The record-union., 1897-06-10

Rev. Thomas 6. Hanna Lost All Mem
DRY After Fall.

DRY Alter a Fall.
Many are the recorded cases of loss
of memory following upon accidents
that affect the spine or nervous sys-
tenn, but few, if any, have been accom-
panied by such peculiar conditions as
those observed in the case of the Rev.
Thomas c. Hanna of Plantsville Conn.
Readers of the Herald" will remember
the news, published at the time, of the
severe fall that deprived this brilliant
and eloquent young clergyman of his
power of expression, his learning, his
recognition of the most familiar things
and faces, and his entire recollection Of
the past.
The popularity that makes his case
extraordinary is that, notwithstanding
these important lapses of mentality, his
intellectual powers are in other respects
more than normal. His acuteness, his
powers of observation and his ability
to acquire are far greater than they
ever were before.
When Mr.. Hanna was picked up after
his fall he was taken to his boarding
house in an unconscious condition. His
father, the Rev. Thomas A. T. Hanna,
a Baptist clergyman of some influence
was sent for, together with other of
his relatives.
When they arrived they found him in
q state of complete consciousness, but
with his mind a blank. His ability to
speak was gone. So was all his knowl-
edge. He noticed nothing and nobody
and did not even seem to understand
the nature and purpose of the food
brought to him.
Yet his physical powers were not Sc
riously impaired. He was practically
uninjured.
LIKE A BABE.
HE was a babe" said his father, in
speaking of his condition, mentally as
ignorant of the things surrounding him
as any new born infant / am told that
during those first few days, after COM
ing to a realizing sense, he looked upon
the people in the room with as little
concern as does the few days old child
Then he began to take notice., and
then to learn
When he began to learn after pass
ing rapidly through the babyhood pc
Rod, his progress was marvellous. There
was nothing like returning memory in
this acquisition of knowledge. The
process was wholly that of the child
Everything was as new to him as when
he was a babe, in fact His progress
was the progress of a wonderfully keen
mind
For instance, they would show him a
pitcher. He would look at if with an
expression of complete darkness. They
would repeat the word pitcher, pointing
to the object. He would repeat it after
them, but with no flash of intelligence
in his face to show that he remembered
having heard the word before. 1t was
absolutely new to him.
But, having heard it and repeated it,
the word would never again escape
him. Whenever he wanted the pitcher
he would call for it.
And so it was with everything They
taught him the names of all the famil-
lar objects around him, and he acquir-
ed them in the same manner as does
the child, but with a remarkable quick
ness and grasp of comprehension. In
the same manner he learned the names
of his father and those around him.
No recollection or appreciation of rela-
tionship came to him with the names
however
Then they taught him ideas, and he
gathered them in as quickly and as
surely as he did names
Two things only remained to him from
the wreck of his recollection. He had
been a skillful and artistic draughtsman.
His sketches of men and places were
vivid and truthful. He had not forgot
ten how to sketch. He took the pencil
and paper, as he had formerly done, and
sketched naturally and with ease. But
his skill and originality had gone. His
drawings were now crude.
The other remnant of the past was
the alphabet. He could point out the
letters when they were called and in a
short time he was taught to join them
into words.
Il remember with great vividness,"
said his father, 1.-The first test We made
to see if he could read. Upon the walls
of his room hung some scriptural quo
tations. We showed him one of these.
At first the combination of letters made
no impression upon his mind, but slowly
he seemed to make out the meaning of
the smaller ones and pronounced the
words.
THE big words he could not master,
and we told him these, until he became
able to read the texts readily Each day
we turned over a leaf and gave him a
new text to study, and it was wonderful
to watch him progress.
1.-THE remarkable quality of his mind
in it's present state is its wonderful re-
tentiveness. He has learned within a
few weeks what would require several
years hard labor in a schoolboy. We
have been working patiently with him,
teaching him to read and doing all we
can to aid him and help him back to
where he was
So the work of teaching this adult
child has gone on day by day, week by
week. His progress has lately been very
great indeed, and yet the manner of his
accomplishment shows that his adj
vancement is not due to any return to
him of former knowledge, but to new
acquisition.
He has learned to read and to I'M
derstand much that is read to him. He
also talks a little, and what he says
shows that his mind is revolving adult
problems, though his speech is the
speech of child. Several times of late
he has surprised his watchers by the
THOUGHTS thai lie CHdcciNOIS W SAtl COS.
Many physicians have seen Mr.. Han
ma and studied his case. Among them
are DIR. Royal Amidon, DR.. S. P. Good
hart and DR.. A. B. Judson of New York.
They none of them speak with entire
freedom of the puzzling problems the
case presents, but all express the belief
that Mr. Hanna will in time regain his
complete faculties and his recollection.
How long before this happy result
may be expected is a question upon