f this yearning,
which reaches its purest expression in the belief and philosophy of
Nirvana. The ideational content of stupor has also its analogue in
crime. The desire for perpetuation of relationships unprosperous in this
world is not seen only in the delusion of mutual death. One can hardly
pick up a newspaper without reading of some unhappy man or woman who has
slain a disillusioned lover and then committed suicide.

FOOTNOTES:

[12] Kirby, George H.: "The Catatonic Syndrome and Its Relation to
Manic-Depressive Insanity." _Jour. of Nervous and Mental Disease_, Vol.
XL, No. 11, 1913.

CHAPTER XV

THE LITERATURE OF STUPOR[C]

The cases of benign stupor which we report here are not clinical
curiosities. Taking the symptoms as the products of a reaction type, the
latter is really quite common. One, therefore, asks what other
psychiatrists have done with this material. How have they described
these stupors, how classified them? This chapter, essentially an
appendix, attempts to give a brief answer to this inquiry. No attempt is
made to catalogue all that has been written on or around this subject
but only to mention typical reports and viewpoints.

The French, beginning with Pinel in the 18th Century, were the first to
write extensively of stupor. An excellent paper by Dagonet[13] appeared
in 1872, in which such literature as had appeared up to that time is
discussed. He defines "Stupidity" as a form of insanity in which
"delirious" ideas may or may not be present, which has for its
characteristic symptoms a state of more or less manifest stupor and a
greater or less incapacity to coordinate ideas, to elaborate sensations
experienced and accomplish voluntary acts necessary for adaptation. This
would seem to include our "partial stupor," as well as the more marked
cases.

He quotes an excellent definition from Louyer Villermay (Dict. des sc.
med. t. LIII, p. 67). "Stupor is a term applied to stupefaction of the
brain. It is recognizable by the diminution or enfeeblement of internal
sensation and by a greater difficulty in exercising memory, judgment and
imagination. It is accompanied by a general numbness and a weakness of
feeling and movement. The patient, then, has an indefinite and stupid
expression, he understands questions put to him with difficulty, and
answers them with effort or not at all. He seems overwhelmed with sleep,
he forgets to withdraw his tongue after showing it to the doctor, he
co