Brierre de Boismont
159 IN MEMORIAM. BRIERRE DE BOISMONT.
Medicine has sustained an irreparable loss in the Venerable Brierre de Boismont, who died, aged 83 years, on Christmas Day, 1881. Born at Kouen, he graduated in 1825, having previously published papers on Botanical subjects and Pellagra, and was sent in 1831 to observe the progress of Cholera in Poland ; an essay on which secured him a prize medal on his return. After the appearance of other works on general medicine, he devoted himself to the study of psychology, and subsequently became the superintendent of a private asylum, situated in the Faubourg Saint Antoine, Paris. All readers of the ” Annales Psycologiques,” must be familiar with, and must have perused as of distinguished merit, his articles on Acute Delirium, on Hallucination, on Suicide, on Asylums in Italy,and his numerous communications to the Psychological Society, of which he was at one time Secretary, and ultimately one of the Presidents. The present holder of that office pronounced the following eulogium over the tomb of the most celebrated, laborious, and successful of the physicians who stand to us in the relation of profound thinkers, examples, and fathers:?
” I utter the words of my colleagues in expressing their profound regret and sense of deprivation, on the removal of one of the most influential and valuable of the founders of our Society, and who has left upon the pages of our periodical, voluminous proofs of his industry, experience, and knowledge. He had for our community a veritable worship. He was one of the first to hail the dawn of the day, when the philosophers and physicians realised the alliance of psychology and medicine upon a common ground of scientific research and usefulness.
” In the exercise of his functions, whatever these might be, he was characterised by activity, zeal, and distinction. Of all the members of our eminent and ardent body, Brierre de Boismont ever occupied the first rank. From England we have the kind and appreciating testimony that his works were there cherished as of great importance, and at once as instructive and authoritative. The spirit of Brierre de Boismont likewise at times aspired to discuss the philosophy of mental medicine, was able and trustworthy in discussion, and copious in illustration. His pen had at its command a vast erudition, and his whole life was devoted to the pathology of mental affections, and to the various directions and applica160 IN MEMORIAM. tions into which they might be traced. Let us recall some of the words of Brierre de Boismont, which have the freshness and vigour of the age of 30, and the dignity of a master. In quoting the words of Esquirol, he proclaims that when philosophy carries her torch into the region of psychology, there will be discovered an ample field of observation, and there will be found amid the ravages and ruins of human faculties and feelings, the vestiges and proofs of the principle of immortality ; and Brierre de Boismont adds that the alienist is best qualified to determine and illustrate this proposition of the immortality of man, of a future state, and of a multitude of questions and difficulties which are involved in the condition and fate of the human mind, and can be alone solved by those who treat it, analyse, and, it may be said, dissect it, when in a state of solution or nakedness. Such was the lofty vision or vaticination of Brierre de Boismont. His convictions were enshrined in every one of his works, and transmitted to all European thinkers. His works, and we would embrace all, are of no mediocre merit. Not only in his study, and as a student does his character shine forth, but in his exposure, researches, and in his suggestions connected with his observations of cholera in Poland, are displayed the wisdom and humanity of the philanthropist. Strong, indefatigable, and prepared for any struggle, he overcame the opposition and prejudices of a foreign government, which accorded to him the only reward and reparation in its power. In saying farewell to this illustrious fellowlabourer, it would be impossible and painful to recall his labours of love and his successes. His long life, although brilliant with triumphs, was clouded by severe misfortunes ; in losing his wife, he was deprived not merely of the wise and sympathising, and kind companion of his happier and healthier days, but in one sense be lost the half of himself, and in another sense, his best half was deposited in the grave. His activity appeared to sink suddenly, and his original personality passed from amongst us. He followed the doings of the class to which he belonged with deep interest, even after he had ceased to engage in such labours. His anxieties and care for his own family, and his solicitude and scientific exertions on behalf of the larger group of helpless beings committed to his charge, preserved and, as it were, prolonged his life. My friend, you have been recompensed and rewarded during your career, by the very nature of your exertions, by the success which attended the exercise of your profession, by the respect entertained for you by our professional brethren. In the calm which preceded the advent of your final sleep, there must have passed before your memory, in happy vision, the long train to whom you are endeared. These phantoms must have been those who had received and acknowIN MEMORIAM. 161 ledged the many benefits imparted to them by your energy and example. In offering farewell, I can promise in the name of your fellow-labourers, that the achievements which we have recorded shall be preserved in the breast amidst all who loved and admired you as the memory of a parent by his family.” The life of Monsieur Brierre de Boismont can have been marked by few stirring incidents. His course was that of an active but studious superintendent of a community of lunatics, to the amelioration of whose condition, physical, mental, and moral, he dedicated his head and heart, his philosophical and professional investigations and writings. But his quiet seclusion in the Faubourg Saint Antoine was destined to be perturbed by the last event which could have been expected to befall an asylum for the insane?a siege. There may be in the recollection of some of our readers, a letter translated into one of our weekly medical papers, descriptive of the state of the asylum during the bombardment of Paris by the Germans. The document dilated upon the miseries and privations of the community, the cold experienced from want of fuel, and the sacrifice of the beloved trees in the attached garden. But, above all, upon the terror, the perplexity and excitement inspired by the incessant crash and booming of the assailing artillery, especially during the winter nights. The actual misfortunes were, however, we believe, very few.
Brierre de Boismont is best known in England by his works on Hallucination and Suicide, both of which we believe have been translated. These monographs deserve to be designated classical, for besides being copious repertories of most instructive and sometimes romantic narratives illustrative of the subject, they afford a demonstration of what was at the time of their publication, and in the conviction of the Author, the true philosophy and explanation of morbid delusions and impulses. But he was even more intimately connected with our land and literature than by reputation. He was a contributor to the first series of this Periodical, and he for a season was the guest as well as the friend of Dr Forbes Winslow, Sen., who was well qualified to appreciate the powers and acquirements of his distinguished fellow-labourer.
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