The wonderful discovery, a particular account of Peter Raeney, the maniac, of Woodseats, Norton, Derbyshire.

Date:
[between 1828-1830]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The wonderful discovery, a particular account of Peter Raeney, the maniac, of Woodseats, Norton, Derbyshire. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    intimation that we were near the object ©f our search, “ There,”—said the daughter,—where—I can distin¬ guish nothing.”—-“Look nearer.” I stooped lower, ( I was already stooping, being within four feet only of tire ancient drooping roof,) and shuddering while I put my hand upon a mass of human hair, the lace of one o,f my fellow creatures suddenly presented itself: after the first shock so strange a sight must have caused the least su¬ perstitious or the least pitiful, 1 set about examining the lost being before me with the same feeling which the anatomist owns, when he plunges his scientific knife into the dead mass whieh lies upon the table. The face of course, attracted my first notice, I brought my own almost close to his, but I could discover none of the u- sual physionomical marks of mere physical insanity. The forehead and nose were rather finely marked, and the eyes, which appeared to me ( in the imperfect light) a deep^black, were large, and, though they betrayed the restless motion of insanity, were totally without what may be termed the gazeless look of mere idiotcy. The lower part of the face was buried in hair, and even the orifice of the mouth appeared shut up in the growth of years, The next thing which attracted my attention was the lower part of his body; the space which he oc¬ cupied was sufficient only for the trunk of an ordinary man, and my curiosity wTas painfully excited to discover how he had disposed of his thighs and legs. While he was eyeing me with the greatest intensity, I dr6w away part of the sheet which was upon him, and I*saw the points of his shoulders and the caps of his knees drawn closely together, allowing only a little room for his arms ■which were between them, leaving his hands upwards. The whole body was in the attitude of an ape sitting, and then the body was turned on one side, without that attitude having been destroyed. Upon closer exa¬ mination, it sppeared that the particular position I found him in must have been assumed at an early period of his mental disease, for T discovered that he was perfectly sinew bound, and could not in the smallest degree re-