lynnemee(a)ihug.co.nz,Internet writes:
Hello everyone
I have an 18 year old female ancestor who was listed as an Imbecile
in
the
1871 census.
I'm trying to find her in the 1881 census so wonder whether she
married
or
died before 1881. She isn't listed with her parents and siblings.
dead or asylum
Can anyone tell me what constituted an Imbecile in those days
a technical term used by psychologists of that time
mentally deficient
IQ under ?? 80
Brain damaged through difficult birth
spastic
and whether it
was common for a female imbecile to marry.
unlikely
Hugh W
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see
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/
!!!! Warning the scanning is bad and pagination clumsy !!!!!
Greek words all messed up
http://41.1911encyclopedia.org/I/IM/IMBECILE.htm
IMBECILE (through the French from Lat. imbecilius or imbecillis, weak,
feeble; of unknown origin), weak or feeble, particularly in mind. The
term imbecility is used conventionally of a condition of mental
degeneration less profound than idiotcy (see INsANITY).
http://72.1911encyclopedia.org/I/IN/INSANITY.htm
> insanities are sharply divided into two great classes the
Congenital and the Acquired. Under the head of Congenita lnsanitv must
he considered all cases in which, from whateve cause. l,raii
(lcvcl(pnlcnt has bccii arrested, with conscqnt-n
impotentialityof development of the mental faculties; tinder that of
Acquired Insanity all those in which the brain has been born healthy
but has suffered from morbid processes affecting it primarily, or from
diseased states of the general s,~1ca system implicating it
secondarily. In studying the causation of these two great classes, it
will be found that certain remote influences exist which are believed
to be commonly predisposing; these will be considered as such, leaving
the proximate or exciting causes until each class with its subdivisions
comes under review.
<<
> The forms of insanity may be divided into (I.) Congenital Mental
Defect and (II.) Acquired Insanity.
Form~of I. Congenital Mental Defect.The morbid mental Insanity,
conditions which fall to be considered under this head
are Idiocy (with its modification, Imbecility) and Cretinism (q.v.).
<<
> The term Imbecility has been conventionally employed to indicate
the
less profound degrees of idiocy, but in point of fact no distinct line
of demarcation can be drawn between the conditions. As the scale of
imbeciles ascends it is found that the condition is evidenced not so
much by obtuseness as by irregularity of intellectual development. This
serves to mark the difference between the extreme stupidity of the
lowest of the healthy and the highest forms of the morbidly deprived
type.
<<
> The term Imbecility has been conventionally employed to indicate
the
less profound degrees of idiocy, but in point of fact no distinct line
of demarcation can be drawn between the conditions. As the scale of
imbeciles ascends it is found that the condition is evidenced not so
much by obtuseness as by irregularity of intellectual development. This
serves to mark the difference between the extreme stupidity of the
lowest of the healthy and the highest forms of the morbidly deprived
type.
<<
> Statistics.According to the census returns of 1901 the total
number
of persons described as idiots and imbeciles in England and, Wales was
48,882, the equality of the sexes being remarkabk~. namely, 24,480
males and 24,402 females. Compared with the entire population the ratio
is 1 idiot or imbecile to 665 persons, or 15 per 10,000 persons living.
Whether the returns are defective, owing to the sensitiveness of
persons who would desire to conceal the occurrence of idiocy in their
families, we have no means of knowing; but such a feeling is no doubt
likely to exist among those who look upon mental infirmity as
humiliating, rather than. as one of the many physical evils which
afflict humanity. Dr. Ireland estimates that there is 1 idiot or
imbecile to every 500 persOns in countries that have a census. The
following table shows the number of idiots according to official
retuns of the various countries: Proportion
<<