Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1908-03-19
esGREAT MINDS TO
MADNESS CLOSELY
ARE ALLIED"
Prof Grasset Proves Truth OF
Pope's Famous Lines

Il - ~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.
q There is not, as Prof. Grasset points
out, any way in which to draw a dis
tinguishing line between sanity and
insanity, The shades, or brands, of
n 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 a
transport of passion" says Prof. Gras-
set, between originality and eccen
tricity, between nervousness and agita-
ton, between a 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
a person is, but of the particular brand
of insanity he has inherited or &C
duired, says a 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 a
third.
The 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 seer
that the dipsomaniacs are driven by
an irresistible power to drink"
Among other brands of semi-insanity
may be mentioned sitomania, Dyro.
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.
f~ulness, 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 ant
understanding it, and at the same time
by their whims, their headstrong ways
their cruel instincts, their violent anC
convulsiVe attacks of anger. Wher
they become men they are queer, com
pick, heterogeneous individuals, made
up of contradictory qualities ant
faults. They are often as highly giftet
in one line as they are lacking in an
other. From the intellectual point O
view they sometimes possess the fac
ulties of imagination, invention and ex
preston in a very high degree; that Il
to say, they are gifted in speech, il
the arts and in poetry"
Those Who Are "A Little Off,"
The originals and e~ccentrics shoy
lack OF e|qulnDratl0n 10 a still create
degree. These people," says Prot
Grasset, "are what the public woul,
describe as "a little off on some on
subject; they either have some DC
culiar habit or wear some odd styl
of clothes or have a queer manner O
wearing their hair or of walking O
writing, or speaking. 1t may be eithe
a strange gesture, a form of speech,
tie or a grievance. The eccentricit
is often shown by an imperious o
ob%sessional tendency, as, for example
to surround oneself with birds or flow
crs OF cats; to collect u%ninterestin
objects, particularly articles of veal
ing apparel, such as cravats. hats, foo