098 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

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X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS

The mental symptoms were not changed materially after the paroxysm was over, in the cases which I have seen. Epilepsy is caused sometimes by mechanical violence, such as a stroke or blow on the head, and sometimes by grief, joy, fear, fright, or other emotions. All the passions, or most of them, may produce it. Some say that the brain of the subject will, on dissection, show traces of the disease, while many deny it. The disease is characterized by a disturbance of the mental faculties, which some say affects chiefly the brain, but others of high authority say the seat of the disease is the stomach and intestines. French writers say so. Epileptic patients generally complain of pain in the head.

I have never attended patients in a lunatic asylum. The work I refer to is Pinel. I don’t recollect to have seen Esquirol given as authority, nor Marc. I have seen Pritchard quoted but not Gaylor nor Beck. I have seen Ray. I have read Pinel, Pritchard, and Ray, but have not studied them carefully. It is not within the usual range of my practice; in this, I do not pretend to be posted up. I know that it is a very difficult thing to determine frequently if a man is sane or insane. I will give the reasons why I think so.

In the first place, I know of no physical reasons peculiar to insanity. Some men are perfectly sane on all subjects but one, and unless you touch on that subject, you can’t tell whether they are insane or not. This is called monomania. The difficulty of determining insanity would be increased by feigning it. It is represented that insane persons conceal their insanity, and that increases the difficulty. Insane persons are reported as having so carefully concealed their insanity as to escape from lunatic asylums. By insanity, I mean alienation of the mind or mental aberration. When there is a departure in an individual's course from what he has usually been, then there has been a mental departure from his usual standard, and without cause for any sudden change, it would show insanity. An entire, sudden, and complete change in the line of a man’s conduct from his former self without any apparent cause, is, in my view of it, an alienation of mind.

Re-examined. When a depraved motive or a course of conduct or line of conduct intended to carry such out is exhibited, I would not consider that to be insanity. If a murder be committed, the body concealed by the murderer, the property of the murdered man appropriated to the use of the murderer, the murderer flees, changes his name, travels 1,000 miles before he is caught, and is found with the murdered man’s property in his possession, I would in such a case see no evidence of insanity.

I have attended a great many insane patients. I have never seen epilepsy produce insanity, though some authors have said it would. The authors say it produces imbecility. It is not dangerous insanity. Imbecility is an approximation to idiocy. I would not be afraid of an imbecile except from the excitement of the moment. Sometimes by plaguing them, they might momentarily be aroused to do harm. An idiot can at once be recognized. An imbecile is not so.

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