An examination of some recent studies of the inheritance factor in insanity / by David Heron.

  • Heron, David.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: An examination of some recent studies of the inheritance factor in insanity / by David Heron. 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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    reported from Bexley have been rejected as the relatives in the other London County Asylums could not be traced, for no instance has been included unless full particulars could be obtained.” It is thus clear that not all the cases could be traced and that there was special difficulty in tracing the older cases. What is the effect of a selection of this kind ? A study of the following hypothetical cases may serve to throw some light on this point. TABLE II. Anticipation or Antedating in Insanity. Hypothetical Examples to show the Effect of Dr Mott’s Selection of Gases. First Example Second Example Mother: Born 1873 1833 Married 1893 1853 Became Insane and admitted to Asylum 1913 1873 Age at First j^.ttack 40 40 Died 1914 1874 Son : Born 1894 1854 Became Insane 1894* 1914 Admitted to Asylum 1914 1914 Age at First Attack 0 60 The mothers in those two examples have exactly parallel careers. In each case the mother became insane at the age of 40 and only lived one year in the asylum. In the first case the son w'as a congenital idiot but was onl}^ admitted to an asylum at the age of 20. The age of onset in this case is taken at 0 years and the case shows marked “ anticipation.” In the second case the mother also became insane at the age of 40, the son not till the age of 60, 40 years after his mother’s death. The second example thus tells against the Law of Anticipation. Are these two cases equally likely to appear in Dr Mott’s data ? In the first case mother and son are in the asylum at the same time and were admitted within a year of each other. It is very improbable that the relationship would escape notice and such a case is almost certain to be recorded. In the second case, however, the son is not admitted to an asylum till 40 years after his mother’s death. Even if the family remained in the same area for 40 years after the mother’s death, it would obviously be very difficult to connect the histories of mother and son. This case, which tells against the Law of Anticipation, is almost certain to escape notice. A spurious anticipation or antedating is thus inevitable owing to the method of collecting the data. It has also been pointed out that Dr Mott has made no allowance for those who are mentally normal at the time the record is made but may subsequently Congenital Idiot.