Page:Black's Law Dictionary (Second Edition).djvu/643

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

INSANITY

tal derangement is accompanied with more or less of excitement. Sometimes the excitement amounts to a fury. The individual in such cases is subject to lialluciniitions and illusions. He is impressed with the rcniity of events which have never occuired, and of things wii' do not exist, and acts more or loss in conformity with his belief in Lhasa particulars. The i;n.inin may be general, and affect all or most of the op- erations of the mind; or it may be partini, and be confined to particular SlIllj((’1;S. In the latter case it is generally termed ‘monomnnia."‘ in more popuiar but less scientific sense, "mania" denotes a morbid or unn-itural or ex- cessive craving. issuing in impulses of such fix- ity and intensiiv that thcv cannot be resisted by the paticnt in the enfeehled state of the will and blurred moral couzepts which accompany the disease. '

It is used in this sense in such compounds as "homicidal mania." "dipsomanin," nu-l the likr-.-—H,vpomanla. A mild or slight- ly developed form or type of mania.—1'l£ono- msuiin. A perversion or deriin rnini-iit of the l‘i"’lS(iIJ or understandin:._- with reference to ta. sin.-lv suhiect or smail class of SllhjC('iS, with considerable mental excitement and delusions. while, as to all matters outs do the range of the pecuiiar infirinity, the intellectual faculties remain unimpaiicd and function llfll‘lI|'ll Hopps T. People ‘£1 Ill. .‘‘.90. .'~‘.5 -\m. Dec 231 In re Black's Fslate. Mvr. Prob. (Cnl.) 27; Uwin,-.-‘s Case 1 Bland (.\Id.) I183. 17 Am. Dec. 311; .\lei'i'ltt v. State, 3) Tot. Cr. R. 70, -15 S. W’. 21; In re Gannou's "'ill. 2 Misc. Rep. 329, '.’1 N. Y. Supp. 9b0.—Pnrn.noin. Mononiauis in general, or the obsession of :i «ielusion or s tom of delusions which dominate without destroying the mental capacity. ieaving the patient sane as to all matterii outside their particular l'lIII_L'E, though subject to perverted ideas, falss bciiefs, and uncontrollable impulses within that i-ii .o; and particularly, the form of l’EllIl|i'iLl]fifliD. where the dcl sion is as to wrongs, injuries, or persizrutiun cted upon the patient and his -. qucntly justifiable rcsentinunt or ri-vi-age. Winters v. State. 61 N. .1. Law, 613 41 All. 220: People v. Braun, 158 N. 1'. IS i N. .

Flanagan v. State, 103 Ga. (119, 30 S. E.

.10. Paranoia is called by Kriiepolin "progressivc systematized insiinity." because the delu- sions of being wronged or of persecution and of execssiin si-lf-esteem deielop quite slowly, without independent disturbances of emotional life or of the wiil becoming prominent, and because there occurs regularly a mcntul worl.ing up of the delusion to fon_n a de onary vieu of the world,—in fact. a system.— ziding tn a dcriiiL2'e— nient of the stand-polnt which the patient takes up towards the events of life.-I-Iouiioirhil mania. A form of mania in which tile morbid state of the uiind mani -sts itself in an irrl.-sist- able inclination or nnpii .e to commit homicide, prompted usually by an insane delusion citheras to Hit‘ necessity of self-defcuse or the avencinz: of inj ries, or as to the patient being éhe uppointed instruuicnt of u superhuman ju tice. Corn. v. Sayrs, 5 Wkly. Notes (‘-is. (Pn.) 425'. Com. v. hiosler. 4 Pa. 2|3G.—1VIe(:lim.uania. An irresistible craving for ilr.-.oholic or other lntoxiciiting liquors. uiariife—~ ed by tile periodiiul recurrence of drunken debsuches. State v. Savage, Ala. 1. 7 Smith. 1S?.. 7 L. R. A. 42:‘ —D11;so_

‘ Practicaily the same thing as metho- niiinia except that the i'|'l'v'.~ ible impulse to intoxication is cxtcndetl by some urilcrs to in- rliidc the use of such drugs as oplum or cocalne us nell as alcohol. See State v. Rt-idell, 9 Houst. (Del) 470 14 M1. 55!): Ballard v. State. 19 \‘eb. 6011. 28 ' W. 37l.—Mania a potn. Delirium tremens, or a spcei-s nf tompoiary insanity i-osiilting us a secondary effect produced by the excessive and rotrac‘led indul- gence in intoxicating liqnurs. ..ee State v. Hurie_v. I-loust. Cr. Cus. (Del. 99. 35 —'.l‘oxieo- man . An excessive addict: a o use of

i _ toxic or poisonous drugs or other substances: I

63

5 INSANITY

form of mania or affective lnsanity characteriz- ed by an irresistible impulse to indulgence in opium. cocaine. chlorai. alcohol. etc.—Manisi fanatics. A form of insanity characterized by H. niorbid state of religious feeling. \I \. i\.[cCrackcn, 11 Phila. (I‘a.) 54().—Sebnstoma— nia. ll:-ligious insanity‘ dcmonuiiiania.—Me- galomanis. The so-called "delirium of gran- _deni"’ or "foiie dc grundeur:" a form of runnia in uliich the hesetting delusion of the patient is that he is some person of great celebrity or ex- aited rank, historical or cunlempurary.—KIeptumaziin. A species (or symptoin) of mania, consisting in an irresistible pro N-'l1Slty to steal. Loouey v. State, 10 Tex App. 525. 38 Am. Rep. 646 State v. Rcidcll. 9 Honst. (Del.) 470, 14 At]. ,ill.—Pyx-omanin. Incendiarism: a form of alfective insanitv in which the mania takes the form of an irresistible impulse to burn or set I-ire_lo things.—40iiksi mania, a form of insanity iiinnifesting itself in a morbid state of the domestic all‘ections, as an nnruasonubie dislike of _viife or child without cause or provocation. Elan v. l\IcCrucken. 11 Phila. (Pa) 5-lO.—Nympliomania, form of mania characterized by It moi bid. excessive, and nncontrollilile Craving for sexual intei-coiirse. This term is applied only to women. The term for in corresponding mania in men ls "srityrimn's.‘-11:-otomaniz. A form of mania simllar to nyniphoiniinia. ex- cept that the present term is applied to patients of hoih sexes, and that (according to some authorities) it is applicable to all cises of excessive sexual cruving irrespective of origin; while n1/nipliouimzio is restrictcd to cases where the disease is caused by a lot a disorder of the sex- ual organs reacting on the main. And i is to be observed that the term ‘er:-tamum‘ri" is now often used. especially by French wrilors. to describe a morbid propensity for "falling in love" or an exaggerated and excited condition of amativeness or love—sickness, which mn_v affect the general physical health, but is not necessarily correlated with any sexual crai ing, and which. thou it may unnaturaily color the imagination an distort the subject's view of life and affairs. does not at all amount to Insanity, and should not he so considered when it leads to crimes of violence, as in the too com- mon (ase of a rejected lover who kills his Linstress.—-Necx-o1iliilism. A form of affective insanity manifesting itself in an unnatural and revolting fondness for corpses, the patient desiring to be in their presence. to caress them. C0 exhume them, or sometimes to mutilate them. and even (in ii, form of sexual perversion) to violate them.

Melancholia. Melancholla is a form of insanity the characteristics of which are extreme mentai depression, associated with deiusions and hailuciuntions, the latter relating especially to the financial or social position of the patient or to impending or threatened dangers to his person, property, or reputation, or issuing in distorted conceptions of his relations to society or his family or of his rights and duties in general. Mut. L. Ins. Co. v. Groom. 86 Pa.

02. Eli Am. Rep. SS9 State v. Reidell. 9 Iiuiist. (DEL) 470, 1-1 All. til People v. Kiist, 168 N. Y. 19. G0 1 .1. Hg/pochaiiilria or

’l1(p01,'Ilv0llrll1'i'l is A form of nielancholiu in which the patient has exaggerated or ciusuless fearii concerning his health or sulfers from imag- inury disease. TD.’l‘i)I'llIlll'(lv. Moibid dread of being p soned; a form of insanity manifesting itself by an excessive and unfounded apprehension of death by poison,

Specific definitions and applications in law. There are numerous Iegai proceedings where insanity may be shown, and the rule for establishing mentil capacity or the want of it varies according to the object or purpose of the proceeding. Among these may be enu- merated the following: A criminal prosecu-

llll