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James Crichton-Browne | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 29 November 1840 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 31 January 1938(1938-01-31) (aged 97) Dumfries, Scotland |
| Alma mater | Edinburgh University |
| Known for | Functional specialization (brain),cerebral asymmetry,biological psychiatry,medical history,photography,memoirist |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | psychiatry, public health, medical psychology |
| Institutions | Royal Medical Society,West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum,Court of Chancery,Medico-Psychological Association,Royal Institution,Royal Society |
Sir James Crichton-BrowneFRS[1]FRSE (29 November 1840 – 31 January 1938) was a leading Scottish psychiatrist, neurologist and eugenicist. He is known for studies on the relationship of mental illness tobrain injury and for the development ofpublic health policies in relation tomental health. Crichton-Browne's father was the asylum reformer DrWilliam A.F. Browne, a prominent member of theEdinburgh Phrenological Society and, from 1838 until 1857, the superintendent of theCrichton Royal at Dumfries where Crichton-Browne spent much of his childhood.
Crichton-Browne edited the highly influentialWest Riding Lunatic Asylum Medical Reports (six volumes, 1871–76). He was one ofCharles Darwin's leading collaborators – onThe Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) – and, likeDuchenne de Boulogne (at theSalpêtrière in Paris) andHugh Welch Diamond in Surrey, was a pioneer of neuropsychiatricphotography. He based himself at the West Riding Lunatic Asylum inWakefield from 1867 to 1875, and there he taught psychiatry to students from the nearbyLeeds School of Medicine and, withDavid Ferrier, transformed the asylum into a world centre for neuropsychology. Crichton-Browne then served as Lord Chancellor's Visitor from 1875 till 1922. Throughout his career, Crichton-Browne emphasised the asymmetrical aspects of the human brain and behaviour; and also, likeEmil Kraepelin andAlois Alzheimer, made some influential predictions about the neurological changes associated with severe psychiatric disorders. Crichton-Browne was also a forceful advocate ofeugenics, and in 1908 became the first president of theEugenics Education Society.[2]
In 1920, Crichton-Browne delivered the first Maudsley Lecture to theMedico-Psychological Association in the course of which he outlined his recollections ofHenry Maudsley; and in the last fifteen years of his life, he published seven volumes of reminiscences. In 2015,UNESCO listed Crichton-Browne's clinical papers and photographs (about 5000 items in all) as items of international cultural importance.
Crichton-Browne was born in Edinburgh at the family home of his mother, Magdalene Howden Balfour. She was the daughter of Dr Andrew Balfour and belonged to one of Scotland's foremost scientific families. The Balfour home (at St John's Hill nearSalisbury Crags) had been constructed in 1770 for the unmarried geologistJames Hutton (1726–1797)[3][4][5] who was Magdalene Balfour's great-uncle. Crichton-Browne's father, the asylum reformerWilliam A. F. Browne (1805–1885), was a prominent phrenologist[6][7] and his younger brother, John Hutton Balfour-Browne KC (1845–1921), wrote a classic account of the legal relations of insanity.[8]
Crichton-Browne spent much of his childhood atThe Crichton Royal in Dumfries where his father was the medical superintendent from 1838 to 1857.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] William A. F. Browne was a pioneering Victorian psychiatrist and an exponent ofmoral treatment[17][18][19] with an interest in the psychological lives of his patients as illustrated by their group activities, dreams and art-works. W. A. F. Browne also hoarded a huge collection of patient art[20] and this interest found a parallel in Crichton-Browne's later asylum photography. In his childhood, Crichton-Browne lost an older brother, William (aged 11) in 1846. He went to school atDumfries Academy and then, in line with his mother'sepiscopalian outlook, toGlenalmond College. Shortly before his death, Crichton-Browne wrote a valuable account of his Dumfries childhood, including the visit of the American asylum reformerDorothea Lynde Dix.[21]
Crichton-Browne studied Medicine at Edinburgh University, qualifying as an MD in 1862 with a thesis on hallucinations. Among his teachers was his father's friendThomas Laycock (1812–1876) whosemagnum opusMind and Brain[22] is an extended speculative essay on neurology and psychological life.[23] Crichton-Browne also drew on the writings of the physicians SirAndrew Halliday[24] and SirHenry Holland. Like his father, Crichton-Browne was elected one of the undergraduate Presidents of theRoyal Medical Society[25] and, in this capacity, he argued for the place of psychology in the medical curriculum. In 1863, he visited a number of asylums in Paris (including theSalpêtrière), and after working as assistant physician at asylums in Exeter (withJohn Charles Bucknill), Warwick and Derby, and a brief period on Tyneside, Crichton-Browne was appointed Physician-Superintendent of theWest Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum at Wakefield in 1866. This was also the year in which his father served as the president of the Medico-Psychological Association (now theRoyal College of Psychiatrists).[26]
Ferrier's neurology: Crichton-Browne spent almost ten years at the West Riding Asylum.[27][28] He believed that the asylum should be an educational as well as a therapeutic institution and set about a major research programme, bringing biological insights to bear on the causes of insanity. He supervised hundreds of post-mortem examinations of the brain and took a special interest in the clinical features ofneurosyphilis.In 1872, Crichton-Browne developed his father's phrenological theories by inviting the Scottish neurologistDavid Ferrier (1843–1928) to direct the asylum laboratories and to conduct studies on the corticallocalization of cerebral functions. (In 1832–34,William A. F. Browne had published a paper in thePhrenological Journal on language centres in the brain[29] and in his later writings there is a reiterated emphasis on the relationships of brain injury, psychosis and language[30][31][32]). Ferrier's work at Wakefield transformed the asylum into a world centre for neuropsychiatry and he summarised his research in the neurological classicThe Functions of the Brain (1876).[33]
Darwin's correspondence: At the instigation ofHenry Maudsley[34][35] (1835–1918), Crichton-Browne corresponded withCharles Darwin from May 1869 until December 1875.[36][37][38][39][40] The bulk of the correspondence occurred during the preparation of Crichton-Browne's famousWest Riding Lunatic Asylum Medical Reports and of Darwin'sThe Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.[41][42] On 8 June 1869, Darwin sent Crichton-Browne his copy of Duchenne'sMechanism of Human Facial Expression,[43][44][45] asking for his comments. Crichton-Browne seems to have mislaid the book for almost a year at the Wakefield asylum; but, on 6 June 1870, he returned it with considerable embarrassment, and enclosed the one photograph which Darwin used in his book (see below). Darwin explored a huge range of subjects with Crichton-Browne, including references to Maudsley'sBody and Mind,[46] the psychology ofblushing, the bristling of hair, the functions of theplatysma muscle (Darwin's "bête noire"), and the clinical phenomena ofbereavement andgrief. Darwin's mysterious symptoms which included vomiting, sweating, sighing, and weeping, particularly troublesome in the early months of 1872, seem to have improved around the time that he completed his work on the emotions.[47] Interestingly, Crichton-Browne declined Henry Maudsley's invitation to reviewThe Descent of Man forThe Journal of Mental Science; and it is notable that Darwin did not make a contribution to Crichton-Browne'sAsylum Reports, nor did he visit the Wakefield Asylum when invited by Crichton-Browne in 1873.
"April 20th 1882 – Charles Darwin has passed away, and with him I have lost a friend, illustrious and kind. Recalling my delightful intercourse with him, I pick out of a sheaf of letters one showing, as indeed they all do, the scrupulous care with which his inquiries were conducted, his marvellous suggestiveness, and his generous acknowledgement of any help given to him." James Crichton-Browne, inWhat the Doctor Thought (1930), page 61.
Mental Science: Building on the early asylum photography ofHugh Welch Diamond (1809 -1886)[48] atBrookwood Hospital, Crichton-Browne sent about forty photographs of patients to Charles Darwin during the composition of hisThe Expression of the Emotions;[49] however, Darwin used only one of these in the book (Figure 19) and this (Darwin Correspondence Project Letter 7220) was of a patient under the care of Dr James Gilchrist in the public wing ofCrichton Royal at Dumfries. The complete correspondence between Crichton-Browne and Charles Darwin forms a remarkable contribution to the beginnings ofbehavioural science. Nevertheless, Crichton-Browne attached greater importance to his six volumes ofWest Riding Lunatic Asylum Medical Reports (1871–1876)[50] – sending Darwin a copy of Volume One on 18 August 1871 – and to the neurological journalBrain which developed from them, in which he was assisted byJohn Hughlings Jackson (1835–1911).[51][52][53]
In 1875, Crichton-Browne criticised theclassification of mental disorders advocated by the Edinburgh psychiatristDavid Skae[54] (1814–1873) which had been promoted by Skae's pupilThomas Clouston[55] (1840–1915); Skae sought to associate specific kinds of mental illness with variously disordered bodily organs. Crichton-Browne described it as: "philosophically unsound, scientifically inaccurate and practically useless".[56]
In 1879, Crichton-Browne published his own considerations of theneuropathology of insanity[57] making some detailed predictions about the morbid anatomy of the brain in cases of severe psychiatric disorder. He proposed that, in the insane, the weight of the brain was reduced, that thelateral ventricles were enlarged, and that the burden of damage fell on the leftcerebral hemisphere. These observations - made almost a century before the introduction of neuroleptics - involved an evolutionary view ofcerebral localisation with an emphasis on the asymmetry of cerebral functions. He derived this from the clinical research of the French anatomistPaul Broca (1824–1880)[58][59] on language centres in the brain – originally published in 1861 – and presented by Broca to theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science at its 1868 meeting in Norwich.[60] The question of asymmetrical cerebral functions had been raised many years earlier by the Edinburgh phrenologistHewett Cottrell Watson in thePhrenological Journal.[61][62][63][64] Crichton-Browne's own views on psychosis and cerebral asymmetry have been appraised by Crow, 1995[65] and Compston, 2007.[57]
In 1875, Crichton-Browne was appointed as Lord Chancellor's Medical Visitor in Lunacy, a position which involved the regular examination of wealthyChancery patients throughout England and Wales.[66] He held this post until his retirement in 1922 and he combined it with the development of an extensive London consulting practice, becoming a familiar figure on the metropolitan medical scene.[67] In 1878, he followed his father as President of theMedico-Psychological Association. In 1883, he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society; and he served as Treasurer and Vice-President of theRoyal Institution from 1889 until 1926. Crichton-Browne also made friendships in the literary world with the idiosyncratic historianThomas Carlyle (1795–1881) whose marital reputation he defended against the allegations ofJames Anthony Froude;[68] and, less controversially, with his exact contemporary, the novelistThomas Hardy (1840–1928) who — concerned about his wife's health — consulted Crichton-Browne about the peculiarities of the female brain. Hardy presented Crichton-Browne with an inscribed copy of hisWessex Poems in 1898.
Crichton-Browne was a notable stylist and orator, and he often combined this with a kind of couthy vernacular evocative of his Dumfries childhood. He served as President of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society from 1892 to 1896. In Dumfries, on 24 January 1895, he gave a remarkable and light-hearted Presidential lecture[69]-On Emotional Expression – in which he discussed some reservations about Darwin's views, and touched on the role of themotor cortex in expression, on the relations of gender to expressive asymmetry, and on the relationship of language to the physical expression of the emotions. A few months later, on 30 June 1895 in London, Crichton-Browne delivered his famous Cavendish LectureOn Dreamy Mental States,[70] in which he explored the relationship of trauma in the uniquely vulnerable temporal lobes to déjà vu, hallucinatory, and supernatural experiences; this caught the attention ofWilliam James (1842–1910), who referred – rather dismissively – to Crichton-Browne in his Gifford lectures onThe Varieties of Religious Experience (delivered in Edinburgh in 1901–02):
Sir James Crichton-Browne has given the technical name of "dreamy states" to these sudden invasions of vaguely reminiscent consciousness. They bring a sense of mystery and of the metaphysical duality of things, and the feeling of an enlargement of perception which seems imminent, but which never completes itself. In Dr Crichton-Browne's opinion they connect themselves with the perplexed and scared disturbances of self-consciousness which occasionally precede epileptic attacks. I think that this learned alienist takes a rather absurdly alarmist view of an intrinsically insignificant phenomenon. He follows it along the downward ladder, to insanity... William James (1902)The Varieties of Religious Experience – The Gifford Lectures on Natural Religion: Lecture 16: Mysticism.
In the early years of the 20th century, Crichton-Browne delivered a number of lectures on the asymmetry of the human brain, publishing his conclusions in 1907.[71]
Crichton-Browne was elected and re-elected President of theSanitary Inspectors' Association on an unprecedented twenty occasions. Like his predecessors, SirEdwin Chadwick, and SirBenjamin Ward Richardson, he took a close interest in the affairs of the Association. He greatly assisted the Association's negotiations with the Local Government Board (predecessor of the Ministry of Health) in its attempts to secure the improved education and training of sanitary inspectors. These attempts faced opposition from some sectors of the medical profession which viewed the rise of the sanitary inspectors as a threat to Medical Officers of Health.[citation needed] He was regarded with much affection and respect by the sanitary inspectors and he was a frequently invited speaker at their conferences and dinners — although his speeches could be repetitive and lengthy.
In 1914, on being re-elected for a further term as President, he responded:
"I am an old man; I feel I ought to make way for someone who might be more energetic —" — cries of 'No, No!' from the Conference — " — one who might better represent your interests —"— 'No, No!' — " — But I am somewhat reconciled to holding office a little longer by discovering thatJohn Fisher, who has just becomeFirst Sea Lord, is exactly the same age that I am. If he is capable of directing the energies of our Fleets, then I think I am capable of presiding over you!" — Loud Cheers!
— The Sanitary Journal, November 1914,10, No. 6, p. 107
In the early Summer of 1920, Crichton-Browne delivered the first Maudsley Lecture to the RoyalMedico-Psychological Association,[72] giving a generous tribute toHenry Maudsley whose enthusiasm and energy in the 1860s had been a source of inspiration to Crichton-Browne.
Four years later, on 29 February 1924, Crichton-Browne gave the Ramsay Henderson Bequest Lecture in Edinburgh:The Story of the Brain.[73] In this, he delivered a tribute to members of theEdinburgh Phrenological Society: toGeorge Combe (1788–1858) author ofThe Constitution of Man (1828), toAndrew Combe (1797–1847) author ofObservations on Mental Derangement (1831), and toRobert Chambers (1802–1871) who had sought to combine phrenology with evolutionaryLamarckism in hisVestiges of the Natural History of Creation[74][75][76] – written inSt Andrews as Chambers recuperated from depression, and published in 1844. Chambers simply invertedHutton's aphorism "novestige of a beginning". However, Crichton-Browne did not mention that his Henderson lecture was delivered a century (almost to the day) after his father had joined theEdinburgh Phrenological Society.
With increasing age and the death of his first wife (Emily Halliday; following her death in 1903, Crichton-Browne married Audrey Emily Bulwer in 1912), and with the loss of two grandsons in the first world war, Crichton-Browne's rhetoric took on a more strident tone and his engagement witheugenics tarnished his reputation in the last two decades of his life.[citation needed]
He died, suffering fromheart failure, inDumfries on 31 January 1938.[77] He was predeceased by his son Colonel Harold Crichton-Browne (1866–1937).[78][79]
Medical Psychology: Crichton-Browne often described himself as a medical psychologist but in spite of the pervasive influence of hisWest Riding Lunatic Asylum Medical Reports, he remains a rather shadowy figure in the history of British neuroscience.[80][81] However, his unusual longevity, taken together with his father's distinguished psychiatric career, brought the world of theEdinburgh phrenologists into contact with developing neuroscience in the course of the 20th century; and Crichton-Browne's considerations of the cerebral basis of psychotic disorder were well ahead of their time. His collaboration withDavid Ferrier on cerebral localisation, and the development of the journalBrain, give him a central role in early British neurology; and his protracted correspondence withCharles Darwin - over a period of several years - highlights the mutual engagement of psychiatry and evolutionary theory in the later nineteenth century. In 2015, UNESCO listed Crichton-Browne's clinical papers and photographs as items of international cultural importance.
Social Policy: Very early in his career, Crichton-Browne stressed the importance of psychiatric disorders in childhood[82] and, much later, he was to emphasise the distinction betweenorganic andfunctional illness in the elderly.[83][84][85] He was considered an expert in many aspects of psychological medicine, public health and social reform. He supported a campaign for the open-air treatment oftuberculosis, housing and sanitary reform, and a practical approach tosexually transmitted diseases. He condemned thecorporal punishment of children. He stressed the importance of the asymmetriclateralization of brain function in the development of language, and deplored the fads relating toambidexterity advocated by (among others)Robert Baden-Powell. He was critical of public education systems for their repetitive and fact-bound character, warning of mental exhaustion ("overpressure") in otherwise happy and healthy children. He was openly – even offensively – sceptical concerning the claims of psychic investigators (includingFrederic William Henry Myers[86]) andspiritualists,[87][88][89] (seeThe Times articles of 1897/1899 concerning theBallechin House controversy), and of dietary faddists andvegetarians. He argued that the therapeutic benefits of Freudian psychotherapy had been assessed with insufficient rigour. He advocated thefluoridation of human dietary intake in 1892,[90] and recommended prenatal fluoride.[91] He worried about the consequences ofmass transportation by motor vehicles.
Retirement: In his later years, Crichton-Browne enjoyed lengthy interludes at the Dumfries home ("Crindau", on theRiver Nith) which he had inherited from his father. Here, he worked on a number of projects, including a notable study ofRobert Burns' medical problems,[92] and seven volumes ofmemoirs, drawing on his personal commonplace notebooks, and ranging widely over medical, psychological, biographical and Scottish themes.[93][94][95][96][97][98][99] These notebooks provide a unique psychiatric commentary on later Victorian culture and society.
Crichton-Browne was twice married and, like his mother, cherished a lifelong affection for the traditions of the Anglican liturgy; he was a loyal member of the congregation at the Church of St John the Evangelist, Dumfries. Through his granddaughterSybil Cookson, he became friendly with the painterGluck (1895–1978) who created an arresting portrait of Sir James in 1928, now in theNational Portrait Gallery. Also in the National Portrait Gallery is a 1917 photographic portrait byWalter Stoneman. Another portrait by SirOswald Birley, painted in 1934, is in the Crichton Royal Collection in Dumfries. Crichton-Browne was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society in 1883 with posthumous support from Charles Darwin, and he was knighted in 1886. At his death on 31 January 1938 at the age of 97, Crichton-Browne – likeRobert Burns,Thomas Carlyle andJames Clerk Maxwell – was acclaimed as one of the greatest sons of South-West Scotland; as one of the last men in Britain to sportDundreary whiskers – and as one of the last Victorians.
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