2 8o NATURE STUDIES. 



unreservedly to do so. I kept him for a period of 

 two years from all anxious and severe mental occu- 

 pation, and by that time his powers of mind had 

 rallied to a surprising extent ; in fact, they became, 

 according to his own impression, more vigorous than 

 they were prior to his attack of illness. For many 

 years this patient has continued steadily at work, 

 never having had a return of loss of memory. I 

 should premise that I extracted from him a promise 

 that he would read no briefs after dinner. He has 

 rigidly adhered to this understanding, but being an 

 early riser and a man of remarkable quickness of 

 apprehension, he is enabled to master a large amount 

 of work before breakfast. I also made it a sine qua, 

 iwn that he should go abroad every year for a period 

 of two months, thus ensuring for him a complete 

 diversion and relaxation of mind from all injurious 

 pressure. He has scrupulously complied with my 

 instructions, and the result is an entire freedom from 

 all symptoms of mental impairment and cerebral dis- 

 order." A case such as this is full of encouragement, 

 because here it would seem, that at the outset over- 

 work had seriously injured the brain, yet attention to 

 a few simple rules resulted in a complete cure. 



Apart from actual injury to the substance of the 

 brain, transient loss of memory seems to be usually 

 caused by a deficient supply of blood to the brain, 

 whether through loss of blood generally, or owing 

 to defective circulation. This is illustrated by the 

 following case : A lady had been reduced to a state 



