When no other defence to homicide is possible the claim of
insanity is frequently interposed. Nothing is more confusing
to the ordinary juryman than trying to determine the probative
value of evidence touching unsoundness of mind, and the
application thereto of the legal test of criminal
responsibility. In point of fact, juries are hardly to be
blamed for this, since the law itself is antiquated and the
subject one abounding in difficulty. Unfortunately the
opportunity for vague yet damaging testimony on the part of
experts, the ease with which any desired opinion can be
defended by a slight alteration in the hypothetical facts, and
the practical impossibility of exposure, have been seized upon
with avidity by a score or more of unscrupulous alienists who
are prepared to sell their services to the highest bidder.
These men are all the more dangerous because, clever students
of mental disease and thorough masters of their subject as
they are, they are able by adroit qualifications and skilful
evasions to make half-truths seem as convincing as whole ones.
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