Jax. 23, 1865 1 



* KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



G3 



Wherever she was placed she remaiued. Her appetite was 

 woo.l, but [like F.] she ate indifferently whatever she was 

 fed with, and took nauseous medicines as readily as 

 agreeable food. Her movements were solely of the 

 automatic kind. Thus, she swallowed food put into her 

 mouth, bat msde no effort to feed herself. Yet when her 

 mo'.her had conveyed the spoon [in the patient's handj a 

 few times to her mouth, the patient continued the operation. 

 It was necessary, however, to repeat this lesson every time 

 she was fed, showing the complete absence of memory. 

 " The very limited nature of her faculties, and the automatic 

 life she wasle.iding, appear furtherevident fromthe following 

 particulars. One of her first acts on recovering from the fit 

 lud been to busy herself in picking the bedclothes ; and as 

 soon as she was able to sit up and be dressed, she continued 

 the habit by incessantly picking some portion of her dress. 

 She seemed to want an occupation for her fingers, and 

 accordingly part of an old straw bonnet was given to her, 

 which she pulled into pieces with great minuteness ; she 

 was afterwards bountifully supplied with roses : she picked 

 •off the leaves, and then tore them up into the smallest 

 particles imaginable. A few days subsequently, she begtn 

 ■forming upon the table, out of those minute particles, rude 

 figures of roses, and other common garden flowers ; she had 

 never received any instructions in drawing. Eoses not 

 being so plentiful in London, waste paper and a pair of 

 scissors were put into her hand, and for some days she 

 found an occupation in cutting the paper into slired-s ; after 

 a time these cuttings assumed rude shapes and fignn^s, and 

 more particularly the shapes used in patchwork. At It-ngth 

 she was supplied with proper materials for patchwork, and 

 after some initiatory instruction, she took to her needle and 

 to this employment in good earnest. She now laboured 

 incessantly at patchwork from morning till night, and on 

 Sundays and week days, for she knew no difference of d.iys ; 

 nor could she be made to comprehend the diflV'rence. She 

 had no remembrance from day to day of what she had been 

 doing on the previous day, and so every morning com- 

 menced de novo. Whatever she began, that she continued 

 to work at while daylight lasted ; manifesting no uneasiness 

 for anj-thing to eat or drink, taking not the slightest heed of 

 anything which was going on around her, but intent only on 

 her patchwork." From this time she began to improve, 

 learning like a child to register ideas. She presently learned 

 worsted-work, and showed delight in the harmony of colours 

 and considerable taste in selecting between good and bad 

 patterns. After a while she began to devise patterns of her 

 own. Bit she still had no memory from day tq day of 

 what she had done, and unless the unfinished work of one 

 day was set before her on the next, she would begin some- 

 thing new. 



And now, for the first time, ideas derived from her life 

 before her illness seemed to be awakened within her. 

 When pictures of flowers, tree.s, and aninuls were shown 

 her, she was pleased ; but when she was shown a landscape 

 in which there was a river or a troubled sea, she became 

 violently agitated, and a fit of spasmodic rigidity and 

 insensibility immediately followed. The mere sight of 

 water in motion made her shudder. Again, from an early 

 stage of her illness she had derived ])leasure from the 

 proximity of a young man to whom she had been attached. 

 At a time when she did not remember from one hour to 

 another wliat she was doing, she would anxiously await his 

 evening visit, and be fretful if he failed to pay it. When, 

 during her removal to the country, .she lost sight of him, 

 she became unhappy and suffered from frequerjt fits ; on 

 the other hand, when he remained constantly near her, she 

 improved in health, and early associations were gradually 

 awakened. 



At length a day came when she utter-d lior first word^t 

 in this her second life. Sho had learned to t die hr;ed of 

 objects and persons around her; and on ono occasion, 

 seeing her mother excessively agitated, sho became; exeitcd 

 herself, and suddenly, yet hesitatingly, exclaimed, " What's 

 the matter ? " After this sho began to ai tioulato a few 

 words. For a time she called every object and person 

 " this," then gave their right names to wild flowers (of 

 which she had been passionately fond when a child), and 

 this "at a time when she exhibited not the least recollec- 

 tion of the 'old familiar friends and places' of her child- 

 hood." The gradual expansion of her intellect was mani- 

 fested chiefly at this time in signs of emotional excitement, 

 frequently followed by attacks of spasmodic rigidity and 

 insensibility. 



It was through the emotions that the ])atient was re- 

 stored to the consciousness of her former self. SIk; became 

 aware that her lover was paying attention to another woman, 

 and the emotion of jealousy was so strongly excited that 

 she had a fit of insensibility which resembled her firi!t 

 attack in duration and severity. But it restored her to her- 

 self. "When the insensibility passed ofl', she was no longer 

 spell-bound. The veil of oblivion was withdrawn ; and, as 

 if awakening from a sleep of twelve months' duration, she 

 found herself surrounded by her grandfather, grandmother, 

 and their familiar friends and acquaintances. She awoke 

 in the possession of her natural faculties and former know- 

 ledge ; bit without the slightest remembrance of anything 

 which had taken place in the year's interval, from the in- 

 vasion of the first fit to the [then] present time. She spoke, 

 but she heard not; she was still deaf, but being able to 

 read and write as formerly, she was no longer cut off 

 from communication with others. From this time she 

 rapidly improved, but for .some time continued deaf. She 

 soon perfectly understood by the motion of her lips what 

 her mother said ; they conversed with facility and quick- 

 ness together, but sho did not understand the language of 

 the lips of a stranger. She was completely unaware of the 

 change in her lover's affections which had taken place in 

 her state of second consciousne.ss ; and a painful explana- 

 tion was necessary. This, however, she bore very well, and 

 she has since recovered her previous bodily and mental 

 health. 



(^To he cojitimied.) 



THE YOUNG ELECTRICIAN. 



By W. Slingo. 



(Contiiiued from j). 32.) 



A FEW other forms of insulators will probably be found 

 useful, but further reference to them may be deferred 

 until we require them. 



A few conducting materials should be kept at hand, for 

 they are as necessary as insulators. 



E.v. V. — Half a pound of tinfoil should therefore be added 

 to our stock. It will be found that this highly ductile and 

 easily workable metal will answer more purposes than one 

 would imagine. Tinfoil i-i procurable almost anywhere at 

 the rate of 2s. 6d. a pound. 



Ex. VI. — A sheet or two of tinned iron, which may be 

 obtained for a few pence, may also be procured. 



Ex. VII. — For rigid conductors the cheapest material 

 would be iron wire or rod, but brass is preferable because 

 it is softer, easier to work, more ductile, and has a much 

 better appearance. Brass wire about an eighth of an inch 

 in diameter should therefore be laid in stock. 



E.x. VIII. — Sometime? a conductor will be required 



