SCIENCE. 



109 



SCIENCE: 



A Weekly Record of Scientific 

 Progress. 



JOHN MICHELS, Editor. 



Published at 

 229 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 



P. O. Box 3838. 



SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1881. 



INSANITY VERSUS CIVILIZATION. 



It is interesting to note the steady progress made 

 by Alienists in solving the many difficult problems 

 which appear to underlie the practice of their profes- 

 sion, and we would give full credit to those who, in a 

 purely scientific spirit, are building a foundation on 

 which a system of treatment for mental diseases may 

 be erected, which shall accord with modern anatomi- 

 cal discovery and the latest theories which have been 

 developed by a careful study of insanity in all its forms. 



The last number of the "Journal of Nervous and 

 Mental Diseases " may be studied with advantage by 

 those who would gather a few opinions expressed by 

 those who "minister to a mind diseased." In the first 

 place, we have the authority of Dr. J. S. Jewell for 

 stating that insanity is on the increase, and must still 

 increase vith the advance of civilization. In this 

 opinion he is confirmed by Professor W. Erb, 

 of Leipzig, and others. Among the reasons 

 advanced for alleging that the advance of civilization 

 is favorable to an increase in nervous and mental dis- 

 eases, it is stated, that the nervous systems of highly 

 cultivated and refined individuals among civilized 

 people are more complex and refined in structure and 

 more delicate in susceptibility and action, at least in 

 their higher parts, than the nervous systems of sav- 

 ages. As civilization advances, the occupations in- 

 crease which imply a cultivation of the sensibilities, 

 more especially those comprehended under the sense 

 of beauty. A relatively large number of persons give 

 themselves to the study and practice of art in its 

 various forms, to polite literature, and to sedentary 

 occupations. The more a part of the nervous system 

 is used the more extended its development. In highly 

 civilized communities there is a constant tendency to 

 a loss of balance in nerve development, in which the 



sensitive side of the nervous system preponderates 

 over the motor part of the same. Now, all disturb- 

 ances of symmetry or balance in development tend 

 toward disease ; they do not constitute disease, but 

 verge in that direction. This state of things is the 

 result of advancing civilization, and involve a world 

 of minor consequences, both for the weal and woe 

 of the people. 



Such is the substance of Dr. Jewell's views, who 

 also charges the system of education in public schools 

 with being the cause of increasing the number of cases 

 of insanity, by breaking up the "nerve health" of 

 youths. This remark applies equally to the course of 

 study in Colleges and Universities, and the overworked 

 student in hundreds of cases obtains his degree at the 

 expense of loss of health, and retires with general 

 nervous and brain exhaustion, and afflicted with 

 melancholia, hysteria, vascular irregularities, cerebral 

 congestion, neuralgias and other disorders of the same 

 character. 



Space will not permit us to describe the many 

 forms in which the adult, in civilized life, courts the 

 approach of the various forms of insanity; but they 

 can be easily surmised, and are often referred to in 

 articles treating on this subject. 



We admit, with Dr. Jewell, that the higher develop- 

 ments of civilized life may produce a higher strain on 

 the nervous system which may lead to more frequent 

 cases of its derangement ; but we think he draws too 

 wide a parallel when he makes a distinction between 

 our present modes of existence and actual savage life. 

 When speaking of the increase of insanity, it is pre- 

 sumed reference is made to a period covering, per- 

 haps, the last fifty years. Such being the case, we 

 think Dr. Jewell has hardly done justice to the subject, 

 by omitting the many mitigating circumstances attend- 

 ing an advanced civilization, which certainly alleviate 

 many of the mental strains spoken of by him. 



Within the last fifty years, the hours of labor have 

 been curtailed both in manufactories and among the 

 industrial classes in cities. Stores which at one time 

 were open until midnight are now closed at 7 P. M. 

 Means of recreation and amusements which until 

 recently were monopolized by a few, are now en- 

 joyed by the millions. Improved methods of transit 

 now enable citizens to enjoy their evenings after the 

 hours of labor, strolling upon grassy meadows or upon 

 the shores of the ocean. Literature of an entertaining 

 character is also now produced so cheaply as to make 

 its use universal. The laws of hygiene are also at this 

 present day better understood, and, by perfecting 

 man's physical condition, instill fresh energy into his 

 mental powers. 



We thus find that, so far from all the conditions 

 attending an advanced civilization being favorable to 



