I was consulted about Mrs. H------ in December, 1906.

She had been confined of her third child ten weeks previously, and very soon afterwards had developed insane delusions, which got steadily worse.

She had been at an excellent nursing home in the country, under the best cure and treatment, and her husband brought her up to London to consult a very eminent specialist. This gentleman pronounced the case a bad one, and advised her being placed under restraint, and, as she refused to take food, said forcible feeding would be necessary. He added that hypnotism was out of the question in such a case.

Mr. H------, however, determined to make another effort, and I consented to try hypnotic suggestion, feeling assured it could do no harm even if it failed to do good. I found the patient restless and excited, full of delusions about her husband and children, obstinately refusing all food, and absolutely sleepless except with large doses of veronal, which only gave two or three hours' sleep. The tongue was thickly furred, the breath very offensive, and the motions lienteric and slimy. She was only made to speak with difficulty, and expressed herself as quite hopeless.

After a little reassuring conversation I got her into a quiet state, which gentle pressure on the eyes, combined with passes and verbal suggestion, caused to pass into a slight degree of hypnosis. I then told her very emphatically that she would sleep for an hour, would feel hungry on awaking, and would eat some meat jelly and bread-and-butter. These suggestions were realized, and also those insisting on natural sleep at night.

Steady progress set in at once, and Mrs. H------ was quite restored to mental and bodily health in less than two weeks. There was a slight return of the delusions after a bad night, but suggestion quickly removed the symptoms. The appetite became almost excessive in two or three days, and the digestion was set right almost at once.

Altogether it was one of the most striking and satisfactory cases I have ever attended, and justifies the trial of hypnotism in even desperate mental cases (compare with case on p. 186).