The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-08-28
TOTAL Loss OF MEMORY.
Causes of People Losing Their
Identity.
0Ondon AIail.)

(LOndOn MalK)
w hat are the causes OF apparently
healthy persons suddenly losing their
IDENTIFY" was q question which a eel
ebrated brain specialist death with re-
Gently in the hope that the results of
his researches and his advice might
prove of benefit to the public
The physician recalled some remark
able cases Of what are known as Fpsy-
chical changes" which have recently
come to his notice, including the ex-
perience of a man a few days ago who
entered the Record Office in -Chancery
Lane and announced to an astOnished
official that "he did not know who he
was, as he had lost his memory
Another case was that OF a young
woman who wandered from her home
at Clacton TO Finsbury, a distance Of
thirty miles, and furnished to the po-
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 car From that moment his
mind became q blank and he wandered
800 miles to a large town. where with
the money he bought a statiOneT's shop
and erected a sign bearing the name of
= Brown. ''.e-se
After six weeks 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.
The man had suddenly awakened
from his prolonged lapse Of MEMORY"
added the physician.
No less remarka Die was the case of
2 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 he man re-
mem bered was being in 2. train st
Grsntham on his way back to London.
The strange feature OF this case was
that the unconscious man had careful
" and accurately reIabeled his luggage
for the address he had previously Oc-
cupied 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 bat partly mentally
deficient
The brain Is commonly regarded as
q single organ IT 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-technicaE
phraseOlogy. certain of these cerebral
subdivisions become impaired where
cases Of lost identity occur.
In cases where the sight Of a print
ed work fails 20 revive memory. the
disease is known as word blindness. ?
and instances when a word spoken is
not appreciated. but the same word
written stiaalates the memory are
known as word deafness The latter
patients are unable TO utter a sound.
and yet can write very intelligent let
terS. The auditory word center OF the
brain refuses 10 act
Again. there are cases where people
are not capable of either speaking or
writing the words which they neverthe-
less remember. Hence the large num-
Der 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
pressions Of things that happened
years ago and impsrt knowledge which
was required in their childhood and
had long been forgotten One man who
was professionally treated could not
remember his own name. but could re-
cite whole chapters Of the Bible.
The Development Of many Of these
cases would be checked, proceeded
the doctor. IF their friends sought
timely advice. Memory is regulated
by the amount Of attention which a
person Is able AT the time 10 give to
the subject 10 be remembered This
power Of attention is greatly dimin-
ished by disease An il-nOurished
body implies an il-nourished brain.
Malnutritiou is frequent cause OF
brain failure and consequent loss Of
identity.
Various fevers. influenza and all
kinds Of mental shock and blows upon
The head may have these unfortunate
results ORSrwork. especially when ac-
bv business worries or
anxiety is factor to be
reck0ned with. But above all. the
persons most liable to sudden loss OF
identity arc those OF an epileptic ten
dcncy although it is difficult to recon-
Gle protracted lapse of memory with
{ 14s.-