River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-05-26
A STRANGE DISEASE.
The Patient Thinks. But Il Unable 10 Ell.
-resS His Ideas.


There exists, as one of a great num-
Der of affections of the brain, psychic
logical symptom of a particular nature
caused by some disarrangement of the
faculty of speech. The disease is known
/ by the name of aphasia, and its victims
are termed aphasiacs. WITH an as
I tonishing precision it causes IN men an
experience of dissertation, thought still
exists, but the sign, the mode CT ex-
/ pressing the thought, is forgotten.
When person, from any one of sew
eral causes. is seized with complete
/ aphasia, he preserves his intelligence,
/ he remembers, reasons. perceives sur
rounding objects, but he is unable TO
communicate with others; he can no
longer speak or understand the words
addressed TO him; he can not write or
read; sometimes even the language of
/ gesture is lost to him.
Such a person is generally thought to
be stricken down by paralysis. But
this is not always the case. He can not
I speak. but his vocal organs may remain
intact. Before pronouncing a word it
/ is necessary to think. It is thought of
the word which the aphasiac can no
/ longer catch. II is this anterior Ian
! guage1 which is at fault
Verbal blindness, one form of aphasia.
as the name indicates, is blindness as
regards words alone. The individual
suffering from it is unable to under
stand the meaning of any words writ
ten or printed. The disease transforms
an educated person into an illiterate.
Verbal 6aa ff,aEc - annfha,- f,f
this disease. There are three senses in
which we speak of hearing; there is the
simple perception of sound or noise as
such; there is perception of sound at
tended with intelligence as to its nature
or origin-thus we recognize the roll
ing of a carriage over the street, the
cry of child, the barking of dog; and
there is third perception of the mean
ing of words. To this last only is
reference made under the name of ver-
bal hearing.
II is the verbal hearing which is de-
stroyed in one affected with verbal
deafness. He distinctly hears sound,
but he does not apprehend anything
said to him. He is in some sort, in the
situation of one transported into a
strange country whose people speak an
unknown tongue.
There is still another form of aphasia
which prevents those afflicted from
writing; although they can readily I'M
derstand both the spoken aud the writ
ten words The inability to write is
known under the name of agraphy
Less is known about it as yet than
about any of the other forms
The loss of the hearing memory is a
graver loss than any of the other three
The loss of memory Of sound
will gradually involve one in
trouble as regards speaking, then
in reading and in writing. and the per-
son Will become a complete aphasiac.
Such persons are-if l may coin a new
term-aphaS.acs by induction. 1t is
often difficult to distinguish the latter
from ordinary aphasiacs. But one great
difference exists between them; the for
nier may be cured. The disease will
disappear as soon as the patient learns
To bring into active use the memories
left him. One memory gone the others
can be trained in large measure to sup
ply its place.-Alfred Binet, in Chautau-
Qfau.