Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-25

the exact point ON tie scale whore the
power Of lateral vision ceased.
This being found and noted Dr. Deboutin
placed his hand upon the patients eyes.
and with a brief you may sleep now. my
girl" in broken English, she was asleep
In a few seconds.
Then came the lecture. He verbally dis
sectod her, giving a full and lucid explana-
tion Of the nervous system. from the spinal
marrow and its termination in the coccyx.
- ~ tho vertex OF the brain, in
which he was OF opinion there was in
that case a lesion-probabiy ourable-amply
accounting for the phenomenon present.
so clear. indeed, we're his remarks that
even a layman could follow him.
At last the doctor awoke the patient. and
was about to proceed with another expert
ment when his quick eye noticed a hardly
perceptible nutter Of the eyelids. "Ah. you
are tired" he said. "1t IL enough" And
he conducted her 10 the little side door
that gave exit from the platform.
The next case was one Of the kind which
is always the despair OF us doctors
h~ysteria. A girl, accompanied by her
mother, a neatly-dressed, respectable
looking lady. was led forward, but her
face worked so nervously that the doctor
had to reassure her. with a true cockney
accent she said that she lived in Mile End
and worked I'm n pickle factory. Her symp-
toms we're constant headache, violent
falls and complete absence Of sensation in
her left hand, which greatly intertered
with her work. Some Of the questions vera
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT in answer to one re-
garding her father she gave a cry that
Poor father died last year" and broke
into an agony Of weeping. In a moment
the doctor took up an ant~hropometric
instrument from the table and made a
movement as though to touch her pre-
sumably insensible hand. "Ah, you'll hurt>
me!' she said. Presently, while her at
t%ention was attracted in another direction,
he touched the hand with the instrument,
when she drew 1t back with a yell of pain,
showing that the belief that the hand was
insensible was entirely due to hysteria.
He analysed her case. just as he had done
the first and declared that by a technical
method of treatment, too technical to be
here explained, a complete cure could be
effected.
Another case of hysteria followed. and
then a terrible exhibition OF a wild haired
woman suffering from what the lecturer
described as a "crise des %nerfs," which
caused her at will to execute all manner
of horrible contortions as though she were
possessed. She threw herself on the floor
on her back, with her body arched SO that
II rested only OH neT nedu III nttlst Wnllt
she delivered kicks at those in front of
her. not with her toes, but with her heels.
Meanwhile her face was so congested as
to appear almost black.
The audience were, l think, relieved when
the poor, unfortunate woman, Gained by
Deboutin's method of suggestion was led
quietly away, and her place taken by a
I slim, red-haired girl OF more refined APP
/ pearance than the others, but with a
strange, stony stare as though unconscious
B Of her surroundings. She was accompanied
= by a short. wizen-faced old lady-her
grandmother.
At this ~juncture the chairman arose and
said:
= This case is of great interest, inasmuch
5 as it is a discovery made by my respected
3 colleague whom we all know by repute,
o Sir Bernard Eyton."
! The mention OF my chiefs name was
!. startling. 1 had no idea he had taken any
. interest in the French methods. Indeed, he
t had always declared to me that Charcot
4 and his followers we're a set Of cEarlatans.
= 1--WE have the pleasure OF welcoming Sir
Bernard here this evening"" continued the
5 chairman, land 1 shall ask him to kindly
0 explain the case"
q with apparent reluctance the welI-known
d physician rose, after being cordially well
COmed TO the PLATFORM Dy the french
9 ~savant, adjusted his ld-fashioned glasses
and commenced to introduce the subject.
d His appearance there was certainly quite
, unexpected. but as 1 glanced at Amber l
I saw a look of triumph in his face. We
d were sitting at the back Of the hall, and I
: knew that Sir Bernard, being short-sighted
a could not recognize us at the distance.
: st am here at Dr.. FuIton's invitation. to
. meet our great master, Prof. Deboutin, OF
! whom for many years l have been a fol-
lower" Then he went on TO express the
pleasure 1t gave him to demonstrate before
: them a case which he declared was not at
all uncommon, although hitherto unsus-
, pected by medical men.
Behind the chair Of the newcomer stood
the strange looking old lady-who answered
for her granddaughter, the latter being
. mute. Her case was one, Sir Bernard ex-
planned, OF absence OF will. With a few
Z quick questions he placed the history OF
; the case before his hearers. There was q
bad family history-a father who drank
! and n mother who suffered from epilepsy.
, At IS the girl had received a sudden fright
owing to a practical joke, and from that
= moment she gradually came under the in
I huence of some hidden unknown terror
, so that she even refused to eat altogether.
= The strangest fact, however, was that she
I could Still eat ana SPEAK III secTet' hltnouBh
! in public she was entirely dumb. and no
amount OF pleasure or pain would induce
r her to utter a sound.
This" explained Sir Bernard. " is ono
. OF the many cases % absence OF Will, partial
$ or entire. which has recently come be-
4 meath my notice. My medical friends, and
also Or. Deboutin, will agree that at the
age the patient received her fright many
s girls are apt TO tend toward what the
Charcot school term 'Aboulie,' or In plain
3 English, absence Of will. Now one of the
[ most extraordinary symptoms OF this Is
terror. Terror" he said, "of performing
the simplest functions OF nature; terror OF
4 movement, terror Of eating-though sane In
n every other respect. Some there are, too.
4 in whom this terror is developed upon one
A point only. and in such the inequality OF
a mental balance can. as a rule, only be de-
a tected by one who has made deep research
8 in this particular branch OF nervous dis
orders"
The French professor followed with a
lengthy discourse. in which he bestowed
q the highest praise upon Sir Bernard for
: his long and patient experiments. which.
A. - h.A an 20 the uEaaanN han "gnn-