MAN WITH HALF A BRAIN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1008, 17 February 1912, Page 4

MAN WITH HALF A BRAIN.

A Swedish soldier was shot a few months ago in the head, and half his brain was blown out, in consequence of which he lost part of his mental powers. This event has come to the ears of American journalists, who are giving the most extraordinary accounts of it. For instance, they say that he can see a flea but not a horse, that he can hear a whisper but not a cannon shot, that he can understand English but not Swedish, that he knows the first halt ot his name but not the second, that he hates the smell of violets but loves the fragrance of onion, Iho facts regarding this young man are in themselves so interesting that they need no exaggeration. After the shot he lay unconscious for a fortnight, and when be regained cousciousnee he had completely lost his memory, and could not even remember his own name. Gradually bis memory has returned, and he recollected what happened in his childhood. And now he remembers everything up to the third day before the she t His general health is good, and his temper also. His seusoriai nerves are destroyed, and his sense of sight is distinctly' damaged. He has, for instance, lost the power of seeing anything at the side of him ; he is obliged to look straight at an object. He has also partly lost the capacity ot reading and writing, and lost the power of combining letters, and this he will never regain, for which reason he will never be able to take up -work in which writing and reading are necessary. The State will certainly try to lesson the consequences of this accident, which happened during his term of service.