THE

HE Bonnington, Lin fo called from an eftate of that name adjoining, forms the uppermost of thefe three great falls of water upon the river Clyde, which have fo long and fo defervedly drawn the admiration of strangers. The river here forms a vast shoot, or leap, over a rock of about 30 feet perpendicular height. Upon the verge of this precipice, and exactly betwixt a fall of water on each fide, is fituate a small island with two or three trees, and the ruins of an old dove cot, belonging to the family of Lockhart Rofs.

This waterfall is fituated about a mile higher up the river than the falls of Corehoufe, between which

there leads the most romantic foot-.. path any where to be feen, winding along the fummit of lofty rocks, covered with various trees and flowering fhrubs. To the lovers of landfcape, nothing can appear more beautiful; at every step the scene changes, and prefents to the admiring eye picturefque beauties equally grand and fublime. In the back ground of the View appears the lofty mountain_of Tinto, at about the distance of feven miles, the highest in Clydesdale, being betwixt 2 and 3000 feet above the level of the fea.

At the time the drawing was taken its fummit was covered with fuow, (2 November 1795.) 7. D,

IN N maniacal cafes, falfe perception, and confequently confufion of ideas, is always a leading circumftance: as far as I could ever learn from maniacs, furrounding objects appear to them to be on fire, at the beginning of their disorder; and like wild animals, they are fometimes

X

difagreeably affected by particular colours, which excite their indignation to a violent degree. In confequence of these fenfations, added to their own hurry and confufion of thought, they are by turns timid andoutrageous. When a lunatic attempts to ftrike, it is generally by

2

fur

furprize, or when he expects no re

a

fiftance; à determined oppofition difarms him:

that he knows his own fituation, and that of his attendants.

The obstinacy of falfe percep

breaft,

And he retires."

The confufion of thought may be traced in all its degrees, in different cafes, from a want of the common power of concluding, to an inability of completing a fingle fentence. In many maniacal cafes, the difeafe feems to confift in incitation, and, as it were, inflammation of thought, fo that the mind is not allowed leisure to form any judgement concerning the ideas prefented. A fimilar ftate of the faculties is experienced, on the morning fucceeding a debauch in wine. In other cafes, every paft idea is recollected with great accuracy, and the patient repeats long trains of occurrences,or of arguments, either in foliloquy, or in reply to fomething faid by the attendants. I have often witneffed aftonishing exertions of memory, carried on in this manner, for feveral hours without interruption. There appears, in fuch cafes, little more incoherence than would be found in the difcourfe of a rational perfon, if he were to utter all his ideas aloud, without referve.

There are inferior degrees of mania, in which the patient preferves a ftrong command over himself, tho' difpofed to use violence against individuals. I have feen a maniac, after committing a fingle outrage, master himfelf fo completely, that no figns of his diforder could be detected du ring fix months confinement; but from the moment that a faily of paffion threw him off his guard, he became furious and ungovernable.

Even in the frantic ftate, attention and memory are not always abolifhed; a furious maniac will fometimes throw out a smart retort upon those who addrefs him, which proves

A maniac, confined in a houfe fituated on a finall brook, fancied himfelf the owner of feveral veffels which were daily expected in port. Tho' he faw patients, who were allowed more liberty, flep over the brack many times in the day, he always rofe when the moon fhone, to fee whether his fhips had entered the river. Upon fimilar occafions, perfons unaccustomed to lunatics, expect to do fome fervice, by trying to convince them of their error; but the attempt is always unavailing; the patient will even admit fome diftinction, yet recur to his favourite idea. A gentleman now under my care, believes himself to be of royal extraction; when I accoft him by name, he fays, that to his phyfician he is indeed Mr -, but to all others, he is the prince-royal of Spain, and from them he expects the ceremonies due to his birth.

When lunatics attempt to write, there is a perpetual recurrence of one or two favourite ideas, intermixed with phrafes which convey fcarcely any meaning, either feparately, or in connection with the other parts. It would be a hard task for a man of common understanding to put fuch rhapsodies into any intelligible form, yet patients will run their ideas in the very fame tract for many weeks together.

If the violence of any paffion has been among the immediate caufes of infanity, that paflion is brought into action with great fury, at fome period of the difeafe, and pride, anger, or love, becomes a diftinguishing feature. Fear produces an immediate expreffion of the ftrongest kind, deprives the maniac of speech, and renders his countenance a hideous caricature.

The contrary ftate to falfe percep

ception, is an intensity of idea, which conftitutes melancholy. The maniac, as Mr Locke has obferved, reafons justly, though, from falfe premifes, being deceived in his first impreffions: the melancholic, on the contrary, perceives, not wrongly, but too intenfely regarding fome objects, which induces him to grant them an exclufive attention, and leads him to reafon improperly, even concerning his trueft perceptions.

A melancholy patient, despairing of his circumftances, without foundation, was perfuaded with much difficulty, to draw up a fhort flatement of his affairs, which he did with great accuracy. He placed his debts in one column, and his proper. ty in another, oppofite. But no arguments nor intreaties could prevail upon him to compare the columns, by which it would have appeared, that he was master of a confiderable fum his attention was wholly occupied with the lift of his debts, and he obftinately averted his eyes from the other column.

There is a cafe in which melancholics appear to have falfe perceptions, but I think it refolvable into intensity. This is when fuch patients accufe themselves of murder, or fome other enormous crime, which they have not committed. This may hap

pen in two ways: 1. Many cafes of infanity confift of a mixture of mania and melancholy, in their commencement; in this ftate of the difeale, vifions are common, which are referred to the prevalent ideas in the patient's mind, and are remembred as real occurrences, when pure melancholy has predominated. 2. Even in cafes purely melancholic, the patient may mistake a dream for a real

event.

Melancholics are always apt to impute their uneafy feelings, efpecially thofe arising from flatulence, to demoniacal action, and they will form the moft extravagant fuppofitions, to account for the entrance of the demon into their bowels. Upon this fubject it is vain to reafon, and whoever attempts to ridicule the patient, lofes his confidence entirely.

One of the most unhappy ftates of melancholy is that in which the patient fufpects an intention to poison him.

With this impreffion, he obftinately refufes every kind of nourishment, and, unless managed by kilful attendants, dies of famine. I once faw a patient, who had paffed a fortnight without food, and who died of mere inanition: he refifted, to the laft, every attempt to force a little wine into his mouth.

ESSEX.

By Mers Griggs, of Hill-Houfe.

Inclosures. THE
HE inclofures, which

from time immemorial have almost univerfally prevailed, make Effex greatly preferable to fome of the neighbouring counties; here every man enjoys his own the year round, and accommodates his courfe of husbandry to the nature,

fize, and other cafual circumstances of his farm; if his land is calculated for grazing, he can lay it down at his pleafure; or if he is unfortunate in a bad season, miffès a plant, or has it deftroyed by the worm, flug, or any other accident, he is at liberty to plough it up, and fow it again with fome different corn, or to alter the rotation of crops as beft fuits his convenience; his ditches carry off

the