Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-12-17
INSANITY.
Traits OF IL I'm Men Not Regarded as
Actually Mad-Eccentricitfes OF
People Celebrated I'm War, Lit
craturc, Philosophy, and
Politics-Queer Mental


Politics-Queer Mental
Twists.
The Spaniards, n people noted for the
shrewdness of their proverbial sayings.
declared in one of those rhymng
aphorisms of which they possess such
an abundance that we have all got
something of the physician, something
of the poet. and something Of the
lunatic in our composition
De medico, poets, yloco
Iodos tenemos un POGO
A large and important sect OF philoso-
piers in ancient times went even still
further. and maintained without
periphrasis or qualification that all men
were mad. There are probably philos-
ophers at the present day who share
this opinion; and it is said to be favored
by not few of the men of science
who devote themselves to the study and
treatment OF insanity. One Of them,
however-Prof. Ball, Of paris-took n
more cheerful view of our mental con-
diton in a brilliant inaugural address
WI n' ttllNtitu IL NttI TWO uHO,
and which was largely noticed in the
French press. though he qualified il
with statement calculated to suggest
serious misgivings to nervous people.
While readily admitting that the great
majority of mankind stood in no need
of the ministrations of himself or his
confreres, he affirmed. nevertheless,
that the number of persons absolutely
free from any faint of mental disorder
is very much smaller than is generally
supposed. There are millions of peo-
Pile in the world, he declared. suffering
from one or another of the recognized
forms of insanity whose sanity no one
thinks of calling in question. Perfectly
rational In all essential respects. the
weak spot in their mental organization
never manfcsts itself in an observable
shape at al. or only shows itself in
trifing ccccntrictieS of too common
and harmless character to attract
serious notice. Borrow ng an illustra-
ton from political geography, he de-
scribcd persons of tn, class as inhab-
ting n sort of bon. arland or neutral
zone lying between the confines OF
sanity on the one side and those OF in
sanity on the other. In strict theory
they are all manacS: but the I mania is
OF so mild type as IN no way 10 dis
qualify them for the discharge of the
duties of their sphere, still less TO con-
81 tute n danger of society. or to call
for the intervention Of their fl ends, in
whose eyes, as in those OF the world ct
large. they pass for perfectly sane,
though science recognizes no other diff
ference between their case and that of
The unhappy sufferers who people the
asvlumns but simple difference of de-
gree.
The crazcs of this class Of persons
take various forms. For an illustra-
ton Of the mental tw st which mani
TESTS Itself In simple ccccntric.ties of
behavior we need nos 70 beyond the
familiar case of DR.. johnson. Every
one knows OF his singular tricks of
habit, his practice of touching the
posts. his avoidance of certain streets.
his strange grimaceS and gestures his
mUtterings. his occasional calculations
Of scrap, Of prayer in crowded draw
ing-roomS; his mysterious boarding of
bits of orange peel. The lexcorrap-
hers name would probably figure in
any complete census of Prof. Balls
frontier zone. for in spite of the fact
that Johnson's really strong point was
his immense fund of common sense, it
is greatly TO be doubted if any scrupu-
lous mental pathologist would give him
a clean bill of mental health. In an
other class of sufferers the mental
faint shows itself in the form OF NOR
bid impulses of one sort or other. OF
these the impul'e which prompts per-
fectly honest people to appropriate
their neighbor's goods may serve as a
type. kleptomana is often set up as a
defense in cases of evident larceny, but
of its existence as genuine species OF
mental iniirmty or craze there can be
no doubt whatever. Numerous and
well-authenticatcd eases of undeubted
kleptomania are TO be found in all the
treatiScs. Peddie, for instance, men
tons the case of an old lady noted for
her piety who acquired large library
of bibles by the wholesale plumber Of
her neighborS. She. ii j. clear. was
wholly stranger to the sordd motives
which actuate the vulgar thief. The
wealthy baronet mentioned by DR..
Bucknell who stole so much old iron
and worthless crockorv in the course
of n continental tour that no fewer
than eleven tons of this strange brio a
brac was presented to the custom-house
officers on his return was manifestly q
kleptomanac not thief. Physicians
themselves have been known TO suffer
J from the propensity, one of the cases
cited IN the books being that of
an eminent practitioner who
stole his patients tablc-coths
whenever he got Il chance With these
| uncomfortable prompting. may be
, compared that distressing species of
mental obsesson known as the tyranny
. of fixed idea. The sense of number,
for instance. exercises such sway
over certain minds H. TO create II veri-
, table species of mania winch impcls
, the person affected by it to busy HIM
, self in numerical calculations and
computations whenever the accidents
of his external surroundings furnish
matter for the instinct or faculty to