Pathological inquiries, or, An attempt to explain the phenomena of disease, and philosophically to direct the methods of cure / By George Smith Gibbes.
- George Smith Gibbes
- Date:
- [1818]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Pathological inquiries, or, An attempt to explain the phenomena of disease, and philosophically to direct the methods of cure / By George Smith Gibbes. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![]inrt for the fiiriheranrc of tlio boncfits of iliR whole, hot tiiat it is Only noce.'sarx' for practitioners to take this view ot thesiibjoct to We coiuluctcil to a more rational and more suc- oessful treatinenl of many of our most Iroiiblesonie diseases. 1 intend in this place, to wliich what I have alretidy ob- served mi^ht We con.'idered as preparatory, to apply this prin- ciple to the subject of insanity ; tind 1 do this with the more confidence, since, slionld i fail, it is impossible I can leave it in lunore perplexed stale than it is at present; and if I suc- ceed in making even one step towards increasinc; the extent of our information, T shall fetd tlie jrreatest possible satisfac- tion. Madness, without dixins; for the present into its more delinite character, is seen clea;ly to consist in a suspension, either partial or tjeneral, of the intcdlectual powers ; anil in f Ids particular it indicates to us ds similarity and relationship to delirium anil sleep. I think it can be shewn that the se- veral conditioas of sleep, delirium, and insiinity, are so inti- mately coniieeted in their nature with each other, that they arc modifications only of the same state, and that there i- a regular gr.i Inlion through a series of changes from sleep to delirium, and from delirium to insanity. It is not nceessa'-y in this place to consider sleep ali-lractcdly from its several connections; it is my ohjeot to render the. mnlter as easx' of comprehension as is possible, and for this rca.son 1 have avoid- ed already on several occasions to enter into metnpliysixn'l ri‘iisoning. .Sleep might be considered as a conditic.n which, under a natural slate of the ooiisfiiution, is induced at regular inter- vals; and from the periodical manner in which il is produced although of a negativecharacter, il is worthy of being regard- ed as a function ns inlierenily esiabli-hed as the several pro- cesses of digcsiion, secretion, or even of circulation ; it i' ne- cessary to th.e continuance of health, and ils ccs'ialion, a!- Ihoiigh perhaps not so rapidly desiruc'ive of life as an ii ter- terriiplion of the other functions, must ultimately occasion death. It becomes a ciue-iion, xvhy it is thus necessary to life ? and in order to reply lo it it will he neces-ary to re- flect under what circumstances it occurs, and what are tWe usual coiisexpienccs of ils having taken place. During asiateof watchfulness there is a rapiil dispensation of the nervous energy ; the fix-esenses are continually in ope- ration ; the intellectual powers, to a greaUr or less degree,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28738342_0097.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
