Unilateral hallucinations : their relative frequency, associations, and pathology / by Alex. Robertson, M.D.

  • Robertson, Alexander, M.D.
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Unilateral hallucinations : their relative frequency, associations, and pathology / by Alex. Robertson, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    Though as real to me at the moment of observance as any genuine object, yet even at the worst period of the trouble, when I thought about them, I fully appreciated their unreaUty, and spoke of them to my relatives and medical attendants as of opium origin, comparing them to those of De Quincey, though falling far short of his visions in the fulness and richness of their imagery. In all, I have notes of fifteen definite cases of unilateral hallucinations. During the last ten years my opportunities of observation have been more restricted, otherwise I would pro- bably have been able to record a larger number. In review- ing these cases it will be observed that the sense of hearing was always involved, and that in twelve of them they were on the left side. No pure cases of one-sided visual hallucinations were found, though in two the imaginary objects were seen more with the one eye than with the other. No clear case of unilateral affection of the sense of taste or smell was noticed, though such cases are on record. It will be observed that in Case lo, singing noises preceded the voices in the affected ear, but in it there was clear disease of the auditory nerve. In this case it is interesting to note the presence of one-sided auditory hallucinations without insanity ; while in another case of alcoholic origin they remained for some hours after the patient realised that they were imaginary—after he was of sound mind. Although the number of patients in whom the hallucinations were one-sided was not great, it is to be borne in mind that several others heard the imaginary voices more distinctly in one ear than the other. In one of them they were heard occasionally in the left, and at other times in the right ear, generally the former ; but never in both at the same time. General Relations of One-sided Hallucinations. The phenomena we have been considering are limited to the sphere of the special senses. The question arises, Are analogous conditions present in the other great departments of the nervous system ? The following case, quoted from my paper published in 1875, illustrates a somewhat similar event in the realm of general sensation : T B— eet ^2, hears imaginary voices, and the voices are most dis- tinct in the right ear. The insanity is of several y--'standm^^^^^^^^^ stated to be due to the intemperate use of alcohol. About thirteen