prepared to suggest any remedy-our law recognises no man's guilt until it is proved, and all are equally entitled to such defence as the law allows. But knowing how powerful an incentive to crime is the love of notoriety, let any one glance over the impassioned address of Mr. Kelly to the court, in the defence of Frost, on a charge of high treason-the glowing eloquence of Mr. Phillips, labouring under the withering disadvantage of the confession of Courvoisier's guilt-the pathetic appeal of Mr. Robertson in favour of Alex. Alexander, tried for the crime of forgery-or the thrilling and soul-stirring peroration of Mr. Whiteside's defence of Smith O'Brien-and then let him consider whether to be thus spoken of, would not be, to hundreds, a strong incentive to go and do likewise.

4. The encouragement which the Legislature gives to crime is derived from the uncertainty, and in many cases the insufficiency of punishment-from the publicity and notoriety encouraged in such punishments (for it is a common saying, that one hanging produces twenty)-and from the growing unwillingness to inflict capital punishment even for the most atrocious crimes. On this subject, a writer already quoted, after commenting upon the duty of the authorities to repress and punish crime, has the following observations:

"While we are upon this part of the subject, we cannot forbear referring to a very recent case in which, it appears to us, the Home Secretary has utterly set at nought such considerations as these, and the duty of increased faithfulness in punishing prevalent crimes. Contrary to every principle of law and justice, and to general expectation, the man who murdered his wife at a friend's house in the Minories, last Christmas, has been reprieved. Without impugning the Royal Prerogative in this matter, we boldly assert that Her Majesty has been very badly advised-that it was a most flagrant case, and that the lives of many wives will be thereby exposed to a greatly-increased danger. The man was a simple murderer-nothing more and nothing less-and as justly deserved death as nine murderers out of ten who have been executed since the Divine sentence of death for murder was first pronounced. A reprieve in such a case goes far to make murder a mere lottery, as to the infliction of death as its punishment. And this comparative impunity for wife-murder occurs at a time when not only murders of all kinds abound in the land, but when both secret and open brutality towards wives (and other women) has arrived at a pitch which, we believe, has no parallel in the previous history of this country. Mercy to man is murder to woman in such a case."-English Churchman, 28th Feb. 1856.

5. The uncertainty of Science, both mental and toxicological, is a fruitful source of evil. The public press teems with illustrations of this position perpetually; we have scientific evidence

for the defence, and scientific evidence for the prosecution, almost as formally as we have counsel. The Staffordshire papers announce that Mr. Palmer's defence is to be purely scientific! On one of the most important points now before the public-the detection of a subtle and powerful poison-the most eminent men are at variance. That they should differ amongst themselves in the details of a science not yet perfected, is quite natural; but that these things should be allowed to go forth to the world, so that men may screen their enormous vices under the wing of science, is a phenomenon so monstrous as to be scarcely credible.* In the plea of insanity, also, the law is so vague, and the opinions of psychologists are so at variance, that whilst one man, who is only more accomplished in crime than his fellows, is acquitted as insane, we have occasionally the sad spectacle of a maniac dangling in a noose upon our gallows! These things are a disgrace to science, and these at least are susceptible of some alteration for the better. If there be three men in the kingdom upon whose opinion the nation and our rulers can depend, surely, if formed into a permanent commission to inquire into the state of mind of supposed lunatics, their verdict would be much more satisfactory than that of a jury puzzled by the conflicting and desultory statements of casual witnesses, medical or otherwise. If there be three men, who are capable of conducting an impartial chemical investigation, how much more weight and conviction would their unbiassed analysis carry to the minds of all men in disputed cases of poisoning, than are attained by the present defective and vicious system of professional evidence!

Our work is done. It is ever a painful task to dwell exclusively upon the delusions and crimes of mankind; but it is in the aberrations of intellectual and moral nature that (as in other sciences) we must seek the clue to their normal laws. We have attempted to trace these aberrations, and have here met constantly with the conviction that man, who has an individual responsibility, is the plaything not only of his own passions and instincts, but through the laws of his being, also of those of others. We have seen that through these same laws, and others of still more profound and complex operation, large masses are likewise subject to evil influence, from the caprices or vices of one. attempting to trace the causes of these phenomena, we have ventured to intimate that our press has a liberty which amounts to

* A singular instance of scientific special pleading once came under our own notice. A case of poisoning by arsenic was under investigation; the poison was found in the stomach in a large quantity, but the chemist employed for the defence asked the writer of this paper, if he had ever heard of the fumes of arsenic, which had been used amongst the whitewash for the wall, acting as a poison, as he intended to found the defence upon the opinion that the deceased did not die from what had been taken into the stomach, but from that used upon the wall!!

license; that our spiritual teachers are lax in their duties; that science is prostituted to evil purposes; and that our legislature is not entirely free from the imputation of adding its quota to the encouragement of crime. All this forms a problem of vast importance to humanity. Wise and thoughtful men are looking earnestly into it, and attempting its investigation; and we, in this imperfect sketch, have but wished to add our mite to the endeavour, by inquiring into the history and conditions of the past, which is indeed "the interpretation of the present, and the prophecy of the future."

ART. VII.-ON SOME UNRECOGNISED FORMS OF MENTAL DISORDER.

BY FORBES WINSLOW, M. D.

(Continued from page 90.)

I NOw proceed to cite a few illustrations of this type of undetected insanity. A lady, who up to the age of forty-three was never known to manifest anything resembling a passionate disposition or a bad temper, became, after the birth of her last child, subject to paroxysms of overpowering and ungovernable passion, induced by the most trifling and apparently insignificant causes. This continued for several years, her state of mind never being considered otherwise than sound. I had several opportunities, after her morbid condition was recognised, of observing her fits of rage; and certainly I never witnessed any demonstrations off the stage so truly appalling. Her intellect was not deranged, id est, there was no aberration of idea in connexion with the case; there was no appreciable delusion, no perversion of the affections, and no hallucinations of the senses. Her mental affection manifested itself solely in these sudden paroxysms of intense passion. These attacks generally occurred once a week, sometimes only once during the month; but for a short period she had them more frequently. They were almost invariably preceded by vertigo, pain in the occipital region, and a dimness of vision. It was the presence of these physical symptoms that led to the supposition of the existence in this case of some undetected cerebral mischief. I ordered leeches to the head, a few days in advance of the expected paroxysms; regulated the bowels and secretions, and thus greatly diminished the intensity of the passionate excitement, but failed in entirely curing the case. Dr. Cheyne refers to a somewhat similar instance in his work on "Partial Derangement of Mind

associated with Religious Impressions." He says, a friend of his was one day riding with a clergyman of refined manners, who for many years had been devoted to the service of God. To the amazement of his friend, his companion, without any adequate provocation, fell into a paroxysm of ungovernable fury, swearing at a wood-ranger, and threatening him with vengeance, because he had been dilatory in obeying an order which he had received relative to a matter of little importance. Had (observes Dr. Cheyne) this fact become public, all the devotedness to his profession, for which this excellent man was distinguished, would by many have been considered as assumed, and his habitual humility of demeanour, arising from a sense of his own unworthiness, as the result of hypocrisy. It appears that this gentleman had a short. time previously undertaken a duty which led to over-excitement of the brain. He was quite conscious of the incongruity of his conduct. It appears that his only brother had died in an asylum. I have a young lady under treatment whose only appreciable morbid condition is that of being subject to violent and uncontrollable fits of passion. These attacks frequently occur during the night. The poor little creature is painfully conscious of her sad infirmity, and assures me that she struggles heroically against it. We sometimes in practice see a modified form of this affection exhibiting itself in a bad, morose, and capricious disposition, called by Dr. Marshall Hall, who has seen several of these cases, "temper disease." This affection is not, however, confined to the female sex. A celebrated member of the House of Commons, now dead, had periodical attacks of this nature, particularly after his brain had been overwrought. I was informed by a particular friend of the gentleman to whom I refer, that he once saw him in a terrible paroxysm of fury after making an election speech. He was perfectly conscious that at these periods he was temporarily beside himself. He was in the habit of dashing cold water over his head during the fit, and occasionally when suffering from much physical exhaustion he has been known, with great benefit, to drink at a draught a pint of port wine. The celebrated Spanish General Galvez was subject to attacks of this nature. A bottle of claret was his remedy. It immediately composed his mind, probably, as Dr. Rush remarks, by overcoming a weak, morbid action, and producing agreeable and healthy excitement of brain. Would not, adds Dr. Rush, a dose of laudanum have been a better remedy for the purpose? A young gentleman was thrown from his horse, and fell upon his head. For ten minutes after the accident he continued in a state of coma. Since his recovery he has been subject to fits of passionate excitement. These attacks are generally preceded by severe headaches. His mental faculties do not appear much, if

at all, impaired, but he continues to suffer from these morbidly painful ebullitions of temper. Prior to the injury, he exhibited the most extraordinary degree of self-control and equanimity of temper. Dr. Beddoes refers to the case of a lady, who, after her recovery from an attack of brain fever, became extremely irascible. This was the reverse of her natural disposition. She made herself so offensively disagreeable to all her family, that her husband, a most amiable and self-denying man, was compelled to separate himself from her, and abandon his once happy fireside.

A somewhat similar case I visited in consultation with Dr. Webster. In this instance the lady was in the habit, during her paroxysms of passion, of seizing hold of her husband's hair and tearing it out by handfuls. This poor fellow has often come to me in great distress, having a full assurance of his wife's insanity, beseeching me to protect him from her acts of insane violence. She was clearly disordered in her mind, but neither Dr. Webster nor myself could detect, in our consultations with her, sufficiently conclusive evidence to justify us in signing a medical certificate authorizing her confinement. We both lamented that, owing to a defective state of the law, we could not grapple with the case; but in this, as in numerous anomalous instances of disordered mind, we felt that nothing could be done, and matters must be allowed to take their course.

I have referred to a certain morbid mental condition, exhibiting itself exclusively in acts of cruelty and brutality. This form of unrecognised disorder may exist unassociated with delusion. There is much of this latent and undetected alienation of mind in real life, producing, within the sacred precincts of domestic life, great irregularities of conduct and a fearful amount of domestic misery. It often coexists with great talents and high attainments, and is compatible with the exercise of active philanthropy and benevolence. The ordinary actions or conversation of those so affected, in many cases, would not convey to a stranger an idea of the existence of such a sad state of the intellect. Howard, the celebrated philanthropist, affords an unhappy illustration of this type of disorder. He is represented to have been a tyrant in his own house. His cruel treatment caused the death of his wife. He was in the habit, for many years after her death, of doing penance before her picture. He had an only son, whom, for the slightest offence, he punished with terrible severity. He was in the habit of making this son stand for hours in a prescribed grotto in the garden. The son became a lunatic, as the result of this brutal treatment. Several similar cases have been brought under my observation. In one instance, temporary confinement was resorted to, but without positive advantage.