Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-06-04
LAPSES OF MEMORY.

THAT the knowledge of language can
be effectually driven out OF the head for
time is beyond dispute; the difficulty lies
in deciding whether this oblivion is ever
permanent, or whether it is traceable to
temporary mental maladies. Forgetful-
ness of languages is only one among many
kinds of lapse of memory, some of which
are strange and surprising, wholly mex
plicable in the present state of science.
From the very nature of the phenome-
non most of the recorded instances apply
to persons who know, or have known, two
or more languages; in some cases the ma
tive tongue had slipped out of the mem
DRY, in others that Tor those) acquired later
in life.
A German lady, married to an English
gentleman spoke English during the
greater part of her married life; but at
one period, during protracted illness,
she used her native tongue, and could not
make herself Ineligible to her English
attendants except through the aid Of her
husband as an interpreter.
DR.. Rush mentions the case of an italian
gentleman, who died of yellow fever at
New York, and who underwent remark
able series Of mental changes during the
malady which terminated his life. He
spoke English, which had for some time
been his familiar language in America, in
the early stage of his illness; during the
middle period this was driven out Of his
brain by French, which he had learned
before English; and on the day of his
death he spoke only his own native
Italian.
A case has been recorded by Dr.
Pritchard of a lady who, when suffering
under an attack of delirium, spoke
language which nobody around her could
understand. 1t was at length discovered
to be Welsh, or something similar. None
of her friends could form any conception
of the time or manner in which she could
have acquired familiarity with that
tongue; but after much inquiry it was
ascertained that, in her childhood, she had
ince Of Brittany, the dialect of which is
derived from the same Cymric stock as
Welsh. The lady had during those early
years learned good deal Of the dialect,
but had entirely forgotten it in later life,
until her attack of illness produced some
inexplicable change in the mental action.
This case was in every way remarkable;
for the lapse of memory was in the native
tongue, while the language brought wildly
into action was that which she had only
heard during some Of her child-years. In
all probability it was not really Welsh,
but something like it.
Abernethy, the great surgeon, had to
attend man who was born in France, but
mad spent the greater part of his life in
England, and had for many years almost
entirely lost the habit Of speaking French.
An injury in the head brought him under
the care of Abernethy, who observed that
the man spoke scarcely anything but
French during his illness; the other lam
guage was for time in oblivion
There was case at st. Thomas Hos
pltal, some years ago, in which real Welsh,
not merely foreign dialect derived from
the same stock, was resuscitated. A pa
tient was in state of stupor, owing to an
injury in the head. On his partial recov-
cry he spoke language which nobody in
me hospital understood, but which on
further inquiry was found to be Welsh.
tracing back the mans history, 1t was as
certained that he was Welshman, but
mad not been in his native country for
thirty or forty years. During the greater
part of his life English had driven Welsh
rom his mind; but under the influence
OF his illness Welsh had reasserted itself
and had in its turn driven out the in
truder.
Sometimes erudite men lose their ac-
quirements, in a partial degree and for a
temporary period, in a very inexplicable
manner. DR.. Beattie mentions the case
OF gentleman who, when suffering from
me effects of blow on the head, lost his
knowledge of Greek as if it had been q
concrete something which the blow had
knocked out in its entirety. In other in
stances special foreign language seems
70 De selected by the brain, not for expul-
slon, but for Intensified reception.
!, how far mah can really forget . par
ocular language during all the later half
VI ais life can never be known unless he
suners under some kind of malady in the
lno or brain; something else then ~
sumes the real mastery over him, and
memory undcrgoes strange evolutions.