The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-09-12
MENTAL ABSTRACTION.
Some of the Oddities Which Distinguish
Great People,

Great People,
The lowest grade of mental disturb
ance is seen in that temporary appear
ance of irrationality which comes from
an extreme state of abstraction" OF
absence of mind. To the vulgar, as
already limited, all intense preoccupation
with ideas, by calling off the attention
from outer things and giving dream
like appearance to the mental state, is
apt to appear svmptomatic of ''queer.
ness in the head. But in order that it
may find place among distinctly alb
must attain certain depth and persist
ence. The ancient story of Archimedes,
and the amusing anecdotes of Newton s
fits, if authentic, might be said perhaps
to illustrate the border-lne between a
normal and an abnormal condition of
mind. A more distinctly pathological
case is that of Beethoven, who could not
be made to understand why his stand
ing in his night attire at an open win
dow should attract the irreverent notice
of the street boys. Tor in this case we
have "a temporary incapacitv to perceive
exterior objects and their relations; and
a deeper incapacity of like nature
clearly shows itself in poor Johnson's
standing before the town clock vainly
trying to make out the hour
This same aloofness of mind from the
external world betrays itselfin many of
the eccentric habits attributed to men
and women of genius. Here, again,
johnson serves as good instance His
announcement habit of suddenly breaking
out with scraps of the Lords PRAYER in
a fashionable assembly marks dis
tinctly dangerous drifting away of the
inner life from the firm anchorage of
external fact
In the cases Just considered we have
to do with kind of mental blindness
to outer circumstances. A further ad-
vance along the line of intellectual
degeneration is seen in the persistence
of vivid IDEAS, commonly anticipations
of evil of some kind. which have no
basis in external reality. Johnson's
dislike to particular alleys in his London
walks. and Madame de Stael's bizarre
idea that she would suffer from cold
when buried, may be taken as examples
of these painful delus ons or idecs fres.
A more serious stage of such decisions
is seen in the case of Pascal, who is said
to have been haunted by the fear of a
gulf yawning just in front of him. which
sometimes became so overmastering
that he had to be fastened by chain to
keep him from leaping forward. Il
Genius and Insanity By James Sully,
In Popular Science.
The following formed the bill of
fare for a luncheon recently eaten by a
section hand on Florida railroad: One
can of pears, two pounds; one can of
peaches, two pounds; half pound of
cheese: half pound of sausage; one can
OF beef, one pound; one can salmon,
one pound; one can mackerel, one
pound; one pound soda crackers, one
pound of sweet crackers. three ginger
cakes four by eight, one inch thick. and
half a gallon of cider. A young man of
Sylvania, Ca, ate fifty-four apples a
few days since on wager of nickel.
A citizen of Lakeland. Fla, after eating
a hearty supper, ate some grape fruit
weighing four pounds and watermelon
weighing forty-three pounds, and then
tried to make up stock company to
buy another melon. not being yet salts.
fled. Chicago Herald.