BIRMINGHAM, 13th June, 1838. THIS day Mr. Jones having sent me notice that Mary Parker is in a fit, I accompanied him, Dr. John Conolly, and Miss to her mother's house. Mary was dressed, but had not come down from her bed-room, and had had no breakfast, although it was past one o'clock. She came to us when her mother requested her to do so. There was an evident change in her countenance. The muscles of her mouth and cheeks were drawn up into an expression of malice and fun, excitement was evident, something between that of hysteria and mania. expression of the eyes was less changed than that of the lower part of the face. They did not sparkle, or glare, or look wildly, but were calm and intelligent. I asked her if she knew me. She answered "No-how should I? I never saw you before." Her mother asked her, if she did not recollect the gentleman with the white hair who had felt her head a few days ago, and conversed with her about her feelings. replied “No, mother— I never saw that gentleman.” Conolly mentioned to her, in a very gentle and deliberate manner, several of the incidents that had occurred at my first visit, to try if he could awaken recollection, but all was in vain. It was clear that she had no consciousness whatever of having seen me before. She said to him, "I have never seen you before either;" which was quite correct. When asked if she knew Mr. Jones, she replied, "Yes" (laughing and giving him a push on the shoulder) "I know Jones well enough." She now wished to go up stairs to her bed-room; but her mother sat down in the stair, and completely blocked it up, to prevent her. She, on observing this, moved quietly along for a step or two, and trod on her mother's toes. On her mother withdrawing her foot, and giving her a push to drive her off, she laughed knowingly, with the peculiar expression of gratified Destructiveness, Secretiveness, and Wit. 66 She With a view of ascertaining to what extent she was intelligent, Mr. Jones asked her, if she could take us to the house which her mother had occupied before she came to the one in which we now were. She laughed, and said she could not. I asked her " Why she could not?" She laughed again, but made no answer. I pushed the enquiry: "Have you forgotten the way to it?" "No:" still laughing. "Then why could you not take me to it?” "Ask Jones." Mr. Jones said — "Tell him yourself Mary." She laughed archly, — and then said, "Because it is taken down;" obviously enjoying the mystery which she felt that she had cast around her former dwelling in our minds. We remained with her about twenty minutes in all, on this occasion. Before I left Birmingham Mr. Jones mentioned to me that she had been twice magnetised, so as to produce a magnetic sleep. She was in her natural state, when first magnetised, and on her recovering from the sleep, she was found to be in the diseased state. She was in the changed state, the second time, and when she recovered from the magnetic sleep, she was in her natural condition. I find it impossible to offer any theory of these phenomena. It was obvious that in the diseased state the excitement was greater, and that the organs of the propensities were more active, and those of the moral sentiments less active, than in her natural condition. I am led to conjecture that the loss of memory and consciousness, in the changed state, of events which occurred in the state of health, is owing to the brain in general being in a different condition, and not owing to an affection of any one organ in particular. I am, &c., GEO. COMBE. III. Case of (supposed) Enlargement of the Organs of Locality, and of Pain felt in the Organs of Form, Size, &c., in a Landscape Painter. - By Mr. W. B. HODGSON. SOME months ago I was requested to examine the head of Mr. MM, a landscape painter, who, though still young, has attained great eminence in his profession. I found the organs of Locality, Form, Size, and indeed all the knowing organs, very large; the lower part of the brow protruding to a great extent. He mentioned to me that three years ago his friends called his attention to the increasing size of the lower region of the forehead, especially the part corresponding with the organs of Locality. To ascertain whether this were the fact, he cut out a piece of bone in such a manner that, when the one end rested on the organs of Locality, the other rested on the nose, while the middle part fitted exactly into a slight hollow at the top of the nose. On making the same trial at the distance of about two years, he found that the centre of the bone, which had before fitted into the above-mentioned hollow, was considerably raised above it, indicating an enlargement of the parts of the brow on which its upper end rested. As the head presents the appearance of a sinus, there cannot, however, be much importance attached to this fact. But Mr. M- further stated, that for a considerable time he had felt pain in the region at the top of the nose, in the direction of Form and Size, when he was engaged in the planning out and composition of a picture, especially when in bed, where he generally, before going to sleep, endeavoured to call up before his mind, and arrange, the scenery of an intended landscape. Being entirely ignorant of Phrenology, he was unable to explain this circumstance, till one day he accidentally heard a friend observe that these were the organs for painting, when he came to me, and I explained to him more minutely the supposed functions of these parts of the brain. On the whole, perhaps, the case deserves to be recorded. [These cases of pain in the lower part of the forehead require to be received with caution, and scrutinised closely. A person usually contracts the brow, and keeps the eyes fixed, while thus intent on producing a mental image; and this attitude causes pain in the soft parts external to the skull, if long persisted in. Besides this, the habit of forced activity of brain before sleep is apt to induce disorder in the digestive organs, and the disorder of those parts of the body are frequently accompanied by local head-ache. Still, we agree with Mr. Hodgson, that the cases should be recorded.-EDITOR.] IV. Connexion of Insanity with Inequality of Cerebral Development. (From Sir W. C. Ellis's Treatise on Insanity.) THE following case affords a good illustration of the influence of large organic development in predisposing to insanity, if the predominant organs happen to be powerfully affected; and it also illustrates the tendency which the illusions have to bear a reference to the leading organs : "J. W. had been an apprentice to a retail shopkeeper in the country. He had a fine person and pleasing manners, with a large share of Self-Esteem, combined also with much Love-ofApprobation. He was altogether a romantic person; and having fallen in love with a young lady, he felt no doubt in his own mind that, as soon as his intentions were made known, he should be accepted. He was very pedantic in his manner; and being anxious that all his proceedings should be conducted in the most correct manner, he proceeded very formally to make his proposals. To his utter astonishment, they were not only rejected, but he was dismissed, to use his own expression, with the most contemptuous scorn. This was more than his offended pride could bear. It was not the loss of the lady that affected him so much as the mode in which his offer had been received. It totally overcame him; he got no rest night or day, and incurable insanity followed. At the time of his admission he had lost all the painful feelings which annoyed him on the first coming on of the disease, and he amused himself by imagining that he was some great man." V. Application of Phrenology in the Management of an Insane Patient. (From Sir W. C. Ellis's Treatise on Insanity.) "IN the moral treatment of cases of insanity, it is of great importance to ascertain the ruling passion of the patient: an appeal to this will frequently divert the attention, and obviate the necessity of having recourse to violent measures. A female, of great firmness, had for several days refused to take her food, and as no persuasion seemed to have any influence upon her, preparations were made to inject it by the stomach-pump. At this juncture my wife discovered that the woman had naturally a great love of acquiring. She sat down by the patient's bedside, and without saying anything on the subject of food, conversed with her on her former habits; and having learnt that she had kept cows and poultry, she induced her to give an account of the profits she made by them. This attracted the attention of the woman: she forgot her determination to resist ; and whilst talking of the gain of selling the butter, she permitted herself to be fed with a basin of bread and milk, apparently unconscious that she was submitting to the wishes of her attendants. In this instance Phrenology was of practical use. The existence of the strong feeling of love of gain was ascertained solely by the observation of the head at the time." VI. Phrenological Development of Prince Talleyrand. THE death of an individual of such celebrity as Talleyrand, not being an everyday occurrence, excited much interest amongst the phrenologists of Paris. An account of the skull and brain, with some remarks on his character in connexion with the phrenological development of his head, were inserted in La Phrenologie, No. 7., for the current year. The remarks on his character we shall not copy; but the measurements of the skull, and the phrenological estimate of development, cannot fail to be of much interest when a true biography of Talleyrand shall appear. The editors of La Phrenologie explain the public career of Talleyrand, in a great measure by the predominance of Cautiousness and Secretiveness. The cranium, they say, of Talleyrand, without the integuments, presents a regular oval in the horizontal line, the superior curve well formed, the forehead large and high. The processes for the attachment of muscles are slightly prominent. The median line separating the two hemispheres is also sensibly marked, the ossification of the suture being so perfect that it forms a slight crest, more or less elevated in different places. At the junction of the occipital and parietal bones, there is an osseous prominence which would have interfered with a phrenological estimate, if not known. The skull is of a thickness and density characteristic of a person less advanced in age. The internal depressions correspond to the external prominences, except that the convolutions are marked by corresponding ossifications. The membranes of the brain were not visibly injected; all the substance of the brain was in a sound state, and resembled that of a person only forty years old. Talleyrand was in his eighty-fourth year. They give the measurements of his head, as below; but so awkwardly expressed that we know not whether the measurements are those of the entire head, or of the skull only: the use of the word "tête" would lead us to suppose the head intended; although the measurement to the occipital foramen (trou occipital) must incline us to the contrary belief: General or horizontal circumference over the occipital protuberance and frontal sinus From the root of the nose to the occipital foramen, pass- From the root of the nose to the auditory canal Inch. lines. 20 4 14 0 5 2 occipital bone 4 1 From the opening of the ear to the tip (pointe) of the occipital bone 5 3 From one mastoid process to another, over the the head From one auditory opening to the other, passing over Veneration From the opening of the ear to the line of union of the reflecting organs with those of the sentiments - 5 6 top of 12 8 |