The paroxysms of ungovernable brutality returned immediately after the patient's return home.

A lady, moving in good society, happily married, accomplished, well educated, of sweet temper, and with a mind under the controlling influence of religious principles, manifested, at the age of forty-five, an extraordinary change of character and habits. She became irritable from trifling causes; was continually quarrelling with her husband and servants; discharged her tradesmen, accusing them of acts of dishonesty; and offended many of her most intimate friends and relations by her cold, and often repulsive manner. This state of mind continued for two years, during which period she played the capricious tyrant within the sphere of the domestic circle. Her husband became nearly broken-hearted; his friends and relations could not enter his house without being insulted; he neglected his business, and his health became seriously impaired from constant anxiety. A new phase of the malady, however, exhibited itself. She one day accused her husband of gross infidelity. Proof was demanded. She immediately produced several anonymous letters which she had received, containing a minute, circumstantial, and apparently truthful account of her husband's misconduct. These letters appeared to substantiate, as conclusively as such documentary evidence could do, the accusations. No person doubted the genuineness of these letters. Her friends, however, refused to recognise, even at this time, her actual morbid state of mind. She subsequently had an epileptic seizure, followed by partial paralysis. I then saw the case. Her cerebral condition being then apparent, she was removed from home. It was now discovered, beyond a doubt, that this lady had written the anonymous letters to herself, accusing her husband of infidelity,—had addressed and posted them, and had eventually become impressed with the conviction that the letters were actually written by a stranger, and contained a true statement of facts. They had, as it afterwards appeared, been concealed about her person for nearly six months!

Not many months back, I was requested to visit a lady, who, after a painful and dangerous accouchement, exhibited, without any adequate exciting cause, an inveterate feeling of hatred towards one of her children. She treated this child with great and systematic brutality; and to such an extent did she carry this morbid and unnatural feeling, that her husband was obliged to remove the child from the house, and to place it under the care of a relative in a distant part of the country. I had no doubt at the time that this person's mind was disordered. Such was my written opinion. The idea was, however, repudiated by nearly all the members of the family, who obstinately closed

their eyes to her sad and melancholy condition. The only evidence that existed, at that period, of mental disorder, was her unnatural alienation of affection, and her brutal conduct towards one of her children. This state of mind appeared unassociated with any appreciable delusive ideas. Three weeks had scarcely elapsed since my first consultation in this case, when I was informed that this lady had made an unsuccessful attempt at suicide. It was then obvious that she was not in a sane state of mind, and her family no longer hesitated in placing her in a private family, under close restraint. We occasionally observe evidences of this morbid state at a very early period of life, and it is indicative of an original organic defect in the constitution of the intellect.

I cite the following case from the Times :-Thomas Pepper, fourteen years of age, a pot-boy, a clever lad, but of sullen and morose disposition, committed suicide by hanging himself in an arbour in his master's bowling-green. It appeared from the evidence that the mind of the deceased was peculiarly formed, his conduct frequently evincing a predisposition to cruelty. He had been frequently known to hang up mice and other animals for the purpose of enjoying the pain which they appeared to suffer whilst in the agonies of death. He would often call boys to witness these sports, exclaiming"Here's a lark; he is just having his last kick." He had often been known to catch flies and throw them into the fire, that he might observe them whilst burning. He had also been observed, whilst passing along the street, to pull the ears of the children— lifting them off the ground by their ears; and when they cried out with pain, he would burst out into a fiendish paroxysm of delight at their sufferings. Witnesses deposed that about four years previously, when only ten years of age, he attempted to strangle himself, in consequence of his mother having chastised him. He locked himself up in a room, and, when discovered, life was nearly extinct. I refer to this as an illustration of a type of mental disorder arising from a congenital mal-organization of the brain and intellect. This morbid disposition may be either connate, hereditary, or may be the sequelae of disease affecting the healthy condition of the brain. It occasionally supervenes upon injuries of the head.

Mr. Shute, surgeon, of Mecklenburgh-square, consulted me respecting a youth whose whole moral character had become completely changed in consequence of a severe injury that he had sustained. This young gentleman, when of the age of eighteen or nineteen, was attacked by fever. In a paroxysm of delirium he sprung violently out of bed, and severely cut his ankle; considerable hæmorrhage followed. After his recovery, his whole moral character was found to have undergone a com

plete metamorphosis. From being a well-conditioned boy, kind and affectionate to his parents, steady in his habits, sober, of unimpeachable veracity, he became a drunkard, a liar, a thief, and lost all sense of decency and decorum! His intellectual faculties were unaffected. He was clever, intelligent, sharpwitted, but his every action was perfectly brutal. This boy, prior to his illness, was known to hang with endearing affection round the neck of his mother; but after this sad change, I have seen him attack her with brutal and savage ferocity. This patient was for some years in close confinement. He was subsequently sent abroad; but during a voyage to the East Indies he mysteriously disappeared one evening from the quarter-deck of the ship, and is supposed to have committed suicide by jumping into the sea. We occasionally meet another type of unrecognised mental disorder. I refer to cases in which there appears to be a paralysis of the moral sense. Such cases are not inappropriately termed moral idiots.

A young gentleman, who had been greatly indulged and petted at home, exhibited, shortly after going to school, a morose, cruel, and revengeful disposition. He quarrelled with the other boys-committed several petty acts of robbery, accusing others of being the culprits. He pursued his studies with intelligence, and was generally at the head of his class. His conduct became so systematically brutal, savage, and untruthful, that his father was requested peremptorily to remove him. The gentleman under whose care the youth was placed, was induced, by the earnest persuasions of the father, to withdraw his request and retain the boy. For several days he was noticed to be unusually taciturn. He was perceived to be busily occupied one morning in writing being called suddenly out of the room, his letter was examined, and it was found to contain the details of a plan he had carefully concocted for the murder of one of the other boys, towards whom he entertained feelings of rancorous animosity. His letter was written to a boy who had left the school for misconduct, and who appeared to be his confidant. He had procured a long, sharp-pointed bodkin, which he intended, whilst his victim was asleep, to drive into his heart by means of a hammer which he had in his possession. In the letter, giving a minute description of the contemplated murder, he says-"To-night I will do for the little devil." This boy was immediately placed under the care of his father, and at the advice of an eminent provincial physician, he was, without loss of time, subjected to close restraint. I am informed, that there is now no doubt of his insanity. I did not see this case myself, but I obtained these particulars from the father of the young gentleman who had so

narrow an escape of his life. If this youth had committed murder, what would have been the verdict of the jury?

N. B., ætat. sixteen, of singularly unruly and intractable character, selfish, wayward, violent without ground or motive, and liable, under paroxysms of his moodiness, to do personal mischief to others. He was not, however, of a physically bold character. He was of fair understanding, and exhibited considerable acuteness in sophistical apologies for his wayward conduct. He made little or no progress in any kind of study. His fancy was vivid, supplying him profusely with sarcastic imagery. He was subjected at different times to a firmly mild and to a rigid discipline. Solitary confinement was tried, but to this he was impassive. He was sent to school, where he drew a knife upon one of the officers of the establishment, and produced a deep feeling of aversion in the minds of his companions by the undisguised pleasure which he showed at some bloodshed which took place in the town during a political disturbance. He manifested no sensual disposition, and was careful of property. His conduct became worse, and more savagely violent to his relatives. It is recorded that, at the early age of thirteen, he stripped himself naked and exposed his person to his sisters. I am indebted to Dr. Mayo for this interesting illustration of what I term moral idiocy, or congenital depravity. When referring to this painfully anomalous class of affections, the late Dr. Woodward, Physician to the State Lunatic Assylum of Massachusetts, ob

serves,

"Besides a disease of the moral powers there seems to me to be in some cases something like moral idiocy, or such an imbecile state of the moral faculties from birth as to make the individual irresponsible for his moral actions. The persons to whom I refer have rarely much vigour of mind, although they are by no means idiots in understanding."

A boy under Dr. Haslam's care, only thirteen years of age, appeared to possess no one of the moral faculties, and yet he was conscious of his lamentable state; he often asked, "why God had not made him like other men." Has not Shakspeare placed in Edgar's mouth a faithful portrait of this class of case? When delineating his own character, Edgar exclaims,—

"I was a serving man, proud in heart and mind,
That served the lust of my mistress's heart,

And did the act of darkness with her;

Swore as many oaths as I spake words;

Wine I loved deeply, dice dearly:

I was false of heart, light of ears, and bloody of hand;
Hog in filth, fox in stealth, wolf in greediness,

Dog in madness, lion in prey."

A boy, in early life, was struck violently upon the head when at school by a brutal fellow employed as usher. He was partially stunned, but recovered from the effects of the injury. When of sufficiently advanced age, he joined his father in business. He became subject to attacks of headache, particularly if exposed to much anxiety. For some months he continued sullen, was often absent from the counting-house, became the associate of the lowest class of society, and was detected in abstracting several large sums of money from his father's private desk. In this condition he remained for seven or eight months, no one suspecting the morbid state of his intellect. One morning whilst sitting in the counting-house, he suddenly seized one of the clerks by the throat and attempted to throttle him. A severe scuffle ensued. Upon separating the combatants, it was discovered that the gentleman's mind was obviously affected. He became suddenly, as it were, demoniacally possessed. He poured fourth a volley of filthy oaths, and an amount of obscenity appalling to those about him. There appeared no impairment of the reasoning powers, of the memory, or reflective faculties. He suddenly lost all perception of truth, decency, and propriety. I saw this poor fellow in several of his paroxysms, and must confess, if I were disposed to believe in the possibility of demoniacal possession, I should cite this case as one illustrative of the fact. I have referred to instances of unrecognised monomania floating upon the surface of society. I am acquainted with two existing cases of this form of mental disorder where disease of the mind is not suspected. The affection exhibits itself in unreasonable and morbid hatred to one member of the family. One child, without any valid reason, is ostracised by his mother from home, in consequence of her morbid hatred of him. In the other case one out of a large family is treated with great harshness, and occasionally with cold neglect, by his only parent. In both these instances, I have no doubt some monomaniacal idea exists, but is unrecognised. Having been consulted in one of these cases, I have recommended the son to whom, unhappily, the concealed delusion relates, to issue a Commission of Lunacy, with the view of protecting his pecuniary interests. On all other points, no mental infirmity can be detected; and with regard to her other children, her affections remain intact. I feel quite assured that this lady has no ground for this unnatural feeling. These latent and unrecognised attacks of monomania frequently lead to overt acts of violence, crime, brutality, and suicide, and very often to alienation of property, no departure from healthy mind being suspected. A few years back, I received a summons from Mr. Gilbert Abbott A'Beckett, the police magistrate, to examine a case of alleged insanity. It appears that a labouring man had committed several serious