Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-08-21
FEN WILL IS USELESS.
Iueer Manifestations of Mental AD-

ore some persons, and they en-
 s1to all the daily circles of life.
 ,r;lls are so soft and plant that thsx heed the strength of another VIII
 ,s. ;a;ned to theirs before they can ss 5s ''z rbis common hase of a weak will
 ..entuated in disease to degree r {. k.aav deemed possible by the non- Ii .,.s.nt Persons suffering from A'vQa ss'.s farn of diseased volition can will Sh ss ..ass1ves according to the dictates of and , They can feel a desire to act, ris ov cannot make a move toward < !. ks4sud. They are powerless to trans <z.. fbat desire into an act.
 ,irol mentions the case of a mag ..4]s3s biohlv distinguished for his 1saraing and his power as speaker rho was seized with monomanla In .ooseouence of certain troubles or the l ss;pd He regained his reason, but lt,~8,Y1d not go into the world again, 1 sS1;,rh he acknowledged himself to be ;s fbe wrong in not doing so. When 4.ssad to travel or to attend to his ss,,eh. h.neqlected affairs, he would say:
 s.Tl know that I ought to do so, but l
 ,,.able. Your advice is very good, li| a'T wish could follow 1t. 1t is cer- <z;,s that I have no will save not to " :.;Il for have my reason unimpaired. know what ought to do, but strength fai1s me when ought to act The case of the magistrate. however, ,s hardly as strange as that recorded Z hv Prof. J. H. Bennett, of man who E. fysouently could not carry out what he yvished to perform, even to the simplest acts of daily life.
 Often. on endeavoring to undress, this man was two hours before he could svA4 his coat off. All his mental facul- fies were perfect, but his will was im- ta;red. Once he ordered a glass of zUater. When the servant brought it he was utterly unable to take it off the frav. though he was most anxious to do so The servant waited half an hour bafore him. at the end of which time tIe man overeame the difficulty, seized the glass and drank down it's contents. He described his feelings afterward '.as Hanother person had taken possession of his will"
 The abuse of opium produces some what similar condition. De Quincy says: ftThe opium eater loses none of his moral sensibilities or aspirations. He wishes and longs as earnestly as Ever to realize what he believes possi- ble and feels to be exacted by duty. But his intellectual apprehension of what is possible infinitely outruns it's bower not of execution only, but even the power to attempt"
 Another curious instance quoted by Dr. Billiod, of Nancy, is that of a man who was greatly frightened at thirty years of age by certain civic tumults in which he. unfortunately. became in- yolved. Thereafter. though he re- tained perfectly his mental balance he would not remain alone, either on the street or in his chamber but was al- ways aecompanied. If he went out it was impossible for him to return alone.
 Whenever he went out alone. which he rarely did, he would soon halt on the street and there remain indefinitely, neither going on nor turning back, un- less some one led him.
 He seemed to have will, but it was that of those around him. Whenever the attempt was made to overcome this resistance of the man, he would fall into swoon."
 disease of the will that is even more curious is that which prevents the sufferer crossing an open space. It is 8 common form of insanity in France, where it is called by the people the fear of space, or 'peur des espaces An instance of this class noted by # Westphal tells of traveller of strong constitution and robust mind and imag- inatisn who was suddenly seized with alarm at the sight of an open space.
 If he has to cross one of the great squares in Berlin he fancies the dis tance to be several miles and despairs # of ever reaching the other side The # fear grows less if he follows the line of houses or has some one walking with him
 Dr. Bennett tells of man, a patient ] of his, who was sure to be stopped by an unbuilt-on space in the street. Crossing street was also very difficult and on going in or out of door he was always arrested for some minutes.
 The above cases of disease of the will come from lack of impulsion. Those which are caused by excess of impul- sion are even more strange. Suicide of certain sort comes under this head pr. Luys mentions the inconsistencies of the mind under those conditions in asmuch as many of his patients did not perceive the inefficiency of the methods they employed.
 Thus woman who attempted sui eide whenever she saw tableknife, did not notice one day when he was watching her that he had substituted for the knife a harmless instrument Another patient tried to hang herself with half rotten cord that was not strong enough to bear even slight ten sion.
 There are dozens of persons who every year take refuge in asylums be- cause they are torinented all the time with the impulse to kill those who are dear to them
 Sometimes, 5 says Ribot, fixed ideas ot character frivolous or unreasonable lind lodgment in the mind, which, though it deems them absurd, is power less to prevent them from passing into acts"
 Westphal tells of man who was haunted by the thouuht that ha miCht