tion and duration; and that this applies to all organized bodies, vegetable as well as animal. Where such appearance of design, consequently, exists, we ought to expect, that in the vegetable, also, a harmony or consent must reign amongst the various functions that tend to the production of the uniformity, which enables us to recognise the particular varieties of the vegetable kingdom, and has kept them as distinct, probably, in their characters, as when first created by Almighty power. The irritation of a single leaflet of the Mimosa pudica or sensitive plant causes the whole leaf, as well as the footstalk, to contract. Dr. John Sims irritated a leaflet of this plant, taking the greatest pains to avoid moving any other part of the leaf; yet the whole contracted, and the footstalk dropped. In order, however, to be sure, that mechanical motion communicated by the irritation had no share in the contraction, he directed a sunbeam, concentrated by a lens, on one of the leaflets, when the leaf again contracted, and the footstalk dropped. Of this kind of vegetable irritability we have many examples, some of which are alluded to under another head.

From these and other facts of an analogous character, Sir Gilbert Blane' concludes, that the functions of living nature, in all its departments, are kept up by a mutual concert and correspondent accordance of every part with every other part; that it would be in vain to waste. time in endeavouring to account for them by groping among dark analogies and conjectures; and that it is better to assume them as facts, on which are founded the ultimate and inscrutable principles of the animal economy. We have certainly much to learn regarding the agents of sympathies, and the modes in which they are effected; but still we know enough to infer, that in many cases, in animals, the nerves appear to be the conductors; that the brain is, in others, the centre to which the organ in action transmits its irradiations, and by which they are reflected to the sympathizing organ; and that in others, again, the effect is caused in the absence of nervous centre, and even of nerves, by vibrations perhaps, but in a manner which, in the present state of our knowledge, is inexplicable, and is, therefore, supposed to be essentially organic and vital,-epithets, however, as we have more than once said, that merely convey a confession of our ignorance of the processes to which they are appropriated.

CHAPTER IV.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AMONGST MANKIND.

THE differences observed amongst the individuals of the great human family are as numerous as the individuals themselves; but this dissimilarity is not confined to man or to the animal kingdom: the vegetable exhibits the same; for, whilst we can readily refer any plant to the species and variety, to which it may have been assigned by the botanist, accurate inspection shows that in the precise arrangement of

Elements of Medical Logic, 3d edit., Lond., 1819.

the stalk, branches, leaves, or flowers, no two are exactly alike. We shall not, however, dwell on these trifling points of difference, but restrict ourselves to the broad lines of distinction, that can be easily observed, and an attention to which is of some moment to the physician. Such are the temperaments, constitutions, idiosyncrasies, acquired differences, and varieties of the human species or the different races of mankind. Of these, the last belong more especially to the natural historian; and, consequently, will be but briefly noticed.

1. TEMPERAMENTS.

The temperaments are defined to be,-those individual differences, which consist in such disproportion of parts, as regards volume and activity, as to modify sensibly the whole organism, but without interfering with the health. Temperament is, consequently, a physiological condition, in which the action of the different functions is so tempered as to communicate certain characteristics, that may be referable to one of a few divisions. These divisions are by no means the same in all physiological treatises. The ancients generally admitted four,-denominated from the respective fluids or humours, the superabundance of which in the economy was supposed to produce them;-the sanguineous, caused by a surplus of blood; the bilious or choleric, produced by a surplus of yellow bile; the phlegmatic, caused by a surplus of phlegm, lymph, or fine watery fluid, derived-it was conceived-from the brain; and the atrabiliary or melancholic, produced by a surplus of black bile, the supposed secretion of the atrabiliary capsules and spleen. This division was kept up for ages without modification; and still prevails with one or more additional genera. The epithets have been retained in popular language without our being aware of their parentage. For example, we speak of a sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, or melancholic individual or turn of mind with nearly the acceptation given to them by the Hippocratic school,-the possessors of these temperaments being presumed to be, respectively, full of high hope and buoyancy; naturally irascible, dull and sluggish; or gloomy and lowspirited. Metzger admits only two, the irritable (reizbare), and the dull or phlegmatic (träge). Wrisberg eight, the sanguine, sanguineo-choleric, choleric, hypochondriac, melancholic, Bootian, meek, (sanftmüthige,) and the dull or phlegmatic. Rudolphi2 also eight, the strong or normal; the rude, athletic or Boeotian; the lively; the restless; the meek; the phlegmatic or dull; the timorous, and the melancholic;-whilst M. Broussais3 enumerates the gastric, bilious, sanguine, lymphatico-sanguineous, anæmic, nervous, biliososanguine, nervoso-sanguine, and melancholic. It is obvious, that if we were to apply an epithet to the possible modifications caused by every apparatus of organs, the number might be extended much beyond any of these. Perhaps the division most generally adopted is

1 In his edition of Haller's Grundriss der Physiologie.

2 Grundriss der Physiologie, 1er Band., s. 258, Berlin, 1821.

3 Traité de Physiologie, Drs. Bell's and La Roche's translation, 3d edit., p. 561, Philad.,

that embraced by M. Richerand,' who has embodied considerable animation, with much that is fanciful, in his description. In this division, the ancient terms have been retained, whilst the erroneous physiological basis, on which they rested, has been discarded. A short account f these temperaments is necessary, rather for the purpose of exhibiting what has been, and is still, thought by many physiologists, than for attesting the reality of many of the notions that are mixed up with the subject. With this view, the temperaments may be divided into the sanguine, bilious or choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic, and

nervous.

a. Sanguine Temperament.

This is supposed to be dependent upon a predominance of the circulatory system; and hence is considered to be characterized by strong, frequent, and regular pulse; ruddy complexion; animated countenance; good shape, although distinctly marked; firm flesh; light hair; fair skin; blue eyes; great nervous susceptibility, attended with rapid successibilité, as the French term it; that is, a facility of being impressed by external objects, and passing rapidly from one idea to another; quick conception; ready memory; lively imagination; addiction to the pleasures of the table; and amorousness. The diseases of this temperament are generally violent; and chiefly implicate the circulatory system, as fevers, inflammations, and hemorrhages. Its physical traits, according to M. Richerand, are to be found in the statues of Antinous and the Apollo Belvidere: the moral physiognomy is depicted in the lives of Mark Antony and Alcibiades. In Bacchus, both the forms and character are found; and no one in modern times, in M. Richerand's opinion, exhibits a more perfect model of it than the celebrated Duke de Richelieu;-amiable, fortunate and valorous, but light and inconstant to the termination of his brilliant career.

If individuals of this temperament apply themselves to labours of any kind that cause the muscles to be greatly exerted, these organs become largely developed, and a subdivision of the sanguine temperament is formed, which has been called the muscular or athletic. This is characterized by all the outward signs of strength: the head is small; the neck strong; the shoulders broad; the chest large; the hips solid; the muscles prominent, and the interstices well marked. The joints, and parts not covered with muscles, seem small; and the tendons are easily distinguished through the skin by their prominence. The susceptibility to external impressions is not great; the individual is not easily roused; but when he is, he is almost indomitable. A combination of the physical powers, implied by this temperament, with strong intellect, is rarely met with.

The Farnesian Hercules is conceived to offer one of the best specimens of the physical attributes of the athletic temperament.2

1 Nouveaux Elémens de Physiologie, 13ème édit. par M. Bérard ainé, § ccxxviii., Bruxelles,

1837.

2 Richerand, op. citat., § cexxix.

b. Bilious or Choleric Temperament.

This is presumed to be produced by a predominance of the liver and biliary organs. The pulse is strong, hard, and frequent; the subcutaneous veins are prominent; the skin is of a brown colour inclining to yellow; hair dark; body moderately fleshy; muscles firm, and well marked; passions violent, and easily excited; temper abrupt and impetuous; great firmness and inflexibility of character; boldness in the conception of projects, and untiring perseverance in their fulfilment. It is amongst the possessors of this temperament, that the greatest virtues and the greatest crimes are met with. The moral faculties are early developed; so that vast enterprises may be conceived, and executed at an age when the mind is ordinarily far from being matured. The diseases are generally combined with more or less derangement of the hepatic system. The whole of the characters, however, indicate, that an excited state of the sanguiferous system accompanies that of the biliary organs; so that the epithet cholerico-sanguine might, with more propriety, be applied to it. Where this vascular predominance does not exist, and derangement is present in some of the abdominal organs, or in the nervous system, we have the next form produced.

M. Richerand' enumerates Alexander, Julius Cæsar, Brutus, Mahomet, Charles XII., Peter the Great, Cromwell, Sextus V., and the Cardinal Richelieu. To these, Dr. Good has added Attila, Charlemagne, Tamerlane, Richard III., Nadir Shah, and Napoleon.

c. Melancholic or Atrabilious Temperament.

Here the vital functions are feebly or irregularly performed; the skin assumes a deeper hue; the countenance is sallow and sad; the bowels are torpid; and all the excretions tardy; the pulse is hard, and habitually contracted; the imagination gloomy, and the temper suspicious. The characters of Tiberius and of Louis XI. are considered to be examples of predominance of this temperament; and, in addition to these, M. Richerand3 has enumerated Tasso, Pascal, Gilbert, Zimmermann, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.

d. Phlegmatic, Lymphatic or Pituitous Temperament.

In this case, the proportion of the fluids is conceived to be too great for that of the solids;-the secretory system appearing to be active, whilst the absorbent system does not act so energetically as to prevent the areolar texture from being filled with humours. The characteristics of the temperament are:-soft flesh; pale skin; fair hair; weak, slow, and soft pulse; figure rounded, but inexpressive: vital actions more or less languid; memory by no means tenacious; attention vacillating; with aversion to both mental and corporeal exertion. Pomponius Atticus-the friend of Cicero-is offered as an example of this temperament, in ancient times; Montaigne, in more recent. The latter, however, possessed much of the nervous susceptibility that characterizes the more lively temperaments. Dr. Good' suggests the Emperor

Op. cit., $ cexxx. 3 Op. citat., ccxxxi.

2 Book of Nature, 3d edit. iii. 276, Lond., 1834. Op. citat., iii. 280.

Theodosius as an example in earlier times; and Charles IV. of Spain, who resigned himself almost wholly into the hands of Godoy,-Augustus, King of Saxony, who equally resigned himself into the hands of Napoleon, and Ferdinand of Sicily, who surrendered for a time the government of his people to the British,-as instances in our own day. It would not be difficult to find amongst the crowned heads of Europe, others that are equally entitled to be placed amongst these worthies.

e. Nervous Temperament.

Here the nervous system is greatly predominant; the susceptibility to excitement from external impressions being unusually developed. Like the melancholic temperament, however, this is seldom natural or primitive. It is morbid or secondary, being induced by sedentary life, sexual indulgence, or morbid excitement of the imagination from any cause. It is characterized by small, soft, and, as it were, wasted muscles; and generally, although not always, by a slender form; great vividness of sensation; and promptitude and fickleness of resolution and judgment. This temperament is frequently combined with some other. The diseases that are chiefly incident to it are of the hysterical and convulsive kind; or those to which the epithet nervous is usually appropriated. Voltaire and Frederick the Great are given by M. Richerand' as examples of it.

Such are the temperaments described by most writers. The slightest attention to their reputed characteristics shows the imperfection of their definition and demarcation; so imperfect, indeed, are they, that it is extremely rare to meet with an individual, whom we could unhesitatingly refer to any one of them. They are also susceptible of important modifications by climate, education, &c., and may be so combined as to constitute innumerable shades. The man of the strongest sanguine characteristics may, by misfortune, assume all those that are looked upon as indexes of the melancholic or atrabilious; and the activity and impetuosity of the bilious temperament may, by slothful indulgence, be converted into the lymphatic or phlegmatic. It is doubtful, and more than doubtful, also, whether any of the mental characteristics assigned to the temperaments are dependent upon them. The brain, we have elsewhere seen, is the organ of the mental and moral manifestations; and although we may look upon the temperaments as capable of modifying its activity, they cannot probably affect the degree of perfection of the intellect;-its strength being altogether dependent upon the morphology of the brain. It is even doubtful whether the temperaments can interfere with the activity of the cerebral functions. In disease of the hepatic, gastric, or other viscera we certainly see a degree of mental depression and diminished power of the whole nervous system; but this is the effect of a morbid condition, and continues only so long as such morbid condition endures. Nor is it probable, that any predominance of the nutritive functions could exert a permanent influence on the cerebral manifestations. Whatever

1 Op. cit., ccxxxiii.