On the other hand, if the word "wrong" is judicially
interpreted, it would seem to be given an elasticity which
would invite inevitable confusion as well as abuse.
Moreover, the test in question takes no cognizance of persons
who have no power of control. The law of New York and most of
the states does not recognize "irresistible impulses," but it
should admit the medical fact that there are persons who,
through no fault of their own, are born practically without
any inhibitory capacity whatever, and that there are others
whose control has been so weakened, through accident or
disease, as to render them morally irresponsible,--the
so-called psychopathic inferiors.
Most of us are only too familiar with the state of a person
just falling under the influence of an anesthetic, when all
the senses seem supernaturally acute, the reasoning powers are
active and unimpaired, and the patient is convinced that he
can do as he wills, whereas, in reality, he says and does
things which later on seem impossible in their absurdity.
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