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NEW YORK, May 2. - A London cable to a morning paper says: Oscar Wilde is now said by his friends to be the victim of mania. Dr. Forbes Winslow and Dr. Blandford, eminent psychologists and specialists in diseases of the mind, are busily occupied in investigating the record of the Wilde family and preparing a diagnosis of the patient's mental and physical condition.

It's more than likely that when Oscar Wilde is next placed on trial the testimony of these learned men will be made a feature of the defense in order to offset the possibility of the next jury finding him guilty of the charges brought against him. The plea will be made that he, guilty or innocent of the charge, is a subject for pathological treatment, and not for the laws of vengeance. This course is said to be contemplated by Sir Edward Clarke, Q.C., in opposition to the wishes of Wilde’s relatives. Great secrecy is being observed in the matter, and none of those concerned will talk about it.

Members of the bar are wondering whether, in order to save his client from imprisonment in the event of an adverse verdict, Sir Edward Clarke is prepared to consent to Wilde being placed under scientific restraint.

There is no suggestion that any of Wilde's ancestors were afflicted, even in a remote way, with the form of degeneracy attributed to him. The heredity problem is far more complex than that. Many forms of nervous disease in parents might produce in the child pathological conditions that would, if unchecked, bring him within the reach of the law. This is generally recognized by physicians, and the profession is delighted at the prospect of this point becoming the issue at law.

Sir William Wilde, Oscar's father, was remarkably eccentric, although almost a genius as an oculist and as an antiquarian. Oscar Wilde has long been regarded as a subject of the form of insanity called by the French "folie ambitieuse," the signs of which are inordinate vanity and a thirst for notoriety. That this infliction should be associated with other forms of mental disease would not be surprising.

WILDE WANTS BAIL. Application Will Be Made to the Court of Queen's Bench.

LONDON, May 2. - Counsel for Oscar Wilde will to-morrow make application before Baron Pollock, in the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice for the admission of Wilde to bail, pending the retrial of his case. Hitherto it has been the practice to grant applications for bail in all cases of misdemeanor, but the matter rests solely upon the discretion of the Court. The next session of the Old Bailey court will begin on May 20th.

Although Oscar Wilde's fine collection of prints, Morrish pottery and bric-a-brac has been sold at auction, no receiving order in bankruptcy against him has yet been applied for.

London, May 2.- Although Oscar Wilde’s fine collection of prints, Moorish pottery, bric-a-brac, etc., has been sold at auction, no receiving order in bankruptcy against him has yet been applied for.