92 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE 



and made a number of statements, some of which I 

 shall repeat in a few minutes. Many of these state- 

 ments we were able to verify at a subsequent period ; 

 others were undoubtedly inaccurate. Before going into 

 details regarding the every-day life of this case of 

 lethargy as we saw it, perhaps it would be well to give 

 a brief outline of the history of the patient. Unfortu- 

 nately, it has not been found possible to get as many 

 important facts as could be desired in connection with 

 this history, but great care has been taken to eliminate 

 all doubtful points. The patient was born in 1820 or 

 1821, and when she came under observation was almost 

 sixty-nine years of age. The neurotic history was 

 pronounced on ' both sides of the house ' ; evidence 

 going to show that her father had suffered from melan- 

 cholia. A reliable person states that the father died 

 from ' softening of the brain ' possibly general paresis. 

 The patient's mother was subject (a member of the 

 family states) to attacks of partial loss of reason, which 

 could only be cured by change of air and surroundings. 

 It has not been possible to get an accurate account of 

 these attacks of ' partial loss of reason.' The patient's 

 early history is not well known, but it has been stated 

 on good authority that she was (: peculiar," and in child- 

 hood complained of some head trouble that caused her 

 to keep her hair cropped short. She was married when 

 very young, probably when seventeen or eighteen years 

 of age, as she was but twenty-one when her third child 

 was born. Three years after the birth of her last child 

 she was noticed to undergo a change in disposition and 

 acted ' strangely.' She could not be depended on, was 

 untruthful and whimsical, and worried a great deal 

 about trifles." 



It is from a subsequent period (three years later) 

 that the history of this case must be dated. 



The son, the youngest child, says: "The first re- 



