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.