even to number their fingers. The cretins of the third degree learn to read and write, though with very little understanding of what they read, except on the most common topics. But they are acutely alive to their own interest, and extremely litigious. They are without prudence or discretion in the direction of their affairs, and the regula tion of their conduct; yet obstinate, and unwilling to be advised. Their memory is good as to what they have seen or heard, and they learn to imitate what they have observed in various arts, as machinery, painting, sculpture, and architecture; but it is mere imitation without invention. Some of them learn music in the same manner; and others attempt poetry of the lowest kind, distinguished by mere rhyme. It is said that none of them can be taught arithmetic, but I do not know whether this has been ascertained to be invariably true; there is no doubt that it is a very general peculiarity.

The imbecile in other situations show characters very analogous to these. Their memory is often remarkably retentive; but it appears to be merely a power of retaining facts or words in the order and connection in which they have been presented to them, without the capacity of tracing relations, and forming new associations. In this manner, they sometimes acquire languages, and even procure a name for a kind of scholarship; and they learn to imitate in various arts, but without invention. Their deficiency appears to be in the powers of abstracting, recombining, and tracing relations; consequently they are deficient in judgment, for which these processes are necessary. The maniac, on the other hand, seizes relations acutely, rapidly, and often ingeniously, but not soundly. They are only incidental relations, to which he is led by some train of association existing in his own mind; but they occupy his attention in such a manner that he does not admit the consideration of other relations, or compare them with those which have fixed themselves upon his mind.

The states of idiocy and insanity, therefore, are clearly distinguished in the more complete examples of both; but many instances occur in which they pass into each other,

Third class? Describe them. The imbecile. Their memory? In what deficient? The maniac compared with them 7 Distinction between idiocy and insanity?

and where it is difficult to say to which of the affections the case is to be referred. I believe they may also be, to a certain extent, combined; or that there may be a certain diminution of the mental powers existing along with that distortion which constitutes insanity. They likewise alternate with one another,-maniacal paroxysms often leaving the patient, in the intervals, in a state of idiocy. A very interesting modification of another kind is mentioned by Pinel: Five young men were received into the Bicetre, whose intellectual faculties appeared to be really obliterated; and they continued in this state for periods of from three to upwards of twelve months. They were then seized with paroxysms of considerable violence, which continued from fifteen to twenty-five days, after which they all entirely recovered.

Idiocy can seldom be the subject either of medical or moral treatment; but the peculiar characters of it often become the object of attention in courts of law, in relation to the competency of imbecile persons to manage their own affairs; and much difficulty often occurs in tracing the line between competency and incompetency. Several years ago a case occurred in Edinburgh, which excited much discussion, and shows, in a striking manner, some of the peculiarities of this condition of the mental faculties:-A gentleman of considerable property having died intestate, his heir-at-law was a younger brother, who had always been reckoned very deficient in intellect; and, consequently, his relatives now brought an action into the court of session, for the purpose of finding him incompetent, and obtaining the authority of the court for putting him under trustees. In the investigation of this case, various respectable persons deponed that they had long known the individual, and considered him as decidedly imbecile in his understanding, and incapable of managing his affairs. On the other hand, most respectable evidence was produced, that he had been, when at school, an excellent scholar in the languages, and had re peatedly acted as a private tutor to boys; that he was re markably attentive to his own interest, and very strict in

Sometimes connected. Remarkable case of five young men? cy? Difficult question in regard to them? Case in Edinburgh. sides ?

Treatment for idio-
Evidence on both

making a bargain; that he had been proposed as a candidate for holy orders, and, on his first examination in the languages, had acquitted himself well; but that, in the subsequent trials, in which the candidate is required to deliver a discourse, he had been found incompetent. The court of session, after long pleadings, decided that this individual was incapable of managing his affairs. The case was ther appealed to the house of lords, where, after farther pro tracted proceedings, this decision was affirmed. I was well acquainted with this person, and was decidedly of opinion that he was imbecile in his intellects. At my suggestion the following experiment was made in the course of the investigation. A small sum of money was given him, with directions to spend it, and present an account of his disbursement, with the addition of the various articles. soon got rid of the money, but was found totally incapable of this very simple process of arithmetic, though the sum did not exceed a few shillings. This individual, then, it would appear, possessed the simple state of memory, which enabled him to acquire languages; but was deficient in the capacity of combining, reflecting, or comparing. His total inability to perform the most simple process of arithmetic was a prominent character in the case, analogous to what I have already stated in regard to the cretins. In doubtful cases of the kind, I think this might be employed as a nega tive test with advantage; for it probably will not be doubted that a person who is incapable of such a process is incompe tent to manage his affairs.

He

It is a singular fact that the imbecile are, in general, extremely attentive to their own interest, and perhaps most commonly cautious in their proceedings. Ruinous extravagance, absurd schemes, and quixotic ideas of liberality and magnificence are more allied to insanity; the former may ecome the dupes of others, but it is the latter who are most ikely to involve and ruin themselves.

Before leaving the subject of Insanity, there is a point of great interest which may be briefly referred to. It bears, in a very striking manner, upon what may be called the pathology of the mental powers; but I presume not to touch

Decision 7 Appeal and final decision. Experiment with him? Its result? Singular fact in regard to the imbecile?

upon it except in the slightest manner. In the language of common life, we sometimes speak of a moral insanity, in which a man rushes headlong through a course of vice and crime, regardless of every moral restraint, of every social tie, and of all consequences, whether more immediate or future. Yet, if we take the most melancholy instance of this kind that can be furnished by the history of human depravity, the individual may still be recognised, in regard to all physical relations, as a man of a sound mind; and he may be as well qualified as other men for the details of business, or even the investigations of science. He is correct in his judgment of all the physical relations of things; but, in regard to their moral relations, every correct feeling appears to be obliterated. If a man, then, may thus be correct in his judgment of all physical relations, while he is lost to every moral relation, we have strong ground for believing that there is in his constitution a power distinct from reason, but which holds the same sway over his moral powers that reason does among his intellectual; and that the influ ence of this power may be weakened or lost, while reason remains unimpaired. This is the moral principle, or the power of conscience. It has been supposed by some to be a modification of reason, but the considerations now referred to appear to favor the opinion of their being distinct. That this power should so completely lose its sway while reason remains unimpaired, is a point in the moral constitution of man which it does not belong to the physician to investigate. The fact is unquestionable; the solution is to be sought for in the records of eternal truth.

IV. SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS.

The theory of spectral illusions is closely connected with that of the affections treated of in the preceding parts of this section; and I shall conclude this subject with a very brief notice of some of the most authentic facts relating to them, under the following heads :

I. False perceptions, or impressions made upon the senses

Moral insanity. Its character? Moral principle. Spectral illusions; classes. False perceptions

only, in which the mind does not participate. Of this class there are several modifications, which have been referred to under the subject of perception. I add in this place the following additional examples :-A gentleman of high mental endowments, now upwards of eighty years of age, of a spare habit, and enjoying uninterrupted health, has been for eleven years liable to almost daily visitations from spectral figures. They in general present human countenances; the head and upper parts of the body are distinctly defined; the lower parts are, for the most part, lost in a kind of cloud. The figures are various, but he recognises the same countenances repeated from time to time, particularly, of late years, that of an elderly woman, with a peculiarly arch and playful expression, and a dazzling brilliancy of eye, who seems just ready to speak to him. They appear also in various dresses, such as that of the age of Louis XIV.; the costume of ancient Rome; that of the modern Turks and Greeks; but more frequently of late, as in the case of the female now mentioned, in an oldfashioned Scottish plaid of Tartan, drawn up and brought forward over the head, and then crossed below the chin, as the plaid was worn by aged women in his younger days. He can seldom recognise among the spectres any figure or countenance which he remembers to have seen; but his own face has occasionally been presented to him, gradually undergoing the change from youth to manhood, and from manhood to old age. The figures appear at various times of the day, both night and morning; they continue before him for some time, and he sees them almost equally well with his eyes open or shut, in full daylight or in darkness. They are almost always of a pleasant character, and he seems to court their presence as a source of amusement to him. He finds that he can banish them by drawing his hand across his eyes, or by shutting and opening his eyelids once or twice for a second or two; but on these occasions they often appear again soon after. The figures are sometimes of the size of life, and sometimes in miniature; but they are always defined and finished with the clearness and minuteness of the finest painting. They sometimes ap

Examples. Form and appearance of the figures? Costume? Times of their appear ing? His command over them? Their size 7