[135]It is perhaps scarcely necessary to call attention to the fact that Mr. Dendy has altogether mistaken the signification of the words in the above quotation from Tissot, printed in italics. He appears to think they meanbeing put on his head, a translation which would make very great nonsense out of the whole extract. The words will be found in Tissot’sAvis aux Gens de Lettres et aux Personnes sédentaires sur leur Santé, Paris, 1768, p. 28, and in English, in a translation entitled “A Treatise on the Diseases of Literary and Sedentary Persons,” Edinburgh, 1772, p. 26. The work is well worthy of attention even at this day, as containing many most interesting facts and important suggestions.
[136]On Obscure Diseases of the Brain, etc., p. 607.
[137]The wordassassinis derived from the wordhashish, from the fact that a sect in the East calledAssassinsmade use ofhashishto induce the temporary insanity during which their crimes were perpetrated. SeeHistory of the Assassins, by the Chevalier Joseph von Hammer, translated from the German by O. C. Wood, M.D., London, 1835, p. 233, note.
[138]Physiological Memoirs, 1863, p. 24,et seq.
[139]On Functional Nervous Disorders. London, 1864, p. 282.
[140]Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, vol. iv., art. Wakefulness.
[141]Therapeutics and Materia Medica, 2d edition, Philadelphia, 1864, vol. ii. page 659.
[142]The instance alluded to, that of Admiral Fitzroy, is thus commented upon by theSpectatorof May 6th, 1865:
“Admiral Fitzroy, the well-known meteorologist, committed suicide on Monday morning at his own house. He had overworked himself of late; found that he was losing his memory; became sleepless, and resorted to opium to obtain ease, which aggravated his symptoms. His doctor had warned him that he ran great risk of paralysis, but from a false tenderness did not at once compel him to give up labor.”
TheLondon Reviewof the same date says: “He (Admiral Fitzroy) acquired that terrible inability to sleep, which is one of the most dreadful of those means by which nature avenges the abuse of the mental powers, and he was forced to take opium at night; at one time to an extent which threatened serious consequences.”
[143]Journal of an African Cruiser, quoted in Curiosities of Modern Travel, London, 1846, p. 239.
[144]Gazette des Hôpitaux, Oct. 13, 1868.
[145]Wonders of the Little World, etc., London, 1806, vol. ii. p. 394; quoted from Universal Magazine, vol. viii. p. 312.
[146]Op. cit.
[147]New York Medical Journal, December, 1867.
[148]A Treatise on Medical Jurisprudence, Philadelphia, 1855, p. 120.
[149]Médecine légale relative aux Aliénés et aux Sourds-Muets, ou les Lois appliquées aux Désordres de l’Intelligence. Traduit de l’Allemande par A. M. Chambeyron, avec des Notes par MM. Esquirol et Itard. Paris, 1827, p. 256.
[150]The Literature and Curiosities of Dreams, etc., London, 1865, vol. ii. p. 332.
[151]See New York Medical Gazette and Quarterly Journal of Psychological Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, January, 1869, p. 47.