The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1920-06-12
REMARKABLE CASE OF
SAN FRANCISCO SCIENTIST
Amnesia Victims Regalns Memory Az
ter Six Months; Accidental Blow
On Head Restores Scientist.

Un mead restores Scientist.
San Francisco. Calf. - An acct
dental fall against bathtub was the
shock that brOugh Dr. Arthur Lach-
man. San Francisco scientist, victim OF
amnesia, back to his dominant person.
ality, Mrs. Lachman says. Taking his
morning bath in the hotel at Chico. he
slipped and hit his cheek against the
porcelain tub. This much reremem-
bers. What happened before that in
slant is an absolute blank
His mind is too newly adjusted to
risk the sight or questions of a stran-
ger" Mrs Lachman said. while he
is perfectly clear in his statements
and associations, he is very weak
physically. and it would be madness
to put a further strain on him. We
hope that, as time goes on, he will re-
member enough to enable us to trace
his movements since he left us
1t is not true that he is untidy and
unkempt," she continued. "To be ure,
he is thin and haggard from some re-
cent sickness, but he was carefully
shaved when we saw him. He hadn't
forgotten any of his personal physical
habits. As odd evidence of this. we
POUNDS tubes ofthe identical brands of
tooth paste and shaving soap that he
always used in his suitcase. OF course
the cut on his cheek, though only a
slight aesh wound, and the emacia-
ton of his body, give him a strange
appearance"
RI. Rachel Ash said that while
Lachman's condition suggested thathe
had not eaten for several days before
his arrival in Chico. h ewas not actu-
ally ill when he found himself. but
emaciated. 1t is her theory that he be-
came i'll somewhere on his way to Cali
fornia and was unattended and without
food. Regaining sufficient strength. he
made his way TO Chico, where some as
lSpNAH'hbAAs AbENAhNi WIN NlAt SliONh w
his fall. retored his memory.
His hands were sunburned" said
DR.. Ash, but in a faded out sort of
way, as though he had worked in the
upen. but not for some time His nails
were well kept and his whole body in
spotless condition. His loss of weight
| Sc Nv 10
pounds when he disappeared. and lost
forty pounds in less than six months.
From a robust man in early middle
age. he looked the night he came home
like an old, feeble man. His memory
for facts and figures pertaining to the
time just before his disappearance is
perfectly clear, though, of course, we
have been very careful not to disturb
his still delicately balanced mental
equilibrium"
DIR. ]. NJ. Wolfsohn, eminent PSYCHE
artist and psychologist, said that the
case is not an unusual one. "Amnesia'
he continued. lis a condition of the
human mind in which the two person
alities, TO be recognized in practically
every individual, are suddentll sepa-
rated. the normally dominant person
ality being submerged for the period
of the forgetfulness. The secondary
personality takes charge. and, while
the victim retains all that he has of in
telligence and skill. it is expressed
through different nature.
Il learned today from relatives of
DR.. Lachman that he had worked in
an automobile factory in Toledo, o., as
an expert during the amnesia. In his
normal condition he was not only a
chemist of note but an inventor OF
considerable ability, with a highly de-
veloped creative and imaginative mind
Il is Just this sort of mind that is most
subject to physical or hypnotic shock,
and the separating of the dual person
ality. That he regained his memory
when tn sudden blow on his head in
Chico Jared him into normality is
very reasonable. A similar shock is al
most invariably the means of bringing
the personalities together into their
proper unity. Imagine a drop of mer-
curry separated by a sudden blow into
two or more drops and as suddenly
driven together again, the drops unit
ing without hesitation into exastly the
same form as before.
This is practically what takes place
in case of amnesia. II is possible
that as physical strength and Doise are
regained by DIR. Lachman he will be
able TO piece together a sort OF con-
tinuity OF memories that will account
for his actions during his absence;
but It is more likely that he will never
remember. save In snatches, the oc-
currences OF the last six months"
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