thrive where the genius will
starve. It is more or less the same in other professions. I know learned
lawyers to-day who are far from prosperous, while men ten times their
inferiors in learning are getting rich. I remember a most skilful
physician, now no more on earth, who was a very genius in the science of
medicine; but he was so filthy in his habits, he would so
unceremoniously chew tobacco at all times, that many dreaded his
visits, and would sooner have a man of less ability but gentler manners
as their family physician.

Gentlemen, habits good and bad cannot be put on and off like a
dress-coat; they are lasting qualities, the growth of years, the result
of constant practice and self-denial or self-neglect. And, as I wish you
success in life, allow me to conclude this lecture by recommending to
you the assiduous cultivation of gentlemanly habits. Cultivate them now,
while you are preparing for future labors. You wrong yourselves, and you
insult your companions and your professors, when you neglect in their
presence the conventionalities of polite society.

Uniting the external decorum of a gentleman with a thorough knowledge of
your profession, and with what is still more important, the virtues of a
conscientious man and a sincere Christian; ever true to the sound
principles of morality which I have endeavored to explain and to
inculcate in these lectures: you will be an honor to yourselves, an
ornament to your noble profession, the glory and joy of your Alma Mater,
a blessing to the community in which Providence will cast your lot as
the dispensers of health and happiness and length of days to your
fellow-men.

LECTURE VII.

THE NATURE OF INSANITY.

The subject of the present lecture, gentlemen, is "Insanity."

I. This subject belongs to a course of Medical Jurisprudence, because a
physician who treats patients for insanity is liable, from time to time,
to be cited before a court of law either as a witness or as an expert.
His conduct in such cases is to be guided by the principles of natural
and legal justice.

Various important cases at law turn upon the question of a person's
soundness of mind; and frequently the medical expert has it in his power
to furnish the court with more reliable information in this matter than
any one else. At one time, the validity of a last will may be contested,
and the possession of a fortune by one party or another may hinge on the
question whether the testator a