94 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE 
“Then ensued a brief interval of about two years, 
during which time she was in fair health, but was again 
taken down as before, and was sick for nearly seven 
years. During part of this time she was very low, and 
we watched day after day at her bedside, expecting 
each day would be the last; but she again rallied, 
and gradually her bodily strength and reason returned 
to her. 
“She was well for about five years, when she seemed 
to be taken with a low fever and gradually went down 
to her present condition.” 
Such is the son’s account of the case, and from it we 
learn that the history of nervous trouble dates back at 
least forty years, and the inference is that the first 
indications of lethargy then made their appearance. 
The details of the conditions that existed during the 
different attacks are almost entirely wanting, and: it is 
unfortunate that we are left almost completely i in the 
dark regarding the nature of the convulsive seizures 
that occurred. Subsequent history would lead us to 
believe that these were, in all probability, hystero- 
epileptic in origin. 
About the year 1862 the patient fell into a state of 
lethargy that lasted for seven years or more. The con- 
dition was not one of complete unconsciousness, and 
although the woman appeared to sleep almost con- 
tinually, occasionally she would wake up for a minute 
or so at a time, and converse in a rational manner. 
It is not possible to make more than general state- 
ments in regard to these attacks, but it is beyond doubt 
that the conditions were not identical with those that 
characterised the last attack. Evidently the condition 
of lethargy was not so profound. 
The announcement of the death of a warm friend 
was the immediate cause of her awakening. The 
return to even an approach to a normal condition of 
