E. M. a woman, aged sixty, was admitted into the house, August 8th, 1795;
she had been disordered five months: the cause assigned was extreme grief,
in consequence of the loss of her only daughter. She was very miserable
and restless; conceived she had been accused of some horrid crime, for
which she apprehended she should be burned alive. When any persons entered
her room she supposed them officers of justice, who were about to drag her
to some cruel punishment. She was frequently violent, and would strike
and bite those who came near her. Upon the idea that she should shortly be
put to death, she refused all sustenance; and it became necessary to force
her to take it. In this state she continued, growing daily weaker and more
emaciated, until October 3d, when she died.
Upon opening the head, there was a copious determination of blood to the
whole contents of the cranium. The pia mater was considerably inflamed;
there was not any water either in the ventricles or between the membranes.
The brain was particularly soft. She was opened thirty hours after death.