Descrizione

First edition, 8vo (200 x 130 mm) [20], 316pp., ownership inscription on fly-leaf ìHarbin - 1743î, contemporary calf, spine with raised bands and ruled in gilt, slight nick to headband otherwise a very nice copy. In this work Cheyne aroused much interest in the investigation of the bodily fibres and in exploration of the metaphysical relationship of mind and body. ìLike many other authors on nervous diseases of the depressive kind, Cheyne wrote from personal experience and so, perhaps claimed that those ëof the liveliest and quickest natural Parts. whose Genius is most keen and penetratingí were most prone to such disorders: Fools, weak or stupid Persons, heavy and dull Souls, are seldom troubled with Vapours or Lowness of Spirits.í Perhaps for the same reason he considered that ëof all the Miseries that afflict Human Life, and relate principally to the Body, in this Valley of Tears, I think Nervous Disorders, in their extreme and last Degrees, are the most deplorable, and beyond comparison the worst.í He recommended treatment especially by evacuation and slender diet, by which he himself had been cured.îóHunter and McAlpine. Wellcome II, p.339; Hunter and MacAlpine, pp.351-54.