Lactation in a Virgin

The title first thought of for this paper was Lactation in a Psychogenic Pregnancy. But Lactation in a Virgin was chosen because it is more correct. The elements of the psychogenic pregnancy were overshadowed by other elements which were invested by the patient with greater cathectic charges. What these were will become clear later on. Physiologically and anatomically, the title Lactation in a Virgin is correct. Lactation figures in the title, because the secretion from the breast is milk. This was confirmed by Dr. E. W. Kulka microscopically and chemically. And the designation "virgin" is also correct. The nearest approximation to intercourse that this patient ever had was at the age of nineteen, when while taking a carriage ride in the country her companion attempted to put his arm around her, and again at the age of twenty-three when another man attempted the same thing in a moving picture theater. From the psychoanalytical viewpoint, however, it is to be noted that the title is inadequate and inappropriate. From this viewpoint, the title would be Lactation, Urination and Ejaculation at the Breast in a Polymorphous Perverse Hysteric.

There are several unusual points of interest in this case. This appears to be the first reported case where lactation in a virgin occurred during the analysis itself, and as a conversion symptom. Furthermore, in analytic and gynecologic literature, lactation in a virgin and nullipara as a conversion symptom has never been mentioned. Dr. G. E. Daniels has remarked that in a case of which he knew, lactation had persisted after an abortion and this continuance of the lactation seemed to be due to psychogenic influences. Interesting as Dr. Daniels' case was, the fact that there had been conception and pregnancy