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3 December 1909
Vienna IX, Berggasse 19
19F
Prof. Dr. Freud
Dear Dr. Binswanger,
I have delayed my reply to your letter of 7 November so long that by now I can dispense with commiserations on your accident. I hope that you have fully recovered from the effects of your fall. The reason for my delay was of course something else — at the time the Jahrbuch was due from the printers and I wanted to wait until I could read the conclusion of your analysis so as to let you have the opinion you had asked for.1 Then, as usual, there were weeks of waiting. The Jahrbuch finally reached me on 1 October.
Your analysis, quite apart from its diplomatic significance at this juncture,2 is very valuable and no doubt wholly correct. Its fault, namely that it is so incomplete, becomes a virtue inasmuch as it may encourage beginners in clinics to strive for tangible successes even during short periods of treatment. The disclosure of exceptionally rich phantasies explaining the fits and deliriums is surprising and as yet something quite new in the literature. True, the technique is not the classic one,3 but I think myself that in a case distinguished by absence states and deliriums it is not possible to make use of any other. The reason the synthesis is not plainly set out must be sought in the gap in the infantile material. You have made full use of my suggestions on this subject. What I meant by ‘overcoat’ is something that escapes me as well. In short, I can congratulate you with all my heart on this first contribution.
The only thing I took amiss was that with your statement that we only cure the symptoms of hysteria and not the condition,4 you were quoting Ziehen.5 In the light of our present knowledge, it is questionable what validity this statement has. In any case, Ziehen has by