The Circulation within the Cranium in relation to Mental Disorders; and on German Psychological Medicine

Extract

Within the last twenty years, the influence of German literature and science, previously little felt, has operated strongly upon English thought and English society. German literature, popularized by translation, finds a multitude of admiring readers; yet, compared with German science, its effects on the opinions and, consequently, on the practical habits of our fellow-countrymen have been trifling. In the modern history of metaphysics, German works occupy a most prominent place; and in religious thought, such has been the influence of the productions of the German press, that the prevailing theology is deeply imbued with what are called the rationalistic or neological principles of German professors. So when we look to modern physic, we also find its principles intimately connected with the researches and hypotheses of German physicians; so much so, indeed, that there has arisen in the medical profession a rational school, ignoring many an old-world theory of the principles and practice of medicine. What has been more popular, more readily received in this country than German physiology? It is not only represented by translated treatises, but actually forms the basis of home-produced works. The German writers furnish, in their elaborate treatises and monographs, the quarry from which the material is mainly drawn for the construction of English works; and this we can safely assert, after giving credit for much good English matter and for skill in modelling the whole structure to the English taste. German physiology, having preceded, has latterly been followed by German pathology, foremost among the teachers of which stands Professor Virchow, whose remarkable treatise on cellular pathology has recently appeared in an English dress, and commends itself by the mass of facts it contains, as well as by its ingenious hypotheses, to every pathological student.