10 DEFECT, DISORDER, AND 



extends to the apparent absence of all intellect or intelli- 

 gence. In a case of this kind, whose picture was drawn by 

 Hugh Miller, he noticed, nevertheless, the existence of a few 

 instincts, affections or emotions, such as love, compassion, 

 sorrow or grief, recognition of kindness, astonishment and 

 terror, associated with taciturnity, melancholy, and non- 

 realisation of the nature of death. Ireland speaks of the 

 ' passive intellect ' of idiots, and describes their incapability 

 of inference, and their want of memory. 



The lowest class of idiots exhibit ' nothing beyond reflex 

 movement, known as excito-motor ' (Bucknill and Tuke). 

 They have no power of c perceiving, grouping, comparing, 

 separating, recalling their experiences' (Browne). 



2. Non-improvdbility : incapacity for intellectual or moral 

 development. 



3. No power of generalisation : no formation of abstract 

 ideas (Ireland). 



4. ' No knowledge of religious truth ' (Browne). 



5. No instinct of self-preservation (Browne). 



6. No knowledge of the value of money (Browne). 



7. No propensity to acquire property (Browne). 



8. ' No spontaneity ' (Browne). 



9. No /ear, in some cases (Browne). 



10. The predominance of instinct over reason, or rather 

 the presence of instinct, or of certain instincts, in the absence 

 of reason (Hitchman). 



11. The dominance, also, of what are improperly called 

 the ' animal ' propensities the lower passions and appetites, 

 including the venting of rage on inanimate objects or ob- 

 stacles (Browne), and general irritability of temper. 



12. Absence of the moral sense (Browne), incapability of 

 understanding right and wrong. Appreciation, however, of 

 rewards and punishments, while uninfluenced by higher 

 motives. 



13. Irresponsibility partial or total. 



14. Criminal propensities, especially to theft. 



15. Destructiveness and mischievousness. 



16. The power of imitation, senseless or unreflecting, as 

 illustrated, for instance, by 'following the lead,' as sheep 



