Manifestly, a disease that both impels and enables its victims to mimic the symptoms of grave organic affections, with such verisimilitude as to deceive even physicians, is an extremely serious affair. And one has only to inquire of doctors with an extensive hospital experience to learn that hysteria, in one form or another, is a widespread trouble among both children and adults. But it is no longer the bugbear of the medical profession that it used to be. Following the discovery of its essentially mental character, methods have been devised and perfected for handling it. Some of these seem absurdly simple, but even the simplest have been proved efficacious, especially in the case of children. Differing in detail, they have one feature in common. They directly attack the hysterical symptoms by the employment of the same agency that was provocative of them—namely, suggestion. In the case of the boy with the pseudo paralysis, reported above, it was not any therapeutic virtue inherent in the electrical treatment that brought about his rapid restoration to health. It was simply the suggestive efficacy of the way in which the treatment was administered to him. The truth of this, however, may be made clearer by the citation of one or two other cases, that are also of interest as illustrating the ingenious devices by which hysterical attacks in the period of childhood are nowadays overcome. There was brought to a New England neurologist a little girl of ten, suffering from a curious physical abnormality. As long as she was seated, there seemed to be little the matter with her; but the moment she attempted to stand her feet bent under her so that they would not support her weight. When left alone she swayed backward and forward, and then fell on her hands and knees. In addition to this, there was a complete paralysis of the left arm, the child thus being deprived of the use of three of her four limbs. Questioned by the physician, her mother explained that these muscular troubles had first set in six months before, following an attack of measles, and that her condition had grown progressively worse. This pointed to an organic and incurable malady; and, indeed, the mother was firmly convinced that nothing could be done. But, on making some delicate diagnostic tests, no signs of true organic trouble were to be found; whereas there were some indications that the disability might be wholly functional, the result of hysteria. In verification of his suspicion the physician made a few experiments which proved that the child was extremely suggestible. Turning to her mother, he said: “You are quite wrong in supposing that your daughter cannot be cured. She is ill, it is true; but her illness is of such a nature that it will quickly respond to the right kind of treatment.” “But,” protested the mother, incredulous, “she cannot use her legs, she cannot move her arm.” “No matter. I have something here that will enable her to use her legs and move her arm.”