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

Of the error he probably recognized it,
but his tendency was nevertheless in this
| direction. His physician alphabetically
traced the oddity to an early and long
continued association Of ideas; the gen
| tleman had been tobacco merchant in
| Virginia, and had had his attention well
occupied with hogsheads of tobacco and
boxes of snuff. This may not be sufi-
cient explanation, but 1t was the only one
that suggested itself, as he made no sim
| liar blunder with other words. Certainly
| greater difficulty was presented by the
| gentleman who always called Goals paper
and paper coals-systematically, as it
would appear, transposing the meanings
| of the two words. Both substances. it is
true, are used in lighting fire; but this
fact does not suffice to solve the puzzle.
An inability to remember the names of
things sometimes presents itself in re-
markable way. A gentleman engaged in
| extensive agricultural affairs could not
remember the spoken names of things,
but recognized them directly when writ
ten. He arranged his daily duties &C
cordingly, with q degree Of success that
could hardly be expected under such
strange circumstances. He kept before
| him in his business room list Of the
words which were most likely to occur in
his intercourse with his workmen. When
| any one of his men wished to communi-
cate with him on any subject the master
listened attentively to what was said; the
sound of the words did not convey to his
mind the idea of the things or commodi.
ties signified, but it did suggest to him
| written words, which he therefore pro-
ceeded to consult; the sight of the letters
| forming those words at once gave him
| the necessary clew to the meaning. The
| process was noteworthy; the sound OF a
| word, when spoken, suggested the shape
| of the word when written, and this shape
suggested the idea or mental picture of
the thing signifed. This appears to have
been permanent peculiarly of mind, or
at least of long continuance, unconnected
with any particular malady.
A singular variation from this type is
| forgetfulness of the names of persons
| some persons to speak of Mr.. Thing'emy
or Mr.. What's .his-name, but real in
ability to call to mind the particular word
| or name belonging to a particular per-
son. A gentleman, after brain attack,
knew his friends perfectly, but could not
remember their names. Walking one
day in the street, he met an acquaintance
| to whom he was very anxious to COM
| municate something relating to mutual
| friend. After various Intellectual attempts
| to make him understand, he at last seized
| him by the arm, and dragged him through
| several streets to the house OF the person
of whom he was speaking, and pointed
to the name-plate on the door. Not un.
| til he had appealed to this reminder
could he recall the proper name the
| features or the inscribed name would
suffice, but without one or the other of
| these the recollection refused to do its
| work.
An instance of an affecting kind is
mentioned by DR.. Connolly, relating to a
young clergyman who sustained an IN
| jury of the head just when he was about
to be married He became permanently
| deranged, and lived in this condition to
! the age Of eighty. One thought, and one
| only, seemed to remain in his poor shat
tered mind. He talked OF nothing but
his approaching wedding, and expressed
eager anticipations for the arrival OF the
happy day.
DR.. Abercrombie was once called upon
to render medical aid to boy who had
fallen from q wall and struck his head
against stone which lay at its foot. He
was carried home in state of insensi-
bility, from which he soon recovered, but
with his memory twisted little awry.
He had no recollection of the accident
which had befallen him. He felt that
his head was hurt, but had no idea how
he had received the injury. After time
the facts dawned upon him one by one.
He recollected that he had struck his
head against stone, but could not recall
to mind how he had come to do so. After
another interval he recollected that he
had been on the top OF wall, and had
fallen from it and struck against stone,
but could not remember where the wall
was. After some time longer he recol.
lected the locality of the wall and the
minor incidents Of the mishap. The
memory seems to have buckled to its work
step by step, using each stage as a start
ing point for further advance.
| Memory alike of persons, things and
words has sometimes been blunted or
blinded by temporary malady, and then
recovered by degrees. Wepfer relates
that a gentleman, recovering from an
apoplectic attack, was found to know no.
body, and to remember nothing. After
several weeks he began to know his
| friends, to remember words, and to learn
or re-learn little of his native language
and little Latin. When urged to read
more than few words at time, he said !:
II formerly understood these things, but
| do not now" 1t was hard thing to
bear, this consciousness of former power
no longer possessed.
Sometimes the thing forgotten is not
one particular language, but the whole
range Of events within particular num-
Der OF months or years. Very curious in
stances of this have been placed upon
record. In one instance morbid state Of
the brain had brought on complete obliv-
ion of ali the events of four years, leaving
the mind possessed of recollections con-
corning earlier and later facts. A shock,
not amounting to mental injury, has
been found in q similar way to expel the
recollection of portion of time.
One instance of forgetting a language
has been narrated by DR.. Rush, and is un-
questionably very curious. An American
student, of considerable attainments, was
stricken down with fever. On slowly re-
covering, it was found that he had lost all
his acquired knowledge. When his health
was restored, he bravely resolved to be-
Il 81 H.. IL. KAN