Account of the epidemic religious monomania in Sweden in the years 1841 and 1842 / by the editor.

  • Smith, Samuel Hanbury, 1810-1894.
Date:
[1850]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Account of the epidemic religious monomania in Sweden in the years 1841 and 1842 / by the editor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    THE OHIO <> MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL. Vol, II, Columbus, July 1,1850. No. VI. PART FIRST. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. Art. I.—Account of the Epidemic Religious Monomania in Sweden, in the years 1841 and 1842. By the Editor. Wide spreading epidemics, more or less resembling the one we are about to describe, have doubtless occurred and recur- red many a time and oft; sporadic cases are not uncommon ; but with the exception of Hecker's admirable description of the dancing mania of the fourteenth century, we have only vague or incomplete accounts of them, and the medical world is much divided in opinion as to their real nature. It is with the desire of adding a mite to the common treasury, that we present our readers with the following picture of the most re- cent and best observed of such epidemics, the very first case that occurred having been accurately noted, and the spread of the disease subsequently studied by manyfully competent phy- sicians, and learned theologians. A paper on the subject has appeared in the Journal Hygiea, by our friend, Dr. Sonden, which we shall make use of, and we shall freely draw on all such official reports and documents as are accessible to us. The disease in question has received quite a choice of aliases, but we hope to show how little claim it has to the ma- jority, by establishing its identity; and to this end we will just o-lance at the great epidemic referred to, before wo proceed to the study of the more recent and the milder one, drawing our materials from the description by Hecker. The last effects of the Black Death had not yet ceased to be feit—the fresh earth that covered the remains of so many millions had not yet sunk to its level—when a singular mad- ness seized on the minds of the German people ; an affection that for more than two centuries was by turns the wonder— 31