EDITOR'S TABLE. 



555 



commends the test of Lord Bramwell, con- 

 tained in the questions : " Could he help it ? 

 Was the lunatic free to choose, or under the 

 duress of disease ? " And there is no doubt 

 that the power of self-control is an essential 

 element in the question of responsibility. 

 We may even admit that " impairment of 

 will or loss of self-control, more or less pro- 

 nounced, is the first, last, and universal ele- 

 ment in insanity." But impairment of will 

 is found in all human beings, the sane and 

 the insane. A heathen poet has confessed: 

 " Video meliora probogue, deteriora sequor." 

 [I perceive the better things, and approve 

 them; I follow the worse.] And a sacred 

 writer declares : " The good that I would, I 

 do not ; but the evil which I would not, that 

 I do." Loss of self-control, then, is not at 

 all peculiar to insanity, and the degree of 

 this loss has no measure in medical science. 

 Plainly, the proposed test is quite without 

 value, and, indeed, is no test at all. 



Again, it is proposed to make " a con- 

 dition of insanity " the test of responsibility. 

 But the term insanity is so extremely vague 

 and indefinite, even a3 used by medical men 

 and experts, that it is worthless for such a 

 purpose. It is applied to every kind and 

 degree of chronic mental disorder, without 

 reference to the element of responsibility. 

 About fifty years ago a law was enacted by 

 the Legislature of New York in these words : 

 " No act done by a person in a state of in- 

 sanity can be punished as an offense." But 

 Chief-Judge Beardsley (in the Freeman case, 

 4 Denio, p. 27) held that the natural con- 

 struction of this act " would indeed be a 

 mighty change in the law, and afford abso- 

 lute impunity to every person in an insane 

 state." He refused, therefore, so to con- 

 strue it, and held to the principle of the Eng- 

 lish law, which has ever since been adhered 

 to by our courts. 



It is plain, indeed, that insanity may ex- 

 ist in a degree calling for medical treatment, 

 and even for confinement in an asylum, 

 without bringing with it irresponsibility for 

 crime. In the case of Speirs, a patient set 

 fire to the Utica Asylum to revenge a wrong 

 done him by the authorities. The act was 

 found to be a sane one, and the lunatic 

 was sentenced to a long term in the State 

 prison. It is safe to say that in most asy- 

 lums there will be found at least ten per 

 cent whose degree of insanity is less than 

 that of the notorious Guiteau. But the jury 

 were able, under the common-law test, to 

 find that Guiteau's motive was a vicious one, 

 and that he had the power to refrain from 

 his crime. 



So indefinite, however, is the line between 

 sanity and insanity, and so hard to be drawn 

 in cases made still more difficult by passion 

 and prejudice, that the plan of a permanent 

 commission, of lawyers and physicians, to 

 visit those who have escaped punishment on 

 the ground of insanity, and report, from time 

 to time, on their condition, should be com- 

 mended to our Legislature. In this way, 

 perhaps, some light may be thrown on the 

 question of a legal test of insanity, and upon 

 the true value of expert evidence. At pres- 

 ent, in view of the law which forbids a phy- 

 sician to disclose on the witness-stand any 

 information acquired by him in a profes- 

 sional capacity, thus often withholding facts 

 of the utmost importance, the necessity of 

 expert testimony in lunacy cases must be 

 admitted. It remains, however, to define 

 more exactly who are experts, by whom they 

 shall be called, and what questions they 

 shall answer. Upon these points, also, the 

 suggestions of Dr. Crichton-Browne are most 

 practical and valuable. 



L. A. Tocrteixot, M. D. 

 Utica, N. T., November 30, 18S9. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



USEFUL IGNORANCE. 



MR. HERBERT SPENCER, in a 

 well-known essay, has discussed 

 the question, " What knowledge is of 

 most worth ? " It is perhaps time to 

 begin the discussion of the question, 

 "What ignorance is of most value?" 

 There is a story told of the great phi- 

 losopher whom we have just named 

 that, on one occasion, in reply to a 

 question upon some rather minute point 

 of history or archaeology, he expressed 

 a devout thankfulness that he knew 

 nothing whatever about it. The capaci- 



ty of even the greatest minds is limit- 

 ed; and the man who would make the 

 best use of his powers of memory must 

 exercise a wise discretion as to the 

 things he undertakes or tries to re- 

 member. 



If any principle in education ought 

 to be clear, it is that there should be no 

 overcrowding in the mind of the pupil, 

 but that each portion of knowledge 

 imparted should have room to define 

 itself, to assume distinctness and to 

 grow. Where there is overcrowding 

 there will be no sense of order and no 



