BRAIN TROUBLES. 285 



able to direct their attention to a subject, are unable 

 to retain in their memory what has been suggested to 

 their thoughts while thus directed, no case is on 

 record in which this state of things has been reversed, 

 and a person has been able to remember recent 

 facts distinctly after he had lost the power of arriv- 

 ing at fresh ideas by efforts of attention. To men- 

 tion only one case of the former kind, Dr. Win slow 

 tells of one patient whose memory as to recent events 

 was seriously damaged, while yet his perceptive facul- 

 ties and reasoning powers were not at all affected. 

 "He conversed with great sagacity, fluency, and 

 acuteness on every subject, but if I permitted a second 

 to elapse in the conversation, he entirely forgot what 

 he had been previously talking of." From the time 

 when his memory thus failed him, he retained his 

 former power of reasoning. "He could discuss at 

 short intervals the most subtle and abstruse political, 

 professional, and literary matters with apparently un- 

 impaired mental vigour ; but his memory never reco- 

 vered its healthy tenacity." It may hence be inferred 

 that temporary loss of the power of fixing the atten- 

 tion (which must be carefully distinguished from mere 

 forgetfulness, that is, the habit of being inattentive), 

 is more likely to be a sign of serious mental mischief, 

 than failure of the power of memory. Yet the 

 former, like the latter symptom, indicates in the great 

 majority of cases, no serious mischief, though it would 

 be exceedingly unwise to overlook it. 



The failure of the power of directing the attention 



