to the state
of the stomach and intestinal canal, is, as far as it goes, beneficial
to the primary disease; for occasional _purging_, whether with the
_blue pill_ or _Plummer's pill_, and the use of a simple and
abstemious mode of living, are as well calculated to relieve affections
of the brain, as those of the stomach. But the fault of such a mistaken
view of the subject is, that the treatment is confined too exclusively
to one organ, and that the one not primarily affected; to the neglect of
other means that may be as much or more required for the relief of the
head. Where, for example, the patient complains of throbbing headach,
with other marks of increased arterial action in and about the brain,
it is dangerous to rely solely upon _cathartics_, and to neglect
_bleeding_, a neglect, which, I have more than once seen reason to
believe, has been the occasion of fatal apoplexy ensuing.

The precise difference in the condition of the brain, in the three forms
of _insanity_ now mentioned, is not at all known. Dissection hitherto
has not thrown any light upon the subject; nor is it probable that it
will do so hereafter. The derangement of intellect in all of them, and
the mutual convertibility of one into the other, prove that there is no
essential or fundamental difference between them; and the same is true
with regard to their medical treatment. The moral management of the
patient calls for nicer discrimination, and requires much penetration
and judgment on the part of the practitioner, as well as extensive
experience in mental disorders altogether--_Clutterbuck's Lectures on
the Nervous System_.

* * * * *

THE GATHERER.

"I am but a Gatherer and disposer of other men's stuff."--_Wotton_.

* * * * *

A celebrated comedian dining at a tavern in the neighbourhood of
Covent-garden, after asking the waiter several times for a glass of
water without obtaining it, rang the bell violently, and swore "He would
knock his eye out, if he did not immediately bring some." A gentleman
present remonstrated, and said, "He would be less likely of getting it,
if he did so." "Oh dear, no, sir; for if you take eye (i) from waiter,
you will get water directly."

* * * * *

Closterman painted the duke and duchess of Marlborough, and all their
children, in one picture. The duke was represented on horseback; a
position which formed th