Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-10-28
Geography and insanity.

climate and kindred features of tbs
| victims surroundings. No recognized
authority, however. has ever been able
| to make out good case for such ar
opinion and it is made less tenable
than ever by DR.. w. A. White, the
Superintendent of the hospital for the
| insane at Washington. He has an able
and exhaustive paper on this subject
| in the National Geographic Magazine:
If one collates data on the distribu-
ton of insanity, and does not dip be-
meath the surface of the matter. he
may we'll believe that the trouble Is
closely related to locality. DR.. White
presents a chart, based on the census,
which shows that New England then
had one case for every 359 persons, and
group of states composed of New
York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
averaged one for 424 inhabitants,
whereas the proportion in the Gulf
states was only one to 935, and in the
Rocky Mountain states one to 1863. The
worst situation prevailed in the north
eastern corner of the country, and APP
parently diminished as one went south
ward or westward. However, the rule
does not hold good on close inspection.
The relative number of cases just south
of the Dakotas is no smaller than in
those states; and beyond the backbone
of the continent one is confronted with
a remarkable increase. The Pacific
coast is as badly off as New England.
These figures are based on the census
Of 1850 which has the latest available
statistics on this subject, but there is
no reason to believe that the proportion
has materially changed in the past 90
years.
DR.. White, to be sure. does not deny
that topography, geography. climate
and weather have absolutely no effect
on mental conditions, but he comedies
very little to them. The weather. which
he considers the most potent of the lot,
would not account for the observed
discrepancies between the middle of
the continent and the coasts, for both
sections are affected by practically the
same conditions. If climate had any
thing to do with it, the enervating heat
Of semi-tropical regions should make a
worse showing for the Gulf states than
is reported from the North. Probably a
little harm is thus done, but it is more
than counterbalanced by other causes
in the regions where insanity is most
abundant. The Washington expert is
convinced that the various elements in
a mans physical environment operate
only Indirectly and secondarily. Their
influence Is not primarily mental.
On taking up another set Of condi-
lions DR.. White finds much closer
parallel. In the lower races of man
kind, as with the animals, the struggle
for life is mainly physical. In civilized
lands and in the more civilized portions
Of such lands, the struggle is mental.
This will naturally be the fiercest where
the greatest number of people are
found in a given area. In other words,
density of population is an important
factor. Several illustrations Of the
theory might be cited. One of them is
furnished by the concentration of peo-
pie In cities. Thus, in what is called
the North Atlantic division of states,
the eleventh census showed that 51.5S
per cent. of the population was collect
ed in punches of 5000 or more, and only
1868 in the South Atlantic. IT. the
South Central division the proportion
was 1916, while in the Western division
Der of cities having a population Of So
900 or more was fifty-eight, and exact
ly half of them were in the North At
lantic division. There, then, is the
greatest concentration, and hence the
most strenuous struggle. The point is
enforced still further by the fact that
the proportion of cases Of insanity to
the total population Is greater in cities
than elsewhere. Taking the country
right through in 1850. there were 40
cases to every 100000 persons, but for
cities alone the average was 242.7.
incidentally, mention is made of the
point that the proportion of insane,
even in a single state, is often found to
be greater in the older counties than
in those newly settled. Migration af-
fects statistics in two ways. The first
occupants of a region are always vigor-
GUS and enterprising, and invalids are
apt to be few and scarce for several
years. On the other hand, the weak.
FIFTY CENTS