The Washington times., 1919-02-15
Times Reward Sea Can the Prize You W.

| were transporting LleuNeuAuN 4AlEHVNA
had communicated with DR.. Blank
and the doctor had expressed his
willingness to call a consultant. and
had mentioned two or three men -
being eminently qualified 20 advise
with him. After some dellbsra.ion
one OF these gentlemen was dscblS4
upon, an appointment was made, ard
late in the afternoon found DR..
Blank, Lieutenant Kimban AMI DR..
X at Madeline's bedside.
The lieutenant left the room while
the physicians went forward with the
examination. He went out upon the
balcony and paced up and down for
what seemed to him an interminaole
period, but which was in reality only
about an hour, at the end 9f which
time the physicians came Ou.. and
they sat down together to .alX ever
the situation. DE-. x spoke:
"Well, lieutenant" he said. "I find
the young lady in an excesdingIy iE-
teresting state. I think II had been
called to see her when DR.. Blank saw
her that I should undoubtedly have
said as he did-that she was suffering
from aphasia, but as you perhaps are
not aware. that diagnosis has beon
brought into very great doubt with
in the past few hours owing to the
fact that she has in reality been
speaking. She has been In q state
of mild delirium. Here are ahe
things that she has been saying" and
with this he produced the notes that
had been taken by the nurse. These
things mean very little to Us because
we do not know what was going On
in her mind at the time and they
might perhaps have been said by a
person who was partially aphasic,
but from my own examination 1 be-
lieve that the aphasia is not n true
organic disorder associated with act-
usl injury to the brain, but tat 1t
is purely q psychological affair.
"Dr. Blank has given me some Idea
OF the very highly emotional stresses
the past few days. and I believe that
as a result OF these days OF stress.
finally eliminating in the slight blow
upon the head which evidently pro-
duced a passing Inconsistencies. she
has been thrown into what we call
a secondary state in whlch all or
most OF the impressions % the i'm
mediate present cease to register, and
the experiences OF her past
These are not uncommon condi-
tions, and while they initiate very
closely more serious disorders, such
as motor and sensory aphasia, they
are. on the other hand, purely func-
tional affairs from which the patient
may make a complete and sometimes
quite rapid recovery.
1T is my opinion that IL she could
be- removed temporarily from the pos
sibilities of such further experiences
to some quiet suburban house with a
,ongenial, sympathetic companion that
she would soon pick Up again the lost
strands in her life and be herself.
with this opinion DR.. Blank fully
agrees. She may. of course. need
some help in the way of definite psy-
chotherapeutic assistance, but, in any
case, 1 believe things will turn out
all right, provided she can be kept
free from the constant harSssing
which has upset her life since her ar
rival in Washington.
at is one of those cases which so
frequently happens, when life bears
upon US too harshly. Confronted with
situations which arc insoluble and
" hich offer insurmountablc difficult
ties. the mind tends to withdraw from
reality as a result of the 'sIings and
arrows OF outrageous fortune and to
reanimate those situations in the past
in which the individual has felt safe, |
secure and beloved, and I have no
doubt that the young lady in her de-
Iirium is doing that very thing at this |
moment, as you will notice from the !
occasional words that she utters she |
is apparently living over again |
scenes in her old Colorado home with
her father"
To say that Kimball was overjoyed |
at this pronouncement OF Dr. Y. would
be to put it mildly. All the posi-
biIIties which he had only lately come !
to glimpse were terminated, and he
saw again in his minds eye a vision |
of orange blossoms, OF home, and hap
nIness. He wrung the doctors hand
with a sense OF profound gratitude.
"Can we find such a quiet place as
YOU suggest anywhere nearby? and
WILL it be safe to move her? and
HOW SOON will it be safer" were
questions which rushed to his lips in
rapid succession. The doctor thought
q moment and said that he believed
that he could make arrangements
that would be satisfactory and would
undertake to do so as soon as he got J.