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after much inquiry it was discovered, that in her chil hood she had a nurse, a native of a district on the coast Brittany, the dialect of which is closely analogous to the Welsh. The lady had at that time learned a good deal of this dialect, but had entirely forgotten it for many years before this attack of fever."

SOCIETY

"A woman who was a native of the Highlands, but accustomed to speak English, was under the care of Dr. Mackintosh, of Edinburgh, on account of an attack of apoplexy. She was so far recovered as to look around her with an appearance of intelligence, but the doctor could not make her comprehend any thing he said to her, or answer the most simple question. He then desired one of her friends to address her in Gaelic, when she immediately answered with readiness and fluency."

"A case has been related to me of a boy, who, at the age of four, received a fracture of the skull, for which he underwent the operation of trepan. He was at the time in a state of perfect stupor, and after his recovery retained no recollection, either of the accident or the operation. At the age of fifteen, during the delirium of a fever, he gave his mother a correct description of the operation, and the persons who were present at it, with their dress, and other minute particulars. He had never been observed to allude to it before, and no means were known by which he could have acquired the circumstances which he mentioned."

"An eminent medical friend informs me, that, during a fever, without any delirium, he, on one occasion, repeated long passages from Homer, which he could not do when in health; and another friend has mentioned to me, that, in a similar situation, there were represented to his mind, in a

most vivid manner, the circumstances of a journey in the Highlands, which he had performed long before, including many minute particulars, which he had entirely forgotten.'

Thus it appears that forgotten events are not so entirely effaced from the memory that they may not be recalled.

2. It is often the case that circumstances call up events which transpired when the mind appeared to be in a state of stupor.

Dr. Abercrombie relates the following cases: A person "whom I saw lately in a state of profound apoplexy, but from which he recovered, had a perfect recollection of what took place during the attack, and mentioned many things which had been said in his hearing when he was supposed to be in a state of perfect unconsciousness. A lady on recovering from a similar state, said she had been asleep and dreaming, and mentioned what she had dreamed about."

Dr. Abercrombie thinks that "many of the stories related of things seen by persons in a state of trance, are referable to this head."

3. A restoration to health has often been the means of restoring mental faculties which in illness had been apparently lost.

"A man

Dr. Abercrombie mentions the following: mentioned by Willis, on recovering from a putrid fever, was found to have so entirely lost his mental faculties, that he knew nobody, remembering nothing. He continued in this state for two months, and then gradually recovered."

Another case is thus given: "Some years ago, I attended a young man, who, on recovering from a tedious

fever, was found to be in a state bordering upon idiotism; and this continued after his bodily health was entirely restored. In this state, he was taken to the country, where he gradually recovered, after several months."

"The sudden recoveries from this condition of the mental powers, are still more remarkable. Dr. Prichard, on the authority of the late Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, mentions an American student, a person of considerable attainments, who, on recovering from a fever, was found to have lost all his acquired knowledge. When his health was restored, he began to apply to the Latin grammar, had passed through the elementary parts, and was beginning to construe, when one day, in making a strong effort to recollect a part of his lesson, the whole of his lost impressions suddenly returned to his mind, and he found himself at once in possession of all his former acquirements."

"Dr. Prichard mentions a gentleman who suffered a severe injury by a fall from his horse, and who, on his recovery, had no recollection of any thing relating to the accident, or for some time before it. A considerable time. elapsed before his recollection of it began to return, and it was only as he repeatedly rode over the country where the accident had happened, that the sight of the various objects gradually recalled the circumstances of the journey in which it occurred, and of the accident itself."

Another still more remarkable case, related by the same author, shows that while some things continue to be remembered, others are totally obliterated, till called forth by returning health. "A respectable surgeon was thrown from his horse while riding in the country, and was carried into an adjoining house in a state of insensibility. From.

this, he very soon recovered, described the accident distinctly, and gave minute directions in regard to his own treatment. In particular, he requested that he might be immediately bled; the bleeding was repeated, at his own desire, after two hours; and he conversed correctly regarding his feelings and the state of his pulse with the medical man who visited him. In the evening he was so much recovered as to be able to be removed to his own house, and a medical friend accompanied him in the carriage. As they drew near home, the latter made some observation respecting precautions calculated to prevent unnecessary alarm to the wife and family of the patient, when, to his astonishment, he discovered that his friend had lost all idea of having either a wife or children. This condition continued during the following day, and it was only on the third day, and after further bleeding, that the circumstances of his past life began to recur to his mind."

4. Sometimes a memory of past events is called up to the mind by either natural or unnatural sleep.

The same author to which we have referred relates the case of a young girl, who was accustomed in her sleep, to imitate the tuning sounds of a violin. It was ascertained that sometime before, she had occupied much time in a room adjoining that of a musician who spent much time in exercise with that instrument.

He mentions another case, where a teller was standing at his desk, in one of the banks in Glassgow, when a stammering and impatient man came in, demanding the payment of six pounds. He became annoyed, and his money was paid before his turn came, and no account was taken of it.

At the end of the year the books could not be made to balance by six pounds, and the gentleman spent days and nights in laboring to discover the error, but without success. At length, all the particulars came to him in a dream.

But one of the most remarkable instances of the influence of the sleep upon the memory, is recorded in the 174th section of Arvine's Anecdotes of Literature: "The following story is related by the late Dr. Mitchell, in the Medical Repository, and rests, for its authority, on Major Ellicott, Professor of Mathematics in the United States Academy, at West Point. The subject was a young lady, of good constitution and excellent capacity, and well educated. 'Her memory was capacious and well stored with a copious stock of ideas. Unexpectedly, and without any forewarning, she fell into a profound sleep, which continued several hours beyond the ordinary term. On waking, she was discovered to have lost every trait of acquired knowledge. Her memory was tabula rasa; all vestiges, both of words and things, were obliterated and gone. It was found necessary for her to learn every thing again. She even acquired by new efforts, the art of spelling, reading, writing, and calculating, and gradually became acquainted with the persons and objects around, like a being for the first time brought into the world. In these exercises, she made considerable proficiency. But after a few months, another fit of somnolency invaded her. On rousing from it, she found herself restored to the state she was in before the first paroxysm, but was wholly ignorant of every event and occurrence that had befallen her afterwards. The former condition of her existence she now calls the old state; and the latter, the new state; and she is as uncon

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