Case 39. (Pruvost, 1915.)
A soldier, 20, eight days after being called to the colors, complained of pain in the knee and hip. He was observed for 18 days in hospital and then sent back to his company; but he continued to complain of the pains, and the regimental surgeon sent him to a neurological center where the joints were found to be normal and where no sensory, motor or reflex disorders were in evidence. The man continued to walk lame and insisted he could not get about without a cane. He also complained of his mouth and his belly and, though he was very ruddy, said he was á bout de forces.
It was a question of simulation. The man, however, was a feebleminded person who could not read, write or calculate. He was invalided as such.
Enlistment to improve character.
Case 40. (Briand, February, 1915.)
A village boy had passed for simple ever since typhoid fever at 8. He had learned to read and write, but had always been impulsive and subject to fugues, running to see his grandmother, or off as a truant. It was decided that he, at 19, should enlist to improve his character. But one fine day, even before the war, he deserted. He said, in explanation, that he had lost his way, and he was being examined mentally when mobilization began.
He looked ape-like, with spread ears; had a low forehead, a head flattened behind, an asymmetrical face, prognathous jaws, an arched palate, and defective teeth. He talked freely of homosexual relations, and said he wandered off because it occurred to him to do so. He was determined to be unfit for service.
An imbecile who may be sent to the front.