Insanity : its dependence on physical disease ... / by John P. Gray.

  • John P. Gray
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Insanity : its dependence on physical disease ... / by John P. Gray. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    lar languor, lias passed the ]3eriod of cerebral excite- ment, and IS dementing. The woman denies her insanity. Says she is a great magnetic healer; has received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and nnctiou from Grod; that her mind has been illuminated so that she understands science, because it is revealed to her; that she will let the world know this change, and intends to speak in Mechanics' Hall, in Utica, and show what true religion is, and what magnetic healing is. She admits she has not been well for months, and has suffered from intense headaches; but claims she is now well, better than she has been for years. She is incoherent in conversation, exalted in her ideas, disdainful in manner, indignant at being called insane, threatens the consequences of confining such a person as she is. Her muscles are tense. She moves about the office with great muscular firmness, and spas- modically closes her hands and compresses her lips. She is ansemic, almost colorless. Her pupils are greatly dilated ; her gums and tongue are pale. Although she is indignant, angry, her emotions wrought up to a high, point, and she is on the verge of maniacal raving, she does not change color. This woman's whole appear- ance, conduct, and manner of speech, are in direct con- trast with her character in health. The anaemic state of the brain is the cause of the insanity. The muscular S3^stem is in a state of abnormal activity, a neuro- pathology from the brain to the tissues. This patient has good appetite and digestion, and says she is free from all pains or uncomfortable sensations. Has this woman disease, as that term is ordinarily used and un- derstood in medicine, or is the brain, in the language of