The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-01-31
insanity in the Middle Apes.


The middle ages were a period of up
heavel, when everything was swallowed
up in the bottom1ess abyss of scholastic
cism and demonolOgy, and medicine be-
came a routine Of superstitious prac-
tees. Such and such plant was con-
sidered beneficial, if gathered at the
new moon; but deadly poison, if at the
moons wane. Science, art, and htera-
ture. went down In the storm and
/ wars. battles, pestilence, and famine,
we're the order of the day. As God was
invoked in vain, men turned to Satan.
The belief in the devil was universal,
and the world became a hell. Now
both science and experience show that
the prevailing notions of a given period
are very rapidly taken up by the insane,
and bv them distorted -1tO grotesque
shapes, with a uniformity resembling
the symptoms of epidemic disorders.
This phenomenon is of daily occur
renee. Thus, accordingly as France Is
ruled by king, an emperor, or presl-
dent, those insane persons who imagine
rank of president, emperor, or king, as
the case may be. There are at the pre-
sent time in the various French asy-
lums, men of unquestionable patriot
ism who viii tell you that they guided
the Prussians up the heights of Sedan
The phenomenon therefore of diabOli-
cal possession in the middle ages is per-
fectly natural The calamities attend
ant on continual wars had so enervated
the people, that they were fit subjects
for all manner of mental disorder; and
this, taking form from the prevailing
ideas of the times, found expression IN
demoniacal possession.
During the middle ages the devil was
every 1t5iqUe demon. There was one
religious sect whose adopts were ever
splitting, hawking. and blowing the nose
with view to expel the devils they had
swallowed. A trace of this still remains
in some localities, where one who
sneezes is saluted with God bless you!
Such beliefs were universal. Thus a
certain prior of convent had around
him constantly a guard of two hundred
men. who hewed the air with their
swords, so as to cut to pieces the DEM
ons who were assaulting him Demons
were even cited to appear before ecclesl-
astical tribunals curious and p1tlful
epoch, when the possessed and their
exorcists were madmen alike
This view of insanity was favored by
the philosophical, or rather the theo-
logical ideas of the time. According
to these, man was of a two-fold nature.
On the one hand was the flesh, mere mat
ter: on the other the soul, a direct emana-
ton from Deity passing through this
vale of tears, on its way to the inetfable
glory of heaven. The body is but the
souls dwelling -place-a temple or a
den, accordingly as its invisible inhabi-
tant is a servant of God or of Satan.
Therefore. when the soul is diseased,
the treatment must regard the soul
alone, which is governed by laws of It's
own, and is merely in juxtaposition with
the body for moment. No doubt the
ideal of purity thus held up was sub
lime; vet the result of it was the up
setting of the body's equilibrium; and
this reacted on the mind. But this
theory led to still more serious conse-
quences, for it was admitted into
science, and checked the progress Of the
medical art. When, in 172S, BrOussais
attacked it, he was accused of bias
phemy and of "sapping the founda-
tions" of society. Now, however, we
know that the faculties of the mind are
not independent of the conditions of
the body. Take a slight dose of sui
phate of quinine and you lose, for the
time being, the faculty of recollection;
swallow a little hashish, and you are
transiently insane.