Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-11-09
MeataI Alteration a. an EIe-
ment in current Fiction.


The admirers OF the n~aturalistic
novelists say that not only do these
writers describe the complex life Of
to.day in all its phases, but that these
writings faithfully reflect every
change Of thought which affects the
public mind, and that they will supply
the historian aud the sociologist OF The
future unlimited material from which
to study the progress and the peculiar
tiles of the century.
An instance Of the rapidity with
which any topic of public interest
finds les way into the pages of the
popular novel is to be found in the
present very general treatment of
mental alteration, indicating the wide
attention drawn to that subject by
the discussion of Guiteau's crime
The trial at Washington shO we'd
that one.half the expert alien
lists are themselves insane on
the subject of insanity, and the
discussion of the subject, in the press
and in conversation, revealed a sur
prising Ignorance Of physiological and
mental science among intelligent PEG
pie. 1t is possible that the detestable
act of Guiteau may turn the thoughts
of studious men to renewed explora
ton of this great field.
"Kinley Hollow" a new novel, deals
with the idiosyncracies and peculiar
tiles of the New England tempera-
ment. The writer analyses various
types peculiar to that region, and
attempts to show how the esceticism
and the religious madness Of the
Puritans are reflected in the morbid
mental condition of their descendants
In "0n the Border Land" a much
wider realm is opened up. The hero
of this story is a man who inherits a
tendency to fits Of melancholy, accom-
panied by a suicidal mania. He is
one of that vast army who, in
life occupy places in the pro.
fessions, and conduct business
affairs and are regarded as SAINT by
their fellows, but are really on the
border land Of insanity, and have a
monomania or are liable to have their
mental balance destroyed by a sudden
shock. The central figure Of this
novel becomes. when angry, an abso-
lutte mania for the time; his actions
are beyond the control of the will, and
he becomes essentially an irresponsi.
BILE creature. Other personages IN
the story are pictured as occupying
various positions in this mysterious
2 border land, and each of them will
stand with the reader as a type O
probably halt a dozen persons Of hi
acquaintance. A significant point il
this book is the detailed account O
the manner in which the young man
that loses his head when angry
is treated by a physician. The latte
rescues himfrom an attempt at suicid,
and gradually leads him, by education
up from the dangerous mental moras
in which he stands, to tAe firm ground
of calmness and perfect sanity. Al
ideal establishment is described fol
the rescue and care of persons who
like him, are liable to progress int,
hopeless insanity, but who may b,
cured by prompt treatment. Hints o
the Influences to be employed are fur
nished in the suggestion that som,
classes Of melancholia are favorabl,
affected BY music, others by incessan
occupation of one kind or another
according to the tastes of the patient
and so on.
/ Doctor Ben" relates the adven
lures Of a young fellow who, just befor
his wedding, receives an injury in tn
J head which renders him an imbeeile
| He is confined in a Canadian asylum
and the life he leads there, his saying
and daings while there, the treatmen
to which he is subjected, and his fna
cure and restoration to home and hi
bride, constitute the chief interest @
the novel. This writer, too. assert
the necessity of a more careful stud
Of the subject OF alienation. and th.
establishment in which Doctor Ben
is confined is another suggestion Q
) what might be, but which c%ertainl
: does not at present exist in any com
munity.
: The scene of TIE first novel is lai
+, in the Eastern States that OF th
second in the South. and that Of tn
|, last in the North-in Canada-so tina
! they may be taken as evidences Of tn.
drift Of public thought over a yer
wide region.