The New York herald., 1872-11-17


any person without greater or less disturbance o
the intellectual faculties. Tho mental powers are
rarely disordered without the moral feelings par.
taking OF the disorder; and, consequently 1t IL not
to be expected that the moral feelings should be-
come TO any extent perverted without the intellect
being affected. for perverson Of the moral feelings
toms OF disOrdercd reason; the intellectual dts
tnr6ance may be sometimes difficult OF detection,
nut In every case or true insanity 10 Il more or less
preselt. and IL wonld be highly dangerous practice
10 pronounce person insane when some evidence
OF lts existence was not forthcoming. The law.
Deheve, does not recognize moral insanity
as an Independent state; hence, however
perverted the affections, moral feelings or senti-
ments may he medical man must always look for
some Indicator disturb a reason.
q. What is your definition OF insanItyg a. In
sanity u manifestation oil disease OF the brain,
charaeteriZei 10y general or partial derangement
OF one or more faculties Of the mind, and III which.
while consciousness is not abolished, mental free-
now, then, to be insane a person must
have some pcrceptlhle intellectual pervers;on
In the case OF Miss Mccabe | have found her in
tellect 10 &c good, her memory correct and tena-
clous ana no peryeision OF her feelings. passons
or emotions (and She holds these nnder good sub
jecton) but what may be asc ibed to her prolonged
persecution OF which we have suiilcleat evidence
in my opinion, to lead me TO believe there Is truth
in her statementss in intellectual perversion we
! nave not sufficient evidence to convince me
hat any OF these pervcrsions exist IN her case
Q, What are your conclusions them a. ! must d
as there is no intellectual perversion IN her case
her perversOn OF feeling, passion and emotion,
which ascribe 10 eccensrcity, are 40 evidence OF
insanity in her case: she has placed explicit con-
hdence in me, and stated hcr story vcry nlnutey,
a always in the same manner; she has arn.r aiWays
but with good many collateral d'gresslons,
which are very liable to give II ,,ntaes,aa the up,
she always came back TO and connected together,
80 as TO have direct bearing upon the J. iaain in
long and tedious she has been in the
HABIT o? PASSING JOKES,
generally OF religious character, which are Liable
TO De mistaken for dcluslons unless they are
properly considered; also OF saying things in fun
which are Liable 10 MISREPRESENTATION, as the
other day when ! went into her room for the
she requested The attendant to leave her alone
with me; the attendant then said, in acorniul,
sneering s Ing, way, That sne was pretty nun 20 ws
Sister Mary then asked her II she ever went to
mass; she answered in the same manner, 'No;''
Sister Mary then said, ~ always thought you were
q wooden Catholic;" have never heard the pa.
tent express o delusion, but she has told me that
she has said things in fun that could be con.
strued as deusions, as she stated to me that
she mas pretended she had some pain
or was sick, for the purpose OF making
such a course would be very detrimental to her
case, and she desisted from dong so lurther
have never Influenced her in her manner or con-
duct more than this, and when she pressed me for
opinions generally endeavOred to put her aside
she is very careful and cautions-caveful that
nothing goes wrong with her different articles OF
property and that things belonging to her are not
molested by others-cautiOus that none shall get the
advantage of her from what she has said or done and
That her sayings and d0ings are not mlsconstrued;
she has told me that she could not place cOn1-
dcnce in those who from their bearing towards
her the idea that they were not her friends but II
she knew them to be friends then she was willing
to place explicit confidence in them; do not be-
lieve that this apparent character OF suspicion and
caution will be any very great drawback to her
success in life, but that 1t will rather have the ten
dency to make her more correct Judge OF human
n n AM
disposition, and, would add, is in nowise violent
nor destructive; she Is not dangerous to the life
or property of any, and Is very careful OF her own
II the patient be improperly opposed or molested
she will defend herself, and, so far as know and
can ascertain, in as gentle manner as the emer-
common law Of nature that one creature
shall defend himself against the attack of
another; she is OF nervous, excitable tempera-
ment and when her words are doubted.
opposed or misconstrued she endeavors in an
anxious and somewhat excited manner, peculiar
herself understood; this anxious and excitable
characteristic believe to be developed or rather
n the IN 9eg ns ~ tne a gea ha q e
been stated that the patient exaggerated portions
OF her story: she has never used any great eXag-
geration in relating her story to me, and /
deem it proper to state that l have fire.
quently heard greater and more absurd eXagger-
alton among peop.c who are counted sane and
acknowledged TO be aware OF what they were
saying
q. What do you think OF her story altogetherY A.
convey the idea OF insanity more particularly If he
has seen her but for short time, as in that case
r s and s we Of e
necessary to just conclusion case II has been
stated In evidence that hers is very difficult case to
diagnose and o. that class of cases that requires
time and care to diagnose, consequently 1t cannot
have Justice when only few minutes have been
devoted to it. consider that have given suli-
cient time aud care to this case to justify me in
giving diagnosis, and have come to the con-
clusion and 90 diagnose her case as case Of &c
and magnifed in her by the prosecutions and
to which the patient has been
lures in private and public % conversation; Ion,
her great suspicion and bodily fear, which believe
anxiety for her personal eilects the rolling OF Of her
eyes believe to be simply an acquired habit and
toa certain extent matter OF necessity due to the
formation OF the angles of the eyelids; and have
occasionally noticed the same feature in persons
with large eyes who endeavored TO tax their MEM
ory strongly; the holding up OF the hands IN hoy
horror and surprise at statements which have that
effect upon her | believe to be an acquired
habit from the devotional training to which she
has been subjected. Considering the religious lle
to which she has been raised and her voluntary
and necessary retirement from society IN general,
we may readily CONCEIVE conc WY she should be some
eral bearing and department, and, to certain
extent, why she would be considered little &C.
centric in her manner and gesture. There are two
other
TRAITS OF ECCENTRICTTY
which have marked bearing on her case These
are certain sense OF pride ana love of appreciation
These traits have noticed both in private conver
saton with her and here during her testimony in
Court L have noticed at times in her CONVERSE
ton sense OF pride and dignity hard to describe,
but which Is sufficiently noticeable not to re-
qure special definition. Here in Court, while CIV
ing her testimony, she cvinced that love OF appro-
baton stronger than l have ever seen 1t in
her heretofore. l noticed that where there
was any doubt about what she said
she took advantage to explain in such
q manner, nuht to attract unnecessary
attention. note these two points as characteris-
tics OF eccentrcity from the fact that they have a
tendency to reflect back to the patient that they
are according to fixed system and one not
founded on deusions. Considering also
HER RELIGIOUS LIFE
and devotion to her Church, how that she has led
Lie OF religious abstinence and devotion, and se-
cusion rom all unhoiy things; how iuat she must
he panied and uneasy under words 0, scorn abuse
anG obscenity, and that opprobrous Ian
guage must be narrowing to her feelings;
and how that she has taken the holy and religious
vows OF her order we very readily conceive
why she should not be considered 1t and proper
subject for the Lunatc Asylum, where she must of
hp euhiectp1 N N n Inv