SUICIDE AND THE ENVIRONMENT, 187 



those who commit the act on some trivial cause or provocation or 

 from imitation, of those who while sane give way to sudden im- 

 pulse, and of those who, after a longer or shorter struggle, suc- 

 cumb at their own hands to a growing impulse. Civilization, 

 drunkenness, imitation, and hereditary propensities are account- 

 able for much of the self-destruction prevalent ; and so, to a 

 greater or less extent, are age, sex, the state of health, and daily 

 occupations of the victim. 



Attempts have been made to prove that climate has an effect 

 upon the rate of suicide, but these attempts have never done more 

 than show that the temperate regions have the highest ratio. 

 This, of course, is not due to the climate, but to the more compli- 

 cated civilization, the greater physical and mental wear, and the 

 more extensive interference with natural laws met with in the 

 temperate regions. While it is true that climate exerts but little 

 influence over the rate of suicide, the seasons, on the contrary, do 

 strongly affect it. The popular belief is that suicide is more fre- 

 quent during the months of winter and spring. This, however, is 

 incorrect. Cold, wet, damp weather does not, as so many people 

 suppose, promote despondency and suicide. Strange as it may 

 seem, at that period of the year when the sufferings of the poor 

 and the sick are least, when employment is most readily obtained, 

 when the pleasure of living should be at its highest, suicide is 

 most frequent. May, June, and July, the months of song and sun- 

 shine in all countries, give the greatest number of self-murders. 

 For this there is no satisfactory explanation, unless we accept that 

 of the medical fraternity, which is that during the period of early 

 summer the organism is working at a higher tension, every func- 

 tion of mind and body is more active than at any other period 

 of the year, and consequently there is greater liability to sudden 

 physical and mental collapse. 



The sad fact that suicide and education increase at an equal 

 rate is now generally admitted. Civilization does not free hu- 

 manity from grief, disgrace, and disappointment ; but wherever 

 civilization is highest the struggle for existence is fiercest, life is 

 most artificial, and there the most failures of the human race are 

 met with. There was a time in Roman history when suicide was 

 almost epidemic. It was when the great republic had reached its 

 acme of civilization when poetry, art, and eloquence were tri- 

 umphant. It is probable that the proportion of suicides due to 

 mental derangements is increasing, but how rapidly can never be 

 exactly determined. Morselli says that about one third of all 

 suicides may be attributed to insanity. 



Many people, however, anxious to stamp the act with reproba- 

 tion, declare that every suicide is insane. This is wrong. While 

 those who bring about their self-destruction may have acted 



