MENTAL HANDICAPS 



3739 



MERCATOR 



or high-grade feeble-minded class, or what are 

 now called "morons." 



We are learning that one of the best ways to 

 prevent crime, destitution, and many of the 

 results of degeneracy, is to detect the feeble- 

 minded cases while they are still in school, and 

 to place them under the supervision of some one 

 who can safeguard them through life. Some of 

 them need to be placed in public institutions, 

 others can be cared for when understood out- 

 side of institutions. Under proper guidance 

 most of this class can learn to be self-support- 

 ing. Without such guidance they become wards 

 of society and furnish our most serious social 

 problems. Left to themselves, as they have 

 been in the past, they will continue to swell the 

 ranks of the worthless, simply because their in- 

 telligence does not furnish them with the judg- 

 ment necessary to get along in our complex life 

 of to-day. 



Juvenile Insanity. Not much need be said 

 in this place about insanity in children of the 

 school age, as this is strictly a medical rather 

 than an educational problem. Insanity at this 

 age is very uncommon, and about the only 

 form that does occur is what is known as de- 

 mentia praecox, or insanity of the young. 



This sometimes makes its appearance in the 

 child of late school age or of high school or col- 

 lege student age. Indications particularly to 

 be observed as pointing in this direction are: 

 dreamy states, a tendency to dream rather than 

 to act; such individuals usually being self-cen- 

 tered, impractical, egotistic. They lack practi- 

 cal application in meeting real problems of life 

 and drift into superficial ways of thinking and 

 acting. They often have high ideals which they 

 are never forceful enough to put into effect. 

 The mental deterioration is usually very grad- 

 ual but constant. Finally, under some strain, 

 the insanity becomes obvious. 



To some extent insanity is preventable, and 

 all tendencies to chronic dreamy states, mental 

 inactivity, superficial moralizing without action 

 and failure to, meet practical difficulties should 

 be severely discouraged. Nothing is more im- 

 portant than the formation of habits of getting 

 things done promptly and efficiently. The habit 

 of substituting dreamy, self-deceptive ideas and 

 hazy moralizing in place of healthy activity is 

 demoralizing to character formation and a suc- 

 cessful life. 



Psychic Inferiority. There are some indi- 

 viduals who, while they are neither insane nor 

 feeble-minded, still fail to meet life success- 

 fully. They are often nervous, irritable, sug- 



gestible, emotional and selfish. They easily 

 "fall into antisocial conduct." 



Some of these persons are wanderers or are 

 runaways; some steal, others lie, cheat,, or have 

 bad sex habits which they cannot control. These 

 and many other characteristics are found which 

 render the individual antisocial and keep him 

 and his relatives in constant trouble. Many of 

 these inferiors in later life become addicted to 

 the use of alcohol and various drugs. Heredity 

 plays a very important part here, and a bad 

 family history is often discovered on inquiry. 

 Sometimes certain diseases, such as meningitis 

 contracted early in life, seem responsible for 

 the condition. 



Many of these cases need control in some 

 institution. Very few if any ever reform and 

 become truly useful members of society. Many 

 of the confirmed criminals are of this type. 

 Such individuals should never be permitted to 

 become parents. See EDUCATION, subtitle Hy- 

 giene of Education; LIFE EXTENSION. E.B.H. 



MEN 'TOR, one who gives wise counsel or 

 advice, especially to a younger person; a faith- 

 ful friend. The way in which this word came 

 to have its present meaning is interesting. Ac- 

 cording to ancient legend, when Ulysses went 

 from his home to fight in the Trojan War he 

 left his little son, Telemachus, in the care of 

 Mentor, who was really the goddess Minerva in 

 disguise. Mentor proved to be such an, excel- 

 lent guardian that his name, meaning friendly 

 adviser, has come to be a word in common use. 

 See ULYSSES. 



MEPHISTOPHELES , mef is tof'e leez, the 

 devil in Goethe's drama Faust, which is based 

 on the medieval legend of a Dr. Faustus who 

 sold his soul to the Evil One in return . for 

 twenty-four years of the latter 's services. 

 Mephistopheles, a badly-composed word from 

 the Greek, means not a lover of light. The old 

 medieval Mephistopheles is a melancholy, sor- 

 rowing fellow who would be an angel and tries 

 not to be any worse than he must; but Goethe 

 has invested the character with intellect and a 

 sense of humor. His Mephistopheles really en- 

 joys being Satanic, and has much sport with 

 his victims and their useless struggle to be 

 good. In the opera Faust the role of Mephis- 

 topheles is sung and acted by the leading basso. 



MERCATOR , mer ka ' ter, or mer kah ' tawr, 

 GERARD (1512-1594), a Flemish geographer. He 

 was born at Rupelmonde, studied at the Univer- 

 sity of Louvain, and after his graduation contin- 

 ued his studies in mathematics and geography. 

 He wrote and edited various works on his favor- 



