42 On Hypochondriasis. [Juiy, 
exquisite ; but, to whichsoever the merit may belong of wearing” the 
tightest stays, I must say, that I never met with any instance of hypo- 
chondriasis from this cause: in fact a certain degree of intellect seems 
necessary for its production. _ From this digression I return to the moral 
or intellectual causes which are very numerous. It is very uncommon to 
meet with any one who has been much given to study of any kind who 
has not experienced this affection to a greater or less extent—but at the 
same time, among the various kinds of reading, none are so apt to 
produce hypochondriasis among unprofessional persons, as the perusal of 
medical works ; so generally is this acknowledged, that M. Villernay has 
enumerated “lecture habituelle de Buchan*” among the exciting causes, 
Rousseau, too, not only admits this cause, but describes in forcible 
language the effect of such injudicious studies upon his singularly: con- 
stituted mind. He says, “ having read a little on physiology, I set 
about studying anatomy: and passing in review the numbers and varied) 
actions of the parts which composed my frame, I expected twenty 
times a day to feel them going wrong ; far from being astorfished to find 
myself dying, my astonishment was that I could live. I did not read 
the description of any disease which I did not imagine myself to be 
affected with; and I am sure that if I had not been ill I must have 
become so upon this fatal study. Finding in every complaint the symp- 
toms of my own, I believed I had got them all, and thereby added 
another much more intolerable—the phantasy of curing myself, a thing 
difficult to avoid when one reads medical books. By means of plodding, 
reflecting, and comparing, I came to the conclusion that the root of my 
complaint was a polypus of the heart.” 
The passions may be ranked next to mental exertion in the production 
of hypochondriasis, particularly fear ; after which may be placed chagrin 
and ennui. This last is very remarkable in men of business who abandon 
their affairs to seek for tranquillity and repose in retirement—those in’ 
short, who pass from a life of activity to one of idleness. Under these 
circumstances, the fancy first conjures up the evil, and then the mind 
dwells upon it with morbid pertinacity. 
‘It would not appear that climate has much influence on hypochondri- 
asis, which, however, bears a distinct relation to the progress of civili- 
zation, becoming more frequent as it advances. It likewise occurs par- 
ticularly, in those countries which have been subjected to great political 
events, a circumstance which accounts for the number of hypochon- 
driacs observed by Zacchias, during the eventful reign of Louis XIV: 
the same effect is said to have been produced in Spain and Germany by 
the late invasions of the French. 
With regard to the symptoms of this disease, or the manner in which 
it developes itself, this varies in almost every different case; but the part 
most frequently fixed upon as the seat of some incurable malady, is the 
heart, especially ammong young medical hypochondriacs. I am told the 
late eminent professor of physic in Edinburgh, used to mention that 
he was every season consulted by a great number of young medical 
students on the state of their hearts—and it is asserted by the French» 
writers, that when Corvisart first drew the attention of the pupils at the 
Ecole de Medicine to the organic /usus of this organ, it brought oman 
epidemic of imaginary aneurisms, The sight, hearing, smell, and taste 
are*sometimes subject to painful or depraved affections, andat others‘are 
* Buchan’s Domestic Medicines. 
