The Fear of Death

For several years I had been subject to attacks of the singular disorder which physicians have agreed to term catalipse in the fault of a more definitive term. Sometimes the patient lies for a day only, or even for a shorter period, in a species of exaggerated lethargy. He is senseless and externally motionless, but the pulsation of the heart is still faintly perceptible. A slight color lingers within the centre of the cheek, and upon application of a mirror to the lips we can detect a torpit,. unequal and vacillating action of the lungs. Then again the duration of the trance is for weeks, even for months. We know of nothing so agonizing upon