238 NOTES ON THE NATURE OF INSANITY. 



formed beneath the waters of ancient seas, where the same opera- 

 tions were in progress as must now be taking place in our own seas, 

 where numerous creatures of many classes were continually running 

 the round of existence, eating or being eaten, dying or coming into 

 life, and where slow but constant precipitations of earthy matter 

 must be taking place, silently entombing the relics which remain. 



[To be continued.] 



[In the section across Leicestershire, in the April No., the lines representing 

 the new red sandstone must not be taken as representing also the lines 

 of its stratafication, which is everywhere horizontal instead of oblique.} 



NOTES* ON THE NATURE OF INSANITY. 



Metaphysical contemplation exercised patiently in reflection 

 on consciousness, and anatomical research conducted minutely on 

 the brain and nervous system, have altogether revealed nothing 

 whatever concerning the nature of Mind, and but little regarding 

 the material Organs through which its affections and actions are 

 manifested. Hence, on this momentous subject, have arisen so 

 many and so contradictory opinions promulgated as maxims by 

 Masters in Science enjoying the brightest reputation for intelli- 

 gence and wisdom. Hereon also, have rested the sources of those 

 obstacles which continue to impede the development of a methodical 

 philosophy for investigating the essential Nature of Insanity. 



What, then, is Insanity ? Is it a mental, or is it a corporeal 

 disease ? Or, is it a state in which both the body and the mind are 

 simultaneously affected ? 



Our total ignorance of the Mind's nature, as has been said, and 



* Founded chiefly on Chapter II of a Treatise on the Nature, Symptoms, 

 Causes, and Treatment of Insanity ; with practical observations on Lunatic 

 Asylums, and a description of the Asylum at Hanwell, with a detailed ac- 

 count of its management ; by Sir W. C. Ellis, M.D. Resident Medical 

 Superintendent; 8vo, London, 1838; pp. 352 — For modesty and merit, this 

 Treatise deserves the highest consideration : it discloses the practical views 

 of a judicious and experienced physician : and these views exhibit good sense, 

 unostentatious humanity and profound reflection, as their distinguishing 

 characters. 



