Ancient records of this disease
are frequent, and in this century Lapointe reports the history of
demonomania in father, mother, three sons, and two daughters, the
whole family, with the exception of one son, who was a soldier,
being attacked. They imagined themselves poisoned by a sorceress,
saw devils, and had all sorts of hallucinations, which
necessitated the confinement of the whole family in an asylum for
over a month. They continued free from the hallucinations for two
years, when first the mother, and then gradually all the other
members of the family, again became afflicted with demonomania
and were again sent to the asylum, when, after a residence
therein of five months, they were all sufficiently cured to
return home.
Particular aversions may be temporary only, that is, due to an
existing condition of the organism, which, though morbid, is of a
transitory character. Such, for instance, are those due to
dentition, the commencement or cessation of the menstrual
function, pregnancy, etc. These cases are frequently of a serious
character, and may lead to derangement of the mind. Millington
relates the history of a lady who, at the beginning of her first
pregnancy, acquired an overpowering aversion to a half-breed
Indian woman who was employed in the house as a servant.
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