The Washington herald., 1907-08-04

should be of immense value TO the army
Of novelists. Here We have reported by
physician who has made a special study
Of the diseases of the mind a great num-
Der Of those instances Of dual personals
ties. which. since the first advent of "Dr
Jekyll and NIr Hyde" has been a fruitful
theme for tie writer of fiction.
The volume embodies fifteen lectures de
livercd before the students of the Har-
ward E@dicaI College, and they represent
as they stand the typical attitude OF the
French philosophers and psychologists,
backed up by scientific investigation. DR..
Janet discusses the work OF the ancients
on hysteria in its various manifestations.
beginning with Democritus and Plato, and
bringing his research down TO the investi-
cations of Charcot For himself, he diff
feTs from his predecessors in that he will
not allow racial differences to enter into
his calculations, and is quite sure that
hysteTia is as common among the women
Of America as il Is among their French
sisters. What is hysteria in women is
neurasthenia in men, and he gives some
striking examples Of its manifestations. II
is his belief that the sibyls. prophets,
witches. and demoniacs We're marked
types Of Mysteries. His own definition
of hysteTia. which differs markedly from
that generally accepted by the medical
profession, Is: "Hysteria IS a form of men
tai depression, characterized by the re-
traction Of the field Of personal conscious
ness. and d tendency to the dissolution
and emancipation Of the systems Of ideas
and functions that constitute personal
ity." But if there may be a falling out
over definitions. there seems 10 be little
danger of mista6ins the symptoms which
are here most fully and graphically de-
scribed.
There is a chapter on the single and
multiple ideas 90 be found in somnambul-
ism, which is one Of the forms of hys-
teria. He says. "TO me. somnambulsm Is
extremely frequent under various forms
that may. more or less, conceal it. SOM
nambulism does not add ilself TO all sorts
OF homeopathic troubles; il constitutes the
material point of a peculiar neurOsis-I
hysteria. If one understands somnam-
bulism well, one is. ] believe, capable of
understanding all hysterical phases that
are more or less constructed on the same
model As 10 dual personalities, DIR. ia
net Is OF the opinion that the cases are
few IN number,nOt more than twenty
five or thirty al the present time But
that there is such "a thing as a man fall
ing into two separate eXisteuces-WhichI
offers SO inviting a field for the specula-
tion and Imagination of the ictiOnists-he
knows. and the instances ne gives are
more striking than any novelist has yet
dared TO write.
II is most interesting TO read Dr. Ja-
nets account Of how sleep-walkers, hyp-
notic subjects, and ordinary hystericals
behave. Here is a typical report of one
OF his cases:
The aliec, is boy OF seventeen At thirteen DE
often Rcut 20 small public house. visited by old
sailors They would urge him to drink. and when
DO Was s1me1hat aus.e.ed would hI his imagina-
uon with beautiful tales. Iu which deserts palm
trees, lions. clue.-. and ugsTocs were pictured in a
most wonderful and aIU,ug uay. The Young boy
was TeIy mHcl struck hy those pictures particularly
as DEE was Lal up-y. However when his drunken
ness was over aa stories seemed tl De quite forgot
tru; De never spoke OF travels. and on the contrary
ltd -cleuiay lie ,ar be had chosen the placid
occupation Of a graceI.s Aoy. and DE only sought TO
ll-e In that honorable career
Now, there came on quite unforeseen accidents
aanast always "n The occasion Cf some fatigue OF a
III of druksuuess- lie then felt transformed forgot
To return home. and thought Of bis family.
He would leave Paris. walk straight ahead and 20
through the forest Of Saint Gtmaiu OF as far AS
The Department 0f the Oune He had but one idea
LETT in bis head namely TO get the sea- enlist in
ship aud sail away % those enchanted countries
O. Africa. His journeys ended rather badly: he
would awake suddenly. dreuched half starving
either on the hishoad IN an asylum without ever
being able 90 understand what had happened. and
with the most ardent wish 20 60 back TO his family
and his grocery.
This book on a special subject is meant. |
Of course, for specialists 1t covers the |
ground with marked thOrOughness. and is /
certain 10 be Of great use in its particular
field. (NeW York: The Macmillan Coz
"The Story Of Bacon's Rebellion" by
Mary Newton Stanard, is an admirable
account Of one Of the most picturesque
and dramatic events Of the seventeenth |
century history Of the Colony of Virginia. /
II is a subject that just now, assumes ad- |
ditional Importance from the fact OF the |
Jamestown Exposition, which is drawing |
visitors from all parts OF the Union, |
many Of whom viii see, while passing on
James River. the site Of the home Of |
Bacon, at Curles Neck; many others will /
visit Richmond, where 'Bacon's Quarter" /
Is still a name; viii Ilnger in the historic |
b
Plantation" will stand within the ancient
tower of the church, which the rebels |
burned at jamestown, and standing. per |
haps, on the very spot where Bacon and |
Sir William Berkeley had their famous 1
quarrel, they may see the foundations of |
the old Statehouse, before which the /
antagonists stood
The whole story Of the rebellion and the /
events that led up to it has been told in |
this volume by Mrs Stanard. It was the /
tnird term as governor Of Sir William |
Berkeley, narrOW-minded man. loyal to /
MS sovereign, and quite out of sympathy /
with the American idea Of liberty for the /
masses. which was even then prevalent |
m the colony. The people had many griev- /
anceS. Times were hard, in the first
place; tobacco brought q low price and
tho taxes were beginning to be oppressive /
The legislature was the governors crea- /
ture. anu the uErighteOus taxes contin- /
ued. Nor was this all Charles II, In ex-
lie, had granted the Northern Neck Of |
virginia 10 some Of his cOurUers, and on |
the restoration this grant was confirmed. /
The whole colony was given, with few
restrictions, TO Lords Arlington and Cul- |
peper. Then there We're Indian troubles.
eliminating in the Indian war Of 1615. At |
this period of distraction arose Nathaniel
Bacon, who, promptly elected a leader.
took the war path against the Indians at
the head Of 300 men, This enraged Berke-
ley OF course who threatened to hang
Bacon on his return. The story Of how
the strife grew between the governor and
Bacon. how Bacon made the cause Of
the people his own. and led them against
their oppressors, is here set down in a
most interesting way. Bacon died too
soon 10 reap the benefits of the work he
had DONE but the work remained; the
rights he had fought for were GAINED ond