the Mongol, and would probably become a raving
maniac. It is not the temperament only, nor the intellect only, which
produces the idiot or the madman; it is the lack of balance between the
two. Arrant cowards frequently have very warlike imaginations, and in
their dreams conceive themselves doing extremely violent things. Suppose
that with such an imagination you unite the temperament of an Arab
fanatic, or the coarse, brutal courage of an English prize-fighter, you
can put no bounds to the possible actions of the monster you create.
The salvation of the human race lies in the fact that very strong and
brave people commonly have a peaceable disposition, or else commit
murder and get hanged for it. It is far better that they should be
hanged, because nobody knows where violence ends and insanity begins,
and it is just as well to be on the safe side. Whenever a given form of
intellect happens to be joined to a totally inappropriate temperament,
we say it is a case of idiocy or insanity. Of course there are many
other cases which arise from the mind or the body being injured by
extraneous causes; but they are not genuine cases of insanity, because
the evil has not been transmitted from the parents, nor will it be to
the children."

The professor marched forward as he gave his lecture on unsoundness of
brain, and I strode by his side, silent and listening. What he said
seemed very natural, and yet I had never heard it before. Was Madame
Patoff such a monster as he described? It was more likely that her son
might be, seeing that he in some points answered precisely to the
description of a man with the intellect of one race and the temperament
of another; and yet any one would scoff at the idea that Paul Patoff
could go mad. He was so correct, so staid, so absolutely master of what
he said, and probably of what he felt, that one could not imagine him a
pray to insanity.

"What you say is very interesting," I remarked, at last, "but how does
it apply to Madame Patoff?"

"It does not apply to her," returned Professor Cutter. "She belongs to
the class of people in whom the mind has been injured by extraneous
circumstances."

"I suppose it is possible. I suppose a perfectly sound mind may be
completely destroyed by an accident, even by the moral shock from a
sorrow or disappointment."

"Yes," said the professor. "It is even possible to produce artificial
insanity,--perfectly genuine while it lasts; but it is not possible f