Chapter XXV: Appendix

THE ATTITUDE OF ASSURANCE COMPANIES TO THE SUICIDE.

To obtain this information application was made to each of the offices mentioned, for a prospectus which should include the regulations with respect to forfeiture of policies. I find by analysis that there are seven varieties in the proceedings of the companies, and in all of them assigned policies are indisputable.

A.─Policy is void by suicide:─Crown, Hand-in-Hand, Law, Rock, Provident, and Royal Exchange.

Of these, however─

Hand-in-Hand _may_ return premiums and interest.

Law _may_ pay a sum of money if the directors think fit.

Provident _may_ pay a surrender value.

Crown _may_ make a reasonable allowance unless the suicide be
felo-de-se.

B.─Policy is not void after five years’ existence:─Atlas, Gresham, Mutual (if assured be 30 years old), Prudential, Whittington, Sun.

C.─Policy is not void after three years’ existence:─Alliance, British Empire, Norwich Union, Pelican.

D.─Policy is not void after two years:─Star, Commercial Union.

E.─Policy is not void after 13 months:─Guardian; London Assurance Company.

F.─Policy is not void after one year:─Clerical, Medical, and General; Legal and General; Liverpool, London, and Globe.

G.─No mention is made of suicide in the prospectuses of the following companies:─Equitable; London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow; Economic; New York; Northern; Royal; Scottish Amicable; Union; West of England.

The Union, and West of England, have a clause that “No claim is disputed unless there is palpable fraud.”

Of these thirty-two companies only one makes a distinction between suicide of the insane, and felo-de-se, viz., the Crown.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.

Agabeg and Harris. Principles of the Criminal Law, 3rd ed. 1884.

American Journal of Medical Science. 1878. See Palmer, O. H., and Gray, J. P.

Anti-hegesias. A French Poem on Suicide, critical and historical. 1763.

Baer, A. Der Alcoolismus. 1878.

Bareuc. Reflexions sur le Suicide. 1789.

Beccaria, Bonesana C. On Crimes and Punishments, an essay. 1777.

Beck, John B. Elements of Medical Jurisprudence. 1842.

Bentham, Jeremy. Principles of Penal Law. 1843.

Bertrand, Louis. Traité du Suicide. 1857.

Block, Georg. Vom Selbstmord. 1792.

Bonomi. Del Suicidio in Italia. 1878.

Bourdin, Dr. C. E. Du Suicide. 1845.

Briand, J., and Chaudé, E. Manuel complet de Médecine Légale. 1880.

Brierre de Boismont, Alexander. Du Suicide. 1856.

British Medical Journal.

Brouc. Considerations sur le Suicide de notre epoque. 1836.

Bucknill and Tuke. A Manual of Psychological Medicine. 4th ed. 1879.

Buckle, H. T. History of Civilization in England. 1869.

Bunyon, C. T. A Treatise on Life Assurance. 18.

Buonafede, Appiano. Histoire de Suicide. 1762 and 1843.

Burdach. Traité de Physiologie. 1841.

Burrows, G. M. Commentaries on Insanity. 1828.

Camp, Maxime du. Memoires d’un Suicide. 1855.

Caro, E. Le Suicide dans ses rapports avec le civilisation. 1856.

Carpenter, W. B. Principles of Mental Physiology. 4th ed. 1876.

Casper, J. L. Forensic Medicine, translated from the German by J. W. Balfour. 1861-5.

Cazauvieilh, J. B. Du Suicide. 1840.

Chevers, Norman. The Medical Jurisprudence of India. 1870.

Chevrey, J. Etude Médicale sur le Suicide. 1816.

Chitty, Joseph, the Elder. Medical Jurisprudence. 1834.

Connoisseur, The. No. 50. 1755.

Dabadie, F. Les Suicides Illustres. Vol. I. 1859.

David. Note sur le Suicide en Danemark. 1860.

Debreyne, M. Du Suicide. 1847.

Descuret, J. B. F. La Médecine des Passions. 1841.

Despine, Prosper. Psychologie Naturelle. 1868.

Dictionnaire des Sciences Médicales. Art. Suicide, by Esquirol.

Douay, Edmond. Le Suicide. 1870.

Dumas, Jean. Traité du Suicide. 1773.

Ebrard, N. Du Suicide. 1871.

Elam, Ch. A Physician’s Problems.

Espine, Marc de. Essai analytique de Statistique Mortuaire Comparée. 1858.

Esquirol, E. Maladies Mentales, 1838, and Article S. in Dict. des Sciences Médicales.

Etangs, Des. Du Suicide Politique. 1860.

Falret, J. P. De l’hypochondrie et du Suicide. 1822.

Farr, A. Reports of Registration of Deaths.

Foderé, F. E. Traité de Médicine Légale. 1813.

Formey, J. H. S. Mélanges philosophiques. Berlin, 1754.

Franklin, R. V. De la Philosophie et de la Morale du Suicide. 1835.

Gentleman’s Magazine. Vol. xxv. 1755.

Girardin, St. Marc de. Du Suicide et de la Haine de la Vie. 1843.

Goethe, J. W. Von. The Sorrows of Werter. 1774.

Gru, Eugène. Les Morts Violents. 1864.

Hecker. De Autokeiria Martyrum. 1720.

Holbach, Paul de. Le Système de la Nature. 1770.

Indian Medical Gazette.

Jaccoud. Nouveau Dictionnaire de Médecine. Art. Suicide. 1883.

Jervis, Sir John. Office and Duties of Coroners, by Melsheimer, R.E. 1880.

Josephus, Flavius, Works of.

Jousset, P. G. Du Suicide, 1858, and Sur le Rage, 1868.

Kayser. La Statistique Officielle du Suicide en Norvege. 1852.

Lancet, The.

Laverdy. Code Penal.

Lecky, W. E. H. History of European Morals.

Legoyt, A. Le Suicide. 1881.

Leibnitz, C. W. Von. Du Suicide. 1865.

Leroy, Dr. Etudes sur le Suicide. 1870.

Lisle, E. Du Suicide. 1856.

Lunacy Commissioners, Returns of the.

Luys, J. Des Maladies Hereditaires. 1863.

Marc, C. C. H. De la Folie. 1840.

Maudsley, Henry. Insanity and Crime, 1864, and Body and Mind, 1873.

Medical Critic. 1861, 1862.

Medical Times and Gazette.

Mental Science Asylum, Journal of.

Merian, De. Discours sur la crainte de la Mort, et sur le Suicide. 1763.

Mesnier, L. J. E. Du Suicide dans l’Armée. 1881.

Millar, W, H. Suicide in the Army. See Journal of the Statistical Society. 1874.

Montaigne, Michel de, Essays of. 1580.

Moore, C. A Full Enquiry into Suicide. 1790.

Morselli, Enrico. Il Suicidio. Milan, 1879, and Suicide, an abridged translation, London, 1881.

Montesquieu, C. de S. Lettres Persanes. Nos. 74 and 76.

Nizamut Adawlut. Reports of Criminal Cases in India.

Oettingen. Ueber Acuten und Chronischen Selbstmord. 1881.

Ogston, Francis. Lectures on Medical Jurisprudence. 1878.

Osiander. Ueber den Selbstmord, 1813.

Paley, W. Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy. 1785.

Parent Du Chatélet. Hygiène Publique, 1836, and De la Prostitution, 1857.

Paris and Fonblanque. Medical Jurisprudence. 1823.

Plutarch. Life of Alexander the Great.

Pope, H. M. Law and Practice of Lunacy. 1877.

Prévost. Notes sur le Suicide dans le Canton de Genève. 1836.

Psychological Medicine, Journal of, 1859, 1878, 1879, 1882.

Quetelet, L. A. J. De l’homme, 1835, and Essai de Statistique Morale, 1866.

Radcliffe, J. N. Suicide Fields.

Ravizza, C. Il Suicidio. Milan. 1878.

Ray, Isaac. Medical Jurisprudence and Insanity. 1839.

Registrar General, Reports of. Annual.

Regnault, Elias. Nouvelles Reflexions sur le Suicide. 1830.

Rousseau, J. J. La Nouvelle Heloise. Letters xxi. and xxii. Part iii.

Salomon, Bromberg. Welche sind die Ursachen der in neuester Zeit so sehr überhand nehmenden Selbstmorden. 1861.

Sleeman, W. H. Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official. 1884.

Smith’s Annals of Indian Administration.

Social Science Review. 1862 _et seq._

Stael, Mme. de. Influence des Passions, 1817. Reflexions sur le Suicide, 1820.

Staeudlin, C. F. Geschichte der Vorstellungen und Lehren vom Selbstmorde. 1824.

Statistical Society, Journal of.

Stephen, Sir J. F. A Digest of the Criminal Law, 1877, and a History of the Criminal Law of England. 1883.

Suicide, an Elegy. 1775.

Suicide, its Guilt and Punishment, in S. P. C. K. series. 1836.

Suicide, on. Rel. Tract Soc. 1830.

Szafkowski, L. F. De la Mort volontaire. 1840.

Tardieu, A. A. Etude Médico-Legale. 1870.

Taylor, A. S. Medical Jurisprudence; edited by Stevenson. 1883.

Tissot, J. La Manie du Suicide. 1840.

Tissot, J. Le Droit Penal. 1860.

Tissot, S. A. Onanisme. 5th ed. 1781.

Trousseau, A. Clinical Medicine. 1867-71, transl. by the New Sydenham Soc.

Voltaire. F. M. Arouet de. Dictionnaire Philosophique. 1765.

Wagner, Adolph. Die Gesetzmässigkeit in den scheinbar willkürlichen menschlichen Handlungen vom Standpunkte der Statistik. 1864.

Wharton, Francis. Mental Unsoundness. 1855.

Wharton and Stillé. Medical Jurisprudence. 1873.

Winslow, Forbes. The Anatomy of Suicide. 1840.

World, The, No. 193. Sept. 1756.

INDEX.

Abercrombie on Suicide, 124.

Advanced Views on Suicide, 5.

Afghan Surgeon, Suicide of an, 121.

Age, Effect of, 109.

Alcohol, Abuse of, 136, 156, 170.

Animals, Suicide of, 174.

Anomalies of Law, 160.

Aphelion, 69.

Archway at Highgate, 131.

Aristotle on Suicide, 9, 91, 176.

Army, Suicide in the, 98.

Assurance Companies, 180.

Asylums, Foreign, 127.

Asylums, Use of, 168.

Athens, Ancient, 9.

Attempted Suicide, 156.

Attitude of Assurance Companies, 180.

Austria, Suicide in, 61, 62, 96, 99, 146.

Austrian Suicide Law, 50.

Axe, Professor, on Suicide, 176.

Bailey, Nathan, on Origin of the Name Suicide, 31.

Balzac on Suicide, 41.

Beccaria on Suicide, 42.

Belgium, Suicide in, 60, 62.

Bentham on Suicide, 47.

Berenice, Suicide of, 16.

Berlin, Suicide Rate in, 95.

Bible, Suicides of the, 17.

Bibliographical Index, 182.

Blandford on Suicide, 120.

Bleeding, Use of, 169.

Blindness, Effect of, 135.

Bodily Disease, 135.

Bodio, Formula of, 61.

Borrodaile _v._ Hunter, 53.

Brahmins, Suicide among, 11, 161.

Brierre de Boismont, 83, 106, 111, 173.

Broussais on Causes of Suicide, 66.

Buckmill and Tuke on Suicide, 121, 123.

Burial of a Suicide, 45.

Burrows _v._ Burrows, 56.

Calanus, 11.

Calcutta, Suicide Rate of, 162.

Carbonic Acid Gas, 146.

Cato, 22, 38.

Causation, 65.

Causes, Tables of, 70, 72, 73, 74.

Celibacy, 112, 155.

Ceos, 7.

Chambers _v._ Queen’s Proctor, 57.

Charcoal Stoves, 147.

Chatterton, Suicide of, 132.

Childhood, 111.

Children, Effect of having, 114.

China, Suicide in, 13.

Christian Church, 3, 14.

Chrysostom, St., 16.

Cities, 93, 94.

Classical Authors, 30.

„ Suicides, 18.

Climate, 78.

Cloister, Use of the, 173.

Coal Gas, Suicide by, 153.

Colton on Suicide, 37.

Commerce, 96.

Confessional, 173.

Convict Life, 100.

Coroner, Warrant of, 45.

Councils of the Church, 14.

Crime, 90, 154.

Crucifixion, 152.

Curious means of Suicide, 153.

Cut-throat, 146.

Dabadie on Suicide, 121.

Deafness, 135.

Decrease of Crime, 155.

Dementia, 124, 126.

Denmark, Suicide Rate in, 60, 62, 89.

Desfontaines, 31, 39.

Despine on the Causes of Suicide, 67.

Development of Mind, 156.

Drowning, 145.

Drunkenness, 137.

Ecclesiastical Law, 15.

Education increases Suicide Rate, 81, 112, 156.

Education decreases Crime, 155.

Egypt, Suicide in, 13.

Elam on Suicide, 92, 133.

Emigration, 76, 152.

Employment, 95.

England, Suicide in,

„ Army of, 98.

„ Navy of, 99.

„ Prisons of, 100.

Epicureans, 3, 10.

Epilepsy, 119, 171.

Epidemic Suicide, 129.

Etna, Mount, 133.

Europe, Suicide in, 151.

Failed, Suicide, 156.

Falls, Suicide by, 134, 146.

Family Life, 89, 126.

Fascination, 134.

„ in Animals, 178.

Felo-de-se, 43, 160.

Female Suicide, 105, 108, 109, 110.

Fire Arms, 145.

Fleming, R., on Suicide, 34.

Forfeitures by Suicide, 45, 46.

Forms of Lunacy, 123.

Found Drowned, 59.

France, Laws in, 16, 50.

„ Suicide in, 61, 62, 63, 83, 115, 151.

Gas, Suicide by, 146, 153.

German Law on Suicide, 49.

Germany, Suicide Rates in, 60, 62, 87, 114, 125, 152.

Gibbon on Suicide, 47.

Goethe on Suicide, 41.

Greece, Ancient, 7.

Greek terms for Suicide, 32.

Hamlet, 33.

Hanging, 145.

Hegesias, 129.

Heredity, 138.

Hindoos, 11.

History of Suicide, 7.

Holland, Suicide in, 60, 61.

Horn _v._ Assurance Company, 55.

Horse, Suicide of, 176.

Hours of the Day, 106.

Hume, David, 3, 36.

Hysteria, 109.

Iago on Suicide, 33.

Imbecility, 124, 125.

Imitation, 131.

Increase of Suicide, 58, 60, 62.

India, Suicide in, 161.

Insanity, 116-128.

„ not proved by Suicide, 47, 48, 56, 160.

Insomnia, 136.

Ireland, Suicide in, 150.

Italy, Suicide in, 60, 62, 110, 113, 151.

„ Prisons of, 101.

Japan, Suicide in, 13.

Jews, Suicide among the, 2, 11, 85.

„ very liable to lunacy, 86.

Johnson, Dr., on Suicide, 36.

„ on Suicide of Scorpions, 177.

Jurisprudence, Civil, 51.

„ Criminal, 43.

Koor in India, 162.

Latin terms for Suicide, 31.

Laws on Suicide, 43.

„ Foreign, on Suicide, 49.

„ Indian, on Suicide, 161.

Lea River, Corpses in the, 60.

Legoyt on Suicide, 42.

Lindsay on Animal Suicide, 177.

Lisle on Suicide causes, 73.

Literature of Suicide, 29.

London, Rate of Suicide in, 94.

„ means of Suicide in, 149.

Louis IX., 15.

„ XIV., 16.

Love Affairs, 142.

Lunacy, 116-128.

Lunatics, Suicide of, 44, 123.

Lyons, Epidemic at, 130.

MacAdam _v._ Walker, 56.

Madness, Amount of, 125.

Mania, 123, 125, 126.

Marriage, 112, 114.

„ Second, 115.

Marseilles, 130.

Marshes, 79.

Martyrdom, 2.

Maupertius, 39.

Means of Cure, 171.

Means of Suicide, 144.

„ „ in India, 165.

Medical Men, Suicide of, 143.

Melancholia, 123, 124, 126.

Mental Diseases,

Metempsychosis, 2.

Mexico, 13.

Middle Ages, Suicides of the, 24.

Miletus, Suicide in, 129.

Military Life, 98.

Modern Suicides, 24.

Mohammedans, Suicide among, 12, 161.

Monday, 105.

Monomania, 123, 125, 126.

Moon, Effect of the, 102, 104.

Montaigne, 10, 38.

Monument, The, 131, 133.

Morality, 89.

Morselli on Suicide, 29, 42, 69, 87, 100, 104.

Moses, 2.

Mountains, 79.

Navy, 98, 151.

Negroes, 14, 76.

New York, Suicide in, 95, 152.

Norway, Suicide in, 60, 62, 87.

Notable Suicides, 17.

Novels, Famous, 92.

Nuns, 95.

Occupation, 95.

Odin, 14.

Old Age, 110.

Origin of the Name Suicide, 31.

Othello, 33.

Over-pressure, 112.

Pain, Suicide from, 135, 164.

Paine, Tom, on Suicide, 37.

Paris, Suicide in, 132.

Pellagra, 130.

Perihelion, 69.

Persia, 12.

Peru, 13.

Pessimism, 132.

Philosophy encourages Suicide, 3.

Poison, 146, 148

Police, The, 155, 159.

Policies voided by Suicide, 180.

Portugal, Suicide in, 60, 87.

Post Mortem appearances, 122.

Predisposition, Hereditary, 138.

Present Rates of Suicide, 58.

Prevention, 166.

Prison Life, 100.

Prostitutes, 90.

Protestantism, 85, 87.

Protestants, Morselli’s Table of Suicide by, 87.

Puerperal Suicide, 170.

Quetelet on Crime, 154.

R. _v._ Alison, 43.

R. _v._ Dyson, 43, 48.

R. _v._ Fisher, 48.

R. _v._ Gathercole, 48.

R. _v._ May, 48.

Race, Effects of, 75.

Railways, 96.

Rare Means, 153.

Regent’s Canal, 59.

Religion, 85, 172.

Revenge, 162.

Revivalism, 88.

Ritualism, 88.

Rome, Ancient, Suicide in, 9.

„ „ Suicide Law in, 10.

Roman Catholics, Suicide Rates of, 85.

Rousseau, 3, 40.

Rural Life, 93.

Russia, Suicide in, 145.

Saints, Suicide of, 16.

Salvation Army, 88.

Sati, 163.

Savages, 156.

Scandinavia, 14.

School Tasks, 112.

Schopenhauer, 132.

Schwabe _v._ Clift, 53.

Scorpions, Suicide of, 176.

Scotland, Suicide in, 149, 150.

Seasons, Effect of the, 102, 154.

Sex, 107, 152.

Shakespeare, 33.

Sleep, Value of, 172.

Sleeplessness, 136, 172.

Spain, Suicide in, 60, 87, 107.

Specific Rates of Suicide, 75.

Spiritualism, 140.

Spite, 142.

Stael, Madame de, 2, 40.

Starvation, Suicide by, 152.

Stephen, Sir J., on Suicide, 48.

Stoics, the, 3, 10, 132.

Stone in the Bladder, 10.

Stoves, 147.

Sun, Effects of the, 102.

Suffocation as a means, 146.

Surgeons, Suicide of, 143.

Sunday, 105.

Sweden. Suicide in, 60, 62, 87, 111.

Tædium Vitæ, 141.

Taine on Suicide, 41.

Tall Races, 77.

Tarantulism, 130.

Temporary Insanity, 44, 46.

Tendency, Morning, to Suicide, 170.

Thames, Corpses in the, 59.

Thomas, Dr. Danford, on Suicide from Spite, 142.

Thebes, 9.

Throat-cut, 146.

Timon of Athens, 8.

Tissot on Suicide, 49, 66.

Town Life, 93.

Trades, 95.

Trousseau on Epilepsy, 119.

Tuke and Bucknill, 121, 123.

Urban Life, 93.

Utopia of More, 32.

Valhalla, 14.

Vertigo, Epileptic, 119.

Vesuvius, Mount, 133.

Vindictiveness, 142.

Virginity, 113.

Void Policies, 180.

Voltaire, 3, 39.

Warrant of a Coroner, 45.

Wars, 96, 113.

Waterloo, Battle of, 133.

Werter, Sorrows of, 41.

White _v._ Brit. Emp. Co., 55.

Widowhood, 112.

Winslow, F., on Suicide, 29.

Women choose Sunday for Suicide, 105.

Youth, 110.

Zeno, 3, 10.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

LONDON:
Printed by Henry Hansard and Son, near Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

* * * * * *

Transcriber’s note:

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.

Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.