The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-16

ing rational suicide is the fact that n wa
not indeed exclusively, but charaoteristicallv
the suicide OF the ancients. 90 irrational
seif-slauEhter Is the suicide Of modern times.
Among irrational or true suicides Dr Strahan
would include oil who IRE impelled 10 destroy
their lives when insane; those who commit the
act without reasonable cause or out OF lmita-
tion; those who, while sane, give way TO = sud-
den impulse, and those who, after a longer or
shorter struggle, succumb Mt their own hands
TO a growing impulse which has become irreslst-
ible. The true suicide is the person who seeks
death for death itself, and is not driven 10 de-
stroy his life by force of adverse circumstances.
as IL the rational suicide. The true suicide dies
neither that he may escape evil nor that he NAV
gain something more desirable than life. but
simply because he is impelled to the act BY an
impulse. conscious OF unconscious. which he finds
unwithstandable. lie dies. in fact, because Of
. fatal defect in his organization, a defect which
absolutely forbids his survival under natural
conditions. He is drawn instinctively and ire
sistibly TO death. Just as the normal creature IL
prompted 10 live on II any cost.
Combining himself in the remainder Of his
volume 70 what he would describe as irrational
or true suicide, the author discusses It's relation
10 insanity, examines the suicidal impulse, and
traces the influence upon It of race. climate and
season, religion, morality, education, age. and
MI VI a. thhpbtEh uthllnR WIN kno30
topics are worth reading, but we can here qlanc.
only at the effect Of education and Of sex. 10
seems 10 be universally admitted by alienists
and statisticians that suicide and education in-
crease pdrt pdssii In every country, whatever
the religion, occupation, or social level Of the
people, and regardless of race, climate,a and geo
graphical position. But this. as DR.. Strahan
points out, Is only another way of saying that
suicide increases everywhere with civilization.
g. n - 4 zI--.x-A T. a. --Nan
walton Of the intellect. and that Is done by cdu.
cation. or course, however, when one speaks Of
education In connection with this subject one
does not mean school learning or book learning,
but the acquisition of all knowledge which goes
to make up the culture of the people. Other
things being equal, the acquisition Of knowledge
will impose the same strain upon the organism,
whether tho knowledge be literary. scientific.
artistic, or commercial. when, therefore 10
10 said that suicide increases with education.
IL Is not meant that the so-called educated
classes are moro liable than any other classes Of
the community 10 suicide because of their book
learninE; but rather that, with the advance Of
civilization, of which education forms so large
part, the community generally becomes more
liable to self-destruction. exactly as It does 10
insanity and all other abnormal conditions aris-
Ing from the increased strain put upon the or
ganism. Where civilization is highest the strue.
SIC w INV 10 htINtbv 6hu blicEo Wo mttt WIN
the greatest number of break-downs. Where
civilization Is highest there life Is most artif.
cial. and there we meet with the most rapid do.
generation OF the stock. 1t Is a fact that suicide
the world over occurs in inverse ratio 70 igno-
rance. To the untutored savage IL Is almost un-
known, and Il increases regularly as we rise step
by stop through the various grades Of c~iviliEa-
ton. Nor is II self-destruction alone that thus
dogs the footsteps Of culture. Insanity and
~ n ~ nfhnr ~ tha ,uor.A n. Xk.s - a. -t- A.
take the same course. They constitute the
price put upon knowledge by nature. and IL
must be paid.
At one period Of life. and only one, does the
suicide rate among women not merely equal.
but exceed, that OF the males. This is the inter-
val between the age OF Is and that Of 20.
and the relative frequency Of suicide among
women at this time is to be explained BY
the great constitutional change then experienced
by the female Of our race, a change
ably moro severe and trying than the analogous
one undergone by males later. With
the exception of this ouinquennial period the
male ratio Of suicide from childhood to old age
Is much higher than the female, and its superior
ity over the latter increases steadily with in
creasing ago, save for a slight remission during
the 1895 age period. The accumulation of the
suicide Of impulse in females at this period 10. Of
course. TO be accounted for by the climacterfo
"es~N eASa - pA"Not eAe "hAeA 80
is immeasurably more disturbing and dangerous
than the like change undergone by the male
about adecade later.
The comparative immunity Of the female sex
from self-destruction is attributed partly TO the
relatively less harassing part taken By her
In the struggle for existence; partly TO the
fact that she leads O less self-indulgent and
less vicious life, and partly to her lack Of
courage and natural repugnance to per-
ROnal yiolencA and dis1Oureunent RSSsrrfpn 60
the tendency exhibited of recent years, and
especially in England and America, to puniA
woman into competition with man In rinost
every walk of life. DIR. Strahan regards IL a. abb
~solutely certain that this will speedily cause an
In the female rate of suicide. Many
centuries ago Seneca and others pointed out
In proportion as women INDUCED In the
vices and adopted the mode of life generally of
man, SO she acquired disease and other abnor.
NAL conditions which previously had been Do
culiAr TO man.