A treatise on the medical jurisprudence of insanity / by I. Ray.

  • Isaac Ray
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the medical jurisprudence of insanity / by I. Ray. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    almost exclusive use of the terra lunacy, and the frequent reference to lucid intervals, the intermittent character of mad- ness was either more common, some hundreds of years since, or, which is more probable, in consequence of the general belief in its connection with lunar influences, this intermission was imagined to occur far oftener than it really did. This certainly is a more reasonable explanation, than the idea that the course of nature has changed, so that lucid intervals, which were once of the most common occurrence in insanity, are now among its rarest phenomena. § 5. Common sense and a tolerable share of the intelli- gence of the time, if fairly exercised, would probably prevent, in practice, any grossly improper application of these theo- retical principles ; but, in civil cases, the law, though not dis- posed to gauge the exact measure of men's intellects, has sometimes insisted on technical distinctions, that have little foundation in nature or reason. Originally, commissions of lunacy were granted for the purpose of inquiring whether the individual were either an idiot ex nativitate, or a lunatic, in Coke's meaning of the term, and, in consequence thereof, incapable of governing himself and managing his worldly affairs. The injustice of leaving beyond the protection of the law, that larger class of insane, who, though neither idiots nor lunatics, labor under more or less mental derangement, led to a change in the form of the writ, by which the phrase unsound mind was used for the purpose of embracing all others, who were considered proper objects of a commission. What is the precise meaning of this term, it is not easy to gather from the observations of various high legal authorities who have attempted to fix its meaning. It seems to be agreed, that it is not idiocy, nor lunacy, nor imbecility, but beyond this all unanimity is at an end. Lord Hardwicke held, that unsoundness of mind did not mean mere weakness of mind, but a depravity of reason or a want of it.1 Lord Eldon once referred to the case of a person advanced in years, whose mind was the mind of a child, and observed, 1 Ex parte Barnslcy, 3 Atlcyns, 1G8.
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