on account of their literal home-sickness. Oswald tells of a bear who,
in the presence of food, committed suicide by starvation.

Hypochondria consists of a mild form of insanity in which there is a
tendency to exaggerate the various sensations of the body and their
importance, their exaggeration being at times so great as to amount to
actual delusion. All sorts of symptoms are dwelt upon, and the doctor
is pestered to the extreme by the morbid fears of the patient.

Morbid fears or impulses, called by the Germans Zwangsvorstellungen, or
Zwangshandlungen, and by the French, peurs maladies, have only been
quite recently studied, and form most interesting cases of minor
insanity. Gelineau has made extensive investigations in this subject,
and free reference has been made to his work in the preparation of the
following material.

Aichmophobia is a name given by the French to the fear of the sight of
any sharp-pointed instrument, such as a pin, needle, fish-spine, or
naked sword. An illustrious sufferer of this 'phobia was James I of
England, who could never tolerate the appearance of a drawn sword.
Gelineau reports an interesting case of a female who contracted this
malady after the fatigue of lactation of two children. She could not
tolerate knives, forks, or any pointed instruments on the table, and
was apparently rendered helpless in needle-work on account of her
inability to look at the pointed needle.

Agoraphobia is dread of an open space, and is sometimes called
Kenophobia. The celebrated philosopher Pascal was supposed to have been
affected with this fear. In agoraphobia the patient dreads to go across
a street or into a field, is seized with an intense feeling of fright,
and has to run to a wall or fall down, being quite unable to proceed.
There is violent palpitation, and a feeling of constriction is
experienced. According to Suckling, pallor and profuse perspiration are
usually present, but there is no vertigo, confusion of mind, or loss of
consciousness. The patient is quite conscious of the foolishness of the
fears, but is unable to overcome them. The will is in abeyance and is
quite subservient to the violent emotional disturbances. Gray mentions
a patient who could not go over the Brooklyn Bridge or indeed over any
bridge without terror. Roussel speaks of a married woman who had never
had any children, and who was apparently healthy, but who for the past
six months had not been able to put her head out of