I have alluded in the last chapter to those patients who have no desire to get well. Such I am not considering; and although I believe that all the complaints of an hysterical patient are more or less exaggerated, my experience differs from that of Dr. Handfield Jones, who believes that such patients are not “_bonâ fide_ anxious to get well.” In his view he is supported by Dr. Prout, who considers that “the whole energies of the patient’s mind are bent on deception;” and by Dr. Watson, who says that “the deceptive appearances displayed in the bodily functions and feelings find their counterpart in the mental.” I am confident that I have met with many instances in which the nerve power has become so weakened that the patient, without having organic disease, really feels all the symptoms she describes, and is only too anxious to be cured. The cases I shall now narrate are a few of a large number that have come under my care, and I am not without hope that their relation may show that hysteria, instead of being a term of reproach, does truly represent a curable disease. The following was the first case that came under my notice, after I had satisfied myself of the correctness of my views on the subject:— CASE I. HYSTERIA—FIVE YEARS’ ILLNESS—OPERATION—CURE IN TWO MONTHS. D. E., æt. 26, single; admitted into the London Surgical Home Oct. 12, 1859. _History._—She had been a dressmaker in Yorkshire to all the best families around, but for the last five years had been so ill as to render her unable to do any work, and had been entirely supported by her former customers. When in that neighbourhood, on a professional visit to a lady, I was requested to see, amongst others, this poor _ci-devant_ dressmaker. Her physiognomy at once told me the nature of the case; she was much attenuated, having for a longtime been unable to retain any food, always being sick, with great pain, immediately after meals. She had constant acid eructations; was so weak as to be at times unable to cross the room; complained of a burning, aching pain, with great weakness at the lower part of the back. Her catamenia were irregular, with much leucorrhœa; bowels generally costive. She was very melancholy, and expressed a most earnest desire to be cured. I advised her admission to the “Home,” and on October 15, I divided the clitoris subcutaneously. This being my first operation, I did not know the consequences of performing the operation in this manner. For two days the hæmorrhage was profuse and uncontrollable. Sleep was procured by opiates. I ordered ℥ij of olive oil to be rubbed into her chest every night, with a view to nutrition of her attenuated frame. A moderately generous diet was given, _but no stimulants_. She was quite well in two months, and has never since had a day’s illness. She resumed her occupation as a dressmaker, and recovered nearly all her former customers.