An Italian soldier, 25, a foundling, was always off and on in a military prison. At a tavern one night the man unsheathed his sword and threw three bottles at the host. Bystanders overpowered him and carried him to the local police station. Handcuffs were put on to stop the mania. His pupils were dilated and he was sweating profusely. Alcohol could absolutely be excluded from the history of this incident.
Observed in clinic, the patient was rather silent, but on the whole normal and without delusions or hallucinations. It seems that he had committed a number of crimes in the army that were always excused on account of his mental state. He had been strongly alcoholic, although not at the time of the incident mentioned. He was covered with tattooings of an obscene and violent nature.
He showed pharyngeal and conjunctival anesthesia and concentric limitation of the visual fields of unusual degree, and a remarkable hypalgesia. The knee-jerks were lively. The man was, in point of fact, sent back to military service, with, however, the suggestion of reform school.
Psychopathic delinquent.
Case 189. (Buscaino and Coppola, January, 1916.)
An Italian, 20 (family history negative), was described by officers as of an odd disposition, at times thoughtful and again chattering and presumptuous, and often very vulgar in talk and manner. He had tried several trades, with little success.
While in the army he discharged his gun three times, claiming to have heard noises in a nearby field. On account of the inopportune repeated discharges, he was condemned to the barracks for ten days. The following day, instead of returning to the barracks, he abandoned his musket, cartridge box and uniform, and, returning to town, left for Leghorn. Being sent to prison, he began to scream that he was thirsty. He tore his jacket into strips with his teeth, and making a noose of it, attempted to hang himself.
On being transferred to the military hospital, he was often very restless, screaming and making a great uproar. On being questioned, he answered indifferently and had a vacant stare. During his stay at the clinic, patient was always quiet. Once, however, he had a spell of intense psycho-motor agitation, brought on without any known cause and followed by a short period of bewilderment, lasting altogether half an hour.
Patient had insomnia and his visual fields showed concentric contraction for white. He was sent to a military convalescent hospital.