66 OBSERVATIONS ON INSANITY 



suicides from superstitious insanity : scepticism produces a greater 

 number of maniacs than enthusiasm. 8. Monomania of Despon- 

 dency ; with a loss of confidence in the talents and prospects which 

 had previously been regarded with satisfaction ; with an utter aban- 

 donment of hope, and a miserable lethargic despair : without delusion 

 or incoherence, there is a settled and dreadful conviction of the ap- 

 proach of ruin and desolation, against which the mind makes no 

 effort, and the sufferer clings to his horded misery : he requires unre- 

 mitting attention ; no ordinary precaution will prevent the success of 

 his designs when these are suicidal ; for years, they may be cherished 

 in silence, until the fears and cares of friends are lulled to sleep, and 

 then the fatal scheme is executed. 9. Monomania of Imagination ; 

 with pretensions or attempts to do every thing, and a delighted con- 

 viction that every thing is done in a manner the most exquisite and 

 perfect ; with a panting after excellence, and an indefatigable strug- 

 gling to attain it, in the higher spheres of human exertion. Such a 

 monomaniac lives in an atmosphere where the distorted objects ap- 

 pear to have a gigantic size, a sublime magnificence, a surpassing 

 beauty : with him, every thing is superlative ; his refinement would 

 astonish an optimist ; he is a trancendentalist. 10. Monomania of 

 Avarice ; with the twofold propensity to acquire and to hoard, with- 

 out regard to means and consequences : the avaricious lunatic has all 

 his day-dreams directed to the acquisition of wealth, property or ag- 

 grandizement ; his air-castles are built of gold ; but, though covetous 

 of riches, he is omnivorous, and derives pleasure from receiving or 

 taking any article, without concern about its value ; to him, stealing 

 is absolutely delightful ; he will rob his fellow-patients in an asylum, 

 seize upon every thing within his reach, and boldly justify his con- 

 duct upon the ground that all thus taken is his own ; but he makes no 

 use of such acquirements ; it is the mere act of accumulating that 

 constitutes his happiness. 11. Monomania of Miskindness ; with 

 an excess of benevolence and affection, and an over-anxiety for the 

 welfare of the whole of the human race, or for that of acquaintances 

 and friends. That visionary who neglects his own duties in order to 

 eradicate poverty and sickness and sorrow from the world, or gives 

 up his soul to anguish because the attempt has failed, and the mother 

 who can neither act nor think nor sleep, from distraction for the 

 safety of her children or relatives, because she cannot relieve them 

 from some evil or misery which gives them no annoyance, are both 

 instigated by similar morbid feelings. The affectionate monomaniac 

 is a melancholy spectacle : there is a nobleness and magnanimity in 



