Story of Blanche and Marie

In 1878, Blanche Wittman was committed to Salpetriere Hospital as an hysteric and placed in the care of the famous M Charcot, who regularly displayed her, in a cataleptic state, before a public audience. On 17 February 1898, radium was discovered and Blanche's exposure to it necessitated the amputation of all her limbs, save one.