Medico-legal relations of pellagra / by J.W. Babcock.

  • Babcock, James Woods, 1856-1922.
Date:
[1914?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Medico-legal relations of pellagra / by J.W. Babcock. 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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    man A. Wright several months previously. The attorneys for the defense-showed that the accused was suffering from insanity attrib- uted to pellagra. The solicitor (prosecuting attorney) accepted the evidence of Dr. H. E. McConnell upon this point. The manu- script of this paper was also used and quoted by the attorneys at the trial. Reighley was acquitted as stated above. He was subse- quently committed to the State Hospital for the Insane by the pre- siding judge and found to be a confirmed pellagrin. I have notes of another case of homicide by a white woman, who, in November, 1909. it was alleged, shot the postmaster of a middle western town without warning, while suffering from melancholia “brought on by rheumatism and pellagra.” The records of the court, however, do not establish the presence of pellagra in the case, nor was it referred to by the defense. The patient was placed in an asylum. Near Grayson, La., September 9, 1913, Mrs. R. S., in the last stages of pellagra, was reported to have become insane and to have made several ineffectual attempts upon the lives of her children, as well as upon her own life. Although regarded as a constant menace to her family, in view of the fact that she appeared to have only a short time to live, her friends decided to watch her and not commit her to an asylum. Suicides by pellagrins have frequently been reported by the news- papers. These reports usually employ such adjectives as ‘.‘dread,” “incurable,” et cetera, and no doubt, as has been claimed, contribute to the development of the pellagraphobia, which is widespread in some parts of the country. While I confess that the presentation of the notes on these cases forms a chapter of horrors, yet taken together they make a part of the early history of pellagra in the United States and, therefore, are worthy of record. They also serve to emphasize the peculiar relationship which the malady sometimes bears to the body politic. Mr. 1. E., of Lancaster, S. C., 53 years old, a pellagrous mill operative, committed suicide in August, 1911, by drowning in a pond near the mills. His rescue was attempted, but E. refused help, and saying, I am going to drown,” threw himself agaip into deep water and disappeared. E. was in the last stage of pellagra, and, upon the recovery o his body, it was found that his clothing was weighted with stone, thus indicating premeditation. Despondent because of