When making this request he added that he thought the case was one of hysteria, though there were certain counter-indications which had caused him to examine her very thoroughly indeed in order to rule out the possibility of some organic affection. The young woman was married, but living apart from her husband, in the home of an aunt. Our patient had had a promising musical career interrupted by her illness.My first interview of this young woman of twenty-nine years of age did not help me to make much progress in understanding her case, nor could I glimpse any sign of the inner vitality I was assured she possessed. Her face, in which the eyes were the best feature, showed the marks of severe physical suffering; yet there were moments when it registered nothing, and at these times I was reminded of the faces of victims of battle traumas, whom it had been my melancholy duty to examine. When she talked, it was often difficult for me to hear, on account of her hoarse and rapid breathing. As a consequence of her pains, she walked with an awkward gait, bending forward from the waist.
