Mental Disease and Defect 



11 



in a factory or to drive an automobile, or any such employment 

 where he would endanger the lives of others as well as his own. 

 Almost no employer will hire him if he knows of his disease. 

 What he can and should do is farm work, but this is not always 

 possible due to other circumstances in the family. 



It is also unsafe to leave one of these individuals alone, espe- 

 cially when the disease has reached a rather advanced stage, as 

 he may sustain serious injury during a seizure, or may become 

 violent and destroy property. It is unsafe to leave him with small 

 children because of the ill temper, often accompanied by loss of 

 memory, which usually precedes or follows a seizure and may lead 

 to acts of violence. 



The epileptic does not make for happiness and cheer but is 

 characterized by irritability. He is usually also given to lying, 

 his imagination being so strong that he cannot distinguish 

 between truth and falsehood. Another outstanding characteris- 

 tic is his excessive appetite. He usually craves meat, which the 

 doctor says he should not have. If he gormandizes, especially in 

 the evening, he is more likely to have a seizure. As the disease 

 progresses and the seizures become more frequent, mental deterio- 

 ration becomes evident. Maniacal insanity may result at the time 

 of seizures and the patient become so violent that he must be 

 placed in a padded cell. Simple dementia may result so that 

 he resembles a feeble-minded child. 



Because of the progression of this disease and its social 

 aspects, its victims should be segregated in institutions or colo- 

 nies. It has been found that farm life is most beneficial and the 

 number of seizures can be greatly reduced by this life in the open 

 and medication. In 1910, thirteen states were maintaining sepa- 

 rate colonies for the care of epileptics. Many others have insti- 

 tutions admitting both feeble-minded and epileptic persons. 



3. The Insane, (a) True insanity. 1\\ Heredity in Relation 

 to Eugenics Charles B. Davenport says :^ 



The marvelous complex of neurones (nerve cells and fibres) susten- 

 tati\;e tissue, and blood-vessels that constitute the central nervous system, 

 forms, perhaps, the most wonderful mechanism in nature. Little wonder 

 that it should become easily deranged. Such variations in structure and 

 such derangement though ordinarily hidden from view can be inferred from 

 the behavior of the person. For the general principle holds that every 

 psychosis (or peculiar mental manifestation) has its neurosis (or aberrant 



5 Chap, iii, p. 92. 



