This extent is
shown in Figure 228, taken five months after the accident, when
the granulations had grown over the edge about an inch. Figure
229 shows the surface of the wound, six and one-half months after
the accident and three months after the applications of numerous
skin-grafts.
Cases of self-mutilation may be divided into three
classes:--those in which the injuries are inflicted in a moment
of temporary insanity from hallucinations or melancholia; with
suicidal intent; and in religious frenzy or emotion.
Self-mutilation is seen in the lower animals, and Kennedy, in
mentioning the case of a hydrocephalic child who ate off its
entire under lip, speaks also of a dog, of cats, and of a lioness
who ate off their tails. Kennedy mentions the habit in young
children of biting the finger-nails as an evidence of infantile
trend toward self-mutilation. In the same discussion Collins
states that he knew of an instance in India in which a horse lay
down, deliberately exposing his anus, and allowing the crows to
pick and eat his whole rectum. In temporary insanity, in fury, or
in grief, the lower animals have been noticed by naturalists to
mutilate themselves.
Self-mutilation in man is almost invariably the result of
meditation over the generative function, and the great majority
of cases of this nature are avulsions or amputations of some
parts of the genitalia.
Pages:
1468
1469
1470
1471
1472
1473
1474
1475
1476
1477
1478
1479
1480
1481
1482
1483
1484
1485
1486
1487
1488
1489
1490
1491
1492