Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1874-07-09

and who wore very rich silk dress. Sud.
denly the impulse came upon him to ruin
the dress with ulphuric acid, and accord.
,ngly he ran into drug store, purchased
the acid, and without observation effected
his purpose. He derived such pleasure
from yielding to the impulse that he re-
solved 10 continue his course, and so he
purchased more sulphuric acid and ruined
second dress. He then resolved to con-
tinue this pursuit, but nights rest
brought better state of mind, and he WAS
so sorry for what he had done that he
actually wrote an advertisement and sent
it to the newspapers, with the
view ii finding the ladies whose
dresses he had destroyed, SO that he
might indemnify them. On his way to the
newspaper Office, however, he saw hand.
some dress, the impulse at once seized
him, ana he yielded TO it without hesita.
ton. Thas, whenever he saw a handsome
dress, he could not restrain the impulse
To destroy it with sulphuric acid. Prof
Hammond advised him to take sea
voyage III vessel in which there was
no woman passenger. He complied with
his advice, went To sea in fishing schoon.
er, and returned perfectly cured The de-
sire of person To tn. ow himself from a
great height on which he might be stand
ing, and the morbid impulse stimulated
by the use of suitable weapon to com
nit deed of violence, were duly referred
To. The yielding TO morbid impulse
through the influence of imitation was
lully illustrated, Among other cases,
Prof. Hammond mentioned that some
years ago man hanged himself in the
Hotel des lnvalides, Paris No suicide
had taken place there for three years, but
in a short time atterward five persons
hanged themselves from the very same
beam, AS another instance, he said that
when he was a medical student in the
University of New York he had com.
panion student who used to dissect along
with him. He was of cheerful dISposl
ton and gave no evidence of morbid i'm
pulse However, he was one morning
found dead, having divided the iemoral
artery. II was quite an unusual mode OF
suicide; no other had probably ever oc.
Cured in the State of New York, but in a
week atterward there were two similar
suicides. In the first case they had sui
eide from suggestion, and aiterward
from imitation. For this reason Prot
Hammond advocated less public excca.
ton of criminals and slaughter of ami.
mails. Morbid impulses, arising from
the force of habit often continued long
time when the original cause had
passed away. In illustration of this
theory he stated the case OF lady who
had a disposition to throw every valuable
article into the fire. In the first place
she burned an old slipper, and derived
peculiar pleasure from the contortions
through which the leather went in the
process OF burning. The next day the
impulse was renewed, and, yielding to it,
she burned a felt hat, but without any
pleasure, inasmuch rs the hat did not 90
through the same Contortions as the
slipper. The third day she burned a
prayer book, and soon she burned shawls
bonnets, and every article of value within
her reach. The peculiarly, however, was
that she took no pleasure IN seeing them
burn, AZ in the first instance, and her i'm
pulse being satisfied on throwing them
into the fire she walked to another part
of the room. She was, nevertheless, en-
tirely cured by subieoting herself TO such
restraint as could be used in her own
house. The dread of dishonor, shame
and ignominy, the speaker said, was ire
quently more potent than that Of death to
check morbid impulse, and on this point
he instanced the fact that Napoleon had
successfully checked suicidal epidemic
in the French army by appealing to this
feeling. In closing his lecture the Pro
fessOr laid it down as essential that GER
tain monomaniacs should be permanently
restrained that those who act under M
uncomfortable impulse for pleasure, like
Pomeroy, should be treated just AS sane
criminals are for if we excuse crime on
the score OF morbid impulse we shall
soon find courts unnecessary. The plea
of morbid impulse" should be entirely
disregarded by the jury.