James Macdonald, M.D.

Date:
[1849]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: James Macdonald, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    place at the house of Mr. Cooper, every Wednes- day evening. General La Fayette sometimes meets and interests us with his conversation. The more I see of this patriot the more I venerate him ; and when I hear a Frenchman speak disrespectfully of him, it produces the same sort of sensations as if I hear my country and my countrymen abused. After the business of the committee is finished, I usually pass the rest of the evening with one or two other Americans, in the family of Mr. Cooper. These have been by far the most agreeable evenings I have spent in Paris. The twenty-second of this month, (February,) must have been celebrated with extraordinary re- joicings in the United States. I did not know it was the hundredth anniversary of Washington's birthday, until I had arrived at Mr. Cooper's, to attend a meeting of the Polish committee, which as- sembles there every Wednesday evening. General La Fayette was present, and in good spirits. After the business of the evening was concluded, Mr. Cooper observed that it was then just a century since Washington was born. The mention of this circumstance had quite an effect on the company. The general seemed to renew his age—his coun- tenance beamed with philanthropy—he looked upon those around him, with no small degree of satis- faction. He spoke of the young Virginian,'1'' and his mother, whom he knew—he also spoke of Washington as a statesman and a soldier. The scene was one I never can forget. The whole as- semblage of circumstances, Washington's birth, the meeting of a number of Americans in the Old World for the benefit of a people who had been crushed, while struggling for their freedom, and one of these very people, the countryman of Kosciusko and Pulaski, being then among us ; the presence of La Fayette, a link between the past and present, were of too interesting a character to pass by like ordinary occurrences. Among Mr. Cooper's good qualities, patriotism stands conspicuous. He called for champagne, and we drank to the memory of Washington and the Polish heroes. I still find Mr. Cooper's house the most hospita- ble and agreeable in Paris. I dined there yester- day, and spent the evening in the company of Gen- eral La Fayette, who came in after dinner. The general is still quite vigorous. In April, Dr. Macdonald left Paris for Italy. His route was through Switzerland, and he en- tered Piedmont and Lombardy by the Simplon road early in May. After examining the hospi- tals for the insane in the different Italian cities, he took the steamer at Naples, and returned to Paris by way of Marseilles, in the latter part of June. In a letter to his brother, dated, Florence, May 20th, 1832, he says :— The hospitals of Italy are generally showy, and many of them magnificent buildings. The great hospital of this city, for instance, has the appear- ance of a palace, and the lunatic asylum presents a facade of the most beautiful and correct propor- tions. The Italians, like the French, are ostenta- tious, and in building, as in taking care of the body, are apt to adorn the exterior at the expense of the interior. There are lunatic asylums in all the towns I have visited. But this is not a subject to interest you. I will merely add, that as these establish- ments are the first objects of inquiry, I have, of course, examined them all ; that in this town is one of the best in Italy, and equal to the best in France. With respect to the institution at Aversa, at that time the most distinguished of the Italian lunatic asylums, he says, in a subsequent letter :— At Naples, the most important object to me, and but for which I should not have gone so far south, was the celebrated lunatic asylum, situated near the town of Aversa, about seven miles from the metrop- olis. It was put into operation by Murat. Placed under the direction of the Chevalier Luiguiti, a ci- devant priest, it soon acquired great celebrity ; a celebrity arising more from external show, than from genuine utility. I had an opportunity of ex- amining it pretty thoroughly, and must confess I received some useful hints. Dr. Macdonald spent the month of July and part of August at Charenton, in inspecting the celebrated institution for mental disease, situate in that village. In letters from this place, he says :— I have now every opportunity I could desire to study the treatment of insanity in one of the best lunatic asylums in Europe. When I say best, I mean so far as its management is concerned. The house itself is old, and composed of building erected on building at various epochs. Consequently it is not a model. I have daily access to all parts of the house, see all the patients, and am on intimate terms with the medical attendants. M. Esquirol, the physician in chief, has given me every facility, and has extended his private hospitality to me in a manner that I had no right to expect. My time is principally spent between the Maison Royale de Charenton, as the hospital is called, and my books. The village of Charenton itself is a dull little place, situated on the Marne, near its junction with the Seine. On the opposite bank of the river (Marne) is Alfret, the seat of the most celebrated Veteri- nary School in the world. This establishment pos- sesses a library of domestic zoology, a cabinet of comparative anatomy, and another of pathology ; a botanical garden, hospitals for sick animals, a chemical laboratory, a pharmacie, and school of practical agriculture ; an amphitheatre, where lec- tures are delivered on veterinary medicine and rural economy; farrier's shops, &c. &c. But unfortunately for me, owing to the affair of the 5th and 6th of June, in which a few of the students were implicated, the institution is closed. In the vicinity of Charenton are the Park and Chateau of Vincennes, famous as the residence of the cruel and superstitious Louis XL, and rendered classic ground by Sir Walter Scott, in the romance of Quentin Durward. I am so much occupied with my studies during the day, that I have not time to think of my lonely situation ; but when evening, the hour for relaxation and social intercourse ar- rives, I then feel that Charenton is, to use the French word, triste.^ And this dulness has never been felt, perhaps, to a greater degree, than at present in consequence of the prevalence of the cholera- which attacks at the most unexpected moment din- ing the night, as well as at mid-day, its unfortunate! victims. A pestilence in a small place like this, ki much more frightful than in a large city, because in the former its progress is exactly appreciated, and every person attacked by it is known. And, then, the Catholic funeral service is calculated to produce a serious effect. For some hours previous to in- terment, the entrance to the house, which is usually wide, is fitted up with black or white hangings, ac- cording as the deceased was single or married. The