The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-30
TwIRLs ABOUT LIKE A TOP.
The Strange UncontroIlabls Desire
That Afflfcrs a ySneland Boy.
Especial to 'HThe Jersey city News

Especial to THE Jersey City News.'j
VINELAND, Aug. 80, lS97.-The New
Jersey Training School for Feeble-Mind-
ed Children. at vineland, has, among its
inmates, a lad ten years of age, who Is
subject to involuntary revolutions. The
s~trangeness of the case has excited great
interest among the leading medical men,
and specialists have examined the af-
tiicted boy.
The little fellow srins around as il on a
pivot, and he can nc more control the
revolutions of his body han he can stop
the revolution of this mundate sphere.
Every few steps in walking or running
he makes two or three, and sometimes
more revolutions. If he is held during
his revolutions he will struggle to get
loose in order to continue them. Charlie
is a handsome, intelligent lad and, aside
from screaming spells upo awakening
in the morning, is as healthy as the aver
age boy. When questioned as to the
cause Of his cries, he replied that he
'has a pain in his stomach and is ner-
vous.'
Charlie was placed in the institution
six months ago by his parents, who are
prominent in the State. The lad was
examined recently by DR.. Charles 4.
Mills and DR.. w. G. Spiller of Philadel-
phia. An extract of the report ON the
case made by these two e.....4at physi-
clans says
"On examination we found the boy
quite intelligent, understanding and re-
plying correctly to all said to him. His
speech, vision, hearing and bodily de-
velopment were good. The interesting
Eco ~ f1 +lnz % 9 &, +h1 foplnpavy IF tho
patient to revolve while walking. He
has been taught since he entered the
schoo tina he must overcome this i'm
pulse, but he told US that he could not
nelp turning
The revolution is said to be always
toward the left, i. e., in facing the OBJ
server the right side is first presented,
then his back, and then his left side.
We are able to confirm this statement
while the patient was walking, and the
revolution correspondent with the speed
with which he had been moving"
Drs. Mills and Spiller then cited a
somewhat similar case, reported by DR..
Bechterew, which approaches, in rarity,
the present one. Bechterew's patient
while walking would from time to time
make revolutidls from right to left, and
after accomplishing these he could go
straight ahead for a few steps until
seized by this irresistible desire to re-
volve.
At the autopsy a pseudo-membrane
was found in the inner surface of the
dura, in the portion corresponding to the
parietal obes. The pia over the right
angular cyrus was adherent, and there
was an e~ncephalitic focus at this part.
This did not exend far in to the brain.
According to Bechterew," say Drs.
Mills and Spiller LESSONS of the parietaI
lobe especially, are apt to cause forced
motions. 1t is impossible, at present. to
decide whether these revolutions in the
present case which the lad cannot help
| are the result of organic or functional
conditions. If some one would devise a
method by which the Roentgen rays
| could give us a photograph of a brain
| within a skull, our means of ~diagnosti-
eating would then give positive results
| in such difficult problems