Hysteria : remote causes of disease in general. Treatment of disease by tonic agency. Local or sugical forms of hysteria, etc. / Six lectures, delivered to the students of St. Bartholomew's hospital, 1866, by F. C. Skey.

  • Skey, Frederic C. (Frederic Carpenter), 1798-1872.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hysteria : remote causes of disease in general. Treatment of disease by tonic agency. Local or sugical forms of hysteria, etc. / Six lectures, delivered to the students of St. Bartholomew's hospital, 1866, by F. C. Skey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    recovery than any instrument in surgery bearing that name. A young lady of eighteen, and of slight form, was brought to me from the country with gastrodynia. For upward of a year she had suffered intolerable pain in the stomach on taking food of any description. She was much emaciated, and her pulse extremely feeble. Neither trouble nor ex- pense had been spared in her treatment. Her family had consulted medical men of eminence in more than one me- tropolis, but the severity of the pain continued in spite of treatment. On entering the drawing-room, I heard the sound of suffering from an adjoining room, and I was told that my future patient was paying the penalty of a slight meal of arrow-root, of which she had swallowed a few ta- ble-spoonfuls only. Having intruded myself into the room somewhat unexpectedly by its occupants, I saw this young lady in a condition of great sufFering, in the upright posi- tion, leaning her head on her mother's shoulder, and sob- bing painfully. In the course of a quarter of an hour I had obtained some insight into her case, but I could not fail to observe that the mother habitually interposed replies to questions addressed to the daughter, and I explained to her the necessity of my obtaining the answers to my inquiries direct from her daughter. At my request she left the room. Up to that time I had but an imperfect knowledge of the case, but I then led the conversation to subjects which car- ried the girl away from her malady and all its associations. I spoke of her home and the scenery around it, of which I described the general characters, and enlarged on the beauty of the neighborhood, the lovely rides and excursions, etc.,