Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1886-05-08 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE  PIMLICO CASE.  Dr. Forbes Winslow contributes an article under this head. lie says :—Mr Bartlett suffered from this', he was unhappy, desponding, ever thinking that his days were numbered; nothing ever seemed to give him any pleasure or enjoyment, his oonsinenee was timid and beset with scruples, and no doubt his mind was occupied with strange ideas. A notable change had taken place in his disposition and manner, especially of late; he could, however, as is the custom of many of those suffering from melancholia, converse comparatively rationally on things in general, being enabled to disguise that obscure and hidden, but formidable, malady which was making such sure progress. lie appears lately to have had an increase of the mental depression, and was unable to rouse himself from his torpid state of mind. Melancholic patients frequently imagine that they are possessed by animals or worms. This is one of the most characteristic symptoms which was to a certain extent lost sight- of at this trial, but so common is it in , melancholia that * special name is given to it— namely, "Melancholia metamorphosis." This , is conclusive that it is a well-defined and recognised form. It appears that Mr Bartlett could not sleep at night, and he was, doubtless, 'haunted day and night by his thoughts. In a, case like the one under discussion, friends and imusediate relatives fail to grasp the real malady or to recognise the exact condition of the patient's mind, with health shattered, his mind unhinged by morbid ideas, delusions of an early death, that inevitable worm existing in his throat in imagination, that condition of despair and hopelessness being, as is customary in like cases, snapped up in his own thoughts. One most important symptom present ni all cases of melancholia, without one exoeption, is s desire for death. This is often latent in cases of this description, but there is no doubt that it existed in Mr Bartlett's. In cases of melancholia the desire to get out of this wretched world, with all its sufferings and miseries, is intense. The world appears a complete blank, all, looks black and hideous in the gaze of the melancholic; the days and hours peas heavily, the heart has no joy, no change of scene yields relief, unless forsooth it be that last awful change—a self-sought passage to the grave. The mind broods in silence over its imaginary woes, and reluctant to ' ' admit an intruder keeps its thoughts hidden up in that diseased imagination. In such a condition was Mr Bartlett. He had tried hard to struggle against it, but had failed. There is no distinct evidence before us that he had actually avowed self-destruction, but in melancholic patients thie desire is sometimes hidden and latent. The victim to the complaint often tries to struggle against this, but frequently the desire is too strong for the efforts. Some openly avow this as their intention; others conceal their desire until some opportunity occurs. The set of suicide is generally impulsive. The brain is excited, the mind unhinged, the deed is done on the impulse of the moment before the unhappy sufferer has time to consider the gravity. of his act. Such, in my opinion, was the case in the "Bravo mystery." Mr Bravo taking prussic acid, and then suddenly recognising that his condition was a terrible one, seized the tartar emetic to make himself sick, taking, however, an excessive dose of this, succumbed to its effects—thus accounting for the large dose of antimony found after death. This is also my explanation of the Pimlico mystery. I believe that the deceased, during the weary hours of his last night on earth, while his wife, who had tenderly nursed him and watched over him, fell fast asleep from sheer exhaustion, Mr Bartlett, knowing that there was some strong poisonous medicine in his immediate vicinity, on the impulse of the moment, and without any premeditation, imbibed the fatal draught. I must say that the " rider " attached to the verdict was uncalled for, as there was nothing to warrant it in evidence. As with all poisoning cases popular opinion varies greatly, but the extraordinary feeling shown in Court and outside Old Bailey on the verdict being given must of Ascii mark the general opinion which existed of the innocence of this lady, which no rider" of the jury can alter. That Mr Bartlett met his death from suicide is an opinion entertained by most persons who have ' studied the evidence in its entirety from beginning to end—from the commencement of the preliminary enquiry.