The very gross abuses which were formerly practised in Lunatic Asylums,
long required legislative interference, till by the _14th Geo._ 3, _c._
49,[512] many of the most glaring evils were remedied. As the act itself
is copied in the _Appendix, p._ 170, we do not now repeat all its
provisions; on a few points however some comment is necessary, and more
especially as an attempt has been lately made, and is likely to be
renewed, to alter the law on this subject. It is proposed that, instead
of confiding the choice of licensing and visiting commissioners to the
College of Physicians in London, a permanent officer (and the name of
the individual intended has been even mentioned) should be appointed by
government to execute those duties: however high the authority of the
officer of State to whom this selection is to be given, we must doubt
whether he can be so competent a judge of medical proficiency as the
learned body to whom the trust is now confided; and if he be not, the
interest of the public is compromised, that the patronage of the
minister may be increased; for, admitting that a permanent officer
should be appointed, there is no good reason why his selection should
not remain with a competent authority, which has not yet been found
unworthy of the trust reposed in them. Our principal objection, however,
is to the permanence of the appointment; under the present system much
benefit arises from the occasional change of visitors, by which means
the unfortunate patients are brought under the view of a greater number
of medical observers than could be otherwise obtained for them. A
permanent officer may soon be reconciled to abuses, and become callous
to suffering; while under the visitation of a temporary Committee the
subject is kept fresh and vivid with all the interest of novelty, at
least in the minds of the members last elected. The period for which
each member serves on the committee, (three years) and the extent of the
pecuniary emolument, hold out no inducement to jobbing or canvas, even
if the learned and honourable body would allow it, and a consequent
security is afforded, that none will be elected from undue motives;
there is always a risk of a contrary result when a well paid and
permanent office is made the object of patronage; an improper person is
frequently selected, and when those who have been originally well
appointed become incapable by age, infirmity, or other incapacity, there
is always a delicacy and difficulty in their removal.
Hitherto we have confined our observations to the Commissioners for the
London district[513], but our objections acquire additional weight when
we consider that if the proposed alteration be necessary on principle,
it must extend to the country, and consequently that above fifty
salaried officers must be appointed to the counties of England and Wales
alone.
The bill introduced and passed through the House of Commons was thrown
out in the House of Lords; and when we reflect upon the legal acumen
which presides there, we feel confident that any future similar attempt
would meet a similar fate.[514]
The _14th Geo._ 3 exempts houses where only one patient is kept, from
license and inspection; they should at any rate be registered, and some
limited power of visitation be allowed to prevent abuses; the exemption
may be construed at present into a license for illegal imprisonment,
provided the jailor can afford a whole house to his victim.[515]
The custody of pauper and criminal lunatics,[516] and the erection of
asylums for their reception, is provided for by _Statute_ 48, _Geo._ 3,
_c._ 96, and 59 _Geo._ 3, _c._ 127;[517] but no provision has yet been
made for lunatic debtors; when it is considered how frequently the
calamity of lunacy is induced by pecuniary difficulty, it is not easy to
account for this omission. The observation of _Mr. Collinson_ on this
point may be applied to more subjects than are at present under our
consideration.
MEDICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF INSANITY.
As the duties of the Jurist and Physiologist in the investigation of
mental derangement are distinct in their nature, if not different in
their object, so shall we find that the abstract terms used to denote
the form or degree of the malady have received from the two professions
a somewhat different latitude of acceptation. For legal purposes the
adoption of the term “_Non Compos Mentis_,” from the amplitude of its
construction, gets rid of those nicer distinctions and difficulties
which the pathologist is bound to encounter and investigate; the lawyer
only inquires whether such a state of mind exists, as actually
disqualifies the person in question from conducting himself with
propriety, or managing his affairs; but the medical evidence is bound
not only to give his opinion upon the case, but to state the reasons
which may have influenced his decision; and hence the necessity of his
becoming practically acquainted with those physiological distinctions to
which we have alluded. It has been stated that there are two conditions
of the human mind, either of which very justly deprives the subject of
the control of his person and property, and takes away from him all
criminal responsibility, viz. IDIOTCY, (_Amentia_) or a total deficiency
of intellectual power; and MADNESS, or a morbid perversion of it.
Between these two states we shall not have much difficulty in
discriminating; the idiot cannot reason at all; the madman reasons
falsely; the idiot acts from animal appetency, he has no will; the
madman wills, but his reason being disturbed, his actions are not
compatible with the usual relations of society.[518]
Idiotcy may exist from birth,[519] (_Amentia Congenita_ Cull. Syn. LXV,
1,) or it may be the effect of Old Age, _Dotage_ (_Amentia Senilis_
Cull. Syn. LXV, 2,) or it may arise at any period of life from the
operation of various causes affecting the functions of the brain, such
as epileptic fits,[520] intense study, intemperance, the depressing
passions, especially grief, fevers, paralysis, and mania, (_Amentia
acquisita_ Cull. Syn. LXV, 3.) In some cases fatuity is symptomatic of
another disease.
The law, as we have already stated, makes an important distinction
between that species of idiotcy which is congenital, _de nativitate_,
and that which may occur in after life; and upon this point, as well as
upon the extent of the malady, and the probability of its cure, the
medical practitioner may be called upon to give an opinion. In cases of
congenital idiotcy there will not be much difficulty in pronouncing
judgment, for as it arises from malformation of the cerebral organ, the
prognosis must be adverse to every hope of recovery; while the
characteristic physiognomy of the unfortunate individual is generally so
striking as to enable the common observer at once to ascertain the
existence of idiotcy. The vague expression of his countenance is
commonly associated with an awkwardness in the gait, which would seem to
depend upon a defect in the muscular powers; there is, moreover, a
degree of incontinence with respect to the excretory discharges of his
body; and owing to a carelessness in not swallowing the saliva, there is
a constant drivelling from the mouth; the speech is imperfect, and the
extent of this deficiency may, in general, be considered as a good
indication of the degree of fatuity, for it is necessary to state, that
all idiots are not of the same degree of intellectual depravity; some
possess more memory than others, and display a talent for imitation;
they will whistle tunes correctly, and repeat passages from books, which
they have been taught by ear, but they are incapable of comprehending
what they repeat; under such circumstances medical evidence may be
required for the purpose of obtaining an estimate of the capacity of
such an individual, and upon this subject _Dr. Haslam_[521] has offered
the following judicious remarks: “It has occurred to me, in many
instances, to be consulted concerning persons whose minds have been
naturally weak, or enfeebled by disease, and it always appeared that by
patient enquiry, a satisfactory estimate of their capacity might be
instituted: the person exercising his judgment upon this question ought
particularly to ascertain the power of the idiot’s attention; since his
knowledge of objects, and his memory of them, will depend on the
duration of his attention; it will also be indispensably necessary to
investigate his comprehension of numbers, without which the nature of
property cannot be understood; if a person were capable of enumerating
progressively to the number ten, and knew the force and value of the
separate units, he would be fully competent to the management of
property; if he could comprehend that twice two composed four, he could
find no difficulty in understanding that twice, or twain ten,
constituted twenty. This _numeration_ also presumes he comprehended that
so many taken from ten, or subtracted, which is the converse, would
leave so many as the remainder. Without such capacity, no man, in my own
opinion, could understand the nature of property, which is represented
by numbers of pounds, shillings, and pence. The same imbecility of mind
is often produced in adults, and in those of advanced age, by paralytic
or epileptic attacks, and from various affections of the brain, and
requires the same accurate investigation to determine on the competency
of such persons to be entrusted with the management of themselves and
affairs.”
In cases of _Amentia acquisita_, our prognosis must be directed by
different circumstances: the faculties of a person may only be in
abeyance, and may revert to a state of sanity, either spontaneously, or
from judicious treatment, or they may be only partially affected.[522]
It however deserves notice that, in extent of mortality, the most fatal
of all the states of mental disorder is _Amentia acquisita_; it has been
computed that in the French hospitals a full moiety of the fatuous die;
at the same time, it appears from the reports of lunatic asylums, that
this disorder is sometimes cured.
Idiots are, in general, harmless; their deportment being characterised
by a timidity that guards them from any mischievous attempts, either
upon themselves or upon other persons; to this general rule, however,
exceptions not unfrequently occur; as, for instance, in the unfortunate
case of the idiot in Cornwall who strangled, and afterwards burnt the
body of, an old woman who had for some years superintended his person.
In some cases of accidental fatuity, a considerable disposition to
obesity manifests itself, and the subject becomes lethargic.
Authors who have treated on the subject of _Insanity_ have anxiously
attempted to frame a definition of the malady; and, by compressing into
a short sentence its prominent and distinguishing phenomena, to
establish a fixed and essential character. In this attempt each author
has fundamentally differed, and to enumerate their plans would be only
to expose their failures; the truth is, that the varied and mutable
phenomena of insanity will ever mock the grasp of the nosologist;
instead therefore of endeavouring to discover an infallible definition,
it will be of much greater importance to investigate the circumstances
which should guide the medical witness in a decision that may annul a
man’s dominion over property, involve his contracts and other acts which
otherwise would be binding, and take away his responsibility for crimes.
Modern authors, according to the system of the Grecian writers, have
generally divided mental derangement into two classes—_Mania_[523] and
_Melancholia_;[524] the former being distinguished by a state of
extraordinary excitement, the latter by great depression; although they
are frequently convertible affections.
_Mania_ may be said to be a state of mental alienation, accompanied by
an unusual ferocity in language and deportment, and by a comparative
insensibility to ordinary stimuli.
_Melancholia_ is a form of insanity which is always attended with some
seemingly groundless, but very anxious fear, by which the person is
plunged into a gloomy and desponding state, that not unfrequently leads
to the commission of suicide.
The approaches of insanity have been as variously described by different
authors, as the characters by which the malady itself is to be
distinguished; indeed the precursory symptoms of mania are extremely
indefinite and variable. _Dr. Haslam_ observes, that “the attack is
almost imperceptible; some months usually elapse before it becomes the
subject of particular notice, and fond relatives are frequently deceived
by the hope, that it is only an abatement of excessive vivacity
conducing to a prudent reserve and steadiness of character; a degree of
apparent thoughtfulness and inactivity precedes, together with a
diminution of the ordinary curiosity concerning that which is passing
before them; and they therefore neglect those objects and pursuits which
formerly proved sources of delight and instruction; the sensibility
appears to be considerably blunted; they do not bear the same affection
towards their parents and relations; they become unfeeling to kindness,
and careless of reproof; if they read a book, they are unable to give
any account of its contents; sometimes, with stedfast eyes, they will
dwell for an hour on one page, and then turn over a number in a few
minutes; their sleep is disturbed, and they awake in the morning in a
state of great disquietude and anxiety; as the malady becomes farther
developed, the symptoms are less equivocal, the unhappy objects become
loquacious and disposed to harangue, and decide promptly and positively
upon every subject that may be started; soon after, they are divested of
all restraint in the declaration of their opinions of those with whom
they are acquainted; their friendships are expressed with fervency and
extravagance, their enmities with intolerance and disgust. They now
become impatient of contradiction, and scorn reproof; for supposed
injuries they are inclined to quarrel and fight with those about them;
at length suspicion creeps upon the mind, they are aware of plots which
had never been contrived, and detect motives that were never
entertained.”
This picture, however, must be only regarded as displaying the ordinary
occurrences which precede the attack; its approaches are sometimes
distinguished by a very different train of symptoms; the late _Dr. John
Monro_[525] has remarked that “high spirits, as they are generally
termed, are the first symptoms of this kind of disorder; these excite a
man to take a larger quantity of wine than usual; and the person thus
affected, from being abstemious, reserved, and modest, shall become
quite the contrary; drink freely, talk boldly, obscenely, swear, sit up
till midnight, sleep little, rise suddenly from bed, go out a hunting,
return again immediately, set all his servants to work, and employ five
times the number that is necessary; in short, every thing he says or
does betrays the most violent agitation of mind, which it is not in his
power to correct; and yet, in the midst of all this hurry, he will not
misplace one word, or give the least reason for any one to think he
_imagines_ things to exist that really do not, or that they appear to
him different from what they do to other people. They who see him but
seldom, admire his vivacity, are pleased with his sallies of wit, and
the sagacity of his remarks; nay, his own family are with difficulty
persuaded to take proper care of him, until it becomes absolutely
necessary, from the apparent ruin of his health and fortune.”
The patient under the influence of the depressing passions will exhibit
a train of symptoms altogether different; the countenance wears an
anxious and gloomy aspect, he is little disposed to speak, he retires
from the company of those with whom he formerly associated, secludes
himself in obscure places, or lies in bed the greater part of his time;
frequently he will keep his eyes fixed on some object for hours
together, or continue them an equal time ‘bent on vacuity;’ he next
becomes fearful, and conceives a thousand fancies, often recurs to some
immoral act which he has committed, or imagines himself guilty of crimes
which he never perpetrated; believes that God has abandoned him, and
with trembling awaits his punishment;[526] frequently he becomes
desperate and endeavours by his own hands to terminate an existence
which appears to be an afflicting and hateful incumbrance.[527]
The approaches of Insanity, are, however, not always slow and
progressive: the unhappy victim is sometimes seized without any warning,
and where crimes have been perpetrated under such circumstances, it
becomes extremely embarrassing both to the judgment of the physician and
to the decision of the court; each case, however, must rest upon its own
particular merits duly to be weighed and considered both by the judge
and jury, lest, to use the expressions of _Sir Matthew Hale_, “there be
on the one side a kind of inhumanity towards the defects of human
nature, or, on the other side too great an indulgence given to great
crimes.”
Before we proceed to consider the several questions which may arise for
the consideration of the medical witness, in the discharge of his
forensic duties, we shall offer a few observations upon a point which
has frequently given rise to discussion—Whether the existence of
insanity cannot be equally, or in some cases, more satisfactorily
established, or disproved, by witnesses who are not of the medical
profession? by persons, for instance, who have had opportunities of
observing the individual, where the same advantages have not been in the
power of the practitioner. To this we may reply, that the opinions of
the generality of persons on the subject of insanity are extremely
vague, and frequently very erroneous,[528] and are commonly the result
of those glaring exhibitions, those caricatures of disease which the
stage represents, or romances propagate; the ordinary observer can
hardly be convinced of the existence of insanity, without some turbulent
expression, extravagant gesture, or phantastic decoration; while on the
other hand he is too apt to infer a state of insanity from those whims
and eccentric habits between which the medical practitioner, from daily
communication with deranged persons, can alone know how to discriminate;
thus was _Democritus_ accused by the people of insanity, but when
_Hippocrates_, by public request, had a conference with the philosopher,
he declared that not _Democritus_, but his enemies were insane. There is
moreover a class of maniacs who are so cunning as to deceive those who
are not acquainted with the peculiar hallucinations under which they
labour; _Lord Erskine_ was thus unable to detect the insanity of a
lunatic who fancied himself to be Jesus Christ, until he had received
the medical assistance which the presence of _Dr. Sims_ afforded
him.[529] It is unnecessary to urge any farther the necessity of medical
testimony upon such occasions, we shall therefore proceed to consider
the different points to which it will be more usefully directed.
Q. 1. Whether the person be actually insane? and what are the proofs of
his derangement?
Q. 2. Whether the symptoms are of such a nature as to suffer the
individual, with propriety, to retain his liberty, and enjoy his
property?
Q. 3. Whether there has been any lucid interval, and of what duration?
Q. 4. Whether there is a probable chance of recovery; and in case of
convalescence, whether the cure is likely to be permanent?
Q. 1. _Whether the person be actually insane—and if so, what are the
proofs of his derangement?_
It has been very justly observed, that to constitute insanity it is not
necessary to exhibit the ferocity of a wild beast, nor to perform the
antics of a buffoon; the most ordinary observer can tell when a person
is furiously mad,[530] but, in many cases, “_such thin partitions do the
hounds divide_,” that all the skill and discernment of a medical
practitioner is required to establish the fact of insanity. It is to
such cases as are more likely to become subjects of legal investigation,
that the following observations particularly apply. _Sir Matthew Hale_
says, “there is a _partial_ insanity, and a _total_ insanity; the former
is either in respect to things, _quoad hoc vel illud insanine_, where
persons are perfectly rational, except on some one particular subject.”
This fact is universally admitted, constituting a form of mental
alienation to which _M. Esquirol_[531] has bestowed the name of
_Monomania_, and of which every work on insanity abounds with examples.
It is in such cases that the value of medical sagacity and experience
becomes apparent, and the full developement of the real state of the
patient’s mind and opinions will, in some instances, require
considerable time and patience. “It is nearly impossible,” says _Dr.
Haslam_, “to give any specific directions for conducting such an
examination as shall inevitably disclose the delusions existing in the
mind of a crafty lunatic; but in my own opinion it is always to be
accomplished, provided sufficient time be allowed, and the examiner be
not interrupted. It is not to be effected by directly selecting the
subjects of his delusion, for he will immediately perceive the drift of
such enquiries, and endeavour to evade, or pretend to disown them; the
purpose is more effectually answered by leading him to the origin of his
distemper and tracing down the consecutive series of his actions and
association of ideas; _in going over the road where he has stumbled, he
will infallibly trip again_.” There is, says _Dr. Male_,[532] a madness
which shews itself in words, and another in actions; a lunatic may be
coherent in conversation, but insane in conduct; he may be rational when
under the restraint of a mad-house, but when released, and at liberty to
act according to the impulse of his hallucination, will shew by his
conduct that he is really insane.
Although it cannot be difficult to form a diagnosis between the
ebullitions of passion, the extravagance of intoxication, or the
delirium of fever, and the violence of deportment arising from insanity,
yet it may in some cases be not easy to discriminate between this latter
condition and that which is associated with excessive enthusiasm; nor is
it always easy to discriminate between eccentricity and insanity; do we
not, says _Dr. Male_, see a wretch disinherit his own children, who have
committed no fault, and bestow his wealth upon a stranger? another who
prefers poverty and rags, and communion with vagabonds, to the social
intercourse and proffered kindness of his friends and relations? yet who
shall pronounce them to be insane? that they are so, there can be no
doubt, and their disease is perhaps of the most unfortunate character,
for all their other actions being consistent with sound reason, it is
difficult to convince a jury of their insanity, and to divest them of
the power of heaping ruin upon their families, and disgrace upon
themselves.
The bodily marks which distinguish the insane are, a peculiar cast of
countenance, familiar to those versed in the malady; a quick, oftentimes
protruded and glistening eye; the body is generally costive; in some
cases the insane person is enabled to sustain cold with impunity, and he
is insensible to the agency of ordinary stimuli; and the stomach and
bowels, from deficiency of irritability, require large doses of medicine
to move them; among the physical phenomena of insanity, _M. Esquirol_
observes that few are more constant or remarkable than want of sleep,
and that peculiarly disagreeable odour from the body, as well as the
excretions of the patients, which impregnates the clothes and bedding.
They are devoured with a burning internal heat; and generally have a
voracious appetite, and are afflicted with pain in some organ or part,
especially the head, the chest, or the abdomen, which the unhappy
sufferers are ready to attribute to the malevolence of their enemies.
In deciding upon that species of insanity which is termed _Melancholia_,
we must be cautious in not confounding its symptoms with those of
_Hypochondriasis_, which is to be regarded as strictly a bodily malady;
the following remarks of _Dr. Cullen_ may tend to direct our judgment
upon this interesting subject.
“Hypochondriasis I would consider as being always attended with
dyspeptic symptoms; and though there may be, at the same time, an
anxious melancholic fear, arising from these symptoms, yet while this
fear is only a mistaken judgment with respect to the state of the
person’s own health, and to the danger to be from thence apprehended, I
would still consider the disease as hypochondriasis, and as distinct
from the proper melancholia. But when an anxious fear and despondency
arise from a mistaken judgment with respect to other circumstances than
those of health, and more especially when the person is at the same time
without any dyspeptic symptoms, every one will readily allow this to be
a disease widely different from both dyspepsia and hypochondriasis.”
With respect to the phantoms[533] which occasionally appear to the
hypochondriac, and are described by him as having all the semblance of
reality, _Dr. Haslam_ remarks, that although a person may labour under a
delusion, by seeing and hearing those things which do not exist, yet if
his belief in their reality is not subscribed, but, on the contrary, he
knows them to be delusions,
“A false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain,”
and he is persuaded that his perception is beguiled, no inference in
favour of the existence of insanity ought to be deduced; if, however, he
should believe in their reality, and commit an act in consequence of
such a conviction, he may be justly considered insane—_it is the belief
that, physiologically, constitutes the disorder_.
Q. 2. _Whether the symptoms are of such a nature as to suffer the
individual, with propriety, to retain his liberty, and enjoy his
property?_
We have already offered some observations upon this point, (_page_ 302);
the medical practitioner in delivering an opinion that may involve the
liberty of the person, cannot well be too guarded in his evidence. As
each case must rest upon its own merits, the subject scarcely admits of
any general elucidation beyond that which we have already endeavoured to
bestow, and the plan of our work must of necessity preclude the more
minute details. We must, however, here observe, that coercion should
never be employed but as a protecting restraint—to guard the patient
from doing mischief to himself, or offering violence to others; and for
this purpose the straight-waistcoat is generally sufficient: formerly,
coercion was employed with a degree of severity that amounted to
vindictive punishment, recourse was even had to the whip, and stripes
were actually inflicted by medical direction; while asylums for the
reception of the insane, were considered as prisons for safe custody and
punishment, rather than as hospitals for the treatment and cure of this
most dreadful malady.
Q. 3. _Whether there has been any lucid interval, and of what duration?_
This is a question which a medical witness is always called upon to
answer. By the term _lucid interval_, we are not to understand a
_remission_ of the malady, but a total suspension of it—a complete,
although only a temporary, restoration of reason. The question is
generally beset with difficulties, and requires all the penetration and
experience of the physician to arrive at a safe conclusion; for in many
cases the patient is enabled for a limited period to converse
rationally, and where he is desirous of carrying any particular plan
into execution, to dissemble so completely as to impose with success
upon his attendants; of which the following case, related by Dr.
_Haslam_,[534] may serve as an excellent illustration. “A lunatic having
received, or fancied he had received, an injury from his keeper, at the
lunatic asylum at Manchester, threatened to be revenged, for which he
was punished by confinement; he was afterwards a patient in Bethlem
hospital, and gave _Dr. Haslam_ an account of the transaction, of which
the following is an abbreviation. ‘Not liking this situation, I was
induced to play the hypocrite; I pretended extreme sorrow for having
threatened him, and, by an affectation of repentance, induced him to
release me; for several days I paid him great attention, and lent him
every assistance; he seemed much pleased with the flattery, and became
very friendly in his behaviour towards me; going one day into the
kitchen, where his wife was busied, I saw a knife; this was too great a
temptation to be resisted; I concealed it, and carried it about with me;
for some time afterwards the same friendly intercourse was maintained
between us, but as he was one day unlocking his garden door, I seized
the opportunity and plunged this knife, up to the hilt, in his back.’”
There is a species of insanity which has been called _intermittent_, in
which the patient is perfectly rational for a considerable interval; the
malady often recurs two or three times in a year, and lasts several
weeks, the subject of the hallucination being always the same.[535]
Q. 4. _Whether there is a probable chance of recovery; and in case of
convalescence, whether the cure is likely to be permanent?_
The _prognosis_, or means of ascertaining the probable event of mental
derangement, is founded on the consideration of many different
circumstances, such as the particular modification of the malady; the
violence of the symptoms; the duration and frequency of the attack; its
causes; the age, sex, constitutional temperament, and hereditary
dispositions of the affected individual; the general state of his
health; and the particular nature of his bodily maladies; upon each of
which we shall offer a few observations.[536] It has been remarked that
those affected with furious mania recover in a larger proportion than
those who suffer under the depressing influence of melancholy, but that
when the maniacal and melancholic states alternate, the hope of recovery
is farther diminished. The probability of cure is also more or less,
according to the duration of the disease; when, however, it has acquired
a systematic character, it becomes very difficult to remove it, so that
after it has continued upwards of a year, patients at public asylums, as
in Bethlem and Saint Luke’s, are pronounced incurable, and treated
accordingly. In considering the causes of mania, we must class them in
two divisions—_Predisposing_, and _Exciting_. Among the former of these
causes stand _hereditary predisposition_; _injuries of the brain_;
(these also belong to the class of exciting causes); _certain bodily
diseases_; and a _peculiar temperament_. Among the latter we may first
enumerate those of a PHYSICAL nature, as _frequent intoxication_;
_fever_; _mercurial medicines_, largely administered; _the suppression
of periodical or occasional discharges and secretions_; _parturition_;
_injuries to the head from external violence_, _&c._ The MORAL causes
include those emotions which are conceived to originate from the mind
itself, and which, from their excess, tend to distort the natural
feelings; or, from their repeated accessions, and unrestrained
indulgence, at length overthrow the barriers of reason and established
opinion; such are the _gusts of violent passion_, and the _protracted
indulgence of grief_; the _terror_ impressed by erroneous views of
religion; the _degradation of pride_; _disappointment in love_; and
_sudden fright_.
Of Hereditary disposition we may observe, that there does not appear to
be any malady more obviously dependant upon its influence than that of
madness[537]; for even if one generation escape, the taint is presumed
to cling to the succeeding branches until, either by admixture with a
purer stock, or by education or management, it is neutralized or drained
away. In forming a prognosis it therefore becomes the first object of
inquiry, whether any branch of the patient’s family has ever manifested
any symptoms of the disease; for where this is made out, our
expectations of permanent recovery must be slender; and even should the
patient become convalescent, he will be liable to a relapse from every
fresh exposure to the exciting causes. Injuries about the head may be
considered as both the predisposing and exciting causes of insanity; for
a fracture of the cranium has been known to produce disorder in persons
who had never betrayed the least obliquity previous to the accident, and
whose families had never manifested the slightest disposition to the
malady. Although mental derangement has been observed in persons of
every habit and temperament, yet there is certainly a complexion which
may be said to predominate in these cases; _Dr. Haslam_, for instance,
has stated, that out of 265 patients in Bethlem hospital, 205 were found
to be of a swarthy complexion, with dark or black hair; the remaining 60
having a fair skin, and light brown or red hair. Among the most powerful
exciting causes of derangement of intellect in those predisposed to the
malady are to be classed the moral causes which produce mental distress
and uneasiness; at the eventful era of the French revolution, and for
some years after, the lunatic establishments of France were inundated by
its victims; and _Dr. Burrows_ observes, that the annals of insanity
will satisfactorily shew that there never was, in any country, a sudden
increment of insane persons, without some powerful and evident
excitation, physical, moral, theological, or political.[538] I have,
says _Zimmerman_,[539] had occasion to see all the great hospitals in
Paris, and have distinguished in them three kinds of maniacs: the men
who had become so through pride; the girls through love; and the women
through jealousy.
The use of ardent spirits or wine to a person predisposed to insanity,
is always dangerous; under the same circumstances a long course of
mercurial remedies has been found mischievous. The suppression of
accustomed evacuations is also a frequent cause of mania, and the
restoration of them not unfrequently removes the mental affection. Where
there is in women an hereditary disposition to mania, it is frequently
called into action immediately after parturition; in such cases, the
prognosis is favourable;[540] on the other hand, it has been remarked
that in our climate, women are more frequently affected with insanity
than men; and it has been considered very unfavourable to recovery, if
they should be worse at the period of menstruation, or have their
catamenia in very small or immoderate quantities. We have already
noticed local injuries of the head among the predisposing causes; we may
also observe in this place, that they not unfrequently prove an exciting
one; in the case of _Hadfield_ the insanity was occasioned by a blow on
the skull. DISSECTION has thrown little or no light on the pathology of
insanity; it must be admitted that a peculiar structure of the brain
will predispose to madness, but there may exist many alterations in the
structure of these parts too minute for the eye to observe, or the
scalpel to expose. In some cases, however, the brain of the maniac
displays an obvious deviation from the healthy appearances, as we learn
from the testimonies of _Chiarugi_ in Italy, _Greding_ in Germany, and
from _Dr. Haslam’s_ work in this country. The more general appearances
would seem to consist in excessive determination of blood to the brain,
with enlargement of its vessels; and effusion of fluids into its
cavities; the membranes of the brain have also been found variously
altered from their healthy state; ossifications have been observed on
the _dura mater_; the _tunica arachnoidea_ has appeared thickened, and
more or less opaque; and the _pia mater_ has not unfrequently appeared
inflamed and turgid with blood; besides which _Dr. Haslam_ has recorded
an appearance of air in the vessels of this membrane; nor is it uncommon
to discover effusions of a watery fluid between these membranes. The
medullary substance, when cut into, has seemed to contain more blood
than usual; the consistence of the branular mass has moreover been
stated, by different anatomists, to recede from its natural state in
cases of insanity. _Bonetus_, in his _Sepulchret. Anatom._ has asserted
that the brain of maniacs is so dry and friable that it may almost be
rubbed into powder; but with respect to this we are disposed to doubt.
_Morgagni_,[541] however, tells us that he has generally found the brain
of such persons of considerable hardness; and _Mr. John Hunter_ has
found it so tough as even to exhibit some degree of elasticity; _Dr.
Baillie_ has also remarked, that when these changes take place in the
brain, the mind is at the same time deranged, there being either mania,
or lethargy, or the person is much subject to convulsive paroxysms.
Other cases might be adduced in which the brain was found on dissection
to have a consistence preternaturally soft. With regard to these
phenomena, the experienced anatomist will readily coincide with _Pinel_,
that although they may occur in the brain of the maniac, yet that they
have frequently been found where no mental affection had ever betrayed
itself; in addition to which we may remark that it does not necessarily
follow that the morbid appearances disclosed by dissection had existed
during the progress of the malady; it has been very truly observed by an
intelligent reviewer,[542] that a person may have, for ten years,
frequent attacks of epilepsy; he may become at last maniacal, and die
comatose. Upon dissection, marks of inflammation and of serous effusion
are observed in the brain and its membranes; but can we suppose that any
such lesion of structure existed during even the latter half of the
epileptic state?
OF NUISANCES, LEGALLY, MEDICALLY, AND CHEMICALLY CONSIDERED.
There are in law many kinds of nuisance; but we shall confine ourselves
to the consideration of those only which can be made the subject of
medical or chemical investigation; these are such as are directly or
indirectly detrimental to health, whether general or individual; or are
destructive to comfort; or injurious to property: obstructions to the
free course of air, light, and water, volumes of smoke, and noisome
smells fall under the two first descriptions, while the fumes of some
manufactures combine every species of annoyance.
The question, how far the salubrity of the atmosphere may be affected by
the effluvia of particular manufactories, is one that the medical
practitioner is often called upon to decide; and upon such an occasion
let him beware that his judgment be not swayed by the fastidiousness of
the surrounding inhabitants, nor warped by the clamours of invidious
rivals or interested opponents; as a man of science and integrity he is
called upon to decide between two parties equally valuable to the
state,—between the health and comfort of the citizen, and the prosperity
of the manufacturer.
The manufactories and occupations which have been considered
exceptionable, for reasons to be hereafter enumerated, may be arranged
under four divisions, viz.
1. _Those, during whose operation gaseous effluvia, the products of_
PUTREFACTION _or_ FERMENTATION, _escape into the atmosphere, and are
either noxious from their effects upon animals, or insufferable from
the noisomeness of their smell_: such as the steeping of flax, and
hemp; (1) the manufacture of catgut; slaughter-houses; starch
manufactories (2); tanneries (3); the feeding of swine; and the
several occupations of horse slaughterers (4); skinners; fell-mongers;
curriers, &c. &c.
II. _Those, where, by the_ ACTION OF FIRE, _various principles are
evolved, and diffused in the form of vapour, or gas; the inhalation of
which is not only disagreeable to the senses, but injurious to the
health_; as the process of brewing (5); the formation of various acids
(6); the incineration of animal substances, as practised by the
manufacturers of hartshorn; Prussian blue (7) makers; roasters of horn
for lanthorns (8); glue manufacturers; varnish makers (9); soap
boilers(10), and renderers of tallow (11); smelting houses (12);
gasworks; brick kilns; turpentine distillers, and rosin makers, &c.
&c.
III. _Those, which are capable of yielding waste liquids, that poison
the neighbouring springs and streams_, as gas works (13); starch
manufactories; dying-houses, &c. &c.
IV. _Those trades, whose pursuit is necessarily accompanied with great
noises_, as those of copper-smiths; anchor-makers; gold-beaters;
tin-men; trunk-makers; proof-houses, (where cannons are proved); the
tilting of steel; forging bar iron; flatting-mills;[543] &c. &c.
Against these nuisances there are various remedies: by action or
indictment at law, by injunction in equity, and sometimes by the summary
abatement of the party injured.
If the injury be general (_ad commune nocumentum omnium ligeorum_) the
proper remedy is by indictment, 1 _Inst._ 56, 3 _Bl. Com._ 219, 4 _Bl.
Com._ 167; and an indictment will lie even though there be another
remedy or punishment by act of parliament, as for keeping swine in
London, 2 _Will. and Ma. Sess._ 2, _c._ 8, § 20; _Regina v. Wigg_; 2
_Salk._ 460; _Ld. Raym._ 1163. But it is otherwise of an _offence
created_ by statute, then the remedy must be in the form prescribed by
the statute.
Though indictment is a suit of the crown, and a general pardon will
excuse the fine inflicted on conviction for a nuisance, it will not
prevent the abatement of it. _Rex et Regina_ v. _Wilcox_, 2 _Salk._ 458;
see also _Dewell_ v. _Sanders_, cited 16 _Vin. Abr._ 42, 45.
But if the nuisance be not general, but particular, then an indictment
will not lie; yet the individual aggrieved may have his action on the
case, 3 _Bl. Com._ 220; _Bull. N.P._ 26; _Esp. N.P._ 635. Individuals
also are in some cases permitted of themselves to abate a nuisance, 3
_Bl. Com._ 5; _Lodie_ v. _Arnold_; 2 _Salk._ 458; 16 _Vin._ 40. In _Rex_
v. _Rosewell_, only a small fine was set upon the defendant convicted on
indictment of a riot, committed while pulling down some part of a house,
it being a nuisance to his lights; see case 2 _Salk._ 459, and
authorities there cited; also _Rosewell_ v. _Prior_, _ib._ 460; but
contra, see cases where they may not; _Lord Mansfield’s_ judgment in
_Cooper_ v. _Marshall_, 1 _Bur._ 259.
The old writs, the assize of nuisance, F. N. B. 183, and _Quod permittat
prosternare_, F. N. B. 124, _Palmer_ v. _Poultney_, 2 _Salk._ 458, are
now out of use, but might be resorted to on an extreme occasion, 3 _Bl.
Com._ 220.
Courts of Equity will also interpose by injunction in cases of nuisance,
to restrain and prevent an injury for which courts of law, in many
cases, could not give an adequate compensation, 1 _Fonb. Tr. Eq._ 31;
_Coulson_ v. _White_; 3 _Atk._ 21; _Atty. Gen._ v. _Doughty_, 2 _Ves._
453. And though the Court of Chancery, on application to have an assumed
nuisance (as a mill-dam which had been destroyed) restored to its
original state, has refused an injunction; yet to accelerate the
determination of the right it has directed the defendant to bring an
action of trespass, and every thing to be admitted on both sides
necessary for trying the mere right. _Birch_ v. _Sir Lyster Holt_; 3
_Atk._ 725; 2 _Ves._ 414; on this principle see also _Lord Teynham_ v.
_Herbert_, 2 _Atk._ 483, and cases there.
Noxious, dangerous, or highly disagreeable trades and manufactures are
nuisances, except when exercised in accustomed places;[546] thus an
ancient brewery[547] though in the midst of a populous town, is no
actionable nuisance, 2 _Lil. Abr._ 246; _Jones_ v. _Powell; Palm._ 536;
_Hutt._ 153; because it shall be supposed to have been erected when
there were no buildings near; but if a brewery or glass-house (_Rex et
Regina_ v. _Wilcox_, 2 _Salk._ 458) be newly erected, it is a nuisance,
1 _Hawk. Pl._ 199; _Jones_ v. _Powell_, _Hutton_ 135, for the smoke is
at least destructive of comfort and may be injurious to health; much
more then is a smelting-house a nuisance when, in addition to dense and
continued volumes of smoke, the poisonous fumes of sulphur, lead,
antimony, and arsenic, not only taint the atmosphere, but so affect
vegetation as either to destroy it altogether or poison the cattle that
feed upon the adjacent herbage; or where the vapours injure fruit trees,
4 _Ed._ 3, and 4 _as. pla._ 3, cited in a pamphlet A. D. 1639 in
Serjeant _Hill’s_ collection of law pamphlets, vol. 5; see also 1 _Roll.
Abr._ 89; 1 _Burr. R._ 260. Now though the business of smelting is
highly necessary, and it may appear hard to restrain a man from making
the most profitable use of his lands and premises, yet public health is
of primary importance,[548] and these maxims of law must ever be
remembered: _Prohibetur ne quis faciat in suo, quod nocere possit
alieno: et sic utere tuo ut alienum non lædas. Palm._ 536; 9 _Co. Rep._
58.
Next to the fumes of metallic poisons we may rank the vapours of
sulphuric, nitric, muriatic, and other acids, when carelessly prepared
in large quantities, _Rex_ v. _White and Ward, Burr._ 333.
It was said to be no nuisance to a neighbourhood for a butcher or
chandler (_Rankett’s_ case) to set up their trades among them; but it
may be by such or other tradesmen (as a dyer, _Hutt._ 136) laying
stinking heaps at their doors; in other cases the necessity of the thing
shall dispense with the noisomeness of it.[549] _Jacobs’ Law Dict. tit._
Nuisance; 2 _Rolle’s Abr._ 139. But query, how the necessity is to be
proved? for though the sale of meat and candles be necessary in a town,
the one need not be slaughtered, nor the other manufactured among
ordinary dwelling houses; the one is offensive to the feelings of
humanity and disgusting to the senses, the other is so disagreeable to
the olfactory nerves, that few persons can pass a tallow-chandlers on a
melting-day without experiencing some degree of nausea.
In all the best regulated cities of Europe the slaughter-houses are
confined to particular situations, generally without the walls;[550] the
general neatness and propriety of English towns leave little to be
derived from foreign example, but in this instance we are defective.
Some years since, a pamphlet was published against the nuisance of
street butchers, but evidently without effect; perhaps the mere vending
of meat in open shops may not be attended with any evil sufficient to
counter-balance the convenience; but where the beasts are also
slaughtered in ordinary situations, the nuisance is very considerable,
and in many instances likely to be injurious to the health of the
neighbourhood; for though the nuisance is not so apparent in some of the
streets as before the act of the _57th Geo._ 3,[551] yet the
accumulation of filth behind the houses is likely to be the greater from
the very circumstance of its being remote from public observation.
Though in making these observations we recommend general markets, and
selected situations, for the exercise of particular trades, rather than
that they should be dispersed throughout the town; yet we must observe,
that unless these districts are made the subject of peculiar regulation,
the public evil might be encreased in intensity by accumulation, much
more than it had been diminished by segregation. In places for the sale
of animal food cleanliness is very generally attended to, as a contrary
practice would greatly increase the tendency to putrefaction;
self-interest is here the best possible guard against nuisance, but this
motive does not so immediately apply to other cases,[552] and we
accordingly occasionally observe the utmost disregard of public
convenience in the conduct of many disgusting manufactures.
The dictum of _Rolle_ that usefulness shall dispense with noisomness
has, however, been broken in upon by many more modern decisions; in
_Morley_ v. _Pragnel, Cro. Car._ 510, an innkeeper brought an action
against the defendant for erecting a tallow-furnace so near his inn that
many of his guests left the house, and he recovered damages for the
injury; _Tohayle’s_ case was then quoted; he had erected a
tallow-furnace in the Strand, which, on indictment, was ordered to be
abated, (see also 1 _Hawk. P. C._ 463 where _Rolle’s_ doctrine is
questioned.)
As to the physical effect of each particular species of bad smell, there
may always be some doubt, and much contrariety of evidence is to be
expected; this however is certain, that those stenches which may be
innocuous to persons in full health, are by no means so to invalids or
persons of irritable nerves or stomachs; and to pregnant women they are
generally allowed to be dangerous.[553]
Habit has also a powerful operation in diminishing the deleterious
effects of such effluvia; instances daily occur in which the fumes of
certain manufactories affect strangers in the most violent degree, while
the artisans engaged in the occupations which produce them; or the
persons accustomed from their residence to the full force of their
influence, scarcely experience any inconvenience; nay, in some cases,
they would even seem to derive a degree of benefit from such an
atmosphere, and to suffer whenever they quitted it;[554] like the
criminal recorded by Sanctorius, who fell sick when taken out of an
infected dungeon, and did not recover until he had been returned into
the impure air to which he had been so long habituated. We apprehend
that the history of the French bastile would furnish the physiologist
with some extraordinary illustrations of the power of habit over the
functions of the body. We introduce these remarks for the purpose of
shewing, that persons immediately engaged in an indictable manufactory,
are not only morally, but physically, incompetent to give evidence in
proof of the extent of the mischief it may create: in addition to which
it must not be forgotten, that in those works in which are carried on
the fusion and volatilization of metals, the workmen employed in the
interior of the building escape the deleterious fumes which pass up the
flues, and spread desolation over the surrounding district. These views
will moreover enable us on many occasions to reconcile the conflicting
testimony which is so often given on trials of nuisance, without in the
least impeaching the veracity or sincerity of the individual witnesses
engaged in the contest.
But for the purposes of legal redress it is not necessary that the smell
should be unwholesome; it is enough if it renders the enjoyment of life
and property uncomfortable: see _Lord Mansfield’s_ judgment in _Rex_ v.
_White and Ward_, 1 _Burr. R._ 333; so in _Aldred’s_ case, 9 _Co. Rep._
57, which was for keeping hogs; _Regina_ v. _Wigg_, 2 _Salk._ 460, 2
_Lord Raym._ 1163. In _Street_ v. _Tugwell_, for keeping seven pointers
close to the plaintiff’s house, whereby he was annoyed by the noise and
smell, the jury found for the defendant; and though _Lord Kenyon_ would
not grant a new trial, he said another action might be brought for the
continuance. _Mic. Term_, 41 _Geo._ 3; 2 _Selw. Ab._ 1006.
Though the obstruction[555] of a fine prospect is no nuisance
(_Aldred’s_ case, 9 _Pep._ 58; 3 _Salk._ 247, 459; _Attorney Gen._ at
the relation of _Gray’s Inn Society_ v. _Doughty_, 2 _Ves._ 453) yet as
an action lies for hindering the wholesome air, 9 _Rep._ 58, query
whether building a house across the end of a street, whereby it becomes
less wholesome, whether by want of air or by stagnation of damp vapours,
is or is not a nuisance? and whether actionable or indictable. For
though the rule originally laid down as to indictable nuisances is, that
they must be _ad commune nocumentum omnium ligeorum_, yet if it be to
the injury of a great many, as to the inhabitants of a whole street,
that is enough; _Rex_ v. _Roupel_; K. B. Kingston Assizes, 59 _Geo._ 3;
and _Sir Ed. Coke_ says, “there is a writ in the register necessary to
be put in execution for the wholesomeness of the air in London, and all
other cities.” _De vicis et venellis mutandis_, 4 _Inst._ 252.
The abatement of those nuisances which affect the atmosphere is of the
highest importance, for it is not optional what air we shall breathe;
and next to them we may rank those which affect running streams or other
waters.
“Lourlulary, or lourgary, is an offence when any cast any corrupt thing
appoisoning the waters in or about _London_, compounded of these two
words _lour_ corruption, and _laron_ a thief or felon, and if any die by
reason of such offence within a year after, it is felony; and extendeth
to all other cities.” Burgs. &c. 4 _Inst._ 252; (see also 8 _Geo._ 1,
_c._ 26, and several modern paving acts.) And by an old statute 12 R. 2,
_c._ 13, which if it be (as asserted) obsolete, well deserves to be
revived in some form, none shall cast any garbage, dung, or filth, into
ditches, waters, or other places within or near any city or town, on
pain of punishment by the _Lord Chancellor_!! at discretion!! as a
nuisance. The jurisdiction has been rather strangely given according to
modern notions, but the provision of the act appears to be wise, and
might even now be useful.
To steep stinking sheep-skins (2 _Strange_ 686) or other noxious,
noisome, or poisonous thing is indictable. It is a nuisance, for which
an action will lie, to erect a lime-kiln[556] so near a fish-pond that
it infects the water, and the fish die, or to make a drain which brings
in unwholesome food to them, 16 _Vin. Abr._ 33;[557] and if it be on a
navigable river it is indictable, as in the recent case of the _King_ at
the relation of the city of _London_, conservators of the _Thames_
against _Munroe_ and _Evans_, proprietors of certain gass-works, the
refuse from which being discharged into the river is said to have
destroyed the fish;[558] the defendants were found guilty. _Croydon
Assizes_, 1821.
Noises, whether by day (_Tenant_ v. _Jones_ K. B. Feb. 15, 1821) or by
night (_Rex_ v. _Smith_, 2 Str. 704) are nuisances, for these not only
render life uncomfortable, but are prejudicial to the health of
invalids; there is a case in equity where an agreement not to toll a
church-bell was enforced by injunction.
But it is said the fears of mankind, however reasonable, will not create
a nuisance; therefore it is no nuisance to erect a building for the
purposes of inoculation, (_Jac. Law Dict. Anon Dec._ 18, 1752; 3 _Atk._
21, 720, 750.) In this case a motion was made for an injunction to stay
the building of a house for the purpose of inoculating for the small-pox
in Cold Bath Fields; for the motion the following cases and authorities
were cited, 2 _Roll. Abr._ 139, (the case of _Browne_ for dividing a
messuage) _Hawk. Pl. c._ 75, _s._ 11; 1 _Lutw._ 169. But _Lord
Hardwicke_ said, that upon an indictment of that kind there had been
lately an acquittal at Rye, and refused the injunction.
This decision does not appear to be reconcileable with the cases and
statutes respecting the keeping of gunpowder,[559] which is a nuisance
by the reasonable fears of possible danger, (_Rex_ v. _Taylor_, 2 _Str._
1167, 1169.) So also it was a nuisance, indictable, to divide a house in
a town for poor people to inhabit in, by reason whereof it will be more
dangerous in the time of sickness and infection of the plague, (2 _Roll.
Abr._ 139); and this possible evil has often been realised in the
obscurer parts of _London_ in cases of typhus, and more frequently in
the liberty of _Dublin_ where the narrowness of the streets, and the
alleged operation of the window-tax have excluded the possibility of
proper ventilation. It is therefore more reasonable to suppose that the
utility of the establishment in question in the above cited case, and
the comparative openness of the situation prevailed over the fear of
possible risk, and that the principal objection was the exercise of the
summary jurisdiction of a court of equity in a matter more properly
triable at law, rather than from an opinion that a receptacle for highly
infectious diseases in a populous neighbourhood was not a nuisance.
But if the disorders for which it is open be not highly infectious, an
hospital is certainly no nuisance. In the case of _Rex_ v. _Mac Donald_,
3 _Burr. L._ 1645, it was moved that an indictment against the
defendant, for converting his house into an hospital for taking in and
delivering lewd, idle, and disorderly unmarried women, should be
quashed; _Lord Mansfield_ took notice of the narrow principles of the
prosecutors, (the parish, for that they were thereby burthened with
bastards) and expressed his surprise how such a bill could ever be
found, asking “by what law is it criminal to deliver a woman when she is
with child.”
Whether a new comer can have an action for a nuisance has been doubted,
for it was his own act that he came into the neighbourhood, and _volenti
non fit injuria_; but on the other hand see _Westborn_ v. _Mordaunt,
Cro. Eliz._ 191; 2 _Leon._ pl. 129, p. 103; Espin. N. P. 637; and if a
man come into possession of the premises by descent, or operation of
law, or a clergyman to his parsonage, it would appear that he may at any
rate have his action.
It must be observed that every continuance of a nuisance is held to be a
fresh one, and therefore a fresh action will lie; and very exemplary
damages will probably be given, if after one verdict against him the
defendant has the hardiness to continue it; (_Westborn_ v. _Mordaunt_, 2
_Leon. pl._ 121; _Beswick_ v. _Cunden Hill, Cro. Eliz._ 402; _Bull_, _N.
P._ 75; _Espin, N. P._ 637). And it is a continuance, though the
premises constituting the nuisance be let to an under-tenant
subsequently to the verdict against the first tenant for years for the
erection, for he transferred it with the original wrong, and his demise
affirms the continuance of it; he hath also rent as a consideration for
the continuance, and therefore ought to answer the damage it occasions.
_Rosewell_ v. _Prior_, 2 _Salk._ 460, and cases there.
There are other things which may be called nuisances in transitu, such
as the removal of night-soil, garbage, soap boilers-lees, (the waste
lees are the residual liquor after soap-boiling), and other very
stinking refuse; all these should be restrained (as some already are) to
certain hours of the night.
OF IMPOSITIONS.
Under this head we shall comprehend the subject of _Feigned Diseases_,
and that of the _Adulterations of Food_.
FEIGNED, or SIMULATED DISEASES.
There are several objects, for the accomplishment of which persons are
induced to simulate the existence of disease; such as, for obtaining
military exemptions and discharges; or certain civil disqualifications;
for the purpose of deriving parochial relief, or pecuniary assistance
from benefit societies; or the comfortable shelter and retreat of an
hospital; for exciting compassion and obtaining alms; for creating
public interest and curiosity; for procuring release from confinement,
or exemption from punishment; and, lastly, for the dishonest intention
of recovering unjust compensation from some person selected for
accusation, as the author of the pretended calamity.
The subject has been very ably treated by different authors on Medical
Jurisprudence, especially by _Mahon_ and _Foderé_, whose opportunities
for observation during the severe operation of the conscription laws,
must have been numerous and instructive; in our own country the work of
_Dr. Hennen_, on the principles of Military Surgery, will be found to
contain some very valuable information upon the detection of such
impostures.
The diseases which have been selected for the accomplishment of any of
the purposes above enumerated are extremely numerous, although there are
some few which may be said to be more generally preferred on such
occasions.
In general the medical enquirer will not have much difficulty in
detecting such impositions; although there are cases where the
investigation becomes a subject of extreme delicacy and importance, as
in those of persons reporting themselves sick, and unfit for military
service, or _Malingerers_, as they are technically called. It must be
confessed that there is a degree of _eclat_ attending the detection of a
fraud, which is very likely to lead the practitioner astray, by inducing
him to attach undue importance to the supposed proofs of guilt; such
cases have unfortunately occurred, and the innocence of the party has
been compromised by the vanity of the inquisitor.
Whenever the suspicions of a medical person are excited with respect to
the sincerity of a patient’s account, he should always endeavour to
conceal them; he should become himself a dissembler, “_superare malitiam
malitia_,” for while the impostor is persuaded that the medical
attendant is his dupe, he will be less on his guard; he should then be
desired to describe with minuteness every symptom and circumstance of
his malady; he should be questioned as to its origin, progress, and
duration, its seat, and intensity, and the effects produced upon it by
remedies; few impostors will be able to withstand such interrogatories
without tripping; they will soon betray some incongruity in their
statements, and enable the pathologist to elicit the truth. A girl of
seventeen counterfeited epilepsy so well in the general hospital of
Montpellier, as to elude all suspicion, until _M. de Sauvages_ who being
less credulous asked her whether she had not felt an air pass from the
hand to the shoulder, and from the shoulder to the thigh, when, upon her
replying in the affirmative, he ordered her to be whipped, after which
she had never any return of the disease. If a patient complains of a
long protracted disease, which has rendered his life uncomfortable, and
we at the same time perceive that his body has not undergone emaciation,
we are naturally led to suspect the truth of his statement; and we shall
find little difficulty in verifying, or dispelling our suspicions; nor
ought we to forget, in an inquiry of this nature, to learn whether the
patient has in truth ever flown to any remedy for relief; for if he be
an impostor, however cheerfully he may have appeared to submit to
medical discipline, we shall find upon minute examination that he has
uniformly neglected every plan proposed for his cure. _Galen_ was, from
a circumstance of this kind, led to the detection of a person who
feigned a fit of cholic, in order to avoid attending a public assembly,
but he was observed to neglect the remedy (_Philonium_) which had
uniformly relieved him, when labouring under the actual attack of the
disease to which he was in reality subject. We should, moreover, be
informed respecting the previous character, habits, constitution, and
former complaints of the suspected invalid; and we should learn the
ostensible reasons which the individual in question may have for
feigning ill health, whether for temporary or permanent purposes. The
inspections should be conducted in private, for it has been remarked by
those most experienced in these subjects, that the number of spectators
always increases the obstinacy of the impostor.
When the more ordinary modes of investigation have failed in leading to
the detection of an imposture, of whose existence we entertain but
little doubt, we may proceed to a system of intimidation, and to severe
discipline; few impostors, however sturdy, can withstand the cravings of
hunger, blistering, the affusions of cold water, and above all a
continual nausea from the administration of divided doses of _Tartarized
Antimony_; and yet exceptions of an extraordinary kind might be adduced;
“I have seen an instance,” says _Dr. Hennen_,[560] “where the patient
admitted of all the preparatory measures of amputation before he thought
proper to relax his knee joint;” the same author also relates the case
of a dragoon who bore very severe riding-school duty for some weeks,
secured to his horse, before he could be brought to acknowledge that his
chronic rheumatism was assumed. _Mahon_[561] records a very
extraordinary instance of a conscript, who feigned blindness, and
baffled every attempt to detect the imposition; he was even placed on
the margin of a river, and desired to go forward, which he did, and fell
into the stream; he was however, without doubt, aware that boats were
provided for his safety, for after having received his discharge, he
freely acknowledged the imposition which he had practised.
Having offered these general remarks, we shall proceed to consider the
particular diseases more usually counterfeited, and the modes best
calculated for their detection; although we must here observe, that
after all that can be said upon the subject, each case will require an
exertion of ingenuity for its detection, for which no previous
instruction can ever provide.
INSANITY has in all ages been feigned for the accomplishment of
particular objects; we read of its having been thus simulated by David,
Ulysses, and Lucius Brutus; the observations which we have already made
upon the subject of imputed insanity, will suggest to the medical
inquirer a plan of examination most likely to lead to a just conclusion.
In general the detection of such an imposture will not be difficult; the
feigned maniac never willingly looks his examiner in the face, and if
his eye can be fixed, the changes in his countenance, on being accused,
will be strongly indicative of his real state of mind; it is moreover,
very difficult to imitate the habits of a lunatic for any length of
time, and to forego sleep; an insane person generally sleeps but little,
and talks much during the night, but the pretender, if he thinks he is
not watched, will sleep, and only act his part when he believes his
conduct to be observed.
SOMNOLENCY. This is a state of body which the sturdy impostor has in
several instances assumed; he pretends to be in a state incapable of any
muscular motion; he is constantly in bed, retaining that posture in
which his limbs are placed, or may happen to fall; his great aim is to
appear unconscious of the external world; the interesting case of this
kind related by _Dr. Hennen_[562] must be considered as the master-piece
of imposture. A person of the name of _Drake_, in the Royal African
Corps, assumed an appearance of total insensibility, under which he
resisted every kind of treatment; he resisted the shower bath as well as
shocks of electricity; but on a proposal being uttered in his presence
to apply the actual cautery, his pulse rose; and on preparations being
made to remove him to Bethlem hospital, an amendment soon manifested
itself.
SYNCOPE. It seems probable that certain persons have possessed a
controlling power over the action of the heart; _Dr. Cleghorn_, of
Glasgow, mentions in his lectures the case of a person whom he knew, who
could feign death, and had so completely the power of suspending, or at
least, moderating the action of the heart, that its pulsation could not
be felt; this man, it appears, some years afterwards, died suddenly. The
story of _Colonel Townshend_ is well known, who, in the presence of _Dr.
Cheyne_ and some other physicians, put on all the appearance of death,
and was resuscitated of his own accord; in this instance it is said that
neither pulse nor respiration could be perceived for more than half an
hour; he, however, actually died on the same evening.
_Dr. Hennen_ relates a most interesting case of violent palpitation of
the heart, which was produced by the man’s own efforts. _Dr. Hennen_
found that he could at any time render the affection very imperfect by
throwing the patient’s head well back, so as to destroy that voluntary
combination of muscular action, which he believes to have produced the
palpitation; “we must suppose,” says he, “that this person had the power
of throwing the muscles which narrow the chest into sudden and strong
action, at the moment when the apex of the heart made its stroke
upwards;” after a serious admonition, _Dr. Hennen_ sent the man back to
his duty, and as he afterwards remained without any murmur or complaint,
we must consider his obedience as a tacit acknowledgment of his guilt.
Some persons have pretended that they have no pulsation at the wrist,
and they occasion its cessation by pressure on the artery, or by taking
a full inspiration, and continuing to retain the breath as long as
possible.[563]
EPILEPSY. There is perhaps no disease that has been more frequently
simulated with success; its characters, and mode of attack, offer great
facilities for the impostor; it does not require the unremitting caution
which other maladies exact for successful imitation, nor is it
necessary, as _Dr. Smith_ observes, to assume it but at convenient
times; it being perfectly consistent with the nature of the disorder to
be quite well in the intervals, which may be longer or shorter at the
impostor’s pleasure; during the feigned attack, the blood is generally
sucked from the gums, and the mouth made to froth by chewing soap;[564]
there is, however, one symptom of the disease which cannot be
imitated—the incontractility of the pupil of the eye, on exposure to
light, which in a real fit of epilepsy is always dilated and immoveable;
nor is the patient affected by rubbing stimulants on the nose. During
these feigned convulsions impostors have often suffered the most
flagrant liberties to be taken with their persons, without betraying the
least consciousness of what was going on, such as having pins and
needles run into different parts of their bodies; this fact admits, in
some degree, of physiological explanation; compression on the muscles,
by acting on their nervous filaments, or by some unknown influence on
the distribution of nervous energy, renders them less sensible in
proportion as they become contracted; wounds are thus often inflicted in
the field of battle which are scarcely felt during a desperate conflict,
on account of the high muscular energy of the part which is in force at
the time; indeed it may be satisfactorily shewn that convulsions, or
inordinate muscular contractions, are in themselves instinctive efforts
to diminish pain.
HYSTERIA. On account of the variety and mutability of the symptoms which
characterise this affection, but little skill is required for its
simulation. _Dr. Cullen_ is said[565] to have been deceived by a man
who, pretending to be affected with this disease, was retained in the
Edinburgh Infirmary as long as suited his convenience, and afterwards
triumphantly acknowledged the deceit; affusion of cold water, low diet,
and blisters, will generally furnish the means of detection.
The SHAKING PALSY is a frequent plea on the part of an idle beggar; and
is always suspicious, especially where the person appears to be in other
respects, in an ordinary state of vigour; this ingenious order of
mendicants, however, says _Dr. Gordon Smith_,[566] understands the art
of mimicking wretchedness too well not to have the details of their
appearance in some degree of keeping.
Before we quit the subject of spasmodic diseases, it is essential to
remark that, owing to circumstances and peculiarities of temperament,
these diseases assume, on certain occasions, and in particular
individuals, an extravagance of character which might create a suspicion
of their being feigned. _Lord Monboddo_, in his “Ancient Metaphysics,”
mentions an extraordinary case of what he calls “jumping ague,” in which
the person affected would jump on chairs and tables, and run with great
velocity during sleep. _Sir John Sinclair_, in his Statistical account
of Scotland, relates also many well authenticated histories of the same
disease, and in some parts of Forfarshire it is said to be extremely
common; and there is reason to believe that it may be propagated by a
species of sympathy; numerous are the instances[567] on record, where
the accidental sight of a patient, suffering an epileptic attack, has
immediately occasioned a similar attack on the spectator; so that
epilepsy has been supposed to be sometimes communicable from one person
to another, nearly in the same manner as has been observed of the action
of yawning; and agreeably to a notion alluded to by the poet—
“Dum spectant oculi læsos, lædunter et ipsi.”
Similar spasmodic diseases have been occasioned by religious enthusiasm,
and propagated by sympathy, have become in a very wonderful manner
epidemic;[568] in such cases, although we must consider those in whom
the affection originated as designing impostors, we are bound to acquit
the general mass of sufferers of any blame, except that which may attach
to excessive credulity.[569]
FEVER. The state of the system after a night’s debauch may deceive a
person unaccustomed to such inspections. Emetics have also been taken
with the same view, and the face has been exposed to the fumes of
sulphur. _Foderé_ likewise states that paleness has been induced by
smoking _Cummin seeds_;[570] and we have heard that a paroxysm of fever
may be excited and kept up by the introduction of a clove of garlic into
the rectum. _Dr. Hennen_ says that he has seen many attempts to simulate
fever by whitening the tongue with chalk, &c. and he has often met with
old soldiers profoundly versed in the history of a paroxysm of
intermittent, and very skilful in imitating the rigors. The detection,
however, of such artifices cannot be difficult.
DROPSY. This is more generally feigned by pregnant women, and for the
means to be employed for the detection of the fraud, we must refer the
reader to our section on utero-gestation. _Sauvages_ relates the case of
a mendicant who gave to his child the appearance of hydrocephalus by
piercing the integuments of the head, and gradually introducing air; and
_Ambrose Paré_ mentions a similar practice for the purpose of
counterfeiting hydrocele.
JAUNDICE. If any attempt should be made to colour the skin yellow, the
whiteness of the tunica conjunctiva, as well as the appearance of the
urine and fœces of the patient, will always detect the imposition.
HÆMOPTHYSIS. This disease has been frequently feigned by sucking blood
from the cheeks, gums, &c. but the professional inspector can never be
deceived by such artifices; the appearance of the sputa, the state of
pulse, &c. will always indicate the truth; besides which detection must
be insured by a careful examination of the mouth and fauces.
VOMITING OF BLOOD. _Sauvages_ relates the case of a young woman who, to
avoid the confinement of a convent, swallowed a quantity of bullock’s
blood, and vomited it up in the presence of a physician sent to examine
her. Where such a trick is suspected, we have only to secure the patient
from the necessary supplies, and the fraud is at once detected.
VOMITING OF URINE. Where this is asserted we may safely pronounce the
patient an impostor, for the event is physiologically impossible.
BLOODY URINE. An appearance of this nature is often produced in India by
eating the Indian fig (_Cactus Opuntia_), or the fruit of the prickly
pear, which imparts to the urine a blood-red colour. It has been also
simulated by clandestinely pouring real blood, or colouring matter, into
the night utensils. There is an old story of a boy who imposed on many
by pretending to pass black urine; but being confined, he was detected
in an attempt to secrete an ink-bottle, which pointed out the mode of
his imposture.
INCONTINENCE OF URINE. The simulation of this affection may be detected
by giving the patient a full dose of opium at night, without his
knowledge, and introducing the catheter during sleep, or, by taking him
by surprise during the day, and introducing the same instrument; when,
if he be an impostor, it will be found that the urine has not drained
off, _guttatim_, as it was secreted, but that the bladder possesses the
power of retention. If the bed clothes are not found wet after a full
dose of opium, during the operation of which the patient has been
suddenly awoke, we may also be satisfied that there is no incontinence.
_Foderé_ says that if the penis is secured by a ligature, it will swell
considerably in the real incontinence, in consequence of the urine
running into the urethra; but that no such effect will happen if the
disease be feigned.
GRAVEL AND STONE. All impositions upon this subject may be detected by
chemical analysis; in general, it will be sufficient to saw the
pretended calculus into two parts, when the absence of the
characteristic structure will establish the fraud; it will frequently be
found that they are small pebbles, or coarse siliceous sand; _Mr.
Wilson_[571] has related two instances of this kind in which an attempt
was made to practise on his credulity; “many years ago,” says he, “when
I resided in the house of _Mr. Cruikshank_, a person brought his son to
that gentleman for surgical advice, asserting that the boy had long been
cruelly afflicted with stone; in proof of which he produced several
pieces of hard slaty substances, which he stated he had assisted the
child in removing from the urethra; upon my expressing an opinion that
these were not urinary concretions, he pretended to be angry, and
indignantly left the house, declaring that he would seek for a surgeon
to perform the operation for the removal of the stone, whose humanity
would not let him doubt the assertion of a father, who, though in
poverty, would gladly sacrifice his own existence to save that of his
son: a few days after this he brought back the boy with a large piece of
slate sticking in the urethra, which had torn the inner membrane, and
from the swelling it had produced, was with much difficulty removed;
wishing to detect the imposture, I persuaded him to leave the boy in
_Mr. Cruikshank’s_ house, under the pretence that the operation of
lithotomy should be performed, if necessary; and it was only after the
forms of binding the boy and bandaging his eyes were gone through, that
he could be prevailed upon to confess his father had taught him to
introduce these substances, which he had procured from coals, for the
purpose of exciting commisseration for his pretended sufferings, and
obtaining money from the charitably disposed; and perhaps, in this
instance, to have extorted money from the surgeon to conceal his
ignorance, had he seriously attempted to perform any operation.”
ALVINE CONCRETIONS. It sometimes occurs that bodies of a very anomalous
kind are passed from the intestines; but the medical practitioner by a
careful examination of the substance, and a minute inquiry into the
nature of all the ingesta, will frequently succeed in tracing their
origin. _Dr. Marcet_, in his “Essay on Calculous Disorders,” relates
some interesting instances of this kind, which we shall notice in this
place, in order to put the medical man on his guard when called upon to
deliver his opinion upon such occasions. The first case is that of some
concretions put into _Dr. Marcet’s_ hands by _Sir Astley Cooper_, and
which had been discharged by a female patient, under circumstances which
made it questionable whether they had proceeded from the rectum, or from
the urethra; they were, however, discovered to be pieces of undigested
cheese formed into balls by the action of the intestines, or portions of
caseous matter actually formed in the intestines from milk taken as
nourishment by the person, and coagulated by the gastric juices into
those undigestible masses. Another singular species of intestinal
calculus was found by _Dr. Marcet_ and _Dr. Wollaston_ to be oat-seeds,
derived from the oaten cake which the patient had eaten. _Dr. Marcet_
also describes a concretion which, by the assistance of _Dr. Wollaston_,
he discovered to be those small woody knots which are often found in
certain pears, and which the person had previously eaten. The last case
which he relates is not less curious; a philosophical gentleman of
delicate health, and disordered system, voided a number of small red
globular bodies, each of which had in its centre two black opaque spots;
they were supposed to be peculiar animals connected with his disorder,
but _Dr. Wollaston_ soon satisfied himself that they were nothing but
the spawn of lobsters, an extremely indigestible substance, of which the
patient acknowledged to have eaten about the time he passed these
bodies. The author has deemed it necessary to introduce this subject
under the present article; for, strange as it may appear, it not
unfrequently happens, as _Dr. Marcet_ has stated, that persons
apparently respectable, produce bodies, as having been voided, which are
wholly supposititious.
ABSTINENCE FROM FOOD. Long fasting, or the power of refraining
altogether from food for years, has been frequently the subject of
imposition. The case of _Anne Moore_, of Tetbury, must be in the
recollection of all our readers[572]; and in the _Philosophical
Transactions_ two cases are recorded, in one of which a man is said to
have taken nothing but water for eighteen years, with now and then
during a certain period of the year, a draught of clarified honey; but
the case which has excited public interest in the greatest degree, is
that of _Elizabeth Canning_, (_for whose trial, see_ 10 _Harg. St. Tri._
205, _and_ 19 _Howel St. Tri._ 262) who, among other circumstances,
pretended that she had been confined in a loft from Tuesday the 2d of
January at four o’clock, A. M. until Monday the 29th, at four P. M. and
that during this period she had had no sustenance, except about
twenty-four pieces of bread to the amount of a quartern loaf, a penny
mince-pye, and between three or four quarts of water; and yet that on
the 28th day she made her escape by jumping out of the window, and
walked twelve miles in six hours without taking food.[573] This story,
incredible as it may appear, was actually believed by many persons, and
popular clamour rose to a most indecent height; bills of indictment were
preferred, and libels circulated without example either as to number or
virulence; and _Mary Squires_, an unfortunate old gipsey, was condemned
to death for the robbery charged to have been committed previous to this
alleged, wanton imprisonment of the impostress _Canning_. One of the
most interesting points in the evidence of these trials, (for there were
several on different grounds,) was derived from the inspection of the
linen of the impostress by an ingenious midwife, (19 _How. St. Tri._
428) who observed that in twenty-eight days a menstrual period would
probably have occurred, and yet there was no vestige of such an event to
be traced on the linen; thus may physiological circumstances often
elucidate points apparently remote from medical cognizance.
DEAFNESS AND DUMBNESS. Where the former of these maladies is alone
simulated, the inspector will be able, with a little address, to detect
the imposture; a sudden noise will frequently betray the patient, and an
instance of this kind is related by _Ambrose Paré_; we may also contrive
to communicate in his presence some circumstance in which he is greatly
interested, and notice the effect of the intelligence upon his
countenance, or upon his pulse. Where dumbness is only feigned, we
should remember that the powers of articulation never leave a person
without some cause, which medical inquiry must discover. It has been a
question whether the absence of the tongue should be considered a
sufficient reason for muteness; although we cannot dispute the validity
of such a proof, it is necessary to know that cases are recorded[574]
where persons did very well without that organ; but we are inclined to
believe with Dr. Smith, that the muscles belonging to the tongue were,
in such cases, not deficient. But these observations apply to instances
of imposture, where deafness or dumbness have been singly simulated;
suppose a medical practitioner is called upon to examine a patient who
declares himself to labour under the misfortune of congenital deafness,
and consequent dumbness, what plan of investigation is he to pursue upon
such an occasion? It must be admitted that where this simulation is well
performed, it becomes extremely difficult to detect it; but it requires
so much art and perseverance that few persons will be found capable of
the deception: _M. Sichard_ succeeded in the detection of a most
accomplished impostor, by requiring him to answer a number of queries in
writing; when, the Abbé soon found that he spelt several words in
compliance with their sound, instead of according to their established
orthography; by substituting for instance the _c_ for the _q_, which at
once enabled the Abbé to declare that it was impossible that he should
have been deaf and dumb from his birth, because he wrote as we _hear_,
and not, as in the case of the real deaf and dumb, as we _see_.
BLINDNESS. In cases of alledged amaurosis, the practitioner has
generally relied upon the contractility of the pupil, as a test of
vision; but _Richter_ asserts that nothing positive can be drawn from
the mobility or immobility of the iris, as sometimes the one and
sometimes the other occurs; if however the pupil does not contract, we
must think that the practitioner is authorised in concluding as to the
existence of the disease. By unexpectedly reflecting the rays of the
sun, by means of a mirror, upon the eye of the patient, we shall
generally be able to discover any deception that may have been
practised. Where short-sightedness is pleaded as a disqualification, the
truth may be easily ascertained by inspection. The French adopted a very
simple and ingenious mode of distinguishing the feigned myopes who
endeavoured to escape the conscription laws; they placed spectacles of
various powers upon the persons to be examined, and suddenly bringing
before their eyes a printed paper, the subject of which was wholly
unknown to them, the facility with which the person read pointed out
with tolerable accuracy the state of his vision. A myope, for instance,
and none but a myope, could read fluently a paper, brought close to his
eyes, with concave glasses, and _vice versâ_.
OPHTHALMIA. This affection has been sometimes induced by the application
of corrosive sublimate; if, says _Dr. Hennen_,[575] in any suspected
corps we find that the right eye is universally affected, it gives a
reasonable ground to suppose, that the deleterious substance has been
put in preference into that eye, from design, or perhaps from the
facility which the impostor derives from his right hand; a left-handed
person will, for the same reason, inflict the injury on the left side.
ULCERS, &c. External sores are constantly feigned by mendicants to
obtain relief, or by soldiers to procure their discharge; and for this
purpose various acrid applications as well as pressure have been
resorted to. _Galen_ detected an imposture of this kind, where a slave,
in order to avoid accompanying his master on a long voyage, produced
tumours in his knees by the application of _Thapsus_. Ulcers, says _Dr.
Hennen_, were formerly extremely prevalent in the army, and were often
produced by various acrid substances, but, by the adoption of _Mr.
Baynton’s_ practice, they are now rendered much more manageable; where
the ulcer is supposed to be excited by unfair means, surgeons are now in
the habit of sealing the dressings, and so effectually preventing any
improper tampering with them, without immediate discovery. _Dr. Hennen_
says, “I had some time ago a case in a recruit, reported to be
_Pompholyx Diutinus_, and resembling that species of Bullæ in a very
remarkable degree; after several weeks _Dr. Bartlett_ of the 88th
regiment, into whose charge the man was at length transferred, detected
a shining particle of the powder of cantharides adhering to an unctuous
dressing, which had been purposely applied loosely to the limb, in order
that the patient might not be prevented from managing his case in his
own way.” On some occasions the _Ranunculus Flammula_ has been employed
for these iniquitous purposes; in others, _Verdegris_, or a copper coin,
has been bound tight on the sore.
HERNIA has been sometimes simulated by blowing air into the cellular
membrane; and PROLAPSUS ANI has been successfully imitated by
introducing a foreign gut into the rectum. We shall now dismiss the
subject of simulated diseases, leaving such deceptions as that of _Miss
M’Avoy_ of Liverpool, to the fate which must await them; and the
professional men who have aided them by their credulity, to the contempt
which they so richly merit, from the more enlightened part of their
medical brethren.
OF THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD.
Although it is generally acknowledged that the representations of the
ephemeral writer who lately excited so much public notice, were no less
preposterous than the symbols which decorated his volume,[576] yet it
cannot be denied that a great part of our daily food, and a still
greater portion of our luxuries, are the constant objects of fraudulent
adulteration; and what reasonable hope can be entertained of any
amendment, while the temptations remain so excessive, the detection so
difficult, and the punishment so inadequate to the crime; or, above all,
while the trouble and expense of prosecution continue to be so
disproportioned to the injury sustained by an individual, as to prevent
his seeking redress through the ordinary channels of the law? these
observations, perhaps, apply with greater force to the adulteration of
articles not subject to the revenue duties of excise or customs, such as
bread, milk, &c. Against the substitution or sophistication of those
whose sale enriches the treasury, we have numerous enactments, and were
we to form our judgment from them alone, we should conclude that
fraudulent adulterations were rather deprecated as offences against the
revenue, than against the health of the citizen. It is, however,
important to remark, that if the health of any person be impaired in
consequence of the act of another, as by selling him bad wine, which
injures the party’s health, an action (viz. a trespass on the case) will
lie. 2 _Espin N. P._ 601; 1 _Rolle Abr._ 90.
The adulteration of bread[577] is specially prohibited by several
statutes; the 31 _Geo._ 2, _c._ 29, entitled “An act for the due making
of bread, and to regulate the price and assize thereof, and to punish
persons who shall adulterate meal, flour, or bread;” after reciting
the[578] 51 _Hen._ 3, and 8 _Anne, c._ 18, and making various
regulations as to the assize, enacts that bread made for sale shall be
of meal or flour, and that no alum, or preparation or mixture in which
alum shall be an ingredient, or any other mixture or ingredient
whatsoever (except only the genuine meal or flour which ought to be put
therein, and common salt, pure water, eggs, milk, yeast, and barm, or
such leaven as shall at any time be allowed to be put therein by the
court or magistrates.) And that no person shall knowingly put into any
corn, meal, or flour, which shall be ground, dressed, bolted, or
manufactured for sale, any ingredient, mixture, or thing whatsoever, or
shall knowingly sell any thing which shall not be real and genuine meal
or flour of the grain the same shall import to be.[579]
With respect to the manufacture of malt liquors, especially porter, it
is wholly under the jurisdiction of the excise, and yet there is no
article of diet which has so universally the credit of being
adulterated, and that too with drugs of the most noxious quality; we
have now lying before us “_Minutes taken_ (in Session 1818) _before the
Committee of the House of Commons, to whom the petition of several
inhabitants of London and its vicinity, complaining of the high price
and inferior quality of_ BEER, _was referred, to examine the matter
thereof and report the same, with their observations thereupon, to the
house_.” _Ordered_, by the House of Commons, _to be printed_, 8 April,
1819. From this it very clearly appears that the illegal addition of
various drugs is commonly practised in the breweries; but we are
nevertheless inclined to believe that the more extensive and serious
frauds of this description, are not carried on in the cauldrons of the
brewer, but in the barrels of the publican.[580]
The adulteration of milk has furnished another object of popular
clamour, but we are inclined to believe that its dilution with water is
the only fraud ever committed with respect to it. _Chalk_, if added,
would be so easily detected, and would answer the intended purpose so
clumsily, that we may very safely consider such a charge against the
London milk-venders as entirely groundless.
In order to assay the quality of milk several different instruments have
been proposed; _Mr. Dicas_, mathematical instrument maker in Liverpool,
invented for this purpose an instrument which he termed a _lactometer_,
and which ascertains the richness of milk from its specific gravity
compared with water. _Mr. Edmund Davy_, of Cork, has lately made a very
interesting application of the hydrometer,[581] to ascertain the quality
of skimmed milk; it appears that in Ireland, especially in its southern
districts, skimmed milk forms an indispensable part of the subsistence
of the lower orders, and it is stated that the sale of this article in
the markets of Cork alone amounts to a thousand pounds per week; the
necessity therefore of securing the public against the fraudulent
adulteration of so important an article of diet, requires no comment;
and it appears that a large proportion exposed for sale had been greatly
diluted with water; and that for want of the means of detection, the
fraud had been long practised with impunity, not only in Cork, but also
in other parts of the country; an unsuccessful attempt had indeed been
made to remedy the evil by the appointment of persons called _tasters_,
who were empowered to inspect the milk-markets in Cork, and to detain
such milk as they considered adulterated; the total incompetency however
of these officers was soon discovered, and a committee of respectable
farmers was formed, to devise, if possible, some means to prevent the
commission of so serious a fraud; on this occasion _Professor Davy_ was
consulted, and he accordingly constructed the instrument to which we
have alluded, and which differs only from the hydrometer in its scale;
so completely has it answered the object of its construction that the
milk now brought to market is very rarely found to have been _watered_.
We might now proceed to the consideration of various other articles
which are pre-eminently the objects of fraudulent adulteration, but
neither our time, nor space, will allow the digression; nor indeed
should we have entered into the discussion, but to preserve the order
and uniformity of our subject, and to shew its relations to chemical as
well as medical inquiry. With respect to the adulteration of our
medicinal articles, we have already pointed out (p. 20) the law by which
the College of Physicians is empowered to search apothecaries’ shops,
and to destroy such drugs as may be spoilt or adulterated; we have only
in this place to repeat our desire that its jurisdiction may be
enlarged. Very few practitioners have an idea of the alarming extent to
which the nefarious practice of medicinal adulteration is carried, nor
of the systematic manner in which it is conducted; and it would perhaps
have been deemed a duty to have entered into a few details upon the
subject, had not the author already published in his PHARMACOLOGIA
(_edit. 5th_) an account of the various modes in which our remedies are
thus deprived of their most valuable properties, and described the tests
by which such frauds may be discovered.
POLICY OF INSURANCE ON LIVES.
“An insurance upon life is a contract by which the underwriter for a
certain sum, proportioned to the age, health, profession, and other
circumstances of that person, whose life is the object of insurance,
engages that the person shall not die within the time limited in the
policy; or if he do, that he will pay a sum of money to him in whose
favour the policy was granted. Thus, if _A_ lend £100 to _B_, who can
give nothing but his personal security for repayment; in order to secure
him in case of his death, _B_ applies to _C_ an insurer, to insure his
life in favour of _A_, by which means, if _B_ die within the time
limited in the policy, _A_ will have a demand upon _C_ for amount of his
insurance.” 2 _Park on Insurance_, 636.
The insurance must be made by a party having an interest in the life
insured, for by 14 _Geo._ 3, _c._ 48, _s._ 1, it is enacted, “That no
insurance should be made by any person or persons, bodies politick or
corporate, _on the life or lives_ of any person or persons, or on any
other event or events whatsoever, wherein the person or persons for
whose use, benefit, or on whose account, such policies should be made,
_should have no interest_, or by way of gaming or wagering; and every
insurance made contrary to the true intent and meaning thereof should be
null and void to all intents and purposes.” And also “That it should not
be lawful to make any policy or policies on the live or lives of any
person or persons, or other event or events, without inserting in such
policy or policies the person’s name interested therein, or for whose
use, benefit, or on whose account such policy was to be made or
underwrote. And that in all cases where the insured had had an interest
in such life or lives, event or events, no greater sum should be
recovered, or received from the insurer or insurers, than the amount or
value of the interest insured, in such life or lives, or other event or
events.”
A creditor has an interest in the life of his debtor, _Anderson_ v.
_Edie, K. B. Trin. Term._ 1795, but it must be for a good and legal
consideration, not for gaming, _Dwyer_ v. _Edie, Hill. Term._ 1788. If
the creditor be paid by the executors, though from funds furnished
_aliunde_, (their testator having died insolvent) he cannot recover
against the insurers. _Godall and others_ v. _Boldero and others_, 9
_East_ 72.
Death by suicide, or the hands of justice, is generally excepted in all
policies, and no premium is returned, though such event should happen on
the day of insurance, by _Lord Mansfield_ in _Bermon_ v. _Woodbridge,
Doug._ 789 and in _Tyrie_ v. _Fletcher, Cowp._ 669; and as this is a
matter of contract, it appears to be unimportant whether the party dying
by his own hands be found _felo de se_ or not.
And if there be any fraudulent concealment as to the state of the
party’s health or age[582] the policy is void. But “even where there is
an express warranty that the person is in good health, it is sufficient
that he is in a reasonable good state of health; for it never can mean
that the _cetui que vie_ is perfectly free from the seeds of disorder.
Nay even if the person, whose life was insured, laboured under a
particular infirmity, if it can be proved by medical men, that it did
not at all, in their judgment, contribute to his death, the warranty of
health has been fully complied with, and the insurer is liable. 2 _Park_
on Ins. 649.
“Thus in an action on a policy made on the life of _Sir James Ross_, for
one year from _October 1759_ to _October 1760, warranted in good health
at the time of making the policy_; the fact was, that _Sir James_ had
received a wound at the battle of La Feldt in the year 1747, in his
loins, which had occasioned a partial relaxation or palsy, so that he
could not retain his urine or fœces, and which was not mentioned to the
insurer. _Sir James_ died of a malignant fever within the time of the
insurance. All the physicians and surgeons who were examined for the
plaintiff, swore that the wound had no sort of connection with the
fever; and that the want of retention was not a disorder that shortened
life, but he might, notwithstanding that, have lived to the common age
of man; and the surgeons who opened him said, that his intestines were
all sound. There was one physician examined for the defendant, who said,
the want of retention was paralytic; but being asked to explain, he said
it was only a local palsy, arising from the wound, but did not affect
life; but upon the whole he did not look upon him as a good life.
“_Lord Mansfield._—The question of fraud cannot exist in this case. When
a man make insurance on a life generally, without any representation of
the state of the life insured, the insurer takes all the risk, unless
there was some fraud in the person insuring, either by his suppressing
some circumstance which he knew, or by alleging what was false. But if
the person insuring knew no more than the insurer, the latter takes the
risk. In this case there is a warranty, and wherever that is the case,
it must at all events be proved that the party was a good life, which
makes the question on a warranty much larger than that on a fraud. Here
it is proved that there was no representation at all, as to the state of
life, &c. But where there is a warranty, then nothing need be told; but
it must in general be proved, if litigated, _that the life was in fact a
good one, and so it may be, though he have a particular infirmity_. The
only question is, _Whether he was in a reasonable good state of health,
and such a life as ought to be insured on common terms?_” The jury upon
this direction, without going out of court, found a verdict for the
plaintiff. _Ibid._ 1 _Black. Rep._ 312.
In _Willis_ v. _Poole_, which was on a case of gout,[583] the same
learned judge said, “_Such a warranty can never mean that a man has not
the seeds of disorder_. We are all born with the seeds of mortality in
us. A man subject to the gout is a life capable of being insured, if he
has no sickness at the time to make it an unequal contract. _Park_ 650.
“It is not to be concluded, that a disorder with which a person is
afflicted before he effects an insurance on his life, is a disorder
‘tending to shorten life,’ within the meaning of a declaration of the
insurance offices, from the mere circumstance that he afterwards dies of
it, if it be not a disorder necessarily having that tendency. _Watson_
v. _Mainwaring_ (4 _Taunt_ 763). This case turned on the question
whether the complaint with which the deceased was afflicted and
ultimately died, was an ordinary, or an organic _dyspepsia_. The jury
found that it was neither organic nor excessive (_i. e._ at the time of
insurance.)”
_Chambre_ J.—“All disorders have more or less a tendency to shorten
life, even the most trifling; as for instance, corns may end in a
mortification; that is not the meaning of the clause: if _dyspepsia_
were a disorder tending to shorten life within this exception, the lives
of half the members of the profession of the law would be uninsurable.”
If the insurance be for a year, the day of the date[584] is included,
(thus a policy effected on the 3d of Sept. 1697 insures the whole of the
3d of Sept. 1698, being a year and a day) but the allowance of fifteen
days or more usually given to pay up arrears of premium does not cover a
death happening within them, (_Want, Exix_, v. _Blunt_, 12 _East._ 183,)
for the contract is, that the _insured_ shall _himself_ pay during his
life, not that his executors or administrators shall pay; and personal
contracts shall be performed according to the words and apparent meaning
of the parties, and not by a performance _cy-pres_; see also _Tarleton_
v. _Stainforth_, 5 _T. R._ 695. The death must happen within the time
insured, for if a person, whose life is insured for one year, receive a
mortal wound within the year, but does not die till after the year, the
insurer would not be liable; _Mr. Justice Willes_, in _Lockyer_ v.
_Offley_, 1 _T. R._ 252; but if the insurance were for life, he might
pay up his arrears within the fifteen days.
It is evident that medical practitioners must have frequent occasion to
give testimony on this subject; but it is only necessary for us here to
observe, in addition to the general rules of evidence, that the
declaration of a wife, whose life had been insured, has been admitted as
evidence to prove the state of her health; her husband after her death
having brought an action against the insurance company, _Avison_ v.
_Lord Kinnaird_; this case is important to medical witnesses in several
points. See 2 _Pr. Smith’s R._ 286, 6 _East_. 188.
This branch of the law is also important to the faculty, as they must
frequently be called upon to justify the medical certificates which the
insurance offices uniformly require before they issue a policy, and it
continually involves the very nice question as to what shall or shall
not be considered a disease tending to shorten, or endanger life.[585]
So also medical evidence is often required to ascertain the state of a
life on which an annuity may have been granted; where either the gross
inadequacy of the price paid, or the exorbitance of the annuity secured,
becomes a question for legal determination.[586]
SURVIVORSHIP.
As the probable duration of human life, under ordinary circumstances,
forms the foundation of the system of life insurance, so also does the
comparative chance of duration between two or more lives. These
contingencies have been made the subject of minute, and we believe
accurate calculation.[587] One observation alone is necessary on this
branch of the subject: the tables have been constructed on the basis of
local mortalities, they must not therefore be considered as universally
applicable to all changes of climate and circumstance.[588]
A more difficult problem however is presented when it is required to
estimate the probable chance that one life had survived another, there
being no evidence of the decease of either, though a moral presumption
exists of the loss of both. The legal application of this question may
arise from a variety of circumstances, as where two or more persons
perishing by the same accident, as shipwreck, it is necessary to
ascertain the survivor in order to determine the course of succession.
This was the case of the representatives of _Gen. Stanwix_, A. D. 1772,
(_Fearne’s Posthu. Works, p._ 37) “a case which,” according to the
learned author, “seemed to mock every principle of judicial decision.”
_Gen. Stanwix_, accompanied by his only child, a daughter by his first
marriage, and by his second wife, set sail for Ireland; the vessel was
lost and not a single person escaped. If _Gen. Stanwix_ had died a
widower, and without issue living at the time of his death, that is to
say, if his wife and daughter died before him, though but an instant,
_his_ nephew became his representative, and entitled to his personal
estate; if the daughter was the survivor, then her personal
representative (an uncle) was entitled; and on these claims the
principal litigation took place, for though it is evident that the
second wife also might have a separate next of kin, and her
representative did bring forward a distinct claim, the circumstance is
not noticed by _Fearne_ (_see note l. c. p._ 39) “The court, finding the
arguments on all sides equally solid and ingenious, waved giving any
decision, and advised a compromise, to which the several claimants
agreed.” So also in the case of _Col. James_ and his wife, who being
passengers in the Grosvenor East Indiaman, were in 1782 cast away on the
coast of Africa, and attempted with a great part of the crew and other
passengers to make their way to some settlement, but in all human
probability perished. In this case there was greater latitude for
conjecture than in the preceding, as there was not the same presumption
that the fate of both had been nearly cotemporaneous; one might have
survived a very considerable time, or both may have been living at the
moment of the suit; there was also some evidence of their comparative
state when last seen, as three or four sailors, who parted from the main
body and took a different route, ultimately escaped and arrived in
England to relate the melancholy tale of their shipwreck and sufferings.
In this case, one of the parties being an infant, it was ordered that it
be referred to the master to enquire and report whether it would be for
the benefit of the infant to consent to a compromise; and the master
having reported in the affirmative, no final judgment was given.
If a man be seized in fee of land and tenements, though but for a
moment, his wife is entitled to dower[589]; therefore if both father and
son perish by a common accident, and the son survive, however short the
period, his wife shall have dower, for the lands descended the instant
the father died. (2 _Bl. Com._ 132.) “This doctrine was extended very
far by a jury in Wales,[590] where the father and son were both hanged
in one cart, but the son was supposed to have survived the father, by
appearing to struggle longest; whereby he became seized of an estate in
fee by survivorship,” (he and his father being joint-tenants) “in
consequence of which seizing his widow had a verdict for her dower.”
_Broughton_ v. _Randall_, _Cro. Eliz._ 502, _Noy._ 64.[591] Here there
could be no dower till the termination of the joint-tenantcy; therefore,
if it were possible that they could have died simultaneously, the widow
of neither could have been entitled; but this we believe impossible,
therefore query, if there had been two widows and no evidence, should
the case have been decided on presumption?
So also of joint-tenants (as partners) where the interest of the first
deceased passes to the survivor, and not to the heir at law or next of
kin of the deceased; but the heir at law or next of kin of the last
survivor is entitled, (and see above _Broughton_ v. _Randall_.)
Also as between testator and legatee, if the legatee die first, it is a
lapsed legacy and falls into the residue; but if the legatee survive,
his executor or administrator shall take it.[592]
According to the civil law, which generally regulates the administration
of personalty, it is held that when parent, whether father[593] or
mother,[594] and child perish together, as in shipwreck, if the child be
of the age of puberty, he shall be presumed to have survived; but on the
contrary that he died first if he were under that age: regard being also
had to the relation of the party who is to benefit by the decision.
(_Domat C. L. p._ 652, 653.) But “it may happen several ways, that the
mother may perish under the ruins of a building sooner than the child
whom she suckles. It may happen that a son may be killed in a battel
before his father; and on the same occasions, and likewise on all
others, it may so fall out, that they both die in the _same_[595]
instant, or that even he who by reason of his age, or some other
infirmity, might be presumed to die first does nevertheless die the
last.” (_Domat._ 651).
By the _Code Napoleon, Art._ 721, 722, it is laid down that, of persons
under fifteen, the eldest shall be presumed to have survived, above
sixty the youngest; if some were under fifteen and others above sixty,
the former are presumed to have survived; of persons between fifteen and
sixty, males are presumed to have survived, the ages being equal or
where the difference does not exceed one year.
The order of nature appears to afford the best general rule, and
therefore, in the absence of all evidence to the contrary, it is to be
wished that it were established, that the natural succession had taken
place, as if no accident had occurred; that the child survived the
parent; the nephew, the uncle; descendants, asscendants; legatees,
testators; and generally that the younger had outlived the elder.
The decision in the following curious case appears to have been directed
in conformity with such a principle. A father and son having perished at
the battle of the Dunes, fought near Dunkirk in 1658, and the daughter
and sister having at noon, on the very same day and hour, taken the vows
in a nunnery, whereby she became _dead in law_[596], a question arose as
to survivorship among these three persons, when it was decided that the
Nun died first, since her death, being voluntary, was consummated in a
moment; whereas that of the father and son, being violent, was probably
not immediate. Between the father and son there did not appear to be any
data for a just conclusion, and it was therefore decreed, according to
the established rule above stated, that the son had survived the father.
But since it must be admitted that questions of _Survivorship_ will
occasionally assume a form highly capable of physiological elucidation,
we are bound to consider the subject as an article of Medical
Jurisprudence. The physical proofs by which we can arrive at a
conclusion upon the fact of _Survivorship_, are necessarily precarious
and doubtful; but, in the absence of all other testimony, they may be
occasionally admissible: a question, for instance, has arisen in a case
where the mother and infant have both been found dead, after a
clandestine delivery, whether any physiological investigation could
determine which of the two survived the other, and upon this question
there have been several curious decisions; _Valentini_, in his Pandects,
relates an instance in which the mother and offspring both lost their
lives during the pangs of a difficult and protracted labour; when the
medical witnesses, having considered the extreme delicacy of the infant
on the one hand, and the exhaustion of the parent on the other, arrived
at the conclusion that the latter must have been the first to perish.
The Imperial Chamber of Wetzlar[597] came to a similar decision, in a
case somewhat analogous; but in opposition to such an opinion
_Capuron_,[598] _Belloc_,[599] and _Sue_[600] have maintained the
extreme uncertainty of any general conclusion deduced from so many
uncertain data; a judgment in which we heartily concur. Let us, however,
suppose a question of _Survivorship_ to have arisen in consequence of a
party having perished by famine, on a barren rock; here the lights of
science may assist the decision; for the physiologist will tell us that
persons so situated will perish with a rapidity proportioned to their
youth, and state of robust vigour; a fact which is no less correctly
than beautifully illustrated by the poet, in the awful fate of Count
Ugolino and his children; where the father perished by inanition on the
eighth day of his imprisonment, after having seen his sons, unfortunate
victims of the most execrable vengeance ever conceived by man, sink
amidst the convulsions of exhausted nature.
In a plurality of deaths occasioned by some common accident, as the
falling of a building, an idea of survivorship may be deduced from an
examination of the bodies, and of the relative situation in which they
were found; it has been also said that if two persons are found dead in
the water, and it be clearly made out that they were drowned, that
besides the circumstantial presumptions afforded by evidence of greater
buoyancy in the one body than in the other, or the knowledge that the
one was a swimmer and the other not, we may by careful dissection
surmise that death had supervened earlier in the one than in the other,
from the appearances presented in the organs immediately acted on by
this manner of death, such as _the presence of frothy mucus in the
lungs, generated by vain attempts to respire_.[601] With regard to this
latter test, we confess that we place no reliance whatever upon its
indication, for it will be found to depend upon so many extraneous
circumstances as to be incapable of affording any just grounds for a
conclusion: equally futile is that opinion which would attach any
importance to the thoracic capacity of the individuals in question.
Where a number of persons have perished from the inhalation of impure
air, we may perhaps be allowed to conclude that those nearest the doors
or windows, survived those who were found where the noxious air must
have been in its highest state of concentration.
Medical Jurisprudence.
PART III.
INTRODUCTION.
WE have at length arrived at the third, and most important division of
our work, comprehending the consideration of the principal pleas of the
crown, three of which, RAPE, ARSON, and MURDER, are pre-eminently the
subjects of Medical Jurisprudence.
It is in the investigation of these crimes that the law derives its
greatest support from the lights of science, and that the profession of
physic demonstrates the value and extent of her judicial utility. Let
the physician then, who approaches the tribunal of justice in order that
he may promote by his science the due execution of the laws, fully
appreciate the heavy responsibility of his situation; let his evidence
be so distinguished by its dispassionate and inflexible character, and
his opinions be so matured by study, and fortified by experiment, as not
only to ensure for himself the respectful attention of the court, but to
afford a practical illustration of the just pretensions and importance
of the liberal profession which he represents. The observations which we
have already offered on the subject of medical evidence (page 153)
render it unnecessary for us to enlarge on this occasion upon the
various duties it involves; and yet we cannot forbear from again
pressing upon the attention of all those, who are likely to be called
upon to assist the ends of justice, the great importance of preparing
their minds by preliminary studies; let it be remembered, that it is not
during the hurry and anxiety of a coroner’s inquest, nor amid the tumult
of popular prejudice and execration, that a medical practitioner should,
for the first time, adopt the physiological or chemical opinions by
which he is ultimately to decide upon the life of a fellow creature; and
yet it would be folly to conceal the unwelcome truth, that such a fact
has not unfrequently occurred on several of the more interesting trials,
upon which the medical witness has evinced any thing rather than a well
grounded acquaintance with the philosophical bearings of the question;
and while he has endeavoured to conceal his ignorance under the veil of
technical phraseology, he has artfully sought to shun the embarrassments
it might create by a display of bold and sweeping assertions, alike
hostile to the discovery of truth, and the administration of justice.
There is yet another evil to which those who are but imperfectly
informed on the question at issue are peculiarly exposed; their opinion
is always liable to be warped by extraneous circumstances, and they are
in consequence involuntarily apt to bend facts to their first view of
the case under consideration, to seize on a few circumstances which suit
their preconception, and to neglect or distort those which have a
contrary tendency; while, on the other hand, the practitioner who has
prepared his mind by study and experience, will, with equal diligence,
seek every avenue to truth, and will suspend his conclusions, until the
result of each investigation be fairly before him; in delivering to the
Court the opinion to which his researches have led him, he will be ever
careful to distinguish between the duties of an advocate, and those of
an unbiassed witness; he will state whether the conclusion at which he
has arrived amounts to certainty, or only to high probability, and will
separate the doubts and difficulties with which the question has been
encompassed by the sophistry of counsel, from those that belong
intrinsically to the subject, and are inseparable from it. And it may be
proper on this occasion to observe that the medical practitioner is not
to withhold an opinion because it may be involved in doubt; he is to
furnish the best evidence which the nature of the case will allow, and
when he duly performs this task, he may feel proud in the consciousness
that he occupies an important station in the administration of justice;
and that he conscientiously discharges a duty, without the due
performance of which, the laws of his country would be inoperative.
ARSON.
The charge of _Arson_[602] may occasionally become the subject of
scientific research, and the accused individual receive an honourable
acquittal at the hands of the chemical philosopher; by whose
interposition, the conflagration, unjustly imputed to malice, may be
proved to have originated from a spontaneous process of decomposition.
_Spontaneous Combustion_ may be defined, _an inflammation occasioned by
the re-action of different bodies upon each other, at the ordinary heat
of the atmosphere, without the contact or approach of any other body
previously raised to a high temperature_. This definition necessarily
excludes that class of substances which evolve gaseous matter of a
highly inflammable nature, but which requires the approach of an ignited
body to kindle it.
The subject of _spontaneous combustion_ has attracted the attention of
many very eminent chemists, and an extensive series of experiments has
been instituted in several different countries for its complete
investigation, the results of which have thrown considerable light upon
the causes which operate in the production of the phenomenon, as well as
upon the nature of the substances most liable to such an accension, and
the particular circumstances which are essential to its occurrence. The
following may be considered as the principal sources from which it may
originate, viz.
I. FRICTION.
II. FERMENTATION OF VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES, as that of _hay_,
_oatmeal_, _roasted bran_, _coffee_, _&c._ _rags in paper-mills_,
_&c._
III. CHEMICAL ACTION. _Accension of oils, by various animal, vegetable,
and mineral substances; accension of vegetable matter by concentrated
acids; ignition of lime by the affusion of water; ignition of
pyrites._
We shall proceed to consider these subjects more in detail.
1. FRICTION. The kindling of machinery, when not sufficiently greased,
from the friction of its various parts, has occurred too frequently to
require much illustration, although the immediate cause of the
phenomenon involves in its consideration so many recondite points in the
theory of Caloric, as at present to elude our attempts at explanation;
we must therefore rest upon it as an ultimate fact, and be satisfied
with availing ourselves of the advantages to which a knowledge of it may
conduce. The original inhabitants of the New World, throughout the whole
extent from Patagonia to Greenland, procured fire by rubbing pieces of
hard and dry wood against each other, until they emitted sparks, or
kindled into flame; some of the people to the north of California
produced the same effect by inserting a kind of pivot in the hole of a
very thick plank, and causing it to revolve with extreme rapidity: this
fact will explain how immense forests have been consumed, from the
violent friction of the branches against each other by the wind.
II. FERMENTATION OF VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. In order to
establish the process of fermentation, the presence of water appears
indispensable; we accordingly find that in all the cases of spontaneous
combustion which have originated from this source, the substances have
either been in themselves imbued with moisture, or they have possessed
the power of absorbing a considerable portion of water from the
atmosphere. The firing of hay, when stacked in too moist a condition, is
a striking exemplification of this fact; the same circumstance occurs
from great accumulations of turf, flax, and hemp, heaps of linen rags in
paper-mills, &c. provided a sufficient portion of moisture be present to
excite the process of fermentation, and the consequent evolution of
heat. _Oatmeal_, from the extreme avidity with which it imbibes
water,[603] and the heat which is generated by the absorption of it, is
necessarily liable to spontaneous combustion; the following well
authenticated case[604] may serve as an illustration of this fact: “A
gentleman removed with his family from Glasgow to Largs, in May last,
and shut up his house, which was not re-opened until the end of August;
the house stands on the side of a steep declivity, so that the kitchen
which is in the back part, though sunk considerably below the level of
the street, is entirely above ground, and is well lighted and
ventilated. In an opening of the wall, near the kitchen fire-place,
originally intended it is supposed for an oven, there was placed a
wooden barrel bound with iron hoops, and filled with _oatmeal_. This
meal, which had heated during the absence of the family, at last caught
fire, and was totally consumed, together with the barrel which contained
it, nothing remaining but the iron hoops and a few pieces of charcoal.”
In some cases torrefaction increases the propensity of vegetable
substances to spontaneous combustion; _coffee_, roasted _French beans_,
_lentils_, &c. are of this description. Some years ago a great fire
broke out in the village of _Nauslitz_, which is said to have been
occasioned by the application of _roasted_ bran to the necks of some
cattle in a wooden cow-house; in consequence of which, _M. Rude_ an
apothecary at _Bautzen_, instituted some experiments, by which he found
that if rye-bran, roasted until it acquires the colour of coffee, be
wrapped up in a linen cloth, it will in a short time take fire. _Montet_
relates[605] that animal substances may also, under certain
circumstances of decomposition, kindle into flame; and he tells us that
he had himself witnessed the spontaneous accension of a dunghill. We do
not believe that the phosphoric appearances that so frequently accompany
the process of putrefaction, especially that of fish, are ever connected
with actual combustion. Woollen stuffs are said to have taken fire
spontaneously; it is related for instance that the article manufactured
at Cevennes, and which bears the name of “_Emperor’s Stuff_,” has thus
kindled of itself, and burnt to coal; we are, however, very doubtful
whether such a material is liable to this process, unless it be
impregnated with oily matter; and this doubt will receive considerable
strength from the facts which we shall hereafter enumerate.
III. CHEMICAL ACTION. This proves a very frequent cause of _spontaneous
combustion_; and there is perhaps no substance that has so frequently
performed the part of an incendiary as _fixed oil_, especially when of a
drying nature, which with its various accomplices from the animal,
vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, has in darkness and secresy consigned
ships, houses, and manufactories to the flames. The following
interesting occurrence is related in the _Edinburgh Philosophical
Journal_: About twenty-five pieces of cloth, each of which contained
nearly thirty ells, were deposited upon wooden planks in a cellar at
Lyons, on the eighth of July, 1815, in order to conceal them from the
armies which then over-ran France; _in the manufacture of the cloth
25lbs of oil were used for a quintal of wool, and the cloth was quite
greasy_, each piece weighing from 80lbs to 90lbs; the cellar had an
opening to the north, which was carefully shut up with dung, and the
door was concealed by bundles of vine-props, which freely admitted the
air; on the morning of the 4th of August an intolerable stench was
perceived, and the person who entered the cellar was surrounded by a
thick smoke, which he could not support; a short time afterwards he
re-entered with precaution, holding a stable lanthorn in his hand, and
he was astonished to perceive a shapeless glutinous mass, apparently in
a state of putrefaction; he then removed the dung from the openings, and
as soon as a circulation of air was established, the cloth instantly
took fire. In another corner of the cellar lay a heap of stuffs which
had been _ungreased_ and prepared for the fuller, _but they had suffered
no change_. In this case the agency of the oil was sufficiently evident.
In June, 1781, a similar occurrence happened at a wool-combers in a
manufacturing town in Germany, where a heap of wool-combings, piled up
in a close warehouse seldom aired, took fire spontaneously; this wool
had been, by little and little, brought into the warehouse, and from
want of room, been piled up very high and trodden down; that this combed
wool, to which rape oil mixed with butter had been added in the combing,
burnt of itself, was sworn to by many witnesses; one of whom affirmed
that ten years preceding a similar fire had happened among the flocks of
wool at a clothiers, who had put them into a cask, where they were
rammed down hard for facility of carriage, and that this wool burnt from
within outwards, and became quite a cinder. Cotton goods, in which
linseed oil had been spilt, have burnt in a similar manner, and there is
reason to attribute to an accident of this kind the recent loss of a
merchant-vessel homeward bound from the East Indies. Many years since,
several fires broke out at very short intervals, in a rope-walk, and in
some wooden houses in St. Petersburgh; in none of which instances could
the slightest suspicion of wilful firing be entertained; there was lying
in the rope-walk, where the cables for the navy are made, a great
quantity of hemp, amongst which a considerable portion of oil had been
carelessly spilt, and the article was accordingly declared to have been
spoilt; in consequence of which it was purchased at a low price, and
being heaped up together, it had given rise to the conflagration; the
inferior inhabitants had also purchased parcels of this spoilt hemp, for
closing the chinks, and caulking the windows of their houses, a fact
which offered an easy explanation of the origin of the fires that
occurred amongst the houses. It was moreover reported that at the
above-mentioned rope-walk coils of cable had been frequently discovered
so hot, that the people were obliged to separate them to prevent farther
danger. In the year 1757, as _Montet_ reports, sail-cloth, _smeared with
oil and ochre_, took fire in a magazine at Brest. In the spring of 1780,
a fire was discovered on board a frigate lying in the road off
Cronstadt, which, had it not been timely extinguished, would have
endangered the whole fleet. After the most severe scrutiny no cause of
the fire was to be found, and strong surmises existed that some wicked
incendiary had occasioned it. In the month of August in the same year, a
fire broke out at the hemp magazine in St. Petersburgh, by which several
hundred thousand _poods_[606] of hemp and flax were consumed; the walls
of this magazine are of brick, the floors of stone, and the rafters and
covering of iron; it moreover stands alone on an island in the Neva, on
which, as well as on board the ships lying in the river, no fire is
permitted. In the same year a fire was discovered in a vaulted shop of a
furrier; it merits notice that in these shops, which are all vaulted,
neither fire nor candle are ever allowed, and the doors are all composed
of iron: at length the cause of the conflagration was discovered; it
appeared that on the evening previous to the fire the furrier had
purchased a roll of new cere cloth, (an article much in use for covering
tables, counters, &c.) and had left it in his vault, where it was
discovered almost consumed. After these several instances of spontaneous
combustion, we shall relate the celebrated case which led to a
satisfactory explanation of their origin, and induced the philosophers
of different countries to confirm the Russian Report by an extensive
series of well devised experiments. In the night of the 21st of April,
1781, a fire was seen on board the frigate _Maria_ which lay at anchor,
with several other ships, in the road off the island of Cronstadt; the
fire was, however, soon extinguished, but the severest examination
failed in extorting any satisfactory explanation of the manner in which
it had arisen; the garrison were threatened with a scrutiny that should
cost them dear, and were placed under circumstances of the most cruel
suspense; in the midst of this confusion, the wisdom of the Empress gave
a turn to the affair, and, in the following order to _Count Chernichet_,
pointed out an effectual method to be pursued by the Commissioners of
Inquiry. “When we perceived, by the report you have delivered in of the
examination into the accident that happened on board the frigate
_Maria_, that, in the cabin where the fire broke out, there were found
parcels of matting tied together with packthread, in which the soot of
burnt fir-wood had been mixed with oil, for the purpose of painting the
ship’s bottom, it came into our mind that at the fire which happened
last year at the hemp warehouses, the following cause, amongst others,
was assigned; that _the fire might have proceeded from the hemp being
bound up in greasy mats, or even from such mats having lain near the
hemp_; therefore neglect not to guide your farther inquiries by this
remark.”
As it appeared upon juridical inquiry that, in the ship’s cabin where
the smoke first appeared, there lay a bundle of matting containing
Russian lamp-black prepared from fir-soot, moistened with hemp-oil
varnish, which was perceived to have ignited sparks at the time of the
extinction of the fire, the Russian Admiralty gave orders to institute
various experiments with a view to discover whether such a mixture,
folded up in a mat, would kindle spontaneously; a number of experiments
was accordingly performed, and the result established the fact beyond
the reach of controversy. The Russian Admiralty having thus satisfied
the public with respect to the self-enkindling property of this
compound, transmitted an account of their investigation to the Imperial
Academy of Sciences, at whose desire _M. Georgi_ repeated the
experiments, by which he not only confirmed the report of the Admiralty,
but extended the information which it contained, and deduced an
important generalization of its views.
It sometimes happens that in boiling flowers and herbs in oil, which
occurs in several pharmaceutic operations, these herbs after being taken
out, dried, and pressed, inflame spontaneously; care therefore should be
taken, when such substances are thrown aside, that they are not heaped
up near other combustible bodies.
Amongst the mineral substances capable of exciting the inflammation of
oils, an ore of Manganese, known by the name of the _Black Wad of
Derbyshire_, holds a distinguished place; when this substance is
pulverised, and moistened with a little linseed oil, it will in the
space of an hour take fire, and become red hot, like burning small-coal;
it is supposed that the Pantheon, in Oxford-street, was destroyed by the
inflammation of a compound of _Derbyshire wad_ and oil, used in painting
the scenery.