prosecuting this inquiry, it is important to consider. We will first take an example of the simplest form of disturbance; namely, slight tendency to congestion in the vessels of the brain. The patient wakens with difficulty; he is desirous of sleeping beyond his usual time; he dresses with an oppression upon his brow, which constitutes that operation a burden; he remains languid and feeble all the morning; there is a sense of weight in his head, which he cannot shake off; he is still drowsy and indisposed for exertion: the hour of dinner arrives -and the stimulus occasioned by this meal drives the blood through the congested vessels; reaction is produced; the sense of weight is lost, and it is superseded by head ache of a more or less acute character; by restlessness, and a variety of fidgetty sensations; and if the pain should subside (as it very commonly does) towards evening, still there is a great degree of irritability, and the patient retires to rest in a state of morbid wakefulness, which is not overcome for hours; and he then falls into the same heavy, unrefreshing sleep, which occasions a repetition of similar congestion; to be again removed by the same reaction, and to return in a similar circle till the morbid condition has been relieved.

But what is the effect of this state upon the manifestations of mind? All the morning the subject of brainular alternation is incapable of intellectual exertion; his spirits are depressed, and his powers of thought inadequate. To this mental cloud succeeds a transient brightening of the faculties, which is suspended by acute pain, and is afterwards characterized by an impossibility of fixing the attention, until towards evening, when a greater degree of serenity is produced, and the patient probably conduces to his approach

ing

wakefulness by mental occupation; which now, no longer a burden, goes on cheerily. Now unless we are wilfully blind, do we not see that

the manifestations of mind are under the influence of this peculiar though most simple cerebral disorder? and if so, may there not be other morbid conditions of the brain, perhaps unknown or unexplained, and with our present knowledge, inexplicable, which may give rise to other deviations from healthy mental manifestations, to visions, spectral illusions, hallucinations, apparitions, and similar phenomena.

The infinite wisdom of the Creator has so appointed, that the brain can bear much injury with impunity. And it is astonishing to contemplate the degree of mischief which will sometimes go on in its structure without being rendered very obvious by bodily or mental symptoms. By what constitution of the organ this has been effected is beyond our knowledge, and we seek not to explain it but we see the fact; and we would derive from it a lesson of adoring gratitude to that Holy Being, whose infinite knowledge has prepared for the operations of mind an organ of such exquisite delicacy and susceptibility; and yet one which could bear with comparative impunity a greater degree of lesion than many other less important viscera. But although this is sometimes the case, yet cerebral disorder is generally marked by some of the following appearances.

1. Feebleness, or suspension, or perversion of the intimations afforded by the organs of sense.

Mere mental emotion will occasion the tongue to be furred in a few minutes; vision will be rendered indistinct, and the hearing obtuse; an emotion of a more powerful kind will suspend the action of the senses altogether: while,under other circumstances, it will so completely pervert them, as that the taste shall be depraved; the ear shall be assailed by a thousand forms of unreal impression; spectral images shall float before the eye; the nose shall be occupied by odours which do not exist, and relative feeling shall be disturbed. Precisely similar effects

will often be produced from an impression of primary disease of the brain; so that in either case of disorder of that organ, whether it may claim a physical or mental origin, we are prepared for perverted manifestations of mind.

2. We notice, in the next place, the extreme susceptibility of these organs. The taste becomes developed in an unusual degree; so that the simple contact of many bodies with the tongue will instantaneously produce sickness, and bring on all those associated actions which have primarily commenced in irritation of the brain hearing will be rendered so acute that the slightest vibrations of the atmosphere will seem to the patient as thunder, and he will be incapable of listening without pain to the gentlest movements in his room: the eye will abhor its usual grateful stimulus light, and will court the completest obscurity while both these senses will be rendered so irritable, that voices will be heard, and forms will be seen, while neither the one nor the other ever existed. The sense of smelling will be offended by odours which are not in themselves disagreeable; and the skin will be so irritable, that it will feel soreness and pain from the slightest impressions; its function will be interrupt ed; it will be chilled by cold or fevered by heat, or unnaturally perspiring; while it will cease to convey correct impressions, from the morbid excitability of its surface. Can it be surprising that, under many circumstances of invading disease, and while the brain is suffering from its oppression, this extreme susceptibility should operate in producing illusions? For we are frail and feeble creatures, composed of body and mind; and we have no access to external circumstances for the latter, except through the intervention of the former.

3. But, thirdly, another expression of cerebral disorder consists in hallucination. This manifestation

of mental operation very frequently arises from the former: a perverted image is conveyed through the senses, and represented to the mind; in consequence of the high degree of susceptibility of the brain, this impression is brooded over: it is frequently recalled even during sleep: it is associated with other impressions, and grouped with them in some fancied order of perverted and fantastic arrangement, and it becomes so overbearing a sensation, that the patient is convinced of its reality, and carried away by its reiterated impulse. At another time, the brain forms for itself these delusive images from the involuntarily recollected frusta of previous impressions, and their very natural, but not always coherent, associa tions; and thus its action becomes perverted: it ceases to listen to the notices conveyed by the external senses, by means of which its internal impressions might have been compared and adjusted: the voice of judgment is not heard, and the patient is absorbed by the certainty of his erroneous impressions, and verily believes in the existence of the fancied offspring of a disordered imagination. In this state actual feelings are disregarded; the morbid images supply their place, and are contemplated as the positive results of sensation. The natural laws of intellect are now superseded; the brain is no longer the obedient servant of the mind; but, in the tyranny of its usurpation, subjugates the reasoning powers, and compels them to yield to that human infirmity, which attaches itself to the grand prevailing cause that has marred the most perfect creation of Omnipotence, and has rendered that which was originally "very good," now "very far gone from original righteousness."

These hallucinations may be very fugitive, especially at the commencement of cerebral disease; and a powerful appeal to the mind, judiciously applied, may recal it to the influ

ence of right reason. But if disease should continue, it will soon relapse into the same or similar trains: and if it should advance, or increase in intensity, this hallucination may be come permanent, and it will then form delirium or insanity. These hallucinations will frequently commence during sleep, and the patient, on rousing from that state, cannot be convinced of their illusion; they remain with the energy of waking impressions, and often become motives to conduct; and at all events form the groundwork for morbid reasoning. Here, however, we are treading too closely on the subject of visions, which will come to be considered more especially here

after.

4. Another result of cerebral disorder, is that of unconquerable wakefulness. A ceaseless vigilance attacks the patient, and sleep seems to have fled for ever from his eyelids. It is astonishing how long a period will sometimes be passed without repose; and so great are the restlessness and irritability, that they are often beyond the controul of medicine: nay, more, the primary stimulus of opium seems to increase them in a degree far greater than can be quieted by its subsequent sedative effects; while the application of an ice-cap to cool the fevered brain, will prove the most efficacious remedy. For days and weeks together the patient will never sleep, and, during the whole time, will talk in cessantly. And yet, such is the wisdom of the Almighty Architect in protecting this organ of the mind, that it will not have eventually suffered from this protracted irritation in a degree at all commensurate with that which would have been produced by the same excited action in other organs of the body. It must be seen, however, at a glance, how favourable must be this state of irritability, to the production and indulgence of morbid sensorial and intellectual impressions; and then it may be inferred

how easily this same state would be induced by a degree of the same cause, existing for any length of time,-but not so great as to be called disease,-escaping attention under the terms of "restless nights," and of a "bad sleeper," till the morbid results have so far accumulated as to be uncontroulable. This form of great excitement may be followed by collapse, and destruction of the brain; or it may be rapidly succeeded by congestion, and by a tendency to heavy sleep from which the patient can scarcely be aroused; and from which, if left to himself, this very congestion may terminate in lethargy, apoplexy, or other of the deepening shades of cerebral disorder.

5. But there are other indications of brainular malady, which we must mention particularly, as they affect the intellectual and moral manifestations. One of the first symptoms to be remarked, is an inaptitude for intellectual employment; the patient requires a frequent change of pursuit; he cannot turn his attention steadily to one object; he cannot reason or think consecutively; he finds it impossible to fix his thoughts upon the reasoning of others; his desk and his books are neglected; and he himself is occupied with the veriest trifles, rendered important in his estimation, by their association with some perverted images. Moreover, if he has contrived to fix his attention, he soon becomes fatigued; thus shewing, that however the brain may on some occasions be disposed for over-action, it has not the power of supporting it, but rather that it exhausts itself by attempting to accomplish that to which it is utterly inadequate. Again, there is a susceptibility to moral impression, and a disposition to impulsive action, which shew that the patient is not to be depended upon. Reason with him, convince his judgment, see his resolution fully taken, apparently with all the immoveable determinativeness of conscious right;

leave him to act upon these convic tions, and the first wave of new impression, or even the recurrence of an old one, will have dissipated all his firmness, and he acts in a way diametrically opposed to that on which he had resolved. There exists in him so intense and craving a desire after sensation, that it is of little consequence whether it may be right or wrong, so it be but sensation; only, if one morbid train of ideas shall have become predominant, it will be certain of claiming its supremacy, so soon as the patient gains time to listen to its suggestions. This supreme agency of one dominant idea is manifested in the history of A.B., which is also mentioned in this place as affording an apt illustration of the progress of cerebral disorder. Family predisposition existed towards insanity; the grandmother, the father, and the sister, had been subject to some one of the varied forms of mental aberration. But surrounded by affluence, and apparent comfort of every kind, A.B. had reached sixty, without being exposed to the operation of exciting circumstances. It then happened, that moral causes of a deeply painful nature, and connected with emotions of intense interest, characterized also by a depressing tendency, assailed the patient on these he brooded, till the brain became irritated by the unnatural goading and oppression, and then a slight deviation from regular habits was observed. But now morbid action had taken place in the room of family pre disposition, and the brain became the increasing source of disordered mental manifestation. The fear of poverty was the prominent idea, and the possessor of very large and valuable landed property, as well as from many other sources, suddenly became, in his own estimation, not worth a shilling, and the only prospect before him was that of interminable imprisonment. To reason with him was unavailing; for although at my professional visits

I would demonstrate to him, upon his own shewing, that he was worth many, very many, hundreds a year, yet inevitable ruin impended over him; cerebral disorder increased; irritation of the brain became more conspicuous; other insane ideas were added to the dread of penury, which however always remained supereminent; and after a short and painful attendance, I was summoned one morning in great haste, and learned that he had found means for a single minute to elude the vigilance of his attendant, and was a corpse by his own hands. For the last act of his life, doubtless, he was not responsible; but let us learn a lesson of usefulness from this melancholy relation. In the first place, we see the germ of disease, the origin of cerebral irritation, in the influence of moral causes, and the subsequent history shews that, even in this life, the path of sin is one of unmingled bitterness and misery; it has its providentiallyordained punishment, and though we would be far from limiting the mercy of God, and though we would hope that lucid intervals may be devoted for repentance, humiliation, and prayer, yet we cannot but see that irritation of the brain, and the paroxysm of insanity, must be fearful barriers in the way of seeking God, and turning to him with full purpose of heart. May we watch and pray to be preserved from sin, and all its awful consequences. The Holy Spirit will not always strive with man: may we be saved from tempting that Spirit to depart from us, or from provoking our longsuffering Creator to leave us to an afflictive dispensation, which goes far to quench the light of spiritual life in the soul, by shutting it out through the material veil of diseased organization. Secondly, let us observe, that that which originated in moral causes was continued and extended by the disordered action of the brain; and that then other manifestations of mind became perverted; false premises and inferences usurp

ed the dominion of mind: the patient at length ceases to be an accountable agent, and closes a life of misery in the most melancholy manner; for if we deprecate sudden death at all times, how much more the death of the suicide! Thirdly, we notice, that the brain being once disordered, there is no setting bounds to the distorted images which it will produce, or to the creation of its wild associations. And, fourthly, let us learn the value of religious principle: this would have saved the victim from the first cause of brainular irritation; it would have offered a healing balm in the all-powerful blood of Christ, even after that irritation had commenced, and would have led to peace and reconciliation with God; and even after insanity had been produced, could the bodily disease have been subdued, or could the hope of the Gospel have been embraced by the mind during a lucid interval, it would have given that best medicine, which might have confirmed the results of physical treatment, and afforded a prospect of permanent peace to the wretched sufferer.

But again: perhaps long before the symptoms are fairly cognisable, there is a slight change of character, or manner, or habit, which ought always to excite alarm on the part of friends: as, for instance, where the prudent suddenly become prodigal, or the mild and benevolent vindictive, or the good tempered morose, or the cheerful desponding; or where the manner of confiding openness is exchanged for distrust or suspicion; or the reserved become accessible; or the taciturn loquacious or where habits of retirement have been superseded by a love of company, or, on the contrary, a desire after society has given place to habits of seclusion, and abstraction from mankind: in fact, whenever in any way a deviation from original and established character is observed, then let cerebral disorder be suspected, and it will almost always be found. As it

proceeds, and as the shadows of departing reason are deepened, delirium will be noticed as a frequent accompaniment; sometimes only as a transient symptom for a few moments; at others prolonging its insidious visitation, varying very much as to character from the determined and exclusive raving of the monomaniac, to the ever-shifting mutability of him who wanders hither and thither, without object, without end, without guide, and without purpose. As disorder of the brain advances, there may be increasing mental darkness proceeding to a total suspension of intelligence; and the individual becomes a mere wreck of himself; his glory has departed from him, and he has exhibited the most pitiable example of the wrath of the offended Majesty of heaven against sin. Yet, be it remembered, the case is not hopeless; and even this state of misery and destitution admits of relief. The wretched victim of cerebral disorder may yet be restored to himself, to society, to his duties, and to the enjoyment of intellectual pleasures, as well as to the pursuit of moral worth: but by what means? Not by any process of reasoning-not by moral suasion-not by didactic appeals to his understanding, or by an impression upon his feelings-not by all the arts of rhetoric, the efforts of education, or even, while in that state, the impressiveness of religious motive; all these would of themselves be utterly unavailing; but by remedial measures, directed, not to the spiritual principle, which is not diseased, but to its organ, which is; in fact, addressed to the brain, with all its variously-associated sympathies.

6. But we proceed to shew, that cerebral disorder, and diseased manifestation of mind, are connected with other bodily effects, which cannot in truth be referred to any other than a bodily cause. Thus, for instance, we may mention the great variety of muscular affections which