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Vienna, July 20, 1897
IX., Berggasse 19
Dear Wilhelm,
Hail! In these last days I have contemplated how to introduce this letter: that it is nice that we shall get a book rather than an article; that we shall not see each other in August but rather in September at some unspecified time is less nice; and so forth. The argument that the time for it [Fliess's book] has come and that it must come out no doubt is overwhelming, but the uncertainty about whether something with that content can so quickly undergo its [natural] development — in brief, all the scruples involved in my coming between a man and his work as an outsider and dolt, which I so detest — all that stood in the way of the letter I never wrote. Waiting a little is often the best thing. Now everything will turn out nicely. It is charming of Ida to use her influence in this way. Feel free to ask anything of me; I am again out of the clouds and very curious. At the same time my special dates that had been on the decline have appeared again (July 17 ♂ menstruation in its most developed form, with occasional bloody nasal secretion before and afterward). The relative quiet and several minor solutions were very good for me. I shall most energetically try to persuade you not to rush into print. It is taking people a long time to catch up with you; last week, I hear, a reviewer in Lancet1 treated you badly. I did not see the issue. You know that this is my present position; nor did I comply with your wish to prepare a preliminary account of the hysteria matter. I am letting things simmer.
I remember Sch. in H. from what you had told me. “Whichever way you throw the cat …” So you did achieve your goal of applying mathematics and astronomy to biology! That is an old drive of yours which never would have left you any peace. Well, then, you