Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1882-06-08
NUMBER al.
ABour suIcIDE


cIde-YThere ana When VI Prevails AEunE-
Suicidal 1InHins-SnicldB iH rhp sexes.
DR.. James j. O'Dea, ia recent work
on Suicide, says that during the six
teen years ending in 1852 there we're
81. 126 suicides in France, Of which 7S8
happened during drunken debauchsa
and 2. AGA resulted from habitual drink
ing. In Denmark 40 per cent of the
suicides result from the use 81 alcoholic
drink, while in Italy, where there is lit
tie intemperance, only six suicides IN 4
Thousand can be assigned to the cause.
About twelve per cent Of suicides result
from financial endorsements and losa
Of property.
Most suicides occur between the ages
of Is and 55. with slight increase Of
the rate at 65. Suicides among women
occur mainly between 20 and 40 and at
30. Hereditary influence and insanity
are prolific causes Of suicide. Thirty per
cent Of the insane are melancholics, anal
Of the latter about 50 per cent take then
own lives. Example is one cause, and
there have been a number Of suicidal
epidemics. the most noted being at
Etampes, Lyons and Versailles, ia 1898,
when 1900 people took their own IiTeB.
Climatic influence has III effect Sui
cides are more numerous Id hot weather
than in cold. In Italy in 1877 the
smallest number occurred in December
and the largest in June; 1873 happened
in the winter and 3l6 in the summer.
The author shows how certain temper
aments are preiisposed to suicide.
He lays stress on its prevention by
sound physical, moral, and religious
training, and By intoxicating cheerful
views of life. He thinks that attempts
at suicide should be severely punished
BY law, and that when there ~ a physi-
cal predisposition to such a step, medi-
cal advice should be sought.
In treating the history Of the subject,
he says that in early ages throughout
southern and eastern Asia the custom Of
suicide had full swing. The Brahmin
and Buddhist religions served a. fuel To
the fame. The self immolation OK
widows after the death Of their husbands
became an established custom in India,
among the Tartar tribes, the Scythians.
Scandinavians, and even the North
American Indians. In Greece, home,
China and Japan, suicide, TO avoid tron-
bic, dishonor, or even pain, was conRid-
cred iustiiable. Many famous Romans
died by their own hand, and Horace
tells of how people of all ages and
classes destroyed themselves by leaping
from the Fabrican bridge into the Tiber.
in the earlier ages the Jews were quite
free from suicide, and the tendency of
Christianity was directly against il It
entailed disgrace, not only on the per-
son, but the family. During the reign
of ST. Louis in France, in 1870. the first
secular laws we're enacted to prevent it,
by subiecting the bodies OF suicides to
the mostrevolkng treatment.
In work on the same subject by Pro
fessor MorelIi, recently translated from
the italian, the author holds that in
Europe, where statistics have been
taken, suicide is becoming more fre-y
quent in each quinquenn1um. Since
1865 suicides have been more frequent
in the kingdom Of Sa1ony than In any
other state; for the ten years tlS65 75)
they numbered 29s per /, 900, 600 yearly.
/ At the other extreme of the scale stand
Italy and the slaves of the south, with
35 and 20 suicides per ], 900. 600 respen-
lively. In England the ratio has long
Oeen steady; from 1886 to 1875 it rose
only from So 20 So per ], 100000
Suicides are most frequent where
the country is low; in the region of the
great rivers and in aIluvial countries of
the more recent epochs Denmark, the
Germanic plain, the lie de France
June il 5he favorite month and ia
December suicide is least frequent. It
is probable that the moon exercises
influence on suicides as it does on mad
ness and epilepsy, which are generally
aggravated at the time of the waning
moon. In France suicides are most
frequent during the first ten days of the
month, and on Tuesday, Thursday and
Monday. Saturday is the favorite day
OF the laboring man, when he receives
his pay, and his content Of mind lasts
over Sunday, on which day the glutton-
ous, dissipated man wastes the money
earned during the week The new
week begins with safety, remorse and
intolerance Of work. Women commit
suicide most frequently on Sunday
unexplained fact. Suicide favors the
active part of the day, and this Is the
reason why the months ia which the
daylight i longest--June, May, and
Jnly-show the largest number of
suicides.
In every country the proportion Of
suicides1s three men to one woman.
The strong suicidal tendency Of the
Spanish women, however, j. perhaps
attributable to The force of their pas-
sions -ItaIian women, In similar
climate, manifest no such tendency. In
each sex suicide increases in direct ratio
with Che age, Until about the 65th yeax.
In Italy the married men and the un-
married women commit suicide least
frequently, the widoWera and widows
the oftenest. In France the married.
with children. Of either sex, are least