is was why he disapproved of it. "In
consequence they were on my trail." Part of the way to Washington he
came in a private car, but this they deprived him of at Omaha,
Nebraska. Perhaps they did this because they thought it was too large
for him, but, inasmuch as it was assigned for his private use, they
had no business taking it away from him.

During the recital of the foregoing the patient was bright and alert,
and his attention was easily gained and very well held. He quickly
understood everything that was said to him, and replies were prompt,
relevant, and coherent, though, of course, entirely colored by his
bizarre fabrications.

During his sojourn at this hospital he was a model patient in every
respect, worked diligently with a farm gang, though frequently
dilating upon the fact of having the responsibility of the whole gang
on his shoulders. On several occasions he gave evidence of being of a
highly sensitive make-up, becoming readily insulted, but he always
reacted to these real or imaginary insults in a mild and kind sort of
way, always preferring to go out of people's way rather than
retaliate. Hallucinatory disturbances were never manifested.

The story of his past life was gone over with him on a number of
occasions, but on each occasion he gave a different, highly fantastic
recital of his past adventures, always using high-sounding words and
phrases and high-sounding names, many of which he mispronounced. Many
of the words used by him were of his own coinage, if one were to judge
by the sound of them. He was always very pleasant and agreeable, and
enjoyed reciting his past immensely. In all these bizarre and
marvelous adventures he played the chief role and occupied the center
of the stage.

He was finally induced to give an explanation of his extreme love for
lying, which he gave as follows: "_It isn't because I don't know
better, doctor, but because I think it will make me feel better,
that's all. When I tell of all these big things it makes me feel that
I am a little above the common herd of negroes, and then I never tell
anything to hurt anybody._"

He stated that he couldn't really separate the true from the false in
his stories, and that he seemed to have little or no control over this
tendency to exaggerate things and to weave into real occurrences all
sorts of manufactured detail. "I know one thing, doctor; that it's