Suicide and Insanity. By S. A. K. Straban, M.D. (Swan
Son- nenschein and Co.)—Dr. Strahan unites the qualifications of law and medicine, and brings his knowledge, in addition to the results of considerable reading, to the elucidation of his subject. This he views historically in the first place. He then divides it by the consideration of its chief cause. This gives two classes, " Rational," and " Irrational." The first he describes as " Quasi- Suicide," the second as "True Suicide." It is a description which is obviously open to question. The man who deliberately kills
himself, say to avoid disgrace or to escape from pain, is, from one point of view, the real suicide, just as the man who deliberately kills another for gain or for revenge is the real murderer. How- ever, Dr. Strahan has something to say for his position ; in any case his analysis of the subject is instructive.
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