Evening star., 1901-03-09
QUEER MENTAL KINKS

''The renewal Of the discussion In certain
southern newspapers as to why 50 many
| men and women when they find them
selves on high places have an almost un-
controliableimpulse to Jump. even when they
know that to jump means certain death, in
terests me, il for no other reason than that
I have myself been afflicted in that way all
my life," said a Washington physician who
makes a specially Of nervous diseases. 1T
took me a good many years to muster up
sufficient nerve to ascend the Washington
monument, knowing, as / did, how strong
my temptation always had been to leap
from any altitudinous position, and when
I did finally go up the result was precisely
as had anticipated. 1 wanted to jump. 1
ionged to jump. If those little windows
had been placed trifie lower, so that L
could have squeezed my somewhat cumber-
some avoirdupofs through one of them, and
If friend of mine hadn't assumed guar
dianship of me on the trip, l haven't the
least doubt in life that 1 should have gained
the reputation of being a hopeless lunatic
by making the attempt. As 1t was, l SIM
ply longed to do 1t, as l say, and the ex-
perience got on my nerves so badly that I
was In more or less a tremor for two or
three weeks afterward.
Now. l am a perfectly healthy man,
and that 1 honestly believe, Is the one
mental kink that possess. And yet
feel that 1t would take a good many years
OF the strongest exertion Of VIII power on
day, to overcome that fixed impulse of mine
to hurl myself into space when l find my
self at distance from the ground. 1 have
the consolation, however, of knowing that
this is not sign of mental weakness. II
were compelled to think this 1 fear that my
conceit would suffer a sad shock. One of
the very greatest men that ever lived in the
world was victim for years of the same
impulse, and it is curious that attention
has not been called to this fact during the
progress of the discussion. l refer to
Goethe, the great German poet. AS a very
young man he discovered that he was
'soarer'-that he itched to jump when he
found himself high up. He tried to reason
the thing out with himself. and after en-
ploying his powerful mind in any amount
of logical reasoning on the subject he felt
that he could master the impulse by the
exercise of mere strength of will. He tried
it-With friend beside him for Safety-and
failed dismally. His friend actually had to
hold him TO prevent him from jumping.
The thing humiliated Goethe intensely. He
found IL unbearable to reflect that he had
so little mastery over himself in that one
respect, when his command Of his mind in
all other respects was so perfect.
SO, when he was studying in Strasburg.
he resolved to beat that impulse out or
ascertain THE reason why. He at length
succeeded, but in letters to his mother he
confessed that nothing had ever cost him
so much force of mind. He started to as
every day, always in the company of some
friend who understood his jumping weak
ness He did this daily for months. even
years, before he was finally able to look
down from the height in state of calm
ness, with no desire to leap. Now, IL a man
of Goethe's tremendous intellect had to re-
sort TO such means to cure himself of that
jumping impulse, L guess those of us who
in this day suffer from the same peculiar
affiiction may reasonably suppose that 1t
does not prove us to be mental pollywogs
or jellyfish.
'In the discussion have not seen any al
fusion to the fact that the evolutionists
familiar with this queer human impulse at
tribute it-reasonably enough, too, L think
to our descent from birds. That's a rath-
er remote reversion, of course, yet it is as
good an explanation as has yet been Of
fered.
''To get back to the mental kinks of an
other sort that have come under my no
tice, however, I'll mention one case that
has distinctly humorous aspect. 1 have
relative in Pennsylvania town who pos
sesses an uncomfortable desire to jump into
every basket of eggs that he sees standing
In front of store. He's a man of middle
age, well-off merchant, a man of re-
markable shrewdness and common sense.
churchman. and first-class all-around cit
izen. But he's had that egg-smashing kink
ever since he was young man. He SIM
ply cannot see a basket of eggs without
jumping into 1t with both feet. It's a
costly kink, for he always pays for the
eggs, of course. as well as for a new pair
Of trousers, but he owns up somewhat
mournfully that he can't help himself
Then there's a sensible, plain, matter
Of-fact man right here in Washington who
finds 1t impossible to see either a man or
woman STOPPING over without giving him
or her a shove. In doing this the only
damage he inflicts IS to the dignity of the
person he shoves, but he has found himself
In very embarrassing predicaments owing
to his indulgence In the practice. In fact
he's been punched on several occasions by
irate men who make no allowance for mem
tai kinks. Hell see a man engaged in lay
ing carpet, for example. He approaches
the man from the rear and gives him a
good, swift shove to horizontal position
He has on several occasions passed by
green grocers clerks who were leaning
over outdoor stands asserting vegetables
and he has swOoped upon these inoffensive
and prosafc chaps and showed them over.
Everybody is familiar with the crack
walkers'-the men who can't walk along a
concrete paved street without stepping
over all the cracks. That's another men
tai kink. There are lots Of post touchers
here in Washington-men and even a few
women who furtively reach out their hands
and touch every fence post that they pass
No less man than the great Dr. Samuel
Johnson was afflicted with the post-touch-
ing kink.
'In minds of an inferior, unframed sort.
especially where there is a criminal taint
or tendency, these mental kinks unoues-
tionably take destructive and violent turns
1t Is thus that We account for the ink
singers, the dress slashers, the ringers of
fire alarms, the women who tear off other
womenS headgear and other abnormal
characters Of that sort whose doings so;
frequently crop out in the newspapers" :
Her Debt of Gratitude. a
From the Chicago News