5. Cases have been recorded of bilateral lesion of the auditory centre of
the brain producing loss of hearing and loss of speech, the motor centres
being unaffected. This is called Wernicke's sensory aphasia. The following
case occurring in my own practice is probably the most complete instance
recorded.




CASE OF DEAFNESS ARISING FROM DESTRUCTION OF THE AUDITORY CENTRES IN THE
BRAIN CAUSING LOSS OF SPEECH


A woman at the age of twenty suddenly became unconscious and remained so
for three hours; on recovery of consciousness it was found she could not
speak; this condition remained for a fortnight; speech gradually returned,
although it was impaired for a month or more. She married, but soon after
marriage she suddenly lost her hearing completely, remaining permanently
stone deaf; and although she could understand anything of a simple
character when written, and was able imperfectly to copy sentences, she was
unable to speak. Once, however, under great emotional excitement, while I
was examining her by written questions, she uttered, "Is that." But she was
never heard to speak again during the subsequent five years that she lived.
The utterance of those two words, however, showed that the loss of speech
was not due to a defect of the physiological mechanism of the vocal
instrument of speech, nor to the motor centres in the brain that preside
over its movements in the production of articulate speech. She recognised
pictures and expressed satisfaction or dissatisfaction when correct or
incorrect names were written beneath the pictures; moreover, in many ways,
by gestures, facial expression, and curious noises of a high-pitched,