Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-11


| A Physician Says That Her Ailment Wa
Purely Hysteria.
DR.. Mary B. futile Of Burlington, Iowa, sec.
Rotary of the Des Moines County Medical Assoc
citation, recently went to Amboy, H., to inves-
tigate the wonderful sleep or trance Of Grace
Gridley, Of which an account has appeared in
THE STAR. The following is brief account Of
her report, which will be read before the COM
ing meeting Of the medical association.
ARRIVING at Amboy went directly to DR..
Travers, family physician to the Gridleys. He
willingly gave me an outline Of the case and
free permission to 60 to the house and study il
at my leisure. was kindly received by the
Gridleys. The family consists of father mother
and three children-s son about twenty -four
and two daughters one Miss Grace, aged
twenty-two, and younger one; also the fair
sleeper's aunt, Mrs. Garrison. who has had
charge Of the girl during her strange sleep.
found that while many of the newspaper stories
were somewhat exaggerated as to the condition
OF the sleeping girl yet that. on the whole, the
reports were fairly correct In January, 1890,
Mtes Grace had q violent attack of grip, making
q slow recovery. The latter part Of March she
began sleeping later than usual and on April
she could not be aroused. Physicians were called,
but nothing could be done for forty-eght hours.
During this time she appeared perfectly nat
ural except that the color gradually faded from
the checks, the lips we're slightly parted and
covered with a white film and the muscles
were perfectly relaxed. The pulse and temper
ature were Normal. On tho third day DIR.
Travers applied strong gslvanic current,
completely arousing her. She sat up, expressed
no surprise, but talked nationally and without
the least emotion. Describing her sensations
during the three days she said that both her
mental and physical suffering were indescrib-
able. The physical was principally from lying
In the same position. She said she was per-
tectly conscious and knew all that was being
done for her; could both see and hear, but was
utterly powerless to move muscle.
TIE DEEP SLEEP BEGAN.
''The following day again the deep sleep be-
gan to steal over her and again was the bat
terry applied. 1t aroused her for a moment
and she shrieked out as if in intense agony,
piteously entreating to be let alone. The cur
rent was, however, turned on stronger and
stronger and she rose up in bed. DR.. Travers
picked her up. but she slipped back on the bed
and In spite OF the application OF a powerful
uninterrupted galvanic current she sank into
the deep sleep she has maintained during an
interval OF almost ten months. The muscles
were relaxed. the pulse and temperature nor
NAL, chest and abdomen movingm respiration,
buf the breathing was inaudible. Nourish-
ment was given in liquid forms by means of a
spoon. She made no effort at swallowing.
During the long summer months she wasted
away rapidly and at times could retain no food
and death by starvation was feared. When
cold weather set in she rallied.
HER BODY SHOOK WITH LAUGHTER.
about the middle of August she was taken
with fit Of convulsive laughter. The entire
body would shake and the face had an amused
expression, but there was no sound. She would
put her hand to her face as if to cover her
mouth. She would remain quiet for few
miuutes, and again the body would shake and
the face would have an intensely amused ex-
preston. This continued until she became
perfectly exhausted.
AT times she would have spells of sneezing,
OF picking the face or scratching the head. She
did not begin to show signs of awakening until
January 81, when she suddenly got up and
dressed and went to the table. but although
apparently ravenously hungry, she could not
control the muscles of her mouth to eat. She
was given liquid nourishment for two days,
after which she took solid food. She was
peculiarly affected, not being able to talk in
teiligently, but spent most Of the time scrib-
bilng meaningless sayings on scraps of paper.
PURELY CASE OF HYsIERlA
'Getting rid of all the mystery and divest-
ing the case of everything supernatural, the
diagnosis is very simple. 1t is purely case
of hysteria, and the cause is easily traced
Miss Grace inherits from both father and
mother highly sensitive, nervous system.
The brother. once bright intellect. over
cxerted himself at college, and is now a mental
wreck. Miss Grace was graduated from high
school with honors, but with an overtaxed
nervous SYSTEM and has suffered most of the
time since from neurasthenia. Then came the
grip and the sad downfall of her brother. to
whom she was greatly devoted, all of which
brought on the hysteria, causing her trance
like sleep. Simply expressed, hysteria is an
error Of nutrition. The nerve capital Of per-
sons differs almost as widely as does the
moneyed capital, and whenever the expendi-
ture OF nerve force is greater than the daily
income physical bankruptcy sooner or later
results"