Effects of fear
A woman in the city of Lynn, Massachusetts, was
etherized and died in consequence, although her physi-
cians insisted that it would be unsafe to perform a needed
surgical operation without the ether. After the autopsy,
her sister testified that the deceased protested
against inhaling the ether and said it would kill
her, but that she was compelled by her physicians to take
it. Her hands were held, and she was forced into sub-
mission. The case was brought to trial. The evidence
was found to be conclusive, and a verdict was returned that
death was occasioned, not by the ether, but by fear of
inhaling it.
