19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardation?

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s1nead
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19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardation?

Post by s1nead » Wed Aug 10, 2016 1:55 am

One of my ancestors was in his 50s when he died in 1890 at the Ennis Lunatic Asylum.

The ONLY record of his life that I have is his death record.

His occupation is recorded as: Landed Proprietor

Cause of death: Marasmus of the Brain.

I have nothing else.

I submitted a FOI (Freedom of Information) to the Asylum (now known as Our Lady's Hospital) but they found NO RECORDS for him. (I even filed an appeal which meant that a senior researcher would look for the records. Nothing)

Marasmus is described as malnutrition. I didn't find anything explicitly called "Marasmus of the Brain".

Could Marasmus of the Brain be a euphemism for Mental Retardation?

One of the reasons that I suspect this diagnosis is that he was the older brother in the family yet his baby brother seems to have been groomed from childhood to succeed the father in business....... sent to boarding school, after graduation, sent to Dublin to be a solicitor and eventually succeeded their father in business.

I found all of this information very easily ~ online and in newspapers of the period.. But NOTHING about the older brother.

I'd been wondering: how could he possibly have disappointed his father so much by the age of 16 to not have been sent to school......

On the other hand, if he were mentally challenged from birth and always a dependent, why would his occupation be described as "Landed Proprietor"?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you!
Susan

Polycarp
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Re: 19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardat

Post by Polycarp » Fri Aug 12, 2016 11:17 am

Hi Susan,

Perhaps your ancestor as the eldest son inherited his father's estate under the law of primogeniture, with his affairs administered on his behalf by the chancery division of the High Court. Your ancestor may have been a ward of court, perhaps.

Polycarp

Paddy Casey
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Re: 19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardat

Post by Paddy Casey » Fri Aug 12, 2016 3:21 pm

s1nead wrote: Marasmus is described as malnutrition. I didn't find anything explicitly called "Marasmus of the Brain". Could Marasmus of the Brain be a euphemism for Mental Retardation?
Hi Susan,

The word “marasmus” comes from the Greek μαρασμός marasmos, meaning decay, and Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913, describes the condition of marasmus senilis as "progressive atrophy of the aged" so I suppose the certifying doctor, who may well have had a classical education in those days, might have been using the term in its original Greek sense. It would have been difficult to diagnose physical brain atrophy in those days unless they did a post mortem examination or your ancestor was born with microcephaly.

Paddy

s1nead
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Re: 19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardat

Post by s1nead » Fri Aug 12, 2016 4:55 pm

Thank you so much for offering your suggestions.

As to the primogeniture ~

The custom of primogeniture is why I am questioning this situation.

We have the father's 1872 Will in which the younger son inherits everything ~ without any mention of his siblings. I'm talking about over 500 acres of property, in addition to other wealth ......

In fact, until a few years ago, my father (the eldest) assumed his great grandfather had been an only child.

So, we were surprised to learn of an elder brother.

The mystery deepened when we read his death record ~ that he was in his 50s when he died and that his occupation was "landed proprietor".

Had he been a dependent child, would he have been described as a "landed proprietor"?

His sister was described as a "landed proprietor's daughter". I would assume that a dependent son would have been described "landed proprietor's son"......

Then, I got to thinking about his "cause of death" while in the Ennis Lunatic Asylum ~ "marasmus of the brain"......

I learned that "marasmus" is defined as "malnutrition" but no medical article that I have read applies "marasmus" specifically to the brain ...... just the body and usually the patient is a child, not an adult.

Since this relative's inheritance seems to have by-passed him in favor of his younger brother, I thought maybe this "marasmus of the brain" is an euphemism for mental retardation?

If he had been "mentally challenged" from birth, maybe he had spent his entire life at the Asylum.........

((Our Lady's Hospital (Ennis Lunatic Asylum) did a search of their files but found NO RECORDS on him, at all..... even though he had died while an "inmate" there....))

In that case, the father might have concentrated his efforts on the younger son who was sent to Springfield College (St Flannan's), then sent to Dublin after graduation to apprentice with Mathew Kenny (solicitor) and who eventually took over the family business.

I found all of the above information online ~ he left a great paper trail. In the same respect though, I have found no such paper trail for the older son.

I guess no one has ever seen such a diagnosis as "marasmus of the brain" .........

So, I am at a loss......

Thanks for your thoughts...... ((I have no one to bounce ideas off ~ no one in my family seems interested in this research ~ UNTIL, of course, they are planning a trip to Ireland! THEN, they want to know everything! LOL))

Susan

s1nead
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Re: 19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardat

Post by s1nead » Fri Aug 12, 2016 5:02 pm

<,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hi Susan,

<,,,,,,,,,,,,Perhaps your ancestor as the eldest son inherited his father's estate under the law of primogeniture, with his affairs administered on his behalf by the chancery division of the High Court. Your ancestor may have been a ward of court, perhaps.

Polycarp>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...

This is an excellent point, Polycarp.

When you wrote your reply, I hadn't yet mentioned that we have the Will ......

So, with that in mind, wouldn't the Will have the information about the inheritance being "in trust" for the elder son?

Because the Will makes no mention of ANY other children is why we thought our great grandfather had been an only child .....

QUESTIONS QUESTIONS QUESTIONS

Thanks so much for your input.

I really appreciate your thoughts ....

Susan

Paddy Casey
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Re: 19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardat

Post by Paddy Casey » Fri Aug 12, 2016 5:53 pm

s1nead wrote:Then, I got to thinking about his "cause of death" while in the Ennis Lunatic Asylum ~ "marasmus of the brain"......

I learned that "marasmus" is defined as "malnutrition" but no medical article that I have read applies "marasmus" specifically to the brain ...... just the body and usually the patient is a child, not an adult.

Since this relative's inheritance seems to have by-passed him in favor of his younger brother, I thought maybe this "marasmus of the brain" is an euphemism for mental retardation?

If he had been "mentally challenged" from birth, maybe he had spent his entire life at the Asylum.........

((Our Lady's Hospital (Ennis Lunatic Asylum) did a search of their files but found NO RECORDS on him, at all..... even though he had died while an "inmate" there....))

In that case, the father might have concentrated his efforts on the younger son who was sent to Springfield College (St Flannan's), then sent to Dublin after graduation to apprentice with Mathew Kenny (solicitor) and who eventually took over the family business.

I found all of the above information online ~ he left a great paper trail. In the same respect though, I have found no such paper trail for the older son.

I guess no one has ever seen such a diagnosis as "marasmus of the brain" .........

Susan
Severe malnutrition in infants - in contrast to malnutrition in adults - often causes permanent brain damage (i.e. failure of the brain to develop). This is a common cause of learning disabilities in parts of the world where famine is common. This person who died in 1890 in his fifties could theoretically have been a victim of famine but that doesn't tally with the description "landed proprietor".

Hmmm....

Paddy

s1nead
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Re: 19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardat

Post by s1nead » Fri Aug 12, 2016 6:06 pm

Yes, Paddy, I agree .....

At the time, the family was quite well-off.....

But ~ what about alcoholism?

If he had been a HUGE alcoholic, perhaps they called it: marasmus of the brain instead of alcoholism?

But, then, that really does not explain why his father had by-passed him when he was young .......

Edward was about 4 years older than his brother who was sent to Springfield around the age of 14........

Whereas, there are no records indicating that Edward had ever gone to school...... or had owned property (except on the death record).

What could he have done to have been written off by his father at such a young age?

don't know .....

Jimbo
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Re: 19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardat

Post by Jimbo » Sat Aug 13, 2016 8:21 pm

Hi Susan,

Perhaps marasmus in adults is associated with cancer. I had an aunt die of lung cancer in the 1970's and the doctor wrote "malnutrition" as the cause on the death certificate. Coincidentally this week, I found newspaper articles of a relative who was judged insane in the 1890's and sent to the county asylum; he died two weeks later of "brain fever". Medical diagnosis was not the best in the 19th century. So perhaps Edward died of brain cancer and was only in hospital for a short time and thus no records could be found?

Something also to consider: that this Edward is not the elder brother of your great great grandfather. The only evidence you have found of this Edward is his death certificate which typically don't provide much information in Ireland. Even if his surname (or other name listed on death certificate) is unique, there could be several living in County Clare.

Have you searched for this Edward with more open search terms (i.e. not assuming he is the brother of your gg grandfather) to find more information about his birth records and other possible records? When searching databases such as rootsireland, make sure you search using "Ed" to pick up both Edward and Edmund. And don't assume this Edward is from Ennis (or whatever townland your gg grandfather is from), as he could have been brought to Ennis Lunatic Asylum from elsewhere in Clare. I would focus on finding the baptism record for this Edward as most townlands in County Clare had baptism records for the period of Edward's birth. It would be much easier to help with other suggestions if you provided a surname for Edward. Providing evidence on who was the first born son (what was the name of paternal grandfather) under Irish naming traditions might provide other clues whether your great great grandfather indeed had an older brother or not.

I found in newspaper archives that "Ennis Lunatic Asylum" was much more commonly described as "Clare Lunatic Asylum" outside of County Clare. Again, a surname might provide more information.

Good luck.

Jimbo
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Re: 19th C Illnesses~Marasmus (of the Brain)~Mental Retardat

Post by Jimbo » Sat Aug 13, 2016 10:29 pm

Here is more evidence that the term "marasmus" when used for adults is associated with forms of cancer. From a U.S. newspaper in 1889:
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