Author
Title
Imprint
16 — 47372-3 OPO
EPILEPSY,
RESPONSIBILITY
AND THE
CZOLGOSZ CASE
WAS THE ASSASSIN SANE OR INSANE?
aaa
DR. SANDERSON CHRISTISON
"CRIME AND CBIMINALS."
BY
J. SANDERSON CHRISTISON, M. D.
AUTHOR OF "BRAIN IN REI,ATION TO MIND."
Law Times (London.) — " Will amply repay the student
of criminology for a careful perusal. The author makes
three separate classes of delinquents viewed from a psy-
chologic standpoint, namely : The insane (defective in
reason), the moral paretic (defective in self-control), and
the criminal proper (defective in conscience). This di-
vision was dealt with in an article in an American
paper by the author, and which we reproduced."
Westminster Review. — "Upon the right lines, especially
upon the sociologic side."
Lancet (London).— "To those interested in the so-
called new science of criminology this book will have a
considerable attraction."
Philadelphia Medical Journal.— "Both interesting and
valuable. ' '
The Medical Sentinel.— " No recent monograph upon
the subject has created quite as much comment as this
work. "
Literary World- — "A contribution, not so much of
theories as of hard facts, to the study of penology."
Open Court.—" Treats of the problems of crime in a
practical way as can be done by an expert only."
BiblJotheca Sacra.— " Cannot but recognize the great
value of the facts and illustrations presented in this com^
pact volume."
Chicago Inter-Ocean.—' ' A most valuable little manual."
Chtb, Price, $1.25
The Meng Publishing Co., Chicago.
BS
Epilepsy, Responsibility and the
Czolgosz Case.*
J. SANDERSON CHRISTISON, M. D.
I define epilepsy as a more or less transient and spas-
modic affection of the psychic functions ivith or without
motor or sensory manifestations.
There is a more or less sudden and unaccountable
break in the continuity of the conscious mental activities
of the subject, so that cases of muscular spasm or tremor,
as in tetanus, chorea, etc., in which there exists no ap-
parent aberration of consciousness, are excluded from this
category. And yet a peculiar mental factor presumably
exists (perhaps subconsciously) in all convulsive cases,
since when mind has departed, as in death by shock,
even electricity almost immediately fails to produce a
reaction.
Dr. Russell Reynolds has defined the essentials of
epilepsy as a diminution of intelligence and muscular
spasm. But muscular spasm, as it is usually known, is
not a constant condition, while psychic aberration is. Dr.
Baker, of the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, re-
gards loss of consciousness as the pathognomonic sign of
epilepsy (i), while Dr. Wilkes, of Guy's Hospital, relates
several cases in which coma was the only symptom, and
one case in which automatism alone existed (2). Many
similar cases can be cited. But there is next to no dis-
pute that in some cases the psychic manifestations exist
alone, while in othe^ases convulsions with simple loss
of consciousness are practically all the phenomena ob-
served. These two main forms or aspects of epilepsy
often alternate in the same person, either speedily or
after considerable intervals, even months or years. But
whether it is mind or muscle that gives expression to the
malady, the manifestation is essentially a form of spasm,
* Reprinted from the Third Edition of "Crime and Criminals,"
now in press, a copy of which will be sent on the receipt of $1.25 by
the author, S15 Marshall Field Building, Chicago.
2 EPILEPSY.
inasmuch as there is a more or less sudden interruption
of the subject's normal currents of vitality and intelli-
gence. Dr. Hughlings-Jackson has curtly described the
convulsions as a brutish development of many of the
subject's ordinary movements, and the description is
quite as appropriate to psychic cases, although not in
any reversion sense.
The sensory perversions in epilepsy exist either during
loss of consciousness or are manifested by some kind of
hallucination during one of the stages of a fit. Common
sensation is usually more or less impaired.
It is evident to most thoughtful observers that epilepsy
is manifested by a great variety of conditions, extending
all the way from a momentary lapse of thought, or a
vertigo, or a simple automatism, to the conditiofi of vio-
lent mania or clonic convulsions. The petty varieties
seem to bear much the same relationship to the serious
or sthenic forms, that a trickle does to a flood, or a whiff
to a tornado; while the equation in epilepsy is, of course,
more complex. Drs. Gowers, Fere, and Hughlings-
Jackson find that there are as many epilepsies as there
are epileptics.
The modern theory of the origin of a fit places it in
the gray matter of the brain, the cortex cerebri, more or
less of which is supposedly surcharged with nervous
energy, whatever that may be. But there seems to be
no substantial support for such a view, for we do not
know that any organic cell can store anything in the
way of excessive cargo. A morbid cell is a functionally
defective cell, while a cell functioning normally is an
orderly agent whatever its degree of activity may be, and
cannot be conceived as reserving anything for a sort of
whimsical flash, which must necessarily disturb its own
integrity. Even the discharged energy of the gytitnotus
electriciis is not a surplusage but the product of a con-
servative provision in natural economy. That during a
cell's activity its energy can be raised or lowered within
certain limits, according to whether it is well or ill
favored, is not questioned, and thus its power of resist-
ance to certain irritants, or its capacity to respond to
certain exactions, will vary with altered conditions, /. r. ,
with its supply and demand of means for energizing.
There may exist an excessive sensitiveness or activity in
brain cells in epilepsy, or the inhibitory relations may be
EPILEPSY.
disturbed, owing to defects in the nerve cells of the brain,
i. e., the cortical neurons and their branches, which de-
fects may impair connection and thus increase resistance.
But all such views are merely speculative, as indeed is
the case regarding the pathology of other insanities, for
in a considerable proportion of all so-called idiopathic
forms of insanity, the brain shows nothing whatever that
can be described as abnormal. Thus it is evident that
lesions found in cases which are not produced by me-
chanical violence, can only be regarded as mere casual-
ties or products and not as causative factors. Indeed
those occasional cases of insanity of many years' stand-
ing, but which finally recover in a more or less sudden
manner, quite disprove the necessity for any organic
pathological correlative. And to this we may add the
evidence of the many recorded cases of extensive and
destructive brain lesions existing without any mental
manifestations whatever of a distinctly aberrant charac-
ter. Epilepsy is indeed frequently associated with gross
lesions of some kind, the removal or mitigation of which
is sometimes, but quite seldom, followed by relief from
the epilepsy. Such recoveries are probably due to what
may be termed an accidental alteration of functional
balance, or some form of sympathetic readjustment. At
all events, we must look for a form of functional perver-
sion irrespective of any organic disease. Nor is it neces-
sarily a brain disease any more than fainting or vertigo,
without denying that the brain takes a part in the act.
A physical shock or mental shock may cause any of them,
for example, a blow on the stomach, or a fright; while
m monkeys a trilling intra-venous injection of absinthe
will produce epileptic fits without exception (3). It is
said that practically the same result takes place in man.
Dr. Julius Donath produced epilepsy in animals at will
by stimulating the cervical sympathetic, while if the sym-
pathetic was cut no fits could be produced (4). Yet
removal of the superior cervical ganglia from both sides
of three of his epileptic patients did not affect their fits.
And lastly, the observations that chickens hatched by
incubators and squirrels and various other creatures de-
prived of their liberty almost invariably become subjects
of epilepsy, go to show how slight a variation in the tem-
pering of the mental Jiexus is required to permit a dis-
jointing, so to speak, of the associative processes. They
4 EPILEPSY.
also indicate that the essential element in epilepsy is a
psychic defect, whether it be appreciable or not, for it is
to be noted that the chickens referred to have no natural
mother, while the other creatures have lost their natural
home or environment, their food and other conditions
being about the same as normal. These are observations
worthy of farther reflection. It is therefore evident that
the problem of epilepsy is essentially one of physiologic-
psychology. - ,
Responsibllty.
Epilepsy occurs everywhere, from the top to the bot-
tom of society. It afflicts the saint, the sage and the
sinner alike, and even the infant in the cradle, so that it
cannot be charged as an evil for which the subject is in
any way necessarily responsible, since it may arise under
conditions for which the subject could in no way be
responsible. Of course evils cannot arise when strictly
normal conditions exist within and without, for the sim-
ple reason that everything must have an efficient cause,
so that if we seek for originating causes we must carry
our analysis into the realm of heredity, tradition, and
moral and intellectual environment.
But in facing the question of personal responsibility it
is sufficient to define epilepsy as essentially being an ab-
normal mental state for which the individual is not re-
sponsible because its origin is spontaneous and is not a
matter of choice. I do not mean to say that conditions
preventable by the subject are not at times contributory
causes. But this point is not legally available, inasmuch
as its decision depends upon the subject's private per-
sonal experience, and, even if admitted, the elements of
heredity and environment could be pleaded as complica-
tions and predisposing factors, and, most likely, the sine
qua non of the case.
At this point, just a word regarding the principle of
responsibility. We are responsible creatures only in so
far as we possess the powers of discernment and choice,
/. e., if we have the power to know correctly and also
the privilege of knowing to an extent equal to our needs
both in regard to ourselves and our social duties, and, in
addition, if we possess the power of choosing equal to
RESPONSIBILITY. 5
our needs and social relations, then indeed we are re-
sponsible, /. c, we are competent to respond to the
requirements of any position we are rightfully placed in.
In other words, we must in some way be coordinate and
coequal to the conditions required, else we simply can-
not comply with them, so that justice cannot exact by
a standard that is any higher than the factors in the
heredity and history of the individual can furnish for a
formula of conduct. Thus the standard of justice is no
more and no less than the standard of the individual sub-
ject. It is quite evident that we must know right before
we can do right in the sense of a moral obligation,
while it is also a well known fact that we may know
right and not be able to do it. If either of these factors
which are the prerequisites for responsibility be absent
or defective, responsibility is correspondingly impaired.
Even the knowledge of right and wrong either in the
absolute or relative sense in any given case is not proof
of responsibility, for often where the knowledge exists
the power to choose that which is clearly right may be
lost through the cumulative effect of habits or conditions
which the subject may have been led or driven into, or
perhaps by some kind of seizure or sickness quite as in-
explicable as is the origin of epilepsy. Witness espe-
cially some of the strange and even horrid practices of
certain alien peoples, or the marked change of character
in some of our own friends which occasionally follows
acute ailments.
But psychologically and theologicall)^ speaking, re-
sponsibility as a qualification implying the liability to
receive punishment in the operation of justice, cannot
possibly exist unless the individual is conscious of ill-
desert, and this consciousness must not be a vague feel-
ing arising from the imagination, which indeed it fre-
quently is, but it must come as a clear-cut conclusion
drawn from first principles, i. c, the knowledge drawn
from common experience, and applied to the special cir-
cumstances of the case, in order that justice, as a process
of retribution, shall be properly effected. But retribu-
tive justice is infinitely beyond man's power of adminis-
tration, and a discussion of it here is beyond the scope
of this pap^r. However, I think I have suggested how
sadly unjust are our present legal methods which operate
in the name of justice — using, as a rule, but one stand-
O RESPONSIBILITY.
ard, and, as a rule, applying but one method of treat-
ment, and that a brutish penalty.
But back to our subject in its medical aspect.
A perverted state of mind is a state of mind which
more or less incapacitates the subject for acting in a
proper, efficient or normal way. He is not himself, so
to speak, and he "can't help it," for the time being, at
least. Normally his conduct is presumably representa-
tive of the society in which he has lived prior to ma-
turity and is regulated by general principles, common
experience, inculcated precepts, prevailing sentiments,
common usages and every-day habits. But when his
mind is involuntarily thrown into an abnormal condition
through external and internal conditions which he could
not control and did not create, his ordinary character
qualities lose their inhibitory power over what he would
normally regard as wrong-doing. In this condition he
may be dominated by notions which are in their nature
wrong, or by feelings which are in degree excessive. He
may still in a measure be amenable to discipline, such as
threats and kindness, a fact which only goes to show
that his perceptive powers have not been annihilated but
are in certain aspects, at least, weakened and aberrant.
Usually (excluding stupor and delirious mania) there are
certain lines of thought that become distorted through
some undue influence, perhaps both physical and mental,
and which deprive the subject of self-control. The chief
psychological fault is an imperfect or incompetent range
of his mental vision, a sort of fragmentary perceptiveness
owing to ideational breaks in the individual's associative
processes. Thus the power of the subject as a free agent
to respond in a proper way to the standards of society is
crippled or destroyed because the faculties of sponta-
neous and voluntary association of ideas along preestab-
lished lines are damaged or destroyed. Such breaks
may render him abnormally suggestable and keen in cer-
tain directions and correspondingly obtuse in other
directions, so that a condition of unbridled impulse may
arise through a flock of ideas coming to the front which
would have been either checked or dispersed by his com-
mon normal habits of thought, the very regulators of
ordinary social circumspection. The ordinary monitors
of the mind are thus thrown out of their normal rela-
tions, are devitalized so to speak, and rendered inopera-
RESPONSIBILITY. 7
tive as factors inhibitory to wrong doing and thereby the
individual has lost his responsibility because the factors
which give and constitute responsibility, in any true
sense, now fail to respond to the very calls which in the
subject's normal state would have been effective. The
light from the lamp of reason has become more or less
eclipsed or obscured by an alien and fortuitous agency
for which no one as yet has been able to account, and
therefore is in no sense a product of the subject's choice.
To hold such a person responsible for a crime would be
just as reasonable as to demand that -an old-time swim-
mer who has lost one or both arms shall attempt to save
even a drowning monarch, or to blame a misdirected
stranger for taking the wrong course.
It must be granted that an epileptic isaJunatic while
in a "fit" or "spell." His mental balance may be lost
for but a moment or for minutes or for hours or days or
weeks or months. If his conduct during a spell has been
ridiculous or even grossly violent and without any pur-
pose that seems intelligible to others, he will quite likely
be admitted to be insane by even a stupid jury. But if,
as quite often happens, he display an impulse which cor-
responds to some known provocation, and which he may
have held in check for a longer or shorter period, the
apology of insanity is not so readily granted, for too fre-
quently it is supposed by laymen that lunatics are en-
tirely devoid of ordinary motives, just as if the loss of
some ideas necessitated the loss of all or precluded the
operation of previously acquired knowledge and senti-
ments. And yet the action of a latent or restrained im-
pulse is to be most expected when the normal or stand-
ard inhibitory powers are thrown aside without a con-
scious act. Under such conditions a pent-up emotion
will naturally assume freedom of execution, just as the
conceptions of a musical amateur have been displayed
with transcendent excellence only in the course of a
somnambulistic trance. In both cases the emotions or
desires are untrammeled by certain restraints of previous
teaching and experience which operate under ordinary
conditions. As before observed, in epilepsy only certain
inhibitory or re-^nlating powers may be lost, while in all
other respects the subject may be keenly perceptive in a
more or less automatic way.
RESPONSIBILITY.
The remark occasionally met with that all epileptics
do not commit crime and which is intended to suggest
that the crime is something apart from the epilepsy and
should be so treated, is quite on a par with the observa-
tion that all whisky drinkers do not have red noses. To
skeptics we can also quote the maxim that it was the
last straw that broke the camel's back and without it the
camel's back would not have been broken. There are
psychological as well as physiological variants in the
personal equation which are just as inexplicable as is
epilepsy, and it cannot be expected that the same cause
differently associated will produce all of the same results.
And is it not true that there are moments in the lives of
nearly all men and women, when, if but a single thought
were obscured, a so-called "righteous indignation" would
quite naturally culminate in a crime. But as previously
indicated the background causative factors chiefly belong
to heredity and environment and which on the moral
side are mainly the products of social and political con-
ditions.
Between spells, epileptics must be regarded as com-
bustible material to an unknown spark, unless in the
event of crime they are entitled to the presumption of
temporary insanity. There certainly cannot be a more
worthy occasion for the " benefit of the doubt," at least
until the case is properly studied. In my opinion the
attitude of the medical expert should accord with the
true spirit and purpose of the law, /. c, justice and
economy. The ordinary idea of punishment, which is
usually the object of a state trial, should be entirely ex-
punged by a rational theory of remedial treatment, for
even the desire to inflict punishment in the ordinary
legal way, is itself a sign of an abnormal disposition —
the product of an exaggerated ego and defective intelli-
gence. This is true absolutely and without exception,
so that the attitude of society which will best serve it-
self, and the one most likely to secure justice to offend-
ers, is the attitude of true charity, i. e., study, explana-
tion and the application of remedial treatment in accord-
ance with the intelligence of the times and the spirit of
that universal monitor the golden rule.
(i) Dr. Baker, British Medical Journal, April 29, 1893, p. 894.
(2) Dr. Wilkes, British Medical Jour tial, Jan. 2, 1892, p. 1304.
(3) Mott and Sherrington, Brain, Volume 18, page 609.
(4) Dr. J. Donath, British Medical Joztrnul, May 14, 1898.
THE ASSASSIN CZOLGOSZ.
The Assassin Czols^osz.
&
It is doubtless a long way between a yawn and a fit,
and yet there presumably exists a degree of kinship inas-
much as both phenomena are spasmodic and involuntary.
But a twitch and a fit are much closer related. Accord-
ing to Sir William Gowers, the most frequently observed
prodroma of epilepsy, are sudden jerks of the body or
limbs, and it seems to me quite probable that the assassin
Czolgosz was not far from being an epileptic, for it was
reported of him that he had marked twitchings of the
right fore-arm while in the court room, and of the lower
jaw just before his electrocution. He probably had
similar manifestations at other times. Fear or emotional
agitation could only be regarded as exciting causes at the
most, for involuntary spasms always indicate an impor-
tant abnormal physiological fact, whether or not they
can be regarded as prodromal of epilepsy. It is true
such phenomena are frequently observed in persons quite
properly regarded as sane, although they may possess
but a shell of sanity, liable to break down by just a little
more pressure. A thoroughly sound person does not
have such manifestations under any circumstances of
purely mental influence.
But in analysing Czolgosz I will discuss his mental
condition from three points of view, viz.: (i) His homi-
cidal act. (2) His behavior subsequent to the act. (3)
His history previous to the act.
The present sketch is necessarily brief, yet I think it
presents the essential nature of the case quite distinctly
and fairly.
In reference to the act I may first observe that acts
themselves indicate the mental condition of the actors,
when all the circumstances are known, and that in reality
they constitute the best of evidence, just as the work of
the mechanic exhibits his skill, or the lack of it, when
the purpose and conditions of his labors are known.
The evidence of sanity essentially depends upon the
integrity of reason, the chief tests for which are con-
stancy, coherence, and a rational necessity or expediency
for all acts.
lO THE ASSASSIN CZOLGOSZ.
In regard to the indications of the act of Czolgosz, I
deem the following points worthy of seriousnconsidera-
tion, and as indicating insanity, viz.:
(i) At the age of 28 and after a life record of an ex-
ceptionally (abnormallyj retiring and peaceful disposition,
he suddenly appears as a great criminal. Had he been
sane this act would imply an infraction of the law of
normal growth, which is logically inconceivable.
(2) His act was not only homicidal but it was also
deliberately suicidal, for he expected to be hanged for it;
yet it was not based upon any philosophy, teaching or
experience within his knowledge or imagination which
offered him any hope of reward of any kind, either in
time or eternity.
(3) His act was ivanioji, for he had in mind no benefit
that would or could accrue to any person or class of per-
sons; while, on the other hand, had he been simply an
anarchist, he would have known that distress or disfavor
would fall upon all of his class. But his act appears as
motiveless as is the case in pure kleptomania.
(4) Such a monstrous conception and impulse as the
wanton murder of the President of the United States,
arising in the mind of so insignificant a citizen, without
his being either insane or degenerate, could be nothing
short of a miracle, for the reason that we require like
causes to explain like results. To assume that he was
sane is to assume that he did a sane act, i. e., one based
upon facts and for a rational purpose.
(5) If he thought President McKinley was "the enemy
of the good people, the poor working people," as he as-
serted,, the notion must be conceded to be the pure
product of a deluded imagination, for there was no
evidence of any kind or anywhere in support of it. And
there is no evidence that Czolgosz was a prophet, states-
man or philosopher of transcendent insight.
(6) His act was not the natural product of any form
of systematic thought. He was not an anarchist or a
student of anarchy, nor a student of anything else; while
the fundamental principle of anarchy is a denial of the
right of any one to interfere with the liberty of any one
else, and thus it is oppose^d to the committing of violence
in any form.
(7) The " I done my duty" notion was evidently an
imperative idea of a purely impulsive origin, for he did
THE ASSASSIN CZOLGOSZ.
not believe that he had been especially called to do the
deed. Such a condition is common among lunatics,
especially in the earlier stages of their affliction. It is
also to be observed that the impulse arose suddenly from
a suggestion through something he read three or four
days before his murderous assault.
(8) His act was not an act of revenge of any kind, for
the President had wronged neither him nor a relative of
his, nor a friend of his, nor any class of people in which
he had the slightest interest.
Now granting that these points are true, let us ask
where was the rational motive, purpose or basis in this
act ? How much was it like a rational philanthropic act
or a criminal act of the selfish order ?
If we inspect the remarkably brief and superficial re-
port made by the State's medical examiners (i), we will
find in it a few straws which indicate something of the
condition of his mental undercurrents shortly before and
shortly after the assault. To-wit :
(i) Mental Wandering a7id Abandon, e. g., a few days
before the act he went from Buffalo to Cleveland, a
distance of nearly 200 miles, "just to look around and
buy a paper," as he declared.
(2) Insane Vacillation, e. g., on one occasion he denied
that he killed the President or had any intention of doing
so, but a few minutes later he remarked, "I am glad I
did it."
(3) Logical Incongruity, e. g. , He declared that any
one had a chance on trial and that perhaps he would not
be punished so badly after all. Yet from first to last he
treated the only persons, his lawyers, who could secure
the chance for him, with the most contemptible indif-
ference.
(4) Moral Chaos, e. g.. He declared that he did not
believe in government, nor in law, nor in marriage, nor
in God.
(5) Insane Egotism, e. g.. His reason for killing the
President was "I done my duty. I don't believe in
one man having so much service and another man should
have none."
Now, let us ask ourselves if any of these conditions
indicate a sane and responsible state of mind.
In regard to his previous history, my investigations
personally made at his home in Cleveland, disclose the
following facts :
12 THE ASSASSIN CZOLGOSZ.
(1) As a child he was markedly indisposed to associate
with other children.
(2) As a young man he studiously avoided the opposite
sex and did not have a chum of any kind.
(3) He was seldom distinctly ill, yet he was almost
always complaining of ill-health and frequently took
medicine.
(4) He was notoriously prone to fall asleep in a chair
at any hour of the day, and as indicating a common
peculiarity, his bright old aunt termed him an "old
grandmother," because "he had such a tired, stupid
way."
(5) He took especial interest in nothing, never spoke
at club meetings and was with difBculty induced to read
any kind of literature, even that of the Social Labor
party, the local club of which he was for some time a
member.
(6) At the age of 24 he quit work at the wire-mill on
account of his health, as he claimed to his relatives, and
went to live on his father s farm, where he remained un-
til about two months before his homicidal assault. Here
he lived in comparative idleness, claiming that on account
of his health he could not do farm work, and actually
did nothing but petty odd jobs just when he " felt like
it." He had no books and did no reading excepting as
he casually picked up a local German newspaper which
came to the family.
(I wish here to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr.
L. J. Czechowski, the druggist of the neighborhood of
the Czolgosz family, for his most valuable assistance in
my Cleveland investigation.)
Now let us ask ourselves how the personal factors,
which I have pointed out in this analysis of Czolgosz,
respond to the tests for sanity which I have previously
given, viz.: (i) Constancy (stability) which, in the
higher animals, implies growth or development, both
mental and physical, and in man there is also moral
development, /. e. , social subserviency. Convention-
alities do not necessarily apply. (2) CoJierence or the
quality of natural or logical connection of all parts con-
stituting the personality of the individual. (3) A rational
necessity or expediency for all acts.
If these are not tests of sanity, what are .^ There are
no physical tests that can be regarded as standard, so
THE ASSASSIN CZOLGOSZ. 1 3
that he who has no rational psychological tests for sanity
is not entitled to an opinion upon the subject, even
though he were an ex-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States or a so-called insanity expert. An
opinion not soundly based is nothing but sentimental
rant or an egotistic effluvium. Intuitions are uncer-
tainties and we do not build on them.
We thus see that his previous history reveals the de-
velopment of a distinctly abnormal condition in his
character and which could hardly be expected to con-
tinue much longer without a break or some peculiar overt
manifestation, the precise form of which would more or
less depend upon the suggestions made to such a peculiar
mind by passing events.
And yet he has been declared an "Anarchist, sane
and responsible " by the State's medical advisers. If,
however, we examine the introductory remarks of their
official report, we find them congratulating themselves
that they had an early chance to examine Czolgosz "be-
fore he had time to meditate upon the enormity of the
act," which is simply an admission that they believed he
did not realize at that time the enormity of the act, and
therefore that he must have been insane. It is also an
admission that they expected a reaction would follow in
the assassin's mind, i. e., that he would recover his
senses and become sane and then begin in some manner
to play off, so to speak. But it seems that after all the
"done my duty " idea of Czolgosz held him up from
start to finish, quite as insane egos commonly do.
The declaration by the medical examiners that he was
neither insane nor degenerate (degeneracy is supposed to
be a sort of insanity dependent upon, or coexistent with,
inherited organic defects), quite ignores the theory of
evolution, while it does not even indicate how such a
monstrous act could be perpetrated by a "sane and
responsible" person. The sanity of an American citizen
must indeed be a strange and uncertain quantity accord-
ing to any standard that admits of such a declaration.
Czolgosz was not a type frequently found in our public
lunatic asylums but rather an aggravated specimen from
the insane borderlands. Four years of voluntary idle-
ness on a farm, remote from city privileges, and at a
time of life when normal young men are most alive and
ambitious, could hardly do less than increase the very
14 THE ASSASSIN CZOLGOSZ.
morbidity which must account for such a choice. And
while it would increase his abnormal feelings and sug-
gestibility, insane conceptions were but naturally bred
under such conditions. His main delusion, his "duty"
as he called it, was fixed to the last, which is reasonable
evidence that it had an established setting which re-
quired but little suggestion of an abnormal kind to break
through his remaining circumspection. Delusions which
are based upon some system of reasoning are not so
fixed against opposing reasoning or evidence as are de-
lusions which more or less suddenly enter or arise in the
mind by virtue of some form of mental disorder which
so entangles them that no amount of reasoning can dis-
lodge them. Czolgosz can no more be regarded an an-
archist, as a rational product of anarchy, than a casual
visitor to a synagogue can be regarded as an orthodox
Jew. Neither the Cleveland Superintendent of Police
nor myself could find any trace of any interest or any
association whatever on the part of Czolgosz with either
anarchy or anarchists. Yet I do not deny that his dis-
ordered mind was moved by notions which he attributed
to anarchy, as it is commonly understood. But I have
seen cases which an orthodox sermon or a series of
camp-meetings have led directly to the lunatic asylum.
Yet the normal effect of Christianity is not that way.
Since writing the foregoing I have met with a recent
article by Professor Regis of France on the subject of
regicides (2), the following extracts from which will be
interesting in this connection. Referring to the mental
condition of regicides. Dr. Regis says:
"It is impossible, it seems to me, to consider these
individuals as ordinary criminals and not to see in them
fanaticized sick men, almost at the point of suffering
from delirium. They are so identical one to the other
that the resemblance may be traced trait for trait."
"On the ground of the ensemble of their natures, I de-
fine them as follows: Degenerates of a mystic tempera-
ment, who, misguided by political and religious delirium,
complicated sometimes by hallucinations, think them-
selves called on to act the double role of judiciary and
martyr; who, under the influence of an obcession that is
irresistible, kill some great personage in the name of
God, the Country, Liberty or Anarchy."
" Besides, regicides who survive almost invariably end.
THE ASSASSIN CZOLGOSZ. I 5
in insanity and complete dementia; this confirms my
opinion that they are unbalanced. As examples may be
cited, Sahla, Galeote, Passanante, Berardi and Acciarito.''
"And yet, though sick, although delusional, although
impulsive, they are almost always treated as responsible
individuals, condemned to death both in order to punish
them and make examples of them. For my part I think
this method is both erroneous and unprofitable, and that
society would be the gainer by treating these dangerous
subjects, who so often cause upheavals of government,
as insane patients. '"
(i) Philadelphia Medical Journal, November 6, 1901
(2) Jourtial of Menial Pathology, October, 1901.
P. S.— The recent report that Dr. E. A. Spitzka (a
recent graduate of medicine and son of the well-known
Dr. E. C. Spitzka of New York) had pronounced the
brain of Czolgosz normal, is of entirely negative value
even if the examination had been thorough, which it was
not, for insanity has no more to do with the brain than
the character of a newspaper has to do with its me-
chanics. Gross disease or deformity of the brain may
exist with perfect mental integrity, while, on the other
hand, a large proportion of the insane have normal
brains. (For recorded cases see Chapter IV of my book,
"Brain in Relation to ivl'ind.")
BRAIN >H RELATION TO MIND.
J. SANDERSON CHRISTISON, M. D.
AUTHOR OF "CRIME AND CRIMINALS," &C.
Pacific Medical Journal. — The author considers the rela-
tion of brain cells, theory of sensory and motor centers,
mind localization, brain form in relation to mind, brain
size in relation to mind and normal mind, all showing
deep thought and much research. This little volume
should be read by every physician in the land.
St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal.— The book is
worthy, not only of perusal, but of thoughtful reading,
and tliose interested in psycholog}' or the relations and
functions of the brain and its correlations to mind will
find it of more than ordinary interest.
Tlie New England Medical Journal.— A very interesting
book, and cannot fail to prove satisfactorv* to the reader.
The Hahnemannian Monthly.— Anyone interested in psy-
chical matters will read this able little work with
pleasure.
The Scotsman (Edinburgh.)— The work recommends
itself to mental specialists by its conciseness, it.'? sound
psychology and its constant adherence to the teaching
of practical experience.
Journal of Education (London.)— Small as it is the
book cannot be ignored, by those who believe in the
close connection, amounting almost to identy of brain
functions and mind. Its facts are too carefully gath-
ered and presented to be wholly passed by in silence.
The Outlook. — A considerable contribution to psychol-
ogy-
Los Angeles Sunday Times.— Chapters of brilliant and
thoughtful scientific argument.
C/oth, Price $1.25
The Meng Publishing Co., Chicago.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
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