Scientific Serials

Abstract

The Journal of Mental Science, July 1874—Dr. Nicolson proceeds with his Morbid Physiology of Criminals, discussing, on this occasion, prison discipline as a test of mind; and he finds a large number of prisoners who, tried by this test, he must class together as “weak-minded.” In spite of his strong common sense, Dr. Nicolson at times betrays amiable leanings towards the hopeful rather than towards a perhaps unpalatable truth. We must confess ourselves among the “sceptics”from whom “the sight of a class of adult and veteran criminals plodding away at their books in the halls of a prison” “would but draw an ominous shake of the head.” Granting that the book education of criminals could be carried further than there is any reason to believe possible, the assumption remains that this would tend more than any other form of discipline to make them less criminal than before—the only thing in which society has any special interest concerning them. The “weak-minded” criminal, being on the border line of sanity, is naturally a perplexing subject to the prison authorities. In dealing with him practically Dr. Nicolson's sagacity might be fully relied on, though in such expressions as “we can punish badness, but we must treat madness,” there is implied a sharp line of distinction which exists only in our phraseology. Madness ought to be punished when that is the best treatment; and badness ought to be treated when treatment is the best remedy.—In an interesting paper On children fostered by wild beasts, W. W. Ireland, M.D., favours the opinion that there is not a single authentic instance of the kind.—J. H. Balfour Browne, barrister, makes a psychological and medico-legal problem of the character of Léonce Miranda, the hero of Mr. Browning's Red Cotton Night-Capt Country; and by intensely commonplace standards of measurement concludes that Léonce was mad. We sincerely hope his principles of judgment will never find place in the deliberations of actual legal tribunals. It would be a terrible prospect to think that our wills might be set aside at the instance of greedy relatives on the ground that we were somewhat “anomalous,” not exactly like the herd “in our mental constitution;” “to say which,” says Mr. Balfour Browne, “is only to say that a man is insane.” Perhaps “all the doctrines of Rome will not make a practical man who professes its creed believe in a nowadays miracle;” but what is the worth of the statement? Strike out the word practical, which here means stupid, and give the sentence definite meaning by substituting believes for professes, and the proposition becomes a contradiction in terms. But to be logical may be to be insane, according to the wisdom of our practical men who profess instead of believing.—The Morisonian Lectures; The treatment of insanity, abstracted from Drs. Bucknill and Tuke's chapter on that subject; Clinical notes and cases; Notes of the quarter, and reviews, make up the number. Dr. Carpenter's “Mental Physiology” is the most important review. His defence of the old freewill doctrine is severely handled; and an attempt, not quite so successful, is made to set aside the theory of unconscious cerebration.