A philosophical treatise on the hereditary peculiarities of the human race : with notes illustrative of the subject, particularly in gout, scrofula, and madness / by Joseph Adams.

  • Adams, Joseph, 1756-1818.
Date:
1815
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A philosophical treatise on the hereditary peculiarities of the human race : with notes illustrative of the subject, particularly in gout, scrofula, and madness / by Joseph Adams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    to suicide, which the utmost vigilance can- not always prevent. Seeing then how little is left in so important a concern to the operation of human institutions, have wo not reason to be satisfied with the provisions of Nature, and with the Divine commands ? Yet, in the most serious of all hereditary peculiarities, the great susceptibility to mad- ness, celibacy has been recommended as a duty. Before we venture to propose mea- sures contrary to one of the strongest im- pulses of Nature, and to tire first blessing which the Almighty Fiat bestowed on man, it becomes us seriously to weigh the conse- quences. Were this opinion universal, it w'ould probably produce its effects only on the most amiable and best disposed, whilst the profligate and unprincipled would indulge themselves, regajdless of posterity: It is scarcely necessary to hint at the result, do interdict marriges with the healthy indivi- duals of such families, might do much to- wards extinguishing that enthusiasm, which.
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