e.

"I know what you are thinking," Lurida said, "but it is not so. 'I am
not mad, most noble Festus.' You shall see the evidence and judge for
yourself. Read the whole case,--you can read my hand almost as if it
were print, and tell me if you do not agree with me that this young man
is in all probability the same person as the boy described in the Italian
journal,

"One thing you might say is against the supposition. The young patient
is spoken of as Signorino M . . . Ch. . . . But you must remember
that ch is pronounced hard in Italian, like k, which letter is wanting in
the Italian alphabet; and it is natural enough that the initial of the
second name should have got changed in the record to its Italian
equivalent."

Before inviting the reader to follow the details of this extraordinary
case as found in a medical journal, the narrator wishes to be indulged in
a few words of explanation, in order that he may not have to apologize
for allowing the introduction of a subject which may be thought to belong
to the professional student rather than to the readers of this record.
There is a great deal in medical books which it is very unbecoming to
bring before the general public,--a great deal to repel, to disgust, to
alarm, to excite unwholesome curiosity. It is not the men whose duties
have made them familiar with this class of subjects who are most likely
to offend by scenes and descriptions which belong to the physician's
private library, and not to the shelves devoted to polite literature.
Goldsmith and even Smollett, both having studied and practised medicine,
could not by any possibility have outraged all the natural feelings of
delicacy and decency as Swift and Zola have outraged them. But without
handling doubtful subjects, there are many curious medical experiences
which have interest for every one as extreme illustrations of ordinary
conditions with which all are acquainted. No one can study the now
familiar history of clairvoyance profitably who has not learned something
of the vagaries of hysteria. No one can read understandingly the life of
Cowper and that of Carlyle without having some idea of the influence of
hypochondriasis and of dyspepsia upon the disposition and intellect of
the subjects of these maladies. I need not apologize, therefore, for
giving publicity to that part of this narrative which deals with one of
the most singular maladies to be found in the records of bodily and
mental infirmities.