478 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



and alienists with whom they might have been brought into contact; and the 

 contest of their wills, by any heirs-at-law, would assuredly have been a fruitless 

 undertaking. 



They chose to have certain ends in view, and to provide the means for the 

 accomplishment of those ends. There were no delusions, no emotional disturb- 

 ance, no hallucinations or illusions, and the will was normally exercised to the 

 extent necessary to secure the objects of their lives. At any time they had it in 

 their power to alter their purposes, and in that fact we have an essential point of 

 difference between eccentricity and insanity. We may regard their conduct as 

 singular, because they made an unusual disposition of their property ; but it was 

 no more irrational than if the one had left his estate to the " Society for the Pre- 

 vention of Cruelty to Animals," and the other had devoted his to sending mis- 

 :sionaries to Central Africa. 



Two distinct forms of eccentricity are recognizable. In the one, the indi- 

 vidual sets himself up above the level of the rest of the world, and marking out 

 for himself a line of conduct, adheres to it with an astonishing degree of tenacity. 

 For him the opinions of mankind in general are of no consequence. He is a law 

 unto himself; what he says and does is said and done, not for the purpose of at- 

 tracting attention or for obtaining notoriety, but because it is pleasing to himself. 

 He does not mean to be singular or original, but he is nevertheless, both. For 

 every man is singular and original whose conduct, within the limits of reason and 

 intelligence, differs from that of his fellow-men. He endeavors to carry out cer- 

 tain ideas which seem to him to have been overlooked by society to its great dis- 

 advantage. Society usually thinks different; but if the promulgator is endowed 

 -with sufficient force of character, it generally happens that, eventually, either 

 wholly or in part, his views prevail. All great reformers are eccentrics of this 

 kind. They are contending for their doctrines, not for themselves. And they 

 are not apt to become insane, though sometimes they do. 



The subjects of the other form occupy a lower leveli They affect singulari- 

 ty for the purpose of attracting attention to themselves, and thus obtaining the 

 notoriety which they crave with every breath they inhale. They dress different- 

 ly from other people, wearing enormous shirt-collars, or pecuhar hats, or oddly 

 cut coats of unusual colors, or indulging in some other similar whimsicality of an 

 unimportant character, in the expectation that they will thereby attract the atten- 

 tion or excite the comments of those they meet. 



Or they build houses upon an idea perhaps correct enough in itself, as, for 

 instance, the securing of proper ventilation; but in carrying it out they show such 

 defective judgment that the complete integrity of the intellect may, perhaps, be 

 a matter of question. Thus^ one gentleman of my acquaintance, beheving that 

 fireplaces were the best ventilators, put four of these openings into every room 

 of his house. This, however, was one of the smallest of his eccentricities. He 

 wore a ventilated hat, his clothing was pierced with holes, as were even his shoes ; 

 and no one could be in his company five minutes without having his attention 

 directed to these provisions for securing health. 



