The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-09-30
From the Washington Post.

From the Washington Post. TT Is not only the workers who some
 times break down and have strange attacks of nerves which make them do queer things. Too much pleasure, even in a perfectly decorous way, may bring on attacks that require the attention or the nerve doctors. It seems that women in society who are too devoted 10 us demands are sometimes likely to have the freakiest kind of spells.
 "One of the strangest cases of that kind that came under my observation nerve specialist told a reporter, concerned young married woman in society, who was not only very beautiful, but very much in demand. The summer holiday never meant much rest or recuperation for her. There were generally six weeks in Europe, then Newport and round Of country houss before the season In New York began One year she came back to the citv already tired out, and began the daily grind of pleasure.
 "It was not long before she was the victim of a most remarkable delusion. She felt that 1t was absolutely necessary for her to clean her teeth Immediately after every meal. Try as she might, 1t was perfectly impossible for her to con trol this impulse. After short time she gave in entirely and carried around her toothbrush and powder wherever shs went As soon as the women le1t the table she darted upstairs and made her self comfortable before they appeared again in the drawing room. It must De said that she had very beautiful teeth' or which she had always been verp proud and conscious.
 Her struggles with the toothbrush were merely a form of acute nervousness into which she had been brought by her physical fatigue. A trip to Italy on a slow steamer and a vacation of several months at the German spas made her all right.
 Another patient of mine was very pretty girl, with very enviable position socially, and other things to make her nervous. One of these was her lack or money and the importance of making brilliant match. It was necessary to her from her point of view to be seen at all the big balls to which she was invited and not to drop out of the social round at any point. So she kept up until hcr nerves neded rest. The kind Of a rest she gave them served for only snort time She found that she could not keep her fingers still at any time and began to knit. She knit at the opera while men talked to her and she knit in the intervals of cotillonS
 ''That was not the satisfaction she ex- pected it to be, however, as means or allaying her nervousness. After While she came to me and, of course, needed only rest and simple treatment to restore her nerves to their normal state again. Knitting Is a form of relief that nervous women are very likely to seek. l have a patient now whose home. in which she suends most of the year, is not far from the city For about two months she is in town. Last winter she took 1t into her head that she could not take the frequent trips to town without some occupation. So she began to knit on the train. It was merely a form of nervousness and she will get over 1t after awhile.
 Another case of women's society nevres which other persons were disposed to call affectation came under my obser- vation. I happened to know that it was not affectation. and that the woman real ly was i'll. Otherwise she would never have been willing to expend the time and money on her treatment that she did. Her case had some phases in common with the women who wanted something to oc- cupy their time. She did not knit, but went around with a pet turtle. It was harmless species of tortoise and she never went to the theatre or the opera with out it.
 "Women expressed their opinion of her affectation very frankly and some of them even talked about her sanity. But she clung to her turtle. 1t was something to occupy her attention and keep her in- terested just as the knitting had been for stlre other woman. The first sign of re-