The Physiology of Mind.

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up thought, in certain physical forms, it does not follow that the brain is the originator of those thoughts, any more than a book or letter is the originator of the thoughts that by the arrangement of words and sentences are contained in them.

We are indebted to Dr. Maudsley, a physician of no mean repute in the study of mental disease, for giving us the physician's aspect of insanity and sin, in the eighth volume of the International Science Series, under the title of 'Responsibility in Mental Disease;' a work which, though it enters much into the legal relations of crime and insanity, yet is essentially a popular treatise on mental disease, explaining the various forms, causes, &c., of this terrible disorder. He has endeavoured to remove the erroneous ideas people generally entertain concerning lunatics, and to direct attention to a more humane treatment of them, as well as to warn us of the causes of lunacy. In order to understand insanity, he directs us to study the subject from its physical aspect, and by an inductive method.

Bacon long ago insisted upon an individual psychology, so 'that we may have a scientific and accurate dissection of mind 'and characters, and the secret dispositions of particular 'men may be revealed, and that from the knowledge thereof 'better rules may be framed for the treatment of the mind.'* This individual psychology, it has been argued, can only be studied from a materialistic aspect, for the peculiar feelings and frequently ideas that may possess the mind of an individual at a certain time are often dependent on the particular state of the bodily functions at that time. It is a well-known fact, for instance, that the state of a man's digestion will materially influence his views and temperament. Hence it may be desirable to set aside metaphysical inquiries for the time, and consider the subject from a physician's point of view; not because the former are necessarily dry and useless, and that a theological student goes through an attack of metaphysics as a child goes 'through an attack of measles, getting haply an immunity 'from a similar affection for the rest of his life,' but because by taking a different and opposite view we may better understand the real nature of mind.

*De Augment. Scient.' B. vii.

'When the theologist, who occupies himself with the supersensuous, has said all that he has to say from his point of view; when the jurist, who represents those principles which the wisdom of society has established, has in turn exhaustively argued from his point of view, then the ultimate appeal in a concrete case must be to the physician, who deals with the bodily life. Through his ground only can the theologist and jurist pass to their departments, and they must accept their knowledge of it from him. On the foundation of facts which the faithful investigation of the bodily nature lays, must rest, if they are to rest safely, their systems.'*

There is much truth in this, though, of course, many will be prepared to deny it; for the fact that our mental faculties are so very much dependent on the state of our bodily organs, leads to the conclusion that there is a great deal to be learned from a physician's point of view. We are at present living in a materialistic age, and even mind has come to be regarded by many as only another expression of physical force. Probably this is a reaction from the narrow views of the older metaphysicians, and as the truth becomes more clearly perceived, we shall find it agree with the written Word of God, though it may occupy a position differing from that which either extreme metaphysicians or materialists maintain.

One great advantage of studying the physical aspect of mind is that we are better able to find the cause of, and in consequence, the remedy for that most terrible of all diseases—namely, insanity. There are few who do not at some time or other meet with one who has enjoyed apparently vigorous mental health, but whose mind is, as we express it, shattered,' and there is hardly a sadder sight. We have a tendency to look upon insanity as one of those ills we must bear, and for which there is only slight remedy; yet the study of the physical aspect of insanity teaches us that to a very great extent it is in our power to prevent this terrible calamity.

What mind really is no one pretends to say with certainty ; we can only judge of its expressions as given to us from others by speech, action, &c., and shown to ourselves by thought, consciousness, &c. Now, mind acts through material agency. If the will desires to remember any particular circumstance, a special brain-cell is formed for that circumstance, and the process of thought involves in some way the setting

*Physiology and Pathology of Mind.' Maudsley, p. 14.

Causes of Insanity.

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in action certain cells, and the destruction and reformation of brain substance. While granting this, we have no need. to sanction in the least degree the proposition of Cabanus, 'that the brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile.' For the very idea of such a proposition is absurd, and without the least foundation. Granting, however, that certain mental processes, such as memory, do depend on the formation of cells in the brain, we can easily understand how a blow on the head, which surely could not affect the spiritual nature of man, often causes total loss of memory. We may also understand that other mental processes may, in like manner, be stored up in certain cells, and can be called into activity by the will, or force themselves on our notice by some unwilled stimulation to activity. When we consider that every word we have uttered, every thought conceived, and every action done, has left some record, more or less permanent, on the brain, we are almost staggered with the thought how vast these mental stores must be, and it seems incredible to believe that our small brain can possibly contain them all. Yet microscopists prove that the brain-cells are so minute, that though they occupy only the thin grey outer layer of the brain substance, there is still room for almost an infinitude of cells. Disease may affect these cells in various ways, and bring them into activity, or prevent the expression of their functions. Hence we have in sickness the patient deliriously conjuring up the memory of past events that have been impressed on certain cells, or that are lying in an unconscious stupor. The brain-cells may become permanently or temporarily injured, and so give rise to peculiar thoughts and actions, or, by a cessation of activity, cause the individual to continue in a state of semi-unconsciousness. This constitutes insanity. These brain-cells are so closely connected by nervous filaments with one another, and with nearly every other part of the body, that what affects the one affects the other. This connection of the brain-cells explains the association of ideas, and the manner in which combined movements take place at least, dimly. Disease may cause a dissociation of ideas, and so cells which have been impressed with some bodily functionas sensibility, touch, &c.-when stimulated, reply to some mental idea; and hence we have, as is so often met with in

insanity, disordered mental processes dependent on diseased bodily organs. But besides mere connection, the brain depends on other organs for its proper supply of nourishment and a healthy condition of the nutriment. So disease of other organs, by depriving the cells of their necessary sustenance, on which their activity depends, occasions mental disease.

So close is the physiological sympathy of parts in the commonwealth of the body, that it is necessary, in the physiological study of mind, to regard it as a function of the whole organism, as comprehending the whole bodily life.'

As we depend on our parents for our bodily organs, so we depend on them for much of our mental phenomena. There are many cells ready formed in the brain of the child inherited from the parents, and thus the child receives from them passions, thoughts, mental defects. Dr. Maudsley adduces Scripture in support of the statement that children receive from their parents defects of moral nature, as well as good inclinations, &c.

'Solomon proclaimed it to be the special merit of a good man that he leaves an inheritance to his children's children. On the other hand, it has been declared that the sins of the father shall be visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. . . . . It was deemed no marvel that those whose fathers had stoned the prophets should reject Him who was sent unto them-"Ye are the children of those who stoned the prophets."

He believes also that the peculiarity of an individual depends on the impregnation of the ovum by the parents, so that each 'particular ovum has an individual inheritance, which makes 'for it an individual destiny.' He proves this from the fact that two individuals with the same parentage, placed under exactly the same training, will yet differ as much mentally as they will differ in features, and this peculiarity will, to a great extent, depend on the parents' state. It has been asserted that if the parents are drunk at a certain time, the offspring will be idiotic or defective.

Hereditary influence is especially seen in cases of moral perversion, where the individual does wrong simply because his brain is so constituted that he cannot act otherwise. The fear of punishment, the hope of reward, have no effect on him;

The Physiology of the Criminal Class.

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this is no new fact, for Plato suggested hereditary influence as the origin of evil many generations back.

That many criminals are wholly devoid of moral sense, is a fact that has been long acknowledged; they are totally incapable of appreciating the effects of punishment, so that as soon as they are released from prison they enter into their former evil ways with, if anything, increased zeal. Much of this is of course due to evil influences during their incarceration, but much more is the result of a moral inaptitude for appreciating the benefits of an honest life, or the suffering of punishment. Mr. Chesterton once heard a youth, belonging to the class of habitual criminals, exclaim, 'Lord, how I do love thieving! If I had thousands, I would still be a thief!' These criminals are generally easily recognized, and might by any observant person be picked out with little fear of error.

The physical organization of criminals is marked by a singularly stupid and insensate look. The expression in the countenance is not that of the human face divine,' but stupid, sullen, and diabolical. The colour of the complexion is bad, as if the sweet juices of life' were poisoned.'* The women of the criminal class, too, are generally very illfavoured and ungainly, beauty of form or feature being rarely seen among them. Of course all this does not go to prove absolutely that the mental is dependent on the physical organisation, for it might as easily be made to prove the contrary. And it is well known that peculiar states of the mind do influence the bodily organs for good or evil; as, for instance, when we have sudden fear or grief producing dyspepsia. But there can be no doubt that in many cases disease or defect of bodily organs, as we have shown, does occasion disordered mental action, and that this disease may be inherited, just as gout, consumption, &c., may be.

To those who take the metaphysical view of mind, it will no doubt seem improbable that absence of moral sense should ever be a congenital fault of mental organisation; but if we are to put any trust in observation, we must acknowledge such a defect to occur sometimes in consequence of parental insanity. It may be witnessed even in young children, who, long before they have known what vice meant, have evinced an entire absence of moral feeling, with the active display of all sorts of immoral tendencies-a genuine moral imbecility, or insanity. As there are

*J. B. Thompson, F.R.C.S. 'Journal of Mental Science.' 1870.