Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1857-05-28

stored, so also by diet and care, with prope
training, medical, physical and mental, tn
young brain hitherto inactive and dormant
may be reused to exercise, activity and life
Dementia is not Idiocy tibet may occu
subsequently to perfect deyc,opement of tn
mental faculties. Dementia is more proper!
the loss of whatever mind there msy have been
occurring in consequence of some great shocl
to the nervous system, or dependent upon oil
age. or perhaps other causes.
lmbecility is not Idiocy ; that is defined t.
be can abnormal deficiency, either in >thos'
faculties which acqnaint us with the qualitie
and ordinary relations of things, or in those
| which furnish US with the moral motives tina
regulate our relations and conduct towards oul
fellow-men ; and frequently attended with ex
cessive activity of one or more of the ANNA
propensities. This condition is distinguishable
from ldccy in several particulars. 1t is not
congenital, but occurs subsequently to birth
although in it, the development of the mora
and Intellectual powers is arrested at very
early period OF existence. In the second place
there is higher degree of intelligence, and
more moral power possessed by the Imbecile
than by the IDIOT. "In 1diocy, reason was
never enthroned, and articulate speech rarely
made use of, while in Imbecility there is some
intellectual and moral capacity and some use
though a limited one, of speech"
In congenitat Idaocy, zee find simply uanl
of Development Of the mental and moral fac
ulties, achieh rant of Development may depcno
upon some imperfect organization of the body
DIR. Edward Seguin says, Idiocy means
isolation-sol tude; the Idiot is isolated from
the rest of the creation, because he is deficient
in means of perception and comprehension, &C.
ton and reaction feelings and vikings"
ldocy is caused by the violation of some
principle of our being. 1t never is, it cannot
be, the result of perfect obedience to physical
and natural law. The Idiot may not have
tranSgressed-he is the victim, not the offen.
der-but he is the result and monument OF
transgression. 1ntcrmarriage among near rel.
atives, long continued overtaxation of the mind
aud body, bad habits of body, organic diseases,
&C., are among the causes of Idiocv
EsquIrol tells us that many of the children
born during the French Revolution were Idi-
ots--depcndent upon the fright or anxiety of
the mother. The towns along our seaboard
whose inhabitants are mostly engaged in the
cod and mackercl fshing-who follow haz-
etiuou' IoiCooou anu lCuu all uHCti Culu lit
whose unexpectedly protracted absence in sea-
sons of great danger gives cause for intense
alarm in the minds of friends at home present
us with a great number of Idiots in proper
ton to the whole population. The Report on
Insanity and Idocy in Massachusetts, by the
Commission on Lunacy, made under resolve of
the Legislature of 1854, gives various facts
corroborative of this statement. One town in
Massachusetts, whose citizens are engaged in
fishing, with a population of 5,l64, has IS
Idiots, being 1 to 206 inhabitants another
town has Idiot to 263, another to 225, an
other to 206, and another l to 254 inhabi;
tants. The Commissioners appointed by the
Legislature of 1855, to make Investigations in
our State concerning Idiocy, found one town
which furnishes many ship Captains, where
there is idiot to 1922 inhabitants.
Intemperance is fearful promoter Of Idi
ocy--probably the most fruitful source of men.
tai alienation and infirmity, Of whatever kind
which can be found. In one inland town in
our State which has long been notorious for
its ntemperance, we find idiot to 81 inhabi.
tants--in another l to 1872 inhabitants. Ig.
norauce of the laws of health in the parent
may be cause of cultivating the mind
to the neglect Of the body-the body to the
neglect of the mind extreme poverty with
consequent suffering--wretched squalidness-
all the vices--had air and food
There is form of Idiocy called Cretinism,
occasional cases of which are found in valleys
situated in the mountainous regions of New
England New York, Pennsylvania and Vir-
gna. We are most familiar with the history
of Cretinism as found in the deep valleys OF
the Alps and the Pyrannees, although its oc
currence is recorded in the billy parts Of China
in the Himalayan mountains, in Chinese Tar
tary, in Algeria, and in Sumatra. By the
word Crctin, we understand "a being de-
formed and distorted an abortion of man, pc
culiarized by pale, leaden color of the face
by faccdity of the flesh, an unexcitable ma
ture, and an extraordinary amount of lazines
and inactivity, and inability to speak, or ute
articuate sounds, and generally with very larg,
goitres circumstance which has led t,
a much misunderstood connection of tn
two complaints. Cretinism may be looked
upon as the highest stage of Idiocy al
though it differs from it in having a vitiatee
state of the body, in conjunction with the los
of the faculties of the mind. Thus it is com
posed of two distinct elements, the one 1diocy
and the other bad habit of body" Cretinisn
may be considered an endemic disease, ard il
confined to few localities Where Cretinisn
abounds goitre never fails, but we may fin.
bronchocele is endemic in many countries.
Many causes of Cretinism have been as
signed. have said that wherever Cretinisn
is found, there is found goitre, and although
the converse is not true, it is very probabl
that the cause of goitre may be reckoned a
q N
considered as very clearly established that wa
ter is the principal source, if not the only on
OF endemic goitre, and that the salts of lin
are the deleterious substances contained in il
(See Extract in Watson's Practice of Physic
page Ala, from DR.. McCleland's Enquiries
the province of Kemaon in India, in reatio
to Geology, including an inquiry into the cause
of goitre, made in 1885, But English an
American observers tel US that many Of th