4^6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Questions involving the capacity or incapacity of inebriates 

 can never be determined by any metaphysical theory of mind or 

 morals. 



One of the very obscure questions which have recently come 

 into legal prominence has been called the alcoholic trance state. 

 The frequent statement of prisoners in court, that they did not 

 remember anything about the crime they are accused of, appears 

 from scientific study to be a psychological fact. 



It is well known to students of mental science that in certain 

 unknown brain states memory is palsied, and fails to note the 

 events of life and surroundings. Like the somnambulist, the 

 person may seem to realize his surroundings and be conscious of 

 his acts, and later be unable to recall anything which has hap- 

 pened. These blanks of memory occur in many disordered states 

 of the brain and body, but are usually of such short duration 

 as not to attract attention. Sometimes events that occur in 

 this state may be recalled afterward, but usually they are total 

 blanks. The most marked blanks of memory have been noticed 

 in cases of epilepsy and inebriety. When they occur in the lat- 

 ter they are called alcoholic trances, and are always associated 

 with excessive use of spirits. Such cases are noted in persons 

 who use spirits continuously, and who go about acting and talk- 

 ing sanely although giving some evidence of brain failure, yet 

 seem to realize their condition and surroundings. Some time 

 after, they wake up and deny all recollection of acts or events 

 for a certain period in the past. This period to them begins at a 

 certain point and ends hours or days after, the interval of which 

 is a total blank, like that of unconscious sleep. Memory and 

 certain brain functions are suspended at this time, while the 

 other brain activities go on as usual. 



Probably the largest number of criminal inebriates who claim 

 loss of memory as a defense for their acts are the alcoholic de- 

 ments. These are chronic inebriates who have used spirits to 

 excess for years. This, with bad training in early life, bad sur- 

 roundings, and bad nutrition, have made them of necessity un- 

 sound, suffering from many and complex brain defects. Such 

 persons are always more or less without consciousness or realiza- 

 tion of their acts. They act automatically, only governed by the 

 lowest and most transient impulses. Crimes of all kinds are gen- 

 erally accidents growing out of the surroundings, without premed- 

 itation or plan. They are incapable of sane reasoning or appre- 

 ciation of the results of their conduct. The crime is unreasoning, 

 and general indifference marks all their acts afterward. The 

 crime is along lines of previous conduct, and seldom strange or 

 unusual. The claim of no memory in such cases has always a 

 reasonable basis of truth in the physical conditions of the person. 



