, 1886-12-26
lie STUDY OF INSANITY.
h Meaning of DelusIons, HalIucina-
lions and Illusions.

~c.nation and illusion. II would perhaps
not be umiss TO give u definition of these
words. BY a 'delusion' is meant 4
faulty belief, ont of which - person raa
not be reasoned by adequate methp,.s Tor
the time being. Decisions are the prin-
ciptl evidences of insanity. But not all
persons who have delusions are consid-
cred insane.
By AN 'hallucination" is meant the
perception of an object without u real
presence to Justify the impression. For
instance, il | should see human forms
while in reality no one is near or hear
voices when no one has spoken these
would be Authorizations. Ii Is perfectly
possible for n SANE man to have halluci-
nations. but the impressions are always
corrected. The insane man cannot cor
rect these impressions and believes truly
that he has seen persons when in reality
no one was near, and that he has heard
voices when in reality no ONE has spoken.
These, then, become d%elusions; that is,
faulty beliefs out Of which he cannot DO
reasoned.
An Illusion" is the perception of an
object actually present, but in characters
which that object does not possess. For
instance, i'll should see a bright cloud in
the sky and take it for IA fiery chariot
or see an old friend in the person of
stranger, these would be illusions. If |
would correct the impression and be con-
WINGED that the fiery chariot was only a
bright cloud, or that the friend was in
reality a stranger, then they would be
.l,,.,,,a ,..rar lf I aAttIl mot Ia. CON
WINGED of the falsity of my first conclu-
sion they would become insane illusions.
or. more properly. delusions.
In the insane decisions take one or the
other of these forms and hence they are
termed insane Authorizations or insane
illusions. These insane hallucinations
and Illusions may occur in any one of the
senses-in the sense of sight. hearing,
smell. taste or feeling-that is, %cutancous
s~ensibility. Ha%llucinations and illusions
of sight are very ommon among the in
sane, and their form depends upon the
disposition of mind and direction of
thoughts of the person. Thus in the
melancholic they are always of II de-
pressing character. He sees the flames
of he'll encompassing him, or sees
his children being tortured. while in the
maniac they are of the opposite kind
exhilarating, exciting, exalting. He sees
God in all his glory; heaven opens up
before his eyes.
Hallucinations and Illusions of hearing
ARE most common among the insane.
Voices are most commonly heard. Ii
the m%elancholic these voices are of re-
,.rAn.I "a. ,,..poga a. NAtraa that ..Ana.
mand him to commit some atrocious
act. The following is n good example
of pure Authorizations of hearing: \
Young man has not spoken II word for
six months nor performed any voluntary
net. One day he seized a bottle and
threw it at the head of an attendant.
After this he remained quiet and i'm
movable and recovered in u few months.
When asked why he had thrown the
bottle, he said: Because | heard a voice
saving: XIII somebody and you will lie
delivered | did not kill the man,
therefore my lot could not be altered
and ! remained quiet and immoyable
Moreover, the same voice repeated with
out ceasing: Move and you will be dead.
This warning was the cause of my I'M
mobility
IIallucinationB and illusions of smell
and taste are not 30 common, yet they
occur. and may be of "A pleasant or I'M
pleasant nature. depending upon the dis
position of the person. From these often
arise the IDEAS OF insane patients that
tlicy are being compelled to breathe
noYious gases. as chloroform or ether,
or ideas that they are being poisoned by
articles introduced into their food.
Again. to.certain of them plain hospital
fare ma seem as the ambrosia of the
gods. and plain. weak water AZ sweet
nectar.
With regard to feeling n cutaneous SEN
sibility, hallucinations and illusions can
not Ike distinguished from each other, as
it is impossible often to tell whether
there is really any abnormal sensation or
not. The various sensations that some
experience are very disagreeable and
somewhat frightful, as when u person
thinks that serpents are crawling over
him or that frogs have taken lodging in
his stomach. or that birds are in his chest
or Il dog in his head. A case which illus
tratcs hallucination of several senses is
the following: \ man was returning
home one moonlight night and was
somwlat fatigued by his long walk. All
at once it seemed to him as if lie saw a
great animal like II dragon roll itself out
Of II ditch by the roadside. He became
excessively afraid and at the same time
felt himself painfully graspcd by the
right shoulder by the animal; neverthe-
less lie could. rs he said, free himself by
running. Immediately afterward he fell
into II disease of the lungs which affected
his entire right lung. and he died in u
short time.
1t is "A well known fact that starvation
will induce Authorizations and sight is
the sense that is usually affected, as is
shown by the following example: a few
years & several lumbcrmen lost their
way on the ice of Lake Ontario, and were
found on IA little island from which
it was difficult to remove them owing TO
the attractive vision of a splendid feast
and II warm fire which occupied the
minds Of these persons. They had al
most reached the point of death from
cold and starvation.
Two teainsters were lost in the woods
in Montana. Both were saved by the
pluck of one of them. but he experienced
great difficulty in preventing his COM
rade from darling away into the
woods. where lie claimed stood a man
with IL basket of provisions and 1. house
with lights from which proceeded the
noise of a misunderstanding Dispatch.
The Sixty stamp Mil.
The sixty stamp mill erected during
the summer in Butte, Montana territory,
at a cost OF $500, 900, has commenced
operations. 1t is the most complete
structure of the kind in the world.