cal temperament may lead to this. Which is the cause, and which the effect, it is difficult to assert. From the prevalence of hysteria among prostitutes—a class who habitually permit the desires and emotions to pass beyond healthy control of the will—I infer that this precedes the actual attack of the disease. In some cases, however, hysteria results from organic derangement, usually of the sexual organs, and then the lack of emotional control may be a secondary instead of primary condition. The criminal resultant, in my experience, is confined to crimes against property, false accusation, and infanticide. It rarely leads to the more serious crimes against persons, for the reason that the wrongs of the hysterical are fancied rather than real, which disappear with the usually prompt return of judgment.
The following history of a false accusation reveals the defective control over the feelings and the perversion of the sexual emotions which coexist with the hysterical tendency: Esther was a young convict, about twenty years old, committed for a term of years to the Onondaga penitentiary for a second offense of stealing. She married very young, and lived with her husband but a short time. Her occupation was that of a domestic, and when not employed always went to her home, which was respectable. She gave considerable trouble in the shops, by her moody and disobedient ways, and would often refuse her food, and was then taciturn and desponding. Her cell was situated near the centre of the block, on the second gallery, and was lined with pictures cut from the illustrated newspapers. The collection was remarkable from being made up of the pictures of men and women, some of them neatly framed with straws. A cross, made of the thin shavings of wood used to light cigars with, was prominent among the decorations. She gave me considerable trouble with her great variety of fancied ailments, and I believe the girl actually believed in her diseases. The keepers believed her to be a "beat," a most unfortunate reputation for one to earn while under the discipline of a penitentiary. Esther startled the prison officials one morning, by charging the night-watch—a most estimable young man—with visiting her cell at night. From the method of locking the cells, this appeared to the officers nearly an impossible thing for the watchman to do. A careful examination of the inmates of the adjoining cells failed to elicit any confirming evidence; yet Esther persisted in her charge, to the great distress of the young man. As Leander nightly buffeted with the waves of the Hellespont for the love of Hero, it was thought possible that love might contend not less successfully with patent locks and prison-bars. It was therefore considered the safest course to remove the young man. When Esther was informed of the effect of her charge, she at once retracted. Now, the motive of this accusation constitutes the essence of the story. Esther loved the night-watch. She had for months fed her passion on the sight of the young man. The class of
