EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF A BLIND LADY. 510 
cult to be discerned, that those about her concluded she was dead. 
From this time the lits returned periodically every day, at about the 
. same hour. 
“ At first they seemed to affect her nearly in the same degree, but 
at length all the symptoms were aggravated, the convulsions became 
more general, and her arms were sometimes convulsed alternately ; 
it also frequently happened that the arm which was last convulsed 
remained extended and inflexible some hours after the struggles were 
over. Her neck was often twisted with such violence, that the face 
looked directly backward, and the back part of the head was over 
the breast ; the muscles of the countenance were also so contracted 
and writhed by the spasms, that the features were totally changed, 
and it was impossible to find any resemblance of her natural aspect 
by which she could be known. Her feet were not less distorted than 
her head ; for they were twisted almost to dislocation at the instep, 
so that she could not walk but upon her ankles. 
“To remove or mitigate those deplorable symptoms, many remedies 
were tried, and, among the rest, the cold bath; but either by the 
natural effect of the bath, or by some mismanagement in the bathing, 
the unhappy patient first became blind, and soon Rfterwards both 
deaf and dumb. 
“It is not easy to conceive what could increase the misery of deaf- 
ness, dumbness, blindness, and frequent paroxysms of excruciating 
pain ; yet a very considerable aggravation w'as added, for the loss 
of her sight, her hearing, and her speech, was followed by such a 
stricture of the muscles of her throat, that she could swallow no kind 
of aliment, either solid or liquid. It might reasonably be supposed 
that this circumstance, though it added to the degree of her misery, 
would have shortened its duration, yet in this condition she continued 
near three-quarters of a year ; and during that time was supported 
by chewing her food, which having been turned often, and kept long 
ill her mouth, she was obliged at last to spit out. Liquors were like- 
wise gargled about in her mouth for some time, and then returned 
in the same manner, no part of them having passed the throat by an 
act of deglutition, so that whatever w'as conveyed into the stomach, 
either of the juices of the solid food, or the liquids, was either gradu- 
ally imbibed by the sponginess of the parts which they moistened, or 
trickled down in a very small quantity along the sides of the vessels. 
But there were other peculiarities in the case of this lady, yet more 
extraordinary. 
«/ 
“ During the privation of her sight and hearing, her touch and her 
smell became so exquisite, that we could distinguish the different 
colours of silk and flowers, and was sensible when any stranger 
was in the room with her. After she became blind, and deaf and 
dumb, it was not easy to contrive any method by which a question 
could be asked her, and an answer received. This, however, was at 
last effected by talking with the fingers, at which she was uncommonlj^ 
ready. But those who conversed with her in this manner were^ 
obliged to express themselves by touching her hands and fingers 
instead of their own. A lady who was nearly related to her, having 
an apron on, that was embroidered with silk of different colours. 
