Sound Mind - or, Contributions to the natural history and physiology - of the human intellect

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Title: Sound Mind
or, Contributions to the natural history and physiology
of the human intellect
Author: John Haslam
Release Date: March 23, 2010 [EBook #31747]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUND MIND ***

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SOUND MIND;
,ROCONTRIBUTIONS
TO THE
NATURAL HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY
OF THE
HUMAN INTELLECT.

By JOHN HASLAM, M.D.
LATE OF PEMBROKE HALL, CAMBRIDGE:
FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL, NATURAL HISTORY,

[Pg i]

AND CHEMICAL SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
.9181

Printed by Strahan and Spottiswoode,
Printers-Street, London.

OTSir JAMES MACKINTOSH, M.P.

D
EAR
S
IR
,
T
HE

PRIVILEGE

OF

LONG

ACQUAINTANCE
,
AND

A

SUFFICIENT

EXPERIENCE

OF

THE

KINDNESS
OF

YOUR

DISPOSITION
,
MIGHT

BE

AN

ADEQUATE

INDUCEMENT

TO

DEDICATE

THE

FOLLOWING
PAGES

TO

YOUR

NOTICE
. T
O

THIS

OFFERING
, I
AM

HOWEVER

IMPELLED

BY

MOTIVES
,
WHICH
BOAST

A

HIGHER

DESCENT
,
AND

MORE

ENLIGHTENED

CHARACTER
:—
AN

ADMIRATION

OF
YOUR

SUPERIOR

TALENTS
,
AND

THE

ADAPTATION

OF

THOSE

EXCELLENT

ENDOWMENTS
,
TO

THE
advancement and happiness
OF

THE

HUMAN

RACE
,—
AND

BY

WHICH

YOU

HAVE

BEEN
enabled
"The applause of listening senates to command."
T
HE

SUBJECTS

TO

WHICH
I
NOW

SOLICIT

THE

PERMISSION

OF

PREFIXING

YOUR

NAME
,
WERE
ONCE

YOUR

FAVOURITE

STUDY
;
AND
I
AM

INDUCED

TO

CONSIDER

YOUR

PROFOUND
RESEARCHES

INTO

THE

NATURE

AND

CONSTITUTION

OF

THE

HUMAN

INTELLECT
,
AS

THE

BASIS
OF

THAT

HIGH

REPUTATION
,
YOU

NOW

SO

DESERVEDLY

MAINTAIN

AMONG

THE

WISE

AND
dignified of your contemporaries.
I am, Dear Sir,
with respect, esteem,
and the kindest feelings,
Your very obedient servant,
JOHN HASLAM.

PREFACE.

[Pg ii]

[Pg iii]

[Pg iv]

[Pg v]

T
HE

INDULGENCE

OF

THE

PUBLIC

HAS

BEEN

ALREADY

EXTENDED

TO

SEVERAL

WORKS
WHICH
I
HAVE

SUBMITTED

TO

ITS

DECISION

ON

THE

SUBJECT

OF
I
NSANITY
;
AND

THE

SAME
FAVOURABLE

INTERPRETATION

IS

NOW

SOLICITED

FOR

THE

PRESENT

PERFORMANCE
,—
WHICH
ATTEMPTS

THE

MORE

DIFFICULT

INVESTIGATION

OF
S
OUND
M
IND
. I
N

TREATING

OF
M
ENTAL

D
ERANGEMENT
, I
BECAME

VERY

EARLY

SENSIBLE
,
THAT

A

COMPETENT

KNOWLEDGE

OF

THE
FACULTIES

AND

OPERATIONS

OF

THE
I
NTELLECT

IN

ITS

HEALTHY

STATE
,
WAS

INDISPENSABLY
[Pg vi]
NECESSARY

TO

HIM
,
WHO

PROFESSED

TO

DESCRIBE

ITS

DISORDERS
:—
THAT

IN

ORDER

TO
DEFINE

THE

ABERRATIONS
,
THE

STANDARD

SHOULD

BE

FIXED
. T
HERE

WAS

INDEED

NO

LACK
OF

THEORIES

AND

SYSTEMS

OF
M
ETAPHYSIC
;
AND

ALTHOUGH

THEY

ESSENTIALLY

DIFFERED
,
MANY

POSSESSED

THE

HIGHEST

REPUTATION
. A
MIDST

THIS

DISTRACTION

OF

CONFLICTING
OPINIONS
,
WHICH

NO

MEDIATOR

COULD

ADEQUATELY

RECONCILE
,—
WITHOUT

DARING

TO
CONTEND

WITH

A

HOST

OF

DISCREPANCIES
,
OR

PRESUMING

TO

DEMOLISH

THE

LOFTY
EDIFICES

WHICH

SCHOLASTIC
P
NEUMATOLOGY

HAD

REARED
,—I
DETERMINED

TO

THROW

OFF
THE

SHACKLES

OF

AUTHORITY
,
AND

THINK

FOR

MYSELF
. F
OR

IT

WAS

EVIDENT
,
ON

THE
FREEHOLD

GROUND

OF

LITERATURE
,
THAT

THERE

IS
"
AMPLE

ROOM

AND

VERGE

ENOUGH
"
FOR
EVERY

MAN

TO

BUILD

HIS

OWN

TENEMENT
;—
AND

THE

PRESENT

CONSTRUCTION

IS

TOO
[Pg vii]
LOWLY

TO

INTERCEPT

ANOTHER
'
S

PROSPECT
,
AND

WITHOUT

THOSE

ORNAMENTS

THAT

MIGHT
provoke the jealousy, or challenge the rivalship of surrounding inhabitants.
T
HE

MIND

OF

EVERY

RATIONAL

PERSON

MAY

BE

CONSIDERED

AS

AN

ELABORATORY
,
WHEREIN

HE

MAY

CONDUCT

PSYCHOLOGICAL

EXPERIMENTS
:—
HE

IS

ENABLED

TO

ANALYZE
HIS

OWN

ACQUIREMENT
,—
AND

IF

HE

BE

SUFFICIENTLY

ATTENTIVE
,
HE

MAY

NOTE

ITS
FORMATION

AND

PROGRESS

IN

HIS

CHILDREN
:—
AND

THUS

TRACE

THE

ACCUMULATION

OF
KNOWLEDGE
,
FROM

THE

DAWN

OF

INFANCY

TO

THE

MERIDIAN

OF

MANHOOD
. T
HE
PROSECUTION

OF

THESE

MEANS
,
ACCORDING

TO

MY

OWN

VIEWS
,
WILL

QUALIFY

THE

DILIGENT
observer, to become the Natural Historian and Physiologist of the Human Mind.
I
N

THE

COMPARATIVE

SURVEY

OF

THE

CAPACITIES

OF
M
AN
,
AND

THE

INTELLIGENCE

OF
[Pg viii]
ANIMALS
,
THE

CONTRAST

HAS

APPEARED

SO

STRIKING
,
THAT

IT

WAS

IMPOSSIBLE

WHOLLY

TO
ABSTAIN

FROM

THE

INFERENCE

OF

HIS

FUTURE

DESTINATION
:—
NOTWITHSTANDING

VERY
DIFFERENT

CONCLUSIONS

HAD

BEEN

EXTORTED

BY

SOME

MODERN

PHYSIOLOGISTS
. I
T

HAS
B