Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1908-08-15
INSANE
EXHIBITS
Things That French fanatics IL
Captivity Have nide.

Paris museums 10 that Of the insane,
established by DR.. Marie, head sur.
geon Of the mems section OF the asy.
lum at villejuif. DR.. Marie Is the
physician who introduced the system
BY which the harmless lunatic and the
idiot are separated from the more
violent types and permitted to fol.
low their harmless pursuits In the
belief that they are living at home In
freedom.
Under this system the first task OF
the doctors and nurses Is to distract
their patients from the fixed idea"
When gentle treatment, Indulgence
end the required regime have reduced
the patient to relative calmness he
% encouraged to make. himself at
home. to act freely--if his impulses
are harmless--and to do any kind Of
work that may please his fancy. As
the result Of this wise system most OF
DR.. Marie's patients follow some
fancied trade. Men OF artistic instinct
model In clay, paint or carve wood.
In . study Of lunacy DR.. Marie de.
clafes that his experiments have con-
WINGED him that one Of the best ways
Of rsconciling . mailman to captivity
10 to encourage in him the develop.
ment Of his natural gifts. A mind
forgets IT, obssssing evil when In.
tent on an agreeable task.
A few years ago the first prize
offered by the Academy Of Sciences
fell to q man confined in the mad.
house at Clarendon; at another time
IN engineer In the lunatic asylum
ct villejuif was second in the open
competition for the design Of the
Metropolitan Railway station in Paris.
Usually the art Of madmen Is in.
fantiie. II Is often melancholy and
almost always irrational. The chief
defect Is greater or less lack OF per.
spective and proportion. For In.
stance. an architect who has lost
his reason often imagines that a house
ought to be broader at the top than
q the bottom.
A sense Of art Is often developed
for the nrst time In the insane. Men
who have never drawn line dis.
cover the artistic instinct as soon as
they have been placed In conhne.
ment. But their work Il always sim.
liar 10 the attempts Of primitive races.
Thus an Apache" or thug" OF Paris
made . sketch Of his life as he under.
stood II. He began by making a pic.
ture Of the woman he had loved.
Then he remembered that before he
met her he had lived in Africa. Africa
made him think Of palm trees and
pyramids: and pyramids made him
think Of Napoleon. His picture was
an extraordinary mixture Of palm
trees. negroes. pyramids and Napoleon
invoking the centuries to encourage
men to kill one another.
One Of the patients. an insane ex.
physician. manufactures bludgeons
and hatchets resembling the weapons
used In prehistoric times. As he 10
too violent to be trusted with any
sharp instrument. he makes his tools
by breaking one piece Of flint against
another or by rubbing two pieces to-
gether to wear them down to the re.
ouired shape. Having shaped them
70 his intention, he Axes them In
handles made Of pieces OF jasmine
vine. or between strips made from
the soles Of old shoes. Some OF the
ingenuity exhibited by the violent In
sane gives cause for grave anxiety.
II Is impossible TO watch an ingenious
lunatic SO we'll that he will not pick
up something at some time to shape
into dangerous weapon. Some OF
the harmless" cases demand surveil.
lance by night and day.
Some OF the inventions OF the in.
sane are of scientific value. A patient
p" "''eiuif invented a "paniAcatiou
machine by combining o bottle, q
plank and small metallic tubes, Ia
which he had fitted faucets. Having
set up his machine he produced loaves
Of bread the size OF mans head
The bread was good-so good that II
was decided to make the machine
known. One day when It was In &C
ton the doctor suggested taking Q
photograph OF II. The inventor watch
cd him A. II petrined for a moment:
then he fell upon the machine. wrench
ed It apart and trampled It under
foot. The fnvention--an exceedingly
useful one-was lost. because no one
had seen him make It and no one
dares speak OF It to him. To alludt
to It Is to bring on a furious attack
Most lunatics, no matter how con
tented they NAV be. generally cherish
q furtive longing to escape. The,
collect wax from the polished floors
take the impressions OF locks ant
make keys from empty sardine boxes
spoon handles or anything N b,
found. DR.. Marie's museum includes
collection OF knives OF strange ant
unheard-of shapes. Some OF then
have blades made from pieces Of glass
or slate and set In handles OF cOrse
steels, Objects harmless In them
selves become dangerous weapons
through the ingenuity OF madmen.
Insane sculptors are as common a,
insane painters. The insane sculpto
hews out coarse statuettes, fantastic
animals. ferocious little horned AM
grimacing devils. An ex-mechani
carves all his soup bones. That hi
s;l trade Is still In his memory 4
shown by the little screws that h
makes out Of the smaller pieces o
/ II lovr M n L. n