The Parish will case before the Surrogate of the City of New York : medical opinions upon the mental competency of Mr. Parish / by John Watson [and others].

  • Watson, John, 1807-1863
Date:
1857
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Parish will case before the Surrogate of the City of New York : medical opinions upon the mental competency of Mr. Parish / by John Watson [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    my opinion, ' oh' would be the nearest, if any thing could be, to spell the sound, (I. f. 1550). The nurse, James Clarke, says of Mr. Parish, He didn't use only these two sounds, ' neay, ne y, neay, and yaune, yaune, yaune.' But the same witness elsewhere adds, When he opened his mouth, and I could not find out what he wanted, he would put his hand to his tooth, take hold of it as if he would tear it out sometimes, and would make a sound, which neither the witness nor the sur- rogate can express by letters, (I. f. 1765.) Clarke elsewhere remarks again, that he could discover no meaning in the sounds, nothing but by his motions, and by the signs with his hands pointing, (I. f.1715,'6.) William Brown (nurse from Oct. '51 till Nov. '54,) enumerates the several sounds and gestures; viz., a sound which he spells ne, ne, ne, (II. f. 1310;) another, which he and the surrogate spell hoh, (II. f. 1311;) another, which he spells nes (II. f. 1312,) neah, nyeh, (II. f. 1341;) neow, (II. f. 1464;) the word, no, dis- tinctly on one or two occasions, (II. f. 1465.) After enu- . merating these, he further adds, that Mr. Parish very frequently uttered the exclamation Oh, thear, thear! (II. f. 1470;) on several occasions, the words why, yes, or as near that as possible, with a smile, (II. f. 1471,) and the exclamation, Oh, Got, Got, Got! I should say that was about it, as near as possible, (II. f. 1472.) Of the habitual gestures, the same witness says, One was raising the finger and shaking it thus: [The witness here raises his hand with the forefinger extended,] ac- companying the same with the sound, ' ne, ne, ne;' an- other, was bowing his head without a sound, as of yes; another, shaking his head, as of no, from side to side; another, the expression of yes, with a motion of the head downwards, and with the left hand downwards with an open palm; if excited, he would put his head down in the same way, with the sound ' neow/
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