of impure souls in the bodies of infants. He shows asto the origin of a soul that animal germs are contained in plants and zoophytes, which pass at the death of the latter into the body of the organisms next in the scale of development, and so onwards in ascending succession, the rudimentary soul becoming more and more developed at each stage, until, emerging from the body of a mammal belonging to the superior species, the soul passes into the body of a newlyborn infant. If the infant dies, aged under one year, its soul passes to another newly-born infant. When an adult dies with his soul sufficiently pure, it rises through the earth's atmosphere to the ether, to enter into the body of an angel or "super-human being." In this stage it undergoes a fresh series of evolutions, through an archangel or "arch superhuman being," until it becomes a "spiritualised being." This stage ends by its dissolving into its elements in the sun, whence they descend as emanations of its essence in the form of "animated germs," ready to enter plants and zoophytes, and go through the series of successional changes in their order. If the soul of an adult man be not sufficiently "ennobled and pure" at death, it must re-enter a newly-born child as often as need be. Plates illustrative of recent researches in Solar Science elucidate the text.

It would be easy to multiply illustrations of this kind of brain-work to any extent. Those given will suffice for my purpose, which is to show how the evolutional development of an abstract idea gathers around it all the knowledge available to that evolution, or, rather, all the substrata which correspond to the knowledge in the individual. So that the ancient theory of living things being developed out of the mud of the Nile, and those now current which begin with elementary atoms, or with an infusion of hay are evolved according to the same cerebral process. It is by a similar process, therefore, that the morbid brain will work on the intuition of a previous existence. Since the two cases I subjoin were of persons with biblical knowledge we have in them the evolution taking a corresponding form.

1. Dr. Skae informed me that he had a patient in the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, a naval captain (and Dr. Clouston confirms the facts), who believed he had had a continuous existence of many thousands of years. He was formerly well acquainted with Methuselah, Noah, and other patriarchs and historical persons. He fluently described the characters of these persons as known to him when they were in life. He

knew Noah, for example, from his boyhood, who was a most genial fellow, but unfortunately he carried his geniality a little too far and fell into dissipated habits. He held also the doctrine of metempsychosis, and could tell persons then living through what animals their souls had passed. This conclusion was evidently founded upon some animal resemblance he perceived. Thus (as Dr. Clouston informs me) one of the assistant-physicians, who had a somewhat long and sloping nose, had to the patient's knowledge previously passed through life as a snipe. He had frequently changed his personal identity. Was formerly Alexander the Great, was lately the author of the Waverley novels, which he wrote several centuries ago to amuse his children, and finally Tiberius Cæsar, "Lord of Rome." He dealt with millions and increased the length of his past life as his mental disorder advanced. He commanded an army of 70,000,000, fourteen thousand years ago, and fought an equal number of the Macedonian army in Persia. A wound received many hundreds of years ago is still unhealed, and he had not had a good night's sleep for 1,200 years. He mixed up cosmological events with his personal histories; being 20,000 years old, he described the pre-historic periods of the earth, and knew of three floods greater than Noah's. He died of apoplexy, after 27 years' residence in the asylum.

2. Dr. Clouston introduced me lately to a gentleman under his care, who informed me that he is the prophet Elias, but was re-incarnated in the belly of his mother fiftyfive years ago, when he was born as W— A- G—. He had been also other biblical prophets, as Malachi, &c. His conversation was incoherent, but he made reference to his biography which had been distributed through the earth and the heavens, indicating that cosmical ideas were being evolved with the others. The subjoined writing was elicited as an order to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland then sitting; it gives an idea of the organic association of ideas:" Executed to day 20th May, 1875. Royal Asylum,

Morningside. At the Divine Earthly Hierarchy * * * 1.

Execute to the 2 Gods, the 2 Christs, human born of the Virgin Mary, viz., W-A-G-. Prophet Elias, &c., &c. Divinity, Divinity, and to S- P— M— alike Prophet Elias, Divinity, Divinity, to each personally a gift for 3,000,000,000,000 (Three Billions) of times, 11,000,000 (Eleven Millions) of times, 46 times one Million, Eight hundred thousands Trillions of times, the value of every

gift," &c. 2. "Then disburse this gift order to all classes of persons of The Universe 2 Worlds, so called, at grades rank, a gift to each personally, a gift also to the Spiritual Divinities according to their grades rank, &c." "By order as prefaced W— A—G— Prophet Elias, &c., &c., Prince, &c., and Duke of Bordeaux of France, Rex William 5th of Great Britain and Ireland absent on sick leave. King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and God of Gods of the Holy Bible," &c.

If this patient had had his attention directed to his reminiscences instead of to his powers as the Prophet Elias, a more instructive transcript of brain-work would probably have been the result. Comparing it with that of the case of general paralysis detailed ante, it is seen that while in the latter the reversion was to birth, with theological and cosmical ideas, and infinity as to numbers (Fig. 6), in this case it transcends birth ideationally. In the first case the feeling of pre-existence evolved the idea of continuous existence; how far cosmical and infinitesimal ideas were associated is not on record.

In comparing the phenomena of reversion as seen in bodies of men and in nations, the element of race is of primary importance, because the reversions will be to racial modes of thought. Thus the avowed return to metempsychosis and the grafting of Druidical metaphysics on Christian theology and modern science observed in France, must be taken in connection with the attempted return by the French Communists to tribal and dissevered communities as the best social organisation. In both the theology and the politics we recognise mental characteristics of the inhabitants of ancient Gaul and perhaps of the Celtic races generally.

Beyond all these accumulated racial characteristics and their manifestations from time to time, as evolutions and reversions, the laws of cerebral development common to every race have to be considered. This would, however, lead to a discussion of the principles upon which systems of philosophy and of social organisation are evolved, and of the reason why history repeats itself in both philosophy, theology, and national growth- a subject too large for a short essay. It is enough to say here that such discussions would show that the organic laws of personal and ancestral races may apply equally to these general phenomena of the human mind.

XXI.

13

The Morisonian Lectures on Insanity, for 1873. By the late DAVID SKAE, M.D., F.R.C.S.E., Physician Superintendent of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, &c., &c. Edited by T. S. CLOUSTON, M.D., F.R.S.E.

(Continued from Vol. xx., p. 18.)

LECTURE VI.*

Anomic Insanity. This is the variety of insanity produced by exhausting discharges, loss of blood, or starvation, and takes its name from the condition of anæmia that precedes and accompanies it. Dr. Aitkin says that "any acute disease which occurs in an anæmic individual assumes a peculiar character." Now this is precisely what occurs when such an individual becomes insane. There are two very distinct kinds of anæmic insanity, which may be called the chronic and the acute. The chronic results from anæmia produced gradually by exhausting discharges or such slow processes. Its symptoms are precisely those that Dr. Skae described as occurring in the insanity of lactation without the sexual characteristics of the latter, so that I need not occupy your time in describing them. The most important characteristics are the premonitory giddiness, flashes of light, singing in the ears, headache. The acute variety follows great and sudden losses of blood or starvation. It is most typically seen in the latter condition. At first there is a state of mental prostration, with pale and cadaverous countenance, wild and glistening eyes, severe pain in the epigastrium, and an intense thirst; then the mind becomes quite imbecile, so that the patient will make no effort for his own benefit, and after this a state of maniacal delirium, with hallucinations of the senses, comes

on.

The patient sees ravishingly cool and limpid streams and green fields, which if he is at sea he will at once jump overboard to reach, he tries to sing, and converses with imaginary friends. This is soon succeeded by coma or convulsions and death. But if food is given before this, the patient often remains for a long time delirious or imbecile in mind, cannot get rid of his hallucinations, and cannot exert his mind in any way.

* To prevent mistakes it may be mentioned that this lecture was written entirely by Dr. Clouston.-T. S. C.

1875.] The Morisonian Lectures on Insanity for 1873. 189

General Paralysis.-This disease is not only a variety of insanity, but a true pathological disease of the nervous system, as distinct from all other varieties of insanity and all other nervous diseases as smallpox is from scarlatina, or consumption is from rheumatism. When the great French physicians, Calmeil, Delaye, Bayle, and Esquirol, in the beginning of the century, first seized on a particular group of mental symptoms, associated them together, found they had a regular sequence and history, that they were connected with certain obvious departures from the normal state of the brain and its membranes, and when they gave their generalization a name and called it "General Paralysis of the Insane," they sounded the death-knell of all the metaphysical and spiritual theories of insanity. And it is well that it should have had for a basis such an unassailable medical deduction. It did not cover much of the unoccupied ground of nervous pathology, it did not directly throw very much new light on any other disease of the brain, and above all it had nothing to do with any premature theory of nerve function or nerve disease; yet its importance to the study of insanity was incalculable. I believe that the further and fuller study of general paralysis will do more for the elucidation of many of the unsolved problems as to the connection of mind with brain, nay, as to the connection of motion, sensation, and animal heat with brain, than that of any other disease. Did we know everything about general paralysis and epilepsy, we should find the path of research into most other diseases of the nervous system comparatively easy. They would be the key to all the rest. As we shall see, there is no group of nerve-cells in the body that is not affected in general paralysis, and almost no nerve function left intact. The existence of this disease is certainly by far the best justification for such a system of classifying mental diseases as that of Dr. Skae, which aims at distinguishing from each other the true diseases affecting the cerebral convolutions, and not merely ticketing groups of similar symptoms with a name. It is quite certain that under the term insanity there are included many pathological species of brain disease, just as distinct as general paralysis, which we shall ultimately be able to segregate and distinguish. Dr. Skae did not pretend that his varieties were, with one or two exceptions, of this class, but he went a step in this direction, and helped to move the coach out of the rut of mere symptomatology.

I have no need to vindicate the existence of general para