On the association of hysteria with malingering, and on the phylogenetic aspect of hysteria as pathological exaggeration (or disorder) of tertiary (nervous) sex characters / by F. Parkes Weber.

  • Weber, Frederick Parkes, 1863-1962.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the association of hysteria with malingering, and on the phylogenetic aspect of hysteria as pathological exaggeration (or disorder) of tertiary (nervous) sex characters / by F. Parkes Weber. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    On the Association of Hysteria with Malingering, and on the Phylogenetic Aspect of Hysteria as Pathological Exaggeration (or Disorder) of Tertiary (Nervous) Sex Characters. By F. Parkes Weber, M.D. Hysteria was at one time, as the derivation of the word from the Greek varepa (uterus) shows, regarded as a disorder connected with the female sexual organs, but the frequent occurrence of similar symptoms in the male (hysteria being sometimes as pronounced in males as in females) has long since proved that the idea of the exclusive connexion of hysteria with the female sexual organs is absurd. Phylogenetic Aspect of Hysteria. Bex characters may be divided into : (1) Primary, those concerned with the sexual organs; (*2) secondary, those concerned with the breasts, the facial hair, the features, the voice, the form of the skeleton, (e.g., the shape of the pelvis and the cubital angle of the outstretched upper extremity), the development of the skeletal muscles and the general conformation ; and (3) tertiary. By tertiary sex characters I mean those dependent on the nervous system, including both characters of instinct and characters of mind (reasoning). Such nervous char- acters, unlike primary sex characters, are not the exclusive property of either sex; they are called male or female characters merely accordingly as they predominate in one or the other sex. From the phylogenetic point of view I believe that hysteria, or rather much of what is now grouped together as hysteria, may be regarded as a pathological exaggeration (or disorder) of certain tertiary (nervous) female sex characters. According to this (phylogenetic) conception the exaggeration (or disorder) of so-called tertiary female sex characters in the male would'