A Treatise on Insanity: In which are Contained the Principles of a New and More Practical Nosology of Maniacal Disorders Than Has Yet Been Offered to the Public ...

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W. Todd, 1806 - Insanity (Law) - 288 pages
 

Contents

I
9
II
48
III
110
IV
134
V
172
VII
217

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Page 66 - My mouth was sound and healthy; this is foul and diseased. What difference between this hair and that of my own head ! " ' The idea of perpetual motion frequently recurred to him in the midst of his wanderings, and he chalked on all the doors or windows as he passed the various designs by which his wondrous piece of mechanism was to be constructed. The method best calculated to cure so whimsical an illusion appeared to be that of encouraging his prosecution of it to satiety. His friends were accordingly...
Page xxii - Whatever gifts of nature or productions of art were calculated to impress the imagination, were there united to the solemnities of a splendid and imposing superstition. Games and recreations were instituted in the temples. The most voluptuous productions of the painter and the statuary were exposed to the public view.
Page 147 - An only son of a weak and indulgent mother was encouraged in the gratification of every caprice and passion of which an untutored and violent temper was susceptible. The impetuosity of his disposition increased with his years. The money with which he was lavishly supplied removed every obstacle to the indulgence of his wild desires. Every instance of opposition or resistance roused him to acts of fury. He assaulted his...
Page 65 - Motion, and to effect the discovery of this, he set to work with indefatigable ardour. From unremitting attention to the object of his enthusiasm, coinciding with the influence of revolutionary disturbances, his imagination was greatly heated, his sleep was interrupted, and at length a complete derangement took place. His case was marked by a most whimsical illusion of the imagination: he fancied that he had lost his head upon the scaffold; that it had been thrown promiscuously among the heads of...
Page 14 - I have nowhere met, excepting in romances, with fonder husbands, more affectionate parents, more impassioned lovers, more pure and exalted patriots than in the lunatic asylum, during their intervals of calmness and reason.
Page 66 - Look at these teeth!" he cried; "mine were exceedingly handsome; these are rotten and decayed. My mouth was sound and healthy; this is foul and diseased. What difference between this hair and that of my own head...
Page 154 - He constantly bustled about the house, talking incessantly, shouting, and throwing himself into great passions for the most trifling causes. He teased his domestics by the most frivolous orders, and his neighbours by his fooleries and extravagances, of which he retained not the least recollection for a single moment. He talked with the greatest volatility of the court, of his periwig, of his horses, of his gardens, without waiting for an answer, or giving time. to follow his incoherent jargon.
Page lv - OTHING has more contributed to the rapid improvement of modern natural history, than the spirit of minute and accurate observation which has distinguished its votaries. The habit of analytical investigation, thus adopted, has induced an accuracy of expression and a propriety of classification, which have themselves, in no small degree, contributed to the advancement of natural knowledge.
Page 50 - ... most genuine philanthropy. He paid great attention to the diet of the house and left no opportunity for murmur or discontent on the part of the most fastidious. He exercised a strict discipline over the conduct of the domestics, and punished, with severity. every instance of ill treatment, and every act of violence, of which they were guilty towards those whom it was merely their duty to serve.
Page 65 - He fancied that he had lost his head on the scaffold; that it had been thrown promiscuously among the heads of many other victims; that the judges, having repented of their cruel sentence, had ordered those heads to be restored to their respective owners, and placed upon their respective shoulders; but that, in consequence of an unfortunate mistake, the gentlemen, who had the management of that business, had placed upon his shoulders the head of one of his unhappy companions. The idea of this whimsical...

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