The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-07-20
DO PEOPLE LOSE
 THEIR IDENTITY Cases of Dual Personality Be-
 come Numerous MALADY HARD TO BEAR One Woman Found at Sea In an Open Boat Could Remember Nothing of
 Her Past Life-Fate
 Spares Her.
From the Washington Post.

From the Washington Post
 Of all the ills that the human body IS heir to, the loss of memory or the sense of identity must be the hardest to bear. With this forgetfuness, known in me1i- cine as aphasia, generally comes the forgetting of friends and family. Not III know who you are. and yet to retain your other faculties, Is as if you had died and were yet alive to mourn for your lost self, for if you lose your sense of identity, who then are you? Followed to it's final and logical conclusion, the ques- ton naturally arises 'Is not memory or the sense of self, or ego, that which makes me, myself, as distinguished from my fellow creatures?'
 A man may be accidentally struck on the head by brick falling from a build ing, and upon reganing his consciousness he may find that he has forgotten that he was Sam Smith married, two children, etc. Who then is he? And what has become of Smith? Would he be re- sponsible for his acts as Smith. before either God or man, having no idea as to who he either was in the past, or is Tn the present? These are not merely idle questions, for they touch the very foua- dation of our religious and social life; and they are of almost daily occur renee. Nearly every day some fresh case or dpDHSla IS TeDOIltQ lO li6 noWSpdpSIs. One of the most interesting of these cases was that of a woman picked up at sea-
 At Sea In an Open Boat.
 One morning the American ship Tor nado was about 50 miles south of Ma deria, when the mate saw ships boat half cable length off the port bow. In the bottom of the boat were two human figures one of whom was a woman, and all around the boat the sea was alive with sharks. They were diving under the craft, running their noses against it, and seeking in every way to upset it. Had 1t been a trailer craft 1t would not have withstood their attacks. The mate called the captain, who at once ordered one of the men to go over the side and get the occupants of the boat on board. The man had been dead at least 24 hours. As the woman was being lifted on board she groaned. She was greatly exhausted from want of food and water but there was still life enough to build hope on. She responded so well to treatment that she fell before long into deep sleep. She slept 30 hours, being fed at intervals, which did not really awaken her. The long sleep fully restored her to life, but those who had rescued her were doomed to disappointment If they expected to
 
 tell She could remember nothing of the past, not even her name If you have ever read Clark Russels books you will remember two such incidents in his stories. You may have set these down as sailors yarns, but such things do hap pen.
 This woman awolxe to find herself aboard d strange ship, with strange men about her. She was handsome and well rzl., I;-l, g., and noI She wore no jewelry, and had nothing about her by which she might be identi- fled. When asked how she came to be at sea with a man in a ships gig whether she had lived in England or elsewhere-she could tell absolutely nothing. not even her name. She began life anew when she opened her eyes in the cabin of the Tornado.
 Developed Into a Romance.
 The captain was puzzled what to do with the woman. She strongly objected to being left at Fayal, as the captain proposed She said she would be alone and with strangers, with no money and no way to make living. It was finally decided to carry her to the port to which the Tornado was bound Captain Clark gave the story of finding the woman to the newspapers, so that first and last it
  papers, and read by thousands Of sailors. but no one came forward with any in formation that would throw any light on the subject. To make romance of this incident. the captain of the Tornado fell In love with the lady, and she returned the sentiment. They would have been married at the end of a few months, but they did not dare run such a risk. Cap tain Clark fully believed that she was .,fa1 hot r,.l lof fat her husband would turn up As for her. the past was absolutely dead She woul1 not have remembered her husband if she had indeed, a husband had he stood be- fore her After two years had passed and no one had come to claim her or any knowledge of her. Captain Clark married her. They went to live in Wilmington, N c. Captain Clark shortly af:erward quit the sea- and set up in business as a ship chandler.
 One evening, four years after the we'd ding the captain of an English ship called on Captain Clark in the way of business to purchase some supplies. Some. thing happened to be said about the Azores, and the stranger at once began q sorrowful story. He said his name was Burke. Six years before. while he was at the Azores, his wife attempted to sr,. turn to the ship which was anchored
 
 a squall. and her boat was upset and the occupants lost. No trace of the boat or It's occupants could ever be found but there was no doubt they had perished in the storm. Burke was nearly. crazed with grief, and was taken down with an attack of brain fever which kept him in bed for many months. The story was not half told before Captain Clark knew that his wife's real husband stood before him.
 The Intervention of Fate.
 Whether he would have suppressed the truth, or have boldly told 1t, no man but he can tell, for he was not put to the test. The climax was curious one, but in keeping with this strange tale Captain Burke was looking at Clark in a puzzled sort of way as he told his story perhaps having some intuition of ire truth when the fastenngs of a small anchor hanging from beam overhead. broke, and it fell. strKng him on the head and killing him instantly.
 Not a word of what had happened was told to Mrs Burke or Mrs Clark. which- ever she was. Who was she if vo, please? Was she not Mrs Clark as much as she was Mrs. Burke? Here is A fine question for the logicians. Could sine have been held accountable for biganly. either by God or man had R,,rlxe liveda When she woke to ilfe on the eventeul day that she was rescued from the sea did Mrs. Burke come back to life or ,vsa A new soul born into iha world to hecon,e known afterward as Mrs. Clark? So far as sine herself kner she was ner,nctiy innocent of any wrong in r,strvirp e-1a,,, No crime could DC ln,fi'"'. 10 her. for the