The Worthington advance., 1882-03-09
Elijah Pratt, Uastleton, N. Y, 1912:
Noyes, Croydon, England, 1912; John B.
Hollenbeck, Burlington. Vt. 1913; Elijah
Stansbusy, Baltimore, 1S14,, Captain Hi
ram Ferris. Fon Id L e. I 8f5ee"
sSUlClDE>lN.; ;hlSI'vRY.

The Causes Of Voluntary Life Tak'ng-s.li
ImmolatiOn of Widows.
In review Of DR.. James J. O'Dea' book
on Suicide, printed in the New York
Star, the following is given:
Forty per cent. Of the suicides in Den
mark result from the use Of alcoholic drink.
But in Italy, where there is little intemper-.
ance, only six suicides in 4 thousand can
be assigned to that cause ,sand al majority
occurred in tie least thrifty PROVINCES. The
author thinks that about u per cent. Of the
suicides result from financial embarrass
ments and loss Of property. Spectators
are particularly liable to die in that way,
as sudden revefses paralyzo the
mind and destroy it's eaui-
libriuul. Theodore Hook tells the
story OF an unfortunate man in whose hands
everything turned out badly. He bought a
lottery ticket but Immediately repeated of
his folly and disposed Of it to q friend to
save himself from disappointment But it
drew u prize Of $3o, ,OOh. Hook exclaimed
that it was Incredible; lie should have cut
his throat had it happened to him. Yes"
said the stranger, 'of course YOU would,
and so did T." and barring his neck he ex
posed to Hooks horror stricken gaze q
freshly healed wound that reached from
ear to ear.
Most suicides occur between the age of 25
and So, with slight increase Of the rate at
IS. The sexua! instinct has something to
do with the tendency. Most suicides
among women occur between % and 40,
aud 50. Hereditary influence plays an i'm
porlant part, and insanity is It prolific cause
Of suicide. The cauee which tend to pro-
duce the one also produce the other.
The author de,ot very interesting
portion OF his work to the special causes
which affect individuals, growing out of
conditions of body or mind or belief, and
shows how certain temparaments arc pec;-
liarly predisposed to suicide. He laws
great stress on the prevention of suicide 6y
n sound physical ans, moral and religious
training, by immaculate cheerful views Of
life, by drawing out tho heroic qualities of
the mind; but still he thinks that attempts
at suicide should be severely punished by
law, and also that when there is a physical
predlsposltion tc such a steep medical ad
vice should be sought.
But quite the most interesting half of
the volume relates to the history of the
painful subject. He goes over the ground
very thoroughly for q work of this kind,
and shows to what comparatively narrow
UlIAcnsAOAD IAC flEC.l(c ol voluntary lltS-
taking has been reduced. In early ages.
throughout southern and eastern Asia, ill.,:
custom had full swing. The great religions
Of Brahmini:m and Buddhism served a5
fuel to feel the fame. The self-immola-
ton of widows afterth death Of their hus-
bands became an established custom il,
India, among the Tartar tribes, the Scythi
ans, the Scandinavians, md even tho
North American Indians. Suicide to
avoid trouble and d!shonor, and even pain,
was considered justifable in Greece
and Rome. as we'll as in China and
Japan. 1t was the honorable thing for men
to do, and both stocism and epicurianism
encouraged the practice Of voluntary life
taking. Many famous Romans died by
their own hands, and Horace tells how peo-
pie OF all ages and classes destroyed them
selves by leaping from the Fabrician bridge
into the Tiber. In the earlier ages the
Jews were quite free from suicide, and it
never gained much root among thc1a. The
tendency of Christianity was directly
against it. twas forbidden by the church
and held to entail disgrace not only on the
lerson but on the family. During the
reign of st. Louis in France. in 1910. the
first secular laws were enacted to prevent
it by subjecting the bodies Of suicides
to the most revolving treatment. It seems
very strange indeed that one of the first
modern apologists for suicide was Dr. John
Dome. who was nado Dean Of st. Pturs
in 1921