Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-12-31
Phenomena OF Brain Disease.

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Phenomena OF Brain Disease.
ln some remarkable instances in whie!
the brain has received an injury suddenl'
interrupting its action it has resumed it
operations on the recovery of health after
prolonged interval. at exactly the p0in
where they were broken of. During thi
battle of the Nile, ca ptain received blow
| on the head which siruck him senseles
while he was in the act of delivering an or
der. lie was picked up unconscious and IL
that condition conveyed to England and t,
the Greenwich Hospital, where he lay lik
IAN inanimate vegetable" for IL months
The operation OF trepanning was then re
sorted to. and, as the piece Of skull that hat
been pressed in upon the brain was raiset
from 1t, consciousness instantly returned tt
the man. and be rose up in his bed. and. ii
| loud tone of command. finished the ordel
be was issuing at the moment the dresdin
| accident laid him low.
DR.. Pritchard relates an anecJote Of
New England farmer. who. at the conclu
SION OF days labor at ienee-making, !ei
his beetle and wedges in the hollow of tree
! In the night he was attacked with dlseas,
Of the brain that beIeit him of his senses fol
! iuauN years. W ntu Ut ld=t uc IeCGAt
Consciousness the first thing be did was t
inquire OF his SONS il they had brought II
the wedges and beetle. The reply was thai
they could NOT be found Whereupon th,
/ farmer rose up AMI went straight To the
/ hollow tree where lay the articles he sought
/ but, in the long years that they had re.
manned exposed to the weather, the woDC
OF the beetle had completely rotted away.
DR.. Wynter states. in his essay on Brain
| Enigmas, that little girl of SIX years fell
and received y severe concussiOn OF th(
BRAIN, while engaged in game OF toss and
catch with young companion For IL
hours she remained insensible At the end
OF that period she opened her eyes, instant
| " sprIDgiug TO the head of the bed. began
! throwing about the small articles at hand
exclaiming "catch these ." From that mo
ment she was perfectly sane.
Many cases are recorded of a temporary
loss of memory after an attack Of severe i'll
ness. DR.. WInslow mentions an instance
ola clergyman of rare talents and high cul-
tnre, who was thrown from his carriage and
picked up in an insensible condition. After
several days consciousness returned, but tho
! mind was an utter blank Every memory
had been efiiced The man set himself tc
work to gain anew the knowledge he had
lu-ts hLu EiitE StNbThl h4oHNu- u a-e.luuu-
study under tutors, gradually recovered hi-
memory with all its stock of treasures In
the effort to master an sbstruse author
the veil that had shrouded his mind was
rent, and soon after It was entirely dissipa-
ed, leaving his intellect as clear and strong
as ever.
An Italian. conTsrsant with three Ian
guages, was stricken with yellow fever ln
the beginning Of has illness he conyeTsed
only in English-@ho language last acg ulred
After this he spoke for time solely IN
French and the daY before his death en-
tirely IN his native tongue Ii i saii that
when diving DR.. johnson forgot how 10 sag
the Lotd'~ Paav0r in English. but was able
to repeat II Iu Lauh. An old soldier, after
losing a bat ot BRAN in operation upon
that organ, had no recollection of the nun
bers I've and seven A schoolmaster lost,
in g III OF BRAIN fever. all recollection OF the
letter L
One OF the most cuTious cases OF 4barra-
ticn Of the memory was exhibited IN Young
lady Of fine mind and apparently sound
health, who suddenly fell in a profound
and prolonged sleep On waking it wa.
found that every memory Of her past life
was blotted out As an infant that opens
its eyes for the first time in TIE world. she
was ignorant OF everything Her education
was began over and had progressed for
months " hen fresh tit OF somnolency tell
upon her. This time, on awakening, mind
and memory were the same as before the
long sleep, bu: No consciousness OF the ~.
teryal Of mental oblivion existed For a
period Of four year these conditions alter
mated one following the other regularly
after a spell Of sound sleep In what wa
I called the old state she possessed all heI
original knowledge and in the new STATE
she only knew what she had acquired while
in its experience. In short the girl led two
separate and distinct lives in neither OF
which she did remember fact OF event that
; belonged to the other.
In u few singular instances the wits OF a
man have been wonderfully brightenei by q
blow ON the head. Dr. PritchaTd gives tes-
timony on this point as follows II have
been informed on good authority that there
was, some time -.nce, family consisting
OF three boys, who were all considered
IDIOTS One OF them received d severe in
jury upon the head from that DAY hi-
lscalties began 10 brighten. and he i now
man OF good talents and practices a. a
barriste
DR.. Wyntar. frCm whom We draw these
interesting particulars, mentions several Gu
nous cases oi insanity Ot the muscles. such
as manifested in St. Eitns dance. In one
instance, lady was subject to spasms, IN
which she seemed 10 initiate the sction OF a
salmon IN leaping. She would occasionally
double herself up, and, with eOnvulsivo
spring, throw herself from the door tu the
top ofs wardrobe fully FIVE feet high This
fit would only last certain time Then
she would rotate her head from side to side
for weeks together without showing any
| signs OF fatigue ln Some cases a patient
has been 50 overcome by propensity TO ey-
rate that fJr d whole month at a time q
continuous whirling has been sustained
"A still more extraordinary case is on
record. " says Dr. Wynter, ''of girl who
was continually attempting to!stand on heI
head, with her legs perpendicular in the all
continuing this ludcrous action 10 times
in the minute for IS hours in the day. The
labor incurred by these singular muscular
actions would have exhausted half dozen
men. yet this delicate girl bore up against
them for months without apparent ia
iigue