A treatise on medical jurisprudence and insanity : containing chapters on imbecility, nervousness, mental deficiency, drunkenness, delirium, and mental diseases in general / By Issac Ray ... with an introductory essay by D. Spillan.

  • Ray, Isaac, 1807-1881.
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on medical jurisprudence and insanity : containing chapters on imbecility, nervousness, mental deficiency, drunkenness, delirium, and mental diseases in general / By Issac Ray ... with an introductory essay by D. Spillan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    merit of himself and of those who are dependent on him. § 344. Much discussion and tedious litigation have arisen from the difficulty of determining the exact measure of intellectual capacity requisite to the un- disturbed enjoyment of civil rights and privileges, chiefly in consequence of losing sight of the real object before us, and pursuing a shadow of our own creating. It is a question of capacity in reference to certain ends and duties, and we are not called on to go beyond the consideration of these, in our en- deavours to settle this question. The speculative opinions of the imbecile person, the little peculiarities of his conduct, his style of living and talking, and his general deportment in society, are points that require but little attention in this inquiry. Our business is with the manner in which he has conducted his affairs, and from this chiefly, we are to draw our inferences respecting his probable future conduct and capacity. And here we are not bound to institute a rigid comparison between his habits and those of people enjoying ordinary soundness and vigour of in- tellect. We are not warranted in stripping him of all his possessions and leaving him at the mercy of others, the moment we can fix upon a single instance in the course of his life, where he has neglected to profit by a happy turn of fortune, or has rewarded a service, or bestowed Ins bounties, in a manner alto- gether opposed to our ideas of forethought and economy. Has the individual indulged in repeated acts of extravagance, or of profitless expenditure ? Has he engaged in the execution of visionary projects with reckless indifference as to the extent of his means and appliances ? Has he squandered his money on favourites, or become an instrument in the hands of designing and profligate associates for advancing