Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 49.djvu/843

Rh the greater part of his life, but forgot the periods during which, he had been in other states.

Of the four other states of which I shall speak, the first three are marked by paralysis, sometimes accompanied by contracture, of the left side, right side, and lower half of the body, respectively; in the fourth he is free from all paralysis. With the paralysis the sensations of the paralyzed portions, including those of the special senses, are diminished or abolished.

When paralyzed on the right side he is excitable, violent, and impertinent; smokes all the time, and bothers every one with demands for money or tobacco. His speech is thick and almost unintelligible. He fawns upon those who are kind to him, but if crossed in the least flies into a rage. He professes himself an atheist and ultra-radical, and desires to kill those who exact of him tokens of respect. He either boasts of his thefts and justifies them or denies them altogether. He remembers very little of his past life, but, so far as it goes, his memory is excellent. He lives chiefly on milk.

Applying a magnet to the right arm causes difficulty in breathing, anxiety, mental confusion, slight movements on the right side; then the paralysis, anæsthesia, etc., all pass to the left side. His character is absolutely reversed. His speech is correct; he is gentle and polite; he thinks himself too ignorant to have opinions on questions of politics or religion. He no longer drinks milk at all. Of his former life he remembers only those fragments in which he was paralyzed in the same way.

Upon applying a magnet to the nape of the neck, the paralysis and anæsthesia pass to the lower half of the body. He is depressed; his speech is childish; he can barely spell the simplest syllables. He is stupid, and can not give his age correctly, but he can sew quite well. His memory covers those three years only during which his legs were paralyzed and in which he was taught the trade of a tailor.

Upon passing an electric current through his body, or applying a magnet to the top of his head, a fifth state is produced. He is free from all paralysis, and finds himself transported to the day when he was frightened by the viper. His muscular strength is about two thirds what it was in his first state; his character is that of an amiable little boy of fourteen. While in this state he fell asleep and dreamed aloud of his days at the reform school, telling a lazy companion that he ought to be grateful to the kind superintendent, and try his best to escape the vagabond's life which was otherwise in store for him. For his own part, he said, he was grateful to the judge who sent him there; he was sick and ignorant then and would have been lost, but now he proposes to lead an honest life of labor. The doctors tried to keep him in