and Alienist and Neurologist, October, 1899), a trained nurse lived for fourteen years with a young woman who left her on four different occasions, but was each time induced to return; finally, however, she left and married, whereupon the nurse shot the husband, who was not, however, fatally wounded.  The culprit in this case had been twice married, but had not lived with either of her husbands; it was stated that her mother had died in an asylum, and that her brother had committed suicide.  She was charged with disorderly conduct, and subjected to a fine.

In another later case in Chicago a Russian girl of 22, named Anna Rubinowitch, shot from motives of jealousy another Russian girl to whom she had been devoted from childhood, and then fatally shot herself.  The relations between the two girls had been very intimate.  “Our love affair is one purely of the soul,” Anna Rubinowitch was accustomed to say; “we love each other on a higher plane than that of earth.” (I am informed that there were in fact physical relationships; the sexual organs were normal.) This continued, with great devotion on each side, until Anna’s “sweetheart” began to show herself susceptible to the advances of a male wooer.  This aroused uncontrollable jealousy in Anna, whose father, it may be noted, had committed suicide by shooting some years previously.

Homosexual relationships are also a cause of suicide among women.  Such a case was reported in Massachusetts early in 1901.  A girl of 21 had been tended during a period of nervous prostration, apparently of hysterical nature, by a friend and neighbor, fourteen years her senior, married and having children.  An intimate friendship grew up, equally ardent on both sides.  The mother of the younger woman and the husband of the other took measures to put a stop to the intimacy, and the girl was sent away to a distant city; stolen interviews, however, still occurred.  Finally, when the obstacles became insurmountable, the younger woman bought a revolver and deliberately shot herself in the temple, in presence of her mother, dying immediately.  Though sometimes thought to act rather strangely, she was a great favorite with all, handsome, very athletic, fond of all outdoor sports, an energetic religious worker, possessing a fine voice, and was an active member of many clubs and societies.  The older woman belonged to an aristocratic family and was loved and respected by all.  In another case in New York in 1905 a retired sailor, “Captain John Weed,” who had commanded transatlantic vessels for many years, was admitted to a Home for old sailors and shortly after became ill and despondent, and cut his throat.  It was then found that “Captain Weed” was really a woman.  I am informed that the old sailor’s despondency and suicide were due to enforced separation from a female companion.

The infatuation of young girls for actresses and other prominent women may occasionally lead