THE FACULTY OF SPEECH. 795 



rather than the mere mass of the brain, as was previously supposed. 

 Now, this gray matter may be intact and, consequently, all the func- 

 tions above enumerated may be perfect, and still the ability to articu- 

 late may be wanting, because the motor power which is supposed to 

 reside in the white matter, and to preside over the co-ordinating power, 

 controlling the nerves and muscles of articulation, may be impaired, 

 and then, although our ideas may be correct, the ability to express 

 them would be wanting. Medical literature abounds with cases which 

 illustrate this condition. I select the following instance as a perfect 

 illustration of this state : An intelligent man, sixty years old, sud- 

 denly became incoherent and quite unintelligible to those around him. 

 He had forgotten the names of every object in nature ; his recollec- 

 tion of things seemed to be unimpaired, but the words by which men 

 and things were designated were entirely obliterated from his mind, 

 or rather he had lost the faculty by which they were called up at the 

 control of will. He was, however, by no means inattentive to what 

 was going on, and he recognized friends and acquaintances quickly, 

 but their names, or even his own, or his wife's name, or the names of 

 any of his domestics appeared to have no place in his recollection. 

 One morning, much against the wishes of his family, he went to his 

 workshop, and, when visited by his physician, gave him to understand 

 by a variety of signs that he was perfectly well in every respect, with 

 the exception of some slight sensations referable to the eyes and eye- 

 brows. He was so well in bodily health that he could not be confined 

 to the house, and his judgment, so far as an estimate could be formed 

 of it, was unimpaired, but his memory of words was so much a blank 

 that the monosyllables of affirmation and negation were the only two 

 words of the language the use and signification of which he never 

 entirely forgot. He comprehended perfectly every word that was 

 spoken or addressed to him, and, although he had ideas adequate to 

 form a full reply, the words by which these ideas are expressed seemed 

 entirely obliterated from his mind. By way of experiment, the name 

 of a person or thing was mentioned to him, his own name for example, 

 or that of one of his domestics ; he would repeat it once or twice dis- 

 tinctly, but generally before he could do so a third time the word was 

 gone from him as completely as though he had never heard it pro- 

 nounced. When any one read to him from a book he had no difficulty 

 in perceiving the meaning of the passage, but he could not himself 

 then read. He had forgotten the elements of written language. He 

 became very expert in the use of signs, and his convalescence was 

 marked by his imperceptibly acquiring some general terms which were 

 with him at first of very extensive and varied application. All future 

 events and objects before him were, as he expressed it, "next time" ; 

 but past events and objects behind him were designated " last time." 

 One day being asked his age, he pointed to his wife and uttered the 

 words "Many times" repeatedly, as if he meant that he had often 



