Multiple Ego Several Persons in One. 949 



a manuscript narrative written by her nephew, John Y. Reynolds, D. D. , 

 pastor of the Presbyterian church at Meadville, Pa. , of which narrative 

 I took a cop}* in 1858. The same manuscript was used in the prepara- 

 tion of an article which appeared in Harper's Magazine for May 1860. 

 Mary Reynolds was born in England, about the 'year 1793. Her 

 father Win. Rej^nolds, emigrated with his family to this country and 

 settled about the close of the century in Yenango County, Pa. , which 

 was then an almost unbroken forest. When Mary was about 18 years 

 old she became subject to attacks of convulsions. One of attacks was 

 so severe as to leave her blind and deaf, in which condition she re- 

 mained five weeks. Her hearing returned suddenly, her sight gradu- 

 ally. One morning, twelve weeks after that severe attack, having gone 

 to bed the previous night apparently in her usual health, though still 

 feeble from the effects of that attack, she slept so soundly that she 

 could not be aroused. When she did awake some hours after her usual 

 time, she had lost all recollection of her former self and life. She had 

 forgotten everything she had ever known. Her father, mother, 

 brothers, sisters, were unrecognized; she had no knowledge of them. 

 She had forgotten how to read and write, she did not know the use of 

 any article about the house, she did not know herself, nor that she had 

 had an} T previous existence. In a word, she was as if she had then for 

 the first been brought into existence, as to memory of the past not dif- 

 fering from the newly born infant. All that was left her was a dim- 

 inished stock of words. She had not forgotten how to speak. But 

 until taught the proper application of the comparatively few words of 

 which she had command, her power to speak them was of no particular 

 value. She immediately began as a child to learn her surroundings and 

 made rapid headway. In this, her second state, her intellectual powers 

 were as good as in her first, her memory was excellent though of course 

 it belonged exclusively to her second state, and gave her no account of 

 an} thing which happened during her first 18 years. She learned very 

 rapidly and in a few weeks picked up a good knowledge of her surround- 

 ings and of the ordinary activities of a country life. She became 

 acquainted with her family and friends and most of the persons she had 

 known in her former state. After she had been in her secpnd state 

 about five weeks, she awoke one morning and found herself again in 

 her first state. The change had taken place during sleep and in entire 

 unconsciousness. Her memorj^ began again where it had left off five 

 weeks before. The five weeks were a blank, she knew nothing of what 

 had occurred to her during that time except as informed by her friends. 

 She counted it as so much time lost out of her life. Her friends re- 

 joiced as if they had received her back from the dead, and hoped that 

 this remarkable experience would never be repeated. But after a few 



