Woman's World

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 290, 11 May 1914, Page 6

Woman's World

QUEER WOMEN". PUZZLE THE DOCTORS. COMPLAINTS AND FANCIES. , London, March '27. ''Wiimuing is kittle-cattle critters, was the profound observation of a char-acter-male of course—in a novel the writer read once upon a time. Tlie remark is called to mind by certain tilings concerning [lie, fair sex which have seen light in print during the last few days. The Times the other day contained' a queer recital by a medical man about a lady patient's ability to detect the presence .of spiders in a room before, she had seen them, or any visible sign of their existence in the place. This "de-■tci-tion by instinct" as we may call it, was not a pleasant process for the lady. Discovery was accompanied by violent sickness, malaise, and oven debility, bat all these symptoms passed away When the spider was caught and removed from the room.

The doctor first heard of the lady's queer instinct and its penalties from her husband, and though he heard and read of somewhat similar cases, had his doubts. These, however, were soon set at rest. The lady and her husband were staying at the same house as the doctor, who tells the following story of what occurred:—

"In tins middle of the night the husband came to my room and asked me. to attend his wife, who had become verv unwell. He added: 'She declared there, is a spider in the room, but I cannot find one this time.' I followed him and found his wife in a state which suggested sudden collapse. She. was very pale, with feeble pulse, and rapid breathing. She declared that «h« felt dreadfully sick, and that she was absolutely certain that there was a spider somewhere in the room.

"To humor her, but without in the least believing her story, her husband and searched every nook and cranny of the room. We found nothing, and were about to give up, when the patient suddenly announced that she had a feeling that the spider was on the mantelpiece. We looked there and had sitisfied ourselves that she was quite mistaken when it occurred to me to lift a flounce surrounding the woodwork. ,As 1 did so a large spider ran along the cloth towards a hole in the wood and disappeared. The husband and I looked at one aiuilher, and I signed to him to bo silent. But just then a sigh of relief came from the bed, accompanied by the remark: 'At last you have found it,' proved the futility of our precaution. The 'sixth sense' had not failed. "Within about half i:n hour the patient was quite well again, and, on being assured that the hole in the woodwork was stuppid up, [ill asleep peacefully." Other strange stories of women's

"kittle-cattleries" have been told bv JJr i Ormcrod in his lecture on hysteria, a disease, which, though often treated with derision by the layman, is undoubtedly i one of the scourges of modern life. ! The forms which the condition may ; assume are innumerable. Some years ago a young girl who had been, apparently in robust health, met with a serious disappointment. She developed j paralysis of the lower limbs, and became I a hopeless invalid. Specialists of all sorts were called in, but could do nothing to alleviate her trouble, and hope of cure was finally abandoned. Then one day her nurse, happening to come into the sick room, unexpectedly, saw her walking across the floor from the bed to the window. The result of the discovery was, of course, that all sympathy was alienated from the patient who gradually recovered.

Still more remarkable was a ease of | "phantom tumor," which actually de- I ccivpil two surgeons of repute. The pa- j tient, a woman of about forty-five, be- | Moved that she suffered from a large | tumor, and succeeded in convincing a ' general practitioner of the reality of her i symptoms, and was sent to hospital to see a surgeon. He advi-ed operation. ; When the anaesthetic was given, however, the tumor gradually subsided. An | opening was made in order to clear ui> [ the case definitely, but a careful exam- j I ination failed to reveal any abnormal i condition. It may sound incredible, but it is a fact, that some years later the ] same patient was again operated upon for the same, complaint with like results. I Remarkable as these instances of liysI terla are, the following case is probablv I more extraordinary still. The natient was a young and strikingly gooil-lookmg I girl. When about eighteen years of age, .she developed a curious and disfiguiing rash on her face and neqk. and was taken to see a doctor. The case was pronounced to be an inflammation of the skin, of a somewhat rare type. Treatment, however, failed to effect the slightest improvement. The. patient was placed under a skin specialist, but without avail, and at last the eirso was regarded as incurable. The practitioner who had at first attended the girl, however, lud in the interval come to the conclusion that the case might be one of hvs'eria an;', injuries self-inflicted. He applied to the girl's father for leave to take her into a private nursing home and treat her. at the same time explainimr 'his views on the case. Consent was given. The girl was nut to bed. and nurses installed to watch her night and day. At first it seemed as if the experiment was destined to success. The rash healed up and began to fade. But just as the doctor was congratulating himself on his success there occurred a fresh outbreak as bad as any that had

i preceded it. The ]i:>rents wove convinced that the theory of hysteria v.''" j unfounded, and desired to remove I heir daughter. hut were persuaded to Jirant the doetor an extension of time. Tindoctor then doubled the staff of nurses I so that the girl should not he left alone for a simile moment, and urjred the ;j most. en refill scrutiny of her actions. The result was that one nipht the nurse in . eharfie noticed a movement of the ]>■<- I ticnt's hand, and looked beneath the nail -f of the suspee'ud finjrer. She found '> small, sharp piece of steel concealed *" there!