Along with the Salem Witch Trials, the Phantom Anesthetist of Mattoon is another example of mass hysteria in history. In 1944, the Phantom Anesthetist of Mattoon was a case where odors and gases were the cause of mass hysteria. This outrage all started when a woman in Illinois started smelling strange scents outside of her house. After taking in these scents, she felt a burning sense in her throat and lips and developed "lower extremity paralysis." Her husband stated that he saw someone standing outside of the house. They decided that this might have been the cause of the gas attack. After the story was blazoned, more people said that they were experiencing these events. No gas or a person gassing these people was found. This case compares to the Salem Witch Trials because it shows how more and more people became involved in the situation. In the Salem Witch Trials, more and more people started being accused, more people became accusers, and more people started being involved with the so called "witchcraft." For example, in the beginning of the Witch Trials, the girls that were supposedly "dancing in the woods" started accusing people. One of the girls said, "I saw George Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the devil!" And so on. In the Phantom Anesthetist of Mattoon, after one person stated their symptoms, more and more people claimed that they had the same symptoms. They compare in the fact that the people in both stories needed someone to blame. In the Salem Witch Trials, they wanted someone to blame for all the bad things that were happening to them at the time so they started accusing people and in the Phantom Anesthetist of Mattoon, they wanted someone to blame for the strange occurrence with the gas. In The Crucible, one of the examples of blaming occurred with Reverend Parris and Abigail Williams. Parris said to Abigail, "What did you do with her in the forest"(Miller 10)? He wanted someone to blame for what was happening to his daughter. And finally, they both did not have any hard core evidence. All they had in the Salem Witch Trials were people claiming that they were "poked" or "pinched" or people's stories that they made up. All they had in the Phantom Anesthetist of Mattoon was a husband saying that he "saw a man outside the house." For all anyone knows, it could have been a man going for a walk. The people of Salem and the people of Illinois convinced themselves that their lies were real because they wanted someone to blame. Part of it might have been attention and even possibly fear. They might have been scared that they were going to be accused so they became the accusers themselves. People are susceptible to mass hysteria because when something happens to someone they get so stressed out they become ill or make themselves believe that they are forming symptoms. When people see others that are not well, they tend to become sick themselves. Tiredness, hunger, and stress can let the mind take over. People also probably form this mass hysteria because they want to figure out the problem by finding a real answer. They don't just ever take into consideration that it might have happened on accident or naturally. Both of these occurrences have made an impact on history. http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/hysteria http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Mass-Hysteria http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-bootcamp/201009/mass-hysteria-can-strike-anywhere-anytime