Henry Cotton was a psychiatrist educated by well-respected Emil Kraepelin, Alois Alzheimer and Adolph Meyer. Cotton theorised that focal infection of organs and tissues, as well as sepsis, could lead to 'autointoxication' resulting in symptoms seen in insanity. The only logical explanation in Cotton's mind was to remove the offending tissues, but his persistence and firm standing in his hypothesis lead to one of the biggest scandals in psychiatric history and the ultimate undoing of Cotton himself.

New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum. Source: http://rogersfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/. Image by: Unknown