Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Psychopathology of Hysteria
Than hysteria, probably there is not any dis ease which is more interesting, which has been more misunderstood, which is capable of caus ing a greater diversity of manifestations, and about which more has been written. Its absorb ing interest is due mainly to the peculiar char acter and unlimited possibilities of its expres sion. Surely, a disease is worthy of the con sideration which 'has been bestowed upon hysteria when it is capable of causing such diverse symptoms as paralysis, convulsions, blindness, multiple personality, and which can occur in epidemics that, in the past, have caused greater disturbance to whole nations than a war would have occasioned. Its history and literature, which would fill a spacious library, show that from the days of the Grecian oracles, or of the sibyls of even more distant ages, to the present trance mediums, the unfortunate victims of the disease have been subjected alter nately to persecution as witches and demons, or to devotion as the inspired source of wisdom and of supernatural knowledge.
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