The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-09-23
TILE ErTTcT OF sTIMuLANTs.


auently recalls 10 the mind circumstances and
ideas long since forgotten. This is proved by the
talk of some drunkards. The most conspicuous
example of It which has come under my own
notice was in the case Of an old gentleman who
regularly every night Of his life, intoxicated him
self with bottled pale ale. The process Of poison
ing in his case was a slow one, and it may be
doubted if he ever made himself dead drunk
But he was in the habit, when much too far gone
In liauor 10 walk steadily, of talking TO himself
in a loud though indistiuCt voice, Of the history
of his life, and eNpatating With maudliu gravity
upon the enormity of bis fault In yielding 10 the
habit Of drunkenness often, as It seemed with
out the least consciousness that he was then and
there drunk.
At other times, on the contrary, he was we'll
enough aware OF his actual state but this was
only on occasions when he had INDUCED with
comparative moderation. Whenever he was very
drunk indeed, all his sorrow seemed TO be that
he should have been 50 Incorporate in past years.
ChorofOrm still more frcquentlyrecills the events
and feelings ofpast life 20 remembrance During
the short period which clapscs between the com.
mCnCCment Of an inhalation for surgical purposes,
and the arrival Of complete uncOnsciOusncss,
patients often talk Of persons and things they
have had no connection with lately. The most
striking example Of this involuntary remiuis-
cence Of past things h afforded by the Indecent
and violent language In which persons Of the
gravest character occasiOna.yiud under these
circumstances.
This painful but happily rare phenomenon can
only be accounted for on the suppOstOn That im-
pressions hayein pasttimCs bcCnrecciycd perfectly
passiycy, by the brain; impressions which have
been temporarily ctlaced by others due to the
ordinary course Of life and conversation, but
which are revived as soon as the poisonous in
nuencc has destroyed the power Of the brain 20
minister TO the usual modes Of thought The re-
mafkable power Of opium, in some subjects no
least 10 recall past events to the mind, is strik
ingly illustrated by De Quincy, In his chapter
on "the pains Of opium " and | shall not attempt
% repeat story which should only mar; merely
rcmarliing that this phenomenon is probably con
fined 70 q small number of Opium-eaters of peCu-
liar constitution. II is hashish, however which
produces the most striking effects of this kind.
In the experiments which Nj. de Lucca made
upon himself with large doses Of the sugary
paste OF hemp, he observed that when narcO5s
had advanced to a high degree, he reviewed,
with the most intense satisfaction, every action
of his life, but his ideas fitted so rapidly through
his brain that he was unable to grasp steadily
any one thought" O'Shaughnessy relates the
case Of a youth, Of retiring disposition and excel
lent habits who, under the influence of "a quarter
Of grain of the resin of hemp Ga powerful pre-
par0ton), forgot all the immediate circumstances
and persons surrounding him, and identified him
| self with some raiah, of whom he had doubtless
| previously read or imagined he displayed unu-
sual confidence and aptitude in conversation, aud
| assumed the manners proper to the potcntate he
fancied himself, and betrayed the fact of his pos
| sessiug stores of information for which even his
| intimate acquaintance had not given him credit.
| It seems to have been a true apocalypse, in
| which the boys real character and abilities were
| revealed. We can have little doubt, think, as
| 10 the true Interpretation Of these phenomena OF
| narcotic Renaissance, If we compare them with
facts which meet us at every turn in the history
Of disease, and Ofmenta deficiency or alteration.
| In n considerable number OF maladleS, IN whlch
the brain is unable to perform its highest tunc-
tOus. and among them that Of voluntary, or, as
we might call it, creGt!ce, recollection, II gives
| evidence in a remarkable degree OF that pdsSiUe
| memory which we have seen displayed IN mar
COSTS. In some forms of insanity and of idiocy
| in Cpileptc dCrium, in the delirium Of teyers
Of chronic alcoholism, &c, this passive reminis
cenco is sometimes a very marked feature; nor i
| il less so at the approach OF death from Yariou
| other diseases.
Whatever the exact nature of the process may
be, ii seems TO resemble the uncovcrinS of th
older inscriptions of palmpsest by some agenc.
7 which destroys the later and more superficial
writing. The most remarkable instance of thi
Kind, perhaps, which has been recorded is tina
which Coleridge relates of poor, ignorant ser
want girl, who could neither read nor write, bu
who in the delirum of a fever, repeated entr
passages from Latin, Greek, and Hebrew authors
which must have been passiyely received by he
brain years previously, from merely hearing ther
| reCited by a learned mau in whose ser'.ce sh
| had lived. A striking case has been recently CON
! municated TO me by DIR. Radcliffe, Of a gentlema
| who, having suffered sunstrOke IN India, enttrel
| lost his knowledge of the Hindustanec tongu
|
- | to epilepsy. Strange TO say, this language Whlc
| was lost to him as far as the power Of yoluntar
| using it went, came freely 70 his lips in the pro
| tratiOn Of Cpileptc delirium. And still moi
| strange, now that the epilepuC tendency has COT
| siderably diminished, with returning hea th h
| voluntary command OF the Hndustanee langual
| is slowly coming back. II we had any doul
| that these curious phenomena Of involuntary n
| miniscencc depend upon the arrest Of the highl
| functions Of the brain, IL would, l think,
| removed by an attentive consideration OF tho
| persons in whom these functions have never bee
| performed or have ceased TO be performed. lt
, | a common observation that very great calculate
| and prOhCients IN mcHlOrta tcciHicd are tr
| qucntly below the standard Of intelligence
- general matters.
I Nay, more Il has been observed that perso
\ born absolutely or nearly idiouc may possess
surprisingly tenacious memory for certain class
J of events. lady has informed me, from j
c own personal knowledge, Of the case OF be
}, | "little better than fool" who nevertheless pc
q / sessed an extraordinary power OF recollection
IS one class OF events, namely, the changes in {
r weather; so much so, that he could at once a
S without hesitation tell whether it had been fl
II or stormy on any particular day for years p
s. viously. And another boy, known 10 the sal
e | lady, was absolutely an idiot from birth yet
d | had a perfect memory for the history Of all
farm animals in the neighborhood, and could I
o with unerring precision that this was SO and-s
s. sheep or pig among any number OF other amin
N of the same kind.