The bill introduced and passed through the House of Commons was thrown out in the House of Lords; and when we reflect upon the legal acumen which presides there, we feel confident that any future similar attempt would meet a similar fate.[514] The _14th Geo._ 3 exempts houses where only one patient is kept, from license and inspection; they should at any rate be registered, and some limited power of visitation be allowed to prevent abuses; the exemption may be construed at present into a license for illegal imprisonment, provided the jailor can afford a whole house to his victim.[515] The custody of pauper and criminal lunatics,[516] and the erection of asylums for their reception, is provided for by _Statute_ 48, _Geo._ 3, _c._ 96, and 59 _Geo._ 3, _c._ 127;[517] but no provision has yet been made for lunatic debtors; when it is considered how frequently the calamity of lunacy is induced by pecuniary difficulty, it is not easy to account for this omission. The observation of _Mr. Collinson_ on this point may be applied to more subjects than are at present under our consideration. MEDICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF INSANITY. As the duties of the Jurist and Physiologist in the investigation of mental derangement are distinct in their nature, if not different in their object, so shall we find that the abstract terms used to denote the form or degree of the malady have received from the two professions a somewhat different latitude of acceptation. For legal purposes the adoption of the term “_Non Compos Mentis_,” from the amplitude of its construction, gets rid of those nicer distinctions and difficulties which the pathologist is bound to encounter and investigate; the lawyer only inquires whether such a state of mind exists, as actually disqualifies the person in question from conducting himself with propriety, or managing his affairs; but the medical evidence is bound not only to give his opinion upon the case, but to state the reasons which may have influenced his decision; and hence the necessity of his becoming practically acquainted with those physiological distinctions to which we have alluded. It has been stated that there are two conditions of the human mind, either of which very justly deprives the subject of the control of his person and property, and takes away from him all criminal responsibility, viz. IDIOTCY, (_Amentia_) or a total deficiency of intellectual power; and MADNESS, or a morbid perversion of it. Between these two states we shall not have much difficulty in discriminating; the idiot cannot reason at all; the madman reasons falsely; the idiot acts from animal appetency, he has no will; the madman wills, but his reason being disturbed, his actions are not compatible with the usual relations of society.[518]