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Vienna, January 30, 1901
IX., Berggasse 19
Dear Wilhelm,
I have much to reply to, and that has not happened for a long time. As to Minna's condition, I know the following: without doubt there is an ulcer; but nothing whatsoever indicates that it is duodenal. In view of the blood and the pain, Oscar's consultant, B. Hammer-schlag (who, by the way, is confused by all this), even wanted to induce us to localize it in the rectum. I believe it is in the colon (flexus). It started with an embolism; but a tbc [tubercular] ulcer apparently can be excluded. Throughout these days Oscar has heard impure sounds; a few days earlier there was a slight, but otherwise not ascertainable increase in temperature. That is all the material we have. No one really has a clear picture, but it is beginning to dawn on us that it might be a cardiac affliction, the origin and significance of which are still unknown, but which could involve endocardiac changes. Several typical stool samples were lost because of domestic mishaps, but since then Oscar has recognized fibrin clots in the admixtures [stool samples] in question.
Her general condition has greatly improved during the past days and consequently we are in better spirits. A functional or neurotic illness surely cannot be diagnosed. The whole business is uncanny.
“Dreams and Hysteria,” if possible, should not disappoint you. The main thing in it is again psychology, the utilization of dreams, and a few peculiarities of unconscious thought processes. There are only glimpses of the organic [elements], that is, the erotogenic zones and bisexuality. But bisexuality is mentioned and specifically recognized once and for all, and the ground is prepared for detailed treatment of it on another occasion. It is a hysteria with tussis nervosa and aphonia, which can be traced back to the character of the child's sucking, and the principal issue in the conflicting thought processes is the contrast between an inclination toward men and an inclination toward w