Dr.  Graves  cites  the  following  interesting  illustrative
case : — "  A  barrister  was  walking  up  and  down  the  hall  of
the  Four  Courts,  waiting  for  a  case  to  come  on,  and  chat-
ting with  one  friend  and  another ;  as  the  hall  was  rather
crowded  and  hot,  he  went  out  into  the  area  of  the  courts
for  the  sake  of  the  air,  and  had  not  remained  there  more
than  ten  minutes  when  an  old  friend  from  the  country
came  up  and  spoke  to  him.  He  was  pleased  to  see  his
friend,  and  wished  to  inquire  about  his  family,  when  he
found,  to  his  great  surprise,  that  he  could  not  utter  a
single  audible  sound ;  he  had  completely  lost  his  voice  !
He  recovered  the  use  of  his  tongue  in  about  three  weeks,
but  not  completely,  for  some  slowness  of  speech  re-
mained. When  the  loss  of  speech  was  first  perceived,
his  friend  brought  him  home  in  a  carriage ;.  and  during
the  day  he  had  several  attacks  of  vertigo,  and  afterwards
•  Dr.  Abercrombie,  "  On  Ditiate*  qf the  Brain."


520  MORBID    PHENOMENA    OF    SPEECH.
hemiplegia.  For  several  hours,  however,  before  distor-
tion of  the  face,  or  any  of  the  usual  symptoms  of  para-
lysis had  commenced,  the  only  existing  symptom  was
loss  of  speech.  This  gentleman  died  of  apoplexy  in  about
two  months."1

A  lady,  after  an  attack  of  paralysis,  lost  all  power  of
speaking,  but  was  able  to  communicate  in  writing  her
wishes.  When,  however,  doing  so,  she  invariably  wrote
no  when  she  meant  yes,  and  vice  versa.  When  she  wrote,
"I  wish  you  to  do  so,"  it  was  construed  conversely.
This  patient,  I  am  informed,  is  still  living,  the  singular
defect  alluded  to  remaining  unaltered.
