INSUFFICIENT CEREBRAL EXERCISE. 223 



of business, and whose hours of enjoyment have 

 been few and short. Suppose such a person to re- 

 tire to the country in search of repose, and to have 

 no deep moral, religious, or philosophical pursuits to 

 occupy his attention, and keep up the active exer- 

 cise of his brain, the latter will lose its health, and 

 the invariable result will be ennui, weariness of life, 

 despondency, or some other variety of nervous dis- 

 ease.* 



One great evil attending the absence of some im- 

 perative employment or object of interest to exer- 

 cise the mind and brain, is the tendency which it 

 generates to waste the mental energies on every 

 trifling occurrence which presents itself, and to seek 

 relief in the momentary excitement of any sensa- 

 tion, however unworthy. Not only does painful 

 instability of purpose and interest arise from this 

 cause, especially among females, but, by degrees, 

 enjoyment is sought for more from the indulgence 

 of the sensual appetites of eating and drinking than 

 from any higher occupation ; till, at last, the habit 

 is established, and quantities of food and wine are 

 daily swallowed, which add disease to indolence, 

 and oppress both mind and body. Patients labour- 

 ing under this forni of indisposition complain much 

 of debility, and of the exhaustion left by every exer- 

 tion. It is common to hear them defending the ex- 

 cesses which they commit, by affirming that with 

 less support they would die of weakness ; but the 

 plea, though plausible, is not less groundless than 

 injurious. No doubt, they may feel stronger after 

 a good dinner and a few glasses of wine, but the 

 strength is that of feverish excitement, and the sub- 

 sequent languor is proportionally great. Ere long, 



* It may be proper to state, that several of the preceding pages 

 have been taken, with little alteration, from my " Observations 

 on Mental Derangement," published some time ago. But as that 

 work is designed for the profession, and not for the general 

 reader, I have thought it necessary to repeat them here. 



