Ward Hunt

“ The intellect and intelligence of man are manifested through the organs of the brain, and from these, consciousness, will memory, judgment, thought, volition, and passion, the functions of the mind, do proceed. ”

“ American Life Insurance Co. was affirmed; the plaintiff offering to prove that the deceased was insane at the time he committed the act; that he acted under the influence and impulse of insanity, and that his act of self-destruction was the direct result of his insanity.
In Nimick v. Insurance Company, [10] McKennan, Circuit Judge of the United States for the Western District of Pennsylvania, held that if the assured comprehended the physical nature and consequences of the act, and intended to destroy his life, the policy was void, although he did not comprehend the moral nature of the act. ”

“ If the death is caused by the voluntary act of the assured, he knowing and intending that his death shall be the result of his act, but when his reasoning faculties are so far impaired that he is not able to understand the moral character, the general nature, consequences, and effect of the act he is about to commit, or when he is impelled thereto by an insane impulse, which he has not the power to resist, such death is not within the contemplation of the parties to the contract, and the insurer is liable. ”

“ Delirium, fever, tearing away the bandages for preserving the life, the taking of poison, in a case like that before us, are all results of bodily disease. If bodily disease in these or other forms overthrew Terry's reasoning faculties, in other words, destroyed his consciousness, his judgment, his volition, his will, he remained the form of the man only. ”

“ Excessive action of the brain whereby the faculties become exhausted, a want of proper action whereby the functions become impaired and diminished, the visions, delusions, and mania which accompany irritability, or the weakness which results from an excess of vital functions, indigestion and sleeplessness, are all the result of a disturbance of the physical system. ”

“ If the assured, being in the possession of his ordinary reasoning faculties, from anger, pride, jealousy, or a desire to escape from the ills of life, intentionally takes his own life, the proviso attaches, and there can be no recovery. ”

“ It may not be amiss to notice that the case does not present the point of what is called emotional insanity, or mania transitoria, that is, the case of one in the possession of his ordinary reasoning faculties, who allows his passions to convert him into a temporary maniac, and while in this condition, commits the act in question. ”