing to the great shortage of paper the size of the 
Journal has to be reduced, the limit assigned being 96 pages, which, however, has 
been unavoidably exceeded. For the same reason the entire text has to be printed 
in small type. 


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JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE, APRIL, 1918. 



Henry Maudsley, LL.D.Edin.(Hon.), M.D.Lond., F.R.C.P.Lond. 

Obiit January 24th, 1918. Editor of Journal 1862-1878. 

President, 1871. 


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HENRY MAUDSLF-Y, M.D. 


[April, 


V* 


I 


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he accepted Agnosticism, but he felt that although he had little use for 
religion or faith himself, for others it might serve as a help. The 
Bible, he says, does not teach science : it speaks of important truths 
to man in a way he can best understand. It is the Infinite speaking to 
the finite and adapting Himself thereto. 

Personally, he was a handsome man, and he had a healthy amount of 
conceit. In younger days he was carefully dressed, and scrupulously 
careful of his hands. As he grew older, he allowed his hair and beard 
to grow long, and he had rather the aspect of an aged prophet. To 
the end his senses were keen and his movements active. As I have 
said, he was critical, and he had a Gladstonian habit of using post¬ 
cards. I have a collection, which I have headed “ Maudsley’s Fire.” 
I shall never forget some of these, in which he criticised either some¬ 
thing I had written, or some opinion I had given. As will be seen, he 
led a life apart, though he belonged to the Reform Club, and, I think, 
to the Savile; yet he was not a clubbable man. Though fond of Art, 
he had no special taste, and, I believe, avoided one of the vices of 
doctors with means—he was not a collector of anything. He had no 
knowledge of, or interest in, music. He was fond of bowls as a game, 
so I understand, but cricket was his great pleasure. I do not know 
that, even in youth or later, he played in any great match, but for some 
years, I think, he used to go up to Lord’s, where he was bowled at by 
professionals. He went, when over seventy, to Australia, as he said, to 
see the best of cricket in its best home. Anyway he attended matches, 
and had a complete knowledge of players, both English and Colonial, 
and of their peculiarities. Later, when he went to live at Bushey, he 
used to drive a pair of horses. I believe that for some time he took 
quite a Yorkshireman’s interest in horses. 

He was a brilliant success as a student, but I remember his telling me 
that he felt rather ashamed of winning medals and prizes, as they did not 
represent real knowledge, but only accurate memory. He said he had 
an unusual visual memory, and that if asked a question he seemed to 
be able to copy the answer from the text-books. There is no doubt he 
had a wonderful memory, and he was always ready with quotations 
from Shakespeare, the Bible, and from certain poets. I do not think he 
professed to being a Shakespearean authority, but he was a great lover of 
his works. Early in the sixties he wrote a study of “ Hamlet,” main¬ 
taining that he was not insane; and in 1908 he wrote about 
“Shakespeare in his own bringings-forth,” gleaning the history of 
Shakespeare from his writings. 

His literary style was very cultivated, and yet there was a fluidity 
which relieved its rather long and formal sentences. I have no know 
ledge as to his method of writing or correcting, but I should fancy he 
was very careful and very painstaking. 


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So much for what Maudsley appeared to the world. As to Maudsley 
himself, it would be rash to give at present an opinion. That he was a 
man of refined taste and crtical habit there is no doubt. That he had a 
deep sense of tenderness, I think, is also true, but his political Radical 
principles seemed to mask this, and I once told him he seemed to be so 
absorbed in his love for humanity that he had no affection to spare for 
the individual man. Asa result, he had very strong feelings in reference 
to the treatment of the insane, and was very jealous of any return 
to undue control being used over them. He was extreme in this in 
some ways, and I had some rather sarcastic communications from him 
in reference to forcible feeding. He maintained that it was hardly 
ever necessary, and that it was degrading to the doctor and to the 
patient. He fully recognised his independent opinion, and was not 
always tolerant of opposition. 

Maudsley was a home-lover, and I feel, with others, that if he had had j 
children he would have gained, and that his sympathies would have 
been wider. He was a close critic and careful student of current medical 
knowledge, but very independent in his ways of expressing his opinion. 

Next, I purpose considering him as an author. His first essays, as 
far as I know, are to be found in the Journal oj Mental Science in 1859, 
when Bucknill was editor. Bucknill called him then the young philo¬ 
sopher. He was only twenty-three. His first article was on “The 
Correlation of Physical Forces,” being a review of Groves’ epoch-making 
book, as well as a notice of some other books on similar subjects. The 
review was a good example of Maudsley’s style and of his future lines 
of thought. He began with a general abuse of the accepted ideas of 
philosophy, pointing out the futility of wrangling about words instead 
of following observed facts. He says: “Wretched mistaken man that 
thou art! How long, how long wilt thou rest satisfied to concern thyself 
with the heresy of phenomena when there is in actual existence essences 
in the Universe? Science cannot be possibly rejected, and must be 
accepted. It must be regarded as affording data on which to found the 
investigation of the real and the spiritual, or by whatever other name it 
is called. The enlightened mind conquers Nature by obeying her. 
Conscious soul may forget; unconscious soul does not. Of all vanities 
metaphysics is the vanity of vanities, and the study thereof is vexation 
of spirit.” 

In Maudsley, however, there was a religious feeling, though, appa¬ 
rently, great contempt for formal religion. He accepts Sterling’s state¬ 
ment that science is religion; all things are so. Nothing is irreligious 
but by error and by ignorance. For what is science but truth, and the 
knowledge we get thereby but a knowledge of the laws of Nature, which 
are the ways of Providence ? A world of revelation, there can be no 
finality, as there is no finality in knowledge. 


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In a very long article on “The Genesis of Mind” he follows the line 
of evolution, and is against there being any proof of any other than 
simple natural processes to explain the development of consciousness, 
of mind, and of intellect generally. He traces, in the lower animals, 
the growth first of reflex nervous action, which passes gradually through 
sensational to the highest ideational relationships to the environment as 
4 seen in man. He is greatly influenced by Darwin, though, after his 
usual manner, he suggests that Darwinism may, after all, be but a pass¬ 
ing phase of philosophy. Yet he fully recognises the gulf between 
mind and matter. He is in opposition to many recent observers in 
believing that acquired traits may be transmitted. The article is full of 
many animal tales, some of which w'ould need a good deal of evidence 
to accept. Man is endowed with a noble birthright; he must labour 
hard to assert it, for it is by no means sufficient for him to open his 
eyes upon the world, but absolutely necessary that he should look into 
it. In 1864 he wrote a long article on “Considerations with Regard 
to Hereditary Influence.” This is full of wise thought and epigram¬ 
matic teaching. Jn this we see still the influence of Groves’ article on 
“Correlation and Conservation of Force,” there being, as he says, no 
beginning and no end—all one continuity. Man has to learn that he 
is but a link, and not the last link, in the mighty chain of the Universe. 
He compares the union of the parents to a chemical, not to a mechanical 
union, the results differing from both elements. One can only give 
short extracts from, or references to, his article. He points out how 
twin monsters may have different temperaments, though, of course, pre¬ 
cisely similar origin. It is a fact also, he says, that distinguished fathers 
often have weak sons, while parents “ with restrained or contracted 
expressions may produce strong children.” He thinks that by great men 
society may gain, but the family may suffer. No mortal can transcend 
his nature, and his present nature is by no means a present production; 
it has descended from the past through the regular laws of development. 
The destiny of man is innate in himself. He is strongly of opinion that 
men given to great sexual indulgence will fail in mental vigour, and that 
the intellectual man may very probably fail sexually; he is of opinion 
that emotional disturbance may affect the quality of the semen, or the 
nature even of the ovum, and hence affect the progeny. Temporary 
mental conditions of the parent may affect the offspring. Here, as 
elsewhere in Nature, we are taught the eternity of action of any kind — 
that nothing perishes absolutely in the Universe, not even a gust of 
passion. From normal heredity he considers morbid transmission. 

In conclusion, then, it may be added that the supposition that defi¬ 
nite laws of organic combination do exist and determine the nature of 
the individual as surely, though not yet as clearly, as the laws of 
chemical combination determine the nature of a chemical compound, 


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can afford no possible excuse for the selfish indolence of an inactive 
fatalism. Rather is there imposed on everyone a very serious responsi¬ 
bility, seeing how much the destiny of coming generations is in the 
power of the present generation. “ Neither the evil nor the good which 
a man does is interred with his bones, and long after the individual has 
gone to sleep posterity may be receiving the benefits of his virtues or 
paying the penalty of his vices.” 

In 1865 Dr. Maudsley reviewed several French articles on “Syphilis 
and Disease of the Brain,” and in this article he gives his opinion on 
the pathology of brain syphilis. It is noteworthy that it was twelve 
years later that Dr. Julius Mickle, reviewing the work again of foreign 
authors, came to much the same conclusion as that formed by Maudsley. 
In this article he recognises the gross results on the brain produced by 
syphilis—the syphilomata of the membranes and the vascular changes. 
And he shows how external symptoms only in part represent the deep 
disease, and that even the microscope cannot reach the bases. In the 
cases of brain syphilis recorded we recognise typical examples of general 
paralysis, and Maudsley recognisse that paralysis and dementia result 
from syphilitic disease of the brain. But he admits that these symp 
toms certainly do not depend upon the more coarse and visible changes 
which are found either in the membranes or in the vessels. He recog¬ 
nises fully that parental syphilis may cause all forms of mental defect 
in the progeny, although, of course, he did not know or recognise the 
adolescent forms of general paralysis. Thus we find that, while recog¬ 
nising syphilis as a cause of many diseases, its intimate connection with 
general paralysis and locomotor ataxy had not yet been made clear 
to him. 

I have, thus far, traced the early work of Maudsley, and now I can 
refer our readers of the Journal of Mental Science to the numbers of the 
Journal during which he was editor, when he and the late Sir Thomas 
Clouston left very marked evidence of their distinguished editorship. 

I feel that it is not for me, here at least, to refer in any detail to his 
main literary work as represented in his books on the Physiology and 
Pathology of Mind, on Responsibility and Conduct, on Body and Will, 
on Natural Causes and Supernatural Seemings, as they will probably be 
referred to by some other writer. I must, however, more fully refer to 
his last works as evidences of the maintenance of all his powers and 
grace to the very end. Without doubt he contemplated his end, as we 
shall see in referring to his later writings. 

His last publication, published at about the time of his death, was 
Essays on Religion and. Realities. This is a very concise exposition 
of his beliefs, and also the results of his life’s experience. His essays 
on Old Age, Death, and Life are very clear expositions of his own 
desires and conclusions. He certainly looked on death as a friend 


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rather than as a foe. He writes : “ With all, Nature has the last word 
to say, and says it alike to ants and men. They must learn to go into 
the dark, without fear. It seems to be the right fulfilment of an 
individual’s destiny upon earth not to trouble himself greatly about 
what he can do, but to do what he can. Try as he will, no one can 
elude the fate of his hereditary antecedents whose fixed bond and 
silent memory are latent in him, and may, on the occasion of a fatal 
evoking crisis of danger or other mental condition, show openly. 
Implicitly in his nature the wills of his forefathers have silently acted 
J from all eternity to make him what he is.” In searching for what life 
is, he writes: “The potent influence is derived from the sun, which is 
the light of life, as it always has been.” His sun-worship is distinctly 
interesting, and is thus expressed : “ No duly instructed and competent 
thinker has any difficulty in conceiving, on the contrary he easily 
conceives, that the perpetual bombardment of the sun’s rays on a 
nowise inert speck of protoplasm must excite and maintain its growth 
and continue to do so in increasing proportion as it grows in bulk, just 
as such bombardment makes the pear grow and ripen. The sun is 
visibly the light of its life, as it is of all life, under its genial radiance. 
In the Spring, when the warmer rays are felt, the tender grass shoots up, 
the leaf puts forth its prophetic buds ; the fish in the pond rises from 
its winter quiescence, the fly wakes from its suspended animation in the 
crevice of the wall, the frog croaks in amorous cry from the ditch, the 
bird pours forth its rapturous melody, and the young man’s and maiden’s 
fancy turns pleasingly to thoughts of love. All Nature feels and with 
one consent responds to its vivifying rays.” The whole essay is eloquent 
and instructive. 

Another essay, that might be called the essay on Pontius Pilate, is 
devoted to Truth. This essay gives, in brief, Maudsley’s faith. It 
shows his strength, his beauty of language, and also, I think, his 
limitations. He makes it clear that Pilate represents all thoughtful 
minds, and that there is no ultimate truth unless it rest in Nature deeply 
hidden and hard to find. He, in his usual cynical way, laughs at the 
religious beliefs of men as representing phases of evolution. As he 
says, men invented, fear fashioned false fictitious causes to account for 
ills which they suffer, and by servile worship hope to escape. He points 
out how each so-called truth should be the stepping-stone only to the 
next. “ Let man apply himself, with all reverence, to Nature, as much 
of knowable Nature as he ever can know. There must always be avast 
amount which he can never know, and thereafter rest in the quiet 
conviction that he is thereby doing his best to justify his existence on 
earth, even though that existence has been at last a vanity and often a 
vexation of spirit.” He has very little sympathy, when referring to 
religious matters, with the mystics. He describes them as knowing 


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little or nothing of physical forces and their natural effects in an 
inviolable system. 

The last essay is on “ Pessimism and Optimism,” and a special 
interest of this essay is that it first appeared in the Journal of Mental 
Science for January, 1917, a very small addition having been made to 
the article in the final production. He points out, pretty clearly, his 
view that though in life and living there are miseries enough in the 
world, yet, after all, there are compensations. He again points, in this, 
to his longings for truth, and he recognises that truth is variable, and 
that there is no such thing as a perpetual or universal truth. Truth, he 
says, is a pleasant abstraction, avisionary, an ever-receding ideal to be 
pursued, the particular truth changing from day to day. The pessimist 
observes sincerely, thinks fully and feels deeply, unlike, in that respect, 
the optimist, who is exultant in the joy of living, seeing lights available 
for human guidance in the gloomy vale of tears, his faith the greater 
and reason the lesser light. That is the still disputed and unresolved 
question, which the optimist answers by inspiration of feeling, and the 
pessimist, less confidently doubting, by the daylight of reason. A true 
reflective optimism will surely demonstrate that life, rightly considered 
and rationally governed, is not only worth living, but capable of 
incalculable improvement. 

And now, having laid before the reader an outline of Maudsley’s 
literary products as exemplifying his opinions, I feel that, though this 
has been done imperfectly, yet it has been done conscientiously, and 
with a faint appreciation of the great man he was. 

And so there passes from our sight a powerful and graceful influence, 
one with deep human sympathy, masked, to some extent, by reasonable 
cynicism. His influence was wholly for good, though one feels, with 
all the poetry and beauty of his writings, there is a want of some 
definite faith, as felt, I think, by himself when we read what he thinks, 
that reason cannot reason about it, the fact cherished as a sacred 
mystery, which can be only embraced by minds extraordinarily and 
specially graced. Their intuition of feeling is, however, absolute 
assurance. And so we leave his influence to spread, as were his ashes, 
on the land he loved. 

G. H. Savage. 


The following notice has appeared in the British Medical Journal : 

“ Henry Maudsley came of a yeoman family long settled in Yorkshire 
near the border of Lancashire. He was born on February 5th, 1835, 
the third son and fourth child of Thomas Maudsley ot Rome, near 
Settle, Yorkshire. He attended Giggleswick School, but when twelve 
or thirteen, at the suggestion of his uncle, Dr. Bateson, at one time 


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I 24 

medical officer of health for Southwark, he went as a private pupil to 
Mr. Newth of Oundle, Northamptonshire. From there he matriculated 
in due course at the University of London, and, again on the advice of 
Dr. Bateson, was apprenticed to the apothecary at University College 
Hospital, Mr. Clover, afterwards the well-known anaesthetist. His 
career at University College and in the University of London was very 
distinguished. He was the first in most class competitions, and carried 
off ten gold medals; he also took the University Scholarship and gold 
medal in surgery when he graduated M.B.Lond. in 1856. Still he was 
not reckoned a diligent student, and often seemed to his teachers less 
interested in science than in sport, becoming, indeed, an authority on 
cricket. But his brilliant intellect carried all before it. At first he 
thought of becoming a surgeon, and was house-surgeon at University 
College Hospital to Mr. Quain ; afterwards he contemplated entering 
the Indian Medical Service, and in order to fulfil the regulation requiring 
candidates at the examination to have had experience in lunacy, he 
took an appointment in the Essex County Asylum. This accidental 
circumstance may be said to have determined his career, for after a 
short period at the Wakefield Asylum he became, at the age of 24, 
medical superintendent to the Manchester Royal Lunatic Asylum, 
Cheadle, in 1859, an appointment which he retained until 1862, when 
he went to London to try his fortune. He had already written some 
essays, including one on “Hamlet,” which had attracted the notice of 
Dr. John Conolly, who at that time was superintendent of Hanwell 
Asylum; he had a small private asylum near by, and Maudsley was 
resident physician there for a time, and afterwards married Conolly’s 
youngest daughter. Soon after settling in London Maudsley was 
appointed editor of the Journal of Mental Science. Two years later he 
became physician to. the West London Hospital, Hammersmith. He 
was appointed professor of medical jurisprudence at University College, 
London, in 1869, and retained the chair until 1879. He early attained 
success in the practice of his speciality, and contemporaneously became 
well known as a writer, by a series of books which were not only of high 
technical distinction but appealed to the more thoughtful section of the 
general public. In 1866 he published his first large book on the 
Physiology and Pathology of Mind , which has been described as epoch- 
making. In 1874 he published a book on responsibility in mental 
disease. Afterwards h® rewrote his early book, and issued it in two 
separate volumes—the one in 1876, on the physiology of mind, and the 
other in 1879, on the pathology of mind; this last volume reached a 
second edition in 1895. In 1883 he published Body and Will , and in 
1886 Natural Causes and Supernatural Seetnings, a book which reached 
its third edition in 1897. Another book was Life in Mind and Conduct 
(1902), and his final work, which may be said to embody the philosophy 


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of his long life, entitled Organic to Human, Psychological and Sociological , 
appeared in 1917. 

“ He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1869, and, 
we believe, was at the time of his death, both by age and seniority, the 
fourth on the list. He delivered the Goulstonian Lectures in 1870 on 
body and mind. He received the honorary degree of LL.D.Edin. in 
1884, and was an honorary member of the Medico-Psychological Society 
of Paris, of the Imperial Society of Physicians, Vienna, and of the 
Medico-Legal Society of New York. 

“ His interest in the work of the British Medical Association is shown 
by the fact that he was vice-president of the Section of Psychology at 
the annual meeting in Newcastle in 1870, and president of the same 
section at the annual meeting at Birmingham in 1872. In 1905 he 
delivered the address in medicine at the annual meeting at Leicester. 
This address covered a wide field and contained the germs of his later 
book, for he looked forward then to the ultimate levelling of all artificial 
partitions, to the recognition of inorganic, of organic, and of spiritual 
nature as grades in a continuous scheme woven together by the golden 
thread of evolution. But it also dealt in a philosophic spirit with the 
practical problems underlying the prophylaxis of disease, for, specialist 
though he was, Dr. Maudsley took care to keep himself acquainted 
with all movements in medicine. 

“Dr. Maudsley may be said to have retired from practice in 1903, 
when he paid a visit to Australia for the purpose, as he said, of ‘ seeing 
how cricket was played.’ He retained his mental faculties and the 
clearness of his intellect to the very last, and had just finished the 
revision of the proofs of a volume of essays. He had been failing in 
health for some two or three months, but died peacefully in his chair on 
January 24th after a few weeks of confinement to his house overlooking 
Bushey Heath, not far from Harrow, one of the last of the untouched 
heaths near London. 

“We are indebted to Dr. F. W. Mott, F.R.S., for the following tribute 
to Dr. Maudsley’s life and work : 

“ By F. W. Mott, F.R.S. 

“At the age of 30 Maudsley’s philosophical mind revealed itself to 
the general public by the publication in the Westminster Review of a 
remarkable essay on * Hamlet.’ He had been previously known to the 
profession by a number of original articles in the Jour?ial of Mental 
Science under Dr. Bucknill’s editorship, by whom he was nicknamed 
‘the young philosopher.’ Is it not strange to know that he harked 
back to his grandfather, who was notable in the countryside for his 
sayings, sardonic and sarcastic, which had earned him the soubriquet of 
‘the old philosopher.’ Henry Maudsley’s next most notable work was 


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the Physiology and Pathology of Mind , published in 1867 ; and as early 
as this he declared his aim to be— 

“To treat of mental phenomena from a physiological rather than 
from a metaphysical point of view, and to bring the manifold instruc¬ 
tive instances presented by the unsound mind to bear upon the inter¬ 
pretation of the obscure problems of mental science. Also to do what 
he could to put a happy end to the inauspicious divorce between the 
physiology and pathology of mind. 

“I was informed by a very eminent physician that upon reading that 
work when he was studying philosophy and law as a young man at 
Oxford, he determined to take up medicine, and especially that branch 
relating to disease of the nervous system. Thus the seed soon fell on 
fruitful ground, and during the last generation Maudsley’s name has 
been pre-eminent in all that pertains to mental science. Indeed, it 
would repay the present generation to read his later separate works on 
the Physiology of Mind and the Pathology of Mind, which are referred 
to frequently by Charles Darwin and by Ribot, and many other great 
contemporaries of his. William James, the author of Principles of 
Psychology , recommended his students to read Maudsley’s Pathology of 
Mind. One of the most interesting chapters I know, and from which I 
have gained much valuable information, is on ' The emotions or affec¬ 
tions of mind.’ It is prescient and original in thought, and is particu¬ 
larly interesting at the present time when emotional stress is operating 
on a large part of civilised humanity. One passage in relation to 
modern conditions of shell-shock may be noted : 

“ To all appearances a violent emotion may react as a strong physical 
shock to the nervous system, for it may produce convulsions, fainting, 
loss of sensation, paralysis of movement, deafness—exactly the effects 
which a strong electric shock may produce. We have not then to do 
with mysterious self-determining agencies; we have to do with pheno¬ 
mena which, complex as they are, will eventually receive a complete 
analysis. 

“In a copy of this work which he presented to me he said: ‘The 
quotation-notes at the end of chapters might, at any rate, be interesting.’ 
These quotations and the references show his extraordinary knowledge 
and wide reading in philosophy, whence he got the broad grasp of 
science as applied to the physiology and pathology of mind, and how 
he has analysed and woven these into his work in a most lucid and con¬ 
vincing way, so that it has become his own fabric, and not a patchwork 
of ideas and thoughts of others. 

“ The same might be said of his book The Pathology of Mind. 
Responsibility in Mental Disease was another work which aroused a 
great deal of attention, and was regarded as a standard book on account 
of its practical application to medico-legal questions relating to insanity, 


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I 27 

crime, and responsibility. When I)r Maudsley was lecturer on medical 
jurisprudence at University College, I well remember his coming in and 
reading a case of mistaken identity from the Times , and commenting 
upon it in a way that immediately attracted the attention of the students 
by his originality, humour, and critical insight. His latest work, Organic 
to Human , embodies his philosophy, which may be summed up in the 
principle of unity of the human organism and its continuity with the 
rest of Nature’s processes. Borrowing his own words, it may be said 
that having done diligently the work which it came in his way to do for 
a livelihood and fulfilled his life-function in the sincere utterance of him¬ 
self,\ Maudsley has left his philosophical and philanthropic work to the 
fate of time and events, well knowing that when all is said— 

“ Thought is the slave of life, and life the fool of time, 

And time that takes survey of all tiie world 
Will have a stop. 

“ The Maudsley Hospital. 

“Dr. Maudsley in 1907 communicated to me his desire to give 
.£30,000 to the London County Council if it would build a hospital for 
the study and treatment of acute mental cases. I mentioned the matter 
to Sir John McDougall, who pointed out to me the desirability of such 
a hospital being associated with the University of London ; conse¬ 
quently I drew up a scheme, and this was supported by Mr. Balfour 
and Sir Arthur Rucker, the late principal of the university. The 
offer was then communicated privately to the chairman of the London 
County Council, and in December, 1907, Dr. Henry Maudsley put 
before Mr. H. P. Harris, who was then chairman, his scheme for the 
establishment of a fully equipped hospital for mental diseases in 
London. Towards the cost of carrying it into effect Dr. Maudsley 
offered to contribute a sum of ,£30,000. In a letter to Mr. Harris’ 
dated February 14th, 1908, Dr. Maudsley said that as a physician who 
had been engaged in the study and treatment of mental diseases for 
more than fifty years, he had been deeply impressed with the necessity 
of a hospital whose main objects should be the early treatment of cases 
of acute mental disorder, with the view as far as possible of obviating 
the necessity of sending them to the county asylums ; the promotion of 
exact scientific research into the causes and pathology of insanity, 
with the hope that much may yet be done for its prevention and 
successful treatment; and the provision of an educational institution 
which should offer to medical students the opportunities of getting 
good clinical instruction in a class of diseases of which under existing 
conditions it is not easy for them to obtain a competent knowledge. 
Dr. Maudsley’s gift was accepted, but much delay occurred before a site 
was finally chosen at Denmark Hill, opposite the new King’s College 


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Hospital. The following statement submitted by the London County 
Council to the Royal Commission on University Education, 1913, as 
to clinical instruction in special hospitals, may with advantage be 
quoted from the final report of the Commissioners : 

“ In addition to the advantages which it is expected will ensue to the 
patients who are treated there, it is hoped that the hospital will prove 
of great value in the dissemination of knowledge of mental diseases 
and in the provision of systematic instruction in methods of treatment. 
The proposal includes the provision of a department for pathological 
research, which, it is suggested, would be accomplished most economic¬ 
ally by the removal of the staff and equipment of the Claybury 
Laboratory to the new institution. It is hoped that this institution, 
when in being, will be in close touch with the London University and 
medical schools. 

“ The hospital was not finished when the war broke out, but to the 
4th London General Hospital, of which King’s College Hospital is 
the nucleus, the London County Council not only handed over two 
large Grove Lane schools, but in addition hastened the completion of 
the Maudsley Hospital, the whole being placed in connection and 
forming the Maudsley extension of the 4th London General Hospital. 
For the past two years or more this has formed the neurological 
section, and served as a clearing hospital, and for the treatment of cases 
of shell shock and war psychoneuroses. It has already fulfilled a most 
useful purpose, which, it is to be hoped, may be extended to the civil 
population after the war is over. We only regret that Dr. Maudsley 
did not live to see this practical application of his life work and 
principles. 

“ Some Personal Reminiscences. 

“ In connection with the planning, building, and future objects of the 
hospital, I had many opportunities of becoming personally and inti¬ 
mately acquainted with Dr. Maudsley, and I made frequent visits to 
Bushey Heath. It was a great pleasure and intellectual treat to talk 
with the grand old philosopher, and after dining and spending the 
evening with him, 1 would come away sometimes humbled but always 
mentally refreshed. No matter what subject we talked upon I always 
learnt from him ; even upon technical matters of which I had more 
knowledge and experience, I would find his keen, critical mind ready 
to detect weak points in the argument, but his sound judgment seemed 
intuitively to tell him when the facts were adequate to support a 
proposition. 

“To those who had not the privilege of knowing him intimately, 
he might seem cynical and satirical, but beneath a seeming hyper¬ 
critical manner was a most kindly disposition. I cannot help thinking 
that at times the tinge of pessimism which he generally showed was 


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partly due to his having no children, and partly to an inborn trait; for 
he told me that he believed a man may inherit two unblended tempera¬ 
ments, and that it was so in his case. 

“ His knowledge of character, derived from long experience and 
contact with men in all ranks of society in his professional capacity and 
otherwise, made his conversation upon politics and social problems most 
interesting and entertaining, for it revealed a keen insight into human 
conduct, and the motives activating it. 

“ He had a great love of Nature, and up to a few years ago he 
worked industriously in his garden, but he had no taste for music ; 
although he possessed the sense of rhythm, that of melody was lacking. 

“Up to the very end he retained all his remarkable mental faculties, 
and his memory was marvellous; for he would quote long passages 
from the great authors and poets, and show that he still kept abreast 
with the general principles underlying modern biological science.” 


Part I.-Original Articles. 

The Aetiology of Crime. By Charles Goring, M.D. B.Sc., Fellow 
University College, London. 

In a recent number of the Journal of Mental Science, Sir Bryan 
Donkin contributes some important and interesting “ Notes on Mental 
Defects in Criminals.” This is an important contribution, because, with 
manifest sincerity, it criticises adversely an important modern idea : the 
idea that Criminological Science, that all Social Science, must be built 
upon facts, and facts only. And, apart from their general interest, these 
notes are particularly interesting to me, because they refer, more than 
incidentally, to my book The English Convict, wherein the validity of 
arguments and conclusions depends entirely upon the study and logic 
of facts whose value, for elucidating biological problems, Sir Bryan 
would appear to discredit. For this reason may I be permitted to say 
a few words in support of a position which has been formidably 
assailed ? 

As a method of biological research, Sir Bryan holds, or used to hold, 
strong views on the subject of Biometry, which he would seem to regard, 
at best as an intellectual fad, at worst as a troublesome expedient for 
exploiting Biology in the interests of Mathematics. This prejudice, 
which is not shared with many other informed thinkers, has always been 
to me an unaccountable mystery, and I never read an article by Sir 
Bryan without hoping to find therein some explanation which may clear 
it up. In the present case I was not so disappointed as usual. On 
p. 31 Sir Bryan states that “the complex environment which moulds 


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the characters of men cannot be analysed or reasonably dealt with by 
statistical handling ”; because, “ if it be true, as Dr. Goring has proved ” 
—through the medium of Biometry—that the facts are as Biometry 
shows them to be, “ it must follow that there would be little, if any, 
reason for making efforts to reform law-breakers.” In other words, 
since Biometry, by disturbing preconceived notions, may threaten the 
stability of our institutions, the employment of biometric methods is to 
be deprecated. But Criminology is not part of a propagandist move¬ 
ment for regulating conduct. It is a Science, critical of the ideas by 
which conduct is being regulated. And to Science, whose sole object 
is to derive truth inevitably from fact, any consideration, apart from 
this single purpose, can have no claim to relevance. 

In my Government Report the genesis and growth of the so-called 
“criminal character” were examined by biometric methods, and the 
conclusion was drawn that the factors conditioning them were to be 
found more in the constitution of the delinquent than in his circumstances. 
Sir Bryan replies that, if these findings be true, certain consequences 
follow, and that, anyway, Biometry is not a suitable medium for 
elucidating the problem in question. But I hope to show that the 
sinister consequences affecting reform, so much dreaded by Sir Bryan, 
are really illusory, and also that the systematic analysis of data, by 
biometric or other statistical methods, is indispensable for judging 
probabilities, for estimating existing tendencies, for measuring the 
strength of associations, for obtaining, in short, that clear and well- 
focussed vision of aetiological processes by which alone a prudent, just, 
sympathetic, and efficient policy of administration and reform can ever 
be attainable. 

Let me examine in turn the more important arguments put forward 
by Sir Bryan. The first point is contained in the statement already 
quoted, which is to the effect that, if the truth of my conclusion be 
admitted—that “the one vital mental constitutional factor in the 
aetiology of crime is mental defectiveness ”—it follows as a self-evident 
proposition that law-breakers must continue their misconduct, and that 
efforts to reform them must be futile ! But, surely, it would be as 
reasonable to affirm that when disease has a constitutional origin it 
must, on that account, be incurable ! The conclusion, in a word, does 
not follow from the premises. The premise from which we start is the 
statistical fact that inferior intelligence is associated with law-breaking, 
which, stated inversely, is the same thing as saying that superior 
intelligence is associated with law-keeping. Consequently, if from the first 
statement of the fact we permit the conclusion that law-breakers, because 
of their lower intelligence, must go on breaking the law, we are bound 
to conclude, from the second statement of the fact, that people of higher 
intelligence must, by virtue of their quality, go on keeping the law—a 


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revealed. Scientific prediction is only inevitable in certain conditions ; 
and therefore must always deviate, and very often must depart entirely, 
from predestination which is, ex hypothesis totally unconditioned. Thus 
even in exact science, prediction, based on knowledge of causation, is 
a very different thing from predestination, with its signs and portents of 
inevitable and unavoidable destiny. In the biological sciences, which 
are, and always must be, far from exact, the two are entirely dissimilar. 
Here, one event, in a universal sense, rarely determines a second. The 
search in this field is not for causes, but for tendencies or associations ; 
and prediction, based on a knowledge of tendency, is again vastly 
different from prediction, based on a knowledge of causes. In the first 
place, its value lies not in application to individuals, but to individuals 
en masse. In the second place, the process makes no pretence to fore¬ 
cast specifically the occurrence of individual events : fore-knowledge of 
the definite probability of their occurring is all it pretends to provide. 
In the third, last, and most important place of all, the accuracy and 
legitimacy of prediction, based on a knowledge of association, depends 
entirely on the conditions governing the association remaining con¬ 
stant. Because intelligence and crime are associated in conditions 
pertaining to-day, we cannot assume that defective intelligence has 
always been a source of crime; and we cannot predict that it will 
remain so in changed conditions of the future. 

It will be seen, then, that the criminological correlations upon which, 
in my report, all conclusions were based, make no claim to rival, and 
could never be twisted to correspond to, the soothsayer’s pretensions at 
revelation; to which would be related the notion of individuals “com¬ 
pelled to continue their misconduct if not permanently coerced by 
force”; or the doctrine, preached by Lombroso, of a “criminal nt "— 
predestined from birth to do evil. Yet it is a profound mistake to 
suppose that biometric prediction formulae, because limited in their 
application, have little value. Legislation, social and economic organi¬ 
sation, the schemes of the actuary, all practical affairs whose aim is to 
promote, protect, or materially better, not this or that individual, but 
the people as a whole, may turn, as many of them have already profit 
ably turned, to the prediction potentialities of Biometry. And my 
criminological coefficients have no less and no more value than any of 
these. Within the prescribed limitations, predictions based on these 
will be definite, precise, and serviceable ; and a by no means unim¬ 
portant service is the knowledge they provide, not for paralysing, but 
for promoting schemes of reform. For the aim of reform is not to 
eradicate tendency ; it is to strengthen the will to overcome tendency. 
It is not to effect a miraculous change of constitution by equalising 
circumstances; it is to modify conduct by strengthening the will to act 
decently even in the face of adverse circumstances. “ Man is master 


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of man’s estate.” Despite of his circumstances, despite of himself, is 
the theory on which reform is based. And whatever may be his 
motives, proclivities, or leanings, however favourable or adverse his 
circumstances may be, the criminal who gives up doing evil becomes 
reformed. Certainly the subjects upon whom I made my inquiry were 
habitual criminals ; and were, therefore, at the time of examination, 
unreformed. But this fact does not prove that reform is futile; nor 
does it necessarily demonstrate that future efforts at their reform will go 
on being futile. All it shows is that, despite of education, constitu¬ 
tional tendencies have prevailed ; it tells nothing of the majority, whose 
mean emotions, jealousies, suspicions, greed, intellectual defects, and 
other constitutional tendencies and deficiencies have been overcome or 
masked by education. To-day, we are grappling with only the rudi¬ 
ments of the problem, whose nature becomes more clearly revealed as 
the relationship of habitual criminality with mental enfeeblement is 
more strictly defined. How full of promise for the future may be 
efforts in correcting „or diverting activities originating from feeble¬ 
mindedness, is shown by the effectiveness of regulations laid down for 
the treatment of mental defectives in prison. No one would suppose 
that the classing of a prisoner as weak-minded affects any miraculous 
change in his constitution or character. Yet when so classed, the 
immediate change in his conduct is indisputably manifest. Within my 
experience a modern idea of the mental defective criminal as a soulless 
husk of a man, without will, with capacity only for doing evil, unedu- 
cable save for breaking the law, drifting aimlessly along a course of least 
resistance always towards evil, a Frankenstein monster with every 
human essential omitted—this imaginative portrait of the criminal 
mental defective is a conception which, when contrasted with my 
experience of the actual man, appears entirely detached from reality. 
In my experience, the habitual criminal, even when classed as mentally 
defective, and despite his low level of intelligence, is far removed from 
the pathological imbecile he is often portiayed to represent; he has 
capacity for useful activity as well as fordoing evil; he is amenable to 
good, as well as to bad, influence; he by no means contradicts the 
general truth that, to make a law-abiding citizen, two things are needed, 
capacity and training. The existence of the habitual criminal to day 
proves the failure of existing measures to reform all criminals ; but it 
does not prove the futility of reform. What it does point is the urgency 
of our immediate task : which is to find the appropriate penalties, dis¬ 
cipline, scholastic education, or other form of supervision and training 
best adapted to mask the disabilities, and cherish the potencies within 
every individual, for keeping their activities within the law, and for 
playing a useful part in the world. For, when all is said, what are the 
facts? We know that criminal action is largely due to lack of intelli- 
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gence. We know that the most unintelligent activities can be diverted 
into useful channels by discipline and training. We know that the 
activities of actual mental defectives may be, and in fact every day are 
being, diverted in prison—surely, to utilise again Sir Bryan’s quotation 
from Dr. Samuel Johnson, “there’s an end on’t.” 

The next point in Sir Bryan’s criticism is a statement to the effect 
that it may be laid down in advance, as an a priori proposition, and 
even despite statistical evidence to the contrary, that environmental 
conditions must of necessity have a determining influence on crime. 
Before proceeding to deal with this statement, I should like to say one 
thing. I have never pretended that my systematic study of some 
environmental factors was sufficiently exhaustive to justify a general 
conclusion that crime is uninfluenced by any environmental condition. 
My own statement was as follows: “ between a variety of environ¬ 
mental conditions examined and the committing of crime we find no 
evidence of any significant relationship.” This does not claim to be a 
last word on the matter. It does not claim that because some factors 
are unrelated to crime therefore any relationship of this kind is, or must 
be, non-existent. It does not deny that when other conditions come 
to be examined, clinching evidence of existing relationship may then 
emerge. All it affirms is that, in my own particular inquiry, no such 
evidence had been discovered ; its only claim is that, until such evi¬ 
dence is forthcoming, judgment must be suspended. If evidence does 
exist, let it be produced;. In the absence of evidence a mere rehearsing 
of belief is idle. That Sir Bryan will sympathise to some extent with 
the truth of these principles is revealed by his own statement: “ The 
very posing of this question ”—whether the criminal 'is a product of 
heredity or environment—“leads to irrelevant and unnecessary disputes 
in many and varied fields ; and it lies at the root of great confusion in 
much that is written on the causes of criminality.” With that statement 
I heartily agree. And I also concur with the observation that “ many 
grounds of literary dispute would vanish on the attainment of greater 
precision in the meaning of the terms employed.” That is one reason 
why Biological Science has profited enormously from Biometry, whose 
characteristic feature is precision of terminology. As biological 
problems have found expression through the medium of mathematical 
symbols and formulas, less and less have they been centres of verbal 
disputation and literary wrangling, which more and more have been 
replaced by reasoned criticism, based on definite and stated grounds. 
It has been said, as a merit of Mathematics, that they provide no scope 
for dilletanti. Mathematics have the additional merit of replacing the 
frequent vagueness of verbal expression by a symbolism whose meaning 
is precise, unvarying, and always unambiguous. Moreover, when the 
conditions of a problem are stated in, and reasoned about through, 


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the terms of an algebraical formula, everyone knows precisely what is 
being aimed at, and with what success the target is reached. This may 
not appear a great gain ; yet, within its limitations, it is a distinct 
advance on verbal disquisition and reasoning, which rarely convey the 
same shade of meaning, and often transmit totally different notions, 
to different people. Personally, I never had a clear and well focussed 
vision of environment and heredity problems until I viewed them 
through the medium of correlation and prediction formulae. And, cer 
tainly, it is difficult to believe that the formula employed by me, with' 
the facts and figures and 2 and-2-make-4 reasoning on which they 
were based—all of which were published in my report—can have s o 
obscured the issue upon which I was engaged, or have left its admitted 
limitations so vaguely and indefinitely prescribed, as to justify the 
following criticism : “ Even if, for the sake of argument, the validity of 
methods employed and conclusions arrived at be assumed, it cannot 
possibly be held that any significant proportion of the innumerable 
influences that act on all men from infancy to age, for good or for ill, 
and contribute so largely to the make-up of each of us, have been 
eliminated by the inquiry we have been considering.” 

I must confess I find this outburst of Sir Bryan Donkin astounding t 
Surely no one could dispute that influences which act for good or ill on 
all men, from youth to age, etc., must act similarly, for good or evil, on 
all criminal men, whatever their age may be, whether they be in prison 
or out of prison, whether they be reformable or incorrigible. For 
instance, the existence or non-existence of food to eat, of air to breathe, 
of a world to live in, of buildings that may burn, of people who may be 
robbed, of institutions that may be defrauded, are, all of them, influ¬ 
ences for good or evil; and they are, all of them, influences on crime 
and criminals: in the sense that without air to breathe there could be 
no breathing criminals; without the influence of food no men could 
live to become criminals; without material potentiality for committing 
criminal acts, no crime could be committed. But in no rational, or 
less equivocal sense, could these essential conditions of life itself, in 
any of its manifold forms, be described as part of the force of circum¬ 
stances determining the particular form of being known as criminality. 
Accordingly, we can assume that those circumstances which are indis¬ 
pensable for any form of human activity are not the particular ones 
whose influence, Sir Bryan warns us, still survive my investigation. 
What, then, are the influences to which he does allude ? If he has any 
circumstances in mind, why does he not plainly specify what they are? 
An unconscious answer to this question may, perhaps, be found in the 
following statement of Sir Bryan : “The various factors that contribute 
to the production of a criminal cannot be disentangled from the totality 
of the complex environment which moulds the characters of men,” and 


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this environment itself “ cannot be analysed or reduced to such items 
as can be established, or eliminated, or reasonably dealt with by statis- 
lical handling.” The reason then, for Sir Bryan’s reticence in this 
important matter, is clear. He does not specify the conditions to 
which he refers because, being unanalysable and irreducible to specific 
items, they cannot be specified. But, in this case, these conditions, if 
•existent at all, can have little practical significance for the criminologist. 
Sir Bryan defines criminology as knowledge that “ may assist in the 
formation of practical measures for the prevention of crime and the 
treatment of criminals.” What practical measures, we ask, can possibly 
result from the knowledge that crime depends upon circumstances 
which, ex hypothesis are unanalysable and cannot even be nominally 
specified ? 

I think it is important to assert that the environmental influences 
studied by scientific investigators, and the influences of environment 
as envisaged by reformers, humanitarians, and other propagandists, are 
two separate things which are often quite unrelated to each other. 
The former are causes or associations, whose effects or strength, being 
universal in character and variable in degree, can only be estimated 
by investigation. The latter are incidents , whose effects upon indi¬ 
viduals, being self-evident, are not matter for scientific inquiry. The 
humanitarian exclaims: “All individual men are influenced for good 
or ill by the incidents of their environment.” “ Quite so ! ” replies the 
scientist; “ that is an axiom which is presupposed by the investigator, 
whose object is not to demonstrate a self-evident proposition, needing 
no demonstration, but to search for a truth which only by investigation 
can be discovered : viz., the varying extent to which, in the long run, 
men are influenced for good or ill by varying the conditions of their 
environment.” Thus every individual child is influenced in some way 
by education. Yet, from this indisputable fact no one can assert, as 
an a priori proposition and without inquiry, that failure in class or life, 
or in becoming a law-abiding citizen, must necessarily, in the long run, 
be due to lack of some particular form or degree of education, under 
the influence of which success would be equally assured. 

It will be seen, then, that in one sense Sir Bryan is right when he 
s:.ys that “ the innumerable influences that act on all men for good or 
for ill cannot be dealt with by statistical handling.” They cannot be 
dv:alt with by statistical handling because, their effects being self- 
evident, they are not material for any sort of scientific handling. For 
Science is not concerned with the cataloguing of series of incidents 
affecting the careers of individuals. The business of Science is to 
discover causes ; and causation, as investigated in the laboratory, is 
always the universal relation, which cannot be revealed by repre¬ 
sentation, however vivid, of particular incidents. That is to say, the 


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causes there traced are not those affecting any one thing, but things in 
general; they are not the innumerable incidents affecting for good or 
ill individual lives; they are those general truths which are described 
within that category of Science technically known as /Etiology. 

I am, of course, aware that incidents affecting individual persons or 
things are often described popularly as causes ; and, if it pleases people 
to regard any incident as a cause, there is no reason why it should not 
be called by that name: provided one is not misled into attaching 
scientific value to the term. To describe thus particular events is 
certainly justifiable ; because any event, however insignificant, is one 
out of what Huxley described as “ the great series of causes and effects 
which, with unbroken continuity, comprises the sum of existence.” 
And to single out anyone event from a series and to attribute causative 
value to that, may serve many a good or bad purpose. Thus, for the 
sake of assuming responsibility, a mother might attribute to her own 
negligence the cause of a child’s taking cold ; or, in order to transfer 
responsibility, she might seek a causal agent in her nurse’s carelessness, 
etc. The reasons for thus attributing a special value to particular 
events may be excellent. But the causes there specified are unrelated 
to the general truths of causation : no scientific treatise would refer 
to a particular mother’s negligence, or to her servant’s carelessness, 
when describing the retiology of cold in the head. 

Let me illustrate my meaning in some of the foregoing remarks 
with a case of murder which was committed by an epileptic, who was 
also a licentious fellow, a heavy drinker, and who suffered from the 
effects of syphilis. The crime was apparently a motiveless one; and 
the plea put forward by the defence was that the prisoner committed 
the act when in a transient state of epileptic unconsciousness. According 
to the evidence, this was a just plea ; and consequently, for adminis¬ 
tration of justice, it was justifiable here to select the factor of epilepsy 
from the series of causes and effects of which the crime was the 
culminating episode, and to describe epilepsy as the cause of the 
crime. This selection was justifiable, because its object was not to 
advance scientific knowledge, but to show that at the time of the 
offence the prisoner’s will was in abeyance, and his mind free from 
guilty intent. To Science the selection of epilepsy, as the cause of 
this particular crime, contributes nothing. That is to say, this repre¬ 
sentation of a particular relationship does not in itself increase our 
knowledge of the general relationship between epilepsy and crime : it 
is without value for purposes of prediction. For the scientific purpose 
of predicting crime from a knowledge of epilepsy, the describing of 
this man’s epilepsy as the source of his crime is of no more value than 
would be the attributing of its cause to his alcoholism, his syphilitic 
disease, his licentiousness, the fact that he carried a revolver, the fact of 


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the stupidity of his victim, or an indefinite number of other factors. 
For it is the sum of all these factors which was the real cause of the 
crime; and when prominence is given to any one factor by describing 
that as a cause, the existence of all the others, as an unvarying back¬ 
ground, is, as it were, assumed. The scientific problem of causation is 
to trace how and to what extent two events, A and B ( e.g ., epilepsy and 
crime) are connected in the picture, independently of its ever-varying 
background ; and this is provided by the conception of association 
which, in the biological sciences, replaces the physical concept of 
causation. From data of the several conjunctions, namely, (1) A with 
B ; (2) A without B ; (3) B without A ; (4) A and B both absent, we 
measure the extent to which changes in the A event are followed by 
corresponding changes in the B event. In other words, we find the 
law that governs the relationship between A and B ; and the correlation 
formula expressing it is a truly scientific statement, because, when the 
tests of science are applied to it, it will be found to answer true. It 
follows that the scientific problem of the influence on crime of the 
force of circumstances is essentially a problem of correlation, which 
can only be solved satisfactorily to Science in one way, namely, by 
measuring the extent to which specifiable and explicitly specified 
environmental conditions are correlated with crime. My own investi¬ 
gation consisted almost entirely in measuring these correlations for 
several representative conditiofts which have been accepted as criminal 
influences. And because the result was practically zero in almost 
every case, I formulated my conclusion that iro evidence had emerged 
from the investigation 4 o show that crime, to any appreciable extent, 
was influenced by the force of circumstances. I then went on to trace 
and explicitly define, in similar fashion, the influence of heredity on 
crime : which brings me now to the third point of Sir Bryan’s criticism 
of my work which I want to discuss. 

I find Sir Bryan’s arguments, which refer to my biometric treatment 
of the heredity and crime problem, evasive. He employs also, it 
seems to me, unsubstantiated charges against the Biometric School. 
I will produce these charges seriatim with my reply to each. The first 
is stated in these words : “ The two diverse schools,” the Biometric 
and Mendelian, “appear to be at one in placing a sharp dividing line 
between inborn and acquired characters.” Now I am not competent 
to speak with authority on behalf of Mendelian doctrine, but as a 
biometrician I am in a position to say this : that the Biometric School 
is not inclined to place sharp dividing lines between categories ; and it 
certainly would not draw r one between such highly imaginative and 
artificial categories as those described by authors as “inborn” and 
“acquired.” Indeed, the case is just the contrary. For what are the 
iffertntia which, in fact, do separate by a sharp dividing line the 


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doctrine of Biometricians from that of their more ambitious, but 
perhaps rather more confused, confreres, the Mendelians? It is this : 
that Biometricians refuse, and always have refused, to recognise any 
real existence in the unit characters, unit compartments, and sharply 
partitioned pigeon-holes which are at the basis of Mendelian theory. 
The characteristic feature of Biometric doctrine is that Nature distributes 
her attributes in continuous quantitative series. The tall and the short 
peas of Mendelians are not, according to Biometric teaching, specific 
entities of one definite degree : there is a wide range of tallness in the 
one variety, as there is a wide range of shortness in the other. And, 
very similarly, Biometricians recognise no line of demarcation between 
Albinos and those who are without the Albinotic character; or between 
criminals and those who are without criminal tendency : Albinos and 
criminals merging into their opposites by insensible gradations. To 
accuse, then, the Biometric School of drawing a hard and fast line 
between categories is, of course, a mistake. 

Equally mistaken is the second charge against the Biometric School 
of “ employing the terms 1 inheritance’ and ‘ reproduction ’ as synony¬ 
mous.” Nowhere in biometric literature, certainly not in my Report, 
would these words be found used as if they were interchangeable. 
Sir Bryan says that “ the Biometric School has made several elaborate 
investigations into heredity questions and draws its conclusions from 
large numbers of observations gathered and statistically studied.” This 
is the fact. But what in each case has been the object of the investiga¬ 
tion, and what the nature of the observations ? In every case, without 
any exception, they have been the tracing of ancestral resemblance from 
data of ancestors and offspring. These investigations were inspired by 
the genius of Sir Francis Galton, whose ideas of heredity, which have 
been adopted by those carrying on his work, were defined in his Law 
of Ancestral Resemblance : a title which speaks for itself as to the 
meaning adopted of heredity. The title, at any rate, disposes of the 
allegation that Biometricians confuse reproduction with inheritance, 
which is a law of reproduction ; and the nature of the investigations, 
referred to above, prove conclusively that to Biometricians the law of 
reproduction called Heredity means one thing, and one thing only— 
Ancestral Resemblance. I don’t maintain that these two notions are 
never confused ; they frequently are. All I assert is that they have not 
been confused in published works of Biometricians, whose refrain, 
emphatic and unvarying, reiterates monotonously the fact that inherit, 
ance means ancestral resemblance—nothing more and nothing less. 
Nearly all misconceptions about heredity arise from an inability to 
hear, or from refusal to listen, to the cardinal fact of this refrain. 
Grasp this fact, and you will see, for instance, how stupid is the widely 
spread misconception that inheritance of a character, such as criminal 


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tendency, must nullify efforts at criminal reform. It is as foolish to say 
that a criminal is incorrigible because he is like his criminal father, as 
it would be to deny possibility of his reform because he is like any 
other criminal who is not his father. For parental resemblance does 
not imply annihilation of the human will, whose incalculable power 
of conquest over tendency is at the source of all reform. I repeat: 
the essential fact to be grasped is that heredity means nothing more 
and nothing less than ancestral resemblance. Fix that fact well in mind, 
and you have a key to many difficulties of the heredity question. 
That is the sum and substance of Biometric teaching ; and, in the face 
of it, to say that Biometricians treat of inheritance and reproduction 
as if they were synonymous is manifestly inaccurate. . 

The next charge is more difficult to repudiate because of the 
ambiguity of some of its terms. Here it is verbatim : “ The Biometric 
School place a sharp dividing line between inborn and acquired 
characters; it employs the term inheritance and reproduction as 
synonymous. Thus , the characters or qualities this School investigates 
are found by them to be inherited or inborn ; and a reproduced quality 
means, in fact, for this school a purely inborn and transmitted quality.” 
Why the word “thus,” connecting this charge with the two preceding 
ones? What is the meaning of this thusness which transfers respon¬ 
sibility to the Biometric School for an unthinkable conception of a 
purely inborn and transmitted quantity? There are, of course, such 
things as figures of speech ; and figurative language is often as useful 
as, and is sometimes more illuminating than, literal speech. Yet the 
expressions, “purely inborn character,” “transmitted character,” which 
were probably not intended by their real authors to be interpreted 
literally, are being used here as descriptive terms in a highly technical 
subject; and figurative expressions, w'hen used technically, can only 
perpetuate the confusion of thought that may have engendered them ; 
and consequently, they would be studiously avoided by the Biometric 
School, whose characteristics are clear thinking and precision of 
language. Biometric descriptions refer invariably to facts of experi¬ 
ence ; Biometric investigation, as Sir Bryan admits, “draws* its 
conclusions from large numbers of observations” which are the 
recorded results of experience. Now, observation and experience show 
us heredity not as a power for transmitting, or withholding transmission, 
of any definite thing such as a purely inborn quality; they show' us 
heredity as a tendency only : as a tendency to reproduce a more or less 
approximate likeness of that thing. Accordingly, without calling upon 
figurative expressions, the Biometrician is able to describe his experience 
of heredity influence in simple, literal, and plain language, as the 
observed tendency of every newly created being to develop the likeness 
of those within, and the relative unlikeness of those without, his own 


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line of ancestry. Descriptions of characters as “ inborn ” and “ acquired ” 
are not only not employed, but they are studiously avoided, by 
Biometricians. And in this studied boycott of figurative terms we 
have the exact opposite of what Sir Bryan states to be the case, 
namely, that the characters or qualities the Biometric School investi¬ 
gate are found by them to be purely inborn or transmitted qualities. 

The fifth charge Sir Bryan brings against the Biometric School is that 
“as regards heredity it necessitates no further assumption than that 
sameness of reproduction in the case of a given quality implies sameness 
of inheritance.” In apparent contradiction to previous statements, Sir 
Bryan admits here that Biometric Science regards heredity as sameness 
of reproduction, which is a different thing to reproduction, and might 
mean the same thing as ancestral resemblance. The allegation, how¬ 
ever, now is that ancestral resemblance is always, without further 
inquiry, assumed by the Biometric School to be due to one cause, 
namely, the influence of heredity. The inaccuracy of this statement is 
shown by the following passage from the Report of my biometric 
investigation of the problem of heredity in its relation to crime : “We 
only know that there is such a thing as Heredity by its effect in pro¬ 
ducing Ancestral Resemblance. The first step, then, when studying 
the influence of Heredity is to obtain a measure of this resemblance- 
It must be understood, however, that this estimation of resemblance is 
only a first stage towards the solution of the heredity problem. Inherit¬ 
ance presupposes resemblance, but resemblance need not necessarily be 
due to hereditaty influence. The first step, then, in the study of criminal 
heredity leads only to the discovery of certain statistical facts of family 
resemblance. These facts alone do not in themselves provide answers 
to the wider questions they lead up to; these are, to what extent these 
facts of family history are due to the inheritance of a constitutional anti¬ 
social disposition, or to what extent they depend upon the influence of 
family contagion.” 

This concludes the indictment against the Biometric School. The 
remaining charges are directed against me and my particular biometric- 
work. The first of them is as follows : “ Dr. Goring’s final conclusions 
rest upon the conception that qualities or characters are either inherited 
or acquired—either of a constitutional origin or produced by the force 
of circumstances, and that it is possible to disentangle the influence 
of heredity from a complication of environmental influences—which 
illustrates the unfitness of applying biometrical methods to all branches 
of biological research.” What the statement really illustrates is the 
futility of criticising the application of a principle until the nature of 
that principle has been definitely agreed upon and accepted. Were 
Sir Bryan and I at one concerning the conception involved in heredity 
problems, we should not possibly be at variance regarding the fitness of 


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applying biometric methods for the solution of those problems. Now, 
what precisely Sir Bryan’s conception of heredity may be I do not 
know. He tells us something of what it isn’t—for instance, that heredity 
is not the same as reproduction, but he nowhere states explicitly and 
unambiguously what he conceives it to be. How widely and funda¬ 
mentally our respective conceptions must differ is revealed in the passage 
quoted above. For no one, proceeding from a conception of heredity 
as an influence tending to produce ancestral resemblance, could pro¬ 
fess to form an estimate of the extent of its effectiveness in any particular 
case without investigating the matter statistically ; that is to say, without 
making a statistical analysis of data recording the degree of resemblance 
actually observed between ancestors and descendants. These data are 
as necessary for estimating intensity of ancestral resemblance as were 
observations on falling bodies essential for measuring the intensity of 
terrestial gravitation. And as with the force of heredity, so with the 
force of circumstance. The forces of heredity and circumstance are 
both of them conceptions derived from experience of associations, and 
the only way to measure precisely the strength of associations is by the 
statistical analysis of data. But Sir Bryan implies that characters can be 
differentiated as either inborn or acquired without investigation; that, 
by some mystical process unexplained, character can be shuffled into 
either one or other of these two compartments at sight. It is clear, 
then, that when describing characters as influenced by the forces of 
heredity and of circumstance, I am performing an entirely different 
operation to that of Sir Bryan when he classifies characters as either 
inborn or acquired. In other words, the conceptions of heredity and 
environment on which my conclusions rest must be fundamentally 
different from the conceptions of environment and heredity ip Sir 
Bryan’s mind when he criticises those conclusions. And, in fact, that 
our respective ideas of heredity and environment do refer to entirely 
different realities is conclusively proved by a final pronouncement on 
my work which Sir Bryan makes in reply to his own question, “whether 
any conclusion of value bearing on the genesis of the criminal is likely 
to be attained by the statistical methods Dr. Goring has employed ? ” 
The answer is that no conclusion of value could be so attained, and 
a verdict pronounced on the final conclusions I did reach by these 
methods is that “ these conclusions are erroneous.” The conclusion 
that crime is influenced by heredity is erroneous, because “the fact 
that inborn capacities are necessary for the production of human 
characters is accepted knowledge; no longer a hypothesis in need of 
verification.” The conclusion that crime is not appreciably influenced 
by the force of circumstance is erroneous ; because a notion that “the 
human being, criminal or non-criminal, is the creature of his inborn 
capacities alone has not been proved.” Could anything be more final ? 


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HY CHARLES GORING, M.D. 


M3 


Could anything settle more conclusively, once and for all, that biometric 
research is a futile intellectual vagary ? Or else, that Sir Bryan’s notion 
of the problem involved in the aetiology of crime is unsound at the 
core? And, in pursuance of this latter contingency, I think a glance 
at the introduction of my book will take us as far as this : That what¬ 
ever his own notion of the aetiology of crime may be, Sir Bryan has 
completely failed to acquaint himself with the biometric conception of 
that problem. For it will be seen immediately, from my description of 
the criminal diathesis in the introductory chapter referred to, that “ the 
hypothesis no longer in need of verification,” which Sir Bryan describes 
as one final conclusion of my investigation, is, in reality, a postulate or 
starting point from which that investigation proceeded. And it will 
also be seen, from the same reference, that what Sir Bryan describes as 
a second final conclusion of my investigation, namely, that the criminal 
is a creature of his inborn capacities alone—this unthinkable notion 
was certainly not a goal which that investigation set out to reach. 

Let us try to get down to the fundamentals of a problem that can 
provoke such complete misunderstanding. The first point, which is 
abundantly clear, is that the mere existence of life, apart from the 
form it may take or the characters that may distinguish it, the mere 
fact of life itself must presuppose two things. First, the influence of 
reproduction and development determining, through the germ plasm, 
a continuity of organic growth between the generations. Second, a 
range of environment within whose influence alone organic growth 
can take place. These influences upon life are assumed wherever 
any form of life is manifest. In the absence of either of them, or 
rather in the absence of reproduction and development, and in the 
presence of an environment extending beyond prescribed limits, organic 
growth ceases, and existence comes to an end. It follows, therefore, 
that questions connected with the formation of human characters, that 
all questions of retiology, are in no way concerned with this fixed and 
invariable influence of both girm and environment, which is obviously 
indispensable for growth. In discussion of these questions there can 
be no real difference of opinion on these elementary facts; and any 
difference there may appear to be is one of expression only. As pointed 
out by Prof. His “To think organic beings can be built up without 
any environmental means is a piece of unscientific mysticism.” All 
this, of course, is as simple as it is obvious; but it is a matter whose 
importance cannot be over emphasised by statement and restatement 
of the obvious postulate which I repeat: when investigating aetiology 
problems, the facts of reproduction and development determining 
growth within a fixed range of environment, have no relation or 
reference of any kind whatsoever to our direct and immediate concern 
which refers to the opposition between germinal and environmenta 


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144 THE ETIOLOGY OF CRIME, [April, 

influences in determining not growth, but the particular way growth 
takes place, and the particular kind of characters which are produced 
as an ultimate result of growth. How is growth modified by varying 
germinal influences? How are the ultimate effects of growth modified, 
to what extent can they be stunted, or encouraged, or diverted, by 
varying the degree or proportions of environmental influences? These 
are the questions the investigator asks himself; and in seeking answers 
to them, he naturally turns to the observation of the senses as the only 
means for formulating a tfuly scientific reply. 

In plants, and amongst lower animals, the possibilities of modifying 
growth by environmental means are very great. Apart from effects 
due to selective breeding, pronounced modifications in the growth of 
fruit and flowers have been, and every day are being, produced under 
varying conditions of temperature, nutriment, moisture, climate, etc- 
As the result of treatment, the remarkable variability in the produce 
of gardeners, working on the same material, is a matter of everyday 
experience. But as we go up in the animal scale, the possibility of 
thus modifying growth becomes more constricted; and the extent to 
which results achieved are due to stock, or environmental selection, 
becomes increasingly doubtful. Hence the innumerable questions 
which arise. We know that for human physical development some 
form of nutriment and exercise are requisite. The question is to 
what extent, by taking thought—by prescribing this or that regime of 
nutriment and exercise—a cubit can be added to stature, or muscular 
development can be increased, or obesity reduced ? We know that 
a tendency of human tissue to become diseased would be arrested by 
eliminating any one of the conditions which are essential to the life 
of human tissue. The question is to what extent, modifications, within 
the range of conditions compatible with life, will arrest or encourage 
the fruition of morbid tendencies: to what extent will over-crowding 
insufficiency of diet, defective sanitation, increase tubercular tendency ; 
to what extent will cod-liver oil, tuberculin, or open-air treatment 
arrest it? We know that the criminal tendency is affected by the 
“environmental influences which act for good or for ill on all men,”— 
by all kinds of education or training, for instance. The question is 
to what extent the degree of this character ultimately attained depends 
on the presence or absence of some particular kind of training, or 
some particular form of discipline : whether any one form of education, 
as, for instance, primary, secondary, or reformatory school training, 
or the education of the streets, or the educative influence of parental 
example in a corrupt home, is more productive of, let us say, habitual 
criminality than is any other specified form of education? These are 
he burning questions that requiie answering, and that call for precise 
answer, in plain language, from the expert sociologist; and from the 


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>45 


nature of tlie questions it will he realised that no amount of reflecting, 
of appealing to opinion, of referring to authority, of exercising 
dialectical ingenuity, can possibly provide the convincing and indis¬ 
putable answers which are demanded, and which can only be attained 
in one way: namely, by appealing to, and making the best possible 
analysis of, experience. For what is the nature of the questions 
referred to ? In every case it will be found that what these 
questions demand is an exact measure of the relationship between 
two variables. Consequently, for all practical purposes, problems of 
setiology resolve themselves to this: as we modify one variable, what 
is the observed effect on another variable ? In all their mental and 
physical attributes, and morbid states, and conditions resulting from 
these, how and to what extent, in all these ultimate results of growth, 
do human beings change, as we vary the hereditary and environmental 
influences which govern the growth of human beings? This is the 
problem of aetiology which, it will be seen, in every case, is essentially 
a problem of correlation. And how correlation between variables is 
to be assessed, save through the medium of a correlation calculus, it 
is not for me, as a biometrician, to say. It is incumbent on those 
critics who condemn the biometric calculus for solving problems of 
aetiology to supply that information. 

In conclusion, I should like to point out that I do not discover in Sir 
Bryan’s criticism any sense of the fact that the aim of my inquiry was 
not to support speculation upon what, in ideal conditions, might con¬ 
ceivably be a source of crime, but to discover what actually are its 
relations in conditions prevailing to-day. Because certain specified, but 
entirely imaginative, adverse circumstances might admittedly increase 
the production of habitual criminals, therefore habitual criminality is, 
in fact, a product of adverse circumstances—this seems to be the burden 
of a passage, which I cannot refrain from quoting, as an illuminating 
commentary on Sir Bryan’s conception of the aetiology of crime. “ I 
venture to think,” writes Sir Bryan, “ that most of us, including Dr. 
Goring, would agree, even in default of a demonstrative experiment, 
that most children and young persons from whatever stock they might 
have sprung, could have their normal criminal diathesis so influenced 
by neglect or positive training as to be actually and easily produced as 
even habitual criminals of various kinds.” Let us admit that habitual 
criminals might be produced in the conditions Sir Bryan lays down. 
The admission would not affect the conclusions of my investigation ; it 
would only restate a possibility which, in fact, that investigation did 
assume : “ the possibility that environmental, as well as constitutional, 
factors play a part in the production of criminality.” This possibility 
is, and always must be, a matter for investigation : never for discussion. 
Crime might be influenced by many circumstances; just as it might be 


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146 RELATION OF ALCOHOL TO MENTAL STATES, [April 

uninfluenced by many circumstances. Crime might be influenced if 
doors were left unlocked, or if streets were no longer policed; it is 
none the less uninfluenced by the circumstances I examined. Future 
investigation may reveal many criminal agencies at work which are at 
present unsuspected. But in the meantime, we need not let ourselves 
be diverted, by such speculations, from established facts. These facts 
were summarised in my conclusion which, despite of speculative criti¬ 
cism, still holds. It is that “between a variety of environmental 
conditions examined, such as illiteracy, parental neglect, lack of employ¬ 
ment, the stress of poverty, etc., including the states of a healthy, 
delicate, or morbid constitution per se, and even the situation induced 
by the approach of deatl^ 1 )—between these conditions and the com¬ 
mitting of crime we find no evidence of any significant relationship. 

(') At all ages of life up to fifty-five the death rates of prisoners are practically 
identical with the general population rates. 


The Relation of Alcohol to Mental States, particularly in regard to 
the War. By Major Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, M.D., 
R.A.M.C., Lecturer on Mental Diseases to St. Bartholomew’s 
Hospital. (*) 

I propose to deal with this subject in the light of present-day 
experience and knowledge, reflecting, to begin with, the medical opinion 
of to-day and afterwards that of the general public, and I propose to divide 
my theme into two sections : Firstly, the evident meaning attached to 
my title, viz., the different forms of mental abnormality resulting from 
excessive drinking in the individual, and secondly, the different mental 
states exhibited, or the different points of view adopted by the com¬ 
munity responsible for the methods of its sale and use, and, as a con¬ 
sequence, for the maintenance of public order. In dealing with the 
latter section I shall pass in review the different legal measures that 
have been adopted to control its sale and the various steps that have 
been taken to safeguard the health of the people in connection with it. 

The question of the effects of alcohol upon the human organism is an 
important medical point, as well as being an interesting, economic, and 
sociological one; for it has a concern with the vitality and with the out¬ 
put of work of the individual, as also with his relation to the State 
which protects him and of which he forms a component part. As to 
the use of alcohol in health all experiments are in accord, and it would 
be useless to occupy space with a repetition of the results obtained. 
Broadly stated, they are that alcohol stimulates the heart and circula¬ 
tion ; in other words, it increases the force and frequency of the pulse 


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and the functional activity of the nervous system, but it tends also to 
lower the temperature of the body, because it checks tissue changes. It 
is evident, therefore, that we have in alcohol a drug which can afford 
temporary relief in certain abnormal bodily states, but the very relief 
afforded in one particular direction, viz., as a cerebral stimulant, doubles 
the temptation to its frequent use, and as the body becomes habituated 
to its action, and the dose has to be increased more and more, the habit 
of frequent stimulation grows almost of necessity into drunkenness. 
For this reason I am of opinion that no physician is ever justified in 
prescribing alcohol for its purely soothing, stimulating, or narcotic 
effects, and I have never used it, nor advocated its use, for the mental 
conditions described as painful, emotional states; because I consider 
its legitimate use to be for those extremely serious nutritional dis¬ 
turbances such as threaten the last moments of life, and in these 
states I have known it to prolong the life struggle. Personally, I have 
no sympathy under ordinary circumstances with the daily use of alcohol 
by healthy persons who are not beyond middle life, and even such use 
in health has moral and politico-moral issues which cannot be discussed 
here; but under conditions of unaccustomed exposure to wet and cold, 
when the extremities are numbed and have lost, or are losing, their 
proper feeling, I have been informed by both officers and men from the 
trenches that the “rum ration” has enabled these men to withstand the 
continuous exposure to intense cold and wet. This fact is not in con¬ 
tradiction of the physiological experience already quoted, that alcohol 
lowers the body temperature and has no heating power. It only means 
that the chill of sudden exposure, the stiffness from benumbed extremities, 
and the bronchitis that may follow are the result of cold, which drives 
the blood from the skin and the general surface of the body to the 
internal organs ; that as a consequence of long exposure the circulation 
fails in the skin, the functions of which are suspended with the result 
that the skin ceases to excrete the body waste normally carried out with 
perspiration, and that these waste products are now thrown upon the 
internal organs, which are already in a state of passive congestion. The 
relief obtained is properly explained by the physiological effects of 
alcohol, which maintain the increased circulation and keep the external 
surface supplied with fresh, warm blood from the internal and engorged 
bodily organs. The obvious danger of prescribing alcohol in health is 
to induce intemperance, but it is only right to state that intemperance 
is also often the effect of brain weakness and brain disease; indeed, 
some writers have gone so far as to state that in practically all cases of 
mental disease associated with intemperance, the latter is a consequence 
of mental weakness and not the cause; a statement which is probably 
less than half the truth. 

In regard to alcohol, chemistry teaches us that alcohol is primarily 


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148 RELATION OF ALCOHOL TO MENTAL STATES, [April, 

a strong dehydrating agent. It takes away water from living matter, 
and, as a fixed amount of water is a necessity for the life of healthy 
protoplasm, this dehydrating action may prove to be highly injurious, 
hence its effect upon living tissues is to cause a degeneration and decay, 
which can be seen in the pyramidal or the essentially psychic cells of 
the brain, with consequent loss of their function and with marked 
intellectual degeneration when they are affected. The higher will power 
is impaired, the will loses its grip, normal inhibition is removed so that 
the person is easily tempted to other forms of indulgences, and we know 
that the great campaign of the National Council for Combating Venereal 
Disease cannot afford to disregard the connection between alcohol and 
the social evil. I have seen young officers, barely twenty years of age, 
whose army career has been ruined by drink and debauchery. The 
disposition in those who drink to excess changes into querulousness and 
impulsiveness; in fact, the most marked mental effect of excessive 
drinking is the tendency towards the development of a hostile attitude 
of mind, with the consequent liability to react furiously and intolerantly. 
Alcohol attacks the hierarchy of the tissues, for it has a special affinity 
for the nervous system ; there is a shedding by degrees of the most 
highly evolved faculties ; there is a loss of prevision, an impairment of 
the judgment, and a failure in the power of discrimination ; later on the 
memory becomes affected, and no amount of reasoning is able to 
persuade the person who has got into the habit of drinking to give it 
up, even if it be clearly pointed out to him that he and the family 
dependent upon him are being pauperised by it. 

It is always very difficult to estimate the exact setiology of even the 
most common diseases, but it is impossible to arrive at accurate con¬ 
clusions in regard to the causation of mental diseases ; yet, in connection 
with alcohol, the Lunacy Commissioners, in their report for 1905, made 
the precise and definite statement that alcohol, in their opinion, was a 
“brain poison.” Whether it be justifiable to describe as a deleterious 
poison an organic substance useless to the individual under ordinary 
conditions of health may be a matter for legitimate differences of 
opinion, but the Lunacy Commissioners made, in addition, the further 
statement that, although some counties with a comparatively low rate 
of insanity had a high proportion of cases admitted into asylutps with 
a history of intemperance, there were other counties with a high rate of 
insanity but with a low proportion of cases suffering from alcoholic 
intemperance. Nevertheless, in those areas in which there is an asso¬ 
ciation of intemperance and insanity, there is found also the definite 
association of intemperance and crime, which appears to justify the 
inference that in those cases where there may be a high incidence of 
intemperance, there will also be a high proportion of insanity and crime, 
and it is the considered conclusion from the definite observation of all 


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social workers that where there is intemperance there also are crime and 
insanity. It is interesting to note that when statistics as to the causation 
of insanity are taken over a series of years, the number of cases appearing 
as caused by alcohol as well as by other causes show but little variation 
from year to year, and it is computed that alcoholic intemperance may 
correctly, and without any doubt, be attributed as the assigned cause of 
insanity in no less than 20 per cent, of all males admitted into asylums, 
and in no less than 10 per cent, of all the females ; and when the total 
number of admissions for the last year of which we have record, viz. y 
1915, was quoted as 8,600 males and 10,000 females, we can readily 
see that alcohol was in one year responsible for over 2,700 cases of 
mental disease in England and Wales, i.e., of persons who had to be 
compulsorily detained against their will, and who, in consequence of 
drink, were deprived of their social, civil, domestic, and financial rights, 
and of whom, it may be observed, a number will continue under deten¬ 
tion for the remainder of their lives. It may be surmised that possibly 
about 3,000 persons every year become insane through drink in 
England and Wales. 

I have referred to the difficulty there is in arriving at the exact factor 
of causation in mental diseases, and as may well be appreciated in this 
illness the patient himself is unable to assist the investigator, as, owing 
to the clouding of his reason, the statements he makes are unreliable, 
and further, the information vouchsafed by the friends does not help 
to elucidate the cause, for the reason that they only relate such ante¬ 
cedents in the history as appear to them to bear upon the illness, 
which are rarely either accurate or full; moreover, in many instances 
the cause attributed by the friends only stands in some immediate 
relation to tlie illness, and forms no true part of the cause; indeed, it 
often has little or no connection with it, the real factor being some 
inherited or acquired frailty or some weakness in the nervous co¬ 
ordination, which the friends have either minimised or overlooked or 
have carefully attempted to suppress. So often is this the case, owing 
to the stigma attaching to mental disease, that a studious effort is 
made by all the relations to lessen the importance of a faulty family 
history and to give prominence to trivial and unrelated factors having 
no definite causative effect. From what I may claim to bean extensive 
personal experience, I am more than ever convinced that in mental 
disease there exists some locus resistentice minoris in the brain tissue, 
which renders the individual more prone to be affected by circumstances 
which in the healthy person would have less influence ; and, although 
several antecedents may combine in the ultimate production of a mental 
breakdown, it is logical to assume that any one of several causes may 
be the immediate agent responsible for the final breakdown. In regard 
to this much depends upon the so-called “immunity ” or the individual 
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resistance shown by the person affected, and as we know, when several 
persons are exposed continuously to the same infectious fevers, some 
always escape and do not contract the infection, whilst others appear 
to take the disease repeatedly and to suffer in turns from almost all 
the other ills to which flesh is heir. No fact in biology is more 
striking than the difference in susceptibility to disease conditions 
exhibited by different persons and different races, or even by different 
animals. It accounts for the very different symptoms produced by the 
same dose of the same kind of alcohol upon different persons. We 
know from medical experience how in regard to drink some persons 
may break down from arterio-sclerosis, haemorrhage, and cerebral soften¬ 
ing, whilst others may suffer from interstitial changes in the glandular 
structures, e.g., the liver or kidneys, whilst others again rarely suffer 
from nervous or mental lesions at all, but they break down from more 
gross tissue changes and become physical rather than mental cripples. 

Drink in small doses is literally death to some persons, whereas 
others tolerate it in large quantities, and the brain worker rather than 
the manual labourer shows the least resistance to it. As we know, one 
person may become morbidly irritable and quarrelsome, another may 
be ludicrously affectionate, a third stupid, a fourth vain and boastful, 
and a fifth silly, all these differences denoting differences of suscepti¬ 
bility to the same dose of the same kind of alcohol. The same 
susceptibility to alcohol and to disease that is seen in persons is also 
exhibited in the history of races, eg., the native races in many parts of 
the world are comparatively insusceptible to yellow fever, to enteric, 
and to malaria; and we know the same condition to exist in animals, 
for dogs and goats are rarely tubercular, and rats, which are not 
susceptible to anthrax, are only so after fatigue or when fed upon an 
exclusively vegetable diet, which helps to render the blood alkaline, a 
reaction which favours the growth of the bacillus; we know, again, 
that tetanus, for instance, is never met with in fowls. These facts 
demonstrate that there is a natural immunity or a natural insuscepti¬ 
bility on the part of certain races, individuals, and animals to certain 
diseases which may in the same persons even vary at different ages, eg., 
as age advances, the immunity to diphtheria and to scarlet fever 
becomes more marked and definite, and this immunity may be either 
partial or complete. Precisely the same sort of immunity or insus¬ 
ceptibility as occurs in disease is met with in the use of alcohol, and we 
are therefore unable to foretell the particular group of neurons likely to 
suffer in any special case of alcoholic indulgence; nor can we foretell 
the progress of the symptoms when a group of neurons has been 
attacked ; all we can assert is that for every individual there is a spot 
or place of weakest resistance which has been arranged for him through 
natural selection and heredity. For long periods of time many of the 


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different races have been exposed to alcohol, but the susceptible ones 
have been weeded out, whilst the survivors transmit their insuscepti¬ 
bility to their descendants, and although this is an observed fact, yet 
it gives us no physiological explanation of the greater immunity of the 
insusceptible ones. It is possible that more proteolytic enzymes are 
produced by the organs of one individual than by those of another in 
order to destroy or to modify such a toxin as alcohol, with the result 
that a greater immunity exists in one person than in another. Whether 
the explanation of this phenomenon be afforded by the humoral 
hypothesis, which ascribes immunity to the action of certain substances 
existing in or generated by the body fluids; or the explanation be 
afforded by the cellular theory of the more active phagocytic action of 
the polymorpho nuclear leucocytes ; or by the cellulo-humoral theory 
of the production of alexins or bacterio-lysins in the blood, cannot now 
be discussed ; but it is a well-ascertained and an incontrovertible fact 
that alcohol acts differently upon different persons, and this personal 
equation of the individual should be taken into consideration not only 
when discussing the symptoms of alcohol, but also when urging 
legislation for the control of its sale. I have mentioned the subject of 
immunity in order to show that whilst alcohol may be regarded as a 
poison—and clearly in this particular what is one man’s meat is another 
man’s poison—yet like many other poisons it can, under certain circum¬ 
stances, be of distinct service to mankind. I may say that I believe 
the consensus of opinion among medical men in the present day is 
that in many instances the use of alcohol is to some extent beneficial ; 
but there is a strong section of the thinking public which realises 
that alcohol is a lethal weapon which can work the most fell and deadly 
effects, and that its general use therefore needs the most careful and 
earnest control. We know personally from too many instances brought 
to our notice that alcohol reduces energy, lowers vigour, diminishes 
initiative, and paralyses enterprise, and therefore many persons abstain 
from it altogether, and they use untiring efforts to prohibit its use by 
others, and this through the highest motives, but it must not be 
forgotten that total prohibition hreeds vices in regard to drugs, seda¬ 
tives, and anodynes. At the moment, the public feeling generally is 
that under the control of the normal reasoning and moral faculties the 
moderate demands of working men and women should be satisfied, 
i.e., within strict limitations, which is interpreted by public opinion to 
apply to its use at meals only, and only by those who find it helpful in 
their daily work. It is often felt by those who watch events that the 
logic of facts has to be carefully weighed against the sentiment of an 
ideal, and if true progress in regard to temperance is to be encouraged 
the watchword must be festina lente. However excellent the motives, 
however firm the zeal, and unwavering the devotion, progress cannot be 


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forced, and it cannot be pushed far in advance of public opinion. I 
know how in regard to the control of the liquor traffic both feeling and 
sentiment have run high and with regrettable consequences. It is 
necessary in regard to this aspect of the question to take cognisance of 
the state of feeling in all classes of the people, and at the moment 
there seems to be an irresistible popular feeling against the complete 
prohibition of alcoholic drink, which that great and useful movement 
the “War-time Prohibition” or the “Strength of Britain Movement” 
has already had to encounter; nevertheless it has achieved much 
useful success in its educational campaign, for it has drawn special 
attention to a social problem that has been too largely ignored. In 
discussing this problem various aspects of the drink question come 
under review, and the hygienic, medical, sociological, and ethical 
aspects all come up for consideration. 

In this paper I propose to deal exclusively with the mental 
symptoms, viz., those that result from the influence of alcohol upon the 
nervous system, and in discussing this aspect it may be appropriate 
to state there is evidence that every psychological state has a correspond¬ 
ing physical state in the brain, for to every psychical process there are 
special physical and chemical changes in the nervous substance 
corresponding to it, hence the maxim, “to every psychosis there is 
an appropriate neurosis,” which means that every mental act has its 
appropriate physical correlation. This parallel relationship has been 
demonstrated by observation and experiment; it is a joint conclusion of 
psychology and physiology, and can be definitely supported by clinical 
and pathological research. Different parts of the brain, as we know, 
subserve different physiological functions; thus, one part is concerned 
with vision, one with sensation, and another with bodily movements 
and speech, yet the whole brain acts together, so that when these 
various parts are affected by alcohol there occur visual and other 
sensory illusions upon which are based delusions ; in consequence of 
affections of touch there arise mistaken ideas and complaints about 
electricity, machinery, hot irons, or the gnawing lacerations of wild 
animals. It is sensory disturbances in particular which so often 
originate delusions of persecution and the violent and impulsive retalia¬ 
tions associated with drink. There is no better ascertained fact in 
medicine than that alcohol has a peculiar affinity for that part of the 
brain which is connected with the “ muscular sense.” It destroys the 
co-ordination of the fine sense which secures the equilibrium of the 
upright position and that of the limbs, and, as we see in drunken¬ 
ness, it may bring about motor paralysis. Even before ordinary 
sensation is affected, the muscular sense may be attacked, so that 
engineers, delicate instrument makers, mechanics, type-writers, pianists, 
draughtsmen and those who do fine work need to be especially on 


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guard if their educated and delicate muscular sense is to be preserved 
to them. It is our fine perceptions that give us the experience upon 
which we act, and two classes of perceptions especially, viz., sight and 
touch, have been very fully studied experimentally, and these are the 
ones mostly affected by alcohol. In regard to touch, a composite 
sensation, we know there are four distinct external receiving organs in 
the skin—firstly, that giving the measure of pure touch ascertained by 
the pressure on the skin of fine hairs mounted in wooden handles and 
attached to a balance, then the pain spots indicated by pressing with 
metallic points ; thirdly and fourthly, heat spots and cold, spots indi¬ 
cated by hot or cold blunt rods. In every instance is the response to 
these varied by alcohol; the first to go is pain, the next heat and cold, 
and the last pure touch. These are facts that can be demonstrated by 
experiment, and are the same as occur when the nerve to the skin is 
divided. In speaking of the mind as related to the brain, we realise 
that its study implies a close investigation of the various senses which 
are the avenues leading into the mind. Formerly the study of the 
mind was limited to the field of introspection only ; but of late years 
investigation has been carried into mental phenomena by means of 
experiments, and these have enabled us to examine our sense percep¬ 
tions with much more accuracy and precision, both under normal 
conditions and under the influence of graduated doses of alcohol. 
It is usual to speak of the mind as composed of three types of con¬ 
scious activities, viz., cognition or the state of knowing; of feeling and 
sensation ; and, lastly, of the will; the two latter being now grouped in 
the subdivision of interest, but the will is the highest and essentially the 
most human characteristic of the mind. Of the powers of the mind 
memory is one of the most fundamental as well as the most im¬ 
portant, for without memory we should be unable to co-ordinate the 
different states of consciousness and we should also lose our personality, 
results which we see occurring after the excessive use of alcohol. The 
facts which come into the mind to be grouped together by association 
—like to like and unlike contrasted with unlike—remain endorsed 
upon it through memory, and the main objects of education are to form 
time-saving and correct associations. Discipline is a matter of associa¬ 
tion—a body of well-trained troops only needs to hear the first of a 
series of orders to carry out the whole train, as one is linked to the 
next by association. The power of constructing and carrying out trains 
of thought by association is described as the power of apperception, 
which is the focussing power of the mind, and it is this which is the 
first to be impaired by alcohol ; it may be temporarily suspended or 
it may be permanently destroyed. 

There has been much confusion as to the use of terms in dealing 
with the effects of alcohol, and the term “ alcoho ism ” has received 


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154 RELATION OF ALCOHOL TO MENTAL STATES, [April, 

widely different meanings. Mr. Leif Jones (President of the United 
Kingdom Alliance) in an address to the International Congress at the 
Hague, in 1911, used it as signifying the total consumption of alcohol 
by a people; whereas others use it to imply the measure of mortality 
from strong drink indicated by mental and physical symptoms leading 
to fatal results and recorded in the Registrar-General’s statistics. The 
most common effect of the excessive use of alcohol is drunkenness, 
and the symptoms of this are too well-known to need description. 
But there are three very different types of drunkenness ; firstly, there 
is the periodic drinker or the dipsomaniac who imbibes freely and 
deeply but at intervals only, and during these intervals he may abstain 
completely; secondly, there is the person who literally soaks in alcohol, 
who is hardly ever sober, and is the person described as the “habitual 
drunkard,” who swells the police-court lists until, eventually, owing 
to the progressive lesions and their lasting effects, his death is recorded 
in the Registrar-General’s statistics as a case of alcoholism; and, 
thirdly, there is the ordinary drunkard who drinks from pure 
conviviality and only needs the congenial “ pals ” to spend all or most 
of his money whenever he gets it and thus to lower his productive 
efficiency. He is the typical Saturday night and .Sunday drinker, and 
he almost invariably gets into the hands of the police and figures in 
their statistics. It is this person who is the average worker upon 
whom the State depends. Broadly speaking, neither alcoholism nor 
drunkenness in its three forms of these terms signifies the amount 
of alcohol consumed, although the statistics of drunkenness may be 
the most reliable index. As we know there may be a considerable 
consumption of alcohol with a comparative absence of drunkenness, 
and for this reason it would be more convenient to regard alco¬ 
holism as a social disease of which drunkenness—whether of the 
periodic, the chronic, or the occasional kind—is one of its forms. If 
drunkenness may be taken as an index of the amount of drink 
consumed, the number of deaths from cirrhosis, delirium tremens, 
dropsy, or Bright’s disease may be taken as the index of the inci¬ 
dence of the social disease. It has been asserted by some critics 
that a diminution in the numbers of cases of drunkenness may imply 
even more rather than less drinking, because those persons who, 
under the present restrictions, have a difficulty in obtaining alcohol, 
may drink privately and secretly in their own homes; but this is 
denied by all social workers, and is contrary to the observed experience 
and the recorded inferences of all those who know the homes of the 
people. Whatever importance or value we give to these terms, it 
must be the question of immunity or the insusceptibility or the 
vulnerability of the different organs of the body which is the 
determining factor as to whether a case comes under the definition 


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of occasional drunkenness or habitual drunkenness, or of alcoholism. 
We here employ the term alcoholism to signify all the pathological 
changes which result from drink and to include all the varying symp¬ 
toms whether mental or physical, and whether these occur in hospitals, 
asylums, police courts or the private home of the individual. Alcoholism 
must therefore be the total effects of the use of alcohol, of which 
drunkenness is probably the most convenient if superficial indication, 
and it is drunkenness, whether its effects be sensory, motor, mental, or 
moral, which is the most common indication of excess. 

Of the various forms of mental impairment caused by alcohol the 
most dangerous because the most violent and impulsive is delirium 
tremens , which occurs in one-fifth of all cases of alcoholism, and in 
consequence of continuous alcoholic intoxication in those persons 
who are liable to mental and sensory hyperaesthesia, and is associated 
with extreme agitation, tremors, night hallucinations, and insomnia. 
The symptoms are too familiar to be further detailed, but probably 
thousands of these cases occur annually. Another form of mental affec¬ 
tion not uncommon among the civil population, although fortunately 
rare among the military, is that of multiple neuritis associated with 
mental symptoms, and commonly called Korsakow’s psychosis. It is 
characterised by a loss of memory of a peculiar kind. There are gaps 
in the recollection of past events, which the person fills up with events 
that have never happened; these being suggested by some trifling 
incident in the environment at the moment, and for this reason he is 
said to lie shamefacedly, but this is only because the memory is a 
blank and he is unable to retain impressions of his own statements, 
causing a peculiar forgetfulness as to time and place—a loss of 
orientation. There is .an impairment of that special retentive quality 
of the nerve-cells by which the healthy brain is able to register the 
images of past sensations, and by means of which thoughts may be 
expressed in a clear, regular, and logical order. This form of loss of 
memory is described as paramnesia , and is most indicative of alcoholic 
indulgence. A third form of mental affection through drink is one 
closely related to epilepsy, and this is greatly favoured by a head injury 
or some predisposition to mental disease. It is accompanied with 
sudden frenzy and fury, and is not infrequently associated w-ith 
unconsciousness, and possibly also epileptic convulsions, but if these 
are absent there is a marked “automatism” and a complete forget¬ 
fulness of what has previously occurred. In these attacks the person 
may commit acts of serious violence, even suicide or homicide, and 
there is an imagined hostility from his environment which calls for 
resistance or retaliation; but this condition ceases entirely with 
abstention from alcohol, although an immediate relapse may occur 
when excessive drinking is again resumed, and it may be noted that 


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156 RELATION OF ALCOHOL TO MENTAL STATES, [April, 

this excess may be a very small amount of alcohol, as in these persons 
there is a marked susceptibility to its effects. I have met these cases 
repeatedly in civil practice, and also in the case of young officers who 
have suffered from head injuries. A fourth form of mental affection 
is an unrestrained excitement caused by the presence of vivid 
hallucinations, and again it is the susceptible brain that suffers rather 
than the normal person, for very little alcohol may produce these 
hallucinations which are vivid and terrifying, and which may induce 
a chronic delusional state from which there is no recovery. This 
condition much resembles that of paranoia with delusions of sus¬ 
picion and persecution. It is essentially a chronic form. Lastly, 
there is the state of terminal dementia, in which the mind gradually 
fails until the mental wreckage is complete. Whether a case evolves 
from slight mental confusion through the different mental states into 
fatuity and dementia as the result of alcohol, must depend more upon 
what has already been referred to as the peculiar susceptibility of each 
individual rather than upon the quantity or the quality of the alcohol 
imbibed. It is certain that all young persons in health are better 
and fitter without it, as also all older persons with a neurotic family 
history. 

It may be correctly stated that there is much in common between all 
the forms of mental disorder associated with alcohol. There is an undue 
suspicion in all against their environment, and if delusions are present 
they tend to be of a persecutory nature; even if they partake of a 
grandiose character, there is frequently the suspicion that the victims 
have been robbed of their rank, position, and wealth. Their 
hallucinations mostly relate to sight and touch; imaginary objects are 
seen moving, crawling, or creeping over them, and they complain of 
being burnt, electrified or tortured; the memory is invariably affected 
for recent events, although more correct for remote events, and their 
actions are predominantly impulsive, purposeless, and unreflective; 
they make imaginary journeys and relate what seem to be plausible 
assaults committed upon them which they resent, and which they 
intend to repay their fancied enemies with interest; lastly, there is 
the invariable moral and intellectual deterioration shown by the 
offences committed against public decency and against the amenities 
and conventions formerly so corrrectly observed, so that the alcoholic 
ends by becoming an object of reproach to all his former friends and 
associates. 

I have already referred to the impulsive and dangerous acts committed 
by persons under the influence of alcohol. In some instances these 
resemble the uncontrollable fury of epileptic mania, which, in my 
opinion, is the most furious and savage violence that can be seen in 
any individual, for it seems like a tornado of wild, impetuous, destructive 


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rage. Under the influence of alcohol the most rancorous and loathsome 
cruelties have been perpetrated upon innocent victims; the most bitter 
hatred has been shown ; prudence and moderation and altruism have 
disappeared under its influence. We have it officially recorded that the 
most brutal excesses followed in the track of the drunken German troops 
in Belgium and in Northern France. After they had emptied the cellars 
of the French chateaux they ransacked the furniture and priceless 
contents, and then lay upon the floors in stuporous semi-consciousness ; 
whilst at Rheims they behaved with ferocious cruelly, and in the dug- 
outs of the Somme battle our men found German officers hopelessly 
drunk and filthy. The account of eight drunken German soldiers 
returning from Malines is authoritatively quoted, and relates that when 
a little child ran out into the street as these drunken Huns passed by 
she was bayoneted by one of their number, slung up, and thus carried 
away whilst his comrades sang. The organised cruelties and atrocious 
outrages carried out by gangs of drunken German soldiers, the assaults 
committed upon helpless women and children are an eternal disgrace 
to the military forces of Germany and to those in authority over them. 
The German medals struck to commemorate the foul murder of the 
helpless passengers on board the “ Lusitania ” will for ever remain a 
shame and a reproach to German honour, and drink has frequently been 
the root of like actions. I have personally witnessed the mental break¬ 
down of innocent women from Flanders who were driven into madness 
by the coarse savagery of German officers and men, whose animal 
nature was set loose, and whose instincts and brutal desires through 
drink w r ere no longer inhibited by the control of the higher faculties. 
The horrors of German atrocities have already been fully and accurately 
described with great moderation in the Bryce Commission’s Report and 
other records. The German troops, as well as the higher commands, 
have shown a most mad brutality, as well as a sordid love of malicious 
destruction. They have delighted in spoiling anything beautiful and 
irreplaceable. 

I have already referred to the use of alcoholic liquor as an ordinary 
article of diet, and I consider it a dangerous temptation to the younger 
officers. The following extract from the letter of a young officer supports 
my view. It is written from a divisional headquarters, “somewhere in 
France,” and it runs as follows : “ It is very hard for the teetotaller out 
here, as it is not safe to drink the water unless it has chloride of lime 
in it, and this makes it taste simply foul. I am at present drinking 
very light French beer, which is much better for me than w'hisky. 
I am afraid the present way of keeping the mess bill will not work, 
as they order cases of whisky and port, and the cost is shared by all 
members whether they drink it or not.” This is a matter that needs 
•the urgent attention of the authorities, for there is no reason to penalise 


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158 RELATION OF ALCOHOL TO MENTAL STATES, [April, 

the abstainer to save the pockets of those who are not. Abstention, 
like the custom of drinking, is a habit, and it is imperative that young 
men who are ready to make the extreme sacrifice for their country 
should not be sacrificed on the road which is not the road to victory, 
but the short cut to all the other vices. Quite different, in my opinion, 
is the use of the “ rum ration ” in the trenches. I have spoken to 
Army chaplains about this matter, some of whom are life abstainers and 
have served in the front trenches ; these men speak of the value of 
medicinal doses of alcohol against cold and wet and exposure, but one 
and all condemn the estaminets , where the men are served with mixed 
poisons having special intoxications of their own, yet all are labelled with 
the indefinite name alcohol. The chaplains are naturally in favour of 
the dry canteens, which many of them manage, but most of them are 
in favour of permitting light wines, beer, and spirits during meals, if 
only the estaminets could be considered by the commanding officers to 
be “out of bounds,” and some of the chaplains are ready to buy and 
sell drink at the canteens for the sake of the men, if their use is limited 
to nieal-times and the estaminets are forbidden. That this matter is a 
most difficult one will at once be acknowledged, and that there are 
different views in regard to it is also natural. The two letters which 
appeared in The Times on December 17th last show the different mental 
states from which the critics view the present condition of things in 
regard to alcohol. One of the letters is from Dr. Grenfell, C.M.G., of 
Labrador, who is well known to members of this Society. He states 
that the American soldiers show an absolute freedom from drunkenness 
and a small amount of immorality, but when they get to England and 
France “ they will get all the alcohol they want, and therefore also the 
danger that comes with it.” In the same number of The Times , Mr. 
W. T. Ellis writes that he has just arrived in London from Russia, and 
his own impression, after fours days of observation, was in striking 
contrast to the suggestion of Dr. Grenfell—a strong prohibitionist. Mr. 
Ellis writes : “ I have yet to see a drunken soldier here, or one behaving 
in any way that reflects discredit upon the Allied flags.” To the man in 
the street the real truth must lie between these two extremes, and it is 
interesting to reflect upon the mental state of the critics themselves. I 
may add that during the whole of Christmas week, whilst going about 
freely in London, I did not meet a single drunken person. As to the 
effects of alcohol upon the mind we may repeat, firstly, that there are 
the various degrees of mental confusion and motor inco-ordination 
described as drunkenness, which are mainly of three types, viz., the 
periodic kind, shown in the dipsomaniac, the more or less continuous 
form seen in the habitual drunkard, and the occasional drunkard; 
secondly, the state described as delirium tremens ; thirdly, the combined 
condition of neuritis and psychosis; fourthly, the convulsive and auto- 


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matic state; fifthly, that of chronic hallucinations and delusions, and 
lastly, the terminal state of fatuity and dementia. It may be stated, 
broadly, that all forms of mental affections brought on by alcohol or 
associated with it may be subdivided or referred to one or other of these 
groups. I am leaving out of this paper the fatal malady, general 
paralysis of the insane, which, in my opinion, has a close, indirect 
relation to alcohol. It is a mental and physical disease which affects 
young men in the Imperial services, particularly the Army and Navy, 
and out of the whole population possibly 1,000 men—these probably 
of the best and most adventurous type—are destroyed annually. Side 
by side with this is the mental and physical destruction of about 500 
women from the same disease. 

Let me now take the second section of my theme and briefly 
refer to the mental states shown by those responsible for the sale 
and control of alcoholic drink, which have ranged between a mild 
endurance and extreme intolerance, and as we know the question of 
drink is by no means a new one in this country; indeed, drunkenness 
as the consequence of drinking is the oldest of the vices and has been 
known in every country from very ancient times, whereas alcoholism 
or the pathological conditions produced by alcohol is a development 
of civilisation. 

The statutory licensing of ale-houses began as far back as 1495, 
but it was not until 1606 that—to use the words of the Act—“the 
loathsome and odious sin of drunkenness ” was made a statutory offence 
punishable by fine or confinement in the stocks. Throughout the 
Middle Ages the provincial and the Diocesan Ecclesiastical Courts 
exercised an active and strict jurisdiction in regard to moral correction, 
and sternly punished the “infamous and offensive” sin of drunkenness. 
Apart from special local legislation the early statutes of 1606 continued 
until 1872 when the Licensing Act of that year made it an offence 
punishable on summons by fine to be found drunk in any public 
place or on any licensed premises. There was more activity in regard 
to drink legislation during the seventies than in any consecutive ten 
years before or after, and not until the Licensing Act, which came 
into force on January 1st, 1903—as a result of a special Royal 
Commission described as the Peel Commission—was there any 
concerted effort made to diminish the number of public-houses 
proportionately to the population. This Act made it a penal offence 
for a person to be “ drunk and incapable ” on any licensed premises or 
in any public place, and a drunken person if in charge of a child 
under seven years of age became liable to imprisonment with hard 
labour for the period of one month, and information in respect of 
this offence, and even the arrest itself may be made by any person. 
A special feature of this Act was the “ Black List,” a system by which 


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the offender, if convicted for drunkenness four times in the same 
year, may be either fined or sent compulsorily into a reformatory for 
any period up to three years. The police provide photographs of the 
offender (with details of previous convictions) to all licensed premises 
and to all secretaries of clubs within the district of the Court, and 
if drink is afterwards supplied heavy fines may be imposed upon those 
who sell. This Act aimed at protecting the home, and it tended to 
make it impossible for drunkenness to become the curse and ruin 
of an innocent family, and in addition the Act gives power to control 
the structural arrangements of all public-houses, so that no alteration 
is possible without the consent of the licensing justices. The Act 
was an effort to repress the abuse of alcohol rather than to restrict 
the sober person; yet, since the passing of the Act and for several 
years up to 1914, there lias been a gradual rise in convictions for 
drunkenness of both males and females; the “ Black List ” also, in 
spite of good intentions, has become a dead letter, so that although 
there has been a steady diminution and reduction of public-houses— 
partly by order of the licensing justices and partly also by arrangement 
with the brewers—it was not an infrequent occurrence for County 
Councils and other authorities as well as for local residents to petition 
the licensing justices .to diminish the number of public-houses on the 
ground that facilities to obtain drink not only increased the temptation 
for people to drink but also encouraged the desire; the petitioners 
feeling deeply that the class of the very poor should not be swelled with 
continual recruits through drunkards and their families being brought 
into them from all the other classes. Indeed, so serious had matters 
become six months after the war through drunkenness, impairment 
of health, loss of workmen’s time and general bad temper, where a 
large population had congregated for munitions and other Government 
work, that the present Prime Minister described the drink as a worse 
enemy than the submarine, and in June, 1915, the Liquor Traffic 
Control Board (with Lord D’Abernon as Chairman, and Mr. J. C. G. 
Sykes as Secretary), was instituted by the Parliament of the people 
under the Defence of the Realm Act, and it must not be forgotten 
that the enactments and regulations of this Board have the force of 
an Act of Parliament. This Board set to work at once with a definite 
policy which was to stop continuous drinking and to modify drinking 
at frequent intervals, especially during working hours, as these 
indulgences were believed to be the root of most of the physical 
and mental troubles and disabilities among workers, and the Board 
hoped to discourage all drinking except at meals. The work carried 
out by the Board in such areas as Carlisle and Enfield reads like a 
romance, but it would have been probably impossible if Parliament 
had gone to the country asking for the powers they have exercised. 


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1918.] BY MAJOR SIR ROBERT ARMSTRONG-JONES, M.D. l6l 

In Carlisle and Annan the Board have closed many of the public-houses 
and some of the breweries, and have themselves taken over the enter¬ 
prises carried on formerly by these as well as by the wine merchants. 
They have placed disinterested managers in charge of their houses, and 
managers were not to profit by the sale of drink but only by the sale 
of food; the hours of opening were restricted to those of meal time, 
the sale of spirits was to be discouraged and none was to be issued 
to those under eighteen years of age, and—a very important feature— 
all drinks were permitted to be diluted. They have arranged for 
entertainment and recreation to be provided for persons frequenting 
their premises. They also have power to provide postal and banking 
facilities for their customers. Moreover, they have arranged for their 
own inspectors to visit and examine all premises and clubs within 
their controlled areas in order to insist that the regulations are 
carried out, and, lastly, they have established Sunday closing. It is 
not fully appreciated by the public to what extent the regulations of the 
Board have succeeded, but it is only short of marvellous to % realise that 
these rules control thirty-eight millions of the population of this country, 
and it may be surprising also to know that the Board have not acted 
in a single instance without an application to do so being presented 
by the local naval, military, transport or munition authority. May we 
ask what results have followed the action of the Board ? Throughout 
London and in forty towns with over 100,000 inhabitants, 159,000 
convictions for drunkenness in both sexes occurred before the war, 
whereas in 1916 these had diminished to 77,000, or less than one-half. 
In London alone last year nearly 20,000 arrests were made by the police 
for drunkenness, with “ incapability ” and disorderliness as qualifications, 
and this number is less than half the number during the first year of 
the war. In all the areas where the Board have exercised their powers, 
the streets have become more decorous, the station platforms more 
orderly, the people more tranquil and crowds less excitable; workers 
have been healthier and their minds less irritable; there has been 
more contentment among the mass of the people, they are more 
reasonable and have got through more work. In addition, there has 
been a reduction by one-half in the number of cases of delirium 
tremens, especially in places where men collected in large numbers, 
and many of them drifted through drink into the Poor Law Infirmaries. 
The results in all areas have been perfectly astonishing although these 
are only a few of the attainments of the Board, and these results have 
been testified to by chief constables, medical officers of health, district 
workers, nurses, and even by members of the licensing trade itself. 
The police-court statistics have supported the statement made that 
drunkenness among men and women has diminished by one-half. 
Yet what do we find among some of the critics, viz., those who are 


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described as extreme temperance advocates; persons whose whole¬ 
hearted efforts are said to be in the public interest, yet, who in regard 
to the control of the liquor traffic, are “neck or nothing.” They offer 
to the policy of the Board an uncompromising opposition, and in place 
of the scheme of purchase and control so successfully carried out by 
it, they advocate a scheme of total prohibition. They offer a flat 
contradiction to the Board’s statistics, and to support their opposi¬ 
tion they urge that in spite of the restrictions generally imposed by 
the Board, the fact that there has been a continuous increase since 
the war cf expenditure on intoxicants—which was 12 per cent, higher 
in 1916 than in 1915, and 24 per cent, higher than in 1914—and that 
the amount of money spent upon alcoholic liquor in 19x6 was higher 
than in any previously recorded year, and the highest yet recorded; 
but this can be accounted for by the high price paid for drink, which 
means that although the nation spent more, it drank less, and the 
revenue received less money. These opponents also assert that if there 
has been a diminution of drunkenness, which is not admitted by them, 
there has been more private drinking, which is denied by all those 
most competent to judge; or they state that the police have been more 
lax in their supervision of drunkenness since the war, which is an 
aspersion upon the police. What are we to think of the mental state 
of persons who can direct such a virulent and vehement crusade against 
the work of the Board of Liquor Control ? The following is the criticism 
made in the leading article of The Times of December 26th (1917): 
“The diminution of intemperance among women will not be welcomed 
by those intemperate advocates of temperance who regard the total 
prohibition of the liquor traffic as an absolute good in itself. Some 
people seem actually to prefer an increase to a diminution of 
drunkenness, because it is a lever for promoting their cause, and they 
will criticise and deny the evidence quoted in the report of the Board, 
viz., the fact that there has been a diminution of drunkenness as 
shown by the average weekly number of convictions—which has fallen 
from 700 in 1914 to 239 in 1917.” These specious critics assert that 
police statistics are notoriously unreliable and that the fall in these 
have been more than overbalanced by an increase in home drunken¬ 
ness, that public excess has been replaced by “ secret drinking,” which, 
of course, is not the case. The local Carlisle journal’s reply to this 
criticism reads as follows: “ The improvement (in Carlisle) is as 
noticeable in the orderliness of the streets as in the official figures 
of decrease in convictions for drunkenness, and to the citizens this 
return to good order must be highly gratifying; and not only are 
the numbers decreasing in comparison with previous years, but the 
improvement still continues and is very pronounced.” Nor has this 
hostility been limited to the work of the Board; one member of the 


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1918.] BY MAJOR SIR ROBERT ARMSTRONG-JONES, M.D. I 63 


Board himself has been the recipient of the most unmerited abuse 
and contempt on the part of this extreme wing of the temperance 
party. Nor was it long before their example was taken up by other 
discontents. The Labour Council in Carlisle saw in Sunday closing 
an interference with the workmen’s comfort and freedom, and they 
naturally demanded a reconsideration of this matter by the Central 
Board, with a request to return to the former hours of opening. The 
whole matter was referred to the local Advisory Board which apparently 
took the side of the Labour Council, but the Central Board very wisely 
decided there was not sufficient reason to go back upon their decision, 
suggesting that whatever determination was arrived at would always 
give rise to some conflict of opinion. The matter is possibly not yet 
closed because the Labour Council have decided to make further 
representations, and it is earnestly hoped that the trouble started by 
the extreme wing of the temperance party will not be the means of 
stirring up labour troubles in Carlisle and elsewhere. In addition to 
the complaints of the Labour Council there has arisen an acute opposi¬ 
tion from the Midlands, and again on behalf of the prohibitionists, 
but apparently originating in an insignificant quarter. 

It is quite well known that before the Central Board came into 
being the policy of regulation and restriction under private ownership 
had already received a fair trial throughout the country, but it is also 
equally well known that it had reached its effective limits and some¬ 
thing practical and immediate had to be done. No one denies that 
to the idealist temperance reformer—may we say not only to the mind 
of the total abstainer—prohioition as an ideal has undoubted public 
advantages over any system of State purchase, precisely as this has 
merits that are immeasurably superior to the scheme of the improved 
public-house, as it is called, advocated by the self-denominated True 
Temperance Association; but the work of the Central Liquor Traffic 
Control Board has by an overwhelming consensus of public opinion 
advanced the cause of temperance; yet there has been this incompre¬ 
hensible attitude against its members and against its work, and more 
incomprehensible still this attitude has been excited and fomented by 
those who should have been its best friends. What is the pyscho- 
logical explanation of such opposition? I am of opinion that this 
intolerant exhibition of superiority deliberately shown by this extreme 
section is based upon a form of egoism; it is a consequence of a 
psychological self-gratulation and self-esteem which borders upon an 
obsession, and is regarded by some authorities as pathological! Most 
of us will acknowledge that all excellences require some comparison 
to demonstrate their advantages, but when specious reasons are 
advanced to support them and these are mingled with personal attacks, 
then such criticism passes beyond the limits of legitimate argument. 


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164 RELATION OF ALCOHOL TO MENTAL STATES. [April, 

A person who argues from selfish ends and from a feeling of personal 
superiority over others is very apt to dry up the wells of truth in order 
to justify his standpoint. Nor is such a person contented to stand 
alone, but, as we see in this instance, he courts the sympathy of others 
—whoever they may be—and so long as his own views are furthered 
he will even sacrifice his own sense of honour in his effort to bring the 
opinion of society against his opponent and to throw discredit upon 
his views. No form of hostile criticism is so unendurable to a sensitive 
high-spirited nature as the disapprobation of his fellow-men and fellow- 
workers, and it is a favourite device with the advocate of a weak cause 
that he should not only excite public opinion against his opponent, but 
also that he should heap upon him as much private contempt as 
possible, with the sole object of forcing him through this vituperation 
and scorn to modify his attitude, and this irrespective of the public 
good. We have used strong words in criticising this conduct of the 
extremists, and we know that this virulent and vehement opposition is 
not supported by public opinion. Let us be thankful that in the best 
interests of this country we have had a strong and energetic committee 
that has created a great change in the habits of the people as a war¬ 
time measure. It behoves us to think of what is to happen after the 
war is over. The period of demobilisation is going to be a serious 
trial, especially to us who have to bring our brave men home from far 
distant seats of war, and all our men will be returning to find things 
very different from what they were. As Major Eccles said, “ scenes of 
drunkenness will be a dishonour to a nation that has been fighting for 
right and righteousness ” It is the duty of this Society to urge that 
the best conditions for employment shall be provided for our damaged 
men. There will be many difficulties after the war; there may be 
destitution ; there certainly will be shortage of food and money. The 
question of the control of drink must be one of the first considerations, 
and are we giving it the amount of thought it needs? Our present 
mental attitude is too apathetic, and if we do not awaken now we shall 
be confronted with far greater menaces than we have hitherto faced. 
At any rate, we can rely upon the standing example of what has been 
achieved by this Board even during the stress of war. 

(*) A paper read at the Society for the Study of Inebriety, January 8th, 1918. 


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WAR PSYCHOSES. 


165 


War Psychoses : An Analysis of 202 Cases of Mental Disorder 

Occurring in Home Troops. 0 ) By Temp. Capt. D. K. 

Henderson, M.D., R.A.M.C., Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley. 

In June, 1916, a portion of the Lord Derby War Hospital was set 
aside for the care and treatment of cases of mental disorder occurring 
in non-commissioned officers and men of the British Expeditionary 
Forces. In addition, it was found that at the home training camps, 
and in soldiers doing garrison duty in India, Gibraltar, Sierra Leone, 
and so on, numerous cases of mental disorder were from time to time 
arising. As it was obviously impossible for general hospitals adequately 
to care for such cases, the Lord Derby War Hospital, pending their 
final disposal, was called upon to receive a certain number of them. 
Other arrangements have now been made for more expeditiously dealing 
with these cases, and in consequence none such are now received in 
this hospital. 

These Home Troop cases have, however, provided a valuable amount 
of material for study, and have particularly brought forward the impor¬ 
tant question : Who should be recruited ? I shall not delay at this 
point to discuss this question, but it will be taken up and dealt with 
in detail in discussing the different types of mental disorder which have 
arisen. 

Seeing that these men had broken down during their military training 
on home duty, it was conceived likely that they would never make 
efficient soldiers, and consequently, irrespective of the type of mental 
disturbance, the plan was adopted of discharging these men as quickly 
as possible from the Army. With the great majority of the cases there 
can be no doubt that, from the point of view of the Army, this was the 
soundest policy to adopt; but, seeing that one had to deal with cases in 
such an arbitrary way, one could not help but feel that greater care 
should have been exercised in their enlistment. Or if, on the other 
hand, it was felt to be an absolute necessity to enlist such men, then, 
likewise, greater care might have been exercised in apportioning to them 
the work for which they were best suited. It stands to reason that 
when any large group of individuals is called upon to meet a certain 
situation, no matter how simple it is, there will always be some who 
either because of certain faults in the balance and adaptability of their 
make-up, or because they are congenitally defective, or because of 
already definitely developed forms of mental disorder, e.g., general 
paralysis, chronic alcoholism, etc., will be unable adequately to meet 
the situation. The consequence is that it would seem to be not quite 
right, from the individualistic point of view, that a number of those 
who break down should be summarily discharged or sent to asylums. 

LX IV. I I 



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The great majority of the men comprising this group were men who 
had been called up under Lord Derby’s more or less compulsory scheme, 
and the balance had been made up of those others who on account of 
their age, or of some minor disability, were considered to be unfit for 
active service abroad. 

Apart from these preliminary and more or less general considera¬ 
tions, it may be stated at once that there did not seem to be any one 
special type of mental disturbance to which these cases were particularly 
prone, and here we had a heterogeneous group of individuals all 
exposed practically to the same situation, but each of whom tended to 
react to that situation according to his inherent or predisposed con¬ 
stitution. The cases were not clear-cut, but frequently showed a mixing 
of symptoms, and formed a composite picture. Before going on to 
discuss the individual groups it may be admitted quite frankly that in 
several of these cases the formal diagnosis is quite open to question, 
but owing to the vast number of cases passing through one’s hands, and 
owing to the short time the majority of them were under observation, 
this could hardly have been otherwise. After all, the labelling is not 
the important thing ; it is much more interesting and stimulating to look 
upon these cases as reactions to situations which could not be adequately 
met. Roughly, however, these 202 cases have been differentiated as 
follows : 


Mental deficiency 

. 61 

Paranoid states . 

. 8 

Dementia praecox 

• 43 

Toxic-exhaustive insanity 

• 3 

Manic-depressive 

• 24 

Epilepsy with insanity 

• 3 

General paralysis 

• 19 

Organic brain disease. 

2 

Alcoholic insanity 

■ t 7 


— 

Traumatic insanity . 

12 


202 

Psychoneuroses 

10 




Mental Deficiency. 

Sixty-one cases, or roughly 30 per cent, of the 202 cases, have been 
included in this group. In considering these cases, the most striking 
feature which has come to one’s notice has been the fact that the acute 
symptoms which necessitated these patients being sent to hospital were 
of an exceedingly transitory nature. That statement is best brought 
home by saying that 45 of these 61 cases showed such a betterment in 
their condition that in the course of a few weeks they were able to be 
discharged to their homes; the remaining 16 were certified as insane, 
and committed to mental hospitals. There would seem to be little 
doubt, however, that, considering that the average period which these 
patients spent in this hospital was approximately six weeks, a consider¬ 
able number more would have cleared up provided it had been possible 
to treat them for a longer period of time. 


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1918.] BY TEMP. CAPT. D. K. HENDERSON, M.D. 


167 


Alienists have not infrequently been reproached with looking upon 
everyone as mad, and one becomes constantly and forcibly reminded 
of this when it comes to saying whether or not a person is mentally 
deficient. There are, of course, many cases which obviously to any one 
are not “all there,” but there are very many other cases which it is 
exceedingly hard to fairly size up. One would not complain nor 
criticise provided one felt that just ordinary care had been exercised in 
recruiting cases of mental deficiency for the Army, but where the defect 
stares one so openly in the face, as in the great majority of the cases 
included in the group which we have examined, then it would seem that 
the time had come for reform to take place. In mental deficiency all 
sorts of superimposed clinical forms may show themselves, but for the 
purpose of this paper five main sub-groups have been differentiated as 
follows: 

(1) Mentally deficient, but without definite psychotic 


symptoms ....... 34 

(2) Dementia praecox-like states .... 8 

(3) Manic-depressive-like states . . . . .12 

(4) Impulsive, assaultive, suicidal states ... 4 

(5) Acute hallucinatory states . . . .3 


61 

Mentally Deficient, but 7 vithout Definite Psychotic Symptoms. 

All the 34 cases belonging to this group were so grossly abnormal 
that it was undoubtedly a waste of both time and money ever to have 
enlisted them. The great majority of them were simply feeble-minded 
boys who were quite unable to adapt themselves to the stress of military 
training, were unable to do their drill, understand commands, etc., and 
in the course of their first few weeks’ training were sent to hospital, and 
finally discharged. A brief report of a few of the most striking cases 
is the best comment one could give : 

(x) No. 12536, gunner, attached to R.G.A. (Signal School), aet. 30, 
broke down within the first month of his training. He had been 
admitted to the Rest Camp at Southampton “ because he said he was 
forty-three years old.” He stated that he could not get the noise of 
the buzzer out of his head, and the doctor who examined him diagnosed 
the case as one of “ exhaustion psychosis,” and recommended a long 
rest. On admission to this hospital he was found to be dull and stupid 
looking, had a vacant expression, and all the appearance of a mental 
defective. He stated that they had tried to teach him signalling, but that 
he had utterly failed to comprehend it, and now wished to forget all about 
it. When he left school, at the age of fourteen years, he had only reached 
Standard III; he was unable to do the simplest calculations, could not 
tell who was King, and had practically no realisation of current topics. 


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In civil life this man had been a skilled machinist, doing Government 
work ! How much better it would have been if he had been left at the 
work which he was suited for, or else, if he had to be enlisted, surely he 
might have been employed otherwise than in trying to learn signalling. 
He was discharged from the Army and sent back to his former occupation. 

(2) No. 26475, private, set. 27, had been seven months in the Army. 
When admitted to this hospital he was dull and demented looking, 
could not tell his regimental number, was somewhat suspicious, and 
stated in an irrelevant way that he would refuse to sign any papers. He 
was unable to tell when he had enlisted, or to give any satisfactory 
account of himself. He did not know the day, but gave the month, 
year, and place correctly. At school he had reached Standard III, could 
only read and write with great difficulty, said that King Edward VII was 
on the throne, and was quite unable to do the simplest calculations. 
Physically, he had a low, broad palate, irregular, asymmetrical teeth, 
microcephaly, and the whole general appearance of a defective. He 
was committed to an asylum. 

(3) No. 19607, private, set. 35, had been in the Army for about three 
months. He was received from Litchfield Military Hospital, where he 
was described as ill-nourished, of stupid appearance, gave vague answers 
to questions, sometimes refused to answer at all, and gazed at the 
ceiling. On admission he was found to be a poorly-nourished, defective¬ 
looking man who walked in a slovenly way, dragging his feet. He was 
very dull and stupid, complained of headache, and could not tell how 
long he had been in the Army. Apart from his general defectiveness 
he did not present any special symptoms. He was committed to an 
asylum. 

(4) No. 37717 , private, set. 40, had been in the Army for four and a 
half months. This man had been found to be quite unfit for his duties, 
and on admission was unable to give any account of himself. He was 
obviously a weak-minded individual. The following are samples of his 
mental capacity : 3x9 = “ 18 ”; 6x4 = “45"; 2/6 in 15/- = “ 17 .” 
Who is King? “The Prince of Wales is King now.” He was com¬ 
mitted to an asylum. 

(5) No. 2633, driver, set. 29, had been in the Army for fifteen months. 
He had always been nervous and complaining, and in 1914 had been 
previously discharged from the Army “as unlikely to make an efficient 
soldier.” At Connaught Hospital, Aldershot, he was dull and slow, 
his mind appeared to be imperfectly developed, and childish. On 
admission he was found to be simple and weak-minded, said the thought 
of having to ride a horse made him feel badly, and that he had become 
downhearted because he recognised he was not fit for his work. He 
was returned home to the care of his friends. 

(6) No. 5669, private, <et 19, had been in the Army for one month, 
and in every way had been found to be utterly unfit. He could not 
read or write, could not tell when or where he had enlisted, and his 
usual reply to any question was: “ Father knows.” He had never 
passed out of Standard I at school, and was really an imbecile. He was 
sent home to the care of his friends. 

(7) No. 36957, private, tet. 26, had been in the Army for five months. 
He stated that shortly after leaving school at the age of ten years he had 




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* 9 1 «•] 


BY TEMP. CAPT. D. K. HENDERSON, M.D. 


169 


been knocked unconscious by a blow on the head, and following this he 
had always suffered from headache and “bad nerves.” On admission 
and during his stay he was quiet and orderly, but mentally he was very 
defective, and made many irrelevant remarks. He was unable to do the 
simplest calculations, and when asked who was King, replied: “ He is 
our King, I hope, sir.” Physically, he had a marked cyanosis of the 
extremities. 

(8) No. 30390, private, aet. 20, had been in the Army for six months. 
On admission here he was dull and stupid, said that his head seemed 
to be on his mind, that it felt mixed up and numbed, and that it had 
bothered him ever since a severe cycle accident which he received about 
six months after leaving school. At times he said that his head would 
get so mixed that he did not seem to know what he was doing, and at 
Chatham he had gone to see a doctor because on a march he would 
tend to go giddy. He had reached Standard III at school, and had 
always done very menial work, never at any time earning more than 
£1 per week. 

These last two cases show very well the necessity for making careful 
inquiry in regard to head injuries, and show the tendency there is for 
head symptoms to reassert themselves as soon as a patient is subjected 
to a strain that is too great for him to meet. 

(2) Dementia Prercox like Stales. 

Among cases of mental deficiency it has been a well-recognised and 
long-accepted fact that frequently one meets with mute, resistive states, 
or rather vague persecutory states which in a superficial symptomato- 
logical way closely resemble the dementia praecox type of reaction. On 
a closer analysis of such cases it is readily enough seen that the condi¬ 
tion has been engrafted on a mental defective make up ; furthermore, 
that it is exceedingly transitory in duration, and frequently clears up on 
a change of environment or on the lifting of the exciting strain. 

(1) No. 24029, Private S. C—, set. 37, was admitted to D Block, 
Netley, from Southampton Docks, where he had been employed on 
labouring work. He is described as having been confused, and 
admitted having attempted to take his life, because he said that people 
had been taking him for a spy, and had been watching and following 
him. He had definite delusions of persecution and had assaulted a 
sergeant. On admission here he presented the same picture of suspicion, 
and continued to express delusions of persecution, but these rapidly 
passed away. He was of a very low type, was defective both intellectu¬ 
ally and morally, and at various times in his career had been convicted 
of issuing base coin, theft, and burglary. 

Another patient presented a dull, mute, catatonic, resistive state, but 
his symptoms rapidly cleared up, and he was able to be discharged to 
his friends. 

The other cases corresponded to either one or other of the above 
types, but they presented no special problems, and will not be further 
referred to. 


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(3) Ma?iic-deprtssive-like Stales. 

Twelve cases belong to this group, nine of whom had spells of depres¬ 
sion and the remaining three showed periods of excitement. As has 
already been noted in the dementia prajcox states occurring in mental 
defectives, so also may it again be said here that the depressions and 
excitements showing in this group of cases are on a much more superficial 
plane than the true manic-depressive attacks and run a much more rapid 
course. The matter is really best expressed by saying that the depres¬ 
sion or excitement is simply a mode of reaction towards a situation 
which the patient cannot meet, and usually rapidly subsides when the 
situation difficulty is removed. Symptomatically also the depression is 
not of the slowness, sadness variety, but a rather more dramatic state 
with outbursts of crying, restlessness, and agitation ; similarly, the 
excitement is not so much in the nature of a jolly, elated, flighty, 
distractible state, but rather an excitement characterised by obscenity, 
irritability, and violent, assaultive outbursts. These points are well 
illustrated by the following cases. 

(x) No. 27878, Private R. F—, set. 39, had been four months in the 
Army. At the Military Hospital, Lincoln, he was described as being 
of low intellect, and as thinking that he was going to be killed On 
admission he was dull and miserable looking, and could not give his 
regimental number. He complained of his head getting into silly 
“ sort of ways,” said that he had been worrying about his wife and boy, 
and felt that he ought to be with them. He stated also that in civil 
life he had had nervous depressed attacks, and came from a poor stock. 
He spoke in a hesitating way, stuttered, said he had felt frightened, 
and thought he was going to be shot, and had been quite unable to 
adapt himself to the stress of military training. He was poorly endowed 
intellectually, and made mistakes in doing simple calculations. His 
father had been in an asylum, and his brother had committed 
suicide. 

(2) No. 29198 Private T. S—, set. 38, had been in the Army for 
eight months. He was admitted to this hospital from Fort Pitt, 
Chatham, where he had been diagnosed as a case of melancholia. 
On admission he was in a tearful, depressed state, and when brought 
into the examination room he inquired, in a frightened way : “ What 
have I done sir, what have I done?” How are you? “I’m all right 
(sobs ); I have always been like this—I can’t do anything with myself.” 
The next minute he burst into tears in a pitiful way, and said he wished 
that he was underneath the earth. He could not tell his regimental 
number, nor when he had joined the Army, and did not seem to know 
what his “ unit ” meant. In civil life he had never been capable of 
doing any work, and his father had to take him to the recruiting office. 
He could not tell the day, month, or year, and at school had never 
been able to learn anything. He had the usual physical and mental 
characteristics of an imbecile. His depression rapidly subsided, and 
he was able to be taken home by his friends. 


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1918.] BY TEMP. CAPT. D. K. HENDERSON, M.D. I 7 I 

(3) No. 6781, Rifleman W. J—, had been in the Army for three 
months. He was received from Tidworth with the diagnosis of imbe¬ 
cility ; he laughed and grinned foolishly, was dirty in his habits, noisy, 
and liable to fits of excitement. He had a simple fracture of his left 
leg, which was in a plaster-of-Paris cast. On admission he was in a 
noisy, destructive state, was dirty in his habits, and subject to outbursts 
of violent excitement. He used the most filthy language imaginable, and 
was constantly masturbating. His excitement rapidly simmered down, 
and he was discharged to the care of his friends. 

(4) Private J. S—, set. 36, had been three-and-a-half months in the 
Army. In civil life he had been a fitter in the engineering trade, but had 
been convicted about fifteen times for theft, burglary, assaults, drunken¬ 
ness, etc. Since joining the Army, he had spent the greater part of his 
time in the guard-room, and several times had deserted. On admission 
he was happy and elated, had no sense of his position, said that he 
would like to go to France, but, first of all, would like to have leave so 
that he might marry his sweetheart. He was sent to an asylum. 

(4) Impulsive , Assaultive , Suicidal States. 

The only case in this group which need be specially referred to is 
that of a man who frankly enough admitted that he had threatened to 
commit suicide as a means of leaving the Army. 

No. 60544, Private G. H—, set. 20, had been in the Army for two 
months. He gave a history of “ fits ” ever since the age of four years, 
and stated that while he was in barracks he had had several “ fits ”; he 
bit his tongue, had incontinence of urine, and his fits occurred at night 
as well as during the day. At school he had only reached Standard III, 
and since leaving he had never earned more than 3J. 6 d. per week and 
food. A week or two after joining the Army he was sent to hospital 
on account of his fits, and of trying to commit suicide. A few weeks 
later he was found with a carving knife under his pillow, and later 
admitted having done this purposely with a view to getting his discharge 
from the Army. He could not read or write, and was sent to an 
asylum. 

A case such as the above might possibly give rise to considerable 
discussion a6 to proper diagnosis and disposal, but where the mental 
defect was so well marked it was felt that he could not in any way be held 
tesponsible for his conduct. 

The two cases showing acute transitory hallucinatory states had very 
well-marked alcoholic histories, and the case with epilepsy was a well- 
marked case of imbecility; these cases need no special comment. 

In addition to what has already been said, it may again be stated that, 
so far as our information goes, 12 of These cases had been previously 
discharged—some several times—either from the Army or Navy ; 
4 had previously been treated in asylums; 10 had made attempts at 
suicide; 4 had had criminal records; one described himself as a con¬ 
scientious objector, and one was a sexual pervert. 


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Dementia Prcecox. 

Out of the 43 cases comprising this group 20 were able to be sent 
to their homes, 22 were sent to asylums, and the remaining case was 
transferred to another hospital. These statistics, small though they 
may be, again simply go to show that certain types of individual would 
be better not enlisted, not only because they quickly proved themselves 
to be inefficient, but also because they are liable at any time to become 
a very grave danger to their comrades. Many untoward accidents 
happening on active service and during training would never take place 
provided greater care was taken in regard to those who were enlisted, 
and in apportioning men work for which they were suited. This point is 
especially important in considering the dementia praecox type of case. 
Their sudden, impulsive, homicidal outbursts are of a peculiarly 
dangerous character. The following case is one in point: 

(r) No. 6762, Rifleman G. YV—, aet. 27, while in camp on November 
27th, 1916, suddenly attacked the man sleeping opposite to him, and 
inflicted on him three severe wounds with his bayonet. He was 
violently excited, stated that “voices’’had told him to kill the man, 
and, later, said the voice had been the voice of God. This episode 
took place only three weeks after he had been enlisted. On admission 
to this hospital, he was quiet and composed in manner, but complained 
of buzzing and “tick-tacking” in his head, and apparently for a long 
time he had had the suspicion that someone had been wanting to do him 
harm. In contrast to that idea, he used to comfort himself with 
the thought that God was watching him, and after prayer he would 
feel composed. During his first night in hospital, he became suspicious 
of the orderly, told him not to play any games on him, and said that he 
was experiencing peculiar draughts and noises. He had also visual 
hallucinations. In reference to the homicidal assault above noted, he 
stated that one night he heard a voice say to him : “ That man is your son 
—kill him.” He then added : “ But I am all right now, doctor, when 
I pray—these noises and draughts then go away—and I’ve got a son— 
Amy got baby, but he is only a baby, and this was a man.” It appears, 
however, that he has never seen his baby, that it was born out of wed¬ 
lock, and no doubt it was on account of these very reasons that the 
homicidal assault was committed. His orientation, memory, grasp on 
general information, etc., were all intact, but, throughout his hospital 
residence, he was dangerous and impulsive, and was committed to an 
asylum. 

This case shows excellently how a man, who no doubt had been 
suspicious and unstable in civil life, readily broke down under the stress 
of military training, and in consequence his latent trends were brought 
forcibly to the surface. 

(2) No. 20740, Private A. S—, ret. 33, had only been three weeks in 
the Army when he had to be admitted to the Military Hospital, Ripon. 
He stated that as soon as he went to camp the men started to persecute 


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173 


him, pulled at his privates, poured things on him, etc. They took 
money out of his letters, interfered with him in his sleep, and in various 
ways tried to injure his health. Shortly after his admission to hospital, 
he was able to readjust himself, and in a short time was able to go home 
to his friends. This patient had been a bomb-maker in civil life, and 
had been doing efficient work, while as a soldier he was worse than 
useless. 

(3) No. 33832, Private T. S—, tet. 37, on admission stated that for 
twelve years he had been hearing “voices” which had been controlling 
all his actions. It was a “nurse-maid who put the voices on him.” 
This man, however, had served in the Army for seventeen months, but 
about Christmas, 1915, he heard his thoughts being repeated aloud, he 
was asked to sing and to do all sorts of strange things, and it was all 
done by electricity. Such a case should never have been enlisted. 

(4) No. 6615, Private T. G—, aet. 29, had been in the Army for two 
weeks. While in camp he gradually lapsed into a semi-stuporous state 
which lasted for three days, and this was succeeded by a rather elated 
state, with fantastic, ill-defined delusions and auditory and visual hallu¬ 
cinations. On admission to this hospital he was dull and uninterested, 
behaved in a strange way, wanted to shake hands three times with the 
medical officer, and stated that he had worn boots without socks so as to 
save his life. He admitted hearing voices talking to him, said that he 
was a brother of Jesus Christ, and expressed many vague delusions. He 
seemed dreamy and abstracted. His sister had been a patient in an 
asylum. Previous to joining the Army this man had been doing satis¬ 
factory work on his father’s farm. 

This case again serves to illustrate how an individual of a certain type 
of make-up was quite unable to adapt himself to a situation, and on 
account of certain predisposing factors developed a picture similar to 
that seen in cases of dementia prrecox. 

(5) No. 33085, Private A. H—, ret. 19, on December nth, 1916, 
while undergoing detention for over-staying his leave, commenced to 
have attacks of violence, alternating with periods of brooding. He 
babbled about his past life, his petty thefts, his untruthfulness, and his 
sexual irregularities. He had had asylum treatment in civil life. On 
admission to this hospital he was in a semi-stuporous, resistive, catatonic 
state, wet and soiled himself, and attempted to eat his excreta. He 
maintained fixed positions, and did not respond to painful stimuli. He 
had to be urged to take his food, was usually mute, but would have 
periods when he would pray and blame himself for his past life. He 
was transferred to an asylum. 

(6) No. 2381, Private W. P—, set. 20, on July 20th, 1916, was sen¬ 
tenced to prison for 112 days for desertion. Two days later he cut his 
throat with a razor and was placed in hospital. While there he became 
strange in his manner, was dull, stupid, and refused to speak, was dirty 
in his habits, masturbated openly, and was subject to sudden, unpro¬ 
voked, impulsive outbursts. On the night of his admission to this hos¬ 
pital he suddenly got out of bed and smashed a glass case in which the 
•emergency key was kept. As a rule, he lay in bed in a state of stupor, 


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was mute but sometimes mumbled the word “mother,” was dirty in his 
habits, tended to retain his urine, and did not react to pin pricks. 
Gradually, however, he made a fair recovery, and was discharged to his 
friends. 

(7) No. 6005, Private J. H—, set. 32, had been in the Army for about 
five months. From November, 1903, to September, 1908, he had been 
a patient in the Three Counties Asylum. He was admitted to this 
hospital from Detention Barracks, Wakefield, where he had been under¬ 
going a sentence of eighty-four days for insubordination. He had had 
two previous periods of detention of twenty one and fourteen days 
respectively, also for insubordination. On admission to this hospital he 
was rambling and inconsequential, frequently tended to answer quite 
irrelevantly, and, mentally, was totally irresponsible. He was dull and 
stupid, but no definite delusions or hallucinations could be elicited. 

(8) No. 28686, Private T. S—, <et. 24, the first day he joined the 
Army had been found incapable of duty. Soon after joining he deserted, 
and for this offence was fined jQ 2. He was described as always having 
been reserved and as never having made friends. On admission to this 
hospital he had a sullen, vicious expression, refused food, and was resis¬ 
tive to all care and attention. He retained his urine, showed catalepsy 
and flexibilitas cerea. On one occasion he made a sudden, vicious 
assault on the corporal in charge of the ward. He was transferred to 
an asylum. 

In these last four cases no doubt there again might be a ceftain 
amount of disagreement in regard to the diagnosis, and the first three 
cases might be looked upon and considered as cases of “prison 
psychoses”—that is to say, psychoses which arose in response to their 
prison punishment. One can say, however, that all of these men were 
of a type of make-up which specially predisposed them to a mental 
upset, and in one of the cases, anyway, the punishment meted out 
seems, to say the least of it, to have been hardly the proper way to meet 
the situation. 


Manic-depressive Insanity. 

Out of the twenty-four cases belonging to this group, seventeen showed 
attacks of depression, and the remaining seven attacks of excitement. 
Out of the seventeen depressed cases twelve had made determined 
attempts to take their own lives, usually by means of cutting their 
throats. 

It i» 4 nteresting to note that only three of these twenty-four cases had 
had previous attacks of mania or melancholia, and, in consequence, it 
might be said that these were really not true manic-depressive cases but 
rather symptomatic depressions ; but the classification is not the impor¬ 
tant thing, and, for the sake of brevity, they have all been included in 
the manic-depressive group. Owing to the rapidity of inflow' and 
outflow of patients, we have had to content ourselves w'ith a very. 


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175 


sketchy account of the symptomatology, and in that respect no special 
features have been prominent. The psychosis has been brought about 
by a failure of adaptation, and no doubt in some cases enforced absence 
from home, worry over domestic affairs, etc., were important contribu¬ 
tory factors. Two cases of depression admitted frankly enough that 
their attempts to commit suicide were due to the fear of being sent on 
active service, while another admitted that he took this means of 
“working” his discharge from the Army. 

Three of these cases are of sufficient interest to warrant their being 
given in detail : 

(1) No. 6784, Private F. H. B—, set. 24, had been called up on 
August 8th, 1916. A few weeks later, while in camp, he became 
depressed, wrote letters home pointing to “religious mania,” and seemed 
to be afraid lest he should be sent to France. He was described as 
self-centred and depressed, was full of ideas of unworthiness and wrong¬ 
doing, and thought there was no hope for him in this world or the next. 
It was while in this condition on November 16th, 1916, that he attempted 
to cut his throat with a pair of scissors. On admission he was depressed 
and self-accusatory, said he had been eating too much food, had neg¬ 
lected his home, and had led a bad life. He answered questions 
promptly, conversed coherently, stated frankly enough that he had made 
the attempt on his life because he became frightened lest he should be 
sent to France, and, in consequence, thought that suicide would be the 
best way out of it. He had a good appreciation of time and place, his 
memory was intact, and he had a good grasp on current topics. At 
school he had been in Standard VII. Physically, apart from his cut¬ 
throat wound, there was no evidence of any abnormality. During his 
stay in hospital he improved very greatly, and probably would have 
made a complete recovery, but in the course of four weeks he was 
transferred to an asylum. 

(2) No. 51610, Private J. F. H—, set. 21, had been in a territorial 
regiment since 1913. On October 15th, 1916, he made an attempt at 
suicide by hanging. At that time he complained of a heavy feeling in 
his head, and stated he had heard voices telling him to do away with 
himself. On admission here he was able to give a good account of him¬ 
self, answered questions promptly and relevantly ; he complained of 
dizzy feelings in his head and of his eyes being weak. His depression 
had for the most part cleared up, and the auditory hallucinations which 
he had formerly suffered from had practically disappeared. He stated 
that his depression had been dependent on his being put on a draft for 
France, he could not face up to it, thought it would be better to “ do 
himself iti,” and in consequence made his attempt at suicide. He had 
always been a nervous boy, subject to headaches, and his nervousness 
and general unsteadiness had been heightened by a Zeppelin raid. He 
had a good appreciation of time and place and his memory was excellent. 
He had never had any previous nervous or mental illness. He was 
discharged and sent home. 

(3) No. 22616, Private J. T—, tet. 40, had been in the Army for 
about six months. This patient was received from the 1st Northern 


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176 WAR PSYCHOSES, [April, 

General Hospital, Newcastle, with a history of having, on October 30th, 
1916, attempted to commit suicide by strangulation. He was tried by 
court-martial, but apparently (we have no record) was adjudged insane. 
Ten years previously he had been hit on the head by a “ spinner,” and 
since that time had been subject to headaches. On admission, he was 
mildly depressed, complained of headache and dizziness, and said that 
at times he felt dazed. At first he denied all remembrance of having 
attempted his life, but stated that he had become depressed on account 
of a misunderstanding with his wife. Later he admitted that the diffi¬ 
culty with his wife had played a very secondary role, and that he had 
attempted suicide simply because he wished to leave the Army. There 
was no evidence of any delusions or hallucinations. He had a good 
appreciation of time and place and his memory was excellent. He had 
been married for ten years, had four children, and by occupation was a 
steel worker. Physically, there was no evidence of any gross disease. 
He was able to be discharged to his home. 

The above three cases may be considered together, as they all tend to 
bring up the same question, viz .: How far should these men be held 
responsible for their actions ? Should they be held as having done 
wrong knowingly, and be punished accordingly, or should they rather 
be pitied and discharged ? 

Legally, I suppose, they would be held guilty of having committed a 
crime, but, on the other hand, one has to recognise that they had been 
put face to face with a situation which, constitutionally, they were quite 
unable to adequately meet. 

A case which was much more “ pathological,” and where there was 
no question of the determination to take his life, was the following : 

No. 6114, Private P. G—, ret. 35, had been in the Army for eight 
months. In civil life he had been a professional musician. On Octo¬ 
ber 9th, 1916, he was admitted to the Military Hospital at Catterick, 
suffering from a self-inflicted, penetrating gun-shot wound of the left 
chest. For about eight weeks previous to this, he is described as having 
been nervous and depressed. On admission to this hospital he was in 
an exceedingly depressed, miserable condition; he whined and cried, 
and constantly reiterated that he was not fit for the Army. He moaned 
aloud, kept the other patients awake at night, was restless and sleepless, 
and had to be forced to take his food ; on one occasion he had to be 
tube-fed. Apart from his agitated, apprehensive, and depressed state he 
showed no abnormal features, had no hallucinations or delusions, had 
a clear appreciation of time and place, and an excellent memory. He 
stated that when he first enlisted he had been in the band, bufr in July, 
when the band was disbanded, he was transferred to the infantry. Ever 
since that time he had been nervous and depressed, the work was very 
uncongenial and trying to him, and he lived in constant dread of being 
sent abroad. It was undoubtedly on this account, and because of 
the feeling he had that he would prove himself a coward, that in despera¬ 
tion he attempted to take his life. For the first few weeks following his 
admission he showed some improvement in his physical condition, but 


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he continued to be exceedingly agitated and depressed, and even 
although assured time and again that he would probably receive his 
discharge, he continued to be obsessed by the fear that he again would 
be marked “ fit ” and shot for cowardice, as people would not realise 
how his nerves paralysed him. His father had died from delirium 
tremens, and his mother from some form of “creeping” paralysis, but 
he himself had never previously had any treatment in either hospital 
or asylum. He died suddenly one night about one month after 
admission. 

In a case such as the above, one could not have any doubt in regard 
to the sincerity of the man. He was a married man, with three 
children, who had held a steady position in a well-known London 
orchestra, and he had enlisted voluntarily. The strain of military train¬ 
ing, the idea of being put on a draft and sent abroad, and the thought 
of leaving those who were near and dear to him was more than his con¬ 
stitution could stand, and hence the breakdown. Such a man certainly 
could not, or at least should not, be held responsible for his crime ; 
the pity is that attempts should be persevered in to make such a man 
an efficient soldier when obviously it was going to be just so much time 
wasted. It is a case such as this—and there must be many of them—■ 
that makes one assert, and reassert that the Army should, in any case at 
the large training camps, have some one who is capable of carrying out 
a satisfactory mental examination of such patients. It not only would 
be a humane thing, but also, economically, it would well repay the 
State. 

In regard to the cases showing maniacal symptoms, nothing special 
need be said. 

Dementia Paralytica. 

Nineteen, or nearly xo percent ., of home troops examined were typical 
examples of this disease. Thirteen of these were transferred to asylums, 
four were taken home against advice, and two died. Eleven of these 
nineteen cases had exhibited mental symptoms within the first six 
months of enlistment, so it is reasonable to suppose that, if a satisfactory 
mental examination had been carried out, the probability is that some 
of these men would never have been enlisted. 

Surely, it is important that the recruit should be subjected to a 
mental examination. If his feet, or his heart, or his lungs are affected, 
and still he is enlisted, then he alone will suffer, but if his mind is 
affected, especially with such a disease as general paralysis, he will 
not only be a very grave danger to himself but also to all his associates. 

Several of the most striking cases may be quoted : 

(1) No. 127166, gunner, aet. 41, had been in training for one month. 
He was admitted from Newcastle, where he had been diagnosed as 


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178 WAR PSYCHOSES, [April, 

“ Delusional Insanity.” On admission, he was found to be a quiet, 
pleasant-spoken, plausible man, who said he had a brother-in-law called 
Horatio Nelson, that his wife’s maiden name had been Jessie Nelson, 
and that his wife’s family was related to that of Lord Nelson (all of 
which was a delusion). He had a feeling of well-being, was very self- 
satisfied, but otherwise he did not express any grandiose delusions. 
His memory was defective, he made mistakes in doing simple, serial 
calculations, and he had no appreciation of the serious nature of his 
disorder. Four years previously, while engaged in civil work he had been 
invalided from India. While in the Army, he had been subject to 
“ weak turns,” and was quite unfit for his work. Physically, he had 
unequal, irregular, Argyll-Robertson pupils; his speech was slurring 
and sticking; his tendon-jerks were exaggerated; tremors of hands, 
tongue, and facial muscles. His Wassermann reaction was positive, 
both in his blood and cerebro spinal fluid. 

(2) No. 8113, Private A. I—, aet. 33, had been in the Army for four 
months. For twelve months previous to his enlistment, he had, accord¬ 
ing to his friends, been mentally affected. He was admitted from 
camp, where he is stated not to have known his regiment or company, 
to have been slow and slovenly, unable to understand the simplest drill, 
and to have been thought to be mentally deficient. On admission he 
had a feeling of well-being, and did not realise that he was ill in any 
way. He gave the year as 1907, and had an exceedingly poor memory. 
Physically, he showed all the classical symptoms of general paralysis. 
He was transferred to an asylum. 

(3) No. 45771, Private W. B—, set. 37, had been in the Army eleven 
months. On November 14th, 1916, he was admitted to the Military 
Hospital, Seaforth, where he was diagnosed as suffering from general 
paralysis. On admission he was in an excited, megalomanic state, 
stated that he was General B—, that he was the head of the nation, a 
millionaire, etc. He had no realisation of the serious nature of his 
disorder. Physically, he had Argyll-Robertson pupils, absent tendon- 
jerks, slurring speech, and tremors of tongue, hands, and facial muscles, 
His Wassermann reaction was positive with blood-serum and cerebro¬ 
spinal fluid. A letter received from a physician who had attended him 
for two years previous to his joining the Army, in part stated : “ For 
two years previous to his joining the Army, he presented symptoms of 
locomotor ataxia (his acceptance for service was doubtless an oversight). 
In the early part of last year (1915) he had a cerebral attack.” 

(4) No. 232333, Private A. H—, aet. 39, had been in the Army for 
one month. His wife stated that for eight weeks previous to his 
enlistment he had been mentally disturbed, but, irrespective of her 
protest, he was recruited. On August 25th, 1916, he was found 
wandering about Liverpool in a lost condition, and was quite unable to 
give any account of himself. On admission he was in an elated, over- 
talkative state, was dirty in his habits, and noisy and disturbing. He 
refused to co-operate satisfactorily, but his memory was definitely defec¬ 
tive, and he had no insight. Physically, his pupils were unequal and 
irregular, his right did not respond either to light or on accommodation, 
his left did not respond to light, but accommodated; his speech 
did not show any disorder; his tendon-jerks were exaggerated, but his 


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left knee-jerk was more exaggerated than the right; tremor of hands 
and tongue. He was transferred to Armagh Asylum. 

(5) No. 3027, Private K—, set. 37, had been in the Army for sixteen 
months. Since January, 1915 (he was admitted to this hospital in 
November, 1916) he had had five crimes against him for being 
slovenly, late on parade, etc., but still his disease passed unnoticed. 
Later he developed absurd grandiose delusions, said that he owned all 
the motor cars in the world, that he was the King of England, etc.; 
and by the time he was admitted to hospital he was in a very demented 
condition. He exhibited all the classical physical signs, suffered from 
retention of urine, and died in the hospital. 

Such cases show only too clearly the gravity of the problem which 
has to be tackled, and it does not require much imagination to think 
of the many other cases many of whom have been sent on active 
service, and no doubt have been placed in positions of responsibility, 
Surely it does not require much time to examine the pupils and tap the 
knee-jerks, and yet how frequently it is omitted ; often, may be, when 
anomalies are present they are either not interpreted at all, or else 
are misinterpreted. 

I append two tables which speak for themselves: 


Onset of Mental Symptoms Following Enlistment. 


1 

Mental Def. Dctn. Prafc. Manic-dep. 

G.P.I. 

Under 1 month in Army . 

, Over l and under 3 months 

Over 3 and under 6 months 

Over 6 months and under 1 year 
Over 1 year .... 

i 

10 7 3 

12 4,4 

20 17 2 

H 59 

8 to 6 

5 

1 

5 

2 

6 

1 

61 43 24 

1 

19 


Final Disposal of Cases. 


1 

1 

Asylum. 

Home. 

Hospital. 

Duty. 

- 

Died. 

Total. 

Mental defectives 

16 

45 




61 

Dementia pnecox 

22 

20 

1 

— 

— 

43 

Manic-depressive 

4 

«7 

I 

I 

I 

24 

General paralysis 

13 

4 


' 

2 

J 9 


55 

86 

2 

I 

3 

147 

1 


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180 WAR PSYCHOSES, [April, 

Alcoholic Insanity. 

Seventeen or approximately 8 per cent, belonged to this group The 
great bulk of these cases were men who for many years had been 
chronically addicted to alcohol, and who shortly after joining the Army 
developed acute, transitory delusional states with ideas of persecution 
directed against their comrades, but rapidly clearing up under hospital 
conditions. A few showed acute hallucinatory states with fear reaction, 
one was a case of delirium tremens, and one a case of mania with an 
alcoholic colouring. There was nothing about any of the cases to 
warrant any detailed description of them. 

Traumatic Insanity. 

It is a well-recognised fact that a severe head injury either in the 
nature of a concussion or a fracture, often carries in its train a transitory 
or permanent series of mental symptoms not infrequently changing 
the whole character of the individual. In some of these so-called 
traumatic cases it is, however, at times difficult to see the connection 
between cause and effect, and not unnaturally if a patient who at any 
time has had a head-injury ever develops mental symptoms, the 
tendency is for the head-injury to be held partly responsible, even 
although no symptoms supervened until many years later. In such 
cases it is often exceedingly difficult to see the connection between 
the injury and the mental symptoms, but nowadays sufficient cases 
have been described to constitute a definite entity known as traumatic 
insanity. The following case shows clearly the close relationship 
between a head-injury and the development of a mental disorder: 

(i) No. 4546, Private T. W—, set. 26, had been in the Army for 
three months, when on April nth, 1916, he met with a serious 
accident, and was unconscious for about fourteen days. He was 
admitted to hospital where he was described as suffering from 
concussion, and symptoms of great cerebral irritation. On the sub¬ 
sidence of these symptoms, there was a total loss of memory; he 
did not know his name, nor his regiment, nor where his home was, 
nor any details of his accident. A gradual improvement took place 
in his condition, but he had been in hospital ever since, and was 
transferred to this hospital to be “ boarded ” rather than for any acute 
mental symptoms. On admission he was quiet, conversed rationally, 
but complained of persistent head pain. He had an amnesia for events 
immediately preceding the accident, and for the accident itself, and 
for fourteen days afterwards he was more or less unconscious. He has 
never regained any memory for that period while in this hospital, he 
had a clear realisation of time and place, his memory and retention 
were good, and except for his complaints of persistent and severe 
headache, always aggravated by exertion, he was in good condition. 
Physically, he had hyperactive tendon reflexes. 


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191 8 .] BY TEMP. CAPT. D. K. HENDERSON, M.D. I 8 I 

In the next case, the connection between the injury and the mental 
disturbance is not nearly as clear, and complicating factors are present. 

(2) No. 5837, Private F. O—, aet. 21, had been in the Army for 
ten months. On November 2nd, 1916, he was admitted to this 
hospital from Colchester Military Hospital where he had been since 
October 14th, 1916, suffering from neuralgic pains in the head. His 
history stated that in April, 1916, he had fallen from the top of a 
hut on to the ground, injuring his head. He was stunned and dazed 
for two days but did not lose consciousness. While in the hospital 
at Colchester, he was excitable, restless and depressed, and peculiar 
and irrational in his manner and conversation. He described the 
pains in his head as being so severe that at times he felt he would 
like to shoot himself or throw himself out of the window, and on 
the night of October 26th, he did attempt to strangle himself. On 
admission to this hospital, he complained of headache, and of feeling 
depressed, irritable, and sleepless. He was quite coherent, was able 
to give an excellent account of himself, had a correct appreciation of 
time and place, and a good memory. He stated that he had always 
been a nervous, delicate, sensitive boy, and when nine years old 
suffered very greatly from an otitis following diphtheria. Ever since 
that time, he had really suffered with his head. While training, he 
found the drilling and marching too much for him, and usually had 
to get his comrades to help him with his kit. On account of this, 
he was given clerking work to do at Divisional Headquarters, and 
apparently was quite happy, but when a re-arrangement was made the 
patient was ordered to rejoin his regiment. It was just at this time 
that he again began to suffer from pains in his head, and reported sick. 
Physically, he had hyperactive tendon reflexes, and a rapid pulse of 
110 per minute. 

In this case, then, we have several eetiological factors all of which may 
be said to play a certain part. In the first place, the history of dipth- 
theria with ear trouble and headache following, the stress of training, 
and the head injury. It seems to me that all the above factors have 
been exceedingly important; but perhaps the most important factor of 
all is the psychological one, and by that I mean that here we had a boy 
who found the stress of military life too hard for him, who was quite 
happy as long as he was doing work which was congenial to him, e.g. 
clerking, but when ordered back to his regiment he began again to 
suffer from headache, depression, etc. The case seems to exemplify 
very well one type of “defence” mechanism, and would immediately 
bring up the question as to whether such a case should be looked upon 
as malingering. The patient himself, however, was altogether too 
honest to be so classed ; he was constitutionally, physically, and mentally, 
not equal to his military duties; his defence was for the most part 
unconscious, and at all times he stated that he would be willing to try 
again to do his bit, if it was thought advisable to try him. 

LXIV. 12 


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182 WAR PSYCHOSES, [April, 

In the following cases the head injury was more remote in time from 
the development of the mental disorder. 

(3) No. 2466, Private H. V. H—, aet. 27, had been in the Army for 
six months. He was admitted to this hospital from the Military 
Hospital, Ripon, where he had been since August 24th, 19x6. In 1912 
he had been pulled from a waggon, fell on his head, and is said to have 
sustained a fracture of the base of the skull, was unconscious for a 
period of twelve hours, and bled from his nose and ears. Following 
this on several occasions, his wife had stated, he had become dull and 
irritable, and had wandered away from home in a dazed kind of way. 
At Ripon one night while in the hospital he suddenly jumped out of 
bed and attacked the sentry. Next day he declined the most of his 
food, stating that it was poisoned; but on the following day he 
Again seemed to have regained his normal condition. On admission 
(January 16th, 1916), he complained of sharp shooting pains in his 
head, but he was quite clear mentally, was cheerful enough, and had 
no hallucinations or delusions. While in camp, he said that he had 
been told that one night he had tried to do away with himself, and 
another time he was found with nothing but his shirt on at a place 
several miles distant from the camp. He had no recollection of the 
episode at Ripon Military Hospital, but says that he was told that he 
had nearly strangled one of the guards. His relatives have all stated 
that up to the time of his accident he had been a strong, healthy, active 
man who had never ailed in any way. He realised himself that there 
had been a change in his disposition, he was much more excitable and 
irritable than ever previously, and he experienced an almost constant 
feeling of tightness in his head. He has also noticed that he cannot 
read for long because the words all tend to run together, and to 
become blurred. Physically, he had tremors of tongue and hands, and 
exaggerated tendon jerks. 

In this case there would seem to be no manner of doubt but that 
this man’s disability was entirely due to his former head injury, the 
stress and excitement of military training simply acting as a determining 
or aggravating factor. 

(4) No. 83648, Gunner J. L—, tet. 39, had been in the Army for 
seven months. This patient was received without any notes accom¬ 
panying him. On admission, he was found to be dull and depressed, 
complained of pain across the top of his head, and of what he called 
“ loss of mind.” He stated that three years previously, when working 
in the pit, his head had been split open; he was unconscious for about 
ten minutes, had to have five stitches in his wound, and was off work 
for three months. Since that time he describes himself as having been 
irritable and cantankerous, suffered from headache and dizziness, and 
w r as afraid to touch alcohol because it seemed to go to his head at once, 
and he would become so dazed that he did not know what he was 
doing. On tw r o occasions he was punished for absenting himself without 
leave, but he was unable to give any account of these “wandering” 
spells: one time he was away for twenty days, and during that time 


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could not tell where he had been, or what he had been doing. 
Intellectually he was of a poor standard, and in addition, he had been 
worried and depressed about being away from his wife. Physically, he 
showed no special disorder. 

In this case, also, the head injury seems to have been the principal 
factor in the production of this man’s psychosis. The mental picture 
is quite characteristic of traumatic insanity. The worry over leaving 
home and the stress of training must, however, be reckoned as powerful 
contributory agents. 

(5) No. 456, Rifleman J. N—, set. 46, had served through the South 
African War, but while in South Africa had fallen from his horse, 
sustaining a depressed fracture of his skull. He was invalided from the 
Army, and a few months later in Ireland, probably as a result of 
alcohol, he developed an excited, suspicious, delusional state, was 
certified as insane, and committed to Omagh Asylum, where he 
remained for three years. At the outbreak of the present war he 
re-enlisted, and had been doing garrison duty in India. He cannot quite 
explain what happened to him ; he thinks the heat must have affected 
him, but the last thing he remembers is drawing his pay on June 23rd, 
1916, and from that time on he has an amnesia up until the end of 
September, 1916. It appears from the history that in June he had 
become excited, expressed delusions of persecution, threatened to shoot 
his officers, and apparently was tried by court-martial for striking an 
N.C.O. He denies remembrance of any of these episodes. On admission 
to this hospital he had practically regained his normal condition. He 
told how following his head injury an entire change took place in his 
character, he became irritable and cantankerous; if he took drink it 
sent him mad, and on this account he had frequently got into trouble 
with the civil authorities, and also had lost his stripe. Except for his 
period of amnesia his memory seemed to be intact. Physically, he had 
a small depressed fracture of the vertex of the skull. 

In this case, then, we have a man who fourteen years previously had 
sustained a fracture of the skull, the symptoms of which reasserted 
themselves owing to the stress of military service and the hot climate 
of India. 


Psychoneuroses. 

Belonging to this group are ten cases, nine of which were anxiety 
states, and the other was a case of the nature of a conversion hysteria. 
In practically all of these cases a one-word labelling was out of the 
question, but all of them in common were sensitive, highly strung 
individuals who, face to face with a situation which normally they could 
not meet, developed certain nervous symptoms which completely in¬ 
capacitated them. In these cases it was found that a change to a 
suitable hospital and general care and attention were sufficient to cause 
a betterment. 


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(1) No. 38900, a private, on September 12th, 1916, was admitted to 
the Military Hospital, Pembroke Dock, with the following history : 
“ While in a state of great nervous excitement he inflicted on himself 
a skin-deep wound of the neck. He complained of intense frontal 
headache, and seemed in a dazed condition.” On October 16th, 1916, 
when admitted to the Lord Derby War Hospital, his condition had 
quieted down, he was feeling better, was sleeping well, and felt that 
he was getting a grip on himself. He had enlisted in May, 1916, but 
from the first Army life had not suited him, he was depressed by it, 
and the way his N.C.O.s treated him grated on his nerves. At times 
his head would feel dizzy, it was impbssible for him to collect himself, 
at nights he was restless, felt he could not contend with it all, and in 
consequence attempted his life. He was correctly orientated for time 
and place, he had a good grasp on current topics, and realised his 
condition. He had come from a poor stock, had always been nervous 
and sensitive, and greatly devoted to his mother. His father had died 
before he was born. When asked about getting married he replied 
that so long as his mother lived—“ she has done so much for me ”— 
he would not think about it.. Physically, he was very shaky and 
nervous, had coarse tremors of tongue, facial muscles and hands and 
hyperactive tendon reflexes. In the course of a few weeks he made a 
complete recovery, and was discharged home. 

The following case, which was diagnosed as one of conversion 
hysteria, was as follows : 

No. 247412, Private F. N. T—, ret. 25, had been in the Army for 
three months. He was admitted to this hospital from Fort Pitt, 
Chatham, where he had been diagnosed as a case of general paralysis. 
He stated that ever since joining the Army he had been out of sorts, 
he had been nervous and dull, and when questioned he had to be 
urged to answer. He had not done any drills, etc., but all along had 
been employed in the mess-tent. He was taken to hospital on account 
of difficulty in walking, and on admission he showed a condition of 
astasia-abasia, and when brought to the office refused to stand or walk, 
but was dragged sliding along the floor. Otherwise he showed no 
special symptoms, his memory and general grasp on things were ex¬ 
cellent. Physically, no signs of general paralysis, nor yet of hysteria, 
apart from the astasia-abasia, could be demonstrated. Following his 
admission to the hospital, a rapid improvement occurred in his con¬ 
dition, his nervous symptoms entirely disappeared, and soon he was 
just as well as he had been. 

Whatever one likes to call such a case, there can be no doubt that 
here was an unstable type of individual, who was quite unable to adapt 
himself to the exigencies of military life, and in consequence broke 
down. 

Paranoid States. 

All of the eight cases belonging to this group were men well on in 
middle life, the average age of the group being forty years (youngest 


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thirty-four and oldest fifty). The majority of them were men who 
had formerly been in the Army, who for one reason or another had 
been previously discharged, but who re-enlisted when the present war 
broke out, or shortly afterwards. These men had been employed on 
guard duty or at labouring work, but the stress proved too much for 
them, they were unable to adapt themselves to their situation, developed 
ideas of persecution, and also auditory hallucinations which were 
usually referred to their comrades. Some of these patients admitted 
alcoholic over-indulgence, and no doubt the development of their 
persecutory ideas was largely caused by this factor. None of the 
cases have seemed sufficiently noteworthy to warrant special mention. 


Toxic-exhaustive Psychoses. 

All of the three cases in this group showed transitory mental dis¬ 
turbances which had entirely cleared up by the time they were admitted 
to this hospital. 

Epileptic Insanity. 

No. 32504, Private T. J. D—, set. 28, ever since the age of twelve 
suffered from epileptic fits. He is described as always having been 
childish, irritable, and quarrelsome. In 1915, he had been discharged 
from D Block, Netley, on account of epilepsy, but he re-enlisted again 
in January, 1916, and in May was sent to India. In July, in India, he 
had three epileptic fits, and on October 31st was boarded at Quetta as 
a case of epileptic dementia. During his Army career he had had 
many crimes recorded against him for being drunk, for bad language, 
for not complying with an order, and for striking a superior officer. On . 
admission to this hospital, he was noisy and troublesome, defied the 
sergeant in charge of the ward, and had to be put in a single room. 
He was of poor mentality, had difficulty in comprehending simple 
questions, and had an exceedingly poor memory. Physically, there was 
no evidence of any gross disease. The case was then a clear one of 
epileptic dementia, who most certainly should never have been sent to 
India. 

Another case which could not be quite so easily diagnosed was as 
follows: 

No. 5980, Private L—, tet. 22, had been in the Army for four 
months. He had been taken to the Military Hospital at Pembroke 
Dock with a note from a physician certifying that he was suffering from 
epileptic mania, and that he had had epilepsy ever since childhood. 
On admission here, he stated that he had been feeling quite well until 
August 9th, 1916, when on a route march he started to feel badly, and 
had to fall out. Since that time he had never felt right, and had 
suffered from terrible headaches. He remembers getting excited, and 
jumping into the river at Haverford West, and for several hours did not 
remember anything until he came to himself in hospital at Pembroke 


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Dock. He gave a history of having “ fainting fits ” since boyhood, but 
there was no history of an aura, of tongue-biting, or bed-wetting, etc., 
and, from the description, one could not be sure whether the case was 
one of true epilepsy. Furthermore, during his hospital residence he 
had no such attack. Mentally, he was quite bright and intelligent, 
took an interest in what went on around him, and eventually was able 
to be discharged home. 


Organic Brain Disease. 

These two cases were men of forty-two and forty-eight years respec¬ 
tively, with thickened blood-vessels, complaints of headaches and 
dizziness, and the general picture of arterio-sclerotic brain disease. 

Conclusion. 

It is almost unnecessary to dilate further on the array of cases which 
has been reported. They have been presented with one principal 
object, viz., to draw attention to and to emphasise the fact that more 
care should be exercised in enlistment. It stands to reason that a man 
who is mentally enfeebled would be much more liable to break down 
than a healthy man, and in consequence if such a man is enlisted then 
undoubtedly the Government must accept all further responsibility for 
him. The Government have recognised that obligation, and it is 
gratifying to know that the man who breaks down during training on 
account of “ certifiable insanity ” is regarded as pensionable when there 
is definite evidence to the effect that he was insane at the time of 
enlistment; even those who have had one previous attack of insanity 
are regarded as pensionable. Such is no more than justice, but it 
would seem to be possible to prevent a great many of these men 
from ever entering the Army provided certain hereinafter stated pre¬ 
cautions were taken. To meet this difficulty in some degree various 
psychiatrists of standing have been appointed to various commands 
throughout the country to inquire into such cases of suspected mental 
disorder as might be brought to their notice. There can be no doubt 
that such a step is one in the right direction, but the whole matter is of 
so great importance that one cannot but wonder whether the means 
taken are sufficient to meet the difficulty, and whether some additional 
steps ought not also be taken. It is probably true that the majority of 
recruits are drawn from the large industrial centres, and, therefore, it 
would seem feasible that someone capable of making a satisfactory 
mental examination should constitute one of the recruiting medical 
officers in such a centre. Cases in any way doubtful could at once be 
referred to this authority, and no doubt arrangements could easily be 
made for this officer to see and examine cases occurring in out-lying 
districts. Such a person should also have power conferred on him to 


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BY TEMP. CAPT. D. K. HENDERSON, M.D. 


IS/ 


recommend the branch of the service for which the recruit would be 
most suited, and his opinion should be regarded as final. It is readily 
admitted that many cases of mental defect and of chronic states of 
mental illness could well be employed in the Army, but such persons 
should be given work for which they are suited—work, that is to say, 
of a purely mechanical nature, where no special initiative would be 
required, and unsuitable cases could be prevented from going on active 
service. By so doing the State would not only acquire a set of men who 
would do useful work but also, it is reasonable to suppose, that fewer 
men would break down, and in consequence the State would benefit by 
having less expense in the evacuation of cases, and less expense in 
regard to hospital treatment and pensions. 

The cases which one should be chary of accepting are those who are 
grossly defective, those who in civil life have shown definite neuropathic 
traits, and those who have previously suffered from serious head injuries. 

The argument advanced against all this is to the effect that special 
mental examinations would take a great deal of time, that expense 
would be entailed in employing specialists, and that possibly some who 
would make good soldiers would not be passed as fit by the mental 
expert. No doubt such statements in certain instances would prove 
true, but it would seem to be a much sounder policy to run the risk of 
losing a man or two than to enlist Tom, Dick, and Harry irrespective 
of their mental status. 

My excuse for these remarks is that the number of nervous and mental 
cases on our hands is now assuming large proportions, suitable accom¬ 
modation and treatment for such cases is always and increasingly diffi¬ 
cult to obtain, and, furthermore, prevention is always better than cure. 

At the beginning of the war no one had any realisation of what an 
important problem the care and treatment of our nervous and mental 
cases was going to be, but as the war has progressed we have come to 
know how urgent the matter is. An index of the state of affairs with 
our Army may be gathered from the fact that in the United States Army 
in times of peace mental disorders in all their forms are responsible for 
one-fifth of the total discharges of enlisted men.' This does not include 
discharges for neurasthenia and hysteria. The discharge rate per 1000 
was 2‘64, tuberculosis in all its forms coming next with a ratio of 1 '56 
per 1000. “During the mobilisation of the regular troops and militia 
on the Mexican border last summer and fall, mental disorders again led 
in the causes for discharge.” In a recent number of the Journal 
of Mental Hygiene , an editorial on Psychiatry in War comments as 
follows: “We must recognise the great practical importance of pro¬ 
viding in the organisation of military medical units in peace and war 
adequate facilities for treating mental disorders. Such facilities include 
provision for the observation of suspected cases, special arrangements 


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for transportation from posts in advanced zones to those at military 
bases, and facilities for effective treatment at such bases. . . . 

Recovery in mental diseases depends very greatly upon the promptness 
and efficiency with which treatment is received. . . . Such treat¬ 

ment can only be carried out by physicians and nurses skilled in mental 
disorders.” No one, I am sure, could question any of the above 
remarks, and the sooner we, as a nation, come to realise that it is of 
the utmost importance to tackle this problem of nervous and mental 
disease occurring in the Army, the better it will be for the Army, for the 
State, and for our national peace and security. While yet in the midst 
of war it may seem a far cry to think of days of peace; but when peace 
does come, it will be of value to have some plan and organisation in 
readiness for dealing with mental cases. The majority of men joining 
the Royal Army Medical Corps do so within the first year after gradua¬ 
tion in medicine, and, in consequence, the great majority—if not prac¬ 
tically all—have no knowledge of psychiatry except what they have 
acquired as medical students. If, then, our Army is going to be a really 
efficient Army, the authorities should recognise that it would be sound 
policy to select men who have shown an aptitude for psychiatric work 
or who have an interest in it, and give these men facilities for special 
training. Just as the welfare of our soldiers is now being looked after 
in regard to venereal diseases by the establishment of clinics presided 
over by specially trained men, so also a group of men could and should 
be trained in mental diseases, whose business it would be to prevent 
the enlistment of those who would be “unlikely to make efficient 
soldiers,” and who, in case of mental illness, would be adequately 
trained and equipped to deal most effectively with it. To again empha¬ 
sise what has already been said, it is suggested : 

(1) That cases showing mental deficiency, neuropathic and psycho¬ 
pathic traits, and giving a history and showing evidence of severe head 
injury should, for the most part, be rigidly excluded from the Army. 

(2) If it is necessary to recruit a certain number of these individuals, 
then it should be definitely ruled that under no circumstances should 
they be permitted to go on active service; such men should be given 
suitable work at home or at the base in France. 

(3) To effect the above objects it is suggested that a certain number 
of mental specialists should be appointed to the recruiting boards, and 
recruiting medical officers generally should he given definite instructions 
to pay attention to all cases of probable mental defect or disorder, and 
refer such cases to the expert. 

(4) At the large training camps there should be one mental specialist 
whose business it would be to examine recruits, and to have those 
obviously unfit immediately rejected—once and for all—from the Army. 

(5) It is only by adopting methods such as the above that we will 


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19 I 8 .] EVOLUTIONAL PROGRESS IN PSYCHIATRY. I 89 

ever come to grips with the wastage occurring in our Army due to 
nervous and mental disease. 

(’) These cases were all studied at the Lord Derby War Hospital, Warrington, 
Lancs. 


Evolutional Progress in Psychiatry : A Plea for Optimism. By 
Hubert J. Norman, M.B., D.P.H., Capt. (Temporary) R.A.M.C., 
County of Middlesex War Hospital. 

I. 

Human perfectibility, or even entire social amelioration, appear with 
the passage of lime to recede into a yet further distance ; and, whilst 
forming subject-matter for academic discussion and for visionary imagi¬ 
nation, they hardly come within the range of practical politics. With 
them, as with disquisitions about the hereafter, there has been a 
tendency to allow “ other worldliness ” to obscure the necessity for 
doing our duty here and now, and letting the distant future take care of 
itself. To those who object that this view is a sordid, or at least a 
selfish one, it may be answered that if we observe the Golden Rule—if 
even we practise but a negative virtue by refraining from doing evil— 
we shall yet make for the desired goal, possibly as rapidly as those who, 
their eyes fixed on that distant point, fail to observe the obstacles which 
lie immediately in their path, and who have, again and again, to arise 
bruised and disheartened by their stumbles and disappointments. It 
may indeed be that their aims are but illusions, mere figments of the 
fancy, impossible of realisation. “Uniform and universal knowledge, 
social salvation and sovereign goodness, a golden age to come excelling 
a past golden age, a Paradise regained in lieu of a Paradise lost, in fact, 
a kingdom of heaven on earth or elsewhere, are not yet matters with 
which the sober-minded scientist can grapple 1 ; ” and nescience can 
only formulate them in phraseology which lacks verisimilitude even to 
those who utter it. It is doubtful whether the projectors of ideal 
commonwealths would have desired to have been themselves inhabi¬ 
tants thereof; even if they had had the will it is certain that they would 
not have had the ability to carry it into effect. Much of their work is 
perchance energy misdirected, and the words of Milton may be applic¬ 
able to others as well as to him of whom he uttered them. “Plato, a 
man of high authority indeed, but least of all for his Commonwealth, in 
the book of his laws, which no City ever yet received, fed his fancie 
with making many edicts to his ayrie Burgomasters, which they who 
otherwise admire him wish had been rather buried and excused in 

1 Organic to Human , by Henry Maudsley, p. 129, London, 1916. 


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190 EVOLUTIONAL PROGRESS IN PSYCHIATRY, [April, 

the genial cups of an Academick night-sitting.” It is no use, as he 
further remarks, “to sequester out of the world into Atlantick and 
Eutopian politics, which never can be drawn into use, and will not 
mend our condition ; but to ordain wisely as in this world of evil.” 1 

It may be said that this is an inauspicious opening to any essay which 
is entitled “A Plea for Optimism,” and that, moreover, the time is in¬ 
opportune when the majority of the human race are concentrating their 
attention on the best methods whereby they may destroy one another. 
Yet optimism in respect to any matter may be permitted if it can be 
proved to be reasonable ; and the bitterest strife has an ending—even if 
the cessation be but the product of exhaustion, and, therefore, only 
sufficient to allow of recuperation for another outburst. Is there, then, 
foundation for hope of still further advancement in our knowledge 
respecting mental disorders ? And may we believe that we shall yet 
improve our therapeutic methods ? 

A consideration of the progress made in science generally, and of 
psychiatry in particular, appears to warrant us in adopting an attitude 
of reasoned optimism. A brief historical survey may, therefore, be 
permitted, and an endeavour made to substantiate the claim herein 
advanced. 


II. 

It is only within very recent times that an attempt has been made to 
investigate mental disorders along those lines which have led to such 
successful results in other directions. For centuries it has been held 
either that they were due to some Divine infliction whereby demons 
were allowed to enter into and to afllict the body of the unfortunate 
sufferer, or they were produced by some disorder in a hypothetical 
“mind,” which acted upon the brain and body, but which could not 
conversely be influenced by them. In both cases there was obviously 
no likelihood of research into physical substructure; and, indeed, it is 
only slowly that, even at the present time, the belief is beginning to 
prevail that it is necessary patiently to investigate the brain if any satis¬ 
factory conclusions are to be reached in psychology and in psychiatry. 
Even though relatively immense strides have been made in other 
branches of medicine by these methods, mental disorders have been 
left for the most part severely alone—so potent has been the influence 
of theological and metaphysical ideas. And now, when the relatively 
few workers have done so much already to illuminate the dark recesses 
of our knowledge of the brain and its functions, the reproach is 
often uttered that in psychiatry—the Cinderella of the sciences—research 
has lagged behind. “ Only ignorance of the solid accomplishments in 

1 Areopagitica, Arber's reprints, pp. 49 and 51. 


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I 91 8.] BY TEMP. CAPT. HUBERT J. NORMAN, M.B. 191 

this field which recent years have brought forth, or inability to estimate 
their worth, can be responsible for the repetition of this complaint.” 
Thus wrote Feuchtersleben, in 1844, of the often-repeated objection 
that the study of psychiatry had been “ all too sadly neglected ” and that 
alienists were, therefore, “ still groping in the dark.” The retort may 
surely be made that it is only beginning, and that in due course—with¬ 
out inferring any disparagement of the aspect of the sister-sciences—we 
may hope to see as sure, if not as speedy, a transformation as Cinderella 
experienced. But the fairy god-mother will have to make sure that she 
does not omit to touch the researchers with her golden wand ! In 
other words, it is necessary to provide adequate funds for the 
purpose in order that it may not continue to be said that the person 
who devotes himself to research is worse off than if he had directed 
his energies along more commercial, more remunerative, channels. 

The progress of ideas regarding insanity has not been an uninterrupted 
one. It may, indeed, be staled that movement has been rather in 
cycles. A period characterised by quite primitive conceptions is 
followed by one of considerable enlightenment, and this, again, gives 
place to darkness and ignorance. There is, however—or there appears 
to be—with each succeeding phase a wider diffusion of knowledge, and, 
at the same time, an increasing accuracy in regard to details. It is this 
more minute research, made possible by the invention of instruments of 
precision and by refinements in chemical methods, which is tending to 
differentiate the present period from all preceding ones. It is becoming 
increasingly more possible to investigate the fundamental structure of 
the Universe than ever before. Opinions and hypotheses may be dis¬ 
puted, controverted, perchance; facts are ultimately—except to the 
Berkeleyan !—convincing. It is in this respect that we may be said 
to have made our chief advance since Hippocratic times—in this, 
and in the substitution of other conceptions to replace the humoral 
pathology. 

Prior to the Hippocratic period, there was one in which the hypo¬ 
thesis of supernatural influence held chief sway. A consideration 
of the evidence contained in the Old Testament makes this clear. 
Ideas of this kind, however, arose in much more primitive times. 
It appears likely that, even in the savage mind, as a result of the 
evil-doings of his aggressive neighbours, conjoined with the influence 
which dreams would almost inevitably exert, the idea of some super¬ 
natural force might easily arise. There is no evidence that a belief in 
actual beneficent or maleficent deities arose suddenly. Only by slow 
degrees and by gradual accretions of knowledge could such well- 
defined beliefs, as, for example, that of the personification of Good and 
of Evil in the form of Ormuzd and of Ahriman, come into being. 
Indeed, such a differentiation implies a precedent development lasting 


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192 EVOLUTIONAL PROGRESS IN PSYCHIATRY, [April, 

for unnumbered centuries; and it is probable that the dawning 
belief in extraneous, supernatural powers was one which looked upon 
the inscrutable power as a maleficent one. No matter, however, in 
what manner the belief was acquired, once established it was natural 
to ascribe to the influence of this power anything which passed the 
more or less limited comprehension of man. Thus strange and awe¬ 
some happenings in the human body, such, for example, as epileptic 
fits or outbursts of maniacal fury, were set to the account of some 
mischievous demon or of some provoked deity. In some form or other 
this has been one of the most persistent and widespread of beliefs. From 
the time of Saul’s mental derangement even down to the present it has 
been accepted as a satisfactory cause of mental disorder. We are 
told that because of Saul’s sad dereliction of duty—he had failed to 
carry out the Divine command to slay utterly certain of his neighbours 
—“the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit of the 
Lord troubled him ’’l 1 David, who was of an ingenious turn of mind 
and full of expedients—as his method of dealing with that obstacle of 
his, Uriah the Hittite, goes to prove—narrowly escaped the fate of 
many innovators when he endeavoured to allay the king’s fury by means 
of music! 

As among the Jews so in ancient Greece the belief in irritated 
deities as the prime movers in the production of mental disorders was 
the one which held sway. Hercules, for example, was pursued by the 
anger of Juno; and she it was who afflicted him with epileptic fury. 
Euripides has described dramatically the outbursts to which he was 
subject, and how, in one of his homicidal attacks, he slew his wife and 
children. 2 Orestes, Ajax, and Meleager were smitten in a similar 
manner; while the daughters of Proetus, King of Argos, were also 
rendered mad, but in their case the administration of hellebore counter¬ 
acted the Divine wrath ! 

A remarkable period of enlightenment began, however, to dawn in 
the sixth century b.c. Pythagoras, physician as well as philosopher, 
initiated the movement which produced in the following century that 
illustrious thinker, Hippocrates. The Pythagorean school directed its 
attention chiefly to what may be described as prophylactic methods. 
By means of careful regimen they sought to bring about health of the 
body and soundness of the mind. Music was used by them also as a 
therapeutic method in dealing with cases of insanity. With the advent 
of Hippocrates (460-377 B.c.), medicine was for the first time set upon 
a rational basis. Instead of devoting his time to web-spinning and 

1 1 Samuel xvi, 14. 

: In the Bacchce Euripides gives a further illustration of the same Divine anger. 
Bacchus produces madness in Agave, the mother of Pentheus, because of her 
opposition to worship of him. 


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193 


phrase-mongering he set himself to the task of observing accurately 
the symptoms of disease and of constructing from the facts thus col¬ 
lected a practical science of medicine in contradistinction to the airy 
imaginings which proved so satisfactory to the majority of his pre¬ 
decessors—to say nothing of many of those who have come after him. 
This was sufficiently remarkable in regard to disease in general; but 
that he should have attained to the conception that mental affections 
could be included among bodily disorders is, indeed, amazing. That 
he should have been able to postulate such beliefs and live is an 
exemplification, too, of the tolerance which existed at that time in 
Greece. “ I am of opinion,” wrote Hippocrates, “ that the brain 
exercises the greatest power in man. This is the interpreter to us of 
those things which emanate from the air, when it happens to be in a 
sound state. . . . And by the same organ we become mad and 

delirious, and fears and terrors assail us, some by night and some by 
day, and dreams and untimely wanderings, and cares that are not suit¬ 
able, and ignorance of present circumstances, desuetude and unskilful¬ 
ness. All these things we endure from the brain when it is not 
healthy.” 1 In the same way Hippocrates dismissed as fanciful the 
idea that epilepsy was a manifestation of Divine interference. It had 
been called the sacred disease ; but it was, he said, no more Divine 
than any other form of disorder. 

In such early times, when knowledge was confined to the few and 
when even civilisation was narrowly circumscribed, views similar to 
those held by the Hippocratic school were unlikely to obtain any wide 
acceptation. Even those who were capable of understanding his 
teachings were for the most part too prejudiced to be influenced by 
them. The links between function and structure had not been dis¬ 
covered. Nor was it possible with the methods then available to 
demonstrate the nexus between the two. Recourse had to be had to 
theory in order to explain what took place. The humoral pathology 
was the result. It might have been true; but, even if it were so, its 
truth could not be demonstrated. Yet there were adherents of the 
new learning who strove to carry on the lamp of knowledge. Asclepiades 
(circa 80 b.c.), Themison, Soranus (circa 95 a.d.), and Caelius Aurelianus 
not only maintained the Hippocratic tradition, they substituted the 
hypothesis of a vital force —the excess or defect of which brought 
about the symptoms described—for the humoral theory. They simpli¬ 
fied and made more precise the descriptions of various morbid mental 
states; and this was also a characteristic feature of the writings of 
Aretaeus. 4 In regard to treatment there was an equal advancement. 

1 Hippocrates, Sydenham Society’s edition. 

* “ Son plus grand titre de gloire est d'avoir laisse des diverses formes d’ali^n- 
ation mentale, et notamment de la manie et de la melancolie, des descriptions 


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When one reads the teachings of Soranus—as embodied in the 
writings of Caelius—it seems almost incredible that for about another 
seventeen hundred years the darkness of ignorance could have pre¬ 
vailed in this respect. Not only does he set forth rules which are to be 
followed in dealing with the insane as to diet, the necessity of procuring 
sleep, proper accommodation, and so forth, he deprecates the harsh 
methods advocated by others, notably by Celsus, who even suggested 
castigation, chains, and deprivation of food in order to subdue 
lunatics. 1 

This period of enlightenment practically ended with the second cen¬ 
tury a.d. Galen was the last physician of distinction, then, who 
carried out the teachings of the Hippocratic school. In his writings 
we find again that modernism of tone which contrasts so strongly with 
the almost primitive ignorance of the majority of those who came after 
him. It was not so much a reactionary movement which overwhelmed 
the rational teachings of the Greek school but rather that the waves of 
Greek culture fell back impotently from the rocks of tradition and 
prejudice which resist at all times by their sheer inertia the impact of new 
ideas. Yet was this teaching not altogether without avail. Vandalism 
and bigotry did not succeed entirely in eliminating the writings of those 
early teachers, and in the course of time they found again pupils who, 
undeterred by the odium which they ran the risk of incurring, absorbed 
their doctrines and gradually built a superstructure of modern know¬ 
ledge upon the foundations therein laid down. It has been well said 
that “ the crowning glory of the Grecian epoch was the recognition once 
for all that whatever the determining or contributing factors or their 
manner ot operation, madness is not a manifestation of supernatural 
power but a disease, and not only a disease, but a disease of the brain ; 
and that physical symptoms commonly accotnpa?iy the mental ones, both 
being alike traceable to natural human causes .” 3 When we consider the 
amount of medievalism which still characterises much present-day 
writing on matters psychological we cannot sufficiently wonder at the 
enlightenment of those far-off times. Almost may we say with 
Browning that— 

" Those divine men of old time, 

Have reached . . . each at one point 

The outside verge that rounds our faculty.” 8 


d'une exactitude et d’une verity remarquables,” Rtlgis, Precis de Psychiatrie (Paris, 
1914), p.8. 

1 It is only just, however, to note that these were not the main methods advo¬ 
cated by Celsus. He also formulated wise and excellent rules for the treatment 
of the insane. 

‘ “ Some Origins in Psychiatry,” by Clarence B. Farrar, Amer. Journ. of 
Insanity, vol. lxiv, No. 3. 

3 Cleon. 


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Progressive medical science was not, of course, confined to Greece 
and to Rome. Among the Egyptians, for example, a considerable 
advance was also made, and the thirst for knowledge led them to 
observe and even to experiment. But culture generally was limited to 
but a small part of the globe. Beyond that part were the vast masses 
of the uncultured. Among them it was not possible for the culture of 
the Greeks to spread until a period of intellectual probation had elapsed. 
In the first place, they would absorb most readily the simpler ideas of 
a more primitive culture, such as that of the Jews, tinging them at the 
same time with the emotional colouring produced by difference of race 
and of climate. So it came about that rational concepts were stifled, 
or nearly so, by the supernaturalism of the early Christians, who, be it 
remembered, were carrying on directly the traditions and the beliefs of 
the Jews. The New Testament emphasises and reiterates the teach¬ 
ings as to demon-possession. And this possession is not restricted to 
human beings, as witness the episode of the Gadarene swine. But 
whereas in the olden time the lunatic might roam comparatively un¬ 
molested among the tombs—“wander through the soothing cypress- 
groves in the moonlight or lie under the shading palm in the 
noontide heat,” now gradually he came to be regarded not so much 
as one in “the guardianship of God,” 1 but as a miserable sinner, 
who harboured demons and who required exorcism or more drastic 
measures to rid him of his affliction. For the mad and for the half-mad, 
such as many of the witches, the Dark Ages were approaching Not 
that they were invariably badly treated. Cures were attempted by means 
which were not inhumane, but certainly for the more troublesome 
lunatics there was short shrift. Not even froifi the science of medicine 
—such as it was—could they look for much comfort. In this country 
in Anglo-Saxon times disorders of this kind and, indeed, diseases in 
general were treated—so far as drugs were concerned—by means of 
potions of appalling nauseousness. 3 For centuries the chief criterion 
of therapeutic potency seems, indeed, to have been the unpleasantness 
of the compound and, in addition, the number of components, so that 
a list of the ingredients in a prescription in the olden times resembles 
nothing so much as the nomenclature of a modern synthetic drug. 
Even those who had sufficient independence to break away from the 
accepted beliefs were not able to make any appreciable advance beyond 
the limits of the Greek school. Chief among these were Alexander of 
Tralles (a.d. sixth century) and Paulus ^Egineta (a.d. seventh century); 
and the Arabian physicians, Rhazes (a.d. 850-923) and Avicenna 
(a.d. 980-1037). 

1 A History of Penal Methods, by George Ives, p. 77, London, 1914. 

3 For examples, Oswald Cockayne’s interesting volumes in Leechdoms, Wort- 
Cunning, and Starcraft may be referred to, London, 1864. 


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III. 

Throughout the Middle Ages, and, indeed, even until the end of the 
seventeenth century, belief being for the vast majority of the people 
fixed, there was little likelihood of any advance. There were, so to 
say, simply variations on the same tune. The change of view', if any, 
was rather in the direction of aggrandising the part played by the Devil 
and of diminishing the influence of the Deity. Instead of the insane 
being afflicted and, therefore, objects of pity, they were harbourers of 
demons, perchance even agents of the Devil himself, and, consequently, 
deserving of treatment by the most drastic means. As belief became 
more gloomy and as the laws enacted to suppress the crimes of sorcery 
increased in their rigour, so did the troubles against which legislation 
was directed become more widespread. Epidemics, such as the dancing 
mania, afflicted many ; and witchcraft increased to an amazing extent, 
if we are to believe the accounts of the chroniclers of the time. 

The amazing thing is not that such beliefs should have obtained so 
wide an acceptance, but that, once so firmly established, rational 
thought should ever have been able to dispossess them. It does not 
appear to be bv any conscious effort that such a change is brought 
about, but rather that, in the course of time, constantly recurring 
stimuli tend to modify the nervous system in such a way that in the 
end it becomes able accurately to comprehend what is influencing it, 
just as, when the sun rises, objects which had appeared shadowy, indis¬ 
tinct, even ghostlike in the gloom, gradually become clearly outlined. 
So it w'as that the ideas which characterised the Greek school could not 
arise among the Northern nations until w’hat has been called the period 
of intellectual probation had been traversed. This took a matter of 
some sixteen hundred years. 

Towards the end of the sixteenth century several thinkers had come 
to realise that many of the beliefs then almost universally held were 
erroneous and pernicious. It was in regard to the witchcraft delusion 
in particular that an advance began to be made. Men like Reginald 
Scot, in his Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), and the German physician, 
John Wier, in his De Pmstigiis Dccmonum (1563), were among the 
first to preach a more reasonable doctrine. But theirs were almost 
voices in the wilderness. The weight of opinion, theological and lay, 
w r as against them. Nevertheless, it was a beginning of the rational 
movement in thought which has gradually dispossessed the cruder 
superstitions. Yet there have always been men of acute intellect who 
have championed the cause of superstition ; and even down to the 
present time there appears to be no belief, however illogical or unbased 
on fact it may be, which need lack advocates. Harvey was bitterly 
opposed when he promulgated his doctrine : and in these later days 


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19 I 8.] BY TKMP. CAI’T. HUBERT J. NORMAN, M.B. 

Pasteur had a hard fight ere he won credence for his theories. So the 
“ possession-theory ” in regard to the insane maintained its ground even 
when enlightenment had apparently spread very widely; and even in 
our own day it is not difficult to find those who uphold this view. 

Throughout the seventeenth and most of the eighteenth century there 
was little amelioration in the condition of the insane ; and this state of 
affairs naturally went along with the theoretical opinions which were 
still maintained. The need for providing for their accommodation 
did not become very pressing until with the growth of population 
there was a considerable increase in the number of insane. The 
drastic measures adopted against the more troublesome lunatics by the 
civil powers, and against those unfortunates whose symptoms made 
them incur the odium of theological opinion, tended to restrict their 
numbers still further. A good many, however, were allowed to pere¬ 
grinate the country without let or hindrance : and the wandering 
“Tom o’ Bedlam” was a not uncommon figure. When the time 
arrived for buildings to be provided for housing the insane it was 
rather with a view to restricting the movements of the troublesome 
ones than with any idea of curative treatment. “ About the middle of 
the eighteenth century . . . grim and sombre circumvallate buildings 
began to be erected 1 for this purpose. They were but prisons of 
the worst description. Small openings in the walls, unglazed, or, 
whether glazed or not, guarded with strong iron bars, narrow corridors, 
dark cells, desolate courts, where no tree nor shrub nor flower nor 
blade of grass grew. Solitariness, or companionship so indiscriminate 
as to be worse than solitude; terrible attendants armed with whips 
. . . and free to impose manacles and chains and stripes at 

their own brutal will; uncleanness, semi-starvation, the garrotte, and 
unpunished murders—these were the characteristics of such buildings 
throughout Europe.” 2 The lot of the wandering lunatic or even that 
of the others who were cared for privately was for the most part 
preferable to being immured in such drear and comfortless holds. 

It would be unfair, however, to those who were responsible for this 
state of affairs not to note in passing that the conditions under which 
the insane lived were more than equalled in their misery and squalor 
by the habitations provided by the community for criminals. Howard 
published his State of the Prisons in 1780, and even a glance at that 
epoch-making volume is sufficient to convince any unprejudiced reader 
of the dreadful callousness exhibited towards the prisoners, and of the 
insanitary—not to say filthy—manner in which they were lodged. 
Such things were characteristic of the times; though, even all these 
things considered, the condition of these unfortunates was no worse 

1 History of Venal Methods , Ives, p. 84. 

■ Conolly, Treatment of the Insane, London, 1856. 

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than that of similar classes on the Continent. Indeed, in France up to 
the lime of the Revolution the state of the honest peasant was, in 
some districts, little belter. Arthur Young speaks, after his journeyings 
throughout that country, of the “extent and universality of the 
oppression under which the people groaned ”and he found still 
rampant the blighting effect of tyrannical feudalism. 

The reaction against these iniquities was, however, beginning. Con¬ 
temporaneously in France and in England two men were initiating 
the movement which has led to the betterment of the condition of the 
insane. It was during the height of the French Revolution that 
Pinel was advocating and carrying through his reforms in regard to 
the treatment of the insane : and in 1793 he achieved his purpose of 
freeing the patients at Bicetre from their chains. In England William 
Tuke, appalled by the condition of things in the York Asylum, deter¬ 
mined to found a home for the insane where they would be treated 
with humanity. The result was the “ Retreat,” the building of which 
was started in the year 1792.* Although amelioration may be said to 
have been continuous from this time onwards in certain places, it w’as 
long before it became generalised. In an official Report published in 
1815.it is made evident that even in London itself the condition of 
the insane was almost incredibly bad. 3 Bethlem Hospital was, according 
to the evidence published in that report, one of the worst offenders; 
and if this could be so in London itself, where inspection and super¬ 
vision might be carried out with some degree of thoroughness, it is 
easy to imagine the state of affairs in the provinces. On the other 
hand, it is to be noted that the fresh impetus which was about to be 
given to the movement for the more humane treatment of the insane 
came from a provincial town. 

By the year 1838 Dr. Gardiner Hill had gradually introduced the 
system of non-restraint into the Lincoln Asylum; and, only a little 
later, Conolly brought about a similar improvement at Hanwell. They 
demonstrated that those measures were practicable which many other 
men looked upon as Utopian : and experience has tended to justify 
their wisdom and humanity. Yet there were not a few who continued 
to oppose these methods; and there are still some people who look 
upon Hill’s suggestions as counsels of perfection. But in the main the 

1 Travels in France during the Years 1787, 1788, 1789 (“On the Revolution in 
France”), by Arthur Young. 

a “ La tentative de Pinel ne fut pas isolde. Au meme moment des efforts 
analogues s’op^raient sur d'autres points. D£jk Daquin, en Savoie, avait pr£che 
la meme doctrine humanitaire dans une sphfere plus modeste, tandis que Chia- 
ruggi, en Italie, publiait, en 1794, son Traite de la folie en general et dans I'espece, 
ou il consignait les rdsultats des ameliorations obtenues par lui k Florence,” 
Regis, Precis de Psychiatrie, p. 17. 

8 Report and Minutes of Evidence on the Madhouses of England, London, 1815, 


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followers of Hill and Conolly dominate opinion at the present time. 
The inherent brutality of mankind—so strikingly exemplified in recent 
times—does not, however, readily give up repressive measures; and 
for a while after the Hill-Conolly epoch the strictures contained in such 
books as Hard Cash received justification. Such measures have become 
nowadays the exception instead of being the rule; and instead of being 
countenanced, they are discouraged not only by law but, what is perhaps 
more important, they are strongly deprecated by general opinion. 

IV. 

All this is a substantial advance, and for the immediate well-being of 
the insane population it is of paramount importance. But there has 
gone along with this a movement in scientific thought which is of even 
greater value. In the words of one of the reformers in the treatment of 
the insane : “ Derangement is no longer considered a disease of the 
understanding, but of the centre of the nervous system, upon the unim¬ 
paired condition of which the exercise of the understanding depends. 
The brain is at fault and not the mind.” 1 That is, quite succinctly, the 
opinion which, in spite of more or less fantastic reactions towards the 
metaphysical specula;ions which have so long been predominant, is 
steadily becoming more and more widely received. Enunciated by 
Hippocrates it was yet too sane and rational to find acceptation during 
later ages when nescience and mysticism prevailed, and when the im¬ 
probability of a doctrine was all the more cogent reason for believing 
in it. This doctrine is, however, merely a restatement of the Hippo¬ 
cratic dogma ; and if it rested on no more experiential basis than it 
did in his day it would be as difficult to meet the objections of the 
cavillers at the present time as it was then. Even though the number 
‘of those who have studied the minute structure of the brain and the 
localisation of function in different areas is comparatively small, yet the 
results obtained have given invaluable support to the theory that mind 
is merely the name applied to the functioning of certain parts of the 
nervous system. Every year brings fresh evidence to prove that the 
dictum, “ no brain, no mind,” is true beyond all dispute. 2 Physio¬ 
logically and pathologically the results point in the same direction. It 
is not to be expected, however, that the majority of people will readily 
become converted to such a belief. It has not, superficially, the 
picturesqueness of the theory that the mind is a vague something which 

1 W. A. F. Brown, What Asylums were, are, and ought to be, p. 4, Edinburgh, 
1837 - 

* “ Indeed, it is impossible to conceive how any mental action, however subtle, 
can occur without a corresponding change in the brain-cells.” The Origin and 
Nature of the Emotions, by Geo. W. Crile, p. 121. 


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200 EVOLUTIONAL PROGRESS IN PSYCHIATRY, [April, 

plays like a will-o’-the-wisp 1 somewhere in space and therefrom descends 
upon the individual to whom it has been allotted ; nor docs it make 
any appeal to the mystical and emotional. But to those who have to 
deal practically with minds in disorder it is an inspiration to further 
effort and research. When we realise that these morbid conditions are 
due to disease or disorder of the nervous substratum we can at once 
direct our attention to finding out where the trouble lies, and, if possible, 
rectifying the disorder or curing the disease. 

It is not infrequently said that the results of all the work done towards 
ameliorating the condition of the insane and in other lines of treatment 
has made little difference in the recovery rate. Those who make such 
statements would do well to remember that psychiatry as a scientific 
subject is practically in its infancy. It is only in very recent times—as 
has been pointed out—that even a beginning has been made. When 
the overwhelming importance of the subject is considered, the number 
of those who have undertaken research and investigation is very small 
in comparison with those occupied with medicine in general. Various 
factors have conduced to this undesirable state of affairs. There can 
be no doubt that many have been deterred by the belief that insanity 
is a condition in which any hope of therapeutic success is illusory. 
They have felt that in diseases of the chest or the eyes, for example, 
certain structures are affected, and that the morbid condition may, 
therefore, be attacked. But in regard to insanity, there is simply the 
intangible “ something ” which does not respond to any of the ordinary 
methods of treatment. Even now, when those engaged in the study of 
psychiatry are beginning to realise that this is not so, there still remains 
this lingering belief in the public mind ; and fresh strength is given to 
that belief by the various reactionary movements which arise from time 
to time, and which, aided by newly-coined terminology, obscure the 
issue. We look back to the time of Harvey and contemplate with 
amusement the theories of his opponents with their “ vital spirits ” and 
similar refuges of ignorance ; but how many are there nowadays who 
hold practically a precisely similar belief in the matter of mental pro¬ 
cesses ? They have retired with their “ vital spirits ” to the last citadel— 
the “mind,”—and there defend themselves with all the valour of enthu¬ 
siasm rather than of reason. But the researches into such a condition 
as, for example, general paralysis of the insane, have done more to 
undermine their defences than any amount of theory could possibly do. 
In it the assumption that a definite causal factor would be found has 
been justified ; and when Noguchi discovered the spirochiete of syphilis 
in the brains of patients suffering from this disease a shrewd blow was 

1 Even the will-o’-the-wisp is less nebulous than the metaphysical mind. It 
might be better to call it the Nothingness—using, of course, the capit which 
gives an appearance of reality without necessitating any further explanation. 


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given to what may be designated the “ vital-spirit ” school. Here was a 
condition in which was seen a wonderful variety of mental symptoms, 
yet these were brought about by the influence of the syphilitic organism 
or its virus on the brain-cells ! Surely, the inference is justifiable that 
in other forms of mental disorder there may be some organism at work, 
or the derangement may be due to some other physical factor which 
disorganises temporarily or permanently the functions of the nerve cells. 
In any case, an impetus has been given to further research along the 
same lines; for, from the practical point of view, more has been 
achieved by such a discovery as this than by all the windy verbiage in 
which the subject has been obscured. 

If, as is not unlikely, some of the therapeutic methods which are being 
directed against the causal factor in general paralysis of the insane prove 
to be successful, the death-rate in insanity generally will be speedily 
reduced, for this condition is responsible annually for quite a large 
proportion of the total deaths among the insane. Glandular treatment 
—or opotherapy—is likely to be extended ; and the results obtained by 
the administration of thyroid substance already warrant hopefulness in 
that direction. The introduction of artificial feeding by means of the 
nasal or of the oesophageal tube has saved many lives that would have 
otherwise been lost. Further developments in the treatment of epilepsy 
may be confidently expected ; even now the bromides have proved of 
undoubted efficacy in this disorder. Balneotherapy—an ancient usage 
—has been employed more extensively. The open-air treatment of 
insanity has given beneficial results. Electricity in various forms is now 
made use of. New hypnotic and sedative drugs have proved of utility 
in many cases. Treatment by suggestion has given rise to good results 
in certain forms of mental disorder, according to some observers ; and 
the same may be said of the psycho analytic method associated with 
the name of Freud—though there is still much discrepancy of opinion 
in regard to this. 1 The nursing of the insane has been improved. 
Those who take charge of them have to undergo special training; 
and the general change which has taken place in the attitude 
adopted by the public towards the insane is reflected in those who 
occupy this important position in relation to the mentally disordered. 8 

1 “ From hysteria psycho analysis was applied to other groups of psycho¬ 
neurotic disorders, first to morbid obsessions and impulsions, then to all sorts of 
psychic disorders, including various forms of insanity, though it may be doubted 
whether it has worked out as well in any of them as in hysteria, and in the severe 
forms of mental disease, as Freud himself has pointed out, it is helpless.” Havelock 
Ellis, Journ. of Mental Science, October, 1917, p. 542. 

a The nursing of male patients by women has been successfully adopted in a 
number of asylums; and there can be little doubt but that an even more extensive 
use will be made of their services, especially in view of the exigencies of the 
present time. 


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Pathological and physiological research have advanced our knowledge 
of the structure and function of the nervous system very greatly. This 
is particularly so in the matter of microscopic investigation, where 
higher-power lenses have made it possible to see intimate details and 
changes which were before only inferential. Experimentally it has 
been “proved conclusively that whether we call a person fatigued or 
diseased, the brain-cells undergo physical deterioration accompanied by 
loss of mental power. Even to the minutest detail we can show a direct 
relationship between the physical state of the brain-cells and the mental 
power of the individual—that is, the physical power of a person goes 
pari passu with his mental power.” 1 Many others have come to the 
same conclusion, and it may safely be anticipated that further investiga¬ 
tion will confirm and amplify the results already arrived at. The find¬ 
ing of micro-organisms in the brain—as, for example, in general paralysis 
of the insane—has been rendered possible by the use of the modern 
methods of investigation, and the discovery of other noxious organisms 
may throw light on the hitherto obscure aetiology of certain mental 
disorders. 

Pathological findings and the observation of the symptoms and pro¬ 
gress of cases have made it possible to classify more accurately the 
various forms of mental disorder. In this respect the suggestions put 
forward by Kraepelin have had much influence. But the more the 
subject is investigated, the more difficult is it found to adopt at present 
any one of the classifications already promulgated. The differentiation 
of mental disorders which has already been achieved warrants, however, 
the hope that in this direction also a further advance may be made. 

V. 

The theory of evolution has gradually been found to be of wider and 
wider application, and in regard to mental processes, and, consequently, 
of mental disorders, it has immensely assisted in bringing about enlighten¬ 
ment. Darwin, Wallace, Spencer—but, in the matter of mental evolution, 
Spencer in particular—have initiated a movement which has steadily 
progressed since their time. It has done very much towards under¬ 
mining the belief in a mind apart from organisation. Their theories 
are being carried to a logical conclusion which, it is true, they may not 
have anticipated; but it appears to be inevitable that all those who 
look at the matter broadly will, in the end, come to see that mental 
processes show a progressive complication which goes along with in¬ 
creasing complexity of organisation. The work of Huxley, of Romanes, 
and of Haeckel—to mention no others—has helped to make this 
clear in regard to normal mental processes and from the integrative 

1 The Origin and Mature of the Emotions, by G. W. Crile, p. 121. 


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point of view. 1 But just as confirmation is obtained from such an 
inductive method, so from the consideration of disintegration of the 
nervous system support is also obtained. In this case along with 
deterioration in nerve-cell structure there is diminution of mentality.* 
Although various more or less specious arguments are advanced in 
opposition to this, it tends to be more and more strongly confirmed 
by observation ; and if more exact methods of testing mental capacity 
were utilised, the truth of this statement would speedily become more 
evident. No one has done more to illustrate this and to simplify the 
evolutionary doctrine in its bearings on nervous processes from the dis¬ 
integrative as well as from the integrative point of view than Dr. Henry 
Maudsley. His Physiology and Pathology of Mind (1862) may well be 
looked upon as constituting an epoch in the study of psychology as 
well as of psychiatry. For the first time he dealt comprehensively with 
the subject from the devolutionary as well as from the evolutionary 
aspect. Nor must the splendid contributions to research in nervous 
disorder made by Hughlings Jackson be forgotten; and, perhaps most 
noteworthy of all his conclusions, the statement that the most highly 
evolved parts of the nervous system are the least organised, and, there¬ 
fore, that in processes of dissolution they most readily break down. 
Also his researches in regard to epilepsy and convulsions, and his 
theory that, in nervous disease, it is the uninhibited function of the 
portions of the nervous system not yet attacked by the disease which 
give rise to symptoms. 

Evolution in regard to the nervous system is shown to be from the 
simple to the complex, and there is at the same time a tendency towards 
differentiation and specialisation; that is, although it works as a whole, 
yet in different parts special functions are carried on. This is obviously 
so in regard to certain portions, such as the autonomic system; and the 
researches of, for example, Ferrier, Broca, Horsley, and Schafer, have 
demonstrated that this holds good for the brain also—at least, in 
respect of certain areas. The inference is fair that further investigation 
will show that this process of specialisation has gone still further, and it 
will be seen that the “silent” areas of the brain have definite functions 
to fulfil. 

Support for the evolutionary doctrine and for the theory of increasing 
specialisation has been derived from the study of prehistoric man and 
of living savage races. Progression from the simple to the complex has 
taken place phylogenetically as well as ontogenetically—in the race as 
in the individual. A narrrow outlook has appeared to negative this by 

1 A clear and succinct account of mental evolution is to be found in The 
Evolution of Mind by Joseph McCabe (London, 1910). 

* “ Loss of the higher mental functions invariably accompanies the cell dete¬ 
rioration.” The Origin and Nature of the Emotions, by Geo. W. Crile, p. 125. 


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pointing to the waxing and waning of different races ; but when a wider 
view is taken, these vicissitudes are seen to be but as the advancing and 
receding waves of an incoming tide. 1 TJie investigations of Tylor 2 3 
and of many others show that certain simple ideas characterise the 
thinking of primitive races, and that with increasing sociological com¬ 
plexity there is an ever-widening intellectuality. On the theory that 
mind is a thing apart from organisation and uninfluenced by it, such 
progressive intellectual differentiation is difficult to understand. 

The intimate connection between criminality and insanity has become 
more apparent of recent years. Therein also we may see an advance 
and an improvement. It is now admitted by all who are competent to 
judge that there are certain individuals whose mental defect precludes 
them from observing satisfactorily the ordinary code of rules whereby 
society protects itself from its anti-social members. These defectives 
are of so poor cerebral organisation that education is ineffective to raise 
them to such a standard of conduct as will fit them to take their place 
as useful citizens. The irresponsibility of the definitely insane has been 
admitted from the legal point of view ; but in regard to the mental 
defectives—especially those with moral defects—the matter is difficult, 
and opinion is, therefore, variable. It is beginning to be realised 
that many who are apparently sane and responsible are yet not so ; 
and, accordingly, the inutility and wastefulness of ordinary methods of 
dealing with them is slowly becoming obvious. The application of 
scientific tests of mental capability is replacing the haphazard method 
which has been so common. It is being realised, also, that it is essen¬ 
tial that the prison medical officer should have a competent knowledge 
of mental disorders, so that he may recognise some of the less obvious 
troubles than “melancholy madness,” or “raving madness.” 

The effects of the changes of opinion are already obvious. More 
discrimination is being exercised in dealing with individual cases : and 
in time as the community comes to understand its responsibility in 
regard to the nurture of those whom social conditions have placed in 
evil surroundings a still greater advance may be looked for. The old 
illusion of the freedom of the will is not now so readily accepted as one 
of the eternal verities. It is realised that there is a balancing of 
motives and that the scale may be turned by adding to the weight of 
one or other of these. Aggression or punishment of a vindictive nature 
lend to arouse violent opposition or hatred; consequently they have 

1 Whether there will or will not be an eventual reflux involving the whole of 

mankind does not appear to affect the statement that generally there has been an 
advance. 

3 Primitive Culture, 1871. There has been much useful work done also in 
regard to social psychology, as, for example, by G. le Bon, The Crowd, and The 
Psychology of Revolution, and by McDougall, Social Psychology. 


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failed to produce reformation or cure m the criminal or in the insane, 
and they have almost entirely been discarded. The benefit has been 
more widespread than is usually imagined. It has shown itself not 
only in the condition of prisoners and of the insane, but also in those 
who have charge of them : for brutality has an evil and degrading 
effect on those who practise it as well as on those who suffer by it. 

In this connection the work of Eombroso, in particular, has been of 
value. However much his theories maybe criticised—and there seems 
to be no doubt that he allowed his hypotheses too great a scope—he 
has done much to arouse scientific interest in the criminal and the 
defective. His investigations and those of other criminologists tend to 
confirm the dictum enunciated by Sir Matthew Hale in the seventeenth 
century that “ most persons that are felons . . . are under a degree 
of partial insanity when they commit these offences.” It is early yet 
to speak dogmatically on a subject to which attention has been directed 
only in recent times and that, too, by comparatively few who have had 
adequate knowledge both of criminals and of the insane. We may 
hope, however, that the time will soon come “ when those morbid 
mental processes which eventuate in anti-social acts will be made an 
object of psychiatric attention.” 1 

Another problem which has come under consideration and in which 
it has been difficult to say definitely how much is due to moral defect 
is that of sexual perversion. Where, however, formerly it was sufficient 
to place such offenders under the ban of the odium thcologicum it is 
now realised that the matter cannot be so easily disposed of. It is 
seen, too, that this subject exhibits many aspects each of which requires 
careful study. It remains for the future to discuss these questions 
fully and frankly. Up to the present it has not been realised that— 
scientifically considered—nothing is unclean and that everything in 
regard to which we are in doubt has to be looked upon as a subject 
for investigation. The difficulty has been—and probably for a long 
time will be—to separate the scientific from the pornographic. It % is 
something, however, that a beginning has been made ; and the writings 
of von Kraffi-Ebing, 2 Havelock Ellis, 3 Bloch, 4 and others have already- 
thrown much light upon an abstruse and difficult problem. 

The application of the knowledge of morbid mental states to historical 
and to literary subjects has helped towards a more complete under¬ 
standing of much that was obscure. It has been shown how the conduct 
of, for example, certain of the Roman Emperors was the result of their 
mental unsoundness ; how certain religious movements have been 

1 The Causes and Cure of Crime, by T. S. Mosby, p. 68, London, 1914. 

2 Psychopathia Sexualis. 

3 The Psychology of Sex. 

4 The Sexual Life of Our Times. 


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initiated by men and women who were influenced by hallucinations 
and delusions; and how, in literature and in art, much has been the 
product of morbid mental states. The effects of certain bodily disorders 
in producing irritability, cruelty, and even violence in ordinary domestic 
life are understood by most people; but it has not been realised to 
anything like the same extent that similar disorders occurring in men 
of eminence have in certain instances altered the course of history. 
From this point of view there remains very much still to be done ; and 
the studies made, e.g., by Ireland, Maudsley, Cabanas, 1 show that much 
may be anticipated from further investigations along these lines. 

There is another aspect of the matter which may, however, be again 
adverted to, namely, the financial one. In these days when economic 
conditions have become less favourable to living the studious life, it is 
necessary to take more earnest thought as to the means of subsistence. 
Nor is it merely the question of a bare livelihood. Even the man who 
is drawn towards scientific research is not necessarily inhuman, and he 
may be deflected from the path which he had set out to tread by the 
need of providing adequate means for the support of his family. He 
knows very well that he cannot expect even moderate success from 
the financial point of view if he devotes his time to research, so, unless 
he is an enthusiast who is willing to sacrifice everything to his work, 
he turns his attention to a more lucrative branch of the profession. 4 
Nowhere is this more to be noted than in regard to cerebral research. 
In the ordinary way when it is desired to obtain the services of 
competent workers it is realised that adequate remuneration must be 
offered. It is sound business; and from the financial point of view 
it pays. It is admitted that there has been no stint in the matter of 
expenditure in erecting asylums. How much has been set aside, 
however, to provide for research ? And in how many cases have arrange¬ 
ments been made to have an adequately paid pathologist attached to 
even the large asylums? It is practically left to individual effort; 
and even then there is little encouragement given. Nor do asylum 
appointments attract the best men. It is true that conditions have 
somewhat improved of late years, yet much remains to be done. 
Until this is rectified it is somewhat unreasonable to complain that, 
though there is an immense field for research, so little of practical 
value emanates from the medical officers whose lives are given up to the 
care and treatment of the insane. 

1 \V. W. Ireland, The Blot on the Brain, Through the Ivory Gate; Henry 
Maudsley, Natural Causes and Supernatural Seemings, Body and Mind ; Cabanas, 
Cabinet Secret de THistoire, La Nevrose Rcvolutionnaire, etc. 

* There are, it is true, certain positions which would satisfy all but the most 
exacting. The fewness of these only serves, however, to justify the present con¬ 
tention. 


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There are those who will say that the association of scientific research 
with financial considerations is a sordid one. It is a comfortable doc¬ 
trine for those whose means of support are ample and also for the tax¬ 
payer 1 ; but, as economic conditions become more stringent and as the 
task of gaining the daily bread is, therefore, almost sufficient to absorb 
the ordinary man’s energies, it is being more and more clearly realised 
that the labourer is worthy of his hire, and, what is more important, that 
he is not going to be deprived of it. Charity at the expense of others 
is too simple a matter to have failed to be exploited in science as else¬ 
where. 


Prophylaxis. 

As much insanity is due to congenital defect or to the breaking down 
of inherently unstable nervous organisations, curative measures in 
certain cases are likely to prove inefficacious. Obviously, cure can be 
looked for only in those cases where there is temporary interference 
with nerve-cell structure, and where, prior to the attack, the brain has 
been sufficient for the ordinary demands. Just as in the ascending 
scale the brain of the imbecile cannot be brought by any form of educa¬ 
tion to such a stage of efficiency as will enable the individual to become 
an average member of society, so, when definite deterioration has taken 
place, it is impossible to rehabilitate the brain-cells. It becomes 
necessary, therefore, to prevent, if possible, an undue strain being 
thrown upon the unstable brain. For example, the child with inherited 
instability may be apparently above the average intelligence during 
school life. This being so, the intensive methods still too prevalent in 
educational systems are brought to bear upon the child with the result 
that the brain breaks down, and, it may be, primary dementia is 
initiated. It may be said that a person so unstable is likely to be of 
little use in life, but this is by no means proved. Certain cases which 
have come early under care and which appear to exhibit undoubtedly 
the symptoms of primary dementia, yet recover apparently completely. 
In the same way with other forms of insanity, attention to the early 
symptoms and the application of therapeutic measures may preclude a 
more acute attack with its possible issue in permanent enfeeblement. 
It is the prolongation of the period during which the morbid stimuli 
act which brings about such deterioration that the brain-cells are unable 
to recover; and the length of time required to bring about disinte¬ 
gration will naturally vary in different individuals, depending on their 

1 “ Stretched in his marble palace, at his ease, 

Lucan may write, and only ask to please ; 

But what is this, if this be all you give, 

To Bassus and Serranus? They must live.” 

Juvenal, Satire VI (Gifford's Translation). 


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208 EVOLUTIONAL PROGRESS IN PSYCHIATRY, [April, 

powers of resistance. In the mental defective this resistance is so 
slight that he is unable to withstand even the ordinary stress entailed 
by social life, and he is therefore unable to conform to the rules which 
the community has laid down. 

These matters are being taken into consideration and some advance 
has already been made. The Mental Deficiency Act has for its object 
the segregation of those defectives who are anti-social in their con¬ 
duct, and who are likely to become—if no let or hindrance is inter¬ 
posed—the parents of criminals and of lunatics. Punitive measures 
are simply energy misspent. Sterilisation is a method by no means 
beyond criticism ; and, indeed, any form of treatment which tends to 
link the medical man with the executioner starts with an initial dis¬ 
advantage. 

Attempts are being made to bring the patient in the incipient stages 
of an attack of mental disorder earlier under treatment. The out¬ 
patient system adopted at certain hospitals is a step in this direction, 
hut can only be of value to a limited extent unless arrangements are 
also made for in-patient treatment where this is necessary. The question 
of certification will probably have to be discussed anew and a somewhat 
wider latitude granted, especially where it is certain that proper care 
and supervision will be provided. The exigencies of the present time 
have done much to show that a less rigid system than the present one 
in regard to early certification is within the bounds of possibility. It 
was realised that some injustice would be done to soldiers who had 
broken down mentally on account of the stress of war conditions if 
they were straightway certified ; and special hospital accommodation 
was provided for these men with the result that many who would have 
been certified under ordinary conditions have not required certification. 
If this holds good for them, then, surely, those who have broken down 
under the stresses of ordinary social life—often far from inconsiderable 
—may justly claim some such exemption. 1 The objection to certifica¬ 
tion may be entirely sentimental and it may in time be overcome. 
In the meantime, Draconian edicts arouse irritation; and in such a 
case as this, unless it can be shown that dangers to the community 
or to the individual are likely to arise, compromise is indicated. 

It is also necessary to induce the public to realise that the function 
of the alienist is not chiefly in bringing about the segregation of the 
patient—an idea unfortunately too prevalent—but in advising or 
directing treatment as is done in other branches of the medical pro¬ 
fession. 

1 The munificent gift made by Dr. Henry Maudsley, which has resulted in the 
building of the hospital which bears his name, may be noted as a very practical 
attempt to satisfy this need. 


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Generally, a more comprehensive outlook in regard to the possi 
bilities in psychiatry is needful—even among alienists themselves. In 
the words of a recent writer, “This wider field of activity for the 
greater psychiatry includes not only the recognised problems of insanity, 
feeble-mindedness, and psychiatric states in general, but a large group 
of phenomena, mostly social in their bearings, such as delinquency, 
inebriety, prostitution, and various phases of delinquency and social 
failure .” 1 

Summary. 

Even this brief survey may have sufficed to make it evident that in 
regard to mental disease there has in recent times been a definite 
advance in regard to the general attitude adopted towards the insane; 
and this has resulted in a steady amelioration of their lot. Although 
a retrogression took place after the classical period of Hippocrates and 
Pythagoras this in turn was succeeded by the more enlightened epoch 
initiated by Pinel and Tuke towards the latter part of the eighteenth 
century. The progress of rationalism has tended to displace the 
metaphysical conceptions which, assuming an extraneous mind, made 
it easy to postulate the influence of other extra-natural influences. 
From the sixteenth century onwards belief in demon-possession has 
steadily waned; and along with this there has been a diminution in 
credulity in regard to witchcraft and magic. The evolutionary doctrine 
has been applied to nervous processes; and it has been seen that there 
is uninterrupted progression from simple nervous reactions up to the 
more complete reflexes which result in mind. The tendency towards 
differentiation and the allocation of specific function to separate areas 
—already noted in regard to the body in general—is seen to hold good 
of the nervous system. Increasing complexity of social organisation 
has been demonstrated by anthropological research. The study of the 
relationship between insanity and criminality has made considerable 
progress. Sexual anomalies and perversions are being scientifically 
investigated. Results obtained from the study of morbid psychology 
are being made use of to explain difficult problems in history. The 
secretions of the ductless glands have received much attention, and 
already the therapeutic results are such as to warrant the belief that 
even more may be expected from that direction. Physiological and 
pathological research have already yielded valuable results; and 
the knowledge thus gained has tended to substantiate the assertion 
that mental function is utterly dependent upon the condition of the 
organic substratum. It is becoming possible to some extent to differ- 

1 “The Broader Psychology and the War,” by Herman M. Adler, M.D 
(Mental Hygiene, July, 1917, p. 364.) 


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entiate between varieties of mental disorder; and this should proceed 
even further when the methods of pathological investigation are more 
able to reveal subtle changes. The discovery of the aetiological factor 
in general paralysis of the insane has stimulated therapeutic effort 
towards counteracting that dire disease. The prophylaxis of insanity 
is yet in its early stages, but it is reasonable to expect that still more 
beneficial results may be looked for. 


Occasional Note. 


Early Treatment of Mental Disorders. 

The question of how best to secure early treatment for sufferers from 
mental derangement has long engaged the attention of the medical 
profession. It will not therefore, we premise, be out of place to scruti¬ 
nise some of the more recent pronouncements on this subject. And we 
could not probably find a more appropriate text for discussion in this 
connection than the little volume on Shell-Shock by Profs. Elliot- 
Smith and Pear, a second edition of which has lately appeared, the first 
having been rapidly exhausted. We welcome this fact as showing that 
more or less general interest in this most vital and important subject is 
being aroused, and we hope the demand will continue, although, as will 
be seen, we have perused its contents with somewhat mingled feelings, 
especially when taken in connection with an address delivered, since 
the publication of the book, by Prof. Elliot-Smith at the Royal Institu¬ 
tion for Public Health. 

The chief aim of the authors is to show that the early treatment of 
mental disorders is an urgent public need. There can be little doubt 
that this account of the treatment of sheli-shock under stress of war 
conditions will go far to convince all who read it that similar provision 
is required by civilians. 

In July, 1914, less than a fortnight before the catastrophe of the war, 
the Report of the Committee re Status of British Psychiatry was adopted 
at the annual meeting of the Medico-Psychological Association at 
Norwich. The foremost recommendation in this report was the estab¬ 
lishment of psychiatric clinics. Therein it is stated: “The evidence of 
many authorities, who have practical experience of the value of treat¬ 
ment in the incipient stages of the illness, is conclusive that the exercise 
of scientific care during the early phases of the mental disorder would 
save many from such a complete breakdown as would necessitate certifi¬ 
cation and removal to an asylum . . . and therefore the Committee 

regard it as essential that, in the large centres of the population, at any 
rate, means should be provided to obviate the delay which now exists in 
securing adequate treatment for mental disorders.” 


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This book on shell-shock is written in support of this long-needed 
reform. We read, p. 128: “For the relief of the mentally afflicted 
amongst us, and especially for the prevention of insanity, it is our 
bounden duty as a nation to take measures such as most civilised 
countries have adopted long ago. For this purpose it is necessary that 
there should be hospitals to which patients in the early stages of mental 
disturbance can go, without any legal formalities, and receive proper 
treatment from physicians competent to diagnose their troubles and to 
give them appropriate advice.” 

It is interesting to observe that the authors of this volume are neither 
of them alienists or neurologists. Prof. Elliot-Smith is one of the ablest 
and best-known anatomists of our time, and Prof. Pear is a distinguished 
psychologist. But for the war, and the establishment of the military 
hospital for functional nervous disorders at Maghull, near Liverpool, it 
is doubtful whether this book would have been written. We note with 
pleasure that it is dedicated to Major Rows (now Lieut.-Col.), whose 
work at Maghull has been so strikingly successful. 

As our readers are aware, Col. Rows was the indefatigable Secretary 
of the Status Committee referred to, and it is a source of great satis¬ 
faction that in his present important position he has the opportunity for 
carrying out some of the ideas he has had so long in mind. For there 
is at last in being a “centre for teaching in which systematic instruc¬ 
tion” is given, accompanied by “ facilities for post-graduate studies,” 
and where the army medical officer, at any rate, has “ the advantage of 
working in a scientific atmosphere in an institution where he can see 
treatment on the most modern lines, and where he can be assisted and 
guided by men who have done and continue to do their share in inves¬ 
tigating the obscure questions connected with this science.” (We quote 
from the Report of the Status Committee.) 

Although the volume before us says hard things in reference to exist¬ 
ing institutions for the insane, we must admit that much of this is, as 
the authors themselves state, but a paraphrase of the Status Committee’s 
Report. We may instance : “ The most depressing aspect of the present 
state of affairs is the comparative absence of all research ” (p. 117). 
“ Nor, as yet, have many of the medical officers in our asylums sufficient 
up-to-date knowledge of psychiatry to enable them usefully to co operate 
with medical schools and the teaching staffs of the general hospitals.” 
Moreover, the implication in the introduction (p. xr) is not pleasant 
reading : “ The war has forced upon this country a rational and humane 
method of caring for and treating mental disorders among its soldiers. 
Are these signs of progress merely temporary ? Are such successful 
measures to be limited for the duration of the war and to be restricted 
to the Army ? ” 

Most of us say things about ourselves and our shortcomings that we 


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are apt to resent if said by anyone else. It is, therefore, not surprising 
that criticism has been directed to this book in that it seems to do less 
than justice to the devoted service of asylum workers throughout the 
country, work frequently carried out under the most difficult conditions. 
A careful study of the text makes it clear that the authors are not criti¬ 
cising the treatment of declared insanity so much as the system which 
provides little or no treatment for persons on the verge of a mental 
breakdown. They sum up the defects as follows : “ First and foremost 
is the serious waste of time which almost invariably occurs before the 
mental sufferer comes under medical care. This is due to a variety of 
causes—all of them preventable. The chief is that, lying in the path 
of patients who would voluntarily seek help, there is the insurmountable 
obstacle of the asylum service and its restrictions. The men in the 
asylum service, who have the opportunity of acquiring an intimate 
knowledge of mental diseases, ar & forbidden to carry that knowledge into 
the outside world for the benefit of the mental sufferer. If a patient, 
suffering from a mental disorder in its earliest and easily curable stage, 
should voluntarily go' to an asylum and ask advice, all that can be done 
for him is to suggest that he should consult a medical man outside or to 
recommend him to call and see the relieving officer. . . . In short, 

all that the officials under our present system can say to such a man is: 
‘Go away and get very much w'orse, and then we shall be allowed to 
look after you ! ’ ” This criticism cannot be said to be unfair, though 
the assumption that the early stages of mental disorder are easily curable 
is, perhaps, over sanguine. 

Although there is little in the book to which exception can be taken, 
the public addresses of one of the authors appear to go further, and 
may injure a good cause by over-statement. 

The Manchester Guardian has reported an address delivered recently 
by Prof. Elliot-Smith at the Royal Institute for Public Health w’hich 
contains statements that seem to us exaggerated and deplorable. After 
speaking of Conolly removing the iron fetters of Hanwell, the 
report proceeds: “ To day the forces of ignorance and apathy were 
responsible for the perpetuation of the vicious system which unneces¬ 
sarily inflicted upon thousands of English men and women every year 
the more galling fetters of the asylum label and the stigma of madness. 
Probably 50 per cent, of the patients admitted to British asylums to-day 
would have been spared this ignominy ... if we had done as 
many other nations had done long ago— i.e, provided facilities for the 
skilled treatment of mental disorders in their early and curable stage, 
an I so spared nearly 50 per cent, of such patients the fate of being 
branded as madmen and being sent to an asylum.” 

Making allowance for the condensation of a newspaper report, we 
must take serious exception to two of the statements made. First, the 


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implication that it is ignominious to be sent to a hospital for the insane 
for treatment. Second, that 50 per cent, of the patients would be saved 
from the stigma of madness by treatment in a special hospital. 

Surely Prof. Elliot-Smith must know that however successful the 
special hospitals may be, a large number of patients cannot be treated 
to recovery in them, and will have to be transferred to a hospital for 
the insane. And surely, it is cruel and reactionary in the extreme to 
reproach the more grave cases with the “ stigma of madness,” and to 
imply that they are something essentially different from those who 
happen to recover quickly. The Medico-Psychological Association 
has striven, since its foundation, to remove the reproach of lunacy, and 
we cannot but regret to see it being emphasised in order to help 
forward a needful reform in treatment. The assertion that 50 per cent ., 
or nearly 50 per cent., will escape the fate of “ being branded as mad¬ 
men,’’ when considered in relation to the context, evidently means that 
declared insanity will be prevented in half the cases. This is surely 
too sanguine a view, and there are certainly no statistics available to 
justify so sweeping a statement. We must not forget that it is the 
disease itself which is serious, not what it is called, nor where it happens 
to be treated. 

The cause we have at heart cannot be advanced by statements which 
must tend to create prejudice against institutions doing necessary and 
most valuable work for the community, or by exaggerating the benefits 
likely to be secured by reform. We are glad, however, that men eminent in 
other branches of knowledge are joining hands with us in the endeavour 
to promote improved methods of treating mental illness in its early 
stages. 

While we recognise the limitations of some of the supporters of this 
good cause, who have not specially devoted themselves to the treat¬ 
ment of mental disorders, we venture to plead that future advocacy 
may be free from reprehensible terms which betray a sad lack of 
sympathetic appreciation of the feelings of the sufferers and of their 
friends. 


Part II.—Reviews. 


Automatisms et Suggestion. Par H. Bernheim. Paris: Alcan, 1917. 

Pp. 168. Price 2 frs. 50. 

The problems of hypnotism will seem to many to-day to be ancient 
history. Forty years ago, however, exactly the same storm raged 
around hypnotism as now rages round psycho-analysis. On the one 
hand were the enthusiastic champions of what seemed to them a newly- 
discovered force full of immense possibilities ; on the other hand were 
the adversaries who could find no language strong enough to express 
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their condemnation. The storm has long since subsided. Neither the 
champions nor their adversaries triumphed. Hypnotism and suggesti¬ 
bility were accepted, but in that acceptance they fell back into a posi¬ 
tion which, though assured, was seen to be quite humble and modest. 

The veteran Prof. Bernheim, of Nancy, played a large part in the 
settlement of these questions. By no means a man of brilliant genius 
but endowed with a calm, common-sense, observant mind, he carefully 
watched the pioneering experiments of Liebault and came to certain 
conclusions. He was able to explain the phenomena as simply due to 
suggestion, and he found reason to believe that the elaborate results 
obtained by Charcot and others were in large degree artificially built up 
by unconscious suggestion working on hysterical subjects. From these 
conclusions he has never deviated. 

In the present simply written little book his familiar results are pre¬ 
sented afresh with such slight new developments as he has since worked 
out. Some of the views and definitions thus brought forward will be 
regarded as personal to himself, but there is usually something to be 
said for them. The book throughout shows that clear, calm vision 
and unfailing sobriety of judgment which has always characterised the 
author. 

Bernheim refuses to believe that under the influence of hypnotism or 
suggestion the subject is purely automatic, an unconscious machine, 
acted upon by another’s will. The early chapters of the volume aie 
devoted to expounding the conception of automatism in this sense 
as a mechanism, itself indeed unconscious, but in a conscious subject. 
Formerly, like Liebault, Bernheim believed that the phenomena of 
hypnotism were the more pronounced the more complete the hypnotic 
sleep ; the suggestibility seemed to be in proportion to the depth of the 
sleep. Now, observation and reflection have led him to modify, and 
even reverse, that view. The suggestibility created in this sleep is not 
proportional to its depth, but, on the contrary, all its phenomena are 
due to conscious psychic conditions (falsifiable by suggestion but not 
abolished) which have no existence in deep sleep. Through all stages 
of this condition the same tendencies hold good. Catalepsy is simply 
a phenomenon of suggestion, and suggestion is a phenomenon of con¬ 
sciousness ; suggestion can produce in the ordinary waking stale the 
same manifestations (anaesthesia, hallucinations, obedience to com¬ 
manded acts, etc.) as in the induced sleep. Thus it is that Bernheim 
concludes with Delboeuf: “There is no hypnotism, there is only sug¬ 
gestibility.” 

It is in accordance with this standpoint that Bernheim insists through¬ 
out that the phenomena we are here concerned with are never absolute. 
Suggestion does not imply complete automatic obedience. Amnesia is 
neither constant nor absolute. The subject’s memories of his somnam¬ 
bulistic state are latent, not effaced. Bernheim is quite unable to 
accept Grasset’s well-known conception of the polygon of lower centres, 
emancipated from the higher centres, and obedient to the hypnotiser. 
On the other hand, there is a certain amount of suggestion and ideo- 
dynamism in all our everyday acts. That is our determinism. To a 
large extent we are all influenced, even without knowing it, by the 
passions and prejudices of the mob. Voxpopuli , vox Diaboli. Hence 


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the importance of education in the prophylaxis of morbid suggestions, 
and the need to combat the credulity of childhood by developing the 
reasoning powers. 

A chapter is devoted to the question of moral responsibility. Bern- 
heim holds that psychologically there is no absolute free-will, and, con¬ 
sequently, no absolute moral responsibility. But there is always a legal 
responsibility, and all injurious acts must be repressed without regard 
to the question of moral responsibility. It is not a question of 
punishment but of social defence, and often also of salutary suggestion. 
But, it is added, we must remember that the convictions thus rendered 
necessary are not for the purpose of casting infamy on the culprit and 
his family, but simply to safeguard society. 

In a subsequent chapter an attempt is made to define the terms 
“ neurosis ” and “ psycho-neurosis.” Bernheim refuses to regard neuras¬ 
thenia as a neurosis. It is not a neurosis but a morbid constitutional 
evolution, doubtless due to some toxic principle in the organjsm. At 
the outset of his career, believing, as was generally believed, that neuras¬ 
thenia is purely functional, he applied psycho-therapeutic treatment, 
but without effect. 

A functional trouble must not be regarded as a neurosis unless its 
evolution shows absence of organic processes. A psychic neurosis 
(neurosis constituted by psychic trouble) becomes a “psycho-neurosis ” 
or, the emotional cause having disappeared, it is maintained through the 
psychic activities alone by mental representation. A psycho-neurosis 
alone furnishes the basis on which psycho-therapeutics can act. This 
leads on to certain differentiating considerations on hysteria. Medically 
speaking, the term “ hysteria,” Bernheim considers, should only be 
applied to the well-known nervous crises. It should not be applied to 
the large number of women of so-called “hysterical character” who 
really have no such crises at all, while the women with true hysteria 
usually do not possess the “ hysterical character,” but may be entirely 
sound in their ideas and feelings and of high character. Other psycho¬ 
neuroses than the nervous crises should also not be regarded as 
hysteria; thus hemianaesthesia is not to be reckoned among hysterical 
symptoms, though it may easily be produced by suggestion whether or 
not hysteria is present. 

A final chapter is devoted to treatment. It was Liebault who 
initiated verbal suggestion in treatment; but he first put the patient to 
sleep. It was Bernheim who, in 1884, showed that the preliminary 
sleep is unnecessary, and that suggestibility is a physiological function 
of the waking human brain. Proceeding from simple verbal affirmation, 
Bernheim passes in review the various procedures which are possible 
on this basis. The induced sleep may be employed, but though 
Bernheim still occasionally adopts this method, he attaches little 
or no value to it. Then there is persuasive suggestion by rational 
arguments, and for this Bernheim claims credit as against Dubois, 
of Berne. There is, further, persuasion by appeals to feelings and 
emotional influences. Persuasion, however, may fail, and then there 
is active suggestive education, the training of the will. Suggestion 
may, further, be disguised in practical methods, such as massage, drugs, 
etc. Then there is the method of subterfuges, as relieving pain by 


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injecting clear water instead of morphia. Or there is the method by 
psychic substitution which consists in suggesting to the patient new 
and harmless acts as derivatives for his symptoms. Bernheim admits 
that psychoneuroses may yet remain rebellious to all suggestive treat¬ 
ment, for the patient’s own auto-suggestion may be too powerful, and, 
moreover, there are many psycho-neurotic troubles which from the 
outset are associated with underlying diseases. But in most cases of 
simple psycho-neurosis, he maintains, psycho-therapy remains efficacious, 
and is a rational medication which the physician must not neglect. 

Havelock Ellis. 


Mental Conflicts and Misconduct. By William Healy. Boston : 

Little, Brown & Co., 1917. Pp. 330, 8vo. 

Dr. Healy, Director of the Psychopathic Institute of the Chicago 
Juvenile Court, and author of the important work on The Individual 
Delinquent, reviewed in the Journal two years ago, deals here with 
some aspects of the fundamental problem of the causation of misconduct. 
He is mainly concerned with cases in which hidden early experiences 
of inner conflict lead to misconduct often having no apparent con¬ 
nection with the conflict. In this investigation the author is careful to 
explain that he is tied to no one psychological school, and though he 
has learnt much from various writers on psycho-analysis he does not 
practise, or in his own work find necessary, any strict technical methods 
of psycho-analysis, and prefers to use the simpler and more general 
expression, “mental analysis.” He regards such investigations as very 
necessary in view of the decay of the old ideas of punishment, and the 
recognised need of inducing in the offender self-directed tendencies 
towards more desirable behaviour. From that point of view the results 
here recorded are highly promising and suggestive. 

In his first thousand cases of youthful recidivists Healy found 
seventy-three instances where mental conflict was a main cause of the 
delinquency ; in the second series of a thousand there were seventy- 
four. He regards this as much below the real number, for he had not 
then realised the importance of such conflicts. Even the incomplete 
7 per cent, are not, however, a negligible number. Moreover, the 
significant fact emerges that they embrace some of the most important 
cases of delinquency, though at the same time Healy is inclined to 
think that “individuals particularly well-endowed in emotional qualities 
and finer feelings are the more prone to suffer from mental repression 
and conflicts.” These cases are also usually about the average in 
mental ability. 

A great variety of misconduct is found to arise on the basis of mental 
conflict, ranging from the sustained bad behaviour of childhood to 
deeds of actual crime, including obstinacy, destructiveness, truancy, 
vagrancy, stealing (with pathological stealing and so-called “ klepto¬ 
mania”), forgery, sexual offences, injury to others. It is remarkable 
that some of these misdoers are not carrying out their own keenest 
desires; their misdeeds are, as it were, “forced by something in them¬ 
selves, not of themselves ” ; they involve no pleasure. It may be noted 
that Healy gives no special attention to sexual offences, as these have 




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been much studied by other workers, but he remarks that he has been 
greatly surprised to find how much delinquency of various types had 
its beginning in unfortunate sex knowledge, which came into the mental 
field as a psychic shock, producing emotional disturbance; this is well 
illustrated by many of the cases here brought forward. 

In successive chapters are reviewed, with numerous illustrative cases, 
conflicts accompanied by obsessive imagery, conflicts causing impel¬ 
ling ideas, criminal careers developed by conflicts, conflicts arising from 
sex experiences, conflicts arising from secret sex knowledge, conflicts 
concerning parentage (as when the child discovers that he is illegiti¬ 
mate, or that an alleged parent is not the real parent), conflicts in 
abnormal mental types, conflicts resulting in stealing (with instructive 
cases of “ kleptomania,” showing that the real concealed source of the 
delinquency often has no obvious connection with the nature of the 
delinquent act), conflicts resulting in running away, conflicts resulting 
in other delinquencies. 

The author concludes that mental conflicts do not imply a peculiar 
constitution ; they commonly produce misbehaviour in individuals 
who prove themselves by examination and history to have, apparently, 
normally stable nervous systems. Nor is there any good evidence of 
hereditary basis, though, like offenders in general, these cases come 
from stock on the average poorer than that ot non-offenders. The age of 
onset is youthful, and probably never later than early adolescence. But 
the conflict may lie dormant, or repressed and unrevealed, for months 
or years. It must not, however, be supposed that these cases are 
usually of moody, depressed, or “ shut-in ” types ; they are often frank, 
open, cheerful, and, outside their conflicts, healthy-minded. Still they are 
sensitive, and tend to respond peculiarly to certain experiences, though 
not hypersensitive in other directions. No race or nationality is 
specially affected, and in mental ability these cases are far above the 
delinquent average. Mental tests have failed to be of diagnostic value. 
The author believes that some cases of so called moral imbecility and 
consitutional immorality are only instances of misconduct reactions to 
mental conflicts. The prognosis is often good, and the results have 
sometimes been remarkably satisfactory. In the study of mental con¬ 
flicts we have a scientific method of approaching certain problems of 
misconduct, Dr. Healy concludes, with a prospect of rendering real 
service to humanity. 

This simple, lucid, and systematic study of a new case-group is the 
work of one who must be accounted a master in the field of crimino¬ 
logy, and cannot fail to be helpful to all whose business it is to explore 
and redirect abnormal human conduct. Havelock Ellis. 


Manuel de Psychiatric. Par le Docteur J. Rogues de Fursac, ancien 
chef de clinique h. la Faculty de Medecine, mtkiecin en chef des 
Asiles de la Seine, expert pres les Tribunaux. 1 vol. in-16, de 
la Collection m6dicale, 509 pp., cinquikme Edition, revue et 
augmentde (Librairie Felix Alcan). 7 fr. 70 net 

When a text-book has reached its fifth edition the reviewer has an 
easy task. The public to whom it appeals has given a verdict so 


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decisive in its favour that little remains to be said in the way of praise 
and no condemnation is permissible. Moreover, when that book is 
translated into another tongue (English) and in this form reaches a 
fourth edition, it is evident that the appreciation of its good qualities is 
not confined to the country of its birth. This translation, made by A. J. 
Rosanoff, and published in New York, was comprehensively reviewed 
in the October, 1917, number of this Journal. Readers, however, will 
wish to be informed in what respect the new edition differs from its 
immediate predecessor. 

Under this heading the matter which attracts chief attention is the 
chapter on traumatic and emotional psychoses, which, after a useful 
account of the traumatic psychoses of civil life devotes itself to the 
psychoses caused by the war. Corresponding to our shell-shock the 
French have the word obusi/e, which the author considers passablemetit 
barbare. It is a long chapter very well written, and most useful to those 
engaged in treating such cases. 

War psychoses are divided into three classes. The first class includes 
those patients in whom there is gross injury to the brain, the second 
those with small haemorrhages in the brain, and the third, those in 
whom there is no organic lesion. With regard to the first class, it is 
to be noted that though the cerebral lesion may be extensive the mental 
disturbance may be slight. The author had under care a wounded 
man who had lost the greater part of his two frontal lobes from a 
shell explosion. It was thought that about 200 grm. of brain sub¬ 
stance had been destroyed. Four months afterwards the only symp¬ 
toms present were slight psychic enfeeblement consisting principally 
in weakness of attention and memory. The third class is by far 
the largest, and includes those shell shock cases who are suffering 
from no apparent physical injury. Their symptoms, the author is 
convinced, are entirely of an emotional origin. It would occupy too 
much space to follow him through his description, but as regards the 
treatment of such cases, he is emphatically of the opinion that they 
should be detained at the forward ambulance stations and not sent to 
the base hospitals. At first sight such a policy would appear to be 
contrary to all common sense, but M. de Fursac makes a very strong 
case for this opinion. 

A second addition is the chapter on the use of psychotherapy in 
mental diseases. This term includes a wide range of measures, eg., 
employment, entertainment, and the like. It is interesting to note that 
he forbids dancing which he states to be harmful. This view hardly 
coincides with English opinion. No mention is made of the cinema, 
which is now becoming a very popular form of entertainment in English 
asylums. Psycho-analysis meets with but scant courtesy, and an illus¬ 
tration is given of the harm which may ensue when it is used without care. 

The prophylaxis of mental diseases includes a very interesting study 
of the various methods used in different countries to combat the drink 
evil. 

The unsatisfactory nature of the name “ dementia prascox ” is com¬ 
mented upon at some length, and schizophrenia is now bracketed with 
It has three divisions—simple hebephrenia, catatonia, and delu¬ 
sional hebephrenia. 


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A new chapter appears under the heading of chronic systematised 
hallucinatory psychosis which was formerly included under dementia 
pnecox. This is a return to former paths, as it is a purely French 
conception which lias been graphically described, first of all by Magnan 
under d£lire chronique, and later under other names by Seglas, Ballet, 
and others. The subject is worthy of a more extended treatment than 
can be given in a review. 

To sum up, this is a most excellent book, written in the clear, concise 
manner which seems to be the special gift of the talented nation across 
the Channel. R. H. Steen. 


Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology. By C. G. Jung, M.D., 
LL.D. Authorised translation edited by Dr. Constance E. 
Long. Second Edition, 1917. London : Baillifere, Tindall & Cox. 

The fact that in so short a period as one year a second edition has 
been called for must be most gratifying to both author and editor, and 
testifies to the interest taken in psycho-analytical matters in English- 
speaking countries. The former edition was reviewed in the October, 
1916, number of this Journal, so that on the present occasion it will be 
necessary merely to describe the new matters introduced. And this is 
not so small a task as might be expected, as the present edition exceeds 
by exactly one hundred pages the size of its predecessor. 

Chapter XIV, which was headed “ New Paths in Psychology,” has 
become “ Psychology of the Unconscious Processes,” and has been 
rewritten and expanded. A new chapter (XV) has been added, entitled 
“ The Conception of the Unconscious,” and though apparently written 
at an earlier date contains the final and special views of Dr. Jung in a 
summarised form. 

To epitomise the thoughts of Dr. Jung in these chapters is almost 
impossible within the limits set by the Editors. The author himself 
feels that his own words are somewhat of an epitome, as he says in 
a foreword to Chapter XIV that “The material is extremely compli¬ 
cated and difficult. I do not for a moment deceive myself into thinking 
this contribution is in any way conclusive or adequately convincing. 
Only detailing scientific treatises about the various problems touched 
upon in these pages could really do justice to the subject.” 

It may, however, be stated that the chapter opens with the history of 
psycho-analysis and describes Freud’s work. This is criticised, and the 
conclusion is reached that his sexual views are too one-sided. Then 
follows a short account of Adler’s work. The two psychological types, 
i.e. y the introverted and the extroverted, are described, and the want of 
harmony existing between Freud and Adler is explained by the fact that 
each observer was dealing solely with one of these types. After this is 
discussed, the differentiation of the unconscious into two layers, the 
personal (that belonging to the life-history of the individual) and the 
impersonal (that belonging to the life-history of the race). As an 
example, a dream is given with an analytical interpretation, then with a 
synthetic or constructive interpretation and a long discussion on the 
transference and its relation to the impersonal or superpersonal uncon¬ 
scious ends the chapter. 


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It is not the present intention to criticise the volume. To do such 
with any adequacy would require a lengthy article. Furthermore, the 
author in the passage quoted above, disowns criticism. It is only right 
to state that at the present time a considerable amount of interest in 
matters psycho analytical is being shown in England. The attitude 
most frequently adopted is one not of belief, nor of unbelief, but of 
careful sifting and weighing. The ordinary man (in contradistinction to 
the psycho analytic expert) is woefully confused. He has been led to 
think that Adler and Jung are pupils of Freud and yet he finds the last- 
mentioned in his History of Psycho-analysis excommunicating these two 
followers. Jung apparently feels he will have to plough a lonely furrow, 
for he says, “ every pioneer must take his own path alone but hopeful, 
with the open eyes of one who is conscious of its solitude and the 
perils of its dim precipices.” Jung has sketched a large picture. 
Various figures are outlined, and the background requires filling in. 
When the picture is finished, then will come criticism. Meanwhile, 
what has been produced gives ample food for reflection. 

R. H. Steen. 


Part III.—Epitome of Current Literature. 


i. Physiological Psychology. 

The Scope of Behaviour Psychology. {Psychol. Rev ., September , 1917.) 

Watson , J. B. 

The author begins by defining psychology, in accordance with the 
modern tendency, as “a division of science which deals with the 
(unctions underlying human activity and conduct.” That is to say, it 
is an attempt to formulate how an individual or group of individuals 
will adjust themselves to the situations of life, and to establish principles 
for the control of human action—which is what everyone is always 
doing without calling it psychology. Common-sense, however, useful as 
it may be, will not go far enough; we need systematic psychological 
procedure. 

As a science the task of psychology is to unravel the complex factors 
in human behaviour from infancy to old age. The goal of psychology 
is “ the ascertaining of such data and laws that, given the stimulus, 
psychology can predict what the response will be ; or, on the other 
hand, given the response, it can predict the nature of the effective 
stimulus.” The word stimulus is used as in physiology, only with a 
more extended sense, and when there is a complex group of stimuli, 
as in the social world,'we speak of situations. Similarly, response is used 
as in physiology, only with a more extended sense, and when it is 
manifold we speak of act or adjustment. In distinguishing among types 
of acts, the old speculative psychologist introduced needless techni¬ 
calities and metaphysical concepts like “ purposes,” “ end,” etc. 

Psychology is not concerned with these distinctions.” The psycho¬ 
logist is concerned with behaviour, and behaviour on analysis is “the 
separate systems of reaction that the individual makes to his environ- 


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ment.” Such adjustments depend on the integration existing among 
the receptors, or special sense-organ tissues, and the muscles and glands. 
The various possibilities of reaction are thus seen to be vast. But they 
fall into four main classes: (1) Explicit habit responses, like tennis 
playing, etc.; (2) implicit habit responses, i.e. “thinking,” by which 
we mean sub-vocal talking, with all its muscular activities; (3) explicit 
instinctive responses, like sneezing, walking, etc.; (4) implicit instinc¬ 
tive responses, including the whole endocrine secretory activity. 

Psychology is separable into eight divisions: individual, vocational, 
child, folk, educational, legal, pathological, and social psychology. In 
its relations to other sciences, it is dependant on physics, as every 
science is at bottom. Its relation to neurology is less essential than is 
commonly supposed, and psychological laboratories should not under¬ 
take to teach neurology, although some notion of the elements involved 
in reflex arcs is essential. The distinction of psychology from physiology 
is that while the latter teaches us concerning the functions of the special 
organs and certain combined metabolic and other processes, psychology 
deals with the organism as a whole in relation to the environment as a 
whole; they are entirely independent, yet not antagonistic, for “ physio¬ 
logy is psychology’s closest friend among the biological sciences.” In re¬ 
lation to medicine, psychology should form the background to the whole 
field, but has hitherto been of comparatively slight service because it has 
dealt so largely in speculation and philosophy. It should instruct the 
physician in those methods of approaching and handling patients which 
can be expressed in no other than behaviour terms. Such factors 
concern everybody, but especially the physician on .account of the 
intimacy of his relation to his patient. “The psychiatrist has not 
neglected these factors ; indeed, it has been due to him that they have 
been emphasised at all. In so far as psychiatry is concerned, I think 
we can say that the psychology the psychiatrist uses is not different 
from the psychology we are trying to study.” Havelock Ellis. 


2. Clinical Neurology and Psychiatry. 

Mutism , Aphonia , and Deafness among Soldiers , of Psychical Origin , 
from Organic Causes: Malingering and Objective Differential 
Diagnoses [ Mutisimo , Afonia, Sordi/d nei Militari , di Origine 
Psichica, da Cause Organiche: Simulazioni e Criteri Differenziali 
Obiettivi ]. (Rivista di Patologia Nervosa e Mentale , March , 

1917.) Gradenigo,Prof. G. 

In this paper the writer is not concerned with the sensorial-idealistic 
side of the phenomenon of speech, but only with the motor side ; he 
is concerned only with mutism or the complete failure of speech (motor 
aphasia), and with aphonia or the failure of the laryngeal sound with 
persistence of the whispering voice. 

The organic causes of these conditions and of deafness may be 
divided into two categories : those due to various diseases, and those 
due to grave traumatisms of the head and neck. “These traumatisms 
in the present war are caused for the most part by terrible explosions, 
which produce lesions, sometimes very grave, of the ears, such as 


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lacerations and destruction of the tympanum, neurolabyrinthic disturb¬ 
ances and haemorrhages, fractures of the temporal bones, etc., also 
cerebral disturbances, fractures of the skull, etc. Sometimes the 
patient has been thrown to a distance with great force, either striking 
his head against a rock, or being buried under a heap of stones or 
earth.” The same explosions may provoke also morbid psychical 
manifestations. 

In the majority of the psychical forms of these cases there un¬ 
doubtedly exists a predisposition to disease of the nervous system, a 
feebler power of resistance to morbid factors. The principal predis¬ 
posing elements are endogenous intoxications and states of exhaustion 
of the nervous system (fatigue, insomnia, indigestion, and disease, par¬ 
ticularly typhoid), and exogenous intoxications (alcohol and tobacco). 
Further, the emotions, preoccupations, and the ever-present thoughts of 
dangers, w'hich have been overcome, or are about to be overcome, act 
injuriously on the nervous system. Among other determinative causes 
of the psychical forms are mechanical and acoustic injuries from the 
explosions of shells and hand grenades in the vicinity, exposure to 
prolonged and intense bombardments, and especially strong psychical 
impressions, as fear, etc. The simultaneous action of these various 
and energetic causes produce in the patient—especially if his nervous 
system has little resistance—stupor, a thundering noise in the ears, 
sometimes true psychoses, in which, by the side of the most different 
forms of psychical and sensorial disturbances, one finds frequently 
deafness, mutism, and aphonia due to the exaggerated stimulation of the 
acoustic centres and neighbouring cortical centres of speech. One 
easily understands this when one thinks of the intimate connection 
between the voice and all tiie manifestations of affective life. 

Passing cn to a closer study of the psychical forms, the writer points 
out that such patients often behave very much like common malin¬ 
gerers, because in each category one is concerned with phenomena of 
the will. In the case of the really diseased person there is a perversion 
and an impotence of the will due to auto-suggestion which is often very 
difficult to overcome ; in the malingerer there is the will to deceive. 

Complete mutism is rare in the organic forms, while in the psychical 
forms it is generally the rule. Psychical mutism is not accompanied 
by verbal deafness, agraphia, or optic aphasia. In a psychical form 
allied to mutism one observes a scanning, dragging, slow speech. At 
other times there is disturbance of the respiration in speech ; for 
example, the expiration may be broken and interrupted, as when one 
forces oneself to speak after a rapid and fatiguing run 

Passing on to aphonia, the writer points out that in the respiratory 
function the abduction of the vocal cords is chiefly automatic, being 
essential to life, and is concerned with the bulbar centres. On the 
other hand, phonation is a function of a higher order, because it is 
connected with speech, and is concerned chiefly with cortical centres. 
It follows that aphonia is met with principally in psychical cases. The 
writer proceeds to study with some degree of detail the connection of 
disturbances of the function of deglutition with mutism and aphonia. 

In considering the subject of deafness, it is pointed out that the 
cochlear nerve, which serves a most important function of psychical 


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life, namely, hearing, is chiefly connected with cortical or cerebral 
centres; whereas the vestibular nerve, which furnishes impressions 
which under ordinary circumstances do not arrive in the field of con¬ 
sciousness, serves a function of automatic life, and is chiefly connected 
with bulbar and cerebellar centres. From this follows an important 
clinical fact, namely, that a labyrinthic or rctro-labyrinthic lesion (usually 
an injury to the base of the skull) involves generally both of the 
sensorial mechanisms, while a central lesion, cerebral or cerebellar, 
affects usually only one of these mechanisms ; and since an organic 
cerebral lesion never, perhaps, causes complete deafness (too little is yet 
known of the cortical centres of hearing, even if there be one in each 
cerebral hemisphere or not), it is consequently an organic cochlear 
lesion which causes grave or total deafness, and is concerned, at least 
for a certain period of the disease, with disturbance of the mechanism 
of equilibrium. The traumatic lesions, which cause complete unilateral 
or bilateral deafness, are especially fractures, direct or by contre-coup , 
of the temporal bone. In cases of deafness from organic causes, in 
addition to deafness itself, there are symptoms of cochlear irritation 
(subjective noises), and there are more or less grave disturbances of 
equilibrium (uncertainty in the erect posture and in walking, with a 
tendency to fall towards the injured side), vestibular nystagmus, vertigo 
with nausea and vomiting, etc. Psychical deafness differs from organic 
in being almost always complete, and in not being accompanied by 
symptoms of cochlear and vestibular irritation. 

The writer makes a careful study of the differential diagnosis of 
organic, psychical, and simulated deafness. Among the many points 
that he mentions, the following are perhaps the most important: The 
really deaf person looks you straight in the face when you speak to him. 
He follows with attention the gestures and the movements of the mouth 
of the speaker. He willingly furnishes detailed indications of his ill¬ 
ness, and gives precise replies during the functional examination, which 
renders it possible to accurately estimate the power of hearing, etc. 

The psychical deaf person is often apathetic and indifferent; some¬ 
times he is hilarious or fatuous; and sometimes he presents the 
physiognomy and behaviour of a psychopathic. 

The malingerer is sad and diffident. He avoids the glance of the 
interrogator, prefers to keep his eyes fixed on the ground, replies 
evasively to questions, and sometimes adopts a voluntary mutism or 
the rigidity of an automaton, which it is difficult to make him give up. 
He lends himself very unwillingly to functional examination, and gives 
replies which are generally not very precise, and are sometimes 
evidently false. Further, and this is most important, he refuses general 
narcosis when it is proposed as a method of cure. 

When a loud and unexpected noise is made near the ear of a patient 
who hears normally, we may observe certain reflex actions. Sometimes 
there is a brusque turning of the head, or even of the whole body 
towards the point whence comes the sound. Sometimes there is a 
quick winking of the eyelids of both eyes, or of the eye only which is 
nearest to the sound. This reflex is rapidly exhausted, particularly if 
the sonorous stimulus be renewed rhythmically. Sometimes this reflex 
is limited to the eye on the side corresponding to the ear which hears 


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224 EPITOME. [April, 

best, or it may be quicker on that side. This reflex has been studied 
by the writer and by Prof. Amedeo Herlitzka by the means of graphic 
methods. It is a reflex of cochlear incidence, and the latent time is 
about of a second. Some persons with good hearing succeed in 
inhibiting all reflex action. On the other hand, a loud sound may 
occasionally cause the reflex in very deaf people. 

The article concludes with a few paragraphs on the therapy of such 
cases as have been under consideration. In the psychical forms of 
mutism, aphonia, or deafness, it is often advantageous to resort to 
psychotherapy as well as physical methods of cure. Good results have 
been obtained by treating patients suffering from mutism and func¬ 
tional deafness by a kind of sound-bath in a very resonant room, where 
by means of organ-pipes intense sonorous vibrations of different pitch 
are produced. 

But the method of therapy, which has been most successful in the 
hospital to which the writer is attached (Prof. Gradenigo is Lieutenant- 
Colonel in the Medical Service of the Italian Army), is that of general 
narcosis, produced preferably by ethyl chloride, chloroform, or the 
liquore sonnifero dello Zambelletti. It must be understood that it is 
illegal to put an Italian soldier under the influence of an anaesthetic 
without his consent. Patients who are anxious to be cured are always 
very willing to undergo this treatment, and even demand it peremp¬ 
torily. Sometimes the willingness or unwillingness to undergo this 
method of treatment serves to discover a malingerer. Usually, if the 
treatment be successful, when the patient wakes up from the narcosis, 
he falls into a profound hysterical crisis with various nervous disturbances, 
feeling of faintness, profuse sweats, etc. In other cases excellent results 
have been obtained in psychical mutism by motor re-education of the 
movements of respiration and of articulation. 

J. Barfield Adams. 

The Brain and Genetic Function. ( Urolog. and Cut. Rev., October , 
1917.) Ceni, Carlo. 

Prof. Ceni, of Cagliari, after first summarising some of the earlier 
of his well-known and highly-important experiments on the relations of 
the sexual impulses to the brain, here sets forth his latest results. His 
observations in general have shown that in the cerebral cortex there 
are centres which exercise a special influence on the functions and 
trophic processes of the sexual glands. Spermatogenesis and ovo¬ 
genesis take place under the continuous action of the higher centres 
which impart regulatory and inhibitory stimuli to the various processes 
of procreation. Thus mutilation of a lobe or hemisphere in chickens 
or pigeons produces more or less involution, usually, though not always, 
transitory, on the whole male or female sexual system. The central 
inhibitory centres vary considerably from species to species, and on the 
whole in direct proportion to the evolution of the species. In guinea- 
pigs the relation is almost nil. It is present in the pigeon and the 
rooster, but much more evident in the dog and in man. In the turtle, 
on the contrary, as Ceni’s pupil, De Lisi, has shown, total decerebration 
has not the slightest effect, immediate or remote, on the trophism and 


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functions of the male or female sexual glands, which seem to be regu¬ 
lated exclusively by the lower centres. Cocks and hens, after total 
scarification of the cerebral cortex, retain (after recovering from shock) 
their sexual instincts unimpaired, though they are almost incapable of 
reproduction. In totally decerebrated pigeons the sexual glands, male 
and female, continued to function with apparent regularity. We must 
conclude, therefore, that in birds and lower mammals the sexual glands 
possess an unquestionable autonomy in relation to the cerebral centres. 
In the higher animals we can only speak of a relative autonomy. 
Without complete and constant stimulus from the superior centres 
through the central sympathetic cortico spinal paths, the inferior centres 
lose the equilibrium necessary for their normal function, and the sexual 
glands become torpid or easily exhausted. Ceni has made many 
experiments in testicular grafts by which, for instance, a capon may be 
made a true cock, though unable to procreate. It would clearly appear 
that the internal, as well as the external, secretions are conserved in 
the transplanted sex-gland. But Ceni does not believe that the inde¬ 
pendence of the organ from the nervous system is thus demonstrated, 
for the graft, when attached, undoubtedly comes into nervous as well as 
vascular relation with the rest of the organism. The action of the 
higher centres must no longer be ignored, for to them are reserved, not 
only the inhibition in general of the sexual glands, but in particular the 
regulation of all the laws, outside trophism, around which the mystery 
of procreation revolves; sexual periodicity, the procreative potentiality 
of the individual, etc. 

The effects of psychic influences on generative power are finally dis¬ 
cussed. The fact that shock of the genital organs corresponds to that 
of other visceral organs indicates the correlation with psychic centres. 
It is, indeed, more intimate and direct than in the case of other organs. 
It is not a question of simple shock, but of grave functional and trophic 
disturbances of psychic origin, persisting for weeks or months, and 
perhaps leaving a deleterious impression on the progeny. In men the 
general condition may be quickly restored, but arrest or aberration of 
spermatogenesis continues for months. Very prolonged sterility follows 
mental overwork or cerebral exhaustion. Even more unfortunate are 
the results following earthquakes, wars, and sieges. “ We would call the 
attention of eugenists in particular to the value of these observations in 
the tragic moment through which we are passing, and they may well ask 
themselves whether the human race is more threatened by the storm of 
extermination of the present fury, or by the pain and suffering of the 
spirit.” 

Prolonged psychic strains are equally important on the individual and 
the offspring. Variations in psychogenic stimulus may be either of 
deficiency or augmentation. In the former case the individual may 
become incapable of reproduction. In the latter case the same result 
may be reached through the over-activity of the intellectual centres, as 
we see in the frequent sterility of‘great men, though excess of psychic 
stimulus may act as a sexual excitant as well as a depressant. “ Thus the 
brain as a regulatory organ in the great mystery of procreation acquires 
a new place in physiology.” Havelock Ellis. 


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3. Sociology. 

Evolution and Ethics [EEvolution dans ses Rapports avec PEthique\ 
{Rev. Phi/., September , 1917.) Lynch, A. 

The author discusses in a free and vigorously independent manner, 
from his own psychological and philosophical standpoint, the relations 
of science and morals. He disputes the right of biologists to speak 
with authority on ethics without taking all its new conditions into con¬ 
sideration, and especially objects to those biological epilogists of war 
for war’s sake, who distort even biology itself in order to draw false 
deductions. The author regards Truth, Energy, and Sympathy as the 
fundamental principles of morals, the “tripod of ethics.” He insists 
on harmony between the intellectual and moral constitution, and on 
the right of the psychologist and philosopher (not, however, the vague 
and aimless metaphysician of the past) to control and revise the con¬ 
clusions of the biologist, who even in his own domain cannot escape 
the psychologist. When, moreover, the matters of a discussion are 
furnished by several sciences, the specialist must seek the aid of 
philosophy, “mother of all the sciences." Then, turning to Herbert 
Spencer, of whom lie speaks with great respect and admiration, the 
author explains at some length why he regards the Spencerian principle 
as sterile for the development of science, as well as not sufficiently 
precise in expression, nor even rigorously correct. 

“The amoeba, considered from the point of view of the aim of its 
activities, is better developed than any being in creation ; and the 
savage, according to Spencer’s formula, should much excel the man of 
science.” The criterion of development cannot be established in 
vacuo. We must consider the environment and the aim. 

While insisting that in science are found the great general lines of 
what constitute civilisation on the material side, and that “ the char¬ 
acter of a nation’s scientific organisation constitutes one of the surest 
criteria of the degree of its development and culture; the author also 
maintains the principle that “intellectual advance is always accom¬ 
panied by moral advance," and would even go further and claim that 
“it is moral development which communicates the impulsive force to 
intellectual development.” It is the flame of the ideal which has 
inspired all the great men of science, and without it the man of science 
is merely a fortunate mechanic. 

In view, moreover, of the social disturbance of modern times, the 
author holds that “ the principal efforts of the culture of the civilised 
world should be directed to morals," and here attaches importance to 
sympathy, in which he includes co-operation and fraternity. In insist¬ 
ing on the part played by the ideal in the lives of individuals and 
peoples, the author points out we are not losing contact with reality, 
and he reprobates the “spiritualising” of false idealism. The ideal 
must always be bound to the real. The reproductive instinct, the 
primitive appetites of man, even his vanities lie at the basis of idealism. 
Every flight towards the ideal must be in harmony with truth, without 
ceasing to remain in contact with reality. Havelock Ellis. 


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Part IV.—Notes and News. 


THE MEDICO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN 

AND IRELAND. 

The Quarterly Meeting of the Association was held at the Maudsley 
Hospital (4th London General), Denmark Hill, London, S.E., on Thursday, 
February 21st, 1918, Lieut.-Col. D. G. Thomson, M.D., R.A.M.C. (President), in 
the chair. 

There were present about one hundred members and visitors. The following 
signed their names in the book as having been present at the meeting or as having 
attended meetings of Committees : 

Sir G. H. Savage, Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, Drs. Fletcher Beach, David 
Bower, A. N. Boycott, A. Helen Boyle, W. M. Buchanan, P. E. Campbell, James 
Chambers, P. C. Coombes, Sidney Coupland, Maurice Craig, H. Devine, J. Francis 
Dixon, E. L. Dove, R. Langdon Down, Thomas Drapes, R. Eager, J. H. Earl, 

F. H. Edwards, G. F. Fothergill, A. Hume Griffith, F. R. King, E. S. Littlejohn, 
T. S. Logan, Alfred Miller, W. F. Nelis, D. Ogilvy, N. Oliver, J. G. Porter 
Phillips, James Scott, J. Noel Sergeant, G. E. Shand, W. Starkey, R. C. Shaw, 

G. E. Shuttleworth, T. W. Smith, T. E. K. Stansficld, P. Steele, James Stewart, 
R. Stewart, R. J. Stilwell, W. H. B. Stoddart, F. R. P. Taylor, C. M. Tuke, John 
Turner, and R. H. Steen (Acting Hon. General Secretary). 

Visitors: Col. H. G. Maudsley, Lieuts. H. A. Dicokin, U.S.A. Army Medical 
Service, W. I. Lille, U.S.A. Army Medical Service, G. Taykor, U.S.A. Army 
Medical Service, and Drs. A. W. Hall, J. H. Mooney, T. A. Taylor, E. L. Forward, 
J. S. Havelock. 

Present at the Council Meeting-. Lieut.-Col. D. G. Thomson, M.D., R.A.M.C, 
(President), in the chair, Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, and Drs. A. Helen Boyle, 
James Chambers, Thos. Drapes, R. Eager, A. Miller, J. N. Sergeant, T. E. Knowles 
Stansfield, G. E. Shuttleworth, and R. H. Sieen (Acting Hon. General Secre- 
tary). 

Apologies for unavoidable absence n-ere received from : Drs. G. N. Bartlett, C. C. 
Easterbrook, H. Wolseley-Lewis, R. H. Cole, J. Mills, R. B. Campbell, T. S. 
Adair, John Keay, C. Hubert Bond, H. de M. Alexander, J. G. Soutar, G. D. 
McRae, J. R. Gilmour, and Lieut.-Col. H. A. Kidd, R.A.M.C. 

The President said that as the minutes were duly published in the January 
number of the Journal, he hoped members would take them as read. 

This was agreed to, and the minutes signed. 

Ballot for New Members. 

The President nominated Drs. Boycott and Devine as scrutineers for the ballot 
for the following gentlemen : 

Goodpellow, Thomas Ashton, M.D.Lond., B.Sc., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 
(formerly Resident Medical Officer, Manchester Royal Infirmary), 60, Pala¬ 
tine Road, West Didsbury, Manchester. 

Proposed by Drs. Alan McDougall, David Orr, and R. H. Steen. 

Prideaux, John Joseph Francis Engledue, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.Lond., 
Resident Medical Officer, Graylingwell War Hospital, Chichester. 

Proposed by Lieut.-Col. H. A. Kidd, R.A.M.C., Drs. H. Devine and R. H. 

Steen. 

They were duly elected. 

Obituary. 

The President said that one of the melancholy, and, he feared, routine duties 
in these times was for the President to announce the deaths of members which had 
taken place during the quarter since the last meeting. This quarter showed an 
unusually heavy and serious loss in the Society's ranks. He only proposed to 
mention some well-known names. First was Dr. Seward, who, as members were 
aware, occupied the position of Medical Superintendent of Colney Hatch for many 
years, and whose death took place this month. There was also Dr. Ellis, of the 
Straits Settlements—perhaps a less well-known member of the Association—who 


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died at Singapore on October 8th. Another was Dr. William Julius Mickle, 
whom members would remember as a Past-President of the Association, and a 
very learned and clever man he was. A long and good account of his career 
would be found in the present issue of the Journal of Mental Science, therefore it 
would not be necessary for him to recapitulate the features of his life’s work. 
Perhaps pre-eminent among those whose death they had to lament to-day was 
Dr. Henry Maudsley, who occupied such an outstanding place in the profession 
that he proposed to call upon Sir George Savage to say a few words about him. 

Sir George Savage.- Mr. President and Gentlemen, I feel deeply the responsi¬ 
bility that you have placed upon me. Generally, I have felt that the best way, 
perhaps, was to utter some unwritten expressions of one’s feelings. I shall never 
forget the lesson—one of the many I learned from Dr. Henry Maudsley—when I 
delivered a lecture before the College of Physicians, and endeavoured to do so 
from notes. He said to me, afterwards : *■ It would have been very much better if 
you had read it; you can get a great deal more into reading than you can into 
extemporaneous expression.” Therefore, perhaps, you will excuse me if I put 
before you what I have to say in that way. 

Gentlemen, —At the command of our President, I will occupy a short time in 
trying to express our united respect—I might say reverence—for our late member, 
Dr. H. Maudsley. Though he died full of years, we shall miss a strong man. It 
is sixty years since, at the age of twenty-three, he contributed his first article to 
the Journal of Mental Science, and I can strongly recommend all those who have 
the earlier numbers of the Journal to read the various reviews and essays contributed 
by Maudsley while Bucknill was editor. Maudsley was a deeply-read man, and 
his memory for details was extraordinary. I have heard him say that he felt 
rather a fraud in winning prizes, for he simply wrote out what he visually recalled 
from the text-books. Shakespeare and the Bible seem to me to have fixed his 
earlier style, but he was a reader of both English, Scotch, and foreign poets, and 
he could quote them most appositely. 

He was reserved, and not given to wide general society; and I remember telling 
him that his love of humanity seemed to exclude the individual man. A most 
careful observer, a great reader, and a voluminous writer, he yet had pleasures 
and pastimes, such as bowls and cricket. Later, he showed his Yorkshire breeding 
in his love of the horse, and he thoroughly enjoyed driving a well-bred pair. 

It is nearly fifty years since first I met Maudsley, and we have been friendly, 
but hardly intimate, for he was a man not given to social intimacy. His manner 
was distant and cynical, but he appreciated honesty of purpose in word or deed. 

As I have already said, he began writing early, and you will find the first of his 
articles in the Journal of Mental Science for the year 1859, when he was only 
twenty-three, and his writing then was as polished and as fresh as ever it was. 
It was full of his knowledge of Shakespeare, the Bible, and Burns. He also made 
frequent and apt quotations from Latin and German. 

His position as an author cannot be considered here, but his influence was 
far-reaching, and men at Oxford in the early sixties read his Physiology of Mind, 
and, in some instances, as a result turned to medicine as their life's work. He 
was fond of writing of the necessity for each man, while recognising that he has 
work to do, also remembering that he was but a unit. 

From his early association with his father-in-law, Dr. Conolly, sprang his desire 
to grant to the insane the maximum of freedom and all loving consideration. 
He was, I think, too dogmatic in opposing all forms of mechanical restraint, and 
he also strongly opposed forcible feeding as demoralising to patient and doctor. 

He had a Gladstonian habit of sending post-cards, and I have by me such cards 
which were sent as warnings or correction. I winced at some of them, but, as a 
rule, he was right. 

I cannot conclude without referring to the many books he wrote. And it is 
pleasant, but sad, to think of his article in our Journal of October, 1917, on 
“ Materialism ” as his swan song. 

There is little more for me to say now and here, but I am certain that you knew 
him, by repute if not personally, and you will agree with me that he was a great 
power in our branch of medicine, and has left his example as a beacon for us 
to follow. I will conclude in his own words, in which he described the true 
philosopher: 


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“To afford such exalted faculties as man possesses their right exercise is to live 
a life moral, intelligent, and useful to his kind, and after such a life he may faith¬ 
fully and fearlessly await the inevitable event, welcoming the grave-digger as the 
kindest of friends who shall open to him the gates of his Everlasting Mansion.” 

Lieut-Col. F. W. Mott, F.R.S., said he, with Sir George Savage, rose to make 
a few remarks in this building concerning the late Dr. Henry Maudsley, whom he 
had the great honour and pleasure of knowing intimately during the last ten 
years. His acquaintance with Dr. Maudsley came about in this way. He called 
on him (the speaker) one day and said he would be willing to give ^30,000 to the 
London County Council if they would build a hospital for the treatment of early 
acute cases of mental disease with the view of preventing such cases entering 
chronic asylums. He (the speaker) mentioned the matter to one or two members 
of the Committee, including Sir John McDougal, and he suggested it would be 
an excellent idea, especially if it could be associated with the University of 
London. Accordingly he, Lieut.-Col. Mott, drew up a scheme, with Dr. Maudsley’s 
approval, to try and get this proposed hospital connected with the University, so 
that it might be made a teaching centre for London, as well as carrying out the 
purpose for which the money was originally given. This was approved by the 
Principal of the University, Sir Arthur Rucker, and Mr. Balfour. Unfortunately, 
the party which favoured it did not get into power, and the numerically stronger 
party did not want to spend money. The result was that the scheme hung fire for 
a long time. Now, however, things had perhaps turned out much better, because 
the present hospital was very suitably situated, and since the war had heen in 
operation it had served a very useful purpose. He believed it was an institution 
which would do very good work in the future. There was no bust to Dr. 
Maudsley, but in building this hospital he had erected a monument more lasting 
than bronze. The portrait he showed of the deceased gentleman showed a 
magnificent head, and Maudsley's mind was the greatest mind he (the speaker) 
had ever encountered. He had enjoyed many opportunities of talking to him, 
and on Saturdays it was his custom to go and dine with him. On those occasions 
they talked over the difficulties of the situation, and he wondered how Dr. 
Maudsley kept it up as long as he did. However, he eventually won, the hospital 
was built, and all who had inspected it said it was a very nice one. 

Dr. Maudsley felt a great interest in this Association. His earlier work was 
intimately connected with it, and he had not forgotten it; and, although he was 
not allowed to say officially, his nephew was present, Dr. Henry Maudsley, his 
own fellow student, and a worthy representative of his uncle, and that gentleman 
told him that, although the will had not yet been proved, a large sum of money 
had been left to this Association. Therefore members of the Association would 
be extremely grateful to him. And he would like to suggest to Sir George Savage 
that when he sent his biographical notes to the Journal for publication he should 
supplement them with the remarkable photograph which he now held, copies of 
which could be supplied by Messrs. Elliott and Fry. 

Dr. Maudsley left an autobiography, in his own remarkable style, and he did 
not doubt that the relatives of the late Dr. Maudsley would be willing to allow Sir 
George Savage to see that if he desired to do so. 

He was very pleased the Association was meeting in this building to-day, and 
had Dr. Maudsley been alive he would have extended a W'arm welcome to the 
members. Last year the Section of Psychiatry of the Royal Society of Medicine 
met here, and Dr. Maudsley showed his kindly appreciation by asking that he 
might provide the refreshments. He would have been equally willing to do that 
on this occasion. He (the speaker) had nothing more to say than express his 
welcome to the building which constituted a great monument to Dr. Maudsley’s 
work and his philanthropic spirit. Maudsley’s literary work would last for a very 
long time. He read his books now with the greatest pleasure and profit; and if 
members would read his Mental Physiology they would see that its author was not 
only original and prescient, but he seemed to get a grasp of the whole of the 
literature on the subject, a grasp which was extraordinary: it was not a patchwork 
knowledge, such as many people’s knowledge was, but consisted of a solid fabric, 
woven together in one whole. 

The President said he was sure all those present very much appreciated the 
words which had been used by Sir George Savage and Lieut.-Col. Mott; and 

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certainly they would wish to thank Lieut-Col. Mott for his kind welcome. He 
asked the meeting to agree to the following resolution, which he would formally 
put from the chair : 

" That a vote of condolence be sent to the relatives of the recently deceased 
members of this Association, namely (the names already read out).” 

The resolution was agreed to by members rising in their places. 

Dr. Mott said there was present Dr. Henry Maudsley (Col. Maudsley), and he, 
Dr. Mott, would like to take the opportunity of proposing that he be made an 
Honorary Member of the Association, because he was a family representative of 
the great master who bore the same name. 

The President said the proposal which Col. Mott had just made would be 
received by the Nominations Committee at their first meeting. 

Paper. 

Lieut.-Col. F. W. Mott, M.B., F.R.S.: “ War Psychoses and Psychoneuroses.” 

There are two conditions in connection with shell-shock—commotion and 
emotion. In the old days, when th* soldier came into the hospital and one had 
to learn from him what had happened, it was all shell-shock. But since we have 
got the new Army Form, we know whether he was blown up or not. 1 had often 
had my suspicions that many of these cases were “ shell-shy.” Only those really 
have shell-shock who are blown up and lose consciousness, and there is evidence 
of a condition arising which may produce organic change. If there is commotional 
shock, there is always the possibility of emotional shock at the same time, and 
those two factors are often combined in a case. And then you have to consider, 
as of even greater importance, the make-up of the individual. If he is of psycho¬ 
pathic temperament, he will not stand the effect of either emotional or commotional 
shock in the same way as will a normal individual. Now, very much depends 
on whether the person who is the subject of shell-shock was in a closed space, or 
in an open space, when the shell burst. If a shell bursts in the open, there is 
plenty of room for the vibrations, the compression and decompression, which 
take place, to be lost, and in that case it is more likely to be emotional shock 
which has caused the man’s condition. For example, if a man is in a dug-out, or 
a “ pill-box,” or in a narrow trench, and a heavy shell bursts in it or on it, there are 
produced there all the effects of repercussion, and under these circumstances the 
explosion is more likely to cause physical changes in the man. I have questioned 
officers who were present on such occasions, and they have said that the men 
could be seen lying about dead in various attitudes, or in an unconscious condi¬ 
tion. In one case, that of a pill-box, a 9'2 in. naval gun had turned it up, and all 
the men who were inside it were killed, the shock having been tremendous. We 
know what happens when a bomb is dropped in the roadway; powdered glass is 
found all over the road, showing that there must be a tremendous air current 
caused by the explosion. The mischief is caused by decompression; it is that 
which is responsible for the changes seen in the brains of fatal cases which 1 am 
exhibiting. Those who are not killed by such an explosion in a dug-out have a 
pulse which is scarcely perceptible. Perhaps there is also bleeding from the nose 
and ears, the muscles are flaccid, perhaps they are in a hypotonic condition ; and 
in addition there is, possibly, incontinence of urine and of faces. Altogether, 
the resulting condition is one of marked collapse. When patients are in such a 
condition—conscious or semi-conscious—their perceptions are materially inter¬ 
fered with. Everything seems to them to be dark and depressing, and though 
they seem to apprehend what one’s questions are, it is difficult to ascertain what 
is their mental state. Perhaps their movements lack precision and are without 
purpose. Lumbar puncture is sometimes done at clearing stations, and it is then 
found that the fluid comes out under pressure. It may contain blood, and will 
contain more albumin than normal cerebro-spinal fluid, which is practically free 
from albumin. So lumbar puncture is a very useful way of dealing with the case 
therapeutically, as well as for diagnostic purposes. Afterwards, the patient always 
complains of severe headache ; there is nearly always tremor, also insomnia and 
dreams, generally of a terrifying nature. The following is an illustrative instance. 
An officer only remembered a flash of light when the shell burst; he had a vision 
of arms and legs flying in the air. He had complete retrograde and anterograde 
amnesia. He could not remember going to France, nor travelling up to the Front, 


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although he had written letters describing his journey and his experiences there. 
In these respects his memory was a complete blank, which could not be made 
good afterwards. When a man is blown up, he may have contusion as well, but 
I am not now speaking of those cases in which there is visible external injury 
sufficient to account for concussion, as many of the cases show. The whole wall 
of a dug-out may be blown out, or a beam in it may fall on a man, or it might hit 
him in the back. That accident will produce sufficient bruising to show that 
concussion is the cause of the symptoms, rather than being the condition which 
“ windage ” will sometimes produce. Windage as a factor has been a good deal 
disputed, but it is now generally recognised that if a shell bursts within a distance 
of 10 metres it is liable to produce these conditions. In the next room 1 shall be 
showing you sections from the first case of the kind which has been described. 
Unfortunately, in the fatal cases the notes are not very complete, and, of course, 
with large numbers of cases coming down from the Front, one can understand the 
difficulties of getting full notes. But it was stated in the notes that this particular 
man had, six months previously, been getting very nervous and apprehensive, 
though he was a good soldier. The day before he was evacuated a number of 
shells had burst near him, but had not knocked him out. But then there came 
the influence of repercussion. He was in a dug-out, and a large shell burst close to 
him, and he then became maniacal, as did many of these cases, without losing 
consciousness. And he evidently had visions of Germans attacking, because he 
constantly exclaimed, " Keep them back! " It became necessary to give chloro¬ 
form and morphia to quieten him. He was sent down from the Front to a base 
hospital, and next morning he awoke, and was, apparently, all right. Then he 
suddenly died. The post-mortem examination was made by Capt. Armstrong— 
an excellent pathologist—and he stated that the only condition found which was 
abnormal was the state of the lungs and the heart. The right side of the heart 
was markedly dilated, and both cavities were full of blood, and there was haemor¬ 
rhage into the lung. It is known that, when animals are exposed to these high 
explosives in a closed space, there ensue marked haemorrhages into the lung; in 
fact, the lung condition is a very serious one. Possibly such haemorrhage is due to 
the compression and decompression which take place. In this case, too, there is 
a little sub-pial haemorrhage, but not very much; I have seen as much following 
trauma, such as a burn. But when the nervous system is examined, one does not 
find the punctiform haemorrhages in the white matter of the brain which are to be 
seen in cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. It makes one think of the possi¬ 
bility, when a man is knocked over by a shell without sustaining visible injury, 
and is buried for some time, that he may have been gassed at the same time. If 
a shell has burst in a closed space, or if a mine has been exploded near, the 
carbon monoxide gas formed from imperfect oxidation would filter through the 
earth and poison the enclosed spaces, wherever they may be. Some of these cases 
die from the combined effect of shock and gas-poisoning. In this case, in the 
medulla, in the internal capsule, in the pons, and in the cortex of the brain— 
indeed, throughout the central nervous system—there are haemorrhages into the 
sheaths of the vessels. Under a microscope in the other room-will be seen a 
specimen showing a vessel in the median raphe of the medulla with a h;emorrhage 
into the sheath; it is close to the vagus accessorius nucleus, the one which 
controls the heart, and so that may have been the cause of the sudden death. 
The mania which he had 1 attribute, largely, to the condition of the blood-vessels 
of the brain. There was marked cortical ansemia, but great congestion of veins, 
and haemorrhages all through the brain substance. But the changes in the 
ganglion cells were very remarkable. There is not much change in the Nissl 
granules; those in the middle of the cortex, except in the vagus accessorius, are 
well preserved. And when the Nissl granules are seen in a normal state, the cells 
have, clearly, functioned normally. This man had not lost consciousness, but was 
in a maniacal state, due to exhaustion of the brain, following upon the anaemia, 
the venous congestion, and the other conditions found. He died suddenly, owing 
to the failure of the respiratory and cardiac nuclei. 

I am also showing another case, which I do not know much about, except that 
the man was brought down in a state of complete unconsciousness. The case was 
said to be one of shell-shock. There was no visible injury, and yet the corpus 
callosum, which forms the roof of the ventricles, was found to have been ruptured 

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through. Under the microscope in the next room I have placed a section of the 
white matter of the brain in this case, close to the point at which the rupture took 
place. All through that portion of the brain, haemorrhages are to be seen. In 
that patient every cell of the brain is now affected. The man never recovered 
consciousness. The Nissl granules and the cells of Purkinji in the cerebellum will 
be found to have disappeared. One of the commonest symptoms of neurasthenia, 
especially the shell-shock variety, are the tremors and the muscular weakness, as 
well as dizziness. The other case shows a much more marked change in the cells 
of Purkinji than in any other cells in the central nervous system ; it shows chemical 
change and the absence of Nissl granules. One may naturally ask whether the 
changes found in the cerebellum may not account for the tremors. The cerebellum 
acts as the organ of reinforcement; indeed, it is the organ of reinforcement, and if 
it is removed, asthenia occurs. The conditions which we found in these cases seem 
to point to loss of this reinforcing power on the part of the cerebellum. I put 
that forward as a possible hypothesis, based on some evidence. Crile held much 
the same view. Crile examined the central nervous system, as well as the endo¬ 
crine glands, in the case of a soldier who had experienced extraordinary hardships, 
having had a forced march of 1S0 miles, and been killed in the Battle of the Marne. 
Crile found in this case the same change in the cells of Purkinji which I have 
spoken about, and he associated it with that other theory concerning the adrenal 
glands which there is not time to enter into now. The preparations I am showing 
are interesting from two points of view. In one of them you will be able to see 
there is an increased vascularity of the brain without the changes in the nerve-cells 
which I have been describing. That is to say, there is venous congestion ; the 
man retains consciousness, but is in a state of mania, as patients so often are after 
shock. Sometimes they become dazed and wander away, and they have no 
correct idea of what they are doing. The other is the case of a man who was com¬ 
pletely unconscious and never regained consciousness at all. In such a case as the 
last-named you find much more extensive changes in the substance which we 
believe is the essential energy substance of the nerve-cells, namely, the kinetoplasm. 

That leads me to describe to you another class of case, of which we have had 
several examples here. I refer to the kind of case in which there is delirium, what 
is called " dream delirium.” These patients have day-dreams as well as night- 
dreams, and these terrifying dreams go on for months. They are usually of 
battle scenes ; perhaps a recurrent dream about some terrible experience they have 
passed through. You know such cases are not fit to be returned to the Front. 
But dreams come rather from emotional experiences. A man who is knocked out 
with commotion is not so likely to dream as is the man whose disability is due to 
emotion. Early in 1915 I had a man in the main hospital over the way, who was 
in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He had not been at the Front very 
long when he was sent as one of a company of thirty men to lepair barbed wire. 
A 17-in. shell burst among them and he was blown into a shell-pit some distance 
off. He was conscious, he scrambled out, and was unhurt. When he saw what had 
happened, he went down with emotional shock, and I have never seen a worse 
case; his eyes were staring, and his face wore an aspect of extreme horror. He 
was continually putting out his hands, and had visions of the sights he had seen. It 
took six months to get him well enough to be discharged. It was pure emotional 
shock. It was not the effect upon him of physical force, but what he saw that the 
force had done. 

Another class of case is this : A man is brought in, and he has a sort of mindless 
expression : he is, indeed, in a state of complete anergic stupor : he notices nothing, 
and apparently sees nothing. You may not be able to get answers to your 
questions, or if you do you soon know there is mental confusion. He does not 
apprehend what you are saying to him, and his associations, as to both time and 
place, are upset. His condition is very much like that which we see in civil life. 
But this further stage of complete anergic stupor and mindless expression, the 
patient taking no notice of anything, I have never seen before in war cases. And 
what is very interesting is the fact that when these men recover consciousness 
sufficiently for them to take a little interest in their surroundings, they behave just 
as children do ; they look at picture books, and they not only use the words which 
young children use, but the voice is modulated on the same juvenile standard. 1 
have full notes of two or three cases of that kind. After a lime they seem to 


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recover. Visitors here have said the condition was dementia prsecox, but I tell 
them the boy will get well, a view they do not accept. But they have got well. 
There is one case in particular. At first he sat in a crouched attitude, and took 
no notice of anybody. 1 got two soldiers to take an interest in him and take him 
about, and they did, and took a pride in trying to get him well. He began to 
look up a bit. The King's trumpeter came here, and he said, “ If I blow my 
trumpet I shall wake him up ! ” He blew very hard, but it did not come off. It 
took six months, but eventually he got well, and before he left here he was able 
to play a game of billiards. 1 think these cases, in the first stage, must show a 
considerable change of a functional character in the kinetoplasm of the nerve- 
cells. Some of the cases do not recover at all, but go on to permanent dementia. 
There was one case, that of a New Zealander, who was buried. We could get no 
history from him. He sat up and seemed mindless, and yet an expression seemed 
to come into his face. He performed scratching movements. He had been buried 
for a considerable time, and this movement of trying to scratch his way out had 
become stereotyped. 

These cases form an interesting study from a psychological point of view, because 
they show how strong are the instinctive reactions of defence. Nearly always in 
hysterical conditions we see defence against intolerable situations. A man is 
blown down by a shell explosion, and when he gets up he has a pain in his arm ; 
and instinctively he simulates hemiplegia, or brachial monoplegia, by auto- 
suggestion, and by it he gets out of an intolerable situation. He is sent back to a 
base hospital, but do you think he is going to get rid of it? He will not unless 
you persuade him. One of the best means of persuading these patients is to 
assure them that they are not now of much use as soldiers, but may be made use 
of in civil life. That serves as a fine tonic to begin with. Capt. Wilson is most 
successful in this way, by his own personal persuasive efforts. The personality of 
the individual makes an extraordinary difference in these cases: it is really a 
process of counter-suggestion. All our cases are not pure shell-shock by anv 
means. Among officers a large proportion arc pure shell-shock cases, but among 
the men there are cases of hysterical paralysis and other signs of hysteria. It is 
very important to rememher that there may be an organic basis, with a large 
functional halo, and we get cases of injury of nerves, and the man has been put up 
in a splint for some time. He has got an idea he is paralysed, and there is a 
little stiffness in the joints. That gets fixed in his mind. I think daily massage, 
electrifying, and sympathetic treatment is the worse course you can adopt in these 
cases. If you want to make the condition permanent, that is the way to do it. 
Vigorous counter-suggestion is best. We had three cases up from Croydon 
Military Hospital, dumb people; and after treating one, we made him shout to 
the next man to come in. It not only was good for that patient, but it had a 
splendid effect on the man coming in. And it is extraordinary how grateful these 
men are for what we can do for them. 

You will notice the black footprints on the floor; these are for exercises. A 
man has a spastic condition of his legs, gives a Babinski on both sides, but the 
greater part of his disability was functional. We knew it, and so we have removed 
that halo of functional disability, and he can now walk well. That is what we need 
to find out; how much is fur.ctional, how much organic. The French lay great 
stress upon this. They say, “ we diagnose the difference between organic and 
functional disease by the effect of treatment.” They treat the cases right at the 
Front, by faradism and persuasion, and they send 80 per cent, of their hysterical 
cases back, and are still doing so. We are getting far fewer of these cases than 
formerly, and in a letter I had from Sir Wilmot Herringham he said they are 
sending 60 per cent, to 80 per cent, back by treating them at the Front, not 
letting them get to the base and think about it; otherwise, they will fix it up. 
The sooner you get them under treatment the better. This illustrates the fact 
that you cannot make a soldier out of a psychopath, or out of a timid man. 
There was a man (named Hogg) who had been conscripted. This man was 
the son of an undertaker. The undertaker felt that the boy had not enough 
• courage, and in order to try to make him courageous he made him get into a 
coffin after he had constructed it: and his mother came at night wrapped in a 
sheet, to make him used to ghosts. Then the man died, and the brother came, 
and he said he must keep up the reputation, and he used to shut him in the room 


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with the corpse to encourage him. But it had no g«od effect. This lad was 
conscripted, and was sent to France. He managed to get through his shootingby 
a non-commissioned officer firing off his rounds. He had not done bomb-throwing. 
They gave him dummy-bombs, and he did well. Then he was sent up. The first 
time he got a live bomb he threw it into the air and fell down in a faint. He was of 
no use. Wc get these cases, which are of no use ; and it seems absurd to conscript 
those who are not only of no use, but are a positive danger when they get to 
France. I had a man who had been a congenital imbecile, B 3. A Travelling 
Board made him B 1, and then he was raised to A. He was back in a fortnight. 
It pays to go into the family and personal history of these cases. Capt. Wilson 
did that in 100 cases attending the clinic here, and 100 cases in the surgical wards 
in the hospital across the road. He found 80 per cent, of the neurasthenic and 
“ shell-shy 11 had somethiug in their history which showed they were neuropathic 
in some way, whereas only 20 per cent, of the surgical cases had such a history. 
Therefore, the most important factor in connection with insanity is the inborn 
tendency of the individual. We talk of “exhaustion psychosis,” as if exhaustion 
will produce this condition. There were 10,000 Serbian prisoners, exposed to the 
most terrible conditions which could be imagined—starvation, typhus fever, ex¬ 
posure to wet and cold—and only five of them became insane. And the German 
papers have taken something away which shows they appreciate the truth of what 
1 am telling you. 

Prof. Marinesco, of Bucharest, is showing extremely interesting specimens of 
painful neuromata. After an amputation the man will go on all right sometimes, 
and then the stump will be so painful that he cannot wear an artificial leg. We 
shall know how to treat it when we know what the cause is, and Prof. Marinesco 
has shown what the cause is. He has shown that new nerve fibres grow into the 
tendon and into the muscle, and even into the walls of the arteries ; and where they 
grow there is inflammation. If a tendon moves in an inflamed structure with a 
nerve in it, it will cause great pain. Therefore, based upon that, what is done now 
is to pull down the nerve a good way, and cut it out; and possibly some micro¬ 
organisms are in the tissues and lie about in foci, because you can see little nodules 
of inflammation, like tubercle. And the Professor is showing some causes of irri¬ 
tation in some vegetable fibres : they are being eaten up by the giant cells around. 
They are beautiful preparations, and I will ask you to look at them. 

The President said it seemed unfortunate that the Association could not spend 
a week at this hospital, instead of an hour or two. He was sure those present 
had listened to Col. Mott with the greatest possible interest and pleasure, and one 
only regretted the shortness of time available for the discussion of this valuable 
matter. He, however, invited any who wished to do so, to bring forward points 
on which further elucidation was sought. 

Major Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones said he was sorry to have been unable to 
reach the meeting in time to hear the whole of Col. Mott’s address. One knew 
that in shell-shock one saw a good deal of muscular movement, such as tremors, 
involuntary loss of control, and lack of co-ordination, particularly when any unusual 
sound was made. He would like to know whether Col. Mott could give any kind 
of physiological explanation for this. Especially during an air-raid, these patients 
could scarely be controlled, and many people tried to do more than was necessary. 
Why, in particular, should sound re-start these tremors ? He had spoken to 
several anatomists on the subject, and they suggested that the sound waves were 
conveyed on from the membrane across the middle ear to the stapes, then on to 
the endolymph of the internal ear; that the auditory nerve divided into two in 
the internal ear, the vestibular branch going to the semicircular canals and having 
to do with static equilibrium, the other branch being the true acoustic or auditory 
nerve, and that the same vibrations which were communicated to the perilymph 
of the one were also communicated to the perilymph of the other. He did not 
knowjwhether that was the real explanation, but it did suggest a connection between 
loss of self-control and sound. And he had noticed that in a certain number of 
cases there was nystagmus, and perhaps Col. Mott would suggest an anatomical 
basis for that. He had also heard—he did not know whether it was the true 
explanation—that the roots of the motor oculi were very closely connected with 
the nuclei of the vestibular-nerve, and that vibrations communicated to one would 
be likely to affect the other. 


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Dr. Sidney Coupland said he would like to show members rough diagrams 
which he unearthed from the dust of forty years on the previous day. It concerned 
Col. Mott's interesting pathological surmise as to the occurrence of shell-shock 
and the possible influence of carbon-monoxide poisoning. In the Proceedings of 
the Pathological Section of the Royal Society of Medicine last year there was 
an exceedingly interesting paper in which the author said, in almost as many 
words, that the occurrence of punctiforin haemorrhages was pathognomic of 
carbonic oxide poisoning, though not absolutely. The author of that paper 
guarded himself by the statement that he had never met with such a condition 
from purely asphyxia! states unless associated with carbonic oxide poisoning. 
Forty years ago, when he (the speaker) was making post-mortem examinations at 
Middlesex Hospital, he had a most remarkable case of a kind of which he had not 
had another example since, namely, of punctiform haemorrhages in the white 
matter of the brain, in which the only factor could have been asphyxia, as 
carbon monoxide poisoning could not have entered into the case. The case was 
that of a young woman, aet. 21, who was admitted with acute bronchitis. She 
w'as very ill, and died within a week from her admission. When she had been in 
the hospital two days she became semi-comatose, and then deepened into coma, 
and during the last twenty-four hours of life her temperature was 106° F., or 
nearly. At the post-mortem examination, in addition to anaemia of the brain and 
lungs, on making sections he found what was to him then the unique condition of 
a number of vascular points, which at the time he considered to be due to con¬ 
gestion, and which would be washed away in water. These points were in the 
centrum ovale; there were no similar points in the grey matter, nor in the 
medullary areas. Moreover, they could not be washed away. The brain substance 
was firm, and there was an orange-tinted discoloration around the sections. 
Low microscopic power showed them to be minute haemorrhages. As he regarded 
that as a remarkable condition, he brought specimens to a meeting of the Patho¬ 
logical Society, but could get no explanation of the condition. His own idea was 
that it was merely the effect of passive congestion with venous stasis carried to 
an extreme degree, and that such a condition might occur much more frequently 
than it was supposed to. He laid stress on the fact that in that case there was no 
reason to suspect carbon monoxide poisoning. He thought that case might be 
germane to the present discussion, and if it were so, it shows that acute asphyxia 
due to burial may not require the intervention of gassing, in the case of these 
soldiers, in order to produce in them this pathological effect. 

He would also like to ask whether the occurrence of the air-raids on London is 
having any deleterious effect in retarding the convalescence of the sufferers from 
shell-shock—He understood from Sir Robert Armstrong-Jonesthat such is the case 
—for if so, it becomes a serious question whether an effort ought not to be made 
to remove these patients to areas where such raids did not occur. 

Dr. E. Prideaux said he would like to ask one or two practical questions as to 
treatment for shell-shock. The first was as to how the difficulty was to be got 
over of allowing these psychopaths to go back to the trenches. He would like to 
know whether there were any means to prevent such men being passed for the 
front line by travelling medical boards, the members of which were liable to pass 
men into a higher category. 

In the actual treatment of the cases he did not think sufficient attention had 
been paid to the fact that these objective disorders could be cured at once. 
Aphonia, mutism, and stammering could be cured in five to ten minutes by some 
form of suggestion. In France the medical officers had been using stammering 
classes, and he would like to hear Col. Mott’s views on that point. 

He believed that the ideas underlying the treatment were wrong. Stammering 
was fixed in the patient's sub-conscious mind, and it became an obsession, and, as 
such, it was extremely difficult to cure. He had been using hypnotic suggestion, 
but he did not think it was of moment what particnlar form of suggestion was 
employed so long as it was strong enough for the disorder if objective. But in 
regard to subjective disorders, such as dreams and night-terrors, there he con¬ 
sidered that hypnotic suggestion was useful and valuable. He asked whether 
Col. Mott would make any observations on that point. He had had a good deal 
of experience with stammerers himself, and he found that stammering following 
shell-shock could be cured at once by a strong enough suggestion. 


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Dr. Edwards said he would like to ask whether, if one could eliminate the 
emotional side from shell-shock, shell-shock as such would exist at all, in the 
opinion of Col. Mott. From that gentleman’s writings, and from others, one 
gathered that the condition of shell-shock was, largely, an alteration of blood. 
There were sudden changes of pressure in the man's surroundings, and mutism 
indicated a psychic change. But in caisson disease, in which pressures were 
suddenly changed, and even where men were employed in firing big guns, one had 
no emotional state to face, but obviously there were marked and sudden changes 
in blood pressure, associated with percussion and repercussion, and this seemed to 
go to the root of the conditions of shell-shock. Therefore he asked whether, if 
there were no emotional side—the sense of expectancy, of dread, of fear—such as 
was to he expected in war conditions, shell-shock would exist at all, or whether it 
was purely a mechano-physical process. 

Major Eager asked whether Col. Mott experienced any difficulty in differen¬ 
tiating between the so-called shell-shock and the condition of general paralysis of 
the insane. He had himself had 4,000 cases, chiefly instances of psychosis, mental 
conditions, whereas those which Col. Mott got seemed to be more functional cases. 
But he had been struck by the fact that cases had been sent over from France 
diagnosed as shell-shock which had been eventually, without any doubt, proved to 
be cases of general paralysis of the insane. He had also had cases sent over to 
him from France diagnosed as general paralysis which he regarded as cases of 
shell-shock. Another interesting series were those in which, to his mind, the 
symptoms of shell-shock had been superimposed on those of early general paralysis. 
And he had collected records, which he hoped to publish later, that showed it was 
very important, nowadays, to consider the differential diagnosis of shell-shock 
from general paralysis. He had seen cases of supposed shell-shock which showed 
the usual physical signs of general paralysis, in the tremors, in both tongue and 
face, the increase of the deep reflexes, and delusional states, even going on to 
delusions of grandeur. The pupil signs and the result of the Wassermann test he 
regarded as very important. He could support the impression mentioned by 
Col. Mott, that some of the cases seemed to strongly simulate instances of dementia 
prsecox. One case was sent to him as dementia priecox, but the symptoms cleared 
up in a most remarkable way. 

Suggestion he had found very useful in the class of case under discussion, also 
the hypnotic form of suggestion, particularly with patients having functional 
paralysis. The early treatment now being used at the Front was a great help. 

In regard to a further point mentioned by Col. Mott as to unfit men being passed, 
he had had a few cases of hydrocephalic imbeciles having been sent into the 
Army; such cases should certainly not be accepted by recruiting medical officers. 
He had had patients sent to him who could not read or write, and whom one could 
only discharge as unfit, but there was always the danger that they might be again 
swept up by an energetic recruiting sergeant and passed by a medical officer back 
into the Army. 

Lieut.-Col. Mott (in reply) said, in answer to Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, that 
tremors were dealt with by him before that gentleman came. In the two cases of 
which he was showing specimens, there were changes in the Purkinji cells, and he 
also made reference to the cerebellum being the organ of reinforcement. It was 
well known that the labyrinth was seriously affected in these cases, and the French 
relied on voltaic vertigo in ascertaining whether a case was one of shell-shock or 
not. With regard to hyperacusis, he could not say whether the theory put forward 
by Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones was the correct one, but there was a connection 
between the labyrinth and the cerebellum. He believed the muscular weakness, 
the fatigue and tremors were very likely connected with this great organ of 
reinforcement, the cerebellum. 

He felt much indebted to the same speaker for calling his attention to an 
omission ; he had not alluded to the fact that one of the most certain signs in these 
subjects was the disturbance caused to them by loud noises. He recently had a 
case which was extraordinary in that way, because it so well illustrated the defensive 
reflexes. This particular man had a peculiar “ dodging reflex ” : he (the speaker) 
went near to him and clapped his hands, and immediately he put out his hand in 
a protective way and ran -away, all the time seeming to push something off from 
himself. There was no doubt, from the tics and the spasms which these men got, 
that they were dodging shells stimulated by the unconscious mind. 


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With regard to dreams, many of the conditions seen were the experiences the 
men had had at night coming to the threshold of day, and one found these men in 
the mornings looking anxious. He had had cases in which there was mania, 
owing to hallucinations. 

He had been interested in the drawings exhibited by Dr. Coupland, because if 
he had seen them earlier he would have mentioned the fact in his lectures. In the 
last paper he wrote, published in the Proceedings of the Pathological Section of 
the Royal Society of Medicine, he mentioned that other conditions would cause 
these punctiform haemorrhages besides carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon mon¬ 
oxide acted because of its power of de-oxygenation. He had never seen another 
case of that, though he had seen a number of cases of status epilepticus. He had 
mentioned why he thought the cause should be in the terminal arterioles of the 
white matter of the brain. There was a hyaline thrombosis, such as had been 
shown to exist in other conditions, such as malaria and measles. That reminded 
him of a case he had of gas poisoning, in which there was marked asphyxia. 
There the vessels were found to be blocked with blood-pigment, which had been 
produced by the destruction of the ha:moglobin. Thus both the asphyxial and the 
embolic factor operated in these cases. 

Dr. Edwards asked whether, if the emotional element could be eliminated, there 
would beany shell-shock at all. There was a difference of opinion in Germany, 
in France, and in England on this subject. He did not think anybody had yet 
described changes in the brain such as would be seen in his specimens, with 
hemorrhages all through the substance of the brain. It must be remembered that 
nerve-cells were not hard structures ; they were delicate colloidal structures, and 
if there was enough physical shock to burst blood-vessels by the decompression, it 
might be that this caused such a vibration of the particles in the nerve-cells that 
shock was produced. Probably it was true that it was the condition of the vascular 
centre which caused the shock. It might be a case of anaemia, and, of course, the 
emotional shock might be brought about simply by the production of anaemia in 
the brain, a temporary condition, For every case of true shell-shock one met with 
ten cases of emotional shock. 

He had been very much interested in hearing Major Eager’s experience, because 
it was based on such a large number of cases, and what Major Eager had said 
corresponded entirely with the results in the more limited experience which he (the 
speaker) had had. 

With regard to the difficulty of diagnosing shell-shock in cases of early general 
paralysis, many cases he had seen proved how great that difficulty was; indeed, in 
some cases he was doubtful whether it was general paralysis at all. A case in 
point was that of an officer, a first-rate man, who had done excellent service, and 
who developed mania. He was found to have unequal pupils, and sluggish reaction 
to light. But Col. Mott had seen that in ordinary shell-shock cases, especially 
those in which there was a history of gassing. The blood of this patient, however, 
was examined, and a positive Wassermann obtained. Under ordinary circum¬ 
stances he did not attach undue importance to a positive Wassermann unless he 
knew who had carried the test out. But if one obtained a positive Wassermann 
in the cerebro-spinal fluid, that meant something, and he had found that this was 
the only really reliable method of determination. In many of these cases no one 
save an expert, and only he after the most careful examination, would know that 
there was anything the matter with the patient, and, in the absence of definite 
symptoms, the patient might even be sent back to the Front. He did not wish, on 
the present occasion, to speak of mistakes made in recruiting, but he had seen cases 
of quite obvious tabes which had been existing for years admitted into the Army. 
Those cases had Argyll-Robertson pupils, pains in the legs, and gastric and other 
crises. One man in this condition was sent off to Egypt, had a fit while in that 
country, and was sent back again. That kind of thing, of course, was not right. 
On the other hand, people who were said to have tabes were found not to have 
that disease at all. He could narrate a remarkable instance of that A man was 
supposed, owing to the absence of knee-jerk, to have tabes, and he was, accord- 
ingly, declared to be unfit for the Army. His wife went to work in a munition 
factory, and, when asked why her husband was out of the Army, said he had got 
locomotor ataxy. She was, thereupon, told that she had better leave, as she was 
infected. Therefore, the woman had to go and have her blood tested. 


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In another respect Major Eager’s experience coincided with his own, namely, 
that cases which appeared to be so demented that they might readily be taken for 
dementia praecox, did recover completely. Many of those present who saw such 
cases might think they were entirely irrecoverable, but eventually they did get quite 
w.ell. 

With regard to Major Eager’s reference to exhaustion psychosis, he would like 
to know whether that gentleman regarded this psychosis as really due to 
exhaustion. These cases were so diagnosed when possibly most of them had some 
psychopathic constitutional tendency. 

Dr. Prideaux had made reference to hypnotism in the treatment of these cases. 
He, Col. Mott, had not preached hypnotism ; he preferred to arrive at the result 
he wanted by means of counter-suggestion and other methods than hypnotism. 
Whether success or otherwise was attained depended entirely on the personality 
of the individual and the interest he took in the work. No doubt hypnotism, 
when practised by a strong personality, would give good results, just as others 
obtained favourable ones by counter-suggestion. 

Prof. Marinesco (of Bucharest) gave a microscopic demonstration. 


IRISH DIVISION. 

The Spring Meeting of the Irish Division was held at the Stewart Institution 
on Thursday, April 4th, by the kind invitation of Dr. Rainsford. 

Members present: Dr. Drapes, Dr. Nolan, Dr. J. O’C. Donelan, Dr. Reding- 
ton, Dr. Gavan, Dr. Mills, Dr. D'Arcy Benson, Dr. Rutherford, Dr. Costello, Dr. 
Leeper (Hon. Secretary). 

Dr. Nolan having been moved to the chair, 

Letters of apology for unavoidable absence were received from Dr. Hetherington, 
of Londonderry, and Dr. T. A. Greene, of Carlow. 

Letters of thanks for the expression of sympathy from the members of the Irish 
Division were received from Mrs. Graham, widow, and also from Dr. Samuel 
Graham, of Antrim Asylum, on the part of the relatives, of the late Dr. W. Graham, 
of Purdysburn House, Belfast. 

A letter was read from Dr. Cole, Hon. Secretary Parliamentary Committee of the 
Association, stating that a Sub-Committee to consider amendments of the English 
Lunacy Law was appointed, and, at the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee 
on February 21st, Dr. Cole was directed to write to the Divisional Secretaries in 
Scotland and Ireland to suggest that, if the Division deemed it expedient, members 
of the Parliamentary Committee in their respective divisions might be formed 
into committees to consider the promotion of changes in lunacy legislation in 
their countries, such committees to have the power of co-opting others interested 
in the subject and to be deemed Sub-Committees of the Parliamentary Committee, 
to which Committee they would in due course report. The Chairman stated that 
this was a most important letter and one in which most of the members in 
happier and more settled times would be keenly interested. Dr. Rainsford and 
Dr. Drapes also stated that they were much interested in the matter, and upon 
some discussion the Hon. Secretary was directed to place the matter on the 
Agenda as a primary subject for the consideration of the Irish Division at the next 
meeting in July. 

The Meeting next proceeded to elect an Hon. Secretary and two Representative 
Members of Council for the ensuing year. 

On a ballot being taken, the Chairman announced that Dr. Leeper had been 
elected Hon. Secretary, and Dr. Mills, of Ballinasloe, and Dr. Nolan, of Down¬ 
patrick, had been elected as Representative Members of Council for the ensuing 
year. Dr. Rainsford and Dr. Gavin were elected Examiners for the Certificate of 
the Association in Mental Diseases. 

The following dates of meetings were fixed for ensuing year: 

Autumn Meeting : Thursday, November 7th, 1918. 

Spring Meeting : Thursday, April 3rd, 1918. 

Summer Meeting : Thursday, July 3rd, 1918. 

It was decided to accept the kind invitation of Dr. Nolan to hold the Summer 
Meeting of the “ Irish Division ” at Downpatrick on July 4th. 

Dr. Rainsford next read his communication on “ A Review of the Admissions 


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of Imbeciles of the Mongolian Type during the last Twenty Years,” and exhibited 
several most interesting cases showing the physical and mental symptoms of this 
condition. 

A Review of the Cases of Mongolian Imbecility Admitted to the 
Stewart Institution during the Past Twenty Years. 

The subject of Mongolian imbecility is one that has always greatly interested 
me. Possibly the fact that I know so little about it has been one of the causes 
for this interest; at the same time one recognises that there must be some well 
ascertained cause—could we but find it—which results in producing a class of 
cases possessing such well-marked features and easily recognisable. Dr. Shuttle- 
worth, in a paper on this subject, read before the British Medical Association 
in Belfast, 1909, bases his account of the affection on a study of about 350 cases 
seen by him in the course of an extensive experience in this speciality. 

His description of the type is very clear. He says: “ Without going so far as 
to adopt Dr. Langdon Down's theory of retrogression of ethnic type in such 
cases, I think we shall admit, looking at the photographs of children now commonly 
designated Mongoloid or Mongolian imbeciles, that though by birth members’of 
the Caucasian (or Indo-European) family they favour in a remarkable way the 
features of the Mongolian race.” He adds that though so designated they shoiv 
striking divergences from the real Mongol or Kalmuck. In the Mongoloid, the 
face, though broad, has not the same prominence of cheek-bones ; the hair is not 
usually black as in the real Mongol, though straight, wiry, and often scanty; the 
obliquely placed and often almond-shaped palpebral fissures, with upward and 
outward trend and usually far apart, the flat-bridged snub-nose, with expanded 
outward turned alae-nasi, and the tendency to epicanthic folds, are the most 
noticeable signs of similarity. Marked flattening of the occipital region is an 
almost constant feature. 

The shape and appearance of the hands is most characteristic; shortened, 
club-shaped fingers, generally blue; hand rather square and stumpy; and some 
observers have described an incurvation of the little finger, and sometimes relative 
shortness of thumb and little finger. 

As regards the general appearance, the most striking feature is the strong family 
resemblance in the cases. 1 have nearly always been able, in the case of each new 
Mongolian admission, to see a well-marked likeness to some case or cases admitted 
previously, and in the photographs which I have seen in various monographs on 
the subject I could almost imagine that cases under my care had been taken as 
illustrations. 

Next to the face and hands, the appearance of the tongue is most characteristic. 
It may be described as always large, sometimes apparently too big for the mouth, 
venous coloured, with marked transverse or irregular fissures, and hypertrophy of 
the circumvallate papillae. So general is this, that it may be said to be pathog¬ 
nomonic of the fully developed Mongolian type. Deformities of palate are 
frequently, if not invariably, present. Dr. Fennell says the deformity he found 
most marked among his cases was that of a contracted vault, with the sides sloping 
more steeply in front, so that an anterior plateau is formed, usually, but not 
always ridged, on the median line. 

The circulation is always defective, and the clubbing of the fingers and toes 
with the general cyanosed appearance points to venous engorgement dependent 
upon some central circulatory defect. Hence such cases are always prone to 
severe chilblains, and the extremities are always cold. So frequent is this here 
that we invariably treat all bad cases of chilblain of feet in these cases by rest in 
bed, the foot of the bedstead being raised on blocks, and we find that in this way 
the affection is speedily cured. 

I have never had an opportunity—much as I have desired it—of performing a 
post-mortem on a Mongolian case. All the appearances would lead me to say that 
there must be some congenital valvular defect in the heart, most likely on the 
right side. Dr. Fennell records 3 cases of congenital heart deformity, and cases 
of patent foramen ovale, and defects in the interventricular septum have been 
described. The thymus and thyroid glands have not, as a rule, been found 
abnormal. 


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As regards the frequency with which this type is found, it is stated that in 
England 5 per cent, of all imbeciles are of this type. My record comprises about 
30 cases out of all admissions (355) since 1898, a percentage of almost 8.5 per 
cent. It is said to be more common in England than in the other European 
countries, as in France. Among650 children in industrial institutions only 8 were 
Mongols; in Germany the proportion is about 1 per cent., and an eminent Italian 
authority states that he had seen only 20 cases in Italy in seven years. 

I have not been able to ascertain from inquiry much that would help to 
elucidate the causation of this peculiar condition. A history of tuberculosis is 
most uncommon, and most of my cases have been members of a family, the other 
members of which have been strong and healthy, and of healthy parentage. I do 
not think premature birth is an important factor, nor has syphilis much bearing 
on the condition. 

The general opinion from study of the cases by various experts seems to be 
that they are essentially “ unfinished ” children, and that their peculiar appearance 
is really a phase of “foetal life.” Dr. John Thomson has termed them fittingly 
“ ill-finished,” pointing out that something goes wrong in their early intra-uterine 
life,' probably as early as the second month. Dr. Shuttletvorth lays down (1) 
T-hat the outstanding point is the advanced age of the mother at the birth of the 
child. (2) They are frequently the last born often of a long family, and that 
exhaustion by a long series of previous pregnancies is an important factor in 
causation. (3) That any depressive toxic influences may, in younger women, 
produce reproductive exhaustion. In fine, that the Mongolian child is brought 
into the world at a stage of faatal growth below normal, and that his remarkable 
facial and other peculiarities are the result of this. 

It is well to remember that there are undoubtedly degrees of Mongolianism, 
and that one must be prepared from an experience of the type to say how much or 
how little of such type any given case shows. This is important from the point 
of view of prognosis. For though some writers record cases as living to fairly 
advanced years, and being so developed by educational training as to be able to 
hold their own with the more normal members of the community, our experience 
here shows that few—if any—are capable of much development, can seldom do 
any work except of the lightest character, and seldom live beyond twenty-one 
years. At the same time, viewed from the mental standpoint, they are by no 
means the worst class of case we admit. Almost all of them possess speech, 
though their voices are commonly characteristically husky ; they can answer simple 
questions, tell their names and where they come from, carryout simple directions, 
attend to their own wants, and do not, as a rule, demand much attendance. They 
have, as a rule, a musical instinct, drill and class-singing appeal to them strongly. 
Dr. Fennell describes them finely as children of much promise but small per¬ 
formance. They are never physically robust, and so are not able for any hard 
outdoor work, but in some cases we have found them useful for light housework, 
and they can run messages, and even help to look after the feebler members of 
the flock. 

With reference to my own cases, I find that I have admitted in the last twenty 
years 30 cases of Mongolian imbecility out of a total admission of 355. There 
fore, 8 5 per cent, of the total admissions were of this type. This is a higher 
percentage than is generally noticed by most observers. Of my 30 cases, 19 were 
male and 11 female, and there certainly does seem to be a larger proportion of 
this type among the male inmates. Of the 30 thus admitted, 4—3 males and 

1 female—are still in residence here, and you will see them to-day. Of the other 
26, 17 died in the institution, the causes of death being pulmonary tuberculosis, 
3: bronchitis or broncho-pneumonia, 10; 2 died of tuberculous meningitis, 1 of 
meningitis from middle-ear disease, and 1 of heart disease. Of the remaining 9, 

2 were removed home, dying of tuberculous peritonitis; 1 in a very feeble state, 
with feet gangrenous, the mother refusing consent to any operation ; 2 taken home 
in last stage of pulmonary tuberculosis ; 2 were removed in feeble health without 
any very marked lesion ; 2 only went home in tolerably good health, and are, as 
far as I know, alive. Of the 17 deaths, the average age at death was 13'jj- years, 
and average duration of residence 35 Jf months, almost exactly three years. 

The most dangerous time of the year for these cases is undoubtedly the first 
three months. The harsh north and east winds seem to try their vitality severely, 


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and when they get bronchitis it is nearly always fatal. The form most usual is 
either capillary bronchitis or broncho-pneumonia, and no treatment seems to have 
the least beneficial effect. 

It is remarkable that, as far as I can remember, not one of these 30 cases was 
an epileptic, and I think epilepsy is not common among the Mongolians. None 
of them suffered from any form of paralysis, and, though some of them walked 
feebly, it was rather due to general weakness than to any deformity. 

I think you will agree with me in saying that when called to see any such type 
of case a guarded prognosis should be given, and it is to my mind most unlikely 
that any well marked case will live beyond twenty years of age. They require 
moderate exercise, mild but nourishing diet, and plenty of warm clothing. They 
should be kept during winter months in warm surroundings, and never be allowed 
out in very cold weather. As I have mentioned, they suffer severely from chilblains 
on both hands and feet. These extremities should, therefore, be kept well wanned, 
and if the feet get particularly bad, the chilblains having broken, they are best 
treated in bed, the foot of the bedstead being raised on blocks to help the venous 
circulation. I should mention I never found thyroid treatment of the least benefit. 

The members freely discussed Dr. Rainsford’s most interesting paper, and it was 
stated that the large numbers of Mongolian idiots observed and treated at the 
Stewart Institution were interesting and might be explained by the unique position 
of the place as receiving the patients from all over the country, there being no 
similar institution existing in Ireland. 

The Chairman next asked the permission of the meeting to bring forward a 
matter of urgency that had arisen in connection with the unrest and recent conduct 
of the attendants in certain Irish District asylums. 

A Resolution, proposed by Dr. Redington and seconded by Dr. Mills, express¬ 
ing the cordial thanks of the meeting to Dr. Rainsford tor his interesting paper and 
for his kindness and hospitality, terminated the proceedings. 


NORTHERN AND MIDLAND DIVISION. 

The Spring Meeting of the Northern and Midland Division was held, by the 
kind invitation of Dr. Cowen, at the County Asylum, Rainhill, Lancashire, on 
Thursday, April 18th, 1918. 

In the absence of Dr. Cowen, who was unfortunately ill, Lt.-Col. E. White, was 
voted to the chair and presided. 

The following thirteen members were present: Drs. R. Eager, Major, R.A.M.C.; 

B. Hart, R.A.M.C.; P. D. Hunter, Lt., R.A.M.C.; N. Lavers, Lt., R.A.M.C.; 
E. Mapother, Capt., R.A.M.C.; S. Edgar Martin, Capt., R.A.M.C.; E. Mont¬ 
gomery, Capt., R.A.M.C.; O. P. Napier Pearn, Capt., R.A.MC.; E. F. Reeve; 

C. T. Street; G. A. Watson; E. W. White, Lt.-Col., R.A.M.C.; T. S. Adair; 
and three visitors—Capt. Benson Evans, R A.M.C., Major Geoffrey Ramsbottom, 
R.A.M.C., and Dr. F. W. Thurnam. A number of apologies for non attendance 
were received. 

(1) The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. 

(2) A ballot was taken for Wilfred Winnall Horton, M.D.Edin., Medical Super¬ 
intendent, Wye House Asylum, Buxton, recommended by Drs. Legge, F. W. Mott, 
and T. S. Adair as an ordinary member of the Association, and he was unanimously 
elected. 

(3) Dr. T. Stewart Adair was re-elected Secretary to the Division. 

(4) Dr. J. W. Geddes and Dr. H. J. Mackenzie were elected Representative 
Members of Council. 

(5) The arrangement for the Autumn Meeting was left to the Secretary, and the 
kind invitation of Dr. Geddes to hold the Spring Meeting, 1919, at Middlesbrough 
was cordially accepted. Dr. Street kindly offered to see what he could do for 
the Autumn Meeting at Haydock Lodge. 

(6) Major Eager, R.A.M.C., then read a paper entitled, “A Record of the First 
Twelve Months’ Admissions to the Mental Section of the Lord Derby War 
Hospital.” The paper, though somewhat lengthy, was very interesting, and showed 
by statistical figures the movement of the cases admitted, as well as the percentages 


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of the various forms of insanity involved. The paper was illustrated by the 
description of a large number of typical cases. 

(7) Dr. G. A. Watson read a paper by Dr. Cowen and himself on " Pellagra.” 
He gave an outline of the disease as met with in asylums, with particular reference 
to case* that had occurred at Rainhill, and illustrated it with a large number of 
lantern slides and photographs. The pathological changes in the cerebral cortex 
were particularly well indicated. 

Unfortunately the meeting had to come to a close before the whole of the 
programme could be got through. 

A very interesting demonstration was given by Dr. Watson in the laboratory 
and museum in the forenoon. 

A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Dr. Cowen for his kind hospitality, and 
sympathy expressed with him in his present illness. 


EXAMINATION FOR NURSING CERTIFICATE. 

Final Examination, November, 1917. 

List of Questions. 

1. Describe the sympathetic nervous system. What function does it perform ? 

2. Explain the following terms as applied to a fracture : (a) Simple, (h) Com¬ 
pound. ( c ) Comminuted, (it) Impacted, (e) Complicated. 

3. What are the chief waste materials of the body, and what organs are con¬ 
cerned in their removal? 

4. What symptoms would lead you to suppose that a patient might be suffering 
from pulmonary tuberculosis ? Describe the precautions which should be taken 
to prevent the spread of the disease. 

5. State the important points to be observed on the admission of a patient to an 
asylum. 

6. How would you manage a patient suffering from delirium tremens ? 

7. State what is meant by the terms—(a) Obsession. ( b ) Hallucination, 
(r) Illusion. Give examples of each. 

8 . Describe in detail the various stages of an epileptic fit. What mental 
changes may occur in an epileptic patient before the onset of a fit ? 

Preliminary Examination, November, 1917. 

List of Questions. 

1. Describe the symptoms and treatment of—(1) A fracture. (2) A disloca¬ 
tion. (3) A sprain. 

2. Name and give the position of the cranial bones. 

3. What is meant by voluntary and involuntary muscle ? Give an example of 
each. 

4. (a) To what class of poisons does belladonna, vitriol, strychnine belong ? 
(b) State signs and symptoms of a poisonous dose in each instance. 

5. State the differences in the character of the blood of, and manner of bleeding 
from, a freshly-cut vein and artery. 

6. How do you differentiate between an apoplectic and a fainting fit? What 
treatment would you adopt in each case ? 

7. Give a list of the functions of the skin ; describe in full how the skin assists 
in regulating the temperature. 

8. Describe some of the difficulties in ventilating an asylum day-room as 
compared with an ordinary sitting-room. 

List of Successful Candidates. 

Final Examination, November, 1917. 

Denbigh. —Robert Smith, John Davies. 

Essex, Brentwood. —Laura Louisa Parsons, Ethel Rose Pickett, Elizabeth L. 
Rheinlander, Alice Emily Redman. 


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1918.] notes and news. 243 

Banning Heath. —Ada F. Wratten, Annie M. Franklin (distinction), Ethel 
Gould. 

West Sussex. — Kate A. Charles, Olive G. Williams, Joseph T. Nicholson, 
Edward Betts. 

Cheddleton. —Archer William Sunderland, Gwladys Jones, Sophie Louise Grey. 

Stafford.— Jessie Woodfin (distinction). 

Derby Borough. —Lucy Griffin (distinction), Mildred A. Coulson, Norah May 
Murrell. 

Leicester Borough. —Catherine.Theresa Lavin, Florence E. Ecob, Martha E. 
Loane. 

Norwich City. —Jessie A. Holmes, Florence M. Palmer, Caroline E. Smith. 

Bethlem. —Edith Earls, Violet A. Birks. 

Camberwell House. —Grace E. Luckhurst, Emma M. Harden, Margaret Stephens. 

Retreat, York. —Jessie Scott Macgregor, Edith Kelly, Rachel A. Morley, Dorothy 
Bumby (distinction), Aileen D. Hume, Isabella M. Huggard, Frances Newton 
(from Bootham). 

St. Andrew's. —Andrew Short. 

Pietermaritzburg. —Eleanor M. Richardson (distinction). 

Federated Malay. —Mutta Kannapathippillai, Hilda May Joseph. 

Aberdeen Royal. — Isabella A. M. Shand (distinction), Mary D. Taylor, Caroline 
M. Lorimer, Williamina Taylor, Jessie Craig, Flora Pirie. 

Aberdeen District. —Charlotte B. Sherriffs, John Smith, Jane A. G Connon. 

Edinburgh Royal. —Mary A. Duncan. 

Fife and Kinross. —Annie J. McIntosh, Jessie Nicoll (distinction), Mary C. 
Fraser, Andrew Paterson. 

Gartloch. —Christina Neill, Agnes E. Anderson, Annie Milne, Daniel Kelly. 

Inverness. —Beatrice E. Montgomery. 

Lanark. —Flora McD. Baillie. 

Melrose. —Peter Sinclair. 

Murray. —Margaret Henderson, Mary J. Meldrum. 

Montrose. —Jessie G. Paton. 

Hawkhead. —Elizabeth Lyon Alexander, Annie N. Gilmour, Ida R. List. 

Stirling District. —Edith B. Roberts, Hugh McBride (distinction), Mary Anna 
Clark (distinction). 

Larbert Institution. —Catherine Bryden, Isobel Taylor. 

St. Patrick's. —Sarah M. McCready, Margarite C. Nugent. 

Richmond. —Patrick Hall, Henry Nugent, Margaret McGloin, Jane Keogh, 
Margaret Clarke. 

Londonderry. —Susanna Collins. 

Portrane. —Caroline S. Noble. 

Omagh .—Rebecca Morrow, Andrew Stevenson, Thomas Gavin. 

Warwick. —Rose Goodall, Edith Annie Smith, Katherine Aitken (distinction). 

Smithston. —Jane Mackinnon. 

Farnham.— Martha Atwell (distinction). 

Valkenberg. —Mabel E. G. Hawksley. 

Bloemfontein. —Agnes Jane Christie. 

Grahamstown. —Katrina Phillippina Terblanche. 

Fort Beaufort. —Charlotte Gilson, Anna Terblanche (distinction). 

Preliminary Examination, November, 1917. 

Macclesfield, Chester. — Mary Kate Lyne, Bridget McMullin, Winifred Green, 
Bertha Leech, Annie James, Ella A. G. Chambers, Minnie Wigglesworth, Amy 
Rose. 

Cornwall. —Mary C. Collins, Ida L. M. Runnalls, Eva Bray, Mary Kent, Kathleen 
Mitton, Eleanor L. Cooksley, Lottie Harris. 

Denbigh.— Jannet Mary Roberts. 

Barming Heath, Kent. —Edith F. Broad, Hilda E. Wells, Wilhelmina Kavanagh, 
Florence Marie Wise, Dorothy Hamblin, Ella Ansell, Alice A. Hickmott, Hannah 
E. Hadingue. 

Bexley, London. — Amy Francis, Annie E. Mitchell, Maggie M. Strappini, Marion 
Lynch, Florence Carline, Emily Punchard, Nellie K. Brazier, Violet A. Spratley, 


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244 NOTES AND NEWS. [April, 

Margaret Millar, Margaret Lucey, Annie R. Morgan, Elizabeth M. A. Allen, Helena 
Keenan, Mabel G. Shove. 

Notts County. —Edith M, Patrick, Sylvia Till. 

Cheddleton, Staffs. — Eliza Jane McGarry, Patricia P. J. Glynn. 

Chichester, West Sussex. —Winifred M. Taylor, Dorothy E. Hempstead, Eva 
O. T. Clack. 

Leicester Borough. —Mabel Wakefield, Mary J. Shannon, Dora K. Bannister, 
Elizabeth Ridgway, Isabella C. Johnston. 

Norwich City. —Winifred A. Mayes, Alice F. Martin. 

Camberwell House. —Miriam Bosworth, Muriel B. McFarland, Anna L. Stewart, 
Margaret Noble. 

Coton Hill.— Mary Vincent, Katherine C. Hutchinson. 

St. Andrew's. —James P. O'Hickey. 

Retreat. —Albert C. Hart, Henry W. Hart, Marie Gracie, Edith M. Sumner. 
Fenstanton. —Eva M. Dufferin. 

Aberdeen Royal. —Williamina Burr, Isabella Roy Anderson. 

Aberdeen District.— Barbara West, Florence Stephen, Mary A. Thomson, Jane 
S. K. Sangster, Jessie S. Roy, Leslie D. Duncan. 

Edinburgh Royal. —Margaret Livingstone, Henrietta G. Bell, Margaret A. Finnie, 
Isabella Fowler, Jeanie C. Stewart, Mary A. Cormack. 

Fife and Kinross. —Angusina M. Rhind, Agnes Cromar, Agnes G. Robertson, 
Catherine F. Wilson, Jessie Taylor, Esther Stark. 

Gartloch. —Christina A. Macrae, Elizabeth Wilkinson, Marion Macaulay, 
Elizabeth Glen Dinning, Jessie Morrison, Elizabeth C. Walker, Elizabeth Ewing, 
Annie Mackie. 

Woodilee. —Peggie Mclnnes, Isabella E. C. McLaren, Margaret M. Martin. 
Inverness. —Christina Graham, Helen Morrison, Clara Walton, Isabella Smith. 
Hartwood. —Thomas F. Vincent, Frances Scott Graham, Annie M. Thomson, 
Elizabeth Donaldson, Mary Rowan, Marjory C. Gordon, Helen Murray, Claire B. 
Clarke, Bella Cobban. 

Melrose.— Jane Provan, Joan Mathieson Macrae, Lily Grant, Agnes McK. 
Donnelly. 

Montrose. —Christina Campbell, Mitchell R. Home, Freda Corner, Matilda N. 
McGuthrie, Edith Potter, Annie Clark, Annie Auchterlonie, Marion H. Mason. 

Hawkhead. —Margaret McVicar, Mary F. Blackstock, Helen Ritchie, Jessie 
Geddes, Nan Glendenning, Florence Tomlin, Catherine Burns, Jane Nicolson. 

Riccartsbar. —Elizabeth J. Dawson, Mary B. Morrow, William M. Gavigan, 
Joseph Hobson. 

Stirling District. —Isabella W. Donnan, Annie O’Hara, Euphemia McLaren. 
Larbert Institution. —Margaret M. Murray, Mary C. McLean, Robina Thomson. 
Murray. —Isabella Cooper, Jessie Ferrier. 

Londonderry. —Martha Boyd. 

Omagh. —Albert D. Jones, James Mimnagh, James Jameson, Bridget Sweeney, 
Levina F. M. McAnulla, Edna Hamilton, Annie McAnnulla, Catherine McCaffery, 
Isabella C. Service, Maggie Lynn, Catherine Kelly, Mary C. Morris, Catherine M. 
McCreery, Maria Hadden. 

Richmond. —Mary Kiernan. 

Portrane. — Henry Falkner. 

St. Patrick’s. — Margaret T. Gordon, Ellen L. Mills, Kathleen Soughley. 
Warwick. —Gladys E. Griffin, Henrietta D. Mabbett, Maud Victoria Price, Maud 
Toogood, Jessica Smith, Katie Larkin. 

Rainhill. —Nellie Grisby, Alice May Papineau, Jessie May Spooner, Nellie 
Woolhouse, Edith Ellen Unsworth, Nettie Annie Kirk, Ellen Woodrvard, Frances 
E. Howitt, Charles Poulteney, Isabella Smith. 

Valkenberg. —William A. Hornbuckle. 

Pietermaritzburg. —Margaret Lee. 

Grahamstown. —Margarette Ann Jones, Katrina Francina Ooshuizen. 

Fort Beaufort. —Ellen M. Begbie, Hester C. Botha. 


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NOTICES BY THE REGISTRAR. 

Nursing Examinations. 

Preliminary .... Monday, May 6th, 1918. 

Final.Monday, May 13th, 1918. 

Papers for Bronze Medal to reach Registrar before June 14th, 1918. 
Examination for Certificate in Psychological Medicine will be held early in 
July, 1918. 


OBITUARY. 

William Joseph Seward. 

The death of Dr. Seward on February nth, 1918, came as an unexpected shock 
to his friends and colleagues in the work of caring for the insane, and although 
he had been in retirement owing to ill-health since 1911, the announcement of his 
death came to the writer of these lines as a special reminder of the strain and stress 
involved in the medical and administrative control of a great mental hospital, for 
such in the fullest sense was the Colney Hatch Asylum in the North of London. 

Seward may be said to have devoted his life to the service of this Institution 
for he had worked in no other. He joined its staff in 1878 as a graduate of the 
London University, and he was proud to be one of its Bachelors of Medicine. 
Educated at University College Hospital, he was appointed to Colney Hatch 
immediately after completing house appointments at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, 
which gave him a valuable experience and a full practical knowledge of general 
medicine and surgery. His hospital appointments always stood him* in good 
stead, for he was an able clinician and he never relinquished his medical interests, 
although ol necessity these tended to be submerged in his official work by an 
almost overwhelming amount of compelling administrative details. 

At Colney Hatch Seward was firstly the assistant to Mr. W. G. Marshall, whose 
reputation for personal devotion to his patients was a matter of notoriety to the 
older generation of asylum physicians; then later he became the assistant to 
Dr. Edgar Sheppard—of fame as the father of the Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal— 
and one of the first Lecturers on Psychological Medicine at a London Medical 
School, vie., King’s College. In 1882, when barely 30 years of age, he succeeded 
Dr. Sheppard as the Medical Superintendent, and with his old chiefs he remained 
upon terms of intimate friendship to the end of their lives. 

When the London County Council, with a new sense of public responsibility 
assumed the Government of the London (then the Middlesex) Asylums under 
the Local Government Act of 1890, Seward was appointed by them, upon the 
retirement of Mr. Marshall, to be the administrative medical head of the whole 
institution, taking over the care of both the male and female sections and thus 
abolishing what until then had been a dual control. The Chairman of that 
Committee was the present Member of Parliament for Hampstead, Mr. J. S. 
Fletcher, who takes much interest in public affairs. The reconstruction of so great 
an undertaking under one head was no easy task, and probably Seward was the only 
person who could have assumed this supreme direction for the Asylums Com¬ 
mittee of the Council not only without friction but also with the full help and 
confidence of the governed—a task much more delicate and much more difficult 
than the responsibility of opening a new asylum, but Seward accomplished his 
work with efficiency and credit. 

During his period of service in this Institution was inaugurated the After-Care 
Association for the rehabilitation into social life of those patients who had been 
discharged recovered; and the inspiring leadership of its founder, the Rev. 
Henry Hawkins, the Chaplain, was always a source of personal gratification to 
Seward. He continued throughout his life to take the deepest interest in the 
Society's welfare, as he also did in the Asylum Workers’ Association of the 
Executive Committee, of which he was a member. 

One great event cast a deep shadow upon Seward’s life, and he never recovered 
from the shock. On January 23rd, 1903, a destructive fire occurred in the new 
wooden annexe, adjacent to the main buildings of Colney Hatch, which was 


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demolished in about an hour. In this fire fifty-one female patients lost their 
lives, and the rest were saved with difficulty. Under ordinary circumstances no 
calamity can possibly be more tragic nor more disastrous than a fire, even 
when every safeguard and every precaution are ready against its occurrence, but 
when such a catastrophe occurs in an institution in which there is a sense of 
helplessness among its peoples and a feeling of dependence on the part of those 
committed into one's charge, then the anguish inseparable from mental disease 
is added to the special claims of humanity, and these tend to intensify acutely the 
overwhelming sense of responsibility. This disaster weighed upon Seward like 
a black cloud and the tragedy was always before his mental vision, and it is not 
surprising that it permanently unnerved him, and some years later he was succeeded 
in the appointment of Medical Superintendent by his friend and assistant, 
Dr. S. J. Gilfillan. 

The treatment of the insane under Seward’s regime was always one of 
enlightened and disinterested progress, and the writer of this article is under 
the greatest obligation to the memory of his old chiefs, Marshall and Seward, 
for their high example, devotion, and attachment to their patients, whilst 
the welfare of the staff never escaped either of them. Alcohol, in the shape 
of beer, was abolished as an article of diet under Seward; the Turkish 
bath for restoring mental patients was first used there; organo-therapy was 
encouraged by him ; and the aid of clinical pathology with the application of 
the microscope were all adjuncts in treatment which were of intense interest 

to Seward, and they continued to be aspects in the practice of medicine which 

engaged his leisure and retirement, for he was a frequent visitor at the meetings 
of the Royal Society of Medicine, of which he was a Fellow. Seward was an 
“intermediary” between the old school and the new research one first started 
in the London Asylums by Sir William J. Collins, K.C.V.O. Nothing was 
irksome to Seward, and his mind may be described as healthy in the best sense. 
He was a Mason, and a member of the London County Council Lodge. He 
was a keen angler, and was devoted to Norway where he used to fish, and to 
Switzerland where he made many walking tours. He liked a game of whist, 
and he was a real cricketer—preferring rather to play in a small match than 
to watch the great ones—although he was often seen at Lords. 

He was fond of pictures and rarely missed an exhibition in Bond Street; he 

was devoted to his garden and he delighted in the cultivation of roses, whilst 

he derived great pleasure from the meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society. 

He was not a great reader of literature, but he was exceedingly well versed in 
contemporary history, and he was a great lover of The Field and The Times —the 
latter he may be said to have read daily from cover to cover. He was fond of 
hearing some of the great preachers, and the writer and his family often met him 
at the Sunday afternoon services in Westminster Abbey. 

Seward’s mind was not that of the controversialist, indeed, he rather disliked 
debated questions, but he always expressed his opinions—which were well 
considered—both critically and fearlessly. His great charm was his complete 
detachment from bias—he had cultivated the bias of anti-bias more than any 
other man of the writer's acquaintance, and he was a most genial, well-informed 
and cheerful personality. 

He always maintained the complete confidence and friendship of his Committee, 
as well as of their officials, and for Mr. H. F. Keene, their Clerk, he entertained 
a great regard. Seward, like Marshall, was never married. 

It may be repeated that Seward has left an impression of unique charm upon 
those who were privileged to know him. 

Robert Armstrong-Jones. 


William Riddell Watson. 

To an Englishman, at any rate, the late Dr. Watson suggested the typical 
practitioner of Scottish fiction. Not that he wore his profession on his sleeve; for 
a stranger might have been in his company for a considerable time without 
discovering that he was a medical man ; but that he showed that combination of 
humanity and scholarly tastes—if not scholarship—which is more common in his 
profession north than south of the Tweed. He must have been an ideal asylum 


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superintendent, because in him professional and official qualities were completely 
fused in personality, so that he could exercise his powers unperceived under the 
confidence that he inspired and invited as a man. To his capacity as a healer of 
bodies he added the contained moral sympathy and understanding that we associate 
with the priestly function, and in matters of administration he would act by influence 
rather than command. 

Dr. Watson was born in Glasgow on November 1st, 1838. He studied medicine 
at Anderson's College, Glasgow, and Aberdeen University—at Marischal College, 
with its picturesque association with Dugald Dalgetty. While still a student 
Dr. Watson went two voyages as surgeon on a whaler, in one voyage passing 
beyond the 80th parallel of N. latitude. His experience of the whale-fishing and 
actual participation in such sports as polar bear hunting gave him a stock of 
interesting memories, and made him always eager to read the accounts of Arctic 
exploration. During his adventures he had one very narrow escape. Falling 
through thin ice into the water, his clothes at once froze to him, so that he had to 
be carried back to the ship. 

Dr. Watson qualified L.R.C.S.Edin. in 1862, taking his L.R.C.P. a little later. 
His early training must have been of a kind which, to the lay mind, at any rate, 
had certain advantages, professional knowledge being gained, if not in actual 
practice, at least in the conditions of practice. In his student days regular 
phlebotomy was still performed, though it had disappeared by the time he qualified. 
He practised in his early years in Aberdeenshire, Northumberland, Wales, and 
Kirkcudbright, thus gaining a wide experience of local character. Then in 1869 he 
went as medical officer to a projected British agricultural colony in the Argentine. 
The project failed, but Dr. Watson never regretted the attempt, which enabled him 
to see a good deal of the Argentine and something of Brazil. 

On his return he settled in Irvine, Ayrshire, where he had a large practice, till 
1876, when he went to Glasgow to take a Poor Law appointment. In 1883 he 
became Medical Superintendent of Merryflatts Asylum, Govan, and in 1894 he was 
appointed Medical Superintendent of the new Govan District Asylum at Hawk- 
head. The design and organisation of this were practically his own, and during 
the next nineteen years his energies were entirely devoted to it. He retired in 
1913, settling in London in order to be near his only son, who is Medical Officer at 
H.M. Prison, Wormwood Scrubbs. 

Till within a few weeks of his death, which occurred on February 9th, Dr. 
Watson was apparently in excellent health. His mind to the last remained as 
active as ever, and he was as keenly interested in everything as a young man. At 
various times during a very busy life he had read widely, and he displayed a 
remarkable memory for what he had read. He would quote, for instance, the 
opinions and often the exact words of Gibbon, whom he had certainly not read 
for half a century. In later years he took a keen interest in folk-lore and the 
origin and development of religions. He nad instinctively a very sound taste in 
letters, and during the last months of his life he read the novels of Jane Austen 
with the keenest relish. Though he was himself the kindest of men, he certainly 
had a very special liking for the subtler kinds of satire. It has been said that he 
had an eighteenth century mind; certainly the eighteenth century writers, from 
Swift and the Spectator to Jane Austen—who really was eighteenth century— 
were his favourites. 

In his acquirements, and the unobtrusive use he made of them, Dr. Watson gave 
new point to the expression “the humanities.” To one who was privileged to 
know him chiefly after his retirement he gave the impression of great wisdom and 
serenity, as if all within him had ripened. One did not need to be told of the 
confidence and affection he inspired in his patients and subordinates. All his life 
he was the adviser of all sorts of people, who constantly brought their troubles to 
him ; yet nobody could have been further from seeking confidence, or offering 
advice, or displaying knowledge. In conversation he seemed to listen to, rather 
than express, opinion ; his wisdom came out by the way ; and the effect of talking 
to him was always a little humbling in the afterthought—that a man so full and 
ripe should have borne so patiently the crudities of smaller experience ; but, above 
all, one always came away with the calmed and rested feeling of having sat for a 
while in mild sunlight. If an acquaintance may be permitted to touch on family 
matters, there was something particularly beautiful in the relationship between 


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Dr. Watson and his wife. It was almost impossible to think of them apart, and 
their keen sense of humour, and quick, unsparing exposure to onlookers of each 
other’s alleged foibles, only confirmed the effect of unity. Certainly on the human 
side there could be no better example of the “good physician ” than Dr. Watson. 


Dr. Percy John Baily. 

It is with great regret that we record the death of Dr. Percy John Baily, late 
Medical Superintendent of Hanwell Asylum. He came to Hanwell in November, 
1888, and finally succeeded Dr. R. R. Alexander as Superintendent in 1905. His 
whole career as a Mental Specialist was thus spent at this asylum. He retired 
with a pension last November, but only lived to enjoy it a few months, dying on 
March 30th, at Bexhill-on-Sea, in his 57th year. 

He was educated at Edinburgh University, where he qualified in 1883 M.B., 
C.M.Edin., with honours. He was for a time Assistant Demonstrator in 
Anatomy at that University, and then spent some years travelling as a Surgeon 
for the P. & O. Steamship Company. He visited India, China, and the Mediter¬ 
ranean, and was accustomed to tell many amusing anecdotes of his experiences. 
He remained a traveller almost to the end, and spent his holidays in Norway, 
Algiers, etc. His chief hobbies were photography, in which he was a true artist, 
horticulture, and the study of languages. Of a sympathetic nature, he was 
always ready to help anyone in trouble. We miss him at Hanwell both as a 
friend and a chief. He took a deep interest in the welfare of the patients, and 
spent much of his time in the wards helping them with sympathetic conversa¬ 
tion. The education of the Staff was one of his leading interests. He lectured 
to the nurses for many years and was the author of a book on Nursing the Insane. 
The history and traditions of Hanwell were a source of unfailing interest to him, 
and he published a short account of the place, with a description of the instru¬ 
ments of restraint used prior to Dr. Conolly's superintendency. 

Never in robust health, he had been in failing health for some time, and the 
anxieties of the constant changes rendered necessary by the war added to his 
indisposition. In May, 1917, he took his summer holiday, but the symptoms 
were in no way alleviated, and on his return in July, after several plucky attempts 
to resume his usual active life, he felt bound to resign. For all practical purposes 
it may be said that he died in harness. 

The following appreciation of Dr. Baily is contributed by an old friend: 

Dr. Baily was a man of quiet and reclusive habits which led him to avoid 
publicity of any sort. He had a strong and determined personality, which, com¬ 
bined with a kindly disposition and fairness of mind, ensured his success as a 
manager of a large asylum. 

His views as regards the treatment of insanity and asylum administration were 
to a singular degree of the practical and common-sense variety; and without 
being rigidly conservative in his ideas, he had no sympathy with the ultra-modern 
psychiatrical school, which betrays such astounding ignorance of the .basic fact 
that mental hospitals are designed for the treatment of insane patients, and not 
for sane patients afflicted with disorders of mind. He was a great believer in 
sound mental hospital treatment for the victims of insanity, which calls to its aid 
all the resources of every branch of medicine, and, if necessary, of surgery. 

His appointment to the superintendency of Hanwell by the Asylums Com¬ 
mittee of the London County Council was a popular and, under the circum¬ 
stances, a very wise measure. The asylum has great traditions, and is one of 
the most famous in the world. Both structurally, and to some extent adminis¬ 
tratively, while splendidly effective, it retained its links with an older school. 
Any hasty or revolutionary changes would have been a desecration, and much of 
the solid good work achieved there would have been upset without any real 
advance being made. 

Dr. Baily was always cheerful, thoroughly methodical in his work, a great 
upholder of orderliness and punctuality in all things, and was justly proud of his 
intimate knowledge of all his patients. 

As a pastime for spare moments he delighted in photography, with all the 
technique of which he was completely familiar. The fine enlargements he made 


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won general admiration, and will be remembered by many. He had a disability 
affecting one of his legs, which gave him a characteristic gait. His footsteps, 
which could never be mistaken, will long echo in the ears of the inhabitants of 
Hanwell, and the memories of a kindly and charming gentleman who so ably 
ruled its destinies are not likely soon to fade. 

Dr. Baily married in June, 1910, Ada Janet, youngest daughter of Joseph Kearn, 
who was devoted to him, and nursed him tenderly through his long and painful 
illness. J. R. L. 


NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS. 

N.B. —The Editors will be glad to receive contributions of interest, clinical 
records, etc., from any members who can find time to write (whether these have 
been read at meetings or not) for publication in the Journal. They will also feel 
obliged if contributors will send in their papers at as early a date in each quarter 
as possible. 

Writers are requested kindly to bear in mind that, according to Lix(a) of the 
Articles of Association, " all papers read at the Annual, General, or Divisional 
Meetings of the Association shall be the property of the Association, unless the 
author shall have previously obtained the written consent of the Editors to the 
contrary.” 

Papers read at Association Meetings should, therefore, not be published in other 
journals without such sanction having been previously granted. 

The Editors regret that owing to the great shortage of paper the size of the 
Journal has to be reduced, the limit assigned being 96 pages, which, however, has 
been unavoidably exceeded. For the same reason the entire text has to be printed 
in small type. 


LXIV. 


16 


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\ r o. 266 [ 


N K \V > E K I K S 

No. 2JO. 


] 


JULY, 1918. Voi,. I.XIV. 


James Henry Pullen, the Genius of Earlswood .{') By F. Sano, M.I). 

“ What could he think himself to be ? ' Wuotan ? ’ All men answered, 

' Wuotan !’ ”—Carlyle. 

In old times, when kings occasionally wanted to know the rea' 
opinion of their people, they asked their fool, and it has become a 
proverb that “ fools tell the truth while laughing.” But the court jester 
is not always an agreeable man, and it is also said that before he 
teaches you the maxim he “will annoy and pester.” Thus we may 
suppose that these were of different kinds. 

There is often a peculiar interest in the talk of the simple, as they 
see things from a realistic point of view, without any sort of that personal 
control which the complexity of influencing by reason develops: “Qui 
respiciunt ad pauca, de facili pronunciant.” Some dwarfs have been 
famous not less by their degenerated conditions than by their uncommon 
and astonishing influence in court, due to their readiness to talk freely. 
They kept the attention of the most powerful rulers, and their fame 
was so great, that we still find in the museums portraits of them painted 
by the greatest masters, e.g., Velasquez and Rubens. 

A feature of their character, which seems always to have been a key 
to success, was their obstinacy. Nothing could disturb them from their 
fixed ideas, and when in a bad mood, no favour of their wealthy pro¬ 
tectors could induce them to change their attitude. 

Where kindness, politeness, obligingness and mutual confidence make 
social life agreeable, no open criticism nor “ brutal frankness” can have 
its place, no perseverance can attain its final desire, unless very excep¬ 
tional superiority prevails, which is not to be found in a microcephalic 
or in a hydrocephalic brain. 

• Such are some of the first thoughts which readily occur to the mind, 
when the object of this study is announced to be : The Genius of the 

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[July, 


Royal Earlsivood Institution for Feeble-minded at Rcdhill. But they 
can only in part be applied to the case. 

It was not a synthetic wisdom nor shrewd remarks that could have 
made James Henry Pullen the subject of such world-wide interest, and 
attracted to him the favour of the late King of England’s gracious 
attention ; for Pullen was living in his egocentric preoccupations, and 
he hardly uttered more than a few words on his own behalf, as “ very 
clever! ” and “ wonderful! ” But these few words were said with such 
complete a confidence and so suggestive a power, that everybody who 
approached him repeated them with the same conviction. Thus “ very 
clever ” he was indeed, let me also say it, and “ wonderful ” his psycho¬ 
logical success. 

Having been impressed, as every child of five or six, by the small 
ships which his playmates tried to manoeuvre on narrow puddles along 
the roads of Dalston, his birthplace, he got the obsession of making by 
himself such toys, and he soon became skilled in carving ships and in 
reproducing them in pencil drawings. Until the age of fourteen he 
attended school, but always irregularly. Owing to his deafness and 
dumbness, he was left isolated, and henceforth followed his own mental 
way, growing original, egotistic, such as he remained for his whole long 
life, with an undoubtedly childish character. 

Until he was seven years old he could only say “ muvver,” apparently 
for mother. He afterwards learned from his parents, brothers, and 
sisters some monosyllabic words concerning the products of his beloved 
occupations, and he later on knew just enough to write in a jealously- 
kept memorandum book the summary of the work he had accom¬ 
plished, the number of the pieces used, and the estimated amount of 
pounds sterling he hoped to obtain by selling his so-called model ships. 
Thus his vocabulary was very poor, and although he was considered by 
those who observed him for years as nearly normal in all his sensorial 
organs, with the exception of his ears, he never learned to read nor to 
write. He was sensitive to vibrations coming from the ground, and 
had arranged an alarm system in his workshop, based upon that sensi¬ 
bility, which made him aware of a coming visitor. His dumbness was 
commensurate with his deafness ; he was unable to give any intelligible 
answer, unless he could accompany his broken words by gestures, and 
the few formulae expressing his admiration for his own personality were 
acquired in his youth, and remained unchanged. 

In his own diagrammatic history, a large drawing with forty scenes of 
his life, Pullen shows how he was resistive to school teaching in 1851. 
After the usual school hours the master tries to give him private lessons ; 
but the boy weeps, and puts his head in his arms on the table, making 
any attempt to cheer him up ineffective. Two years later, with a smiling 
self-contented expression, he pays a visit to his old master, and gratifies 


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him with the presentation of a small model-ship, which the master will 
be proud to place pn the mantelpiece! If Pullen had been simply 
affected by sense deprivation, would this have been the course of events ? 
Did not Pullen show himself the strongest in the conflict of his indi¬ 
viduality with the stereotyped pedagogy of his surroundings? Think 
of Helen Keller, deprived of sight and hearing, and yet able to acquire 
every kind of knowledge that ennobles human understanding. But 
Pullen 1 with both his eyes wide open to the bright world of London, 
and his skilled ten fingers under complete sense control, Pullen, even 
after having been busy for months in the printer’s shop at Earlswood, 
could not absorb, digest, or exteriorise the most ordinary sentence of 
politeness. To say, “ I am very much obliged to you, Sir,” was strange 
to him in grammatical arrangement as well as in social meaning. 

His admission into the Earlswood Institute at the age of fifteen gave 
him the opportunity of using better tools and of learning much in the 
carpenter’s shop. It helped him in the performance of his model- 
work ; it allowed him to use better material, to carve ivory, and to bring 
to childish perfection the mechanical details of his constructions. Earls¬ 
wood, however, with its most excellent organisation and its experienced 
medical and pedagogical staff, could not make of him anything but 
an interesting case of psychiatry, a wandering curiosity in Surrey, an 
exceptional advertisement for the institution. 

“He was obviously too childish,” writes A. F. Tredgold, ( 3 ) in the 
extensive and interesting chapter he devotes to him in his valuable 
book on Mental Deficiency , “and at the same time too emotional, 
unstable, and lacking in mental balance to make any headway, or even 
to hold his own, in the outside world. Without someone to stage- 
manage him, his remarkable gifts would never suffice to supply him 
with the necessities of life, or, even if they did, he would speedily 
succumb to his utter want of ordinary prudence and foresight, and his 
defect of common sense” (p. 312). 

But as to his tenacity in keeping his own directing idea through 
seventy-five years of conscious mental activity, it was as remarkable as 
successful. His originality was the result of his patience and perse¬ 
verance. What made him famous was the realisation of a childish 
programme, remaining all through in its limited frame as originally 
conceived, but progressively renewed and completed with all the skill 
and the experience that memory and maturity of age could bring about. 

He was allowed the privilege of a private workshop, and a special 
room in which his productions were exhibited. Both rooms are pre¬ 
served and on view at the institution ; they are worthy of the greatest 
attention, as they are an exceptional and typical exteriorisation of the 
mental and manual activity of such kind of men as Pullen was. 

At the age of twenty-six he made his first representation of the 


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254 JAMES HENRY PULLEN, [July, 

Universe, which he probably had long pondered over. It is a large 
barge, half as wide as it is long. There is a well furnished room in the 
centre. White ivory angels are outside at the prow, and Satan (or 
Neptunus ?) is at the stern. A centre-rod acts on twelve oars and 
forked lightning strikes the top of the construction. Thus there is 
partly traditional influence and partly genuine conception, the whole 
being a fine illustration as to how men are inclined to accumulate in 
one general synthesis their knowledge of the world, as they have per¬ 
ceived and conceived it. For Pullen the world could only be a ship. 
Mankind in its first principles believe alike, our hero yielded to ego 
centric, homocentric, and geocentric conceptions. 

He was thirty-five years when he began his masterpiece, “ The Great 
Eastern,” a complicated model-ship, every piece of which was made by 
himself with the greatest patience. It took him more than seven years 
to complete it, and it was exhibited at tiie Fisheries Exhibition, where 
it obtained the medal, not as the most perfect production of its kind, 
but because every screw' and every pulley had been made by the exhi¬ 
bitioner himself. Thus the prize w’as won by the patience he had 
shown, but next to this patience was the inability to take advantage of 
others’ skill and help. A normal individual would have obtained 
better results by co operation and division of ^’ork. Pullen reached 
the goal by his best qualities, as well as by his worst defaults, but both 
were extreme, and they made him so exceptional that he was unani¬ 
mously declared “ superior.” 

He thought it possible to impress and frighten people by a giant 
mannequin, which he had erected in the middle of his workshop. 
Sitting inside this monster he could direct the movements of its arms 
and legs, and make a great noise through a concealed bugle fitted to 
the mouth of the giant. In this contrivance the attempt to cover 
personal weakness by frightfulness was already apparent, but his sus¬ 
picious tendencies became evidently pathological and dangerous when 
he established a man-trap to kill every undesirable visitor who might 
try to enter his private workshop during his absence. 

Besides his ships, he made book-cases, tables, and some small 
model-houses. During the time he had to remain in bed with a broken 
leg he made a number of good drawings, and he often began the same 
copy again with the same patience and accuracy, just as he made many 
of the same models of ships, without ever showing any sign of mental 
fatigue or. lack of attention. He also executed a number of ivory 
carvings, and made brooches, dress-pins, and walking-sticks. 

“ His Majesty King Edward, when Prince of Wales, took great 
interest in him,” writes Dr. Caldecott, Medical Superintendent of 
Earlswood, “and graciously sent him tusks of ivory to encourage him 
in producing his beautiful carvings. He was proud to show these 


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Fig. 1.—J. H. Pullen, in his best time, wearing Admiral’s Uniform. 



Fig. 2.—The Mystic Representation of the World as a Ship, 

by J. H. Pullen. 

To illustrate paper by Dr. F. Sano. 


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gifts, and, although imperfect speech limited his expression to ‘ Present, 
friend Wales,’ it was evident he was conscious of the condescension 
of his august patron.” 

I have twice visited and carefully examined the woikshop and the 
exhibition-room of Pullen, and I feel very much indebted to Dr. Calde¬ 
cott and to Dr. Stephens for most of the information which I here 
recall in addition to what Dr. Tredgold has already published. The 
following note, which Dr. Stephens wrote on September 15th, 1913, 
may describe the decline of Pullen’s glorious career : 

“ A very interesting case. He took me round his workshop to day, 
and I spent three hours there, being shown besides his ‘ Giant,’and 
the excellent models of boats, kites, etc., his journal, carvings in wood 
and ivory, and the many intricate but thoroughly ineffectual ‘ man- 
traps ’ he had made to guard his treasures. He had the artist’s pride 
and vanity in his works, coloured by a great childishness and simple 
faith in his unfailing capacity and genius. For he does not seem to 
realise that he is weekly growing more feeble, that he has lost his curious 
powers of inventiveness and design, and that now he needs must spend 
his days in the making of rough carvings in bone and ivory, infinitely 
inferior to the worst of his earlier work. He has the artist’s sense of 
jealousy, for he would not let me toucli or examine anything. I only 
may gaze from a respectful distance ! and he told me confidently that 
just before he dies he intends to wreck and destroy everything that he 
has made.” 

It may be of interest to know what the people, living outside the 
asylum, thought of Pullen, who was allowed much freedom. I therefore 
interviewed some who knew him, and I had the following description 
from one, who being born and having resided for a long time at 
Redhill saw Pullen quite regularly about twenty-five and even thirty 
years ago: 

“ Everyone in the neighbourhood knew Pullen very well; he liked to 
seH ivory pins and brooches for a shilling or so, although he never 
approached anybody with that purpose. He was proud, and often 
remarked that he belonged to a royal family. One spoke always to him 
in a simple manner as to a child, and more with signs than with words. 
His talk was broken and difficult to understand. He had a curious 
shape of head and usually wore a Scotch cap. He knew the value of 
money, and returned exactly the change for small amounts.” He some¬ 
times went for holidays on his own, and our informant, Mr. Holhmvood, 
remembers having seen him at Brighton as a self-respecting boarder. 

From Pullen’s sister we know that the parents were first cousins ; 
thirteen children were born in the family, six of whom died in infancy. 
A brother was deaf and dumb, and was a fine drawer. He became 
maniacal, and died at Earlswood from cancer at the age of 35. 


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JAMES HENRY PULLEN, 


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Pullen deceased May 31st, 1916. The post-mortem examination 
performed by Dr. Stephens on June ist, revealed senile decay and a 
little pneumonia. The left testis was small, shrivelled, and fibrous ; the 
right healthy. The condition of the left testicle was caused by a fall 
while at work, about fifteen years before death. 

The brain was put in a 10 per cent, formalin solution, and later on 
forwarded by kind permission of Dr. Caldecott to the laboratory of the 
Maudsley Hospital. Col. F. W. Mott handed me the brain for exami¬ 
nation, and I am very grateful for this confidence, which I have tried to 
justify by furnishing an accurate description. 

Measurements .—On admission, Pullen was 5 ft. 7^ in.; his weight 
was 9 st. 11 lb. The circumference of his head, 2i| in.—when dead, 
the circumference was 22$ in. 


Measurements of the Cranium (according to Tredgold). 



Index of capacity 3382/, (Tredgold’s method). Width of forehead 5 \ ; 
callipers 3-9. Tragus to glabella 6J ; callipers 5. Tragus to external 
occiput 4^ ; callipers 4 4. 

The auditory organ .—The temporal bones were removed, and both 
showed the same macroscopical external conditions. The right bone 
was decalcified, together with the bone of a normal (S. P—) and with 
that of a deaf-mute individual (H. A—). For this comparative exami¬ 
nation I have taken the papers of Brouwer and Quix as a guide ; until 
now, however, only the macroscopical examination could be performed 
on sections through the decalcified bones. They enabled me to give 
the following information. (See Table on p. 257.) 

The bones of Pullen’s skull were rather thin. The deaf-mute, H. A—, 
had thickened bones, as often occurs in deaf-mutism ; neither of them 
had malformations in the middle ear. Pullen’s external meatus and his 
middle ear were well developed, and, notwithstanding his old age, the 
tympanum was transparent and in fair condition. In both Pullen’s and 
the deaf-mute’s cases the internal ear showed a good condition of 
osseous development, the cochlea was of average dimensions, but the 
internal meatus of H. A— was shallow. The auditory nerve of H. A— 
was atrophied and thin. 

The origin of deaf-mutism is very variable, and each case needs to be 


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examined for itself. In the case of H. A— the eighth nerve was 
atrophied, and the notes mentioned that the patient had had three fits 
(or convulsions ?) at the age of one year. The brain was of normal 
weight (1360), but adolescent insanity developed at the age of 17. 
The patient remained demented, and died from recently acquired tuber¬ 
culosis at the age of 38. 


Measurement*. 

Normal, 

S. P-. 

Pullen. 

Deaf-mute, 
H. A—. 

(Juain’s 

anatomy. 

Age. 

67 

81 

38 

. 

Height ..... 

Thickness of the temporal bone 

5ft. loin. 

5 f‘- in. 

5 ft. 6 in. 


at the junction of the squamous 

mm. 

mm. 

mm. 

mm. 

and petrous portions 

Opening of external auditory 
meatus at the osseous portion : 

40 

4 '° 

90 


Greatest diameter 

90 

10*0 

80 

867 

Smallest diameter 

80 

60 

55 

607 

Opening of meatus internus 
Greatest development of meatus 
internus: 

30 

30 

2*0 


Greatest diameter 

70 

65 

40 

— 

Smallest diameter 
Surelevation of the superior 
semicircular canal on the sur¬ 
face of the petrous bone, above 

58 

45 

25 


the s. petrosus superior 

80 

5 '° 

50 

— 

Base of the cochlea 

8-5 

80 

80 

8*0 

Height of the cochlea 

5'5 

50 

50 

50 


In the case of Pullen no peripheral origin could be traced. There 
was evidence of a lack of cerebral development, as will be shown later 
on. A brother of Pullen was a deaf-mute; the parents were first 
cousins. The deaf-mutism of Pullen appears to have had a cortical 
origin. 

General Examination of the Brain. 


Upon opening the skull the membranes were not found adherent, 
and there was no excess of cerebro spinal fluid. The brain was put in 
10 per cent, formalin solution. 

The brain is small, but the general appearance presented is that of a 
satisfactory convolutional pattern. There is marked arteriosclerosis 
and enlargement of the ventricles, in the cavities of which the central 
nuclei project. 

The brain weights (November 14th, 1916), after 5^ months’ harden¬ 
ing in formalin solution, were : 

Grammes. 

Left hemisphere .5*0 

Right hemisphere . . 525 

Rhombencephalon .... 145x8=1160 


Total 


. 1190 


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258 JAMES HENRY PULLEN, [July, 

The figures are probably a little higher than the original figures, as 
is the case during the first months of hardening in formalin solution, 
(later on (August 4th, 1917) the weights of the hemispheres were 485, 
475.) The negligible difference between right and left hemispheres and 
the figure obtained by multiplying the weight of the rhombencephalon 
by 8 show that the cerebellum had been arrested in its development in 
accordance with the lack of development of the hemispheres. 

The brain had not been suspended in the fluid during the first 
period of hardening, and had been lying on its inferior surface, both 
hemispheres inclining towards the right side; exact measurements, 
therefore, could not be taken. The following results are given with this 
reservation, which especially applies to the questions marked with the 
asteiisk (*). 


Table A .—Measurements according to the System of Cunningham 

and Spitzka. 



In 

cm. 

In per cent. 


L. 

R. 

L. 

R. 

- 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Tape Measurements. 





Maximum length of hemicerebrum 

179 

179 

_ 

_ 

Maximum width of cerebrum(*) 

13 

•8 

_ 

. _ 

Cerebral index .... 



O '77 

Maximum horizontal circumference 

.Si ’9 

— 

— 

Maximum outer width of hemicerebrumf*) . 

67 

7 'i 

, - 

— 

J Maximum occipito temporal length(*) . 

i8'2 

182 


— 

I Maximum iengih of callosum, and per cent. . 

8 s 

047 

Centro-temporal height (vertex to horizontal 

82 

9-8 

— 

— 

glass)(*) 




Centro-olfactory heightf*) ..... 

7'5 

81 

-- 

— 

Supero-mesial border (Cunningham’s method): 




From the cephalic point to the central sulcus 

150 

145 

59 ' 28 

5708 

(frontal index) 

From the central sulcus to the occipital 

5‘9 

59 

2332 

23 32 

transverse (parietal index) 

From the occipital transverse sulcus to the 

4'4 

50 

i 7'39 

j 

1 

19-68 

occipital pole (occipital index) 

Projection Measurements. 

Lateral surface; from the cephalic point to: 

1. Tip of temporal lobe .... 

4‘4 

4’4 

2458 

24'58 

2. Junction of sylvian and presylvian fissures 

5'0 

4'9 

27-93 

27-37 

3. Ventral end of central sulcus . 

7-6 

67 

4258 

37-85 

4. Junction of sylvian and episylvian fissures 

11 ’3 

9'5 

6312 

53"°7 

5. Caudal point ..... 

179 

17-9 

TOO 

TOO 

Mesial surface; from the cephalic point to: 



6. Cephalic edge of callosum 

32 

T2 

17-87 

17-87 

7. Porta (foramen of Monro) 

6'S 

6'5 

36-31 

36-31 

8. Dorsal end of central sulcus 

I 1*0 

10*2 

61-50 

56-98 

9. Dorsal intersection of paracentral sulcus . 

i r8 

I 10 

65-92 

61-50 

10. Caudal edge of callosum . 

i r6 

i r6 

64-80 

64-80 

11. Occipito-calcarine junction 

138 

136 

77-09 

75-97 

12. Dorsal intersection of occipital transverse 
sulcus 

•5-9 

* 5’5 

8944 

86-59 



1 




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Fig. 3.—Superior Aspect of the B 


Frontal pole up. Occipital pole down. L. Left I 
prs. Sulcus prrecentralis superior. The dotted lin 
central sulcus remains independent from the la 
mesial border. The central sulcus has no connecti 
on the left side in the cortical projection centre < 
hemispheres is artificial and occurred during harde 







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in, Projection Drawing (Orthogonal). 
nisphere. R. Right hemisphere. C. Central sulcus, 
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al fissure (Sylvii), and it does not cut the supero- 
s on the right side, it has a connection with the prs 
the right hand. The slight distortion shown by the 
g, the brain not having been suspended. 

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(-») indicate deep gyri. Arrows and numbers on the lower part of the figure refer to the numbers of Table A. Corpus 

callosum well developed. Parietal (praecuneus) and occipital regions complex. 





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19*8.] 


BY F. SANO, M.D 


259 


The Convolutional Pattern. 

Fissura lateralis and sulcus centralis. —The posterior branch of 
the lateral fissure {fl) measures on the left side 6'2 cm., on the right 
side 4 6; fl has only one anterior ramus at the lateral surface on the 
left side, namely, the ascendant ( ra ), the horizontal ramus remaining 
at the concealed surface of the operculum orbitale. This operculum 
has no other indentations. The left posterior branch ends in a short 
ascending branch {rpa) and only an indication of the descending 
branch ( rpd). 

On the right side an independent sulcus, which does not join fl , 
represents the anterior horizontal branch of fl (rh); ra resembles the 
same sulcus of the left side. There are no other sulci on the opercula 
orbitale and frontale. 

The central sulcus (c) reaches the superomesial border on both sides, 
but does not join it; c does not join the lateral fissure either, so that 
its end remains independent on both sides. At the left side c is joined 
by the superior precentral sulcus, but by no other sulcus, and at the 
right side c remains completely independent. On the left side c pre¬ 
sents a well-indicated middle knee, but there is no superior knee. On 
the right side the superior knee is slightly indicated, but there is no 
middle knee. The right c has a more straight direction than the left c. 

The sulci centrales are not deep; there are no concealed gyri; the 
usual buttress is of normal appearance. 

Frontal lobes. —There is a good mesial sulcus {/ms) on the right 
side ; it is less developed on the left frontal line. The sulcus frontalis 
superior is more developed on the left side, but in neither does it join 
the superior precentral {firs) sulcus. The sulcus frontalis medius is 
better developed on the right side, and the sulcus frontalis inferior is 
interrupted on that side by three annectant gyri, which is not the case 
on the left side. The sulcus radiatus and the external piece of the 
sulcus fronto-marginalis have a common posterior ending on the right 
side; on the left side these two sulci are united in one sulcus of a very 
simple pattern. The frontal operculum is very simple. The convolu¬ 
tional pattern is certainly less complex on the left than on the right side. 
This is evident from a comparison of the mesial surfaces ; the accessory 
sulci are regularly perpendicular to the sulcus cingulatus on the right 
side; they tend to be nearly parallel and not so deep on the left side. 

The sulci orbitales are not similar on both sides, but it is difficult to 
say which side is the most developed. 

Parietal lobes. —The sulcus postcentralis superior is separated from 
the sulcus postcentralis inferior in the left hemisphere, but these sulci 
join in the right ; poi joins fl on the right, but not on the left side. 

The sulcus interparietalis proprius {ip) is interrupted on both sides 


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260 JAMES HENRY PULLEN, [July, 

nearly in the same manner, but the interruption exists more posteriorly 
on the left. The connections with the postcentral sulci present two 
rather unusual types, the frequency of which, according to Retzius, is 
respectively 11 per cent, (left) and 4 per cent, (right) j 19 per cent, and 
?per cent. (Cunningham); 7 per cent, and 17 per cent, (in my series of 
lunatic brains). The second part of ip extends far behind, and joins 
oa on the left. 

In both supramarginal gyri there is a special sulcus, which joins fl ; 
on the right side it joins also poi. 

There is an independent portion of the superior parietal sulcus on 
the right side. 


Tabi.e B.— Particulars concerning Fissure and Sulci. 



L. 

R. 


I. 

Fissura lateralis, number of anterior rami 

+ 

+ 


2. 

Fissura lateralis, number of posterior rami 

+ 

2 


3 -\ 


fS. praecentralis superior . 

+ 



4 - 


s. praecentralis inferior . 

— 

1 

C 
c0 

5 - 

6 . 

Sulcus centralis anastomosis 
with ( +) 

s. postcentralis superior . 
s. postcentralis inferior . 

_ 

- 

- 1 


7 - 

s. subcentralis anterior . 

— 

— 


8. 


s. subcentralis posterior 

— 

_ 


9 -’ 


fissura lateralis separately 

— 

— 


IO. 

S. centralis cuts superomesial border .... 

— 

- 


r II. 

I 2. 

\ S. prascentralis superior ( + ) < 

s. praecentralis inferior . 
s. frontalis superior 

+ 

~ i 
+ 


13 - 

S. praecentralis sup. divided into two sections 




14 - 

S. praecentralis intermedius present .... 




LS 


s. frontalis superior 

— 

— 


16. 

17. 

S. praecentralis inf. anasto- 

s. frontalis inferior, 
fissura lateralis 

+ 

— 


18. 

mosis with ( + ) 

s. subcentralis anterior . 

— 

— 


19. 


\s. diagonalis . 

— 

— 


20. 

Ramus horizontalis separate 


+ 

— 


21. 

Ramus horizontalis + s. frontalis medius 

— 

— 


22. 

S. diagonalis well ( + ) or badly (—) developed 

+ 

+ 


2 3 - 

S. frontalis superior, number of segments 

3 

I 

JO 

24. 

S. frontalis superior + s. frontalis medius 




25 - 

S. frontalis mesialis well developed ( + ) 

— 

+ 

n 

26. 

S. frontalis medius well developed .... 

+ 

+ 

0 

27- 

S. frontalis medius, number of sections .... 


1 


28. 

S. frontalis inferior continuous ..... 

+ 

— 


29. 

S. frontalis inferior + s. diagonalis .... 

+ 

— 


30. 

S. frontalis inferior + s. radiatus ..... 

— 

— 


3 «- 

S. frontalis inferior + s. fronto-marginalis 

— 

— 


32. 

S. frontalis marginalis, number of sections 

S. rostralis superior well developed .... 

2 

2 


33 - 

+ 

+ 


34 - 

S. rostralis medius well developed .... 

— 

— 


35 - 

S. rostralis inferior well developed . . : . 

— 

— 


36 . 

S. rostralis transversus anterior joining sc. and border . 

— 

— 


37 - 

S. orbitalis sagittalis + s. orbitalis transversus 

+ 

+ 


38 . 

S. orbitalis transversus, number of pieces 

1 

I 


$ 

S. olfactorius well developed 


+ 

+ 


S. olfactorius mesial (+) or lateral ( —) direction . 

+ 

+ 


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Limbic lobe. Occipital lobe. Temporal 1 . Parietal lobe. 


1918.] 


BY F. SANO, M.D. 


26 I 


Table B ( continued). 


41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

it 

50 

5 * 

52 

53 

54 

55 
v 56 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

7 « 

72 

.73 

(74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79 

80 

81 

82 

\*3 


I 5 ' 


postcentralis superior 

( + ) 


(s. p 
< s. ir 
(s. p 


S. postcentralis inferior 

( + ) 


S. interparie -1 
talis ( + ) 


postcentralis inferior 
interparietalis . 
parietalis superior . 

6 s. interparietalis . 

3 s. subcentralis superior 
(. fissura lateralis 
S. interparietalis proprius continuous 

ramus ascendens s. temporalis superior 
ramus ascendens s. temporalis medius 
s. intermedins primus 
s. intermedius secundus 
s. occipitalis transversus 
s. parietalis superior 
S. parietalis superior independent. 

S. parietalis superior number of sections 
S. parietalis superior + sulcus praecunei 

6 anterior interruption present 
S. temporalis superior < middle interruption present 

(. posterior interruption present 
S. temporalis transversus, joining sulc. temp, superior 
S. temporalis medius, number of sections 
S. temporalis inferior, number of sections 
S. lingualis independent 
S. occipitalis anterior present 
Arcus intercuneatus, superficial 
Lobulus paricto-occipitalis present 
S. occipitalis transversus inferior present 
S. verticals continuous with fissura retrocalcarina 
S. lunatus present ...... 

S. paramesialis at the lateral surface 
S. occipitalis medius (lateralis) + a s. temporalis 
S. occipitalis medius continuous . 

S. occipitalis inferior independent . 

S. rhinicus externus joining the fissura lateralis 
S. rhinicus internus present .... 

C temporal interruption present 
S. collaterals < fusiform interruption present 
( lingual interruption present 
Isthmus lobuli limbici concealed . 

S. subparietalis, number of segments 
S. cinguli, number of segments 
S. cinguli -f s. subparietalis . 

S. intralimbicus present 


+ 

+ 

+ 

3 

+ 

+ 




+ 

- ! 


- 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

2 

+ 


4 

2 


+ 

+ 


+ 

2 

1 

+ 


+ means yes; — means no; L for the left hemisphere; R for the right. 


Table Bi .—Particulars with respect to the 

the Cortex. 


Concealed Parts of 
L. R. 


Transverse temporal divided . . — 

Sulcus postcentralis insuke divided . . — 

„ praecentralis anterior, insulae divided . — 


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262 


JAMES HENRY PULLEN, 


[July 


Operculum orbitale number of sulci 

L. 

1 

R. 

0 

,, frontale ,, ,, . 

0 

0 

,, centrale ,, „ 

8 

8 

„ parietale inferior 

1 

0 

Posterior Heschl badly developed 

— 

+ 

Deep gyrus in sulcus centralis 

— 

— 

Deep gyrus in sulcus interparietalis 

i 

1 

Deep cuneus prEecuneus superior gyrus 

1 

1 

„ „ „ inferior gyrus . 

— 

1 

,, lingualis anterior gyrus 

1 

0 

„ „ posterior gyrus 

1 

0 


Temporal lobes .—The superior temporal (is) has an anterior interrup¬ 
tion in the left side only; on the right the annectant gyrus giving this 
interruption remains nearly concealed. The transverse temporal sulcus 
reaches the lateral surface on the left side, and a secondary branch 
ascends to it from the superior temporal, but there is 2 mm. distance 
between their ends. On the right side the Hr is not to be seen on the 
lateral aspect, and the secondary branch has half the size of the right 
one. The sulcus temporalis medius (tm) is several times interrupted 
on both sides and without regularity. The sulcus temporalis inferior 
(It) is more regular, and only once interrupted. 

Occipital lobes .—The left occipital lobe belongs to a very uncommon 
type. There is a marked cuneo-lingual gyrus, and a concealed anterior 
gyrus near the stem of the fissure. The fissure docs not join the 
collateral sulcus. 

On the left the calcarine fissure ends in a straight line; on the pole 
is a small vertical sulcus resembling a superior lunatus. Two well- 
developed, uninterrupted lateral sulci, not connected with the temporal 
sulci, run parallel with the end of the inferior temporal, which is at the 
lower border. The superior of these two lateral occipital sulci joins a 
well-formed anterior occipital, which does not join the transverse 
occipital. A deep gyrus exists at the desciibed junction, and another 
more where the interparietal ends. Superadded to this there is a 
superior occipital and unusual deep incisure joining the inferior sagittal 
sulcus cunei; the superior sagittal is divided into two parts. There is 
no inferior transverse temporal. There is no evidence of a paramesial 
sulcus along the supero-mesial border, unless the deep abnormal incisure 
accounts for it. 

The stem of the right calcarine fissure remains also separated from 
the collateral sulcus. There is a deep gyrus at the beginning of the 
retrocalcarine fissure and one at its end, just before the vertical end, 
which is well developed and remains at the mesial surface. Neverthe¬ 
less, there is a prselunatus on the lateral surface. The three lateral 


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* 9 * 8 .] 


BY F. SANO, M.D. 


263 


anteroposterior sulci are also seen here, but the lower is not con 
tinuous with the inferior temporal. The superior continues with the 
interparietal, without a deep gyrus. There is no anterior occipital 
sulcus. The transverse occipital is double, and the lower of them 
joins the interparietal. 

The deep incisure, as described on the left side, exists also on the right 
side, and the superior occipital is independent. There is an independent 
inferior sagittal sulcus cunei, and a well-maiked superior sagittal ending 
in a paramesial, which covers the superior half of the supero-mesial 
border of the cuneus. On the right side are two inferior transverse 
occipital sulci, the most posterior of them resulting from the polar sulci 
pushed downwards by the development of the lower end of the vertical 
calcarine sulcus, the most anterior being formed by the collateral and 
the lingual sulci. 

Limbic lobes .—The limbic lobe is limited in both hemispheres by a 
quite simple boundary. The rhinal sulci do not join the lateral fissure. 
The sulcus collateralis is not interrupted. The isthmus is not con 
coaled on the left side. The sulcus cingulatus is interrupted on the 
left side, where it belongs to type V of Retzius. On the right side 
this sulcus shows the common type in No. 1. On neither side is there 
a sulcus rhinicus internus. 


Indices of Bilateral 

Comparison for 

the Lobes. 


12 male 
brains. 

Pullen. 

ft and c . 

764 

80 

Frontal lobes . 

797 

76 

Parietal lobes . 

69'2 

62 

Temporal lobes 

61 ’9 

83 

Occipital lobes . 

72 - o 

72 

Limbic lobes . 

685 

70 


74'35 ■ 

73 


The greatest differentiation between left and right exists in the 
parietal lobes; the least in the temporal lobes. 

The following table summarises the measurements of the depth of 
the sulci taken in eighteen places of the hemispheres on each side. 
As a means of comparison, the same measurements have been taken 
in a normal brain and in a heavy brain. Then the radius has been 
calculated for a sphere, the volume of which would be the same as the 
concerned hemispheres, and the percentage of the depth of the sulci 
according to that radius has been given. 


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264 


JAMES HENRY PULLEN, 


[Juiy> 


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Depth of Sulci in Millimetres and Per Cent, of Radius. 



Pullen. 

Normal. 

Heavy brain. 



I,. R. 

L. R. 

L. R. 


Depth of primitive sulci 

172 170 . 

190 180 

. 194 189 

mm. 

„ of newer sulci 

>47 15‘4 

160 150 

. 185 180 

a* 

,, of summa (mean) . 

i6'3 i6 - 8 

178 168 

. 188 i8‘2 

M 

Mean for both hemispheres 

163 

* 7'3 

188 

»» 

Weight of the hemispheres 

1045 

,0 55 

1420 

grm. 

Radius of sphere (same vol.) 

62 99 

63-16 

69 77 

mm. 

Per cent, of radius occupied 

2587 

2739 

2695 

per cent. 


by depth of the sulci 


Whence we see that the normal brain has comparatively the deepest 
sulci, the heavy brain less deep, and Pullen’s brain the least deep sulci. 
Looking for details, it is to be noticed that this is not the case for the 
stem of the calcarine fissure on the right side in Pullen, nor in his 
sulcus cingulatus, nor in the sulcus collateralis. The rhinencephalon 
and the occipital region appear to have been the least affected by the 
arrest of development. The left hemisphere has suffered more in its 
accessori sulci than the right. 

A microscopical examination has been made on different parts 01 
the hemispheres, but the senile deterioration is too advanced to allow 
of any conclusions being made about the conditions that may have 
existed during Pullen’s period of full mental strength. 

Next to its documental value, the brain of Pullen may give us an 
interesting example for the study of the convolutional pattern in a 
small brain. For this study we would have to review which are the 
indications of a more simple pattern, as it is usually found in small 
brains of arrested development—these we would have to control by 
comparison with the characteristics of a more fully evolved type—and 
ascertain whether there is a predominance of one of these tendencies 
in the case of Pullen. 

In order to do such descriptions with accuracy it would be necessary 
to have the results obtained in a sufficient number of brains, methodi¬ 
cally tabulated in series. I am compiling such tables, but I cannot 
yet use them, as they are not worked out. The records obtained in the 
study of relative brains are of interest, and may show the modification 
of the familial pattern under the influence of differences in weight, and 
so allow us to trace which conditions are more likely to be inherited— 
independently of any other influence—and which are more under the 
influence of personal variability^ 3 ) 

The scheme of this study, however, is again not enough advanced to 
be completely demonstrative, and I have, therefore, used the results of 
Spitzka and Cunningham in addition to my own. 


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1 9 1 8.] HY F. SANO, M.D. 265 

Tokens of arrested development and simple pattern in the brain of 
Pullen : 

1. (*) There is only one anterior ramus of the fissura lateralis in both 
hemispheres. 

2. There is only one posterior ramus of the fl in the left hemisphere. 

10. The sulcus centralis does not cut the supero-mesial border (on 

both sides), and it does not anastomose with fl at its lower end (No. 9). 

23. The sulcus frontalis superior is in three sections on the left side 
(usually it is in one or two sections); on the right side it is in one 
section ; it may therefore, be considered as badly developed on the 
left side. 

28. The sulcus frontalis inferior is continuous on the left side, and 
not on the right side. This sulcus is interrupted in well-developed 
brains, but then the terminal portions anastomose with the neighbouring 
sulci, at least at the anterior end. Next, peculiarities observed show 
that such is not the case in Pullen. The right fl , therefore, is in better 
condition than the left, which is the contrary to what obtains in right- 
handed individuals. 

29. fi does not anastomose with the sulcus diagonalis on the right 
side; it reaches d on the left side, without anastomosis. 

30. fi does not anastomose with the sulcus radiatus ( r). 

31. Nor with the sulcus fronto-marginalis ( fmg). 

41. The sulcus interparietalis proprius is interrupted (ip). 

50. There is an isolated sulcus intermedius anterior (ima). 

56. The sulcus parietalis superior does not anastomose with the 
sulcus praecuneus ( s.pr ). 

60. The pattern of the temporal lobe is not bad, except for the 
lack of anastomoses of the transverse temporal sulcus with the superior 
temporal, but the gyri are shallow, and there are but few secondary 
branches on the sulci. 

61. There are too many divisions and too few connections in the 
middle temporal (/>«). 

76. The temporal interruption of col is present, as usually happens, 
when the speech centres on the lateral surface have not pressed the 
lateral cortex to the lower surface. 

79. The isthmus lobi limbici is not concealed in the left hemisphere. 

80. The sulcus subparietalis is interrupted in both sides. 

82. The sulcus cinguli follows a simple pattern on both sides, type V 
on the left, type I on the right. 

The former indications show that there is a greater lack 01 develop¬ 
ment in the left than in the right hemisphere. 

Are there indications of superiority, or any peculiarities that might 
suggest that the brain belongs in some parts to a higher'type of human 
evolution ? 


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2 66 JAMES HENRY PULLEN, [July, 

67. The occipital lobe is well developed on both sides, and differences 
between the two sides are marked. On the left side there is a well, 
developed lateral anterior occipital, but a less marked inferior transverse 
occipital. On the right side there is an interruption of the calcarine 
fissure, which may be a familial characteristic. On the right side there 
is a good paramesial, which is evident on the lateral surface ; on the left 
side the paramesial is interrupted. On both sides a deep sulcus which 
joins the sulci cunei gives an unusual type of greater complexity and 
deeper development of the occipital cortex, the distance from real to tr 
is smaller on the left side. The good development of the occipital 
region is more marked on the left side. Moreover, the occipital 
index is small, where the frontal and the parietal indices are larger 
than usual. 

Corpus callosum .—The length of the corpus callosum exceeds the 
usual measurements; it nearly attains the same length as it does in 
brains of 1545 and 1593 grm., described by Spitzka. As the length 
of the callosum is one of the most constant familial characteristics, 
and as Pullen’s parents were first cousins, the large development in 
Pullen’s brain is likely to have resulted from a reinforced hereditary 
tendency. 

Some unknown pathological factors had reduced the brain mass, and 
especially arrested the development of the central, temporal, and frontal 
lubes. As is usually the case under such circumstances, the left side 
was more affected than the right side. The large development of the 
corpus callosum, in addition to the better preservation of the occipital 
lobes, may have been of no little importance as regards the visual 
capacity and the artistic skill that gave Pullen, with his perseverant and 
tenacious character, the means of attaining a personal originality and 
distinction.. 

Tredgold, after careful examination, came to the conclusion that the 
case was not one of primary amentia, but that it should really be 
classed as an example of mild secondary mental deficiency, due to sense 
deprivation (deafness). “The condition,” he writes, “is similar in kind, 
although differing in degree, to that frequently seen in neglected cases 
of congenital deafness, and it is not greatly dissimilar to that of some 
non-idiotic savants, who, absorbed in their one particular subject, have 
gradually lost interest in, and severed their connection with, the outer 
world.” 

Every discussion about classification of mental cases has always proved 
to be fruitless, except for the demonstration of new facts enabling one 
to modify accepted opinions. Much can be said in favour of Tredgold’s 
conclusions, but clinical classifications are often too artificial. When 
a complete examination can be performed, many cases of so-called 
primary amentia may be considered as secondary to some localised 


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1918.] AN ECTROMELUS : AN ATAVISTIC RELAPSE. 


267 


pathological influence, which has caused the arrest of development of 
the brain, or impeded education by the severance of social connections. 

Pure hereditary influence, affecting the whole of the brain in an 
harmonious manner, is hypothetical. Through heredity, pathological 
influences act by local processes and disharmony. 

At first sight I thought it possible to compare the brain of Pullen, 
which appears almost well fissurated, with those cases of infantilism as 
described under the name of “ Type Lorrain.” But I had soon to 
abandon so hazardous an opinion. The brain is small, its frontal and 
temporal lobes are badly developed; there is a lack of complexity in 
the convolutional pattern of these lobes, and this is especially marked 
in the speech centres ; his deaf-mutism was more central than peripheral 
in origin. The parietal lobes were not so bad; the occipital lobes 
were good, the corpus callosum was remarkable, and he was bound to 
have special capacity in the visual sphere of his mental existence. 

I have never thought it possible to explain by the description of the 
brain, why Pullen was so tenacious and so industrious. Just as the 
complexion—may it have been the internal secretions that granted him 
a sound long life ?—the foundation of his character was not only to 
be found in his convolutions. 

“ Science has done much for us,” says Carlyle, in his Hero Worship; 
but it is a poor science that would hide from us the great deep sacred 
infinitude of Nescience, whither we can never penetrate, on which all 
science swims as a mere superficial film. This World, after all our 
science and sciences, is still a miracle ; wonderful, inscrutable, magique, 
and more, to whosoever will think of it.” 

And so was Pullen. 

(') The brain of this interesting case was sent to Lt.-Col. Mott by Dr. Caldecott, 
who handed it to Dr. Sano for investigation, who acknowledges with gratitude a 
grant from the Medical Research Committee of the National Health Insurance.—(*) 
A. F. Tredgold, Mental Deficiency, second edition, London, 1915. Contains a com¬ 
plete record of Pullen's activity, illustrated by numerous figures. The figures 
which I give in this paper have not hitherto been published.—( J ) “Convolutional 
Pattern of Relative Brains in Man,” Proc. Roy. Soc. Med., 1917 ; Id. in “ Identical 
Twins” ( Philosoph. Trans, of the R.S., 1916). F. Sano.—( 4 ) The numbers refer 
to those of Table B. 


An Ectromelus (}): An Atavistic Relapse. By S. B. Pal, B.A., 
L.M.S. (Cal. Univ.), Assistant Surgeon, Central Asylum, Federated 
Malay States. 

Darwin, after a most comprehensive and searching investigation of 
the phenomena of life and variation, came to the conclusion that “ man 
is the co-descendant with the other mammals of a common progenitor,” 
and still “ bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly 
LX IV. I 8 


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268 


AN ECTROMELUS : AN ATAVISTIC RELAPSE, [July, 


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origin.” With the immense and varied ancestry man has had, and the 
infinitude of his connections with the rest of the animal world, “ata¬ 
vism,” />., inheritance of characteristics from remote, not from the more 
immediate ancestors, is a very interesting subject of study. The pres¬ 
ence of supernumerary nipples in man may be cited as an example of 
atavism. This abnormality has been noticed by me in four patients 
during five years’ observations in the hospitals in this country. In 
some parts of Central and Eastern Europe a very high percentage of 
men is said to possess this abnormality. This characteristic is absent 
in apes, baboons, and monkeys, who are men’s immediate successors, 
but is found in lemurs, an order of mammals lower in order. The rare 
occurrence of multiple births in women is a characteristic which is 
reversion, or atavistic towards the condition normal in lower verte¬ 
brates. 

Dr. F. E. Bolton, in his paper on “Hydro-Psychoses” (wateratavism), 
brings together some of what he terms “ the abundant proofs of man’s 
pelagic ancestry.” One of the characters mentioned in the paper is 
the formation of the hand of man. He considers the hand of man is 
in shape and bones “ more like the primitive amphibian paddle than is 
the limb of any other mammal.” Emerson, in the same way, thinks 
that “ the brother of man’s hand is now cleaving the Arctic Sea in the 
fin of the whale, and, innumerable ages since, was pawing the marsh 
in the flipper of the saurus.” 

If our hands are regarded by naturalists as developed from the limbs 
of our remote ancestors who lived in the sea, I think that the characters 
of the limbs of the ectromelus, photographs of whom are reproduced 
here, show a further “ atavistic relapse.” 

Besides the superficial similarity of appearance of the upper extremity 
of the ectromelus to the fore-limb of the whale or seal, the characters of 
the different bones have some similarity to those of Cetaceans (whale 
family). 

The following diagram of skeleton of the upper extremity of a man, 
of the ectromelus, and of the fore-limb of a whale, clearly shows how 
that of the ectromelus resembles the fore-limb of a whale. 

The points of resemblance between the upper extremity of the ectro¬ 
melus and the fore-limb of the whale are : 

(i) The stunted appearance as compared to the upper extremity of 
man. 

(ii) The arch-like curvature of the bones of fore-arm. 

(iii) The immobility of the palm, the phalanges, except the thumb, of 
the ectromelus having no pow'er of flexion or extension. 

In whales there are no hints of hind-limbs, and in this ectromelus the 
lower limbs are in proportion to those of a normal man very small, as 
shown in the diagram below. 


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JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE, JULY 



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JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE, JULY, 1918. 



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A (Hard 6° Son &* H'est Newman, 

















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1918 -] 


BY S. B. PAL, B.A. 


269 


The hind-limb of the whale is represented by a rudimentary femur 
and tibia only, and it is remarkable that in this ectromelus there are no 





Fore-limb. 


fibula or metatarsal bones and the phalanges are rudimentary, consist¬ 
ing of one digit in each, and unattached to any muscle. 

The ectromelus, an Indian Mahomedan, ret. about 36, was admitted 



0 

O 

c 

o 
O 

Ectrome/us. 

Hind-limb. 

into Batu Gajah Hospital for the treatment of malarial fever. He lives 
on the charity of others, and roams about from place to place. Nothing 
about his family history can be made out, as he thinks his parents died 
or deserted him when he was a baby. There are no points of interest 



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270 AN ECTROMELUS : AN ATAVISTIC RELAPSE, [July, 

in his previous history, except that he contracted venereal disease about 
five years ago. 

It would have been very interesting to get radiograms of the limbs, 
but in their absence I will try to show in the appended table the size 
of the different parts of the body of the ectromelus as compared to 
the same parts in the individual who is standing by his side in the 
photograph. 



Ectromelus. 

Man. 

Weight ...... 

6 st. io lb 

io st. 6 lb* 

Height. 

3 ft. i in. 

5 ft. 8} in. 

Body : 

One acromion process to the other 

l ft. 4 in. 

I ft. 5 in. 

Girth of chest at level of nipple . 

2 ft. u in. 

2 ft. io| in. 

One anterior superior iliac spine 

to the other .... 

11 in. 

I ft. i in. 

Upper extremity : 

Acromion process to outer con- 

dyle of humerus 

9 in. 

I ft. in. 

Girth of arm .... 

io in. 

11 in. 

Head of radius to its styloid pro- 

cess ...... 

5 *n. 

11 in. 

Metacarpals: (a) 

First ... 

4 in. 

2 in. 

Second ..... 

i in. 

2} in. 

Third. 

I in. 

2} in. 

Fourth. 

nil 

2} in. 

Fifth. 

nil 

2 in. 

Phalanges : ( b) 

Thumb ..... 

I in. 

2| in. 

Other phalanges 

i to i in. 

— 

Lower extremity : 

Anterior superior iliac spine to 

lower border of patella 

7 in. 

i ft. 7J in. 

Girth of thigh .... 

I ft. io in. 

i ft. 8 in. 

Head of tibia to inner maleolus . 

5 in. 

i ft. 4i in. 

Fibula. 

Wanting 

— 

Metatarsals ..... 

Wanting 

— 

Phalanges: (c) 

Big toe . 

1 in. 

2} in. 

Other toes .... 

about I in. each . 

— 

Foot. 

5 in. 

io} in. 


(a) Only the first metacarpal is jointed to the carpus, the second and third being- 
only thin spicules of bones, having no connection with the carpus. The third 
metacarpal bone is absent in the left hand. 

( b) There are six phalanges in the hand, the sixth one arising from the fift*h. 
All the phalanges consist of one digit each. The thumb only has power of flexion 
and extension, other phalanges being immobile. 

(c) The phalanges, five in number, consist of one digit each and are immobile. 
They project more from the dorsum of the foot, and do not touch the ground 
when the ectromelus walks. 

In view of the fact that the limbs of this ectromelus are so very 
defective, it is really astonishing what he is able to accomplish. He 
can easily walk a distance of a mile or so, and is independent of any 


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1918.] 


BY S. B. PAL, B.A. 


27 I 

help from others, or of any mechanical contrivance for eating, dressing 
himself, etc. He uses a spoon, which he holds between the thumb 
and the palm. To eat “chapati,” he holds one edge between the 
thumb and palm and tears a small piece. This piece, with a little 
curry over it, he pushes on the dorsum of the right hand with his left, 
and then carries it to the mouth. The “ langoti ” (a T-shaped apparel 
used as underwear by some men of Northern India), in which he appears 
in the photograph, is arranged by himself. He holds a pen between 
the thumb and palm or between the external edges of two palms, and 
writes tolerably well, as shown in the diagram of writing. 



/ lc/ua.1 Size of f>a./rrx (/eft). 


He can roll tobacco in paper to make a cigarette and then light it, 
as shown in the photograph : and can easily raise the bucket full of 
water, weighing 36 lb., as also shown. 

To climb a height, as on to the stool on which he is standing in the 
photograph, he puts his palm on the top, and with the arms he raises 
himself up a little. Then he puts one foot on one of the legs of the 
stool and rises up in the same way as we would climb a place nearly 
equal to one’s height. 

My thanks are due to Mr. S. A. Row, Hospital Assistant, for taking 
the photographs according to my suggestions. 


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272 


THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, 


[July 


References. 

(1) A. F. Chamberlain .—The Child. 

(2) Thomson .—Outlines of Zoology. 

(3) Foster and Shore. —Physiology. 

Tanjong Rambutan, 

March 24 th, 1918. 

(') Derived from Gr. ficrf>ui/ra, abortion, and jiAoc, limb. 


A Record of Admissions to the Mental Section of the Lord Derby 
War Hospital, Warrington, from June 1 Jth, 1916, to June 16 th, 
1917.C) By R. Eager, M.D., Major, R.A.M.C.(T.), Officer in 
Charge Mental Division L.D.W.H. and Senior Assistant Medical 
Officer Devon County Asylum. 

During the fust twelve months of the admission of patients to the 
mental wards of the Lord Derby War Hospital there were 2,429 admis¬ 
sions and 1,466 discharges. The average number of admissions per 
month was 202, and the average number of discharges per month was 
122. To those who have devoted their time to the admission and 
discharge of mental cases in large asylums in peacetime these numbers 
alone will convince them that the condition of things must be very 
different to what they have been accustomed. The enormous amount 
of work in investigating these cases will also, I am sure, be appre¬ 
ciated, and those who, in addition, have any knowledge of Army Forms 
and the preparation of these before the final discharge of a patient 
from hospital will realise the amount of routine necessary before these 
1,466 patients could be discharged. 

I propose now to review the work done during these twelve months, 
and in doing so to briefly indicate the nature of the cases coming under 
the various groups. 

Table No. I shows the total admissions to the mental section of the 
hospital during the period under review, grouped under the sources 
from which they came. It also shows the discharges under the same 
headings and their disposal. 

Table No. II shows the cases classified according to the official 
nomenclature under the various forms of mental and nervous disorders 
represented by these cases. 

Before further splitting up these figures into their sub-groups I should 
mention that on the opening up of the 1,000 beds provided at the Lord 
Derby War Hospital for the accommodation of mental cases a large 
amount of the room was very quickly used up by “ home troops.” By 
the latter term I mean cases who had not served overseas with an 
Expeditionary Force and who had shown mental symptoms sooner or 
later after enlistment. From the admission rate of these cases alone 


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Table I .—Showing Totals Admitted and Discharged, and How Disposed of. 


1918.] 


BY MAJOR R. EAGER, M.D 


273 


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274 THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, [July, 

it soon became evident that the accommodation would be insufficient, 
and it became necessary to limit the reception of cases to this hospital 
to men who had served with an Expeditionary Force. The home troops 
are now dealt with by other methods. The principle of dealing with 
them after their admission to this hospital was similar to that 


Table II.— S/towiftg Total Admissions and Discharges according to 

their Mental Disease. 


Form of mental disease. 

rt 

0 

H 

Discharged to 
civil occupation. 

Sent to asylums. 

Transferred to 
other hospitals. 

Sent to home 
duty. 

Died. 

Still in hospital. 

Total*. 

Cerebral syphilis 

3 

1 




2 

_ 

3 

Epilepsy ..... 

20 

14 

— 

— 

4 

— 

2 

20 

Hysteria. 

5 

3 

— 

— 

2 

— 

— 

5 

Somnambulism 

1 

1 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

I 

Mental deficiency . 

33 8 

148 

12 

18 

21 

— 

*39 

33 8 

Mania ..... 

200 

52 

8 

20 

25 

5 

90 

200 

Melancholia .... 

448 

170 

>4 

29 

45 

I 

189 

448 1 

Mental stupor 

54 

4 

2 

12 

1 

— 

35 

54 

Delusional insanity 

37* 

I l8 

'9 

3' 

26 

I 

176 

37' 

Epileptic insanity . 

21 

13 

1 

I 


I 

5 

21 

Moral insanity 

6 

4 


— 


— 

2 

6 

Impulsive insanity . 

5 

2 

— 

« 

2 

— 

— 

5 

Acute delirium 

26 

IO 

— 

2 

6 

— 

8 

26 1 

Confusional insanity 

251 

74 

3 

32 

40 

2 

IOO 

251 

Alcoholic insanity . 

30 

12 

3 

4 

2 

— 

9 

30 

G. P. I. 

112 

8 

66 

5 

— 

4 

29 

112 

Dementia prrecox 

200 

44 

19 

22 

12 


103 

200 | 

Secondary dementia 

48 

21 

1 

8 

- 

— 

18 

48 

Mental instability . 

4« 

26 

0 

3 

7 

— 

10 

48 

N. A. D. 

25 

— 

— 

'7 

6 

— 

2 

25 

Shell shock 

68 

26 

— 

8 

21 

I 

12 

68 

Neurasthenia .... 

145 

71 

4 

1 I 

27 

— 

32 

'45 

Concussion of the brain . 

I 

I 


— 


— 


I 

Tumour of brain . 

I 

— 

— 

_ 


I 

— 

1 

Locomotor ataxia . 

I 

— 


_ 

— 

— 

1 

1 

N. Y. D. 

I 

_ 

_ 

— 


— 

I 

I 

Totals 

2429 

823 

'54 

224 

247 

18 

963 

2429 j 


adopted by the Army authorities in peace time. They were admitted 
for the purpose of examination, observation, and diagnosis, and if con¬ 
sidered mental cases and were not making rapid improvement they 
were certified, and sent to the county asylums to which they were 
chargeable. If, however, they showed signs of improvement they were 
retained in hospital till they were able to be discharged to the care of 
their friends. It will be noted below that only eight cases from the 
home troop group returned to duty. Of these one showed no 


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BY MAJOR R. EAGER, M.D. 


1918 .] 


2; 5 


appreciable mental disease, and the others had been on garrison duty 
abroad and had had very mild symptoms. 


Home Troop Cases. 

Table III deals solely with the home troop cases, and I will now 
proceed to discuss these in detail. Taking the classes represented in 
the official nomenclature separately, the largest one is that contained in 
the group of “ Mental Defectives.” 


Table III.— Showing Total Home Troops , Admissions and Discharges 
classified according to their Mental Disease. 


Form of mental disease. 

sa 

c 

0.2 

•ji 

So 

to asylums. ■ 

o — 

~ <t 
*3 -- 

%j a. 

t i 

51 

(A 

0 

E 

0 

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0 


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O 

c 

« 1 


rt 



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rt 


















O 



•—* u 

C/v 

H 0 

C/* -v 

d 

(/) 


Concussion of brain 

I 

I 



_ 



I 

Epilepsy .... 

3 

3 


— 

— 

— 

— 

3 | 

Somnambulism 

1 

I 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

I 

Neurasthenia .... 

26 

21 

2 

_ 

2 

— 

I 

26 

Mental deficiency . 

S 3 

42 

10 

I 

— 

— 

— 

53 

Mania ... 

13 

7 

4 

I 

I 

— 

— 

'3 

Melancholia .... 

37 

22 

IO 

— 

4 

1 

— 

37 [ 

Epileptic insanity . 

3 

3 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

3 

Mental stupor 

2 

I 

— 

— 

— 

— 

I 

2 

Delusional insanity 

43 

27 

12 

2 

— 

1 

I 

43 

Moral insanity 

1 

I 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

I 

Impulsive insanity . 

I 

I 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

I 

Acute delirium 

I 

1 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

I 

Confusional insanity 

11 

7 

2 

I 

— 

1 

— 

11 l 

Alcoholic insanity . 

9 

7 

2 

— 

— 

— 

-- 

9 1 

G. P. I. 

l 6 

2 

I I 

— 

— 

3 

-- 

16 

Dementia praecox . 

24 

12 

12 

— 

— 


— 

24 

Secondary dementia 

10 

7 

I 

2 

— 

— 

— 

IO 

N A. D. 

I 

— 

— 

— 

I 

— 

— 

I 

Mental instability . 

2 

2 

— 

— 


— 

— 

2 1 

Totals 

258 

168 

1 

66 

1 

7 

8 

6 

3 

| 

■ 

258 


Mental deficiency. —There were 53 admissions (or 20 percent, of home' 
troop admissions). All types of mental deficiency were met with. 

Speaking broadly with regard to the cases of this group, it is quite 
clear that they would be of no use for military purposes, and they are 
quite unable to come up to the standard required for military discip¬ 
line. It is clear also that in most cases they have realised their 
deficiencies, and a great many have felt very acutely their inability to 
compete with their feliows. This has only aggravated their condition. 
The question as to whether, if they were collected into a special 


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276 THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, [July, 

battalion, and treated on different lines to the ordinary soldier, they 
could be used for work as labourers under special supervision is a point 
for consideration. My opinion is that a great deal of useful work might 
be obtained from them under these conditions if they were properly 
handled. But under present conditions it is difficult to understand 
why so many are being enlisted and passed by recruiting medical 
officers as fit for duty. It is quite impossible to expect them to do the 
duties they are asked to perform in competition with other men of a 
much higher mental calibre. 

Delusional insanity .—This represents the next largest group under 
home troop cases. There were 43 cases in all (or 16 per cent.). 

In many of the cases of this class who were discharged from hospital 
to their homes the condition had evidently existed prior to enlistment, 
and although they might easily have been certified on discharge, one 
felt that they had carried on in civil life previously in spite of their 
delusions, and that they would probably be still able to do so. Many 
cases had only been in the Army one or two months prior to admission. 

Next for consideration is the Melatuholic Group. There were 37, 
or it, per cent, classified as such. An example of this group will now 
be given. 

No. 5399 Pte. K. G—, aet 41. Builder’s labourer. Enlisted Sep¬ 
tember 4th, 1916. Father committed suicide. Patient was brought 
under observation on September 10th, for throwing himself in front of 
a motor car. He was in a state of extreme melancholia, and said he 
was afraid to be left alone. He wrote a letter addressed to his wife 
saying, “I am dying,” and on the envelope was written, “when I am 
dead send this to my wife.” Examination elicited the fact that he had 
been called up a week previously, and could not settle down to his 
drills. Became nervous, and imagined that he was going to be shot. 
His tongue and hands were tremulous, and his general condition one 
of extreme agitation, but there were no other neurological signs. He 
looked old for his age, and his arteries were thickened. 

On inquiry into his personal history it was ascertained that he had 
always been a very nervous man, afraid to leave the house alone at 
night, and would be frightened at a piece of paper in the dark. He had . 
had a “ nervous breakdown ” six years previously when he was looked 
after at home. He made a steady improvement under hospital treat¬ 
ment, and was able to be discharged to the care of his wife in 
November, 1916. 

The above condition was no doubt produced by the stress of training 
in a mentally unstable individual with a hereditary predisposition to 
mental disease. 

The ten cases who were certified were similar cases, in which the 
stress of military duties reacted adversely on them, and led to suicidal 
attempts. Alcoholic intemperance was an associated factor in several 
instances. These cases did not show any signs of rapid improvement, 


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1918.] BY MAJOR R. EAGER, M.D. 277 

and therefore had to be certified in accordance with Army Council 
Instructions. 

The fieurast/ienics figure as the next largest group of cases among the 
home troops. 

There were in all twenty-six cases, one of which still remains in 
hospital, and is undergoing a course of 606 and mercurial injections. 
As regards the two sent back to duty, of whom one was an R.A.M.C. 
orderly belonging to the L.D.W.H., both were mild cases, and were only 
eleven days in hospital. On the other hand, the two cases certified 
were very severe cases. 

Of the twenty-one cases which were discharged to civil duties the 
following example will suffice : 

No. 194982, Driver H. F—, aet. 36, music-hall manager. Enlisted 
August, 1916. About October 1st, 1916, whilst training he was kicked 
in the abdomen by a mule, and since that time he had been in bed. 
He was admitted to the Hospital on October xoth, 1916, with some 
bruising of the testicles and pubis and involuntary micturition. Exami¬ 
nation by X rays failed to show any fracture. He was in a state of 
general nervousness and anxiety with regard to his condition, and 
fearful when questioned about himself. He slept badly, but showed no 
other mental symptoms. He rapidly regained his self-confidence, how¬ 
ever, and his incontinence ceased. On December 28th he was brought 
before a Medical Board and discharged. This man’s family record 
showed that his grandfather was in an asylum for ten years and died 
there. His brother was also of a highly nervous disposition, and the 
patient himself had a nervous breakdown two years previously after 
producing three revues in the music-halls for the War Relief Fund. 

Dementia prcecox occupies the fifth highest position and accounts for 
24 cases (or 9 per cent, of admissions). Of these, 12 were discharged 
home and 12 were certified. The following cases represent types of 
this group : 

No. 28686, Pte. S. T—, set. 24. Enlisted June 13th, 1916. Previous 
occupation a labourer. This patient was admitted to the L.D.W.H. on 
September 13th, 1916, with the report from his regimental medical 
officer that he had done no duty since joining. On examination he 
was very resistive and his expression was sullen. He took no interest 
in his surroundings and had marked flexibilitas cerea , and a tendency 
to retention of urine. He would not answer questions, and was generally 
negativistic.* On September 20th he assaulted one of the orderlies by 
striking him. During his stay in hospital he rarely answered questions 
and only then in monosyllables, and he remained in a state of inertia 
till he was finally disposed of by certification, and transferred to asylum 
care on November 14th, 1916. The father of this patient stated that 
there was no mental trouble on either side of the family, and the first 
indication they had of anything being the matter with the boy was 
when he tvas arrested for being an absentee. He stated, however, 
that he had always been of a reserved disposition and made no friends 
in civil life. 


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THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, 


[July, 


No. 6005, Pte. H. J—, set. 32, fitter by trade. Enlisted March 16th, 
1916. Patient was admitted to the Hospital from the detention 
barracks at Wakefield, where he had been undergoing a sentence of 
eighty-four days for insubordination. The official records showed that 
he had two previous periods of detention of twenty-one and fourteen 
days respectively for a similar offence. His history, obtained from his 
mother, showed that from November 21st, 1907, to September, 1908, 
he had been a patient in the Three Counties Asylum, which was 
corroborated on application to that institution. On admission to 
hospital from Wakefield he was rambling and inconsequential. He 
answered questions irrelevantly and took very little notice of his 
surroundings. He had an imperfect appreciation of time and placeand 
no insight into his condition, and was generally apathetic and unin¬ 
terested. He had no neurological symptoms and was in a satisfactory 
bodily condition. The more marked symptoms fairly rapidly cleared 
up and left him rather dull, stupid, and simple, and he was boarded out 
of the Army as permanently unfit for service a month after admission 
and allowed to return home to his friends. 

Next come the cases of general paralysis of the insane. There were 
16 cases (or 6 per cent, of the home troop admissions). Of these, 
2 were in a very early stage, and their friends undertook full responsi 
biiity for their welfare. Eleven were certified for asylum care and 3 
died in hospital. The cases were in all respects similar to those 
met with in civil asylums, and, therefore, no further mention will be 
made on this group of cases here, and the observations on the Wasser- 
mann reaction and other tests will be deferred till dealing with the 
Expeditionary Force cases. 

I will, therefore, proceed to deal with the cases of mania as the next 
largest group. There were 13 admissions, 7 of whom were discharged 
home, 4 were sent to asylums, x was transferred to another hospital, 
and 1 was considered fit to return to home duty. 

The transfer was an Australian, who was boarded and recommended 
for repatriation. Of the cases who were sent to their homes and civil 
occupations the following is an example : 

No. 34040. Lce.-Corpl. P. A—, aet. 39, farm labourer. Enlisted 
August, 1915. This case was admitted to the L.D.W.H. on October 
13th, 1916, with report that he had been noisy, restless, and excitable. 
It was ascertained that he had been twice previously in an asylum, the 
first time from February to May, 1913, and on the second occasion 
from July to December, 1914. He quickly quietened down after 
admission and in November, 1916, was discharged home to his wife. 

The one patient returned to duty was a case who rapidly regained his 
mental balance. His age was 41, occupation architect. He had a good 
character from his Commanding Officer, and was allowed to return to 
duty on recovery owing to the mildness of the attack and at the patient’s 
expressed desire. 


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19 I 8.] BY MAJOR R. EAGER, M.D. 279 

The cases coming under the heading of confusional insanity total 
eleven. The following case was discharged home : 

No. R/17280 Rifleman G—, act. 30, engineer in ship yard. Enlisted 
October, 1915. In June, 1916, patient was admitted to hospital. He 
was sleepless by night and suffering from visual hallucinations, and was 
generally in a state of mental confusion with a certain amount of 
clouding of consciousness. His bodily condition was weak, and he 
had some cough and expectoration. The latter was subsequently 
examined, but tubercle bacilli were not demonstrated. Physical signs 
of phthisis were not definite. The condition rapidly improved, and in 
November, 1916, he was discharged home to the care of his friends. 
In this case his mother was an extremely nervous woman, one of his 
maternal aunts and uncles died in an asylum, and his father’s brother 
died of phthisis. The strain of training for military duties had been 
too much for a subject of this type. 

We will now proceed to the cases of secondary dementia. There were 
ten returned as such. 

Two of these, one of whom was an Australian and the other a South 
African, were transferred to other hospitals for purposes of repatriation. 
I will give one example : 

A case taken home by relatives. No. S/956 Pte. S.C—, set. 53, paper- 
hanger. Enlisted August 14th, 1915. Was admitted to the L.D.W.H. 
on October 20th, 1916, with a history that he had returned from 
India. He had been under observation for mental trouble since May, 
1916, and had previously been in the Richmond Asylum, Dublin. He 
was sent to hospital as a case of mental deficiency, and it was reported 
that he was unable to do his drill, and could not look after himself or 
his equipment. It was necessary at once to have him scrubbed as 
he was in a verminous condition. There was no history of sunstroke, 
fever, or syphilis. He admitted indulgence in alcohol. On examina¬ 
tion, he was disorientated in time and space. His memory was bad for 
recent and remote events, and his general intelligence of a low order. 
He was only able to do light work under supervision. Physically, his 
arteries were markedly tortuous and thickened, but his general con¬ 
dition and nutrition were fairly good. His hearing was defective. 
Pupils active, deep reflexes increased. The case seemingly was an 
ordinary case of progressive dementia with no marked characteristics, 
and, as the patient’s father was willing and able to take the responsibility 
for his welfare, he was allowed to take him home. 

Alcoholic insanity will now be considered. There were admitted in 
all nine cases. For the sake of illustration one example will be given. 

No. 20725, Pte. B. R—, set. 40, labourer. Enlisted April, 1915. He 
was employed on munitions in September, 1915, after he had com¬ 
pleted his preliminary training. In January, 1916, he fell and injured 
his back. He was ordered to report for an examination but failed to 
do so, and on a visit being made to his home he was found to be under 
the influence of drink. He was admitted to the Hospital on January 
22nd, in a dull, confused mental state. Did not seem to appreciate his 


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2 80 THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, [July, 

surroundings, and left to himself he would wander about in an aimless 
manner. He smelt of drink on admission, and physical examination 
revealed tremors of his tongue, hands, and facial muscles. His pupils 
were rather sluggish, but his reflexes did not show any deviation from 
normal. His Wassermann reaction was negative. The condition 
rapidly cleared up, and in March he was able to give a coherent 
account of himself, and was correctly orientated for time and place. He 
made no complaints, and behaved in every way rationally and sensibly. 
He was, therefore, discharged home. 

In the epileptic group there were three cases without any marked 
mental symptoms, and three cases in which mental symptoms were 
present. They were all discharged to their homes. The following is 
an example : 

No. 32504, Pte. C. T. J—, jet. 28. Enlisted February, 1916. No 
regular occupation formerly. At the age of 12 he fell downstairs. 
Following this fall fits at frequent intervals are said to have developed, 
He had previously enlisted in the Army, and was discharged in July. 
1915, on account of his fits. He re-enlisted early in 1916, and in 
May of that year went to India. Fie was in November, 1916, again 
regarded as unfit for service owing to the increasing frequency of his 
fits. He had since his enlistment been in trouble for being drunk, 
using bad language, not complying with an order, and even striking his 
superior officer. He was sent back to England and admitted to the 
Lord Derby War Hospital, December 28th, 1916. On admission here 
he could give but a poor account of himself owing to his slow cerebra¬ 
tion. He said his occupation in civil life had been distributing hand¬ 
bills, and that he earned about 145-. a week. His memory seemed 
very defective, and at times he would not answer questions, seeming to 
realise this defect. He was easily confused. He was unable to give 
the date or month correctly, said he thought it was November. He 
had three convulsive seizures whilst under observation, and was dazed 
all the following day. The condition was typically epileptic, and at 
times, whilst in hospital, he was inclined to be rather impulsive. His 
friends expressed a wish to take him home on their responsibility, 
and this they were allowed to do on January 17th, 1917. The case 
appeared to be an advanced case of epileptic dementia. 

There were two cases recorded as mental stupor . One of these was a 
returned Expeditionary Force soldier doing home duty, who has not 
recovered sufficiently to justify his discharge, and is therefore still 
retained in hospital. The other case is as follows : 

No. 32818, Air Mechanic L. M—, set. 21, a turner. Enlisted 
June 16th, 1916. Patient was admitted to L.D.W.H. January 1st, 
1917, with report that in the preceding August he became depressed 
and worried about being away from his mother. In September he 
became more depressed and went home on leave. He gradually lapsed 
into a semi-stuporose condition. On inquiry from his relatives no 
history of any nervous or mental trouble was admitted to exist in the 
family, and he was slated to have had no worries or previous nervous 


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* 9 * 8] 


BY MAjOR R. EAGER, M.D. 


281 

attacks of any kind. On admission he was dull, stupid, and took no 
interest in anything. Had to be spoon-fed and have eveiything done 
for him, and was defective in habits. He rapidly improved, and 
was able to take an interest in things in an ordinary way. The condi¬ 
tion was no doubt brought on by exposing a nervous young lad to the 
strain of ordinary military service. He was discharged to his civil 
occupation on January 15th, 1917, appearing to be in his normal state. 

Mental instability .—Two cases were diagnosed as mental instability. 
These were both highly neurotic individuals who had a bad history of 
mental trouble in the family, and one or more mental breakdowns 
prior to joining the Army. They were both discharged to their civil 
occupations on recovery. 

Only one case was admitted under each of the following headings : 

(1) Concussion of the brain, (2) Somnambulism, (3) Impulsive 
insanity, (4) Acute delirium, (5) Moral insanity. 

There was also one case admitted showing no appreciable mental 
disease, and he was returned to duty. 

In addition to the cases already noted there were admitted three 
Australians who had only served in England, and also twenty-eight 
similar cases admitted from the Canadian Forces. These cases were all 
retained in hospital pending arrangements for repatriation. 

The addition of these Colonials, therefore, brings the total number 
of cases dealt with under the heading of home troops up to 289. 

Taking them as a whole, the above cases representing the home 
troops were a very poor type from the recruiting point of view. 

Cases Admitted from the Expeditionary Force in France. 

On reviewing the records of the cases admitted to the Mental 
Section of the Lord Derby War Hospital from the French Expeditionary 
Force during the twelve months from June 17th, 1916, to June 16th, 
1917, I should mention that all cases were kept in hospital under 
treatment until they had recovered, except in the case of general 
paralytics, epileptics, and patients who, prior to enlistment, were found 
to have been in asylums. The cases shown as transfers to other 
hospitals were Scotch or Irish cases who were transferred to the special 
hospitals for mental cases at the Murthly War Hospital, near Perth, 
or the Belfast War Hospital respectively; also a few who were trans¬ 
ferred to the County of Middlesex War Hospital, at Napsbury, near 
St. Albans, at the request of their relatives, in order that they should 
be nearer their homes. By reference to Table IV it will be seen that 
there were 1,652 admissions of which 536 were discharged home, 175 
returned to duty, 143 were transferred to other hospitals, 75 were 
certified for asylum care, n died, and 712 still remained in hospital. 

On looking into the various groups classified in accordance with the 


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282 ' THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, [July, 

official nomenclature, we find that melancholia stands out as the largest 
group, and accounts for 18 per cent, of cases from the Western Front. 
Thirty-one had a comparatively short attack, and it was thought 
justifiable to give them a trial on “home service,” with the under¬ 
standing that they would not be sent overseas again within twelve 


Table IV.— Showing Total Admissions and Discharges of Cases from 
the French Expeditionary Foret classified according to their 
Mental Disease. 


Form of mrntal disease. 

Totals. 

c 
c .2 

2. 

a. 

SO 

1 s 

u — 

« T 

5-5 

Sent to asylums. 

1 

Transferred to 
other hospitals. 

Sent to home 
duty. 

■6 

.Si 

Q 

Still in hospital. 

<c 

c 

H 

Hysteria ..... 

4 

1 

3 

___ 

_ 

I 

_ 

_ 

4 

Epilepsy ..... 

•5 

11 

— 

— 

3 

— 

I 

«5 

Neurasthenia .... 

99 

4 t 

2 

8 

21 

— 

27 

99 

Mental deficiency . 

233 

89 

2 

14 

14 

— 

114 

233 

Mania. 

*35 

37 

3 

12 

l 6 

5 

62 

«35 

Melancholia .... 

309 

114 

4 

18 

3 i 

— 

142 

309 

Epileptic insanity . 

I I 

6 

— 

I 


— 

4 

II 

Mental stupor 

33 

3 

2 

7 

I 

— 

20 

33 1 

Delusional insanity 

242 

73 

5 

20 

l 7 

— 

127 

242 

Moral insanity 

3 

2 


— 

— 

— 

1 

3 

Impulsive insanity . 

3 

— 


I 

2 

— 

— 

3 

Acute delirium 

'4 

6 


— 

I 

— 

7 

«4 

Confnsional insanity 

179 

60 


18. 

29 

I 

71 

'79 

Alcoholic insanity . 

19 

5 

I 

4 

2 

— 

7 

19 

G. F. I . 

7 « 

4 

48 

2 

— I 

1 

23 

78 

Dementia prrecox . 

127 

26 

6 

13 

9 

— 

73 

127 

Secondary dementia 

20 

9 

— 

2 

— 

— 

9 

20 

N. A. D . 

20 

— 

— 

14 

4 

— 

2 

20 

Mental instability . . . 

39 

21 

2 

3 

4 ! 

— 

9 

39 

Cerebral syphilis 

3 

I 

— 

— 


2 

— 

3 

j Tumour of brain 

I 

— 

— 

— 

— 

I 

— 

I 

Shell-shock 

63 

25 


6 

20 

I 

11 

63 

Locomotor ataxia . 

I 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

I 

I 

N. Y. D. 1 

I 



~~ 

“ 

” 

I 

I 

Totals 

1 

1652 

536 

75 

143 

1 

*75 

11 

712 

1652 


months. Four were found to have been in an asylum prior to their 
enlistment in the Army, and were, therefore, certified again for asylum 
care, and eighteen were transfeired to other hospitals under the pro¬ 
visions already stated. The trying conditions under which men of the 
French Expeditionary Force live adequately accounts for the large 
number of cases of melancholia admitted. 

Tlie second largest group of cases amongst the troops in France are 
those classified as delusional insanity. There were 242 admissions 
under this heading. 


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19 1 8.] BY MAJOR R. EAGER, M.D. 283 

The following case was invalided from the Army, but able to be 
discharged to his civil employment : 

No. 23987, Pte. S. G. W—, set. 25, iron-moulder. Enlisted September, 
1914, into the R.A.M.C., but was discharged after six months for vari¬ 
cocele. Started munition work, and in January, 1916, re-enlisted. 
Went to France July, 1916, and had some trench experience. Does 
not remember leaving the trenches, but woke up and “found himself” 
in some hospital. He then stated that an Indian had given him a 
yellow bead which had some mysterious properties. That this individual 
was following him to try and steal his wife and regain possession of the 
bead. He seemed to hear him outside the door, and during examina¬ 
tion thought the Indian might hear what was being said. This was 
his condition when admitted to the L.D.W.H. on October 17th, 1916, 
and he was in a state of great agitation about the whole matter, 
evidently firmly believing in the story, and living in constant dread of 
the imaginary Indian. This man had been actually associating with 
Indian troops in or near the trenches in France, and was admitted to a 
stationary hospital, where he was diagnosed as a case of “shell-shock 
from mine explosion.” The delusional state seems to have followed on 
his return to consciousness. At night in the dark he could see this 
Indian’s face in front of him, and he was afraid to go to sleep on this 
account. Orientation for time and place were correct, and his memory 
was intact, but he had no insight into his condition. There were no 
neurological signs. This patient made a good readjustment, as his 
delusions gradually left him. He went out frequently with his wife who 
came to stay near the hospital, and conducted himself in a rational 
manner in every way. On June 21st, 1917, he was brought before a 
Medical Board and was discharged home. 

The next largest group is represented by the cases of me/italdeficiency. 
This is only what one expected to find, knowing that the powers of 
endurance of these individuals is much below the average, and that 
they are to be looked upon in every way as “ weaklings.” I am quite 
aware that certain cases of mild degrees of mental deficiency have done 
remarkably well, and even gained promotion in rank in the present war, 
but they must be looked upon as the exception, and it cannot be too 
firmly asserted that this class of case is of no value as a recruit under 
ordinary > service conditions. The total number of cases of mental 
deficiency was 233, or 14 per cent, of French Expeditionary Force 
admissions. Of these only 14 were considered fit to be tried on home 
service. I will quote an example of a case admitted. 

No. 23092, Pte. C. E—, ret. 19, fish hawker. Enlisted April, 1915. 
Patient was the youngest of a family of fourteen, and his parents 
recognised that he had always been deficient mentally. He enlisted 
because he was the only one left at home, his brothers having already 
joined. He was in France about two months, and appears to have got 
as far as the trenches, but his regimental medical officer reports him as 
being extremely timid and quite useless. When he received any order 

I.XIV. 19 


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he appeared dazed, and a night’s bombardment completely unnerved 
him. He was evacuated to England, and admitted to the L.D.W.H. 
on August 26th, 1916, where he was found to be a typical case of 
extreme hydrocephalic imbecility, being unable to read or write, and 
naming “ London ” as the biggest town in Lancashire after long con¬ 
sideration. Asked for the name of five animals, gave ‘ sparrow," 
“dog,” and “swan.” He could only with difficulty repeat the months 
of the year correctly. The marked features of his physical condition were 
his stunted growth—5 ft. in height, and his head circumference, which 
was 23 in. He was sent home to his parents on September 26th, 1916. 

The next largest group is the group of confusional insanities. There 
were 179 admitted, or 10 per cent, of admissions from France. An 
example will be briefly described : 

No. 64585, Pte. L. J—, ret. 40, grocer’s assistant. Enlisted August, 

19 1 5.. One sister subject to attacks of depression, but has not been 
in an asylum. Maternal aunt was in an asylum. Patient has always 
been a healthy and temperate man. Married fourteen years ; one 
boy age 13. Has had a good deal of business worry. Enlisted into 
the R.A.M.C. and went to France December, 1915. In the early part 
of June, 1916, patient was overworked, and was often for three nights 
in succession deprived of rest. On June 22nd he was noted as being 
depressed. The condition became worse, and he was evacuated to 
England, and admitted to the L.D.W.H. June 4th, 1916. On examina¬ 
tion, the symptoms displayed were frontal headaches, confusion, and 
delusions, e.g., that men were accusing him of drunkenness, cowardice, 
and espionage, and that he was going to be shot. These were, no 
doubt, the result of auditory hallucinations. Inquiry elicited that his 
health had been gradually failing, that he had become constipated, and 
could not sleep owing to noises in the head. Disorientation for time 
and place were present. There was some exaggeration of his tendon 
reflexes, but no other neurological signs. The case did well with rest 
and liberal diet. While convalescing he was employed in the hospital 
stores, and in March, 1917, was brought before a Medical Board and 
discharged to his civil occupation, having made a good recovery. 

The next largest group is represented by the.cases of mania. 

There were 135 admissions, 37 of whom were discharged home, 
3 were certified, 5 died, 16 were returned to duty for home service, and 
62 still remain in hospital. The remaining 12 were transferred to other 
hospitals. 

We will now proceed to consider the dementia prcecox group. 

There were 127 cases classed as such. The following example will 
be quoted : 

No. 22358, Gnr. L. I—, ret. 20, an iron-worker. Enlisted April, 

1915. Father was in an asylum. Patient went to France January, 

1916. Was admitted to the L.D.W.H. August 12th, 1916, diagnosed asa 
hypochondriac. Whilst in France he said he had coughed up blood, 
and that he had a “choking feeling,” that his bowels were seldom 


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BY MAJOR R. EAGER, M.D. 


285 


open, and that the medicine given him was poisoning him. On 
admission, his facial expression was vacant, and at first sight he struck 
one as being unintelligent, but his degree of education was found to be 
well up to the average. He, however, made ridiculous remarks to 
ordinary questions, e.g., asked against whom we were fighting, said 
“ the devil.” He had little insight into his condition, and his emotional 
reaction was very much blunted. Physically, he had rather a poor 
type of cranial development, and his sensibility to pin pricks was 
considerably impaired. Flexibilitas cerea was well marked, but there 
were no other neurological signs. Until March, 1917, the condition 
seemed stationary, and he required to be dressed and undressed, 
etc. From this time onward, however, he made considerable improve¬ 
ment, and on July 30th, 1917, this was sufficient to enable him to be 
brought before a Melical Board for discharge to his home. 

This case is one of a group which have been returned as dementia 
praecox, and yet have made good recoveries, and I feel that in certain 
of them it would be more strictly correct to call them dementia 
praecox-like types of mental reaction, giving way under the strain of 
active service conditions. For the cessation of the strain seems to 
have removed the symptoms, and excellent readjustments have been 
made in cases in which an unfavourable prognosis would have been 
given from peace-time experiences. 

The next group I shall consider is that of the neurasthenics. There 
were in all 99 cases. By reference to Table IV it will be seen that this 
group accounts for 6 per cent, of admissions from the French Expedi¬ 
tionary Force, and that of these 22 per cent, were returned to duty for 
home service. The following case is an example : 

No. 2370, Pte. J. A—, aet. 22, clerk. Enlisted August, 1914. No 
history of nervous troubles in the family. Had medals for gymnastics, 
and was an assistant scout master two and a half years. Went to 
France in February, 1915. After five months’ trench experience had 
a nervous breakdown, and was put on clerical duties. In the early 
part of 1916 was again sent into the trenches, and towards the end of 
June, 1916, he was reported strange in his manner and wandering 
about aimlessly. He was admitted to hospital in France, evacuated to 
England, and sent to the L.D.W.H. on July 21st, 1916. On admission, 
he was in an extremely nervous condition, complaining of pain over 
the precordia, and a difficulty in concentrating his attention on any¬ 
thing. Said his mind was continually wandering on the sights he had 
seen in the trenches, and he has, on one or two occasions, found him¬ 
self crying without knowing why. His memory for recent and remote 
events was quite good. He had no hallucinatory disturbance, and he 
had good insight and judgment. Tremors were marked in his out¬ 
stretched hands, and his deep reflexes were all increased. Pupil 
reactions were normal, and there were no other neurological signs. 
He rapidly improved, and in November, 1916, was considered fit to be 
discharged to home duty. 


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286 THE LORI) DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, [July, 

The next largest group is that of the general paralytics. There were 
78 admissions from France, of which 2 are shown as transferred to other 
hospitals, 4 were allowed to be taken home by their relatives, 48 were 
certified for asylum care, 1 died, and 23 still remain in hospital. It 
will be seen that general paralysis of the insane accounts for 47 per 
cent, of the admissions from France, or somewhat less than the percentage 
in the case of the home troops, which was 6 per cent. In Table II it will 
be seen that the total admissions of this form of mental disease from 
all sources was 112, or 4 - 6 per cent. ( s ) 

This group occupies the premier position with regard to cases trans¬ 
ferred to asylums. Out of the total of 154 cases so transferred up to the 
end of the first twelve months 66, or 42 per cent., were cases of general 
paralysis. Lest there should be any doubt as to the accuracy of the 
diagnosis in these cases the clinical findings have been checked by the 
Wassermann test in nearly every instance, and I now propose to give 
the results. (Table V shows these in tabulated form.) 

Table V.— IVassermann Results in Cases of G.P.I. 

Blood examinations. —100 cases gave + reaction in 92 and — reaction 
in 8. Of these : 

3 -f fluid (bloods converted). 

1 (?) fluid. 

2 — fluid. 

1 — fluid, — globulin, and — cell count. 

1 fluid not examined. 

Cerebro-spinal fluid. —In 92 cases examined there was + reaction in 
84 and — reaction in 8. Of these latter 

5 gave + blood reactions. 

3 gave - blood reactions. 

Globulin test. —In 39 cases examined the reaction was + in 38 
and — in 1, corroborating all the other tests. 

Cell count. —37 cases showed a leucocytosis out of 39 examined. 

In only one case were all the results negative. 

Both the blood and cerebro-spinal fluid were examined in most cases, 
and since February, 1917, the globulin test and cell count have been 
added. Out of the total of 112 cases the test was done in 100. The 
blood examination gave a positive result in all except 8. Of these 8 
negative blood results, 3 were associated with the positive fluid reaction, 
and were evidently bloods converted by treatment. In a fourth case the 
fluid was a doubtful positive. In 1 case the fluid was not examined, 
and in 2 cases both the blood and fluid were definitely negative. In 
the remaining case the globulin test was also negative, and there was 
no leucocytosis. 

The cerebro-spinal fluid was examined in 92 cases, and found positive 


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to the Wassermann reaction in all but 8. The 8 cases in which it was not 
examined had all positive bloods except 1. Of the 8 negative fluid reac¬ 
tions 5 were associated with positive, and 3 with negative blood reaction. 

The globulin test and cell-count were done in 39 cases. The 
globulin reaction was negative on one occasion, corroborating the 
findings of the other tests, and positive in the 38 remaining. In one 
of these the blood was negative, and there was no pleocytosis, but the 
fluid gave a slight fixation. In another the blood was positive, 
the fluid gave a slight fixation, but there was no pleocytosis on the 
first occasion. On repetition of the tests two months later however, 
all were positive. 

With regard to the cell-counts, there was a pleocytosis in all the 
39 cases except for the 3 cases just mentioned, 1 of which, on repetition 
of the test, gave a definitely positive result. Any count over 'io per 
c.mm. was looked upon as abnormal, but the average was 60 or over. 

I have to thank Capt. W. Parry Morgan, R.A.M.C., the pathologist 
to this hospital, for the above results. ( s ) 

The following case will serve as an illustration : 

No. 20956, Pte. N. G—, set. 39, blacksmith’s assistant. Enlisted 
into the Army at the age of 19, and served in the South African 
Campaign in 1901. His medical history sheet shows that a month after 
his enlistment he contracted a syphilitic sore. In 1904 he went on the 
Reserve, and was called up again on August 5th, 1914, at the outbreak 
of the present war, since then his conduct sheet contains numerous 
entries for “absence without leave,” “drunks,” and “riotous conduct.” 
There are seven such entries in one period of five months, and six in 
another similar period. He was wounded by shell at La Bass6 in May, 
1916, and in October, 1916, he was medically examined at Lucknow, 
and thought to be suffering from “ shell-shock,” for which he was 
evacuated to England. He was eventually admitted to the L.D.W.H. 
on February 24th, 1917. Here he was found to have all the signs of 
general paralysis. He had well-marked tremors of his tongue and 
facial muscles, his speech was unintelligible and inarticulate, and his 
mental condition was approaching dementia. His deep reflexes were 
much exaggerated, and his pupils Argyll Robertson in type. His 
Wassermann test gave a positive reaction in both his blood and cerebro¬ 
spinal fluid on February 27th. There was a definite pleocytosis, and 
the globulin test was also positive. The case took the usual course. 
He showed rapid deterioration mentally and physically, and on 
March 14th, 1917, died in hospital. 

This case shows the date of the primary infection fifteen years before 
the onset of the symptoms of general paralysis of the insane, as is 
frequently illustrated in cases where the Army medical history sheet 
covers this period. 

“ Shtll-shock ” will now occupy our attention.—There were 63 cases. 
The following is a typical example : 


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2 88 THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, [July, 

No. 5928, Pte. Y. A—, set. 42, sawyer. Enlisted August, 1914. Was 
twenty-four months in France, and his N.C.Os. give him the character 
of having always been a very smart soldier. Had only one period of 
three days’ leave. Was buried by a shell in July, 1916, being the sole 
survivor of a blown-up traverse. He was sent down to the base 
through a Field Ambulance and Clearing Station on July 27th, 1916. 
On August 1st, 19x6, he was reported missing, and on August 3rd 
found wandering at Amiens. On examination by Col. Myers, R.A.M.C., 
he was unable to give any account of himself other than his name, and 
was found to be in a confused semi-stuporose condition due to “ shell¬ 
shock.” On admission to the L.D.W.H. on October 14th, 1916, he 
was returning to his normal condition. He said he had been blowm up 
and buried, and that when he was taken to hospital he was in a dazed 
condition. He was suffering from very severe pain in the head, and 
did not know what he was saying. He conducted himself well on 
parole for many weeks, and was finally discharged home on April nth, 
1917.(8). 

The next largest group is that of the cases of so-called mental in¬ 
stability. This is a term that has been used to denote cases which are 
liable to recurrent attacks, and there were in all 39 recorded as such. 
Only 4 were returned as fit for service again, even for home duty, 
and 2 were sent to asylums, having been previously under asylum care. 

There were 33 admissions of cases of mental stupor , and of these 20 
still remain in hospital. Only 1 has been returned to home duty. 

There were 20 cases of secondary dementia. 

Of these, 9 were discharged to their home, 2 were transferred to 
other hospitals, and 9 still remain in the L.D.VV.H. Time and space 
will not permit of any further consideration of these two groups. The 
type of cases included in them were in no way different to those so 
commonly met with in asylum practice. 

The N.A.D. cases will, therefore, be next considered. 

These cases were admitted as “ Mental,” but on examination and 
detention showed no appreciable mental disease. There were in all 
20 admissions of this kind from the French Expeditionary Force or 
1 '2 per cent, of admissions. Of this number, 14 are recorded as having 
been transferred to other hospitals. They were really transferred to the 
surgical or medical wards in the L.D.W.H. according to their condition, 
which had been wrongly interpreted as mental. Four were returned to 
home duty, having nothing the matter with them. 

Alcoholic insanity accounts for 19 of the cases from the French 
Expeditionary Force, or i'i per cent, of the total admissions. The 
small percentage of alcoholic case3 reflects very great credit on the 
abstinence of our Army in the field. No case admitted to the 
L.D.W.H. since its opening seems to have had its origin whilst in war 
service. Lord Kitchener’s advice has evidently not fallen on deaf ears 
as far as my observations have been able to discover. 


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The next group is that of the epileptics .—There were 26 cases. Fifteen 
did not show any marked mental symptoms, and 3 of these were given 
a trial on home duty. One was still in hospital at the end of the year 
awaiting transfer to an epileptic colony, and the other n were dis¬ 
charged to the care of their relatives. Eleven cases were of the nature 
of epileptic insanities, 4 of whom are still in hospital. One was trans¬ 
ferred to another hospital, and 6 recovered sufficiently to justify their 
discharge to the care of their friends. 

In only 2 cases of this group was there any history of “ head injury,” 
and in 1 of these the notes show that the fits developed after a fall of 
timber on the head whilst the patient was in a dug-out. On examina¬ 
tion, however, no evidence could be detected of any damage to the 
skull, and, on further inquiry into the history, attacks of “ petit mal ” 
were found to have started seven years previously. Only one case, 
therefore, appears to be of the nature of a true “ traumatic epilepsy,” 
and I will quote this as an illustration. 

No. 1775, Sergt. S. J—, tet. 30. Enlisted in November, 1902, and 
served in South Africa till 1904, when he went to India. Was there 
till 1909, when he returned to England. Took his discharge with the 
rank of Corporal in 1913. In August, 1914, he re-enlisted. At Loos, 
in July, 1916, he was severely wounded in the head by shell, and was 
'unconscious till he arrived at Dover, and from there he was sent to 
hospital in London. On admission there on August 4th, 1916, he is 
described as having a healed semi-circular scar nearly the size of the 
palm of the hand over the posterior part of vertex of skull. He com¬ 
plained a good deal of pain in the back of the head, but had no 
paralysis. His pupil reactions were normal. Mentally he had a com¬ 
plete retrograde and partial anterograde amnesia. In December, 
1916, he attempted to throw himself under a train, and later he was 
discovered with a razor hidden in his bed. He was eventually 
admitted to the L.D.W.H. with the report that he had become very 
depressed, and had expressed the idea that life was not worth living. 
On admission to this hospital he said he felt quite well, and blamed the 
nurses in the London Hospital for his transfer, saying that they did not 
understand him. He admitted that when he arrived in London he 
could not remember any details of his past life, and that everything 
seemed blank, but said that since then his memory seems to have come 
back all right. He did not complain of headache, or giddiness, said he 
slept well and felt well in every way. He denied having had any liquor 
since his head injury. On examination of his skull he was found to 
have a large depression in the upper and back part of his right parietal 
region extending right up to the vertex. The bone was absent over this 
area, and pulsation could be plainly felt on palpation. X-ray examina¬ 
tion showed a trephine opening about 1} in. in diameter. No metal 
was present. Three months after admission he complained of biting 
his tongue frequently in his sleep, and a few days later he had a “ fit ” 
whilst in the hospital grounds, following whi h he was in bed for a few 
days with a definite paresis of his left leg. This passed off and he was 


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290 THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, [July, 

able to be up and about again as usual in a short time, but his mental 
condition became much more irritable, and he seemed to be distinctly 
developing the epileptic temperament. He still remains in hospital. 

Out of the total number of epileptics admitted to this hospital during 
the period under review, viz., 41 cases (see Table II), there was only one 
other case of true “traumatic epilepsy,” and this was the case of a 
Canadian who died in the status epilepticus twelve months after a gun¬ 
shot wound of the frontal region from which an abscess had been 
evacuated by operation. In this connection I should like to mention 
that out of a consecutive series of over fifty cases of head injury received 
in action which I have investigated, the two cases here mentioned are 
the only instances so far of true traumatic epilepsy. 

The next group is the one shown as acute delirium. 

There were 14 cases recorded during the year. These were all of 
the post febrile variety, following on some acute illness or suppurating 
wounds, and the following is an example. 

No. 15/37904, Pte. C. T—, <et. 42. Enlisted April, 1916. A 
labourer. Went to France in July, 1916. Patient was admitted to 
hospital about February 10th, 1917, with pneumonia following an attack 
of bronchitis ten days previously. On February 17th his temperature 
reached 104-8° F., and he became acutely excited, rambling in his con¬ 
versation, and quite irresponsible. His temperature came down by 
crisis on February 20th, and he was evacuated to England and admitted 
to the L.D.W.H. on March 2nd. Here he was found to be in a very 
weak, highly nervous condition, but his acute excitement had consider¬ 
ably quieted down. He could not remember anything of his acute 
attack except that he seemed “ to lose his head.” He progressed satis¬ 
factorily, and at the end of the year (June 16th, 1917), although still 
remaining in hospital, he was convalescent and awaiting his discharge. 

Under the heading of hysteria there were grouped 4 cases. Three of 
these were discharged from the Army to their civil occupations, and . 
one was returned to duty on home service. 

The following illustration will suffice : 

No. 9398, Pte. J. A—, aet. 21. A butcher. Enlisted September 13th, 
1913. Went to France in August, 1914. Wounded in the shin in 
September, 1914. On December 15th, 1916, he stuck in the mud on 
the Somme for over twenty-four hours, and was quite exhausted when 
he was pulled out. On arrival at hospital he found he had lost the use 
of his legs. He improved with rest, and was able to get about a little 
after a week or two, but on January 2nd again became paralysed in the 
legs. He was evacuated to England on January 12th, 1917, and 
admitted to the L.D.W.H. Here he complained of pains in the back 
and legs, and great weakness in the grip of both hands. He also had 
severe attacks of headache at times. On February 18th he had a fit of 
an hystero-epileptic nature, during which he threw himself about and 
attempted to bite his arms. In March he was still in bed, and when 


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placed on his feet he at first slipped down and made no attempt to 
walk, but with the support of two orderlies he could walk quite well. 
There was no wasting of muscles and no tenderness in the limbs. He 
continued to have hysterical fits, chiefly at night, up to the end of 
March, but since then has had none. On May 25th he had completely 
recovered, and was discharged to his civil occupation. 

There were 3 cases returned as “ Moral Insanity ,” and of these 2 
were discharged to the care of their friends, and 1 still remains in 
..hospital. In one of these the moral side of his character seems to have 
been definitely affected since a gunshot wound of his head, received 
whilst sniping in a shell-hole near Guillemont in September, 1916. He 
was a boy set. 19, who was unreliable in his statements and told lies in 
the most barefaced manner possible, which was stated by his father and 
schoolmaster to be a complete change from his former disposition. 

For the other two cases there was a definite history of insubordina¬ 
tion and moral deficiency prior to enlistment. One had been six years 
in a reformatory for larceny, and the other sent to a truant school for 
absenting himself from school as a boy. Both had run away from home 
as boys, had been discharged from the Army and re-enlisted, and had 
been arrested for desertion in France. One also effected his escape 
from this hospital. In one of these cases the family history was not 
known, and in the other the patient’s maternal aunt was in an asylum. 
Both had degenerate faces, with coarse features and poor cranial 
developments, but both described themselves as feeling perfectly well; 
were alert and replied smartly to questions, and showed a fair amount 
of school knowledge. They were extremely plausible, and rarely at a 
loss to explain anything away which was contrary to custom. They 
seemed proud of their past criminal records, and at the same time pro¬ 
fessed good resolutions for the future. One boasted that a special 
Salvation Army pamphlet had been written about him, and was anxious 
that the doctor should read this. Neither of the cases seemed able to 
discriminate adequately between right and wrong, and could not be 
trusted in anything they did or said. It was certainly a wise proceeding 
to evacuate these cases from the Front, as it is impossible to estimate 
what mischief they might have caused. One had already obtained the 
distinction of throwing a bomb at an officer, and gave as an excuse that 
the officer swore at him. 

There were 3 cases diagnosed as “ Impulsive Insanity," and of these 
2 were returned to duty for home service, and the other was trans¬ 
ferred to another hospital. The following is a brief description of these 
cases : 

One patient was in hospital suffering from nephritis, and because he 
was kept on milk and not allowed to have any ordinary diet he 
threatened to commit suicide, became emotional, refused all nourish¬ 
ment, and generally abused the medical and nursing professions. 


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292 THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, [July. 

The second case was on his way up to the Front, and entered the 
wrong train. On being ordered out of the railway carriage by an officer 
he threatened to shoot him. He was disarmed and sent to hospital, 
and became very excitable and emotional about being kept from joining 
his unit. He quickly quieted down again. 

The other case had been gambling and lost his money, and as a result 
had attempted to shoot himself with a revolver. The kick averted the 
barrel, and the shot only hit his cap. He ascribed his depression to the 
loss of his money, and S3id that the thought of suicide came as a sudden 
impulse. He showed no further signs of loss of control whilst under 
observation and has returned to duty. 

There were 3 cases of cerebral syphilis, of which 1 was discharged to 
his civil occupation, and 2 died. An example of the latter is as 
follows : 

No. 503467, Pte. H. J—, aet. 28. Admitted to the L.D.W.H. 
August 31st, 1916, in an exhausted debilitated condition, lying motion¬ 
less in bed, and requiring spoon-feeding and every attention. Had 
some left facial and upper arm paresis, and a left external rectus 
paralysis, but seemed to be able to move the left leg fairly well. Pupils 
equal, and reacted to light. Both discs well defined and of normal 
colour. Surrounding fundi normal. Mentally he was disorientated in 
time and space, and was in a generally confused state. Said he had 
been sent to hospital in France because a pole hit him on the head. 
Now asked permission to go to his depot for money to buy some fruit, 
which he said would make him feel “ good,” and he was quite sure he 
could make the journey, although his bedridden condition was pointed 
out to him. His Wassermann reaction in the blood and cerebro spinal 
fluid was positive. He was put on mercurial treatment, and on October 
13th had a generalised convulsion with stertorous breathing and uncon¬ 
sciousness, lasting about ten minutes. This was repeated on the 23rd 
inst., and the patient was then obviously going down hill very rapidly. 
He gradually became weaker, and on December 10th died. 

There was only one case of brain tumour , and this patient died in 
hospital when the diagnosis was confirmed at post-mortem , and the 
tumour found in the left temporo-sphenoidal region. 

There was one case of locomotor ataxia, who had been six months in 
France, and returned to England with some memory defect and general 
mental deterioration. 

The only remaining case to mention is that of a man returned from 
France as “ shell-shock,” the confirmation of which has not yet been 
established, and is therefore returned as not yet diagnosed (N. Y. D.). 

The above groups account for the 1,652 cases admitted from the 
French Expeditionary Force, but there were in addition the following 
admissions from other sources : 

The troops from Mediterranean, 14 ; Mesopotamia, 63 ; Egypt, 141 ; 
Salonica, 97 ; East Africa, 4 ; Cameroons, 1 ; Pensioners, 6 ; Officers, 1. 


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The latter was taken as an emergency case owing to lack of accommo¬ 
dation elsewhere. 

The above admissions, added to those from the French Expeditionary 
Force, brings the grand total of admissions from overseas forces during 
the year to 2,140. 

In comparing the various forms of mental diseases in the different 
expeditionary forces as just enumerated, it is found that the highest 
percentage of confusional insanity occurred in the cases from Salonica 
and France. There were 16 per cent, from Salonica, 10 per cent, from 
France, 7 per cent, from Mesopotamia, and 6 per cent, from Egypt. 
The cases from Salonica were all of the nature of exhaustion psychosis 
following attacks of dysentery and malaria, the latter being the more 
common. 

Several of these were of the polyneurotic variety, exhibiting Kors- 
sakow’s syndrome. The comparatively high percentage from the French 
Front is accounted for by the inclusion of cases which were probably 
true shell-shock. Owing to the absence of any definite history of shell¬ 
shock accompanying them from overseas in their records, however, it 
was not considered justifiable to diagnose them as such, and they were 
therefore returned as “confusional insanities.” 

Summary and Conclusions. 

Admissions. —The total number of admissions from overseas was 
2,140. This number, added to the total admissions figuring as “ home 
troops,” which has been shown to be 289, brings the full number of 
patients admitted to the mental division of this hospital for the first 
twelve months up to 2,429. Of this number 1,466, or 60 per cent., 
were discharged, and 963, or 40 per cent., remained in hospital at the 
end of the twelve months. This latter figure will be seen to be 
reduced to 390 four months later by referring to the last column of 
'Fable 1 ( 5 ). 

Discharges. —Out of the 1,466 discharges 247, or 16^9 per cent., were 
thought fit to return to duty again for home service. A circular letter 
was addressed to the friends of 170 of these cases some months after 
their discharge, inquiring into their progress. Replies were received 
from 123, and the information obtained showed that 68, or 55 per cent., 
were keeping fit and well, and of this number 28 had already returned 
to France on active service. In 27 instances the reply showed that the 
men were still on duty, but in an unstable condition, and 19 were shown 
to be in hospital again. In 10 instances the reply was to the effect 
that the men had been discharged the service, and 5 replied that they 
could give no information. 

The number of cases discharged from the hospital by a Medical 
Board to their civil occupations was 823, or 56 per cent, of the 


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294 THE LORD DERBY WAR HOSPITAL, [July, 

total. Inquiries made from the other mental sections in England 
and Scotland showed that only 4 had been admitted there who had 
been discharged from this hospital, and the number of re-admissions to 
this hospital only amounts to 5. It was found necessary to certify 
154 cases (10 per cent, of discharges, or 6 per cent, of the total admis¬ 
sions), and nearly half of these have been shown to be cases of 
general paralysis of the insane. The remainder had been in asylums 
prior to enlistment, or were cases associated with epilepsy. 

Treatment .—The usual asylum treatment was adopted as a matter of 
routine, but the relatively larger proportion of medical staff to patients, 
and the greater facility for massage and any specialised treatment than 
is customary in present-day asylum practice, I feel sure contributed 
largely to the high percentage of recoveries. Much more individual 
care and attention was possible on the part of the medical staff. Each 
medical officer had his own room for private examination of cases, 
thereby assuring the patient that his statements would be treated in 
confidence. During the interview explanations could be given to each 
case as to the nature of his illness, and he could be shown how to 
regain his normal condition. Confidence inspired like this has proved 
a great help in early cases. Beds in the open air were provided for 
those to whom it was thought rest in bed would be beneficial. As 
soon as convalescence was established, patients were recommended for 
parole, and allowed to go about by themselves in the hospital grounds 
and into the neighbouring town, provided they returned to hospital at 
the specified time. This privilege was much appreciated, and very 
rarely abused. The average number daily having this freedom from 
lock and key was 150. 

Occupation .—Employment on the farm and in the gardens of the 
hospital has been encouraged for suitable cases. About 80 to 100 patients 
daily have been so employed. Advantage has also been taken of the 
workshops belonging to the hospital, and any man having a special 
trade was given facilities for working at this during his period of 
convalescence, thus preparing himself for the work he was going 
to take up again in civil life on his discharge from the Army. This 
has helped in a large measure to establish the man’s self-confidence, 
but I feel I should also add that the patient’s convalescence must be 
first firmly established, otherwise it is sure to prove a failure, and the 
end result will be a confirmation to the patient of his disability and a 
protraction of the case. 

Wassermann tests .—There were 269 cases so examined between 
September, 1916 (when this was first started at the Lord Derby War 
Hospital), and June 16th, 1917. Out of this number 209 cases had 
the examination done both in the blood and cerebro-spinal fluid, but in 
60 the blood only was examined. 


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Conclusions .—The cases received were all in the early stages of 
mental disorder, with the exception of the mental defectives, and even 
in these cases many of them showed acute symptoms superimposed on 
the congenital defect. A fair comparison, therefore, of the percentages 
of recoveries with those of civil asylum statistics cannot be made. 
Further, many of the cases admitted would not have been certified for 
asylums in civil life, and this seems to be supported by the low 
percentage of general paralytics in comparison with the figures avail¬ 
able from the report of the Commissioners in Lunacy. Many of the 
neurasthenics and shell-shock cases would not have been included in 
the uncertifiable, but it will also be seen that, strictly speaking, the 
only cases which did not show any mental symptoms amounted to 25, 
or only 1 per cent, of the admissions. Experience gained amongst this 
Jarge number of uncertified mental cases in the early stages of the dis¬ 
order convinces me that the treatment of such conditions in receiving 
hospitals other than asylums would, if properly and carefully organised, 
save a large number of cases from the stigma of certification. ( 6 ) The 
first essential would be an adequate medical staff to allow individual 
attention to every case. It has been a striking feature of the wards in 
the mental section of this hospital since its opening that where this was 
given the most contented patients were to be found. The mere visit 
of the medical officer to the wards and the official “ walk round ” is not 
the way to help any cases suffering from mental disorder. It is 
necessary to obtain a thorough insight into the nature of each case by 
confidential talks with the patient, and to find out the particular 
circumstances which have given rise to the symptoms presented. An 
explanation of the same to the patient will help him to gain an insight 
into his condition, and it is idle to pretend that such a procedure is 
unnecessary, and to urge, in extenuation of the omission to search for 
causes, that some cases recover under “ quiet” and “rest.” 

I have to express my thanks to my colleague, Lieut. E. G. Grove, 
R.A.M.C., for much time spent in reviewing the manuscript of this 
article, and for many valuable suggestions and alterations. My thanks 
are also due to Lieut.-Col. Simpson, R.A.M.C., Officer Commanding 
the Lord Derby War Hospital, and Col. Aldren Turner, C.B., A.M.S., 
Consulting Neurologist to the War Office, for giving me facilities for 
compiling these statistics. 

References to Articles ai ready Published on the War 
Neuroses and Psychoses. 

Mott, Lieut.-Col., R.A.M.C.—“ Lettsomian Lectures.” 

Myers, Lieut.-Col. C. S., R.A.M.C.—“ Contributions to the Study of 
Shell-shock,” Lancet , February 13th, 1915; January 8th, March 18th, 
and September 9th, 1916. 


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296 CLINICAL NOTES AND CASES. [July, 

Mitchell Clarke, Lieut.-Col. J., R.A.M.C. — "Some Neuroses of the 
War,” Bristol Med. Chi. Journ., July, 1916. 

Elliot Smith, Prof.—"Shock and the Soldier,” Lancet , April 15th 
and 22nd, 1916. 

Hotchkis, Major, R.A.M.C. — "A War Hospital for Mental Invalids,” 
Journal of Mental Science, April, 1917. 

Norman, Capt. H. J., R.A.M.C.—“ Stress of Campaign,” Revieso 
of Neurology arid Psychiatry , August-September, 1917. 

(') Paper read at Spring Meeting of the Medico-Psychological Association 
(Northern and Midland Division) at the County Asylum, Rainhill, April 18th, 
1918.—( 2 ) The Commissioners in Lunacy’s Report for the year 1913, Table XIX 
shows that of the total male admissions into all institutions for lunatics during the 
five years 1907-11, general paralysis accounts for 12 per cent. —f 3 ) Flemming’s 
method was used as a control to ihe findings obtained by the original Wassermann 
method, modified by the use of human blood instead of that of the sheep and 
guinea-pig.—( 4 ) Further observations on cases associated with “ shell shock ” have » 
been recorded in another article, see B. M. J., April 13th, 1918.—( 5 ) Of this number 
only 101 patients had been resident twelve months.—( 6 ) See letter to the Lancet 
of November 24th, 1917, by Sir Robert Armstrong Jones, Major, R.A.M.C. 


Clinical Notee and Cases. 


Clinical Observations on the Various States of Excitement in 
Insanity .(') By R. M. Toledo, M.D., Assistant Physician, Govern¬ 
ment Lunatic Asylum, Malta. 

Mk. President and Gentlemen, —Of the many hundreds of insane, 
remitted annually to mental hospitals, the majority are admitted in an 
“ excited state.” They all exhibit in common several of the charac¬ 
teristic signs of what is known as " mania,” yet very few of them are 
really “ maniacals.” 

My object this afternoon is to point out to you certain signs and 
symptoms which may help to decide, as early as possible, of the true 
nature of insanity from which a patient, brought to us in an excited 
condition, is suffering from. It is evident how this is important for 
the proper treatment of the patient himself and for the protection of 
others. 

Very often a patient is received exhibiting restlessness, resistiveness, 
and incoherence of speech. He may answer to your questions rationally 
or perhaps not. He generally succeeds to give you his name correctly 
and those of his parents or children. 

Another patient, “ excited ” as the first one, fails altogether to answer 
you ; he is unable to tell you his name or from where he comes. He 
does not even take any notice of you and of his surroundings, he utters 


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incoherent words, and seems to see “ objects.” The first case is 
probably one of real mania, the second one of confusional insanity, or 
amentia, as it is often called. 

The maniac very seldom loses all his power of attention, and, 
although he distracts himself easily from rapid fatigue, yet the doctors 
succeed in getting from him one or two sensible answers. 

On the contrary, nothing can distract the ament from his “ dreamy 
state,” he is totally dissociated from the world, an 1 he even fails to feel 
the stimuli of his “ vegetative ” life. He does not care to nourish 
himself, he wets his bed, and his habits are dirty. 

The maniac is rarely of wet habits, asks for food continually, and 
everything attracts his attention. He makes remarks about your 
clothes, about the features of the attendants, about the books, lamps, 
and clocks he may have noticed in your office. He recognises familiar 
faces. 

One of the most characteristic signs of. “amentia” when the patient 
is not altogether lost to his surroundings, which happens when he is not 
at the pitch of the disease, are “ mistakes of identity.” I remember a 
seaman who after a fortnight of regular “ dream consciousness ” com¬ 
menced to answer simple questions. He believed he was still on board, 
and mistook me for the master of the ship. He thought he was “ sea¬ 
sick,” and he was surprised of feeling so after “ twenty years of 
seafaring.” 

The relatives of the maniac may inform you that some time previous 
to the attack the patient was dull, avoided his friends, and refused to 
go out; those of the ament, that the symptoms came on suddenly 
during the convalescence of influenza, measles, or rheumatic fever, 01 
that he had just lost a considerable quantity of blood. I know a case 
that came on “twice” within three years after a most severe epistaxis. 
It may be the case of a woman nursing her baby. 

While mania is of a toxic nature, amentia is due to an insufficient 
nutrition of the neurone and its exhaustion. 

Our next patient is perhaps between the age of 50 and 60. He 
reaches the hospital screaming. He very often refuses to leave the 
cab. Looks frightened and stares at everybody. Has an anguished 
expression in his look. He is perhaps trembling. He will not sit 
down, but paces the room continually. If you question this man, he 
answers coherently, and if by way of introduction you ask him to put 
his tongue out or to feel his pulse, he very often tells you that he feels 
a pain in the region of his heart, one of the most distressing subjective 
sensations accompanying mental anxiety. This patient may think that 
you are the magistrate or the police inspector and the place he was 
brought to a prison or a court of justice. You should never, in the 
presence of such patients, go through their admission papers. They 


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think you are reading an order to send them to the scaffold or to burn 
them alive. Some hear distinctly the voices and the shrieks of their 
far-away children. The noise of an approaching cab, the ringing of 
bells, the working of an engine, increase their anxiety. Such patients 
may tell you that they have been falsely accused of the most horrid 
crimes, and that the neighbours have been gossiping about them for 
■months. They refuse to keep their bed and to take nourishment. If 
their breath becomes offensive, feed them forcibly at once, as they 
•exhaust themselves very rapidly. Needless to say, all this symptoma¬ 
tology points to “ acute melancholia,” as, although such sufferers are 
nearly always “ very excited,” yet one can see clearly that there is 
always a decided depression in their emotional attitude. 

Now I must speak to you about a very serious disease which at its 
onset is very often mistaken for simple mania. I refer to dementia 
praecox, a disease which is unfortuuately very common and almost 
incurable. It is in what it is called the “ predemented stage,” that this 
disease is often taken for mania, or, if “hypochondriasis” prevails, for 
neurasthenia. 

Patients are generally brought to the asylum in a restless condition. 
They are incoherent in their talks and troubled with auditory hallucina¬ 
tions. Very often the relatives will tell you that the patients have been 
smashing tumblers and plates at home without any motives and 
without exhibiting any anger or the least sign of emotion. This is 
characteristic of the disease, and differs much from the way the maniacal 
exhibits violent tendencies. 

The maniacal fights those around him, especially if he is interfered 
with in any way, does not give reasons for his acts, at times he ignores 
them ; the praecox finds an old man in a corner and slaps him, and if 
you ask him why he did it he perhaps tells you that the old man has 
been sneezing too much, or that he was an enemy of his grandfather. 
I know of praecox patients whose “ silly ” behaviour in prison has been 
mistaken for simple insubordination. As at times, there is very little 
apparently indicating “ insanity,” they are often considered as lazy and 
insubordinates and severely punished. 

Both the maniac and the dement may commit rash acts, but while 
the former is unable to explain them, the latter is quite ready to find a 
“ motive.” 

The following two cases illustrate how absurd these “ motives ” 
can be: 

Case i.—A lad, while corning from England, jumped into the sea as 
the steamer was approaching St. Paul’s Bay. It was a January evening 
and bitterly cold. 

He was rescued by a fishing-boat not very far from the shore and 
sent straight to our asylum as “suicidal.” I received him about mid- 


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night, and he laughed heartily on being told that he was sent to the 
asylum as the doctors thought that he wanted to do away with his life. 

He assured me that he jumped into the sea to have a good swim 
before landing. In fact, he swam for a good distance, about a mile, 
before being picked up. 

Case 2.—A lad was sent to us as a suicidal. He was wounded in 
the face, having jumped from a high window. He told me that he did 
so to pick up a cigar which he had noticed on the pavement. 

There was very little at that time to diagnose prsecox; few months 
have sufficed to make of these two lads a complete mental wreck. 

If one follows a maniacal and a praecox in the wards, he will soon 
notice how differently they behave in their excitement. The maniacal 
passes his time jumping on tables and dancing. The dement spends 
his hours going round the same chair for hundreds of times, or walking 
on tip-toe, or kneeling down. It is characteristic how they can keep 
for whole hours the same attitude, however uncomfortable this may be. 
They are very fond of corners, putting their faces against the wall. 

The maniacal likes to kick, the dement to slap or to bite. Others 
spit in one’s face. 

At table the maniacal swallows his diet in a minute, the prsecox takes 
a full hour to do it, some keep the last morsel in their mouth till the 
next meal. 

While the maniac sleeps very often quite naked, the dement likes to 
muffle himself up with many blankets. 

You should be very careful in approaching a. prsecox while he is in 
bed. He may strike you, simply to show you that he is not asleep. 

One of the most characteristic signs of prsecox is resistiveness. Try 
to bend the arm or the head of your patient or to open his mouth or 
hand you seldom succeed. You feel them hard as iron. 

Laboratory investigations have proved that this muscle over-tension is 
due to a toxin similar to adrenalin, the effect of a disturbed gland 
metabolism, and at post-mortem examinations, degenerative changes in 
the supra-renal glands, testicles, and ovaries have been noticed. 

Praecox gets generally very, very stout. Loss of weight should 
induce one to examine the patient for tubercle of the lung, as they are 
much predisposed to this disease. 

I fear that my paper would be considered incomplete if I fail to 
refer to a mental condition resembling acute mania, which at times 
appears at the very onset of several infectious diseases. It is known 
as “acute delirium,” and is characterised by extreme restlessness, 
incoherence of speech, and hallucinations of sight and hearing. It has 
nothing to do with febrile delirium. The temperature is never high, 
and is very often below the normal. 

The acute delirium does not generally last long, if it lasts the general 
LXIV. 20 


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condition of the patient gets worse rapidly, and collapse and death 
follow. The Germans call it “ collapse delirium.” 

I have seen several cases in connection with Mediterranean fever 
and enteric fever. Three cases ended fatally, including a case of 
erysipelas of the arm. 

The following two cases are of interest : 

Case 1.—A man was found by the police in the street almost naked. 
He was gesticulating and screaming and in the act of fighting imaginary 
objects. He was taken to the police-station, where he was very rest¬ 
less and clamorous. The doctors remitted him to our asylum as a case 
of mania. 

On reception the temperature was ioo° F. He was not clamorous, 
but he was muttering incoherent words. He was unable to answer 
questions. The examination of the chest revealed lobar pneumonia. 
His wife stated that the patient had returned from work on that day 
complaining of headache. The next day the delirium disappeared and 
the temperature rose to 103° F. The patient was quite sensible in his 
answers, and he was able to give to his wife important instructions. He 
died the day after from collapse. 

Case 2.—A private of the Royal Militia was sent to us from a 
military hospital for acute mania. He was received at 8 p.m. in a very 
restless state. He spoke incoherently, and passed fteces and urine 
involuntarily. Temperature on admission 99 0 F. He could not 
answer any questions. He passed a sleepless and restless night. 
Early next morning the delirium disappeared, and when I saw him 
about six o’clock he asked me where he was and how long he had been 
in. He remembered that on the previous day he vomited twice and 
that he was removed from Gargur Camp to Valetta Hospital. He did 
not remember anything else and wished to be left alone. He com¬ 
plained of pains in the back and headache. The case proved to bc 
one of cerebro spinal fever. The patient was removed to the isolation 
hospital of Imtarfa, where he made a good recovery, remaining, 
however, completely deaf. 

Want of time does not allow me to point out in detail how often 
senile dements and alcoholics and sufferers of such neuroses as epilepsy 
and chorea are admitted to our wards in a state of excitement. 

Each of these diseases has its own symptomatology, and there should 
be no difficulty in arriving at a correct diagnosis if a careful history is 
taken of the case. 

(*) Read at the General Meeting of the Malta Branch of the British Medical 
Association on January 21st, 1918. 


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Part II.—Reviews. 


Sixty-six/h Report of the Inspectors of Lunatics ( Ireland) for the year 
ending December 31 st, 1918. 

This report, like its predecessor, appears in much attenuated form. 
In pre-war days it used to extend to over 200 pages; in this report they 
number only 83. The reduction in size is, however, mainly due to the 
omis'ion of the Inspectors’ Memoranda on individual institutions, which 
took up a considerable space. The report itself is also somewhat cur¬ 
tailed, and a few of the statistical tables are omitted. 

Although caution is still advisable in order to avoid hasty conclusions, 
there seems but little reason to doubt that insanity in Ireland is definitely 
on the decrease and that the turning-point has been at last reached. The 
Inspectors have again to report a reduction in the number of insane 
under care, and a very substantial decrease as compared with that of the 
previous year, the decrease for the two years having been 77 and 337 
respectively. It is curious that in 1915 the reduction in numbers was 
confined to males, while the females showed an increase, whereas in 
1916 the opposite was the case. The total number under care at the 
close of the year was 24,766 as compared with 25,103 in the previous 
year. 

A table on p. viii gives the proportion of insane under care per 
100,000 of estimated population in quinquennial periods from 1880 to 
1914, during which period the ratio rose from 268 to 566, or practically 
double. But if the percentage increase in each successive five-year 
period be computed, we get the following series of figures: 


1880-1884 

Proportion per 
100,000 population. 

268 

Percentage 
• increase. 

1885-1889 

312 

1641 

1890-1894 

366 

17-3° 

1895-1899 

433 

18-30 

1900-1904 

499 

15-24 

1905-1908 

541 

8-42 

1910-1914 

566 

4-62 


This table shows a large reduction in the rate of increase during the 
15 years 1900-1914. In 1915 the ratio was 579, an increase of 2-29 per 
cent, over that of the previous quinquennium, while in 1916 there was, 
for the first time, an actual decrease in the proportion of 571, a reduc¬ 
tion of 1 ‘38 per cent. These figures are highly significant, and may, 
we think, without much risk, be taken as a positive indication that in 
Ireland insanity is on the decline. 

This conclusion is supported by the fact that there was a reduction 
in the number of admissions of 171, district asylums showing a decrease 
of 141 and private institutions of 30, the decrease being wholly confined 
to female patients, while the male admissions showed an increase of 6. 
The diminution in the ratios of admissions to population has been 
going on for a number of years, the percentage decrease of each of the 
quinquennia 1905-1909 and 1910-1914 having been 3-49 and 241 for 


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total, and 2^94 and 3’03 for first admissions respectively. This relative 
reduction in the ratio has been practically maintained during the last 
two years, the figures for 1915 and 1916 being 37 and 3‘84 for total, 
and 3‘i2 and 3^22 per cent, for first admissions respectively. From 
these facts there would seem to be but one conclusion. 

The daily average in district and auxiliary asylums shows a reduction 
of 63 males and 51 females, a total decrease of 114, this being the first 
occasion on which a decrease could be recorded. 

As regards the forms of insanity, by far the large majority were of 
mania and melancholia—1,247 maniacal and 1,057 melancholic cases— 
the former being in a considerable preponderance. 

With respect to causation, heredity was assigned as a principal cause 
in 876 cases, a ratio of 26'8 per cent., and as principal or contributory 
in 1,147 cases, or 35 per cent. Alcohol appeared to be the principal 
cause in 280 cases, or 8 5 per cent.; as principal or contributory in 383, 
or 117 per cent. These are comparatively low ratios, but only what 
might have been expected from the scarcity and greatly increased cost 
of all alcoholic beverages, which puts anything but the most moderate 
indulgence, if any, out of the reach of the vast majority of people. It 
has often been said that you cannot make people sober by Act of Par¬ 
liament, but lunacy statistics, at any rate, appear to show that intemper¬ 
ance is minimised when the facilities for indulgence are reduced. 

Mental stress was assigned as a principal cause in only 119 per cent. 
of the admissions, as compared with i3 - i6 in the previous year. The 
cases in which it was said to play any part were 17‘5 per cent, of the 
total, as against 1922 percent, in 1915. This factor, therefore, shows, 
as regards its influence in the causation of insanity, a decided falling 
off. The cases in which the war was assigned as the principal cause 
were 17, being o - 48 per cent, of the total, as compared with 12 or o'32 
in the previous year. The total number in which it acted as either 
principal or contributory cause was 30, while in 1915 it was 44, showing 
a percentage of 0 85 and 1*19 respectively. One hundred and two 
soldiers and sailors were admitted, in whom the war was considered to 
be a cause of their insanity, but the Inspectors are of opinion that no 
conclusions can be drawn from the figures, so few cases of men who 
have been on active service have been sent to district asylums. 

Of a total of 3,268 admissions, 1,942 were committed as “dangerous 
lunatics,” or nearly 60 per cent. It is as surprising as it is regrettable 
that this objectionable method of dealing with the insane of the humbler 
classes should continue to be in force in Ireland, the only country in 
the world where such a method is sanctioned or would probably be 
tolerated. Seventy or eighty years ago, before the true nature of insanity 
had been properly grasped by the public generally, some justification 
for action of this kind might have been forthcoming—for instance, in 
the case of violent patients. In this twentieth century and in the light 
of our present knowledge, imperfect though it may still be, there is 
absolutely no excuse for the perpetuation of such a system. An insane 
person is suffering from disease or disorder of the brain—a patient, in 
fact, just as much as anyone suffering from disease of any other organ 
—heart, liver, etc. Because such a patient, say a woman, threatens to 
take her own life when in a condition in which she is not responsible 


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1918.] 

for her actions, is that any reason why she should be arrested as a 
criminal, haled before two magistrates and committed on warrant by 
them, and sent to an asylum in charge of police ? There is often, 
especially in remote districts, considerable difficulty in getting two 
magistrates sitting together, which involves delay and bringing the 
unfortunate patient about from post to pillar in search of the proper 
authority. It is little short of cruelty to the person principally con¬ 
cerned, not to speak of the ignominy incurred by having to submit to 
these measures, which many patients are quite sensitive enough to feel. 
The whole proceeding is a totally out-of-date method, an anachronism, 
which admits of no defence in the* present day. It is a blot on the 
legal procedure of this country and should be abolished, and the pro¬ 
cedure in such cases assimilated to that in use in other civilised 
countries. 

The percentage of recoveries on admissions was 40^6, or 2'4 higher 
than that for the previous year. The ratios in different asylums differ 
to an almost astounding degree, from the lowest, 12 4 in Sligo, to a 
maximum of 86'3 in Monaghan, where the male recoveries reached 
the amazing proportion of 100 per cent. I We cannot but think that the 
term “recovery” must have a different meaning, or that a different 
basis for estimating recoveries is adopted, in the several institutions. 

The death-rate also differs considerably, although not at all to the 
same extent as the recovery rate, the lowest being in Ennis Asylum, 4^9, 
and the highest, 131, in Belfast. It is difficult to discover any cause 
for these differences. For instance, Letterkenny comes second highest 
as regards mortality, the rate there being 11 '37 per cent. Now, in Ennis 
there is great overcrowding, the accommodation being stated to be for 
380 patients, while the daily average was 533. In Letterkenny, on the 
other hand, the accommodation is for 757, and the daily average 689, 
there being thus quite a considerable amount of surplus space available. 
The problem would have been easier of solution had the figures in these 
two asylums been reversed. In the case of Letterkenny, epidemics of 
influenza and enteric occurred, the latter disease suggesting that there 
may be some defect in the sanitary arrangements. It is worthy of note 
that the outbreak ceased after a large number of inoculations with anti¬ 
typhoid serum had been performed. 

The relative mortality from phthisis continues to fall, having been only 
20’1 of the total mortality, as compared with 20 6 in the previous year. 
In the period 1895-1899 it reached its maximum, the ratio for that five- 
year period having been 29 - 2. Since then it has been steadily decreasing. 
The deaths from general paralysis (72 or 4'i per cent.) were higher than 
in 1916, when they w r ere only 54 (3‘2 per cent.), the average for the pre¬ 
ceding 5 years (1910-1914) having been 4^4 per cent. Variations in the 
mortality from this disease occur from year to year, but there does not 
appear to be any material increase in its incidence. 

The total expenditure incurred during the year ending March 31st, 
1916, both for maintenance and other charges, including repayment of 
loans, was ,£706,197 8j. 2d., showing an increase of £74,569 i8j. as 
compared with that of 1914-1915. This is a large increment, amount¬ 
ing to nearly 12 per cent. But we live in extraordinary times, and 
expenditure, like most other things, is bound to be extraordinary. 


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With the exception of this last item, the report of the Inspectors is, 
on the whole, encouraging. 


Alcohol: Its Action on the Human Organism. London : H.M. Sta¬ 
tionery Office. 19x8. Pp. 144. Price 2 s. 6 d. 

The consumption of alcohol in the United Kingdom, as is well 
known, has slowly but steadily fallen during the present century. The 
year 1900 represents the crest of an upward movement and the con¬ 
sumption per head of the population reached in that year—alike as 
regards beer and spirits and wine—lias been declining ever since. The 
recent regulated limitation of consumption has merely accelerated that 
decline, and the decrease during the war years 1914-1917, large as it 
may seem to some, only represents exactly the same numbers of gallons 
per head as the fall during the years 1901-1913. 

The Central Control Board, which has been responsible for the regu 
lations and arrangements under which this accelerated decline has 
occurred, takes a broad and enlightened view of its functions, and in 
1916 appointed an Advisory Committee to consider the physiological 
action of alcohol and its effects on health and industrial efficiency. 
The members of this admirably constituted Committee were Drs. 
Cushny, Dale, Greenwood, McDougall, Mott, Sherrington, and Sullivan, 
with Lord D’Abernon as Chairman and Sir George Newman as Vice- 
Chairman. The Committee resolved, as a basis for further research, to 
prepare a review of the existing state of scientific knowledge, as distinct 
from surmise, conjecture, or popular belief, and to set forth this review 
in a serene and unimpassioned temper likely to further the progress of 
those problems in regard to alcohol which still call for scientific inquiry. 
The review is embodied in the present little volume which represents 
the unanimous judgment of the Committee. 

The scope of the inquiry made it necessary to omit various problems 
which are still undecided, as well as to leave aside a number of minor 
points, such as the different properties of various kinds of alcoholic 
drinks—a matter which in practice is often found important—as not at 
present susceptible of scientific examination. In this way various items 
of possible evidential value, one way or the other, are necessarily 
omitted; but all the fundamental problems remain, and the evidence 
in regard to most of these is clear. It is not easy for anyone who has 
ever examined these questions impartially—to whichever side his own 
personal inclinations may direct him—to dispute the exact validity of 
the conclusions here presented in clear and untechnical language which 
should be intelligible to every educated reader, however ignorant of 
physiology and medicine. The main conclusions may be easily sum¬ 
marised. 

There is no doubt that alcohol is a food in the same sense as sugar, 
though it is only available for immediate use, not being stored up, and 
thus may economise the use of the body reserves; but its use as a food 
is limited by its drug action. This drug action is entirely nervous and 
cerebral, but the general recognition of the nature of this action has 
been difficult because of the euphoria and blunting of self-criticism 
which alcohol produces. In all stages and on all puts of the system, 


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from first to last, alcohol depresses and suspends function; it is, there¬ 
fore, not a stimulant, but a sedative and narcotic, drug It is satis¬ 
factory to find this affirmation made by the Committee in the most 
positive and emphatic manner. It is many years since the sedative 
and narcotic properties of alcohol were set forth, and many people, 
accustomed to careful self-observation, cannot fail to have discovered 
empirically that this is its real effect upon themselves; but the popular 
superstition that alcohol is to be regarded as a stimulant still prevails in 
many even influential quarters with mischievous results. Needless to 
add, the value of alcohol is not thus diminished, but rather increased, 
yet it is highly important that we should recognise precisely the condi¬ 
tions for its use. It is useless in enabling us to start work or to con¬ 
tinue work of any kind, physical or mental, but it is useful in enabling 
us to leave off work. In the stress of the highest civilisation that use 
is as much demanded as in the routine of the most primitive culture— 
indeed, it may be argued that with the increasing strain and momentum 
of civilisation the brake becomes even more important than the spur. 
While it is, obviously, highly important to recognise this action of 
alcohol, it may be added that in some contingencies alcohol acts bene¬ 
ficially, or, at all events, harmlessly, even when applied on a totally 
wrong theory of its action; moreover, even by paralysing the higher 
and inhibitory nervous centres it sometimes has a pseudo-stimulatory 
action on lower centres. On muscular action, skilled or unskilled, 
alcohol never has any beneficial effect; on the contrary, it tends to 
impair all muscular acts. It depresses the simple reflexes; it depresses 
and accelerates the heatt by its action on the inhibitory nerves; it 
decreases muscular work as measured by the ergograph; it lessens 
athletic efforts ; it diminishes control of muscular movements ; it impairs 
the precision of eye movements; it slows down the speed of voluntary 
movements. These results are illustrated in detail and references given 
to specimen investigations carried out in various countries, especially 
Germany. This recognition of the value of German work may doubt¬ 
less, unJer present conditions, be counted to the Committee for 
righteousness ; but we miss any reference to F£r£’s neat and ingeniously 
varied experiments during many years, illustrating the results accepted 
by the Committee, and also showing that incidental sensorial stimulation 
which the Committee admits but hardly seems to lay enough stress on. 
On digestion, while in moderate doses there is no effect good or bad, 
the tendency is to retard, and this tendency is much increased in the 
case of special alcoholic drinks, especially such as are acid. Gastric 
movement is not increased, and some forms of gastric contraction are 
diminished, hence the carminative action of alcohol. On the respira¬ 
tion alcohol in moderate doses has no effect, either in health or disease; 
in large doses it produces respiratory paralysis and death. On the 
heart, in low concentrations, alcohol has no special action ; in high con¬ 
centration it is harmful; its apparent beneficial action on persons 
recovering from syncope is due to its irritating action on mucous mem¬ 
brane, and is comparable to the effect of smelling-salts. On temperature 
the effect of alcohol, now generally recognised, is to cause loss of heat 
through flushing the surface with blood, the deep temperature falling; 
so that while it is worse than useless when taken before exposure to 


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306 reviews. [July. 

cold, it is beneficial after such exposure when the surface is chilled. 
The effects of alcohol as a drug and a poison are clearly set forth at 
some length ; the part of alcoholic excess in the causation of most forms 
of insanity is regarded as of secondary importance, rather a symptom 
than its cause. The Committee accept the direct and indirect evidence 
indicating that the chronic alcoholism of the parents reacts injuriously 
on the vitality and development of the offspring; but continuity of 
action as well as excess of dose is necessary to constitute chronic 
alcoholism, and the habit-forming tendency of alcohol is relatively 
slight. Finally, the relation of alcohol to longevity is considered ; it is 
pointed out that the evidence presented by insurance companies and 
friendly societies as bearing on this matter is highly complicated and 
difficult to interpret, so that while it would appear that the death-rate is 
lower and the expectation of life longer in total abstainers, it is so diffi¬ 
cult to isolate the issue from disturbing personal and racial factors that 
this cannot be regarded as a scientifically-established conclusion. 

Most of these conclusions are simple and elementary; but they are 
fundamental propositions in regard to the action of a substance which 
is economically and socially of the greatest importance since the inhabi¬ 
tants of the British Islands deem it of such value that they spend more 
on it than on meat and twice as much as on bread. They are, more¬ 
over, propositions that are still often ignored or denied in quarters 
where better knowledge might well be expected. It is, therefore, satis¬ 
factory to learn that this authoritative little volume has already attained 
an extremely large circulation. Havelock Ellis. 


Religion and Realities. By Henry Maudsley, M.D. John Bale, Sons 
& Danielsson, Ltd. Price 3.L 6 d. net. 

There is a pathetic interest attaching to this book. It is the last 
product of the author’s pen. To some extent such a recollection 
disarms criticism, or would do so were one inclined to severity or 
dispraise. Again, the advanced age at which he wrote, and adverse 
conditions in regard to health, might have been justly adduced in 
mitigation of sentence for errors, solecisms, lapses of memory, or failing 
judgment. It is unnecessary to urge such pleas, for here, as in the 
case of “ Organic to Human,” there is the same clearness of thought 
and lucidity of expression. Nor is there any sign of weakening in regard 
to principle, no temporising, as of one who “ feared hell rather than 
annihilation.” For this we may be grateful, though, as no one would 
have admitted more readily than Dr. Maudsley himself, death-bed 
“repentances,” and the utterances of those in the “dreary decline” 
of life, maybe fairly discounted when they are at variance with principles 
enunciated by the same persons in their prime, or with the whole tenor 
of their lives. 

As the title implies, this volume is chiefly concerned with the anti¬ 
thesis of reality as opposed to religion, or rather to the misty abstrac¬ 
tions in which theological systems have obscured the plain facts of life 
and of experience. This has come about because “the persons who 
think—hardly one in many thousands—are rare and exceptional.” It 
is more easy to give free play to the emotions in “rapturous exultation ” 



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than to give time and close attention to observation and experiment. 
The same criticism is applicable in other spheres of thought; people 
“ have never taken the least pains to make themselves acquainted with 
what is known of physical and chemical forces, their modes of action, 
and their effects. They choose rather to cherish the miraculous than 
to observe the natural, and to pay with words instead of with valid 
coin.” So we find that in the study of mental disorders there is, too, 
the same besetting sin—theory outruns experience to an extent that 
would be incredible had we not all been trained to believe a thing 
because it is impossible! On the other hand, “though it would be 
wrong no doubt to deny the possibility of what seems impossible, there 
is not the least need to manufacture fictitious possibilities and then 
teach them as verities.” For century on century we continue along the 
same lines, absurdly self-satisfied with our beliefs and our theories, and 
unwilling even to make trial of methods which are based upon some¬ 
thing which does not square with our pre-conceived notions. It is still 
fashionable to decry the materialistic conception of the universe, even 
though no honest attempt has been made to disprove the assertions of 
those who, like Dr. Maudsley, have pleaded in season and out of season 
for a fair trial for investigations conducted upon that basis. When they 
shall be proved of no avail it will be time enough for opponents to scoff. 

It has been said that Dr. Maudsley was a destructive critic, and that 
he suggested no constructive system of philosophy. Even were this true 
—and it is not—it would be no slight achievement to have cleared away 
the accumulated rubbish which has been gathered together by years of 
misdirected energy. But we have, as a rule, little gratitude for him who 
points out the error of our ways ; we prefer him who flatters our vanity. 
It is unlikely, then, that anyone who disavows belief in human perfecti¬ 
bility, who even criticises our much-vaunted civilisation, can gain popular 
acceptance. Nevertheless, his words may yet prove to be nearer the 
truth than are the honeyed phrases with which so frequently the ears 
of the groundlings are tickled. 

It will have been inferred from what has already been said that 
Dr. Maudsley had no panacea for human ills to proclaim, no easy path 
to the attainment of knowledge to point out, no perfervid optimism in 
regard to our future prospects here or hereafter. Nor can we be 
surprised that, looking out upon the chaos into which social conditions 
had passed, he inclined to pessimism. And pessimism is “alike the 
stern conclusion of thinking reason, and the pious confession of reverent 
religion." Nor is it a conclusion which is reached gladly, but one which 
is forced upon the thinker by the stern logic of events. “ Man that is 
born of woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He 
cometh up and is cut down like a flower.” 

The essays collected in this volume cover a wide range of thought: 
“Old Age,” “Death,” ‘-Life,” “Truth,” “Virtue,” “Vanity,” “Style,” 
“ Optimism and Pessimism ”—the titles serve to show the diversity of 
subjects. But whatever the subject under discussion, the same clear 
light of practical reason is brought to bear upon it. There is no shirking 
of the issues, no faltering, even though he realised that he was soon to 
pass through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, when the process of 
Nature should “complete its particular cycle, and the individual return 


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to the dust from which he was created.” The insistent push of vitality, 
derived from the sun and providing in its upward wave the basis of 
optimism, was dying down and giving place to old age, with its realisa¬ 
tion of how much in life is mere vanity and vexation of spirit, illusion, 
and figments of faith. This, in its turn, must pass into that phase which 
we dread, “as children fear to go in the dark,” and yet which is but a 
sleep, a rest longed for by the wearied flesh, a “ welcome port to which, 
after a long and rough voyage, the weary traveller arrives at last.” 

It is well in these days, when the tendency is to give too free play to 
the emotions, and to let reason be hindered in its work, that there 
should be some who can look as from a tower upon the contest and 
dispassionately survey the scene. From the comments of such spectators 
we may derive, if not consolation, at least help in our distresses. Such 
a wise onlooker was Dr. Maudsley, and in this last book we are given 
the ripe reflections of his maturity. It is for others to carry on the 
lamp of true doctrine. 


The Unmarried Mother. By Percy Gamble Kammerer. With an 
Introduction by William Healy, M.D. (Criminal Science Mono¬ 
graphs). Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1918. Pp. 342. 
Price $3. 

The most valuable part of this important work for the psychologist is 
that which concerns the 500 histones (not all of them here reproduced) 
on which it is statistically based. The great difficulty in dealing scien¬ 
tifically with the unmarried mother has been, indeed, precisely this lack 
of an adequate basis of carefully detailed data. It is true this study 
comes from America, but the conditions dealt with are not substantially 
different: the illegitimacy rate in the United States (differing widely 
from that of some European countries) is almost the same as that of 
England, and, moreover, among the 500 cases here dealt with there are 
nearly as many women of British as of American birth—more if we 
include the French Canadians. 

The form the author’s investigation has taken, and the careful attempt 
to distinguish and estimate the numerous factors involved, are largely 
due to the inspiration and guidance of Dr. Healy. As we might expect, 
environmental conditions (notably, absence from home, bad home con¬ 
ditions, uncongenial surroundings, recreational disadvantages, con¬ 
taminating industrial conditions) are the most prominent factors, though 
low wages are not amongst them, and it is in flourishing and prosperous 
communities that the illegitimate rate is highest, in poor and backward 
communities that what we call "virtue” most flourishes. Heredity as 
a factor was not easy to estimate, partly because we cannot regard the 
tendency to produce an illegitimate child as a directly transmissible 
character, and partly because the data under this head were too scanty ; 
its importance is recognised, but it was not possible to regard it as a major 
factor in a single case. Some importance is attached to abnormal physical 
conditions, especially those which cause weakness or irritation ; this was 
found to be a factor in nearly 100 cases. Not only are under-develop¬ 
ment, premature birth, congenital syphilis, epilepsy, etc., thus influential, 


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but early and over-development may also be a factor—partly because 
such development tends to be associated with a developed sexual 
impulse, partly because it tends to outrun mental development, and 
partly because it is attractive to men. In one group abnormal sexual 
suggestibility is found to be important. Eut the strength of the sexual 
impulse is not believed to be above the average in the unmarried 
mother, and shows the normal degrees of variation ; there was only one 
case of such abnormally strong sexual impulse that it was put down as 
nymphomania. As a rule, the girls were not passive ; they were equally 
responsible with the fathers for their condition ; the ages of the fathers, 
moreover, showed the probability of normal sexual attraction, and 
stories of rape or assault (usually remarkably similar in their details) 
seldom resisted investigation. A chapter of some length is devoted to 
mental abnormality. Reliable mental examinations were only made in 
some 26 per cent, of the cases, though Kammerer considers that some 
35 per cent, of the 500 cases were sufficiently abnormal to have made a 
psychological investigation desirable; 167 girls or women were thus 
found to show some special mental defect or peculiarity. The mentally 
abnormal girl is not necessarily possessed of over-developed sex 
instincts, but rather of under-developed inhibitions, and it must be 
recognised that a lack of self-control may lead an ordinarily intelligent 
woman into the position of an unmarried mother. The feeble-minded 
morons are, however, found to form an important group, and to be 
very uniform in their sexual behaviour. Two or three cases were 
grouped under dementia praecox, and three as hysterical or psycho¬ 
neurotic, while another group was formed of cases of psychic constitu¬ 
tional inferiority. 

Much useful information is given concerning the social and legal 
position of the unmarried mother in various countries and the progress 
made in recent years. This is most marked, both on the scientific 
and the administrative side in Germany, but it is in Norway that the 
position of the illegitimate child has now been made most favourable. 
Kammerer has a wide and liberal-minded chapter of “Conclusions,” 
and lays due weight on the importance of education, not least in sexual 
matters (the sexual ignorance of some of these mothers was incredible); 
on the need also for the education of parents; on improved conditions 
of industrial work, better homes, and greater opportunities for whole¬ 
some recreation ; on State supervision when necessary; on better indi¬ 
vidual training; and on higher moral conceptions in the community, 
casting aside outworn conventions, and realising that the mother “must 
be judged on her desire to give her child good care, and her success in 
doing so, rather than on the fact that she has given birth to a child out¬ 
side of marriage.” Havelock Ei.lis. 


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[July, 


Part III.—Epitome of Current Literature. 


Clinical Neurology and Psychiatry. 

Graphomania \_La Graphomanie\ [Revue Philosophique , November, 
1914.) Ossip- Lourie. 

The majority of men speak with greater facility than they write ; verbal 
expression is considered easier than written. Between the faculty of 
expression by writing and the spoken word there exist important con¬ 
nections, but instances of word-deafness indicate that there is no 
complete equality or association between the two. Interior mental 
life is often confused when the subjective and objective impressions are 
too numerous to be anything but vague. During the process of writing 
perceptions and ideas, both conscious and unconscious, are gathered 
together, but the number of unconscious ideas is often superior to the 
conscious. We think beyond what we express. If it were possible to 
read the mind in writing, many things would be found there which 
cannot be expressed on paper. Interior thought is often only intuitive. 
In intuition interior thought appears infinite, immense, boundless, not 
circumscribed by limits. For it to become distinct it must be exterior¬ 
ised by spoken and written speech. 

Written language, more than spoken, limits the infinite idea, it fixes it 
more solidly upon the attention. It regularises the interior life, solidifies 
it, but more, it personifies an impression, a vision, a thought. It exte¬ 
riorises the ego, it expresses or reflects it. 

Written speech is normal when it penetrates the ego, when it 
expresses our affective vibration. To write normally implies a creative 
effort. The more profound the thought the greater the difficulty of 
expression. Writers whose originality is incontestable do not possess 
a great facility for writing. To condense, express, crystallise a thought 
into a definite form is often to arrest it. Particular faculties are neces¬ 
sary to render it with more or less justice. 

Patients in asylums are often afflicted with a mania for writing, and 
writing in this way often has a diagnostic value, but the writer considers 
that outside mental hospitals a large number of individuals are afflicted 
with what may be described as graphomania—a psychopathic tendency 
to write. It is this disorder with which the paper deals. 

Graphomania is a malady characterised by an excessive desire for 
writing. All writing which does not interpret some positive fact, which 
is not the result of some experience, which does not materialise an 
image, produce some idea, which does not reflect the interior life, the 
personality of the author, belongs to the category of graphomania. It 
is an impulse to write without any normal necessity or pretext Such 
a mania may exist without desire of publication, but the term must he 
applied to numerous publications, executed without appreciable cause, 
and which astonish by their futility, strangeness, lack of purpose— 
• literary mania. Other forms exist—letter-writing, anonymous letters, 
writing on walls, etc., but the writer regards this as the most serious 
form because it is so contagious. 


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1918.] CLINICAL NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY. 31 I 

A number of these individuals may be described as “ Graphomania- 
simulators,” who desire to profit from the profession of letters, and 
“ Graphomania-parasites,” who make themselves known to a celebrated 
writer, imitate him, deify him, exist on him as it were. Such types are 
more numerous than those with a definitely irresistible impulse to write. 

The true literary graphomaniac, exhibits certain intellectual defects. 
He has false conceptions as to the value of his contributions, and as to 
the social influences of his writings. He abandons himself to his 
tendency to imitate and copy others. He imagines his writings exhibit 
creative activity, he thinks he himself is the source of inspiration of his 
productions. Two forms are observed, the excited and depressed, both 
often existing in the same individual. The former exhibit immense 
activity, their output is enormous, they belong to every literary society, 
they serve on every committee, they are present at every banquet. The 
combination of their ideas is purely superficial, the imagination is asleep, 
there is a kind of automatism. In the depressed form, the grapho¬ 
maniac is sensitive, he attaches importance to detail, neglects his serious 
interests, mistakes the value of men and things, falls under the influence 
of the first comer. He is anxious, gloomy, discouraged, fearful, sus¬ 
picious, lacking in confidence—yet always writing. 

The memory for words and phrases is immense, but there is no selec¬ 
tion or choice, no attempt to analyse, define or verify. In spite of their 
memory, they only possess a poor vocabulary, and they cannot find the 
words necessary to render their thoughts, and usually they employ others 
in their place. The attention is disturbed, and this explains the mobility, 
instability, and obscurity of their thoughts. The clearness of an idea 
depends on the attention paid to it. 

The inner ambition of the graphomaniac is one which aims at attract¬ 
ing public attention. All his activities are devoted to this end. The 
malady may justly be included in the group of neuropathic disorders. 
It is a form of instability; there is a want of harmony between the 
thought and the act of translating it into writing. The act of writing 
is normal when it expresses the personality; abnormal when the ideo- 
psychic forces do not concur in its expression. 

As regards the aetiology of graphomania, the whole course of educa¬ 
tion tends to foster its growth. Copying, dictation, essays on subjects 
chosen by the teacher, and the writing of theses suggested by others,, 
are all methods which inhibit personal expression in writing. Spelling 
and writing are automatic acts, in which the ego does not participate, 
and the content itself may readily become automatic. Publicists and 
journalists often hardly know what they are writing. The subject is 
one of indifference so long as something is produced. Many grapho¬ 
maniacs at the moment the pen is in their hand are quite ignorant of 
what they wish to write. With facility in writing gained by practice, the 
act tends to become increasingly automatic. 

Imitation and contagion are amongst the chief psychic causes of 
graphomania. The aetiology arises in the basis of society, it resides in 
its customs. All social life co-operates in producing the psychopathic 
conditions which produce in the subject the mania for writing : the 
commercialisation of literature, literary prizes, diminution of criticism. 
It increases with the advance of civilisation. The feverish activity of 


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312 NOTES AND NEWS. [July, 

some, the morbid laziness of others, unbounded desires, the discredit 
of manual work, the continual effervescence, increase amazingly the 
ranks of the graphomaniacs. H. Devine. 


Psychoses Associated with Diabetes Mellitus. (The Journal of Nervous 
and Mental Disease , December , 1917.) Singer, H. D., and Clarke , 
S. N. 

The writers report two cases in which there is evidence of toxic brain 
disturbance—restless apprehension, with sense falsification—associated 
with disturbances of metabolism in diabetic subjects. 

In the first case the appearance of acute toxic mental symptoms was 
associated with a diminution of sugar in the urine. The acute mental 
symptoms subsided rapidly with the reappearance of sugar, so that 
these two manifestations appeared more or less in an inverse relation to 
•one another. 

In the second case the acute mental symptoms were noted more in 
association with therapeutic measures than with actual diminution of the 
amount of sugar excreted. With the resumption of a full diet the patient 
returned to his average mental state within a few days. H. Devine. 


Part IV.—Notes and News. 


THE MEDICO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN 

AND IRELAND. 

The Quarterly Meeting of the Association was held at 11, Chandos Street, 
W. 1, on Tuesday, May 28th, 1918, Lieut.-Col. David G. Thomson, M.D, 
R.A.M.C., President, occupying the chair. 

The following signed their names in the book as having been present at the 
meeting or as having attended meetings of committees : Sir G. H. Savage, Lieut.- 
Col. Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, Drs. H. T. S. Areline, Fletcher Beach, David 
Bower, J. Carswell, James Chambers, R. H. Cole, Maurice Craig, A. W. Daniel, 
J. Francis Dixon, E. L. Dove, T. Drapes, R. Eager, F. H. Edwards, E. L. 
Forward, C. F. Fothergill, A. H. Griffith, H. E. Haynes, John Keay, D. G. 
Lindsay, A. Miller, Richard Miller, J. M. Murray, H. J. Norman, E. S. Pasmore, 
J. G. Porter Phillips, Bedford Pierce, E. Prideaux, J. N. Sergeant, G. E. 
Shuttleworth, R. Percy Smith, J. G. Soutar, T. E. K. Stansfield, F. R. P. Taylor, 
C. M. Tuke, John Turner, H. Wolseley-Lewis, and R. H. Steen (Acting Hon. 
General Secretary). 

Visitors: Drs. K. Haslam, E. M. Herford, J. D. Symon, and F. W. Thurnam. 
Present at Council Meeting: Lieut-Col. D. G. Thomson, M.D , R.A.M.C. 
(President), in the chair, and Drs. H. T. S. Aveline, A. Helen Boyle, James 
Chambers, R. H. Cole, Thos. Drapes, R. Eager, John Keay, J. N. Sergeant, T. E. 
Knowles Stansfield, G. E. Shuttleworth, H. Wolseley-Lewis, and R. H. Steen. 

Dr. J. G. Soutar attended on the invitation of the President. 

Apologies for unavoidable absence were received from : Drs. C. C. Easterbrook, 
R. R. Leeper, John Mills, H. de M. Alexander, Graeme Dickson, L. R. Oswald, 
T. S. Adair, G. N. Bartlett, Donald Ross, J. R. Gilmour, and James M. Rutherford. 

The minutes of the last meeting, being printed in the April number of the 
Journal, were approved and signed by the President as correct. 

Business Arising from the Council Meeting. 

The President said his first duty, under this head, was to report to the meeting 
that the late Dr. Maudsley had bequeathed to the Association a sum of .£3000. 
He thought there was no need for him, on this occasion, to enlarge on the 


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importance and munificence of such a bequest, nor on the gratification it would 
afford to the members. The terms of Dr. Maudsley's Will did not specify in what 
wav this money should be used by the Association, and the Council proposed to 
consider that matter at its next meeting, two months hence. He did not doubt 
that in the meantime the Council would be very glad to receive suggestions on the 
subject from any who were not members of the Council, and all such suggestions 
would be welcomed and receive due consideration at the meeting he had referred to. 

The other business he had to report on was that Col. Keay, of Bangour 
Hospital, Edinburgh, had, he was pleased to know, found himself able, now that 
he had got his great hospital into full working order, to devote part of his time to 
the duties appertaining to the post of President of this Association. In conse¬ 
quence of that acceptance it had been arranged at to-day’s Council meeting that 
the Annual Meeting this year be held at Edinburgh, under Col. Keay's presi¬ 
dency, on July 23rd and 24th, just previous to the Annual Meeting of the British 
Medical Association. 

The following resolution would now be proposed by the General Secretary, 
Dr. Steen : "That, owing to the shortage of paper and the difficulty in printing, 
the following bye-laws, or portions of bye-laws, be suspended for the duration of 
the war, namely: Bye-law 26, Bye-law 67 (n), Bye-law 67(6), Bye-law 67(c), 
Bye-law 90 in so far as it requires the General Secretary to issue to each member 
of the Association a circular announcing the date of the Annual Meeting, etc.” 
Members would have noted that in the paper of business of past annual meetings 
it had been the custom to print the names of the officers, examiners, and members 
of the standing committees. This had been done as a matter of convenience, not 
because ordered by the bye-laws. This practice it was proposed to discontinue 
during the war. 

Dr. R. H. Steen (Acting Hon. Secretary) moved the resolution, as printed and as 
read out by the President, and in doing so said he would like to draw the attention 
of members to Article 16 of the Association. This ran as follows: “ At any 
general meeting of the Association, bye-laws may be made, varied, or repealed 
subject to the following regulation— vie.: Not less than fourteen days before such 
meeting, the Secretary shall send, through the post to each ordinary member of 
the Association, by prepaid letter addressed to such member at his registered 
address, or otherwise as provided by the bye-laws, notice of the hour and place of 
meeting, and notice of the resolution to be proposed at the meeting for such making, 
varying, or repeal of the aforesaid, provided that the omission to send any such 
notice shall not invalidate anything done at such meeting.” Bye-law 36 provided 
that the Divisional Secretaries shall send a printed list of the officers and repre¬ 
sentative members of Council for election from the division. In some divisions 
there were 250 members, and these lists had to be printed and posted to each one, 
though, he feared, they were not always looked at by the members receiving them; 
therefore that was an item on which the Association could save printing and paper. 
Bye-law 67 (a) provided that each year the General Secretary should send to each 
member a paper showing the attendances of the members of Council at the meet¬ 
ings. That, he thought, might la^sse during the period of the war. It was required 
by Bye-law 67 (A) that a voting-paper be sent containing the names of the officers to 
be elected at the Annual Meeting. That, he suggested, was an unnecessary expense. 
Bye-law 67(c) provided for the receipt of the voting-papers, and this became void 
if Bye-law 67 (A) became inactive. Bye-law 90 said the Secretary should send out 
a notice to each member giving the date of the Annual Meeting, and at the same 
time make a request for the contribution of papers and other scientific matter 
therefor. As a number of members were now absent from England, the printing 
of this, and especially the postage, would be a very heavy item, and he did not 
think it was, during war time, worth the expenditure. Those were the reasons for 
which he moved the resolution. 

Dr. Bower seconded. 

The President, in asking members to vote upon it, said it would be clear it 
was a war measure, and would economise in paper, time, and postages. 

Dr. Percy Smith asked how it was proposed to give adequate notice to members 
concerning the Annual Meeting. Would it not be the simplest and least expensive 
method to send a post-card with this information on it ? That was especially neces¬ 
sary as, this year, instead of holding the Annual Meeting in London, it was pro- 


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[July. 


posed to hold it in Edinburgh. Publishing it in the Journal would not suffice, 
especially as it would not appear until July. 

The Secretary (Dr. Steen) replied that he hoped that members would receive 
good notice by having the agenda paper of the Annual Meeting posted to them 
three weeks before the date of the Annual Meeting, giving place and all particulars. 
If it was thought wise to send post-cards on this occasion, he would remind the 
meeting that from June 1st the rate for post-cards would be id. 

Dr. Percy Smith expressed himself as quite satisfied. 

The resolution was agreed to. 

Election of Candidates for Membership. 

The President nominated as scrutineers for the ballot Major Eager and Capt. 
Norman. The following gentlemen were duly elected : 

Anderson, William Kirkpatrick, M.B., Ch.B.Glas., Visiting Physician 
Eastern District Hospital, Glasgow, 3, Ashton Terrace, Glasgow. 

Proposed by Drs. Neil T. Kerr, R. B. Campbell, and G. Dunlop Robertson. 

Archibald, Alexander John, M.B., Ch.B.Glas., Acting Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, Argyll and Bute District Asylum, Lochgilphead, Argyllshire. 

Proposed by Drs. Neil T. Kerr, R. B. Campbell, and G. Dunlop Robertson. 

Evans, Tudor Benson, M.B., Ch.B.Liverp., Capt. R.A.M.C. (Temp.), Lord 
Derby War Hospital, Warrington. (Home) The Pharmacy, Denbigh. 

Proposed by Major R. Eager, Capt. O. P. Napier Pearn, and Dr. T. Stewart 
Adair. 

Ogilvie, William Mitchell, M.B., C.M.Aberd., Medical Superintendent, 
Ipswich Mental Hospital, Ipswich. 

Proposed by Drs. J. R. Whitwell, E. S Pasmore, and H. M. Berncastle. 

Thienpont, Rudolph, M.D., Temporary Assistant Medical Officer, Cane 
Hill Mental Hospital, Coulsdon, Surrey. 

Proposed by Drs. Fletcher Beach, Edward Gane, and R. H. Steen. 

Paper. 

John Turner, M.B., C.M.: “ Observations on the Rolandic Area in a Series of 
Cases of Insanity." (This paper, or an abridgement, with discussion, will, it is 
hoped, appear in a future number of the Journal.) 

The President said Dr. Fothergill had agreed it was now late in the afternoon 
to take his paper on “The Prevention and Treatment of Neurasthenia and other 
Functional Nervous Breakdowns,” though it was a subject of great importance in 
these times. The author had agreed to defer it to an early meeting; probably it 
would form a good subject for discussion at the Annual Meeting in July if that 
could be arranged. 


SCOTTISH DIVISION. 

A meeting of the Scottish Division of the Medico-Psychological Association 
was held in the Hall of the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow, 
on Friday, March 15th, 1918. 

Present. —Lieut.-Col. Keay, Major Hotchkis, Capt. Roberts, Capt. Buchanan, 
R.A.M.C., Drs. Crocket, Carlyle Johnstone, Kerr, T. C. Mackenzie, Macdonald, 
Oswald, G. M. Robertson, Jane Robertson, Watson, Yellowlees, and R. B. 
Campbell, Divisional Secretary. 

On the motion of Lieut.-Col. Keay, Dr. Oswald was called to the Chair. 

Before taking up the ordinary business of the Meeting, the Chairman referred 
in appropriate terms to the loss which the Association and the asylum service had 
sustained since last meeting through the death of Dr. W. R. Watson, for several 
years Medical Superintendent of Govan District Asylum at Hawkhead. It was 
unanimously resolved that it be recorded in the minutes that the members of the 
Scottish Division of the Medico-Psychological Association desire to express their 
deep sense of the loss sustained by the death of Dr. W. R. Watson, and their 
sympathy with his relatives in their bereavement, and the Secretary was instructed 
to transmit an excerpt of the minute to the relatives. 


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The minutes of the last Divisional Meeting were read and approved and the 
Chairman was authorised to sign them. 

Apologies for absence were intimated from Lieut.-Col. Thomson, President of 
he Association, Drs. Easterbrook, Skeen, Tuach-Mackenzie, Alexander, Ross, 
Orr, Crichlow, Porter Phillips, and Mills. 

The Secretary submitted letters of acknowledgment received from the relatives 
of Dr. Urquhart and Dr. Hayes Newington, thanking the members of the Division 
for the kind letters of sympathy. 

Drs. L. R. Oswald and J. H. Skeen were unanimously elected Representative 
Members of Council for the ensuing year, and Dr. R. B. Campbell was elected 
Divisional Secretary. 

Dr. L. R. Oswald was recommended to the Educational Committee of the 
Council as an Examiner for the Certificate in Psychological Medicine, and Dr. 
N. T. Kerr was recommended as Examiner for the Final Nursing Examination. 

Dr. Isobel Emslie’s paper, “ Notes on Mental Treatment in Macedonia," was in 
her absence read by Dr. G. M. Robertson. Her sketch of the primitive methods 
in use was most interesting, and her efforts to improve the condition and treat¬ 
ment of the insane by means of her appeal to the authorities were most com¬ 
mendable. The members of the Division asked Dr. G. M. Robertson to convey 
to Dr. Emslie their thanks for her paper, which was so much appreciated. A 
copy of the paper will appear in the Journal. 

The Secretary submitted a letter which he had received from the Secretary of 
the Parliamentary Committee stating that a Sub-Committee had been appointed 
to consider reforms in the English Lunacy Laws, in view of the many problems 
which would result after the War. After some discussion it was unanimously 
resolved that the members of the Division at present members of the Parliamentary 
Committee might be formed into a Sub-Committee having power to add to their 
number to consider the whole question, and make any recommendations they 
should consider advisable to the Parliamentary Committee of the Association, 
and also report to the Division. 

A vote of thanks to the Chairman for presiding concluded the business of the 
meeting. 

SOUTH-WESTERN DIVISION. 

Spring Meeting, 1918. 

The Spring Meeting of the above Division was held by the kind permission 
of Dr. MacBryan at 17, Belmont, Bath, on Friday, April 26th, 1918, at 2.30 p.m. 

The following members were present:—Drs. Maiw Martin, MacBryan, Nelis, 
Rutherford, and Dr. Aveline, who acted as Hon. Div. Secretary in the unavoidable 
absence of Dr. Bartlett. 

Dr. Nelis was voted to the Chair. 

Letters of regret for non-attendance from Lieut.-Col. D. G. Thompson (the 
President), Maj. Eager, Drs. Bartlett, Macdonald, and Starkey were read. 

The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. 

Dr. Bartlett was appointed Hon. Div. Secretary. 

Drs. MacBryan and Aveline were elected as representative members of Council. 

Drs. Mary Martin and Macdonald were elected as members of the Committee 
of Management. 

The date of the Autumn Meeting was fixed for Friday, October 25th, 1918, and 
that of the Spring Meeting for Friday, April 25th, 1919. 

The place of the Spring Meeting was left in the hands of the Secretary for 
arrangement. 

A letter from Miss Hayes Newington, thanking the members for their kind 
expression of sympathy on the death of her father, was read. 

A communication was received from the General Secretary announcing an 
alteration of the date of the next Quarterly Meeting from May 21st to May 28th. 


NORTHERN AND MIDLAND DIVISION. 

The October Meeting of the Division will be held at the Maghull Red Cross 
Hospital, near Liverpool. 

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IRISH DIVISION. 

The Summer Meeting of the Irish Division of the Medico-Psychological 
Association of Great Britain and Ireland was held, by the kind invitation of 
Dr. M. J. Nolan, at Downpatrick, on Thursday, July 4th. 

Members present: Dr. J. Colies, Dr. Considine, Lieut.-Col. Dawson, Dr. Drapes, 
Dr. J. O’C. Donelan, Dr. Nolan, Dr. Hetherington, Dr. Smyth, Dr. Graham, 
Dr. Greene, Dr. Gavin, Dr. O'Mara, Dr. Grimbly, Dr. Cotter, and Dr. Leepcr 
(Hon. Secretary). 

Dr. Nolan having been moved to the Chair, the minutes of the previous meeting 
were read and signed. 

Letters of apology for unavoidable absence were read from the following: 
Dr. Rainsford, Stewart Asylum; Dr. Mills, Ballinasloe; Dr. McKenna, Carlow; 
Dr. Lawless, Armagh; Dr. H. Eustace, Dr. Redington, Portrane; Dr. Irwin, 
Limerick; Dr. Revington, Dundrum; Dr. Fitzgerald, Waterford; and Dr. Martin, 
Letterkenny. 

The Chairman asked, before the regular business of the meeting was proceeded 
with, to draw the attention of the members to the loss which the Association 
and the whole faculty of Psychological Medicine has sustained by the death of 
Dr. Maudsley. The following resolution was proposed by Dr. Drapes, seconded 
by Dr. J. O'C. Donelan, and passed in silence, the members standing in their 
places: 

“ We, the members of the Irish Division of the Medico-Psychological 
Association of Great Britain and Ireland, desire to place on record our deep 
sense of the loss Psychological Medicine has sustained by the death of 
Dr. Henry Maudsley, and of our appreciation of his munificent endowment 
of the London Mental Hospital.” 

A letter was read from the Inspectors of Asylums, Dublin Castle, acknowledging 
the receipt of the resolution passed at the Spring Meeting re recent conduct 
of attendants in Irish asylums. 

The following candidates having been duly balloted for were declared elected: 

The Right Hon. Michael Cox, M.D., R.U.I., Hon. Causa., F.R.C.P.I., 

Physician, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin; Lord Chancellor’s Consulting 

Visitor in Lunacy for County and City of Dublin. 

Dr. Samuel John Graham, Resident Medical Superintendent, Villa Colony 

Asylum, Purdysburn, Belfast. 

The Chairman proceeded to introduce a discussion on the proposed alteration 
of the Lunacy Laws, in accordance with the work now under the consideration 
of the Parliamentary Committee of the Association. He stated that this matter 
had received much attention from the Irish Division and that so long ago as 
March 26th, 1907, at the Spring Meeting of the Division, the whole question 
of Lunacy legislation in Ireland engaged the attention of the members, and all 
he considered that could be done by those now assembled was to reconsider the 
recommendations then made and to obtain the general sense of the meeting as 
regards the proposals for new Lunacy legislation now before the Parliamentary 
Committee. The Hon. Secretary read a letter from Dr. Cole, Hon. Sec., 
Parliamentary Committee, stating that three recommendations were now being 
made by the Lunacy Legislation Committee and that he hoped to report further 
progress. The three recommendations were as follows : 

(1) The establishment of Clinics (for the treatment of early cases of 
mental disorders by local authorities). 

(2) The approval of Homes for borderland Mental cases received for 
payment. 

(3) The extension of Voluntary Boarders to the County and Borough 
Asylums. 

The Hon. Secretary read a reply to the letter which he had sent to Dr. Cole. 

The Chairman and the members discussed these three proposals, and the sense 
of the meeting was obtained from each member present, Dr. Colles, Dr. Considine, 
and Lieut.-Col. Dawson giving the greeting valuable information as regards the 
legal points raised. 

The opinions of the members Were generally as follows: 


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Firstly, as regards the establishment of Clinics for the treatment of early cases : 
That these were undesirable, except as hospitals attached or adjacent to existing 
asylums where patients could be received without certification. 

Secondly, the meeting was unanimously opposed to the proposal for setting up 
approved Homes for borderland cases for paying patients. 

Thirdly, as regards the question of the admission of Voluntary Boarders to 
County and Borough Asylums, the Irish Division approved of such procedure, and 
desired that a similar facility be extended to Ireland as existed in England and 
Scotland for the admission of voluntary patients. 

It was proposed by Dr. W. Smyth, seconded by Dr. Graham, and passed 
unanimously: 

“ That the following committee be elected as a sub-committee of the 
Parliamentary Committee of the Association to co-operate in securing 
alterations in the Lunacy Laws as affecting Ireland : Dr. Gavan, Dr. J. O’C. 
Donelan, Dr. Nolan, Dr. Eustace, Dr. Drapes, Dr. Rainsford; Dr. Leeper to 
act as Hon. Secretary." 

The Chairman proceeded to draw the members’ attention to the recommenda¬ 
tions approved at the meeting of the Irish Division held on March 26th, 1907, 
when the Irish Councils’ Bill was before the House of Commons. 

The first matter dealt with in the memorandum then drawn up was as follows : 

“ In order to check retrograde or otherwise undesirable movements, there should 
be a strong Commission at the head of the Lunacy Administration of the country, 
possessed of ample powers, which should not be merged into any other Govern¬ 
ment department.” 

The meeting strongly expressed the opinion that it would be most desirable to 
increase and strengthen the powers of the Inspectors of the Irish Asylums, and a 
policy of obtaining powers for the Irish Government Lunacy Officials, similar to 
those in the hands of the English Lunacy Commissioners, was endorsed by the 
meeting. Dr. C01.LES kindly explained the legal aspects of the case, and Lieut.- 
Col. Dawson, Dr. Considine, and Dr. J. O’C. Donelan expressed their views on 
the matter, which were of valuable help to the members in forming their opinion 
on the subjects. Dr. J. O’C. Donelan spoke as regards the danger of the Irish 
asylums being merged under the authority of, the Local Government Board, a 
procedure which, if it ever occurred, would be disastrous to Irish asylums, and 
prejudicial to the interests of the insane poor. 

Tha question of the amendment in the modes of admission of patients to 
asylums was next reconsidered. The necessity for such amendment was unani¬ 
mously felt, and Dr. Gavin spoke in favour of the “Dangerous Lunacy Act ” 
being repealed, and, after much discussion, in which almost all present joined, 
and cases of gravity having been mentioned, where great hardships were inflicted 
upon patients and murder had resulted from failure to have patients promptly 
sent to asylums owing to the present obsolete and cumbrous procedure, the 
meeting almost unanimously recommend : 

(1) “That the law as regards the admission of patients to district 
asylums be assimilated to that in England and Scotland. 

(2) " That, so far as possible, lunacy should be dissociated from crimi¬ 
nality, and that the insane poor should not be treated as criminals in order to 
receive treatment for their mental disease. That the so-called ' House Form ’ 
—‘Form D' —be universally used, and that it be obligatory upon asylum 
governors to admit patients on the so-called ‘ House Form.’ Certification 
should he uniform, and either one medical certificate, or two, if thought 
necessary, should be accepted, altering the present anomalous procedure 
where a patient requires only one certificate on one form and two on another.” 

The question of bail, in the case of patients being removed from asylums, was 
discussed, and the present law as regards recognizances in the case of patients 
was considered unsatisfactory, as they seemed never to be or to have been enforced. 

Dr. Colles kindly expressed the opinion that the existing English Lunacy Act 
is an admirable procedure, and covers all the disabilities from which the procedure 
in this country suffers. 

The question of the conveying of patients to district asylums was next con¬ 
sidered, and the opinion expressed that policemen should not be in charge of 


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female patients so sent, although it was understood that this duty was now always 
assigned to a married sergeant of the R.I.C. Nurses should be employed in this 
service and not the police. 

Dr. Colles drew the attention of the meeting to the present mode of granting 
and renewing licences to private asylums, which procedure was similar in Ireland 
to that of granting ordinary publicans' licences, and suggested that these licences 
should be granted by the Lord Chancellor on the recommendations of the inspectors 
of Irish asylums. 

The Chairman spoke as to the advisability of deleting the word “destitute” 
from Form " D,” which was thought desirable, as this was obviously an error in a 
form for a paying patient. 

Dr. Hetherington, as the oldest member present, proposed a cordial vote of 
thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Nolan for their kindness and hospitality in entertaining 
the members. Dr. J. O’C. Donelan, in seconding the resolution, wished to express 
to Dr. Nolan the congratulations of the visitors upon the wonderful improvements 
in the asylum since his last visit in 1907, and to state the great appreciation by all 
those who visited the asylum of its high standard of efficiency and the admirable 
condition to which it had been brought by Dr. Nolan. This resolution having 
been passed by acclamation, and Dr. Nolan having replied, the meeting ended. 


SOUTH-EASTERN DIVISION. 

The Spring Meeting of the South-Eastern Division of the Medico-Psycho¬ 
logical Association was held at u,Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, London, 
W. 1, at 2.30, p.m., on Wednesday, May ist, iqi8. 

The following members were present: Drs. D. Bower, A. W. Daniel, E. L. 
Dunn, F. H. Edwards, L. O. Fuller, A. H. Griffith, G. H. Johnston, H. J. Norman, 
E. S. Pasmore, R. P. Smith, and J. N. Sergeant (Hon. Divisional Secretary). 

Dr. R. P. Smith took the Chair. 

The minutes of the last meeting, having been printed in the Journal, were taken 
as read and confirmed. 

Dr. J. N. Sergeant was elected Hon. Divisional Secretary, and Major Sir R. 
Armstrong-Jones and Drs. D. Bower, M. Craig, and A. W. Daniel Representative 
Members of the Council for the year 1918-1919. 

Drs. Daniel and Fuller were elected to fill vacancies on the Committee of 
Management. 

Dr. Walter Folliott Blandford was elected an Ordinary Member of the Association. 

It was decided to leave the place and date of the Autumn Meeting, 1918, to the 
discretion of the Hon. Divisional Secretary. 

It was proposed by Dr. Sergeant, seconded by Dr. Edwards, and carried, “ That 
the meeting requests the Council of the Association to consider the advisability of 
asking the Board of Control to act by giving badges or otherwise to help the 
superintendents of institutions to retain their staff.” 

Capt. Hubert J. Norman, R.A.M.C., then read his paper, “ Evolutionary Pro¬ 
gress in Psychiatry: A Plea for Optimism.” (This paper appeared in the April 
number of the Journal.) 

A short discussion of the paper followed, in which Drs. Percy Smith, E. S. 
Pasmore, J. Noel Sergeant, Francis H. Edwards, and A. Hume Griffith took part. 
Capt. Norman replied, and so brought to a conclusion an enjoyable and instructive 
meeting. 


ASYLUM WORKERS’ ASSOCIATION. 

Meeting at the Mansion House. 

(Abridged Report.) 

The Annual Meeting of the Asylum Workers’ Association was held at the 
Mansion House, London, on May 29th, the Lord Mayor (Alderman Charles A. 
Hanson, M.P.), in the chair. This was the second occasion on which the Associa¬ 
tion had been fortunate enough to foregather in the famous building, the first 


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being last year, when Sir William Dunn sat in the seat of Whittington. The 
present occasion, like its predecessor, was distinguished by excellent speeches and 
a large attendance. 

The Lord Mayor said that many eminent gentlemen who were expected to take 
part in the proceedings were present, and therefore he would not occupy more 
than a minute of the meeting's time, but he wished to express the very great 
pleasure with which he welcomed the Asylum Workers' Association to the Mansion 
House. They had been doing most excellent work, and he hoped that in spite of 
all the serious disadvantages which must impede their progress in times like these, 
they would continue to carry on in the same spirit and with the same energy and 
courage as in the past. He learned from a perusal of the report that their 
operations had heen most helpful to suffering humanity. 

Dr. G. E. Shuttlkworth (Acting Hon. Secretary), presented the annua 1 
report, which was taken as read. 

President’s Address. 

Sir John Jardine, M.P., President of the Association, moved the adoption of 
the report, and remarked that the large gathering before him was particularly 
gratifying because it included many persons who had come there prompted by a 
sense of duty. He referred to both ladies and gentlemen. Though he did not 
profess to be witty, he thought it right on the present occasion to recognise that 
brevity was the soul of—what should he say—business. In the first place he 
wanted to express the pleasure which the Association felt at meeting in this his¬ 
toric. building. Last year Sir William Dunn opened its hospitable doors to, and 
bestowed the patronage of his name and position as Lord Mayor on the Society. 
They owed much to the present Lord Mayor for a renewal of the advantages con¬ 
ferred by meeting in the Mansion House with the Chief Magistrate of the City of 
London in the chair. They might hope that many things which would probably 
have been very rough would be made smooth to them when the Lord Mayor used 
his great office and all the influences for good combined in it to favour a little 
society which was trying to do its duty towards the afflicted. On behalf of the 
Association he (the President) thanked the Lord Mayor very much for giving up 
his time to assist them, and for enabling them to meet in the heart of the City, with 
all the traditions of London’s mayoralty and the many activities of a great and 
famous centre of human affairs around them. Glancing through the annual 
report, the President said that the objects of the Society were very well put by 
Cardinal Bourne when he said that they were "(1) to create and maintain a very 
high standard of duty among our members, and (2) to safeguard the claims of 
those devoting themselves to the care of the mentally afflicted to liberal and 
considerate treatment on the part of the authorities.” Everybody was unsettled 
by the terrific and long-continued war, and it was interesting to know that more 
than 50 per cent, of the male attendants in asylums had been pressed into the con¬ 
flict, and a great many of the women workers in asylums had gone into other 
phases of national service Some, alas ! they had lost. Dr. L. F. Hanbury, of 
West Ham Asylum, had died on active service, like many gallant colleagues at 
the Front. They had also to mourn the departure from this life of Dr. W. J. 
Seward, formerly Medical Superintendent of Colney Hatch Asylum. Mr. Wm. 
Hope, Inspector, the Association’s first Hon. Secretary at Colney Hatch and one 
of their earliest gold medallists, died last September. From the list of Vice- 
Presidents death had removed the honoured names of Dr. Hayes Newington, Dr. 
Percy Baily, and Dr. C. T. Ewart. It was right that they should be mentioned 
with honour. The inclusion in the Association of workers in institutions for the 
mentally defective was one of the most important matters mentioned in the report. 
It affected a large number of people and opened a very important new sphere of 
influence for the Society. Thinking of the war prompted him to repeat some 
words used by Sir James Crichton-Browne, who said that when he was a young 
man he went to Germany to perfect his knowledge of medical methods and science, 
but his opinion now was that there was no need for people from the British Isles 
to visit Germany in order to get knowledge about lunatic asylums and the proper 
treatment of their inmates. Our system was better in every respect. Humanity 


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320 NOTES AND NEWS. [July, 

particularly was far more noticeable in the British than in the German treatment 
of lunacy. That was Sir James Crichton-Browne’s view, and our experience of 
German warfare confirmed it. One of the objects of the Association was to pro¬ 
mote the just claims of asylum workers, and the report showed that the point was 
attended to as much as possible, although the pressure of Government business 
and war work prevented private members like himself from introducing Bills into 
Parliament. Asylum workers had, however, got something from the Government 
in the meantime. And though the Act obtained by Sir William Collins raised 
the status of those workers, they intended to obtain, if possible, some further con¬ 
cessions, which were very much needed. The war had made large claims on the 
men and women employed in asylums and had made it harder to do the work as 
it ought to be done. It had, however, been well done, and he thought the presence 
of so many ladies and gentlemen at this meeting was a sign that the Association 
was regarded as having deserved well, and as being likely to continue in the same 
career. In this connection it was right to make special mention of their Acting 
Hon. Secretary. Dr. Shuttleworth, who in this time of stress, as always, had set a 
high example of self-sacrifice in order to help the Association, throwing himself 
into the breach and working for the Society as well and even better than anybody 
else could have done. 

The Dean of Windsor (the very Rev. A. B. Baillie) seconded the motion, 
remarking that the only justification he could claim for addressing the meeting 
was that for thirty years he had been very closely associated with hospital work 
and the staffs of many different hospitals. He would not try to present great 
ideals as Cardinal Bourne did when addressing the Association in this same 
building last year, but he would say a word or two that might be of practical 
value to members of the Association. The great weakness of the generation now 
passiarg away was that it did not lay sufficient stress on the importance of per¬ 
sonality. In all kinds of life we were apt to think of the workers more or less as 
machines, going on almost automatically. The war, however, was bringing us 
back to a sense of two things—first, that individual personality must be treated 
separately. If "men or women were to do good work it must be along the 
lines of their own personality. In the second place, the war was bringing us 
to remember that however good methods might be their value would entirely 
depend on the quality of the people who used them. The merit of the Asylum 
Worker's Association lay in the recognition of this essential truth. If we 
were to promote the welfare of the people for whom asylums were built, our 
first care must be for the personalities of those who were to look after them. 
That also was the best thing that we could do for the workers themselves. The 
happiness of life as well as its efficiency depended on the development of 
personality. The great weakness of modern industrialism was that the con¬ 
ditions made it difficult for the ordinary worker to develop his personality. 
So much of the work was mechanical that it did not create interest, but it 
did tire, and when people were tired they could not make proper use of their 
leisure. How could we help asylum workers to keep alive the glory and dignity 
of their occupation and so to sustain and develop their own personality? It was 
necessary to elevate their self-respect in relation to their work. When people lived 
almost entirely with their f el low-workers, as in hospitals, and criticised each other 
freely, as all fellow-workers did when constantly in touch with the little details of 
the daily occupation, it was easy to forget its nobleness. Somebody was needed 
to give reminders that those details were merely incidental to a great purpose, and 
that in their adequate fulfilment there was something noble. The encouragement 
that the Association gave to asylum workers in various ways was good for that 
purpose. But that was not all. The more they could get indirect recognition of 
the dignity of the work done by attendants and nurses, the better it would be for 
those persons and the work itself. Recognition that was not formal was far better 
for the raising of self-respect than official recognition. The more people could be 
got socially to accept such workers as members of a dignified profession, the 
more those workers would be helped to self-respect in connection with their work. 
There was a second point which was often forgotten; most nurses and attendants 
entered their profession when they were young, and there was an absolute 
necessity for enjoyment in youth. What members of hospital staffs really suffered 
from at times was staleness—not dulness, which was different, but working without 


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the relief of the complete change which came from entirely forgetting one’s work 
for a time. He had a great struggle on this subject in a hospital at Coventry one 
Christmas. He felt that the nurses were getting stale, and he wanted them to 
have something that would refresh their minds. He spoke to the managers on 
the subject, but they said “ No ; in war-time it would not be right.” They pointed 
out that there were entertainments for the patients, but he replied that they did 
not sufficiently take the nurses out of themselves. Finally, he asked whether he 
would be allowed to give the nurses a dance, and the managers agreed, but would 
not do it themselves. He took a great deal of trouble to collect double as many 
dancing men as there were dancing nurses. He got the best music he could, and 
he saw that every single nurse had every single dance there was. The entertain¬ 
ment had the most valuable effect in sending the workers of that hospital back to 
their occupations with renewed freshness, because they had something new to 
remember and talk about. Nurses could not go on without something to keep up 
the freshness of their appreciation of what the patients needed. When one was 
ill, how awful it was to be nursed by a dull, stale person. It was the most crushing 
thing in the world. He remembered an experience after he had been smashed in 
a bad accident He had a friend who came regularly to see him and made him 
worse every time. He liked this friend when he was well, but not when he was 
ill. He would lean over the end of the bed and get on his (the Dean's) nerves to 
such an extent that he almost made him scream. There were nurses like that. We 
want them different—fresh, full of interest and capacity to appreciate, because then 
they really helped the patients. If this was true of ordinary hospitals it must, with 
still stronger reason, be true of asylums. So many hours off duty did not com¬ 
pletely relieve mental strain. Some new train of thought was necessary, because 
if nurses were to" do their work well they must be enabled to avoid staleness 
besides bearing in mind the noble idea of helping their fellow-creatures. 

Dr. Charles Mercier, supporting the motion, said it was peculiarly appropriate 
that he should be called upon to do so in the historic Mansion House of the City 
of London, for there was only one thing with which he had been associated longer 
than with asylum work, and that was the City of London. As a boy he went to 
the Merchant Taylors’ School, then in Suffolk Lane, Cannon Street. The chief 
means of education there was the cane. The boys were caned all day. They 
were caned for anything and for nothing. He had held out his hand and received 
six severe strokes which paralysed his fingers. Then he had been sent to write a 
copy, and because he wrote badly he was caned again. 

After commenting on some of the more disagreeable aspects of asylum life, and 
the difficulties of those in attendance on insane patients, Dr. Mercier continued • 

It used to be thought, most mistakenly, that force was the remedy for madness! 
A hundred years ago George III was so affected by 4 the death of his favourite 
daughter Amelia that he lost his wits for a time, and was placed under the care of 
two nurses. They were called keepers in those days. Thirty years ago he knew 
an old gentleman who had been born in the reign of George III, and was personally 
acquainted with one of the men who had been his keepers. In a conversation on 
the subject of the unfortunate king the old gentleman said, “ I asked the keeper 
what they did when the king became violent, and the reply was, ‘ We knocked him 
down as flat as a flounder.’ ” If the meanest subject of our present Sovereign 
were treated in that way the nurse guilty of the offence would be brought before a 
court and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment; he would lose his employ¬ 
ment, forfeit his pension, and be a ruined man, and would richly deserve the 
punishment. Fancy the difference between the nursing of mad people in the days 
of George III and the nursing of them now. It was immense, and nobody would 
wish to reverse the change. At the outbreak of the present war there were some 
5,300 male nurses in the asylums of this country. More than half of them had since 
joined the Army, and yet the efficiency of asylum administration had not been im¬ 
paired. In the asylums of England and Wales there were about 130,000 lunatics, 
nearly all of whom were potential suicides. Many were actively suicidal, and some,’ 
though not intentionally so, were ready to commit suicide if the chance presented 
itself. How many of the whole body committed suicide in the year 1916 ? Only 
four of the 130,000. and that was actually a smaller number than had committed 
suicide before the war. In these circumstances he could not too strongly commend 
the objects of the Asylum Workers’ Association. 


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Major the Rev. S. Lipson, S.C.F., as a member of the Jewish faith, thought it a 
great honour to be associated in commending the report of the Association. At 
the call of the Motherland many sacrifices had been made, but none could be 
greater than that made by people who devoted every minute of their lives to the 
care of those who were mentally suffering. He ventured to suggest that the 
Asylum Workers’ Association should abandon that name, and should in future 
call itself the Mental Hospital Workers’ Association. He liked the action of the 
London County Council in using the phrase “ mental hospital," seeing that the 
word “ asylum ” had suffered depreciation. Paying a tribute to the late Dr. Seward, 
Medical Superintendent at Colney Hatch, as one with whom he had been connected 
for many years, and one of the noblest men he had known, the speaker rejoiced 
that Dr. Seward's fine example was followed by the present Medical Superintendent, 
a fact which gave him the greater pleasure as persons of the Jewish faith were to 
some extent congregated at Colney Hatch. In conclusion, Major Lipson said 
that in the Great Beyond nobody would be more assured of a place at the right 
hand of the Heavenly Father than the men and women who had devoted them¬ 
selves to the needs of those whose spirits were darkened. 

The annual report was unanimously approved. 


The President Re-Elected. 

The Lord Mayor having left the chair in order to keep another engagement, his 
place was taken by Sir John Jardine. 

Sir Frederick Needham, M.D. (Board of Control), moved the re-election of 
Sir John Jardine, M.P., as President of the Association. They were, he said, 
extremely fortunate to have a man of such distinction at their head. 

Sir George Savage, M.D., seconding the motion, remarked that Sir John 
Jardine had not,only been a ruler in India, but was now one of our rulers in 
England, and had the British spirit of always wanting to work. He had been a 
most excellent President in the past, and was sure to be the same in the future. 

Capt. H. Kirkland-Whittaker, R.A.M.C., supported the motion, and at the 
same time called attention to the training of asylum nurses. The authorities of 
those institutions, he complained, had to look outside in order to get women to 
become matrons and assistant matrons. The present system was not fair to the 
nurses who worked for years, and then found the door to higher positions slammed 
in their faces. No doubt the candidates for the higher positions should have had 
hospital training, but the authorities of asylums should make it possible for their 
nurses to acquire the training necessary to fit them for such posts. For that 
purpose there ought to be co-operation between general and mental hospitals. 

The motion was carried with acclamation. 

The President, thanking the meeting for his reappointment, said that when a 
motion like the one just carried was brought forward there ought to be some 
person present such as the one that appeared in the Roman Curia—an Advocatus 
Diaboli, who would show cause against the proposal. In spite of the kind things 
said of him, he feared that Sir John Jardine, as President of the Association, was 
no better than he should be. He had tried to do his best, but as far as legislation 
was concerned had been hampered by Parliamentary want of touch with the work 
of mental hospitals. 

Lieut.-Col. D. Thomson, M.D. (President of the Medico-Psychological Associa¬ 
tion), moved the re-election of the Vice-Presidents, Central Executive Committee, 
and officers of the Association, with the addition of the Lord Mayor and Sir George 
Wyatt Truscott, Bart., to the Vice-Presidents, and of Dr. J. Noel Sergeant, Miss 
E. A. Macdonald, and Mr. J. E. Stephens to the Committee. There was, he said, 
a great and unfortunate divergence between the hospital-trained nurse and the 
asylum-trained nurse. This was very much to be deplored, as Capt. Kirkland- 
Whittaker pointed out while hinting at co-operation in the training of nurses 
between the two classes of hospitals. In the last three years he (Dr. Thomson) 
had been associated not only with the asylum-trained nurses but also with a much 
more numerous body of hospital-trained nurses who were under his command. 
Comparisons were odious, and he would not make them with reference to 
individuals, but the more he saw of nurses trained in general hospitals the more 
he thought of those trained in asylums. Male attendants he could not speak of, 


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but he found in the asylum-trained nurse more capacity for mothering attention 
than in the nurses who had been generally trained. 

Inspector R. Keen (Colney Hatch), seconded the motion, and urged the 
Executive Committee to consider the suggestion that the name of their organi¬ 
sation should be changed to " Mental Hospital Workers’ Association." 

The motion was unanimously agreed to. 

The President then presented medals to a number of attendants on account of 
long and faithful service. 

The Rev. John Peck (Holloway Sanatorium), moving a voteof thanks to the 
Lord Mayor, the President, and the speakers, protested against the idea of the 
insane being unlovable. They were very precious in the sight of God and those 
who worked for them. It was true that if one looked at the surface only he found 
much that was unpleasant, but below the surface there was something precious. 
These afflicted people were engaged in a contest which was our problem as well 
as theirs. They were the centre of something sacred. That was why so many 
workers were attracted to them. Some of the finest people had at times displayed 
bad qualities. St. Peter in the presence of his Lord cursed and swore, but that 
did not prove that he was unlovable, and still more allowance must be made for 
the afflicted people with whom the members of the Association were concerned. 

Dr. Helen Boyle (Brighton), seconded the motion, remarking that two things 
had particularly appealed to her in the speeches that afternoon. One was the 
dance arranged for nurses by the Dean of Windsor, and the other was Dr. Mercier's 
reference to the afflicted people and the nurses. Dr. Mercier’s object was to point 
out how difficult the work in asylums often was, but there was help in the sense 
of humour, and some of the best laughs she had ever indulged in had been due to 
the humour of mental patients. Some of those patients had a jollier and happier 
time than sane people because they had lost the habit of self-criticism. 

The vote was cordially agreed to, and the meeting came to an end. 


NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS. 

N.B .—The Editors will be glad to receive contributions of interest, clinical 
records, etc., from any members who can find time to write (whether these have 
been read at meetings or not) for publication in the Journal. They will also feel 
obliged if contributors will send in their papers at as early a date in each quarter 
as possible. 

Writers are requested kindly to bear in mind that, according to Lix(a) of the 
Articles of Association, “ all papers read at the Annual, General, or Divisional 
Meetings of the Association shall be the property of the Association, unless the 
author shall have previously obtained the written consent of the Editors to the 
contrary." 

Papers read at Association Meetings should, therefore, not be published in other 
Journals without such sanction having been previously granted. 


LXIV. 


22 


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THE 


JOURNAL OF MENTAL SCIENCE 


[Published by Authority of the Medico-Psychological Association 
of Great Britain and Ireland.'] 


No. 267 [X.Ti'"] OCTOBER, 1918. Vol. LX 1 V. 


The Presidential Address on the War and the Burden of Insanity, 
delivered at the Seventy-seventh Annual Meeting of the Medico- 
Psychological Association, held at Edinburgh on July 23rd and 
24th, 1918 By John Keay, M.D., F.R.C.P.E., Lieut.-Col. 
R.A.M.C. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, —Through your kindness and goodwill, 
and not on account of any merit or distinction of mine, you have placed 
me in the honourable position I occupy to-day. I gratefully acknow¬ 
ledge the high honour conferred upon me, and, deeply conscious of my 
personal limitations, I shall endeavour to the best of my ability to 
justify your confidence. 

Four years ago we met in the ancient city of Norwich, and dwelt for 
a few days in the shadow of its magnificent cathedral—the quiet peace¬ 
fulness and the old-world atmosphere of the place made for mental 
repose, and pleasant memories of its charming and hospitable people, 
its fragrant gardens, and its lazy waters will linger with us for many 
a day. 

Not one of us, I make bold to say, at that happy meeting had any 
idea that the war cloud then just visible on the south-eastern horizon 
would presently envelop us, and that within a fortnight we as a nation 
should be in deadly grips with a powerful and unscrupulous enemy in 
the most stupendous conflict the world has ever seen. 

Since our meeting at Norwich five distinguished occupants of this 
chair—Clouston, Urquhart, Hayes Newington, Mickle, and Maudsley— 
and a President-elect, the genial, great-hearted Turnbull, have solved 
the great mystery, and passed from among us. I firmly believe that in 
holding our annual meeting here in Edinburgh at the end of the fourth 
year of the great world-war we are “ carrying on ” as those doughty 
champions and true-hearted patriots would wish us to do, and that they 
are with us in spirit to-day. 

LXIV. 2 3 


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The war has exacted a heavy toll of members of the Association and 
of their sons, and many of the best and bravest men of the staffs of our 
asylums have died glorious deaths in the cause of liberty and justice. 
None of us would have had it otherwise. We honour the gallant dead. 
We treasure the memory of their valour and self-sacrifice. Let us see 
to it that we carry on their unfinished work, so that'they may not have 
died in vain. 

It is reported of a respected Edinburgh divine that he earned the 
gratitude and admiration of his flock by preaching a sermon in which 
he never once referred to the great war. Such extraordinary restraint 
is altogether beyond me; and this at least may be said in excuse—the 
minister well knew that he would return with greater zest to the all- 
engrossing subject on the following Sunday, whereas with me it is a 
case of now or never. You will 'certainly see to it that my first oppor¬ 
tunity shall also be my last. 

Three and a half years ago Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, in the Second 
Galton Lecture on “ Eugenics and War,” pointed out that, biologically 
regarded, war meant wastage and a reversal of natural selection, since it 
pruned off a disproportionately large number of those the nation could 
least afford to lose. With the voluntary system of military service 
which we had during the first two years of the present war, the call of 
their country attracted the more chivalrous, the more virile, the more 
courageous, the more patriotic, and the high death-rate among com¬ 
batants as compared with non-combatants meant, in some measure at 
least, an impoverishment of the race—a reversed selection of the stock 
of possible parents. The finest men were those who volunteered for, 
or to whom were set the most desperate enterprises, and the con¬ 
spicuously brave were particularly apt to be killed off. 

And so with compulsory military service, the young and strong and 
healthy men are deliberately selected to be exposed to imminent danger 
of death or disablement, while the old and feeble and unfit are carefully 
preserved, with the clergy, and the inmates of our asylums, and the 
members of the House of Commons. It is enough to make a eugenist 
scream. 

Prof. Thomson suggests that recruits with a good record who had 
reached maturity should be encouraged to marry. There is patriotism 
in dying for one’s country, perhaps also in marrying for her. 

But war, however successful it may be, has its sacrifices in treasure as 
well as in blood, and in waging war as we have been doing for four 
years upon a scale unprecedented in the history of the world there has 
been a corresponding expenditure of money. Up-to-date votes of 
credit for the carrying on of the war have reached the stupendous sum 
of ^7,342,000,000, and the cost per day is now ^6,848,000. It has 
been pointed out that, notwithstanding this enormous expenditure, the 


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money market has been in a state of ease that has not been paralleled 
for a quarter of a century. The country has been apparently rolling in 
money, and our credit has never been higher. The volume of insolvency 
throughout the United Kingdom has decreased. Unemployment does 
not exist; there is no destitution or distress, and trade and industry 
have on the whole been but little interfered with. And while we in 
this country have been, although at war, enjoying prosperous times, 
trade in other and neutral countries, and even in our own dominions 
beyond the seas, has been unduly depressed. This state of matters 
seems exactly the opposite to what one would expect. 

Prof. Shield Nicholson points out that our apparent prosperity as 
compared with countries which are at peace may be likened unto that 
of a landowner who finds himself with plenty of money to spend on 
having effected a mortgage on his estate. “ The War Loans and the 
various extensions of Government Credits are essentially the same as 
the borrowings of the landowner, and the immediate effect is the same, 
though the moral motive is different. Every new mortgage is accom¬ 
panied by an abundance of ready money and corresponding extrava¬ 
gance. The reaction comes when the loan has to be renewed—when 
the capital has gone and the interest has to be paid.” “ The immediate 
effects of the expenditure of new loans and new taxes must always be 
distinguished from the ulterior effects. The immediate effect is an 
increase of spending power; the ulterior effect is a diminution of 
capital. If the savings of the year are invested in war loans they cannot 
at the same time be invested in industrial undertakings. If the taxes 
on income are doubled, the annual savings must be less. War taxes 
do not cease with the war, and the interest on war loans is practically 
perpetual.” 

If the matter is gone into carefully it will be found that the trade 
activity which we have experienced during the progress of the war has 
been confined in great part to industries supplying the Government 
and the governments of our Allies with commodities required in war-like 
operations. Such activities will at once cease on the conclusion of peace. 

It is therefore quite obvious that with the enormous cost of the 
war, added to a national expenditure which even in pre-war days had 
increased to an alarming extent, this country is going to have an 
extremely heavy financial burden to carry for many years to come—in 
the case of most of us for the remainder of our lives. A war expendi¬ 
ture of ^7,342,000,000 means over ^250,000,000 of extra taxation 
yearly, simply to pay the interest. With increased taxation all over the 
world, less money to spend, and less to devote to industrial enterprise, 
it seems more than probable that we have before us more difficult times 
than we have ever experienced, more difficult than have been experienced 
for a century. History is apt to repeat itself, and the leanest years in our 


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328 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, [Oct., 

national history were those which immediately followed the Napoleonic 
wars. During the lean years to come there will be a tightening of the 
money-bags, an understanding that the resources of the country must 
be husbanded, and the springs of charity and generosity will shrink 
and show a tendency to dry up. There will be, if I am not mistaken, 
a closer scrutiny by the heavily taxed general public of expenditure by 
local authorities than we have been accustomed to. 

The moral of these reflections is that we, as individuals and as 
trusted public officials, will have to adjust ourselves to more difficult 
conditions than w'e have experienced in the past, and will have to 
practise thrift as we have never practised it before. It will be more than 
ever our duty to initiate plans for thrifty administration, to encourage and 
back up our committees in being “ thrifty in expenditure, in postponing 
as far as possible all extraordinary expenditure, and in administering our 
asylums as economically as can be done with efficiency.” 

Dark and lowering, then, is the cloud of war: but the silver lining 
is there all the time. A glint of it is seen in the development of 
patriotism and kindliness as they have never been seen before— 
qualities which have enriched all classes of the people. Good may 
come even of war when the spirit of the nation is in it. Lord Rosebery 
tells us that the war has given us a new lease of Empire—the threatened 
danger has joined the Empire together in a way that could not be 
accomplished by a century of federal government. Where, now, are 
the croakers who mourned the decadence of the race, and predicted 
that our Army would be scattered like thistle-down by that of a conti¬ 
nental adversary ? The response from the ends of the earth to the 
call for men, and the deeds of those men on land and sea, and in the 
air, have silenced for many a day the long-faced prophets of evil. 
There is, says the Bishop of London, a new spirit in the nation. There 
must be something noble, if not in war, at least in what war brings out 
in human nature. 

And after all, we cannot, if we would, be blind to the fact that in all 
ages war has had much to do with the progress of civilisation. Great 
wars have been the inspiration of great things. The great wars, for 
example, between Persia and Greece, and the defeat of Persia by land 
and sea, were the inspiration of the Greek development. The world 
owes the literature of Greece, the architecture and sculpture, and the 
philosophy of Greece—the whole “glory that is Greece,” to the wars 
with Persia. Similarly the extraordinary development of the arts, litera¬ 
ture, and science of the Roman Empire followed centuries of almost 
continuous warfare. So it has been throughout the ages right up to our 
own time—the war-like nations have been the virile, progressive nations, 
and it is they who have done the great things by which nations are 
made immortal. 


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BY LT.-COL. JOHN KEAY, M.L). 


329 


The enervating effort of a prolonged period of peaceful prosperity 
may be observed in nations as in individuals. Nations, like men, may 
become fat, flabby, and lethargic, requiring periodically a course of 
energetic eliminatory treatment if incurable degeneration is to be pre¬ 
vented. Lord Bacon tells us that a foreign war is the remedy : “A Civil 
War, indeed, is like the Heat of a Fever ; but a Foreign War is like the 
Heat of Exercise, and serveth to keep the Body in Health.” “The 
solemn call to arms, the sense of national danger, the striving for 
victory, the determination to defy the strength and arrogance of the 
enemy, and to secure at all cost the triumph of freedom and justice, 
the realisation of the grandeur of the part that is being played in 
shaping the destinies of the world, these raise the standard of national 
character, brace the national nerves, and kindle the spirit of pride and 
exhilaration by which great deeds are accomplished, and an Empire’s 
perpetual youth secured.” 

The state of affairs in our country during the period immediately 
following the coronation of King George suggests the thought that 
possibly the war with Germany saved the Empire from events infinitely 
more damaging to its future. Stephen McKenna describes it in Sonia: 
“ On the other hand, the condition of England was a matter for con¬ 
siderable searching of heart. A spirit of unrest and lawlessness, a 
neurotic state not to be dissociated from the hectic, long-drawn Carnival 
that continued from month to month and year to year, may be traced 
from the summer of the Coronation. It is too early to probe the cause 
or say how far the staggering ostentation of the wealthy fomented the 
sullen disaffection of the poor. It is as yet impossible to weigh the merits 
in any one of the hysterical controversies of the times. Looking back 
on these four years, I recall the House of Lords’ dispute and a light 
reference to blood flowing under Westminster Bridge, railway and coal 
strikes characterised by equally light breach of agreements, a campaign 
in favour of female suffrage marked by violence to person and destruc¬ 
tion to property, and finally a wrangle over a Home Rule Bill that 
spread far beyond the walls of Westminster, and ended in the raising 
and training of illegal volunteer armies in Ireland. Such a record in 
an ostensibly law-abiding country gives matter for reflection. Sometimes 
I think the cause may be found in the sudden industrial recovery after 
ten years’ depression following the South African War. The new 
money was spent in so much riotous living, and from end to end there 
settled on the country a mood of fretful, crapulous irritation. ‘An 
unpopular law ? Disregard it! ’ That seemed the rule of life with a 
people that had no object but successive pleasure and excitement, and 
was fast becoming a law unto itself. 

“When, therefore, O’Rane went to Yateley, he went in protest 
against certain officers at the Curragh, who, holding the King’s Coin- 


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330 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, [Oct., 

mission and with some few years of discipline behind them, let it be 
known that in the event of certain orders being given they did not pro¬ 
pose to obey them. Then, if ever, the country was near revolution.”^) 
Then came the sudden call to arms, and in the twinkling of an eye 
parties were no more, controversies were forgotten, and the nation 
settled down as one man with calm determination to the grim task of 
fighting for its very existence. 

The silver lining of the war cloud may also be seen in the remarkable 
decrease of serious crime throughout the whole country since the war 
began. The darkness of the streets of our cities, and the reduction in 
the strength of the regular police-force, would seem to supply the 
criminal with unexampled opportunities, and yet the police-court returns 
have never been lighter. So also in the case of paupers and vagrants. 
The number of paupers per thousand of the population is lower than 
it has been for half a century, and Salvation Army shelters have 
lost nine-tenths of their habitual occupants. The explanation lies to 
some extent no doubt in the increased demand for labour, but surely 
the bracing and stimulating effect of a great war also plays a part. A 
police-court magistrate has it that “ the criminal has turned patriot.” It 
may be, it is said, that slumbering in the breast of the most hardened 
of criminals there is a tiny spark, which, fanned by the outbreak of war 
and the realisation of the country’s need, bursts into the purifying fire 
of true patriotism. 

The effect of war upon the mental health of a community is a subject 
upon which the gigantic struggle should throw light. Stoddart tells us 
that war is a potent cause of insanity, and that insanity was rife among 
our soldiers during the South African War, and also among the Russian 
soldiers during the Russo-Japanese War.( 2 ) References to the matter in 
other modern text-books are vague, and for any definite information we 
must go back to the observations of French physicians during the 
Franco-Prussian War and the Commune, 1870-71. Certain facts seem 
fairly well established, and they are of interest to us at the present time. 
For instance, it is recorded that the number of patients received in the 
asylums of France during the period of the war was smaller than usual, 
and that in the summer of 1871, during the height of the Commune, 
there were fewer insane in Paris than there had been for years. 
Legrand du Saulle concludes that the late war (that is, the war of 1870) 
is another proof that “the gravest political events,although they may 
give, at the moment, a colour to the particular form of insanity, do not 
produce, as is commonly supposed, an increase in the number of 
lunatics.” ( 3 ) Lunier observed that melancholiacs forgot their sufferings 
in the fearful suspense of the siege of Paris, and that patients who were 
the subject of delusions and hallucinations got rid of them, at least for 
the time. He agreed with Baillarger and Legrand du Saulle that “ the 


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excitement of the war, the rousing influence it exerted on many minds, 
was to some extent a set-off against its baneful effects on the mind,” 
and that in those predisposed to mental disorder, “ the war acted as a 
powerful diversion to avert the outbreaks of insanity.” 

On the other hand, we have Morel insisting upon the great frequency 
of insanity arising from the fear of a Prussian invasion, and stating that 
the burning of villages caused in many instances “ crises of despair to 
which succeeded a state of melancholia with tendency to suicide.” He 
agrees wiih Bourdin and Pinel that the effects of war in the production 
of insanity are more likely to be seen after the war than during its 
course; that it is the children unborn who suffer—“ that they are more 
irritable, more disposed to become melancholy, imbecile, or epileptic.” 

Ireland tells us that Baron Percy, a French military surgeon, observed 
that out of ninety-two children whose mothers had been exposed to the 
terrors of a tremendous cannonade at the siege of Landau in 1793, 
sixteen died at the instant of birth, thirty-three languished from eight to 
ten months and then died, eight became idiotic and died before the 
age of five years, and two came into the world with numerous fractures 
of the bones of the limbs. ( 4 ) One thinks of what has happened to 
Belgium and north-eastern France, and wonders what the aftermath 
will be. 

The official records of the Boards of Control and the reports of 
asylums show that during the present conflict, which has now lasted for 
four years, the number of cases of insanity occurring in this country has 
diminished. Whether this has also been the case in the countries of 
the other belligerents one does not know, but, so far, our experience 
seems to be in accord with that of France during the war of 1870. 
Whether the decrease will be permanent, or merely temporary and co¬ 
incident with the period of hostilities, time alone will determine, but one 
is fairly safe to assume that the burden of insanity to be borne by the 
country when the war is over will not be less than it has been in the 
past, and that the burden is no inconsiderable one a very few figures 
will be sufficient to show. 

In the Annual Report of the London County Council for 1913, it is 
stated that the number of insane patients under care in its asylums was 
21,000, and that their maintenance involved an annual charge of 
^£617,000. Since the London County Council came into existence 
twenty-five years before, the number of insane under its care had more 
than doubled, and the cost of maintaining them—and this is an important 
point—had increased more than threefold. If now we take the corre¬ 
sponding figures for the whole of the three kingdoms, we find that at 
the end of 1913 there were 172,000 insane patients under care who 
were supported out of the rates at an annual cost of ^£4,600,000. In 
comparison with the cost of carrying on a great war this seems but the 


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veriest trifle—it would be swallowed up by even our own expenditure, 
not to speak of that of our Allies, in about sixteen hours—yet it would 
be sufficient to add to our Navy two super-dreadnoughts, built, armed, 
and equipped, every year. 

Now, the worst of it is that the expenditure on the insane is, to a 
large extent, like the expenditure on war, unproductive, the greater part 
of the money being spent —it may be very well spent—in the upkeep of 
persons who are for all practical purposes with our present knowledge 
permanently disabled, and who will be a burden on the community for 
the remainder of their lives. It is, perhaps, within the mark to estimate 
that of the 172,000 rate-supported insane in Great Britain and Ireland 
at the end of 1913, the proportion of 75 per cent ., or 129,000, costing 
for their support for one year ^3,450,000, were chronic, incurable 
cases, fated to remain for the period of their lives a charge upon the 
resources of their fellow-citizens. 

It is, of course, fully recognised that there is no more helpless and 
pitiable class than the chronic insane, bereft for their lives of the 
priceless possessions of health and personal liberty, and none calling 
more urgently for the humane instincts of the community. And let me 
at once express the conviction that no saving of expenditure which 
would involve a diminution of their comfort or would interfere w ith 
the amelioration of their conditions of life would be tolerated for a 
moment by the ratepayers of this country, who, after all, by the exercise 
of their generous instincts in paying the piper have the right to call 
the tune. 

It is not, therefore, by niggardliness in the provision made for the 
maintenance of the unfortunates who are hopelessly and incurably 
insane that expenditure may be lessened, but rather, if it be possible, 
by limiting their number, and the problem before us at this great crisis 
in our national history, as the advisers of those who are responsible 
for them to the community of ratepayers, is to consider whether this 
may be by any means accomplished. 

This brings us to the question of the prevention of insanity—a subject 
all-important, because it is on preventive measures that our hopes for 
the future must be largely based. “ The highest function and main 
object of medical science is the prevention of disease.” As time goes 
on the collective responsibility of the medical profession in regard to 
social problems which concern the health of the people is being 
recognised and accepted. Its attention, therefore, is being more and 
more directed to the study of disease as a social evil, to its causes, and 
to the measures which may be taken to effect its cure and prevention. 
Following the recognition of this collective responsibility of the pro¬ 
fession comes sooner cr later a demand by the profession and the 
enlightened public for State interference in the interest of the health of 


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1918.] 

the people, and it must be admitted that, whenever exercised, this 
interference has, upon the whole, brought good to the community. 
Bubonic plague, thanks to sanitary precautions, has now no terrors, and 
a case of typhus or of smallpox is something of a curiosity. When 
scarlet fever appears it is hunted down, traced to its origin, and 
stamped out with the confidence begotten of repeated victories. With 
the attention now being directed to tuberculosis it will doubtless in the 
course of time, and with a generous expenditure of money, share a 
similar fate. 

Now in the case of insanity the attitude of the public and of the 
State has until a very recent date tended rather to encourage the 
propagation of the disability than to suppress it. While the citizen 
deficient in this world’s goods but of ordinary mental capacity has had 
to struggle along, alone and unassisted, in a-life-long endeavour to keep 
body and soul together, the lives of the unfit have been carefully 
preserved, and in the case of too many of them little or no attempt 
has been made to prevent them from reproducing their kind. “ Sterility, 
Mott tells us, often accompanies marked mental deficiency, but there 
is no limit to the fertility of the higher grade imbecile; in fact, the 
poorer the stock in mental and physical power and civic worth, the 
more prolific it is.”( 6 ) And, to a great extent, is it not the idiot and 
imbecile who are probably sterile that are shut up in asylums and 
similar institutions, while the higher grade defective goes at large, 
and gives rein to the instinct with which for some inscrutable reason he 
has been so richly endowed? And this has been permitted in the full 
knowledge of the tendency of like to beget like, and of the hereditary 
nature of the infirmity. 

In his Presidential Address in 1906, Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones 
dealt with this point. “We accept the statement,” he said, “that 
society is bound to provide for and to support its own languishing 
sick and feeble, but when 1 in every 283 persons of the population 
is an inmate of a lunatic asylum, when 1 in every 157 during the year 
1905 has undergone a term of imprisonment for offences against the 
law, when 1 in every 100 children of elementary school age is so 
mentally or physically defective as to require special educational facili¬ 
ties, and, further, when 1 in every 31 in London is a pauper, it is surely 
time that some stir was made ! 

“ The whole of this so-called ‘ defective class ’ have a right to be 
protected against themselves, and the control which they lack should 
be supplied to them from without; at the same time, society has a 
right to be protected from the transmission of their defective qualities 
to future generations.” 

Since Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones wrote these words something of a 
stir has been made. The public has been to some extent educated to 


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334 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, [Oct., 

a sense of its responsibility in regard to these unfortunates. The public 
conscience has been aroused. There are indications that “ that 
treacherous phantom which men call Liberty ” shall no longer in 
dealing with mental unsoundness be allowed to override every other 
consideration, and that in a question between the good of the State 
and the liberty of action of an individual the State must come first. 
There is a confident expectation that when the war is over, and normal 
conditions have returned, a large number of examples of an unfortunate 
class of persons too long neglected will be placed under care under the 
provision of the Mental Deficiency Acts, and that by their segregation 
and control the propagation of the mentally unfit will be to some extent 
checked. 

But, after all, such measures may lessen the tendency to degeneration, 
but cannot improve the race of men. The breeding of a higher type 
—the aim of eugenics—will be more difficult to attain. 

Dr. Chambers, in his scholarly Presidential Address delivered in 1913, 
predicts that “scientific investigation will, in the not remote future, 
justify our belief that there are persons leading active and useful lives, 
who yet, by reason of some acquired physiological modality, should, 
in the interests of the race, abstain from marriage.” Further, “that 
research will, we hope, aid in defining for us the circumstances in which 
the avoidance of marriage is to be counselled ; and if for the moment 
it is not always easy to assert that this strain should be terminated or 
that one maintained, we can at least be sure that, if in some cases the 
germ-plasm is improvable, there are others of which the contrary may 
emphatically be said.” 

Galton shows that Athens, by a system of partly unconscious selec¬ 
tion, built up in one century a magnificent breed of human animals 
which were in average ability as much above our own race as our race 
is above that of the African negro. “This estimate,” he says, “which 
may seem prodigious to some, is confirmed by the quick intelligence 
and high culture of the Athenian community, before whom literary 
works were recited, and works of art exhibited of a far more severe 
character than could possibly be appreciated by the average of our race, 
the calibre of whose intellect is easily gauged by a glance at the con¬ 
tents of a railway bookstall.” “It is essential,” he says, “to the well¬ 
being of future generations that the average standard of ability of the 
present time should be raised.” 

But how is the average standard to be raised ? Proposals for breeding 
an improved race of men by marriage restrictions and regulations, how¬ 
ever excellent in theory, have the fault that in practice they are unwork¬ 
able. It is all very well to say let those who are intellectually gifted, 
and who are strong and vigorous physically, marry when they are young 
to that they may have large families of children with similar qualities, 


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and retard the average age of marriage of those that are weak, so 
that they may have few children or none at all. In a few generations 
the strong and vigorous will greatly outnumber the weak, who, with 
a continuation of the selective process, will in time be eliminated 
altogether. 

But who is to say these are the strong, and those are the weak ; these 
are to marry, and those are to refrain ? And how to compel people to 
marry, or not to marry; to have children, or not to have children ? 
Who is to say to the priest, the man of natural abilities, strong and 
vigorous—“ Celibacy is not for you : your country wants you ; renounce 
your vows, marry and beget children like unto yourself?” And to the 
erotic neuropath—“You are unfit; marriage is not for you?” The 
possibilities of improving the race and coincidentally diminishing the 
occurrence of insanity by methods such as these are theoretically 
magnificent. In practice such methods would not be tolerated. The 
whole subject bristles with difficulties, and, while public opinion is 
maturing, and people have attentive ears for instruction and guidance, 
it is realised that progress must necessarily be slow, and that precipitate 
action in the form of rash proposals for the compulsory limitation of 
marriage would probably have the effect of indefinitely postponing the 
desired result. 

But there is another method. We are losing day by day in the great 
world-war the flower of British manhood, and the race depends more 
and more for its strength and vigour upon the number and the health 
of its children. And if we cannot, in the meantime at least, regulate 
the number and the quality of these by arrangements suggestive of the 
stud-farm, it is surely our duty in the interest of self-preservation to 
make the most of the material available. We must take the child as it 
is, with all its defects, hereditary and acquired, and make the best of it. 
We can see to it that it does not suffer through ignorance or neglect, 
that it receives the best of care from the earliest moment of pre-natal 
life up to the full development of manhood or womanhood, and, inci¬ 
dentally, we can care for and protect the mothers of the race, upon 
whom so much now depends, so that their supreme function may be 
maintained at the highest point of efficiency. 

This is a matter for State supervision and control, and we welcome 
the fact that the State is taking it up in an enlightened and progressive 
manner. There is also here full scope for voluntary effort, and so the 
work of the general practitioner of medicine, the midwife, the health 
visitor, and the Public Health Department can all be co-ordinated with 
the happiest result. Mott tells us how efficiently this has been done in 
France (°), and Prof. Pinard, a well-known authority on the rearing of 
children, has given a remarkable report to the Academy of Medicine on 
the birth statistics since the war began. “ Contrary to all precedents,” 


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he says, “ the health of war children and their mothers has not been 
injuriously affected by the war. On the contrary, the Paris death-rate 
of mothers in childbirth has fallen, the proportion of stillborn infants 
has declined, the infants’ death-rate has fallen, and the proportion of 
infants abandoned to the foundling hospitals has also decreased.” 
Finally, the Professor affirms : “Never has as fine a set of babies been 
seen in Paris as has been born since the war. This is greatly due to 
the assistance given to mothers by the association started after the out¬ 
break of war under the patronage of Madame Poincare.” It should be 
stated that Prof. Pinard’s report was rendered at a comparatively early 
period of the war. 

Of no less importance is the case of the health of the child during its 
years at school. It has at long last been recognised that to attempt to 
cram with book-learning a pining, diseased, ill-fed, and insufficiently- 
clothed child is not only a waste of public money, but downright 
cruelty. 

We who have the care of the wreckage of humanity are well aware 
that in a large proportion of cases the breakdown occurs during the 
period of growth and development. We cannot but be interested, there¬ 
fore, in the important educational measures now under the consideration 
of Parliament. We look forward with hopefulness to the results to be 
expected from these legislative enactments, and more especially to the 
provisions for the medical care, the feeding, the clothing, the physical 
training, and all the arrangements which have for their object the 
upbringing of a healthier, and therefore a stronger and saner race of 
men and women. One is convinced that, if these matters are attended 
to as they should be, the intellectual development of the child during 
the years at school will naturally follow as a matter of course, and may 
to a large extent be trusted to look after itself. 

But the necessity for the care and supervision does not cease with his 
days at the elementary school. When this point has been reached the 
great majority of the youth of the nation are launched into the world 
and begin to earn, and it is still necessary to guide and train them to 
be healthy and effective members of the community. It is when a boy 
has thrown off the restraints of school-life, and has attained the capacity 
to earn, that his destiny is fixed. He has come to the dividing of the 
ways. Wisely guided, he may choose a trade or occupation in which, 
with the assistance of the continuation school, and after years of patient 
labour with small remuneration, he becomes a good and useful citizen. 
Or, without guidance, and impelled, perhaps, by parental short-sighted¬ 
ness and greed, he may enter the ranks of unskilled labour, in which, 
though at first more money may be earned, there is no advancement to 
be looked forward to—nothing but a life of drudgery, with gradual 
deterioration mentally and physically. 


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When boys and girls have once left school, and have lost the school 
habit, it is difficult to get them back to classes of any kind, and there¬ 
fore the educative process should be continuous—the term “ continua¬ 
tion classes” suggests this—and they should pass on as a matter of 
course from the elementary school to the classes appropriate to their 
life work. In this country these continuation classes have not been a 
pronounced success for the reason, first, that they have been voluntary 
instead of compulsory, and boys and girls easily find more attractive 
ways of spending their evenings than in attending classes of any kind, 
and, in the second place, because'the classes are held in the evenings 
after a full day’s labour, during hours which should be devoted to recrea¬ 
tion or sleep. The remedy is obvious. First, the classes should be 
compulsory; pupils should pass on to them from the elementary 
school as a matter of course. Once make them compulsory and the 
compulsion will not be felt. Secondly, they should be part of the day’s 
work, and therefore should be held in working hours. 

It has been the experience in Munich that it pays to run these trade 
schools, and to endow them liberally. It pays the employers to give 
time off for technical training, because of the increased skill of the workers 
thereby attained. It pays the city, because its reputation for good 
work in its factories is increased. It is satisfactory to note that in the 
Education Bills now before Parliament this important part of the training 
of the youth of the nation is dealt with as its importance deserves. 

But, it may be asked, what has all this to do with prophylaxis—with 
the lightening of the burden of insanity ? Dr. Chambers predicts that 
the time is coming when educative processes will be guided by nicer 
discrimination than we have hitherto attempted, and that the expert 
may then find that he is called upon to play in the adjustment of the 
organism to its environment a part of no small importance in the 
prophylaxis of mental break-down. He warns us not to try to grow 
peaches on the hill top, or to spoil fine peasants that we may have 
inefficient clerks, and suggests that we should learn, in choosing human 
material for special purposes, to be guided not only by its apparent 
texture, but by our knowledge of its derivation. 

Much will depend, therefore, upon the wisdom and common sense not 
only of those to whom the supreme control of our educational system is 
entrusted, but more especially to the teachers in the schools and classes, 
who come into direct individual contact with the youth of the nation, and 
who have it in their power by suggestion and advice to guide their pupils 
into paths of life suitable to their intellectual, no less than their physical 
capacities. 

There is no likelihood that the raising of the average standard of 
intellectual ability of the race would be accompanied by physical 
deterioration. Galton tells us that we need as much backbone as we 


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338 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, [Oct., 

can get to stand the racket to which we are henceforth to be exposed, 
and as good brains as possible to contrive machinery for modern life 
to work more smoothly than at present. And he shows that there is 
no incompatibility between the strong arm and high intellectual capacity. 
He says—“ I do not deny that many men of extraordinary mental gifts 
have had wretched constitutions, but deny them to be an essential or even 
the usual accompaniment. University facts are as good as any others 
to serve as examples, so I will mention that high wranglers and high 
classics have been frequently the first oarsmen of their years.” . . . 

“ It is the second and third rate students who are usually weakly. A 
collection of living magnates in various branches of intellectual achieve¬ 
ment is always a feast to my eyes, being, as they are, such massive, 
vigorous, capable-looking animals.” 

The sound mind goes with the sound body, and there is abundant 
reason for the hope that, by increased attention to the care of the youth 
of the nation, a race of men will in time be evolved more capable than 
the present one to bear the racket and strain of modern life. 

Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones told us, in his Presidential Address, that 
if only the evils of alcohol and venereal disease were disposed of, then 
half the problem of insanity would disappear with them. The evil 
effects of alcohol as an exciting cause of insanity, as the determining 
agent in bringing into activity brain-weaknesses of all kinds, and as a 
cause of race degeneration, have been preached by social reformers, 
and in particular by members of our own Association for generations. 
Perhaps through the constant repetition of the warnings, and, it may 
be, to some extent owing to extreme and intemperate proposals of 
temperance faddists, the results as regards the wage-earning classes 
of the community have been disappointing. Since the great war began, 
however, events have occurred which should surely rouse the nation 
to the enormity of the evil, while demonstrating the fact that it is one 
which can be mastered by strong and resolute government action. We 
were warned by the Prime Minister, and by those at the head of these 
great undertakings, that, owing to the drinking habits of those employed 
in our ship building yards and armament factories, the output of ships 
and munitions of war was in danger of being insufficient for the 
ments of the forces engaged in fighting for the preservation of our 
country. And we learned that when drastic restrictions were enforced 
more and better work was accomplished, and nothing but good resulted 
to all concerned. 

Another great social evil with which the State has at last been com¬ 
pelled to deal, by an awakening of the public conscience, is the 
prevalence of syphilis, and its effects upon the health of the community. 
In our asylums syphilis presents itself to us for the most part in two 
forms, viz., general paralysis and congenital mental deficiency, although, 


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in the cautious language of the official report, “it is not possible to 
affirm that syphilis as an aetiological factor in the production of insanity 
may not play a considerable part even in those forms of disorder in 
which such an association is comparatively infrequent.” ( 7 ) 

We are agreed, I take it, since Noguchi’s discovery, that syphilis is 
an essential cause of general paralysis; and that if we could abolish 
syphilis to-day there would not be a case of general paralysis in existence 
twenty years hence. What this would mean to the nation will in some 
measure be indicated by reference to the statistics relating to the subject 
compiled by the General Boards of Control. In England the number 
of deaths from general paralysis in asylums during the year 1913 was 
1,753 j ' n the Scottish asylums for the same period the number was 221. 
These figures represent only the mortality from recognised cases of the 
disease in asylums. No account is taken of cases occurring elsewhere, 
and that many cases go unrecognised, in asylums, in other institutions, 
and in private care there is no doubt. 

General paralysis is probably a sequel of untreated syphilis or ineffi¬ 
ciently treated syphilis. Browning points out that syphilis is a disease 
whose manifestations are of the most multifarious description, so that 
it frequently escapes detection, while remaining infectious all the time. 
Further, that the subjects of syphilitic infection, “ unless treated by the 
most energetic methods at our disposal, pass almost invariably through 
the carrier stage,” and that “ while, even without treatment, apparently 
complete restoration to health may follow the primary and secondary 
stages, the presence of the active virus is shown by the fact that the 
latent syphilitic is capable of infecting others, and the same holds good 
when the latent state-is induced by mercurial treatment.” 

The loss of infectivity may not occur for many years. He records 
the case of a man who was treated with mercury for .about six months 
after the appearance of the primary sore; during the subsequent 
twenty-five years he has remained apparently perfectly healthy, but he 
infected his wife, whom he married thirteen years after contracting the 
disease. The latent syphilitic, then, in the early stage, although 
apparently healthy, is a source of great danger to others, and “ cases in 
this category are, in the absence of a history, practically unrecognisable 
by ordinary clinical methods.” 

Browning directs attention to the further complication introduced by 
the fact that the primary and secondary stages of syphilis may be 
missed altogether, so that the affected individual is actually not aware 
of his state. He instances a case of tabes in a highly intelligent and 
well-informed man, who had never, to his knowledge, presented any of 
the early signs of syphilis, although he volunteered the history o; 
exposure to possible infection. The probability is, however, that although 
a few may escape, the great majority of syphilitics receive treatment of 


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some sort. Whether that treatment is likely to result in the cure of the 
disease is quite another matter. 

McDonagh states that in the primary stage a cure is possible pro¬ 
vided sufficient injections of salvarsan, or an efficient substitute, are 
given to procure a negative Wassermann reaction in the blood with¬ 
drawn between the seventeenth and forty-eighth hour after the last 
injection, and that the treatment is further augmented by twenty-four 
intramuscular injections of mercury—given within twelve months. In 
the secondary stage a cure may also possibly be obtained, but the 
mercury injections should be continued for another year. Success, be 
says, for the same treatment in the latent stage of the disease and in the 
stage of early recurrence is improbable, while in the stage of late recur¬ 
rences—such as gummata and nervous syphilis—a cure is impossible. 

McDonagh emphasises the fact that insufficient salvarsan or other 
similar treatment in the early stage of syphilis will do more harm than 
good, as it gives the patient a false sense of security, and renders him 
for a longer period a danger to the community. He instances cases of 
patients who had had two injections of salvarsan infecting others when 
they themselves thought, and had been told, that they were cured. He 
states that the syphilitic organisms reach the nervous system very early 
in the disease, and that nervous lesions can only be prevented by 
sterilising the whole body by several injections given at short intervals 
as early as possible. He takes a gloomy view as to the probable effect 
on the incidence of syphilitic nervous diseases of salvarsan or other 
similar treatment as usually carried out, He holds the opinion that 
these diseases are on the increase, and feels very strongly that, owing 
to the spasmodic and inefficient manner in which these remedies are 
prescribed, tabes and general paralysis will, in a few years’ time, increase 
even more rapidly than is the case to-day, and that they will appear 
more quickly after the infection than hitherto. ( 8 ) 

In no disease can it be more truly said that the sins of the fathers 
are visited on the children than in syphilis. With the very union of 
the two elements the germ-plasm may be infected, leading to pre-natal 
death, or to the birth of an infant degenerate and diseased. Recent 
researches by Ivy Mackenzie and Carl Browning, by Kate Fraser and 
Ferguson Watson, by Leonard Findlay and Madge Robertson, have 
shown that a large majority of idiots and imbeciles are syphilitic, and 
the inference is that the syphilis accounts for their non-development. 
Prof. Whitridge Williams, of Baltimore, in an investigation into the 
cause of 750 foetal deaths occurring in 10,000 consecutive admissions 
to the Obstetrical Department of the Johns Hopkins’ Hospital, found 
that in 186, or 26^4 per cent., the setiological factor was syphilis. In 
addition, of the children born alive 164 were syphilitic, so that no fewer 
than 350 syphilitic children had been born of the 10,000 women. 


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What is wanted is that the public should be awakened to a realisation 
of the fact that there is in syphilis rampant in their midst a deadly, 
contagious, and hereditary disease, a disease which kills a countless 
number of unborn innocents; which is the cause of the mental and 
bodily decrepitude of a large proportion of our idiots and imbeciles ; 
which in its various manifestations results in life-long incapacity, bodily 
suffering, and mental anguish to numbers of people who in happier 
circumstances would be capable and vigorous citizens. And yet withal, 
a disease which is preventable ; which, in its earlier stages at least, and 
with proper treatment, is curable; and which, by energetic, resolute, 
concerted action by the great civilised nations could be stamped out 
and abolished for ever. 

The measure recently passed by our Legislature is all to the good, 
inasmuch as by the publication of the Report of the Commission, of 
the debates in Parliament, and of various articles and letters in the 
Press, the veil has at last been lifted and the attention of the community 
directed to the formidable nature of the evil. What the result will 
be is in the lap of the future; but to my mind, an attempt to deal 
with a world-spread infectious plague like syphilis without compulsory 
notification, without compulsory treatment, without joint action on the 
part of other nations, is also without the qualities which command 
success. In the light of McDonagh’s teaching it is more likely to 
result in an increase in the incidence of the nervous manifestations of 
syphilis than the reverse. 

So far for the possible reduction of the burden of insanity by pre¬ 
ventive measures. Let us now consider very shortly whether anything 
may be done in the same direction by improving our methods of 
dealing with the insane. 

We are at once confronted with the dismal fact that during the past 
thirty years there has been a continuous lowering of the recovery-rate 
in our asylums. This has been ascribed by the Commissioners to 
the increased use of observation wards in connection with parochial 
hospitals, to the accumulation of chronic patients, and to the improved 
hospital care and nursing in asylums leading to their being freely used 
for the reception of patients whose age and whose mental and physical 
condition are such as to preclude hope of recovery (•). We know how 
true this is, and how the most trifling mental abnormality is used as the 
pretext for sending to the asylum, as the last haven of refuge, the most 
helpless and hopeless cases of physical disease and decay. 

But surely we are not satisfied that better results cannot be attained ? 
Among the chronic patients accumulating in our wards there are many 
whose failure to recover was not because of its impossibility, but because 
our knowledge of disease is insufficient, and our treatment corre¬ 
spondingly defective. Who can say because we have not treated 
LX1V. 24 


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paranoia, or dementia praecox, or general paralysis, or epilepsy, so that 
recovery takes place, therefore these diseases cannot be cured ? To 
the investigator with the true spirit of scientific research failure to 
obtain the desired result is but a stimulus to further and more strenuous 
effort. “ Why should insanity be left behind when so much forward 
endeavour is made in general medicine ? ” 

In our daily routine of ward work perhaps one of the greatest difficulties 
with which we have to contend is this—that we see comparatively few 
patients who are not the victims of the end-products of disease. Our 
patients do not come under care until the most hopeful opportunities 
for arresting or curing the malady from which they suffer are past and 
gone. If this be true of patients in general hospitals, about whom 
Dr. Guthrie Rankin has written in his article on “ The Borderland of 
Disease ”( 10 ), how much more does it apply in the case of patients 
admitted to asylums ? It has, indeed, been the burden of complaint 
in our annual reports to committees so long as one can remember. 

It is our duty, I submit, not only to point out that delay in having 
patients placed under treatment diminishes the prospects of recovery, 
and thereby increases the burden of insanity, but also to show, if we 
can, the prevailing causes of such delayed treatment, and the remedies 
which may be devised to meet them. Many of them are causes which 
operate equally in the case of patients of any general hospital: an 
unwillingness to give up work or domestic duties; a careless in¬ 
difference to symptoms which, though troublesome, do not in the 
meantime involve total incapacity; a dread or dislike of remedial 
measures and of hospital rule and discipline. Others are specially 
applicable in the case of mental patients: failure of the doctor to 
recognise the symptoms of disorder until well advanced; dread of the 
asylum, or of the stigma of lunacy ; the absence of proper facilities for 
the early treatment of mental disorder, so that, broadly speaking, in 
the case of the great majority of patients, expert treatment is unattain¬ 
able until the disease has so far advanced that the patient can be 
certified insane; the pauperisation and loss of civil rights involved in 
certification. 

There must be grave defects in a system under which a man cannot 
obtain skilled advice and treatment for his malady until it has become 
so confirmed as to be practically incurable. For suggested remedies 
for these defects I would refer you to the valuable report of the 
Committee of this Association re Status of Psychiatry, and also to 
Dr. Bond’s admirable address on “ The Position of Psychiatry and the 
R 6 le of General Hospitals in its Improvement ” ( u ). 

It must be obvious to everyone who has given the subject serious 
consideration that there are serious disadvantages in the absence of a 
close relationship between psychiatry and the ot herj departments of 


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Dr. Bond in the address already alluded to—the establishment of mental 
wards, with associated out-patient departments, in all the large general 
hospitals throughout the country. In the case of hospitals connected 
with medical schools these would naturally assume the form of full 
psychiatric clinics. 

To carry this out it would be necessary to reorganise the present 
system, and to sever once and for all its connection with the Poor Law— 
the system “which compels all persons, except those able to pay 
adequately for their maintenance, to apply to the Poor Law authorities 
in order to secure treatment,” and under which treatment may be refused 
or delayed until the disease has become so pronounced that the patient 
can be certified insane—in other words, under which treatment may be 
delayed until the curable stage of the malady has passed. “A system 
which artificially creates paupers in order to obtain medical treatment 
necessarily acts as a deterrent, so that too frequently there is serious 
and even disastrous delay.” 

We shall look to the Ministry of Health to carry out this reform. 

In conclusion, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for your attention, 
and apologise for the length and discursiveness of my remarks. 

(') Sonia, by Stephen McKenna, p. 258.—(*) Mind and its Disorders, p. 163.— 
( 3 ) Annales Medico-psychologiques, vol. vi, p. 222.—( 4 ) Mental Affections of Chil¬ 
dren, p. 24.—(*) Mental Development, p. 95.—( 6 ) Ibid., pp. 95-98.—(') Sixty- 
eighth Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy to the Lord Chancellor, part I, p. 29.— 
( 8 ) Brit. Med. Journ., 1914, vol. ii, p. 616.—( 9 ) Fifty-fourth Annual Report of the 
General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland, p. xii.—( 10 ) Brit. Med. 
Journ., 1914, vol. ii, p. 821.—(") Journal of Mental Science, January, 1915.— 
( la ) Brit. Med. Journ., January 3rd, 1914. 


Observations on the Rolandic Area in a Series of Cases of Insanity. 

Abstract of a paper read at the Quarterly Meeting, May 28th, 1918. 

By John Turner, M.B. 

I have for many years past been impressed with the prevalence of 
a peculiar form of Betz cell in the brain of the insane, and in 1914 
I had the opportunity of comparing the picture as seen in the cortex 
of the insane with that in the corresponding area from a series of 
brains from persons dying in London hospitals (Guy’s and London), 
and found that among the hospital cases this prevalence of the insane 
type (if I may term it so), was much less marked. 

Hitherto, however, my observations had been confined to a very 
limited* area of the ascending frontal convolution—that which controls 
the muscles of the foot and ankle. Here I record a more extended 
study of the Rolandic area, dealing with : 

(1) Its configuration. 

(2) The micrometry of its cortex, in order to ascertain whether, as 


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Bolton showed in the case of the visual and prefrontal areas, there was 
a deficiency or atrophy in the depth of any of the laminae in different 
forms of insanity. 

(3) The form of Betz cell here described, to ascertain whether its 
prevalence is maintained in the areas controlling the muscles of the 
remaining part of the lower extremities, of the upper extremities, and 
of the face. 

(4) An attempt has been made to correlate differences in the 
internal structure of the Betz cells with symptoms. 

(5) A theory is advanced as to the significance of the change seen 
in the pathology of insanity. 

Method .—In every case a drawing was made of the Rolandic area, 
and the site of the portions selected for study were marked out in this 
drawing. The tissue was fixed in absolute alcohol, passed through 
chloroform, embedded in paraffin, all in the course of three or four 
days. Sections, including the cortex of both lips of the area, stained 
in Unna’s polychrome blue, were drawn on a slightly enlarged scale, 
on which were marked the position of the principal Betz cells as seen 
under a low power, and also the region in which a definite granule layer 
could be detected. Drawings of the different types or of prevailing types 
of the Betz cells were made in the majority of cases by the aid of a 
“ Zeiss camera lucida," all to the same scale (vie., objective D, ocular 6). 
Campbell, in his monograph, calls attention to the valuable aid- in the 
study of these cells and their changes this proceeding yields, and I 
can confirm his remarks. It is only by comparing a series of such 
drawings one with another that one is able at all satisfactorily to 
appreciate the enormous difference in the size of the Betz cells in 
different cases and to classify the changes seen. 

Part I. 

1. The Configuration of the Rolandic Area. 

Quain states that this fissure is very rarely interrupted in its course, 
although on separating its lips it may sometimes be seen that there 
is a slight tendency to the appearance of an annectant gyrus about the 
level of the superior genu, and it is here that the interruption is liable 
to occur. Ebersteller met with this interruption twice in 200 cases, in 
both unilateral. Retsius not once in a hundred. A. W. Campbell, 
in thirteen instances in 1,400 brains examined, and R. Wagner in the 
brain of Prof. Fuchs. 

I append some figures as to the mode of beginning and ending of 
the fissure of Rolando in cases of insanity, and concerning the frequency 
of an annectant gyrus. 

The number dealt with is too small to attempt to draw therefrom 
any decided conclusions, so I merely give the tables, and refer to one 
or two points which they show: First, as regards the upper end of the 


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fissure, it fell short of the vertex in 37 per cent, of all cases, least often 
in imbeciles. It cuts the vertex in 47 per cent, most frequently in 
Class I( 1 ), least frequently in Class II. It extended from half to an 
inch on the mesial aspect in 16 per cent, most frequently in Class II, 
least frequently in Class I. 

In three males, one of each class, and one female of Class III, 
instead of passing as usual obliquely backwards on the mesial aspect, 
it ran vertically downwards, and in the case of a male of Class II it 
passed vertically down for upwards of an inch. A piece of tissue was 
cut out, including the cortex of both sides, near its extremity; the 
depth of the fissure here was 7 mm. Examination of sections showed 
that the cortex on each side was of equal width; on both sides were 
equally large and numerous Betz cells, and on both sides the granule 
layer was very indistinct; in fact the cortex on both sides was of 
precentral type. 

Cunningham states that in 60 per cent, the fissure incises the upper 
border of the hemisphere, and appears on the inner aspect. In about 
ao per cent, it only just reaches the upper margin, and in 20 per cent, it 
falls short by an appreciable distance. 

Presumably his figures are based on data made from the general 
population, and as under the head of cutting the vertex, I have included 
those cases in which it did not pass for half an inch on the mesial aspect, 
probably there is no great discrepancy in our results. As regards the 
lower end, it stopped short of the Sylvian fissure in 86 per cent. 
on the right and 73 per cent, on the left, sometimes for upwards 
of an inch. The lower end occasionally forms an inverted T-shaped 
bifurcation, lying obliquely with its anterior half of the cross-piece on 
a higher plane than the posterior. In these circumstances I found that 
the posterior half represented the true termination of the fissure of 
Rolando, judging by the types of cortex found on each side of the limb. 
The lower end terminated, as described by Quain, in half the cases on 
the right, in less than half, 43 per cent., on the left. According to 
Cunningham, in about 19 per cent, the lower end forms a connection 
with the Sylvian fissure by means of the sub-central sulcus. In my 
cases this was found in 13*5 per cent, on the right and 27 per cent, on 
the left, twice as often on the left as on the right. It may be pointed 
out that the normal arrangement, according to Quain, was very con¬ 
siderably less frequently met with in the imbeciles compared with 
Class I, but most frequently, not in this class but in Class II. 

Annectani Gyrus at the Buttress. 

I have already referred to the occurrence of an annectant convolution 
at the site of the buttress, a condition which Cunningham describes as 
of extreme rarity, but which Campbell found in 15 out of 1400 brains 
examined by him, or roughly in 1 per cent, of all his cases. It was found 


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BY JOHN TURNER, M.B. 


347 


1918.] 

in 8 males and 5 females, in 7 instances on the right side only, in 
5 on the left, and once on both sides. Both Cunningham and Campbell 
are referring to a complete annectant convolution, that is one which 
rises to the surface and is visible without any manipulation of the brain. 


Table showing the occurrence of a Partial (p) or Complete (c) Annectant 
Convolution at the Buttress in 152 Cases of Insanity. 



Total number of 
cases examined, 
divided into three 
classes. 

Annectant convolution at buttress. 

Percentage 
incidence in each 
class and sex. 

Complete 

(r). 

Hidden 

</)• 

Total. 

Side on which found. 

Right. 

Left. 

Both. 

Class I 

Males 
Females . 

21 

52 

— 

5 

5 

B 

B 

2 

96 

Total . 

73 

— 

5 

5 

■ 


2 

68 


Males 

18 

I 


n 

1 

9 


55 

*-4 

Females 

24 

— 

4 

mm 

1 

2 

1 

166 

■ 





■fl 





u 











Total 

42 

I 

4 

5 

2 

2 

I 

11’6 


Males 

17 

I 

2 

3 

_ 

3 

— 


1 ►-* 

Females 

20 

I 

I 

2 

1 

1 

— 






















to 

<G 










u 

Total 

37 

2 

3 

5 

1 

4 


13 s 

■ 

Grand total 

3 

12 

IS 

4 

8 

3 

9-8 


A hidden or partial annectant, which does not rise completely to the 
surface, and which is not visible until the lips of the fissure are separated, 
is a very common occurrence, I have met with it in 12 cases in 152 
brains examined, but, as the accompanying table shows, it was, unlike 
Campbell’s cases, more frequently found among women, and most 
frequently among women of the dementia praecox type and congenitally 

defective males. _ . 

It appears to me that the figures in this section relating to the 

formation of the fissure of Rolando point to differences between the 
sexes, and, also, as might perhaps have been expected, they show that 


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348 OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROLANDIC AREA, [Oct.> 

departure from the normal type is more common in Classes II and III 
than in Class I. 


2. Micrometry . 

In Table A are given summaries of the average measurements of 
the different layers of the cortex of the Rolandic fissure in its frontal 
and parietal aspects in the brains of four hospital patients, twenty-nine 
insane males, and thirty-one insane females. Three measurements 
were made in each case for the ascending frontal and a like number 
for the ascending parietal cortex, viz., one obliquely at the lip of the 
fissure, one midway down, and one at its deepest part which, like the 
first, was slightly oblique. According to Campbell ( 2 ) the precentral type 
of cortex does not extend quite to the floor of the fissure in any part; if so, 
one of my preoentral measurements must be regarded as post-central. 
However, as Campbell himself very positively asserts (p. 80) that it is 
the presence of Betz cells which absolutely stamps the precentral type, 
and forms a certain guide to its territorial demarcation, and as these 
cells almost invariably extend not only down to the level of the floor 
of the fissure, but for an appreciable distance on to the post-central 
side in both the leg and arm areas, I have had no hesitation in including 
this third measurement in my calculations of precentral cortex. 

The figures in Table A represent some 6000 measurements. The 
sites selected for study were three as follows: Upper segment of the 
fissure above the buttress, from that region the cortex of which is 
supposed to control movements in the lower extremities; the middle 
segment below the buttress, from whence movements of the upper 
extremities are controlled; from the lowest segment, quite near the 
lower end of the fissure, whence movements of the face and larynx 
are confrolled. Of these sites the first is that which is best adapted 
for this purpose, as in practically all cases the fissure is straight and 
the cortex on both sides of it forms a band of uniform thickness until 
it passes beneath the end of the fissure where it becomes much 
narrower; whereas in the middle segment the fissure is very deep, 
frequently irregularly curved, and the cortex of less regular depth so 
that it is generally necessary to make trial cuts at different levels 
to obtain a piece suitable for micrometric study, for this reason in 
this region the portion selected in each case for measurement comes 
from different parts of the segment, whereas at the leg level there is 
great uniformity of site in the different cases. At the lowest level the 
fissure is often so shallow that it may be difficult to get three distinct 
measurements. 

My cases, it will be noted, are divided into three classes : In the first 
are all cases of acquired insanity; in the second cases of dementia 
praecox; in the third imbeciles, with and without epilepsy. Two of 


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L5V JOHN TURNER, M.B. 


349 


these classes call for no comment, but as regards Class II it may be 
desirable to outline briefly what I mean by dementia praecox, as the 
meaning which this name carries is still a matter of considerable 
controversy. I look upon simple dementia praecox as in a sense 
denoting more a temperament than a disease, including within its scope 
the inefficients of all kinds, not alone those within asylum walls, all 
persons who may be supposed to be furnished with a nervous system 
of deficient durability, liable to break down under comparatively slight 
stresses. The inevitable stresses that every person has to undergo are 
to them fraught with danger. Most of them cannot stand the stress 
of puberty, and of those who can, in the case of women, childbirth 
offers fresh risks and later on the menopause. Only a proportion of 
such persons find their way into lunatic asylums, many are able to 
earn a competent livelihood, or to attend fairly efficiently to their 
household duties, provided that their circumstances are favourable, 
some are even, under similar conditions, looked upon as persons above 
the average ability. But in all, there is what Adolf Meyer terms the 
“ hall-mark of this disorder, vis., a constitutional disposition to meet 
their difficulties in an inadequate manner.” Esquirol’s term of “acquired 
imbecility ” describes very well a large number of cases of dementia 
praecox whom, in default of a knowledge of their past history, it may be 
impossible to distinguish from imbeciles. The tendency in most cases 
is to go from bad to worse, slowly or rapidly; although some improve 
to such a degree that they may be discharged from the asylum as 
recovered, probably there is in every case a certain degree of permanent 
mental infirmity left after an attack. 

With regard to my classification of the cortical layers I have adopted 
that which is in most general use, viz., Meynert’s : 

(1) External or molecular. 

(2) Layer of small pyramids. 

(3) Layer of large pyramids. 

(4) Granule layer. 

(5) Line of Baillarger. 

(6) Polymorphic, or spindle-cell layer. 

Bolton only reckons five, as he regards Meynert’s 2 and 3 as one ; 
and as Bolton is our great authority on micrometric studies of the 
cortex, it is well to have a classification such as Meynert’s which can be 
compared with his. 

Dealing first with the cortex as a whole, there are certain points 
to which I desire to draw attention. In the first place it should 
be noted that the precentral cortex is invariably wider, and very 
considerably wider than the post-central, not very seldom twice the 
width of the latter. This feature, although it can be traced in each 
individual layer, is mainly due to the increased width of the third and 


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'350 


OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROLANDIC AREA, [Oct, 


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Original from 

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1918.] 


BY JOHN TURNER, M.B 


351 



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352 


OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROLANDIC AREA, [Oct., 


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sixth layers in the precentral cortex. The greatest difference (I am 
now referring to average and not single measurements) I found occurred 
in the hospital cases where the average for four gave rig mm. in favour 
of the ascending frontal of the leg area. The least difference was in 
the face area, as perhaps might be anticipated, inasmuch as here the 
distinctive features of pre- and post-central cortex are largely absent. 
In this area the difference was fairly constant and ranged between 
07 to 0.42 mm. 

In the second place the cortex of the Rolandic area is considerably 
wider than that in either prefrontal or occipital region. It varies a 
great deal, but an average width in the male in the prefrontal is, for 
the leg and arm area, 3 mm., in the face area 2*5 or 2*6 mm. In the 
female 2*8 mm. for leg and arm, and 2*5 mm. for face respectively. 
It tends to be widest in the middle segment in both lips of the fissure. 
According to Bolton the width of the prefrontal cortex in a normal 
male was r89 mm., in a female i*8i mm., and in his series of imbeciles 
and dements it varied from 1*78 to 1*38 mm. In the visuo-sensory 
area he gives it as 18 mm., and in the visuo-psychic as 186 mm. 

Thirdly, the width of the cortex in males is greater than in females. 
Quain gives the difference as only about 1 per cent, in favour of males ; 
in my cases it varied from 0*4 to 12 5 per cent. The only exceptions 
I met with in my averages were once in the leg area in a female of 
Class II, and twice in the face area ; in one of these latter the ascend¬ 
ing frontal, and in the other the ascending parietal, in a female of 
Class I was the wider. 

So far as my figures go they show no indication whatever of any 
diminution in the width of the cortex either of pre- or post-central, in 
cases of prolonged dementia, or where gross atrophy of the hemisphere 
is found ; nor does age within the limits of my cases appear to have any 
appreciable effect in this direction. 

The cortex in the case of E. D—, Class III, is interesting. In her 
case her cerebrum was a mere shell with enormously dilated ventricles, 
and, when the fluid escaped from them, the brain-wall fell in like a 
burst bladder. The white matter was nowhere more than a quarter to 
half an inch thick ; the entire thickness of cortex in the three areas was 
as follows : 


Leg area . 
Arm area. 
Face area 


Ascending frontal. 

2*510 mm. (2*835 mm.) 
2*630 mm. (2 901 mm.) 
2 680 mm. (2*517 mm.) 


Ascending parietal. 

1820 mm. (2 066 mm.) 
2*260 mm. (2*113 mm.) 
2*260 mm. (2*060 mm.) 


The figures in brackets give the average width for Class III. 

Here there was some thinning in the upper two levels of the ascending 
frontal, but it was entirely at the expense of the sixth layer. The 
supra-granular layer throughout was equal to or greater than the average 
for the group. 


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BY JOHN TURNER, M.B. 


353 



Ascending frontal. 

Ascending parietal. 

Supra-granular. 

Sixth layer. 

Supra-granular. 

Sixth layer. 



Average 


Average 

Average 


Average 


E.D. 

for 

E.D. 

for 

E.D. for 

E.D. 

for 



Claes III. 


Class III. 

Class III. 


Class III. 

| Leg level . 

ro40 

1-043 

0-440 

0728 

0750 0’702 

0380 

0*492 

Arm level . 

1 070 

1-058 

0600 

0-847 

i -ooo 0-780 

0-450 

0-541 

1 Face level. 

1 

0960 

0-883 

0650 

0-726 

0830 0-709 

0-560 

0-597 


I am inclined to believe that the width of the cortex is an innate 
character, and not markedly affected in after life, apart from normal 
development, by prolonged dementia with atrophy of the hemispheres, 
nor by age. My observations support the contention of J. Cruickshank 
(Journal of Mental Science , January, 1917): “ That the atrophy of the 
brain, which is so common a feature at autopsy in chronic cases of 
insanity, is due more to the loss of the underlying white than to the 
loss of the superficial grey matter.” 

I was struck while examining the Rolandic fissure of a female, set. 3, 
an epileptic imbecile, to find that as regards the post-central cortex there 
was no evidence of any deficiency of width compared with adult cases ; 
and as regards the pre central very little. The cortex was of infantile 
type, and, although the different layers could readily be distinguished 
(except in the case of the second in some parts of the ascending frontal), 
this was mainly owing to the arrangement of the nuclei of the unde¬ 
veloped nerve-cells, only the larger of which showed a distinct body, 
and, although the Betz cells were, generally speaking, smaller, some few 
were as large as any found in adult cases. The demarcation of cortex 
from white was facilitated by the large number of nuclei in the latter 
in comparison with those seen in the cortex. Such a condition suggests, 
as a corollary to the apparent absence of atrophy of cortex in dementia 
and old age, that the full width of the cortex is differentiated from the 
white in preparation for the nerve-cells at a relatively very early stage in 
life, and by the aid of micrometry we obtain a fairly clear demonstration 
that the cortical layers are laid down very early—prior to the formation 
of the sulci; for we invariably find that at the dip of the fissure where 
the cortex bends round to pass from one side to the other, not only is 
it much thinner, but this thinning is chiefly at the expense of the inner 
layers—the zonal layer, indeed, is usually wider here than elsewhere. 

This is what happens when a plastic material is bent round at an 
acute angle, and the inference I draw from these appearances is that the 
layers were present before the bending necessitated by the presence of 
sulci took place. 

Bolton, in the case of the pre-frontal cortex, found that there was a 
deficiency in the width of the supra-granular layer in imbeciles and 
chronic dements; in the former instance he regarded it as an innate 


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OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROLANDIC AREA, [Oct., 


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deficiency, and in the latter as due to atrophy, which is in proportion to 
the degree of dementia. It is this layer, the supra-granular, correspond¬ 
ing to Meynert’s second and third, which in Bolton’s opinion is con* 
cerned with the intellectual operations of the mind. My figures, as 
I have already mentioned, are not to any extent in accordance with 
Bolton’s conclusions. They show (see Table A) as regards the entire 
cortex, among males, with one exception in the ascending frontal leg 
area of dementia preecox, that both in pre- and post-central gyri, it 
was as wide (once) or wider than that found in the average of the four 
hospital cases. Among females, that it is usually wider in Class I than 
in Classes II and III, in this respect agreeing with Bolton’s results. 

With reference to the individual layers I found among males, with the 
single exception of the leg area of the precentral in dementia praecox, 
the supra-granular layer was absolutely and relatively wider in all the 
insane than in the hospital cases, and comparing the classes one with 
another, although there is found to be in the leg area a slight relative 
and absolute deficiency in Classes II and III compared with Class I, 
as we might expect on Bolton’s supposition, such a deficiency is not 
met with in any other of the regions examined. 

In the females comparing the three classes there was no marked 
difference between them in either the relative or absolute width of the 
supra-granular layer, but, what difference there was, with the exception 
of the leg area of the precentral, was in accord with Bolton’s results. 

The relative width of the supra-granular layer in pre- and post-central 
gyri was within i to 4 per cent, the same in all the regions examined, 
except the leg level in Classes II and III, and here there was a differ¬ 
ence of 9 to 11 per cent, in favour of the pre-central cortex. 

Perhaps the only conclusion we can come to from my figures is that 
there are considerable differences in the two sexes, not only in the width 
of the entire cortex, but also in the relative proportion of one layer to 
another. 


Part II. 

Some Features in the Minute Structure of the Rolandic Cortex. 

The ascending frontal cortex is sharply distinguished from the adjacent 
ascending parietal cortex by peculiarities of stratification, and also by 
peculiarities in its elements; both these mainly showing in its upper 
three-fourths. 

The first mentioned consists in an almost complete absence of a 
definite granule (or stellate) layer.' In a large proportion of cases the 
transition from the precentral to the post-central type of cortex, in the 
upper two-thirds or three-quarters of the Rolandic area, takes place 
fairly abruptly just beneath the deepest part of the fissure of Rolando, 


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BY JOHN TURNER, M.B. 


355 

as seen on transverse sections, but occasionally a definite granule 
layer can be seen passing into the precental cortex, and this can be 
seen running half, or all the way up the anterior lip of the fissure, 
or perhaps even passing around the summit and present on the frontal 
aspect of the precentral; sometimes the layer (or band) ceases, and 
reappears again a little further on. But in the lowest third or fourth 
of the fissure of Rolando, where it as a rule is much shallower, this, 
sharp differentiation of the two kinds of cortex ceases, and a granule 
layer is found both in the precentral and post-central cortex; but, 
although the band in the former site is quite distinct, it is usually 
narrower than in the post-central. Unless the granule layer reached a 
third of the distance from the deeper to the surface end or summit of- 
the precentral cortex in transverse sections, I have not, in the following 
account, taken it to be abnormal ; in my 67 cases it exceeded this limit, 
in 18 (viz., 7 males, or 24 per cent., and 11 females, or 28 per cent.), and 
this occurred usually in the upper level (leg), viz., in 14. 

From my figures there appears to be a greater tendency for variation 
from the normal condition among congenital cases, for whereas among 
22 of them (of both sexes) it was noted to be present in the precentral 
cortex in 8, or 36 per cent., it was only so noted in 10 out of 45 cases, 
of Classes I and II, or 22 per cent. 

On the other hand, it is rare to find it defective, that is to say, in 
transverse section it was only once found not to be evident over the 
whole stretch of the post-central cortex in a case of dementia prascox 
in a male. 

Cell peculiarities. —The presence of very large nerve-cells lying in 
the inner stripe of Baillarger constitutes its most marked positive 
characteristic in this upper region. These, the Betz cells, are far 
and away most numerous in the upper third or fourth of the precen¬ 
tral area, including in this the mesial aspect. But, from the buttress, 
usually from its upper portion, they rapidly diminish in number, and 
often none can be detected in the lowermost fourth of the cortex. 
According to Campbell’s estimation, the number of these cells is 25,000, 
and he gives some figures showing the numbers counted in a series 
of sections cut at right angles to the fissure of Rolando, taken at 
intervals of 5 mm., all the way along its course. The total number 
he counted in this series was 249, of which 189, or nearly 76 per cent., 
were above the buttress in the upper third of the area ; over the 
remaining two-thirds of the area therefore were only 24 per cent. By 
making long sections of the precentral area from above downwards 
parallel with its surface, one is able to prepare a diagram showing the 
precentral cortex from near its upper to near its lower end. Such 
strips shows very clearly not only the dense aggregation of Betz cells in 
the uppermost part of the area, but also their position in the cortex at 


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356 OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROLANDIC AREA, [Oct., 

different parts. They show that Betz cells are by no means confined, 
or even chiefly confined, to the parietal aspect of the cortex, but extend 
thickly all over it on the frontal aspect, and also that they often octur in 
fair number in the buttress. Below this region they rapidly diminish 
in number, and in the specimens examined none were seen on the 
frontal aspect. There is, doubtless, much variation in their distribu¬ 
tion. Bevan Lewis and Clarke, who were the first, or among the first, 
to study them closely, stated that in the uppermost portion of the 
ascending frontal convolution they were situated on the parietal aspect 
of the convolution, that they rapidly thin out towards the vertex, and 
are not found on the frontal aspect. This is a statement which, as I 
have just shown, requires modification. These two authorities stated 
that in certain places Betz cells were absent, and one of these areas 
corresponded to the buttress, where Campbell also noted their absence, 
although he himself figures some in this region, and also gives the 
number he found in his series of sections taken from one end to the 
other of the Rolandic area. In my experience they are quite as often 
as not found here—absolutely typical Betz cells of large size. 

As a rule, the cells diminish in size as one passes from an examina¬ 
tion of the upper to that of the lower levels. Campbell, who, of 
course, noted this feature, accounts for it in the same way as did Bevan 
Lewis, viz., that the farther a nerve-cell has to transmit its energy the 
larger it is; but he found the small size of the cells in the buttress, the 
area which he believes controls the muscles of the trunk, an awkward 
circumstance to fit in with his theory. 

This statement as to the size of the cells is one that only roughly 
holds good, for quite frequently, in the lowest part of the Rolandic area, 
that which is supposed to preside over movements of the face and larynx, 
are found Betz cells as large as any in other parts of the area. Such 
exceptions militate against the theory of Bevan Lewis, unless we may 
suppose that these large and solitary forms are, as it were, aberrant cells 
in alien areas 

Another point I wish to emphasise is the occurrence of Betz cells in 
the ascending parietal convolution. This I take to be an anomaly, but 
it is one that occurs frequently. 

I have described as Betz cells those of a certain shape, usually not 
pyramidal, lying in a definite layer of the cortex—the inner stripe of 
Baillarger—and occurring singly or in clusters of two or three, and, com¬ 
pared to those in their neighbourhood, of very large size. Such cells 
I have seen not at all seldom to occur in the ascending parietal con¬ 
volution, usually in the upper part, near the vertex of the brain. Betz 
himself described them in this situation. 

They were found in over 40 per cent, of my cases, about equally in 
the two sexes, and as one, or at most two or three, sections from the 


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BY JOHN TURNER, M.B. 


357 


different levels in each case were examined, it is fairly certain that their 
occurrence in this convolution is understated. The table gives parti¬ 
culars as to which class of case they were most often observed in, and 
the levels in which they were situated. The circumstance that they 
were much more commonly noted in imbeciles than in cases of Class I, 
is in favour of the contention that their presence here is an anomaly. 
They were most commonly met with, however, not in Class III but in 
Class II. It may also be observed that in both Classes II and III 
they were much more frequently noted in the levels corresponding to 
the arm and face movements than in Class I, where they were usually 


Table show:tig Incidence of Betz Cells in Ascending Parietal Convolution 

at Different Levels. 




I-eg. 

Arm. 

Face. 

Totals. 


Sex. 

N •>. of 
ca*es 

c<am- 

ined. 

N«>. with 
Hetz 
cells* in 
A.P. 

No. of 
cases 

exam¬ 

ined. 

No. with 
Bet/ 
cells in 
A.P. 

No. of 
cases 

exam¬ 

ined. 

No with 
Betz 
cell* in 
A.P. 

No. of 
cases 

exam¬ 

ined. 

No. with 
Betz cells 
in A.P. | 

Class I 

M. 

13 

3 

12 


11 

_ 

>3 

3 (23%) 

„ II 

F. 

21 

6 

17 

2 

20 

— 

21 

6(29%) 

M. 

9 

4 

9 

3 

9 

— 

9 

5 (55%) 


F. 

12 

6 

12 

4 

12 

2 

12 

7 (58% ) 

„ HI 

M. 

10 

4 

10 

2 

10 

3 

10 

5 (50% ) 


F. 

11 

5 

12 

1 

12 

2 

12 

6 (50% ) 


only seen in the upper third of the cortex adjacent to the leg level of 
the ascending frontal, where Betz himself observed them. 

If one may ascribe positive results from electrical stimulation of the 
cortex as due to excitation of these cells, their presence in any number 
in the ascending parietal cortex may possibly account for the dis¬ 
crepancies in the results obtained by different experimenters working 
in this field. 

The tigroid of the Betz cells. —The most conspicuous and distinctive 
feature in nerve-cells stained by methylene blue or allied stains, such 
as Unna’s polychrome blue, is the tigroid, and the alterations which 
this substance undergoes in pathological conditions has been the means 
of very greatly furthering our knowledge of the pathology of the nervous 
system. Almost from the first since Nissl described this feature in 
nerve-cells there has been controversy as to whether it represented a 
vital constituent of the cell, or w r as precipitated as such after death. 
Nissl himself only claimed for it an equivalent value to a vital structure, 
that is to say, he claimed that in a normal condition it presented a 
constant pattern, and that the alterations observed in it with abnormal 

LXIV. 25 


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35 § OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROLANDIC AREA, [Oct., 

or morbid conditions were also constant with regard to each morbid 
change. 

Many years ago Held maintained that it did not exist during life as 
seen in stained nerve-cells, but was precipitated after death by the acid 
condition of the tissues then set up ; but his statement, on which he 
founded his belief that dilute acids precipitate and dilute alkalies dissolve 
it, has been controverted. F. H. Scott ( 3 ) asserts that the reason why 
the tigroid does not stain after the treatment of cells with alkalies, is 
not because of its disappearance or non-existence as Held thought, but 
because by the action of alkalies the masked iron contained in tigroid 
and on which the staining depends is dissolved out. 

F. W. Mott upholds Held’s view, and adduces as a fact in support 
of the artefact nature of tigroid that it is not seen in living nerve-cells, 
unstained, when viewed by dark-ground illumination. That is so ; 
but unless he can also show that dead nerve-cells under similar 
conditions do show tigroid, this fact is no proof of the non-existence 
of tigroid during life in the form revealed by Nissl’s method. If this 
substance is an artefact, it is very difficult to account for certain 
morbid changes seen in nerve-cells ; for example, the acute cell change 
of Nissl (coagulation necrosis) and central and peripheral chromatolysis. 
In acute cell change it is easy to detect all stages from that in which 
the normally bulky blocks of tigroid are beginning to attenuate, through 
that when, before it entirely disappears, it is represented as very fine 
threads, up to the final stage, when it has disappeared entirely from 
view. 

In central chromatolysis how comes it that with a post-mortem 
precipitation the peripheral blocks of tigroid are apparently unaffected, 
whilst in the centre of the cell body they have disappeared or exist 
only as fine grains ? 

It is almost inconceivable that invariably in certain morbid con¬ 
ditions a dying cell should assume such distinctive features as seen in 
the examples quoted. 

There is, on the other hand, great uniformity of opinion as to the 
nature, derivation, and function of the tigroid. 

It is a nucleo-protein compound containing organic phosphorus and 
masked iron, derived from the nucleus of germinating cells, and it is 
generally considered to represent stores of latent energy. Experiments 
all tend to show that under prolonged stimulation tigroid is used up 
and disappears, so that the cell body has a pale aspect. In the cells of 
the aged it is reduced in quantity, so that the tendency is for them to 
appear pale. On the other hand, apparently, cells in which energy 
has accumulated show an increase in the size of the tigroid blocks and 
in its amount, so that they stain very deeply, and have been termed 
by Nissl “ pyknomorphic.” 


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BY JOHN TURNER, M.B. 


359 


Betz Cells of “ Reaction a Distance" or “ Axonal" Type. 

The correlation of diminished energy and rapid fatigue with cells 
lacking in tigroid substance is reasonable, and, moreover, absence of 
initiative may well be associated also with such cells. We all as we 
grow older experience how difficult it becomes to initiate—to form 
new habits. We may be able to do quite a respectable amount of 
routine work, work we have been accustomed to, but the head of 
energy needed to force new nervous paths is lacking, and hence cells 
which have a deficiency in the raw material of energy may well be 
correlated with this mental defect. 

Perhaps three of the most characteristic features in a case of dementia 
prsecox are loss of energy, easy fatiguability, and absence of initiative, 
and, as I have shown elsewhere, a large proportion of all such cases 
show a great preponderance of a form of Betz cell which we have 
reason for supposing to be in a condition to satisfy these requirements. 

Whether my assumption that the condition is due to an innate 
defect, in the form of an arrest of development, or whether in some 
cases, as Mott argues, it may be due to defective thyroid secretion, 
or whether both these factors come into play, does not alter the fact 
that this form of cell characterises such a large proportion of cases of 
dementia praecox. I have very little doubt in my mind that, whether 
the cells are innately defective or not, a vicious circle is established, 
and deficiency or perversion of the internal secretion soon hastens the 
stages towards the complete disappearance of the tigroid. But even 
more generally speaking, and not confining oneself to one form of 
mental disorder, it appears to me very probable that the brains of 
the insane are all characterised by an undue proportion of this form 
of cell which is most prominently brought to our notice among the 
giant cells of Betz, and as these only occur in certain limited regions, 
are very conspicuous objects, and only amount altogether to some 
thousands (Campbell estimates them at 25,000), the proportion of 
the affected ones can be calculated with a fair degree of accuracy; 
whereas, although similar changes may be present in the smaller 
nerve-cells, they are not so readily seen, and as these number many 
millions we cannot estimate their proportion with any approach to 
accuracy, except by very laborious investigation in each case. 

The type I am referring to resembles very closely that known as 
“ reaction k distance ” (Marinesco) or more shortly the “ axonal ” form 
as Adolf Meyer termed it, and I believe the failure to recognise the 
invariable presence of this type in varying proportions in the brains 
of the insane has given rise to much misconception. One frequently 
meets with descriptions of pathological changes in cases of insanity 
where it is figured and described as the result of injury to axons; but 


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it is rare that we can trace any sign of this, and the fact that the change 
is found in such a large number of cells, scattered all over the ascending 
frontal region in so great a proportion of all forms of insanity, militates 
strongly against the presumption that it is the result of injury to axons. 
At all events, unless one is in a position to demonstrate such injury, 
I do not think one is justified in invoking it as a cause. 

The type is met with in the brains of those who do not happen to 
die in an asylum among the general population, but in fewer numbers. 
This is what might be anticipated. 

It is most common among cases of dementia praecox, and much more 
so in females than in males, then follow epileptic imbeciles, imbeciles 
without epilepsy and cases of acquired insanity, and general paralytics 
in whom it occurs least frequently. 

In all these classes it predominates in females, as I found also among 
my series of hospital cases examined two years ago. 

Dealing now with certain points arising from the cases which form 
the subject of this paper, the number of persons in each class in 
which 50 per cent, or more of the cells were of axonal type is 2 in 
Class I, 11 in Class II, and 8 in Class III. In the table adjoining 
the number of such is shown in the leg and arm areas, and occasionally 
in the face area, but in the latter region very often no undoubted Betz 
cells are seen, and if present there are too few to calculate percentages 
with any pretence to accuracy. The results which are given for this 
area refer to the cells counted in several sections, whereas in the other 
levels, with few exceptions to be mentioned later, the numbers refer to 
cells counted in one or at most two sections. 



Leg. 

Arm. 

Face. 

Class 1 : Males . 

Females 
„ 11 : Males . 

Females 
„ III: Males . 
Females 

I in 10 (lO% ) 

1 in 10(10%) 

4 in 9 (44% ) 

7 in 10 (70% ) 

2 in 10 (20% ) 

6 in 10 (60% ) 

1 in 6 ( 17 %) 

2 in 7 (28% ) 

5 >" 9 (55%) 

7 in 10 (70% ) 

2 in 9 (22% ) 

4 in 9 (44% ) 

I in 5 (20% ) 

6 in 7 ( 85 %) 

i 


None of the four hospital cases showed a percentage of 50. 

In a series of insane persons examined in 1916 in which sections 
were taken from a similar position in the leg area to those above, and 
in which micrometric measurements of the ascending frontal and 
ascending parietal were made, but which I discarded for micrometric 
purposes, I found as regards the Betz cells showing an axonal type 
in Class I, males, 5 in 10, or 50 per cent.; females, 4 in 9, or 44 per 
cent. In Class II, males, 2 in 6, or 33 per cent .; females, 9 in 9, or 


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BY JOHN TURNER, M.B. 


361 

100 per cent. In Class III there were no males examined; females, 
5 in 7, or 70 per cent. For a number of years I have been in the 
habit of estimating the percentage of these cells in the cortex at the 
summit of the ascending frontal including the paracentral convolution, 
and the results obtained in this larger series are substantially the 
same, so that I can speak with much confidence on this matter of the 
prevalence and preponderance of this type of cell in the insane ( 4 ). 

In 1914 I was able to examine, through the kindness of Dr. Turnbull, 
of the London Hospital, and Dr. French, of Guy’s Hospital, pieces 
of cortex from the summit of the ascending frontal and paracentral of 
50 hospital cases—30 males and 20 females. In this series only 
2 of the males, 7 per cent., and 3 of the females, or 15 per cent., 
showed a preponderance of the axonal type of Betz cell. 

In the controls, 30 males and 20 females from among the insane, 
the percentages were respectively 36 and 45. 

I find that in sections showing a fair number (twenty or thirty) of 
Betz cells, as is the case in almost all taken in the leg level, an estima¬ 
tion of the percentage of this form in one section gives a rough idea of 
that which is found, where a number of sections over the same area are 
examined. In some of my cases, especially when the number of axonal 
forms has been about 50 per cent, or just over, I have examined a 
series of sections taken sufficiently far from each other to ensure not 
getting the same cell in more than one section, and I get fairly con¬ 
cordant results. 

This widely occurring and even distribution of the affected cells, 
which is not confined to any one area or level, is opposed to the idea 
that the form in question is due to injury or disease of axons. And the 
fact that we are able to give a rough estimate of the proportion of these 
cells obtaining throughout the whole Rolandic area, from the examina¬ 
tion of two or three sections, is one of very great practical importance— 
in many cases, I contend, enabling one to give a positive statement 
of one of the factors concerned in the production of the insanity; 
whereas, however true the claims for the results of micrometry may 
prove, they are only applicable to averages and not to any one particular 
case. 

With regard to the correlation of the amount of tigroid and motor 
activity, I believe it is possible (but only very roughly) to correlate the 
presence of abundant tigroid, especially in the Betz cells, with excess of 
voluntary motor action during life, that is to say, in those cases, however 
chronic and demented, who continue to show great motor activity, one 
usually finds abundant tigroid in the Betz cells; they are in what Nissl 
termed a pyknomorphic condition. 

But the converse to this generalisation is less readily established : 
cases in which after death no tigroid is found in the Betz cells, are often 


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362 OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROLANDIC AREA, [Oct., 

characterised by excess of motor activity up to quite a short time before 
death. 

I suspect that to a certain extent it is a question of the capacity of 
the organism to replace expended tigroid, which determines whether or 
not we find it in the cells. To a certain extent it may be due to the 
fact that we are dealing with only one of the three levels into which it 
is customary to divide the nervous system—so that it is possible that 
although the cells of one level are defective in this substance it does not 
follow that those of other levels are. 

Conclusions. 

I. Anomalies in the form of the Rolandic fissure, and in the arrange¬ 
ment or architecture of its cortex, occur more frequently among the 
insane, especially among the dementia pnecox class and imbeciles, than 
in normal individuals. 

II. There appear to be distinctive characters in the two sexes. 

III. As regards a micrometric study of this region, the figures also 
indicate sexual differences in the width of the laminae, in which case it 
would not be legitimate to mix together male and female cases in 
micrometric studies. They fail, so far as I can see, to afford any clue 
towards a solution of the problem of the pathology of insanity. It 
would appear from them that the width of the cortex and its individual 
layers in both pre- and post-central lobes is an innate feature, not 
markedly affected by the forms of insanity, nor the degree of dementia 
and wasting of the hemispheres, nor by advancing age. 

IV. A study of the Betz cells is of very real assistance in this matter. 
The undue proportion of the axonal type in the insane enables one to 
catch a glimpse of the anatomical basis, so far as the brain is concerned, 
in a large number of cases. I submit that this type of cell is one of 
defective structure, and probably of deficient durability ; and, moreover, 
that the evidence is in favour of its being an innate defect, due to 
arrested development. 

At all events, whether it is so or not, makes but little difference to its 
practical significance, as the morbid influence of perverted metabolism, 
to which the change in the cell has been ascribed, is one which probably 
comes into action early in the life of the individual. I regard the 
presence of this type in more or less numbers as a rough index of the 
stability of the brain; other things being equal, a brain with a high 
percentage will more readily break down than one with a low per¬ 
centage. 

According to this criterion the brain of the precocious dement is the 
most unstable of all, and relatively more unstable in females than in 
males, and I hold that this is in accordance with clinical experience. 

The brain of a congenitally defective person, though on the average 


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BY JOHN TURNER, M.B. 


363 

less unstable, may be more defective than that of a case of dementia 
prsecox. 

I have taken as a standard an arbitrary number, merely for conveni¬ 
ence in contrasting different cases and classes ; according to this 
standard those showing 50 per cent, or more of this type are regarded as 
positive, and those with a lower percentage as negative. 

My observations on this type of cell in a very large number of cases 
show that it is much more prevalent among females than males in sane 
persons and all classes of the insane. 


Discussion. 

The President said he was sure all present had listened with great interest to 
Dr. Turner’s paper. Dr. Turner had given the Association, once more, evidence 
of his extraordinarily industrious labour, and the minute care with which he carried 
out his researches. He was not sure that this was a paper which lent itself much 
to discussion in the ordinary way at a meeting; it was rather one for leisured study 
and assimilation afterwards. Still, if any member felt inclined to discuss any 
points with which the paper dealt, he would be glad to hear comments. 

Lieut.-Col. Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones said that lest it should be 
thought, in the absence of discussion, that there was not sufficient recognition of 
the paper just contributed, he would like to make a few comments. The paper 
to which members had just listened was an extremely valuable piece of work, and 
Dr. Turner had certainly stuck to his text. He, the speaker, did hope that the 
author would have shown an inclination to wander over the other portions of the 
cortex, although his paper was entitled " Observations on the Rolandic Area in 
a Series of Cases of Insanity.” He thought Dr. Turner had divided this series of 
cases broadly into two divisions, the qualitative and the quantitative, and he had 
limited himself to what might be called quantitative insanity. In the qualitative 
type of insanity the Rolandic area was not affected, as the author showed to be the 
case in this series. The paper was a difficult one to discuss, because it was the 
statement of a fact in anatomy ; but in relation to the purely anatomical side there 
was also the psychological, or what might be termed the philosophical aspect, vi*., 
the kind of relationship which the brain bore to the mind, and the effect of the war 
had been to make thinkers upon these topics change their views, to some extent, 
at any rate, in regard to this relationship. It was well known, before the war, that 
materialistic views largely held the field, but now, once more, the prevailing view 
was being directed to a psycho-physical parallelism, with the great domination of 
the psychic. One saw, in almost every issue of The Lancet , references to what was 
termed the "threshold of consciousness”; the great thing in treatment was to be 
the raising of the "threshold of consciousness.” Of course, his hearers had all 
been doing that from the first moment they qualified; it only meant the importance 
of making it more easy to impress the personality of the medical man upon his 
patient. He did not think, speaking generally, the appearance of the cortex could 
be taken as in any way indicating the presence of insanity, except from the quan¬ 
titative side, i.e., it could only indicate the amount of dementia. He passed round 
for inspection some photographs which were taken by Dr. J. S. Bolton, at Claybury 
Asylum, showing the appearance of the hemisphere in different types of insanity. 
A large number of these observations by Bolton also referred to quantitative 
insanity, and, therefore, to that portion of the cortex which was connected with the 
outgoing effect of vo'itions, -via., the Rolandic area. He had preserved photo¬ 
graphs of the two hemispheres of the brain upon the same plate, in order to show 
that there was rarely actual identity between the convolutions of the two hemi¬ 
spheres, and he submitted these pictures as an addendum to Dr. Turner's paper. 
The pictures the author showed were very instructive, but he could not help 
thinking that Dr. Turner laid too much stress upon the Betz cells. The appearance 
of those Betz cells in the pictures seemed to be more in harmony with the last 
picture put upon the screen and showing the toxic effects of hypo-thyroidism, and 


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dementia prsecox may be due to a definite toxin in the brain affecting secondarily 
the Betz cells and not primarily to a degeneration of these cells themselves. He 
was much more inclined to regard dementia prascox as the result of some hitherto 
undiscovered toxin acting upon the whole of the cortical cells, but of which the 
changes in the Betz cells were only one feature. He remembered at one of the 
meetings of the Association, when the pathology of general paralysis was believed 
to be primarily an affection of, and entirely limited to, the tangential and molecular 
layer of the brain, whereas now it was known to be and described as a cortical 
parenchymatous spirochaetosis, and due to the toxin of the Treponema pallidum. 
The view that the cortex as a whole was associated with insanity had much to 
support it, and it was equivalent to saying that the cortex was the organ of the 
mind. Bergson went so far as to say that the cerebral cortex was the organ of 
forgetfulness, and that if it were not for the power of inhibition which the cortex 
exercised, everything which had been previously experienced would be constantly 
coming up into consciousness again in a jumble, with the result that there would 
be confusion and conflict, incoherence and purposeless activity. Dr. Turner had 
referred to the Rolandic layer as being primarily concerned with conduct, which 
would be correct if it referred to all out-going acts. He, the speaker, looked upon 
the cortex as a series of arrival platforms for the field of consciousness, an area in 
which the material coming in at the platforms was correlated, from the visual area 
in the neighbourhood of the calcarine fissure, the auditory area in the transverse 
gyrus of Hischl, the uncinate convolution, and the hippocampal tract for smell 
and taste, and lastly from that which had been described to-dav as the sensori¬ 
motor or the Rolandic area. All these had to be taken into consideration in dis¬ 
cussing insanity. Except in regard to quantitative insanities, he thought little 
information about the insanities could be got from a study of the Rolandic area 
alone. Dr. Turner had also referred to the tigroid bodies, and stating his belief 
that they were artefacts. Even if that were so, they formed the best indication of 
pathological change ; they furnished the only clue to deterioration of the cells such 
as could be measured or determined by microscopical observation. The paper 
dealt in a very able way, with the amentias, with dementia praecox, and also 
with that third class, via., imbecility with epilepsy. He would like to hear more 
about the association of changes in the Betz cells with dementia praecox, because 
Dr. Turner had not mentioned the synapse, nor had he suggested changes in the 
synapse that might account for the symptoms. It was known that the nervous 
currents passed in only one direction— they could not pass in both—and the 
synapses were membranous barriers or valves interposed between two neurons, and 
they might be radio-active valves ; at any rate, there seemed to be a polarity about 
their action as in the neuron, and this might cause delay. The clinical picture of 
dementia prascox was that of a person who understood, whose memory was often 
good, who realised what was said to him, but who was the subject of a marked 
hesitation or retardation in responding to questions, and lastly to a failure of the 
highest mental powers, viz., the reason. There seems to be a delay in the trans¬ 
mission of a nervous impulse across the synapse which does not occur in the cel! 
or the nerve itself. This last-named characteristic could, he thought, be best 
explained by some general toxic effect due to inefficient or incomplete metabolism, 
and acting on the Betz cells, but certainly acting upon the synapses and the whole 
central cortex as well. There appeared to be a non-synaptic network in some of 
the diffuse ganglionic plexuses of the sympathetic system in the human body, but 
in the highest vertebrates there were grounds for believing in an intermediary 
structure between the axons of some neurons and the dendrites of the next. He 
made these comments and threw out these hints more as an expression of appre¬ 
ciation than in a spirit of criticism. The contribution certainly tended to the 
speculation as to the actual lelationship between mind and matter, and our views 
were doubtless changing in this respect ; there was plainly discernible a reversion 
to the view which tended to look upon mind and matter as two separate but real 
entities. He thanked Dr. Turner for his scientific and instructive investigations. 

Capt. Norman said he would like to intervene in order to very sincerely thank 
Dr. Turner for his paper. One could very well judge of the enormous amount of 
work entailed in it. To his mind, it bore out very distinctly what one wanted to 
see. There had been a tendency to look upon these morbid processes as something 
quite apart from the brain, but such investigations as that of which this paper was 


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1918.] THE PSYCHONEUROTIC TEMPERAMENT. 


365 


the record showed conclusively that there existed a definite physical substratum of 
change. Work along those lines had been hitherto only too limited; there were 
very few people like Dr. Turner who were willing to give up the necessary time for 
such inquiries or who had the ability to carry them out satisfactorily, therefore the 
Association felt greatly indebted to him for the contribution. The record in the 
paper and the slides exhibited showed the great interest of the researches which 
Crile had been carrying out to show the fatigue of the emotions, which also was 
brought about by the physical structural change in the brain. These latter researches 
were made on the cerebellar cells, but he believed comparison would show that the 
change was very similar in the cerebral cells. Crile's researches also showed 
degeneration in the tigroid matter, and it was, to him, exceedingly interesting to 
find Dr. Turner’s elaborate work went to bear out the same idea. He felt, per¬ 
sonally, very much indebted to the author. 

Dr. Turner (in reply) said he felt himself to be in accord with much that Sir 
Robert Armstrong-Jones said. He looked upon those remarks, however, as coun¬ 
sels of perfection. The so-called synapses could only be shown by special methods, 
very fickle in their action, and not suited for pathological work. The failure to 
demonstrate synapses did not mean necessarily they were not there ; it might simply 
be that the method had failed to act. But the charm of the other method was its 
reliability, and the results, whatever might be their value, were consistent. He was 
in agreement with Sir Robert’s remark that the changes noted were only quantitative. 
For Capt. Norman’s remarks he was grateful. 

(*) For connotation of classes see p. 348.—( J ) Histological Studies on Localisa¬ 
tion of Cerebral Functions, Camb. Uni. Press, 1905, p. 28.—( 3 ) “ On the Structure, 
Micro-chemistry, and Development of Nerve-Cells, with Special Reference to 
their Nuclein Compounds,” Trans, of Canadian histitute, vol. vi, 1898-99.— 
( 4 ) In 1914 in a paper on the “ Biological Conception of Insanity.” I stated that, 
"In dementia pnecox it is extremely rarely, if ever, that it (this prevalence of the 
axonal type) does not occur, and we may say that one can count upon finding 
it in every case of dementia prtecox katatonia. This statement should refer to 
female cases only, and among them a larger experience shows exceptions." 


The Psychoneurotic Temperament and its Reactions to Military 
Service. By E. Fryer Ballard, Capt., R.A.M.C.(T.), Registrar, 
Mental Observation Division, No. 2 Eastern General Hospital. 

The term temperament is used in this paper to denote the sum 
total of inherent emotional potentialities and kinetic tendencies 
peculiar to the individual. A person’s tendencies to action and 
reaction, his outlook upon life, and his liability to mental and nervous 
disorder, are in a large measure determined by the temperament with 
which he is born. Character, in the usual sense of the term, and 
personality, at any given time, are the resultant of temperament and 
environment in its widest sense, past and present, and previous 
reactions thereto, and are varying quantities. Temperament, although 
susceptible of modification by external influences, cannot be changed 
fundamentally in type. 

In what degree temperaments are dependant upon metabolism or 
purely psychical characters need not be discussed here. All abnorma 
temperaments shade off by imperceptible gradations from individual 
to individual, and it may be in the same individual at different times 


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366 


THE PSYCHONEUROTIC TEMPERAMENT, 


[Oct., 


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into the normal, that is to say, that although specific abnormal tempera¬ 
ments are fairly clearly defined one from the other, there is no abrupt 
line of demarcation between the abnormal and the normal. 

From the alienists’ point of view, certain clinical abnormalities of 
temperament indicate a liability on the part of their subjects in 
excess of that possessed by normal people, to attacks of certain special 
psychoses and psychoneuroses. It is well-nigh impossible to draw 
a line of demarcation between the temperament and an attenuated 
form of the psychosis or psychoneurosis to which the temperament is 
specially susceptible. Just as there are gradations between the normal 
and abnormal in temperament, so are there gradations between the 
abnormal temperament and the psychosis. 

In view of the above considerations it will be readily seen that 
apparently normal persons may under adverse conditions develop 
attacks of psychoses, etc., which implies that, temporarily at any rate, 
such persons have acquired the relatively greater liability to the 
psychosis which is involved in the abnormal temperament. In a 
word, it is probable that, psychologically, abnormal temperaments 
differ from normal in the degree of functioning of certain natural mental 
and emotional activities. 

Combinations of temperaments are common, but for practical pur¬ 
poses it is desirable to recognise the following varieties : 

(1) The hysterical. 

(2) The psychasthenic. 

(3) The epileptic. 

(4) The paranoiacal. 

(5) The manic-depressive. 

(6) The dementia praecox type. 

These six abnormal temperaments fall naturally into two classes. 

The first class, in which hyperesthesia and a tendency to excessive 
reaction to external stimuli are prominent features, includes the tem¬ 
peraments associated with the psychoneuroses, hysteria, psychasthenia, 
and epilepsy. 

The second class includes the temperaments associated with the 
psychoses paranoia, manic-depressive insanity, and dementia praecox— 
in which such hyperaesthesia is absent. In this paper it is proposed to 
discuss only Class I. 

The Psychoneurotic Diathesis. 

The above term is used here to embrace the hysterical, psychasthenic, 
and epileptic temperaments. 

In cases of psychoneurosis it is no easy matter to determine exactly 
to which individual syndrome particular symptoms belong. 


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BY CAPT. E. FRYER BALLARD. 


367 


A special exacerbation of symptoms of fear type occurring in psycho¬ 
neurotics has been elevated into a fourth syndrome under the name 
of the anxiety neurosis. 

The present writer is accustomed to classify the symptoms of the 
psychoneuroses and the anxiety neurosis roughly on theoretical 
psychological grounds; and has found such a scheme valuable in the 
treatment and disposal of soldiers so affected. 

(1) Symptoms which are disguised fulfilments of suppressed 
instinctive complexes, and are not accompanied by the affective 
tones of such complexes—are hysterical. 

These would include anaesthesias, paralyses, deafness, dumbness, 
amnesia, and some cases of stupor, automatism, and inco-ordination 
in movement. 

(2) Symptoms which are partially disguised expressions of such 
complexes, and are accompanied by unpleasant affective tones 
not amounting to emotions—are psychasthenic. These would 
include coarse tremors, stammering, localised sweating, palpitation, 
irrepressible ideas, impulses and phobias, general nervousness and 
hyperaesthesia to external and internal impressions (the latter being 
associated with visceral neuroses). 

(3) Symptoms which are undisguised expressions of the in¬ 
stinctive state and are accompanied by an acute tone of fear 
(i.e., those in which suppression has failed) come under the 
heading of the anxiety neurosis. 

Such symptoms are fine tremors, generalised sweating, somatic 
apprehension, agitation, feelings of impending death, elevated 
upper eyelids, dilated pupils, palpitation; and all the manifesta¬ 
tions of fear, ranging from acute anxiety to terror. 

(4) Fits beginning in early life, accompanied by the specialised 
traits of the epileptic temperament (vide infra), and associated with 
some degree of mental hebetude—constitute epilepsy. Fits that 
begin after childhood (apart from organic cerebral lesion), often 
called psychogenetic, and, therefore, not associated with the 
specialised epileptic temperatment and weak-mindedness, are 
hysterical (i.e., explosive results of over suppression), the only 
essential difference being one of the chronological incidence of 
the fits and the results of this. Equivalents of stupor, malaise 
with confusion, delirium, and other dissociations of conciousness, 
are not peculiar to epilepsy, but occur in the other neuroses, and 
are frequently hysterical, the clinical differences again being due 
to the same factors as in the case of fits. 

(5) Vertigo, headache, insomnia, vivid dreams, momentary 
confusion varying from transitory loss of attention to petit mat, 
are found frequently in all the psychoneuroses. 


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In the next place it is necessary to describe briefly the temperaments 
especially susceptible to the above symptoms. 

(a) The Hysterical Temperament. 

Perhaps it may be said in passing that the present writer regards 
a hyperexcitability of the instincts as one of the main factors in the 
production of this temperament. Its subjects are emotional suggestible 
dreamers. They tend to react excessively to stimuli arising from 
within or without. Affective hyperaesthesia is well marked. They are 
easily moved to laughter, anger, or tears by trifling incidents, and 
their emotions are essentially evanescent. Although self centred and 
sensitive, their auto-criticism is poor, and their power of accurate 
introspection defective. 

Their tendency to excessive reaction to stimuli (due to affective 
hyperaesthesia) results in an habitual impulse to banish from their 
minds (/.<?., suppress into the subconscious) the results of stimuli 
productive of conflict between instinctive desire and environment, and 
hence unpleasant emotions. This process of suppression becomes a 
well-marked mental habit. 

Hysterical persons, therefore, fail to face and grapple with incidents 
likely to result in such conflicts (i.e., unpleasant incidents), but promptly 
suppress instead. Consequently, they are occasionally capable in 
adverse circumstances of rising transitorily above their environment, 
and of acting with decision, promptness, and even heroism, but in an 
impulsive, extreme, and ill-considered fashion. Whether they fail to 
suppress and therefore act in accordance with their over-excitable 
instincts, or suppress and act in opposition thereto, their conduct is 
always coloured by this explosiveness. If they suppress their tendency 
to instinctive conduct often or long enough they develop episodes. 

Hysterics have a craving for sympathy. They like to think they are 
misunderstood, and to play the aggrieved martyr, if they do not receive 
the meed of mollycoddling they imagine they deserve. Opposition 
results in outbursts of emotion, or episodes of somatic type, or fits, 
dissociated consciousness, wandering, etc., just as other forms of stress 
do in these cases. They are also more liable than normal persons to 
psychasthenia, anxiety neurosis, and other neurotic symptoms. 

The mechanism of the production of hysterical episodes has been 
discussed elsewhere. 

(b) The Psychasthenic Temperament. 

Under this heading are included the neurasthenic and the anxiety 
temperaments. Like hysterics, persons of psychasthenic temperament 
are hypersensitive and manifest well-marked affective hyperaesthesia, 
but the results are different in the two cases. Although prone when 


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taken off their guard to act instinctively and impulsively in response to 
stimuli, psychasthenics for the most part consider the stimuli, face their 
conflicts—often over estimating their unpleasantness—but realising that 
their tendencies to undue reaction must not be allowed play in order 
to dissipate the keen affective tones to which.the stimuli have given 
rise, they suppress their tendency to instinctive reaction. 

Whereas, therefore, the hysteric usually takes the line of least resist¬ 
ance in conduct, the psychasthenic acts according to his judgment, 
paying the penalty of instinctive suppression and voluntary conduct by 
getting disturbances of his coenesthesis—unpleasant visceral sensations 
and functional disorders, irrepressible ideas, phobias, etc. The hysteric 
suppresses the total resultant of unpleasant stimuli and if circumstances 
permit acts instinctively; the psychasthenic suppresses this very tendency 
to instinctive action. 

If circumstances do not permit the former’s instinctive action, he even¬ 
tually develops some hysterical episode. If the latter (the psychasthenic) 
owing to the strength of the stimuli, cannot any longer bring himself to 
react according to his judgment, e.g., when he can no longer bear the 
affective results of stimuli, and his own previous suppression of tendency 
to instinctive reaction, he breaks, and develops the anxiety neurosis. 

Psychasthenics when well (i.e., free from anxiety neurosis) are capable 
of rapid decision and excellent execution. They are often intellectual, 
active, energetic, and hard-working. They are apt to be of a serious 
vein, although frequently wearing a mask of light cynicism. Their 
judgment is remarkably accurate as regards others, and, as they are 
introspective, sound as regards themselves once they have learnt them¬ 
selves. They are born “ worries,” irritable, impatient, and explosive, 
anticipating and exaggerating troubles, usually to surmount them satis¬ 
factorily when they come to pass; but when of mature years they 
become philosophers. Occasionally they are self-deprecatory until they 
learn life. Work is their forte, worry their undoing. 

Once the anxiety neurosis has become established in these people, 
even after their recovery, they are never capable of quite the same 
resistance to the jars and buffets of fate. They remain good workers, 
but any slight stimulus associated with the exciting cause of their break¬ 
down invariably tends to bring about a return of the anxiety neurosis. 
Thus a psychasthenic after such an attack is permanently broken so 
far as some special circumstances are concerned, but quite capable of 
grappling with dissimilar stimuli and environments. 

(c) The Epileptic Temperament. 

The chief features of this temperament as seen in chronic epileptics, 
t.e., persons who have suffered from fits, with or without remissions, 
from early life, are as follows : 


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Sensitiveness to external stimuli with a tendency to excessive reaction, 
irritability, explosiveness, a marked tendency to introspection combined 
with excellent auto-criticism ; perseverance, energy, and capacity for 
taking pains ; modified and accompanied by slow mental action, clum¬ 
siness in thought and movement, and usually a somewhat limited 
vocabulary, i.e., symptoms of slight feeble-mindedness. The episodes 
associated with this temperament are, of course, fits and “equivalents,” 
both tending to be short, sudden, periodical, similar in those of the 
same type, and more or less guiltless of external cause. 

In considering the above three temperaments, one cannot fail to 
observe the underlying resemblance between them. A likeness probably 
pointing to a closely-allied if not common basis. 

In ail, the outstanding features are hyperasthesia, with an accompany¬ 
ing tendency to excessive reaction to stimuli; resulting clinically in 
affective sensitiveness, emotional instability, intolerance of unpleasant 
affective states, explosiveness of conduct, and, relatively as compared 
with normal men, lack of adaptability to environment. In all, emotional 
stress results in abnormal but allied reactions—sometimes superficially 
diverse clinically, often clinically similar. 

With regard to hysteria and psychasthenia, it will be readily seen that 
the anaesthesias, paralyses, for example, of the former are represented in 
the latter by parasthesias and coarse tremors, inco ordination forming 
the link between paralysis and tremor. 

Put briefly, the difference between the episodes of these two tempera¬ 
ments are entirely explicable upon the theory of varying functioning of 
suppression. 

The resemblances between the hysterical psychical episodes and those 
of epilepsy are equally clear. The early incidence of fits in chronic 
epileptics probably accounts for the weak-mindedness which colours 
their temperament and episodes, periodicity resulting from cerebral 
habit. 

The hypothesis suggested is that a common inherent nervous insta¬ 
bility lies at the root of all three psychoneuroses j epilepsy representing 
the most severe form, hysteria the next, and psychasthenia the nearest 
approach to the normal. Probably, environment in early life also plays 
a part in determining which type shall develop from a common psycho¬ 
neurotic diathesis. This conception brings these psychoneuroses into 
line with mania, melancholia, melancholic stupor, and mixed con¬ 
ditions, which are regarded as manifestations of an underlying manic- 
depressive diathesis. 

Many considerations point to an inherent abnormality of the vaso¬ 
motor system playing no inconsiderable part in the aetiology of the 
psychoneurotic diathesis. Perhaps evidences of this, seen in the 
episodes of all three psychoneuroses, are low blood-pressure, sweats, 


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vertigo, fits, flushings, palpitation, feelings of impending death or “ all 
goneness,” oedema, blueness of extremities, etc. The question is 
worthy of further study by neurologists. 

The theory of a common basis for the psychoneuroses appears to be 
borne out by the study of the psychoneurotic symptoms of battle- 
origin. A very large percentage of battle-syndromes manifest symptoms 
of hysteria, psychasthenia, epilepsy, and indeterminate intermediate 
signs which might belong to any of the three. Almost all cases also 
exhibit some degree of anxiety neurosis. Indeed, one may say that not 
a few “shell shocks ” exhibit each psychoneurosis in the same order 
and succession as that suggested for the relative severity of the inherent 
temperaments, viz. : 

(1) Loss, or hysterical dissociations of consciousness. (N.B.— 
Chronic “ fitting ” epileptics seldom reach the firing line.) 

(2) “Hysterical ” fits, paralyses, commonly dumbness. 

(3) Anxiety neurosis. 

(4) Psychasthenia. 

(5) Recovery. 

Or in unfavourable cases, we find instead— 

(4) “ Hystero-epileptic ” fits and equivalents. 

(5) “ Epileptic ” fits. 

Severe cases of war neurosis show mingled symptoms, and many, 
according to changes of environment, oscillate backwards and forwards 
between all the syndromes. For example : Send a psychasthenic case 
back to a reserve unit, let him see a T.M.B^ 1 ), and be marked A, and he 
will develop a dissociation of consciousness, or fit, or anxiety state. 
Nearly all cases manifest vertigo, headache, insomnia, terrifying dreams, 
and momentary loss of power of attention. Chronic “shell-shock” 
cases who do not have fits almost invariably suffer from “ equivalents ” 
practically indistinguishable except in intensity from those of chronic 
epileptics; these usually take the form of vertigo, malaise, headache, 
morose depression, and wound-up temper. 

The temperamental traits of soldiers suffering from battle-psycho¬ 
neurosis, who had apparently been normal prior to the war, show a 
well-marked mingling of those of the three psychoneurotic temperaments. 

Reactions of Persons of Psychoneurotic Diathesis to Military 

Service. 

(a) The Hysterical Temperame?it. 

(1) Pure hysterics who do not manifest somatic episodes, fits, or 
dissociations of consciousness in civil life, should be trained rapidly for 
the firing line. They sometimes do well for a time, and may occa¬ 
sionally distinguish themselves in fulfilling a previous heroic day-dream. 


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(2) When such cases develop an episode they should be cured at 
once near the firing line, by hypnosis or some modification thereof that 
provides an outlet for the suppressed fear instinct in dream form, and 
returned to the front line. 

(3) A second similar breakdown should be followed by base hospital 
treatment. If successful, the man should be again sent up. 

(4) The supervention of the anxiety neurosis renders it necessary to 
send the man home to hospital. 

(5) Those hysterics who suffer from occasional episodes while 
training at home should be marked permanently for non-fighting service. 

(6) Men who are discovered to be markedly unstable emotionally, 
and who prior to foreign service, suffer from frequent episodes, should 
be invalided out. 

(7) Any combination of anxiety neurosis with hysteria should indicate 
permanent home service. 

(8) Hysteroepilepsy, according to its severity, should mark a man 
home service or permanently unfit. 

(b) The Psychasthenic Temperament. 

(1) Mild psychasthenics, who have never had an anxiety neurosis, 
and who only manifest mild stigmata when run down, e. g., stammer, 
occasional irrepressible ideas, and “ worrying,” are fit for the firing line. 

(2) Psychasthenics who have recovered from an anxiety neurosis not 
due to battle nor to family troubles, separation from sick or penurious 
relatives ( i.e ., “ the home complex ”), are fit for garrison duty abroad. 

(3) Those who have had a home complex anxiety neurosis within 
recent years are only fit for home service. 

(4) Psychasthenics who have to go sick with anxiety or exhaustion 
(true neurasthenic) symptoms frequently in civil life, are useless for 
the Army. 

(5) Soldiers returned from an Expeditionary Force, whether previously 
psychasthenic or not, who develop anxiety neurosis followed by psych- 
asthenia, as the result of shell-shock, shell-fright, or battle strain, should 
be marked permanently for home service at hospital, and travelling 
medical boards should not be allowed to raise their category. My 
experience leads me to two conclusions in cases of this sort: 

(i) That many “shell-shocked” soldiers are lost entirely to the 
Army by travelling medical boards raising their categories, and 
thus causing relapses, rendering invaliding necessary in the case of 
men previously fit to serve at home. 

(ii) That the fear or knowledge of such raising of categories by 
T.M.Bs. prevents many “ shell-shock ” cases recovering in hospital 
sufficiently to serve at home or on garrison duty abroad; and, 
therefore, such men have to be invalided out. 


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(c) The Epileptic Temperament. 

(1) Long-standing epileptics who have only occasional fits, and no, 
or only mild, equivalents such as slight periodical moroseness, can be 
sent into the firing line. Apart from shell-shock such cases appear to 
be little the worse for useful fighting, probably owing to the all-round 
dulling due to the chronicity of their malady. 

(2) Persons of epileptic temperament who have recovered from fits, 
i.e., in whom there is little dulling of sensibility, are likely to develop 
severe equivalents and fits at the Front, and should be kept at home. 

(3) It will be seen, therefore, that slight mental deterioration in cases 
of class (1) is no contra-indication for active service. 

(4) Epileptics of type (1) who have been “shell-shocked,” although 
they usually recover rapidly from the hysterical part of their resultant 
hystero-epilepsy, should not be sent to the line again. 

(5) Epileptics with severe equivalents, whether they have fits at the 
time or not, are totally unfit for the Army. 

(6) The same is true of persons of epileptic temperament, with or 
without fits, who show anxiety or psychasthenic symptoms. 

(7) The practice, therefore, of discharging all epileptics who “fit” is 
probably a mistaken one. Many can do excellent work in quiet posts, 
e.g ., in offices, home hospitals, labour companies, at fatigues, or as 
servants in units. 

Indications for Treatment of Psychoneuroses in Military 

Hospitals. 

I. Civil Lije Types , i.e., Cases who have never Served Abroad. 

With very few exceptions these are men who have always suffered 
from psychoneurotic diathesis, and the question arises—should these 
cases be kept for prolonged treatment in military hospitals during 
attempts to cure what is in essence a life-long disability, in which home 
service has produced an exacerbation ? 

I think the answer can only be in the negative. They should simply 
be given rest in hospital while their discharge from the service is 
being effected, combined with the assurance that the latter is being 
done. This is quite sufficient in the vast majority of cases to cure 
the exacerbation, and leave them none the worse for their military 
experience. If at all disabled for civil life when discharged they should 
be given a gratuity, not a pension. 

A few cases that break down under excessive stress of one sort or 
another while serving at home recover sufficiently in hospital in a 
short time merely as the result of the removal of that stress. If it 
were possible to guarantee permanent home service for these cases 

LX IV. 26 


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374 THE PSYCHONEUROTIC TEMPERAMENT, [Oct., 

they could continue to serve at home, if only O.Cs. of units would give 
them suitable work, or if it were possible for M.Os. to recommend 
transfer from one unit to another with any likelihood of their suggestions 
being considered. 

The exacerbations referred to above, include anxiety states, hysterical 
episodes, and the more severe stigmata of psychasthenics, as well as 
mixed states incapacitating a man for work. 

II. Psychoneuroses first appearing after Battle. 

In this class are included the cases due to the circumstances of 
battle, and giving no history of pre-expeditionary psychoneurotic 
diathesis. 

Some observers seem to think that such cases always lie about their 
past mental history, denying all symptoms before being “blown up,” or 
what not, for the sake of pensions. 

However this may be at Pensions Boards, it is certainly not so when 
these cases are sent into hospital. Before any question of boarding 
or even pensions arises the men are carefully examined and their history 
taken, and the latter is usually true. In fact, if any of the patients’ 
statements have to be taken cum grano salt's, it is those in which in 
reply to leading questions they agree that they suffered from some 
special nervous symptom in civil life. A little experience soon enables 
one to separate the grain from the chaff, if chaff there be. 

With regard to treatment, the question is an entirely different one 
from that considered under the last section. The present type of 
patient is suffering (unless he has been the round of military hospitals 
and been subjected to too much “treatment”) from one recent affection 
with a definite cause, namely, he has functional mental disorder—psycho 
neurosis, resulting from outrage of his instinct of self-preservation by 
the stresses of battle. In parenthesis, perhaps, I may say for what it 
is worth that, although we have had well over five hundred of these 
cases (i.e., battle types, not necessarily entirely due to such cause) 
through our hands during the last three years, I have never found any 
clinical distinctions between cases supposed to be due to “ commotion ” 
and those supposed to be due to “ emotion.” 

Now, these cases must be treated in hospital, even though the results 
may be poor in the Army. General considerations have been dealt 
with above in reference to their disposal. 

The first and most important point to be clear about is that it is 
perfectly useless waste of time to psycho-analyse in the Freudian sense 
any of these men. We know the complex, if any, suppressed, viz., the 
fear complex, and to fish for other things merely does harm. Secondly, 
only certain types should be treated psycho-therapeutically at all (I am 
not referring to “ therapeutic conversation ” here). If the case is goin 


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to be discharged from the Army, tell him so. Patients suffering from 
hysterical or psychasthenic episodes should be cured, if possible, by 
some method of suggestion, with or without anaesthesia or hypnotism, 
or, if you will, by psycho-analysis of buried battle-memories only. 

Anxiety types, very recent types (*.«., convoy cases before they have 
rested and settled down), should have none of these forms of treatment, 
let alone electricity ! 

The importance of choosing the right time and type of case for 
psychical treatment cannot be over-estimated. 

III. Psychoneuroses occurring after Battle in Persons previously Neurotic. 

These cases are often severe. The majority, of course, were formerly 
quite able to carry on in civil life. Here, again, I would submit that it 
does not come within the duties of the M.Os. in military hospitals to 
spend months trying to make these men normal. One should endeavour 
to cure the battle-factor symptoms ; that is to say, tackle the suppressed 
fear-complex if there be any suppression; anxiety neurosis types should 
be rested, cheered, assured of their discharge, and they will get back, 
or very near to, their pre-war level. 

I have seen some of the results of Freudian psycho-analysis of these 
cases (usually transferred here because they have become suicidal). 
One came here with the idea (duly implanted by a psycho-analyst) that 
he would never be well until he emigrated and left his father; that his 
father had always imposed on him ; and he was filled with a mingled 
grief and anger against a perfectly good and sane parent. He was 
depressed, anxious, and psychasthenic. He had always been of worrying 
type. He made a good recovery after a few weeks, his aversion to his 
father having been removed, and the cause of his symptoms, viz., 
battle-strain, explained to him. 

Another case was similar. He was admitted in a state of weepy 
depression, and imbued with the notion that marriage was the only 
thing that would cure him, because he was too fond of his mother. This 
man had merely been highly strung in civil life. His military history 
was two years in France, a shell-shock of some sort, a subsequent air 
raid upon the hospital he was in, and “ two stripes up.” And his con¬ 
dition was due to incestuous longings for his mother ! After this 
nonsense was eradicated from his mind he did very well. 

Both these men, however, had to be discharged from the service. 

A third case was one of mixed anxiety with depression, with functional 
paresis of the legs. He had had ten months’ hospital treatment of 
every conceivable variety, both psychical and electrical. He was sent 
here because of increasing depression, which improved here, as did 
also the paresis, but it was hopeless attemptirig to do anything for him 
but reassure him regarding his discharge, and encourage him. He did 


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376 THE PSYCHONEUROTIC TEMPERAMENT. [Oct., 

not recover here, but had to be transferred with a recommendation for 
discharge as permanently unfit. This man gave no history of civil life 
neurosis, nor did he care a button about pensions, being well-off in civil 
life. He had had well-marked shell-shock, and a long period in the 
line. His one idea was to escape from hospital and treatment. I have 
not the least doubt but that he did perfectly well when discharged. 

One of the most common varieties of psychoneurotic type being 
admitted to this hospital at present are boys of psychoneurotic diathesis, 
who, after a few weeks in the Army, develop some serious mental 
disturbance. These boys are slightly feeble-minded, but their main 
disability lies in their inherent inability to cope practically with Army life. 

They have usually been shy, solitary boys, who have never played 
games, never dissipated or indulged in pranks, but have all their lives 
been timid, seclusive, and introspective. In most cases they have never 
left home before. They may have had fits in childhood, or some other 
stigmata, or general ill-health, which prevented their regular attendance 
at school, or they may have been dunces there. They have in almost 
all cases been teased and bullied at school and in the Army. Before 
their minds break down they may appear sullen through stupidity 
or nervous lack of concentration; they are sometimes regarded as 
malingerers by incompetent judges, or as cowards because they are 
nervously unstable. 

When admitted to hospital the condition is usually one of severe 
depression, with or without anxiety and tremor, or, not infrequently, a 
state of confusion or hysterical dissociation of consciousness. Quite a 
fair proportion of them terminate in dementia praecox, i.e., chronic 
lunacy. According to their temperaments they carry on for varying 
periods in the Army before they break down, and the longer this (to 
them) period of misery, the more severe the break when it does come. 

If a boy at school cannot play games, learn his lessons, mix happily 
with his fellows, but is a shy game-shirker, a slow scholar in spite of 
perseverance, and a butt, he cannot be converted into a soldier at the 
age of 18 by our present methods. 

In summing up this brief prMs, which touches upon so large a 
subject, I would venture to hazard the following suggestions : 

(1) That the psychoneuroses epilepsy, psychasthenia, and hysteria 
have a common basis, which may be called the psychoneurotic tempera¬ 
ment or diathesis, which, in turn, is dependent upon deviations in the 
degree of activity of natural psychological functions. 

(2) That these disorders, whatever their physical basis may be, are 
for practical purposes mental disorders, and should be treated as such. 
We cannot yet make an unadaptable man adaptable by neurological 
methods. 

(3) That neurologists and others who have had no civilian experience 


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of psychological medicine or mental disorders, but have acquired some 
knowledge of psycho-therapeutics, are not the best persons to treat 
pschoneuroses or other mental disorders, nor to diagnose them, e.g., 
many so-called “ shell-shocks ” turn out to be “ mental cases,” even in 
the restricted sense of the latter term ; not a few early dementia praecox 
cases are labelled “neurasthenia” and quite a number of “? mental” 
types are discovered to be hysterics. 

(4) That psycho-analysis, hypnotism, seclusion, and other forms of 
psycho-therapeutics are dangerous weapons in the hands of such neuro¬ 
logists. 

(5) That it is desirable that there should be established central special 
Recruiting Boards, to which all mentally doubtful examinees, and those 
complaining of psychoneurotic, etc., symptoms, should be referred by 
the ordinary Recruiting Boards before passing such cases into the Army. 

(6) That the powers of T.M.Bs. should be curtailed over cases 
categorised by a special hospital on account of psychoneurotic affections. 
It is surely bad policy that the opinion of a T.M.B., founded upon a 
few moments’ examination of a man it has never seen before, should 
over-ride the considered opinion of a specialist who has had the man 
under observation in all his moods for weeks. 

(7) That T.M.Bs., before re-categorising recently joined soldiers 
complaining of psychoneurotic symptoms or manifesting such, should 
send them into a special hospital for report. 

(') Travelling Medical Board. 


Moral Sanity. By (the Rev.) J. G. James, D.Litt., M.A.Lond., 
Southsea. 

Many years ago Mr. H. G. Wells entered the “ den of lions ” and 
addressed the “ Mind Association,” which embraces the most distin¬ 
guished experts in metaphysics, on “Philosophy.” He was well received, 
however, and doubtless the expert mind was refreshed by the presenta¬ 
tion of the philosophy of the “ plain man,” as expounded by the talented 
writer. Much more daring and bold is the present writer, who makes no 
claim to be a specialist in any direction, and does not possess expert 
learning except, perhaps, in metaphysics, in thus writing on so difficult 
and technical a subject as sanity for those who have made psycho¬ 
therapeutics their life study. The object of this paper may, at once, be 
stated to be to express the profoundest admiration and appreciation of 
the methods of mental specialists, whose principles are in the estimation 
of the writer so eminently sound as viewed from the standpoint of both 
philosophy and religion. 

The first point to be noticed by way of recognition of the value of 


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378 MORAL SANITY, [Oct., 

the methods of the psychological school is the position given to psycho¬ 
logy, properly so-called, in their procedure. Remarkable developments 
have taken place of late, and these are rapidly proceeding, in the bifur¬ 
cation of psychology into epistemology or a branch of metaphysics, on 
the one hand, and into psychophysics on the other. The now popular 
experimental psychology seems to be tending in the direction of the 
biological, if not material, aspect of mental phenomena. We may, 
perhaps, trace an analogy here to that school of writers on mental 
science whose investigations resolve themselves into the observation 
and classification of pathological mental conditions, as though such 
analysis were the ultimate aim. It is not for the present writer to 
attempt to criticise this school, but rather to express his sympathy with 
those writers and practitioners who take a strictly psychological view of 
the matter and who treat mental disorders as being the phenomena of 
“ mind,” as distinguished, though not separate from, the organism 
which, as we are told, is not necessarily impaired or deteriorated in the 
case of the insane. 

The strictly psychological treatment of mental disease is not pre¬ 
cluded from adopting certain forms of experimental psychology, as in 
the highly-important and invaluable word-reaction method of Jung. In 
this method, as well as in the application of some of the basic principles 
laid down by Freud, the school to which reference is being made, lays 
its chief emphasis, as we understand it, upon the supremacy of mental 
complexes as distinguished from merely organic processes. This 
position will largely account for, and is in complete harmony with, the 
general attitude of the school towards hypnotism, which always more 
or less reduces the personality to an automatic condition, with all its 
attendant drawbacks and perils. This does not necessarily, of course, 
involve a complete ban upon hypnotism in all forms, but it brings the 
higher processes of consciousness into operation in preference to the 
secondarily-automatic and the subconscious. 

The re-instatement of “ Mind ” in mental science is to start with a 
great gain in the interests of moral as well as mental sanity. On this 
basis it is sought to correct those mental complexes which have become 
morbid through the failure of normal adjustment or adaptation to the 
world of reality, or “ things as they are.” The study of the nature of 
reality would, of course, take us far beyond the scope of descriptive 
psychology into the realm of metaphysics proper. It involves the 
whole question of subjective and objective, immanence and transcend¬ 
ence, the individual and the universe. It is the main problem of meta¬ 
physics for all time, but of late years special attention has been given, 
as in the schools of neo-realism, and the systems of Bergson and Croce 
and others, to the problem of ultimate, objective, and concrete reality. 
Failure to reach reality as objective is to reduce all thinking to barren 


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abstractions, or “an unearthly ballet of bloodless categories.” The 
dreadful curse of “ solipsism ” which all philosophers are anxious to 
avert, if they can but fasten it upon others, is akin to that which 
mental specialists realise that they have to combat in the morbid 
moods, the subjectivism of the false world of the paranoiac, in which the 
phantasy of abnormal complexes lead to the perversions and distortions 
of the subconscious states of mind. The want of proper adjustment to 
the external world and the conditions of one’s lot, together with the 
defence psychoses which are the phases of the abnormal conscious¬ 
ness, are aspects of that pathological mental condition which corre¬ 
spond to the “ heresies ” of philosophy and the theologian’s “ state of 
sin.” 

Still the question persists, What is Reality ? It is not the external 
as such and certainly not the merely material. For practical purposes 
it may be said that the real world is the world as it exists for us all, and 
objectivity is attested by the collective consciousness. Consequently, 
we may consider ourselves normal if the world generally acknowledges 
us to be so. This rough and ready way of viewing the matter is not 
satisfactory for philosophy, as we shall frankly admit. It is, however, 
important to note that the right attitude of the spiritual self, and, indeed, 
the whole personality is that which does not refuse to acknowledge, and 
does not rebel against reality, in so far as it is presented and appre¬ 
hended. The immediacy of intuition and even faith through which a 
man is brought face to face with the truth of things, and by means of 
which he receives the impact upon his consciousness of that which has 
the right of appeal, would determine his whole attitude towards reality. 
That a man should accept his “ station and its duties,” that his sense 
of moral values should direct his decisions, that he should free himself 
from prepossessions, preoccupations, obsessions, and prejudices would 
all make for moral sanity as it forms the main constituent in mental 
sanity. It involves the freedom of the mind from self-centred interests 
and over-subjectivism, which always tend to morbidity in some form 
or degree. This freedom may be considered as healthy for mind and 
body, and normal from the standpoint of the physician as well as the 
theologian. 

The nature of reality may require for its due investigation the whole 
range of philosophy and theology, and if by the line of advance, a 
spiral line it may be, we may continuously approach or approximate to 
it, reality in the ultimate is an ideal which is never wholly apprehended. 
Nevertheless, sanity requires that continuous advance should be made, 
and if by the right orientation of our souls in that direction we come 
to feel its impact upon our consciousness, the hurtful and harmful 
illusions of life in consequence will fall away. The world of men and 
things around us constitute a challenge for our effort and our service, 


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and by accepting the challenge with the knowledge that we are doing 
our duty, and that we do not flinch from or refuse the demands of the 
hour, our vital activities acquire the proper poise, and our characters 
become well balanced. Religion asks that life should be lived always 
with reference to “ the spirit of the whole,” and it is only in this way 
that the personality gains its dignity, its power, and its sanity. 

Incidentally the question may arise, how far the condition of the 
world to-day, which almost seems to justify Prince Troubetzkoy’s 
description of it as the “ Reign of Nonsense,” is due to mental or 
moral insanity. Are the Teutonic peoples, the ruling caste, and the 
Kaiser, afflicted with collective paranoia? The great Central Empires 
are manifestly obsessed by the idea that the whole of the rest of the 
world, led by England, is through jealousy and spite bent on their 
destruction. This great fear, amounting at length almost to panic, so 
far overrides all moral considerations in a race peculiarly subjective, 
and given to strong, if perverted, idealism, that it feels itself justified 
in employing any measures, right or wrong, or even barbarous and 
diabolical, in order to protect itself against a world in arms, and to 
promote its mission of Kultur. Whether mentally or morally diseased 
or both, we need not attempt to decide, nor to fix the degree of 
culpability; but certainly all the phenomena of paranoia seem to be 
exhibited here, and it cannot be said that these nations are completely 
sane. The only course of action possible is to administer to the 
enemies of mankind and the social order the same restraint, once they 
can be overpowered, that must be imposed upon dangerous maniacs for 
their own preservation no less than for the protection of the race. 

Our main contention is, then, that mental and moral sanity are so 
closely allied, if not fundamentally the same, that when the totality of 
the powers and functions of personality are considered, the true and 
proper relation of vital interest with reality is the final determinant. 
Reality, as we have seen, may be variously conceived, as the circum¬ 
stances attending our station and its duties, the challenging objective, 
or the Supreme Reality, according to the standpoint that we take, 
mental or moral, philosophical or religious. This being granted, we 
are in a position to estimate the importance of the methods employed 
by the psychological school. If, as Dr. Henry Devine affirms ( l ), 
“ insanity is a matter of personality,” with all its delusional phantasy 
and instability of character and ideals, then the most important treatment 
is obviously such an analysis as will determine the point at which the 
rupture with reality took a serious form, with the object of inducing 
the patient to retrace his steps, so as to begin a process of re-education. 
This analysis involves a demand for expert knowledge and skill, but 
the remedy will consist in what we may term “ moral suasion.” It is a 
correction, by suggestion or wholesome advice and watchful interest 


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and care on the part of the physician, in the interests of reality and of 
the patient himself. Thus it becomes the undoing and the disentangling 
of the perverted complexes so as to correct the mischief wrought thereby 
on the subconscious mind. The significance of this most difficult and 
heroically patient method of treatment lies in the fact that it is precisely 
what the faithful and intelligent pastor or priest is endeavouring to do 
in his own way, and along his own distinctive lines. To get at the 
root of the evil, to induce the sufferer to go back to the beginning and 
make a fresh start, all this is involved in the theological concept of 
repentance, which is essentially a change of direction and a change of 
heart. The same objections are urged against both methods, that it is 
unwise to “rake up the past;” but the same justification holds good 
in both cases, that, in the interests of healthy-mindedness, the disease 
must be properly diagnosed and the evil faced and grappled with, not 
for the pleasure of the interest in unwholesome experiences, still less 
that the patient may unduly dwell upon morbid conditions. Still, the 
need of “ confession ” of the faux pas, and the resolution to face the 
issues frankly and fully, is a step gained ; and wise counsel, kindly 
suggestion, and a firm handling will accomplish a great deal towards 
dispelling the fantastic delusions and the perverted views of life which 
have wrought such havoc in the subconscious region of mind. For the 
restoration of the mental, and no less the moral, balance it is necessary 
that every person should gain a just interpretation of the objective 
forms of existence, and come to accept the values of truth, goodness, 
and beauty, that are superior to himself, and that he should order his 
life accordingly. “ Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and 
shall assure our heart before Him, whereinsoever our heart condemn us ; 
because God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.” This 
is St. John’s corrective of the morbid temper and misgiving. 

These considerations will meet the last remaining objection that may 
be raised, that the world owes much of its interest and charm to the 
creations of the mind, and most of its reforms to visionaries and dreamers 
who were accounted “ mad ” in their day, and who certainly did not 
accept the world as it was. But surely it must be acknowledged that 
there are objective values in the realm of the moral and the spiritual, 
and it is these values which are intuited, appreciated, and accepted by 
those who become the prophets and seers, the poets and philosophers 
of their time. It is not in their case the triumph of the subjective, but 
rather the clearer vision and the fuller grasp of the objective standards. 
They may rise above the actual, the ordinary, and the commonplace, 
but they do not escape from the real, if they are to stand on solid 
ground, and accomplish substantial work in the world. 

Finally, as the result of these reflections, we may venture to hope 
that a completer mutual confidence and co-operation may exist, not 


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only between psychologists and the medical faculty, but also between 
the medical faculty and the ministry of religion. The distinctive 
functions of each must be maintained, but a little better knowledge of, 
and insight into, the respective aims and methods of both would promote 
far greater mutual regard and respect. The present writer is glad to 
acknowledge the immense debt of gratitude he owes to some slight 
study of the principles of psychotherapy. Let us hope that as each 
understands a little less imperfectly the work of the other faculty, we 
shall the better learn how to do our own, and come to realise that we are 
working hand in hand, each in his own sphere, to restore a more healthy 
outlook and tone to this sad and insane world. 

(') “ The Pathogenesis of a Delusion,” Journal of Mental Science, July, 1911. 


Occasional Note. 


The Annual Meeting. 

It is four years since the Association held its Annual Meeting in 
what may be called a normal manner and under normal conditions. 
The members who attended the meeting at Norwich in 1914, under 
the presidency of Dr., now Lieut.-Col., Thomson, cherish very pleasant 
memories of their three days’ sojourn in the interesting old city and its 
delightful surroundings. None of those who were there, as our new 
President intimated at the opening of his address, could have anticipated 
that almost within a few days of their parting a greater catastrophe than 
has ever been recorded in history was to overwhelm the continent of 
Europe with all the suddenness and destructiveness of an avalanche. 
Still less that a war which would extend into its fifth year of duration 
was awaiting us. Owing to this our annual meetings have been of a 
purely business character, and all held in London, without any of the 
usual social amenities which used to form such a pleasant feature on 
similar previous occasions. Each successive year it was hoped that the 
war would come to an end, and in this expectation Col. Thomson was 
asked to continue in office until, with the advent of peace, his successor 
would have an opportunity of conducting the proceedings on the old 
lines. This, unfortunately, has not been possible owing to the con¬ 
tinuance of the war. But it was felt that it would be unfair to make any 
further demand on Col. Thomson when he had so generously responded 
to the wishes of the members in continuing to occupy the chair of 
office for four years—a position which he filled to the entire satisfaction 
of the Association at large, and the duties attached to which, notwith¬ 
standing the multitude of other matters constantly requiring his atten¬ 
tion, far from performing in anything like a perfunctory manner, he dis- 


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charged with almost unfailing regularity, with ability of a high order, 
and with an unflagging zeal for the best interests of the Association, 
which, severally and collectively, owes him a debt of gratitude which the 
members would find it difficult, if not impossible, to repay. 

If we speed the parting we are equally ready to welcome the coming 
guest, and in their selection of Lieut.-Col. Keay as their chief officer 
the members of the Association feel that it has been a wise choice on 
their part, and in his case an honour well deserved. They are confident 
that the interests of the Association will be safe in his hands, and the 
recent meeting at Edinburgh may be taken as an index of Col. Keay’s 
capacity for fulfilling some of the most important of his presidential 
duties, and we have no doubt whatever that, under his aegis, the affairs 
of the Association will continue to be transacted in the most efficient 
manner. 

The one subject that is uppermost in the mind of every citizen of 
the Empire is, undeniably, the war. And Bangour Village, having been 
for the present converted from an asylum for the insane into a war 
hospital, it was only to be expected that the change would be more or 
less reflected in the character of the Annual Meeting, which, accordingly, 
differed from its predecessors in that it was occupied more with military 
than with purely psychiatric interests. In his thoughtful and deeply 
interesting Presidential Address Col. Keay took for his subject, “ The 
War and the Burden of Insanity”—a theme which, having had the double 
advantage of prolonged acquaintance with the many problems of mental 
science and of more recently acquired experience of the pathological 
results of war, he was peculiarly qualified to treat. And all those 
who had the privilege of listening to the address we are sure found it 
full of absorbing interest, which was none the less for the soupfon of 
humour which gave it extra picquancy and flavour. The points touched 
upon are of general and wide-spread interest to lay as well as to profes¬ 
sional readers. Such are the effects of war, both good and bad—bad, 
in removing such a vast number of the fittest of the population, while 
the old and feeble and unfit are carefully preserved; with these latter 
Col. Keay, with conscious or unconscious humour, classes in the same 
category “ the clergy, the inmates of our asylums and the members of 
the House of Commons ”; bad, again, in the enormous expenditure— 
an outlay of many millions per day of the nation’s wealth in the prosecu¬ 
tion of the war, notwithstanding which we have been, as regards trade, 
“ enjoying prosperous times,” and the country has been “ apparently 
rolling in money.” But this is, as it were, merely a flash in the pan, and 
the restoration to normal conditions will probably take a generation or 
more to accomplish. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that in 
some aspects the war has been productive of substantial good, as, for 
instance, in quelling what is characterised by Stephen McKenna, as 


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quoted by Col. Keay, as “a spirit of unrest and lawlessness” which 
prevailed more or less generally throughout the kingdom, and which 
included such “ hysterical controversies ” as those connected with the 
status of the House of Lords, industrial strikes (with these, unfortu¬ 
nately, we are by no means done), the female suffrage campaign, and 
the Home Rule controversy. It has, moreover, apparently brought 
about a decrease of serious crime, of pauperism and of insanity. As 
regards that important question, the early treatment of insanity, the war 
has undoubtedly been productive of some valuable experience. Now, 
for the first time, opportunities have been provided for the immediate 
treatment of recent mental cases without certification, which in ordinary 
circumstances is, as a rule, only done after a considerable period has 
elapsed after the first symptoms have manifested themselves. It is too 
soon as yet, and there is not a sufficient amount of statistical information 
at hand, to enable us to compute with any accuracy in what proportion 
of such cases recovery has taken place under early treatment, and with¬ 
out the necessity of sending the patient to an asylum; but the facts, so 
far as they can be ascertained, are encouraging, and go far to justify the 
hope that, if the same facilities could be provided in the case of the 
civil population as exist with respect to military patients, equally favour¬ 
able results would not be improbable. This was an object dear to the 
heart of the late Dr. Maudsley, and one which prompted him to the 
founding of the institution which bears his name. What success will be 
achieved in time to come, when the hospital will be utilised for the 
purpose for which it was originally intended, lies still in the lap of 
the gods. We must only have faith in the future, and trust that Dr. 
Maudsley’s hopes, in which he is joined by not a few, will one day reach 
their full fruition. 

The pressing questions of the day in direct connection with insanity, 
such as those of child care from the period of pre-natal existence through 
the successive stages of infancy, childhood, youth and adolescence; the 
control—if necessary, State control—of alcoholic indulgence and the pre¬ 
vention of syphilis were ably dealt with in the address. And as regards 
this latter subject, we would like to draw special attention to one 
paragraph which, to give greater emphasis to the President’s fearlessly 
expressed views, we take leave to reproduce here: 

“What is wanted is that the public should be awakened to a realisa¬ 
tion of the fact that there is in syphilis rampant in our midst a deadly, 
contagious, and hereditary disease, a disease which kills a countless 
number of unborn innocents; which is the cause of mental and bodily 
decrepitude of a large proportion of our idiots and imbeciles; which 
in its various manifestations results in life-long incapacity, bodily 
suffering and mental anguish to numbers of people who, in happier 
circumstances, would be capable and vigorous citizens. And yet, 
withal, a disease which is preventable ; which, in its earlier stages at 


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least, and with proper treatment, is curable; and which, by energetic, 
resolute, concerted action by the great civilised nations could be 
stamped out and abolished for ever.” 

It would be well if this citation could be blazoned in glowing 
characters throughout the civilised world, amongst all the busy haunts 
of men. 

Although, by what was no doubt mutual consent, there was no annual 
dinner, members who attended the meeting, and especially those who 
came from a distance, were received with a liberal hospitality by their 
Scottish colleagues, in keeping with old Edinburgh traditions of long 
standing. The President entertained a large number at dinner on the 
Monday preceding the meeting at the North British Hotel; and an 
equally pleasant reunion was provided on Wednesday evening at the 
Caledonian by Dr. Robertson, who also, along with the kind co-opera¬ 
tion of the Chairman and Managers of the Morningside Mental Hospital, 
gave a most enjoyable “At Home ” on Tuesday evening at Craig House 
to a large number of guests. 

The visit to Bangour Village, now the Edinburgh War Hospital, 
under the command of Col. Keay, on the second day of the meeting 
was an altogether delightful experience, and partook rather of the nature 
of a picnic than of a purely scientific meeting, although, as shown in 
the report, most interesting scientific demonstrations kept the audience, 
which included not merely members of the profession, quite enthralled. 
The generous hospitality of the President and Mrs. Keay gave abundant 
opportunity for genial social intercourse, and, but for a passing shower, 
the weather was perfect. On the whole the Edinburgh meeting was a 
complete success, and afforded a restful interlude and unalloyed pleasure 
to all who were able to attend, and especially to those members of 
our specialty who had been engaged in work of strenuous, possibly 
exhausting, character throughout the year. 

It may be that in the eyes of the “ unco’ guid ” (or unco’ dour) any¬ 
thing in the way of enjoyment may seem to be altogether out of place 
at a time when the nations are wrung with sorrow, and when there is 
hardly a family in the kingdom which has not suffered, or is not at 
present suffering, anxiety, bereavement, and distress, when Death is 
daily claiming his victims from the stricken homes of our Motherland 
during the slow progress of this cruel and relentless war. Still, it may 
not be the best or wisest course for a nation, or for the individuals who 
compose it, to abandon themselves to unrestrained mourning, to shut 
out all sunshine from their lives. Would their dead wish it ? We take 
leave to doubt it. Those gallant souls who loved not their lives unto 
the death, who greeted the unseen with a cheer for love of home and 
country, they surely would not wish their glorious self-sacrifice and 
devotion to leave nothing in its wake but enduring sadness and gloom. 


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If they could speak to us surely they would say—“ Be of good cheer. 
Let not your hearts be troubled; all is well.” Under such afflicting 
circumstances we can, perhaps, the better understand the pertinence of 
the words which Shakespeare (who knew most of what is in man) put 
into the mouth of Theseus : 

“ What revels are in hand ? Is there no play 
To east the anguish of a torturing hour ? ” 

It is no easy rile to endure sore trial with a smiling face, and any¬ 
thing which conduces to the lifting of the veil of sadness, to the 
taking us out of ourselves and our troubles, even for a season, to 
detaching our minds from corroding grief, must receive our commenda¬ 
tion. It serves to mitigate the poignancy of sorrow, and enables us 
who are left behind—and herein lies its worth and justification—with 
renewed courage and confidence still to carry on. 


Part II.—Epitome of Current Literature. 


Clinical Neurology and Psychiatry. 

Studies on Hysteria. (.Review of Neurology and Psychiatry , January, 
1918.) Hurst , A. F. and Symns,/. L. M. 

A series of researches into the various hysterical stigmata. The 
writers, as a result of their investigations, support the view of Babinski 
that these stigmata are produced by unconscious suggestion of the 
physician in the course of the examination of the patient. 

The following investigations were made : 

(1) Pharyngeal anesthesia. —The results of the observations are 
tabulated according to a scale, beginning with o (complete anaesthesia), 
and passing to 7 (maximal reflex making laryngoscopic examination 
quite impossible). The figures show that pharyngeal sensibility is no 
more deficient in patients w’ith hysterical symptoms, than in non- 
hysterical cases, and it varies in a similar manner. When care is taken 
to avoid suggestion complete pharyngeal anaesthesia is never found. 
The conclusion is reached that such anaesthesia is not a stigma of 
hysteria, and that when habitually found it must be produced by in 
voluntary suggestion on the part of the observer. 

(2) Experimental observations on the signs and symptoms ef malinger¬ 
ings hysteria , and organic nervous disease. —Hysterical symptoms being 
produced by suggestion have the characteristics which the patient 
believes to belong to the symptom, either from his own knowledge or 
that suggested by the examination. This view was tested by the 
examination of twenty-nine medical students who had not yet acquired 
any clinical knowledge. They were each told to pretend that they had 
been in a railway accident, and that they were attempting to swindle the 
railway company by claiming compensation because of paralysis of the 
right arm and leg, which they alleged had resulted. The symptoms 


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and signs obtained, as a result of the investigations, correspond to 
those occurring in patients suffering from hysterical paralysis. Many 
of the symptoms were produced as the result of leading questions, just 
as in the suggested symptoms of hysteria. The deep and superficial 
reflexes were normal. 

(3) Narrow and spiral fields of vision in hysteria, malingering and 
neurasthenia. —Hysterical patients do not spontaneously complain of 
disabilities resulting from a narrow field of vision. But if a narrow 
field is produced by testing with the perimeter the patient may sub¬ 
sequently complain of considerable inconvenience. The perimeter 
invariably results in suggesting a narrow visual field however carefully 
it is used. The writers found also that if the examination was con¬ 
tinued after the first field was marked out a spiral field was always 
obtained identical with that which has hitherto been regarded as a 
stigma of hysteria. An inward or outward spiral has been produced in 
the same eye on different days according to’the direction in which the 
white disk of the perimeter is moved. By testing with the finger 
instead of the perimeter no narrowing of the visual field was found in 
the “ malingerers ” described in the previous communication. 

(4) The supposed association of hysterical ancesthesia of the external 
ear with hysterical deafness. —In cases of organic deafness anaesthesia 
was frequently found in a marked degree when suggestion was an 
element in the physical examination. Similiar results were obtained 
in hysterical deafness, and the. writers conclude from their observations 
that the supposed association of hysterical anaesthesia of the external 
ear with hysterical deafness is a complete fallacy, and that anaesthesia 
is likely to occur in a deaf ear, whether the deafness is organic or 
hysterical, so long as the individual is sufficiently suggestible and not 
too well educated. 

. (5) A new group of hysterical stigmata. —If hysterical symptoms are 

produced by the observer, hysterical stigmata may be multiplied. This 
point is proved by the invention of three new stigmata which were 
invariably found when looked for in three suggestible patients. These 
stigmata were : (1) An outwardly directed spiral field of vision; (2) 
anaesthesia of the nose ; and (3) anaesthesia of the skin round the 
umbilicus. H. Devine. 


The Rapid Cure of Hysterical Symptoms in Soldiers. {Lancet, August 3rd, 
1918.) Hurst, A. F., and Sytnns, f. L. M. 

Certain hysterical symptoms have seemed to require a prolonged and 
careful re-education for several weeks to complete the cure. Such 
symptoms are : The stammer following mutism, tremors—regarded by 
Babinski as a special neurosis less amenable to psychotherapy than hys¬ 
terical symptoms—and those contractions which Babinski and Fromont 
have diagnosed reflex neuroses. From their more recent experience 
the writers find that prolonged re-education is not necessary in any of 
these cases, and they now expect recovery within twenty-four hours 
of commencing treatment. The rapid cure depends on the persistence 
with the treatment, in spite of the fatigue of the patient and the officer 
in charge, until the particular symptom is entirely cured, e.g., the mute 


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soldier who stammers upon the recovery of the voice should not be 
left until the stammer is also cured. 

Relapse is rare if a cure has been obtained within a few weeks of the 
onset, and the liability to relapse in long-standing cases is much reduced 
if the patient is given open-air occupation, and kept under observation 
at the hospital for a few weeks before return to duty. 

The essential points in the treatment are simple persuasion and re-edu¬ 
cation continued with manipulation. The atmosphere of encouragement 
which should be fostered in the ward before the commencement of active 
treatment is essential for the cure of the case. H. Devine. 


The Treatment of Cases of Shell-shock in an Advanced Neurological 
Centre. {Lancet, August 1 jth, 1918.) Brown, W. 

Observations based on the treatment of between two and three 
thousand cases of psychoneurosis, the majority of whom were treated 
within forty-eight hours of their breakdowm. Of these ca^es 70 per 
cent, were able to return to the line after about a fortnight’s rest. 

The essential factors in the treatment are: (1) Persuasion, whereby 
the patient is rationally convinced of the true nature of his symptoms ; 
(2) the sthenic emotions of confidence, conviction, and expectation. 
The symptoms are of emotional origin, and result from the partial 
failure of repression whereby the emotion is converted into physical 
innervations. The period of incubation of the symptoms corresponds 
to the time during which the patient ife endeavouring to repress the 
painful emotional memories. The therapeutic method employed in 
early cases is one of “abreaction” or “working off” of the painful 
emotion. The patient is put into a condition of light hypnosis, and the 
experiences at the time of the shock are again revived in the mind of 
the patient. This produces a strong emotional reaction, and the patient 
again “lives through” his terrifying experience. This method brings 
back the lost function, but not by direct suggestion as in ordinary 
hypnosis. The patient is told that he will remember all that has 
happened to him during his sleep and during the gradual waking, the 
suppressed memories are synthetised to his personality by talking to him 
of events in his daily life. H. Devine. 

(1) Neurasthenia: The Disorders and Disabilities of Fear. {Lancet, 
January 26th, 1918.) Mott, F. IV. (2) The Psychology of Soldiers' 
Dreams. {Lancet, February 2nd, 1918.) Mott, F. W. 

The phenomena of neurasthenia are the result of continued emotivity 
and preoccupation, causing a persistent condition of neural excitation. 
This tendency to emotivity may be inborn or acquired. This emotional 
excitement often finds its source in dreams of a terrifying nature, especially, 
of course, in the case of soldiers; obsessional preoccupation is also an 
important factor. Thus neurasthenia occurs with considerable frequency 
in men who have never been out of England from the fear of con¬ 
scription or having been conscripted. In such cases the inborn tempera¬ 
mental disposition plays a considerable rdle. A continued emotivity is 
also produced by the fear of being boarded out of service, or not being 
allowed to go to the Front. A mental conflict is thus produced in the 


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mind between the self-conservative instinct and the moral obligation of 
duty and patriotism. 

The second paper deals more fully with the content and mechanism 

of the dreams of soldiers. H. Devine. 

• 

A Case of Pathological Lying Occurring in a Soldier. (Review of 
Neurology atid Psychiatry, July , 1917.) Henderson, D. K. 

The case recorded is the only one of this type observed in 1,400 
admissions of nervous and mental cases. It presents the usual kind of 
history and features found in this type of disorder, and it is published 
not only for its dramatic interest, but more for the important educa¬ 
tional and administrative problems it suggests. 

Such cases are to be regarded as a form of high-grade mental 
deficiency. The diagnosis rests on the following mental characteristics : 
(1) Precociousness ; (2) roving disposition with inability to concentrate ; 
(3) blunting of emotional tone—lack of affection, sense of guilt, moral 
sensibility; (4) lying with inadequate precautions to prevent detection ; 
(5) rather attractive personality; (6) total irresponsibility. 

What is to be done with these plausible, dangerous, and attractive 
types? They cannot usually be certified, and prison methods only 
aggravate the morbid tendencies. The only solution appears to be 
recognition of these cases in childhood, and treatment in colonies, 
where they may be suitably trained. H. Devine. 


Part III—Notes and News. 


THE MEDICO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN 

AND IRELAND. 

The Seventy-seventh Annual Meeting of the Association was held on 
Tuesday and Wednesday, July 23rd and 24th, 1918, at Edinburgh. The meeting 
on July 23rd was held in the rooms of the Royal College of Physicians, 9, Queen 
Street, Edinburgh, Lieut.-Col. David George Thomson, the retiring President, in 
the chair. 

There mere present: Drs. T. Stewart Adair, David Blair, C. Hubert Bond, David 
Bower, A. Helen Boyle, L. C. Bruce, W. M. Buchanan, Robert B. Campbell, J. 
Carswell, James Chambers, W. H. Coupland, Charles A. Crichlow, James Crocket, 
L. K. Davies, W. R. Dawson, J. Francis Dixon, Thomas Drapes, C. C. Easter- 
brook, W. F. Farquharson, Claud F. Fothergill, John Fraser, J. W. Geddes, J. R. 
Gilmour, R. D. Hotchkis, John Keay, Neil T. Kerr, J. Carlyle Johnstone, J. H. 
MacDonald, T. C. Mackenzie, S. Rutherford Macphail, John Macpherson, Alfred 
Miller, Bertha M. Mules, M. J. Nolan, W. W. Horton, James H. C. Orr, L. R. 
Oswald, Bedford Pierce, W. Ford Robertson, James Grieg Soutar, G. E. Shuttle- 
worth, C. j. Shaw, J. Batty Tuke, and R. H. Steen (Acting General Secretary). 

Present at the Council Meeting : Lieut.-Col. D. G. Thomson (President), in the 
Chair, and Drs. T. Stewart Adair, A. Helen Boyle, Robert B. Campbell, James 
Chambers, Thomas Drapes, C. C. Easterbrook, J. W. Geddes, Alfred Miller, 
L. R. Oswald, G. E. Shuttleworth, and R. H. Steen. Dr. Soutar attended the 
Council on the invitation of the President. 

Apologies for unavoidable absence mere received from : Sir Robert Armstrong- 
Jones, and Drs. Fletcher Beach, R. R. Leeper, J. B. Spence, H. Wolseley-Lewis, 
R. H. Cole, R. Eager, M. A. Collins, Norman Lavers, G. N. Bartlett, F. H. 
Edwards, Henry Rayner, P. W. MacDonald, J. G. Porter Phillips, Donald Ross, 
James M. Rutherford, R. Dods Brown, H. de M. Alexander, William Brown, 
W. Tuach-MacKenzie, and T. E. K. Stansfield. 

LX IV. 27 


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390 NOTES AND NEWS. [Oct., 

The minutes of the previous Annual Meeting having appeared in the Journal, 
were taken as read and signed. 

The President : I am reminded by the Secretary that one of our first duties is 
to deplore the decease of a corresponding member of this Association, Dr. R^gis, 
of Bordeaux, who was known to many of you by his works on insanity, and was 
one of the foremost medico-psychologists in France. I propose a vote of con¬ 
dolence to his family, which the Secretary will communicate if it is your wish. 
(This was assented to by the members rising in their places.) 

Now, a very pleasant duty that I have to perform is to propose a vote of 
congratulation to be conveyed to Sir Marriott Cooke, the Chairman of the English 
Board of Control. I am sure we are all delighted, and, in a distant and indirect 
kind of way, honoured that one of our colleagues has been honoured by the King 
with a Knighthood of the British Empire. I feel sure that you will pass the vote. 
(Agreed.) 

The following resolutions were put from the chair and carried: 

(a) That the officers of the Association for the year 1918-19 be : 

President —John Keay. 

President-elect —Bedford Pierce. 

Ex-President —David George Thomson. 

Treasurer —James Chambers. 

Editors of Journal —John R. Lord, Thomas Drapes. 

General Secretary —Robert Hunter Steen. 

Registrar —Alfred A. Miller. 

(A) That the nominated Members of Council be: A. Helen Boyle, R. D. 
Hotchkis, Richard Eager, F. W. Mott, David Orr, G. E. Shuttleworth 

( c) That F. H. Edwards and G. F. Barham be appointed Auditors. 

(d) That the Parliamentary Committee be re-appointed, and that A. Helen 

Boyle, Maurice Craig. J. Francis Dixon, E. S. Pasmore, M. A. 
Collins, R. Eager, L. R. Oswald, R. D. Hotchkis, and J. H. Skeen 
be added to the Committee. 

(e) That the Educational Committee be re-appointed, and that the following 

be added thereto: E. B. Sherlock, H. Brougham Leech {ex officio), 
M. A.Collins, R. Eager, C. C. Easterbrook, J. H.Skeen, R. D. Hotchkis. 
(/) That the Library Committee be re-appointed, and that M. A. Collins 
and D. G. Thomson be added thereto. 

{g) That the Research Committee be re-appointed, and that M. A. Collins 
and D. G. Thomson be added thereto. 

The Acting General Secretary then read the Report of the Council as follows : 
Annual Report of the Council. 

The number of members—ordinary, honorary, and corresponding—as shown in 
the list of names published in the Journal of Mental Science for January, 1918, was 
678, as compared with 682 in January, 1917. 

The following table shows the membership for the past decade: 


Members. 

1908. 

1909- 

1910. 

191 1. 

1912. 

| 

1913' ! 19*4. 

1915- 

1916. 

1917. 

Ordinary 

682 

673 

680 

690 

696 

695 679 

644 

632 

627 

Honorary 

29 

32 

33 

34 

35 

34 1 34 

34 

32 

33 

Corresponding 

«5 

*7 

17 

•9 

19 

iS 18 

| 

is 

18 

iS 

Total 

726 

722 

730 

743 

750 

1 

747 73 i 

696 

682 

678 


During the year no less than twenty members died, many of whom were pillars 
of the Association. Their worth and scientific attainments have received due 
recognition from the chair at the quarterly meetings and in the pages of the 
Journal. The Council, however, feel that in this, their Annual Report, they must 
record the loss they have sustained in the death of their beloved and esteemed 


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NOTES AND NEWS. 


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39 1 


Treasurer, Dr. Newington, who for twenty-three years managed the finances of the 
Association, and assisted in enlarging its sphere of usefulness. 

Among others not included in the above twenty who have passed away since the 
New Year must be mentioned Dr. Henry Maudsley, Honorary Member, a tribute 
to whose life and work appeared in the April number of the Journal. The sum 
of £2000 which he bequeathed to the Association is a gratifying proof of the 
confidence he had in it, and no doubt this money will be used, not only to perpetuate 
his great name, but also to further the main object of the Association —the promotion 
and cultivation of science in relation to mental disorder. 

High honours have been awarded to two members. Sir Marriott Cooke has 
been made a K.B.E., and Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones has been knighted. 

.Owing to the war, the annual and quarterly meetings were held in London. 
The dinners usually accompanying such meetings did not take place. It has, 
however, been found possible to provide members with light refreshment at the 
close of the meetings, which has rendered possible some social intercourse. 

Special mention must be made of the February meeting at the Maudsley 
Hospital. This was one of the most largely attended meetings in recent times, and 
thanks are due to Lt.-Col. Mott for so kindly inviting members to the hospital. 

The Divisions have managed to hold their usual meetings, and, though the 
attendances have not been equal to those of pre-war days, the standard of the papers 
read and the value of the discussions thereupon have been well maintained. 

The Educational Committee has met regularly. The work of the Registrar, 
already sufficiently arduous, will shortly be increased by the examinations for the 
Certificate of Proficiency in Nursing and Attending on the Mentally Defective, 
the first of which will be held in November of this year. 

The Parliamentary Committee, besides meeting as usual, has appointed sub¬ 
committees to consider how best to carry into effect the resolution passed at the 
instance of the Status Committee by the annual meeting of 1914. 

The Special Committee respecting the College of Nursing is still in being, and, 
should necessity arise, will be ready to defend the interests of the mental nurse. 

The Special Committee to promote the formation of over-seas divisions has 
been able to make little headway owing to the war. 

A Special Committee has been appointed to watch the question of a Ministry 
of Health. This Committee has met on several occasions, and has conducted 
correspondence with other medical bodies. 

The Journal has appeared regularly. The editorial work has fallen chiefly upon 
the shoulders of Dr. Drapes, who is to be congratulated on the success of his efforts. 
Owing to the great increase in the cost of printing and to the shortage of paper, 
the Council feel that the time has come when it will be necessary to reduce 
considerably the size of the Journal, but they hope that by the use of smaller type 
and other measures its usefulness will not be seriously curtailed. 

The General Secretary, Capt. M. A. Collins, has found it necessary to resign 
owing to pressure of other work. He was appointed in 1912, and spared neither 
time nor trouble in the duties of his office. Having received a commission in the 
R.A.M.C in 1915, involving absence from home, he was unable to continue his 
work from that date. The Council wish to place on record how deeply they 
appreciate the value of the services he rendered to the Association. 

The finances of the Association are in a satisfactory condition. The thanks 
of the Association are due to the Treasurer (Dr. J. Chambers) for accepting office. 

Thanks also are due to the Registrar, Committees, and Divisional Sec retaries 
for their work. 

The President (Lieut.-Col. D. G. Thomson) has created a record in occup ying the 
chair for four years. He has not been content to be heal in name only, and has 
presided over all the quarterly meetings and has attended many of the Com mittees. 
Though pressed by other duties, he has found time to devote himself to the welfare 
of the Association, and assist the officers with his sound and valued advice. The 
Association is deeply grateful to its retiring President. 

Report of the Treasurer. 

Dr. Chambers submitted the Revenue Account and Balance-sheet for the year 
1917. He stated that the more important part of this period had been d ealt with 
by his predecessor, and he wished to add that when perusing the late Treasurer's 


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392 NOTES AND NEWS. [Oct., 

records he was profoundedly impressed by the painstaking care and the ability 
with which the finances of the Association had been managed. It was owing to 
this that a position had been attained which was enabling the Association to carry 
on during the existing exceptional conditions. 

The Council has sanctioned the investment of a further sum of £250 in War 
Loan. The dividends of the Gaskell Fund have accumulated, and the Trustees 
will invest a sum of £100 in the same security. 

Dr. Maudsley's munificent bequest of .£2,000 has been placed on deposit account 
with the Association’s Bankers. The Council has appointed Drs. R. B. Campbell, 
R. R. Leeper and R. H. Steen trustees of this fund, and has recommended its 
investment in War Loan. A Committee has been asked to consider the objects 
on which the income from this fund should be expended, and to make their report 
to the Council in November next. 

The increased expenditure involved in the production of the Journal is a source 
of anxiety; the Council has carefully considered this matter, and has decided to 
reduce the size of the Journal. 

The two vacancies in the trusteeship of the Association’s funds have been filled 
by the Council electing Dr. J. Greig Soutar and Lieut.-Col. D. G. Thomson. 

The Report was received and adopted. 

Report of the Editors of the Journal. 

Dr. Drapes read the following report of the Editors: 

The difficulties which, as is well known, are connected with journalism of every 
kind during the deplorable conditions which at present exist in this and other 
countries, so far from diminishing tend to become more and more acute. Scientific 
journals such as our own form no exception to the general rule. Dearth of 
material, and more particularly of research work, which has to be reduced to a 
minimum owing to the urgent and unceasing demands occasioned by other kinds 
of work on the time of investigators, was, of course, to be expected. This, with 
the increasing scarcity of paper, and its prodigious rise in price, as well as the 
enhanced cost of publication in other directions, makes the task of editing a not 
altogether easy one. The wish and aim of the Editors has been to keep the 
Journal, as far as possible, up to its normal standard as regards both quantity and 
quality of material. How far they may have succeeded in this must be left to the, 
they hope, indulgent judgment of the members; but, owing to the circumstances 
above mentioned, it is to be feared that, with respect to quantity at least, this 
object is no longer attainable. In the matter of expense, that the Editors have not 
been unmindful of the exigencies of the case is shown by the fact that during the 
four years 1914 to 1917 the number of pages of the Journal has been reduced by 
io^ per cent, as compared with the average of the five years preceding the war. 
As regards the three numbers already published during the current year, there is a 
reduction in size of 13 per cent, on the average of the previous four years, and 
of 22 per cent, on that of pre-war issues. But it is quite evident that a still further 
reduction in size has become imperative, otherwise the inroads upon the Treasurer’s 
financial resources will become greater than can be reasonably expected. 

As shown in the Treasurer’s statement, the cost of the production of the Journal 
for 1917 was £5*8, as compared with £578 (in round numbers) for the previous 
year ; the average cost for the four years 1914 to 1917 inclusive being £450, and 
for the five years preceding the w-ar practically £500. That is to say that the 
average annual cost during the war years was £50 under that of pre-war years. 

The Editors wish to express their acknowledgments to all those who have kindly 
contributed papers to the Journal, and also to the Assistant Editors, Drs. McRae 
and Devine, for their valued assistance. They are also indebted to Drs. Steen and 
Chambers for helpful suggestions willingly given on different occasions. Apologies 
on their part are due to the members on account of the lateness in appearance of 
the Journal for some time past, which was owing, however, to circumstances over 
which they had no control. The exceptional delay in the issue of the last (April) 
number was altogether due to a breakdown which occurred in the factory from 
which Messrs. Adlard obtain their supply of paper, which caused a suspension 
of printing operations for some weeks. John R. Lord. 

Thomas Drapes. 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 







394 


NOTES AND NEWS. 


[Oct., 


Report of Auditors. 

The Acting General Secretary read the report of the Auditors as follows: 

We, the undersigned, have had submitted to us by the Treasurer the accounts, 
books, and vouchers relative to the finances of the Medico-Psychological Associa- 
ti on, and we find that they present a true statement in every respect as shown in the 
balance-sheet now presented. 

We regret that existing circumstances render it impossible for either of us to 
submit the report in person. Maurice Craig. 

Francis H. Edwards. 


Annual Report of the Educational Committee. 

The Acting General Secretary read the report of the Educational Committee 
as follows: 

During the past year this Committee has met on four occasions. 

A Sub-Committee appointed to deal with the question of recognition of institu¬ 
tions for the training of those engaged in nursing the mentally deficient has met 
and submitted a report to the Educational Committee. This has resulted in a 
number of institutions being recognised for the purpose of teaching and training, 
and it has been decided that, should the authorities of any other institutions desire 
recognition, formal application must be made to the Registrar, Hatton, near 
Warwick, giving full particulars of the institution in question. It has been decided 
that the first Preliminary Examination for the Mentally Deficient Certificate be 
held in November, 1918. 

A Sub-Committee also has been appointed to inquire into and report upon the 
present position of the course of training and examination for candidates for the 
N ursing Certificate. 

There have been no entries for the Professional Certificate Examination. One 
candidate entered for the Gaskell Prize, but eventually withdrew. 

Two essays have been sent in for the Divisional Prizes. 

Maurice Craig, Chairman. 

J. G. Porter Phillips, Secretary. 

Report of the Parliamentary Committee. 

The Acting General Secretary read the annual report of the Parliamentary 
Committee as follows: 

Your Committee has met four times during the year. 

Many subjects have received careful consideration and attention. Among these 
may be mentioned the proposed Ministry of Health, which has been discussed, and 
at the instance of your Committee the Council has nominated a Special Committee 
to watch the interests of the Association in this matter. 

With regard to the question of lunacy legislation, a Sub-Committee has been 
appointed for England and Wales. Many meetings have been held, and have 
been well attended, and the stage of considering a draft report has been reached. 
It may, however, be said that the Sub-Committee has decided to confine its con¬ 
sideration to what seems to be the most promising matter, viz., the advisability of 
securing such modification in the Lunacy Laws as will render possible efficient 
treatment for cases of mental disorder at an early stage. Sub-Committees for 
Scotland and Ireland have also been formed to deal with the requirements peculiar 
to each country. It is the intention of your Committee that these Sub-Committees 
should exchange useful information, and in the event of any question involving the 
three countries that they should co-operate. 

Correspondence has taken place with the Home Office, urging the view of the 
Committee that criminal lunatics convicted on more than two occasions should 
not be sent to County and Borough Asylums. 

Your Committee has been in communication with the Board of Control with 
reference to the jurisdiction of magistrates in connection with the licensing of 
private asylums. 


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NOTES AND NEWS. 


395 


Report of Library Committee. 

The Acting General Secretary read the report of the Library Committee as 
follows: 

The Library has been fairly well used for purposes of' reference, and about the 
usual number of books have been issued for home reading. Many members on 
military service have taken advantage of borrowing books when they have been 
on duty in hospitals and camps in this country. 

The periodicals have only come to hand very erratically, and some of the foreign 
ones have been lost in transit. 

The Association is indebted to the family of the late Dr. Hayes Newington for 
a handsome donation of about fifty volumes, and to Dr. Henry Rayner for about 
thirty volumes. Dr. T. B. Hyslop has also made numerous presentations. 

Henry Rayner, Chairman. 

R. H. Steen, Secretary. 

There were no reports from Special Committees. 

On the motion of the Acting Secretary, it was agreed to allow the expenditure 
of a sum of £25 on the Library. 

Dates for the Various Meetings for the Year. 

The following dates were fixed for the Annual, Quarterly, and Divisional 
Meetings of the Association and Quarterly Meetings of the Council: 

Tuesday, November 26th, 1918; Thursday, February 20th, 1919; Tuesday, 
May 20th, 1919. 

South-Eastern Division—Left to the discretion of the Divisional Secretary. 
Northern and Midland Division—October, 1918; April, 1919, at the Mental 
Hospital, Middlesbrough. South-Western Division—October 25th, 1918; April 
25th, 1919. Scottish Division—November 15th, 1918; March 14th, 1919. Irish 
Division—November 7th, 1918; April 3rd, 1919; July 3rd, 1919. 

The President : We now come to item No. 7, the election of honorary members 
of the Association. I have to propose Sir Marriott Cooke, K.B.E., M.B., 
Chairman of the Board of Control. 

Dr. Soutar: I have very great pleasure in submitting to this meeting the 
proposal that has come up from the Nominations Committee and the Council, 
that Sir Marriott Cooke be elected an honorary member of the Association. As 
you know, this is an honour which is not lightly given. In fact it is very jealously 
guarded. In the case of Sir Marriott Cooke, however, there can be no doubt as 
to the rightness of the conferring of this honour upon him. Those of us in 
England, probably, have had better opportunities than many who are present this 
afternoon of knowing the worth of that gentleman. His career from the beginning 
up to the present time has been one of extraordinary success and the result of 
very fine work. He was elected to the junior staff of the Powick Asylum soon 
after he left King's. Within three years he was appointed superintendent of Wilts 
Asylum, and then after four years he was called back to Powick, where he remained 
for many years, doing excellent work. He took a very great interest in the work 
of this Association, and several of his papers have appeared in our Journal. In 
1898 he was appointed a Commissioner in Lunacy. This was continued in 1913 
with the Board of Control. In 1916, on the resignation of Sir William Byrne, he 
became and is now Chairman of the Board of Control. In that position he has 
done very great work, work that will live in the history of our Association and in 
the history of the Lunacy Department generally. You will remember that when 
there was a great call in the country for accommodation for our sick and wounded 
soldiers, Sir Marriott Cooke and others of his colleagues met the superintendents 
of the asylums and consulted with them. It was one of those instances where we 
felt that nothing was to be thrown upon us, but we were consulted and asked 
about it, and that we appreciated very, very highly. From that moment until now 
this great work has been carried out by a courteous and thoughtful co-operation 
between those who require asylums and those who are in a position to grant them. 
Again and again it has been acknowledged by the Board of Control and by Sir 
Marriott Cooke that if it had not been for the co-operation on the part of the 


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NOTES AND NEWS. 


[Oct., 


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asylum authorities and the asylum staffs, the work that has been effected and has 
been so valuable could never have been carried out. That is how Sir Marriott 
Cooke and others have effected this very great work which has resulted in sixteen 
of the asylums of England being converted into military hospitals in which over 
300,000 sick and wounded soldiers have been treated. I need not say anything 
more, because 1 think I have indicated sufficient to show that we are to-day 
desiring to honour a man who from the beginning of his career up to the present 
time has done most excellent service, and has brought distinction, not only upon 
himself, but upon our specialty too. I have very'much pleasure in submitting Sir 
Marriott Cooke’s name as an honorary member of this Association. (Applause.) 

The President : The next name on our Agenda is that of Dr. William Bevan- 
Lewis, M.Sc., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., late Medical Director of the West Riding 
Asylum, Wakefield, late Professor of Mental Diseases, University of Leeds. 

Dr. Bedford Pierce : Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen, I do not think 
there is any living man in this country or in any other country who more deserves 
honour at the hands of this Association than Dr. William Bevan-Lewis. Dr. 
Bevan-Lewis is a highly distinguished man, and is a pioneer in many departments 
of medicine. When we think of the early work that he did in connection with the 
anatomy of the brain, the histological work that he did in regard to the varying 
features of the cortex, the extraordinary clinical work which is recorded in his 
Text-Book of Mental Diseases, which for many years will be dug into, and in which 
we will find many jewels which some of us are not altogether aware of, when we 
also think of the extraordinary influence he had on young men in his laboratory at 
Wakefield, where he touched with his wand of enthusiasm so many, and had such 
a wide influence in educating and bringing forward so many persons who have 
since become prominent—when we think of all these things we shall be agreed 
that Dr. Bevan-Lewis should become an honorary member of this Association. 
He received one of the earliest honorary degrees at the University of Leeds. I had 
the pleasure of being present when he received it, and it is, therefore, also a pleasure 
to me to speak a word for him in this room. 1 think that future historians will 
find that Dr. Bevan-Lewis has been first in many discoveries which other people 
may have appropriated later on. His singular humility perhaps may have stood in 
his way, in a sense, of attaining perhaps the full fruits which he really deserves; 
but, nevertheless, I think medicine will count Dr. Bevan-Lewis among the truly 
great men. 1 am very pleased to support this proposal that Dr. Bevan-Lewis 
become an honorary member of this Association. (Applause.) 

The President: In No. 8 on the Agenda you will find the three following 
gentlemen are proposed for election as ordinary members: Dr. Cedric William 
Bower, Dr. A. Edward Evans, and Dr. Francis Sutherland. 

The five gentlemen, after ballot, were duly elected. 

Dr. Oswald : The great honour has been done me of asking me to put the next 
resolution before you—namely, a vote of thanks to the President and Officers of 
the Association. This is a resolution which I can put before you with the utmost 
confidence, being satisfied that it will be unanimously carried. Those of us who 
were present at the induction of Col., then Dr., Thomson, in Norwich in 1914 
predicted that his term of office would be a most brilliant one. None of us, alas, 
predicted its duration ! Now, at the end of four years of strenuous work, it comes 
to an end, and we wish to express to him our thanks for the work he has done, 
for the unceasing labour and the great amount of time which he has given to it. 
He has not done his work in merely a routine way; he has given of his time and 
of his labour when otherwise he was very fully occupied. He has attended the 
meetings of the divisions, as well as the meetings in London. Jealous as the 
Association naturally is on whom it bestows his highest honour, it must feel to-day 
that in the election of Dr. Thomson at that time it did not only honour to him, but 
nonour to itself and to every individual member of the Association. 1 am sure it is, 
vour wish that we should convey to Col. Thomson our thanks for the work he has 
done, for the great amount of time he has given to the work of the Association, for 
the painstaking way in which he has presided at all its meetings, and for the utmost 
fairness he has shown to everyone, not only at the meetings of the Association, 
but at the meetings of Council and other meetings over which he has presided 
(Applause.) The resolution which I have to propose is : “ That a vote of thanks 
be given to the President and to the Officers of the Association." I feel that to 


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those who know Col. Thomson better than I do it is presumptuous for me to say 
so much. I recall, of course, that he is a brilliant student of the University of 
Edinburgh, and, unlike many Scotsmen who have crossed the border and have not 
returned, he has come back now. He took up office in Norwich, and it is now 
peculiarly appropriate that he should demit office in his own romantic town of 
Edinburgh. The others to whom we wish to give our thanks are the Treasurer, 
the Editors of the Journal, the General Secretary, and the Registrar, and perhaps 
you will allow me to say a single word about each. I suppose I may consider 
myself as belonging to the seniors of the Association. For many years I looked 
up to the late Treasurer as a man of the highest honour and probity, and as one 
whose guidance was to me of the greatest value. The Association cannot do much 
more than deplore the fact that since it met in London in 1917 there has passed 
from our ranks one who had the respect and the personal affection of every man 
with whom he came in contact. The Council’s report has referred to the loss that 
has been sustained. Its expression was a peculiarly happy one, that in the last 
year it has lost some of its pillars. Fortunately, other pillars take their place, and 
1 think that those of us who heard the report of Dr. Chambers to-day, those of 
us who heard at the Council meeting his terse and explicit statement of the affairs 
of the Association, believe that in him we have one who will be as careful of the 
whole affairs of the Association, as jealous of its honour, and as careful of its 
finances as was the late Dr. Newington, whose death we so much deplore. The 
Editors of the Journal—and I would ask yon to consider along with them the sub¬ 
editors—are also to be congratulated and to be thanked for the work they have 
done in a very, very difficult time. 1 think Dr. Drapes is to be particularly con¬ 
gratulated on the fact that during very difficult times he has maintained the Journal 
at a pitch of excellency regarding which he need have no regrets, and which will 
make the last year compare favourably with any of the years that have gone 
before. Dr. Lord also deserves the warm thanks of the Association, as do the 
sub-editors, who have been very helpful in the work of production of the Journal 
and keeping it up to its high standard. In Dr. Robert Hunter Steen, who has 
been elected General Secretary of the Association, we have one who has already 
proved his worth, he having, as it were, served an apprenticeship to the job. 
Having proved his sterling worth and merit, he is now advanced to the full post of 
General Secretary, which, I am sure, he will fill with honour and distinction to 
himself and with the approval of all those he comes in contact with. As for Dr. 
Miller, the Registrar, ever perennial and ever young, every year one sees him 
he is more optimistic that he was the year before. 1 cannot say how warmly we 
regard him or how much we feel that our thanks are due to him for the work that 
he does; I think that even more, the whole of the mental nurses of Great Britain 
ought to be specially grateful to Dr. Miller because they have in him a most 
sympathetic friend, as was evidenced in the discussion to-day, one who is desirous 
of giving them every chance, at the same time one who is most desirous of keeping 
the certificate of the Association at such a pitch that it will be valued and regarded 
highly, not only by the nurses themselves, but by all those whom they are called 
upon to professionally attend. There is an old saying, ladies and gentleman, and 
I would ask you to bear it in mind—I think it is by Shakespeare, but I am not quite 
sure, “ Still be kind and eke out my imperfections with your mind.” I would 
like those gentlemen whom you see before you not to take the measure of our 
thanks by the poor eloquence of my words, but to believe that we are deeply and 
sincerely grateful to them. We ask them to accept our very best thanks. If I 
may close with a personal note it is this, that in coming in contact with the 
President and with the office-bearers of the Association I have a constant sense 
of encouragement: I never meet them but I feel stimulated and cheered and 
encouraged when I think of the fact that in addition to their own work, which 
during the last year must have been of the most trying nature, they have given of 
their time so freely to work which we appreciate so highly. I have great pleasure 
in moving that we give our thanks, our very sincere and hearty thanks, to the 
President and to the other Officers of the Association, and to tell them that jealous 
as the Association is of the qualities of mind and heart which those who fill its 
offices must have, we acknowledge that we have in them men in every way fitted 
for the positions which they have held during their term of office. (Applause.) 

Dr. Bower : I have been asked to second this proposal, a duty which I gladly 


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perform. After what we have heard from Dr. Oswald with regard to Col. Thomson 
and the officers of the Association there is very little left for me to say. I saw 
Dr. Thomson, as he was then, put in the chair of this Association in Norwich, the 
highest honour that we can confer on any of our members, and we ail know that 
he has thoroughly deserved it. With regard to the other officers, I need say 
nothing more after what Dr. Oswald has said, and I simply second the motion 
and put it to the meeting. (Agreed.) 

The President : Custom has it that I should reply to the vote of thanks which 
you have kindly accorded to myself and to my fellow-officers of this Association. 
1 cannot in the least aspire to the extremely eloquent and kind way in which 
Dr. Oswald has proposed it, but I thank you very sincerely on my own behalf and 
on behalf of my fellow-officers. Appreciation of work done is the highest and best 
reward that follows service for one’s fellows. I should just like to add a personal 
note. To-morrow week it is forty years since I left my University here, armed 
with the magical key to practice, the M.B. of the University. I little thought 
when I left here as a graduate that I should ever attain the honour of presiding in 
these august halls of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh as the President 
of a learned Society. It is a great honour, and I feel it very much. That I may 
have given satisfaction to you is, I hope, possible, but I certainly have not given 
satisfaction to myself. I had hoped when 1 became President, when we were all 
living in a kind of fool's paradise in July, 1914, that I would have the pleasure of 
going round and visiting all the Divisional Meetings—a very good example set by 
a former President—but that pleasure, of course, has been denied me. I looked 
forward to the great many social delights and intercourse that one would have had 
■in the course of a year’s presidency with the Council and other members of the 
Association, but all one’s years of office have been shorn of these pleasures; and 
so, beyond merely attending every meeting possible in London, which is only a 
few hours from my own home, and attending the meetings of Committees, and 
doing the best I could to advance things which had to be attended to in spite of 
the war, and to hold the balance between various contending interests, I have not 
come up to my own standard of what the President of this Association should be. 
Still, I have done my best, and it is very good and kind of you to accept that best. 
A President, however excellent and well-intentioned he might be, would be helpless 
without his officers. Dr. Steen has been my right hand. He keeps me right, as 
you have seen to-day. He is perhaps rather more severe in Committee than he is 
here. You are well aware of his labours, but I do not think you are so well aware 
as his fellow-officers are of the immense amount of work he puts in. Most of us 
have been secretaries of one kind and another, and we all know the great amount 
of detail that one has to attend to. I am more than delighted that Dr. Steen has 
taken on the mantle of Dr. Collins and of another predecessor of his whom we 
welcome here to-day, Dr. Bond, of the Board of Control. Dr. Chambers is a most 
admirable Treasurer, and we look for wise and sound advice from him in succession 
to Dr. Newington, perhaps more than we could expect from any other member of 
the Association. The same applies, to a lesser degree perhaps, to the other officers 
of the Association. Now, we want to get on to the principal business of the 
afternoon. After again thanking Dr. Oswald for proposing, and Dr. Bower for 
seconding, and you for recording this vote of thanks, I will proceed to introduce 
to you my successor. I do not know that this is the place, or even the time, to 
tell you about Col. Keay. It is not necessary—you know him. He is here on his 
own native heath—at least, that is a mistake, as I think he was born in Ireland— 
but, at all events, he is here among his colleagues, who know him better than I can 
tell you. We all know of his professional career—first at the Crichton, one of the 
great royal asylums of Scotland, and then at Mavisbank, here at Edinburgh, and 
at Inverness, and now in his present great post at Bangour. I have made repeated 
visits to Bangour, and I am afraid my staff must be perfectly sick of the name of 
Bangour. I am always quoting Bangour to them, and I look on it as a place 
converted into a war hospital which is an example to any other institutions of the 
kind. I may mention that I gave Dr. Keay a few of his first lessons, but he has 
far passed his master now. He has developed and is in charge of a war hospital 
such as there are few in any other part of the country. With these few words I 
introduce Col. Keay to you as my successor, and I invest him with the insignia of 
office. (Applause.) 


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At this stage Lieut.-Col. John Keay took the chair as President. 

The President: Let my first act be to thank you most sincerely for your 
kindnesss, and to assure my old friend, Dr. Thomson, that the pleasure and the 
honour of which I am the recipient through your kindness are enhanced very much 
by the fact that I have received this badge of office at his hand. (Applause.) The 
first duty of a President is to present prizes and medals. I have much pleasure in 
announcing that a Divisional Prize has been awarded to Dr. Hubert J. Norman, 
who unfortunately is unable to be present to receive it. There are no other prizes 
or medals to be presented. That clears the way to another duty which unfortu nately 
the President has to perform, and that is to deliver a presidential address. 
(Lieut.-Col. Keay then delivered his presidential address.) 

Dr. Carlyle Johnston : I have been asked to move a vote of thanks to the 
President for his address. I am rather sorry that one of the older members of 
the Association has not been chosen for this important duty. 1 rather think I am 
one of the most junior of the medical officers present. However, in spite of that 
objection, I consider it not only an honour but a pleasure to be asked to move this 
vote of thanks, because I think that probably I have known Dr. Keay about as long 
as anyone here. It is not for me at this particular time, or in this place, to say 
anything nice about Dr. Keay—he has already heard some nice things said about 
him, and he will hear more before we are done with him—still I should like to say 
how much it pleases me, and how much it pleases all my old friends in Scotland 
particularly, to see Col. Keay in the chair to-day. Col. Keay, among his other 
qualities, good or bad, has one which is very marked, and that is the quality of 
self-suppression and withdrawal from the public eye. It is very likely that to 
several persons here Col. Keay maybe an unfamiliar figure and his reputation to a 
certain extent may be unknown, but it is certainly not unknown in Scotland. I 
should like to say that Col. Keay has gained the affection as well as the respect 
of every one of his brothers in the specialty in Scotland, and we rejoice to see him 
in the position he occupies to-day. We have no doubt that he will be an ornament 
to the chair that he occupies. With regard to the presidential address, it has not 
been the custom to criticise it, and I do not propose to break that rule nor to make 
a long speech, but one cannot sit down without saying something. We have all 
enjoyed the address very much. Those of us who know Col. Keay expected to 
hear what we have heard—that is to say, an extremely level-headed moderate 
speech, a speech dealing with serious topics in a serious way, but not by any 
means in a pessimistic way, because Col. Keay, beginning as he began with the 
gaiety of the Irishman, and proceeding with the seriousness of the Scotsman 
ended with that same note of cheerfulness with which he began, with that hopeful 
outlook which has actuated Dr. Keay in all his work. It is scarcely necessary to 
go over the different points in the address, because it is a paper that one wants 
to study closely. He has dealt with the very serious problems that the war has 
brought before us, and, being a Scotsman, he has not attempted to solve these 
problems, but it is necessary that we should all think about them, and we shall all 
have to think about them. There is no doubt that our financial future will give 
very great concern to the younger members of the Association and to their children. 
Dr. Keay has referred to and has touched with a firm and discriminating hand the 
many social problems that are bound to arise and to interest, not only us here, but 
all our fellow-citizens. I only refer to one or two of them. He spoke of the 
results of those horrible experiences which many people have suffered from this 
war being handed down to their children. Of course, that raises the question 
whether such experiences are ever transmitted. It is a good old-fashioned belief 
that they are transmitted. While it may be that these horrible experiences will be 
handed down, there is also the tradition of the great deeds that have been done in 
this country, the noble example of our brothers, our fathers, and our children, and 
that will more than obliterate any evil that may arise from the horrors and dreadful 
mental experiences that so many of our people have suffered, not so much in this 
country as across the Channel. Then passing over practically all the other points 
and coming to the end, Col. Keay, in dealing with the question of prevention of 
insanity, touched upon what has always seemed to me to be perhaps the most 
important practical problem of all, and one which will have to be taken up in a 
practical way by our Statesmen in the future. With regard to the treatment of 
insanity he also had very many interesting things to say. I think that though he 


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only referred to it in a sort of side note, what he said about the treatment, if it 
was not very tragic, would be very comic—that we are not allowed to treat an 
insane man until there is no hope of doing any good. That has been said before, 
and it cannot be said too often. We may hope to get over that when the war is 
over. Now, I am afraid I am doing what I said 1 was not going to do, and that is 
making a speech. I would only ask you to accord to Col. Keay a very hearty vote 
of thanks for his extremely excellent and able address. (Applause.) 

Dr. Nolan : I wish to second this vote of thanks to Col. Keay. I am sure you 
have all listened, as certainly I have, with the greatest appreciation to his address 
on the " Psychology of the War and the Problems arising out of it.” It needs no 
words of mine to accentuate your vote of thanks to our President for his extremely 
interesting address. (Applause.) 

The President: Dr. Carlyle Johnston, Dr. Nolan, Ladies, and Gentlemen,— 
I thank you very much for the patient way in which you have listened to me, and 
the kind way in which you have received my address. We have two papers to be 
read this afternoon, one by Dr. Ford Robertson and one by Dr. Fothergill. 
Dr. Robertson has asked me to call on Dr. Fothergill first, because Dr. Fothergill’s 
paper was postponed from the quarterly meeting in May. I therefore have very- 
much pleasure in asking Dr. Fothergill to read his paper. 

Dr. Fothergill and Dr. Ford Robertson having read their papers, the proceedings 
were adjourned till the next day. 

Wednesday, July 24TH, 1918. 

On Wednesday, July 24th, the meeting reassembled at the Edinburgh War 
Hospital, known in pre-war days as Bangour Village Asylum, and now a military- 
hospital of 3,000 beds. In the forenoon the members and guests were conducted 
by the President over portions of the Hospital, and inspected with much interest 
the Orthopaedic Section, with its Manual Curative Workshops, its Massage 
Department, and its installation of Baths. The Marquee Camp, an extension of 
1,000 beds under canvas, was also visited. 

During the interval the members and a number of their lady friends were enter¬ 
tained at luncheon, to which they had been kindly invited by Col. and Mrs. Keay. 

In the afternoon interesting demonstrations were given by members of the 
visiting staff of the Hospital, and before beginning these the President reminded 
members that on the previous day they had been the guests of the Royal College 
of Physicians of Edinburgh. He moved that the thanks of the Association be 
expressed to the President and Fellows of the College for their kindness and hospi¬ 
tality, and the motion was cordially agreed to. 

The demonstrations were then proceeded with, and there was in the first place a 
microscopic demonstration on malaria and dysentery by Major D. G. Marshall, 
I.M.S., Consultant in Malaria, Scottish Command, and Dr. Laura K. Davies, 
Medical Officer in Charge of the malaria wards at Bangour. 

One series of slides showed the malarial parasite at all stages of growth, and 
another the differences between benign, tertian, quartan, and aestivo-autumnal 
parasites. A display of mosquitoes attracted much attention. 

Of special interest to the members were sections showing the changes in the 
brain in “ cerebral” malaria and sleeping-sickness. 

Under another set of microscopes the organisms of bacillary, amoebic, and 
flagellate dysentery were shown, including sections of intestines and liver, in 
which the destructive changes due to the Entamoeba histolytica were clearly- 
demonstrated. 

Lieut.-Col. Sir Harold Stiles, R.A.M.C., Assistant Inspector of Military Ortho¬ 
paedics, then demonstrated some cases from his department. He said: I am 
going to show you just a few cases which I hope will illustrate to you the kind of 
work we are doing in the Orthopaedic Department of this hospital. I do not wish 
to take any credit for this work at all; the credit should be given to the C.O. of 
the hospital and my able assistants, who have so willingly and so loyally assisted 
me in the work. I am in rather a peculiar position. 1 happen to be a general 
surgeon, and I am responsible for the orthopaedic work in this hospital. I would 
like to pay tribute to my assistants for the very able assistance they have given 


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me. I think the ideal Orthopaedic Department is one that combines the efforts 
of a general surgeon with those of an orthopaedic specialist who has been 
trained to this work, and has been specially trained to the after-treatment 
of the cases. There is one very important difference to my mind between 
orthopaedic surgery and general surgery—and when I refer to general surgery, I 
refer more particularly to that department of it which is known as abdominal 
surgery, which is a very fascinating branch of surgery, and has, I think, been rather 
responsible for detracting the general surgeon from the problems that we have to 
deal with in orthopaedic surgery. The general surgeon does some very dangerous 
and important operation: he shuts up the abdomen and Nature does the rest. 
Why ? Because he is dealing almost entirely with involuntary muscles, and 
when he has done his work there is practically nothing more to do. Now, when 
the orthopaedic surgeon has performed his operation, he has done only half of his 
work. The other half consists in the after-treatment, which is very often a tedious 
and laborious business, requiring a great deal of conscientious intensive work. 

The first case 1 am going to show you is not orthopaedic, but is a nervous case, 
and that is the reason I am showing it. This man got a piece of shrapnel inside 
his skull in the month of April. He was taken to the casualty clearing station and 
was X-rayed, and a fragment was discovered inside the skull. An opening was 
made in front, but the fragment was not found, and very wisely no further or more 
persistent attempt was made at that time. He eventually arrived at this hospital. 
He had no paralysis, but had a very serious symptom in the shape of a persistent 
headache. I found no eye symptoms and no other symptoms except the headache. 

1 got Capt. Bramwell to see him, and we both agreed we would see whether there 
was any chance if the headaches would improve. They did not improve, and the 
patient begged me to do another operation. The first thing was to localise the piece 
of shrapnel—it was a cubical piece, about the size of an ordinary die. It was 
localised as being nearly two inches from immediately behind the ear. Before I 
attempted the operation 1 said to Major Rankine, who has charge of the X-ray 
Department, “ It is all very well to tell me it is two inches from the ear, but I 
would like to control that experiment, and 1 would like to know exactly how far it 
is from a corresponding point on the opposite side of the head, and you will kindly 
X-ray him over again.” 1 got a report showing that it was just four centimetres 
from this side and ten centimetres from a corresponding point on the other side. 
We then got a skull and bored a hole on the corresponding point of entrance and 
on the corresponding point on the other side, and we got a string and stretched it 
through. (Explained on skull.) We got the foreign body in almost the same 
position as it was X-rayed before. I said, “ The next thing I want to do is to 
measure the man’s head with a pair of calipers from these two points. If the 
localisation was correct, then the calipers should give a measurement of fourteen 
centimetres”—and that is exactly what it did. Then I said, “ I am quite willing 
to go on.” The flap was turned down and the base of the brain was lifted up. 
After some little difficulty we found the foreign body between the base of the brain 
and the skull adhering to the membranes, and I was able to hook it out. That was 
done about three weeks ago. If you ask the man how he is now, he says that he 
is all right, that he has no headache except a little at night. Following the 
operation, the man could not quite lift his foot—foot-drop—but now he can , 
lift the foot. The|hand dropped a little—there was slight paralysis of the hand, 
but he can now move his hand and fingers. It is only three weeks since the 
operation. The paralysis is rapidly disappearing, and I am sure it will be all right. 

The next case. This man was wounded last year—an extensive shrapnel wound 
which lacerated the median nerve in the upper half of the forearm. It was so 
extensively destroyed that we could not get the ends together. Now, I want to 
show you what the result is of paralysis of the muscles in the hand which are 
supplied by the median nerve. The man bends his wrist perfectly well, and he 
bends his thumb and the fingers; so he has only paralysis below where he was 
injured. These muscles include two and a half muscles of the thumb, what we 
call the abductor of the thumb, the opponens, and one half of the short flexor. 
Now, first let me show you what kind of disability the paralysis of these muscles 
produces. What is the function of these two and a half muscles? The main 
function is to oppose the thumb to the other fingers, and to help to produce a pincer 
action between the fingers and the thumb. That is what these muscles do along 


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with the long flexors. We will ask this man to do this. You will see he is not 
efficiently opposing the pulp of the forefinger and the thumb. Next, let us ask 
how powerful are his attempts. We can test that at once. If I take a card in 
my hand and grip it firmly, thus, I am flexing my forefinger and I am flexing my 
thumb. Now, you will see this man cannot grip the card in the same way, try 
all he can. He can write, but only with a very large pencil. This case demonstrates 
that you cannot write properly unless you have the small muscles which are 
supplied by the median nerve. Now, why? The median nerve does not only- 
supply these two and a half muscles; it supplies two other muscles, the outer 
two lumbricals. This case illustrates the importance of these lumbrical muscles. 
When you have not that muscle you find that when the flexor tries to bend 
the finger there is nothing to resist it. The flexor muscles will never contract 
powerfully unless you have extensor muscles to resist them; and, therefore, 
when we close our hand like that, and bring our flexor muscles into action—if you 
look on the back of my arm you see these muscles. (Shows.) The object of the 
lumbrical muscle is in part to give sufficient resistance to the flexor muscle. Now, 
he has the interosseous muscle—it is not paralysed, but it shows you that the 
lumbrical muscle helps the interosseous muscle, and, if he has not it, he has not 
enough resistance to allow him to grip. So it produces a distinct disability, and 
that is why, in spite of these muscles alone being involved, it is important in these 
cases. There is one other point I want to show you. This man has loss of 
sensation in the outer two fingers. You will see what happens when he tries to 
button his coat. He can bend his finger and his thumb perfectly well, but he 
cannot button his coat. The explanation of that is that he cannot feel the button, 
and he does not know when he is grasping it properly. 

The next case is a man whose ulnar nerve was shot through, which is rather the 
more important muscle nerve as regards the intrinsic muscles of the hand. He is 
shown to demonstrate what disability is produced by paralysis of the muscles of the 
hand supplied by the ulnar nerve. We shall find that the superficial muscles of 
the thumb are present—that is to say, he can oppose the thumb and the fingers—the 
pincer action ; he can grip firmly. Now, if you ask him to grip like this, between 
the thumb and the palm, he cannot grip firmly; so he has lost the muscles which 
allow the thumb to press against the palm in this position which I show you. The 
ulnar nerve supplies all the interosseous muscles. When this man was first 
wounded he had only the lumbrical, and he had not the interosseous muscle, but 
the condition is improved, because, although he has lost his interosseous muscle, 
he has developed his lumbrical muscle by exercise. You see a long scar here. 
The reason for that is that he had a large part of the ulnar nerve destroyed. The 
ulnar nerve runs along here (shows), and so when you bend the elbow you put it 
on the stretch, and when you straighten it you tend to relax it, so it is obvious 
that when you have taken a bit out of the ulnar nerve you must not flex the elbow. 
That creates a difficulty in bringing the ends of the nerve together. You must, 
therefore, in order to get the ends together, transpose the nerve, and so we dissect 
the nerve here (explains) and transpose it to the front of the elbow. The result 
is, if we do that, we can take away two and a half inches of the ulnar nerve and 
stili get the ends together. That was done in October last. 

Next case. This man had a not uncommon wound. As he was marching along 
he got a bullet through his upper arm from front to back—the median and ulnar 
nerves were both cut and were subsequently sutured. He has not yet entirely 
recovered. Now, I want to show you the disability which he has from both nerves 
being involved. His median nerve has partly recovered—it is recovering better 
and quicker that the other one. You will observe that he is able to bend his fore¬ 
finger and thumb, proving that the supply has already reached these long muscles 
of the forearm, but it has not yet reached the small muscles of the hand. The result 
is that this man has paralysis of all the intrinsic muscles of the hand. I have shown 
you paralysis of the median and the ulnar separately, and I will now show you the 
two combined. Although he has the long flexor muscles we will ask him to 
convert the forefinger and the thumb into a pair of pincers; he cannot do it. He 
cannot bring the point of his index finger and the thumb into opposition. He rolls 
up the index finger. Why is that so ? Because he has paralysis both of the 
lumbrical and interosseous muscles; both these muscles are paralysed. The 
function of these two muscles is to keep these two joints partly extended and to 


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act in opposition to the flexor. If there is no opposition to the flexor, then it 
folds up the finger, and the finger never reaches the point of the thumb. 

Next case. This man has the median nerve injured here. (Showing.) He has 
not complete paralysis; he can bend the thumb and the forefinger. He has irritation 
of the sensory fibres and neuralgia in the palm of the hand. We must operate. 

Next man. This man was lying in bed underneath an open window, and he 
developed paralysis of one muscle, the muscle which should keep the scapula in 
position and fix it to the chest wall. What is the cause of that paralysis ? Why 
should the one muscle be paralysed ? The answer is an anatomical one. It is 
generally said that it is due to rheumatism, but it is very difficult to see how 
rheumatism should attack one nerve only, and, therefore, we want to know its 
anatomy. It is peculiar. It has three roots. These three roots are slender, and 
all three little roots have to traverse a very thick, strong muscle in the neck 
before they join, and this muscle is the scalenus medius. It was an inflammation 
of that muscle which pressed on the roots of the nerves to that muscle. I saw the 
other day a lady who said she had been doing farm work ; she had been carrying 
the water and turnips. How was that paralysis produced? That is one of the 
muscles which helps to keep up the chest wall. There was a drag upon that 
muscle, and it was the drag on that muscle that overstretched the three little roots. 

Next case. Here is a man who was shot through the neck and the spinal acces¬ 
sory nerve was severed. Get him to lift up his shoulder. You will see he has great 
difficulty in doing so. It is difficult for him to do any work which entails any 
sustained elevation of the shoulder. 

Next case. I am now going to talk about the musculo-spiral nerve. This nerve 
extends the wrist and extends the fingers. This man was injured in the upper arm. 
We had great difficulty in getting the ends together, but we found that if he could 
bend the elbow we could then get the ends together. Seven days ago we took a 
large piece out, and we were able to get the ends together. 

Next case. Supposing we could not get the ends of the nerve together, what 
would happen ? Some of you have seen soldiers going about with their hands 
dangling. This man has had a very severe injury to his upper arm, destroying a 
long section of the musculo-spiral nerve. What we have done in this case is to 
transplant some of the muscles which are supplied by the median and ulnar nerves 
from the front of the arm and from the front of the wrist to the back of the wrist. 
Briefly, the pronator radii teres is transplanted into the extensors carpi radialis 
longior and brevior; the flexor carpi radialis into the extensors ossis metacarpi 
poilicis and brevis pollicis; the paimaris longus into the extensor longus pollicis, 
and the flexor carpi ulnaris into the extensors of the fingers. So we have restored 
every one of the paralysed muscles to this man’s hand. The man can write 
perfectly well. 

Next case. Here is a man who had a drop-foot. The drop-foot may be 
produced by a wound of his great sciatic nerve. If it is the external division 
of the great sciatic nerve, it is only the muscles which lift up the foot that are 
paralysed ; if it is the internal, then it is the muscles which plantar flex the foot. In 
this case there was an extensive wound involving the external nerve—the nerve which 
lifts the foot. That nerve could not be sutured. In a case like this you must do one 
of two things. As a rule, you supply the man with a boot which prevents the foot 
dropping. You can do away with that apparatus, however, if the man will submit 
to an operation, and the operation is to sling the foot. We take the paralysed 
extensor muscles and fix them into the bone of the leg, as I show you. The result 
is that this man will be able to walk about perfectly well without any apparatus. 

Next case. Here is a man with such an apparatus. He has to wear an iron or 
something of that sort. 

Next case. Here is a man who cannot lift his foot up because the muscles have 
been destroyed. We shall do the same thing with him—we shall-sling that foot. 

Next case. Here is a serious sort of a case. The man has been shot right 
through the shoulder, and he came in with a dangling arm. What is done in such 
a case is to open up the wound after it is completely healed, free the end of 
the bone, take away all the scar tissue, and jam the two bones together. The 
secret of that is the after-treatment, and here is where my orthopxdic friends come 
in. Immediately you have done the operation you must put the whole chest and 
arm in plaster-of-Paris. 


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The President : I am sure we are all very much indebted to Sir Harold Stiles 
for the exceedingly interesting demonstration which he has given. (Applause.) 

I now call on Capt. Edwin Bramwell, who will show certain cases illustrating 
functional neuroses. 

Capt. Bramwell said he would confine himself to the examination of a case 
which had just been admitted to the Orlhopaidic Department, which he had not 
yet examined, and in which the diagnosis did not appear to be quite obvious. In 
this way he would have the opportunity of referring very briefly to problems of 
diagnosis and treatment as they arose. The patient was then demonstrated. The 
man was paraplegic, and it was ascertained that the paralysis, which was of some 
months’ duration, dated from a shell explosion, in consequence of which he had 
been buried. The paralysis was found to be complete, with the exception of some 
flickering movements of the toes of one foot. The absence of muscular wasting 
and rigidity was referred to. The facts that the knee- and ankle-jerks were 
present, equal and somewhat hyperactive, that there was no ankle-clonus, that 
the signs of Babinski, Gordon, and Oppenheim were negative, were noted and 
commented upon. A symmetrical sensory loss of the stocking type affecting 
both lower extremities to about the level of the knees, and a pronounced defect of 
the sense of position in the lower limbs were demonstrated. It was ascertained 
that there was no trouble with the sphincters, although for some time after the 
accident there had been retention, unaccompanied, however, at any period by 
incontinence of urine. The conclusion was arrived at that not only were there no 
signs of organic disease, but that certain indications present clearly pointed to the 
functional origin of the paraplegia. The question arose, Will an X-ray photo¬ 
graph of the spine afford additional help in connection with diagnosis ? The 
spine had been already X-rayed, but the demonstrator remarked that he did not 
wish to see the photograph, for he was quite satisfied as to the diagnosis. Even 
granting that the X-rays showed evidence of a fracture, this would in no way 
affect his opinion either as regards the nature of the case or the prospect of 
recovery. 

X-rays are sometimes dangerous. Capt. Bramwell referred in this connection 
to the case of an officer whom he had recently been asked to see, and who was 
suffering from a paraplegia of two years’ duration, which was, beyond question, of 
functional origin. In this case an X-ray had been taken, and the photograph, 
which was a very beautiful one, showed a perfectly definite fracture of the lamina of 
the fifth lumbar vertebra on one side. The patient had been told that he had fractured 
his spine, and by his bedside lay the photograph which he produced in proof of 
this perfectly correct assertion. The fracture was not, however, the cause of the 
paralysis. Previous opinions expressed to the patient and his relatives had made 
such an impression that nothing would convince them that the fracture and para¬ 
plegia were not related as cause and effect. A distinguished neurologist under 
whose care the patient had previously been for a short time, and who had not 
insisted on an X-ray examination, was the subject of unjustifiable censure, whereas 
the physician who had had the spine X-rayed and diagnosed the fracture had 
apparently been the recipient of much kudos, since to him was attributed the 
credit of ascertaining the true cause of the paralysis. On the other hand, it was 
the very fact that an X-ray had been taken, together apparently with the failure 
on the part of the consultants who subsequently saw the case to indicate the 
absence of relationship between the fracture and the paralysis, which had been 
responsible for the perpetuation of the latter. 

After this digression, the demonstrator turned to the patient and told him that 
he was satisfied there was no actual injury to the spinal cord or nerves, and that 
he could promise him that he would completely recover. How, then, was this to 
be achieved in the present case ? In the first place there was to be no question of 
mystery. Experience of similar cases justified the assertion as to the diagnosis, 
and the patient w r as told that, in popular language, he had actually forgotten how 
to move his muscles, and that he required to be shown how to do so—in other 
words, he must be re-educated. There was a widespread impression among the 
laity that these cases were cured by electricity and massage ; this was an entire 
misconception. The electrical current was undoubtedly often of great value in 
demonstrating to the patient that the muscles had not lost their ability to contract, 
but it was the suggestion and persuasion employed by the operator, and not the 


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•electricity, that brought about the cure. Certainty in diagnosis on the part of the 
physician, and confidence from previous experience of his powers to convince 
the patient, were two essential requisites for success. 

A few remarks were then made regarding the value of isolation, and of the 
mental atmosphere in the treatment of the functional neuroses. 

Note .—There are certain matters to which it is inadvisable to refer before a 
patient suffering from functional paralysis. An essential point in the prognosis of 
these cases is the desire to get well. The soldier's will to recover is no doubt 
■often modified by the fact that he may, when recovered, be returned to the fighting 
line, by fears or doubts associated with the recollection of the experiences through 
which he has passed, by thoughts of his family and home responsibilities, and 
sometimes, it is true, by satisfaction with his too sympathetic attendants and too 
comfortable surroundings. Appeals to his sense of duty and patriotism may be 
quite unavailing. When the active desire to get well is absent, this may be brought 
about by incentive. The rapidity with which improvement occurs in some cases, 
\Vhen the soldier knows that he will not again be sent on active service, is often 
remarkable. When the paralysis has persisted for long and the patient has obviously 
no strong wish for recovery, Capt. Bramwell has sometimes obtained excellent results 
by the following expedient: He tells the soldier that he knows he is anxious to 
get well as soon as possible, as is only natural, and that he feels certain that he 
will submit to any form of treatment which will bring about the desired result. He 
then tells him that the state of his nervous system is such that he requires absolute 
rest. He places him in bed behind curtains in a ward, admits no one to see him, 
gives him milk as his only article of diet, allows him no letters and no tobacco. 
This therapeutic procedure, in which a vis d tergo is adopted under the guise of 
treatment, is often successful when other measures fail in inducing that wish for 
recovery which is essential. As improvement occurs, the rigidity of the regime is 
slackened. The method is particularly useful when there is reason for believing 
that the patient is inclined to exaggerate his disability. 

Then followed a demonstration on “ Provisional Peg Legs" by Lieut.-Col. 
Cathcart, R.A.M.C., and Major Rankine. 

Lieut.-Col. Cathcart explained that the supply of temporary or provisional 
peg legs for soldiers who had lost a leg had only been introduced into British 
hospitals since the war began, but that the value of these appliances was being 
appreciated more and more every day. 

The objects to be attained by their use are: 

(1) To obviate the need of crutches, which, besides being cumbrous, 
frequently cause musculo-spiral paralysis. 

(2) To hasten the shrinkage of the stump, which takes place so rapidly 
when an artificial limb is worn that the renewal of the bucket frequently 
becomes necessary within a few months of the first fitting. 

(3) To train the man in the use of an artificial substitute for his lost limb. 

The requirements of such an appliance are that, besides being efficient, it should 

be cheap, light, easily made, and quickly applied. 

Many different forms of provisional peg leg have been advocated, and several 
have been tried at Bangour with Major Rankine's assistance, but none have met 
the requirements so well as the “ Belgian Pylon," the only pattern now employed 
at this hospital. Major Rankine has entire charge of the supply of these peg legs, 
and has introduced many minor improvements in detail of construction. 

They consist of a light wooden frame-work, which any carpenter can make, with 
a felt-lined bucket of plaster-of-Paris bandage incorporated with the frame-work. 
Major Rankine finds that, after he has obtained the necessary materials and has 
been able to train his assistants, the time required for an ordinary case is as 
follows: 

To make the frame-work about half an hour, and to adapt it to the stump 
about half an hour. When the plaster has set the appliance is removed for drying. 
Next day the man is able to use it, and walks off with the aid of a walking stick. 

Major Rankine showed a number of soldiers who had just been supplied with 
these provisional peg legs. In the case of very short stumps below the hip and 
knee respectively, he explained what additional details were required, vie., a pelvic 
band in the one case and steel or elastic supports to the knee in the other. He 
pointed out how simply the plaster-of-Paris bandage lends itself to the accuracy of 
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[Oct., 


the fitting of the sockets, and to the adaptation of these extra pieces of mechanism, 
without which such cases could not be fitted at all. 

The success attained in this department of the working of the Edinburgh War 
Hospital was much appreciated by those present. 

In proposing a vote of thanks to the demonstrators, Dr. Bond said: “ Before we 
go I should like to say there is one thought in our minds, and that is that we 
would like to express our thanks to those who have given us these most interesting 
demonstrations. They have been a revelation to a large number. We know the 
amount of trouble that has been taken, and we want to express our thanks to those 
who have organised the demonstrations, and to those who have been able to show 
us so much." 

This was seconded in appreciative terms by Lieut.-Col. W. R. Dawson, 
R.A.M.C., and carried by acclamation. 

Mrs. Keay's “At Home " pleasantly concluded the meeting. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

To the Editors of the Journal of Mental Science. 

Mv dear Sirs, —I happened to run across the article on “The Psychology of 
Fear,” recently written by Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, in the issue of the Journal 
of Mental Science, of July, 1917. I am not a psychology professor or a professional 
psycho-analyst, but I was so impressed with the article that I am compelled to 
make a criticism of it. 

I am glad to see Sir Robert take a step in advance of most psychologists in 
maintaining the existence of a conflict of bodily reactions in the case of fear. 
However, like others of his tribe, he still seems confused in his distinction between 
instincts and emotions. He makes these two statements : “ The fear of solitude, 
of being without protection, etc., are notable instances of inherited instincts;" 
and " To some natures fear becomes a mental tonic, but perhaps other emotions 
. . . help to create the motive for action." 

He thus classes fear as both an instinct and an emotion. Possibly he, like 
James, regards fear as an emotion only in its more complex stages, with no distinct 
line of division between the two forms of reactions. He seems to assent to the 
following order of events in the arising of consciousness, which I believe he credits 
to MacDougall : (1) Perception of some “existing fact," (2) which sets up reflexly 
some bodily disturbance, (3) which commotion is apprehended or realised. These 
three phenomena are respectively stimulus, instinct, and emotion. Sir Robert 
himself says that an instinct “ attended with a mental side is signified by the 
term ‘emotion.’ ” It necessarily follows that instinctive and emotional reactions 
do not overlap, but are entirely separate and distinct. The instinct is an unconscious, 
inherited reaction, but when two or more assert themselves at the same time they 
must necessarily clash, which results in the arising of consciousness (for the purpose 
of consciousness is to co-ordinate these conflicting reactions) and the emotion. 
All these bodily reactions are purposive, in the sense that they are teleological. 

In the case of fear, we will find that the conflicting instincts are those of curiosity 
and flight. There are an indefinite number of kinds of such reactions, depending 
upon their intensity and general characteristics. The instinct of curiosity may be 
one of inquisitiveness or wonder, and that of flight one of concealment, while the 
emotion may be terror, fright, anger, timidness, or some other emotion akin to fear. 

“ Although danger may be a cause of fear,” says Sir Robert, “ there are 
many instances of strong and adventurous persons who long to meet danger in 
order to conquer it.” Using the principles already outlined as a basis on which 
to work, we cannot say that danger necessarily produces fear. There may be fear 
without danger and danger without fear. There may be the gravest kind of 
danger, but if either the instinct of curiosity or that of flight is not present, fear 
will not be experienced. 

When the miner lights the fuse for the blast the instinct of flight compels him 
to run, but he is not frightened. The instinct of curiosity does not assert itself 
because he is experienced, and knows when the explosion will take place and what 
its force will be. If one is fully determined to face danger he may eliminate the 
assertion of the flight instinct, and thus overcome fear. The experiences of big 
game hunters bear out this statement. In the Outlook (New York) several years 


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ago was portrayed a vivid description of the emotions experienced by a Montana 
minister attacked by two famished mountain lions one cold winter morning. 
While he was running his hair stood on end, and he trembled with fear, but when 
he could control himself sufficiently to turn round and face the beasts he became 
very calm, although all odds seemed against him. Through the sudden and 
unexpected appearance of a freight train he lived to tell the story. 

The overcoming of the flight instinct is seen clearly in the action of the soldiers 
at the Front. Henri Barbusse, in describing a charge, says : “ We are now as men 
possessed ; we have forgotten our fears, and all we want now is to meet the enemy 
face to face; we are lusting for blood.” Sir Robert himself tells of a young 
officer who, being overcome by a sudden fear, began to tremble, but by an effort of 
will this passed off, otherwise his feeling was to get away from where he was. I 
believe this illustration discloses one of the most important contributions to mental 
science—the fact that the cure of fear lies in the will. The generally accepted 
theory has been that expressed by Helen Williams Post : “ Fear, which is only 
another name for ignorance, is all that ails us. Fear is hot a thing that one can 
drop in obedience to the will ; it can only be overcome by an intelligent investi¬ 
gation that leads to a full understanding of it. That which we understand we no 
longer fear. Understanding alone conquers fear." 

However, in the case cited of the mountain lion attack, where all reason showed 
torture and death to be imminent and certain, all the knowledge and understanding 
in the world would have been of no avail. Will power, and not knowledge, 
overcame this man's fear. Truth will make you free, but intellect will only hold 
the links; it takes something else to strike the blow that breaks them. 

Most respectfully yours, 

F. LeRoy Spangler 

3543, 10th Street, N.W., 

Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 

August 1st, 1918. 


To the Editors of the Journal of Mental Science. 

Sirs, —I am obliged to you’ for the courtesy afforded me to read Mr. Le Roy 
Spangler’s criticism of my paper upon the “ Psychology of Fear" in the Journal 
of Mental Science last year. 

He refers to a misapprehension in the use of the terms “ instinct ” and “ emo¬ 
tion,” which he himself appears to share, for he states that in fear " we find that 
the conflicting instincts are those of curiosity and flight ”; yet one is an emotion, 
and the other a so-called instinct. I confess that I experience a difficulty in appre¬ 
ciating a clear line of demarcation between instincts and emotions, and personally 
I would prefer to regard all the instincts as reflex actions, and, as we know, 
elaborate reflex acts may need even a more extensive nervous apparatus than an 
intelligent act. 

The origin of the instincts is probably reflex, but as they become more teleo¬ 
logical, and their ends become more adapted to the welfare of the organism, they 
tend to rise above mere reflexes, and to be expressed either without consciousness 
along congenitally prepared nervous pathways, or to rise and be presented to 
consciousness. 

The modern definition of the instincts is “ inherited perceptual disposition," and 
if this is accepted the instincts are clearly mental states. We know that they are 
best seen in the lower animals such as the social bees and ants among the inverte¬ 
brates and in birds and some of the lower mammals among the vertebrates. 
Witness the migratory tendencies of birds and the constructive acts of the beaver, 
and although we have no means of reading mental states into these acts—for only- 
in man can this be effected—yet there must be mental elements present as in man, 
and we often use the term "instinct” in animals to express mental states. 

Further, I fail to see a distinct demarcation between “feeling" in the psycho¬ 
logical sense and the emotions, unless it be in the organic visceral sensations 
which accompany the latter; yet there are probably some hormones with corre¬ 
sponding internal sensations accompanying every hedonic tone, as the experiments 
of Cannon appear to suggest. 

My critic denies that danger necessarily produces fear; but if, as I maintain, 


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408 NOTES AND NEWS. [Oct., 

fear is a biological reflex, then this primary emotion must be present in the uncon¬ 
scious mind, and I cannot conceive an actual present state of danger without the 
emotion (or instinct) of fear. But here we are upon the elusive territory of the 
subconscious, and is it possible to be unconscious of the conscious?— i.e., is it 
possible to have impressions without the mind acting?—or, in other words, is it 
possible to have a state of pure physiological activity present without mentality ? 
I am unconscious of the various ears of corn and straws in a cornfield, although 
my reason tells me they are present; I hear the wave on the pebbled beach, 
but 1 am unconscious of the sound caused by each pebble. I think, judging by 
my actions, that there are many and different emotions in my own mind, but 
because they do not rise to consciousness I may be tempted to deny they are 
there. 

Lastly, he refers to the control of the emotions bv the exercise of the will, and I 
think the will rather than the intellect is the claim of man to rise to a higher 
sphere. It is well known that the assumption of a movement associated with an 
emotion tends to create the emotion. The work of the actor is of this kind. The 
substitution by an effort of the will of a movement contrary to the emotion that 
will often best control it. A boy whistles when he passes the cemetery at night; 
a girl who is annoyed will play her piece of music to divert her emotion, and a 
child is taught to count ten before replying in anger. 

An assumption of calm will overcome an emotion. One cannot feel chivalrous 
or martial when leaning on a lamp-post with hands in pocket. The reason can do 
much to show the unreasonableness of an emotion, but it is the will-power that 
finally exercises the control, and I cannot help feeling that the muscular element 
of thought has been very inadequately studied in connection with the will. I am 
obliged to Mr. Spangler for his criticisms. 

I am, Sirs, 

Your obedient servant, 

Robert Armstrong-Jones, M.D. 

105, Harley Street, VV.; 

September 10 th, 1918. 


EXAMINATION FOR NURSING CERTIFICATE. 

List of Successful Candidates. 

Final Examination, May, 1918. 

Chester County. —Sarah J. Partin, Minnie Lloyd, Margaret J. Griffiths, * Lily E. 
Robinson, Nellie Griffiths, Annie Elizabeth Eyton, Alice Crook. 

Macclesfield, Chester. —Annie M. Craib, Jeanie Killough, Annie M. Peden, Sarah 
]. Leigh, Minnie Leigh. 

Cornwall. —Annie Redmond. 

Carlisle. —Lena Hardy, Ebenezer J. Barton, Hannah Willis, Flora Gray. 
Severalls, Essex. —Kathleen V. Murphy, Henrietta E. Hood, Elizabeth A. Robin¬ 
son, Ethel A. Kent, Ethel F. Randle, Ellen A. Davies, Eleanor W. Griffiths, Arthur 
H. Markland. 

Bridgend, Glamorgan. —Edward Byrne, Tom Griffiths, Henry A. Murphy, Clara 
A. Prew, Sarah J. Tarr, *Maggie Jones, Elizabeth M. Williams. 

Banning Heath, Kent. —Mildred C. Tiver, Mildred A. Oliver, Lilian Owen, Annie 
F. Burridge, Ellen Cotter, Lillian M. Leverett. 

Rainhill, Lancs. —Alice Pemberton, Elizabeth M. Taylor, Mary Coghlan, Annie 
E. Yates. 

Cane Hill, L.C.C. —Olive Jibb, Emily A. E. Amos, Olive M. Clavey, Annie M. 
Talbott, Kathleen C. Mawn, Laura L. Payne, Lilian M. Corby. 

Claybury, L.C.C. —Edith M Simons, Annie E. Reeve, Margery C. Barker, Edith 
E. Woodford, Maud E. Wiese, Gretto Hyland, Elsie Blake, Ada E. Parrish. 

Colney Hatch, L.C.C. —Louisa Jones, Elsie Fisher, Kathleen M. E. Shaw, Alice 
N. Fenn, Lois Root. 

Hanwell, L.C.C. —Rosa G. G. Brentnall, Jenny Lapidge, Rose Young, Emily C. 
Manley, Rose M. Brown, Alice Wildin, Violet G. Smith, Edith L. Knight. 

Bicton, Shropshire. —Catherine A. Hogan. 

Long Grove, L.C.C. —Grace Banwell, Horatio J. Johnson, Edmund J. Tomkins. 


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1918.] NOTES AND NEWS. 409 

Cheddleton. —Ada Roulston, Lily Noble, Florence A. Ledbury, Jessie M. 
McDonald. 

Netherne. —"Alice E. Sparks, "Florence Vickery. 

Hellingly. —Ethel M. Tindall, Marion Costigan, Winifred M. Keep, Mary 
McPartland. 

Derby Borough. —Annie Hall, Lilian Goodall. 

Barnsley Hall, Worcester. —"Elsie May Colley, Ada Alice Seeley. 

Hull City. — Mary Imelda Carlin, Floris Evangeline Lloyd, Kate Marr, Ella B. 
Watson, David Stynes, John D. Moody. 

Leavesden. —Adeline Rockliffe, Annie Baker, Grace Ethel Maurice, Mary G. 
Hickman, Margaret Blew, Winifred Cox, Elizabeth Marchant, Mildred E. Neate, 
Nellie E. Phair, Florence E. Murray. 

Leicester Borough. —"Elizabeth Starkey, "Alice E. Whomsley, Miriam Hills, 
Ethel Preece. 

Notts City. —Edith A. Pearce. 

Portsmouth. —Grace E. Norris, Myrtle Phillips, Nellie L. Hill, Florence M. 
Webley, David Wren, Ivy W. Cotton. 

Sunderland. —Mary Jopling, Violet Lockey. 

Bootham Park. —Isabel K. Young. 

Brislington House. — Margaret E. Carr. 

Camberwell House. —Gladys F. M. King, Jean Elisabeth Prall, Dorothy L. Phelps, 
Adelaide G. F. Hart, Beatrice Richards. 

Coton Hill. —George A. Wilshaw. 

Holloway Sanatorium. —Jessie K. Gray, Florence Barker, Marion L. Boussier, 
Ethel C. Holdaway, Muriel Perkins, Winifred M. E. Healey, "Brenda H. Peters, 
Edith M. Telfer. 

New Saughton Hall. —Isobelle Black. 

The Retreat, York. —"Ada M. Ellis, Winifred A. Willey, Lucy Dorling, "Annie 
S. Higgins. 

St. Andrews. —Katie M. Potter, Lewis Duckett. 

Ticehurst. —Eva C. Browning, "Mary C. Clarke. 

Aberdeen District. —Margaret R Sutherland, Eliza A. S. Noble. 

Argyle and Bute. —Alexanderina McDonald, "Catherine Macleod. 

Ayr. —Margaret O. McGill, Grace Mitchell. 

Crichton. —Robert Neill, Robert S. Purvis, William Scott, Laurence Walls, 
Viola Potts, Grizel E. Brand, Margaret Cameron, Jessie Sidev, Agnes W. L. 
Ednie, Mary S. McCartney, Elizabeth Hendry, "Jessie A. Bowie, Annie Brown, 
Jessie K. Cameron, Lizzie A. Reid, Mary Munro, Isabel Campbell, Janet G. D. 
McDowall, Margaret D. Eadie, Sarah E. Johnston, "Ethel McLennan, Annie 
McCullen, Victoria F. Shelbourne, Mary Macdonald, Ellen McCaw, Joseph Dunn. 
Dundee District. —Mary M. Duffy, Mina Lovie. 

Edinburgh Royal. —Mabel A. Nicoll, "Mary J. Brown, William J. Fraser, 
Sarah M. Richmond, Christina B. Donaldson. 

Craig House. —Mary T. Brady, Isabella M. Cromarty, Jessie A. Flett, Mary 
Finnigar, Margaret W. Young, Margaret M. McLean, Elise le Gentil, "Annie H. 
Lawrence, Elltn Morrison, Grace McHaffie, Margaret Brady, Jean Davidson, 
Mary R. Robertson, Mary E. Shearer. 

Fife and Kinross. —Mary Duncan, Kate Lobban. 

Gartloch. —Elizabeth Black, Allison R. Russell, Katie A. KcKinnon, Mary S. 
Laing 

Gartnarel. —Catherine McKerchar, Annie Marshall, Annie B. Lorimer, Agnes 
Barbour, Annabeila Finlayson, Isabella Eadie, James Cameron. 

Woodilee. —Mary Denny, Margaret B. McLean, Marion Lithgow, John Welsh, 
Mary Kennedy (or Bownas), Ellen Devins, Annie J. M. Maepherson. 

Hawkhead. —Elizabeth D. Gibson, Jeannie McBain, Anna McDonald, May 
Travers. 

Inverness. —Maria S. Sutherland, Margaret Campbell, Sarah Macnab. 

Lanark. —Mary Purvis, Elizabeth Singer. 

Melrose. —Charles Cowie, "Lizzie W. C. P. Webster. 

Montrose. —Margaret Potter, Margaret Munro. 

Murray. —Agnes M. Ross. 

Dykebar. —Marion Cameron, Murdoch Mackay. 


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4 io 


NOTES AND NEWS. 


[Oct., 


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Riccartsbar, Paisley .—Robert J. Mitchell. 

Enniscorthy. —Arthur Doyle. 

Portrane. —Patrick Glennon, John Cullen, Bartholomew Dowdall, Mary E. 
Carolan, Bina Fahy, Ellen Kelly. 

Richmond. —Elizabeth Doyle. 

St. Patrick's. —Margaret Hogg. 

Smithston, Greenock. —William Cameron, ‘Isabella J. Murray, Thomas S. Goldie. 

Banstead. —Jean Curtenelle, Elsie E. Gill, Jeanie A. F. Fisher, Susan E. 
Howard, Emily Trevorrow, Naomi R. L. Langley. 

Wadsley. — Sydney A. Culverwell. 

Warwick County. —Elsie Jones. 

(The successful candidates from South Africa not included in the above list.) 

* Passed with distinction. 

Preliminary Examination, May, 1918. 

Berks County.— Olive M. Allum. 

Chester County — Elsie Littler, Margaret H. Timmis, Margaret Langton, Evelyn 
Bailey, Edith Taylor, May Jeffries, Emily Pritchard, Lily Summerfield, Honora 
Doherty, Daisy Roberts, Violet V. Vernon, Betty Williams, Beatrice Lewis. 

Macclesfield, Cheshire. —Marjorie A. Barnett, Isabella M. Darragh, Elizabeth E. 
O’Connor, Maude L. Bloor, Celia Moore, Frances Dale, Bessie Davies, Kathleen 
Le Cras, Alyce L. Potter, Gertrude Shallcross, Ethel Ascroft. 

Cornwall County. —Gladys Coleman, Hannah M. Cooksley, Lily Bassett. 

Carlisle.— Elizabeth Moffat, Hannah Graydon, Alice Ranie, Anice M. Hodgson, 
Annie Bell. 

Derby County. —Sarah A. Radford, Gertrude A. Webster, Janet Mycroft, Mary 
Burke, Dorothy E. Mordy. 

Dorset County .— Louisa Stelling, Bertha Feltham, Annie Elligate, Anna 
Hennessey, Dorothy J. Evett, Annie M. M. Atkins, Marion Mclnerney, Alice 
Walshe, Bridget A. McDonnell, Kathleen H. Frampton, Norah B. Behan. 

Brentwood, Essex .—Annie E. Rand, Rachel Parkin, Bertha H. Carne. 

Severalls, Essex .—Mabel B. Button, Julia M. Wiles, Harriet Cole, Eva Gladys 
Brown, Jean Thompson Barr, Bessie B. Luscombe, Agnes M. Duncan, Evelyn 
Gray, Mabel G. Taylor, Florence Smith, Dorothy E. Finch, Frances J. Thompson, 
Lilian M. Hull, Roseanne McNulty. 

Bridgend, Glamorgan .— Elizabeth J. Allen, Elizabeth J. Jones, Gwladys 
Llewellyn, Elizabeth Ann Roberts, Margaret Evans, Edith Lewis. 

Isle of Wight .—Harriette M. Pauli. 

Maidstone, Kent .—Bertha Thompson, Frances C. Arnold. 

Cane Hill, L.C.C.— Henrietta E. Love, Jane Keating, Stella M. South, Dorothy 
Williams, Myra Johns, Gertrude King. Lucy B. Webb, Mildred E. Sims, 
Florence R. Cook, Alma L Sims, Edith M. Selwood, Mary A. Keane. 

Claybury, L.C.C .—Margaret J. Gittins, Grace P. Baxter, Dorothy E. Harrison, 
Dorothy M. Parrish, Annie M. Jones, Katie Healv, Edith S. J. Reid, Katie 
Pritchard, Rosina M. Jarratt. 

Colney Hatch, I..C.C. — Rose Elizabeth Bradshaw, Wilhelmina Gibson S. Brown, 
Myra Compton, Nora Annie Colts, Emily Maguire, Victoria A. Palmer. 

Hanwell, L.C.C .—Janet Williams, Florence Marshall, Lillian May Bond, 
Madeleine Scholtus, Margaret A. Lovell, Gladys Griffiths, Gladys Helen Bullack, 
Minnie McGuinness, Winifred H. Bowler, Marie Plumb, Ivy G. Baker, Florence 
Keen, Margaret Morris, Jessie L. Winsor, Isabel E. M. Currey. 

Long Grove, L.C.C .—Jessie L. Skuse, Mabel E. Meadmore, Lilian M. Blythe, 
Ann Ja«ie Jones, Olive S. Jenkins, Honoria M. Byrne. 

Napsbury, Middlesex .—Sarah Ann Christian, Lucy H. Downes, Annie Way, 
Elsie G. Rogers, Ethel M. Davies, Gertrude L. M. Thomas, Annie K. Richardson, 
Alice M. Bromley. 

Abergavenny .—Agnes H. Pugh, Gwladys Waring Chilcott, May Price, Lena M. 
Ray, Sarah Lewis, Frances Talbot. 

Notts County .—Florrie Leeson, Annie Gamble, Betsey Todd. 

Bicton, Shropshire .—Sarah E. Davies, Louisa W. Cooper, Lily Brown, Sarah J. 
Rawlings, Nellie Blocksidge, Frances Nellie Dodd. 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



1918.] NOTES AND NEWS. 411 

Cheddleton, Staffs. —Jennie M. Cassidy, Eva Mary Murphy, Mary McDonnell, 
Mabel Adeline Horlock. 

Nethern-', Surrey. —Teresa K. Quinn, Louie E. Chivers, Edith Hilda Harris, 
Ethel S. Wallcroft, Edith E. Kinch, Hanna McEllistrim, Emily E. Coles, Violet 
Waters, Harriet Bastin. 

Hellingly, Sussex. —Blodwen Hughes, Lillian Thompson, Doris L. Lucia, Nellie 
Cunningham. Elsie F. H. Thorne, Margaret Thomas, Amy Allerton. 

Storthes Hall, Yorks. —Winifred Holden, Annie Botham, Olive Usher, Elizabeth 
Myers, Williamina Morrison. 

Barnsley Hall, Worcestershire. —Louisa Shutt, Emily S. D. Rawlings, Marion 
Whitehouse, Elsie M. Johnson, Edith M. Firmstone, Mary W. M. Goddard, 
Eleanor A. M. Brown, Ada R. Oakes, Mabel Oliver. 

Winson Green, Birmingham. —Lilian M. Adams, Lilian M. Davies, Myfanwy 
Davies, Rose A. Shilvock. 

Canterbury. —Alice M. Austin, Rosina S. J. Clark, Lucy M. Mortimer, Ruth 
Hopkins, Beatrice M. Wood. 

Derby Borough. — Daisy A. Coulson, Edith A Chambers, Frances A. C. Hulme. 
Hull City. —Florence L. Davey, Agnes Ingram, Annie Kirby, Elsie Robinson, 
Ethel M. Robinson, Ethel Souley, John H. Mechen 

Leicester Borough. —Ida l.angfield, Gertrude Hickling, Bridget O’Halloran, 
Eunice F. Joyce, Lillian Soar, Rachel Burton, Kate Cocks. 

City of London. — Helen Inglis. 

Notts City. —Annie Clements, Maud Clements. 

Portsmouth Borough. —Olive K. Newton, Daisy E. Bennett, Cissie A. M. 
Hutchens, Margaret E. Boobyer, Ivy B. Strange, Harriet M. Clifford. 

Sunderland Borough. —Mary Hewitt, Hannah Shillaw. 

Bailbrook House. —Ethel Ada Newth. 

Bcthlem Royal.— Elsie K. Lewis, Alice Maud Martin, Marion F. Mullenger. 
Bootham Park. —Dorothy E. M. Robinson, Christina Watt, Sarah Hutchinson, 
Mary Ross Fearn, Elizabeth Jane Stewart, Florence M. Mitchell. 

Brislington House. —Mabel E. Doling, Ada M. Adams, Jennie Alderson. 
Camberwell House. —Elsie Everett, Alary S. Roberts, Vera H. Creighton, Ger¬ 
trude Izod. 

Holloway Sanatorium. — Ethel Chesterfield, Frances Mary Marks. 

Middleton Hall. —Ada Bruce, Annie Freda Butters, Mary Jane Hodgson. 

Retreat, York. —Charles James Allen, Frank Harwood, Louisa McKeever, Harold 
John Owles, Ada Jeanette Pettinger, Evelyn M. Torr. 

Peckham House. —Winifred Ward, Dorothy Parker, Winnifred D. White, Annie 
Packer, Emily Salmon, George H. Case, William S. Griffin, George H. I. Bates. 

St. Andrews. —Elsie B. Anderson, Elizabeth E. Biffen, Ralph L. Haynes, Arthur 
Easton, Ralph N. Easton, Hugh Owens, Walter Stafford. 

Ticehurst. —Louisa Ford, Emily C. Fry, Ivy V. Holtham. 

Warneford, Oxon. — Miriam Andrews, Evelyn E. Swadling, Barbara J. Mason. 
Aberdeen Royal. —Jessie Davie, Isabella Moir, Frances Ross. 

Aberdeen District. —Barbara M. Walker, Lizzie A. S. Duff, Ida Smith, Margaret 
Rust, Annie B Connon, Elizabeth H. Gordon, Maggie Johnston, Mary J. Harvey, 
Annie Marr. 

Argyle and Bute. —Annie McPhee, Mary F. Martin, Agnes McC. Bell, Marion 
McDonald, May McGilfs. 

Ayr. —Agnes G. Sim, Annie F. Goldie, Isabella M. Thomson, Frances J. 
McLaren, Georgina H. McLaren, Agnes Blackwood, Christina Littlejohn, Rosina 
McG. McCulloch, Grace H. Campbell, Agnes Herbert, Mary A. Kennedy, Eliza¬ 
beth L. Gillespie, Jeannie S. Baillie. 

Crichton, Dumfries. —Margaret Blackwood, Rebecca McQuarrie, Peggie Macrae, 
Elizabeth J. Moodie, Elizabeth D. Ramage, Delia Rowan, Jeannie Raffin, Jeannie 
Muircroft, B. Delia Cawley, Maggie Doherty, Elizabeth J. Beaton, Maggie A. 
Buchan, Mary W. Brand, Sarah J. Wilson, Mary E. Finch, Elizabeth M. Hickey, 
Jeannie T. Sanderson, Mary H. Sanderson, Catherine R. Hunter, Kathleen Sim¬ 
mons, Sarah Roseweir. 

Dundee Royal. —Nellie Morris, Isabella Miller, William Leith. 

Edinburgh Royal. —Jean Shannon, Mary Ward, Matilda Adams. 

Elgin. —Florence McRae. 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



412 NOTES AND NEWS. [Oct., 

Fife and Kinross. —Marion W. Coffield, Isobel Corsie, Flora M. Fraser, Annie 
Mitchell, Isabel Nuthall, Margaret J. Slessor, Isabella Turner. 

Gartloch. —Angus Sinclair, Helen M. Deas, Mary Deas, Annie Diack, Mary A. 
Raeburn. 

Craig House. —Margaret A. Nicholson, Williamina J. Imray, Marion S. McKizen, 
Mary Cochrane, Elizabeth Milne. 

Gartnavel. —Robina Brown, Mary Collins, Brigid Martin, Mary Molloy, Cathe¬ 
rine McArthur, William Arrol, Mary McKenzie, Annie McMillan, Betty Orr, Isa¬ 
bella Russell, Euphemia Churchman, Jean C. Greer. 

Woodilee. —Grace Inglis, Agnes Maitland, Elspeth P. Taylor, Barbara G. Martin, 
Alexandrina Melville, Jessie H. Dunsmore, Jane Higgins, Jessie Angus, Hellen 
Chisholm Mathieson, John H. Gavin, Cornelius J. Brooks. 

Hatvkhead. —Mary Barclay, Isabella Berry, Meta Y. McFarlane, Margaret Robin¬ 
son, William F. Hepburn. 

Inverness. —William Campbell, Florence A. Boiteux, Isabella D. Stevenson, 
Catherine S. Stevenson, Margaret B. Hendry. 

Lanark. —Jeannie C. Gray, Janet M. Cochrane, Isabella Boyd, Agnes R. Hutchon, 
Mary J. A. Titterington, Margaret Mullin, Margaret Connor, Gertrude H. Howie. 

Melrose. —Margaret Provan. 

Montrose.-. —Maggie S. Balnaves, Chr-issie Innes, Ella E. C. Y. Gibson, Mary J. 
Duthie, Margaret Kennedy, Jane Bowen, Susan Smith. 

Murray. —Mary Allan, Annie McLeod. 

Dykebar. — Margaret Hart, Norman MacKinnon. 

Ballinasloe. —Mary Marner, Mary O’Connor, Margaret Muldoon, Teresa Fitz¬ 
patrick, Kathleen Dunleavy, Angelina Kilroe, Mary Kenny. 

Enniscorthy. —Annie O’Farrell. 

Mullingar. —Mary Farrell, Mary Anne Dinnigan, Bridget .Garry, Mary Mullin, 
Margaret Tiernan, Kate Maguire, Patrick Devine, Thomas Fry, Mary Duffy, Ellie 
McCormack, Mary Anne Reilly. 

Portrane. —Maria Flannery, Margaret Gilmartin, Jane Murphy, Nora Helena 
McArdle, Lillie Green, Michael Connolly, Thomas Browne, John Callahan, Andreiv 
Byrne, Edward Hughes. 

Richmond. —Martha Connell, Elizabeth Dalton, Christopher McEntagart, Cor¬ 
nelius Horan, Annie Lyons. 

St. Patrick's, Dublin. —Rebecca M. Belton, Thomas Byrne, James Callaghan, 
Samuel Newman, John Stapleton. 

Smithston. —Alexander MacLean, Annie E. McCarroll, Bridget McCormack. 

Banstead. — Mary Jane Massara, May Taylor, Florence Ruth Morse, Catherine 
Mary Lloyd, Annie Elizabeth Clarke, Marcelle Walters, Margaret Priscilla Day, 
Lilian Ruth Byram, Violet Winifred Cownden, Dorothy Rose Powell, Lily Dunn, 
Ellen Eliza Duncombe, May Gladys Waylan, Bridget Teresa Ryan, Lucy Eleanor 
Pownall, Maria Josephine Fenton, Lucy Jordan. 

Haddington. —Rita Mary Sinclair, Jean Lawson Skinner, Helen Deagman 
Dobie. 

JVarwick County. — Lucy Davies, Rita Storey, Marion O'Connell, Nellie 
Williams. 

South Africa. 

Preliminary. 

Pretoria. —H. A. E. C. W. Montjoie, I. M. Cloete, G. du Plessis, G. E. Keenan, 
J. W. Nell, A. H. Lotter, P. F. Rautenbach. 

Grahamstown. —Margaret Mary Rainnie Andrew. 

Pietermaritzburg. —J. W. Delport, E. M. Boik. 

Bloemfontein. —J. G. Bender. 

Valkenberg. —J. C. S. Lotter. 


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1 9 1 8.] 


NOTES AND NEWS. 


413 


OBITUARY. 

William Reid, M.D.Aberd. 

Physician-Superintendent , Royal Asylum, Alerdecn. 

The Scottish Division has again to record the death of one of its oldest 
members in Dr. Reid, who died at his residence on September 3rd. 

Dr. Reid had been connected with the Aberdeen Royal Asylum for the long 
period of forty-two years'; he entered it as Assistant Physician in 1876, and on 
the death of his predecessor, Dr. Jamieson, he was appointed to succeed him in 
1885. 

He lived to see the reconstruction of this large asylum almost completed and 
no detail in the scheme escaped his attention. He was particularly proud of the 
hospital block, which is not surpassed anywhere in the country. 

In mental diseases Dr. Reid was extremely conservative ; he would look at no 
other book but " Clouston ” until, no new and revised edition appearing, he adopted 
De Fursac’s well-known manual. Of all the varieties of insanity he was most 
interested in primary dementia. 

Dr. Reid was a big man in every way. His handsome presence and indefinable 

f iersonality will be missed in Aberdeen for many years to come. He was abso- 
utely adored by his patients ; as, though he did not carry his feelings on the surface, 
his winning personality and overflowing kindness of heart made him an ideal 
mental physician. His old assistants all over the world, as well as his staff, 
possessed an affection for him such as is given to few men. The Chief hated 
humbug, meanness, self-advertisement, and priggishness of any kind, and expressed 
himself pretty forcibly at times when any examples of such came to his knowledge. 
Though of a forgiving nature in most instances, he never forgave anyone whom 
he had found out “ not playing the game.” He lectured on psychiatry to many 
generations of Aberdeen University men, and was seen at his best when describing 
the clinical symptoms presented by the cases he brought before them. 

Dr. Reid did not care for the artificiality of social functions or meetings and 
was seldom seen at these, but he liked to entertain at his own house. He loved 
the open air, and his chief recreations were shooting and golf. He was passionately 
devoted to the latter game, and his fine figure, clothed in the favourite brown 
suit, was well known on the links of Balgownie, Cruden Bay, and Lossiemouth. 
His library contained every known book on the game ; and he showed a prevalent 
and forgivable human weakness in buying successively the clubs made by the 
greatest players of the day, and it was amusing to see the big man wielding the 
initial very light clubs used by Harry Vardon. He had a tendency to “ slice,” 
which he attributed to loosening his left hand at the top of the swing ; to circum¬ 
vent this he had a thin metal cover, surrounded with the ordinary leather grip, 
made to encircle the upper half of the handle of his clubs; this cover revolved 
sufficiently to allow of the left hand preserving the grip at the top of the swing. 
The correspondence which ensued with the editor of a well-known golfing maga¬ 
zine, who did not approve of the contrivance, caused him great amusement. 
Needless to say, the “slice” remained, and he discarded the above invention and 
adopted another to cure his “ slice ” in the form of a strap, which, however, made 
it impossible for his caddie to withdraw one club from his bag without also with¬ 
drawing the others. A favourite caddie took the law into his own hands and removed 
the club straps while his master was at lunch. The resulting interview later was 
something to be remembered. He fared better with a tea-urn he invented for his 
patients, and the writer has never seen anything to beat it for institutional use. 

Dr. Reid’s home life was delightful, and to see the big fellow lying on the floor 
building brick houses with his youngest daughter is a pleasant memory. He was 
devoted to all children, and they to him. 

The war adversely affected Dr. Reid in many ways. His senior assistant, Dr. 
Kellas, to whom he was much attached, was killed at Gallipoli; and, later, 
two other assistants—Drs. Dewar and Legge—were killed on other Fronts. 

He is survived by his wife and two daughters. Prof. R. W. Reid, of Aberdeen, 


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414 


NOTES AND NEWS. 


[Oct., 1918. 


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is his brother ; and another brother, Major-General Sir Alexander Reid, K.C.B., 
who made a great reputation for himself in India and China, died a few years 
ago. Prof. R. G. McKerron, of Aberdeen, is a brother-in-law. 

H. M. de Alexander. 


NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS. 

N.B. —The Editors will be glad to receive contributions of interest, clinical 
records, etc., from any members who can find time to write (whether these have 
been read at meetings or not) for publication in the Journal. They will also feel 
obliged if contributors will send in their papers at as early a date in each quarter 
as possible. 

Writers are requested kindly to bear in mind that, according to Lix(a) of the 
Articles of Association, “ all papers read at the Annual, General, or Divisional 
Meetings of the Association shall be the property of the Association, unless the 
author shall have previously obtained the written consent of the Editors to the 
contrary." 

Papers read at Association Meetings should, therefore, not be published in other 
Journals without such sanction having been previously granted. 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



INDEX TO VOL. LXIV. 


Part I.—GENERAL INDEX. 

Aberdeen Royal Asylum, report for 1916, 100 
Etiology of crime, 129 

Alcohol : its action on the human organism, 304 

,, relation of, to mental states, particularly in regard to the war, 146 
Annual Meeting, 1918, 382 
Aphasia in relation to mental disease, 1 

Aphonia, mutism and deafness among soldiers of psychical origin, 221 
Asylum reports for 1916, 85 

„ Workers' Association, annual meeting, 318 
Auditors, report of the, 394 

Baily, Dr. Percy, obituary, 248 
Balance sheet, 393 

Bedford, Herts and Hants Asylum, reports for 1916, 86 
Bethlem Royal Hospital, report for 1916, 85 
Board of Control, third annual report, 1916, 76 
Brain and genetic function, 224 
Brentwood Asylum, report for 1916, 87 

Central nervous system, experimental toxi-infection of the, 18 
Clinical neurology and psychiatry, 79, 221, 310 
„ notes and cases, 64, 296 

Colchester, Royal Eastern Counties Institution, report for 1916, 89 

Cooke, Sir Marriott, K.B.E., elected an Honorary Member, 395 

Correspondence, 108, 406 

Council, annual report of, 390 

Crime, aetiology of, 129 

Criminology and social psychology, 84 

Deafness, mutism and aphonia among soldiers of psychical origin, 221 
Diabetes mellitus, psychoses associated with, 312 
Dreams, soldiers’, psychology of, 388 
Ductless glands, epilepsy and’the, 30 

Ectromelus, an : an atavistic relapse, 267 
Edinburgh, Morningside Asylum, report for 1916, 94 

Edinburgh War Hospital: demonstration of cases on the occasion of the annual 
meeting, 400 

Editors, report of the, 392 
Education Committee report, 394 
Election of honorary members, 395 
,, of Officers and Council, 390 
Emotional hysteria, 82 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



INDEX. 


4 I 6 

Epilepsy and the ductless glands, 30 
,, voltaic test in, 79 
Epitome of current literature, 78, 220, 310, 386 
Essex County Asylum (Brentwood), report for 1916, 87 
„ „ „ (Severalls), annual report for 1916, 88 

Ethics, evolution and, 226 
Evolution and ethics, 226 

Evolutional progress in psychiatry: a plea for optimism, 189 
Examination for nursing certificates: list of successful candidates, 242, 408 
Excitement in the various states of insanity, clinical observations on, 296 

Fear, disorders and disabilities of, 388 

,, psychology of (correspondence), 406, 407 

Genetic function, brain and, 224 

Glasgow Royal Asylum, Gartnavel, report for 1916, 98 
Graham, William, obituary, 114 
Graphomania, 310 

Hysteria, emotional, 82 
,, studies in, 386 

Hysterical symptoms in soldiers, rapid cure of, 387 

Idiot, microcephalic, case and post-mortem examination of a, 65 
Insanity, clinical observations in the various states of excitement in, 296 
„ Rolandic area in a series of cases of, 344 
„ war and the burden of, 325 

Ireland, sixty-sixth report of the Inspectors of Lunatics for the year ending 
December 31st, 1916, 301 

Irish Division of the Medico-Psychological Association, meetings, 105, 238, 316 

Library Committee report, 395 

London, City of, Asylum, report for 1916, 91 

Lunacy law, reform in, 66 

Maudsley, Dr. Henry, bequest to the Society, 312 
,, „ ,, obituary, 118 

Mechanism of paranoia, 83 

Medico-Psychological Association, alteration of bye-laws, 313 
„ „ „ meetings, 101, 227, 312 

,, „ ,, seventy-seventh annual meeting, 389 

Meetings, dates of the, 395 
Members, election of, 102, 227,314, 396 
Mental disease, aphasia in relation to, 1 
„ disorders, early treatment of, 210 

,, process, nature of, 78 

,, states, relation of alcohol to, particularly in regard to the war, 146 
Mickle, Dr. Julius, obituary, 111 

Microcephalic idiot, case and post-mortem examination of a, 65 
Middlesborough, Borough of, asylum report for 1916, 91 
Military service, psychoneurotic temperament and its reactions to, 365 
Ministry of Health : statement by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 
respecting, and correspondence, 109 

Mongolian imbecility, review of cases admitted to the Stewart Institution during 
the past twenty years, 239 
Moral sanity, 377 

Mutism in the soldier and its treatment, 54 

,, aphonia and deafness among soldiers of psychical origin, 22 1 

Neurasthenia: the disorders and disabilities of fear, 388 

Northern and Midland Division of the Medico-Psychological Association, meetings. 
102, 241, 315 

Notes and news, 101, 227, 312, 389 


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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 



INDEX. 


417 


Obituary.—Baily, Dr. Percy John, 248 
Graham, William, 114 
Maudsley, Dr. Henry, 117, 228 
Mickle, Dr. Julius, ill 
Reid, Dr. William, 413 
Seward, Dr., 227, 245 
Watson, Dr. William Riddell, 246 
Occasional notes, 66, 210, 382 

Paranoia, mechanism of, 83 
Parliamentary Committee report, 394 

Pathological lying occurring in a soldier, 389 
Physiological psychology, 78, 220 
Porencephaly, case of, 64 
President, installation of, 399 

,, retiring, vote of thanks to, 396 
Presidential address on the war and the burden of insanity, 325 
Psychiatry, evolutional progress in : a plea for optimism, 189 
Psychology, behaviour, scope of, 220 

,, of fear (correspondence), 406 

,, of soldiers’ dreams, 388 

,, social, criminology and, 84 

Pyscho-neurotic temperament and its reactions to military service, 365 
Psychoses and psycho-neuroses, war, 230 

,, associated with diabetes mellitus, 312 

„ war, 165 

Pullen, James Henry, the genius of Earlswood, 251 

Registrar, notices by the, 245 
Reid, Dr. William, obituary, 413 
Report of the auditors, 394 
,, of the Council, 390 

„ of the editors of the Journal, 392 
,, of the Education Committee, 394 
„ of the Library Committee, 395 
„ of the Parliamentary Committee, 394 

,, of the Treasurer, 391 

Reviews, 67, 213, 301 

Rolandic area, the, a series of cases of insanity in, 344 

Roxburgh District Asylum, report for 1916, 98 

Royal Eastern Counties Institution, Colchester, report for 1916, 89 

Salop, County of, and Borough of Wenlock Asylum, report for 1916, 92 
Sanity, moral, 377 

Scottish Division of the Medico-Psychological Association, meeting, 104, 314 
Severalls Asylum, report for 1916, 88 
Seward, William Joseph, obituary, 245 

Shell-shock in advanced neurological centres, treatment of, 388 
Social psychology, criminology and, 84 
Sociology, 84, 226 

Soldier, case of pathological lying in a, 389 
,, mutism in the, and its treatment, 54 
Soldiers’ dreams, psychology of, 388 

Soldiers, mutism, aphonia and deafness among, of psychical origin, 221 
,, rapid cure of hysterical symptoms in, 387 
South-Eastern Division of the Medico-Psychological Association, meetings, 103, 318 
South-Western Division of the Medico-Psychological Association, meetings, 103, 
315 

Toxi-infection, experimental, of the central nervous system, further observations 
on, 18 

Treasurer, report of the, 391 


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41 8 INDEX. 

Voltaic vertigo test in epilepsy, 79 
War and the burden of insanity, 325 

„ psychoses: an analysis of 202 cases of mental disorder occurring in home 
troops, 165 

„ „ and psychoneuroses, 230 

Warrington War Hospital (Lord Derby’s), record of admissions to the mental 
section from June 17th, 1916, to June 16th, 1917, 272 
Warwick County Asylum, report for 1916, 93 
Watson, Dr. William Riddell, obituary, 246 
Wenlock, Borough of, Asylum, report for 1916, 92 

Part IL—ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 

Armstrong-Jones, Major Sir Robert, relation of alcohol to mental states, particularly 
in regard to the war, 146 

Ballard, Capt. E. Fryer, psycho-neurotic temperament and its reactions to military 
service, 365 

Bartlett, G. N., some notes on the case and post-mortem examination of a micro- 
cephalic idiot—absence of corpus callosum, 65 
Bond, H. E., case of porencephaly, 64 

Eager, Major R., record of admissions to the mental section of the Lord Derby 
War Hospital, Warrington, from June 17th, 1916, to June 16th, 1917, 272 

Goring, Charles, aetiology of crime, 129 

Henderson, Capt. D. K., war psychoses: an analysis of 202 cases of mental 
disorder occurring in home troops, 165 

James, Rev. J. G., moral sanity, 377 
Jones, S. Evan, see under Prior, G. P. U. 

Keay, Lt.-Col. John, presidential address on the war and the burden of insanity, 
325 

McDowall, Colin, mutism in the soldier and its treatment, 54 
Mott, Lieut.-Col. F. W., war psychoses and psychoneuroses, 230 

Norman, Capt. Hubert J., evolutional progress in psychiatry : a plea for optimism, 
189 

Orr, David, and Rows, Major, further observations on experimental toxi-infection 
of the central nervous system, 18 

Pal, S. B., an ectromelus : an atavistic relapse, 267 

Prior, Guy P. U., and Jones, S. Evan, epilepsy and the ductless glands, 30 
Rows, Major, see under Orr, David 

Sano, Dr. F., James Henry Pullen, the genius of Earlswood, 251 
Smith, R. Percy, aphasia in relation to mental disease, 1 

Toledo, Dr. R. M., clinical observations in various states of excitement in insanity, 
296 

Turner, Dr. John, observations on the Rolandic area in a series of cases of 
insanity, 344 

Part III.—REVIEWS. 

Alcohol: Its Action on the Human Organism, H.M. Stationery Office, 1918, 304 
Bernheim, H., Automatisme et Suggestion, Paris, 1917, 213 

Boyer, Dr. Georges, Automatic Sleep (Le Sommeil Automatique), Paris, 1914, 73 


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INDEX. 


419 . 


De Fursac, Dr. J. R., Manuel de Psychiatric, fifth edition, 217 

Healy, William, Mental Conflicts and Misconduct, Boston, 1917, 216 

Jung, C. G., Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology, translated by Dr. Con¬ 
stance E. Long, second edition, 1917, 219 

Kammer, Percy Gamble, The Unmarried Mother, Boston, 1918, 308 

Lugaro, Prof. E., La Psichiatria Tedexa nella Storia e nell’ Alteralita (German 
Psychiatry in History and at the Present Day), Florence, 1917, 71 

Maudsley, Dr. Henry, Religion and Realities, 306 

Mercier, C. A., Text-book of Insanity and other Mental Disorders, second edition, 
1914,67 

„ „ The Ideal Nurse, 75 

Niceforo, Alfredo, I Germanii: Stori di un Idea et di una “ Rassa,” Rome, 1917, 70 

Sixty-sixth Report of the Inspectors of Lunatics (Ireland) for the year ending 
December 31st, 1918, 301 

Third Annual Report of the Board of Control for the year 1916, 76 


Part IV.—AUTHORS REFERRED TO IN THE EPITOME. 


Abbot, E. Stanley, 83 

Bonola, Dr. F., 79 
Brown, W., 388 

Carr, Harvey, 78 
Ceni, Carlo, 224 
Clarke, S. N., 312 


D’Onghia, Dr. Filippo, 82 

Gradenigo, Prof. G., 221 

Henderson, D. K., 389 
Hurst, A. F., 386, 387 


Mott, Col. F. W„ 388 

Schroeder, T., 85 
Singer, H. D., 312 
Symns, J. L. M., 386, 387 

Watson, J. B., 220 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Diagrams, photographs and tables to illustrate Dr. Prior and Dr. Evan Jones's 
paper, 30, 32, 33, 41, 45, 47, 50, 52 

Photograph of the late Henry Maudsley, LL.D.Edin., M.D., F.R.C.P., 117 

Photographs and diagrams to illustrate Dr. Sano’s paper, 254, 256-264 

Photographs to illustrate the paper by Dr. Orr and Major Rows, 20, 22, 24 

Photographs to illustrate Dr. Pal's paper, 268-271 

Tables to illustrate Major Eager’s paper, 273-275, 282, 286 

Tables to illustrate Capt. Henderson’s paper, 166, 167, 179 

Tables to illustrate Dr. Turner’s paper, 347, 350, 351,353, 357, 360 




ADLARD AND SON AND WEST NEWMAN, LTD., LONDON AND DORKING. 


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