668 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



cinations of his senses are unreal — merely " such stuff as dreams are 

 made of " — the intellect is not affected ; but when the false percep- 

 tions are accepted as realities, the mind itself is then involved, and a 

 delusion or a false belief is said to exist. 



A delusion may be based upon false perceptions ; faulty ideas from 

 perverted reasoning about real events, or from mental inability to dis- 

 tinguish differences in things. 



A false belief is not, however, of itself indicative of insanity, so 

 long as it is in harmony with the individual's common mode of thought 

 and with the spirit of the age. This is apparent when it is remem- 

 bered that withcraft — now regarded as a delusion — was, not long since, 

 held to be a truth ; indeed, such master-minds as Bacon, Jewel, Luther, 

 Calvin, Wesley, Blackstone, Coke, and Dr. Johnson, in accepting as a 

 truth that which we now know was a mental epidemic of error, re- 

 flected only the universal belief of the age, and were free of any taint 

 of insanity. 



That the standard of mental health is variable because it is con- 

 ditioned by race, age, environment, and circumstances, is abundantly 

 attested by the history of the past ; and this fact should be recalled in 

 discussing the kinship of genius and madness. 



The popular literature relating to genius and insanity is so meager 

 and fragmentary that the recent contributions by Mr. Sully, on " In- 

 sanity and Genius " and " Genius and Precocity," and by Miss Sanborn, 

 on the " Vanity and Insanity of Genius," are as welcome as they are 

 interesting. It is obvious, however, that names are often used to show 

 the kinship between insanity and genius which do not represent the 

 most illustrious minds. Mr. Sully is, however, logically correct in thus 

 using names, for he includes under the term genius " all varieties of 

 originative power, whether in art, science, or in practical affairs"; but 

 in so doing he destroys, it seems to me, the value of his argument 

 in support of the relationship of insanity and genius, for, measured 

 by this standard, the evidence is overwhelmingly against the theory. 

 Neither is due regard given to the real significance of false perceptions, 

 which are often made to appear indicative of insanity, when in reality 

 mental integrity is not impaired. 



Although obliged to follow a common trend of thought with famil- 

 iar illustrations, it is, nevertheless, my hope to place a few garlands of 

 honor on the brow of Health, and to defend genius against the impli- 

 cation that it exists only with madness. The profound ignorance of 

 the ancient philosophers concerning the nature of mind itself justifies 

 us in attaching but little importance to their interpretation of its phe- 

 nomena. • 



Thus, Plato's "Psychology" affirmed a 6elf-existent, self-moving, 

 and eternal soul, in form " like a pair of winged steeds. ... In divine 

 souls both steeds are good, in human souls one is bad. . . . Before 

 entering the body the wings are lost which were nourished by beauty, 





