15th June.
THE statement of a London published in cur issue of the 12th physician in open Court, which we instant, that " the climate of China often affected a person m ntal'y" is too remarkable to be passed over without comment. We do not know the grounds upon which the learned doctor bases this statement, nor do we know the extent of his exp nonce of the climate of China, nor in that of the mental state of foreign residents in Chins generally, For ourselves we cxn only sny that, 1f we except anicides due to drink, we are convinced that no saver coll: ction of reop'e " f the same number, than the bdy of foreign sidents in the El. n.se empire, can be found iv any part of the world. The sunny climate, together with the open-air life lei gerernlly in th" sub-tropical region fill-d by the "eigh*een_ provinces," conduce to activity of mind and body, and it iv @ common semurk in Europe, how young for their age returned China residents appear in camp tion with their home contemporaries, For a monument of the wok dune by the foreign communities in the ports of Chinn, we have only to look around us, And this strenuous work (to use a current gag) dors not testify to "ment! affection." As to the permanent inhabitants of the counury itself, no suner body of men exists anywhere, wud us it is an undisputed fact that the old in. habitants of a country are the product of its soil and climate,—i Fengabui" as the Chinese well entitle it—this distinguishing can y and generally equable temperament of the Chinese people, bear test many to the high virtue of the air of this temperate region; the salu-Drivus climate was, as we know, a ton in the days of the ancients; Pliny speaks of its "Jeniorum verite: um commodissimus flatus," alluding probably to the monsoon winds that temper our summer beat; in the range of which, if he only avoid imprudent exposure to the noon-day un, and live us temprratcly as he would at home, the Northern European may enjoy as good health ax though he had never migrated from our own favoured clime. ''heestremes of climate 7 in China are certainly no greater than—if as great s—those that {have to be faced by residen's in North Ame: ica, id how there the descendants of Briti-b, and of North European blood generally, have upheld the bodily and mental health of their ancestors is patent to the world, No!—pace Dr. Harsington, we will never admit that exposure to the climate of IChina can be alleged as an excuse for mental aberration.
We know that there is no euch thing as absolute truth and that every dogmatic assertion admits of qualification; and so from our present generalization we must except women and sinologues: these are certainly not seldom " mentally nffected" by residence in Chinn. Sirologues by worrying at a language they never can effectually master, and women by worrying themse'v.s to dress with the thermometer in the nineties in the lo they adopt in London the thermometer in in both cases the to attempt the impossi! lo leads, if persisted in, 10 mental aberration, usually, however, curable by prompt removal from the scene of the disturbance. In enses where chanve of scene "ud climate is impracticable, the only remedy is fo- the sinologue acquiesce in defeat; forthe woman, in the dog-days, to throw her corset to the dogs. Mon at this sarsen clothe themselves in singlet and pstsl jacket; why should not ladies it their homes disport. themselves in the graceful kimono? When the reform party, now s0 actively at work in the lund, shall have keyed up China w the of modern European ci ion, and the people throughout the length and bread h of the lind shall be in possession of the umenities of stativticions and isolation hospitals, we muy perhaps learn what is the actual percentage insane to the very sane people the county. There are few Junatics in Chine, and those we have seen are allowed 'o wander ubout harmlessly. Ye*, when we revisit England we are dumbfounded at the sight ut the numerous palatial ranges of buildings browning so many of her pic' turesque heights, that on enquiry turn out to be lunatic asylums, Returning then to our original question of the relation of the climate of China to insanity, we would ask Dr. Hartington whether the lately recorded increase in insanity in Kngluud and Ameries may not be due to the recent alarming growth in Lunatic Asylums—an incubus from. which Chinn is so far happily exempt.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.