SUICIDE 



5618 



SUICIDE 



(when actually it was dropped under a table), 

 or, again, the spectator is convinced that coins 

 are dropped into a hat by the tossing move- 

 ments of the right hand (which is quite empty), 

 when really the coin is dropped from the left 

 hand which holds the hat. The illusion as is 

 true of many illusions is the result of sug- 

 gestion. Similarly, an inference is drawn from 

 a set of premises suggestively arranged; as in 

 the methods of a criminal in establishing an 

 alibi or covering up his tracks. 



Suggestion refers also to the process of in- 

 ducing consent without arousing opposition. 

 Children must be guided by suggestion as often 

 as by command. As soon as the will realizes 

 that it is being led, it asserts its self-direction; 

 suggestibility is a ready acquiescence, a will 

 that yields easily to another's direction. It is 

 along the same lines that an undesirable belief 

 or a symptom is removed by suggestion; a 

 sugar pill may be given as medicine with the 

 suggestion that it will have a desired effect, and 

 the effect follows; a mock operation may be 

 gone through with and the patient, convinced 

 of a cure, finds himself rid of the trouble. 



Suggestion as a procedure enters into the 

 psychology of many practices (see FAITH 

 CURE; HYPNOTISM). Normal suggestibility has 

 its limits; it must as a rule proceed cautiously 

 and indirectly; abnormally it attains almost 

 incredible proportions and may proceed openly 

 and forcibly. The psychology of persuasion (as 

 an example, Antony's oration over the body 

 of Caesar) and the psychology of advertising 

 must likewise study the subtler suggestive tend- 

 encies of the mind that influence action, j.j. 



Relating: to Various Beliefs. The articles on 

 the following topics, while not bearing on the 

 subject of suggestion, are of interest in this con- 

 nection : 



Alchemy 



Astrology 



Clairvoyance 



Conjuring 



Demonology 



Divination 



Faith Cure 



Hypnotism 



Magic 



Medium 



Mesmerism 



Mind Reading 



Necromancy 



Occult 



Palmistry 



Phrenology 



Physiognomy 



Psychical Research 



Psycho-Analysis 



Spiritualism 



Subconscious 



Superstition 



Telepathy 



Theosophy 



Trance 



Witchcraft 



SUICIDE, su'iside, intentional death by 

 one's own hand. Attempts have been made to 

 show that the tendency toward suicide is an 

 accompaniment of civilization that a savage 

 never takes his own life. While the facts do 



not support this extreme view, it is true that 

 it is much less common among barbarous than 

 among civilized peoples. 



Christianity has always opposed suicide, ac- 

 counting it a sin; and statistics show that the 

 deterrent effect of religion is very great. It is 

 true that in practice the appeal of religion on 

 this subject is not always to the highest emo- 

 tions, but that it often deters through threats 

 of punishment after death. Among Christian 

 people, suicide is far more common with Prot- 

 estants than with Catholics. 



Public Records. Statistics on the subject of 

 suicide are rather meager and unsatisfactory, 

 for there are usually reasons for secrecy regard- 

 ing the facts in a case, and many instances of 

 suicide are not so reported. There is, however, 

 sufficient statistical material to show certain 

 very marked tendencies, some of which seem 

 almost unaccountable. That there should be 

 differences in nationalities might be expected, 

 not only on account of climate, but on account 

 of national divergences of temperament; and 

 these differences are very marked. Saxony 

 leads all other countries in relative number of 

 suicides, and is followed by France, Switzer- 

 land, Denmark, Prussia, Belgium, Sweden, Eng- 

 land and Wales, the United States, Norway, 

 Scotland and Ireland in approximately the or- 

 der named. The difference between the ex- 

 tremes is great, Saxony having about twenty 

 times as many suicides to a unit of population 

 as has Ireland. 



Proportion of Women. The difference be- 

 tween the sexes is also very marked, and the 

 proportion varies little from year to year, or in 

 different countries, approximately three or four 

 males committing suicide to each female. The 

 modes chosen by men and women vary, too, 

 men choosing hanging or cutting most fre- 

 quently, while women prefer drowning or poi- 

 son. As to age, there are evident certain defi- 

 nite tendencies. Children from five to ten have 

 been known to commit suicide, but the number 

 of these is small. Above the age of ten the 

 number steadily grows, until the maximum is 

 reached between fifty-five and sixty-five. These 

 figures concern the aggregate men and women 

 together. In general, it may be said that the 

 age at which women tend to commit suicide 

 is much lower than that for men, pointing, 

 doubtless, to a decided difference in cause. 



Classes Most Susceptible. Other facts shown 

 by statistics are that single people commit sui- 

 cide oftener than married people; that profes- 

 sional classes and military men show a far 



