Canad. Med. Ass. J.Aug. 22, 1964, vol. 91

MEN AND BooKs: RICHARD MAURICE Buci. 385

386 MEN AND Booxs: RicIMiiw MAURICE Buciu.

homestead on a site close by the present OntarioHospital, London. There, 38 years later, Dr. Buckewas appointed Superintendent.The father, Reverend Horace Walpole Bucke,

a classical scholar and master of seven languages,brought with him to Canada a library of severalthousand books in English, French, Italian, Spanish,Latin, Greek and Hebrew. As the children grewup they were taught to read in several languages.None of them received any formal education exceptwhat they managed to get from their reading.Three of the six sons became doctors, while anotherstudied law and became a distinguished civilservant.At 16, following the death of his mother, Bucke

left home to wander and work as a labourer inthe Ohio and Mississippi Valleys and in the CypressSwamps of Louisiana. He crossed the plains witha pack train and worked as a miner with Alan andHosea Grosh, discoverers of the fabulous ComstockLode.

In the fall of 1857 Bucke and Alan Grosh werelost in a snowstorm in the Sierra Nevadas. Theyhad been delayed in crossing the mountains ontheir way to California. After five days and fournights without food or fire, they arrived at a smallmining camp where Crosh died of exhaustion andexposure. Suffering from severe frostbite, Buckehad one foot and part of another amputated. It issaid that it took 40 years for his wounds to heal.

Returning to Canada, having inherited a smalllegacy from his mother, Bucke decided to studymedicine. He enrolled at McGill and graduated in1862 as the gold medallist of his year. He spenttwo years in England and France on postgraduatemedical studies. In 1865 he returned to Canada,married and settled down to medical practice inSarnia. In 1876 he was appointed Medical Super-intendent at the newly opened mental hospital inHamilton. After a year he was transferred to theOntario Hospital, London, where he served withgreat distinction until his sudden death in 1902.He was a founder of the Medical School in

London and its first Professor of Nervous andMental Diseases. He was a Fellow of the RoyalSociety of Canada, President of the PsychologicalSection of the British Medical Association and,finally, a distinguished President of the AmericanMedico-Psychological Association which is now theAmerican Psychiatric Association.Although not the first in Canada to introduce

'amoral treatment", Dr. Bucke carried this conceptinto practice further than anyone else before him.He abolished the use of alcohol as a sedative, re-moved all forms of restraint and devoted himselfto providing occupations so that 90% of his pa-tients were healthfully employed. Female attend-ants were successfully introduced on the malewards and some of the patients were even paid fortheir work.The "open-door" policy was initiated in London

by Bucke in 1882. Additional doors were built as

Canad. Med. Ass. 3.Aug. 22, 1964, vol. 91

Fig. 1.-R. M. Bucke, drawn by a fellow student at McGill-1858-1862.

exits to increase the patients' sense of freedom.There were no unpleasant incidents and Dr. Bucke8was able to justify his opinion that "It is restraintthat makes restraint necessary." He also claimedthat "The object of treatment in the case of insanityis (to my mind) not so much the cure of diseaseas it is the rehumanization of the patient." In recenttimes this view has found expression in a variety ofremotivation programs.

Although he was an exceedingly well respectedfigure at international gatherings, at home Dr.Bucke was not always popular with his medicalcolleagues. Towards the end of his distinguishedcareer he was publicly condemned by some ofthem for "meddlesome gynecology" and "mutilatinghelpless lunatics".9 The cause of this was thereport of the surgical treatment of pelvic diseasesdiscovered in a group of female patients. In 1893,a patient named S.Q. who suffered from chronicmania was found to have an ovarian disease. Afterconsultation with specialists it was decided tooperate. She made a good physical recovery but formonths her mental condition remained the same.However, within a year after the operation shewas much better and within two years she wasalmost well. Later she was discharged from hos-pital recovered. A follow-up a year later found herperfectly well.A systematic study was then made of all chronic

female patients. In the next 4½ years, 206 womenwere examined and 175 of them were found to besuffering from pelvic disease. One hundred and

Canad. Med. Ass. J.Aug. 22, 1964, vol. 91 MEN AND BOOKS: RICHAIW MAURICE Buci. 387

Fig. 2.-Cricket team. Mrs. ma Seaborn has kindly identified some of the members of the team. The author would bevery pleased to hear from anyone who can recognize the others. Bottom row (left to right): (3) Dr. Hadley Williams, (6)Harry Pope Lawyer, (7) Dr. Nelson Beemer, (8) Dr. Benjamin Bayly, (10) Dr. A. T. Hobbs. Second row (left to right):(4) Mr. George Sippi, (5) Dr. H. M. Bucke, (9) Dr. A. Sippi (Bursar).

sixty-one were then operated on by Dr. Hobbs, avisiting gynecologist. The results were as follows:62 (38%) had recovered physically and mentally;43 (26%) were improved; 52 (32%) were improvedphysically but unchanged mentally; and 4 (2.5%)of the patients died following the operation.

It was noted that the first patient, S.Q., took fullytwo years to show complete recovery. In the othercases improvement was equally slow, and in others,although the patients had improved physically,there was no obvious improvement in their mentalstate. It was concluded that "a considerable timemust elapse before anyone can say positivelywhether or not improvement or recovery will re-sult. This being so," said Dr. Bucke, "we shouldexpect that a group of cases operated on say threeyears ago would show better results today thanthose operated on within the last year." This isexactly what happened. "Of the 19 cases operatedon up to September 1895, 10 (52%) have re-covered. Of the 25 cases operated on between oneand two years ago, eight (32%) recovered. In thelast year, that is 1896, 49 were operated on andonly 12 (24%) recovered."When first reported to the Annual Meeting of the

British Medical Association, held in Montreal in1897,10 these findings aroused a great deal ofheated controversy. The critics argued that thesurgery on insane women was both unnecessaryand useless. Dr. Bucke replied that the operationswere necessary even if no mental improvementtook place. "The operations are done," he said,"in every instance to remove actual physical dis-ease; the mental recovery, when it takes place, isof course of unspeakable importance to the patientand her friends; but is not needed in the least forthe purpose of justifying the operation." "It comesto this," he said, "that the treatment of the mind

resolves itself into an endeavour to place the wholephysical system on the best possible basis of healthand efficiency."

This view underlies Bucke's whole philosophyof treatment. To him mental illness was not simplyan accidental aberration. It was, he thought, evi-dence of a failure of the total biological processby which mankind adapts to change. This, hesuggested, could only be understood in the per-spective of the evolution of consciousness. Hiswhole life, which Bucke described as "one passion-ate note of interrogation and unappeasable hungerfor enlightenment", was devoted to understandingthe nature of man's psychophysical interrelation-ships with the cosmos. His tentative conclusionsare available to those who care to read them in"Man's Moral Nature", its sequel "In Re WaltWhitman", and in "Cosmic Consciousness, a Studyin the Evolution of the Human Mind".

In my opinion, his work as a mental hospitalsuperintendent, and as the literary executor of WaltWhitman, may be viewed as the practical outcomeof this creative genius rather than its central core.However, my task is not to elaborate on this hypo-thesis or even to defend it, but to contribute thelittle fresh information I have been able to gleanabout Dr. Bucke's character and the sources of hisinspiration. In this I have had the considerablegood fortune, denied to James Coyne and Dr.George Stevenson, of having access to Bucke'sprivate diary and his letters to Harry BuxtonForman.* I propose to deal mainly with twoaspects of this material, namely Bucke's intro-spective observations, including his "illumination",and the earliest manifestation of Whitman's re-markable influence on Bucke.

*Harry Buxton Forman (1842-1917), British critic and editor,is chiefly remembered for his scholarly works on Keats andShelley.

388 MEN AND BOOKS: RICHARD MAURIcE Bucxi.

The personal diary which Dr. Bucke kept dailyfrom March 1863 to March 1866 is in itself a veryimportant social document. In this he recordednot only what he did and whom he met but, per-haps even more interesting, an account of the de-velopment of his emotional attitudes. His very firstentry, written while attending University CollegeHospital, London, as a postgraduate student, showshim to be accomplished as an observer and recorderof his feelings:

"Have been in a curious physical condition all day-felt as though something awful had just happened tome or was just about to happen, tried to analyze thefeeling but could not do it satisfactorily, but thinksitting up all the other night half falling in love, theprospect of a move, and some other little things havetogether brought on an irritable condition of the brain."

So much for the diagnosis, now the cure. Dr.Bucke continues:

"Must try to see Miss B. before 1 leave town, thegirl has half made a fool of me, that's a fact. I daresay I shall get the better of it in a few days."

He had a great sense of humour and concluded:

"I ought to attend the old Scotchman's great ruleand 'Ay keep the bowels open."'

4Dr. Bucke was also a voracious reader and each

day he recorded the books he devoured. A typicalday during his stay in London, England, is asfollows:

"Oct. 3rd, 1863-Shakespeare 24-[He studied andmemorized a sonnet each day.] Spent morning atU.CJI. Had time for a dinner and a smoke duringwhich I read part of Hunt's Byron. A poor sort ofbook written as well as I can make out by a poor sortof man. Then to King's College Hospital, and saw a lotof operations by Wood and one Watson, a young man.Ferguson, it seems, is out of town. Came home by 5very tired and read "Life of Chatterton" for a rest'til 8, then read Comte 2 hours, and finished theevening with CaTlyle's "Heroes and Hero-Worship". Ibegan Comte this time at the beginning of Vol. II ofhis "Politique Positive" and I mean now to keep onfrom there steadily to the end of the work, which Ithink I can finish in three months by reading 2 hoursa day. We shall see.

Dr. Bucke was troubled by ill health for about20 years following his ordeal in the Sierra Nevadas.He complained frequently of gastrointestinal dis-order and while in Paris believed he had sufferedan acute attack of typhoid fever. Added to all this,the side irons and ankle jpint of his artificial legkept breaking down. These are the only referencesthat Bucke made to the effect of his amputation.

Probably because of his gastric upsets, Buckewas frequently disposed to give up tobacco. OnAugust 26, 1864, he wrote:

Canad. Med. Ass. 5.Aug. 22, 1964, vol. 91

"Began to quit smoking-only smoked half pipe to-day, did not fancy I felt any better for it, shall notsmoke any more-except a few pipefuls to wind up-for several months at all events. Shall then see if it isadvisable to return to it.

"Aug. 27 (next day) 12 o'clock, not smoked anyto-day. Read Mill a little but had to give it up. Couldnot follow the reasoning. Mind got very confused,couldn't take an interest in things, so did not read anymore-felt nervous, confused, apathetic-flushes ofheat through my head. All this I lay to want oftobacco."

The next day:

"Went for a drive and got home at 2 a.m. Smokedsome, but after finishing a pipe I gave Baker [hisfriend] the rest of the tobacco. I had decided not tosmoke any more."

Bucke's entries in his diaries were not often solaconic. Frequently his gift for elegant proseasserted itself. On April 14, 1865, on board shipfrom San Francisco to New York, he wrote:

"There is nothing more sweet and melancholy thangood singing at sea, especially when you know thesongs and have heard them a long time ago sung in aquiet inland house by some woman you worshipped-then this 'memory of the emotions', a deeper and moremysterious memory than that of ideas, manifests it-self, and the old feelings that have been buried per-haps for years come up from the under life like ahidden spring through a pierced rock and overflow thewhole upper stratum of life, and for the time past ispresent and the present far off-showing that thoughour bodies are slaves to time our soul can sometimesslip from its bonds and assert its fundamental freedom.

"After making up log went to bed but not verysleepy. I lay some time in a delicious half-doze hearingthe paddle wheels dash through the water and itseemed to me that the engines were two mighty titanschained to the ship condemned to work forever tear-ing up the old ocean who groaned with pain undertheir fierce quick recurring strokes."

This fascinating diary, or log, as Bucke calledit, came to an end on March 4, 1866.

"Closed my log on last page but one after continuingit four years all but a part of a month. The troublewas that it was getting too mechanical, and feelingbound to write every day more or less it was anuisance. Then I wrote in such a hurry that I doubtnot it did more to corrupt than improve my hand-writing and style. My life also now that I am fairlymarried and settled down to work is so monotonousthat what is said of it one day answers for every otherday and there is no object in keeping a diary recordof my doings."

There is one final entry dated October 19, 1868:

"Knocked off smoking or drinking anything at allin the way of alcoholic stimulants-except between

Canad. Med. Ass. 3.Aug. 22, 1964, vol. 91 MEN AND BooKs: RICHARD MAURICE Buciai 389

teatime and bedtime-for at least six months fromthis date."

My purpose in including these extracts from hisdiary is to show that Dr. Bucke was not above theusual foibles of men. I hope it will also provide abasis for a more detailed consideration of the"illuminating" experience which occurred to Buckein London, England, in April 1871.

He and two friends [probably Harry and AlfredBuxton Forman] had spent the evening reading Words-worth, Shelley, Keats, Browning and especially Whit-man. They parted at midnight and he had a long drivein a hansom cab. His mind, deeply under the influenceof the ideas, images and emotions called up by thereading and talk of the evening, was calm and peace-ful. He was in a state of quiet, almost passive enjoy-ment. All at once, without warning of any kind, hefound himself wrapped around as it were by a flame-coloured cloud. For an instant he thought of fire, somesudden conflagration in the great city; the next heknew that the light was within himself. Directly after-wards came upon him a sense of exultation, of immensejoyousness, accompanied or immediately followed byan intellectual illumination quite impossible to describe.Into his brain streamed one momentary lightning flashof the Brahmic Splendor which has ever since lightedhis life; upon his heart fell one drop of Brahmic Bliss,leaving thence onward for always an after-taste ofheaven.Among other things he did not come to believe,

he saw and knew that Cosmos is not dead matter, buta living Presence, that the soul of man is immortal,that the universe is so built and ordered that withoutany peradventure all things work together for the goodof each and all; that the foundation principle of theworld is what we call love, and that the happiness ofevery one is in the long run absolutely certain. Heclaims that he learned more within the few secondsduring which the illumination lasted than in theprevious months or even years of study, and that helearned much that no study could ever have taught.

This statement, which comes from Bucke's"Cosmic Consciousness", was quoted extensively byWilliam James in "The Varieties of Religious Ex-perience" and since then in many other books.However, it was Dr. George Stevenson who firstpointed out that this experience had obviouslydulled Bucke's usually highly critical faculties."If," said Dr. Stevenson,5 "he had been a little morecritical and objective in his attitude, and if he hadrealized there were related phenomena, such as thefeelings of the partially intoxicated individual, theoccasional effects of anesthetic, and the states ofelation achieved in religious conversion, he mighthave come to different conclusions."

Unfortunately, Bucke's own correspondencethrows no new light on this matter. It is, however,possible to add that he was in poor health at thistime. On January 8, 1871, in a letter to HarryForman, Bucke wrote, "I am hurrying up my de-parture on account of my health which is still poorand which I fear will never get better unless I take

Fig. 3.-Dr. R. M. Bucke, circa 1900.

a complete rest and change. The sea voyage Iexpect will build me up more than anything. Ihope to be quite strong by the time I see you.However, those who believe that this kind of

conversion can only be explained in pathologicalterms will find much to challenge them in F. C.Happold's study of "Mysticism" which has recentlybeen published by Pelican Books.

Bucke's relationship to Whitman was the subjectof a paper by Sir William Osler published inCushing's biography:

"One evening after dinner at the Rittenhouse Clubwith Dr. Chapin, Dr. Tyson, Dr. J. K. Mitchell and afew others who I knew would appreciate him, I drewBucke on to tell the story of Whitman's influence. Itwas an experience to hear an elderly man-looking avenerable seer-with absolute abandonment tell how'Leaves of Grass' had meant for him spiritual en-lightenment, a new power in life, new joys in a newexistence on a plane higher than he had ever hopedto reach. All this with the accompanying physicalexaltation expressed by dilated pupils and intensity ofutterance that were embarrassing to uninitiated friends.This incident illustrates the type of influence exercisedby Whitman on his disciples-a cult of a type such asno other literary man of our generation has been theobject. .

From the new material available to me it ispossible to show that Bucke's devotion to Whitman

390 Men and Books: Richard Maurice Bucke Canad. Med. Ass. J.Aug. 22, 1964, vol. 91

predates his first meeting with the poet by at leastnine years. On February 19, 1868, in a letter toHarry Forman, Bucke wrote:

"Have you seen that here is the modern poet?Especially the American poet, the only one so far. Thathere at last in the doings of man is something con-summate with the broadest doing of the day andnight? That here in fact is the master mind of litera-ture.a mind too great to be confined in the poemsand usages.that makes as it goes ways and formsand usages for generations to come. A mind and hearton a large scale in which there is no litdeness, no hum-bug, no pretense, no make belief, which perceive withthemselves the outside world as it is without warp or

refraction and which renders it back again withoutwarp or refraction. In fact, if I am not mistaken, wehave here a correct revelation.for this is a man, andhe reveals himself.,,

On April 11, 1869, in another letter to HarryForman, Bucke wrote again about Whitman's"Leaves of Grass":

"And for grandeur of expression, if we want tomatch this poem, we must go to Milton. I may havegone crazy and lost what little sense I had, or I mayhave never had any to lose, but if neither of thesepropositions are true this is the greatest poet thisworld has seen lately."

Here is an account of Bucke's long-awaited firstmeeting with Whitman at his home in Camden,New Jersey. This is described in almost clinicaldetail in a letter to Forman dated October 24,1877:

"We were old friends in less than two minutes andI spent a good part of the forenoon with him. We thencrossed the river [Delaware] together to Philadelphiaas he had an engagement there. I hardly know howto tell you about W.W. If I tried to say how much heimpressed me you would probably put it down toexaggeration. I have never seen any man to comparewith him.any man the least like him. He seems morethan a man and yet in all his looks and ways entirelycommonplace ("Do I contradict myself?"). He is an

average man magnified to the dimensions of a God.but this does not give you the least idea of what he islike and I despair of giving you any idea at all, how¬ever slight.I may say that I experienced what I haveheard so much about, the extraordinary magnetism ofhis presence. I not only felt deeply in an indescribableway towards him, but I think that the short interviewhas altered my attitude of my normal nature to every-thing.I feel differently, I feel more than I did before.this may be fancy but I do not think it is."

Finally, it is interesting to compare Bucke's vivid,passionate description of his first meeting withWhitman with Sir William Osler's urbane andamusing record of his encounter with the poet.This provides a very penetrating glimpse into thecharacters of both these gifted men.

Fig. 4..Walt Whitman.a photograph given to the Buckefamily during- the poet's visit to London, Ontario, in 1885.

Fig. 5..Dr. Bucke with a chipmunk, taken at LibertyIsland. The likeness to Walt Whitman has often beenremarked upon.

Canad. Med. Ass. J. MEN AND BooKs: RICHARD MAUmCE Buciu. 391Aug. 22, 1964, vol. 91

Osler, who was in Philadelphia, had received atelegram from Bucke saying, "Please see Walt andlet me know how he is." Osler replied, "Who isWalt and where does he live?" Bucke sent theaddress and Osler'2 described his visit:

"The door opened into what appeared to be a room,but I had difficulty at first in getting my bearings. Ihave seen what a tidy housewife calls a 'clutter' butnothing to compare with the front room, ground floorof No. 328 Mickle St. At the corner, near the window,the head and upper part of a man were visible-every-where else, covering the floor, the chairs and the tablewere, to use his own description, 'heaps of books,manuscripts, memoranda, scissorings, proof sheets,pamphlets, newspapers, old and new magazines,mysterious-looking literary bundles tied up with stoutstrings.' The magazines and newspapers, piled higherthan the desk, covered the floor so completely that Ihad to pick my way by the side of the wall of theroom to get to the desk. I thought of Professor Teufel'sroom in 'Sartor Resartus'. After a hearty greeting Ihad some difficulty in explaining that I did not comedirectly from Dr. Bucke, but that he had sent me overfrom Philadelphia to find out how he was. There wasnothing serious the matter, a transient indispositionwhich had passed away. With a large frame, and wellshaped, well poised head, covered with a profusionof snow-white hair, which mingled on his cheeks witha heavy, long beard and mustache, Walt Whitman in

his 65th year was a fine figure of a man who had agedbeautifully, or more properly speaking, majestically.The eyebrows were thick and shaggy, and the manseemed lost in a hirsute canopy. . . My visit was madewithout any of that preparation-that expectation, uponwhich Gideon Harvey dwells as influencing so pro-foundly our feelings. I knew nothing of Walt Whitman,and had never read a line of his poems-A Scythianvisitor at Delphi!"

REFERENCES

1. TUKE, S.: Quoted by Clendening, L., editor: Source bookof medical history, Dover Publications, Inc., NewYork, 1942, p. 442.

2. HUNTER, R. A. AND MACALPINE, I.: Three hundred yearsof psychiatry, 1535-1860, Oxford University Press,London, 1963.

3. COYNE, J. H.: Richard Maurice Bucke: A sketch,privately printed by Henry S. Saunders, Toronto,1923.

4. STEVENSON, G. H.: Amer. ,T. Psychiat., 93: 1127, 1937.5. Idem: Canad. Med. Ass. ,T., 44: 183, 1941.6. SEABORN, B.: The march of medicine in Western Ontario,

Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1944, p. 290.7. GREENLAND, C.: Can. Ment. Health, 11: 1, May 1963.8. Ontario. Asylum for the Insane and the Asylum for

Idiots, London: Report of the Medical Superintendentfor the year ending 30th September, 1882 by R. M.Bucke, In: Sessional papers. 4th session, 4th legisla-ture of the Province of Ontario session 1882-83, vol.15, part 4, C. B. Robinson, Toronto, 1883, p. 72.

9. Ontario, Asylum for the Insane. London: Circular letterto medical practitioners in Western Ontario, Nov. 16.1897, by R. M. Bucke, In: Sessional papers, 1st and2nd sessions, 9th legislature of the Province ofOntario sessions 1898, vol. 31, part 4, Queen's Printer,Toronto, 1899, p. 73.

10. Hosss, A. T.: Brit. Med. F., 2: 769, 1897.11. RUSSELL, J.: Ibid., 2: 770, 1897.12. REID, B. G.: The great physician; short life of Sir

William Osler, Oxford University Press, London, 1931,pp. 86, 87.

PAGES OUT OF THE PAST: FROM THE JOURNAL OF FIFTY YEARS AGO

THE IMITATIVE DISEASES OF CHILDHOOD

The imitative instinct that is so well marked in childrenis of fundamental importance for the intellectual develop-ment not only in the normal but in the pathologicaldirection. On every side we see many instances of whatthis instinct performs. Even at a very early age are imitativeactions noticeable, the most elementary example being thecry of the child who hears other children crying. Laterthe imitative faculty becomes more complicated by theacquisition of knowledge, will and intuition. Instinct gradu-ally plays a lesser rOle as the child grows and developsunderstanding and originality, which act upon the imitativefaculty like a brake. But this imitative tendency neverentirely disappears, and the individual is always liable tosuffer psychic contagion or, as we more commonlydesignate it, suggestion. Indeed whole communities aswell as individuals may suffer from an epidemic resultingfrom suggestion. In children this inclination to imitateis the result of the provocative stimulus passing throughthe central nervous system without being sufficientlyinhibited by the cortical centres, so that a reaction orreflex, as it were, is at once obtained. The result of thisis the echoing and attitudinizing seen in weak-mindedchildren and in cases of dementia praecox. This reflexautomatism is especially noticeable in the mongolian idiot.An hysterical disposition is particularly fruifful soil for thedevelopment of pathological imitations. Since humanspeech is the result of imitation it follows that there maybe speech defects if the teacher, or speech standard suffersfrom a defect. Stammering and lisping are often noticedin several members of a family where one member alonehas a defect of speech. The "infectious" nature of a yawnis well known, as also of emotions such as joy. sorrow,fear and so on. In speaking of nervous contagion Montaignesays, "The sight of pain in others causes it in myself, anda person who coughs violently rasps my lungs and throat."Madame de S6vign., in a letter to her tuberculous daughter,writes, "J'ai mal d votre poitrine." When certain peculiari-ties occur that are the result of environment it is often

difficult to indicate the line of demarcation between physi-ological and pathological conditions. Nervous manifestationssuch as convulsions, loss of consciousness and hallucina-tions in a large congregation of people are not infrequentlyseen in the United States of North America in the religiouscamp-meetings of the Methodists, especially among thenegroes of the southem states. Psychic epidemics are alsoseen in girls' schools; trance-like conditions, tremors,screaming-fits and coughing are perhaps of most frequentoccurrence. Such epidemics are not necessarily of anhysterical nature; they may attack healthy, non-neuroticchildren who merely have a markedly developed tendencyto imitation. Again, one sometimes sees noctumal enuresisoccur in previously healthy children from their havingbeen in contact with school comrades who suffer from thiscondition. Indeed such an epidemic has been known tospread through an entire school. Other examples are: ayoung girl began to limp after seeing a cripple at ahealth resort. A boy lost the power of walking fromunconsciously imitating his brother who suffered from apost-diphtheritic paralysis of the lower extremities. A childdeveloped nervous dyspnoea in imitation of her dyspnmicmother and a tremor when trying to write such as wasdisplayed by her father. Another child vomited for monthsafter an ocean voyage with her seasick mother. Ghoreaimitatoria is frequently seen; polyuria has been observedin the children of a diabetic parent, and many other ex-amples might be cited. Not only the diseases of othersbut the disease of the child himself must be taken intoconsideration under this question of imitation, for thesubjective symptoms of an organic disease may be repro-duced after recovery. Relapses after chorea are often theresult of auto-imitation, and frequent although normalstools may persist after a protracted attack of diarrha.a.These imitative disturbances are probably in the majorityof instances the result of folly and pampering on the partof the parents who gratify the child's every wish and en-courage this unhealthy psychic element.-Abstract, A.Strauch, Canad. Med. Ass. J., 4: 636, 1914.