River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-03-19

A 10 TWO very decided ana
Il u consoling conclusions; first,
that all great men are more
or less insane; and, second, that it is
not such a very dreadful thing to be-
long TO the "demi-fous," after all.
There is not, as Prof. Grasset points
out, any way in which to draw dis
tinguishing line between sanity and
insanity. The shades, or brands, of
one overlap and are interviewer with
the other to such a degree that it is
impossible to show where the one ends
and the other begins. In other words,
you, for instance, can be both sane
and insane at the same time-perfect-
ly sane on certain subjects, but insane,
or partly so, on at least one other.
There are so many brands of insanity
that, fortunately not all of us are in
sane on the same subject.
Between calm, cold reason and
transport of passion" says Prof. Gras
set, between originality and eccen-
tricity, between nervousness and agita-
ton, between person who is slightly
touched and one who is demented,
there are all degrees Of transition, and
it is impossible to say where insanity
begins"
Admitting for the moment, then,
that everybody is more or less insane,
it is not a question of just how insane
q person is, but of the particular brand
Of insanity he has inherited or &C.
CURED, says writer in the New York
Sunday World.
The brands may be counted by the
score. Some of them are of real value,
especially to a man of genius. Others
are useless, harmless or detrimental,
as the case may be.
The erotomaniac, for instance, falls
in love. But that is not all. He may
love two sisters with equal love at
the same time and, no matter how
hard he may try, he cannot make up
his mind which to marry. 1t is impos-
sible for him to bear the thought that
either of the young women he loves
should become the wife of another.
He generally solves the problem by
giving them both up and marrying
third.
ne DIpSomanIac Class.
The dipsomaniac, who must not be
classed with the habitual drunkard,
suffers from an affection which impels
him to drink whenever an attack
comes on.
Then there are the kleptomaniacs.
Prof. Grasset describes them as sick
people who are driven in spite of
themselves to take what does not be-
long to them, just as we have seen
that the dipsomaniacs are driven by
an irresistible power to drink"
Among other brands of semi-insanity
may be mentioned sitomania, pyro-
mania, monomania and megalomania,
which are illustrated and briefly de-
scribed. Then there are other brands
which are characterized by illusions,
Authorizations, jealousy, conceit, boast
fulness, raShness, inertneSs, impulsive-
ness, timidity and many forms of &C.
centricity.
Prof. Grasset declares that from
childhood persons of unbalanced mind
are apt to draw attention to them
selves by their precocity, their quick
ness in taking hold of everything and
understanding it, and at the same time
by their whims, their headstrOng ways.
their cruel instincts, their violent ana
convulSive attacks of anger When
they become men they are queer, com
pick, heterogeneous individuals, made
up Of contradictory qualities and
faults. They are often as highly gifted
in one line as they are lacking in an
other. From the intellectual point of
view they sometimes possess the fac
ulties of imagination, invention and ex-
preston in very high degree; that is
to say, they are gifted in speech, in
the arts and in poetry"
Those Who Are "A Little Off"
The originals and eccentrics show
lack of equilibration to a still greater
degree. These people," says Prof.
Grasset, ARE what the public would
describe as "a little off on some one
subject: they either have some pc
culiar habit or wear some odd style
of clothes or have a queer manner of
wearing their hair or of walking or
writing or speaking 1t may be either
strange gesture, a form of speech,
tie or a grievance. The eccentricity
is often shown by an imperious or
obsessional tendency. as, for example,
to surround oneself with birds or flow
ers or cats; to collect uninteresting
objects. particularly articles of wear
ing apparel, such as cravats, hats, foot