Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-02-27
THE MADNESS OF TGNORANCE

Nearly two thousand years ago King
Agrippa said unto Paul, 'Much learning
hath made thee mad, and it is generally
believed, even in this enlightened age, that
'much learning" at least ilLadvised appli-
cation to the attainment Of much learning,
is productive Of madness. That this is true
in a measure cannot be gainsayed, SAYS the
Philadelphia Press, but we imagine that a
majority Of our readers will be rather sur
prised when We state that lack Of head
work is not only quite as much, but even
more productive Of insanity than an excess
of hesd-work. Yet such is indeed the case.
The careful study Of the statistics Of any
large establishment for the treatment Of the
insane will, however, abundantly bear out
our statement, and viii show most conclu-
sively that the majority Of tie patients he
long to the classes whose sphere is not head,
but hands. The Press collates the follow
ing facts in support Of its position:
The annual report Of the Pennsy Irania
Hospital for the Insane shows a total Of ad-
missions: Males, 1921; females, 2,S44
And as this institution is a fair example Of
the hospitals for the insane in the United
Safes, its patients belonging to every class
of life, We take it as basis upon which TO
found our argument.
OF the 1921 males admitted, l,046 be-
lOnged TO the educated c,asses-were mer-
chants, physicians, Clergymen, lawyers,
clerks, etc, while 1,22l belonged TO the
classes which, as a rule, are not educated;
at least not to the extent which is COusd-
cred likely to be productive Of insanity
were IabOreTs, farmers and tradcsmeu.
Having no occupation were 443, and these
may be equally divided between the two
classes, leaving the majority unchanged 1t
is, however, in the female patients
that the difference is more apparent.
OF the 2,S44 females admitted to
the hospital, 72S, wives or daughters Of
merchants, lawyers, Clergymen, belonged to
the class in which education is the rule
rather than the exception, while ,25J
seamStresses, dOmeStics, or wives or daugh-
tiers of farmers, labOreTs, and tradesmeu, be
longed to the class in which education is the
exception rather than the rule. The differ
ence between the sum total Of The patients
in our citation and the sum total Of admis-
sions results from the fact that we have in
our enumeration omitted all occupations
whose representatives in the hospital were
less than twenty-five. Had we taken these
into our account, the result would have
been practically the same.
The above figures clearly show, adds the
Press, that oyer-working the brain is not
the only cause of insanity; that, indeed, the
brain-workers are more exempt from mad
ness than are those who allow their mental
faculties to rust into decay. Besides this
especial proof, the pages of history bear us
out in our statement. In the Dark Ages,
when knowledge was considered a mark Of
the favor Of the Evil One, the religious
fanaticism rife in the illiterate aud de-
graded masses Of Europe was a madness,
of the most wretched form, and the gradual
removal of this madness, as traced in
Leckie's "Rationalism in Europe was
due to the advance Of learning, and 10
the intellectual development of those
whose lives were passed ina darkness worse
than death. IN the early years of orr land,
too, the madness Of ignorance was painful
" conspicuous, developing its cruelest, wick.
eldest features in the Salem witch trials and
the judicial horrors of Cotton Mathe:'s
court. More proof in support of our posi-
ton it would be easy to bring, but, We think
the foregoing is sufficient to make good the
assertion that it is not so much brain-work
as want of brain-work that produces insani-
ty. that the curse of ignorance drives more
men mad than does what was known Of old
as the curse Of learning.