Evening star., 1935-05-13
Symposium on MaIady
Marks Meeting of
1900 Scientists.
STRANGE DISEASE FOUND
ASSOCIATED WITH SLEEP
ter-Reducing Diets often
Bring Success, but Not Final
Answer, Says DR.. Fay.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

WSAS RASsSASA 90 - RAoSoSA0 NY -
the strange syndrome of epilepsy be-
fore the American Psychiatric ASSo-
citation. meeting here today.
A symposium on this malady
known In antiquity as the sacred
disease" was a feature OF the open
ing sessions Of the association
attended by approximately $500 spe-
cialists in nervous and mental dis
orders from the United States and
Canada.
Medical science Is at last approach
ing an expansion of the cause of the
weird "fits." according to DR.. Temple
Fay Of Philadelphia, chairman Of the
convulsive disorders section, in sum-
ming up the present status of scien-
tific knowledge. The greatest progress
came with the discovery Of the brain
tides" There Is an ebb and flow OF
the cerebro-spinal fluid daily. strik-
ing like the ebb and flow of sea tides.
Ordinarily the flux Of the tide comes
I'LL 4Alk cACCP. 4IlC Lulu llOC0 hAld A3OOA1
the brain. The blood supply Of the
brain Is reduced to make room for 1t
and consequently the amount Of oxy-
gen available to the brain cells is
lowered. Surgeons have frequently
found the brain swollen and "watery''
in the early morning.
Malady Linked to Sleep.
This rising nighttime tide probably
is intimately associated with sleep, II
was explained. Presumably 1t takes
place in every one. But it long has
been noted-first by the Greek ply
sician Hippocrates-that epileptic
convulsions are associated with ab-
normally wet brains" There is ap-
parently some abnormality about this
tidal phenomena In certain systems
that Is basic in the epileptic syn
drome.
This wet brain" observation, DR.
Fay pointed out, has led to various
water-reducing diets with marked sue
cess. although up to the present they
hardly can be considered as the final
answer to the epileptic problem.
A psychoanalytical picture OF the
same disease was presented by DR.
Smith Ely Jelliffe of New York as
q defense reaction against the death
instinct which dominates the indi-
vidual. 1t may be return, for pur-
poses of defense, to certain conditions
Ct early childhood, he said, and point
ed to an analogy between epilepsy
and whooping cough in young chill
dren. The epileptic behavior pat
tern, he said, becomes integrated into
the system, where it can be brought
forth when the need arises.
Criminal Psychiatry Discussed.
The other section of the association
meeting today was concerned with the
relationships between psychiatry and
the law-especially the psychiatry of
criminals. A report on psychiatric
examinations of a large group of
criminals was presented by DR.. Sylvan
Keiser and Paul Schilder of New York
City. In many cases, these inveStiga-
tors reported, it was clear the GRIM
inal reaction was an aggressive at
tempt on the part Of the gangster
or murderer to prove himself q man"
and not sissy"
They found the criminals extremely
sensitive on this point. They were
asked, among other questions, would
you rather be a dead hero than q live
coward?" Almost invariably the GRIM
inal preferred to be dead hero Nom
criminals. to the contrary, were mostly
inclined to be "live towards"
The criminal outbreaks, it was ex-
planned, often result in one disciplined
in childhood into too great passivity
Subconsciously the normal aggressive
attitude persists and is stored up
awaiting an opportunity to break out.
Thus apparently mild-manner indi-
viduals often appear as the most
ferocious criminals and those who
know them are astounded at such a
reversal of their ordinary personality.
This result Is especially to be ex-
pected in neighborhoods where crimi-
nal behavior is accepted as character
istically masculine" Taking part in
the activities of the gang is the
boys way Of showing that he is as
good q man, according to the tradi-
tional standard, as the next fellow.
DR.. White Discusses Paroles
Need of studying the underlying
psychic mechanisms of criminality
was stressed as of fundamental i'm
portance in any crime reducing pro-
gram.
Apparent failure of the prison
parole system has been due to its
misapplication, said DR.. william A.
White, superintendent Of st. Eliza
beth's Hospital, in opening this SYM
postum.
Criticism Of the parole system %
said DR.. White, "arises from its use for
the purpose of creating vacancies In
overcrowded prisons in order that
newly admitted prisoners may have
room. This Is q complete perversion
of the entire system, and the results
cannot be measured SO long as it Is
put to such purposes. I have by no
means lost faith in the potentialities
of parole properly and adequately
utilized and administered. 1t will
never lullCtlOu Wy w Aoo AAAA SAAASASA~SJ
unless It Is administered by men OF
adequate experience, background and
wise Judgment, free from hamperng
political Civilizations. To expect to con-
stitute an effective parole board out
of two or three citizens chosen from
the community merely because they
are individuals with civic interests at
heart is to invite defeat"
DR.. Abraham Myerson of Boston
called for an official Qualification OF
the relationships between physical In
juries and mental disease. Expert tes-
timony in criminal trials often lays
stress upon blows on the head OF
similar injuries sustained in childhood
as explaining the behavior OF the &C
cused.
The subject is quite obscure, DIR.
Myerson said, but he stressed that up