Idiocy

In medical jurisprudence. A form of insanity, resulting either from congenital defect, or some obstacle to the development of the faculties in infancy. It is an imbecility or sterility of mind, and not a perversion of the understanding. Chit. Med. Jur. 327, note (s) 345; 1 Russ. Crimes, 6; Bac. Abr. "Idiot" (A); Brooke, Abr.; Co. Litt. 246, 247; 3 Mod. 44; 1 Vern. 16; 4 Coke, 126; 1 Bl. Comm. 302.

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.

That condition of part of the affective, manifested to the slightest

In medical jurisprudence. That condition of mind in which the reflective, and all or a part of the affective, powers are either ontirely wanting, or are manifested to the slightest possible extent. Hay, Insan. § 58; Whart. & 8. Med. Jur. § 222. There is a distinction between “idioey” and “dementia,” the first being due to tha fact that there are original structural defects in the brain; the second resulting from the supervention of organie changes in a brain originally of normal power. Ham. Nervous System, 338. Idiecy is that condition in which the human creature has never had, from birth, any, the least, glimmering of reason; and is utterly destitute of all those intellectual faculties by which man, in general, is so eminently and peculiarly distinguished. It is not the condition of a deranged mind, but that of a total absence of all mind. Henee this state of fatuity cau rarely ever be mistaken by any, the most superticial, observer. The medical profession seem to regard it as a natural defect, not as a disease in itself, or as the result of any disorder. In law, it is also considered as a defect, and as a permanent and hopeless ineapacity. 1 Bland. Ch. 356.

Not the condition of a deranged mind, but the total absence of all mindiS A congenital disorder, consisting in a defect or sterility of the intellectual powers.* Idiot. One that hath had no understanding from his nativity.^ A person who has been defective in intellectual powers from birth, or from a period before the mind received the impression of any idea.^ ^ He is presumed never likely to attain any understanding. But a man is not an idiot if he hath any glimmering of reason, so that he can tell his parents, his age, or like common matters. One born deaf, dumb, and blind is looked upon by the law as in the same state with an idiot. ^ See Insanity; Lunacy.