On the disorders of infantile development, and rickets : preceded by observations on the nature, peculiar influence, and modifying agencies of temperaments / by A. Schoepf Merei.

  • Schoepf Merei, Agost, 1804-1858.
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the disorders of infantile development, and rickets : preceded by observations on the nature, peculiar influence, and modifying agencies of temperaments / by A. Schoepf Merei. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    harmony. We know them more by their moral than their organic proper- ties ; they are vivacious, alwaj^s in good spirits, rarely subject to, or capable of lasting grief. They are exceedingly kind and disposed to enthusiasm, but not steady; impetuous, but not violent. They have no particular morbid dispositions. I could not assign to them any striking feature in infancy. Their development generally goes on well. Their diet requires no particular attention or care, even under the influence of new cUmates and circumstances. If it were asked, to what we may attribute this tempei-ament? I should be inchned to refer it to particular atmospheric influence; to a great lati- tude of temperature, but with a light, dry atmosphere ; it must be warm in summer, and may be cold in winter, but neither in the extreme ; with a clear sky and a brilliant sun. We And at least a great proportion of this temperament in all those countries, where these conditions prevail: in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Upper Italy, and France. And I have seen in my own country and some parts of Germany, that on some of those beautiful mornings, of which Enghshmen (I hope they wiU excuse my remark) can scarcely form an idea, almost the entire population of towns are put into early movement; starting for the country, in multitudes, early in the day, to enjoy themselves until late in the evening. In this sensible, lively, and innocent enjoyment, and its effects upon the mind, amid the picturesque scenery of nature, with distinct views at great dis- tances, I see the conditions and sympfoms of a sangume temperament. They inhale with visible eagerness that genial air; their chest expands and their heart too, to carry on an easy circulation; an impulsive locomo- tive elasticity is felt in the limbs, and lungs and mouth yield aloud, as nature prompts, their cheerful sounds in song or conversation. It is not easy to describe the happiness which these beings feel on such occasions, and I am perfectly sure, that of such an intensity of delight an English tem- perament can receive no adequate impression, because the native atmos- phere does not admit of that expansion, The impression of a clear, diy atmosphere, and an intensely blue sky, such as alluded to, is powerful upon both body and mind, and calcidated to work changes in the blood and nervous system, though as yet unknown to us, to which the moral attri- butes of what we call sanguine may correspond. I am strongly convinced, that this good, happy, and euthusiastic, but fickle temperament, has had a great share in some of the historical events of the Continent! We now come to the pliUgmatic or lymphatic temperament. Tliis has been supposed to arise from the predominance of water, lymph, and phlegm, with a disposition to atonic and lymphatic diseases. But all these ori- ginal notions of medical antiquity are not the least advanced, as yet, in anatomical or physiological respects. A practical mind is stiiick by the