That she has long been in a state of hysteria is the
opinion of nearly all the many medical men who have seen her.'
"Although the attempt to cure so aggravated a case as this was certainly
a sufficiently severe test of the treatment, I determined to make the
trial, and had the patient removed from her own home and isolated in
lodgings. I found her in bed, supported everywhere by many small
pillows, and wasted more than, I think, I had ever seen any human being.
She really hardly had any covering to her bones, and looked somewhat
like the picture of the living skeleton we are familiar with. It may
give some idea of her emaciation if I state that, though naturally not a
small woman, her height being five feet five and a half inches, she
weighed only 4 st. 7 lbs., and I could easily make my thumb and
forefinger meet round the thickest part of the calf of her leg. The
curvature of the spine said to exist was a deceptive appearance,
produced by her excessive leanness, and the consequent unnatural
prominence of the spinous processes of the vertebrae.
Pages:
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159