XXVI. — Report on a Communication from Dr Dyce of Aber- 

 deen, to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, " On Uterine Ir- 

 ritation, and its Effects on the Female Constitution.^^ By 

 H. Dewar, M. D. F. R. S. Edin. 



(Read February 18. 1822 J 



JL HE communication received from Dr Dyce chiefly con- 

 sists of a description of a singular affection of the nervous sys- 

 tem, and mental powers, to which a girl of sixteen was sub- 

 ject immediately before puberty, and which disappeared when 

 that state was fully established. It exemplifies the powerful 

 influence of the state of the uterus on the mental faculties ; 

 but its chief value arises from some curious relations which it 

 presents to the phenomena of mind, and which claim the at- 

 tention of the practical metaphysician. The mental symptoms 

 of this affection are among the number of those which are con- 

 sidered as uncommonly difficult of explanation. It is a case 

 of mental disease, attended with some advantageous manifes- 

 tations of the intellectual powers ; and these manifestations dis- 

 appearing in the same individual in the healthy state. It is an 

 instance of a phenomenon which is sometimes called double 

 consciousness, but is more properly a divided consciousness, 

 or double personality ; exhibiting in some measure two se- 

 parate 



