General paralysis : a critical review of the literature of the subject, to which is appended an analysis of the case of John S. Blackburn, in which insanity was alleged as a means of defense / by D.A. Morse.
- Morse, D. A. (David Appleton), 1840-1891
- Date:
- [1874]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: General paralysis : a critical review of the literature of the subject, to which is appended an analysis of the case of John S. Blackburn, in which insanity was alleged as a means of defense / by D.A. Morse. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![alleged murder; but he says that during the five years preced- ing March, 1871, or during the existence of his errotic propen- sity', he was not the man he was before. Called on the part of the State, the evidence taken at pre- vious trials having been put in my hands, I visited Chillicothe, April 13, of the present year. I was unacquainted with Black- burn, and from the unsatisfactory nature of the medical evi- dence, was much prejudiced against the theory of his in- sanity, believing that if insane he was still responsible, not conceiving it possible that one suffering from Melancholia, or Dementia, as testified by experts, could be so profoundly disor- dered in mind and so wholly irresponsible, and yet be able to write letters exhibiting; no mental defect sixteen davs before the alleged murder, the insanity dating back for months. Believ- ing incoherency to be the character if not the essence of de- mency I could not understand how one so demented could be coherent. With these %aews and conclusions I visited him in jail, April 13, expecting to find that condition of mental de- pression peculiar to those who have suffered from dyspeptic troubles, the result of sexual excesses; believing that if any form of insanity existed that the evidence pointed to general paralysis. It seemed singular, however, that if general paralysis was the form of disease that it had not been so declared in evidence, no medical witness having so diagnosed tlie condition in ques- tion. Blackburn's father died insane, melancholic; previous to his death he had been confined several months in the asylum at Columbus, O. Plis chief com])laint was that he would come to Avant. Mrs. Margaret Blackburn, his wife and mother of the prisoner, testified: We OAvned the farm we were on, and he bought one just as](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22279167_0105.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
