Note 21 — Chapter III · The Case of Miss Elisabeth v. R.

I had under my observation another case in which a contracture of the masseters made it impossible for the artist to sing. The young lady in question through painful experiences in the family was forced to go on the stage. While in Rome rehearsing, in great excitement she suddenly perceived the sensation of being unable to close her opened mouth and sank fainting to the floor. The physician who was called closed her jaws forcibly, but the patient since that time was unable to open her jaws more than a finger’s breadth and had to give up her newly chosen profession. When she came under my care many years later, the motives for that excitement were apparently over for some time, for massage in a light hypnosis sufficed to open her mouth widely. The lady has since sung in public.