ABSTRACT
Of all the triumphs won by science for humanity, few have been farther-reaching in good effects than the modern treatment of the insane. But this is the result of a struggle long and severe between two great forces. On one side have stood the survivals of various superstitions, the metaphysics of various philosophies, the dogmatism of various theologies, the literal interpretation of various sacred books, and especially of own—all compacted into a creed that insanity is mainly/largely demoniacal possession; on the other side has stood science, gradually accumulating proofs that insanity is always the result of physical disease. This chapter sketches the history of this warfare, or rather of this evolution of truth out of error. During the whole historic period, keen men had obtained an inkling of the truth; but to the vast multitude, down to the end of the seventeenth century, nothing was more clear than that insanity is, in many if not in most cases, demoniacal possession.
