CiiAP. XXIX.] SPEECH AND THOUGHT. 663 



imperfect. He often stops suddenly, at a loss for a word, and 

 then frequently uses a wrong one. As, for example, he sub- 

 stituted 'barber' for 'doctor,' ' two shilling piece' for 'spectacles,' 

 ' winkles ' for * watercresses,' &c. He can, however, 'pronounce 

 any word perfectly when prompted. He says that he generally 

 knows when he has used a wrong word, but not always.'* 



" Before his illness he wrote a good hand, and was above his lot 

 as regards education. Noiv he cannot form a single letter. Even with 

 a copy before him he makes only uncertain up and down strokes. I 

 gave him some printed letters, and asked him to pick out his name. 

 After a long time he arranged Jicmnos. Clearly he had some 

 slight notion of the letters which composed his name. According 

 to his wife, before his illness, he spelt well, and was very particular 

 about the spelling of his own name, which is one admitting of many 

 variations. When a comf was before him he quicJdy picked oat 

 end arranged his name correctly. He can read ; but he says that 

 reading nfakes him very giddy, and causes great pain in the head. 

 His general understanding seems good, and up to the average of 

 :iien in his class," 



Tlie conditions Jhere recorded represent the remainders 

 of an * Aphasic ' attack. Inability to spell, i.e., inability 

 spontaneously to recall the letters composing a word, pro- 

 bably depends in the main upon some defect in the Visual 

 Word-Centre ; but the patient's ability to put the letters 

 of his name together with a copy, shows that this 

 Centre could act to some extent. This is seen also by 

 the statement that he was ahle to read a little — though his 

 powers in this direction were probably very slight. We 

 may conclude that in this case the most severe or durable 

 lesions were, therefore, in the track of the emissive fibres 

 from the left Visual Word- Centre — perhaps in the Kinses- 

 thetic Word- Centre itself. 



Marce speaks of a man in regard to whom it was 

 noticed that he was able to write numerals with much 

 greater precision and ease than ordinary letters — a con- 

 dition which is not so singular as he thought. It is, 

 indeed, commonly the case, that Amnesic patients find lesa 



