Butcher, Dr. Sam., 1876, Bishop of Meath, when insane.
Brandon, Raphael, 1877, architect.
Mahomed, Ismail Khan, 1883, an Afghan surgeon, by prussic acid.
[CHAPTER IV.]
LITERATURE.
The Literature of the subject is of very diverse character. France, Italy, and Germany have produced many works on suicide as a fact. England has been content with one work on suicide, that of Forbes Winslow, “The Anatomy of Suicide,” dated 1840. “It is an interesting collection of anecdotes, arranged without much regard to method or authenticity.” (Athenæum.)
The thoroughly scientific statistical work of H. Morselli, of Turin, has been recently published in an English form, but it is hardly a readable book, consisting almost entirely of statistics; and the subject, moreover, is treated from an Italian standpoint, and for these reasons has not found many readers in this country.
There are, however, plenty of references to suicide in English literature, and some essays, chiefly in its defence. Some of these I catalogue here, and also several references from French literature. I also add a few examples of authors of Greece and Rome who concerned themselves with the subject. Of foreign works relating to suicide, a list will be found in the Bibliographical Index.
Among the authors of Greek and Roman civilization, in favour of allowing suicide to be committed, were─
Aristippus, circa 360 B.C., founder of the Cyrenaic philosophy.