Hallucinations of all the senses combined appear rare. Hallucinations of hearing and of sight have often been confounded with the illusions of touch, of taste, and of smell. Analogy and reasoning, however, prove that they may exist; and observation leaves no doubt on the matter.

It is also probable that, on closely questioning patients, hallucinations of all the senses may be proved to be more frequent than they are believed to be.

From many curious facts of this nature, we select the following: -

Case XXXIX

Mademoiselle - , forty years of age, very nervous, and consequently very impressible, has always been extremely flighty. In her youth she could never apply herself to any serious study, so that the doctors recommended her parents to direct her attention to gymnastic exercises. This lady has not had any children. She is comfortably situated in life, her parents in good health, and of sound mind; but she has a brother whose situation greatly resembles her own. Her appearance indicates health; her hair is of a chestnut color; she has a good complexion, and is moderately stout.

About ten years ago, she felt the first symptoms of the malady which now afflicts her. She saw the most fantastic personages. Her. visual aberrations did not prevent her from attending to her occupations. Irregular menstruation, the other functions healthy. In six months, the hallucinations, which until then had been endurable, occurring, as they did, at prolonged intervals, increased. Sight was no longer the only sense that was injured; all the other senses were, by turns, impaired. The most palpable derangement was in the sense of hearing. She heard voices every instant proceeding from her stomach. These voices greatly tormented her; they directed all her actions, and gave notice of what passed within her. They gave her information of her com-7 plaints; and she could then prescribe the medicines that she appeared to require.

The voices gave her very clear information concerning the character and wishes of different persons, of whom she could reveal very curious particulars. She would then express herself in much choicer language than was her wont; but, for power, facility, and richness of expression, she was indebted to the voices within her, for, when uninfluenced by them, she spoke with much more simplicity. The voices frequently conversed on subjects of an elevated character; on geography, grammar, and rhetoric; and they corrected her when she expressed herself badly, pointing out the faults she had committed.

The voices told her strange things. One day they made her believe that she was possessed, which was the more surprising because she was not brought up with superstitious notions. She thereupon sought a priest to exorcise her. Since that time, her ideas on eternity and future woes have been distressing, and throw her into the deepest despair. The voices once revealed to her that she would become a queen, and play a great part on the theatre of the world. For several months she kept this revelation to herself, expecting its realization; but, as this did not occur, she perceived that the voices had been deceiving her.

Most generally they hold the most singular, whimsical, and abominable conversations; she cannot resist them, except when they alter their tone to tell her comical things that make her laugh. She hears them joke and laugh; they then assail her more violently than ever, like harpies, spoiling all they touch. If she wishes to drink a glass of sugared-water, they tell her the water is poisoned, and, for several hours, she is in great terror. They are constantly urging her to drown herself, but she feels an inward resistance to their promptings, and has a great dread of yielding to the temptation.

If she is walking, the voices cry out to her, when a well-dressed woman is passing, that she smells of musk, of which she has a horror; or, if a gentleman passes her, she smells tobacco, although she is aware that the smells are only imaginary.

She frequently has strange visions; her room is filled with people; figures of all kinds, and numerous processions, pass before her; or she sees individuals who only have half a face, a profile, or an eye; others, who are big, little, deformed, and assume the most grotesque shapes. At other times she sees her eye, which has been taken out, rolling on before her.

The food she eats is infected; everything has lost its natural flavor; or she seems to swallow vinegar, and Gruyere cheese, which she detests. If she touches a dish, the voices frequently give it one of those flavors, to prevent her partaking of it.

When walking, she feels herself drenched with water; the cold liquid pierces her through; she then wipes her wet clothes with her hands.

This lady says she knows that these voices proceed from a nervous affection; but they are too powerful for her judgment; they overpower and rule it. So great is their power, that they oblige her to go wherever they wish; they told her, some months since, to go to Paris, and consult some celebrated physicians. She long resisted this prompting, because she believed such a course to be useless; finally, she came to Professor Fouquier, who recommended blistering, and means which could only have an injurious effect. She required warm and cold baths, and plenty of good Bordeaux wine. Yesterday, the voices told her to go to Bercy for some wine. Having traversed Paris to reach the place, the voices told her that the wine was good for nothing.

The voices desired her to take a bath, promising to be quiet; but, no sooner had she entered it, than they set up such a deafening uproar that she was obliged instantly to leave it.

They will no longer let her speak; they confuse her ideas; she finds it difficult to express herself. In fact, she stammers, repeats her words, and hesitates; but she knows her condition; and, in order to counteract the influence of the voices, she fixes her eyes on those to whom she would speak, in order that they may read there what she cannot clearly express.

She is often aware that the voices make her act unreasonably; she tries to oppose their wishes, but they persist, and force her obedience; their power is irresistible.

This lady, who was introduced to us by M. Fouquier, wished to enter our asylum, in order that the physicians should study her case, and open her body after death.

However, "she knows that her body, as well as her brain, is full of air; and, for fifteen years, her spinal marrow has been dried up and destroyed." After this information, she adds: "I know that my case is one of real monomania; but the voices are stronger than my will. I know that everything will terminate badly; but I wish to be under treatment; it is impossible for me to remain quiet."

What curious reflections are suggested by this remarkable case! Here the senses are first all disordered, then the mind; there is a struggle between the intellect and the revolted senses, a momentary consciousness that all is illusion; then comes the triumph of these same senses over reason - overpowering the will, that vainly combats the impelling force. Is there, in fact, a sight more deserving philosophical study than the case presented by this woman, who, knowing that her senses mislead her, and that she is the sport of fancies, yet cannot escape their influence?

Constantly deceived, and certain that she always will be deceived, still, she is not less obedient to the voices that direct her; and goes wheresoever they command.

This novel manifestation of the principle of duality, by virtue of which this afflicted person, borne down by railleries, jokes, menaces, and horrible proposals, and ready to yield to despair, suddenly finds herself consoled by kind and encouraging words, is a psychological fact, which deserves the attention of the faculty. It would seem as though a good and a bad spirit were each drawing her to itself. During ten years that she has been in this pathological condition, she has not ceased to attend to her affairs; she directs the management of her property, attends to all the duties of social life; and, although, for the space of six years, her false impressions have not left her a moment of peace, her habits are unchanged, though she appears to know intuitively that her reason is about to fail, and seeks consolation in the advice which she cannot follow.

This lady's case is no less interesting as regards legal medicine and civil law. The hallucination that torments her, and the falsity of which she almost always acknowledges, but to which she is obliged to yield, because its power is stronger than her ' will, leads her to actions which have no definite aim. The voices tempt her to commit suicide, and inspire her with many other ideas, to which, being driven beyond resistance, she is forced to yield. This is quite a new fact in the psychological history of man; it gives the key to a number of actions and oddities, which, from the known character and manners of the parties, are otherwise inexplicable. The greater our range of observation has extended, the more have we become convinced that the world contains many madmen, who, from some reason or another, have never sought medical relief, and whose derangement of mind has never been noticed by those about them. Well, these individuals quarrel, provoke duels, insult, strike, assassinate, or commit suicide, because they have obeyed voices, commands, and impulses, which they cannot resist.

Among the numerous cases that I have collected, the following appears, for several reasons, to be interesting: -