Abstract

In Stamford, Connecticut, in 1692, the teenage Katherine Branch was tormented by visions, fainting spells, convulsions, and crying episodes. She claimed that she was bewitched. Many neighbours came to see her during her affliction, offering their own suggestions and interpretations of what was happening. One woman, Mrs Sarah Bates, suggested that Katherine’s affliction resulted from a natural illness, and advised that feathers be burnt under the girl’s nose. This article proposes that Mrs Bates supposed that Katherine was suffering from hysteria, or ‘suffocation of the mother’, a medical diagnosis proposed by English physician Edward Jorden in 1603 specifically to address cases of apparent witchcraft.

摘要

1692年，在康涅狄格州斯坦福德，少年的凯瑟琳·布兰奇（Katherine Branch）被视力，昏厥，咒语，抽搐和哭闹折磨。她声称自己被迷住了。在她受苦期间，许多邻居来找她，对发生的事情提出了自己的建议和解释。萨拉·贝茨夫人（Sarah Bates）一位女士建议，凯瑟琳（Katherine）的痛苦是自然疾病造成的，并建议在女孩的鼻子下烧掉羽毛。本文提出贝茨夫人认为凯瑟琳患有歇斯底里症，即“母亲窒息”，这是英国医生爱德华·乔登（Edward Jorden）在1603年提出的医学诊断，专门针对明显的巫术。