Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-04-10

MENT OF LuNAIlCS- EN l-9 VI LIN
PRESENT SYSTEM.
From Rev. VIM. R. Ayers lecture
on Insanity and Asylums for the In
sane" lately delivered at Music Hall,
Boston, the following extracts were OBJ
tanned:
In beginning, Mr.. Alger said IF a
account could be given of the
workings of madness in individuals, in
classes, in sects, parties and nations,
what a chapter it would form In the
history Of the world! The subject of
insanity has been, and still is, invested
with an atmosphere which greatly ag-
gravates all the evils connected with it..
The phenomena is one exhibited in de-
lirium tremens, in the widest of fevers !;
also in the influence of opium and hash
eesh. but here the cause is understood.
AS it is insanity itself is no more dia-
bolical chaos than are sanity and health.
He would first speak of the historic
WAYS of looking at insanity. The first
was that of the ancients, who regarded
insanity as inspiration. The cases OF
Orestes. Cassandra, and the Sybils were
instanced. Passing down from antiqui-
ration of insanity broken in two direc-
tions-the divine and the diabolical.
The lives of the saints are but the re-
Elections of the visions they had when
insane! they are but the reflections of
what science now calls insanity, but
which the church persists in calling di-
vine inspiration Under this theory
they were treated as seers and prophets,
their words were caught up, however
mystical, and they were regarded as or
acles. In the second view, however,
the insane were put to death and subjeC-
ted to the most terrible prosecutions, as
they were supposed to be possessed of
evil spirits. The case of Joan of Arc
was mentioned as an instance of this sort.
The whole world of witChcraft is a
colossal example of the cruel treatment
Of the insane. The Salem witchcraft
was mentioned as a peculiar form of in
sanity. 1t has been calculated by some
writers that some four or five hundred
thousand unhappy beings have been put
to death who were simply helpless and
irresponsible lunatics, and who should
have been kindly cared for, and, by the
resources of science, healed. This same
madness is now noticed in many of our
spiritualistic mediums, who act through
abnormal ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS that
are perfectly real and genuine, free from
imposture and free from either divine or
diabolical inspiration.
This brings us to the third, or modern
view of insanity. The doctrine of mod
ern times is that insanity is a disease of
the brain, as physical illnesses are diseas-
0f 40 hac hoI
special mode of treatment, as did the
other two. 1t has become a matter of
scientific study as to the cause of insani-
ty and its treatment according to the
laws of medicine, anatomy, physiology.
and chemistry, and the laws of material
and human nature in their relations to
each other
And now to come to the second head
of my discourse, which is on the nature
of insanity and its preventives. We
must begin at little distance and work
our way to the center for a real under
standing of the nature of this disease.
To understand what insanity is, we
must understand what sanity is, as one
is an alteration from the other. The
one is the normal standard of human
nature in the fultillment of its functions,
and the other is an alteration from
these functions. Let us consider for a
moment man as distinct individual.
forgetting, even, if we can, that he had
an ancestry. Man is, in fact. omnipres-
ent, the whole universe of matter being
represented in him and he in the entire
universe. He is a complex being, made
up of rythmical motions, which are in
Vulnerable in their kinds and which act
in known and unknown ways When
the actions Of objects about him report
through his senses and nerves clearly
and correctly, and are properly under
stood, and appropriate reaction returned
upon them, you have health and sanity
break the equilibrium, and you have
insanity.
Insanity in its more characteristic
marks consists in the representation 10
the mind of falsehood or disproportion
in the place of truth and proportion
the loss of that consensus" of the
brain which represents the whole per.
sonality. Instead of being free to
choose by reason, he is helpless and
must yield to automatic influence There
fore he is irresponsible The actions of
crime may have been repeated in the
brains of ancestors and not committed
but transmitted to children, to whom
the outer provocation being committed
the dreadful act is done He is a victim
of crime. Many individuals Inherit this
overruling spirit in such a degree that
it is almost irresistible. 1t is an awful
yet sublime fact that the generations
are thus connected in unbrOkeR solidar,
ity.
The true spirit towards criminals
wheI they come under this head-ot
course there are cases of impostnre-
should be one of profound pity, sym.
pathy and help, The appalling increase
of insanity shows that there must be
something wrong somewhere in the so.
cial universe. In 1874 there were 90
600 insane people in England, about one
IN eight hundred; in 1871 there were
5000, about one in every four hundred
OF the population. At this rate in a few
years all will be insane together. The
reason OF this increase may be very
briefly indicated. Ancient life was more
simple and restricted in its interest and
exercise than our modern life. Now the
whole world is so closely connected by
the telegraph and newspapers, that too
LSSNo NPCu NfCfl llldii anu
1t is a load that many cannot bear, and
they fall exhausted. Then again life in
ancient times was more active in bodily
exercise. In modern times the tenden-
cy is for an increase of ideas and emo
tons, dreams and desires, which represe
circulation and heat UP and exhaust the
brain.
Let us now consider the method of
curing this insanity, which has been ex
planned, used in the asylums. | will
trace briefly what is done that ought not
to be done, and what is not done that
should be done. In the first place the
patients are crowded together in great
asylums, which are in fact huge castles
of agony. Again, the patients have too
general treatment. Two or three nhv1
sicians, with three, or four, or five bun.
dred patients, cannot, Of course. give
each new ease the care and inyestiga.
ton which 1t ought to have. The great
evil and wrong of the management of