The evening world., 1909-03-20
DREAM VISIONS
TURN WOMAN'S
BLOOD TO POISON
Mrs. Perrazo in Sleep Sees
Husband Go Down With
His Ship.
PHYSICIANS ARE BAFFLED
Among Rarest of Cases, They
Say-Woman Was to Have
Wed To-Day.

One Of the most remarkable cases
OF that rarest of malsdies, auto-toxic
poisoning. is interesting the house
stan and the consulting physicians Of
the Fordham Hospital in the person
of Mrs. Ida Perazzo. the widow OF
steamship captain, who persisted In a
marine. disaster in the Mediterranean
two years ago. Mrs. Perazzo. a slight
pale little woman, !s thirty-one years
old and has two children, boy
Lawrence, st'en years on, and Flor.
entina. nine years old. The woman's
condition Is extremely critical.
strange feature OF the case is that
to-day was to have been the occasion Of
Mrs Perazzo's second marriage. but op.
parently her unrest Of mind was such
that her hysterical condition and over
wrought nerves converted her blood into
virulent poison by auto-suggestion. To
such an advanced stage had her malady
progressed when, yesterday afternoon,
she was seized with commissions on a
Norris avenue car al one Hundred and
Eighty-frst street that her rigid limbs,
set teeth and twisted body induced the
ambulance surgeon who was summoned
10 her assistance to diagnose her case as
one Of epilepsy
Case Very Rare.
The tests for epilepsy, however, when
applied at the Fordham Hospital, failed
to result in a confirmation of the first
diagnosis, and Or. Reilly, the house
surgeon, came to the conclusion from
various marked symptoms that the
woman had been poisoned. An inquiry
into the history of her case speedily con-
WINGED Or. Reilly and his staff that they
had on their hands one Of the first cases
of auto-toNlc poisoning ever recorded in
New York.
An investigation showed that Mrs.
Perazzo come TO this country from Italy
three months ago. She was bowed down
hy ncessant grieying over the tragic
constantly saw him on the bridge Of his
sinking ship, the Regina, plying between
Genoa and Marseiles. In these dreams
the doomed man, standing erect in the
midst OF waving, impOring arms and
writhing faces turned toward her, she
declared with look of agony that
caused her to awake with a scream of
terror and pity.
A Prey to Her Dreams.
Almost nightly since the news Of the
sinking of the vessel of the coast Of
France while in collision with another
steamer reached her. these visions had
rec'lrred anu from cheerful, normal
woman Mrs. Perazzo became a morbid
hys,eric creature---a prey to hallucin-
ations and fantasies.
In this country she found home
with Antonio Patio and his wife, who
live at No 3is East one Hundred .nu
Thirty-ilfth street, the Bronx. They
had known her in Italy and also knew
her husband This latter fact seemed
to add to the WOman's melauchOlia. al
lllOUEu Ter lilpNl2 StuNlONSi} re-
" Trained from mentioning the subject.
At the home of the Pattios Mrs.
PerazZo met Enrico casSion. a candy
manufacturer. He fell in love with
her and begged her to marry him A.
ter weeks of pleading Mrs Perazzo
gave her consent to the wedding. al
though she told Cas,ion that she could
never forget her first husband and his
tragic end. Yesterday she Went out
with her daughter to put the finishing
touches on the fiat CassiOn had rented
and to which they were to have re-
turned to-day after the wedding.
From an investigation Of this wom-
ans case and a consultation Of the
authorities on this disease-whO are
scarce, a. there are so few recorded
Cases-l am convinced that this woman
IS victim ~ autO-t0Xic poison" said
Dr. Reilly to an Evening World re-
porter. Long continued worry con-
verted her nervous system into an
active poison producing plant and Il
responsible for her condition.
Her visions and semi-tranCes are
undoubtedly the outcome of this COM
plete poisoning OF her system, and
while, with care, she may recover her
condition al the present time is en-
tremely critical The disease is one
that is almost unheard Of In ordinary
medical practice, and as the treatment
had to be mental as well as physical.
the case We now have vii! be a partl-
cularly delicate one to bring to sue
cessful issge."