102 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



that witli tliem. in, and apologizing for tliem as lie does, Mr. Clark 

 should have selected this as a model of what the report of a scientific 

 commission ought to be and sufficient of itself to forever fix the 

 value of the scientific expert in the settlement of government dis- 

 putes? As I have already intimated, no one appreciates more highly 

 than I the great wo,rk done by Dr. Jordan and his associates in the 

 study of the natural history of the seal. May not the work of the 

 two commissions, as hearing on the problem of the fur-seal industry ^ 

 be summed up about as follows? — The report of the American mem- 

 bers of the fii'st commission related facts, declared causes, and pro- 

 posed remedies. The American case at the Paris arbitration rested on 

 these. As almost universally happens, arbitration resulted in com- 

 promise, unsatisfactory to both parties, and, as has since turned out, 

 decidedly unfavorable to one. The commission of 1897 has made 

 a joint report of considerable length and much importance, in which 

 the *' facts, causes, and remedies " of the report of 1892 are in a sense 

 confirmed, but with a number of concessions that do not strengthen 

 the American contention regarding pelagic sealing, the justice of 

 which seems to be admitted by Mr. Clark. But the practical question 

 is. What has been the effect of either or both of these commissions upon 

 the fur-seal industry ? It would be unkind to press this question upon 

 one who characterizes the work of the first commission as above 

 quoted, and who speaks of the second as having, after being in joint 

 session one week, " concluded its labors, reaching a full and satisfac- 

 tory agreement." If he really wishes to know what progress is being 

 made under such an agreeable state of affairs, let him inquire of the 

 International Joint Commission, which is endeavoring to arrange 

 all outstanding differences between this country and Canada. 



I 



CAUSES AND PREVENTIOX OF INSAmTY. 



By smith baker, M. D. 



T is being found out that cases of insanity may of themselves fall 

 naturally into two classes: the first comprising those who get 

 well, and the second those who do not. To the first class belong 

 the deliriums of fevers and other like diseases, and also certain acute 

 manias and melancholias and the so-called generalized insanities. 

 In the second class are included the insanities which last indefinitely, 

 or, if seemingly cured, which, in the proportion of from twelve to 

 fourteen per cent, come back again one or more times, and finally do 

 not recover. Says Regis: " Out of all forms of mental alienation or 

 insanity only the generalized tj^-pes — i. e., mania and melancholia — 

 are curable. The systematized insanities are essentially chronic and 



