, 1888-06-28
LIABILITY TO INSANITY.
No Such Thing as tho Insane Tempers-
ment"-Ncrvous Energy.


lied by certain mental and physical quail
tiles which is uniformly met with in
those who are predisposed to insanity.
At least no such temperament is recog-
nized by Psychologists or alienists Of the
present day. Systematic writers gener-
ally admit the existence of four distinct
temperatures: the sanguine, the lynn
phatic or phlegmatic, the choleric or
bilious, and the nervous. Every physi-
clan who has much to do with the treat
ment of insane persons has witnessed in
stances of mental arrangement o only
in individuals of each one of these tenn
peraments, but in all their possible com
b%inations. Indeed, it is rare to find a
person In whom any one of the tempera-
ments mentioned exists in its pure and
simple form, &hose of mixed tempera-
ments being greatly in the majority.
Perhaps the nervous temperament is
the one which is the most frequently met
with uncombined with any other tempera-
ment, or at least so greatly predominant
ing as to obscure any other that may be
present. This arises from the fact that it
is the only temperament that can be ac-
quired by mode OF life. If there is any
temperament which of itself predispoSes
to insanity it is the nervous. 1t may be
well, therefore, to point out some of its
chief characteristics.
The manifestations of energy
are markedly prominent, and give pecu-
liar impress to the whole body and mind.
The c~ountenance is usually pale and the
features thin and sharp; the pulse Is
quick, small and frequent, though not
weak; the respiration active; the chest
and muscular system are generally not
largely developed; the skin is dry and
rough and the digestive functions are
performed irregularly. In consequence
of the comparative weakness Of the
muscles, persons of this temperament
easily become fatigued; though, owing to
the activity of the nervous system, they
quickly rally.
Prompt to form opinions and to arrive
at conclusions, the subjects of the nerv-
ous temperament are not remarkable for
stability of purpose. Their intellectual
operations are rapid and brilliant, but at
the same time not often persistent. Va
riety is constantly sought for, and the
mental efforts, like the physical, are, as
it were, spasmodic, full Of energy while
they last, but soon yielding to others.
Women were formerly much more fire.
quently the subjects of this temperament
han men, but owing to the constant eff
fort to get rich manifested by the male
sex in recent times, and the consequent
extreme development of the emotional
system and of certain faculties of the in
t~ellect, it is now far more common with
men. Indeed, / am not sure but that
in civilized communities, especially in the
large cities Of the United States, it has
not become the predominating tempera-
ment. The man who day after day is
kept upon a mental rack by that most
harassing of all the emotions-anxiety
will inevitably undergo such psychical
and bodily changes as will change him
from any other original temperament to
the one under notice. OF all the tenn
peraments, it is particularly easy to be ac-
quired- 1t is the outcome of civilization
and refinement, and probably but for
these agencies would never have arisen.
Among barbarous nations it is almost
unknown, and savages never exhibit it;
but it is common enough in London,
Paris and New York and in men who, if
they had lived a hundred years ago,
would have been as phlegmatio as the
most typical Dutchman.
The diseases which are most apt to
occur among individuals Of the nervous
hSAlHSAaLAACAb ~ lAOoO "AIlh SOllSCA
the nervous system. Thus, we have the
various forms of neuralgia, certain affec-
lions of the spinal cord, hysteria In all
its protean varieties, st. Vitus' dance,
c~atalepsy, ecstasy and insanity of all
types. In fact, the nervous tempera-
ment itself is, If strongly developed, al
most a pathological condition, the sensi-
biity is SO acute, the capability for re-
ceiving mental impressions SO decided,
and the system is so readily thrown into
disorder from slight causes that the tenn
permanent in question nay often be con-
sidered rs the first manifestation of dis
ease.
Persons of the nervous temperament
are very subject to diseases which exist
only in their imagination or which, be-
ing slight, are exaggerated by the on
slant habit of introspection in which they
indulge. They are thus very frequently
rendered seriously ill by the morbid at
tention they give to symptoms which are
often by no means abnormal.
But although the existence of the ner-
vous temperament in q person predis-
poses him or her more than does any
other temperament to mental alteration,
1t is not to be supposed that it possesses
this power 10 the exclusion of the other
temperaments- The sanguine, tho lynn
phatic and the choleric are by no means
devoid of influence in this direction. In
deed, the latter is not far behind the
nervous as a predominant temperament
In insane persons.
There is, therefore, no temperament
which can par excellence be regarded as
the insane temperament. Persons of all
temperamental types are liable to insan-
ity. Individual popularity is a factor
not to be disregarded. Some people
would never become insane, no matter
what misfortunes might visit them or
what mental shocks they might suffer,
while others might lose their minds upon
the supervention of the slightest possible
disturbing event. One man will suffer
the loss of family and friends and money
and his mind will retain all its clearness
and yigor, while another will go into his
barn and hang himself when he learns
that butter has fallen two cents q pound.
DR.. William A. Hammond in New
York Mail and Express.