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This experiment was devised to study the relation between emotional states associated with weeping and exudation into the skin. The technique consisted of a quantitative measurement of the rate of exudation into the site of a blister produced by cantharides, under emotional states induced by hypnosis. Sharp rises in the rate of exudation were noted in emotional states associated with weeping, both in patients with exudative skin disease and in subjects with non-pathologic skins. Inhibition of weeping, either as a result of suggestion or through inner resistance on the part of the patient, resulted first in a drop in the exudation rate followed later by a rise, indicating a tendency to break through the inhibition at the blister site.
Edema of the skin is one of the outstanding findings in the pathophysiology of a number of skin conditions, such as atrophic dermatitis, urticaria, exfoliative erythroderma. The findings in this experiment suggest that such edemas may result from an increased passage of fluid into the skin induced by changes in the emotional state of the individual.