The Opelousas courier., 1904-09-10
STRANGE MENTAL FREAKS.
REMARKABLE STORIES OF LOST
MEMORY TOLD BY A PLY.
SiciAN.

Causes Which Lead 70 APPARENT
Healthy Persons Suddenly Losln
Their Identity-stranse Cases Q
Psychleal Changes.
What are the causes of apparent
healthy persons suddenly losing thei
IDENTIFY" was a question which a ce
ebrated brain specialist dealt wit
recently in the hope that the result
of his researches and his advice Nigh
prove Of benefit to tho public.
The physician recalled some re
markable cases of what is known o.
"psychical changes" which have re
Gently come to his notice, i%ncludin.
the experience Of a gentleman who re
Gently entered the Record Office II
Chancery Lane and announced to al
~astonished official that "he did no
know who he was, rs he had lost hi'
memory"
Another case was that Of o young
lady who wandered from her home a.
Clacton to Finsbury, q distance OF
tAklLS Au44SSy Cl1O ALL 4Ao1Ou " tAO ~
lice at the latter place a name which
she thought to be her fathers" A
telegram. however, sent to that ad
dress was returned unknown"
A third illustration of these curious
psychological phenomena was that OF
a clergyman, who, after withdrawing
from his bank a substantial sum OF
money with which to complete the
purchase of a piece of land, entered a
tramWay a From that moment hta
mind became a blank, and he wan
dered 300 miles to a large town,
where with the money he bought q
stationer's shop and erected g sign
bearing the name Of Brown"
After six weeks a customer entered
and addressing the man behind the
counter as "Mr. Brown" asked to be
supplied with some small articles Of
stationery. The proprietor replied
that his name was not Brown, but
Bourne, and that he knew nothing
about the business.
1.-THE man had suddenly awakened
from his prolonged lapse of memory"
added the physician.
No less remarkable was the case Of
o London man who travelled to Leeds
to fill a situation which he had been
very anxious to obtain. He had a
brief and satisfactory interview with
his employer, and then went to look
for lodgings. The next thing the man
remembered was being in a train at
Grantham on his way back to London.
The strange feature Of this case was
that the unconscious man had care
fully and accurately relabelled his
luggage for the address he had pre-
viously occupied in London.
"As a matter of fact" explained the
physician, these persons behave in
quite a rational way, although they
are really unconscious all the time.
They spend money carefully, and eat
and sleep with their customary regu-
larity. They are but partly mentally
deficient.
"The brain is commonly regarded as
q single organ. 1t is in reality a col
lection of parts, different and distinct,
but closely related to each other, and
connected with every portion of the
body by nerves In non-technical
~phraseology certain of these cerebral
subdivisions become impaired where
cases of lost identity occur.
I'm cases where the sight of a
printed word. fails to revive the mem
ory. the disease is known as word
blindness and instances when a word
spoken Is not appreciated, but the
same word written stimulates the
memory, r known as word deaf
ness The latter patients are unable
to utter a sound, and yet can write
very intelligent letters. The auditory
word center Of the brain refuses to
act.
Again, there are cases where peo-
Pile are not capable of either speaking
Or writing the words which they
nevertheless remember. Hence the
large number Of lost persons who
cannot furnish the authorities with
their own names.
Very common are the cases where
persons forget events that have Just
occurred and yet retain excellent i'm
Dressions Of things that happened
Years ago and impart knowledge
which was acquired in their childhood
Ind had long been forgotten. Ona
nan who was professionally treated
Gould not remember his own name,
tut could remember whole chapters
# the Bible.
"The development of many of these
could be checked" proceeded
he doctor, "if their friends sought
imely advice. Memory Id regulated
y the amount of attention which q
'erson Is able at the time to give to
he subject to be. remembered. The
Fower of attention is greatly dimin-
shed by disease. An ill-nourished
ody implies an ill-nourished brain
falnutritfon is a frequent cause of
rain failure and consequent loss OF
IDENTIFY
Various fevers, influenza, and all
inds Of mental shock and blows upon
1e head may have these unfortunate
esults. OverWork, especially when
by business worries or
omestic anxiety. Is q factor to be
eckoned with. But, above all, the
ersons most liable to sudden loss OF
Inrtstx,, 49, %ha~.