The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1901-10-29
TRICKS OF THE MEMORY
CURIOUS CASES OF DROPPED
STITCHES OF TIME"
rhe Strange ForgctfuIness which Medical
Men Have Named Amncsia-Some Alb
normnlitics That Are Uncanny In the
ENtrcrnr-nnnl HcrannnIItN


normAIitics That Are Uncanny In the
| ENtrcnc-Dual Personality.
a few weeks ago the newspapers
reported the case OF young girl who
went ont one morning from her home
! in a London suburb for short bicy-
! Gle ride. and was heard of no more
until she was found i'm the evening
wandering about the neighborhood of
! Tunbridgc Wells in dazcd condition.
having entirely forgotten who she
was and where she lived. Happily.
! such prank as this on the part of
! the memory of Il sane and healthy
! person is not a common experience;
| hut Instances of a similar kind. of
which neither the physician nor the
psychologist have hitherto been able
! to give us any satisfactory cXplana-
| ton. have happened much more fire.
qucntly than it is pleasant TO think
! Of.
| One Of the most curious cases on
record was communicated to the Ian
Get in 1915 by DR.. Dunn. y young
woman of robust constitutions and in
! the best of health fell into Il river ana
| "AS liNtAl ~ hAON ANN. AlltI ltI res
| cue from the water she was insensihle
J for six hours, and ten days later she
! was suddenly seized with a stupor
! which lasted four hours. on awaken
| ing from this her friends were amazed
| to discover that she was unable TO
! recognize any of them, and that she
I had also lost her sense of hearing.
! taste and smell, as we'll as all power
/ of speech. She was quite passive. re-
| manned in any position in which they
placed her, and ate automatically of
any food which was placed between
her lips with spoon. Various at
/ tempts were made to interest her. and.
after n little instruction in the use OF
needle, she found some amusement
! in doing patchwork, or working with
worsted, the bright colors of which
seemed TO have some attraction for
her. But she lost all recollection of
what she had done from day to day.
and, so to speak, began life afresh
every morning Two things only con-
nected with her past seemed, even in
the faintest way, to touch her recol-
lection. When the lover to whom
she had been engaged came to pay
her visit she showed slight access
of pleasure; and at the sight of water
though it were only small quantity
! poured from a jug into a basin. she
exhibited signs OF distress ana fright
Bit by bit, however, her mind came
| back. But she had absolutely no rec
objection o: anything which had tax
en- place since thc fit of insensibility
which had followed her immersion.
twelve months previously
UnconsciOUsness due to disease or
injury, epilepsy, hystcria, conclusion
OF the brain, or coma induced by al
cohol, opium or other poison. have fire.
quently been known TO produce this
strange fOrgetfulncss, which medical
men have named amnesia. and of
which they now recognize several dis
tinct varieties. It's effects are some
times highly curious. DR.. Forbes
Winslow tells Of man Of scholastic
attainments, who, after an attack of
acute fever, lost all knowledge of the
letter e.; and of soldier. who. after
the loss OF some part of his brain by
trepanning, was found 10 have also
lost The power TO recOllcct or recoe-
niZe the numbers -" and -" Or.
Abercrombic cites the case of n lady
seized with apoplcXy one Thursday
evening while playing cards. VINO lay
in state of stupor until the following
sunday, when, on suddenly recover
ing consciousness. she asked, as If
nothing had happened in the mean
time. "\Nlat ovp frur1De - A4tJ ti,.