Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-07-16
THEY CANNOT WAKE her UP

THEY CANNOT WAKE her VI
STUDY or 4 CASE THAT is TYPICAL
OF MANY.
Caused BY Singing Pathetic SOM
What 10 the Mystery Of Such Lonl
sIssps7..-Ths'MaIady Is Spreading
A woman lies In one of the wards o
the New York Hospital Mt the presen
time whose condition has excited uni
versal attention for several weeks past
as told In the Herald. She Is Mrs. Mon
roe III. Rosepfeld, the wife OF musica
composer. Previous to her removal Il
the hospital referred to Mrs. Rosenfelt
lay at her home in Jay street, Brooklyn
for seventeen consecutive days In Q
semi-comatose condition without par
taking Of particle of nourishment
During this period she was visited by 9
dozen of the best physicians of Brook
Ign, among these the celebrated neuro
logist, Professor John Shaw, of the
Long Island College Hospital; the vel
known practitioners, Drs. Henry Moss
O'Grady, Stone, Dixon, former Health
Commissioner DIR. John Griffen and
many others, all of whom failed to
arouse the sufferer from her lethargiC
condition or to afford any permanent
relief.
In his natural desire to relieve the
suffering of his wife, Mr.. Rosenfeld ad-
mitted to her bedside a host of sO-called
hypnotists, magnetic curists, Christian
scientists, massage specialists, believ-
ers in the universal efficacy Of oxygen
as a remedial agent, and others whose
sympathy overran their knowledge. Un-
like the somewhat similar case of Nor
ris Front, the so-called boy sleeper, at
the Beth-Israel Hospital, who was iso-
lated from the public by his doctors, no
one was denied admittance to Mrs.
Rosenfeld's bedside while she was at
home.
Notwithstanding the publicity given
to the case, no definite remedy was sug-
gested and no material benefit to the
sufferer was obtained. AS last re-
sort, and by the advice of the medical
fraternity in Brooklyn, generally, Mrs.
Rosenfeld was removed to the New
York Hospital and has remained there
ever since in practically the same con-
dition as she was when she was taken
from her home, with the exception that
during the last few days the consulting
physician of the hospital, DR.. A. b.
Ball, has succeeding in inducing the
patient to partake Of small quantities
of liquid nourishment, barely sufficient
to support life
The physicians generally in attend
ance upon the patient have practically
agreed that she is suffering from what
is known in France as "grande hys-
teria," otherwise known as hysterio.
epilepsy. A great deal of attention has
been given to this disease by the cele-
brated French hypnOtist, Charcot, and
by Bonneville and Regnard and +.
Richer, most of these distinguished
pursuing their investigations
in the Salpetriere, in Paris. OF all dis
eases to which human flesh Is heir hys-
terra seems to be one Of the most COM
pick and the least understood.
The disease is rather one of the mind
than one of the body. If, for example,
q woman falls into the water or gets
burned or tumbles down stairs, and
develops hysteria, the mistake
is often made Of ascribing the disease
to catching cold or to the injury re-
ceived, although it really was the
mental excitement which produced 1t.
An analogous instance of this Is
found in the case of Mrs. ROsenfeld.
The incident which resulted practically
in her collapse was the singing Of a
song. One day her husband had in
serted an advertisement for servant,
and had thereby secured the services
Of a domestic. The girl came and
worked half a day, and was then dis
charged by the hysterical woman for
no apparent cause. Later in the day,
after the insertion Of like advertise
ment in an evening paper, he secured
another servant. Unable to bear the
unrea sonable treatment Of her mistress,
this girl also left.
This annoyed Mr.. Rosenfeld a great
deal, as during the previous week
several servants had been discharged
in a like manner. He then upbraided
his wife forcibly for her erratic con-
duct, which brought the tears to her
eyes, and she exclaimed pathetically:-
you'll be sorry when I'm gone"
Touched by the humor and pathos Of
the situation and alive to the inspira-
ton, Mr.. Rosenfeld went to the piano
and composed song with the title Of
his wife's remark. On the following
day, when the song was completed, in
the presence of a number Of visitors,
Mrs. Rosenfeld attempted to sing the
song to her husbands accompaniment,
but, overcome by the association of
ideas, when she reached the chorus,
which runs as follows:
None to fondle and caress you,
None to brush your tears away,
None to care for you in sadness,
When you're feeble and grown gray,
None to take you to his bosom,
None to call you then his own,
None to care il dead or living,
You'll be sorry when I'm gone.
the singer fell upon the lounge, weep
ing Historically, and lapsed into the
lethargic condition in which she has
remained ever since. The remarkable
of women to hysterical-