IDIOCY, a condition defined by Ire land as "mental deficiency or extreme stupidity depending upon malnutrition or disease of the brain occurring either before birth or before the evolution of the mental faculties in childhood; while imbecility is generally used to denote a less decided degree of such mental in capacity." The difference between both conditions and dementia is that the de ment was once sane and responsible, the idiot and the imbecile never developed mental capacity at all; they remained arrested children. The name amentia has been given to idiocy. There are great varieties of idiocy and imbecility. Some of the lowest have no speech, no power of distinguishing between one per son and another, no affection or hatred, no feelings of pleasure or pain, no power to take care of themselves, and can never be taught any of these things. In body such idiots are dwarfish, misshapen, ugly, with the features and expression of face often of the lowest of the lower ani mals, with no power of walking. This being the condition of the lowest vari eties, they rise gradually in the scale till many imbeciles are beautiful in features, and reach normal bodily development, but are slightly wanting in some essen tial mental faculty.
Idiots and imbeciles differ much in their capacity for further development under even favorable circumstances. Some can be greatly elevated toward the standard of average humanity, and can even be rendered fit to earn their own livelihood in simple trades of manual labor, while others cannot be in any way improved. They are especially subject
to certain bodily diseases of degenera tion, such as scrofula, consumption, rick ets, and diseases of deficient nutrition generally. Two-thirds of idiots die of consumption. The great aims in treat ment are to improve the bodily nutrition, the nervous and muscular action, and the habits, and to evolve the possible intel ligence by an education through the senses. Some of them have one faculty or capacity fairly or even extraordi narily developed, while the general men tal power is weak. Some are good sicians. Some can calculate well, while others are ingenious in constructiveness.
Ireland classifies idiocy into 10 di visions: (1) Genetous, (2) Microceph alic, (3) Eclampsic, (4) Epileptic, (5) Hydrocephalic, (6) Paralytic, (7) Cre tinic, (8) Traumatic, (9) Inflammatory, and (10) by deprivation of the senses. From this it is seen that there are many pathological causes of the disease. It is a popular error to suppose that all idiots have small heads. Three-fifths of them have larger heads than average men, and only a few (the microcephalic) are small headed. It is quality more than quan tity of brain that counts for mind. The general causes of idiocy have not yet been fully made out. It is unquestion ably hereditary in at least 50 per cent.