ription of the case is as
follows:--

"Last year, after a severe illness which was diagnosed to be
meningitis, she became subject to temporary attacks of unconsciousness,
on awakening from which she appeared in an entirely different
character. In her normal condition she could read and write and speak
fluently, and with comparative correctness. In the altered mental
condition following the attack she loses all memory for ordinary
events, though she can recall things that have taken place during
previous attacks. So complete is this alteration of memory, that at
first she was unable to remember her own name or to identify herself or
her parents. By patient training in the abnormal condition she has been
enabled to give things their names, though she still preserves a
baby-fashion of pronouncing. She sometimes remains in the abnormal
condition for days together and the change to her real self takes place
suddenly, without exciting surprise or dismay, and she forthwith
resumes possession of her memory for events of her ordinary life.
During the last month or two she appears to have entered on a new
phase, for after a mental blank of a fortnight's duration she awakened
completely oblivious of all that had happened since June, 1895, and she
alludes to events that took place just anterior to that date as though
they were of recent occurrence; in fact she is living mentally in July,
1895. These cases, though rare, are of course not infrequently met
with, and they have been carefully studied, especially in France, where
women appear more prone to neurotic manifestations. The hypothesis that
finds most favor is that the two halves of the brain do not work in
unison; in other words, that there has been some interference with the
connections which in the ordinary normal being make of a wonderful
composite organ like the brain one organic whole."

Proust tells a story of a Parisian barrister of thirty-three. His
father was a heavy drinker, his mother subject to nervous attacks, his
younger brother mentally deficient, and the patient himself was very
impressionable. It was said that a judge in a court, by fixing his gaze
on him, could send him into an abnormal state. On one occasion, while
looking into a mirror in a cafe, he suddenly fell into a sleep, and was
taken to the Charite where he was awakened. He suffered occasional loss
of memory for considerable lengths of time, and underwent a change of
personality during these times