Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-342) and index.

Introduction -- Names and uses of a diagnosis -- The establishment of hysteria as a medical category -- An intermingling of terms -- First occurrences of the term "hysteria" -- Vaporous affection and social class -- Encounters between medical and religious spheres -- In search of metaphors: figuring what cannot be defined -- A catalog of images: Proteus, the chameleon, and the hydra -- Repeated quotations, divergent readings -- The writing of a pathology and practices of dissemination -- Dialogue -- Autobiography -- Fictional correspondence -- The epistolary consultation -- Anecdotes -- Code, truth, or ruse? the vapors in the republic of letters -- Well-timed fits -- The practice of vapors -- The force of the imagination -- Relating fits and creating enigmas: the role of narrative -- Bodies awaiting exegesis -- The rise of medical narrative -- In the shadow of a gothic tale -- Traps and countertraps -- The construction of secrets -- Adopting roles and redefining medicine -- To mystify or to demystify? establishing the role of the therapist -- Magnetism, parodies, and mystification: the art of framing a therapeutic -- Practice -- Strategies of legitimation and definitions of the patient to come -- Investing in women -- Conclusion.