"
"Early in August I was asked to see a lady, aged thirty-seven, with the
following history:--'As a girl of sixteen she had a severe neuralgic
illness, extending over months: excepting that, she seems to have
enjoyed good health until her marriage. Soon after this she had a
miscarriage, and then two subsequent pregnancies, accompanied by
albuminuria and the birth of dead children.' 'During gestation I was not
surprised at all sorts of nervous affections, attributing them to
uraemia.' The next pregnancy terminated in the birth of a living
daughter, now nearly three years old; during it she had 'curious nervous
symptoms,--_e.g._, her bed flying away with her, temporary blindness,
and vaso-motor disturbances.' Subsequently she had several severe shocks
from the death of near relatives, and gradually fell into the condition
in which she was when I was consulted. This is difficult to describe,
but it was one of confirmed illness of a marked neurotic type. Among
other phenomena she had frequently-recurring attacks of fainting. 'These
were not attacks of syncope, but of such general derangement of the
balance of the circulation that cerebration was interfered with.
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