DOCSLIB.ORG

HISTORICAL NOTE...Thomas Laycock

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
HISTORICAL NOTE...Thomas Laycock J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2002;73:303 303 J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry: first published as 10.1136/jnnp.73.3.303 on 1 September 2002. Downloaded from HISTORICAL NOTE........................................................................................... Thomas Laycock (1812–1876) mong medical historians, Thomas diseases.6 The concept probably anticipates containing one volume on philosophy, one on Laycock1 is best known for his deter- modern ideas of biological clocks and diurnal physiology. mining influence on the young Hugh- rhythms. He wrote articles on hysteria and on A 7 JMS Pearce lings Jackson. Laycock’s interests were the reflex function of the brain, and systemic 23 8 304 Beverley Road, Anlaby, Hull HU10 7BG; nervous system and psychology. disorders. [email protected] Thomas Laycock was the son of a Wesleyan Following Robert Whytt, and Marshall Hall, minister. In Bedale, a pretty Yorkshire village Laycock emphasised that the nervous system References just one mile off the Great North road (A1), he must be seen as one continuous series of 1 MacLeod K. [Thomas] Laycock. Glasgow: trained as an apprentice surgeon-apothecary. structures obeying one law, that of the Macdougall, 1908. He attended the University College, London, reflex.9 2 Pitman J. Thomas Laycock. Proc R Coll Physicians Edinb 1992;22:384–9. furthering his training in Paris for two years, He extended the studies of Johann August 3 Anon. Thomas Laycock (1812–1876). Mental under Alfred Armand Velpeau (1795–1867) Unzer (1727–1799) and Jirí Procháska (1749– physiologist, medical psychologist. JAMA and the pathologist, Pierre Louis (1787–1872) 1820), which he translated.10 Unzer’s book 1968;205:301–2 an initiator of statistics. In Göttingen, he Erste Gründe einer Physiologie der eigentlichen 4 Laycock T, Bucknill JC. A Manual of received his doctorate degree, summa cum thierischen Natur thierischer Körper was a system Psychological Medicine, 1858. laude. He returned to the York County Hospi- of physiological metaphysics introducing re- 5 Laycock T. Evidence and arguments in proof of the existence of a general law of periodicity tal, receiving preferment as lecturer at York flex action, afferent or “external sensory in the phenomena of life. Lancet 1842–3; Medical School and physician to the York Dis- impression” and efferent or “internal impres- i:124–9; 160–4; On the influence of the pensary. sion” paths, but wrongly localised the central moon on the atmosphere of the earth, and on In 1852 Laycock encountered Hughlings part of the reflex. Procháska termed the the pathological influence of the seasons. Jackson, a new student; he also taught central mechanism of the reflex the sensorium Lancet 1842–3;ii:438–44; On some of the Jonathan Hutchinson whom Jackson was to commune lying in the spinal root ganglia and causes which determine the minor periods of vital movements. Lancet 1842–3;i:929–33. meet in 1859 and share a house with at 14 peripheral plexuses. Lavie P 7 6 . Two 19th-century chronobiologists: Finsbury Circus, London for three years. Laycock stated : Thomas Laycock and Edward Smith. Chronobiol Hutchinson was to become surgeon to the Int 1992;9:83–96; discussion 97–101. London Hospital (1863), President of the “The brain, although the organ of 7 Laycock T. On the reflex functions of the brain. British and Foreign Medical Review Royal College of Surgeons (1889), and FRS consciousness, was subject to the laws (1881). In 1848 he wrote: 1845;xix:298–311. of reflex action and in this respect it did 8 Laycock T. A treatise on the nervous diseases of women. London: Longman, 1840. “Dr Laycock: a real treat to listen not differ from other ganglia of the nervous system.” 9 Amacher MP. Thomas Laycock, I M to—some good observations against Sechenov, and the reflex arc concept. Bull Hist copyright. materialism.” Med 1963;xxxviii:168–83. He concluded that the entire nervous 10 Laycock T. Trans and ed. The principles of He later acknowledged, that Dr Laycock had system was the seat of reflex function in physiology, by John Augustus Unzer; and a taught him about heredity. which the mind played no part.11 This revolu- dissertation on the functions of the nervous system, by George Procháska. London: Printed Laycock taught in York from 1846 and tionary idea was later supported by the for the Sydenham society, 1851. worked with Daniel Hack Tuke who had stud- experiments of Sechenov and were the foun- 11 Clarke E, O’Malley CD. The human brain ied treatment in psychiatric disorders. He dation for the work of Pavlov, Ferrier, and and spinal cord: a historical study. 2nd edn. published an acclaimed and lasting Manual of Sherrington. Laycock’s role in such a funda- San Francisco: Norman, 1996:361–3. Psychological Medicine in 1858.4 Tuke took the mental aspect of the history of the study of 12 Laycock T. Further researches into the young Jackson to visit his mentally ill patients mind and brain has perhaps been neglected.12 functions of the brain. British and Foreign at The Retreat. Laycock’s studies led to papers In 1855, Laycock became Professor of Medi- Medical Chirurgical Review 1855;xvi:155–87. 5 13 13 Barfoot M. To ask the suffrages of the on periodic illness (proleptics), in the Lancet, cine in Edinburgh. There he met David patrons: Thomas Laycock and the Edinburgh since he considered an understanding of Ferrier and orientated him towards neurology. Chair of Medicine, 1855. Med Hist Suppl periodicities essential for the treatment of Laycock published Mind and Brain in 1860, 1995;15:i–xv; 1–226. http://jnnp.bmj.com/ on September 30, 2021 by guest. Protected www.jnnp.com.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Concept of the Reflex in the Description of Behavior 321
    THE CONCEPT OF THE REFLEX IN THE DESCRIPTION OF BEHAVIOR 321 The present paper was published in the Journal of General Psychology, I I 2 * s here the editor. ( 93 > 5' 4 7~45$) an^ reprinted by permission of INTRODUCTORY NOTE THE EXTENSION of the concept of the reflex to the description of the behavior of intact organisms is a common practice in modern theorizing. Nevertheless, we owe most of our knowledge of the reflex to investigators who have dealt only with "preparations," and who have never held themselves to be con- cerned with anything but a subsidiary function of the central nervous system. Doubtless, there is ample justification for the use of relatively simple systems in an early investigation. But it is true, nevertheless, that the concept of the reflex has not emerged unmarked by such a circumstance of its development. In its extension to the behavior of intact organisms, that is to say, the his- torical definition finds itself encumbered with what now appear to be super- fluous interpretations. The present paper examines the concept of the reflex and attempts to evaluate the historical definition. It undertakes eventually to frame an alterna- tive definition, which is not wholly in despite of the historical usage. The reader will recognize a method of criticism first formulated with respect to scientific Ernst Mach in The Science and concepts by [ of Mechanics} per- haps better stated by Henri Poincare. To the works of these men and to Bridgman's excellent application of the method [in The Logic of Modern Physics] the reader is referred for any discussion of the method qua method.
    [Show full text]
  • History of Psychiatry Special Interest Group Newsletter Issue 7, Autumn 2018 Eds
    News and Notes History of Psychiatry Special Interest Group Newsletter Issue 7, Autumn 2018 Eds. Lydia Thurston and Claire Hilton News and Notes HoPSIG Issue 7, Autumn 2018 Contents Editorial: Lydia Thurston 1 Articles Sir Clifford Allbutt: physician, educator and Commissioner in Lunacy. 2 RHS Mindham Work as therapy: a reminder from the fields of Worcestershire. 4 David Jolley Thomas Laycock (1812-1876): Medicine, Mind and Mental Diseases. 5 Edward H Reynolds Memoirs Deepa Parry-Gupta 8 Hugh Jolly 10 Archives and artefacts College Archives Update. Francis Maunze 12 College crest: when and where and for what purpose? 13 In the College Archives … Bubble wrapped: Sigmund Freud and Julius Wagner- Jauregg. Claire Hilton 13 Book reviews The Dark Threads by Jean Davison, reviewed by RHS Mindham 15 Does History Make Sense? Hegel on the Historical Shapes of Justice by T Pinkard, reviewed by George Ikkos 16 Podcast Review A History of Psychiatry Podcast Series by Rab Houston, reviewed by Julian Laverty 19 Picture quizzes 21 Dates for your diary 21 Newsletter t itle | Division/Faculty | Date 1 Editorial Lydia Thurston, Co-editor Welcome to the Autumn 2018 edition of News Hilton also reveals two more treasures from and Notes . It’s been a busy summer for the archives in the form of portraits of Freud HoPSIG. In June we hosted a session at the and Wagner-Jauregg. RCPsych International Congress in This issue also contains a review of two Birmingham. Our speakers were Claire Hilton, podcasts chosen from an online series Helen Killaspy and Thomas Craig, all of whom produced by Rab Houston, Professor of presented talks encompassed by our session Modern History at the University of St title, ‘The myths of deinstitutionalisation’.
    [Show full text]
  • Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (1857–1952)
    GENERAL ARTICLE Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (1857–1952) Prasanna Venkhatesh V Twentieth century bore witness to remarkable scientists who have advanced our understanding of the brain. Among them, Sir Charles Scott Sherrington’s ideas about the way in which the central nervous system operates has continuing relevance even today. He received honorary doctorates from twenty- two universities and was honoured with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in the year 1932 along with Lord Prasanna Venkhatesh V is Edgar Adrian for their work on the functions of neurons. He currently a graduate developed our modern notion of the reflex as a model for how student at the Center for the periphery and spinal cord connect sensation and action. Neuroscience working with Prof. Aditya Murthy. He is “...To move things is all that mankind can do, for such the sole working on voluntary control of reaching and executant is muscle, whether in whispering a syllable or in felling pointing movements. His aforest.” research interests are –Sherrington neural basis of motor control and animal Sherrington had the genius to see the real need to amalgamate the behavior. scattered ideas in neurophysiology at that time, to give a compre- hensive overview that changed our perception of brain functions. In a career spanning almost sixty-five years, he published more than three hundred and twenty articles and a couple of noteworthy books. He was a man of admirable qualities and greatness, which is evident from the enviable number of articles, commentaries and books that have been written about his life, his approach to science and the world in general.
    [Show full text]
  • Smallpox Inoculation in Britain, 1721-1830
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 1990 Pox Britannica: Smallpox Inoculation in Britain, 1721-1830 Deborah Christian Brunton University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the European History Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, and the Virus Diseases Commons Recommended Citation Brunton, Deborah Christian, "Pox Britannica: Smallpox Inoculation in Britain, 1721-1830" (1990). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 999. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/999 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/999 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Pox Britannica: Smallpox Inoculation in Britain, 1721-1830 Abstract Inoculation has an important place in the history of medicine: not only was it the first form of preventive medicine but its history spans the so-called eighteenth century 'medical revolution'. A study of the myriad of pamphlets, books and articles on the controversial practice casts new light on these fundamental changes in the medical profession and medical practice. Whereas historians have associated the abandonment of old humoural theories and individualised therapy in favour of standardised techniques with the emergence of new institutions in the second half of the century, inoculation suggests that changes began as early as the 1720s. Though inoculation was initially accompanied by a highly individualised preparation of diet and drugs, more routinised sequences of therapy appeared the 1740s and by the late 1760s all inoculated patients followed exactly the same preparative regimen. This in turn made possible the institutionalised provision of inoculation, first through the system of poor relief, later by dispensaries and charitable societies.
    [Show full text]
  • Whytt and the Idea of Power: Physiological Evidence As a Challenge to the Eighteenth- Century Criticism of the Notion of Power
    Early whyttScience and Medicine the idea 18-4-5 of power(2013) 381-404 [55] ISSN 1383-7427 (print version) ISSN 1573-3823 (online version) ESM Whytt and the Idea of Power: Physiological Evidence as a Challenge to the Eighteenth- Century Criticism of the Notion of Power Claire Etchegaray University of Paris X (Paris-Nanterre-La Defense)* Abstract In An Essay on the Vital and Involuntary Motions of Animals, Robert Whytt maintained that the muscular motions that perform the natural functions of the organism are caused by an immaterial power. Here we consider to what extent the philosophical criticism of power urged by Locke and Hume may jeopardize his thesis, how his response mobilizes the resources of the Scottish experimental theism and whether he makes an original use of such resources. First, we examine various pieces of experimental evi- dence from which Whytt infers the need to evoke this power, before showing how they prompt him to stand by the immaterial power in the face of the empiricist criticisms. Following this, we explore the link Whytt makes between power and agency, in particu- lar comparing his thought with Locke’s. Lastly, we examine his work in the light of Hume’s criticism regarding the question of whether a power may be felt. Keywords active principles, agency, animism, William Cullen, experimental method, feeling, Albrecht von Haller, David Hume, Francis Hutcheson, John Locke, materialism, nerves, power, Thomas Reid, Scottish Enlightenment, soul, sympathy, Robert Whytt Whytt’s Medical Project in the Essay In 1744, dissatisfied with the widespread theories of cardiac motion and respiration, Robert Whytt began to write the Essay on the Vital and other Involuntary Motions of Animals.1 In the volume that he eventually pub- * Institut de Recherches Philosophiques (IREPH), University of Paris X (Paris-Nanterre- La Defense), 200 avenue de la République, 92001 Nanterre, France (claire.etchegaray@ u-paris10.fr).
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Neurology the History of Reflex Hammers
    historical neurology The history of reflex hammers Douglas J. Lanska, MD Article abstract-Following the simultaneous description of muscle stretch reflexes by Heinrich Erb and Carl Westphal in 1875,neurologists used direct finger taps or chest percussion hammers to elicit these phenomena. Because of inadequacies of chest percussion hammers for eliciting muscle stretch reflexes, a variety of hammers were developed specifically for this purpose. In 1888, J. Madison Taylor, working for S. Weir Mitchell at the Philadelphia Orthopedic Hospital, designed the first such “reflex hammer.” Taylor’s hammer had a triangular rubber head and a short, flattened metal handle. Krauss (1894), Berliner (1910), Troemner (1910),Babinski (1912). and Wintle (1925) also designed popular reflex hammers. Many of these hammers and several others are still in use. NEUROLOGY 1989;39:1542-1549 After Erb and Westphal described the clinical served tumours of the same kind, in brutes; nay he usefulness of muscle stretch reflexes in 1875,chest per- relates, that a vertigo frequently happens to black cussion hammers became popular for eliciting these cattle in the district of Underwold in Switzerland, reflexes, coincident with a decline in their use for per- which the heardsmen cure in the following manner: cussion. Subsequently, neurologists developed ham- They strike upon the skull, behind the horns, with a small hammer, and from the sound they discover mers specifically for eliciting reflexes; these “reflex whether there is any preternatural cavity under the hammers” are now critical tools in the neurologic exam- skull; which when they suspect, they immediately ination. bore through the part which they beat upon, and by means of a reed, which they introduce through the Percussion hammers.
    [Show full text]
  • Cullen, a Cautionary Tale
    Med. Hist. (2015), vol. 59(2), pp. 222–240. c The Author 2015. Published by Cambridge University Press 2015 doi:10.1017/mdh.2015.7 Cullen, a Cautionary Tale SEAN DYDE* Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstrasse 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany Abstract: Some ideas return after the briefest of exiles: reductionism is back in vogue. Existential questions – about who we are, about our origins and future, about what is valuable – no longer require difficult soul searching, especially when straightforward answers are expected from the neurosciences. History is being rewritten with the brain as its centrepiece; the search for great men and big ideas of the past begins again. William Cullen (1710–90), whose work on neurosis was once part of the history of psychoanalysis, is now well placed to become part of such a neuro-history. This article attempts to subvert this process, by rebuilding the original meaning of neurosis through Cullen’s physiological and medical works, in comparison with his predecessor, Robert Whytt (1714–66), and illustrating this meaning using one particular neurosis: hypochondriasis. The result is a more complicated version of neurosis which, importantly, carries significant insights into the nature and practice of medicine. Moreover, this article examines how Cullen’s standing fell in the 1820s as British physicians and surgeons turned to an idea which promised to reform medicine: pathological anatomy. When these hopes faded, Cullen became a figure obsessed with the nerves. This image has survived to the present, a blank canvas onto which any theory can be projected. It also values precisely what Cullen warned against: simplistic explanations of the body and disease, and unthinking confidence in the next big idea or silver bullet.
    [Show full text]
  • History Editor of the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
    J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2012; 42:352–60 Paper http://dx.doi.org/10.4997/JRCPE.2012.415 © 2012 Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh A sceptic and an empiric in medicine: George Young (1692–1757) and the beginnings of the Scottish medical Enlightenment IMC Macintyre Retired Surgeon and History Editor of the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK ABSTRACT The Edinburgh surgeon-apothecary and physician George Young was an Correspondence to IMC Macintyre empiric who emphasised observation, practical experience and a sceptical approach 20 Lygon Road, to evidence in medicine. He was an early member of the Rankenian Club, a group of Edinburgh EH16 5QB, UK young intellectuals whose ideas were to be at the heart of Scottish Enlightenment e-mail thinking. Young certainly influenced his pupil Robert Whytt, who went on to make [email protected] important contributions to the understanding of nerve and muscle function. James Hill, Young’s apprentice, to whom he emphasised the importance of experience and observation, would later advance thinking and practice in the management of head injury. Young was an important, but to date relatively neglected, figure in the early years of the Edinburgh Medical School and the Scottish Enlightenment. This paper describes what is known of his life and work, aims to assess his legacy and suggests that he deserves greater recognition and appreciation. KEYWORDS George Young, Rankenian Club, Edinburgh surgeon and physician, philosopher, Treatise on Opium DECLaratION OF INTERESTS IMC Macintyre is the History Editor of The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
    [Show full text]
  • November 1972
    CONTENTS page Important Notice . i Editor’s Page l . ..*...................... ii APS Membership Status . 309 The American Physiological Society . ..‘................... 315 The Animal Welfare Act of 1970 . 324 Past-President’s Address . John R. Brobeck . ...**.. 327 Future Meetings . ..*.................................... 337 Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Vertebrate Smooth Muscle: Correlation of Ultrastructure with Function . A. P. Somlyo.. .338 Some Problems of Homeostasis in High Altitude Exposure ....... J. Clifford Stickney ........................................ 349 Cerebral Circulation and Metabolism . ..*.................. 359 Computer-Assisted Self Evaluation Tests for Medical Physiology D. T. Frazier . ..*.....*............*.... 360 &Replies from Senior Physiologists . 368 F. J. W. Roughton, F. R. S. ..*....*............... 387 Allan Hemingway . 394 IMPORTANTNOmCE In the interest of getting greater membership input into APS activi- ties your attention is directed to two questionnaires enclosed with this issue of The Physiologist. They are concerned with the election of officers to the American Physiological Society and with the time and place of future Fall meetings of the Society. We would like to receive the opinions of a large percent of the membership and urge you to take thetwo to three minutes necessary to read the two enclosed pages, inditiate your choice and return the ballots promptly to: Dr. Bay G. Daggs Executive Secretary and Treasurer The American Physiological Society 9650 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20014 Thank you for your cooperation. Robert M. Berne, M.D. President This is to inform you that the editorship of The Physiologist will change with the next issue. Pay Daggs is retiring in December of this year. Orr Reynolds has been selected by Council to replace Daggs not only as editor of The Physiologist but as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of APS as well.
    [Show full text]
  • HISTORICAL NOTES Robert Whytt and the Stretch Reflex
    484 Wade, Crawford, Wenden, King, Moss 22 Moss NEG, Powers D, Wade DT. The Oxford head injury how reliable is it? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1997; J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry: first published as 10.1136/jnnp.62.5.484 on 1 May 1997. Downloaded from register. Disability and Rehabilitation 1996;18:169-73. 62:38-42. 23 Moss NEG, Crawford S, Wade DT. Post concussion 27 King NS, Crawford S, Wenden FJ, Moss NEG, Wade DT. symptoms-is stress a mediating factor? Clinical Interventions and service need following mild and mod- Rehabilitation 1994;8: 149-56. erate head injury: The Oxford Head Injury Service. 24 King NS, Crawford S, Wenden FJ, Moss NEG, Wade DT. Clinical Rehabilitation 1997;1 1:13-27. The Rivermead post concussion symptom questionnaire: 28 Crawford S, Wenden F, Wade DT. The Rivermead head a measure of symptoms commonly experienced after injury follow up questionnaire: a study of a new rating head injury and its reliability. J Neurol 1995;242:587-92. scale and other measures to evaluate outcomes following 25 Russell WR, Smith A. Post-traumatic amnesia after closed head injury. Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1996;60: head injury. Arch Neurol 1961;5:16-29. 510-14. 26 King NS, Crawford S, Wenden FJ, Moss NEG, Wade DT, 29 Goldberg DP, Hillier VF. A scaled version of the general Caldwell FE. Measurement of post-traumatic amnesia: health questionnaire. Psychol Med 1979;9: 139-45. HISTORICAL NOTES Robert Whytt and the stretch Whytt was one of the most distinguished physicians and neurophysiologists of the 18th century. He wrote of reflex many topics, including pupillary dilatation and contrac- tion related to light and to convergence; dilated pupils The separate structure and functions of sensory and in coma due to compression of the thalami nervorum motor nerves were the result of the inspired experi- opticorum.
    [Show full text]
  • MARSHALL HALL (I790-I857): a BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY by J
    MARSHALL HALL (I790-I857): A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY by J. H. S. GREEN, PH.D. i. Life. 2. Early Work. 3. Work on J!eflex, Action. 4. Later Work and Miscellaneous Writings. MARSHALL HALL, the centenary of whose death occurred on ii August of last year, has a permanent place in the history of science and medicine, espe- cially in relation to his work on Reflex Action. However, it has recently been remarked1 that 'probably the work of Marshall Hall has not received full recognition even yet', and the purpose of this paper is to give an account of Hall's life and work,2 and to attempt a brief assessment of his achievements. I. LIFE .I. Marshall Hall was born on i8 February I790 at Basford, near Nottingham.8 His father, Robert Hall (I755-I827) was a cotton manufacturer, who, well versed in chemistry, was an early user of chlorine on a large scale for the bleaching of cotton. He also received a prize from the Royal Society of Arts for the invention of a new crane. A friend and follower of Wesley, he was sufficiently popular and respected to receive protection from 'Ned Lud' during the Luddite riots. Robert Hall had eight children ofwhom Marshall was the sixth. The second. son was Samuel Hall (178i-i863), well known in his time as an engineer and inventor. In i8I7 and i823 he obtained patents for the 'gassing' of lace and net-a process in which loose fibres are removed by rapidly passing the fabric through a row ofgas jets. Out of this process he made a fortune, most ofwhich was lost in developing other inventions.
    [Show full text]
  • Original the Monro Dynasty and Their Treatment of Madness in London
    Original Neurosciences and History 2015; 3(3): 116-124 The Monro dynasty and their treatment of madness in London I. Macintyre 1, A. Munro 2 1Retired surgeon and President of the British Society for the History of Medicine, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. 2Retired surgeon and Professor, Aberdeen University at the Centre for Health Science, Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom. ABSTRACT Introduction. The treatment of madness in the eighteenth century had changed little over hundreds of years. One of the most powerful influences over the management of the insane in London was the Monro dynasty (1728-1882), which consisted of five generations of physicians, four of whom practised at the Bethlem Hos - pital. Methods. A review of the medical literature on the Monro physicians treating madness in London was under - taken. The first four Monro doctors wrote little about the practice of managing patients with mental illness, and so most of the information about their practice has come from publications about the institutions in which they worked during the 18th and 19th centuries. Dr Henry Monro, the last of this medical dynasty, published a book and several papers on methods of management of mental illness and these have been included in the review. Conclusions. The Monro physicians who specialised in treating madness were very influential in English society for more than 150 years. They were consulted by the great and the good of their times, and two of them were asked for a medical opinion on the mental illness of King George III. Yet their management was marked by treatment regimens which were regarded as outmoded and barbaric even by the standards of the day.
    [Show full text]