The sensory and mental deficiencies of idiots / by W.W. Ireland.
- William Wotherspoon Ireland
- Date:
- 1873
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The sensory and mental deficiencies of idiots / by W.W. Ireland. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.
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![[SENSORY AND MENTAL DEFICIENCIES OF IDIOTS. I j The essential deficiency of idiocy consists in want or hebetude of the intellect, not in imperfection of the senses] JN evertfielessjTt is clear that tlie want of two or more of those senses most employed in perception, sight, hearing, and touch, would produce a result closely resembling idiocy. This has been called the idiocy of deprivation, of which I have already given examples. Asimilar result would be pro- duced in a human being brought up in a solitary and dark prison, where sight and hearing could not be exercised, as was exemplified in the singular case of Casper Hauser, whose sad and mysterious history • is no doubt known to you. A being destitute of sight, hearing, and touch could never so connect itself with the outer world as to show anything beyond the feeblest mental manifestations, and would thus be regarded as an idiot. Indeed, long ago, uneducated deaf mutes were regarded by the laws as idiots; and, without education, a deaf mute in many things resembles an idiot. But, now, an educated deaf mute can inherit property, deliver evidence, and enjoy the usual rights of rational beings. In idiots the senses are often more or less defective. Touch.—The sense of touch is often imperfect, but, from the men- tal dulness, it is difficult to ascertain the nature and degree of the imjDerfection. Direct experiments, such as noting the distance at which the two extremities of a pair of compasses can be distin- guished as two and not one impression being applied to the skin, would be of little use here. Idiots cannot be taught to take enough of interest, or pay enough of attention, to sensations of this kind; aud their replies to questions would be of little value. In the idiotic we do not meet with that total want of sensibility to pain which is not unfrequently observed amongst the insane; but it is certain that idiots often endure with indifference blows and other injuries, which would be very painful to an ordinary person, and they occasionally scratch or cut themselves in a way which no one would do who had the feeling of pain ordinarily following such in- juries. We have a boy in the house wlio pulls out his hair when anything annoys him. He will even seize hold of a person’s hand, and guide it to his head, apparently to get his hair pulled without personal exertion. Hot long ago, I saw a ivoman who said her aughter seemed deficient in the feeling of bodily pain. “ How do](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24762659_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
