Final chapter, From India to the Planet Mars: A Study of a Case of Somnambulism with Glossolalia, by Théodore Flournoy (1900).

Among the many attempts to explain mediumship psychologically at the turn of the century were the efforts of Swiss psychologist Théodore Flournoy (1854-1920). In his well-known book Des Indes à la Planète Mars (1900), translated as From India to the Planet Mars (1900), Flournoy analysed the mediumistic productions of medium Hélène Smith (1861-1929), consisting of accounts of previous lives in France and in India, and material about planet Mars. Flournoy explained the phenomena as a function of cryptomnesia, suggestive influences, and subconscious creativity, analyses that influenced both psychology and psychical research. The purpose of this Classic Text is to reprint the conclusion of Flournoy's study, whose ideas were developed in the context of psychological attention to mediumship and secondary personalities.

1910s' brains revisited. Cortical complexity in early 20th century patients with intellectual disability or with dementia praecox.

OBJECTIVE: The idea of cortical surface anomalies in subjects with intellectual disability (mental retardation) and schizophrenia can be traced back to early 20th century qualitative observations. Since it is unknown whether modern quantitative measures of cortical complexity and folding would retrieve those early empirical observations, we measured fractal dimension and sulcal span index in photographs of human brains taken in the 1910's. METHOD: Brain photographs were compared between 36 patients with mental retardation and 21 patients with dementia praecox for the fractal dimension and sulcal span index. Also, a mental retardation subgroup with no-or-non-understandable speech (n = 12) was compared with a subgroup with comprehensible speech (n = 23). RESULTS: Mental retardation group had a lower whole-brain fractal dimension than dementia praecox, and a higher sulcal span index in left posterior cortex. The mental retardation subgroup with comprehensible speech had a lower fractal dimension in left hemisphere than the subgroup with no-or-non-understandable speech and a lower sulcal index in left posterior cortex. CONCLUSION: Measures of cortical complexity and folding suggest differences between mental retardation and dementia praecox, and regional variations according to language abilities in mental retardation. The findings provide a unique picture of cortical surface changes in their original untreated form, one century ago.

Ginevra de Benci's portrait: had the lady a myopathic face?

The portrait of Ginevra de Benci was painted by Leonardo da Vinci around 1474. This painting is less famous and less known than Mona Lisa but it is extremely captivating and interesting due to its own characteristics. The overall picture gives to the viewer the impression of being in front of an enigmatic, hermetic and introspective woman. However, some details of her facial expression, especially the gaze direction, the upper eyelids' heaviness, the flat mouth and the absence of any defined emotion, give her the appearance of a patient with a muscular disease.

Transcribing speech: practicalities, philosophies and prophesies.

This article outlines the main practical and philosophical developments which have contributed to current approaches to phonetic transcription. Particular contributions from scholars in the field are highlighted as seminal in shaping transcription work. Consideration is also given to the ways in which insights from clinical transcription impact upon the analysis of non-clinical data. Finally, the trends which look set to emerge in future transcription practice and research are speculated upon.

Louis Victor Leborgne ("Tan").

Louis Victor Leborgne was a patient of Paul Broca. "Monsieur Leborgne," as Broca would call him, was also known around in the hospital by the nickname "Tan." His neurologic condition left him with difficulty in speaking, and he could only speak the word "Tan." Leborgne spent nearly half of his entire life in the hospital. He was initially admitted into the psychiatry division of the hospital and was later transferred under the care of Broca toward the end of his life. The story of the Leborgne sits in the crossroads of human thoughts that led to the discovery of cerebral localization. It is the objective of this study to describe the circumstances associated with this patient, which led the great thinkers of that time to discover the language localization in the cerebral cortex. Leborgne's condition was the cornerstone in the evolution of this discovery. More than 150 years have passed since the death of Leborgne, yet Leborgne's brain continues to attract researchers investigating the mysteries of human speech.

'Study of several involuntary functions of the apparatus of movement, gripping, and voice' by Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard (1825).

Itard's 1825 paper, written while he was Chief Physician at the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes in Paris, demonstrates his empiricist approach to medicine. That is, Itard founded his medical practice on sense and experience rather than on surgery and medication. If all knowledge came through the senses, Itard reasoned, those lacking knowledge or social abilities could be improved by appropriate sensory stimulation. This concern with senses and society, along with his different approaches to men and women, his references to contemporary cures and his comparisons between humans and animals, document early nineteenth-century medical and psychological attitudes and treatments. Itard's paper also contains what was later recognized as the first clinical observation of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome (TS).

David Livingstone's uvulectomy.

In April 1852 in Cape Town, South Africa, Dr David Livingstone, then 39 years of age and yet to commence the explorations of Africa which would bring him to public attention, underwent the surgical procedure of uvulectomy. This article reviews the history of Livingstone's uvulectomy and its indications and outcome, as documented by his own writings. The practice of uvulectomy in indigenous African societies and some contemporary ideas about uvulectomy are also considered in order to try to ascertain why Livingstone elected to undergo this procedure.

A reappraisal of localization theory with reference to aphasia. Part 1: Historical considerations.

Aphasiology is deeply rooted in observations of human behavior, in classification systems for speech and language disturbances, and in language paradigms from outside neurology. A systematic examination of the behaviors that were historically incorporated into aphasia classifications, the changes over time in what behaviors were considered important enough to classify, and the context in which these observations took place can serve as the entry point for a critique of current aphasia studies. Part 1 of this three-part series therefore examines the historical roots of contemporary aphasiology with these issues in mind.

Communication disorder in renaissance Italy: an unreported case analysis by Hieronymus Mercurialis (1530-1606).

This paper presents and explains an early clinical discussion of the case of a young nobleman who had developed a severe speech impediment associated with anxiety. The discussion was written by the famous Italian physician Hieronymus Mercurialis, in consultation with the renowned surgeon Gaspar Tagliacozzi, probably in the late 1580s. The case had first come to the attention of Dr. Pio Enea Caprili, who wrote to Mercurialis for an opinion. It has not heretofore been cited in the modern literature on communication disorders. The document is placed in its intellectual context and modern analogues are cited. Mercurialis' discussion belongs to a highly developed tradition of language study in medicine and natural philosophy that goes back to ancient Greece and deserves to be better known. A brief survey of late 16th century literature on voice and speech is provided in an appendix.

Speech pathology in ancient India--a review of Sanskrit literature.

This paper aims at highlighting the knowledge of the Sanskrit scholars of ancient times in the field of speech and language pathology. The information collected here is mainly from the Sanskrit texts written between 2000 B.C. and 1633 A.D. Some aspects of speech and language that have been dealt with in this review have been elaborately described in the original Sanskrit texts. The present paper, however, being limited in its scope, reviews only the essential facts, but not the details. The purpose is only to give a glimpse of the knowledge that the Sanskrit scholars of those times possessed. In brief, this paper is a review of Sanskrit literature for information on the origin and development of speech and language, speech production, normality of speech and language, and disorders of speech and language and their treatment.

Medieval arabic views on speech disorders: al-Razi (c. 865--925).

This paper discusses al-Razi's views on speech defects of lingual origin. It begins with a background sketch of the man, his times, and his major work, with its various translations. There follows translated extracts and analysis from his section on the causes and treatment of speech defects, seen in the light of the humoral theory of disease. Information is derived from the recently published Arabic version of Rzi's al-Hawi, which reveals that diagnosis was more advanced than is indicated in the Latin translations, which have been the principal source of reference in the West to date.

Notes on voice and speech disorders in ancient and Byzantine Greece.

Voice and speech were considered important by the Ancient and Byzantine Greeks and their disorders were examined and treated on a reasoned basis, without prejudice, by such famous doctors and practitioners of these periods as Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, Orebassius and Paul the Aeginitian. In this article, we present the voice and speech disorders which were described and analysed in the texts of Ancient and Byzantine Greek doctors and historians.

[Wladyslaw Oltuszewski--organizer of the first Polish phoniatrics institute (in it's 100 year anniversary)]. / Wladyslaw Oltuszewski--organizator pierwszej w Polsce lecznicy foniatrycznej (w 100 rocznice zalozenia).

On the occasion of 100's anniversary of first phoniatrics' department foundation in Poland--"The Warsaw Institute of Speech Deviation", the activity of dr med. Wladyslaw Oltuszewski its organizer and the pioneer of Polish phoniatrics is described. The main topics of his activities are referred in his book "About speech and its disorders" (1906). Dr Oltuszewski's achievements in the popularization of the knowledge about speech disorders were strongly pointed out. His lectures were given not only for medical societies but also for the pedagogic ones.

[Organizational and scientific activities of Prof. Benedykt Dylewski in the field of phoniatry]. / Dzialalnosc organizacyjna i naukowa prof. dr hab. Benedykta Dylewskeigo w zakresie foniatrii.

Prof. dr hab. Benedykt Dylewski was one of the first phoniatrician in Poland. He was working on the fields of diagnosis and therapy of voice and language difficulties in children and school youngsters. The scientific and organizational successes of Dylewski in phoniatrics at the beginning of our century were described.

[Is Wladyslaw Oltuszewski a creator of modern phoniatrics in Poland?]. / Czy Wladyslaw Oltuszewski byl twórca nowoczesnej foniatrii w Polsce?.

In 1880 Wladyslaw Oltuszewski founded the faulty articulation infirmary, which was functioning until 1892. He was also working (1884-1892) at the department of Dr Heryng, one of the pioneers of Polish laryngology. He was involved in a welfare work in Warsaw Charity Society. He supported his interest in physiopathology of speech with studies in foreign centres in Germany and France. In 1892 he founded the "Warsaw Therapeutic Institution for persons stricken with speech deviations". It was the first phoniatric infirmary. He was delivering lectures, talks and he published tens papers in field of speech physiopathology. He was indicating the connection of dysphasia with psychiatric disorders. The author has presented in his article the main assumptions of the most valuable book by Oltuszewski: Study of the science on speech and its deviations, and speech hygiene, published in 1905, pointing out that compared with the books by foreign authors the contents of this one was much ampler and more modern. He has also presented the comprehensive picture of Oltuszewski's scientific output and wide non-scientific interests.

The 'idioglossia' cases of the 1890s and the clinical investigation and treatment of developmental language impairment.

The early history of developmental language impairment in late 19th century Britain is considered through the critical examination of three papers appearing in 1891 by Hadden, Golding-Bird and Hale White, and Taylor. They represent innovative investigations of child language disorders whose themes and concerns are resonant today. The term 'idioglossia' was coined to identify this new impairment and reflected the belief by some that these children spoke an invented language. Rather than viewing these children as having some constitutional deficiency, these 19th century physicians were novel in insisting that children with language impairments merited extensive clinical investigation and treatment. Their case descriptions and the subsequent debates regarding classification and prognosis are reviewed. Further consideration is given to how these cases led to questioning the relation between language and speech and other aspects of child development and disorder. Reflection on the early sources of clinical categories provides a new perspective on our current formulations for variation in developmental language trajectories.