loring. These were,
however, transitory in type and perhaps better called
pseudo-hallucinations, as he was able to bring them on and cause their
disappearance at will. He was frank in his statements and discussed
the various ideas without hesitation. He was inclined to write a great
deal, especially poetry of the waste-basket variety, and considered
himself quite proficient in this respect. On February 2, 1911, he
appeared before the Staff conference where the advisability of
granting him parole of the grounds was considered. Upon being refused
this privilege he again attempted suicide by making several
superficial cuts across the wrists. These were quite insignificant in
nature. At the present writing the patient, I am told, if anything,
had improved somewhat. At any rate he shows no intellectual impairment
nor evidence of any progressive mental disorder. Patient was
eventually discharged on April 7, 1915, as unimproved and went to work
in a steel-plant in the District of Columbia. He soon, however,
reverted to his old alcoholic habits, came in conflict with the law
and was sentenced to the workhouse. While his strictly psychotic
symptoms subsided it is quite evident that the original defective
constitution which has been responsible for all of his past
difficulties has not improved.

Here is another individual who started out in life with a heavy
hereditary burden. His early childhood, as far as can be determined,
was normal. He entered school and here met the first obligation. He
wavered, showed a tendency, that early, to be unable to lead a
well-regulated life and in consequence his school attendance was
irregular. The next difficulty he met was in attempting to learn a
trade. He soon found this too strenuous and sought an environment less
exacting in nature, and at fifteen we see him endeavoring to enlist in
the Navy. This is probably the first indication of his "wanderlust."
He was rejected, and after another year's effort to get along in his
immediate environment, finally succeeded in entering the Navy. Soon,
however, he found out that Navy life was not what he had pictured it
to be. It, likewise, was too exacting. He had to live up to prescribed
rules, obey orders--things to which he could not reconcile himself,
and in consequence failed of a proper adjustment. He knew he could not
stand it, he must get out. He must seek something more suita