1807.] 
betrays equally a want of humanity, and 
of an acquaititance with the principles of 
human nature. 
The mind of a man may be bruised, or 
broken, as well as any limb ef his body; 
and the mjary, when it occurs, 1s not so 
easy of reparation, A morbidly tumid 
fancy cannot, like most other swellings, 
be made speedily to subside—<An intel- 
lect out of joint cannot be set with the 
same facility as a dislocated bone; nor 
can those deep and often hidden ulcera- 
tions that arise from mental distemper or 
disorganization, be healed with the same 
degree of readiness or certainty, as those 
more palpable sores which occur upon 
the surface of the body. 
On this account it is that a micro; 
scopical observation, and an unwinking 
vigilance, are imperioysly required in 
watching the incessantly varying move- 
ments, and im inspecting the too exqui- 
sitely delicate and tender texture of a 
disordered and highly-wrought imagina- 
tion. 
One thing is certain, that in the ma- 
nagement of such maladies, tenderness is 
better than torture, kindness more effec- 
tual than constraint. . 
Blows, and the strait waistcoat, are 
often, it is to be feared, too hastily ap- 
plied. It takes less trouble to fetter a 
person by means of cords, than by the 
assiduities of sympathy or affection. 
Nothing has a more favourable and 
commanding influence over one disposed 
to mania or melancholy, than an exhibi- 
tion of friendship or philanthropy; ex- 
cepting, indeed, in such cases, and in 
that stage of the disease in which the 
mind has been hardened and almost bru- 
talised by having, in the first instance, 
been the subject of coarse and humihiat- 
ing treatment. Where there exists a con- 
stitutional inclination towards insanity, 
there is in general to be observed a more 
than ordinary susceptibility to resentment 
at any act that offers itself in the shape 
of an injury or an insult. 
Pride is the strongest feature in the 
physiognomy of madness. 
Several cases of asthma have occurred ; 
oue of themunequivocally originated from 
Report of Diseases. 
73 
an exposure to a sudden variation of ex- 
ternal temperature; which, more espe-= 
cially when combined with lcentious or 
too luxurious living, is by far the most 
frequent cause of this disease: a disease 
equally painful in its paroxysms, and 
fearful in the prospect of its ultimate 
conclusion, 
Boerhaave states, that in Holland, 
where the wherries, when the bell riggs, 
are punctual in their departure to a mo- 
ment, passengers who arrive too late fre- 
quently run to be in time for the boat, 
heat themselves exceedingly, and bathed 
in sweat enter the vessel, where they 
take their seat exposed to the stroke of 
the cold winter’s blast. The consequence 
of this indiscretion, he remarks, 1s most 
often asthma, which terminates in dropsy 
of the chest. 
Cases of pulmonary consumption have 
for some months past been gradually mul- 
tiplying under the Reporter’s eye. ‘This 
formidable foe to the welfare of our phy- 
sical frame, more especially as we are 
situated and exposed on our insular spot, 
seems, if not checked in its hasty and 
incessantly expanding growth, at no per- 
haps very distant period, to threaten al- 
most universal destruction or decay, 
The progression of this so insinuating 
a malady, may be attributed to an insuf- 
ficient acquaintance with, or too late a 
solicitude concerning, the rules and me- 
thods of prevention; which in the pro- 
vince of medical as well as of moral phi- 
losophy, are infinitely more deserving of 
study than attempts, so often inefficient, 
at regeneration or cure. It is the germ 
only of the evil which the exercise of art, 
or the application of science, can eradi- 
cate or destroy. After it has been al+ 
lowed to reach the fullness of its size, 
and the maturity of its strength, no ener- 
gy or skill can arrest its march, or resist 
effectually its fatal depredation. 
The infant disease seldom throws aside 
the mask of innocency, until it has grown 
too vigorous to be overpowered. — 
J. Rede 
Grenville-street, Brunswick-square, 
July 26, 1807. 
L 2 STATE 
