Inaugural dissertation on temperament : submitted to the Medical Faculty of the University of Edinburgh / by Andrew Whyte.

  • Andrew Whyte Barclay
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Inaugural dissertation on temperament : submitted to the Medical Faculty of the University of Edinburgh / by Andrew Whyte. 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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    as far as possible from the lymphatic, — the nutritive functions appear to be almost dormant, and the nerves most largely developed; the pulse may be eitlier soft and rapid, or hard and slow, as the tendency is to the combination with the sanguineous, or the melancholic tem- perament; the muscular system is always more or less weak, and the subject of it complains much of lassitude and fatigue, after any species of exertion, from the excessive action of the nerves^ and their predisposition to excitement; the cranial department is sometimes large, but not necessarily so, and invariably acts, from the energy of the nerves, with considerable force in whatever direction its natural tendency may lead;— for a nervous temperament may be either the seat of a clear and decisive judgement, or of fierce and unbridled passions, ac- cording to the character and circumstances of the indivi- dual. Let me not however be supposed to imply, that post-mortem examinations exhibit an increased ratio of the nerves; that such is really the case, is extremely probable, and that it may exist without being cognizable to our modes of analysis, is equally lii<ely, but I am not aware that any investigations have been made with this view: differences however, in their minute structure, or degree of tone, which we cannot estimate but by their effects, are quite sufficient to account for the varieties of power conferred upon them, and it is enough for our purpose that these cflfects on the system are well marked and defined. The Sanguineous forms a decided contrast to the preceding, nevertheless the effects of both are very apt to be confounded; for there is often an equal suscep- tibility to impressions displayed, although arising from totally different causes. It has not however, from its very
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