The morning journal-courier., 1908-05-07


 bles,0 by Smith Ely Jelllffe, M D., clinical professor of mental diseases, Fordham university, New York, and visiting neurologist, City hospital, Wagnalls Co.,, New York s2 a Judas,
 Prof Grasset has presented hu- manitarian work of rare interest and of great value in this new production in behalf of the proper care and treatment of the large and increasing body which. for short Is denominat- ed as the semiinsane and tho seml- responsible. Prof. Grasset Is profess sor of clinical medicine at the Uni versity of Montpelier, and this work is of recognized authority in France, Prof. Grasset is also national mem- Der of the French Academy of Medi- cine and laureate of the institute.
 That there are degrees of insanity or mental Arrangement, no one need dispute. Prof Grasset examines the single block and the two block" theories, the one defining all humani- ty as included in one group all more or less responsible; the other that mankind is divided into two classes. one the responsible sane. the other the Irresponsible insane; and he finds neither theory satisfactory, as outside of these there Is the large class 'tnom he defines as semi-insane or semi-re- sponsible He presents a large ar 1p nP nf ep00tt1a sNp d n were partially off mentally, but who yet were stars in their respec- tive fields of achievement; men whom the world could not have spared, who contributed great things to the worlds stock of knowledge. and by whom the world Is a great gatner Not that such men should have been shut mp in asylums or sanitariums, but he argues in citing the cases of these world renowned people that genius Is frequently accompanied by unbAl- anced nervous systems and unhal- anced brains. However and fortu- nately for men of genius and for the author, he says: We must beware of depriving society of all unbalanced geniuses. On the other hand. the un- balanced are sometimes harmful characters, that we should be able to keep out of the way of their mls- deeds, and they should not be per mitted an absurd impunity, nor yet be treated like ordinary criminals who are entirely responsible. Prof. Gras- set argues from a scientific standpoint to account for the different degrees of insanity and presents his case as fol- lows:
 "The cerebral center of reason and thought" he says. Ifs complex and divisible." He figures it diagram matically by the use of a polygon the points of which (coupled up com plexly with diagonal lines) represent various psychic neurons," each spe- cializng in a particular province of cerebration. The diagonals represent co-ordinating connections. At the topmost point of the polygon (which center" the seat of mentality--the pilothouse SO to speak. If the group of neurons at that point is diseased the man Is mad--tltterly irresponsible flor, though the polygon is still polygon without the triangle whose apex is o. the specializing neurons though interconnected, are without central control, which comes from O If one or more of the specializing neu. rons be diseased, however, the men Is only partly insane His "O' or sl' perior psychism, however healthy, has Incomplete control on account of tho incompleteness of the polygonal struc ture.
 This geometrical headpiece is, o course, purely metaphorical, but pr Grasset thinks the structure of the cerebral machinery justiiies the figure
 The authors conclusion that 2 man may be intelligent and yet IT. rational, and that a man of talent and even of genius, may be, never theless, lacking in good sense,' VII hardly be disputed, and Dr. Grasse adds: ",The most critical must adm this face, that intellectual superior frequently possess marked psychic defects"
 Following chapters exhibit ant classify various kinds of semi-insani ty. and resulting "attenuated respon slbilIty." The examples include i'm beciles, satyriasists, monomaniacs erotomaniacs, jealous patients, dipso maniacs. spendthrift and adventur ous characters the conceited anC boastful, kleptomanacs, suicides etc Concerning the examples given more or less ilustrious men who have beer classed as "unbalanced," we quot from the New York Times summar' If the same in Its extended review a! follows: Most interesting to the lay man no doubt, is Dr Grassets cum mulative clinic of eminent historlca Instances of dcmfous. If he says Erasmus had lived four centurle later he would not written his 'Eulog, of Madness, but rather 2 Eulogy O seni-Insanty It was semi-insanlt that Anatole France wished a llttl grain of for those he loved The clln lc includes Socrates, (who had fits) Pascal Ca brain loson), August Comte. Dostoiewsld (epileptic), Tol g.oy (who in his youth nearly Nlle' himself trying to fly and has neVe wanted to do anything that anybod' else did), Gorky Cwho tried suicide q 10, Guy de Maupassant (who die' lnsane), Jean Jacques Rousseau CWltl neuropathctic heredity Of four gen erattons of hard drinkers), Flauber (epllcptic). Alfred de Musset, Cad dicted to drugs), Moliere (hypochon driac), zola Csymphoniat of odors v Balzac (ambulatory mania, but chief H meglomaniac). Victor Hugo cwltI veritable disease of the ego Tasgo (who had Illusions of beast laugbiug. whips craoNns bells tinE ungl. Schopenhauer Cwho was $ afraid of razor that he used { singe away his beard instead of shay mg}, swift Cwhose mad ending every rod, knowe), Poe (Whn "drnnk llk