Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1888-02-24
Fate of John Ramsay, M. D.
BY w. II. S. ATKINSON.

am physician. have made life
long study of the human brain, and
may, perhaps. be paFaoHed is ,sarl that
now carry considerable weight among
members Of tho profession.
1t is only week or two since | was
called to a large asylum for the insane in
Northern Ohio TO examine case which
batfied the skill of the local doctors.
A ter disposing Of that matter took an
unprofcsslonal stroll through the insti-
tuition in company with my old friend,
the superintendent
The asylum over which | now made
tour OF inspection " IS most beautiful
building, resembling in its appoint
ments the homes of the wealthy and
opulent. We wandered through room
after room and along successive halls
and corridors where men and women in
every stage Of insanity passed the time
IN various harmless amusements, or were
restlessly confined in the care of ward.
crs and nurses. OF all the misfortunes
to which humanity is heir this loss OF
reason Is, to my mind, the saddcst by
far; and, though | might be expected to
have grown hardened by long years o.
familiarity with all phases of weak in
tellect, | never cease to feel devoutly
thankful for that greatest of all benefits
conferred upon men by benefcent Gre
ator-a sound brain.
We had passed through the greater
part Of the enormous institution and
were approaching that portion of the
building set apart for the resi- lcnco OF
the experimenting ply siciau-my
friend, DR.. Habershon. Taking from
his pocket key Dr. Habcrshon ia,
serted it in the keyhole Of door Be
fore turning it, he looked at me in a
strange manner and said: Of you
were not an old med, Hartly, an as
familiar with strange cases as am my
self, | should warn you to keep your
countenancc and betray no surprise on
entering here. And l speak, anyhow,
so as to be on the safe side" So say
ing he turned the key in the lock and
opened the door We quietly entered
very neat but plainly furnished room,
and | confess that, although | have
witnessed queer weirl, wild and, oft
times blood-curdling sights, never felt
50 startled in all my life as dill at that
The room was not by any
means dark, for it was well lighted by
4 large window running all along one
side, but placed above the reach of a
man, even though he should stand upon
a chair; yet at the farther end Of the
room | noticed students lamp burning
over plain pine-wood table, upon
which rested human skull and some
Writing paper. Seated at this table,
pencil in hand, was a man about the
anne age as myself and DR.. Habershon
40 years. gazing intenty upoa the
kull. What startled me so severely
was the fact that when | had last seen
hat man more than fifteen years since
had seen him in exactly
uch position, with precisely similar
And yet, what diff
erencel Then he had, just graduated
It the head of his class from our col
oge, and was looked upon as one of the
most promising young physicians in the
ountry-now, he was a helpless maniac j
Ramsay" | involuntarily queried,
My partially believing my own eye I
light. Habershon nodded. You need
ot speak to him; he wont ply. Its t
ast o clock. He will sit 1T TINT table
azing at the old skull until daybrcak