be dumb or motionless for months, on the pretext that speech
or motion would injure her. But this is the only form of constancy they
exhibit, otherwise they are indolent by nature. Sometimes they will show
activity for a few days only to relapse again into idleness.

_Erotomania._ This is almost a pathognomonical symptom and is shown in
hallucinations and nightmares of an erotic character, preceded by
epigastric aura. This erotomania is so impulsive that hysterical women
frequently engage in a _liaison_, from a desire of adventure or of
experiencing sudden emotions. The criminality of the hysterical is
always connected with the sexual functions.

Of twenty-one women found guilty of slander, nine made false accusations
of rape, four accused their husbands of sexual violence, and one of
sodomy. Such accusations, when made by minors, are generally full of
disgusting details, which would be repugnant to any adult.

_Mendacity._ Another peculiarity of hysterical women is the
irresistible tendency to lie, which leads them to utter senseless
falsehoods just for the pleasure of deceiving and making believe. They
sham suicide and sickness or write anonymous letters full of inventions.
Many, from motives of spite or vanity, accuse servants of dishonesty, in
order to revel in their disgrace and imprisonment. The favourite
calumny, however, is always an accusation of indecent behaviour,
sometimes made against their fathers and brothers, but generally against
a priest or medical man. The accusations, in most cases, are so strange
and fantastic as to be quite unworthy of belief, but sometimes,
unfortunately, they obtain credence. The commonest method adopted for
spreading these calumnies is by means of anonymous letters. In one case,
a young girl of twenty-five belonging to a distinguished family,
pestered a respectable priest with love-letters and shortly afterwards
accused him of seduction. Another girl of eighteen informed the Attorney
for the State that she had frequently been the victim of immoral priests
and accused one of her female cousins of complicity. According to her
story, while praying at church, a certain Abbot R... took her into the
sacristy and entreated her to elope with him to Spain. She refused
indignantly, and hoping to soften her, he twice stabbed himself in her
presence, whereat she fainted, and on recovering consciousness, found
the priest at her feet, begging forgiveness. She further accused the
same cousin