The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-05-08
MIRROR SPEECH.
NEW MENTAL MALADY WHICH
ATTACKS SOME PEOPLE
4 Chicago Society Woman's Attic
tion-Similar Cases Noted Else
where-People Who Talk, Sec
aud Write Backward.
STRIKING and severe case

ulSCTuGI, NAlSA h1o SHiy 5"S"
and only recently discovered
to be disease OF all, had attacked IN
it's most persistent form woman IN
the doctors clientele.
The PATIENTS decidedly well-known
and popular society leader on the south
side. She is nervous and delicate
little woman, and has for some
years been under the casual care OF
her physician. During the fall she
was stricken with q severe case OF
brain fever and prostration, from which
she had apparently thoroughly recoy-
cred at least a month ago. While con-
yalescent her family and immediate
friends noticed that her speech, when
ever she was permitted to talk, was
strangely ineoherent and meaningless.
They attributed the fault to her weak
physical condition. In the courEe OF
few days it grew perceptibly worse.
and the physicians attention was called
to it. Her speech now became utterly
wild and beyond comprehension. She
spoke no particular words, but seemed
simply to articulate empty and non
connected syllables. The physicianpro-
nounced it to be case of "mirror
speech" an odd affection of the brain,
in which there occurs complete re-
versal of the. order of syllables IN q
sentence, just as the order OF series
of objects from right to left is reversed
by reflection in a mirror.
This curious brain trouble IS FAR
more prevalent and widespread than
is evident to casual observer. AL
though there are few cases IN which 1t
becomes persistent malady CT some
DAYS duration, it lasts generally but a
few hours, sometimes but part OF an
hour, and most frequently for few
moments, days apart. 1t Is due either
to extreme mental exhaustion or un-
due mental excitement. 1t always
takes the form of the perversion OF
the syllables of q word. Some minds
are particularly more susceptible to II
than others, and women rather thar
men are subject to it. It is daily
recurrence in listening to the ordinary
remarks of an extremely tired woman
to note how frequently she makes in
comprehensive utterances, totally un
known to herself. She thinks the cor
rect thought in her brain, she know
what she wants to say, but her tongu'
refuses to pronounce the words IN th'
ordinary intelligent order.
This same perversion occurs IN tn
utterances of O self conscious orator
making his maiden speech, and i
sometimes far more pitiful than curl
GUS, when he struggles on, uncon
scious OF the ridiculous impression
which he is making.
Mirror speech is an abnormalit,
which is exactly similar in principa
to the so.called "mirror writing.
The latter is pathological symptom
which manifests itself in the penman
ship of the patient, who is unable t.
write from left to right, but only iron
right to left, forming the letters an
sentences backward.
In the case of boy recently note,
in North Adams, Mass, afflicted wit
perverted vision, the malady was PEI
manent. Ii was impossible to teac
him otherwise. His right hand wa
guided over line of copy in tn
proper manner, but the moment hi
hand is released he instantly change
the pencil to his left hand and com
mences to write in the mirror fashion
A peculiar feature of the case is tia
he has no difficulty in reading th
handwriting of others, although CON
specialists pronounce his malady t
be one of the optic nerve only.
Gases of mirror writing have bee
frequent, but the first case of genuin
chronic mirror speech was discovers
only three months ago by a cersai
DIR. Doyen. of Paris. He was the fir
rather to establish the phenomenon |
an actual mental disease.
The discovery occurred in an oper
ton performed on young girl lively
years old, who had been trepanne
successfully, to relieve severe Ger
brai abscess after Inflammation of I'll
ear. For some time after the oper
ton aphasia, or inability to EXPIRE
ideas in spoken language, was persis
ent. However, gradually as her heali
grew better the patient began to uts'
sounds, which, although they We
uttered clearly and were perfect
articulated, nevertheless were total
incomprehensible. For example, son
of her utterances were similar to Il
following: "En.list do me to; me i
lone-a; kind.un how"
She would calculate this and sim
lar phrases with great emphasis, az
was totally unaware OF her income
ency. The inability of her attendal
and her friends to understand b
conversation made her extremely a
CRY. She attributed their amazir
lack of compr shension to stupidit
and tried to awaken their dormai
faculties by repeating over and ov
again with injured vehemence b
jargon.
Finally it occurred to one to tai
down in writing the syllables On
phrases which she uttered. This W
; done, when, by this means, an IN
t sual discovery was made which form'
[ the key to the problem. The patie
was uttering her sentences backwar
: as we'll as changing the order OF 81
r tables in word, and always with
, striking regularity in mispiscsd Q
der and in form. The apparent
meaningless utteranees quoted aboy
whep. transposed mean "Do listen
me- lat me alone. how unkind.