Morbid Manifestations Research Articles

Psychology—Normal and Morbid

We are well pleased to be able to state that Dr. Mercier's forthcoming work is now in the hands of the printers. It has been an open secret that his work for some years past has been nearing completion, and that it has at length assumed definite shape. The germ of Dr. Mercier's thesis has been already made known to us in his earlier writings, and now he is to produce the results of his matured thought and experience. The book is primarily intended as an introduction to the study of insanity, and under the title of Psychology, Normal and Morbid, it will constitute a general survey of mental processes with special reference to their bearing upon Conduct. The processes of reasoning, usually omitted from psychological works, are dealt with in considerable detail, this part of the book being practically a New Logic. Belief, with its morbid variant, Delusion; Truth; the theory of Probability which is extended from the domain of psychology; Will and Desire, in their normal and morbid manifestations; the significance of Pleasure and Pain; and the obscure region of Self-Consciousness are all dealt with from a new point of view, which permits of new conclusions being reached. Dr. Mercier's reputation as a psychologist drew a very large audience to the Royal Institution in May, when he delivered a lecture on Memory. No doubt that is promise of a still larger circle of readers intent to learn and to debate what is soon to be set forth in the systematic style above indicated.

Psychology—Normal and Morbid

We are well pleased to be able to state that Dr. Mercier's forthcoming work is now in the hands of the printers. It has been an open secret that his work for some years past has been nearing completion, and that it has at length assumed definite shape. The germ of Dr. Mercier's thesis has been already made known to us in his earlier writings, and now he is to produce the results of his matured thought and experience. The book is primarily intended as an introduction to the study of insanity, and under the title of Psychology, Normal and Morbid, it will constitute a general survey of mental processes with special reference to their bearing upon Conduct. The processes of reasoning, usually omitted from psychological works, are dealt with in considerable detail, this part of the book being practically a New Logic. Belief, with its morbid variant, Delusion; Truth; the theory of Probability which is extended from the domain of psychology; Will and Desire, in their normal and morbid manifestations; the significance of Pleasure and Pain; and the obscure region of Self-Consciousness are all dealt with from a new point of view, which permits of new conclusions being reached. Dr. Mercier's reputation as a psychologist drew a very large audience to the Royal Institution in May, when he delivered a lecture on Memory. No doubt that is promise of a still larger circle of readers intent to learn and to debate what is soon to be set forth in the systematic style above indicated.

EXPERIENCE WITH AN EPIDEMIC OF RABIES IN BUFFALO.

An important fact to be gathered from history is the liability of human beings to be attacked by diseases of a contagious nature, transmitted through the agency of inferior animals. These diseases often present such unusual features of interest and severity as to engage the serious attention of the local health authorities, and alarm the public generally; and none more so than rabies, on account of its cruel character, distressing anxiety, mortality, its ever-present source—the dog—and the unfortunate dispute as to its actual existence. It is a much easier and more popular task to dilate concerning the habits and good traits of this inseparable companion, than to describe the peculiar morbid manifestations which can not be considered apart from or independent of the other mammalia that have been infected through his bite. It must be viewed in conjunction with man. if we would hope to form a just, enlarged and

5. Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology

The above was one of the subjects selected for discussion in the Section of Psychiatry at the International Medical Congress (held last August at Paris), and papers were contributed by Professor Marro of Turin, by Dr. Ziehen of Jena, and by Dr. Jules Voisin of Paris. The views of the last-named having been already epitomised,(1) it only remains to notice the papers of the two former. Professor Marro presented as his conclusions the following:—(1) That puberty exercises an important influence on the psychic life, and that pre-existent mental disturbances might thereby be invested with characters which previously they did not manifest, or manifested only in a minor degree; or indeed that it might open up the way to definite mental disorder. (2) That amongst psychoses affecting young persons of both sexes at the age of puberty, there was one in particular which might be regarded as specific—the hebephrenia of Hecker. (3) That the morbid manifestations of this form of psychosis combined in a special way the symptoms of certain other mental disorders, and that the post-mortem appearances showed morbid structural changes in the cerebral cortex and meninges—possibly consequent on a process of auto-intoxication, due to digestive irregularities and disordered metabolism. (4) The epoch of puberty and the precocious and abnormal exercise of sexual activity might be the means of originating morbid manifestations, stamping in some cases the individual with permanent peculiarity, although in others this might be effaced in after life under favourable circumstances. (5) The prophylaxis of mental disorder at this epoch demanded strict attention to avoid all causes which may interfere with the normal development of the organism, such as excess of physical or mental fatigue, and especially the precocious and abnormal exercise of sexual functions.

Special symptomatology of crime

Abstracts. Psychiatry.Prof. P.I. Novalevsniy. Special symptomatology of crime. Russian Medical Vestnik. 1901, January 15.The author describes in some detail the state of mind of the children of criminals the murderer and says that such children are aggravated by a morbid inheritance and manifestations of organic degeneration, which is expressed not only in their astonishing, sometimes insidious approaches, but also in the most figurative, scrofulous facial expressions and ominous sounding voice.

URIC-ACID AUTOINTOXICATION.

Although much has been written on the subject of uric acid, it can not be said that there is universal agreement as to its influence in the causation of disease, or as to the means of affording relief from its reputed manifestations. While perhaps our present nomenclature may prove to be incorrect and current explanations inadequate, it is safe to assume that certain derangements in metabolic activity are capable of bringing about morbid manifestations of a more or less definite and sometimes even alarming character. Of this we have evidence in the development of gout, of diabetes, and of the condition or process that correctly or incorrectly, it is customary to speak of as uric-acid intoxication. Care must, however, be taken not to generalize too freely on the basis of scant knowledge of a precise character. The individual factor should never be forgotten or ignored, and a growing experience teaches

The Sexual Instinct and its Morbid Manifestations from the Double Standpoint of Jurisprudence and Psychiatry. By B. Tarnowsky Translated by W. C. Costello, Ph.D., and Alfred Allinson, M.A. Paris: Carrington, 1898, pp. 239, price 7s. 6d.

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The Sexual Instinct and Its Morbid Manifestations from the Double Standpoint of Jurisprudence and Psychiatry

The Sexual Instinct and Its Morbid Manifestations from the Double Standpoint of Jurisprudence and Psychiatry