| Show THE OF or MADNESS NESS efnor of morbid of overpowering dr ball of london L england ng glaud recently delivered an interesting lecture in hii li course at the paris faculty of medicine the st S janet jones gazelle saya says that the generally received opinion that folly and reason reason are separated by ft it strictly drawn mathematical line is iq ac according cordin to dr ball quite erroneous there nere is a broad frontier he lie says between sanity and iu insanity sanity which Is peopled by millions millions of inhabitants dama 61 p husn in horace laid down t tho lie doctrine that all men are mad ins intano antul et dr ball without going quite so far as this holds that tho the number of persons perfect perfectly lly reasonable on all points throughout the entire period of their existence form but a minority af mankind the world abounds with people he lie tells us whom a strictly atric lly diagnosis would con condemn deron as road mad or more or I 1 less esa touched yet at no time of their life would it be permissible to put them under restraint such peo people le 1 orael are tobe to be seen occupying bon honorably y and successfully every position in life lifer and society we avez brush ush against them when we take our dally daily walks abroad we see them in the mirror which reflects ourselves dr ball having stated the thesis of his discourse proceeds to a classification if of these 4 sane madmen and assigns the first place in the order of merit from what point of view he be does not specify to those who suffer from unreasonable and in most cases irresistible impulses naturally enough the lecturer referred to the case of dr johnson and the curious impulse which prompted him to touch each post as he walked along the tho streets an impulse so strong that if he accidentally passed one by without the usual tribute of a touch he lie felt irresistibly compelled to return and repair the omission the overpowering impulse to laugh on occasions occasions of peculiar solemnity is one which even the most serious persons have experienced A still more morbid ini impulse pulse is that which sometimes urges pious people to indulge in blasphemous or profane language A great I 1 reat english divine bishop buffer butter waa was tormented all his lif life e long by this temptation which he only mastered by strong and find eus us bained efforts of the will the ian impulse ise sometimes assumes a suicidal fr form in I 1 dr ball was recently consulted by a young man who aias was engaged t be married but who found it impossible to visit his intended bride because it would involve a journey orsome of some length in a railway carri carriage age and he lie could never enter one without feeling a desire to jump out as boon soon as the train was in moti motion he was advised to accustom himself gradually to this mode of traveling by dakil taking short journeys on the suburban line but b uthe he could never get beyond auteuil dauteuil Aut euil there ho had to leave the carriage for fear of accident homicidal impulse 13 is likewise met with Thou viota case is one the quoted for years this un unpleasant int person was tortured with etli a burning u desire to kill somo some woman or other aut ut he never felt the slightest wish to take the life of a roan man he battled with the it impulse for years but at length it got the better of him one day he lie murdered a TO young mg girl a perfect stranger to him whom unfortunate chance threw in his way in the kitchen kit chall of a I 1 restaurant dr ball was consulted bulted some time ago by a 4 painter of considerable sid side erable rahle talent who was a prey to these murderous impulses he had marrie dearly in life his family was large and his cares and anxieties large in proportion at about 38 without physical ical ailment of any kind or aej any specially unfavorable turn in his affairs hia his mind began to be af affected feted if lie be saw a mirror mirror he experienced a desire to smash it near a window he felt alt a temptation to ju jump m vb out u t he never got a bank note in his hand band that he ie did lid not feel prompted to tear it ia pieces these morbid presently assumed u more formidable shape he began to be assailed with a tem temptation p to strangle hi hia 4 chil children ch iren his little atle daughter was dying of croup and he lie spent night after night by her bedside nursing her with th the e utmost tenderness yet said he to the physician at the moment when I 1 was pra with tears iu my ayea tl bat N IN s life t he spared I 1 was tormented with a horrible de sire to take her ber out odthe of the cradle and anti throw her into the tile fire evennou even now he lie added as I 1 speak sneak to you I 1 feel a most intense desire to strangle you but I 1 check in myself tho b doctor never saw sav this patient agli again li a circumstance which perhaps lie has no reason to regret for as lie was aman a man of powerful build lie would have been anlu gly customer had his sanguinary im impulses pulses proved beyond his control but up to that time as the doctor remarks he had bad kept them successfully in check his nearest friends did not even suspect that he was subject to them he ile fulfilled bulf billed all the duties of life in a correct and exemplary manner no doctor could have certia certified led to hia his being insane yet assuredly y he lie was on tho the borderland of insanity |
