As it has ever been the custom of man to act as if he were eternal, and lavishly to scatter the limited force which he embodies as though the supply were inexhaustible, it produces no unaccustomed surprise to witness the useless expenditure of force which is so frequently made at the present time. It may even, perhaps, be deemed a token of some modesty, that the being, who since his first formation has been continually occupied in metaphysical regions with the investigation of the origin of all things, should be content for a while to amuse himself with physical theories concerning his own origin. That which is to be regretted in the new and comparatively praiseworthy occupation is the old evil of hasty theorizing on the one hand, and on the other hand, the evil, scarcely less ancient, of an impetuous eagerness to demolish any theory, however plausible, which comes athwart a favourite prejudice. What though the anatomist does discover a very close resemblance and very slight differences between the structure of a gorilla and the structure of a human being; there is no need, on that account, that mankind in a feeling of injured dignity should angrily rouse up and disclaim the undesired relationship. Whatever may be said or written, it is quite plain after all that a man is not a gorilla, and that a gorilla is not a man; it is furthermore manifest that gorillas do not breed men now-a-days, and that we have not the shadow of any evidence to guide us in forming; an opinion as to what they may have clone in times past. The negative testimony of Du Chaillu, who says that he searched in vain in the gorilla region for any intermediate race or link between it and man, scarcely adds anything to the conviction of the non-existence of any such link, which has long been universally entertained.*

1. The question propounded.—The members of the Association under whose auspices the ‘Journal of Mental Science’ is published, having done me the honour to elect me an honorary member of their body, I think I cannot better express my strong sense of the compliment thus paid to me, than by a cordial co-operation with them in their labours for the advancement of mental science. The subject I have ventured with this object to bring under their notice, is one of the highest importance to their professional success; it is to determine how far a mental science in the true meaning of the term science is possible, and capable of practical application to mental pathology, therapeutics and hygiène, and the needs of society in general. For more than twenty-five years, I have carefully studied mental science in these its practical relations, and have from time to time made my views public. My friend Dr. J. S. Bushnan, has questioned the value and validity of those views in the journal, on two recent occasions', with special reference to two of my latest publications.* It appears from his last communication, (‘Journal of Mental Science,’ October, 1861), that he has come to the conclusion that my systematic views elaborated after so much labour and thought, and carefully applied, not only to the practice, but also to the teaching of both the practice of medicine in general, and of psychiatry in particular are, “in no sense practical.” This, to me, startling conclusion, has led me to examine into the mode by which my friend and critic came by the notion, and I find that either he or I must be under a singular misapprehension, both as to what is scientific and practical, and as to how it may be attained. I know of no other method for testing where the error lies, than a comparison of Dr. Bushnan's principles and method with mine, in reference to the objects for which the journal is established. Now Dr. Bushnan states his doctrine very explicitly at the outset.

The anomalies of the physical functions of idiots, are often quite as striking as the defects and peculiarities of their minds, and it is found that the amount of mental incapacity bears a direct relation to the physiological disability. It may be stated as a rule, that the greater the physical defect, the greater the idiot; and the reverse holds good—that an idiot with very slight intellectual power, has chances of rising in the scale of intelligence, commensurate with his physical abilities and freedom from physical defects.

It is a fact, which few attentive observers of the state of society around will either deny or dispute, that while our “Hospitals for the Insane” enclose within their walls numbers of the class commonly known as “dangerous lunatics;” and while our prisons and houses of correction incarcerate a still greater number of the enemies of peace and order and the well-being of the community; and whereas our nosocomiums give shelter and treatment to the sufferers from bodily maladies, in all their terrible variety; there are yet at large, and to a sad extent uncared for, multitudes of persons who are the victims of a malady as dire as any in the entire catalogue of disease, and who are, moreover, as dangerous and damaging, by habit and act, to the best interest of society as any criminal or lunatic in existence. The class of persons referred to are those who, from long addiction to intemperance in the use of stimulants, have ceased to possess any available amount of self-control, and have thus become, in effect, to a great extent, if riot unaccountable and absolutely insane, at least closely allied to that unhappy class of mental sufferers. It is true that, with the exception of this one mental derangement, these persons may be in all other respects mentis compotes, and able to manage their ordinary affairs. But the same remark applies to nearly all monomaniacs. It is also true that the attacks of their malady, and their succumbing to it, are in many instances periodical, and that, unless during the prevalence of one of these attacks, the persons in question may be quiet and orderly, and to all appearance respectable members of society; but the like is the case with not a few forms of insanity which have their equally well-marked periods and paroxysms.

That a uniform statistical method should be generally adopted by all those connected with the insane is greatly to be desired, for though statistical researches have met the fate of all other methods (‘Annales Psychologiques,’ July, 1856), have been received with un-reflecting infatuation, or been the subject of unmerited reproach, according as they have given us useful facts or have led us into error, yet everything leads us to expect that the extension of a statistical programme, would furnish us with useful data, for the examination of some of the most important questions relative to mental alienation.

My Dear Dr. Laycock,—I am sorry that owing to constant occupation of my time by asylum engagements, I have not been able sooner to forward the cases of which I promised you a detailed history. This I have been at some pains in ascertaining as accurately as possible, and regret that I have not been able to put my materials into a more polished form. Both of them seem to be very typical examples of the forms of general paralysis which you differentiate, namely, the alcoholic and diathetic. Each affords a most perfect example of the sequence by which, from a perfect arthritic health, and sound arthritic modes of psychological manifestation, the invasion of paralysis gradually proceeded to sap and extinguish life.

As considerable attention has recently been directed to the state of lunacy in Scotland, and much difference of opinion still exists as to the best method of providing accommodation for the insane poor, I have thought it not unlikely that it may interest at least a section of your readers, to know “how they manage these things in France.” You are aware there is no compulsory poor-law in this country; nevertheless, there is much charitable expenditure. Each parish or commune has its own resources, derived from the rents of land, the interest of money, local imposts, or charitable bequests; and its ability to provide for its poor varies with the amount of its revenue. In some communes, accordingly, the poor are well cared for, while, in others “they are steeped in misery to the very lips.” In 1838, the present French law of lunacy came into operation. It provides for the erection of departmental asylums, and for the maintenance therein of the insane poor. The funds for the buildings are voted by the Conseil-Général of the department, while those for the maintenance of the patients are found in this way:—The law determines that a commune possessing a certain income shall pay a certain proportion of the keep of its pauper lunatics; the remaining portion is defrayed by the department. The proportion paid by the commune varies from a sixth to a half; but as it is rare that a commune pays the highest rate, by far the greater share of the cost of maintenance falls on the department. It is the duty of the préfet to ascertain the income of the different communes within his jurisdiction, and to fix the proportion which each has to contribute for the pauper lunatics belonging to it. The rate of maintenance to be charged by the asylum is also fixed from time to time by the same official. At present, in the department of the Seine Inférieure, it amounts to one franc twenty-five centimes a-day for males, and to one franc fifteen centimes a-day for females. The poorest communes, accordingly, get their pauper lunatics maintained for a sixth of these sums, or about twopence a-day. Of course, as forming part of the department, they have to pay their share of the departmental expenses, but these fall in a much greater ratio on the wealthier communes—on such, for instance, as those of Rouen and Havre. The natural effect of this system is to stimulate the poorer communes to send every possible case to the asylum.