The epidemic of suicide still continues to rage. Hardly a
day passes without some man killing his wife, or mistress, or sweetheart, usually out of jealousy, and then executing justice on himself. That form of human wickedness is really remarkable because of its superfluity of naughtiness. If the man would shoot himself first, he would be rid of his trouble without committing a double crime. The usual cause is, how- ever, despondency. This week, for example, an old woman picked-up a £5-note. She was probably thoroughly respectable, but, overpowered by the sudden temptation, she spent the money, and then, pricked in her conscience and afraid of police inquiry, she put herself to death. A lady-nurse, too, has killed herself with morphine, absolutely for no reason except dejection and fear that she could not "both fight and be good." The facts exactly bear out the remark- able speech of Sir J. Crichton-Browne, reported in the Times of Tuesday. He believes in an immense increase of consciousness, which, being concurrent with a wave of low vitality—the result, we should say, of the strain on increasing suicide, power produced by education—is rapidly ncreasing suicide, and filling asylums with melancholics instead of raving lunatics. There is apparently no remedy ; but we confess we wish the regular falsehood now given in by Coroners' juries as their verdict, could be changed for something which implied strong moral reprobation. " Died of cowardice " would at least make suicide " bad form."
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