Research

Administrator and Showman

Charles Darwin and Photography

Aged only 26, and in the face of talented competition he was appointed medical director of the West Riding Asylum at Wakefield, a very large institution of 1500 patients, whose numbers would increase during his nine years there. He lectured, proved an outstanding administrator, an innovative research worker and a consummate showman.

Research

He was the first to publish annual medical reports from an asylum, the first to appoint a pathologist to one, and the first to create a research laboratory within an asylum. He initiated conversaziones where distinguished scientists came to lecture.

He invited promising young men to carry out research with him, picking the most talented with unerring skill. In later life three were knighted, one became a baronet; two of them, like Browne himself, became presidents of the Royal Medico-Psychological Association, now the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Two in particular deserve mention. David Ferrier, the Scot whose work at Wakefield was the first to demonstrate that stimulation of the cerebral cortex could produce movements and fits, and that cerebral function was localised; and Hughlings Jackson, later christened the Father of British Neurology, who also worked on cerebral localisation, and on epilepsy. Sir Clifford Allbutt, later Regius Prof of Medicine at Cambridge was another. He and others investigated the use of new instruments, such as the ophthalmoscope, then becoming available.

Browne, with his pathologist and other colleagues, studied the brains of their patients extensively. Over 1500 autopsies were carried out on patients suffering from General Paralysis of the Insane (cerebral syphilis) alone. Brains were weighed; female brains were shown to be lighter than male. As a quirky product of the religious preoccupations of the time, brain weights were even compared for different religious groups. Roman Catholics had the heaviest, Non-Conformist Protestants came next, and the Church of England were the lightest group.

The West Riding Medical Reports were published annually for six years, and 62 of these 79 articles came from Wakefield Asylum. Subsequently Browne and some of his co-authors founded ‘Brain’ which remains today the leading British neurological journal.

There was much experimentation with treatments. The effects of electrical currents to the head, and of nitrous oxide, ergot and opium were all examined.

Administrator and Showman

As well as enlisting young research workers, Crichton-Browne boosted his staff levels by appointing medical students and newly qualified doctors as clinical assistants.

He had perforce to devote much of his time to the administration of a large and growing institution. The drains and water supply were made safe, and more buildings were raised, often with the help of patient labour. Even Turkish baths were installed. Crichton-Browne retained a life-long interest in sanitation, that very necessary Victorian preoccupation.

His showmanship is displayed in the annual conversaziones he organised, with 150-200 guests, a distinguished guest lecturer, inspections of the asylum, and sideshows. There were photographs of patients, taken by Crichton-Browne, curios, woodwork, and Parisian bread and seed soup (to demonstrate what the besieged Parisians were eating). 100 gallons of laughing gas were available to the visitors, but few partook. Microscopic and pathological specimens were on display.

In 1875 the brain of a chimpanzee, photos of a group of insane Hindoos, various forms of British micro fungi, and anaesthetic ether were among the attractions. Bands played selections from Verdi and Strauss, there were refreshments, and carriages at 11pm.

The patients were not neglected. Plays were performed, among them Acis and Galatea. W S Gilbert came to produce it, and acted in it, his only known appearance on the stage. The costumes were designed by the young Alma-Tededa, later to be knighted for his High Victorian paintings.

There were annual picnics , culminating in 1875 in a Fete Champetre, attended by 890 patients, with side-shows, alfresco teas, and a firework display.

All this and more had been done before he was 35.

Charles Darwin and Crichton-Browne

Crichton-Browne’s interest in photography was brought to the attention of Charles Darwin when he was writing The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. He approached Crichton-Browne, perhaps because he had been a student at Edinburgh with his father. Crichton-Browne sent him drawings and 37 photographs of facial expression in his patients, one of which Darwin published, of a woman with her hair standing on end.

Darwin mentioned him eleven times in the book, called him an excellent observer, and said: ‘I can hardly overestimate the value of his assistance.’ In fact, Darwin wrote to him in March, 1871, and suggested that he should be credited as co-author of the book; not only because of the photographs, but also for his help with the theory of human facial expression. Crichton-Browne declined the offer, which seems out of character. He may not have wished to be associated publicly with such a controversial figure, and have feared that it might have harmed his career.

We find one of the few glimpses of the private man in this correspondence. He forgot to reply to one of Darwin’s letters, forgot to thank him for his copy of the Origin of Species, newly published, and mislaid a book Darwin had lent him for some months. He apologised:

‘Bear in mind, in extenuation of my faults that I am one of the hardest worked men in her Majesty’s dominions. As a rule I toil daily from 8am to 11pm contending all the while with bad health and great anxiety.’

In a later letter he goes further:

‘The exigencies of the public service have already ruined my health and curtailed my capacities. They now threaten to shorten my life. Pardon so much personal detail and accept my warmest thanks for the promise of a copy of your new book – the Descent of Man - which will be a genuine solace to me in this house of bondage.’ Perhaps his life was shortened: he was confident in old age that he would be a centenarian, but died aged 97.

He could not have chosen a better excuse, and he may well have known that Darwin was a notable hypochondriac. Darwin replied (1871):

‘I very truly grieve to hear that your continued labours and anxiety have at last injured your health seriously. I know from long-tried experience what misery continued ill-health causes, but my health affects only comfort, and is not otherwise serious, which I fear from what you say is far from your case.’

Next

Sir James Crichton-Browne:

A Very Victorian Psychiatrist

1840-1937

The Wakefield Years

1866- 1875

Research

Administrator and Showman

Charles Darwin and Crichton-Browne

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