| Description Of Item | Illustration from the collection of Alexander Morison. Plate 83 of Morison’s 'The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases' (1840). Unsigned [François Rochard].
'Portrait of W. N.; aged 6 years.
This boy has been idiotic since his birth; his mother says that he became more so at three years of age, after measles and hooping-cough. His head appears to be well formed ; he sees, hears, smells, tastes, and feels, and he can repeat a few words such as — mother and poor boy ; he is attentive to the calls of nature, sleeps well and seldom wets his bed; he feeds himself, but will eat flesh and fish quite raw; he is very restless, and continually whines; when carried to the street, he takes hold of anything that is within his reach, but will avoid danger; he sometimes makes attempts to imitate others singing; he appears to have affection for his father and mother, and is fond of looking at his father at work as a tailor, claps his hands when he sees the needle move, and tries to imitate the operation of sewing.' |