A Result and a Prologue
Chapter 1
FromaprivatehospitalfortheinsanenearProvidence,RhodeIsland,thererecentlydisappearedanexceedinglysingularperson.HeborethenameofCharlesDexterWard,andwasplacedunderrestraintmostreluctantlybythegrievingfatherwhohadwatchedhisaberrationgrowfromamereeccentricitytoadarkmaniainvolvingbothapossibilityofmurderoustendenciesandaprofoundandpeculiarchangeintheapparentcontentsofhismind.Doctorsconfessthemselvesquitebaffledbyhiscase,sinceitpresentedodditiesofageneralphysiologicalaswellaspsychologicalcharacter.
Inthefirstplace,thepatientseemedoddlyolderthanhistwenty-sixyearswouldwarrant.Mentaldisturbance,itistrue,willageonerapidly;butthefaceofthisyoungmanhadtakenonasubtlecastwhichonlytheveryagednormallyacquire.Inthesecondplace,hisorganicprocessesshowedacertainqueernessofproportionwhichnothinginmedicalexperiencecanparallel.Respirationandheartactionhadabafflinglackofsymmetry;thevoicewaslost,sothatnosoundsaboveawhisperwerepossible;digestionwasincrediblyprolongedandminimized,andneuralreactionstostandardstimuliborenorelationatalltoanythingheretoforerecorded,eithernormalorpathological.Theskinhadamorbidchillanddryness,andthecellularstructureofthetissueseemedexaggeratedlycoarseandlooselyknit.Evenalargeolivebirthmarkontherighthiphaddisappeared,whilsttherehadformedonthechestaverypeculiarmoleorblackishspotofwhichnotraceexistedbefore.
