aterial distinctive Characters, but what arise from
the same Disease affecting different Sexes, and the Vapours in
Women are term'd the _Hypochondria_ in Men, and they proceed from
the Contraction of the Vessels being depress'd a little beneath the
Balance of Nature, and the Relaxation of the Nerves at the same
Time, which creates that Uneasiness and Melancholy that naturally
attends Vapours, and which generally is an Intemperature of the
whole Body, proceeding from a Depression of the Solids beneath the
Balance of Nature; but the Intemperature of the Parts is that
Peculiar Disposition whereby they favour any Disease.[8]

But the majority of medical thinkers had been persuaded that the
condition was psychosomatic, and this belief was supported by research
on nerves by important physicians in the 1740's and 1750's: the Monro
brothers in London, Robert Whytt in Edinburgh, Albrecht von Haller in
Leipzig. By mid century the condition known as the hyp was believed to
be a real, not an imaginary ailment, common, peculiar in its
manifestations, and indefinable, almost impossible to cure, producing
very real symptoms of physical illness, and said to originate sometimes
in depression and idleness. It was summed up by Robert James in his
_Medicinal Dictionary_ (London, 1743-45):

If we thoroughly consider its Nature, it will be found to be a
spasmodico-flatulent Disorder of the _Primae Viae_, that is, of the
Stomach and Intestines, arising from an Inversion or Perversion of
their peristaltic Motion, and, by the mutual consent of the Parts,
throwing the whole nervous System into irregular Motions, and
disturbing the whole Oeconomy of the Functions.... no part or
Function of the Body escapes the Influence of this tedious and long
protracted Disease, whose Symptoms are so violent and numerous,
that it is no easy Task either to enumerate or account for them....
No disease is more troublesome, either to the Patient or Physician,
than hypochondriac Disorders; and it often happens, that, thro' the
Fault of both, the Cure is either unnecessarily protracted, or
totally frustrated; for the Patients are so delighted, not only
with a Variety of Medicines, but also of Physicians.... On the
contrary, few physicians are sufficiently acquainted with the true
Genius and Nature of this perplexing Disorder; for which Reason