Address on insanity before the New York State Medical Society / by Samuel White.

  • White, Samuel, 1777-1845.
Date:
[1844?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address on insanity before the New York State Medical Society / by Samuel White. 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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    3 ADDRESS ON INSANITY BEFORE THE NEW YORK STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY. BY SAMUEL WHITE, M. D. Gentlenen: In retiring from my official station as your presiding offi- cer, and in compliance with the rules of your Society, it be- comes my duty to address you on some subject connected with medical science. For this purpose, I submit for your conside- ration some reflections on Insanity. Know thyself, was the wise maxim of a Seneca and a Socrates. Hence it is said that the greatest study of man, is man. From the cradle to the grave, his life will be found a series of antecedents, and consequents, having a direct bear- ing on his physical and moral powers. To investigate the constitution and properties of the human mind, we must trace its history from its infant development, through manhood, to decrepitude. When the vital organs are fully and equally developed, with due exercise and proper culture, we may safely look for health of body, and energy of mind. It is therefore by the study of the entire man, wrought upon by external causes, that we are to learn the deviations from the healthy standard, prostrating those energies and mental endowments. To judge correctly, and draw the line of demarkation dis-