Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-07-08
"EGOCEPHALUS. !"
A yirulent Form of Vanity With Which Actors
Are Affiieted-How the Disease Originates
New York Dispatch


Are Aff1ieted-How the Disease Originates.
New York Dispatch
Presently the doctor, as he proffered me
a cigar, opened out again.
THE actors and actresses have a di-
sease, and one which is rapidly spreading.
In fact. / am convinced there is, after all.
but one malady which originates in and
is directly the result of their professional
work. Once it gets firm hold upon its
victim its progress can rarely be stayed;
like a cancer. remove it as often as you
will, it is sure to break out again"
''Wen doctor, what is this malady? You
have a name for it,"
Eyes. term it 'Egocephalus.'
''E-g-o-c-e-p- h-a-l-u-s? What in the
name of medical Jurisprudence is it,"
Look into your Webster's unabridged
and you will find something of an insight
into its nature attached as definition to
the word Vanity"
s'Egocephalus, then, is the medical term
you term at least-for vanity And is
that a theatrical defense?"
Eyes. You are aware there Is disease
known as hydrocephalus, in plain English,
water on, the brain. 1t is not recorded
that an actor ever suffered from a super
fluffy of water in any part of the system.
Egocephalus is caused by to much pres
sure upon the brain of the personal pro-
noun |.
In this relation the I is the representa-
tive, in my diagnosis of the malady, of
the most virulent form of vanity born of
success"
''Egotism, self-conceit, arrogance, the
beggar-o n-horseback-b
''Egocephalus is accompanied by
monomania. superinduced by constant
ly increasing pressure of vanity upon
the mental organism. The patient seizes
upon false principle in reference to his
own Importance, and draws from that
principle injurious conclusions which fill
his mind with exaltation as gas fills a bal
loon. He immagines he was created to
walk on thrones, and that he owns the
earth and chattel mortgage on the stars.
"In his grammar the personal pronoun
I is colossal statue of himself loftier
and greater size than the Washington
monument. In this delirious estimate of
his superiority as an actor he regards the
darkness of night as merely the shadow Of
his greatness.
'EAs rule the disease originates in what
the theatrical people call a hit Some
times this hit comes in an early stage of
an actors career. He is cast from a
small part. There is just enough of it to
bring him on the stage in one or two
scenes. This character hit may be that of
q Chinaman. an Irishman, a Frenchman,
Indian, or a negro. Something Outre in
its dialect business, and costume catches
the fancy of his audience; it applauds
him uproariously; gives him a recall, and
night after night as long as the run
of the play lasts, these demonstrations
are repeated.
''This hit haunts the mind of its victim
until he thinks of nothing else. 1t soon
affects his brain and hypertrophy- 9th
erwise enlargement of the head-follows.
Then he imagines he is the sole feature of
the play, the great I am of the company.
Then the egocephalus assumes a pro-
nounced form; he has play written for
him in which the bit of character is all
there is of it.
"The monomaniac, which every appear
auUe OF sanity engages advertising
agent and business manager to boom
his greatness in immense cOlored posters,
in press puffery, and Autograph portraits.
The dead walls, ash-barrels, bar-rooms,
barber-shOps, and store windows are full
of him and his greatness.
'sFor a little while he is, in his dilirium,
all of light, vitality, and glory that it
has.
''By this time the head is swollen to an
enormous size.
eff at this time the scalp of the actors
head could be removed, you would see
that the frontal parietal, temporal, oc-
cipital sphenoid and ethnoid bones of the
skull which are joined to one another by
sort of dovetailing in which the ragged
edge of the bone exactly fit each other,
were widely separated so that the seems
or sutures were expanded into inchwide
assures
He no longer remembered the exis-
tence of anybody but himself; he demands
the entire gross receipts of each nights
performance, besides certainty of double
that amount from the manager, and that
the latter must consent to pay all expen-
ses out of what is left. As the disease
progresses the patient becomes utterly I'M
manageable; he engages in the widest of
ventures and the end is near. Suddenly
he is lost sight of; the city has forgotten
him, the road does not know him, and it
will be discovered-if he ever does turn
up again-that he is wandering aimlessly
from one obscure town to another on the
outskirts of the country making cheap
merriment for the gaping rustics at 10
cents head.
This is the progress of egocephalus,
or vanity on the brain, from its incipiency
to its usual termination. [ have noted its
effect on scores of actors and actresses.
Some, partially recovering from their
delirium, disappointed at finding all their
greatness and popularity was the mere
vagary of their vanity, become pitiable
Micawbers; others relapsed into aimless
and vain search for $5-a-week engage
ments."
''You have given me no example,
mean cited no particular cases in illustra-
ton of the effects of this egocephelus,"
| said.
II could mention scores of them. No
doubt you have noted the singular actions
of the afflicted persons and wondered
what was the matter with them"
Surprising Novel