Inability in Delirium to Name the Physician's Vocation on Command, with Retention of the Ability to Name it Spontaneously: An Illustration of Hughlings Jackson's Law of “Reduction to a More Automatic Condition”
In talking to delirious patients I have observed a curious and characteristic phenomenon: the patient, in spontaneous conversation, addresses me as “Doctor”, yet when the very next moment I ask him my vocation he cannot answer correctly. I propose to show that this is not merely a capricious phenomenon without meaning, but that it demonstrates the soundness of one of Hughlings Jackson's most important principles. I have observed the phenomenon in no less than nine cases of delirium, and more than once in several. Three cases will serve as examples.