The Overworked Mind *On the Supposed Increase of Insanity. By Edward Jarvis, M.D., of Dorchester, Mass. Reprinted from "The American Journal of Insanity."Life of Sir Walter Scott. By Mr. Lockhart.Remains of H. K. White.Memoir of Samuel L. Blanchard. By Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart., M.P.

The wider spread of literature and science through society, the greater extent of commercial enterprise which has resulted from recent legislative and social changes, the larger amount of political action, whether municipal or parliamentary, accorded to the people, and the deep interest excited by free religious discussion, are causes, sufficiently obvious, for a much higher degree of mental activity than has hitherto characterized the two free nations of the world, the United Kingdom and the United States. Concurrently with this increase of mental activity, there has been a diminution of that amount of corporeal labour which is absolutely necessary to maintain a just balance between the spiritual essence and its organ. The merchant is confined to his counting-house; the student is tempted to push his sedentary habits into the hours required for repose; the politician undergoes every form of mental strain. But, in proportion as the cerebral system L~ worked, the muscular system is inactive, and at last mental labour is preferred to corporeal exertion, so that the man of thought becomes a