Note 53 — Chapter VI · INSOMNIA—INSANITY.

It is a matter of regret to me that this book goes to press before I can ascertain the final result. Judging from the above account, however, I should expect a thoroughly successful ending, unless it should transpire that, true to their instincts, the attendants prevailed upon the patient to abandon the simple regimen, which he adopted after the fast, and resume the ordinary stimulating diet; in which case I should confidently expect a complete relapse.

As a hint regarding the effect of a stimulating and excessive diet upon persons of unsound mind, I subjoin a brief note taken during the trial of the most celebrated lunatic of modern times: “Guiteau’s appetite is quite as remarkable as his insolence. He has breakfast served in his room at the court-house about nine o’clock, and usually consumes at this meal a pound of steak, nine buckwheat cakes, three roasted potatoes, and five cups of coffee. Then, at half-past twelve, he gorges himself on roast beef and mutton.”