The morning times., 1896-10-25
YOUNGEST LUNATIC IN THE WORLD
A New York Baby of Fifteen Months Has Been
Hopelessly Demented for a Year.
Copyright, 1860

New York claims the honor OF owning
the youngest insane person in the world
Charles Warsa W, whose addreSscan beeasiiy
obtained, has symptoms of Insanity as pro-
nounced as those OF the patients who fill
Bloomingdale and keep the State Asylum
comfortably inhabited.
He is fifteen months old and has been a
lunatc Since he was eleven months. How
inucn earlier than that is not known, for his
parents are poor, and no brain specialist saw
Charles under that age. His mother says
Charles insanity shows itself by his ex-
ceedingly funny actions. He interrupts the
most serious conversations with silly smile.
He bursts into laughter in the middle OF the
night, and some nights he laughs the whole
night long. His expressionfs Is the funniest,
and at the same time the silliest, ever seen
upon n baby's face.
AMUsES THE PATIENTS.
AT the clinic, where this baey~goe
weekly, he is source OF amusement for the
other patients. But the doctors sh axe their
heads, for they know that this boy will
never regain his reason. While they ex-
airline him he breaks into smile SO idiotic
that they have to laugh He is not what is
called an idiot, but is really and truly i'll
sane. Smart enough in IA way, but erratic,
not to be depended upon, and apt to change
any minute to violent state. He may
mature suddenly and become that monstr0s-
ity, an old man at two years.
He may start in upon the process OF sud-
den development and in three months pass
through all the varying stages or life. Hi5
teeth may come, he may talk fluentiy. His
teeth and hair may leave him, his speech get
feeble, and he may grow grayand wrinkled.
His conversational powers may, for the
few weeks of the transition period, be the
equal of the average grown man, and then
may fail, until he dies OF senle debility
dies of old age at two years Such a case
recently happened. For two weeks the
baby talked like an old man, only showing
in his conversation the lack Of experience.
When he died he was as wTinkled and yell
low as a winter apple in summer time.
Just now he is laughing all the time.
Physicians, specialists on children's dis
eases and those who have charge of out
door infirmaries, say lat insanity among
young children is very frequent thing.
1t occurs among the rich as well as the poor.
but when q rich baby becomes insane it is
treated speedily and generally gets well
or dies under the treatment. But with n
poor baby the case runs along until the
brain is hopeleSsly befoggcd. That is why
you hear OF the poor, butnot the rich.
Tue symptoms which crazy baby pre-
sents vary. The mother notices its Pc
culiarities, and thinks they are precocity.
Thefather sees them and getsalarmed. One
Guild of little more than u year sud-
denly refused its food though it had bccn
eating at the table for three months. Not
a bite OF anything would il take-oatmeal,
barley, mush and all its accustomed foods
We're offered in vain. The bottle was ap-
pcaied TO, though the boy had not seen his
bottle for weeks. Immediately upon be-
holding it he grabbed the bottle with one
hand and began combinG his hair with it,
While with the other he tore out his sCanty
locks by tue handful, shouting gleefuily
the while. A visit TO the brain specialist,
and the parents came away knowing that
they had crazy child.
Lunacy among young children comes from
different causes. One OF them is the