§ 91. Illustration of inordinately weak or disordered Altention.

An interesting case, illustrative of this mental disorder, is to be found in the writings of Sir Alexander Crichton. The case is repeated in Dr. Good's Study of Medicine (vol. iv., class iv., ord. i.); and it is in the words of this last-mentioned and highly valuable writer that we give it here. Of the individual whose character he is describing, he says: "In his disposition he was gentle and calm, but somewhat unsociable. His absence of mind was extreme, and he would sometimes willingly sit for a whole day without moving. Yet he had nothing of melancholy belonging to him; and it was easy to discover by his countenance that a multiplicity of thoughts were constantly succeeding each other in his imagination, many of which were gay and cheerful; for he would heartily laugh at times, not with an unmeaning countenance, but evidently from mental merriment. He was occasionally so strangely inattentive, that, when pushed by some want which he wished to express, if he had begun a sentence, he would suddenly stop short after getting half way through it, as though he had forgotten what else to say. Yet, when his attention was roused, and he was induced to speak, he always expressed himself in good language, and with much propriety; and if a question were proposed to him which required the exercise of judgment, and he could be made to attend to it, he judged correctly.

"It was with difficulty he could be made to take

any exercise; but was at length prevailed upon to drive his curricle, in which Sir Alexander at times accompanied him. He at first could not be prevailed upon to go beyond half a mile; but in succeeding attempts he consented to go further. He drove steadily, and, when about to pass a carriage, took pains to avoid it; but when at last he became familiarized with this exercise, he would often relapse into thought, and allow the reins to hang loose in his hands. His ideas seemed to be for ever va

rying. When any one came across his mind which excited anger, his horses suffered for it; but the spirit they exhibited at such an unusual and unkind treatment made him soon desist, and re-excited his attention to his own safety. As soon as they were quieted, he would relapse into thought; if his ideas were melancholy, the horses were allowed to walk slow; if they were gay and cheerful, they were generally encouraged to go fast.

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Something may in this case, perhaps, be owing, as supposed by Sir A. Crichton, to an error in the mode of education; but the chief defect seems to have been in the attentive faculty itself, and its labouring under a natural imbecility which no mode of education could entirely have removed.”

In connexion with the remark just made, Dr. Good, from whom we take this statement, goes on to assert the important doctrine which we have repeatedly had occasion to advance, that the various powers of the mind may be weak and diseased in themselves. In other words, they may be diseased originally and in their own nature, and independent

ly of other causes. At least, it is thus that we un

derstand him.

§ 92. Cases of sudden failure of the Attention.

It is sometimes the case, that the power of Attention fails suddenly, in minds where it had existed with a considerable degree of energy up to the very time of its failure. Previous to this period, the individual was capable of directing his attention, with at least the ordinary degree of quickness and effect, to any subjects which might present themselves. But from that time the power vanishes; the mind wanders abroad, independent of all control; but perhaps the evil is only temporary.-A striking instance and illustration of what has just been said is to be found in the Psychological Magazine. The individual was a Mr. Spalding, a gentleman well known in Germany for his literary acquirements. The statement not only had reference to his own personal experience, but was drawn up and published by himself. It is as follows:

"I was this morning engaged with a great number of people, who followed each other quickly, and to each of whom I was obliged to give my attention. I was also under the necessity of writing much; but the subjects, which were various, and of a trivial and uninteresting nature, had no connexion the one with the other. My attention, therefore, was constantly kept on the stretch, and was continually shifting from one subject to another. At last it became necessary that I should write a receipt for some money I had received on account of the poor. I seated

myself and wrote the first two words, but in a mo ment found that I was incapable of proceeding, for I could not recollect the words which belonged to the ideas that were present in my mind. I strained my attention as much as possible, and tried to write one letter slowly after the other, always having an eye to the preceding one, in order to observe whether they had the usual relationship to each other; but I remarked, and said to myself at the time, that the characters I was writing were not those which I wished to write, and yet I could not discover where the fault lay. I therefore desisted; and partly by broken words and syllables, and partly by gestures, I made the person who waited for the receipt understand he should leave me. For about half an hour there reigned a kind of tumultuary disorder in my senses, in which I was incapable of remarking anything very particular, except that one series of ideas forced themselves involuntarily on my mind. trifling nature of these thoughts I was perfectly aware of, and was also conscious that I made several efforts to get rid of them and supply their place by better ones, which lay at the bottom of my soul. I endeavoured, as much as lay in my power, considering the great crowd of confused images which presented themselves to my mind, to recall my principles of religion, of conscience, and of future expectation; these I found equally correct and fixed as before.

The

"There was no deception in my external senses, for I saw and knew everything around me; but I could not free myself from the strange ideas which

existed in my head. I endeavoured to speak, in order to discover whether I was capable of saying anything that was connected; but, although I made the greatest efforts of attention, and proceeded with the utmost caution, I perceived that I uniformly spoke other words than those I intended. My soul was at present as little master of the organs of speech as it had been before of my hand in writing. Thank God, this state did not continue very long, for in about half an hour my head began to grow clearer, the strange and tiresome ideas became less vivid and turbulent, and I could command my own thoughts with less interruption."*

The mind of the individual, who gives this interesting account, gradually recovered its regular action. He then recollected the receipt which he had begun to write; and in regard to which he remembered that he had laboured under some strange inability. On examing the receipt, he found, to his great astonishment, that, instead of the words fifty dollars, being one half year's rate, which he ought to have written, the words were, fifty dollars through the salvation of Bra. He adds further, that he could not recollect any perception or business which he had to transact, that could, by means of an obscure influence, have produced this phenomenon. This we acknowledge to be a striking instance; but we do not doubt, from the observations we have been able to make on the operations of the human mind, that there have, from time to time, been many others

The German Psychological Magazine, as quoted in Macnish's Philosophy of Sleep, ch. xvi.

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