J. H. a man twenty-eight years of age, was admitted a patient in May,
1795. He had been disordered for about two months before he came into the
hospital. No particular cause was stated to have brought on the complaint.
It was most probably an hereditary affection, as his father had been
several times insane and confined in our hospital. During the time he was
in the house, he was in a very low and melancholic state; shewed an
aversion to food, and said he was resolved to die. His obstinacy in
refusing all nourishment was very great, and it was with much difficulty
forced upon him. He continued in this state, but became daily weaker and
more emaciated until August 1st, when he died. Upon opening the head, the
pericranium was found loosely adherent to the scull. The bones of the
cranium were thick. The pia mater was loaded with blood, and the medullary
substance, when cut into, was full of bloody points. The pineal gland
contained a large quantity of gritty matter.[8] The consistence of the
brain was natural; he was opened twenty-four hours after death.