296 



KIDD'S OWN JOUKNAL. 



This subject had passed more than six years 

 in close confinement, and, from the uniform 

 . ppearance he presented of a calm and tranquil 

 Ktate, it had been determined to grant him the 

 liberty of entering the courts of the hospital with 

 the other convalescents. Four more years of 

 trial had served to establish a confidence in his 

 cure ; when, on a sudden, he again manifested his 

 superstitious and sanguinary ideas. On a Christ- 

 mas eve, he formed a project of making an expi- 

 atory sacrifice of whatever should fall into his 

 hands. He obtained a shoemaker's knife, seized 

 the moment when the overseer was making his 

 rounds, made a thrust at him from behind (which 

 fortunately only grazed his ribs), cut the throats 

 of two patients who were near him, and would 

 have continued his carnage, had not the attendants 

 secured his person, and thus put a stop to his 

 fury. 



We were shown, at Berne, the fanatics who, a 

 few years before, had wished to establish a new 

 ^eli i -us sect. As we remarked in the leader a 

 great development of the organs of vision, we 

 asked this man if he had ever seen any spirits. 

 The prisoner, named Keeper, answered, No. ^ e 

 1 egged him then to relate to us those events of 

 his life, which had made the strongest impression 

 on him. He told us — and his calm and confident 

 countenance assured us of his candor — that, from 

 his childhood, religion had occupied all his 

 thoughts, and that he had read the Holy Scrip- 

 ture, and all the commentators thereon, with the 

 greatest attention ; but that the extreme diversity 

 of opinions had convinced him that he should not 

 find the true religion in this manner : that he had 

 therefore renounced reading and research, and had 

 earnestly supplicated the Deity that, if not con- 

 trary to his eternal decrees, he would make him an 

 immediate revelation of the truth. After having 

 prayed a long time, he one night saw the room 

 rilled with as brilliant a light as could be produced 

 by many suns. In the midst of this splendor, our 

 Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him, and revealed 

 the true religion. Keeper had sought to spread it 

 with indefatigable zeal, which was with him a 

 matter of duty. It was impossible to make this 

 man believe that he had been led astray by 

 illusions. 



Of Alienations which lead their subjects to 

 attempt the lives of their delations, of their 

 Children, or of other Persons, innocent in respect 

 to them. 



It remains to speak of one of the most melan- 

 choly cases — one which is strongly connected 

 with the propensity to simple suicide. This 

 peculiar case is, when the individual, who wishes 

 to terminate his own life, begins by destroying 

 those beings who are dearest to him. A cord- 

 wainer at Strasbourg killed his wife and three 

 of his children ; and would have killed the fourth, 

 if it had not been withdrawn from his fury. 

 Having committed this shocking action, he ripped 

 up his own bowels; but the wound not being 

 mortal, he drew back the knife, and pierced his 

 heart through and through. This man had the 

 reputation of being mild and faithful, a good 

 father, and a good husband. No one could dis- 

 cover what tempted him to this horrible action. 

 At Leopold, in Gallacia, one K. killed his wife, 



the object of his warmest affection, and would 

 then have shot himself with a pistol, but missed. 

 While people were forcing his door, he fired a 

 second pistol and killed himself. His previous 

 conduct had always been blameless, and all that 

 could be learned was, that he was discontented 

 with his condition, and thought he deserved a 

 better. At Hamburg, E — , a respected instructor, 

 killed his wife and two small children, sparing 

 two others who had been confided to him. A 

 similar circumstance happened at Amsterdam, 

 and several other facts of this kind have come to 

 our knowledge. 



What will my readers think on reading these 

 atrocities ? The greater part will say to them- 

 selves, that the torment of an insupportable 

 existence, and the most cutting remorse could 

 alone have produced so frightful an action ; and 

 they will regard, as infernal selfishness, the crime 

 of an individual who takes the life of his family, 

 because he is tired of life. The judgment of the 

 philosophic physician will be very different. He 

 perceives, in these deplorable acts, only the symp- 

 toms of the most frightful ;,nd the most pitiable 

 disease. Whatever is contrary to nature, in the 

 conduct of these unhappy beings, should fix the 

 attention of whoever occupies himself with the 

 nature of man. I doubt its being conceived that 

 the husband who loves his wife, the father who 

 loves his children, can, while possessing reason, 

 become their murderers. Add to this, wdiat 

 always is the case, that these murderers have no 

 private end in view; that, directly after the act, 

 they destroy themselves, or surrender their 

 persons, and ask for death. Why have not these 

 actions, until now r , been attributed to insanity? 

 Let the reader examine a faithful picture of what 

 passes in this malady till its fatal crisis, and then 

 judge. 



In the commencement of this malady, the great- 

 est disorder is manifested in the head, and in the 

 viscera of the abdomen. We observe eructation, 

 flatulence, disordered appetite, irregular motions, 

 derangements of the menstrual and hemorrhoidal 

 fluxes. The complexion changes, becomes of a 

 greenish yellow, and earthy color, especially about 

 the nose and mouth, so that the face loses all its 

 brightness. The eyes are half closed, sunken, 

 troubled, and the white assumes a leaden hue. 

 In other individuals, on the contrary, the face be- 

 comes more highly colored, more animated, and 

 more lively, and the eyes are inflamed : some of 

 these subjects preserve their strength and their 

 flesh; others grow thin, and daily find themselves 

 more depressed and more feeble. Sometimes the 

 whole surface of the skin is deprived of feeling ; 

 and the sufferers complain that their hands and 

 feet are swollen, and feel like cotton : but much 

 more frequently the sensibility of the skin is in- 

 creased ; they feel over the whole body, or only in 

 certain places, especially the thighs and feet, a heat 

 like that produced by burning coals. "Y\ hen the evil 

 is at its height, this heat produces on the patients 

 — the effects of a hot blast, and disappears in like 

 manner ; it is felt in the intestines, or it passes 

 from one place to another. Most of the subjects 

 are then depressed, pusillanimous, cowardly, fear- 

 ful ; so that, frequently, strong men tremble 

 before children. Some refuse or are not disposed 

 to communicate their condition to others. This 



