| Description Of Item | Illustration from the collection of Alexander Morison. Plate 26 of Morison’s 'The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases' (1840). Unsigned [François Rochard].
'J. H., aged 36, a Painter.
This portrait exhibits a man of considerable eminence as an artist, in the last stage of the general paralysis, five weeks before his death. He is in a state of complete dementia, has scarcely any ideas, and remembers nothing — repeats a few words with little connection, such as 'I am Prince of the Ionian Islands, — I was a beautiful artist.'
He cannot walk without assistance, and it is necessary to secure his hands to prevent him tearing his clothes — His urine flows involuntarily, still his appetite continues good. His disorder existed thirteen months from its commencement to its termination in death, which was preceded by extensive gangrene of those parts of his body subjected to pressure.
He is represented with the leather sleeves made use of in the Hanwell Asylum. ' |