At common law it appears that a lunatic cannot be placed in an asylum
unless dangerous to himself or to others, but under the Lunacy Acts the
placing of a madman in an asylum is considered as a part of the
treatment with a view to the cure of the patient.
XLI.--IDIOCY, IMBECILITY, CRETINISM
=Idiocy= is not a disease, but a congenital condition in which the
intellectual faculties are either never manifested or have not been
sufficiently developed to enable the idiot to acquire an amount of
knowledge equal to that acquired by other persons of his own age and in
similar circumstances with himself. Idiots, as a rule, are deformed in
body as well as deficient in mind. Their heads are generally small and
badly-shaped, and their features ill-formed and distorted. The teeth are
few in number and very irregular. The hard palate has a very deep arch,
or may even be cleft. The complexion is sallow and unhealthy, the limbs
imperfectly developed, and the gait is awkward, shambling, and unsteady.
In his legal relations an absolute idiot is civilly disabled and
irresponsible, but in regard to crime, or as a witness, see remarks made
above.
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