Inebriety and imbecility : a medico-legal study / by T.D. Crtothers.

  • Thomas Davison Crothers
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Inebriety and imbecility : a medico-legal study / by T.D. Crtothers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    a small part of his history, and when judged alone may be very misleading, but taken in connection with all the facts of his life, points out the real condition of health or disease. It is evident that Cronin’s mental condition at the time of this homicide must be judged from the facts of his inheritance, from the facts of his surroundings and manner of life, also from his conduct and acts when sober and drinking, and from all the circumstances and conditions which have been influential in his history. The State assumed that Cronin had a low criminal brain, capable of deliberation and premeditation, and with power of control. That he could reason clearly concerning his acts and their consequences. That in the crime he displayed malice and revenge and full consciousness of the nature of this act, and the legal penalties. That he was not only conscious of his conduct, but had the power of control and concealment, to take advantage of favoring conditions. That he has been and is of sufficient mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong in the abstract, and at the time of the crime was of sound mind. That his claim of no memory of the act and cool indiffer¬ ence are mere subterfuges for concealment. The fact of his periodical intoxication and drinking the day before the crime were assumed to be aggravations and additional evidence of his responsibiiity. I urged that Cronin could not have a sound brain ; that his twenty years of drinking had so fixed and intensified the inherited defects that he could not reason or discriminate soundly; that in some respects his conduct would be auto¬ matic, where the motives and conditions of living were the same, but change these and his disease would be seen. Also, he had a defective brain, showing great disturbance from the use of alcohol, would always be swayed by morbid impulses of any form, and crime, suicide, and other abnormal acts would be the rule and not the exception. Many authorities have pointed out the evident unsound¬ ness of degenerative neurotics, who were alcoholics of long standing. The acts of such persons are always open to sus- 2