Mind and matter : illustrated by considerations on hereditary insanity, and the influence of temperament in the development of the passions / By J.G. Millingen.

  • Millingen, J. G. (John Gideon), 1782-1862.
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mind and matter : illustrated by considerations on hereditary insanity, and the influence of temperament in the development of the passions / By J.G. Millingen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    should exist upon earth—that every animated being, from the mammoth of old to the invisible animalcula3 that people a drop of water, should, in conformity to its destiny, wage against each other a war implacable, in which strength over- whelms the feeble, and might too frequently tramples upon right. The bane grows near the antidote, and poisonous weeds often choke the growth of the food of man. Apparent destruc- tion and reproduction is a law of Nature. Ap- parent—for nothing is destroyed, and whatever disappears is destined to reappear in some other form. We might say, that the very sheep who graze on the rank grass of the churchyard de- vour the reproduction of the former devourers of their species. The most fertile fields of Europe from time immemorial, have been manured with the blood of warriors; generous patriots, or mer- cenary combatants. According to the same laws, good and evil, virtue and vice, will be met with at every step and in every stage of life: why such is the case, it would be presumption to ask—it would be to question the wisdom of the Deity. The mental superiority of man constitutes him the lord of the creation. Yet man himself, in all his pride and vainglory, is subject to the same laws of destruc- tion that sweep other animals from the face of the earth. Disease, war, and famine, will thin his race as promptly as the murrain will thin his