Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 26.djvu/201

Rh delirium or stupor which follows excess of spirits, or in mental states approaching it, and clear up after recovery, or remain like a cloud for weeks, then from some little circumstances break away and every act is recalled. In other cases only a dim, vague impression remains of what has transpired in the past, which may or may not become clear with time; or the blank may be total for the time being, and then break away. In many of these cases there is apparent realization of all his acts and words, in others a self-evident unconsciousness of them. This is only the beginning of another and more pronounced stage, in which the blank of memory and consciousness is total, and during this period the acts and appearance of the person differ but little from those of usual health. In many cases the brain function or action, as seen in his acts, is fully up to the best state of health, even showing more than usual strength in some directions. In a paper read before the Medico-Legal Society of New York, in 1881, I discussed this condition as a trance state following inebriety; since that time a number of different names have been suggested by authors, such as inebriate automatism, inebriate insanity, inebriate unconsciousness—all describing the same condition. The following may be mentioned as facts that are generally accepted as landmarks from which further study may be dated:

1. This trance state is a common condition in inebriety, where, from some peculiar neurotic state, either induced by alcohol, or existing before alcohol was used, or exploded by this drug, a profound suspension of memory and consciousness and literal paralysis of certain brain-functions follow.

2. This trance state may last from a few moments to several days, during which the person may appear and act rationally, and yet be actually a mere automaton, without consciousness or memory of his actual condition.

3. This trance state may be noted by criminal impulses and by unusual thoughts and acts foreign to all the man's past history. In all these cases there are no apparent disturbances of the nervous system, no convulsions, no premonitions to mark this state; at some unknown point, all unconscious, the eclipse begins, A comparison of the history of a number of cases will show three mental conditions quite prominent: 1. In which the mind in this state acts along certain accustomed lines of thought and action; 2. In which the mind displays unusual ranges of thought and action, which in some cases can be traced to certain mental states growing out of the surroundings; and, 3. Where criminal impulses are prominent, that have no apparent connection with the present or past. These conditions may be illustrated in the following cases: A railroad conductor, who drank to excess every night after the day's work was over, would frequently get up in the morning, go out on his train, perform all his duties correctly, and recover consciousness of himself suddenly on the