231 A. I give next the case of Dr. Azam's often quoted patient, Fé1ida X.1 In this case the somnambulic life finally became the normal life; as the " second state," which appeared at first only in short, dreamlike accesses, gradually replaced the " first state," which finally recurred but for a few hours at long intervals. But the point on which I wish to dwell is this: that Félida's second state was altogether superior to the first - physically superior, since the nervous pains which had troubled her from childhood disappeared; and morally superior, inasmuch as her morose, self-centred disposition was exchanged for a cheerful activity which enabled her to attend to her children and her shop much more effectively than when she was in the "état bête," as she called what was once the only personality that she knew. In this case, then, which at the time Dr. Azam wrote - 1887 - was of nearly thirty years' standing, the spontaneous readjustment of nervous activities - the second state, no memory of which remained in the first state - resulted in an improvement profounder than could have been anticipated from any moral or medical treatment that we know.

The case shows us how often the word "normal" means nothing more than " what happens to exist." For Felida's normal state was in fact her morbid state; and the new condition, which seemed at first a mere hysterical abnormality, brought her at last to a life of bodily and mental sanity which made her fully the equal of average women of her class.

A very complete account of the case, reproducing in full almost the whole of Dr. Azam's report, is given in Dr. A. Binet's Alterations de la Personnalité (pp. 6-20), and I briefly summarise this here: -

Félida was born at Bordeaux, in 1843, of healthy parents. Towards the age of thirteen years she began to exhibit symptoms of hysteria. When about fourteen and a half she used suddenly to feel a pain in her forehead, and then to fall into a profound sleep for some ten minutes, after which she woke spontaneously in her secondary condition. This lasted an hour or two; then the sleep came on again, and she awoke in her normal state. The change at first occurred every five or six days. As the hysterical symptoms increased, Dr. Azam was called in to attend her in 1858.

1 For the fullest account of Félida, see Hypnotisme, Double Comcietue, etc, par le Dr. Azam. Paris, 1887.

His report of that time states that in the primary state she appears very intelligent and fairly well educated; of a melancholy disposition, talking little, very industrious; constantly thinking of her maladies and suffering acute pains in various parts of the body, especially the head - the clou hysterique being very marked; all her actions, ideas, and words perfectly rational. Almost every day what she calls her crise comes on spontaneously - often while she is sitting at her needlework - preceded by a brief interval of the profound sleep, from which no external stimulus can rouse her. On waking into the secondary state, she appears like an entirely different person, smiling and gay; she continues her work cheerfully or walks about briskly, no longer feeling all the pains she has just before been complaining of. She looks after her ordinary domestic duties, goes out, walks about the town, and pays calls; behaves in every way like an ordinary healthy girl.

In this condition she remembers perfectly all that has happened on previous occasions when she was in the same state, and also all the events of her normal life; whereas during her normal life she forgets absolutely the occurrences of the secondary state. She declares constantly that whatever state she is in at the moment is the normal one - her raison - while the other one is always her crise.

The change of character in the secondary state is strongly marked; she becomes gay and vivacious - almost noisy; instead of being indifferent to everything, her sensibilities - both imaginative and emotional - become excessive. All her faculties appear more developed and more complete. The condition, in fact, is much superior to her ordinary one, as shown by the disappearance of her physical pains, and especially by the state of her memory.

She married early, and her crises became more frequent, though there were occasionally long intervals when they never came at all. But the secondary state, which in 1858 and 1859 only occupied about a tenth part of her life, gradually encroached more and more on the primary state, till the latter began to appear only at intervals and for a brief space of time.

In 1875 Dr. Azam, having for long lost sight of her, found her a mother of a family, keeping a shop. Now and then, but more and more rarely, occurred what she called her crises - really relapses into her primary condition. These were excessively inconvenient, since she forgot in them all the events of what was now her ordinary life, all the arrangements of her business, etc.; for instance, in going to a funeral, she had a crise, and consequently found it impossible to remember who the deceased person was. She had a great dread of these occurrences, though, by long practice, she had become very skilful at concealing them from every one but her husband; and the transition periods in passing from one state to another, during which she was completely unconscious, were now so short as to escape general notice. A peculiar feeling of pressure in the head warned her that the crise was coming, and she would then, for fear of making mistakes in her business, hastily write down whatever facts she most needed to keep in mind.

While the primary state lasted, she relapsed into the extreme melancholy and depression that characterised her early life, these being, in fact, now aggravated by her troublesome amnesia. She also lost her affection for her husband and children, and suffered from many hysterical pains and other symptoms which were much less acute in the secondary state. By 1887, however, the primary state only occurred every month or two, lasting only for a few hours at a time.