Delusion
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DELUSION, med. jurisp. A diseased state of the mind, in which persons
believe things to exist, which exist only, or in the degree they are
conceived of only in their own imaginations, with a persuasion so fixed and
firm, that neither evidence nor argument can convince them to the contrary.
2. The individual is, of course, insane. For example, should a parent
unjustly persist without the least ground in attributing to his daughter a
course of vice, and use her with uniform unkindness, there not being the
slightest pretence or color of reason for the supposition, a just inference
of insanity, or delusion, would arise in the minds of a jury: because a
supposition long entertained and persisted in, after argument to the
contrary, and against the natural affections of a parent, suggests that he
must labor under some morbid mental delusion. 3 Addams' R. 90, 91; Id. 180;
Hagg. R. 27 and see Dr. Connolly's Inquiry into Insanity, 384; Ray, Med.
Jur. Prel. Views., Sec. 20, p. 41, and Sec. 22, p. 47; 3 Addams, R. 79; 1
Litt. R. 371 Annales d'Hygiene Publique, tom. 3, p. 370; 8 Watts, 70; 13
Ves. 89; 1 Pow. Dev. by Jarman, 130, note Shelf. on Lun. 296; 2 Bouv. Inst.
n. 2104-10.