NEW QUESTIONS IN MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. 457 



The second group of criminals who claim no memory are 

 those where the crime is unusual, extraordinary, and unforeseen. 

 In such cases the trance condition may have been present for 

 some time before and escaped any special notice, except the mere 

 statement of the person that he could not recollect his acts. The 

 unusual nature of the crime, committed by persons who never 

 before by act or thought gave any indication of it, is always a 

 factor sustaining the claim of no memory. The explosive, un- 

 reasoning character of crime always points to mental unsound- 

 ness and incapacity of control. 



A third group of criminals urge this statement of no memory. 

 They are positive inebriates, drinking to excess, but not to stupor, 

 who suddenly commit crime with the most idiotic coolness and 

 indifference, never manifesting the slightest appreciation of the 

 act as wrong, or likely to be followed by punishment. Crime 

 committed is never concealed, and the criminal's after conduct 

 and appearance give no intimation that he is aware of what he 

 has done. These cases have been termed moral paralytics, and 

 the claim of the trance state may be true. 



A fourth group of cases where memory is claimed to be 

 absent occurs in dipsomaniacs and periodical inebriates, who have 

 distinct free intervals of sobriety. This class begin ,to drink to 

 great excess at once, then drink less for a day or more, and begin 

 as violently as ever again. In this short interval of moderate 

 drinking some crime is committed of which they claim not to 

 have any recollection. 



Other cases have been noted where a condition of mental irri- 

 tation or depression preceded the drink explosion, and the crime 

 was committed during this premonitory period and before they 

 drank to excess. The strong probability of trance at this period 

 is sustained by the epileptic character of such conduct afterward. 

 The trance state may be justly termed a species of aura, or brain 

 paralysis, which precedes the explosion. 



In some instances, before the drink storm comes on, the per- 

 son's mind would be filled with the most intense suspicions, 

 fears, delusions, and exhibit a degree of irritation and perturba- 

 tion unusual and unaccountable. Intense excitement or depression, 

 from no apparent cause, prevails, and during this period some 

 crime may be committed ; then comes the drink paroxysm, and 

 later all the past is a blank. In these groups the crime is gener- 

 ally automatic, or committed in a manner different from other 

 similar crimes. Some governing center has suspended, and all 

 sorts of impulses may merge into acts at any moment. The 

 consciousness of such acts and their consequences is practically 

 destroyed. 



One of the questions which has become prominent recently in 

 VOL. LI. 35 



