Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-28
BY THOMAS II. HENRY.

A MONG the 5.000-odd patients at
~ St. Elizabeth's Hospital, the
"A great Government asylum for
A a the mentally afflicted at Con-
gress Heights, there are poets,
painters. inventors and philosophers.
Yet this walledin community Of I'M
fortunates lends little support to the
theory, generally discarded by physl-
Dians but persisting in the public mind,
shaI genius and psychic illness go
hand In hand, the one acting as com.
Elementary TO the other in the balance
pans Of some cosmic Justice.
Quite aside from the characteristic
apathy which accompanies several
types of metal disturbance, according
TO hospital physicians, the community
is commonplace, with only such Varia-
tons toward brillianCe or dullness as
probably would be found in any other
aggregation of 5000 individuals picked
at random.
Occasionally a man or woman OF
more than ordinary ability may be-
come so badly dsoriented in respect to
the realities OF life, either because OF
r. psychiatriC malady with physical
basis or otherwise, that institutional
care is necessary. But this is mere
likely TO happen, physicians at st.
Eliza beth's believe, in the case OF a
dull person or one with only minor
degree OF talent.
The genius may act queerly, talk 10
himself beat his wife, see visions and
wear startling clothes, but he Is not
especially likely so 10 lose his bearings
with respect to reality that he cannot
maintain himself safely in society.
This. after all. is the acid test of a
psychoss which requires hospital
treatment, in distinction from Il neuro-
sis which in one form or another
comes to most persons in the stress
and strain of life in a complex social
organism. The genius however men.
rally disturbed he may be. usually is
clever enough 10 keep out of an insane
asylum.
But maladies of the brain strike
persons Of the most diverse mentality,
Just as do diseases of other organs.
The patient at st. EliZabeth'S in
nearly every instance is suffering from
some distinct ailment which can be
diagnosed and calls for q specific tyre
of treatment. Insanity is almost
as vague a word as disease" and its
correct use is restricted largely to law
courts.
Every now and then a poet comes
to St. Elizabeth's-thati is, a person
who writes verses. There is a hos.
pital publication, printed irregularly,
which accepts contributions from the
patients. Among so many persons
afflicted with Authorizations, visions
and high emotionalism it might be eX-
pected that, amid much indifference,
there would be an occasional stanZa
which would stand out as the work
of q genius. something comparable to
the drug-inspired visions of De Quin-
cey or the touches of Blake or Cole.
ridge SO01pfiO1pG indeed fba Iuorl<
reaches a, high level, but there is
hardly anything which indicates more
than exceptional talent. The undefin-
able touch of genius is lacking. This
applies, Of course, to the perfectly
normal passages. There always is q
disposition toward incoherence, which
is to be expected in the work of a
mentally afflicted person.
Occasionally verse and fiction are
produced at st. Elizabeth's which are
sold to the magazines. One patient
at least made a fair living some time
ago by this work. But the quality
was barely up to the standards Of the
better-grade literary magazine. And
this author was not, strictly speaking,
insane, but was the victim of a. psy-
chopathic personality-that is, he act.
ed queerly at times. He could not be
classified in any of the accepted types
of insanity.
X * X y
THERE are several inventors among
the patients. Some of their con.
trfvances have sufficient merit not
only to obtain patents, but to be placed
on the market. But there is nothing
revolutionary among them. One man
recently received a patent on a self
feeding polishing brush, gotten up on
an ingenious principle. Several pat
ent can openers, bottle openers, etc, |
have been invented at the hospital,
and have considerable merit But all
these display ingenuity instead Of
genius.
Not long ago a st. Elizabeth's pa |
tient worked out a perpetual motion |
scheme, which, while extremely crude, |
has found a nlana In ,sr,nhnnnthin LII