Idiocy

In Medical Jurisprudence. Men- ▼elopment or disease of the nervous centers 1 either prenatal or occurring before the evolution of the mental faculties In childhood. Brush In Oyclopcedia of Diseasea of Children. A condition of defective brain-development.

See 3 Wltth. & Beck. Med. Jur. 364 et aeq.; 2 Ham. Leg. Med. 80 et aeq.

It always Implies some defect or disease of tbe brain, whlcb Is generally smaller than the standard size and Irregular In Its shape and proportions. Hydrocephalus Is an occasional cause of idiocy. The senses are very Imperfect at best, and one or more are often entirely wanting. None can articulate more than a few words; while many utter only cries or muttered sounds. Some make known their wants by signs or sounds which are Intelligible to those who have charge of them. The head, the features, the expression, the movements, — all convey the Idea of extreme mental deflclency. The reflective faculties are entirely wanting, whereby they are utterly Incapable of any effort of reasoning. The perceptive faculties exist In a very llmlt- «d degree, and hence they are rendered capable of being improved somewhat by education, and redeemed, In some measure, from their brutish condition. They have been led Into habits of propriety and decency, have been taught some of tbe elements of learning, and have learned some of the coarser industrial occupations. Tbe moral sentiments, such as self-esteem, love of approbation, veneration, benevolence, are not unfrequently manifested; while some propensities, such as cunning, destructiveness, eexual impulse, are particularly active. In some parts of Europe a form of Idiocy prevails endemically, called cretinism. It is associated with disease or defective development of other organs besides the head. Cretins are short in stature, their limbs are attenuated, the belly tumid, and the neck thick. The muscular system Is feeble, and their voluntary movements restrained and undecided. The power of language is very Imperfect, If not entirely wanting. In tbe least degraded forms of this disease the perceptive powers may be somewhat developed, and tbe Individual may evince some talent at music or construction. In Switzerland they make parts of watches. Cretinism like Idiocy is frequently congenital, and Its causation Is very obscure. Absence of the Internal secretion of the thyroid gland is a common cause of the so-called sporadic cretinism which exists the world over. Both Idiocy and cretinism exhibit various degrees.of mental deficiency, but they never approximate to any description of men supposed to be rational, nor can any amount of education efface the chasm which separates them from their better-endowed fellow-men. The older law-writers, whose observa- I tion of mental manifestations was not very profound, thought It necessary to have some test of idiocy: and accordingly, Fltzherbert says. If he have sufficient understanding to know and understand bis letters, and to read by teaching or Information, he Is not an idiot.

Natura Brevium 583.

Again, he says, a man Is not an idiot it he hath any glimmering of reason, so that he can tell his parents, bis age, or tbe like common matters. The inference was, no doubt, that such a man is responsible for bis criminal acts. At tbe present day, such an idea would not be entertained for a moment, nor are we aware of any case on record of xtn Idiot suffering capital punishment. See InsamtTT; Dementia; Imbecility.