Margaret Cavendish: Essential Writings

David Cunning
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Margaret Cavendish
Oxford New Histories of Philosophy
Series Editors
Christia Mercer, Melvin Rogers, and Eileen O’Neill (1953–​2017)

Advisory Board
Lawrie Balfour, Jacqueline Broad, Marguerite Deslauriers, Karen Detlefsen,
Don Garrett, Robert Gooding-​ Williams, Andrew Janiak, Marcy Lascano,
Lisa Shapiro, Tommie Shelby
*

Oxford New Histories of Philosophy provides essential resources for those

aiming to diversify the content of their philosophy courses, revisit traditional
narratives about the history of philosophy, or better understand the richness of
philosophy’s past. Examining previously neglected or understudied philosoph-
ical figures, movements, and traditions, the series includes both innovative new
scholarship and new primary sources.
*

Published in the series

Mexican Philosophy in the 20th Century: Essential Readings
Edited by Carlos Alberto Sánchez and Robert Eli Sanchez, Jr.
Sophie de Grouchy’s Letters on Sympathy: A Critical Engagement with Adam
Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Translated by Sandrine Bergès. Edited and with an introduction by Sandrine
Bergès and Eric Schliesser
Margaret Cavendish: Essential Writings
Edited by David Cunning
Margaret Cavendish
Essential Writings

E D I T E D B Y DAV I D C U N N I N G

1
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To Professor Eileen O’Neill
CONTENTS

Series Editors’ Foreword ix

Prefatory Notes xi
Chronology xv
Early Modern Topics and Themes—​for Instructors and Students xix

Introduction 1

­C H A P T E R 1. Worlds Olio 23

­C H A P T E R 2. Philosophical and Physical Opinions 40

­C H A P T E R 3. Philosophical Letters 59

­C H A P T E R 4. Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy 99

­C H A P T E R 5. Grounds of Natural Philosophy 130

­C H A P T E R 6. Poems and Fancies 151

­C H A P T E R 7. Fiction 171

List of Suggested Secondary Readings 233

Index 237

vii
SERIES EDITORS’ FOREWORD

Oxford New Histories of Philosophy speaks to a new climate in philosophy.

There is a growing awareness that philosophy’s past is richer and more di-
verse than previously understood. It has become clear that canonical figures are
best studied in a broad context. More exciting still is the recognition that our
philosophical heritage contains long-​forgotten innovative ideas, movements,
and thinkers. Sometimes these thinkers warrant serious study in their own right;
sometimes their importance resides in the conversations they helped reframe or
problems they devised; often their philosophical proposals force us to rethink
long-​held assumptions about a period or genre; and frequently they cast well-​
known philosophical discussions in a fresh light.
There is also a mounting sense among philosophers that our discipline
benefits from a diversity of perspectives and a commitment to inclusiveness. In
a time when questions about justice, inequality, dignity, education, discrimina-
tion, and climate (to name a few) are especially vivid, it is appropriate to mine
historical texts for insights that can shift conversations and reframe solutions.
Given that philosophy’s very long history contains astute discussions of a vast
array of topics, the time is right to cast a broad historical net.
Lastly, there is increasing interest among philosophy instructors in speaking
to the diversity and concerns of their students. Although historical discussions
and texts can serve as a powerful means of doing so, finding the necessary time
and tools to excavate long-​buried historical materials is challenging.
Oxford New Histories of Philosophy (ONHP) is designed to address all
these needs. It will contain new editions and translations of significant histor-
ical texts. These primary materials will make available, often for the first time,
ideas and works by women, people of color, and movements in philosophy’s
past that were groundbreaking in their day, but left out of traditional accounts.
Informative introductions will help instructors and students navigate the new
material. Alongside its primary texts, ONHP will also publish monographs and

ix
x   Series Editors’ Foreword

collections of essays that offer philosophically subtle analyses of understudied

topics, movements, and figures. In combining primary materials and astute phil-
osophical analyses, ONHP will make it easier for philosophers, historians, and
instructors to include in their courses and research exciting new materials drawn
from philosophy’s past.
ONHP’s range will be wide, both historically and culturally. The series
plans to include, for example, the writings of African American philosophers,
twentieth-​century Mexican philosophers, early modern and late medieval
women, Islamic and Jewish authors, and non-​Western thinkers. It will exca-
vate and analyze problems and ideas that were prominent in their day but for-
gotten by later historians. And it will serve as a significant aid to philosophers in
teaching and researching this material.
As we expand the range of philosophical voices, it is important to acknowl-
edge one voice responsible for this series. Eileen O’Neill was a series editor
until her death, December 1, 2017. She was instrumental in motivating and
conceptualizing ONHP. Her brilliant scholarship, advocacy, and generosity
made all the difference to the efforts that this series is meant to represent. She
will be deeply missed, as a scholar and a friend.
We are proud to contribute to philosophy’s present and to a richer under-
standing of its past.
Christia Mercer and Melvin Rogers
Series Editors
P R E FAT O RY N O T E S

I have used the following editions of Cavendish’s work.

The worlds olio written by the Thrice Noble, Illustrious, and most Excellent Princess,
The Duchess of Newcastle, second edition, printed by A. Maxwell in the year 1671.
Note that the first edition was printed in 1655. The second edition contains
some minor spelling and word changes, and I have used that edition here.
The philosophical and physical opinions written by Her Excellency the Lady
Marchionesse of Newcastle, printed for J. Martin and J. Allestrye at the Bell in St.
Pauls Church-​Yard 1655.
Philosophical Letters, or, Modest Reflections Upon Some Opinions in Natural
Philosophy Maintained By Several Famous and Learned Authors of This Age,
Expressed by Way of Letters: By the Thrice Noble, Illustrious, and Excellent Princess,
The Marchionesse of Newcastle. London, Printed in the Year, 1664.
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy: To which is added The Description
of a New Blazing World, Written By the Thrice Noble, Illustrious, and Excellent
Princesse, The Duchess of Newcastle. The Second Edition. London, Printed by
A. Maxwell, in the Year, 1668. Note that Further Observations Upon Experimental
Philosophy and Observations Upon the Opinions of Some Ancient Philosophers are
part of this 1668 volume.
Grounds of Natural Philosophy Divided into Thirteen Parts: with an Appendix
containing Five Parts, Written By the . . . Duchess of Newcastle. London: Printed by
A. Maxwell (1668). This also contains Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy.
The description of a new world, called the blazing-​world written by the thrice
noble, illustrious, and excellent princesse, the Duchess of Newcastle. London: Printed
by A. Maxwell (1668).
Bell in Campo, in Playes written by the thrice noble, illustrious and excellent prin-
cess, the Lady Marchioness of Newcastle. London: Printed by A. Warren, for John
Martyn, James Allestry, and Tho. Dicas, 1662.

xi
xii   Prefatory Notes

The She-​Anchoret, in Natures picture drawn by fancies pencil to the life being
several feigned stories, comical, tragical, tragi-​comical, poetical, romanicical, philo-
sophical, historical, and moral: some in verse, some in prose, some mixt, and some
by dialogues /​written by . . . the Duchess of Newcastle. London: Printed by
A. Maxwell (1671).
Poems, and fancies written by the Right Honourable, the Lady Margaret Newcastle.
London, Printed by T. R. for J. Martin, and J. Allestrye at the Bell in Saint Pauls
Church Yard, 1653.
A True Relation of my Birth, Breeding and Life, in Margaret Cavendish, The Life
of William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle, to which is added the True Relation of my
Birth, Breeding and Life, ed. C. H. Firth, London: George Routledge and Sons
Limited (1880).
Note that I have kept all original punctuation, spellings, and mis-​spellings,
except in cases where a correction was needed for the sake of clarity.
Note also that in the footnotes to the various passages that appear in this edi-
tion, I have tried to err on the side of cross-​referencing as many as possible of the
related passages that appear in the Cavendish corpus.
Reference is made to selections from the following texts as well:
Mary Astell, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies. Parts I and II, ed. P. Springborg,
Ontario: Broadview Literary Texts (2002). This was originally published
in 1694.
Anne Conway, Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, ed.
Allison P. Coudert and Taylor Corse, Cambridge: Cambridge UP (1996). This
was originally published in 1692.
Ralph Cudworth, True Intellectual System of the Universe, Stuttgart-​Bad
Cannstatt: F. Fromann Verlag (1964). This was originally published in 1678.
The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Volume I, ed. and trans. John
Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, London: Cambridge UP
(1985). This is abbreviated as “CSM 1.”
The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Volume II, ed. and trans. John
Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, London: Cambridge UP
(1984). This is abbreviated as “CSM 2.”
The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Volume III: The Correspondence, ed.
and trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, Dugald Murdoch, and Anthony
Kenny, London: Cambridge UP (1993). This is abbreviated as “CSMK.”
The Princess and the Philosopher: Letters of Elisabeth of the Palatine to René
Descartes, ed. and trans. Andrea Nye, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield
Publishers (1999).
Pierre Gassendi, Fifth Objections, in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes,
Volume II, ed. and trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald
Murdoch, London: Cambridge UP (1984).
 Prefatory Notes   xiii

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. and trans. Edwin Curley, Indianapolis: Hackett
Publishing (1994). This was originally published in 1651.
Thomas Hobbes, Elements of Philosophy, the first section concerning body,
London: Printed by R. and W. Leybourn for Andrew Crooke, 1656.
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, ed. Tom
L. Beauchamp, New York: Oxford UP (1999). This was originally published
in 1748.
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, ed. P. H. Nidditch, New York: Oxford
UP (1978). This was originally published in 1739–​1740.
David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, in J. C. A. Gaskin (ed.),
David Hume: Dialogues and Natural History of Religion, Oxford: Oxford UP
(1993). This was originally published in 1779.
Leibniz: Philosophical Essays, ed. and trans. Daniel Garber and Roger Ariew,
Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing (1989).
John Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding, ed. P. H. Nidditch,
New York: Oxford UP (1975). This was originally published in 1689.
Nicolas Malebranche, The Search After Truth and Elucidations of The
Search After Truth, ed. and trans. Thomas M. Lennon and Paul J. Olscamp,
Cambridge: Cambridge UP (1997). The Search After Truth was originally
published in 1674–​75.
Nicolas Malebranche, Dialogues on Metaphysics and on Religion, ed. Nicholas
Jolley and trans. David Scott, Cambridge: Cambridge UP (1997). This was orig-
inally published in 1688.
Henry More, An antidote against atheisme, or, An appeal to the natural faculties
of the minde of man, whether there be not a God, London: Printed by Roger
Daniel, 1653.
Henry More, The immortality of the soul, so farre forth as it is demonstrable from
the knowledge of nature and the light of reason, London: Printed by J. Flesher, for
William Morden, 1659.
Spinoza: Complete Works, ed. Samuel Shirley, trans. Michael L. Morgan,
Indianapolis and London: Hackett Publishing (2002).
Jean Baptiste van Helmont, Oriatrike, or Physics Refined, London: Printed for
Lodowick Lloyd (1662).
Below is also included a section, “Early Modern Themes and Topics—​for
Instructors and Students,” in which I attempt to abstract some of the central de-
bate topics of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and point to passages in
her corpus in which Cavendish weighs in on these.
CHRONOLOGY

1623 Margaret Lucas is born to Thomas Lucas and Elizabeth Leighton

Lucas in the family home at St. John’s Abbey in Colchester, Essex.
1625 Thomas Lucas dies. Charles I becomes King of England and marries
the Catholic Henrietta Maria, the sister of Louis XIII of France, and
the daughter of Marie de Medici.
1630 Hobbes begins his service as teacher of natural philosophy to
William Cavendish.
1638 Anna Maria van Schurman publishes The Learned Maid, or Whether
a Maid May Be a Scholar (in Latin). The English translation appears
in 1659.
1639 Van Schurman engages a written correspondence with Princess
Elisabeth of Bohemia and with Marie le Jars de Gournay, author of
The Equality of Men and Women (in French, 1622).
1641 Descartes publishes Meditations on First Philosophy.
1642 The conflict between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians (or
“Roundheads”) turns into the English Civil War.
Lucas family home is sacked by Parliamentary sympathizers.
1643 Margaret joins the court of Henrietta Maria in Oxford.
Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia begins a philosophical
correspondence with Descartes.
1644 Margaret escapes for Paris with Queen Henrietta Maria, not
returning to live in England until 1660.
1645 Margaret marries William Cavendish, Marquis of Newcastle,
in Paris.
1646 Margaret attends occasional meetings of the “Cavendish Circle,”
organized by William, and with participants including René
Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Marin Mersenne, and Walter

xv
xvi   Chronology

Charleton. The meetings of the Cavendish Circle take place through

the 1660s.
1647 Cavendish’s mother, Elizabeth Leighton Lucas, dies.
1648 Margaret and William move to Antwerp to live at the Peter Paul
Rubens house. They remain in Antwerp through the 1650s.
1649 King Charles I is executed.
1650 Descartes dies on February 11 in Stockholm, Sweden.
1651 Hobbes’s Leviathan is published.
Margaret travels to London, where William is not welcome, to
attempt to recover compensation for William’s lost estate. The
attempt is not successful.
1653 Philosophicall Fancies. Written by the Right Honourable, the Lady
Newcastle is published.
1653 Henry More publishes An Antidote Against Atheism. More includes
a glowing dedication “To the Honourable, the Lady Anne Conway.”
Her Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy is
published posthumously in 1690; it has a significant influence on
the philosophy of Leibniz.
1654 Charles Cavendish dies, a mathematician and scholar, and the
brother of William. Margaret and Charles had engaged in regular
discussions of philosophy and other subjects.
1655 The worlds olio written by the Right Honourable, the Lady Newcastle is
published. A revised edition appears in 1671.
The philosophical and physical opinions written by Her Excellency the
Lady Marchionesse of Newcastle is published.
1656 Natures Picture drawn by fancies pencil to the life being several feigned
stories, comical, tragical, tragi-​comical, poetical, romancical, philosophical,
historical, and moral: some in verse, some in prose, some mixt, and some
by dialogues /​written by . . . the Duchess of Newcastle is published.
This includes the biographical essay, “A True Relation of my Birth,
Breeding and Life.”
1659 Henry More publishes The Immortality of the Soul.
1660 The monarchy returns to England with Charles II as King.
Margaret and William return to England and live at Welbeck Abbey.
In the coming years they make regular visits to London.
Margaret becomes an honorary member of the literary salon of
Katherine Philips.
1662 Playes written by the thrice noble, illustrious and excellent princess, the
Lady Marchioness of Newcastle is published.
Orations of divers sorts accommodated to divers places written by the
Lady Marchioness of Newcastle is published.
Jean Baptiste van Helmont publishes Oriatrike, or Physick Refined.
 Chronology  xvii

1664 Philosophical letters, or Modest Reflections upon some opinions in

natural philosophy maintained by several famous and learned authors of
this age, expressed by way of letters /​by the thrice noble, illustrious, and
excellent princess the Lady Marchioness of Newcastle is published.
CCXI sociable letters written by the thrice noble, illustrious, and
excellent princess, the Lady Marchioness of Newcastle is published.
This contains some of the earliest criticism of the plays of
Shakespeare.
Margaret’s views are discussed by More in his 1664/​65 letter to
Anne Conway.
Spinoza is writing Ethics through 1665; it is eventually published
in 1677.
1665 William is made Duke of Newcastle. Margaret is named Duchess of
Newcastle.
1666 Observations upon experimental philosophy to which is added The
description of a new blazing world /​written by the thrice noble,
illustrious, and excellent princess the Lady Marchioness of Newcastle is
published. An updated edition of Blazing World appears in 1668.
Womens Speaking Justified is published by Margaret Fell Fox.
Mary Astell is born on November 16 in Newcastle, England. In
1694 and 1697, she publishes A Serious Proposal to the Ladies,
Parts I and II. Wherein is a Method offer’d for the Improvement of
their Minds.
1667 Margaret is the first woman to attend a meeting at the Royal Society
of London.
Margaret engages a correspondence with Joseph Glanvill.
1667 The life of the thrice noble, high and puissant prince William
Cavendishe, Duke, Marquess and Earl of Newcastle . . . written by the
thrice noble, illustrious and excellent princess, Margaret, Duchess of
Newcastle, his wife is published.
1668 Grounds of natural philosophy divided into thirteen parts: with
an appendix containing five parts /​written by . . . the Duchess of
Newcastle is published. This is a heavily revised version of the 1655
Philosophical and Physical Opinions.
1670 Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia provides sanctuary to Anna Maria
van Schurman and other persecuted individuals.
1673 An Essay to Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen is published
by Bathsua Makin.
Margaret Cavendish dies in Welbeck on December 15 and is laid to
rest at Westminster Abbey. The inscription on her tomb, at the front
(North Transept) entrance to the Abbey, reports: “This Dutches was
a wise wittie & learned Lady, which her many Bookes do well testifie.”
xviii   Chronology

1676 William edits and publishes Letters and Poems in Honour of the
Incomparable Princess, Margaret, Dutchess of Newcastle. William dies
shortly thereafter.

*Note that some of the information in this chronology is from Eileen O’Neill
(ed.), Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy, Cambridge UP (2001),
xxxvii–​xli; and Katie Whitaker, Mad Madge, Mad Madge, London: Chatto and
Windus (2003).
E A R L Y M O D E R N T O P I C S A N D T H E M E S —​
FOR INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

Below is a list of topics that are central to the philosophical debates of the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries, along with a cross-​section of the corresponding
Cavendish passages.

M AT E R I A L I ST V I E W O F M I N D

Worlds Olio—​“Fame makes a difference between Man and Beast”

Philosophical Letters—​letter XXXV and XXXVI of section one; letters XV,
XVI, XVIII, XXI, XXV, XXVIII, XXXI, and XXXII of section two; letters
XXI and XLII of section three
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections XXI, XXXV
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections X, XX
Observations Upon the Opinions of Some Ancient Philosophers—​section III.4
Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters II and XI of the
First Part

M AT E R I A L I ST V I E W O F N AT U R E

Philosophical Letters—​letters VI, XVIII, XIX, XXXI, XXXII of section two;

letter XLII of section three
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XXI
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections XX
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter I of the First Part

xix
xx   Early Modern Topics and Themes—for Instructors and Students

M AT T E R A S ET E R N A L

Worlds Olio—​“Of Nature” /​“The Opinions of Some

Philosophers—​Essay 128”
Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 23: Of Annihilation”
Philosophical Letters—​letter III of section one; letter III of section three;
letter X of section four
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XI
Observations Upon the Opinions of Some Ancient
Philosophers—​section IV.5–​6

N O E M P T Y S PACE—​T H E U N I V E R S E A S A CO N T I N U O U S P L E N U M

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“There is no Vacuity”

Philosophical Letters—​letters II, XX, XXXI, and XXXII of section one
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections I, XIX, XXXI
Observations Upon the Opinions of Some Ancient Philosophers—​sections
III.4, IV.1
Poems and Fancies—​“Of Vacuum”

T H E C AU S A L I N T E R D E P E N D E N CE O F T H E CO N ST I T U E N TS
OF THE PLENUM

Philosophical Letters—​letter II of section one; letter II of section four

Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections XV, XXXI

I N D I V I D UAT I O N

Philosophical Letters—​letter XVII of section two; letter II of section three

Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter III of the Second Part

P R I M A RY V S. S ECO N DA RY Q UA L I T I E S

Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections XXI, XXXV

M AT T E R A S P E R CE P T I V E A N D K N O W I N G

Worlds Olio—​“Epistle”
Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“A Condemning Treatise of Atoms” /​
“Chapter 63: Whether motion is a thing, or nothing, or can be Annihilated” /​
“Chapter 65: Many Motions go to the producing of one thing, or to one end”
/​“Chapter 77: Of different knowledge in different figures”
 Early Modern Topics and Themes—for Instructors and Students   xxi

Philosophical Letters—​letters X, XI, and XXXVI of section one; letters IV, X,

XIII, XV, and XVIII of section two; letter XXX of section four
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections XVII, XVII,
and XXXV
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections
XIII and XX
Observations Upon the Opinions of Some Ancient
Philosophers—​section IV.2–​3
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter VIII of the First Part; chapter
IX of the Second Part; chapter V of the Fifth Part; chapter XII of the
Thirteenth Part
Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter VIII of the Third Part

D I F F E R E N T K I N D S O F M AT T E R

Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XXXVII

Further Observation Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section VI
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters III and V of the First Part; chapters
X and XV of the Fifth Part

A RT I FACTS V S. N AT U R A L P R O D U CT I O N S

Worlds Olio—​“The Power of Natural Works” /​“Of Chymistry”

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 208: The Knowledge of
Diseases”
Philosophical Letters—​letter V, VII, and XV of section two; letter XXX of
section three; letter XXX of section four
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections III, IX, XIV, XVIII,
XXV, XXVI, XXXIV
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections II, VII
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter IX of the Second Part; chapter XII
of the Thirteenth Part

I N T E L L I G E N CE I N A N I M A L S, I N S ECTS, A N D OT H E R N O N-​
HUMAN ORGANISMS

Worlds Olio—​“Of Birds”

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 77: Of different knowledge in
different figures”
Philosophical Letters—​letters X, XXXV, and XXXVI of section one; letter
XIII or section two
xxii   Early Modern Topics and Themes—for Instructors and Students

Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections XIII, XX

Poems and Fancies—​“A Morall Discourse betwixt Man, and Beast” /​“Of the
Ant” /​“Of Fishes”

VA R I ET I E S O F T H I N K I N G A N D I N T E L L I G E N CE

Worlds Olio—​“Epistle”
Philosophical and Philosophical Opinions—​“Chapter 77: Of different
knowledge in different figures”
Philosophical Letters—​letters X, XI, and XXXVI of section one
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XIII
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter XV of the Fifth Part

T R A N S F E R O F M OT I O N

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 63: Whether motion is a

thing, or nothing, or can be Annihilated”
Philosophical Letters—​letters XXIII, XXIV, XXX, and XXXII of section one;
letter VI of section four
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter IX of the Fifth Part

S E N S O RY P E R CE P T I O N N OT V I A I M P R E S S I O N S / ​S TA M P I N G,
B U T V I A PAT T E R N I N G

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 160: Of Sight”

Philosophical Letters—​letters IV, XXII, and XXIV of section one; letter XVI
of section two
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XXXVII
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter IX of the Fifth Part

I D E A S A S I M AG I ST I C P I CT U R E S

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 160: Of Sight”

Philosophical Letters—​letter XX of section one; letter XV of section two
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XXI

N O I D E A O F G O D O R OT H E R I M M AT E R I A L S

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 160: Of Sight” /​

“Chapter 210: The diatical Centers”
 Early Modern Topics and Themes—for Instructors and Students   xxiii

Philosophical Letters—​letters I and XX of section one; letters II and III of

section two; letter II of section three
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XXI
Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters III, IV, and XI of the
First Part
Worlds Olio—​“The difference Betwixt Man and Beast”

K N O W L E D G E O F G O D ’S E X I ST E N CE A N D N AT U R E

Worlds Olio—​“The difference Betwixt Man and Beast”

Philosophical Letters—​letters I and XX of section one; letters I–​III, XVIII,
XXX, XXXIII of section two; letter XX of section three
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XIX, XXI, XXVII
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections X–​XII
Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters II–​VI and XI of the
First Part

T H E R E L AT I O N S H I P B ET W E E N G O D A N D T H E CR E AT I O N

Worlds Olio—​“The Opinions of Some Philosophers—​Essay 128”

Philosophical Letters—​letters II and III of section one
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections X, XX
Observations Upon the Opinions of Some Ancient Philosophers—​sections
IV.5, IV.6, V.1
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​Chapter V of the Sixth Part
Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter IV of the First Part

I M M AT E R I A L F I N I T E S O U L /​  M I N D

Philosophical Letters—​letter XX of section one; letters XVIII, XXIX, and

XXXII of section two
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XIX
Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters II, III of the First Part

THE AFTERLIFE

Worlds Olio—​“Fame makes a difference between Man and Beast” /​“What

the Desire of Fame proceeds from” /​“Allegory 55”
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter V of the Sixth Part
xxiv   Early Modern Topics and Themes—for Instructors and Students

Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter XI of the First Part;

chapter VIII of the Third Part

S CR I P T U R E

Worlds Olio—​“Of Moderation”

Philosophical Letters—​letter III of section I; letters III, XXXII, and XXXIII of
section two; letter XX of section three; letter X of section four

FREE WILL

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 59: Of Fortune” /​“The

Agilenesse of innate Matter”
Philosophical Letters—​letters VIII, XII, and XXIX of section one; letters
VIII, XXIX and XXXI of section two; letters IV and VII of section two;
letter XXIV of section three
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections XXVII, XXXI,
and XXXV
Observations Upon the Opinions of Some Ancient Philosophers—​section IV.5
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters V, X, and XVIII of the First Part;
chapter XII of the Sixth Part, chapter XII of the Seventh Part, chapter I of
the Eighth Part
Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters IV, V, VI, and VII of
the First Part
Poems and Fancies, “The Fairies in the Braine, may be the causes of many
Thoughts”

ORDER AND DISORDER

Worlds Olio—​“Of Nature” /​“Of the Predestination of Nature”

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“A Condemning Treatise of Atoms”
Philosophical Letters—​letter XI of section one; letters V and VII of section
two; letters XXIII and XXIX of section three; letters IV and XXXIII of
section four
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XV
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XX
Observations Upon the Opinions of Some Ancient
Philosophers—​section IV.2–​3
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter VIII of the First Part; chapter XII of
the Sixth Part; and chapter I of the Eighth Part
 Early Modern Topics and Themes—for Instructors and Students   xxv

Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters IV and V of the

First Part

C AU S E A N D E F F ECT

Worlds Olio—​“Of the Predestination of Nature”

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 96: Of the Load-​stone”
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters XVI–​XVIII of the First Part
Appendix to Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapters VI and VII of the
First Part
The She-​Anchoret—​pp. 224–225

GENDER

Worlds Olio—​“The Preface” /​“Of Noble Souls, and Strong Bodies”

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“To the Two Universities”
Philosophical Letters—​“A Preface to the Reader” and letter I of
section four
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​“To the Reader”
Poems and Fancies—​“To all Writing Ladies”
Bell in Campo—​pp. 208–209

AG E N C Y A N D AU T H O R I T Y

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“To the Two Universities”

Philosophical Letters—​“A Preface to the Reader”
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​“To the Reader”
Poems and Fancies—​“To all Writing Ladies”
Playes—​“An Introduction”
Bell in Campo

HAPPINESS

Worlds Olio—​“Of a Solitary Life” /​“Of Moderation” /​“Of the Happiness

of a Farmer” /​“Of the Vastness of Desires” /​“The Nature of Man” /​
“Allegory 20” /​“The difference Betwixt Man and Beast”
Poems and Fancies—​“To Morall Philosophers” /​“A Dialogue betwixt Man
and Nature” /​“Poets have most Pleasure in this Life”
The She-​Anchoret—​“The sixteenth sort of Visiters, were Poets”
xxvi   Early Modern Topics and Themes—for Instructors and Students

P O L I T I CS A N D G OV E R N M E N T

Worlds Olio—​“Clemency makes the best form of Government” /​“The cause

of Rebellion” /​“Of Ceremony” /​“Of a Civil-​Warr”
Poems and Fancies—​“A Dialogue betwixt Peace, and War”
Blazing World
Bell in Campo
The She-​Anchoret—​p. 226 and the discussion with “The Eighth sort of
Visiters”

M O R A L I T Y A N D VA LU E—​W H ET H E R O R N OT O B J ECT I V E

Worlds Olio—​“Of Imaginary Beauty”

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“No Judge in Nature” /​
“Chapter 59: Of Fortune”
Philosophical Letters—​letter XXIII of section three
Observations Upon the Opinions of Some Ancient Philosophers—​section II
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter XIV of the Thirteenth Part

A N I M A L CRU E LT Y

Poems and Fancies—​“A Dialogue Betwixt Man, and Nature” /​“A Morall
Discourse betwixt Man, and Beast”

I M AG I N AT I O N A N D A LT E R N AT I V E W O R L D S

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 151: Of thoughts”

Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter IV of the Sixth Part
Poems and Fancies—​“Similizing the Head of Man to the World”
Blazing World
Bell in Campo

I M AG I N AT I O N A S A S O U R CE O F P L E A SU R E A N D E S C A P E

Worlds Olio—​“Allegory 20”

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 152: Of thinking, or
thoughts”
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter IV of the Sixth Part
 Early Modern Topics and Themes—for Instructors and Students   xxvii

E M P I R I CI S M

Worlds Olio—​“Of the Senses and the Brain”

Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XXXVI
Blazing World—​“Epilogue to the Reader” /​“To all Noble and Worthy
Ladies”

KNOWLEDGE OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD

Worlds Olio—​“Of the Senses and Brain”

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 152: Of thinking, or
thoughts” /​“Chapter 153: Of Sleep and dreams”
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section XXXVII
Further Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​section IX
Grounds of Natural Philosophy—​chapter X of the Fifth Part; chapter IV of
the Sixth Part; chapter IV of the Seventh Part

T H E L I M I TS O F K N O W L E D G E

Worlds Olio—​“Of Chymistry”

Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Chapter 96: Of the Load-​stone”
Philosophical Letters—​letters XVI and XLIII of section three; letter XXVII of
section four
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy—​sections XXV, XXVI, XXVII
Poems and Fancies—​“Of many Worlds in this World” /​“A Dialogue betwixt
Man, and Nature”

P R ACT I C A L I M P O RT O F P H I L O S O P H Y A N D S CI E N CE

Worlds Olio—​“An Epistle to the Unbelieving Readers in Natural

Philosophy” /​“Of Philosophy” /​“Of Physicians”
Philosophical and Physical Opinions—​“Of the Motion of the Bodie”
Philosophical Letters—​letter XXVII of section four
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
child who has scarcely coughed at all during his waking hours.
Witness the voiding of urine in the bed by nervous children during
the early hours of sleep. Witness the phenomena of night-terrors,
which always occur at the time of night when sleep should be most
tranquil.

It appears, therefore, that the harmonious activity of all parts of the

nervous system is indispensable to the highest exercise of the
conscious mind. Healthy intellectual life is the perfectly-balanced
outcome of the complex polygon of forces which has its seat within
the brain. But the suppression of certain lines of this polygon does
not suppress life, nor does it necessarily destroy consciousness. It
only occasions a redistribution of force and a proportionate
narrowing of the stream of related ideas. Since the suppression just
mentioned is not an absolute quantity, but a variable factor, the
polygon of forces in the brain and the corresponding succession of
ideas in consciousness must necessarily be in a state of continual
change. Accordingly, our dreams are as variable as the clouds that
drift upon the currents of the air. As on a hot day in summer, when
the steady equatorial draught has ceased to guide the wind, we may
observe all manner of local tides in the masses of vapor which arise
from the earth, so in sleep, when the guiding influence of the senses
is withdrawn from the brain, the ideas that still arise are chiefly
dependent upon its automatic and reflex action for their origin and
association. Undisturbed by impulses from the external world, the
brain seems then more sensitive to impressions that originate within
the body. An overloaded stomach, an enfeebled heart, a turgid
sexual apparatus, or an irritable nervous ganglion may become the
source of irregular and uncompensated movements which may
invade the cerebral cortex, and may there set in motion a whole
battery of mechanisms whose influence upon consciousness would
be quite unnoticed were the external senses in full operation.

Night-Terrors.
The preceding argument will render it easy to comprehend the
phenomena of night-terrors. These are commonly observed in young
children of a highly nervous temperament before the conclusion of
their second dentition. The subjects of the disorder are generally of
neurotic descent. Insanity, hysteria, neurasthenia, epilepsy, chorea,
and nervous dyspepsia are often discovered among their near
relatives. Not infrequently they have been or will become themselves
choreic.

The attack is often preceded by symptoms of indigestion, but it may

result simply from the commotion of a brain wearied by the
excitement and effort of the previous day. The little patient starts up
out of an apparently sound sleep crying with alarm, calling for his
mother, and staring wildly with every possible expression of terror.
Sometimes he springs from his couch and runs headlong into a
corner or seeks to hide under the bed, as if escaping from some
frightful object. The eyes are open, tears flow, perspiration covers
the skin, there is the greatest excitement, and the little one,
convulsively clinging to its parent, will not be quieted. Only after
fifteen or twenty minutes, as tranquillity gradually returns, does the
child seem to recover the power of recognizing his friends. Presently,
however, he lies down and falls quickly asleep, waking in the
morning without the slightest recollection of the unpleasant event.

Such paroxysms occur during the early part of the night, one or two
hours after the child has been put to bed, just at the time when,
according to the previously-quoted experiments of Kohlschütter,
sleep is passing from its maximum intensity to a lesser degree of
depth. This, then, is the time when the controlling power of the
sensory apparatus over other portions of the nervous system has
already reached its minimum. The spinal centres and those
intracranial ganglia which do not share in the full measure of this
repose are therefore in a condition of relative exaltation.
Disturbances of internal organs consequently produce inordinate
excitement of these waking portions of the nervous apparatus. The
morbid quality of this excitement is attested both by the history of the
patient and by the fact that it does not arouse the whole brain. The
distribution of motion in the cerebrum is impeded, so that certain
portions of the organ remain asleep while other regions are thrown
into a state of tumultuous uproar. Disconnection of these different
organs of the nervous system, by withdrawing particular portions
from the inhibitory influence of the remaining parts, gives opportunity
for violent explosions of nervous force analogous to the convulsions
of a headless fowl or to the course of an epileptic paroxysm. Now, in
sleep, in somnambulism, in hypnotism, in delirium, in certain stages
of intoxication with alcohol or with narcotics, such ungearing of the
different nervous ganglia is more or less completely effected. In
narcotic and anæsthetic sleep besides the disassociation of ganglia
there is paresis of the nervous molecules; hence the phenomena
soon merge into insensibility and coma. But in natural sleep, in
somnambulism, or in hypnotism there is no toxic paresis; hence the
dissociated portions of the brain and nervous system, if aroused, are
in a physiological condition to dispense great stores of force. Hence
the vividness of certain dreams and the astonishing vigor of
particular nervous functions in somnambulism and hypnotism.

Somnambulism.

The phenomena of night-terrors constitute merely a special form of

somnambulism, a condition of which the mechanism, so far as the
present state of cerebral physiology will permit, has been already
suggested. The affection should not be ranked by itself as a
particular variety of disease, but should rather be considered a
violent perturbation in the cerebral organs of a neurotic subject
during the period of sleep. In ordinary dreaming the muscular
apparatus usually remains passive, even though the dream be a
nightmare or an incubus of the most terrifying character. But when
the desires and the emotions are powerfully addressed by the
dream, a certain amount of muscular movement may ensue, as
when a dog barks in his sleep, or when a child laughs upon his
nurse's lap, or when a weary soldier marches on though
overpowered by sleep. One night, when parched with thirst during a
voyage at sea,9 I saw in sleep a sparkling fountain, by the side of
which appeared a young girl holding out a cup of cold water.
Awakened by the excitement, I found myself sitting up in bed with my
right arm extended in the direction of the tantalizing vision: my dream
had merged itself in action. In like manner, the victim of night-terrors
not only moves his body, but gives vocal expression of his feeling of
apprehension and alarm. In like manner, projecting his dream into
action, a sleep-walker may arise from his bed; he climbs out of the
window and descends to the ground, executing all manner of
complicated and dangerous movements; he walks long distances,
and finally returns to his couch without waking. In the morning no
recollection of the event of the night survives. Again, the movement
may be less locomotive in its character. The intellectual faculties
chiefly may be aroused, and then only such movements are
executed as may be necessary to give expression to the mental
process.
9 A proclivity to dreaming has often been remarked among the consequences of
partial starvation.

Such, then, are the principal characteristics of somnambulism, a

state in which dreams are supplemented by more or less complete
and appropriate action, ordinarily without subsequent recollection of
either dream or action.

The somnambulistic dream generally occurs during or soon after the

period of deepest sleep, when the influences of the external world
are largely suppressed. Released from the control of its sensory
portion, the remainder of the brain awakes and becomes aroused to
a condition of functional exaltation. No longer distracted by the
recollection of the special senses, the attention is concentrated upon
the hallucinations which constitute the dream. In the simpler forms of
noctambulism only the automatic locomotive apparatus is awakened,
and the sleeper moves in accordance with the impressions derived
from habit aided by exaltation of the muscular sense. But in some of
the more complicated cases a certain amount of special sensibility
seems to exist. The patient is capable of exercising just that amount
of sensation which is necessary to accomplish his purpose, though
blind and deaf and insensible to every other impression. The more
complete the waking of the organs of sense, the closer the
resemblance to the condition of ecstasy in which cerebral exaltation
is the prominent feature. Accordingly, it sometimes happens that the
somnambulist can recall the events of his paroxysm.10 In such cases
the power of recollection is due to the same conditions that control
the recollection of our ordinary dreams. We remember very
imperfectly, if at all, the dreams that occur during sound sleep, but
the visions with which sleep sometimes commences (hypnagogic
hallucinations) and those that occupy the period of morning slumber
are very easily reviewed in memory, because they are associated
with impressions directly derived from the partially-waking organs of
sense. Such dreams are therefore chiefly recalled through their
association with the train of our waking thoughts. But the dreams of
somnambulism and the dreams of night-terrors, and all other visions
during profound sleep, are as completely as possible cut off from all
connection with the mental activities which arise directly from the
action of the senses. By reason of such isolation the ordinary
association of ideas affords no help to the memory, and the dream
remains in the limbo of oblivion.
10 A. Bertrand, Traité du Somnambulisme, p. 80.

Alfred Maury expresses the opinion11 that the principal cause of

forgetfulness of the events of somnambulism consists in the
exhaustion of the cerebral elements through the intensity of the
excitement to which they are subjected during the paroxysm.
Doubtless this in certain cases may contribute to the loss of memory,
but it should be remembered that the excitement may be relative
rather than absolute. Certain elements wake while others are asleep,
and the waking cells may be aroused to a degree far in excess of
what is usual during the sleep of the brain without attaining to the
level of their diurnal activity. The mind, undisturbed by external
impressions, gives its attention to the activity of these waking
organs, and a dream with all its consequences, somnambulic or
otherwise, is the result. In other words, the plane of consciousness,
so to speak, is lowered during sleep to the level of these molecular
vibrations. But when the whole brain is again awakened after sleep
the residual vibrations of those elements which yielded the physical
basis of the dream, and which, had they occurred during the waking
state, might have persisted with energy sufficient to furnish a
groundwork for recollection of the ideas which they had originally
suggested, are no longer sufficiently energetic to be felt in
consciousness. Recollection of mental states thus generated must
necessarily be impossible so long as the mind is dependent upon the
brain as its register of events. Sometimes, however, the
somnambulist, who while awake had forgotten all the incidents of his
somnambulic experience, can remember in a subsequent paroxysm
all that occurred during the preceding attack. Facts of this kind have
been observed in the waking life of certain hysterical persons,12 but
the apparent interruptions of their personality attach to the waking
state, while in ordinary somnambulism it is only in sleep that the
alternations of memory and forgetfulness occur. A similar recollection
of previous visions is sometimes experienced in dreams, showing
the close relation that subsists between the dreams of sleep and of
somnambulism. The bond of association between these events thus
isolated in time must be sought in a renewal of like conditions of the
brain during the successive periods of somnambulic exaltation. We
must suppose that the molecules which were in a state of functional
excitement during the first paroxysm are again aroused in like
manner after a period of waking quiescence. If, during sleep, their
movements, though of an exalted character, have only just sufficed
to arouse consciousness in the form of a dream, it would not be
probable that during the phase of comparative inactivity which
supervenes when the whole brain is awake their residual motion
could disturb the sphere of consciousness. Hence the time occupied
by their somnambulic vigor must remain a blank in memory during
the waking state. But when the original state of exaltation has been
reproduced by a second period of disorder, if the same molecular
movements be in any way renewed, the conditions of memory are
fulfilled; consciousness is once more aroused as before, and the
patient remembers the dream or the events of the previous attack.
 11 Le Sommeil et les Rêves, p. 226.

12 Annales Medico-psychologiques, 5e Série, t. xvi. p. 5, 1876.

Artificial Somnambulism, or Hypnotism.

The phenomena which have now been passed in review are of

apparently spontaneous origin during the ordinary period of sleep.
But from the remotest antiquity it has been known that certain
persons may be thrown into an artificial sleep which closely
resembles the condition of the somnambulist. During the persistence
of this state certain portions of the nervous system become utterly
insensible to external impressions, while other portions acquire an
exalted degree of sensibility. The subject of the experiment can then
by special methods be placed in such relations with other waking
individuals that his surviving sensations, mental processes, and
physical actions shall be no longer regulated by his own volition, but
by the will of another. Such susceptibility is not common to all
persons. About 20 per cent. of the ordinary population is, by some
observers, considered capable of experiencing this condition.
Heidenhain,13 experimenting upon a class of medical students, found
only one in twelve who was thus susceptible. Charcot, whose field of
observation covers the inmates of the Salpêtrière Hospital, finds the
best exemplars of the hypnotic state among the hystero-epileptic
females in that asylum. To these experimenters we are largely
indebted for the most extended scientific observation of the
phenomena of hypnotism, giving precision and publicity to the
knowledge of facts which, though equally well known within a narrow
circle of investigation14 during the earlier decades of the present
century, have been compelled to await the development of cerebral
physiology before their full significance could become apparent to
the mass of the medical profession.
13 Animal Magnetism: Physiological Observations, by Rudolph Heidenhain.
 14 Braid, Neuro-hypnology considered in Relation with Animal Magnetism, London,
1843.

The antecedent condition most favorable to the production of the

hypnotic state is a highly unstable constitution of the nervous
system. For this reason the larger number of qualified subjects is
furnished by the female sex, especially by those who possess the
hysterical temperament. Frequent repetition of hypnotic exercises
renders the subject still more susceptible. Heidenhain was at first
inclined to believe that such experiences were not prejudicial to the
health of the subject, but the observation of Harting in the University
of Utrecht, and of Milne-Edwards in Paris,15 have demonstrated
danger to the health of animals subjected to similar experiments. It is
easy to discover, in the various clinical narratives published by
Charcot and his pupils,16 evidence that hysterical patients often
manifest considerable exhaustion after hypnotic exhibitions;
consequently, it cannot be admitted that the practice is devoid of risk
to the health of the individual.
15 Lancet, July 29, 1882, p. 164.

16 Paul Richer, L'hystéro-Epilepsie, Paris, 1881; Le Progrès médical, 1881-82.

Numerous methods of inducing the hypnotic state have been

employed by different experimenters. The greater number consist in
modifications of the sensory impulses derived from the periphery of
the body. Gentle pressure upon the closed eyelids; convergence of
the axes of the eyeballs upon some object nearer than the proper
focal distance of the eyes; fatigue of the retina by gazing upon any
brilliant or luminous object; monotonous excitation or sudden
surprise of the auditory nerve; various impressions through gentle
friction or pressure upon different regions of the body,—all these are
capable of inducing hypnotic sleep. An appeal to the imagination, or
even the mere attempt to abnegate the possibility of vigorous
thought by confining the attention to the most trivial of things,
sometimes suffices to produce the desired phenomenon. Thus,
Heidenhain put one of his students to sleep at a distance by merely
informing him beforehand that at a certain hour he would hypnotize
him in his absence. The state of ecstatic meditation into which the
monks of Mount Athos plunged themselves by the practice of
omphaloscopy affords an illustration of the hypnotic effects of
concentrated attention.

The duration of hypnotic sleep is exceedingly variable, but if left to

himself the patient usually wakes spontaneously, without recollection
of anything that has happened. If it be desirable to awaken him
before the natural termination of the paroxysm, consciousness can
be restored by almost any sudden and energetic appeal to the
senses, such as an electric shock, a sudden illumination of the eye
with vivid light, or a sharp puff of air upon the face.

According to Charcot,17 three principal types may be remarked

among the hysterical subjects upon whom he experimented: (1) the
cataleptic, (2) the lethargic, and (3) the somnambulic. Of these, the
first may be developed primarily by any abrupt and powerful
impression upon an organ of sense, as a bright light or a loud noise
(gong). Fixing the eyes upon some object may produce the same
result. Dumontpallier, for example, has reported the case of a young
woman18 who accidentally hypnotized herself by gazing at her own
image in the mirror before which she was dressing her hair. The
cataleptic state may also be secondarily induced by merely opening
the eyes of a patient in whom a condition of hypnotic lethargy has
been previously developed. If only one eye is thus opened, the
corresponding side of the body alone becomes cataleptic. Closing
the eyes causes the disappearance of this symptom, with complete
restoration of the purely lethargic state. During the cataleptic
condition the several tendinous reflexes disappear, neuro-muscular
hyperexcitability ceases; the skin becomes insensible, but the
special senses, particularly those of sight and hearing, maintain a
partial activity. In this state the senses may become avenues of
suggestion for the production of muscular movements, but if left to
themselves the limbs remain motionless.
17 Le Progrès médical, Feb. 18, 1882, p. 124.

18 Ibid., March 25, 1882, p. 223.

The lethargic state may be induced by simply closing the eyes of the
patient or by causing him to fix his gaze upon some definite object.
The paroxysm begins with a deep inspiration causing a peculiar
laryngeal sound, followed by the appearance of a little foam on the
lips. The eyelids are either wholly or partially closed, and are in a
state of continual tremulous motion. The eyeballs are generally
turned upward and inward. The muscles are completely relaxed. The
tendinous reflexes are exaggerated; pressure over a muscle or upon
a nerve arouses a peculiar contraction of synergic muscles and of
groups of muscles which are supplied by the excited nerve-trunk.
The facial muscles, however, do not thus become contractured: they
merely contract during the application of the stimulus. If the lethargic
patient be rendered cataleptic by opening the eyes, these
contractions persist even after awaking, and they can only be
dispelled by renewing the lethargic state before resorting to pressure
upon the antagonistic muscles—a process by which the contractures
peculiar to this species of lethargy may always be annulled. By the
approach of a magnet to a contractured limb the phenomenon may
be completely transferred to the corresponding muscles upon the
opposite side of the body. If upon a limb of a lethargic patient who
has been rendered cataleptic by opening the eyes an Esmarch's
band be applied, pressure over the bloodless muscles excites no
contracture until the band is removed. A contracture is then
developed, and it may even be transferred to the opposite limb by
the approach of a magnet. To this phenomenon has been applied the
term latent contracture.

The extraordinary muscular excitability manifested by these

hysterical hypnotics is further illustrated by an observation recorded
by Dumontpallier.19 If one end of a caoutchouc tube one centimeter
in diameter and five or six meters in length be applied over a muscle
in the leg, and if the other end be in like manner connected with a
watch, every movement of the second hand will be followed by a
slight contraction in the muscle. The same result follows connection
with the wire of a telephone, and if a microphone be introduced into
the circuit the incidence of a ray of artificial light upon the instrument,
or even its glancing reflection from the eye, will arouse a responsive
muscular contraction. Charcot has sometimes observed muscular
contractions upon the opposite side of the body when a mild galvanic
current was applied to the parietal surface of the head. During the
manifestation of muscular hyperexcitability there is complete
analgesia, but the senses of sight and hearing seem to preserve
some degree of activity. The patient, however, does not manifest any
susceptibility to influence by suggestion.
19 Ibid., Jan. 14, 1882, p. 25.

The somnambulic state may be directly induced by fixed attention

with the eyes, by feeble and monotonous excitation of the senses,
and by various other methods of an analogous character. This forms
the most common variety of the hypnotic condition. It may very easily
supervene during either the lethargic or the cataleptic state as a
consequence of pressure or gentle friction upon the top of the head.
Thus, Heidenhain caused muscular paralysis by rubbing the scalp.
Unilateral friction of the same surface produced paralysis of the
opposite side of the body without notable affection of consciousness.
The eye and the eyelids behave as in the lethargic state. The patient
seems asleep, but there is less muscular relaxation than in hypnotic
lethargy. There is no exaggeration of the tendinous reflexes, and
muscular hyperexcitability is absent. But by lightly touching or
breathing upon the surface of a limb its muscles may be thrown into
a condition of rigidity which differs from the contracture of the
lethargic state in the fact that it does not yield to excitation of the
antagonistic muscles, though yielding readily to a sudden repetition
of the same form of excitement by which it was originally produced.
From the immobility of the cataleptic state it also differs by a greater
degree of resistance to passive motion. Though analgesia may be
perfectly developed in this state, there is generally an exalted
condition of certain forms of cutaneous sensibility and of the
muscular sense. Strange perversions of other special senses are
sometimes remarked. Cohn20 discovered that a patient who was
naturally color-blind “when unilaterally hypnotized was able to
distinguish colors which were otherwise undistinguishable.”
Conversely, when the cataleptic state is induced the eye becomes
incapable of discerning colors. Spasm of accommodation is also
present, and is one of the earliest demonstrable symptoms of the
hypnotic condition.
20 Brain, vol. iii. p. 394.

These remarkable exaggerations and perversions of special

sensibility have been the cause of much scepticism on the one hand
regarding the verity of the phenomena of hypnotism, and of much
credulity on the other, extending even to a belief in the existence of
supernatural and miraculous gifts. But when the fact is once
comprehended that in this capacity for uncommon feats of vision,
hearing, touch, etc. we observe merely the exaggeration of a
process which occurs in every act of attention, the miraculous
semblance of the phenomena disappears. Attention implies an
increase of activity in certain portions of the brain, with diminution of
the function in the remainder of the organ. In the wild excitement of a
cavalry charge the soldier feels not the sabre cut which will fill his
consciousness with pain so soon as his attention is released from
the fetters imposed by the more engrossing events of the combat.
So in the somnambulic sleep those parts of the brain which remain
awake perform their functions with a vigor that is enhanced by a
concentration of cerebral energy in certain restricted portions of an
organ that, by reason of its naturally excessive instability, had been
previously fitted for the liberation of an inordinate amount of
molecular motion. Hence the slightest suggestion of sense may
suffice for the most extraordinary perception. Such persons see
through their eyelids and hear at a surprising distance. The memory
of past events, the recollection of long-forgotten words and thoughts,
supplies in this state an abundance of materials out of which an
exalted imagination may construct the most astonishing scenes. By
this method of combination are produced those remarkable oratorical
utterances which by the ignorant have been so widely attributed to
the supervision of guiding spirits from another world. In this condition
the essential characteristics of the mind of the so-called medium
become the real guides of his mental processes. Hence the infinite
variety and contrariety of the utterances of such declaimers.
Among other consequences of this exalted susceptibility of the
waking portions of the brain may be noticed the effect of suggestions
by others upon the mind of the somnambulist. Numerous examples
scattered through the literature of the subject21 illustrate the manner
in which the course of our ordinary dreams may be thus directed.
The hypnotic dream is far more easily modified.22 The simplest
manifestations of such influence are exhibited in movements in
obedience to the command of the hypnotizer. Next in rank are those
more complicated actions that are effected by excitement of the
imitative faculties of the subject. Every suggested movement that
can be in any way perceived by the patient will be at once
reproduced. Various emotions and passions may thus be aroused by
simply placing the sleeper in the appropriately suggestive attitudes.
Under the influence of a pregnant idea intruded upon the mind of the
patient the subsequent association of ideas will suffice for the
evolution of a complicated series of hallucinations, as in the case of
a young woman, who on being directed to put out her tongue
immediately began to feel sensations of uneasiness in her stomach,
followed by nausea and attempts at vomiting, accompanied by the
impression of being on shipboard. In the lowest grades of the
hypnotic state consciousness may remain, and the subsequent
recollection of the events of the paroxysm may be quite persistent. In
such cases illusions that were produced by suggestions from other
minds generally survive in memory and become the causes of
serious delusion. Witness the manner in which susceptible
individuals, partially hypnotized in a so-called spiritual circle, believe
in the reality of the illusions which have occupied their senses during
a séance.
21 Carpenter's Physiology, 8th ed., p. 765; Le Sommeil et les Rêves, par L.-F. Alfred
Maury, 4th ed., p. 153 et seq.

22 Loc. cit., p. 357.

A higher degree of insensibility to ordinary impressions is necessary

to the production of the phenomena of passive obedience and of
automatic imitation. It is probable that the degree of sensory
hyperæsthesia which enables certain hypnotic patients to read the
thoughts of others belongs rather to the first than to the last of these
classes. This capacity is usually associated with preservation of
consciousness and memory, and is, essentially, a mere exaggeration
of that power which all possess in greater or less degree. Numerous
well-authenticated examples of a surprising manifestation of this
faculty have been recorded, so that the possibility of its existence no
longer admits of doubt.23 In all cases it has been remarked that the
hypnotic mediums can only respond correctly to questions for which
the true answer is present in the mind of the questioner. For all other
interrogations the replies are delivered purely under the influence of
random suggestion. In certain of these cases the pathway of
communication lies through actual physical contact, as in ordinary
mind-reading, where the insensible molecular oscillations of the
muscular elements of one individual serve to guide the movements
of another. But more frequently the transmission of ideas is effected
through the eyes. With these organs the table-rapper or the
planchette-writer reads the unspoken words of the questioner in a
manner very like, yet vastly more deliberate than, that by which deaf-
mutes now learn to interpret the movements of the lips of persons
with whom they converse. This fact is well illustrated by the
experience of Maury24 in an interview with a celebrated table-rapper,
who without the slightest hesitation made known to him the age,
name, and date of death of a brother whom he had lost. She also
gave the same information regarding his father, and related the
names of other persons upon whom he had fixed his attention. But if
he turned away his face or concealed his eyes, so that the woman
could no longer watch their expression, her responses ceased to be
of any value.
23 Luther V. Bell, Two Dissertations on what are termed the Spiritual Phenomena,
read at the meetings of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American
Insane Hospitals at Washington and Boston in 1854 and 1855.

24 Le Sommeil et les Rêves, 4th ed., p. 361.

In these partial developments of the hypnotic state it is worthy of
note that the phenomena of sleep are so few and so comparatively
insignificant that they are usually overlooked. Hence the veil of
mystery which has so often obscured the interpretation of such
cases. Careful observation, however, will always detect some
characteristic departure from the normal standard—some loss of
balance between the different parts of the nervous system—by
means of which the true relations of each example may be
determined.

TREATMENT.—A large proportion of the phenomena of somnambulism

and hypnotism depend rather upon an originally irritable organization
than upon a specially diseased condition of the nervous system.
Their treatment, therefore, frequently resolves itself into the
management of hysteria or of cerebrasthenia. But if the
manifestations of somnambulism develop for the first time in a
person advanced in years, who has previously enjoyed good health
and a sound mind, it should be regarded as an omen of grave
import, signifying the imminence of organic cerebral disease. Though
the meaning of such incidents is less sinister in early life, they reveal
an ill-balanced state of the nervous system and an imperfect process
of nutrition in the growing body. Such children are the frequent
victims of night-terrors, the form of disorder most commonly evolved
by their somnambulistic proclivities. The treatment of night-terrors
should therefore be chiefly directed to the invigoration of the general
health of the patient. Indigestion and malnutrition are among the
most prominent antecedents, and they should constitute the principal
objects of therapeutical attention. Constipation is usually present.
This may be relieved by the use of compound rhubarb powder or any
other gently stimulating laxative. Digestion should be aided with
pepsin as soon as the catarrhal condition of the alimentary canal, so
uniformly present, has been measurably improved. Cod-liver oil or its
substitutes should be administered for a long period of time. If the
nocturnal paroxysms be frequently renewed, it may be well to
employ the bromides, either with or without chloral hydrate; but as a
general rule it is better to rely upon hygienic and restorative
treatment, rather than upon any form of merely hypnotic medication.
 INSOMNIA.

The departures from the course of natural sleep which have been
thus considered are not so much the direct consequence of acute
disease as the result of structural deviation from the normal type of
the nervous system. We must now briefly review the strictly
pathological modifications to which sleep is liable.

Lithæmic Insomnia.

Among those who indulge freely in the pleasures of the table a form
of insomnia is not uncommon. Originating at first in mere overloading
of the stomach, and consisting in a direct irritation of the brain
through the medium of the intervening nervous apparatus,
sleeplessness finally becomes a symptom of more serious mischief.
The tissues become charged with nitrogenous waste, and a
lithæmic25 or gouty condition is established. Such patients are
wakeful, or if they sleep their slumbers are imperfect and
unrefreshing.26 Grinding of the teeth,27 noticed by Graves during the
sleep of the gouty, is a symptom indicative of a highly irritable
condition of important ganglia at the base of the brain. These
symptoms are sometimes associated with turgidity of the superficial
vessels of the head, indicating imperfect function of the circulatory
organs, with a tendency to accumulation of the blood in the venous
channels of the body. The sleep of such partially-asphyxiated
patients is fitful, irregular, and akin to stupor. Occurring in the
subjects of periodical gout, these disturbances of sleep become
increasingly serious as the paroxysm is approached, until loss of
sleep and the unrefreshing character of such slumber as may be
obtained become important factors among the causes of failing
health.
25 DaCosta, “Nervous Symptoms of Lithæmia,” Am. Journ. Med. Sci., Oct., 1881.

26 Dyce Duckworth, “Insomnia in Persons of Gouty Disposition,” Brain, July, 1881.

27 Trousseau, Clinical Medicine, Am. ed., vol. iv. p. 362.

For all such patients a proper recognition of the cause of their

disorder is essential. This must be corrected by measures
appropriate to the treatment of the gouty diathesis. Since the
condition of the cerebral tissues is a state of irritation caused by the
presence of excrementitious substances, such hypnotic remedies
must be selected as will not interfere with the defecation of those
tissues. Bromide of potassium, valerian, scutellaria, hyoscyamus,
hops, and cannabis indica are useful, together with all that class of
drugs which quiet the brain without hindering the process of
excretion. Chloral hydrate often produces an excellent result, but
care should be taken to prevent its habitual use.

Febrile Insomnia.

Closely related with the sleeplessness of lithæmia are the

disturbances of repose which attend the evolution of the various
specific fevers. In many cases the condition varies all the way from
stupor to delirium. Excessive somnolence, such as often ushers in
the fever, is an indication for evacuant treatment. Cerebral
excitement calls for remedies like the bromides and chloral hydrate,
which do not interfere with elimination. If pain, like headache or
backache, be a symptom demanding attention, the addition of
morphia in small doses forms a valuable reinforcement for the
hypnotic mixture; but, as a general rule, opiates should be used with
a sparing hand. The various resources of hydrotherapy are often
invaluable when wakefulness results from the cutaneous irritability of
the eruptive fevers. During the later stages of a protracted illness the
occurrence of insomnia should direct attention to the nutrition of the
patient. Wakefulness is then the symptom of an irritable weakness of
the brain, demanding remedies which delay the process of
disassimilation. The failing power of the heart requires attention, and
diffusible nutriment must be given to convey the elements needful for
restoration of the exhausted brain. These indications are most
perfectly answered by the associated administration of opiates with
alcohol, milk, and beef-juice in small and frequent doses.

Insomnia from Exhaustion.

Cerebral exhaustion is a not uncommon cause of wakefulness in

cases uncomplicated with fever. It is usually the result of chronic
conditions of ill-health and depression, such as are often
encountered as the result of various cachexias or of dyspepsia, with
or without the abuse of alcohol, tea, coffee, or tobacco. Overwork,
debilitating discharges, pregnancy, parturition, mental anxiety,
depressing emotions, chronic heart disease, and incipient insanity
are fruitful causes of the exhaustion which produces this most
distressing form of insomnia. In such cases the cessation of healthy
nutrition leads to a condition of excessive instability in the cerebral
tissues. The oxygen which they receive from the blood is not stored
with any degree of permanence, but tends to pass directly into stable
combinations with the oxidizable elements of the brain.
Consciousness is thus continually aroused. The state of such a
patient presents a very close analogy to the condition of the victim of
diabetes whose liver refuses to retain its glycogen. The inordinate
discharge of sugar into the blood not only exhausts the tissues of the
liver, but also excites other organs—notably the kidneys—to
excessive and unwholesome activity. In somewhat similar fashion,
the failure of the brain to assimilate and to retain oxygen leads to an
abnormal intramolecular oxidation, which excites an excessive and
unwholesome activity on the part of the Ego in another region—
namely, in the field of consciousness. Such wakefulness might justly
be termed a psychical diabetes.

This variety of insomnia has frequently been ascribed to cerebral

anæmia occurring as a part of a general spanæmia. But this
universal impoverishment of the blood, though a sufficient cause of
the morbid instability, the irritable weakness, of the cortical tissues,
does not necessarily imply a comparatively bloodless condition of
the brain. Unequal circulation and local hyperæmia in different
organs of the body are no unusual consequences of the anæmic
state. Slight disturbances suffice to arouse the brain of such a
patient. The vaso-motor apparatus shares in the general irritability,
permitting blood to inundate the cortical substance almost without
provocation. The unstable protoplasm is only imperfectly renovated,
usually at the expense of the other tissues of the body. The weary
patient, busying himself with an unwilling review of the events of the
day, tosses long upon his couch before he can secure the approach
of “tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep.” When at length he
yields, his slumbers are brief, and the latter part of the night is but a
repetition of the earlier vigil.

Such patients need a very radical course of general treatment. A

complete change of habits should be effected. A long vacation in the
country, or, best of all, a protracted voyage in a sailing vessel, is
desirable. Hot foot-baths, with cold affusion upon the head, and
warm sponge-baths, or even the full bath in tepid water, at bedtime,
are of great service as means of tranquillizing the nervous system.
The indications for medicinal treatment, besides attention to the
predisposing cachexia, are twofold—to calm and to nourish the
enfeebled nervous substance. Opiates calm, but do not nourish—
they hinder the process of nutrition; hence the sufferer wakes
unrefreshed by the sleep which they procure, and is soon in a
condition worse than ever. The same objection lies against the
continuous use of the bromides. But alcohol and its hypnotic
derivatives (chloral, paraldehyde, etc.) not only calm the excitable
brain, but they also furnish to the tissues a certain amount of
diffusible nutriment which suffices to steady the brain until a change
of occupation, with rest and wholesome food, can produce a
complete restoration of its normal stability. To this effect of alcohol
must be ascribed its value as an hypnotic in the wakefulness of old
people who cannot sleep without a preliminary nightcap. A moderate
draught of hot toddy in such cases serves to arouse the feeble heart
and to equalize the circulation by the production of a moderate
degree of general vascular dilatation. The sugar and water afford an
easily assimilated food, while the alcohol benumbs the cortical
protoplasm to a degree which favors the cessation of conscious
perception. If administered in excessive doses, it is not sleep but
anæsthetic intoxication which follows. If this condition be unduly
repeated, the phenomena of chronic alcoholism supervene, with all
the horrible forms of insomnia that accompany cerebral starvation
and delirium tremens. Non-alcoholic nerve-stimulants and tonics,
with careful administration of easily-digested food, are then more
than ever needed to overcome the neurasthenic wakefulness.

Insomnia from Active Cerebral Congestion.

Still another form of sleeplessness is often experienced as a result of

actual inflammation in some portion of the body, either involving the
intracranial contents directly or reacting upon the brain through the
medium of its circulation. In such cases many of the symptoms of
acute inflammation are present. The head aches, the temples throb,
the face and eyes are suffused with blood, the temperature is
considerably increased. The senses become exalted, ideas pursue a
tumultuous course, there may be actual delirium. These
disturbances are due to an active hyperæmia of the brain. The
substance of the cortex becomes hyperexcitable, and the ordinary
incitements of sense produce an exaggerated effect in
consciousness. The patient does not sleep, and he feels no need of
sleep, because the nutrition of the brain is sustained at the expense
of the remainder of the wasting body. The most speedy and effectual
relief in such cases is obtained through a diminution of the current of
blood in the brain. Moderate compression of the carotid arteries has