The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, vol 10 | Page 6

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more freely. From this, she passed on to the ability to move the leg without any assistance
on the part of the writer. After having been given exercise in bending the leg for some
twenty or thirty times, with complete restoration of this ability, she was induced to get
out of bed, and while standing erect she was suddenly released by the physician. She
swayed to and fro in a rather perilous manner but did not fall. Finally, by gradation of
tasks set, by a judicious combination of encouragement and command, she was enabled
to walk. She was then put to bed and assured that upon the physician's next visit she
would be taught to walk freely. Meanwhile, the husband was instructed that he must not
allow her to stay in bed more than an hour at a time and that she must come to the table
for her meals.
On the physician's next visit, two days later, it was found that the husband had not been
able to induce his wife to come to the table, and that he had been unable to get her to
walk. The physician then commanded her to get out of bed, which she did with great
effort. She was then put back to bed and instructed to get up more freely and without such
effort, demonstration being a visual one, in that she was shown how best to accomplish
the task set. Finally, at the end of the visit, she was walking quite freely and promised in
writing, for she had not as yet learned to talk, that she would eat at the table.
The next day instruction was commenced along the lines of speech. Upon being asked to
thrust out her tongue, that organ was protruded only a short distance, and she claimed, in
writing, to be unable to protrude it further. Thereupon it was taken hold of by a towel and
alternately withdrawn from and replaced into the mouth. After a short period of such
exercise she was enabled to thrust the tongue in and out. She was then instructed to
breathe more freely; that is to say, to take short inspirations and to make long expirations,
this in preparation for speech. She was unable to do this, the expiration being short, jerky
and interrupted. Thereupon the examiner placed his two hands, one on each side of her
chest, instructed her to inspire, and when she was instructed to expire forced his hands
against her ribs in order to complete the expiratory act. After about fifteen or twenty
minutes of this combination of instruction and help the patient was able to breathe by
herself and freely. She was then instructed to make the sound "e" at the end of expiration.
This she was unable to do at first, but upon persistence and passive placing of her mouth
in the proper position for the sound, she was able to whisper "e." From this she rapidly
went on to the other vowel sounds. Then the aspirate "h" was added, later the explosives,
"p," etc., until at the end of about two hours she was enabled to whisper anything desired.
Her husband was instructed not to allow her to use her pencil any more, and she promised
faithfully to enter into whispered conversation with him, although it was evident that she
promised this with reluctance.

Upon the next visit, two days later, she was still whispering, and when asked if she could
talk aloud, shook her head and whispered "No," that she was sure she could not. Efforts
to have her make the sound "a," or any of the vowels in a voiced manner failed
completely. She was then instructed to cough. Although it is evident that a cough is a
voiced sound, she was able to do this, in a very low and indistinct manner. She was then
instructed to add the sound "e" at the end of her cough. This she did, but with difficulty.
Finally, after much the same manoeuvering which has been indicated in the account of
how she was instructed to whisper, she talked freely and well. When this was
accomplished the husband was instructed to have her dress herself and to take her to:
some place of amusement, and to keep her out of doors almost continuously.
At all times the patient had complained of a pain in her side which she claimed was the
root of all her trouble. It had been "doctored," to use her term, by all the physicians in the
city and, it was alleged, came after she had been lifting a paralyzed old lady in the house
across the way. Despite all treatment this pain had not disappeared and the various
diagnoses made--strain, liver trouble, nervous ache had not sufficed to console the