^, 
 
 ^. 
 
 fl^'^- 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 11.25 
 
 
 | 4£ 
 
 ■iO 
 
 us 
 
 i^lgo 
 
 U III 1.6 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 \ 
 
 «^ 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 is 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 ^s:^"^ 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SB0 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
 
 U 
 
CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 ■'-, 
 
 CIHIVI/ICIVIH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notas/Notas techniques et b'bliographiques 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best 
 original copy available fof filming. Features of this 
 copy which may be bibliographically unique, 
 which may alter any of the images in the 
 reproduction, or which may significantly change 
 the usual method of filming, are checked below. 
 
 Q Coloured covers/ 
 Couverture de couleur 
 
 I I Covers damaged/ 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 n 
 
 n 
 
 D 
 
 Couverture endommag^e 
 
 Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaur4e et/ou pelliculie 
 
 I I Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 Coloured maps/ 
 
 Cartes g6ographiques en couleur 
 
 Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or bidck)/ 
 Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 r I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ 
 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 Relii avec d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La re liure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la 
 distorsion le long de la marge intdrieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may 
 appear within the text. Whenever possible, these 
 have been omitted from filming/ 
 li se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties 
 lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte. 
 mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pas 6t6 filmies. 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentaires suppl^mentaires: 
 
 L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il lui a iti possible de se procurer. Les details 
 de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du 
 point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier 
 une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 modification dans la mithode normale de filmage 
 sont indiquAs ci-dessous. 
 
 n 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 Coloured pages/ 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommagAes 
 
 Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 Pages restauries et/ou pelliculdes 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 Pages ddcolories, tacheties ou piquies 
 
 Pages detached/ 
 Pages ddtachies 
 
 HTl Showthrough/ 
 
 Transparence 
 
 Quality of print varies/ 
 Qualiti inigaSe de I'impression 
 
 Includes supplementary material/ 
 Comprend du material supplimentaire 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Seule Edition disponible 
 
 Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata 
 slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to 
 ensure the best possible image/ 
 Les pages totalement ou partiellement 
 obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure, 
 etc., ont dti film^es d nouveau de fapon A 
 obtenir la meilleure image possible. 
 
 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 
 
 10X 
 
 
 
 
 14X 
 
 
 
 
 18X 
 
 
 
 
 22X 
 
 
 
 
 26X 
 
 
 
 
 XX 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 24X 
 
 28X 
 
 32X 
 
Th« copy fiimad h«r« has b««n rsproducsd thanks 
 to tha ganarosity of: 
 
 Legislature du Quebec 
 Quebec 
 
 L'axamplaira filmA f ut raproduit grAca i la 
 gAn^rositi da: 
 
 L^islature du Quebec 
 QuM)ec 
 
 Tha imagas appaaring hara ara tha baat quality 
 possjbia eonsidaring tha condition and lagibility 
 of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha 
 filming contract spacificationa. 
 
 Original eoniaa in printad papar covars ara filmad 
 baginning with tha front eovar and anding on 
 tha last paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa- 
 sion. or tha back eovar whan appropriata. All 
 othar original eopias ara filmad baginning on tha 
 first paga with a printad or illuatratad impras- 
 aion. and anding on tha last paga with a printad 
 or illustratad impraasion. 
 
 Tha laat racordad frama on aach microficha 
 shall contain tha symbol — ^ (moaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or tha jymbol V (moaning "END"), 
 whichavar appliaa. 
 
 Maps, piatas. charts, ate. ma\ ba filmad at 
 Mi >^snt raduction ratioa. Thoaa too larga to ba 
 anv.i'«s> h-cJ'jiWad In ona axpoaura ara filmad 
 baginn. '< -n thn uppar laft hand comar. iaft to 
 right and \iip to honom. aa many framaa aa 
 raquirad. Tha following diagrama illuatrata tha 
 mathod: 
 
 l.aa imagaa suivantaa ont M raproduitaa avac la 
 plua grand soin. compta tanu da la condition at 
 do la nattat* da l'axamplaira film*, at w 
 conformity avac laa conditions du eontrat da 
 fiimaga. 
 
 Laa axamplairas originaux dont ia eouvartura an 
 papiar aat imprimte sont filmte an commandant 
 par ia pramiar plat at an tarminant soit par la 
 damlAra paga qui comporta una smprainta 
 d'Impraasion ou d'iilustration. soit par la lacond 
 plat, salon la caa. Tous las autras axamplairas 
 originaux sont filmte an commandant par la 
 pramiAra paga qui comporta una amprainta 
 dimpraaaion ou d'iilustration at an tarminant par 
 ia darnlAra paga qui comporta una taiia 
 amprainta. 
 
 Un daa symbolaa suivants apparaitra sur la 
 damiAra imaga da chaqua microficha, salon la 
 caa: la symbols — ^ signifia "A SUiVRE". la 
 symbols V signifia "FIN". 
 
 Laa cartaa planchas. tablaaux. ate. pauvant dtra 
 fllm^a i daa taux da rMuction diff«rants. 
 Lorsqua ia documant ast trop grand pour Atrs 
 raproduit an un saul ciich*. il ast film* i partir 
 da I'angia sup4riaur gaucha. da gaucha i droita, 
 at do haut ^n baa. wx pranant la nombra 
 d'imagaa nteassaira. Laa diagrammas suivants 
 illustrant la m^thoda. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
^ 
 
 ' ''"Vv^C'-^ '^? 
 
 iiiMi-nniiiiliitiiiV'iiiii 
 
 w^: 
 
 MENTAt 
 
 
 SldR^L SCIMCE ; 
 
 WITH SOME BEMARKS UPON 
 
 
 y 
 
 HYSTERICAL MANIA 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY HOWARD, M.D., M.R.C.S., Eng.. " . 
 
 MKUIGAL ATTKNDANT, LONOUK POINTE LUKATIC ASYLPM. 
 
 BEAD nEFpRHTSE ME DICO-VIIlRVRGICAL SOCIETY OF MONTREXI. 
 
 |^.'^:^^,:3:^v-- 
 
 • '.^. ? 
 
 From the Canada Medical Journal, March, 1878. 
 
 :^-S <■ 
 
 M(xnirea\\ 
 
 PRINTED AT THE GAZETTE PRINTING HOUSE. 
 
 1878. 
 
 ..^.•^■,^.MA-r^/r~>^<- 
 
 m:'^:^ 
 
 ^■.■ 
 
 ^:f:'. ■ 
 

 
 
 ^^:;r': 
 
 
 
 
 i---. 
 
 '1 ,5' •; . . . 
 
 --/A 
 
 
 
 
 V' -X 
 
 
 
 
 .'-«v,,;H^Sf'vi!i:'»>-^^:.i^-^ -.' 
 
 
 
 h' 
 
 ,:/,,-. ^v.r :,^^:'■^ 
 
 
 *.- .V ■.. .• 
 
 
 ;,,;■';.,;<. 
 
 
 .•«)^*^- t>:,.V' 
 
 'T-V 
 
 :^' 
 
 /.'>)^; 
 
 >»;, "♦<T- 
 
 y>":,i^ 
 
 
 ■.# 
 
 •'■!(♦: 
 
 :,v'r.« 
 
 '."■'f^ iii/i 
 
 •^/.J'^^Il 
 
 I 
 
 K:. 
 
 xr'fv'S^: 
 
 
 „ts.; 
 
 '¥ 
 
 ■■?^.; 
 
 
 mi 
 
 K)<»vr-V 
 
 'rf? .V 
 
 i^f 
 
 vfr,;.i. 
 
 :;^^ 
 
 J -I 
 
 .■V'i:V:.S> 
 
 
 y;/^-- ,>■'- 
 
 •S: 
 
 Afij-, 
 
 ^,.:?;'V;Wl 
 
 ■ ;t ;,' ;; 
 
 .i^. 
 
 <■ ./••* 
 
 -' \ 
 
 
 ; c- ■ / 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 S^ 
 
 • Vk' -v. 
 
 ^ViV';'i 
 
 :V9 
 
^■niMpPMH 
 
 
 ^>-i 
 
 
 
 .1. !.'. v^jy; 
 
 >i 
 
 '■■..- .•>■.■/' 
 
 
 ' f.- . M, 
 
 
 %4^:» ; ••; • 
 
 ir.y. S.V. 
 
 ■ . ft; ■: ^ 
 
 ■'''■ i%-. .. ' v' 
 
 ;■' * \ '. 
 
 !';;"• ! 
 
 .. « '' 
 
 i,"^ ' V? i'.dh^ 
 
 ' '. ...Jv' -i; . ' 
 
 ' . ■ / 1 ■- '■ . 
 
 . :-.,ifi 
 
 i;< .,. 
 
 , u ■ ; ■ . 
 
 '.■'*' 
 
 . 
 
 - . .;:: -V: 
 
 *.>''v-- ,.[■■ 
 
 • ■ • *'<■■'! 
 
 1 _ ;. I 
 
 .••■ '■ 
 
 ;■■' . • 
 
 
 :;n7. 
 
 J >H< r-'<'in 
 
 ■. .*' '■:< ." .7 
 
 - ' MENTAL AND MORAL SCIENCE; 
 WITH SOME REMAEKS UPON HYSTERICAL MANIA. 
 BY HENRY HOWARD, M.D., M.R.C.S., E.\r,. • t 
 
 Mkdical Attbndant, to the Longuk Pointe Li'KATic Asylum. 
 
 (Head be/ori' till- Mifll(!ti-(^hinirgii<il S H-ittii of Montreal.) 
 
 Mr President and Gentlemen: — In reading Dr. New- 
 man's " Grammar of Assent," I met with the following passage : 
 *• It has always appeared to me that treating on the science of 
 religion was in one particular like treating on mental and moral 
 science ; every man can only speak for himself ; and for himself 
 every man has the right to speak ; and he adds, that under such 
 circumstances egotism is true modesty." I was glad when I 
 found this statement made by such an authority ; for I often felt 
 ashamed of my egotism but could not see how I was to avoid it. 
 
 You all know, as well as I can tell you, that it is nearly im- 
 possible, in the present day, to take up a work on mental and 
 moral science ; or read even an article in a journal on these 
 sciences and not find it set forth, either directly or indirectly, 
 that the Christian moral law was opposed to the natural law, 
 and I am free to confess to you that very frequently I thought, 
 myself, that both laws were irreconcilable, yet I always felt that 
 this must be impossible, as God was the author of both laws. I 
 could not rest satisfied in this state of doubt, and so I determined 
 to work out the problem, at least to my own satisfaction ; and 
 I shall endeavour this evening to prove to you that these laws 
 are not opposed, and that the apparent irreconcilability has been 
 due to many causes. 
 
 One great cause is that we are not, in all cases, certain that 
 
 
2 
 
 what we call a natural law is a natural law, and sometimes what 
 we suppose, or wish to be, a natural law of our being, is nothing 
 more than what is due to some abnormal state of our mental 
 organization, whether that abnormal state be hereditary, or due 
 to some accidental cause occurring after birth. 
 
 It is not for us as scientists to go into the question of the origin 
 of evil, and I suspect if we did we would not make much of it. 
 That evil exists, we know, and like everything else that does 
 exist in the finite must have had a beginning ; our simple duty, 
 I take it, is to deal with it as we find it existing in man, and we 
 may assume that if it never had a beginning, and did not con- 
 tinue to exist there never would have been any occasion for a 
 moral law ; the natural law would have been all-sufficient for 
 man, if there was no evil in his organisation ; but as we are, so 
 to speak, such a compound of good and evil, a moral law became 
 actually necessary for our guidance, and he who gave the natural 
 law, was, in justice, obliged to give a moral law in man's altered 
 condition, but then he could not give one law in opposition to 
 the one he had already given. That we are composed of good 
 and evil requires no proof from me ; every man knows it of 
 himself ; every man knows that he is, as it were, a double, one 
 good and one evil, contending each against the other. Every 
 man feels the same as St. Paul did when he said : " When I 
 would do good evil is present with me." True, it is, that the 
 evil, that is the criminal neurosis, in some is greater than in 
 others, therefore it is that we form such unjust judgments of 
 each other. 
 
 Another cause of this apparent irreconcilability between the 
 natural and the moral laws, is due to the fact, that no matter 
 how ignorant a man may be of natural laws, nearly every man 
 fancies that he is capable of explaining and expounding the 
 moral law ; consequently there have been and are, a thousand 
 different sorts of moral laws floating throughout the world. 
 Some naturalists have taken advantage of this anomalous state 
 of affairs, because it suited their card, to condemn the whole 
 moral law, and by their absurd proceedings have succeeded in 
 getting up a cry against mental and moral science, as danger- 
 
I 
 
 a- 
 
 ous to morals, so that men, from whom we should expect better 
 things, talk such nonsense as to warn their hearers to guard 
 against evil science, forgetting, or not knowing, that science is 
 truth, and that which is not truth is not science. There is no 
 manner of doubt, but that there have appeared amongst the 
 naturalists men of much more scientific knowledge than amongst 
 the moralists — in fact the naturalists are all men of science — 
 whereas the majority of the would-be moralists know nothing 
 whatever of science. Indeed, very many of them are not aware 
 that the knowledge of the moral law is as much a science as is 
 the knowledge of the natural law, and that no man is capable of 
 teaching either of these laws without a knowledge of both ; and 
 the man who attempts to do so, only succeeds in rendering 
 himself ridiculous to his intelligent hearers. 
 
 There is no man living that knows all the natural laws, for 
 nature has not yet unfolded all her grand secrets, nor will she 
 do so except to the hard- working, persevering scientist. But of 
 these we do know we have sad experience every day, that no 
 man can break them and not suffer dire consequences. There- 
 fore, it behoves us to well consider if there is any moral law 
 claiming our obedience, the acceptance of which would cause us 
 to break the natural law. 
 
 Of course in this paper, upon mental and moral science, I 
 have only to deal with these natural laws which directly are 
 borne upon by the teachings of the moral law. 
 
 Let us see what these are: .i ■ .■'.: ' i'' : ^i -j' - ' ' v 
 
 First, it is a natural law for every human being to recognise 
 and believe in the supernatural. I need not go into proofs 
 for it is an established fact, that no peoples have ever yet 
 been discovered, that did not recognise the supernatural, — 
 all, in some way, recognise the supernatural — that it is a power, 
 not of, but greater than man, a power that controlled, not only 
 man, but all the universe. There is no moral law, that I ever 
 heard of, opposed to this natural law. ; .'t ■: ■. 
 
 iSelf-p7'eservatton is a great natural law ; indeed it has always 
 been called the first law of nature. Is there any moral law 
 opposed to it ? None that I know of. On the contrary, the 
 
moral law supports to the full ih's natural law. But, says the 
 casuist, what of the Christian martyrs, why did they break the 
 natural law, in obedience to a moral law and give up their lives ? 
 The answer is very simple ; they actually obeyed the natural law 
 of self-preservation, for in giving themselves up to a temporal 
 death, it was with the belief that they preserved to themselves 
 everlasting life. But there is a moral law that says, " Thou 
 shalt not steal,'' and to steal, is take of that which is not thine, 
 but the property of another. How about the man who must 
 steal, or die of starvation ? Which of the laws is he to break ? 
 neither ; in this case the moral law of " Thou shalt not steal." 
 is not applicable to him, morally speaking. The starving man 
 •who cannot otherwise obtain food is perfectly justified in taking ' 
 it from wherever he can obtain it. Our Saviour himself gave 
 us an example in this when his disciples plucked the ears of 
 ■corn belonging to another, and ate the grains ; not, mind you, 
 because that they were starving, but simply that they were 
 hungry. And it is a remarkable fact that his enemies did not 
 accuse them of theft, but that they broke the Sabbath, as if a r 
 hungry man should not eat on the Sabbath as well as upon any 
 other day. Of course, as God, he had the right to take of that 
 which was his own, for all and everything was his ; but he was 
 then acting as man ; moreover his accusers only looked upon 
 him as a man. ' 
 
 But the moral law says : " Thou shalt not kill," and it very 
 frequently occurs that a man must kill to save his own life ; and 
 iimder such circumstances killing is perfectly justifiable. So 
 there is no moral law contrary to the natural law of self- 
 preservation. 
 
 Procreation is a natural law, from man down through the whole 
 animal and vegetable creation, it is actually necessary for the 
 perpetuation of all things. And in all things we find, that like 
 produces like, kind produces kind in all things, any difference 
 that may exist it is only in degree not in kind, that is, instead of 
 being normal it is abnormal. 
 
 Is there any law opposed to this natural law, of procreation, 
 I mean any moral law opposed to it ? I know of none. The 
 
 i 
 
 ^n 
 
 :. 
 
moral law does not make it obligatory upon all men, but leaves 
 man what he is according to natural law, a free agent, to either 
 procreate or abstain from procreation if he so pleases. The 
 moral law, it is true, confines man within certain bounds, as to 
 procreation ; it does not allow him to procreate like the lower 
 order of animals, for many scientific reasons. First, a man to 
 procreate in ^this manner would eventually destroy his health, 
 and thus break a natural law, by being the cause of his own 
 death, or if ho should have been born with an insane neurosis 
 his life of debauchery would render him a lunatic. Every 
 alienist knows that excessive sexual indulgence has more to do 
 ' \ in filling up lunatic asylums than any other cause, save the one 
 
 of self-pollution. Again, such unlawful procreation is injurious 
 to the welfare of the state, for it would destroy family, and 
 family ties, and the love of offspring, two natural-laws which are 
 the very safeguard of society. Consequently the moral law of 
 monogamy is in perfect accord with the natural law ; whereas 
 polygamy is not only a breach of the moral, but a breach of the 
 natural law. As I have already said the moral law is not 
 opposed to the natural law of procreation, but it does not make 
 it obligatoi-y upon all ; it leaves a man free to marry and pro- 
 create, or, if he so pleases, to remain a celibate, and celibacy, 
 we know, is not injurious to a man either mentally or morally. 
 
 I know that many sentimental writers, judging of others by 
 themselves, conceive that it is impossible that anyone could lead 
 a life of chastity and purity, but these writers forget, or do not 
 know, that men differ as much in their mental organization 
 as they do in their personal appearance, and what would 
 be impossible for one would be quite possible for another. In 
 fact, these writers do not know that sexual desire is dependent 
 upon a n^an's cerebellum, as much as his honesty is dependent 
 III upon the state of his parietal cells, or his wisdom upon his 
 
 frontal. 
 
 One great standpoint taken by those who are opposed to celi- 
 bacy, is hysterical mania. They assume that this fearful disease 
 is due to sexual desire, and I can well excuse many who have 
 seen the actions, and heard the language of these insane crea- 
 
tares, mistalcng effect for cau»e. Hysterical mania ia not caused 
 by sexual desire, but their terrible sexual desire is caused by 
 their insanity ; some disordered state of the digestive or uterine 
 organs, producing irritation of some part of the ganglionic 
 system, causes hysteria, which is followed by irritation of the 
 cerebellum, producing moral insanity, which develops itself in 
 strong sexual desire, in time this irritation spreads to the cells 
 of the cerebrum, and the consequence is violent mania : a mania 
 which rendeis these poor erotic creatures so disgusting -to 
 attendants by their vile language and unchaste actions. And, 
 gentlemen, let me tell you that above all cases that can come 
 under the treatment of the medical attendant of a lunatic 
 asylum, hysterical mania gives him the greatest amount of 
 trouble. Again, with regard to those who, writing upon hysteri- 
 cal mania, mistake effect for cause, they write as if ignorant of 
 the fact, that the impure female who gratifies her desires by 
 leading a life of impurity, is as frequently the victim of hysterical 
 mania as is the chaste female who does not break the moral law. 
 Moreover, married women and mothers very frequently are the 
 victims of hysterical mania. I have at this moment four mar- 
 ried women, mothers, hysterical maniacs ; one of whom was 
 placed under my care by my friend Dr. Reddy, 
 
 In justice to you and myself, I cannot conclude this part of 
 my subject without alluding to the moral teachings of the 
 Catholic Church. I would simply say that the Catholic Church 
 does not oppose the natural law of marriage and procreation ; 
 on the contrary, she raises marriage to the dignity of a sacra- 
 ment, and, as I have already shown, she is purely scientific in 
 approving and sanctioning monogamy, and opposing her moral 
 force to polygamy. She calls upon no man or woman to remain 
 unmarried and lead a life of celibacy ; but that if they remain 
 unmarried they shall lead a life of chastity and purity. And in 
 this also she is perfectly in accord with the 'lutnral law. True, 
 that the Catholic Church leaves every man free to marry, or not 
 to marry, and, for what she conceives to bo wise reasons, chooses 
 her priesthood from those who choose a life of celibacy, but then 
 there is no obligation upon any man to become a priest ; every 
 man doing so enters that calling with his own free will. 
 
 
 
 ■ lla''jilM>M^^»-^ti.^^*»»^t|»;^v^wat^^,t,■ll^^^■^^i»^^t^ 
 
 '•.lWrVr«?4M»« n m Oi tWiHriWMtj^ l i ■»— > ,-, 
 
 
w 
 
 W(ti 
 
 With regard to females who chose a celibate life, the CathoUo 
 Church simply provides that those who do not wish to remain 
 old maids in society, can join a religious community, either as 
 teachers, or for the purpose of nursing and taking care of the 
 sick and poor. I would not insult your intelligence by making 
 an apology for these remarks, for you all know well that I have 
 made them in the cause of scientific truth, and to prove that 
 there was no moral law against the natural law of procreation. 
 
 Love of offspring is a natural law. I believe no one pretends 
 to say the moral law is opposed to it. 
 
 Love of persons, love of freedom, love of knowledge, love of 
 happiness, love of justice and ambition, are all natural laws, and 
 all morally lawful when guided by reason and kept within proper 
 bounds ; because if not guided by reason and kept within proper 
 bounds we would be breaking other natural laws. For example, 
 if a man's ambition would lead him to neglect his family and 
 injure his own health, he would be guilty of a breach of both 
 the natural and moral law. 
 
 Fear, envi/, jealousy, hatred, revenge, are those natural to 
 man, can they be called natural laws ? I do not believe they 
 can. I believe these characteristics in man are the result of an 
 abnormal mental organization, hereditary, and generally intensi- 
 fied by false teachings of the moral and natural laws. 
 
 I think I have now disposed of all the strongest standpoints 
 taken by those who wish to make it appear that to obey the moral 
 law would, in many instances, be to break the natural ; and, as 
 on purely scientific grounds, there is no profession so interested 
 in the natural and moral laws as is the members of the medical 
 profession : for our whole science is founded upon natural laws, 
 it is Avell that we should know that we cannot err morally when 
 we are acting in accordance to natural laws. 
 
 But it is well that, as far as it is possible, we should make 
 ourselves sure that we are obeying the natural law ; for notwith- 
 standing the great advancement that has been made in medical 
 and surgical science, more particularly within the last quarter 
 of a century, we must all, to a very great degree, plead ignor- 
 ance of natural laws, and that, consequently, we do not realize 
 
IjiSWs-y-A- 
 
 8 
 
 the terrible consequence of their breach. We know, for exam- 
 ple, that gout, cancer, phthisis, insanity, good and evil come to 
 those that possess them ly inheritance, but we never think of 
 asking ourselves the question, are these things the result of 
 breaches of natural laws by our progenitors ? We act as if it 
 were quite natural that such should be the case, and that there 
 was no possibility of escaping from them. Most certainly there 
 is no possibility of our escaping from what we already possess. 
 But, then, can we not do something to guard future genera- 
 tions ? Can we not give scientific proof to the drunkard and 
 profligate, that his offspring will inherit his vices? Can wo not 
 give scientific proof to the married Avoman that her child's 
 mental organization will depend very much on what her life 
 is while carrying that child in her womb, and the nurturing and 
 training of it after she has given it birth ? Can we not daily 
 impress upon teachers that there can bo no system of teaching 
 appUcable to all mental organizations, and that what is healthy 
 mental food for one is death to the other ? Can we not impress 
 upon these would-be moral teachers, that their teachings are 
 driving people to the lunatic asylums, and can we not, at least, 
 make some effort to convince society that no man is capable of 
 teaching the moral law unless upon scientific grounds. And that 
 if he pretends to teach the moral law he must know something, 
 at least, of the natural law. I do not mean that every man is 
 to go to work and learn mental and moral sciences, no more 
 than that every man should learn nractical astronomy ; but 
 mental and moral science should be so kept before society that 
 all would understand it, at least as well as they do astronomy. 
 The most illiterate man kno;v3 that the world is round, that it 
 turns upon its own axis : that although the sun appears to move, 
 rising in the east and setting in the west, that yet it is a fixed 
 body and does not move at all. But the same man does not 
 know that the bad drainage in his house, and the damp in his 
 cellar, has caused the death of his wife and children ; he does 
 not know that air and light are necessary for health ; he does 
 not know that darkness and impure air will so destroy the mental 
 organization as to render rnan an imbecile. Such a man will 
 
 11 
 
 r- 
 
f 
 
 5t 
 
 tell you that his wife and children died because it was the will' 
 of God, as if God specially willed their death. Tell such a 
 man that it was the will of God, just so far, and no farther, than, 
 that he Iftid established irrevocable, unchangeable natural laws,, 
 and that no man can break these laws and not suffer dire con- 
 sequences, — twenty chances to one but that the man would 
 think you were speaking blasphemy, — and he would go to some 
 moralist and report what you said, who in turn would be 
 warned against you as a dangerous man. When I see an old 
 person die out calmly and quietly, without pain oi suffering, I 
 can well understand that they are dying in obedience to natural 
 law and according to the will of God. Bat when I see infants, 
 children, and young persons dying, I say it is because of some 
 breach of natural law, either on the part of the person or 
 through the fault of their progenitors, whether through ignorance 
 or otherwise. I might be as well told that the farmer that 
 neglected to cultivate his land had bad crops by the will of God, 
 and that the house burned down by an incendiary was the will 
 of God also. Therefore, I hold that it is the duty of every 
 conscientious medical man to take every opportunity he possibly 
 can to impress these scientific truths upon society. But the fact 
 is we have much to learn ourselves, and there will always be 
 something still more to learn no matter how much we may know. 
 The present generation knows more than the past, and the next 
 generation will know more than we do ; and so will truth 
 advance till science must be recognised as the true basis of 
 civilization. And when I say science, I speak particularly of 
 mental and moral science. Yet, I would not have you under- 
 stand that in these remarks I exclude religion ; on the contrary, 
 I do not believe these sciences can be taught except in connec* 
 tion with religion. The natural and moral laws are truly reli 
 gious subjects, and as scientific as they are religions. Therefore, 
 as science is truths and religion truth, science and religion is 
 one and the same. So no religion can be true that cannot bear 
 the test of science. 
 
 I said as medical men we had much to learn scientifically, 
 and I now state what I conceive Ave most require, is a better 
 
10 
 
 l?nowIedge of anatomy, physiology, and pathology. Fortunately 
 for us all, we have many men, experts, devoting themselves, with 
 praiseworthy efforts, to the study of these particular subjects. 
 The hard-working microscopist is demonstrating to us, every 
 day, something new : something that we did not know before iti 
 the anatomy of the brain and its appendages, and in the anatomy 
 of the ganglionic system. I am proud to admit how much I have 
 learned on these subjects from our friends Drs. Osier and Fuller ; 
 also from them and many others for the pathological specimens 
 that have been brought before us. As physiologists we take 
 hold of the knowledge thus acquired, and by the careful study 
 of disease, by searching for cause when we find effect, we, in 
 ■our turn, discover what is the physiological use of these minute 
 parts that the anatomists have shown us to exist, and poor suffer- 
 ing humanity derives the benefit of our ^inited labour in our 
 scientific research. And we, if we have nothing else, have the 
 conscientious conviction that we have done well, - - 
 
 Let me give you an example of what our united labour does. 
 The anatomist discovers a small nerve running in the sheath of 
 each artery, he knows it cannot be there for nothing, it must 
 have a use. The anatomist and physiologist finds that its use is 
 to cause the muscular fibres of the vessel to con tract J and thus, 
 as it were, help the heart to propel the blood through the vessels. 
 We take advantage of this fact in the treatment of disease. The 
 medical man finds his patient bleeding to death from haemor- 
 rhage of the lungs or uterus, and gives an hypodermic of ergotine 
 to arrest it, and succeeds ; now there can be no doubt but that 
 the bleeding vessel is thus -caused to contract by the direct 
 action of the vaso-motor nerve, which has been acted upon by 
 the ergotine — a medicine having a specific action on the sympa- 
 thetic nerve, and particularly upon that portion of it we term 
 the vaso-motor nerves. For years the specific action of ergot 
 upon the uterus has been known — long before we knew anything 
 of the vaso-motor nerves — but the physiology of these nerves, 
 I presume, has shown us how it does act, for that it must be 
 through these nerves, is evident from the fact, that the hypo- 
 dermic of ergotine, arrests hnemorrhage of the lungs just as 
 
 »'ii 
 
I 
 
 - ^^1 , 
 
 rapidly as it does haemorrhage of the uterus. For my own part, I 
 do not see why it should not also arrest cerebral haemorrhage, and 
 I mean to try its effect in such a case the first opportunity I have. 
 It certainly should act as rapidly as the application of cold water 
 to the cuticle ; though I do not mean to say that in such a case I 
 would neglect the cold water, at the same time I certainly would 
 try the hypodermic of ergotine. We have lately had a very 
 interesting paper from Dr. Donald Baynes, upon electricity as 
 a therapeutic agent, and I presume that when it arrests haemor- 
 rhage, it is by its action on the vaso-motor nerves. No doubt 
 we have much more yet to learn of this important part of the 
 nervous system, that time with hard study will reveal to us. ■ 
 
 You will remember that in one paper I read before you, I 
 described certain symptoms to be found in some cases of insan- 
 ity, but I did not pretend to account for these symptoms. I told 
 you that if you took hold of both wrists of the patient, one in each 
 hand, feeling the radial arteries with your right and left hands, 
 at the same time, you would find that the pulsation in one wrist 
 came before the other. It was hard to understand how this 
 could be, seeing that the pulsation in each wrist was caused by 
 the heart's action, and should be equal in both. Now I consider 
 we can understand this anomaly when we know the physiology 
 of the vaso-motor nerves. It appears to me easy to compre- 
 hend, that in a case of mania there may be irritation in some 
 part of the ganglionic system, causing through the vaso-motor 
 nerves, a more rapid action of the pulse on one side than on the 
 other, or a slower action on one side than on the other. This 
 appears to me to be a feasible way of accounting for an anomaly 
 otherwise incomprehensible. ^ ' • • .-^ ":- " 
 
 In papers that I have read from time to time before this 
 society, I have stated that man's mental organization was 
 his inheritance, whether it was good or bad, or good and 
 bad, and that consefjuently he was not responsible for it. I 
 stated that mind and body were one, and thought was the pro- 
 duct of the mind, and under many circumstances involuntary ; 
 that it, thought, was subjective but received food from the objec- 
 tive through the medium of the senses. That the food thus 
 
mmm 
 
 12 
 
 supplied in childhood and youth, parents and teachers were res- 
 ponsible for ; that the mental food provided in manhood we our- 
 selves were responsible for, because we are free agents and have 
 a free will, and can ourselves choose our mental food. In con- 
 nection with the fact that mind and body are one, I beg here to 
 express the great pleasure an editorial in the Canada Medical 
 AND Surgical Journal for February gave me. It is headed 
 " The Curability of Insanity," and recognizes the fact that mind 
 and body are one, in the following sentence : " The organ of 
 the mind the brain.^' I say this gave me great pleasure, for, 
 if I am not much mistaken, I was one of the first, on this con- 
 tinent at least, that ever propounded and proved that scientific 
 fact, in a paper read by me before this society, on the 3rd of 
 December, 1875, said paper is published in the Medical Record 
 for January, 1876, vol. iv. There were very few at that time 
 to support my views on this question, though very many since ; 
 aud some there were would-be moralists, who spoke pretty hard 
 things of me for the views then set forth. However scientific 
 truth always prevails 
 
 In some of my papers I have also stated that we could easily 
 account for all the crimes that were daily committed, by remem- 
 bering what man's mental and moral organization was, and 
 the sort of mental food it was provided with, par* .larly amongst 
 the poor, and from these facts I drew the concision that it was 
 impossible to make laws equally applicable to all persons, under 
 all and every circumstance, and that if society would see crime 
 diminish it must do more to diminish poverty and all its accom- 
 panying miseries, provide some more pleasurable objective food 
 for the eye to rest on, if only clean streets and a green tree. 
 And that this would be found a better remedy as a preven- 
 tive to crime than punishment. I never said that there should 
 not be justice meted out to the true criminal by punishing him ; 
 but I have defined the criminal to be a sane man who commit- 
 ted crime by the consent of his will, for that every man was equal 
 In this respect, that all had a free will ; but, unfortunately for 
 society, there are men of bad, as well as " men of good u'ill^''^ 
 and vhose impulse is stronger than their will. 
 
13 
 
 At various times I stated that I conceived insanity to be an 
 hereditary disease, and that the latent seed was caused to break 
 out in some form of insanity by any exciting cause, and that the 
 chief exciting cause was mental suffering which injured the vital 
 power or nervous force, and that one chief factor of this mental 
 suffering was the present high-pressure system of education. 
 <Jonsequently there could be no system of education applicable 
 to all. 
 
 I said I believed in a criminal hereditary neurosis as firmly 
 as I believe in an insane neurosis, with this difference that we all 
 had the criminal neurosis : only some to a greater degree than 
 others. I pointed out the great difficulty there was ia diagnos- 
 ing some cases of insanity, and very frequently it was more 
 difficult to prove a man sane than it was to prove a man insane. 
 I have, in my last paper on the Medical Jurisprudence of 
 Insanity spoken to you of the necessity there was for a law of 
 lunacy, and recommended that these views should be brought 
 before the Legislature ; and I am pleased to see that the Hon. 
 Mr. Chapleau has moved in the matter in the Local Assembly, 
 and brought in a bill for the more speedy transmission of lunatics 
 into asylums ; and I this day had the honor of receiving a letter 
 from the Hon. Mr. Laflamme, Minister of Justice, paying me a 
 very handsome compliment upon my paper on the Medical 
 Jurisprudence of Insanity, and promising me to study up the 
 subject during recess, and be prepared to move in the matter 
 when Parliament again meets. I mention these facts, gentle- 
 men, because I am fully convinced that the attention given to 
 my paper by these honourable gentlemen, is due to the fact that 
 my views were endorsed by the Montreal Medico-Chiiurgical 
 Society. 
 
 Much stress is laid by some writers as to what constitutes the 
 cure of insanity, some arguing that, should a third, or a Fourth 
 attack occur, there has been no cure. This is simply an 
 absurdity. If a medical man treats a patient for pneumonia, 
 pleurisy, peritonitis, or acute rheumatism, and makes a cure, he 
 does not engage that his patient will never have the same disease 
 again : on the contrary, he warns his patient that the same 
 
u 
 
 cause which produced the first attack will likely produce a 
 second. Aud if, after some months, or years, a second should 
 come, he will not admit that he did not cure his patient in the 
 first instance. And if his patient should happen to be an hos- 
 pital patient, he will enter him as a new case when he is admit- 
 ted a second time. At present I have in the asylum at Longue 
 Pointe, two men whom I treated and cured in the asylum a*t 
 St. Johns. The first was with me four months when I discharged 
 him ; he remained well, earning bread for his family for twelve 
 years. He will soon be discharged again. The second is only in 
 the asylum the last five days. When fi-^t attacked he remained 
 with me three weeks : I discharged him cui*ed ; he remained so 
 for six years, when he got tlue second attack, during which time he 
 became married a second time, and had a second family. Now,. 
 surely I have as good a right to claim a cure in these cases as 
 would a medical man who cured a case of pneumonia. Dr. 
 Howard cured me four different times within ten years, of what 
 he termed bronchitis with the asthma of gouty men. Suppose 
 in time I should get another attack, which is more than probable, 
 and in the end die from an attack, does it follow that he did not 
 cure me in the four first attacks ? The fact is, that physically, 
 as well as morally-speaking, we have all some weak points in us 
 that we only discover when it shows itself from some accidental 
 cause. If by the cure of insanity is meant that a person reco- 
 vering from an attack of insanity will never be subject to a 
 similar attack, then, indeed, there is no case of insanity cured, 
 no more than there is a case of gout, or any other hereditary 
 disease ! and it is most true that the number of recoveries under 
 the very best of circumstances, are very few comparatively 
 speaking. For myself, I find that daily the chances are becom- 
 ing beautifully less. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Any statement that I have heretofore made 
 before you respecting insanity, and mental and moral science, 
 additional study and experience has not caused me to change 
 my views ; and should increased experience cause me to change 
 my views, in the future, I will not be ashamed to tell you so. 
 In preparing thivS paper for your consideration, my great. 
 
 •ii 
 
16 
 
 •« 
 
 object was to prove to you that the natural and moral laws were 
 perfectly reconcilable ; and that the great cause of poverty^ 
 crime, suffering, insanity, other diseases and early death, was the 
 breach of natural laws, either by our progenitors or ourselves. 
 Moreover, that we all had yet very much to J, learn of both 
 the natural and moral law. In each and all of my papers I have 
 carefully adhered to mental and moral science, as far as these 
 sciences were understood by me, without in any way wishing to 
 force my views upon any of you ; although, of course, I should 
 he pleased to convince you of the truth of my views. 
 
 I fear that this paper has been rather wearisome, and not as 
 interesting as it might have been made in other hands. How- 
 ever, the subject itself is one of great interest. 
 
 I will conclude by expressing my convictions, that if bigotry, 
 prejudice, and fanaticism are ever to be replaced by equitable 
 justice and charity, it must be done through a wide-spread 
 knowledge of mental and moral science.