On aphasia, or loss of speech in cerebral disease / by Frederic Bateman, M.D.

  • Bateman, Frederick, Sir, 1824-1904.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On aphasia, or loss of speech in cerebral disease / by Frederic Bateman, 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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    haviour clearly showed. He was docile, he waited on the other patients like a brave nurse, and willingly employed him- self with ordinary handiwork. During the many years that this man remained under observation, no means were left un- tried to ascertain whether he could be made to speak; but no fraud, no surprise, no sudden or sharp pain, no electric shock, no hot iron, no entreaty, no threat had ever succeeded in extracting from him even the slightest yes or no. Dr. Bergmann, in commenting upon this singular case, and in endeavouring to reach the explanation of the physio- logical and pathological enigma involved in it, suggests two hypotheses: That there may have been a fixed idea, a fixed will, a caprice, an obstinate strong purpose, his physiognomy seeming to say—I remain still firm and true to myself, I will carry out my purpose, I will triumph, and I will not yield. Then on the other hand, if one considers that he was good- hearted and well-disposed, obliging and friendly, and that he was scarcely ever angry, notwithstanding all the opposition to his wishes, it would seem more probable that there was a real organic inner momentum (inneres organisches Moment), some hidden impediment which produced loss of speech. The only remaining case from this author to which I shall allude is that of Anna W., tet. 30, who up to the age of twenty was soimd in mind and body, when a nervous fever laid the foundation of mental disturbance and chronic headache. After a time weakness of memory was noticed, and she be- came indifferent, imfeeling, and imsympathising. There was this peculiarity about the memory—that it was particularly weak and almost extinct in reference to subjects of recent date, whilst she could well remember the events of the earlier period of her illness. For upwards of two years she had never spoken a word, however much one roused her, although her manner gave unmistakable evidence that she could hear and understand what she heard. She had thoughts, conceptions, and ideas; there must then, says Dr. Bergmann, be an organic defect which rendered her unable to give vent to her thoughts by means of words or even by a sound. I shall again have occasion to refer to Dr. Bergmann's highly philosophical treatise in another part of this essay. Dr. Hasbach, of Geldem, has recorded the following case of left hemiplegia with aplMsia :—A merchant, aged thirty-six, with a robust, thick-set body, who, from speculating in the funds, became in a short time very rich, was suddenly seized