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Aberdeen, where his pretensions were systematically investigated by several of the professors of the University, Mr. Lewis distinctly disclaimed the possession of any such poweras that attributed to him by Professor Gregory, and stated "that he could only influence a person lying on the ground so as to make him start up, though others were endeavouring to hold him down."* What, now, are we to think of Dr. Gregory's expression of belief? and what credit can we attach to any one statement in his book, that goes beyond the bounds of our ordinary experience?

We must not dwell any longer on this topic, but must pass on to notice briefly the contents of the first of Dr. Holland's new chapters, "On Mental Consciousness, in its Relation to Time and Succession." The question which he proposes for discussion is as follows:

"Is our mental existence, as interpreted by consciousness, best viewed and understood as a series of acts and states, single at the same instant of time, succeeding each other with more or less rapidity of change, but in absolute and unbroken sequence?-or as a wide and mixed current, in which various sensations, thoughts, emotions, and volitions do actually coalesce and co-exist as to time, and are simultaneously testified to us by this common consciousness?" (p. 48.)

This subject, he justly remarks, has not yet been so clearly defined or explicitly treated as its importance merits:

"No adequate attention has been given to the singleness or exclusiveness of particular acts of mind-or to the rapidity of their succession-or to the conditions which produce and govern their change of state-or to the influence of the will, as the most important of these conditions. Yet each one of these points involves conclusions of great interest; and though the nature of the subject, which becomes a sort of analysis of mental existence, forbids the hope of certainty in such conclusions, yet is the approximation sufficient to warrant full inquiry. Whatever the power of comprehension of the mind at each instant of time, it is clear that there is a limit to the number of objects coexisting to the consciousness. How near this limit approaches to unity can never, perhaps, be proved or defined; but we may proceed far in the direction towards it, with constant reference to Time as one of the most important elements in the question." (pp. 49, 50.)

After pointing out the mode in which the enquiry must be conducted, he applies it, first, to the investigation of the sequential perception of sensations from without, and then to that of intellectual operations and emotional states; and arrives at what we believe to be the undeniable conclusion:

"That the consciousness, which gives identity to our mental existence, consists in a series of states incessantly pressing upon one another-from causes, and under conditions, which are in part external to ourselves, in part depending on the operations of the mind itself; but all so far subordinate to time, that the further we analyse them the more do we abridge their probable duration, and reduce them to a more single and exclusive form." (p. 60.)

He then goes on to what we regard as the most important part of the whole enquiry -viz., the power which the will possesses, of determining and controlling the succession of these states of consciousness; a power which, he justly says, "is very various in degree, but which, in its full possession, and in due exercise, involves all the highest intellectual attainments of which man is capable." In a subsequent page, Dr. Holland extends this statement to the moral part of Man's nature, affirming that his power of self-elevation depends upon the exercise of this control over the succession of his ideas. In this, too, we fully accord with him; having been long since assured, by the analysis of our own consciousness, that the influence of the will in the direction of the conduct is chiefly, if not solely, exerted, in modifying the relative force of the mo tives which are the real springs of action, by fixing the attention upon some of these, so as to keep them in a strong light before the mind's eye, whilst it withdraws the attention from others, and thus virtually throws them into the background,—just as Dr. Holland well shows that it can do with regard to external objects of sensation. When a man is struggling with a temptation, and the motives to good and the motives to evil are nearly in equilibrium, like weights in the two scales of a balance, it does not ap* See Dr. Redfern's valuable statement of "Examination of Mr. Lewis's Experiments on Mesmerism," in the Edinburgh Monthly Journal, Feb. 1852.

pear to us that, as some would affirm, the will, acting as an independent power or additional motive, makes either scale preponderate at its bidding; but rather that it imparts an augmented gravity (if we may so express ourselves) to the weights on one side, by directing the attention to their value, whilst it diminishes the force of those on the other, by preventing the mind from occupying itself about them. And it is thus that "second thoughts" so often come to be best; and that haste in action so often leads to a wrong course. The disparity in the degree in which this power is possessed by different individuals, is a very common source of diversity, both in mental action, and in the conduct of life which proceeds from it. Thus, as Dr. Holland remarks:

"We every day meet men whose conversation is made up of rambling incongruities; who can hold to no subject consecutively; and who seem, and actually are, incapable of regulating the series and association of their ideas. Such minds are a curious subject of study; and often yield more to examination than those higher intellects which have gained, either from nature or exercise, the dominion wanting to the former. An argument with persons thus deficient,-fruitless, probably, in every other respect, becomes a sort of analysis, by which we can discover the sudden and strange aberrations of thought, the faulty associations, and the disturbances from external impressions, which, unconsciously to themselves, perplex their whole intellectual existence." (pp. 66, 67.)

There is another phase, which our author does not notice; that in which there is a full-perhaps even an extraordinary-measure of intellectual power, but a want of that determining control over it, which is necessary to keep it steady to any fixed purpose. Of this combination we find a typical example in Coleridge, who might be almost described as a thinking machine that would run on automatically to an unlimited extent when once wound up and set going, but who yet possessed scarcely any power of selfdirection, either as regarded the course of his thoughts, or the actions of his life.

The practical conclusion of this chapter is most important, and cannot be too strongly or too early impressed on the mind of every one. The discriminating practitioner is so constantly witnessing the lamentable results of the want of early acquirement of habits of self-control, that he cannot but regard it as one of the most important objects to be kept in view in the education of the young; no amount of intellectual acquirement being comparable in value with that power of self-direction, the possession of which constitutes, in our apprehension, the most essential difference between the psychical nature of Man and that of the more rational among brutes, and gives to him such ability as he possesses of striving to attain a higher elevation:

"Can this voluntary power over the course and succession of mental states-thus varying in different individuals, and limited in all,-be exercised and cultivated in such way as to enlarge its scope, and give it greater energy to resist the causes which control it? Experience answers at once, and unequivocally, that it may be so. The faculty in question is given us not merely to use, but to educate and exalt. It is eminently capable of cultivation by steady intention of mind and habitual exercise; and, rightly thus exercised, it becomes one of the highest perfections of our moral and intellectual being. By no quality is one man better distinguished from another, than by the mastery acquired over the subject and course of his thoughts-by the power of discarding what is desultory, frivolous, or degrading; and of adhering singly and steadily to those objects which enlarge and invigorate the mind in their pursuit." (pp. 67, 68.)

In the chapter On Time as an Element in Mental Functions, we do not find much additional matter. The following observation, however, is one of much interest; and many of our readers will be able, we doubt not, to confirm it from their own experi

ence.

"In many cases of affection of the sensorium-as in the progress of recovering from apoplectic seizure, or generally in cases of partial coma,-a certain and often considerable time may be observed to elapse between a question asked of the patient and his reply. And this seemingly without any uncertainty as to the answer to be given, or any apparent fault in the act of articulation, except slowness and greater effort-but, rather, as if the mind received the perception more tardily than is usual or natural-or more slowly put itself into action through the external organs in reply. Occasionally, though aware of the fact from former experience, I have been led by the length of the interval to ask another question before the first was answered; this

answer following afterwards, as if no such second question had intervened. Several cases I have noted where a full minute has passed before the organs were put into motion for articulate reply." (p. 70.)

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The chapter On Sleep is one that is peculiarly fertile in valuable suggestions; and we attach particular importance to those that have reference to the doctrine which it is Dr. Holland's main object to enforce and illustrate-namely, that sleep must not be ragarded as a unity of state," but is a "series of fluctuating conditions, of which no two moments perhaps are strictly alike," these variations extending from complete wakefulness to the most perfect sleep of which we have cognizance either from outward or inward signs." It is surprising, as Dr. Holland justly remarks, that this fact, brought constantly under notice by the most familiar experience, should be so little regarded in all common reasoning on the subject. The ordinary phenomena of that transition from the waking to the sleeping life which occurs every day of our lives, pass unheeded on account of their naturalness; and we satisfy ourselves with the result of the various influences which tend to produce this transition, without studying their modus operandi.

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"But let it happen," continues our author, "that similar conditions are produced by mesmeric passes or other similar means, and the phenomena are looked upon with astonishment and The deep interest which rightly belongs to sleep in its ordinary state, is excited for the first time by the unwonted manner in which it is brought on; and a great function of our nature, ever open to rational enquiry, is thus mystified and obscured by the manipulations of art." (p. 83.)

The so-called mesmeric sleep, he justly remarks in another part, does not differ so much from some forms of natural sleep, as these differ among each other; "the intermediate gradations express that general law of continuity which pervades and explains all these phenomena.' And, with ourselves, he attaches great value to the phenomena of hypnotism, the peculiar sleep induced by the fixed gaze at an object so closely approximated to the eyes as to require a considerable convergence of the optic axes, as was first discovered by Mr. Braid,-and to those of electro-biology, which is a state of reverie rather than of sleep, brought on by the same fixed gaze at an object more remote. Observation of such states fills up the lacuna that would otherwise exist; and shows us how close a relation there is between the phenomena which present themselves in these various gradations, and the modes in which they are respectively induced, a relation which may be legitimately extented also to the mesmeric sleep, and deprives it of all that in the eyes of the discriminating and uniformed enquirer, most strongly indicates a power brought to bear upon the subject of it by some external agency.-The whole of this chapter is well worthy of attentive study; as is also that which succeeds it, On the Relations of Dreaming, Insanity, &c. From this, however, we shall only extract the following passage, in which Dr. Holland notices the illustration which may be found of the phenomena of dreaming and insanity, in the waking moods of our minds.

"Dreams appear inconsecutive in the series of impressions and thoughts which compose them; and are so, in fact, in different degrees, according to the varying condition of sleep. But let any one follow with consciousness or immediate recollection the ramblings and transitions of the waking state, when the mind is not bound down to any one subject, and no strong impres sions are present to the senses-and he will often find these no less singular, abrupt, and rapid in change; though the effect of such irregularity is here subordinate to certain regulating causes, which are absent during sleep.

"The admission of external sensations is amongst the most important of these. Their influence in correcting aberrant trains of thought is marked in numerous familiar instances; still more remarkably when causes of actual disorder are present. A person on the verge of intoxication feels confusion of thought rapidly coming on him when he closes his eyes, which is lessened or removed when opening them again; and such alternation may repeatedly occur. A patient under low rambling delirium will often pause from this when a question is asked him, or when any distinct impression is made on the senses; relapsing almost instantly again into the same state. Examples of this kind show how slight the line is, if line there be, which separates the healthy actions of mind from those of morbid nature." (pp. 125, 126.)

The title of Dr. Holland's chapter On the Memory, as affected by Age and Disease, includes, as he remarks, some of the most curious phenomena which come under the notice of the physician. But the subject, both in its physiological and in its psychological aspects, is one which seems almost to baffle enquiry, so strange and diverse are the changes which this faculty undergoes. Dr. Holland's main object, here as elsewhere, is to connect the perversions which we see it to undergo from disease or accident, with its normal operations; and he points out many very interesting relations of this kind, which are well worthy of careful consideration. He draws an important distinction near the outset, which we have ourselves frequently had occasion to make, but which has been very commonly overlooked, between simple memory, and the act or faculty of recollection,-between the mere assemblage and aggregation of materials in the mind, and the power of recalling and combining them by a voluntary effort. It seems probable that no change ever takes place in our consciousness, without leaving an impression behind it, which may be revived at some future time, however remote, either by suggestions independent of the will, or by a voluntary act of recollection (which we believe to be nothing else than a revival of the desiderated impression by suggestions purposely brought to act upon it), or, it may be, by the return of a certain set of physical conditions which act more directly than through the channel of suggestion, as in the delirium of fever. And that our recollection of even the most familiar things is due to the power of voluntarily directing our thoughts, is most curiously shown in the (so-called) "biologized" state, in which the subject, on being assured that he cannot remember the most familiar thing-his own name, for example-loses his power of recalling it, through the very conviction which for the time possesses his whole mind, of the impossibility of the act. Now, this is only an intestified condition of a state of which almost every one must be occasionally conscious, in which the anxious doubt of success itself becomes the cause of failure, because "it interrupts by its presence those trains of association upon which recollection depends;" whilst "restored confidence repairs the failure, by excluding this cause of disturbance, and enabling the mind to concentrate itself again upon its object."

In the chapters On the Brain as a Double Organ, and On Phrenology, we find so little that is new, that we need not stop to comment upon them. That On Instincts and Habits, on the other hand, being entirely new, and presenting the subject in an aspect which is in many respects novel, seems to call for an extended notice. Our limits, however, do not enable us to say more, than that the subject is treated in a thoroughly philosophical spirit; a broad basis being laid in a comprehensive survey of the phenomena; and the relations between the different groups of these being pointed out with that discrimination and sagacity which are so abundantly displayed in Dr. Holland's other writings. The essential correspondence between the purely instinctive actions of animals, and the various gradations of automatic action in man, is the point upon which he most dwells.

A large portion of the last chapter, On the Present State of Inquiry into the Nervous System, is altogether new; and much of what has been transferred from the volume of which the chapter originally formed part, has been rewritten, in accordance with the present state of our knowledge. Of the new matter, a considerable proportion bears upon those dynamical relations, which the progress of enquiry seems to indicate that nerve-force possesses, on the one hand, to the physical forces, and on the other, to mental agency: this is a question, however, which we propose to consider in our next number; and we shall therefore postpone until then any notice of Dr. Holland's cautiously-expressed but very suggestive views.

In taking leave of our author for the present, we again tender him our thanks for this very seasonable contribution to a department of enquiry, which no one possesses such opportunities of promoting, as the physician who is prepared for it by his previous studies and habits of thought; and which no physician with whom we are acquainted, has shown more ability than himself to pursue.

PART SECOND.

Bibliographical Notices.

ART. I.-Pathology of the Human Eye. By JOHN DALRYMPLE, F.R.S., F. R.C.S. Fasciculi vm. & ïx.

-London, 1852.

THE satisfaction with which we should have announced the completion of this unrivalled work, is overclouded by the regret which we feel, in common with all who were acquainted with its distinguished and estimable author, at his early decease. For some time previously to his death, he had performed his professional duties with increasing difficulty, in consequence of severe pulmonary affection; but he still laboured in his vocation with zeal and success, and has left behind him a reputation, acquired within a comparatively short period, such as most men would consider it an ample reward to have attained in a long life. That his practice was based on a thorough knowledge of the fanatomy, physiology, and pathology of the eye, we need scarcely inform our readers. His treatise on the "Anatomy of the Human Eye," published in 1834, was the first work specially devoted to that subject, that was at all worthy of it, in the English language; and it still remains the most complete and comprehensive. And of his intimate acquaintance with the pathology of the organ, no better evidence could be afforded than that which is contained in the work now brought to a conclusion. Among the benefits which Mr. Dalrymple has conferred upon ophthalmic practice, it has not been among the least that he did much to keep it from the hands of those who would have carried it on upon an empirical basis, and to maintain its place as a branch of surgical science and art. Himself the son of a distinguished provincial surgeon, and thoroughly educated in the whole range of surgical acquirement, he constantly kept before his mind the fundamental relations which ophthalmic surgery bears to every other branch of practice, all being offsets from one common stem; and although his labours were latterly restricted to this sole department, it was simply because his time was so fully occupied in it, that he had none to spare for any other. His professional position as a surgeon, and not a mere oculist, was honourably recognised by his election, not many months before his death, to the Council of the College of Surgeons.

The first plate of the Eighth Part is chiefly devoted to the illustration of Strabismus; a convergent and a divergent form of that complaint being represented. With regard to the operation for the cure of this affection, Mr. Dalrymple remarks that the failure in a large number of the results of its performance has caused it to fall into undeserved discredit; but that the impossibility of anything like a certain prognosis of success, in any individual case, should prevent a surgeon from undertaking it without a full explanation to the patient (and to the parents, in the case of a young subject) of the possible consequence of failure. In his own practice, he never operated on children under fourteen years of age, but recommended that a trial should be given to the constitutional and special treat ment by which the affection is sometimes cured or ameliorated. The other subject of this plate is Ptosis, which is dependent upon a partial paralysis of the third pair of nerves, whose existence is usually indicated previously by some degree of palsy of the Iris and of strabismus divergens.-The second plate is intended to illustrate palsy of the facial nerve; but it is, we think, less happy than most of Mr. Bagg's delineations; since, until we understood its meaning, we conceived it to be of a very different nature, the paralysed side being the one that appears in the most natural state. The subjects of the third and fourth plates are somewhat miscellaneous. Three figures of the third plate are occupied by cysts of the anterior chamber, whose occurrence is by no means rare, although true entozoa so seldom present themselves in that situation, that Mr. Dalrymple states that he has never witnessed a case of the kind. Two such cases have been seen and described by Dr. Mackenzie, of Glasgow; and we have ourselves met with another. The fourth figure represents a singular form of Chemosis, due to deep-seated inflammation of the areolar tissue of the orbit, one of the most painful and even dangerous diseases to which the organs of vision are liable; of this disease Mr. Dalrymple narrates two striking cases, in one of which the eye was saved, whilst in the other it was very rapidly destroyed. And the fifth figure very faithfully delineates that change of position of the globe of the eye, known as Exophthalmus, in which it is thrust forwards by the pressure of tumours, &c. In the fourth plate, conical cornea is the first subject represented, or rather attempted, it being "particularly difficult," or rather we should say impossible," to convey in a drawing the very peculiar aspect presented by a living specimen of this disease." Another figure more suc cessfully portrays a form of that curious affection, Microphthalmus, in which, instead of a defect of size of the entire globe of the eye, there was deficient development of the cornea and iris in proportion to the rest of the organ, the sclerotic being prolonged considerably over the margin of the carnea, so as almost to give the appearance of arcus senilis. The opposite condition, general hy. pertrophy of the globe or Buphthalmus, is next illustrated; this differing from Hydrops oculi, with which it has been confounded, in the absence of disease or of alteration in the normal relations of

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