Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-09-12
DOCTORS MEET
DRAWST()( CLOSE:
SESSIONS OF TIE TRl-sTATE
MEDICAL SOCIETY FINISH
LAST NIGHT.
A HEAD OF TIM E,s
Papers Read at the Meeting, Said by
Physicians to be in Advance
of the Profession of
Today.

of the Profession of
Today.
The Tri-State Medical society closed
the sixteenth annual meeting in Otum-
wa last night in a session that lasted
until II o'clock. The doctors attend
ing express the opinion that the papers
presented at the meeting were OF
character far in advance of any ever
read before the society and some OF
them were of higher character than
papers presented at the recent inter-
! national meeting of physicians held at
/ Chicago In commenting on the high
| character of the papers read, Dr.
! Joseph Chambers, Of st. Louis, who
was yesterday elected vice president
| for Missouri, said that many of the
papers read before the meeting
were in advance of the pro-
fession by several years and that moth
] ing in the present text books could
approach the high character of the
papers presented before the meeting.
The program OF subjects treated,
their variety and the numbers made
the meeting one of the best ever held
by the society. The great number OF
papers presented and the discussion
they caused was responsible for the
closing session to continue last night.
Most Of the attending physicians have
already left for their homes and the
prospect of banner meeting at
Quincy in 1909 is good as judged from
the satisfaction expressed by the
doctors who were present here.
Insanity Compared.
A paper read by DR.. Gershom H. Hill
| of Des Moines at the annual meeting
of the Tri- State Medical society during
Yesterdays session was of rare value
inasmuch as the subject treated is one
in which a universal interest centers
The paper in part follows:
statistics concerning insanity are
based on cases in the public institu-
tions. These are cases of legal insanity
There are as many cases OF INSANITY
known to general practitioners who
have never been declared to be insane
as there are in the state hospitals
These are cases of medical insanity.
Insanity when thoroughly studied
in its clinical aspects and in its various
relations to the affairs Of life, is MOI
not only a very interesting, but 1t is
sometimes a very perpleXing subject
Medical insanity is a scientific condi'
ton Legal insanity is social or
, business proposition. For convenience
medical insanity will be considered
first.
"a definition is a brief description Of
a thing by the properties it possesses
To define insanity is about as difficult
as it is to describe sane man
Spitzka in a manual on insanity give:
i n I'M
hundred and twentyfour words. or
the other hand, a short definition |:
that insanity is unsOundness of mind
Sane means sound and insane means
unsound. Such q definition is Of LITTLE
value because it does not describe tn
condition nor differentiate the persons
who are afflicted with it.
1.-THE following is the definition
which has proved most convenient ant
satisfactory to me- both in the lecture
room and in the court room. 1nsanit!
is a disease of the brain affecting tn
integrity of the mind and producing
prolonged departure in the name
Of thinking or of feeling or of acting
natural to the individual, in eacl
particular case.
'In former times when the relation
of the mind to the body were unknown
the appearance and conduct Of an in
sane person were much more mysterl
Gus and fearful than they are today
the causes of insanity were incompre
hensible, therefore the treatment of
was often ridiculous or cruel. Ba
conduct was charged up to the deVl
strange actions to the influence of tn
moon, and hysterical behaviour wa
stopped by hanging tho witches
Delusion an Evidence.
, ut is generally conceded that de
fusion is the most conclusive and salts
factory evidence of insanity. If
patient develops a belief not befor
held and which he clings to in spite @
proof to the contrary then tn
physician concludes that his mind
unsound. Again, if the mind is dis
turbed by Authorizations Of hearing O
of sight he is certainly insane bu
there are plenty Of cases of insanit
without decisions or hallucination:
Sometimes the arrangement seems
be seated not so much in the intel
lectual, as in the emotional or in tn
: volitional faculties.
IF unnaturalness is manifested b
an excited frame of mind, in whic
the patient is more demonstrativ
!. more talkative, more hopeful than nat
il ural, we call it a case of mania.
e the patient is of the opposite kim
t hopeless, miserable, exhibiting posi-
: tive mental pain, then it is melar
8 ChOila. "nen the symptoms are cllei
d ly those of mental weakness, such 9
t carelessness, negligence. absent minc
4 edness, apathy. Stiffness or indecenc
Il them the case is one Of dementia.
Il In the early stages of mental de
e rangement the, diagnosis is often diff
G cult. Sometimes it is impossible
determine it. This IS particularly trl
n where symptoms of neurasthenia, il
somnia, hvsteria or hypochondria al
present. There are good reasons wi
IS insanity is reluctantly diagnosticate
and declared. First, because it
hoped that the morbid mental SYM
r. toms are only temporary, and that
q the course Of time they will disappea
j. second, because insanity Is deplo
able condition and must not be az
II mitted unless 1t is absolutely nece
+. sary: and. third, b"Zause the busine
capacity of the patient is at stake, h
domestic and his social standing a
R. lowered.
IF it is decided that a person who
mental condition has heretofore be-
good and sound and reliable is n