Daily globe., 1882-09-10
MEMORY.
some Queer Freaks that Disease
Plays with Mans EnteIIigence.

some queer Freaks that Disease
Plays with Mam's Intelligence.
1t was pointed out long ago by psy-
choiogists that memory is q two-fold
process, comprising conservation and
! reproduction. 1t is the object of this
treatise to show that the first of these
processes, conservation, depends espe-
! clally upon the physiological function
| d nutrition, while the second, reproduc-
lon, IS dependent upon general or local
circulation. The power of conservatism
presupposes a primary condition that
may be vaguely described as a normal
| constitution of the brain. Idiots are
| The subjects of congenital amnesia, that
! is to say, of an innate inability to fix
impressions. Again, fatigue in any
form, superinducing as il does an abnor-
mai cerebral condition, is detrimental,
and sometimes fatal, to memory. Ex-
pllclt testimony on this point is supplied
by the experience of Sir 81. Holland,
who descended, on the same day, two
very deep mines in the Hartz mountains,
remaining under ground some hours In
each. He tells us us that while in the
second mine, and exhausted both from
fatigue and inanition, he found it utterly
impossible to talk longerwith the German
Inspector who accompanied him; every
German word and phrase deserted his
recollection, and it was not until he had
taken food and wine and had been some
time at rest that he regained them.
The cases where that amnesia has been
observed to follow cerebral shock are also
explained by most psychologists as re-
sulting from defective nutrition. It has
been noted by Mr.. Spencer that highly
nervous subjects, in whom the action of
the heart is greatly lowered, habitually
complain of loss of memory, a symptom
which diminishes as fast as the natural
rate of circulation is regained. Again,
in fevers where the rapidity Of the cir
clllation is excessive, the reproductive
faculty is often raised to high point of
excitation, the most remote and trivial
Impressions being easily recalled. Ex-
altation of the memory ensues also
when the circulation is increased by
stimulants, such as opium. De Quincy
tells US that under the influence of this
drug he sometimes seemed to live for
seventy or hundred years in one night,
the minutest incidents of childhood, or
forgotten scenes of later years, being
wildly reproduced. On the other hand,
bromide potassium, which, taken in
large doses, retards the circulation. pro-
auces annesia the case is cited of a
clergyman who was obliged to discon-
tinue the use Of it, having very nearly
lost his memory. which returned when
lie ceased to take the medicine.
There are cases OF temporary amnesia
of destructive character which seem to
be only eXplicable upon the theory that
the group of cells in which particular
impressions were recorded have been de-
stroyed or totally transformed. In such
instances it is not the reproductive fac
ulty which is enfeebled, but there is an
actual loss of conservation something
which once existed in the memory, and |
formed an important part OF its capital.
has disappeared. Among the cases of |
incurable partial amnesia where the loss
was absolute, and complete re-education
was necessary, is that of young married |
woman, who was seized during confne-
ment with prolonged syncope, at the |
end of which she failed to recollect anv |
of the events which had occurred since !
her marriage, inclusive of that ceremony.
She never recovered recollection of this |
period of her life, and although she ac-
cepted, on the testimony of her friends. |
the fact that she was married and had a |
son, she was never able to realize how |
she gained husband and gave birth to
q child. Another Interesting instance
is reported by Prof. William Sharpey. (,
The patient was young married woman,
who for about six weeks remained in o |
continuous state OF somnclence. Upon
her recovery from the torpor the record !
of her previous requirements seems to
have been completely expunged from the
cerebral cells, and she had to be COM
pletely re-educated, it being requisite,
for example, in teaching her to read, to
begin with the alphabet About this
and some analogous cases, however,
there is an element of obscurity, for the |
process of re-education commonly re-
quires but few months, a suit which
seems to justify the inference that the
old cerebral records were rather faint
than extinct. But the explanation of
such temporary periods of oblivion re-
mains one of the unsolved problems of
cerebral pathology. !