Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1870-08-19
Some Facts Concerning Memory.

Some Facts Concerning Memory.
TIE indestructibility of mental phe-
nomena is remarkably exhibited by the
experience of persons rescued from hang
inc on drowning, or who were suffering
from the delirium of disease, or from in
Jury to the brain. It is related that lady,
who became uelirious three hours before
her death. was able to carry on an extend
ed conversation in German-a language
she had not spoken since her tenth year.
Five years before, while visiting germany,
she had been unable to converse at an IN
her native tongue, although repeatedly
urged to do 80. .1....La
Here the memory of German must have
existed during her whole life, out was
only manifested under the stimulus OF the
great mental exaltation Of delirium. Dr.
Rush mentions lady whose paroxysms
of insanity were indicated by her con-
versing in Italian, which she afterwards
discarded for French, and finally shifted
to German speaking them all fiuently.
Yet, when well, she spoke nothing but
English, although she had once known
something of these other languages: The
Countess de Laval, during an illness, was
observed by some servants to talk in her
sleep in language which none OF them
could, comprehend. Upon waking, she
herself knew nothing of the meaning OF
the words when, they were repeated TO
her. Shortly after, she had a nurse from
the province of Brittany, who recognized
what, she said to he in the language of
that country, where the countess had
been born and nursed in family in
which that language alone was spoken,
SO that she knew no other but, when she
returned to her parents, she had no ops
portunity of keeping up the use of it,
and had, seemingly, forgotten it. o.
ALI are familiar with the oft quoted in
cident related by Coleridge, when an ig.
norant domestic, during the delirium OF
fever, repeated passages from Greek,
Latin and Hebrew authors, which had
been read years before in her hearing by
q learned German pastor in whose family
she lived, and of which she recollected
nothing when she wassWell.k
"A clergyman Of good mind and excel
lent education, we are told,o" was thrown
from his carriage and receivedsa violent
conclusion of the BRAIN For several days
he remained utterly unconscious, and at
length, when restored to health, his in
tellect was observed to be in state like
that of a naturally intelligent child, OF
like that of Caspar Hauser after his long
sequestration. The good man again. but
now in middle life, commenced his Eng.
fish and classical studies under tutors, and
was progressing very satisfactorily, when
after several months successful study, the
rich storehouses of memory gradually I'M
locked, so that in a few weeks his mind
resumed all its wonted vigor and its for
'mer wealth and polish of culture. +, Fol
several years he continued his hbors as
q pastor and suffered no symptom of cere.
bral disturbance" Here, manifestly
memory retained the knowledge he had
once acquired, but in some mysterious
manner it was put out of the reach Of the
mind, until he had partly reacquired it by
study. Without doubt, the principle Of
the association of ideas enabled him to re-
call his previous knowledge from these
small beginnings. JI'# at
The Rev. DIR. Muhlenberg, who attend
ed the dying beds Of many German i'm
migrants, noticed that, shortly before
death, they prayed in their native Ian
guage, no matter how rarely they spoke
it in common life, in state of health. A
physician, who had in early life renounc
ed the principles of the Roman Catholic
Church, during the attack of delirium
which preceded his death, prayed only in
the forms of the Romish Church, while
all recollection of the prescribed formulx
of the Protestant seemed wanting. In
this case, the memory was acting in spite
of the reason and will, reproducing scenes
which the mind desired to forget.
Another gentleman became unconscious
from being thrown from his horse and
striking on his head. /. When, after the
lapse of week, he was restored enough
to articulate, he spoke only German a
language he had acquired in early life, but
had not spoken in twenty-five years. OVE
" Many similar examples might be given
of the imperishable nature of mental i'm
pressions, Notwithstanding they may lie
dormant and outside the domain of con-
sciousness for long years., Like the sleep
ing princess of Grimm's wonderful tale,
they may seem hedged out from the
soul by imperishable barriers; but let the
right word be spoken, and they awake
and come forth radiant with youthful
beauty sa1 ii.sse 80 9 =, .t1Hs 2, q. -
: If, then, theoretically we forget aothing,
how does it happen that practically we
fail to remember variety CT things. We
forget our little Latin and less Greek, our
calculus and astronomy. We are not sure
of the name of our next door neighbor,
although we may have heard it a hundred
times, nor of the spelling of many word,
nor of the distance between our earth and
the sun, nor of the number of the aster-
ODDS, not including the latest discovered.
And yet we not only have had these facts
brought to our knowledge, but have i'm
pressed many of them on our minds by
diligent study and painstaking effort. This
failure to recOllect is due to the fact that
we can never call up an idea by simply
sosttSaag it /; for it is necessary condition
Oh An act of will, that there should be in
the .uind an idea of aoh0t is willed: of
course, not having the idea itself in the
mind, we fix our attention upon some
idea already in the mind, hoping to recall
it by some association and interdepend-
ence of ideas. If the idea is an establish
ed one, MOI connected with any other, as
an arbitrary NUMBER or name, the most
strenuous effort of the will cannot bring
it into the domain of. consciousness, un-
less memory mpassionately goes to work
and "delves the secret out" Upon re-
Election, it will readily appear that we
fail to remember just those things which
the memory has acquired by sheer effort
since they are solitary facts, unconnected
with kindred facts. Now, if any clue ex-
listed by which they could be brought in
to relation with other facts, it is not too
much to assert that we should remember
them without difficulty.
This latent memory is sometimes moved
by sudden shocks, or bodily enfeeblement
with its attendant effect upon the brain
las witnessed by some of the incidents