Up to this time the pelvic abscess had continued to discharge
through the vagina, and occasionally through the bladder, but it now
ceased to do so, and there were no further symptoms referable to the
uterine organs. Her general condition, however, remained unaltered, in
spite of the most judicious medical treatment. She was seen, from time
to time, by several of our most eminent consultants, all of whom
recognized the probable hysterical character of her illness, but none of
the remedies employed had any beneficial effect. There was almost total
anorexia, the amount of food consumed was absurdly small, and the
necessary consequence of this inability to take food, combined with four
years in bed with paralysis of the greater part of the body, and the
habitual use of chloral to induce sleep, had reduced a naturally fine
woman to a mere shadow. In October, 1880, her medical attendant was good
enough to bring her to London for the purpose of giving a fair trial to
the Weir Mitchell method of treatment, with the ready co-operation of
herself and her friends, and she was conveyed on a couch slung from the
roof of a saloon carriage, so as to avoid any jolt or jar, since the
slightest movement caused much suffering.
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