had been employed to test incandescent lights, and her occupation required her to look almost continually at them; and it was not a matter for surprise that such overaction of one center should bring about some deviation from the normal cerebral activities.

It was interesting as well as instructive to watch the oscillations between brief periods of purely self-consciousness and the protracted intervals of the purely subjective state until the supraliminal self finally triumphed, and the ability to correct and regulate the subjective sensations as they presented themselves was re-established. Recovery was complete; and the patient has been employed for more than one year; though in another line of work.

In the normal individual we consider the memory as unitary; in which all of his life experiences and sensa tions are integrated. In cases of altered consciousness the experiences are, on the contrary, disjointed; and the dissociated groups appear intermittently as separate memory pictures; hence the personality of the subject is separated into two or more phases of consciousness.

It will be noted that the faculty of memory directly stated or implied constitutes an important element in the make-up of the self-conscious state. This fact is suggestive and we naturally turn to inquire how this faculty may operate in inducing the condition we are attempting to describe.

Putting the interrogation "What constitutes memory?" we find a reply immediately forthcoming. Memory, it will be answered, is the faculty which is concerned in presenting to consciousness mental symbols which denote past experiences. Or, putting it another way, we say that -it is a re-cognition--a knowing over again of the facts and experiences of life through the means of their representative symbols which are presented to consciousness. Or, it is a re-collection of mental data which have become the property of the mind; and in their proper

relations constitute a normal and continuous ego. When, however, the reciprocity between the various cell-groups or colonies is disturbed, the renewal of brain records as presented to consciousness is discontinuous and intermittent; hence the divisibility of the subject's personality into as many phases as there are distinct and consistent chains of ideation. The duplication of personality is a condition with which even the laity is not altogether unfamiliar, and remarkable experiences of Ansel Bourne (an undoubted instance of this peculiar condition) have been the theme of conversation in many homes. In one case of multiple personality recorded by a recent English writer, no less than twelve distinct personalities were represented in the same individual, and an exhaustive account is given of each phase of the patient's personality which bears out the statement made at the outset, that such phases of consciousness represent separate groups of memory pictures, or impressions may I say, which have been registered either consciously or in an automatic fashion, but now appear as if awakened by the stimuli of the original sensations. Heretofore it has been sufficient to decide whether during a given interval, an individual was or was not conscious; and this seemed to fulfill all requirements. But as soon as the subject became a matter of scientific investigation, the intermediate states such as we have attempted to describe came boldly into prominence, and are rapidly being divested of the occult and mystic flavor associated with them by the charlatan and adventurer and form an important chapter in most of our modern works upon the subject of psychology. Had we hours instead of moments at our disposal, we might feel well repaid by an exchange of views upon the subject of hypnotism, somnambulism, hysterical conditions, delirium and other mental perversions brought about by exhaustion, the action of toxines, or changes in the cytoplasm bearing the fruit of heredity --all of these and more-but the time limit will admit

of only a few lines in concluding. Quoting a short paragraph, we come to regard consciousness as an attribute which may, possibly be present in all kinds of varying degrees in connection with the animal and vegetable worlds; as the psychical counterpart of life; as conceiv ably the counterpart of all phenomenal existence."

We may find the counterpart of consciousness even in the simplest forms of life. Those informed tell us that in the protozoa there is an approach to the recognition of the self and non-self; and among the rhizopods are those whose appendages are cast off if they come in contact with the appendages of another of the same species. This looks like intelligence or some approach to consciousness in a very rudimentary state; and if it be true that the germ-cell carries within itself "the whole machinery as well as the whole mystery of heredity," may we not accord to the protoplasm of these unicellular organisms some function remotely related to the perceptive or conscious state? Shall we grasp nature's secret regarding these interesting phenomena by any known system of inductive logic? This is possible. Will we acquire it through accident, like many of our important scientific accretions? This is highly probable.

THE FINSEN LIGHT, X-RAY, AND HIGH FREQUENCY ELECTRICAL CURRENTS, IN CERTAIN DISEASES OF THE SKIN. ANOTHER YEAR'S EXPERIENCE.

BY L. DUNCAN BULKLEY, A.M., M.D.,

NORFOLK.

One year ago the present writer had the pleasure of presenting to this Society, somewhat enthusiastically, his personal knowledge and experience in regard to the matters referred to in the title of this paper, and the incoming President very kindly and wisely asked that the same should be again presented, after a year's further observation and experience. This is gladly done, for it is always well in medicine and surgery to have previous experience confirmed or refuted; and especially in matters of such great importance as those now under consideration, it is wise to review, more calmly, at a longer interval, remedies and measures which are so novel.

In presenting my personal experience of another year in the lines of treatment indicated, I shall take occasion also to refer to the observations of others somewhat, in order to present more definitely what I believe to be the true status of this branch of therapeutics.

First, in regard to the Finsen Light, of which I spoke very fully last year. This has continued to attract much attention, especially in Lupus, and favorable reports have come from many in regard to it; although, few claim as successful results as Dr. Finsen, who has recently given tabulated results of eight hundred cases of lupus treated at the Finsen Institute.

The reason of this latter statement was explained somewhat in my paper last year, as the result of my per

sonal observation in Copenhagen, and Dr. Finsen has recently called attention to the same in print. The truth is that the extraordinary results obtained there are not due solely to the application of light for a longer or shorter period, but to the perfect technique which long experience at the Finsen Institute has shown necessary to secure the desired end. Some of the points involved were mentioned last year, and may be briefly alluded to again. The closest personal attention and inspection is given to every patient each day, by the physician in attendance, and also by the nurses in making suitable dressings after the light treatment; moreover another special physician treats locally those diseased areas on the mucous membranes which are not accessible to the light. The patients receive the light treatment for an hour, every day, the nurse-attendant sitting by and holding the lens-compressor firmly on the spot all the time. The area treated at each sitting is only about threequarters of a square inch, so that the process of cure is very slow and tedious, as some portions have to be treated again and again, after the effects of the light stimulation have passed off; one patient whom I saw had had seven hundred and twenty-one sittings, for a, very extensive lupus.

Many attempts have been made by others to use different and stronger lamps, and to make the sittings much shorter, but, as far as I can learn, the results do not equal those obtained in the Finsen Institute. On account of the difficulties attending the treatment, especi ally in the matter of having an attendant devote an entire hour daily to holding the compressor, I have to report that I have not yet made use of the complete outfit in my office, brought from Copenhagen, as mentioned last year, but shall expect to do so when other methods fail. Thus far the results from the use of X-rays have been so favorable, as will be mentioned later, that it has not seemed advisable to take the great amount of time re