IMAGINARY AILMENTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5409, 9 November 1895, Page 2

IMAGINARY AILMENTS.

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One would think that the pains and penalties of illness were such that no one would voluntarily imitate t them, and pr-.tecd to HilmeTifß that hnve no foundation in I'ie". Y.it nny doctor of the slightest experience can tell of patients uiffariog— -or pretending to Buffer— from lliueisea which exist solely in their own inanimation. I& would manifestly be unkind to clssb rH such invalids aB cheats, Jrr.-.wmj»ljr plajiag a falee game, for, unrl mbtftdly, iv many instances, the ?n-»l!rjc*rer in acting in perfect good faith, nji.i ibuiiy boiioves in the actuality of the complaint from Which he or she is sun* p.. -■■•.) to }.u> suffering. i Seaiesiuiea the unreality of the illness in such n. o«e U unexpectedly demonstrated, i 1 - vjny be to the invalid's great surprise. H--m •• is an instance A lady had been c >r fiiwd to her bed for nisny months with mi ;iir:t>69 which wholly deprived her of th« lief,! of h-rr lo»ror limba. The doctor who ft-.tondni her failed to discover the nature of tho affectioo, which might ordinarily have been ftttribut&oio to several wellknown cuuzes. Examination, however, revealed nothing calculated to throw v lioht on t'ae matter, and the medical practitioner, after patient and exhaustive aaaljsio and attention, came to the conclu* eion that the illness was imaginary. Although he discreetly kept this opinion to himself, proof was eventually forthcoming as to the accuracy of his view. Beinsr lifted in the sheets out of her bed one day, while the mattress was rearranged, the lady surprised her attendants ly suddenly jumping from the couch on which she had been temporarily placed, with ft loud' expression of alarm. It was discovered that ahe had been laid upon • work-pad inadvertently left on the sofa, and that the sharp points of teveral needlcß had pressed violently into her back. The contretemps revealed the fftot that she could stand on her legs with. com* par9.tive.eaßo.. • . ' -•:.:

Thero is a curiona case reported in Dr Darwia's "Zoonomia," which ahowa to what lengths the imagination may bis carried in this particular. A young farmer in. Warwickshire, finding his hedges brdVoltt and the sticks carried away during a frosty 'season, determined to watch for the thief. He Jay many cold honra under a hayßtaok. and at length an old woman approaohed and began to pull up the hedge. He waited till she had tied up her sticks and was carrying them off, when he sprang from his concealment, and seized hie prey with violent threat?. The woman dropped her fuel, And knealing upon the ground, with her arms raised to heaven beneath the bright moon, then at the full, said to the farmsr, already shivering with 00ld :—

" Heaven grant that thou mayest n«*ver know ogam the blessing to be warm { " Ho went home, complained of cold all the next day, and wore an extra coat, and in & few days another, and in a fortnight took to hiß bed, ' alwaya Baying nothing mode him warm. He covered himself with imny" blankets and had a sieve over hii face as he lay, and from this one insane idea he kepc hiß bed above twenty yean for fesr of the cold air, till at length he died.

The following; instance of undiluted shamming in order to avoid labour, to< gether with its amusing eequel, ia taken from the note book of a prison offioial. A " rogue and vagabond " was committed to one of her Majesty's metropolitan gaolt for violently resisting the police. He was a young man, apparently about twentyone years age. In prison, determined not to work, he sffeoted illneas with each pet* tinaoity that it was deemed by the surgeon tho safer course to place him in the in* nTtn&ry, and have aim watched. There tbe opinion soon prevailed that he Wat practising imposture, and consequently he was compelled to throw greater energy into his fraud. >! .

An aggravated fit accordingly seemed to distort bis countenance and fix his.eycß; find his life (should the external sjmptomi prove real) appeared to be now in danger; The Burgeon still had his misgivings, bnt vi length nought the advice of anothei doctor, an eminent physician, who resorted,, to various medical tests to guide his judg* moot. The result was the conviction thai the case was genuine and the patient*! condition alarming. Uis head was there< fore shaved, and a blister applied from the crown right down the back to the termina* tion of the spine, while other suitable applications followed. 'Meanwhile the sentence was drawing t< a close, and with ita contraction the patieni * xhibitod improvement, bnt still kept hia bed, and assumed all the feebleness of I prostrate convalescent. On. the day of hii discharge his wife came to the prison to accompany him to St Bartholomew*!. Hospital, whither an order had been pro*, cured to send him.

He was dressed -with all tenderness, con^ veyed on a mattress toaoab,and transferred with due oare to the hospital, and there pat to bed. All these processes the , pationt permitted, bat the deception bad > now been carried far enough for his pur« poie, so within half an hoar of his arriyaJ at the hospital he suddenly jumped oat of bed, put on his clothes, and taking bit; wit'e by the arm, coolly walked away. Getting into another prison some titnelftfcur, the fellow again essayed his frauds* ( lent tricks, but inquiries being made,. hi*, previous performance transpired, and ,a j little stratagem was employed to frustrate^ him. As be lay on. the floor of his ce^ ( again simulating with all his old crafti\ ness a violent fit, the infirmary warder was instructed to drop, as if by accident, aj. little very hot water upon him ; but no sooner did he feel the smart than; suddenly springing to his feet, he struck out with his flit and dealt the warder a blow which cent that funotionarj sprawling on the ground.