Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 26.djvu/203

Rh, the influence of the surroundings can not be estimated. The last division, that of criminal impulse growing out of this trance state, illustrates the subject of our paper more closely. The following cases bring out the facts better than any description: An inebriate was repeatedly arrested for horse-stealing, and often punished. The crime was committed under similar circumstances, and no. attempt was made to conceal the property; on two occasions he assisted the owner to hunt up the horses. When it was apparent that he was guilty, great was his astonishment, and he denied all recollection of any circumstances or events. This was confirmed by all the circumstances of bis life, by his inebriety and blanks of memory, and absence of motive and object in the crime. He was fond of horses, and seemed at this time to be governed by an impulse to drive and ride behind a good horse. A farmer of quiet, good disposition suffered from blanks of memory after drinking to excess. One day, in what seemed full consciousness of the surroundings, he attacked a stranger and injured him so that he died. He had no recollection of the time, purpose, or any circumstances of the tragedy. A periodical drinker, of wealth, tired his buildings, and awaking when they had burned down, offered a large reward for the incendiary. To his great astonishment, the fire was readily traced to him; the circumstances and motive were all a perfect blank. A man of much talent and eminence, who drinks occasionally to excess, has on many occasions offered violence to his wife, whom he loves very dearly. On these occasions he is apparently sober, gives reasons for his conduct, and afterward has not the slightest recollection of it. In a murder-trial recently, it appeared that a drinking man drank early in the morning, then killed his wife, and went about his work in the vicinity, as if nothing had happened, all unconscious until arrested. He was sentenced for life, but has a firm conviction that he did not commit the crime, because he can not conceive of a motive, and has no recollection of it. A clergyman committed a rape under the most extraordinary circumstances, and denied all recollection of it; his drinking habits and all the incidents of the case sustained his statement. A lawyer of reputation planned the abduction of a lady he was going to marry. A man of a large family and happy domestic relations married a notorious woman. A physician stole a large sum of money from a patient. A college graduate enlisted in the army. In each of these cases there was a history of drinking to excess, and each had no memory of the event, and all the circumstances were so unusual and at variance with previous conduct that undoubtedly a trance state was present. These cases might be multiplied almost indefinitely from the records of criminal courts everywhere. Every day the papers record cases of crime, without motive or purpose, by inebriates who, in defense, claim to have no recollection of it; but, as they were not wildly delirious or stupid at the time of committing the act, they are punished as fully responsible, When the crime is of magnitude, and