Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-09-09
APHASIA IN FOUR FORMS.
The Incurable Mysterious Disease that Battles
Human Skill.
Cat

Human Skill.
Saturday Review.
There are four forms of aphasia which
eo-exist or which may be found isolated.
First the loss of the power of understand
ing spoken words, or, as it has been nam
ed improperly, since the failure is not
physical but mental, verbal deafness:
second, verbal blindness, or the inability
to read; third motor aphasia, or the loss
of the power or articulate speech; fourth,
agraphia-a term invented, we believe,
by the English physician. DR.. Ogle-or
the loss of the power of writing
An instance of the loss of the faculty of
understanding spoken words, while that
of the understanding written words re-
manned, is quoted by NJ. Ballet from
Abercrombie. 1t is that of a gentleman
farmer in Scotland, who recognized the
sounds of spoken words without under
standing their meaning, and who, to make
communication with his laborers possible,
had a written list in his room of the most
ordinary ferms. On hearing, without in
the least compromising the spoken words
he turned to his list, and his perception
of what was said became clear. Of verbal
blindness-as it is called-M. Ballet gives
an instance of a French merchant, whom
he calls M. p, man of fair cultivation
and more or less of reading habit who,
through an accident IN hunting, lost the
faculty of reading.
m. P. understood perfectly everything
that was said to him, answered questions
with much precision, and expressed him
self with certain degree of facility.
Moreover he wrote with ease, not only his
name and address, but long letter, and
that without any notable mistake in
photography. The interesting fact is that
though he could write and did it with
certain ease, was incapable of reading.
I write, he said, as if my eyes were
closed; l do not read what [ write In
fact, he was wholly unable to reread the
words which he had traced a few seconds
before" The letters themselves written in
this condition were quite equal to those
which he had written before the accident
befell him.
Of motor aphasia or the inability to use
articulate speech, M. Ballet gives instances
of patient at the Saltpetriere whose re-
ply to all questions consisted of the word
"Macass, macassa;" of another who would
only say "MonOmomentif;" of a third
who was reduced to the expression "Iqui
phophoiqui," and of fourth whose vocab-
ulary didd not go beyond Baden, abaden,
could only say ''Cre nom, ere mOm," be-
ing in this respect inferior to very dis
tinguished lady, whose conversational
powers extended to, though not beyond
the entire phrase which Baudelaire gave
the usual abreViatians. Still more advanc-
ed was another lady, who repeated at
every moment, MADAME, etc, mon Dieu.
est il possible, boni Jour, MOdame."
In the earlier stages of the malady
proper names were forgotten. An emf
nent man of science was reduced to des-
ignate the person of whom he spoke as
''My colleague who invented such a
thing" Next common nouns disappear.
When the Able Perier asked for his hat
he said, "Giye me my - What one puts
on ones -" His coat was, "What is
worn to be dressed in" Scissors, with
another patient, were the things one cuts
with; the window, what one looks through,
what gives light. What can not be said
BY people affected with motor aphasia
can sometimes be sung by them. An Off
Ger who could not pronounce the words
'enfant" and "p9trie," whose powers of
speech were confined to the word 'pardi''
and the letter ''h,'' was capable of sing
ing with perfect articulation the first
cOuplet of the "Marseillaise."
A farmer, 'du COmte de Wiklow don't
parle Graves" could not pronounce the
names of his wife and children except by
reading them. striking instance OF
agraphia is that of Russian officer,
we'll acquainted with Russian, French and
German, who, having been afflicted with
motor aphasia as regards French and
German afterward became subjected to
agrapnia as regards all the three Ian
guages, though he retained or rega1ned
the power of speaking or reading them.
A woman, being asked to write her name
pronounced the words "SumiI siclaa sat
rem" and gave her address as "Sumil sic
laa nut to mer linn lain" An English
naval officeh wishing to write "Royal
Naval Medical Officer belonging to the
Admiralty" was constrained to add the
termination "dendd" to each word, and
endendd (sic) belodendd," etc.