Of the classification of the various forms of insanity on a rational and practical basis : being an address delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, London, at the annual meeting of the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums on 9th July, 1863 / by David Skae, M.D.
- Skae, David, 1814-1873.
- Date:
- [1863?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Of the classification of the various forms of insanity on a rational and practical basis : being an address delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, London, at the annual meeting of the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums on 9th July, 1863 / by David Skae, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![the head—Traumatic Mania, and that resulting from sim-stroke, both perfectly capable of being described and defined by their natural Mstm-y—presenting distinctive characteristics of a most marked kind, both as regards their progress, and the type of Insanity which accompanies them. We have a distinct form of Insanity associated with Syphilis— Syphilitic Mania. One or two cases very aptly illustrative of this form were recently published by my friend Dr Duncan, of Dublin. Again we have Delirium Tremem, and its allied disease—Dipso- mania, already referred by us to special natural orders. And closely allied to these two forms we have a peculiar form of Chronic Insanity, brought on by alcoholisation, which it would be easy to delineate—one of the most constant and persistent symptoms of which are the hallucinations of the organ of hearing, which are its almost invariable accompaniment, and not unfre- quently hallucinations of the sense of touch, leading to a belief in mesmeric, electric, and other unseen agencies. £Post-Fehrile Insanity might be properly described as affording another natural order; and the despondency, fear, and anxiety, amounting in some cases to Insanity, which sometimes accompany Oxaluria, or the excessive excretion of phosphates by the kidneys, suggest two additional groups, which might be denominated In- sanity of Oxaluria or PhosphcCthria respectively. Insanity not unfrequently appears as an epidemic. This fact need not stop to illustrate by referring to the numerous exam- ples afforded in history. It suggests the addition of Epidemic Mania as a distinct group.] And lastly, we have the General Paralysis of the Insane, in re- gard to which I need say nothing, beyond the statement that its natural history, including its symptomatology, progress, termina- tions, and pathology, are perhaps more complete than that of any other form of Insanity. Having thus given you some twenty-seven natural groups or forms of Insanity, the question naturally occurs—Have you ex- hausted the subject ? What are you to do mth those cases of In- sanity which cannot be referred to any of those groups ? My reply is a very simple one : I would class them all under the general terra of Idiopathic Imanity, divisible into two very distinct](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21476937_0015.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
