Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1881-04-30

boy, whose mental powers had been i'm
perfectly developed from his childhood
The mischief had been aggravated when
he was about fourteen years old by a
serious fright. When he was placed in
the asylum he was not idiotic Or danger
ously mad, it was 4 case mot to use
technical hngua2e) of deficient intelli
gence, tending sometimes toward acts OF
unreasoning mischief and petty theft,
but never approaching to acts of down
right violence. My friend was espe-
cially interested in the lad, won his con-
fidence and affection by acts of kindness,
and so improved his bodily health as to
Justify some hope of ALSO improving the
state of his mind, when misfortune oc-
pect. The poor crerture has fallen ill
of fever, and the fever has developed
to typhus. So far there has been little
to interest you; am coming to re.
markable event at last. At the stage Of
the fever when delirium usually occurs
in patients of sound mind this crazy
French boy has become perfectly sane
and reasonable
"I looked at him when he made this
amazing assertion, with momentary
doubt of his being in earnest. Doctor
Wybrow understood me.
just wlat | thought, too, when ]
first heard it, he said. Ny friend
was neither offended nor surprised. Al
ter inviting me to go to his house and
Judge for myself, he referred me to a
singular case, publicly cited in the Co,n-
hill Magazine, for the month of April,
1879, in an article entitled, Bodily Ill
ness as Mental Stimulant." The arti.
Gle is published anonymously; but the
character of the periodical in which il
appears is sufficient guarantee of the
trustworthiness of the statement.
was so far influenced by the testimony
thus cited, that 1 drove to Hampstead
and examined the case myself
"' Did the examination satisfy youY
"'Thoroughly. When saw him yes
terday the poor boy was as sane as
am. There is, however, complication
in this instance, which is not mentioned
in the case related in print. The boy
appears to have entirely forgotten every
event in his past life, reckoning from
the time the fever declared itself
"This was disappointment. I had
begun to hope for some coming result,
obtained by the lads confession.
"'Is it quite correct to call him sane
when his memory is gone? venturcd
to ask.
"' In this case there is no necessity to
enter into the question: the doctor an
swered. 'The boys lapse of memory
refers, as I told you, to his past life
that is to say, his life when his intellect
was deranged. During the extraordi-
nary interval of sanity that has now de-
clared itself, he is putting his mental
powers to their first free use; and none
of them fail him, so far as cal see. His
new memory-if may call it so-pre-
serves the knowledge of what has hap
pened since his illness. You may imag-
inc how this problem in brain disease
interests me; and you will not wonder
that am going back to Hampstead to-
morrow afternoon when 1 have done
with my professional visits. But you
may be reasonably surprised at my
troubling you with details which are
mainly interesting to medical man..
"Was he about to ask me to go with
him to the asylum? L replied very
briefly; merely saying that the details
were interesting to every student of
human nature. If he could have felt
my pulse at that moment 1 am afraid he
might have thought L was in fair way
of catching the fever, too.
"'Prepare yourself, he resumed, 'for
another surprising circumstance. Mr..
Winterfield is, by some incomprehensi-
BILE accident, associated with one of the
mischievous tricks played by the French
boy, before he was placed under my
friends care. There, at any rate, is the
only explanation by which we can ac-
count for the discovery of an envelope,
found sewn up in the lining of the lads
waistcoat, and directed to Mr.. Winter
field without any address,
"I leave you to imagine the effect
which those words produced on me-
Now, said the doctor, you will un-
derstand why I put such strange ques-
tions to you. My friend and are both
Woodworking men. We go very little
into society, as the phrase is; and neither
he nor 1 ever heard the name of Winter
field. As certain proportion of my
patients happen to be people with
large experience of society, undertook
to make inquiries, SO that the packet
might be delivered, if possible, to the
right person. You heard how Mrs.
Eyrecourt (surely a likely lady to assist
me p received my unlucky reference to
the madhouse; and you saw how 1 puz-
zled Sir John. consider myself most
fortunate, Father Benwell, in having had
the honor of meeting you. Will you
accompany me to the asylum tomorrow?
And can you add to the favor by bring
;po Mr. U;ntarfo1d with 1,o,, "