BEAIN TROUBLES. 



277 



had been in the habit of drinking a fair portion of 

 wine, but had unwisely abandoned the use of stimu- 

 lants, fancying that by so doing he would be better 

 fitted for clear-headed mental occupation." Under 

 Dr. Forbes Winslow's advice, the patient "lived 

 generously, took iron tonics, quinine, and valerianate 

 of zinc, and resumed his daily quantity of wine. 

 This treatment eventually restored his memory to a 

 state of health." Dr. Forbes Winslow adds that he 

 has known other instances of temporary loss of memory 

 cured within a short time by the free use of tonics and 

 stimulants. " In these cases," he says, " the brain is 

 generally in a starved and impoverished condition, 

 arising from a deficient supply of blood ; it is in a 

 state of enervation and inanition." On the other 

 hand, the excessive use of stimulants produces unmis- 

 takably mischievous effects. Temporary attacks of 

 loss of memory have been caused by intemperance. 

 " By an old Spanish law," Dr. Winslow mentions, " no 

 person was admitted into the witness-box to give 

 evidence in a disputed case who was proved to indulge 

 in habits of intemperance, as an excessive use of 

 stimulants was considered to weaken and destroy the 

 memory." 



The following case is one of those in which sudden 

 failure of memory implies serious cerebral mischief. 

 "An eminent provincial surgeon, of large and anxious 

 practice, was seized with a sudden failure of memory. 

 He forgot all his appointments, and to such a degree 

 was the faculty of retention impaired " (so far as the 



