8 Seriously Bizarre Scientific Theories From History

3. Hysteria

Women, eh?

There must be some reason why they're all so unreasonable, not to mention their feeble constitutions. What is it that women have that men don't? Husbands? No, can't be that, it's probably just her womb.

One notable feature of the teachings of Hippocrates was that many of women's ailments could be chalked up to a condition called Wandering Womb. The theory was that the uterus was not an organ so much as another living entity that would occasionally go for a stroll around the body.

This, rather understandably, would cause all manner of health problems ranging from knee problems to death. It could also make you timid, boisterous, randy or fat, none of which were very becoming of a lady.

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, the treatments range from the wonderful to the horrifying. On the one hand, an effective treatment for hysteria was found to be a vigorous massage of the lady parts to produce a "paroxysm" (winky face). That had better sort you out though, because another common treatment was to perform a hysterectomy and just whip the troublesome uterus out altogether.

The Ancient Greeks also thought that a good cure for hysteria was to just put a baby in her as this would "moisten" a dry womb. Sexy.