188. Theft in relation to other Diseases: Cases.[126] Thus, in the case of Renaud, which is quoted by Marc,' no difficulty could have arisen. The patient's ideas seem to have been very limited, indicating the existence of imbecility. The conclusion of the commissioners (MM. Denis and Marc) who examined him, was: "1. That his moral faculties were so feeble as to constitute a state of imbecility, which, however, did not preclude a certain degree of cunning when he delivered himself up to his propensity, or when he endeavoured to deny the acts which arose from it. 2. That it is exceedingly probable that Renaud experienced at times maniacal excitement, and it was especially in this exalted state that he twice attempted theft. 3. That in any case the mental condition of this individual did not appear to allow of the supposition that he had that degree of discernment and moral liberty which forms a necessary condition of criminality." An interesting report on a case of mental derangement with kleptomania, by Dr. Max Mauthner, is printed in the second volume of the "Medical Critic and Psychological Journal," which, although it is too long to quote, throws some light on the subject under consideration. Prichard mentions a case in which the wife of a man of large fortune was in the habit of stealing upon all occasions when she visited shops for the purpose of purchasing. In this case paralysis and softening of the brain existed. So inveterate was the habit that the husband, as he could not shape his wife to do right in conformity with opportunities, tried to shape the opportunities to the disposition of his wife, and went to reside in the country. The case of L. H, who was confined in a lunatic asylum, and which has not as yet been reported, will further exemplify this class. She was extremely irritable upon certain occasions, but under ordinary circumstances was exceedingly morose. Her face was fixed in a "puckered" frown. She was, however, well educated, and could converse rationally upon many subjects. She was suspected of a morbid desire to acquire and hoard up, and upon a search being instituted fifteen bags were found concealed about her person. The number of articles contained in those fifteen bags (or

Marc, De la Folie, vol. i., p. 170.

those of them that were minutely examined) was 1182. Most of [12]the articles were utterly worthless. We may mention some of them. There were 104 fragments of paper, S2 sewing needles, 18 gloves (mostly old,) 12 moulds for wax leaves, 19 buttons (of various kinds,) 60 feathers, 8 parcels of dried flowers, 4 pills, 3 fragments of dried fish, 138 fragments of ribbon, 9 bottles, 61 lozenges, etc., etc. In such cases, where the habitual theft is only a symptom of well-marked mental disease, little difficulty can arise.

189. Theft in relation to Delusion.-Where the individual who steals labors under a delusion, either that the property really belongs to him (as is very frequently the case when an individual labors under general paralysis in one of its stages,) or that it has been stolen from him, and that he is only exercising the legal right of recaption, or that he has been commanded by God' to take possession of certain articles, courts of law will not hold the individual responsible for his acts of theft, but will exempt him from the punishment declared by law. Such cases evidently fall within the rule of law stated in an earlier part of this work, viz., that if an accused person labor under "a partial delusion only, and is not in other respects insane, he must be considered in the same situation as to responsibility as if the facts with respect to which the delusion exists were real."1

190. Theft-Madness: Cases of. So far, then, there is no difficulty or uncertainty, but in those cases in which there is no other symptom of insanity except this diseased propensity to acquire property--which is very frequently accompanied by the hoarding propensity, showing that it is intimately connected with the true primitive idea of property— where the theft is the only sign of the presence of morbid conditions, the questions as to whether disease is the exciting cause of the larceny, and if so, whether it should be regarded as exempting the individual from punishment, are much more difficult of solution. That such cases do occur is certain. A clergyman, who occupied a very excellent posi

'Broom's Commentaries, p. 874. See 10 Clark & Finnelly, Reports, 210, 211; Reg, v. Oxford, 9 Car. & P., 525; S. C., Townsend's St. Tr., vol. i., p. 110; ante, p.

tion in Edinburgh about forty years ago, who had distinguished himself by his learning and piety, and who, to use a "stock" phrase, was universally respected, was in the habit of stealing Bibles, and nothing but Bibles. He manifested no other symptoms of insanity, and when questioned as to his conduct excused his acts on the ground that it was necessary to propagate the gospel. Well, it may not have been [128] so mad an idea after all to think that theft of Bibles was calculated to do God service. How many people, sane enough withal, have attempted to propagate truth with a sword, as if human hearts needed to be ploughed before they would yield a harvest. "There are persons," says Dr. Rush, "who are moral in the highest degree as to certain duties, but who, nevertheless, live under the influence of some one vice. In one instance a woman was exemplary in her obedience to every command of the moral law except one-she could not refrain from stealing. What made this vice more remarkable was that she was in easy circumstances, and not addicted to extravagance in anything. Such was the propensity to this vice that, when she could lay her hands on nothing more valuable, she would often at the table of a friend fill her pockets secretly with bread. She both confessed and lamented her crime."2 A case came under our own notice which has many features in common with that just quoted. Mr. Mwas an individual of high rank. He was the owner of an excellent estate, and was as wealthy as most of his neighbors in the county in which he resided. He was never suspected of being insane, and the only evidence of mental unsoundness that could have been obtained was a confession upon the part of some of his servants that he was "sometimes peculiar." Yet this gentleman was in the habit of appropriating "towels." He invariably, when visiting or on a journey, packed the towels he found in his bedroom in his portmanteau. And when he returned home the stolen articles were, by his own directions, returned to their real owners. Marc mentions the case of a young lady of rank

1 An interesting case of a book-stealer will be found in the 5th vol., 2d series, of the Annales Médico-Psychologiques, p. 666. Some cases of kleptomania will be found in the same journal for April, 1855.

* Medical Inquiries and Observations, vol. i., p. 101.

who was addicted to stealing handkerchiefs, gloves, and the like. She mourned over her propensity, wept, repented, and stole again. There was no symptom of any impairment of intellect. Victor Amadeus, King of Sardinia, was in the habit of stealing objects of little value. And an unpublished case has come under our notice where the propensity [120] to acquire by theft manifested itself only in relation to pins. The case mentioned by Prichard is well known, where the individual would not eat unless the food was stolen, so that his attendant had to humor his appetite by placing his food in a corner, where it seemed hidden, but could be purloined without difficulty.

? 191.

Theft-Madness considered.-These and many other cases which might be quoted' show that theft may be the only symptom of disease, for surely we are entitled to infer the presence of mental alienation in a case where the motives to theft are so obscure, so unlike those which ordinarily govern the actions of men, as to defy all predication of an individual's action from the ordinary experience of the conduct of mankind. That where a clergyman, who is in every other respect strictly conscientious, who is guided by an earnest desire to comply with the commands of a strict code of duty, steals Bibles, and nothing but Bibles, when he steals them with a view to disseminate religious doctrines, one of the most imperative of which is "Thou shalt not steal," that we should regard such a person as insane with respect to that act, seems to us a necessary consequence of thought. That a gentleman of rank and fortune should steal linen from his friends and hotel-keepers, and that subsequent to the theft he should command their return, seems to us sufficient evidence of morbid mental conditions. The relation of such individuals to the civil and criminal law of the country in which they reside is a question which will be considered in a subsequent chapter, and the answer to which may be surmised from what has already been said. But in the meantime we are considering whether there is a marked con

1 Marc, vol. ii., p. 254.

Marc, vol. ii., p. 254. See other cases in Marc, pp. 355, 262, 264, 255, vol. i., 308. 3 Several cases given in Gall on the Functions of the Brain, vol. iv., P. 140.

dition of mind which in its relation to circumstances manifests itself solely in connection with the idea of property, and we are of opinion that the cases quoted above, and those which have been referred to, prove that such is the fact.

? 192. Kleptomania as a Premonitory Symptom of General Insanity.-To show that it may exist as a premonitory symptom of a more serious disease, we may mention the case given by Fodère.' It is that of a servant in his own family, who could not help secretly stealing from himself and others articles even of trifling value. She was, at the same time, modest, intelligent, and religious, and was aware that she did wrong. He placed her in 180an hospital, considering her insane, and after apparent restoration and a long trial he again took her into his service. Gradually, in spite of herself, the instinct again mastered her, and in the midst of an incessant struggle between her vicious propensity on the one hand and a conscientious horror of her condition on the other, she was suddenly attacked with mania, and died in one of its paroxysms. A similar case is mentioned by Morel.2 "I was once able to establish the non-responsibility of a patient who had stolen in church the ornaments and the most insignificant objects of ceremonial, and who presented no other symptom of disease than a marked state of congestion, great self-content, and a silly laugh. The patient had no delusion: there was only a great intellectual weakness, and the most complete indifference as to the fate which justice would award. Only three or four months after his acquittal, an attack of acute mania with delirium of grandeur, trembling of the tongue, and other symptoms of progressive paralysis, justified my prognostic." And a case is given by Prichard of a gentleman of fortune who resided at Scarborough, and who, amongst other peculiarities, was in the habit of stealing any articles of no value to him, and making little use of them afterwards, who died of general paralysis.

193. Necessity for Distinguishing Kleptomania from Sane Theft.-Yet it is necessary clearly to distinguish be

p. 129.

Traiteé de Medecine L'gale, f. i., p. 237. Quoted in Ray's Medical Jurisprudence, 2 Traité des Maladies Mentales, p. 410.