Insanity Tested by Science, and shown to be ... rarely connected with ... organic lesion of the brain

London: Samuel Highley, 1848. First Edition.. orig. publisher's cloth.. A very good copy; chip at the head of the spine about one half inch; unopened.. 8vo. (i-iii)iv, (1)2 - 107, (1) pp.; publisher's adverts.

Burnett's refutation of the long held idea that insanity is seated in some pathological defect of the brain. It is also a thinly veiled effort to help the way along for legislation to care for the insane. A help, in the sense that fit could be proved that insanity was not due to some irrevocable defect then there would hope for a cure and the necessity to actively work toward this aim. The book is filled with interesting insights and information from a man who was well versed in the contemporary literature of the subject.