Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1892-11-10
THE ARSENTMINDED WOMAN.
Several Arguments to Prove That s
La Not as She Fears. Insane.

Several Arguments to Prove That She
Is Not, as She Fears, Insane.
A lady who hastened to explain that
she is mot drinking woman" that she
is mot addicted to the use of drugs" in
short that she has no habits that would
tend to impair the intellect, cites an ex.
perience that has caused her much dis.
Quietude. Briefly told and in her OWL
language, she 'went down town anc
forgot to put ON either hat or bonnet.
This bit of mental alteration has sc
haunted, worried and generally Upset
her that she appeals for relief-some
thing in the nature of citation of similar
cases that may convince her that she i.
not a glaring exception to the world o.
sensible people and that her performance
is not to be taken as an indication tina,
she is losing her mind.
1t ought to be the easiest thing in th'
world to convince this needlessly alarm
ed lady that in the light of the many
and notable examples of mental lapse.
her experience is rather a pleasantly
Distinguishing characteristic and not s
terrifying malady. If she has followed
the daily papers or has read the floating
bits of biography she must have notet
the many strange stories of great mel
and women remarkable for their absent
mindedness. In fact, the preoccupatior
Of the mind has led people into many
absurd experiences and has made then
the subjects Of many oft told jests.
But nobody would think for momeni
of accusing such people of marked
tendency toward insanity or of intimat
ing that the brain was softening. The
explanation would be that the mind is
so concentrated on what happens to be
occupying it at the moment that al
other things are subordinated. For ex
ample, people wrapped il thought will
be carried beyond their railway station
will walk several blocks out of then
way, will even pass their own door.
A further interesting and consoline
thought is the fact that the profoundesi
thinkers afford the most numerous illus
trations of absentmindedness. Scien.
fists, literary men, college professors
lawyers-in short, all classes of people
who are. of studious profession-art
noted for such eccentricities. The wise
professor, with his head crammed full
of the inspiration of the study, is the
butt of the students and the practica
folk that enjoy the bewilderment into
which his preoccupation leads him
Professor Sophocles, of Harvard univer
sity. was man of this kind. Professor
Smell, of Amherst, was another. Pro
fessor Walter Houghton, the historian
is a third. 1t is related of Professor
Houghton that in leaving his room to
pass down a long corridor and thence to
the street he invariably raised his um
brella unconscious of the smiles of ths
amused spectators.
Samuel T. Glover, for many years the
bright ornament of the st. Louis bar
was notoriously absentminded. He
would enter a restaurant, order 6
luncheon and fall into a brown study
over a law case. After the luncheon
had been served he would pick up the
check, pay the cashier and walk out
leaving the food untouched, entirely un
mindful of the fact that his stomach was
still unsatisfied. Mr.. Beecher has related
stories in which thought preoccupatio1
has played him pranks, and has laughed
as heartily as anybody over the misfor
tunes.
In view Of the thousands of expert
ences that might be cited in evidence OF
the extent of observation-disclosures, it would
appear that the lady who pranced dowr
town bereft of her bonnet has no reason
to fear that she is also to be bereft OF hel
reason. A thousand Blooming ales
could not accommodate the lunat il
her stage of disease.-New York orld