May 2, 2023 • 35 mins
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psychology, psychoanalysis, psychiatry, mental health, gender studies, sexuality, medical history, case studies, hysteria, gender roles, human nature, psychotherapy, literary style, literary legacy, literary analysis, literary adaptation, literary criticism, feminist literature, 19th century literature, medical ethics, medical research, psychosexual development, mind-body connection, psychiatric diagnosis, cultural norms
psychology, psychoanalysis, psychiatry, mental health, gender studies, sexuality, medical history, case studies, hysteria, gender roles, human nature, psychotherapy, literary style, literary legacy, literary analysis, literary adaptation, literary criticism, feminist literature, 19th century literature, medical ethics, medical research, psychosexual development, mind-body connection, psychiatric diagnosis, cultural norms
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Lecture four double personalities. The interestof the study of these rare cases.
First type of double existence the ladyof macnese, the reciprocal somnambulisms, a
graphic method for the representation of amnesias. Second type of double existence felida X,
the dominating somnambulisms, the group ofcomplex cases, a case of artificial
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double existence, the true denomination ofthe different states, the oscillations of mental
level and the dissociation of a stateof mental activity. The somnambulisms, which
we consider as the essential phenomenon ofhysteria, are apt to present a new
metamorphosis whose scientific interest is very greatwhen they are so protracted and complicated as
to give rise to what is calleddouble existences double personalities. I said scientific
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interest rather than clinical and practical interest, because this phenomenon is, upon the
whole, rather rare, and itis unlikely you will have to occupy yourselves
with it in practice. A celebratedneurologist of New York M. Dana published
in eighteen ninety four in The PsychologicalReview, page five hundred and seventy a
comprehensive study on the most definitive caseswhich have been observed, and he counted
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only sixteen. In the last numberof his Journal of Abnormal Psychology, page
one hundred eighty six, Doctor MortonPrince gave a fine table of twenty cases,
of which he explained the most interestingfeatures. Let us suppose there are
to day twenty five or thirty.It is certainly the total sum of the
well known cases. Such cases arenot often met with in usual practice.
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However, the importance of this factis very great. Its very exaggeration allows
us better to interpret the preceding states, and contributes very efficaciously to instruct us
on the theory of hysteria. Moreover, the question presents for you, as
it were, a national interest forsome reason why I don't know. It
is in America that the greatest numberof remarkable cases have appeared, and it
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is American doctors, among them McNish, wood, Weir, Mitchell, Dana,
and quite recently one of the greatestphysicians of this town, doctor Morton
Prince, who have devoted to itthe most remarkable studies. We cannot,
in an elementary lesson discuss the differentforms of this phenomenon and the various theories
which have been presented. I referyou for this subject to the recent book
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of doctor Morton Prince, Dissociation ofa Personality nineteen o six, and to
that of mm B. Siddis andGoodheart Multiple Personality nineteen o five. You
will find in these works all kindsof psychological discussions in which I should not
like to venture. So I shallconfine myself to making three typical forms known
to you, and to showing you, in a few words, in what
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manner these new states, which presentso many interesting features, are connected with
the preceding somnambulisms. One the typeof double existences, is given us by
a celebrated case more legendary than historical, published in eighteen thirty one work of
doctor mac nish entitled Philosophy of Sleep, whose observation, it appears, dates
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still farther back. Since it isa question of a fact observed by Mitchell
and Eliot in eighteen sixteen, itshows you that this observation is very old
and very vaguely known. This isperhaps the reason why the fact is presented
to us with a simplicity which astonishesus, and which we no longer find
in our observations of to day.By much repetition. The fact must have
become a great deal simplified, howeverit may be. The following is the
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abridged history of her, who iscalled the Lady of mac Nish, A
well informed, well bred, younglady of a good constitution, was suddenly
seized without previous warning, with aprofound sleep which lasted several hours longer than
usual. On awaking, she hadforgotten all she knew. Her memory was
like a tabula rasa, and hadpreserved no notion, either of words or
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of things. It was necessary toteach her everything anew. Thus she was
obliged to learn again, reading,writing, offering. Little by little,
she became familiarized with the persons andthings surrounding her, which were for her
as if she saw them for thefirst time. Her progress was rapid.
After a rather long time, shewas, without any known cause, seized
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with a sleep similar to that whichhad preceded her new life. On awaking,
she found herself exactly in the samestate in which she was before her
first sleep, But she had noremembrance of anything that had passed during the
interval. In a word, inthe old state, she was ignorant of
the new state. It was thusthat she called her two lives, which
were continued separately and alternatively through remembranceduring more than four years. This young
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lady presented these phenomena almost periodically inone state or in the other. She
did not remember her double character anymore than two distinct persons remember their respective
natures. For instance, in theperiods of her old state, she possessed
all the knowledge she acquired in herchildhood and youth. In her new state,
she knew only what she had learnedduring her first leap. If a
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person was presented to her in oneof these states, she did not know
this person in the other state,but was obliged to study and know him
in both to have a thorough notionof him. And it was the same
with everything. In her old state, she had a very fine handwriting,
the one she had always had.While in her new state her handwriting was
bad, awkward, as it werechildish, because she had neither the time
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nor the means to perfect it.As has been said above, this succession
of phenomena lasted four years, andMissus X was accustomed to it and had
succeeded easily in maintaining an intercourse withher family in connection with this case,
I would like to avail myself ofthe opportunity to lay before you a graphic
method which I once invented, andof which I make great use in my
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lectures before the French students. Thisschemer, I believe, enables us to
represent to ourselves the various disturbances ofmemory in a very simple manner, and
makes their different varieties clearly perceptible tothe eye. No doubt, you are
already customed, in your courses ofmedicine to the little schemata which have made
use of to represent the various lesionsof the organs, and especially to represent
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the disturbances of sensibility. There existedno schemata of this kind for the disturbances
of memory, For we have todeal with a considerable difficulty of representation.
There are, indeed, in aremembrance or in an oblivion, two different
things which must be represented simultaneously.We must first consider the time when the
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remembrance exists. For instance, itis to day that I remember the studies
on double consciousness. This is thedate of the appearance of the remembrance.
We must also consider in a remembrancethe past period to which it refers I
remember to day in nineteen o six, that I already came in Boston in
nineteen o four. It is theperiod to which the remembrance refers. To
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represent these two things simultaneously, Ipropose to you the following schema, which
is described in my book on Nevorosaide Fiques eighteen ninety eight, Volume one,
page one hundred and twenty four.The horizontal line O X in all
these figures two, three, four, five from the left to the right
designates the different periods of the courseof life in their order of appearance.
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It is on this line that weinscribe the remembrances at the moment of their
appearance. The vertical line O Yfrom the bottom to the top represents the
same periods, but as remembrance.As representation. At each point of the
horizontal line, we draw a perpendicularparallel to the vertical line, which represents
the remembrances. Its height represents thenumber of remembrances one possesses at such or
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such a moment. As this heightnaturally increases as life passes away, and
one can theoretically call up more remembrances, normal memory will be represented by this
triangle whose base is the horizontal lineO X, and which is formed by
the diagonal drawn from the point O. If you have to represent oblivions amnesias,
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you will mark a black spot abovethe point, representing the date at
which this accident took place, andthe height of this black spot will be
determined by the parallel line which meetson the vertical the forgotten remembrance. This
figure, not very complicated upon thewhole, allows us to represent the different
amnesias in a very clear and strikingmanner as examples, and in order to
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accustom your eyes to these schemata,which are very useful in clinical studies,
I put before you various figures representingthe more usual forms of amnesia which you
will meet with in your practice.You have already studied with your masters of
neurology and psychiatry, the retrograde amnesiafigure two, which, beginning after some
physical or moral shock, takes awayall the memories of the preceding time.
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You know too, the continuous amnesiafigure three, wiping out the remembrances of
events as life goes on continuously.You see that the general aspect of the
schema is quite different, and thatit puts into evidence the differences between the
two diseases of the memory. Wecan now apply this method of representation to
the double existence as we were studying. In figure four, I have drawn
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a figure representing the case of thelady of my Niche, and you see
that it is very characteristic. Itis a kind of draft board in which
black and white squares alternate very exactly. You will remark, in fact,
that in this singular history the oblivionsand remembrances alternate in the same way very
regularly. In the state called statenumber one, the lady of MacNeish does
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not remember the state number two atall. In the state number two,
she does not remember the state numberone at all. When she comes back
to the state number one, sheremembers only this state and nothing more.
It is the same when she comesback to the state number two. There
is in the disease a perfect alternationwhich the schemer illustrates very well by its
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draft board, and which is quitepeculiar to this type of patients. I
have proposed to call this form ofsome nambulisms reciprocal. Some nambulisms. Double
existences of such a simple form arevery rare. It very seldom occurs that
the subject, in his abnormal existencehas entirely forgotten his normal existence, and
that in the latter he has liedwise entirely forgotten the other period. This
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absolute division of life into two alternatingperiods which do not know each other at
all, is quite exceptional. Youcan connect only a small number of cases
with the type of the Lady ofmac nish. The case of Darna is
perhaps of this kind, but atall events the disease lasted a much shorter
time. Two cases of Chalcot,that of Marguerite d and that of Abillon,
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which you will find published in thelast two volumes of his works,
and which have been reported by MonsieurGuignon, approached this form. But certainly
the finest modern case analogous to thatof mcneish appears to me to be the
History of Mary Reynolds, published bydoctor WEA. Mitchell in eighteen eighty eight.
Mary Reynolds was an intelligent, calmchild, rather reserved and melancholy,
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but of apparent good health. Thenervous disturbances began towards the age of eighteen,
with a rather protracted syncope, afterwhich she remained for five or six
weeks blind and death. The senseof hearing returned all at once. The
sense of sight returned gradually and completely. We need not dwell now on these
censorial disturbances, which we shall studylater on. After a second syncope,
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which lasted from eighteen to twenty hours, she awoke, apparently with all her
senses, but she had forgotten allher former life and all the knowledge previously
acquired. Nothing was left her butthe power of instinctively pronouncing like a child,
a few words without understanding them.She was obliged to learn everything anew,
But it must be acknowledged that hereducation was rapid, since after a
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few weeks she could again speak,read, and write. It was noticed
that she learned again to write inan odd manner. She handled her pen
awkwardly and began to copy from theright to the left, after the manner
of the orientals. She always keptin this second existence, and inverted handwriting,
very different from her ordinary handwriting.In this second existence, her character
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was quite transformed. She had becomelively, cheerful, and was no longer
afraid of anything. Wandered about thewoods, played with dangerous animals. She
dealt shrewdly with and mocked at thepersons who wanted to direct her, and
in reality no longer obeyed anybody.After about ten weeks, she again had
one of those strange sleeps and awokeof herself in the first state. She
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no longer had any remembrance of theperiod which had just elapsed, but she
recovered her previous knowledge and character.She was slower and more melancholy than ever.
After some time, the same accidentcaused her to return to the state,
which appeared to be the second.These transitions often took place in the
night, during her natural sleep,sometimes in the daytime, and they were
often painful. The subject was,as it were, frightened by a kind
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of feeling of death, as ifI were never to return into this world.
When the second existence reappeared, MaryReynolds was again exactly in the state
in which she had been at theend of the corresponding period, with the
same acquired knowledge and the same remembrances. But she again forgot everything when she
returned to the state number one aboutthe age of thirty five or thirty six,
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the state called number two became definitivelypredominant. It was reproduced more often
lasted longer, and at length becamein a manner definitive. Since she remained
twenty five years in this state.The author remarks that at the end of
her life there seemed to be akind of confusion between the two states.
At least the state number two,which had become preponderant, expanded and seemed
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vaguely to acquire remembrances belonging to thestate number one. It seemed to her
that she had, as it were, an obscure, dreamlike idea of a
shadowy past which she could not quitegrasp. You see that, in general,
the observation of Mary Reynolds is theone which most approaches that of the
Lady of mc nish, and whichbest presents the two existences quite independent of
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each other. However, even inthis case your remark at the end of
life a tendency of the state numbertwo to encroach upon State number one,
this will be found to be theessential characteristic of another form of double existence,
much more common than the first two. I have given to this new
the name of dominating somnambulism, becauseone of its essential features is that one
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of the states dominates the other.In this state, the subject is more
active, more lively, more intelligentthan in the other. And what is
particularly important, the memory during thisstate is much more extended than in the
other. If America can boast ofhaving presented in the person of the Lady
of McNeese and in that of MaryReynolds, the finest examples of the first
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form, the history of Falida Xgives now to France an unquestionable superiority.
Allow me to make you acquainted withFalida. She is a very remarkable personage
who has played a rather important partin the history of ideas. Do not
forget that this humble person was theeducator of ten and Ribaut. Her history
was the great argument of which thepositivist psychologists made use at the time of
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the heroic struggles against the spiritualistic dogmatismof Cuzin's school. But for Falida,
it is not certain that there wouldbe a professorship of psychology at the College
de France, and that I shouldbe here speaking to you of the mental
state of hystericals. It is aphysician of Bordeaux who has attached his name
to the history of Felida. Azinreported this astonishing history first at the Society
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of surgery. Then at the Academyof Medicine in January eighteen sixty he entitled
his communication Note on nervous Sleep orHypnotism, and spoke of this case in
connection with the discussion of the existenceof an abnormal sleep during which it would
be possible to operate without pain.And this communication, thus incidentally made was
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to revolutionize psychology in fifty years.Subsequent to that time, Azin understood better
the interest and success of his observation. He published various memoirs and even books
on this subject in eighteen sixty six, eighteen seventy six, eighteen seventy seven,
eighteen eighty three, eighteen ninety asI told you first ten in his
book on Intelligence. Then Ribaut inhis Diseases of Memory, took possession of
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this history which has gone round theworld, and today there is a whole
library written about this poor woman.When as Zan first knew Felida in eighteen
fifty eight, she was already fifteenyears old and had already been ill for
three years since the appearance of puberty. This frequently occurs in hysteria. As
you will see later on, shehad all kinds of hysteric accidents attacks of
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motor agitation, disturbances of alimentation,which we need not examine. Now,
all kinds of sufferings had changed hercharacter for the worse. She was a
reserved, melancholy and timid person.She had a great number of disturbances of
sensibility, consisting both of pains anddiffuse insensibilities. Among all these miseries,
there appeared, from time to time, rather infrequently, at the beginning,
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another very strange phenomenon. She seemedto faint away for a very few minutes.
It is the transition we have alreadyremarked in most somnambulisms. Then she
would wake up, suddenly, becomegay and active, and bustle about without
any anxiety or pain. She nolonger had those painful sensations or those insensibilities
which troubled her before, and shewas in much better health and in the
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preceding period. But let us immediatelyremark that in this apparently new state she
by no means presented the characteristic disturbanceof the lady of MacNeice and of Mary
Reynolds. She had nothing to learnagain, because she had forgotten nothing.
She preserved a very clear remembrance ofall her former life, of all the
sufferings she had undergone, and ofall she had learned before. So everything
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went quite well. But this stateof comfort lasted but a short time.
After one to three hours, shehad a new syncope, and then awoke
in the preceding state considered as normal, which we may call, according to
Assuant's convention, the prime state.On returning to this state, she resumed
again all her infirmities and the slow, melancholy character which was her usual one.
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But there was now one phenomenon more. She had quite forgotten the few
preceding hours filled by the state numbertwo, or the lively state. All
this period was for her as ifit did not exist. This caused no
great inconvenience at that time, sincethe state called number two occurred only from
time to time and lasted an houror two. But little by little this
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state developed singularly. It lasted forhours and days, and as the subject
was now much more active, itwas filled with all kinds of serious incidents.
You will read in razin the strangenarrative of that consultation about the first
pregnancy of Felida the poor girl,during her period of excitation and gaiety had
given herself up to a young manwho was to be her husband. The
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awakening occurred shortly afterwards, and didnot leave her the least remembrance of this
incident. As her health was impairedand her abdomen grew bigger, she naively
went to consult Monsieur Razan about thestrange disturbances in her health. The pregnancy
was evident, says Zin, butI dared not make it known to her.
Some time after the state number tworeturned, and Felida, addressing herself
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to the physician, laughingly apologized forher preceding consultation, for she now knew
very well what was the matter.During the greater part of her life,
these two periods alternated, and itwas only in her old age that one
of the two periods, the second, that is to say, the better
one, during which the subject wasmore active and had a total memory,
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encroached upon the first and filled almostthe whole of her life. Henceforth,
Felida seldom remained three or four daysin her former state called normal. But
then her life was intolerable, forshe had forgotten three quarters of her existence,
and this gave rise to the mostcomical situations, she feared to pass
for mad, and in her anguishhid herself till a new syncope restored her
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to her better state, which wasnow her habitual one. Such are the
chief features of this history which hasbecome celebrated. You may easily see wherein
it differs from the preceding observations.The schematic figure figure five, which you
can now understand, gives you quitea characteristic image. It is no longer
a draft board on which the periodsof oblivion regularly alternate with the periods of
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remembrance. You see regularly entire lightcolored stripes which broader and broader as life
advances, in which there is noblack spot. They are the periods of
the state number two, during whichthe memory extends over the whole of life
without any amnesia. On the contrary, in the intercalliary stripes representing the state
number one, you see the seriesof black spots representing more and more extended
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amnesias affecting the periods of life whichwere filled by the state number two.
This figure clearly shows you that thetwo somnambulisms are not equal, that one
is superior to the other, especiallyas regards the memory. This is what
justifies the name of dominating somnambulisms,which I have given to these cases.
If the cases of the first kind, grouped around the lady of magnesia are
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rare, this is not true ofthose of the second group, which have
Felida for type. The case ofLa Dame, that of Veriest eighteen eighty
eight, of Bonna Maison eighteen ninety, of Dufay eighteen ninety three, and
many others could be described from thesame model. It is of no use
to dwell upon this. These casesdo not present any really new psychological phenomena.
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But it would be well to forma third group, which might be
called the group of complex cases,in which some celebrated observations ought to be
placed. I allude to the complicatedcases of patients who have not two forms
of existence, but a very greatnumber of forms of existence, as many
as nine or ten. These differentpsychological states offer very various relations with one
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another. Sometimes they are quite independentof one another and present a simply reciprocal
memory. The subject only finds againthe remembrances of the state number one when
he comes back to the state numberone, But he by no means remembers
this state when he is in thestate number two or in the state number
four. But such patients have besidesand at the same time other states,
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obeying another rule. For instance,they are apt to enter into a particular
state, which we shall call numberthree, in which they not only remember
the other periods of the state numberthree, but also remember the periods of
the state number one and of thestate number two. In a word,
they have reciprocal somnambulisms and dominating somnambulisms. One of the most remarkable cases published
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in France is that of Louis Vivere, studied from eighteen eighty two to eighteen
eighty nine by many authors, byle Grand du Sulevoisin Mabille and Robardier,
Bouru and Bureau. This boy hassix different existences. Each of them is
characterized first by modifications of the memoryaffecting now one period now another. Secondly
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by modifications of character. In onestate he is gentle and industrious, In
another, he is lazy and irascible. Thirdly, by modifications of sensibility and
of motion. In one state heis insensible and paralyzed in his left side.
In another he is paralyzed in hisright side. In a third he
is paraplegic et cetera. An Englishauthor, mister Arthur Myers, the brother
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of the well known psychologist, inan article in the Journal of Mental Science
January eighteen eighty six, tried togroup in a table these four modifications characterizing
each state. The most curious factof this state is that one can,
by acting on this third character,bring about the corresponding modifications of the other
two. If one cures the paralysisof his two legs, one causes him
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to enter into the state in whichhe has all his sensations and movements,
and then one sees the character andthe state of memory corresponding to this period
reappear. But these facts are especiallyinteresting from the point of view of the
artificial reproduction of somnambulisms and even ofsecond existences. We need not dwell on
them today. After having reported thisFrench case, let us consider some very
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remarkable American observations. One of themost astonishing observations, whose scientific value,
unfortunately I can hardly appreciate, isthat which was published in eighteen ninety four
under the rather strange title of Mollyfancher. The Brooklyn Enigma. An authentic statement
of facts in the life of MaryJ. Fancher, the psychological marvel of
the nineteenth century, unimpeachable test tomany by many witnesses. By Abraham H.
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Daily, eighteen ninety four. Thehistory is strangely related. You feel
in it a kind of mystic admirationfor the subject, an exaggerated seeking after
surprising and supernormal phenomena, which ofcourse inspires you with some fear as to
the way in which the observation hasbeen conducted. It nevertheless contains many very
remarkable and interesting facts. Mollyfanchia,who seems to have had all possible hysterical
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accidents, attacks, terrible contractors,lasting for long years, more or less
complete blindness, etc. Above allpresented all the forms of somnambulism, from
the simplest to the most complicated ones. There are in her at least five
persons who have very poetical pet namesSunbeam, Idol, Rosebud, Pearl Ruby,
each one with her remembrances and hercharacter. The complication of this case
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is very amusing. Lastly, wehave to point out the last and most
remarkable of the observations of this kind, the observation of Miss Beauchamp by doctor
Morton Prince, one of the physiciansof Boston who have most interested themselves in
the development of pathological psychology, andwho devoted years of work to the observation
of this complicated and interesting case.We cannot here enter into analysis of these
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complex cases, which moreover are butvarious combinations and forms of the two simple
forms we have studied. In thesecomplex cases, a new influence usually makes
itself felt, which complicates matters agreat deal. I mean the influence of
the observer himself, who in theend knows his subject too well and is
too well known to him. Whateverprecautions one may take, the ideas of
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the observer, in the end influencethe development of the somnambulisms of the subject
and give it an artificial complication,however it may be. I must add
the study of these complex cases tothe two simple forms I have pointed out,
in order to make you understand allthe developments which may be taken by
this strange phenomenon of multiplex personality inhystericals. Three, I cannot enter into
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the psychological study of all the problemsraised by the double existences of hystericals.
Besides, I have pointed out touse some works published in this very city
in which she would find these discussionsvery well conducted. I only wish,
before concluding this lecture, to giveyou a few indications as to the direction
which, in my opinion, thesestudies should take, and as to a
general conception of these apparently mysterious phenomena. Let us take up one more observation
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of a double personality, which differsfrom the preceding ones only by a singular
slight detail, namely that it wasfor a great part produced artificially long ago.
In eighteen eighty seven, a youngwoman of twenty whose name was Marcelin,
entered the hospital in a lamentable statefor several months past. She had
not taken any food, first becauseshe obstinately refused to eat, then because
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she immediately vomited any food or drinkone forster to swallow. Besides, she
no longer had any function of evacuation. She was incapable of urinating spontaneously,
and so alone could cause her todischarge a few drops of urine. In
these conditions, this young woman,who had reached the last stage of emaciation,
seemed to have but a breath oflife left. She remained constantly lying
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in her bed, being incapable ofstanding. Her mental activity was as much
reduced as her physical activity. Shewas completely insensible on the whole surface of
her skin and on all her mucousmembranes. She heard very badly, and
saw but exceedingly little. Though shelooked intelligent, she replied with great indifference
to the questions put to her,and seemed to be in a serious state
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of stupefaction. As we did notsucceed in nourishing her otherwise, we had
to try the effect of hypnotic practice. After some attempts, we easily caused
her to enter into a singular state, which appeared momentary and artificial, but
differed altogether from the habitual state inwhich we had constantly seen her since her
entrance into the hospital. She lookedquite transformed physically and morally. She was
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now capable of moving, She acceptedany food, and had no longer any
vomit. Lastly, she urinated spontaneouslywithout difficulty. On the other hand,
she had become sensitive over her entirebody and could hear and see perfectly.
She expressed herself much better, withmore vivacity and showed a complete memory of
all her anterior life. After havingnourished her in this new state, we
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thought it necessary to awaken her.Since this state was considered artificial. She
immediately fell back into her preceding state, inert, insensible, unable to eat
or urinate. She simply presented onemore disturbance, namely, according to the
law of somnambulisms, which you know, she had quite forgotten what had happened
during the preceding period. Nevertheless,thanks to these artificial somnambulisms, we were
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able to nourish her and cause herto recover her strength, but it was
always impossible to make her eat inthe period considered normal, which we always
brought back by awakening her. Sothat tired of thus putting her to sleep
at each meal, which was verylong, weft her for whole days in
the artificial state. The only resultwas apparently a great advantage, since all
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day she ate well, urinated completely, and presented more sensibility, memory,
and activity. One day, herparents, finding her in this fine artificial
state, considered her cured and tookher out of the hospital. Everything went
well during the first days, butafter a few weeks on the occasion of
her menstrual period, she experienced akind of upsetting and awoke spontaneously. That
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is to say, she suddenly returnedto the state of depression and stupefaction from
which we had drawn her. Butshe presented in addition of forgetfulness, bearing
this time on whole weeks. Shewas very much bewildered at finding herself in
her house without understanding how she hadleft the hospital, for she did not
remember the events of the preceding days. Besides, she again refused to eat
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and could not urinate. Marceline wasbrought back to me, and in the
presence of all these disturbances, whichwere well known to me, I could
do nothing else but put her tosleep again, or rather bring her back
to her artificial state. Well,gentlemen, things continued in this way for
fifteen years. Marceline would come tome in order to be put to sleep,
enter into her alert state, andthen go away very happy with complete
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activity, sensibility, and memory.She would remain thus for a few weeks,
then either slowly or suddenly, inconsequence of some emotion, fall back
into her numbness, returned to thestate we had considered primitive and natural with
the same visceral disturbances. The forgetfulnessnow extended over whole years and disturbed her
existence completely. She would hasten tocome to me to get herself transformed again.
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Things continued thus for years together tillthe death of the poor girl who
succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis. How arethe two states of Marceline to be explained?
You see, they are quite likewhat we have just described in connection
with the dominant somnambulisms of Felida.The latter also had two states, one
melancholy and incomplete, in which shehad great oblivion, the other alert,
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in which she found again all hersensibility and memory. Marceline resembles her so
much that I have already proposed tocall her an artificial Feleider. We ought,
then to apply to her the conventionsproposed by Monsieur Razan as well as
by all the authors to designate thesetwo states. We ought to say that
the state number one is the stateof depression in which we found her at
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the beginning, and which looked normal. That the state number two, a
superadded or artificial state, is thealert state with complete memory. Well,
these denominations seem to me quite incorrectwhen applied to this case, which I
followed so long. It is absurdto call state number one a state of
mental depression incompatible with life, anatural state. It is unlikely that this
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young woman has always been from thefirst in such a state. In reality,
it is false. She began byhaving, in her girlhood before puberty,
all these sensibilities, all these functionsat her disposal. She ate and
digested very well, and urinated spontaneously. This is the real state number one.
There is no doubt on this point. The state in which we saw
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her in the hospital, with allher disturbances and insensibilities, is an abnormal
state brought on by illness, byhysteria, which has evolved since her puberty.
It is the state number two.But what shall we do then,
with the state obtained through hypnotism,which was produced artificially? Is it a
state number three? By no means. In this state her functions were normal.
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She recovered the sensibility and memory shehad formerly had. I see no
reason why we should distinguish this statefrom the natural state of her childhood,
which we called state number one.It is simply a momentary cure, which
we brought about through processes of artificialexcitation. And when she falls back into
the state number two, it issimply because the disease begins again. All
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this history may be represented by thefollowing diagram. Slowly without its being perceived,
this young girl grew worse every day. She had gradually lost sensibility and
memory. We may represent this stageby a line which descends well below the
line a B of normal activity Figuresix. When she has been hypnotized in
C, she rises again to astate of almost normal activity in D through
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the effect of illness, she graduallyredescends. At first, she seems to
awaken a little as soon as youleave her and forgets what you have just
now told her. E. Thentwo days after she wakes again f that
is to say, she experiences afall into a state of hysterical anesthesia and
amnesia, still deeper than before gshe forgets the two preceding days. Then
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she goes down very slowly. Ifyou let her fall again by an emotion,
for instance, they will be completeamnesia of the whole preceding period.
If you excite her, there willbe on the contrary, a psychological state
far more complete and a total remembranceof the preceding periods. It is these
falls, these returns to anesthesia,which give to the normal periods the aspects
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of somnambulisms. I think it isabsolutely the same with all such cases,
that everything has been confused through falsedenominations. Felida also had in her childhood
a state number one, which nowno longer exists except in her periods of
alert state improperly called state number two. It has been noticed with astonishment that
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at the end of her life thisstate exists almost alone. It is simply
because the hysteria is cured and shereturns to the normal state of her girlhood,
which she ought always to have kept. There is nothing abnormal but the
state of depression with amnesia, whichsettled gradually after her puberty, and which
was mistaken for a state number onebecause it had lasted for a long time.
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When the subject was observed in thisview, things become somewhat clearer.
The essential phenomenon that, in myopinion, is at the basis of these
double existences, is a kind ofoscillation of mental activity which falls and rises
suddenly. These sudden changes without sufficienttransition bring about two different states of activity,
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the one higher with a particular exerciseof all the senses and functions,
the other lower, with a greatreduction of all the cerebral functions. These
two states separate from each other.They cease to be connected together as with
normal individuals through gradations and remembrances.They become isolated from each other and form
these two separate existences. Here againthere is a mental dissociation more complicated than
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the preceding ones. There is dissociationnot only of an idea, not only
of a feeling, but of onemental state of activity. End of Section four
Lecture four double personalities. The interestof the study of these rare cases.
First type of double existence the ladyof macnese, the reciprocal somnambulisms, a
graphic method for the representation of amnesias. Second type of double existence felida X,
the dominating somnambulisms, the group ofcomplex cases, a case of artificial
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double existence, the true denomination ofthe different states, the oscillations of mental
level and the dissociation of a stateof mental activity. The somnambulisms, which
we consider as the essential phenomenon ofhysteria, are apt to present a new
metamorphosis whose scientific interest is very greatwhen they are so protracted and complicated as
to give rise to what is calleddouble existences double personalities. I said scientific
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interest rather than clinical and practical interest, because this phenomenon is, upon the
whole, rather rare, and itis unlikely you will have to occupy yourselves
with it in practice. A celebratedneurologist of New York M. Dana published
in eighteen ninety four in The PsychologicalReview, page five hundred and seventy a
comprehensive study on the most definitive caseswhich have been observed, and he counted
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only sixteen. In the last numberof his Journal of Abnormal Psychology, page
one hundred eighty six, Doctor MortonPrince gave a fine table of twenty cases,
of which he explained the most interestingfeatures. Let us suppose there are
to day twenty five or thirty.It is certainly the total sum of the
well known cases. Such cases arenot often met with in usual practice.
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However, the importance of this factis very great. Its very exaggeration allows
us better to interpret the preceding states, and contributes very efficaciously to instruct us
on the theory of hysteria. Moreover, the question presents for you, as
it were, a national interest forsome reason why I don't know. It
is in America that the greatest numberof remarkable cases have appeared, and it
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is American doctors, among them McNish, wood, Weir, Mitchell, Dana,
and quite recently one of the greatestphysicians of this town, doctor Morton
Prince, who have devoted to itthe most remarkable studies. We cannot,
in an elementary lesson discuss the differentforms of this phenomenon and the various theories
which have been presented. I referyou for this subject to the recent book
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of doctor Morton Prince, Dissociation ofa Personality nineteen o six, and to
that of mm B. Siddis andGoodheart Multiple Personality nineteen o five. You
will find in these works all kindsof psychological discussions in which I should not
like to venture. So I shallconfine myself to making three typical forms known
to you, and to showing you, in a few words, in what
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manner these new states, which presentso many interesting features, are connected with
the preceding somnambulisms. One the typeof double existences, is given us by
a celebrated case more legendary than historical, published in eighteen thirty one work of
doctor mac nish entitled Philosophy of Sleep, whose observation, it appears, dates
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still farther back. Since it isa question of a fact observed by Mitchell
and Eliot in eighteen sixteen, itshows you that this observation is very old
and very vaguely known. This isperhaps the reason why the fact is presented
to us with a simplicity which astonishesus, and which we no longer find
in our observations of to day.By much repetition. The fact must have
become a great deal simplified, howeverit may be. The following is the
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abridged history of her, who iscalled the Lady of mac Nish, A
well informed, well bred, younglady of a good constitution, was suddenly
seized without previous warning, with aprofound sleep which lasted several hours longer than
usual. On awaking, she hadforgotten all she knew. Her memory was
like a tabula rasa, and hadpreserved no notion, either of words or
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of things. It was necessary toteach her everything anew. Thus she was
obliged to learn again, reading,writing, offering. Little by little,
she became familiarized with the persons andthings surrounding her, which were for her
as if she saw them for thefirst time. Her progress was rapid.
After a rather long time, shewas, without any known cause, seized
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with a sleep similar to that whichhad preceded her new life. On awaking,
she found herself exactly in the samestate in which she was before her
first sleep, But she had noremembrance of anything that had passed during the
interval. In a word, inthe old state, she was ignorant of
the new state. It was thusthat she called her two lives, which
were continued separately and alternatively through remembranceduring more than four years. This young
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lady presented these phenomena almost periodically inone state or in the other. She
did not remember her double character anymore than two distinct persons remember their respective
natures. For instance, in theperiods of her old state, she possessed
all the knowledge she acquired in herchildhood and youth. In her new state,
she knew only what she had learnedduring her first leap. If a
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person was presented to her in oneof these states, she did not know
this person in the other state,but was obliged to study and know him
in both to have a thorough notionof him. And it was the same
with everything. In her old state, she had a very fine handwriting,
the one she had always had.While in her new state her handwriting was
bad, awkward, as it werechildish, because she had neither the time
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nor the means to perfect it.As has been said above, this succession
of phenomena lasted four years, andMissus X was accustomed to it and had
succeeded easily in maintaining an intercourse withher family in connection with this case,
I would like to avail myself ofthe opportunity to lay before you a graphic
method which I once invented, andof which I make great use in my
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lectures before the French students. Thisschemer, I believe, enables us to
represent to ourselves the various disturbances ofmemory in a very simple manner, and
makes their different varieties clearly perceptible tothe eye. No doubt, you are
already customed, in your courses ofmedicine to the little schemata which have made
use of to represent the various lesionsof the organs, and especially to represent
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the disturbances of sensibility. There existedno schemata of this kind for the disturbances
of memory, For we have todeal with a considerable difficulty of representation.
There are, indeed, in aremembrance or in an oblivion, two different
things which must be represented simultaneously.We must first consider the time when the
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remembrance exists. For instance, itis to day that I remember the studies
on double consciousness. This is thedate of the appearance of the remembrance.
We must also consider in a remembrancethe past period to which it refers I
remember to day in nineteen o six, that I already came in Boston in
nineteen o four. It is theperiod to which the remembrance refers. To
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represent these two things simultaneously, Ipropose to you the following schema, which
is described in my book on Nevorosaide Fiques eighteen ninety eight, Volume one,
page one hundred and twenty four.The horizontal line O X in all
these figures two, three, four, five from the left to the right
designates the different periods of the courseof life in their order of appearance.
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It is on this line that weinscribe the remembrances at the moment of their
appearance. The vertical line O Yfrom the bottom to the top represents the
same periods, but as remembrance.As representation. At each point of the
horizontal line, we draw a perpendicularparallel to the vertical line, which represents
the remembrances. Its height represents thenumber of remembrances one possesses at such or
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such a moment. As this heightnaturally increases as life passes away, and
one can theoretically call up more remembrances, normal memory will be represented by this
triangle whose base is the horizontal lineO X, and which is formed by
the diagonal drawn from the point O. If you have to represent oblivions amnesias,
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you will mark a black spot abovethe point, representing the date at
which this accident took place, andthe height of this black spot will be
determined by the parallel line which meetson the vertical the forgotten remembrance. This
figure, not very complicated upon thewhole, allows us to represent the different
amnesias in a very clear and strikingmanner as examples, and in order to
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accustom your eyes to these schemata,which are very useful in clinical studies,
I put before you various figures representingthe more usual forms of amnesia which you
will meet with in your practice.You have already studied with your masters of
neurology and psychiatry, the retrograde amnesiafigure two, which, beginning after some
physical or moral shock, takes awayall the memories of the preceding time.
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You know too, the continuous amnesiafigure three, wiping out the remembrances of
events as life goes on continuously.You see that the general aspect of the
schema is quite different, and thatit puts into evidence the differences between the
two diseases of the memory. Wecan now apply this method of representation to
the double existence as we were studying. In figure four, I have drawn
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a figure representing the case of thelady of my Niche, and you see
that it is very characteristic. Itis a kind of draft board in which
black and white squares alternate very exactly. You will remark, in fact,
that in this singular history the oblivionsand remembrances alternate in the same way very
regularly. In the state called statenumber one, the lady of MacNeish does
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not remember the state number two atall. In the state number two,
she does not remember the state numberone at all. When she comes back
to the state number one, sheremembers only this state and nothing more.
It is the same when she comesback to the state number two. There
is in the disease a perfect alternationwhich the schemer illustrates very well by its
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draft board, and which is quitepeculiar to this type of patients. I
have proposed to call this form ofsome nambulisms reciprocal. Some nambulisms. Double
existences of such a simple form arevery rare. It very seldom occurs that
the subject, in his abnormal existencehas entirely forgotten his normal existence, and
that in the latter he has liedwise entirely forgotten the other period. This
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absolute division of life into two alternatingperiods which do not know each other at
all, is quite exceptional. Youcan connect only a small number of cases
with the type of the Lady ofmac nish. The case of Darna is
perhaps of this kind, but atall events the disease lasted a much shorter
time. Two cases of Chalcot,that of Marguerite d and that of Abillon,
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which you will find published in thelast two volumes of his works,
and which have been reported by MonsieurGuignon, approached this form. But certainly
the finest modern case analogous to thatof mcneish appears to me to be the
History of Mary Reynolds, published bydoctor WEA. Mitchell in eighteen eighty eight.
Mary Reynolds was an intelligent, calmchild, rather reserved and melancholy,
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but of apparent good health. Thenervous disturbances began towards the age of eighteen,
with a rather protracted syncope, afterwhich she remained for five or six
weeks blind and death. The senseof hearing returned all at once. The
sense of sight returned gradually and completely. We need not dwell now on these
censorial disturbances, which we shall studylater on. After a second syncope,
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which lasted from eighteen to twenty hours, she awoke, apparently with all her
senses, but she had forgotten allher former life and all the knowledge previously
acquired. Nothing was left her butthe power of instinctively pronouncing like a child,
a few words without understanding them.She was obliged to learn everything anew,
But it must be acknowledged that hereducation was rapid, since after a
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few weeks she could again speak,read, and write. It was noticed
that she learned again to write inan odd manner. She handled her pen
awkwardly and began to copy from theright to the left, after the manner
of the orientals. She always keptin this second existence, and inverted handwriting,
very different from her ordinary handwriting.In this second existence, her character
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was quite transformed. She had becomelively, cheerful, and was no longer
afraid of anything. Wandered about thewoods, played with dangerous animals. She
dealt shrewdly with and mocked at thepersons who wanted to direct her, and
in reality no longer obeyed anybody.After about ten weeks, she again had
one of those strange sleeps and awokeof herself in the first state. She
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no longer had any remembrance of theperiod which had just elapsed, but she
recovered her previous knowledge and character.She was slower and more melancholy than ever.
After some time, the same accidentcaused her to return to the state,
which appeared to be the second.These transitions often took place in the
night, during her natural sleep,sometimes in the daytime, and they were
often painful. The subject was,as it were, frightened by a kind
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of feeling of death, as ifI were never to return into this world.
When the second existence reappeared, MaryReynolds was again exactly in the state
in which she had been at theend of the corresponding period, with the
same acquired knowledge and the same remembrances. But she again forgot everything when she
returned to the state number one aboutthe age of thirty five or thirty six,
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the state called number two became definitivelypredominant. It was reproduced more often
lasted longer, and at length becamein a manner definitive. Since she remained
twenty five years in this state.The author remarks that at the end of
her life there seemed to be akind of confusion between the two states.
At least the state number two,which had become preponderant, expanded and seemed
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vaguely to acquire remembrances belonging to thestate number one. It seemed to her
that she had, as it were, an obscure, dreamlike idea of a
shadowy past which she could not quitegrasp. You see that, in general,
the observation of Mary Reynolds is theone which most approaches that of the
Lady of mc nish, and whichbest presents the two existences quite independent of
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each other. However, even inthis case your remark at the end of
life a tendency of the state numbertwo to encroach upon State number one,
this will be found to be theessential characteristic of another form of double existence,
much more common than the first two. I have given to this new
the name of dominating somnambulism, becauseone of its essential features is that one
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of the states dominates the other.In this state, the subject is more
active, more lively, more intelligentthan in the other. And what is
particularly important, the memory during thisstate is much more extended than in the
other. If America can boast ofhaving presented in the person of the Lady
of McNeese and in that of MaryReynolds, the finest examples of the first
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form, the history of Falida Xgives now to France an unquestionable superiority.
Allow me to make you acquainted withFalida. She is a very remarkable personage
who has played a rather important partin the history of ideas. Do not
forget that this humble person was theeducator of ten and Ribaut. Her history
was the great argument of which thepositivist psychologists made use at the time of
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the heroic struggles against the spiritualistic dogmatismof Cuzin's school. But for Falida,
it is not certain that there wouldbe a professorship of psychology at the College
de France, and that I shouldbe here speaking to you of the mental
state of hystericals. It is aphysician of Bordeaux who has attached his name
to the history of Felida. Azinreported this astonishing history first at the Society
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of surgery. Then at the Academyof Medicine in January eighteen sixty he entitled
his communication Note on nervous Sleep orHypnotism, and spoke of this case in
connection with the discussion of the existenceof an abnormal sleep during which it would
be possible to operate without pain.And this communication, thus incidentally made was
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to revolutionize psychology in fifty years.Subsequent to that time, Azin understood better
the interest and success of his observation. He published various memoirs and even books
on this subject in eighteen sixty six, eighteen seventy six, eighteen seventy seven,
eighteen eighty three, eighteen ninety asI told you first ten in his
book on Intelligence. Then Ribaut inhis Diseases of Memory, took possession of
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this history which has gone round theworld, and today there is a whole
library written about this poor woman.When as Zan first knew Felida in eighteen
fifty eight, she was already fifteenyears old and had already been ill for
three years since the appearance of puberty. This frequently occurs in hysteria. As
you will see later on, shehad all kinds of hysteric accidents attacks of
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motor agitation, disturbances of alimentation,which we need not examine. Now,
all kinds of sufferings had changed hercharacter for the worse. She was a
reserved, melancholy and timid person.She had a great number of disturbances of
sensibility, consisting both of pains anddiffuse insensibilities. Among all these miseries,
there appeared, from time to time, rather infrequently, at the beginning,
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another very strange phenomenon. She seemedto faint away for a very few minutes.
It is the transition we have alreadyremarked in most somnambulisms. Then she
would wake up, suddenly, becomegay and active, and bustle about without
any anxiety or pain. She nolonger had those painful sensations or those insensibilities
which troubled her before, and shewas in much better health and in the
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preceding period. But let us immediatelyremark that in this apparently new state she
by no means presented the characteristic disturbanceof the lady of MacNeice and of Mary
Reynolds. She had nothing to learnagain, because she had forgotten nothing.
She preserved a very clear remembrance ofall her former life, of all the
sufferings she had undergone, and ofall she had learned before. So everything
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went quite well. But this stateof comfort lasted but a short time.
After one to three hours, shehad a new syncope, and then awoke
in the preceding state considered as normal, which we may call, according to
Assuant's convention, the prime state.On returning to this state, she resumed
again all her infirmities and the slow, melancholy character which was her usual one.
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But there was now one phenomenon more. She had quite forgotten the few
preceding hours filled by the state numbertwo, or the lively state. All
this period was for her as ifit did not exist. This caused no
great inconvenience at that time, sincethe state called number two occurred only from
time to time and lasted an houror two. But little by little this
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state developed singularly. It lasted forhours and days, and as the subject
was now much more active, itwas filled with all kinds of serious incidents.
You will read in razin the strangenarrative of that consultation about the first
pregnancy of Felida the poor girl,during her period of excitation and gaiety had
given herself up to a young manwho was to be her husband. The
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awakening occurred shortly afterwards, and didnot leave her the least remembrance of this
incident. As her health was impairedand her abdomen grew bigger, she naively
went to consult Monsieur Razan about thestrange disturbances in her health. The pregnancy
was evident, says Zin, butI dared not make it known to her.
Some time after the state number tworeturned, and Felida, addressing herself
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to the physician, laughingly apologized forher preceding consultation, for she now knew
very well what was the matter.During the greater part of her life,
these two periods alternated, and itwas only in her old age that one
of the two periods, the second, that is to say, the better
one, during which the subject wasmore active and had a total memory,
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encroached upon the first and filled almostthe whole of her life. Henceforth,
Felida seldom remained three or four daysin her former state called normal. But
then her life was intolerable, forshe had forgotten three quarters of her existence,
and this gave rise to the mostcomical situations, she feared to pass
for mad, and in her anguishhid herself till a new syncope restored her
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to her better state, which wasnow her habitual one. Such are the
chief features of this history which hasbecome celebrated. You may easily see wherein
it differs from the preceding observations.The schematic figure figure five, which you
can now understand, gives you quitea characteristic image. It is no longer
a draft board on which the periodsof oblivion regularly alternate with the periods of
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remembrance. You see regularly entire lightcolored stripes which broader and broader as life
advances, in which there is noblack spot. They are the periods of
the state number two, during whichthe memory extends over the whole of life
without any amnesia. On the contrary, in the intercalliary stripes representing the state
number one, you see the seriesof black spots representing more and more extended
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amnesias affecting the periods of life whichwere filled by the state number two.
This figure clearly shows you that thetwo somnambulisms are not equal, that one
is superior to the other, especiallyas regards the memory. This is what
justifies the name of dominating somnambulisms,which I have given to these cases.
If the cases of the first kind, grouped around the lady of magnesia are
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rare, this is not true ofthose of the second group, which have
Felida for type. The case ofLa Dame, that of Veriest eighteen eighty
eight, of Bonna Maison eighteen ninety, of Dufay eighteen ninety three, and
many others could be described from thesame model. It is of no use
to dwell upon this. These casesdo not present any really new psychological phenomena.
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But it would be well to forma third group, which might be
called the group of complex cases,in which some celebrated observations ought to be
placed. I allude to the complicatedcases of patients who have not two forms
of existence, but a very greatnumber of forms of existence, as many
as nine or ten. These differentpsychological states offer very various relations with one
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another. Sometimes they are quite independentof one another and present a simply reciprocal
memory. The subject only finds againthe remembrances of the state number one when
he comes back to the state numberone, But he by no means remembers
this state when he is in thestate number two or in the state number
four. But such patients have besidesand at the same time other states,
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obeying another rule. For instance,they are apt to enter into a particular
state, which we shall call numberthree, in which they not only remember
the other periods of the state numberthree, but also remember the periods of
the state number one and of thestate number two. In a word,
they have reciprocal somnambulisms and dominating somnambulisms. One of the most remarkable cases published
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in France is that of Louis Vivere, studied from eighteen eighty two to eighteen
eighty nine by many authors, byle Grand du Sulevoisin Mabille and Robardier,
Bouru and Bureau. This boy hassix different existences. Each of them is
characterized first by modifications of the memoryaffecting now one period now another. Secondly
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by modifications of character. In onestate he is gentle and industrious, In
another, he is lazy and irascible. Thirdly, by modifications of sensibility and
of motion. In one state heis insensible and paralyzed in his left side.
In another he is paralyzed in hisright side. In a third he
is paraplegic et cetera. An Englishauthor, mister Arthur Myers, the brother
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of the well known psychologist, inan article in the Journal of Mental Science
January eighteen eighty six, tried togroup in a table these four modifications characterizing
each state. The most curious factof this state is that one can,
by acting on this third character,bring about the corresponding modifications of the other
two. If one cures the paralysisof his two legs, one causes him
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to enter into the state in whichhe has all his sensations and movements,
and then one sees the character andthe state of memory corresponding to this period
reappear. But these facts are especiallyinteresting from the point of view of the
artificial reproduction of somnambulisms and even ofsecond existences. We need not dwell on
them today. After having reported thisFrench case, let us consider some very
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remarkable American observations. One of themost astonishing observations, whose scientific value,
unfortunately I can hardly appreciate, isthat which was published in eighteen ninety four
under the rather strange title of Mollyfancher. The Brooklyn Enigma. An authentic statement
of facts in the life of MaryJ. Fancher, the psychological marvel of
the nineteenth century, unimpeachable test tomany by many witnesses. By Abraham H.
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Daily, eighteen ninety four. Thehistory is strangely related. You feel
in it a kind of mystic admirationfor the subject, an exaggerated seeking after
surprising and supernormal phenomena, which ofcourse inspires you with some fear as to
the way in which the observation hasbeen conducted. It nevertheless contains many very
remarkable and interesting facts. Mollyfanchia,who seems to have had all possible hysterical
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accidents, attacks, terrible contractors,lasting for long years, more or less
complete blindness, etc. Above allpresented all the forms of somnambulism, from
the simplest to the most complicated ones. There are in her at least five
persons who have very poetical pet namesSunbeam, Idol, Rosebud, Pearl Ruby,
each one with her remembrances and hercharacter. The complication of this case
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is very amusing. Lastly, wehave to point out the last and most
remarkable of the observations of this kind, the observation of Miss Beauchamp by doctor
Morton Prince, one of the physiciansof Boston who have most interested themselves in
the development of pathological psychology, andwho devoted years of work to the observation
of this complicated and interesting case.We cannot here enter into analysis of these
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complex cases, which moreover are butvarious combinations and forms of the two simple
forms we have studied. In thesecomplex cases, a new influence usually makes
itself felt, which complicates matters agreat deal. I mean the influence of
the observer himself, who in theend knows his subject too well and is
too well known to him. Whateverprecautions one may take, the ideas of
(25:36):
the observer, in the end influencethe development of the somnambulisms of the subject
and give it an artificial complication,however it may be. I must add
the study of these complex cases tothe two simple forms I have pointed out,
in order to make you understand allthe developments which may be taken by
this strange phenomenon of multiplex personality inhystericals. Three, I cannot enter into
(26:00):
the psychological study of all the problemsraised by the double existences of hystericals.
Besides, I have pointed out touse some works published in this very city
in which she would find these discussionsvery well conducted. I only wish,
before concluding this lecture, to giveyou a few indications as to the direction
which, in my opinion, thesestudies should take, and as to a
general conception of these apparently mysterious phenomena. Let us take up one more observation
(26:26):
of a double personality, which differsfrom the preceding ones only by a singular
slight detail, namely that it wasfor a great part produced artificially long ago.
In eighteen eighty seven, a youngwoman of twenty whose name was Marcelin,
entered the hospital in a lamentable statefor several months past. She had
not taken any food, first becauseshe obstinately refused to eat, then because
(26:48):
she immediately vomited any food or drinkone forster to swallow. Besides, she
no longer had any function of evacuation. She was incapable of urinating spontaneously,
and so alone could cause her todischarge a few drops of urine. In
these conditions, this young woman,who had reached the last stage of emaciation,
seemed to have but a breath oflife left. She remained constantly lying
(27:11):
in her bed, being incapable ofstanding. Her mental activity was as much
reduced as her physical activity. Shewas completely insensible on the whole surface of
her skin and on all her mucousmembranes. She heard very badly, and
saw but exceedingly little. Though shelooked intelligent, she replied with great indifference
to the questions put to her,and seemed to be in a serious state
(27:33):
of stupefaction. As we did notsucceed in nourishing her otherwise, we had
to try the effect of hypnotic practice. After some attempts, we easily caused
her to enter into a singular state, which appeared momentary and artificial, but
differed altogether from the habitual state inwhich we had constantly seen her since her
entrance into the hospital. She lookedquite transformed physically and morally. She was
(27:55):
now capable of moving, She acceptedany food, and had no longer any
vomit. Lastly, she urinated spontaneouslywithout difficulty. On the other hand,
she had become sensitive over her entirebody and could hear and see perfectly.
She expressed herself much better, withmore vivacity and showed a complete memory of
all her anterior life. After havingnourished her in this new state, we
(28:18):
thought it necessary to awaken her.Since this state was considered artificial. She
immediately fell back into her preceding state, inert, insensible, unable to eat
or urinate. She simply presented onemore disturbance, namely, according to the
law of somnambulisms, which you know, she had quite forgotten what had happened
during the preceding period. Nevertheless,thanks to these artificial somnambulisms, we were
(28:44):
able to nourish her and cause herto recover her strength, but it was
always impossible to make her eat inthe period considered normal, which we always
brought back by awakening her. Sothat tired of thus putting her to sleep
at each meal, which was verylong, weft her for whole days in
the artificial state. The only resultwas apparently a great advantage, since all
(29:06):
day she ate well, urinated completely, and presented more sensibility, memory,
and activity. One day, herparents, finding her in this fine artificial
state, considered her cured and tookher out of the hospital. Everything went
well during the first days, butafter a few weeks on the occasion of
her menstrual period, she experienced akind of upsetting and awoke spontaneously. That
(29:29):
is to say, she suddenly returnedto the state of depression and stupefaction from
which we had drawn her. Butshe presented in addition of forgetfulness, bearing
this time on whole weeks. Shewas very much bewildered at finding herself in
her house without understanding how she hadleft the hospital, for she did not
remember the events of the preceding days. Besides, she again refused to eat
(29:51):
and could not urinate. Marceline wasbrought back to me, and in the
presence of all these disturbances, whichwere well known to me, I could
do nothing else but put her tosleep again, or rather bring her back
to her artificial state. Well,gentlemen, things continued in this way for
fifteen years. Marceline would come tome in order to be put to sleep,
enter into her alert state, andthen go away very happy with complete
(30:15):
activity, sensibility, and memory.She would remain thus for a few weeks,
then either slowly or suddenly, inconsequence of some emotion, fall back
into her numbness, returned to thestate we had considered primitive and natural with
the same visceral disturbances. The forgetfulnessnow extended over whole years and disturbed her
existence completely. She would hasten tocome to me to get herself transformed again.
(30:37):
Things continued thus for years together tillthe death of the poor girl who
succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis. How arethe two states of Marceline to be explained?
You see, they are quite likewhat we have just described in connection
with the dominant somnambulisms of Felida.The latter also had two states, one
melancholy and incomplete, in which shehad great oblivion, the other alert,
(31:00):
in which she found again all hersensibility and memory. Marceline resembles her so
much that I have already proposed tocall her an artificial Feleider. We ought,
then to apply to her the conventionsproposed by Monsieur Razan as well as
by all the authors to designate thesetwo states. We ought to say that
the state number one is the stateof depression in which we found her at
(31:22):
the beginning, and which looked normal. That the state number two, a
superadded or artificial state, is thealert state with complete memory. Well,
these denominations seem to me quite incorrectwhen applied to this case, which I
followed so long. It is absurdto call state number one a state of
mental depression incompatible with life, anatural state. It is unlikely that this
(31:44):
young woman has always been from thefirst in such a state. In reality,
it is false. She began byhaving, in her girlhood before puberty,
all these sensibilities, all these functionsat her disposal. She ate and
digested very well, and urinated spontaneously. This is the real state number one.
There is no doubt on this point. The state in which we saw
(32:05):
her in the hospital, with allher disturbances and insensibilities, is an abnormal
state brought on by illness, byhysteria, which has evolved since her puberty.
It is the state number two.But what shall we do then,
with the state obtained through hypnotism,which was produced artificially? Is it a
state number three? By no means. In this state her functions were normal.
(32:28):
She recovered the sensibility and memory shehad formerly had. I see no
reason why we should distinguish this statefrom the natural state of her childhood,
which we called state number one.It is simply a momentary cure, which
we brought about through processes of artificialexcitation. And when she falls back into
the state number two, it issimply because the disease begins again. All
(32:50):
this history may be represented by thefollowing diagram. Slowly without its being perceived,
this young girl grew worse every day. She had gradually lost sensibility and
memory. We may represent this stageby a line which descends well below the
line a B of normal activity Figuresix. When she has been hypnotized in
C, she rises again to astate of almost normal activity in D through
(33:13):
the effect of illness, she graduallyredescends. At first, she seems to
awaken a little as soon as youleave her and forgets what you have just
now told her. E. Thentwo days after she wakes again f that
is to say, she experiences afall into a state of hysterical anesthesia and
amnesia, still deeper than before gshe forgets the two preceding days. Then
(33:35):
she goes down very slowly. Ifyou let her fall again by an emotion,
for instance, they will be completeamnesia of the whole preceding period.
If you excite her, there willbe on the contrary, a psychological state
far more complete and a total remembranceof the preceding periods. It is these
falls, these returns to anesthesia,which give to the normal periods the aspects
(33:55):
of somnambulisms. I think it isabsolutely the same with all such cases,
that everything has been confused through falsedenominations. Felida also had in her childhood
a state number one, which nowno longer exists except in her periods of
alert state improperly called state number two. It has been noticed with astonishment that
(34:15):
at the end of her life thisstate exists almost alone. It is simply
because the hysteria is cured and shereturns to the normal state of her girlhood,
which she ought always to have kept. There is nothing abnormal but the
state of depression with amnesia, whichsettled gradually after her puberty, and which
was mistaken for a state number onebecause it had lasted for a long time.
(34:37):
When the subject was observed in thisview, things become somewhat clearer.
The essential phenomenon that, in myopinion, is at the basis of these
double existences, is a kind ofoscillation of mental activity which falls and rises
suddenly. These sudden changes without sufficienttransition bring about two different states of activity,
(34:58):
the one higher with a particular exerciseof all the senses and functions,
the other lower, with a greatreduction of all the cerebral functions. These
two states separate from each other.They cease to be connected together as with
normal individuals through gradations and remembrances.They become isolated from each other and form
these two separate existences. Here againthere is a mental dissociation more complicated than
(35:21):
the preceding ones. There is dissociationnot only of an idea, not only
of a feeling, but of onemental state of activity. End of Section four
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