, 1876-02-12
Brain Enigmas.

The brains action under peculiar cir
cumstances Is often directly the opposite
from what might be expected. Imbecile
children. have been known to acquire
some degree of mental ability by blow
on the5head, while sensible persons fire.
quently lose portion of their sense in
the same way. The case of a gentleman
is cited who, by blow on the head with
hammer, lost his knowledge of Greek.
An Irish farmer, being struck by paraly-
sis, found, on his recovery, that he had
lost all knowledge of nouns and proper
names, and the most remarkable thing
was he could remember the initial letter
Of the word he wished to pronounce, but
no more. In not a few cases of brain
disease persons have forgotten acquired
languages, and the knowledge of their
mother tongue has returned; but DR..
johnson, when dying, tried in vain to
repeat the Lords Prayer in English, but
did so in Latin. A curious anomaly in
brain action is that the brain can stand
still for years, and then, on recovery, take
up exactly the same chain of thought
which was interrupted by disease or ac-
cident.
A farmer of New England one day
went home from his field, after hiding
his beetle and wedges in a hollow tree.
That night he lost his reason, and re-
mained lunatic for eighteen years. A
fortunate action restoring his mental
faculties, he sat up in bed aud asked if
the boys had brought the beetle and
wedges home. Being told they had not,
he went to the tree, found them, and
brought them back. An English cap
tain, struck on the head at the battle of
the Nine, while giving an order, remained
unconscious for eighteen months. Being
restored by a surgical operation, he sat
up, and to the astonishment of his at
tendants shouted in stentorian voice
the remainder of the interrupted order.
1t is not little remarkable that serious
injuries have occurred to the brain with
out material detriment to the mental
powers, while, on the other hand, the
most critical and scientific examination
of the brain matter of insane persons
fails to disclose any difference between it
and the brain substance of the sane.
Soldiers have been known to carry bull
lets in their brains without serious detri-
ment, and operations for the removal of
the balls, still further injuring the brain,
had no effect on their thinking powers.
A case is detailed of man who received
a blow on the head which fractured the
skull and caused suppuration by which
more than half his brain was destroyed,
and yet he retained his mental faculties
in full force until he died.
The brain sometimes loses control of
the muscular system, as in st. Vitus'
dance, in which the patient has no volun-
tary control of his muscles. Sometimes
the physical spasm is in one direction
only, as in the case of lady whose men
tai disease prompted her to double up her
body and make leaps like fish. A more
singular case was that of a girl, who,
while the fit of mental alteration was on
her, did nothing but repeat the action of
standing on her head. These acts were
in consequence of diseased brain. In
health, as we all know, the brain exer-
cises q control over the minutie, not only
Of voluntary action, but also of memory;
but in disease, particular slips of re-
membrance are often extracted from the
mind and total blanks exist in their
place. An old soldier, after having sus-
tanned the Ismoval Of q bullet frSm his
brain, was found to have forgotten the
odd numbers; and teacher, having had
brain fever, forgot the letter F. Some
times q sudden affection Of the brain re-
moves whole masses Of knowledge at
once. An Italian, who was master of
the languages, was struck down by a
disease which Affected his iDlafm. ON tn
of his attack he spoke English, tie
Language he had last acquired; the dis
ease progressing, he forgot that and
spoke French, and on the day Of bis
death he had forgotten everything but
Italian Boderldnds Of MAINLY by
ANDREW WINTER.