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all but awake, and aware of its approach. We have then our senses about us, only, perhaps a little deadened and confused by incipient slumber; and we feel the gradual advance of the fiend, without arousing ourselves, and scaring him away, althongh we appear to possess the full ability of doing so. Some persons, immediately previous to an attack, have sensations of vertigo and ringing in the ears.

At one time, nightmare melts into unbroken sleep or pleasing dreams; and when we awake in the morning with merely the remembrance of having had one of its attacks; at another, it arouses us by its violence, and we start out of it with a convulsive shudder. At the moment of throwing off the fit, we seem to turn round upon the side with a mighty effort, as if from beneath the pressure of a superincumbent weight; and, the more thoroughly to awake ourselves, we generally kick violently, beat the breast, rise up in bed, and cry out once or twice. As soon as we are able to exercise the voice or voluntary muscles with freedom, the paroxysm is at an end; but for some time after, we experience extreme terror, and often cold shivering, while the heart throbs violently, and the respiration is hurried These two latter circumstances are doubted by Dr Darwin, but I am convinced of their existence, both from what I have experienced in my own person, and from what I have been told by others: indeed, analogy would irresistibly lead us to conclude that they must exist; and whoever carefully investigates the subject, will find that they do almost universally.

An opinion prevails, that during incubus the person is always upon his back; and the circumstances of his usually feeling as if in that posture, together with the relief which he experiences on turning round upon his side, are certainly strong presumptions in favour of its accuracy. The sensations, however, which occur, in this state, are fallacious in the highest degree. We have seldom any evidence either that he was on his back, or that he turned round at all. The fact, that he supposed himself in the above position during the fit, and the other fact, that, on recovering from it, he was lying on his side, may have produced the illusion; and, where he never moved a single muscle, he may conceive that he turned round after a prodigious effort. I have had an attack of this disorder while sitting in an arm-chair, or with my head leaning against a table. In fact, these are the most likely positions to bring it on, the lungs being then more completely compressed than in almost any other posture. I have also had it most distinctly while lying on the side, and I know many cases of a similar description in others. Although, therefore, nightmare may take place more frequently upon the back than upon the side, the opinion that it occurs only in the former of these postures, is altogether incorrect; and where we are much addicted to its attacks, no posture whatever will pro

Lect us.

Persons not particulary subject to incubus, feel no inconvenience, save temporary terror or fatigue, from any occasional attack which they may have; but those with whom it is habitual, are apt to experience a certam degree of giddiness, ringing in the ears, tension of the forehead, flashing of light before the eyes, and other symptoms of cerebral congestion. A bad taste in the mouth, and more or less fulness about the pit of the stomach, are sometimes experienced after an attack

The illusions which occur, are perhaps the most extraordinary phenomena of nightmare; and so strongly are they often impressed upon the mind, that, even on awaking, we find it impossible not to believe them real. We may, for example, be sensible of knockings at the door of our apartment, hear familiar voices calling upon us, and see individuals passing through the chamber, In many cases, no arguments, no efforts of the under.

standing will convince us that these are merely the chimeras of sleep. We regard them as events of actual occurrence, and will not be persuaded to the contrary. With some, such a belief has gone down to the grave and others have maintained it strenuously for years, till a recurrence of the illusions under circumstances which rendered their real existence impossible, has shown them that the whole was a dream. Many a good ghost story has had its source in the illusions of nightmare.

The following case related by Mr Waller gives a good idea of the strength of such illusive feelings. In the month of February, 1814, I was living in the same house with a young gentlemen, the son of a peer of the United Kingdom, who was at that time under my care, in a very alarming state of health; and who had been, for several days, in a state of violent delirium. The close attention which his case required from me, together with a degree of personal attachment to him, had rendered me extremely anxious about him; and as my usual hours of sleep suffered a great degree of interruption from the attendance given to him, I was from that cause alone, rendered more than usually liable to the attacks of nightmare, which consequently intruded itself every night upon iny slumbers. The young gentleman in question, from the violence of his delirium, was with great difficulty kept in bed; and had one or twice eluded the vigilance of his attendants, and jumped out of bed, an accident of which I was every moment dreading a repetition. I awoke from one sleep one morning about four o'clock-at least it apppeared to me that I awoke-and heard distinctly the voice of this young gentleman, who seemed to be coming hastily up the stairs leading to my apartment, calling me by name in the manner he was accustomed to do in his delirium ; and, immediately after, I saw him standing by my bedside, holding the curtains open, expressing all that wildness in his looks which accompanies a violent delirium At the same moment, I heard the voices of his two attendants coming up the stairs in search of him, who likewise came into the room and took him away. During all this scene I was attempting to speak, but could not articulate; I thought, however, that I succeeded in attempting to get out of bed, and assisting his atendants in removing him out of the room; after which, I returned to bed, and instantly fell asleep. When I waited upon my patient in the morning, I was not a little surprised to find that he was asleep; and was utterly confounded on being told that he had been so all night; and as this was the first sleep he had enjoyed for three or four days, the attendants were very minute in detailing the whole particulars of it. Áthough this account appeared inconsistent with what I conceived I had seen, and with what I concluded they knew as well as myself, I did not, for some time, perceive the error into which I had been led, till I observed that some of my questions and remarks were not intelligible; then I began to suspect the true source of the error, which I should never have discovered had not experience rendered these hallucinations familiar to me. But the whole of this transaction had so much consistency and probability in it, that I might, under different circumstances, have remained forever ignorant of having been imposed upon in this instance, by my

senses.

During nightmare, the deepness of the slumber varies much at different times. Sometimes we are in a state closely approximating upon perfect sleep; at other times we are almost completely awake; and it will be remarked, that the more awake we are, the greater is the violence of the paroxysm. I have experienced the affection stealing upon me while in perfect possession of my faculties, and have undergone the greatest top. tures, being haunted by spectres, hags, and every sort of phantom-having, at the same time, a full conscious.

Waller's Treatise.

ness that I was labouring under incubus, and that all the terrifying objects around me were the creations of my own brain. This shows that the judgment is often only very partially affected, and proves also that nightmare is not merely a disagreeable dream, but a painful bodily affection. Were it nothing more than the former, we could rarely possess a knowledge of our condition; for, in simple visions, the reflecting organs are almost uniformly quiescent, and we scarcely ever, for a moment, doubt the reality of our impressions. In nightmare, this is often, perhaps generally, the case; but we frequently meet with instances, in which, during the worst periods of the fit, consciousness remains almost unimpaired.

There are great differences in the duration of the paroxysm, and also in the facility with which it is broken. I know not of any method by which the period to which it extends can be estimated, for the sufferer has no data to go by, and time, as in all modifications of dreaming, is subjected to the most capricious laws-an actual minute often appearing to embrace a whole hour. Of this point, therefore, we must be contented to remain in ignorance; but it may be conceived that the attack will be as various in its duration, as in the characters which it assumes-in one case being ten times as long as in another. With regard to the breaking of the fit, the differences are equally great. At one time, the slightest agitation of the body, the opening of the chamber door, or calling softly to the sufferer, will arouse him; at another, he requires to be shaken violently, and called upon long and loudly, before he is released.

but it will be found that, whatever they may be, their ultimate operation is upon the lungs.

We have already seen that, in ordinary sleep, par ticular states of the body are apt to induce visions: it is, therefore easily conceivable that a sense of suffoc tion, such as occurs in nightmare, may give birth to all the horrid phantoms seen in that distemper. The phy sical sufferings in such a case, exalts the imagination to its utmost pitch: fills it with spectres and chimeras; and plants an immovable weight or malignant fiend upon the bosom to crush us into agony. Let us see how such physical sufferings is brought about.

Any disordered state of the stomach may produce it. This organ may be so distended with food or wind as to press upon the diaphragm, lessen the dimensions of the chest, obstruct the movements of the heart, and thereby impede respiration. Circumstances like these alone are sufficient to produce nightmare, and the cause from the first is purely mechanical

Secondly. The state of the stomach may call forth incubus by means circuitous or indirect. In this case, the viscus is unequal to the task imposed upon it of digesting the food, either from an unusual quantity beng thrown upon it, from the food being of an indigestible nature, or from actual weakness. Here the sensonal power latent in this organ, is insufficient to carry i through with its operations, and it is obliged to draw upon the rest of the body-upon the brain, the respire tory muscles, &c, for the supply of which it is deficient duce themselves to a state of temporary debility, and The muscles of respiration, in giving their portion, re

do not retain a sufficient share to execute their own actions with due vigour. The pectorels, the intercostals, and the diaphragm became thus paralyzed; and, the chest not being sufficiently dilated for perfect breathing, a feeling of suffocation inevitably insues. In like manner, the muscles of volition, rendered inert by the subtraction of their quota of sensorial power, are unable to exercise their functions, and remain, during the paroxysm, in a state of immovable torpor. This unequal distribution of nervous energy continues till. by producing some excessive uneasiness, it stimulates the

will to a violent effort, and breaks the fit; and so soon as this takes place, the balance becomes redressed, and the sensorial equilibrium restored.

Some people are much more prone to incubus than others. Those whose digestion is healthy, whose minds are at ease, and who go supperless to bed, will seldom be troubled with it. Those, again, who keep late hours, study hard, eat heavy suppers, and are subject to bile, acid, or hypochondria, are almost sure to be more or less its victims. There are particular kinds of food, which pretty constantly lead to the same result, such as cheese, cucumbers, almonds, and whatever is hard to be digested. Hildesheim, in his De Affectibus Capitis, justly remarks, that he who wishes to know what nightmare is, let him eat chestnuts before going to sleep, and drink feculent wine after them.' Certain diseases, also, are apt to induce it, such as Physical suffering of that kind which impedes breathasthma, hydrothorax, agina pectoris, and other varie-ing, may also be occasioned by many other causes-*ties of dyspnoea. Men are more subject to it than women, probably from their stomachs being more frequeutly disordered by intemperance, and their minds more closely occupied. Sailors, owing to the hard and indigestible nature of their food, are very frequently its victims; and it is a general remark that it oftener occurs at sea than on shore. It seems probable that much of the superstitious belief of these men, in apparitions, proceeds from the phantoms which nightmare calls into existence. Unmarried women are more annoyed by it than those who are married; and the latter, when pregnant, have it oftener than at other times. Persons who were extremely subject to the complaint in their youth, sometimes get rid of it when they reach the age of puberty, owing, probably, to some change in the constitution which occurs at this period.

There have been different opinions with regard to the proximate cause of incubus, and authors have generally looked upon it as involved in considerable obscurity. An impeded circulation of blood in the pulmonary arteries, compression of the diaphragm by a full stomach, and torpor of the intercostal muscles, are all mentioned as contributing wholly, or partially, to the event. I am of opinion that either of these states may cause nightmare, but that, in most cases, they are all combined. Any thing, in fact, which impedes respiration, may give rise to the disorder, whether it be asthma, hydrothorax, distended stomach, muscular torpor, or external compression. The causes, then, are various,

by pneuomonia, by empyema, by aneurism of the aorta, by laryngitis by croup, by external pressure; and, accordingly, either of these may give rise to nightmare. If we chance to lie down with a pillow or heavy cloak upon the breast, or to sleep with the body bent forward, and the head supported upon a table, as already mentioned, we may be seized with it; and, in truth, whatever, either directly or indirectly, acts upon the respiratory muscles, and impedes their operation. is pretty sure to bring it on. Even a weak or disordered sto mach, in which there is no food, by attracting to itself a portion of their sensorial power to aid its own inadequacies, may induce it. The disorder, therefore, takes place under various circumstances-either by direct pressure upon the lungs, as in distended stomach, or hydrothorax; or by partial torpor of the stomach or muscles of respiration, owing to a deficiency of nervous energy. These physical impediments coexisting with, or giving rise to a distempered state of the brain, sufficiently account for the horrors of nightmare.

Why are hard students, deep thinkers, and hypochondriacs unusually subject to incubus? The cause is obvious. Such individuals have often a bad diges tion: their stomachs are subject to acidity, and other functional derangements, and therefore, peculiarly apt to generate the complaint. The sedentary life, and habits of intellectual or melancholy reflection in which they indulge, have a tendency not merely to disturb the digestive apparatus, but to act upon the whole cere

bral system: hence, they are far more liable to dreams of every kind than other people, in so far as their minds are more intently employed; and when, in sleep, they are pained by any physical endurance, the activity of their mental powers will naturally associate the most horrible ideas with such suffering, and produce incubus, and all its frightful accompaniments.

Nightmare is sometimes attended with danger, when it becomes habitual. It may then give rise to apoplexy, and destroy life; or, in very nervous subjects, may occasion epileptic and hysterical affections, which prove extremely harassing. According to Coelius Aurelianus, many people die of this complaint. Probably some of those who are found dead in bed have lost their lives in a fit of incubus, the circumstance being imputed to some other cause. Nightmare is thus, in some cases dangerous and in all, when it becomes habitual, is such a source of misery, that sleep, instead of being courted as a period of blissful repose, is looked upon with horror, as the appointed season of inexpressible suffering and dread. It becomes, on this account, a matter of importance to contrive some method for preventing the attacks of so distressful a malady. The cause, whatever it may be, must, if practicable, be removed, and the symptoms thence arising will naturally disappear. If the disorder proceed from heavy suppers, or indigestible food, these things ought to be given up, and the person should either go supperless to bed, or with such a light meal as will not hurt his digestion. Salted provisions of all kinds must be abandoned, nor should he taste any thing which will lie heavily upon the stomach, or run into fermentation. For this reason, nuts, cucumbers, cheese, ham, and fruits are all prejudicial. If he be subject to heart-burn, flatulence, and other dyspeptic symptoms, he should make use of occasional doses of magnesia, or carbonate of potash or soda. I have known a tea-spoonful of either of the two latter, or three times that quantity of the former, taken before stepping into bed, prevent an attack, where, from the previous state of the stomach, I am convinced it would have taken place, had those medicines not been used. Great attention must be paid to the state of the bowels. For this purpose, the colocynth, the compound rhubarb, or the common aloetic pill, should be made use of, in doses of one, two, or three, according to circumstances, till the digestive organs are brought into proper play. The common blue pill, used with proper caution, is also an excellent medicine. In all cases, the patient should take abundant exercise, shun late hours, or too much study, and keep his mind in as cheerful a state as possible. The bed he lies on ought to be hard, and the pillow not very high When the attacks are frequent, and extremely severe, Dr Darwin recommends that an alarm clock might be hung up in the room, so that the repose may be interrupted at short intervals. It is a good plan to have another person to sleep in the same bed, who might arouse him from the paroxysm; and he should be directed to lie as little as possible upon the back.

These points comprehend the principal treatment, and when persevered in, will rarely fail to mitigate or remove the disease. Sometimes, however, owing to certain peculiarities of constitution, it may be necessary to adopt a different plan, or combine other means along with the above: thus, Whyatt, who was subject to nightmare, could only insure himself against an attack, by taking a small glassful of brandy, just before going to bed; and some individuals find that a light supper prevents the fit, while it is sure to occur if no supper at all be taken. But these are rare exceptions to the general rule, and, when they do occur, must be treated in that manner which experience proves most effectual, without being bound too nicely by the ordinary modes of cure. Blood-letting, which some writers recommend, is useless or hurtful, except in cases where there is reason to suppose that the affection is

brought on by plethora. With regard to the other causes of nightmare, such as asthma, hydrothorax, &c., these must be treated on general principles, and it, as one of their symptoms, will depart so soon as they are removed.

Some persons recommend opium for the cure of nightmare, but this medicine I should think more likely to aggrave than relieve the complaint. The late Dr Polydori, author of The Vampyre,' and of an Essay on Positive Pleasure,' was much subject to incubus, and in the habit of using opium for its removal. One morning he was found dead, and on the table beside him stood a glass, which had evidently contained laudanum and water. From this, it was supposed he had killed himself by his own treatment; but whether the quantity of laudanum taken by him would have destroyed life in ordinary circumstances, has never been ascertained.

CHAPTER VI.

DAYMARE.

I have strong doubts as to the propriety of considering this affection in any way different from the incubus, or nightmare. It seems merely a modification of the latter, only accompanied by no aberration of the judgment. The person endures precisely many of the same feelings, such as difficult respiration, torpor of the voluntary muscles, deep sighing, extreme terror, and inability to speak. The orly difference which seem to exist between the two states is, that in daymare, the reason is always unclouded-whereas in incubus it is generally more or less disturbed.

Dr Mason Good, in his Study of Mediciue,' takes notice of a case, recorded by Forestus, that returned periodically every third day, like an intermittent fever. The patient was a girl, nine years of age, and at these times was suddenly attacked with great terror, a constriction of both the lower and upper belly, with urgent difficulty of breathing. Her eyes continued open, and were permanently continued to one spot; with her hands she forcibly grasped hold of things, that she might breathe the more easily. When spoken to, sho returned no answer. In the meantime, the mind seemed to be collected; she was without sleep; sighed repeatedly; the abdomen was elevated, the thorax still violently contracted, and oppressed with laborious respiration and heavy panting: she was incapable of utterance.'

During the intensely hot summer of 1825, I experienced an attack of daymare. Immediately after dining, I threw myself on my back upon a sofa, and, before I was aware, was seized with difficult respiration, extreme dread, and utter incapability of motion or speech. I could neither move nor cry, while the breath came from my chest in broken and suffocating paroxysms. During all this time, I was perfectly awake: I saw the light glaring in at the windows in broad sultry streams; felt the intense heat of the day pervading my frame; and heard distinctly the different noises in the street, and even the ticking of my own watch, which I had placed on the cushion beside me. I had, at the same time, the consciousness of flies buzzing around, and settling with annoying pertinacity upon my face. During the whole fit, judgment was never for a moment suspended. I felt assured that I laboured under a species of incubus. I even endeavoured to reason myself out of the feeling of dread which filled my mind, and longed with insufferable ardour for some one to open the door, and dissolve the spell which bound me in its fetters. The fit did not continue above five minutes: by degrees I recovered the use of speech and motion: and as soon as they were so far restored as to enable

me to call out and move my limbs, it wore insensibly | are subject, without any apparent cause, to frequent away.

Upon the whole, I consider daymare and nightmare identical. They proceed from the same causes, and must be treated in a similar manner.

CHAPTER VII.

SLEEP-WALKING.

In simple dreaming, as I have already stated, some of the cerebral organs are awake, while others continue in the quiescence of sleep. Such, also, is the case in somnambulism, but with this addition, that the dream is of so forcible a nature as to stimulate into action the muscular system as well as, in most cases, one or more of the organs of the senses. If we dream that we are walking, and the vision possesses such a degree of vividness and exciting energy as to arouse the muscles of locomotion, we naturally get up and walk. Should we dream that we hear or see, and the impression be so vivid as to stimulate the eyes and ears, or, more properly speaking, those parts of the brain which take cognizance of sights and sounds, then we both see any objects, or hear any sounds, which may occur, just as if we were awake. In some cases, the muscles only are excited, and then we simply walk, without either secing or hearing. In others, both the muscles and organs of sight are stimulated, and we not only walk, but have the use of our eyes. In a third variety, the activity of hearing is added, and we both walk, and see, and Should the senses of smell, taste, and touch be stimulated into activity, and relieved from the torpor into which they were thrown by sleep, we have them also brought into operation. If, to all this, we add an active state of the organs of speech, inducing us to talk, we are then brought as nearly as the slumbering state admits, into the condition of perfect wakefulness. The following passage from Dr Mason Good will illustrate some of the foregoing points more fully.

near.

'If,' observes he, the external organ of sense thus stimulated be that of sight, the dreamer may perceive objects around him, and be able to distinguish them; and if the tenor of the dreaming ideas should as powerfully operate upon the muscles of locomotion, these also may be thrown into their accustomed state of action, and he may rise from his bed, and make his way to whatever place the drift of his dream may direct him, with perfect ease, and free from danger. He will see more or less distinctly, in proportion as the organ of sight is more or less awake: yet, from the increased exhaustion, and, of course, increased torpor of the other organs, in consequence of an increased demand of sensorial power from the common stock, to supply the action of the sense and muscles immediately engaged, every other sense will probably be thrown into a deeper sleep or torpor than if the whole had been quiescent. Hence, the ears may not be roused even by a sound that might otherwise awake the sleeper. He may be insensible not only to a slight touch, but a severe shaking of the limbs; and may even cough violently, without being recalled from his dream. Having accomplished the object of his visionary pursuit, he may safely return, even over the most dangerous precipices -for he sees them distinctly-to his bed: and the organ of sight being now quite exhausted, or there being no longer any occasion for its use, it may once more associate in the general inactivity, and the dream take a new turn, and consist of a new combination of images.'*

I suspect that sleep-walking is sometimes hereditary, at least I have known instances which gave countonance to such a supposition. Its victims are generally pale, nervous, irritable persons; and it is remarked that they * Good's Study of Medicine, vol. iv. p. 175, 3d edit.

had occasion to remark, is very common among chilattacks of cold perspiration. Somnambulism, I have dren; and I believe that it more frequently affects childhood than any other age. In females, it sometimes arises from amenorrhoea; and any source of bodily or mental irritation may produce it. It is a curious, and not easily explained fact, that the aged, though they dream more than the middle-aged, are less addicted to somnambulism and sleep-talking. Indeed, these phenomena are seldom noticed in old people.

It has been matter of surprise to many, that somnambulists often get into the most langerous situations without experiencing terror. But the explanation of this ought not to be attended with any real difficulty; for we must reflect, that alarm cannot be felt unless we apprehend danger, and that the latter, however great it may be, cannot excite emotion of any kind, so long as we are ignorant of its existence. This is the situation stand. The reasoning faculties, which point out the in which sleep-walkers, in a great majority of cases. existence of danger, are generally in a state of complete slumber, and unable to produce corresponding perceived by a sleep-walker and avoided, as is someemotions in the mind. And even if danger should be

times the case, his want of terror is to be imputed to a of fear originating in high excitement of this particular quiescent state of the organ of cautiousness; the sense part of the brain. That the reasoning faculties, how ever, are sometimes only very partially suspended we not only now and then studiously avoiding danger, but have abundant evidence, in the fact of the individual performing offices which require no small degree of judgment. In the higher ranks of somnambulism, 80 many of the organs of the brain are in activity, and there is such perfect wakefulness of the external senses and locomotive powers, that the person may almost be said

to be awake.

Somnambulism bears a closer analogy than a com mon dream to madness. Like madness, it is accom

panied with muscular action, with coherent and incoherent conduct, and with that complete oblivion (in most cases) of both, which takes place in the worst grade of madness.'*

Somnambulists generally walk with their eyes open, but these organs are, nevertheless frequently asleep, well known to Shakspeare, as is apparent in the fearand do not exercise their functions. This fact was ful instance of Lady Macbeth:

'Doctor. You see her eyes are open.' Gentleman. Ay, but their sense is shot.' The following is a remarkable instance in point, and shows that though the power of vision was suspended, that of hearing continued in full operation.

A female servant in the town of Chelmsford, suring down a flight of stairs in her sleep, and rapping at prised the family, at four o'clock one morning, by walkthe bed-room door of her master, who inquired what she wanted? when, in her usual tone of voice, she requested some cotton, saying that she had torn her gown, but hoped that her mistress would forgive her at the with whom she had been conversing for some time, obsame time bursting into tears. Her fellow-servant, served her get out of bed, and quickly followed her, but returned to her room, and a light having been procured, not before she had related the pitiful story. She then she was found groping to find her cotton-box. Another person went to her, when, perceiving a difference in the voice, she called out, That is a different voice, that is my mistress,' which was not the case thos her, although her eyes were wide open. Upon inquiry clearly showing, that she did not see the object before as to what was the matter, she only said that she wanted her master and mistress, making a fuss abot i some cotton, but that her fellow-servant had been tu It

* Rush's Medical Inquiries

was now thought prudent that she should be allowed to remain quiet for some short time, and she was persuaded to lie down with her fellow-servant, until the usual hour of rising, thinking that she might then awake in her accustomed manner. This failing in effect, her mistress went up to her room, and rather angrily desired her to get up, and go to her work, as it was now six o'clock; this she refused, telling her mistress that if she did not please her, she might look out for another servant, at the same time saying, that she would not rise up at two o'clock, (pointing to the window,) to injure her health for any one. For the sake of a joke, she was told to pack up her things, and start off immediately, but to this she made no reply. She rebuked her fellow-servant for not remaining longer in bed, and shortly after this became quiet. She was afterwards shaken violently, and awoke. She then rose, and seeing the cotton-box disturbed, demanded to know why it had been meddled with, not knowing that she alone was the cause of it. In the course of the day, several questions were put to her in order to try her recollection, but the real fact of her walking, was not made known to her; and she is still quite unconscious of what has transpired.

The next case is of a different description, and exhibits a dormant state of the sense of hearing, while sight appears, throughout, to have been in active ope

ration.

A young man named Johns, who works at Cardrew, near Redruth, being asleep in the sump-house of that mine, was observed by two boys to rise and walk to the door, against which he leaned; shortly after, quitting that position, he walked to the engine-shaft, and safely descended to the depth of twenty fathoms, where he was found by his comrades soon after. with his back resting on the ladder. They called to him, to apprize him of the perilous situation in which he was, but he did not hear them, and they were obliged to shake him roughly till he awoke, when he appeared totally at a loss to account for his being so situated.

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In Lodge's Historical Portraits,' there is a likeness, by Sir Peter Lely, of Lord Culpepper's brother, so famous as a dreamer. In 1686, he was indicted at the Old Bailey, for shooting one of the Guards, and his horse to boot. He pleaded somnambulism, and was acquitted on producing nearly fifty witnesses, to prove the extraordinary things he did in his sleep.

A very curious circumstance is related of Dr Franklin, in the memoirs of that eminent philosopher, published by his grandson. I went out,' said the Doctor, to bathe in Martin's salt water hot bath, in Southampton, and, floating on my back, fell asleep, and slept nearly an hour, by my watch, without sinking or turning a thing I never did before, and should hardly have thought possible.'

A case still more extraordinary occurred some time ago in one of the towns on the coast of Ireland. About two o'clock in the morning, the watchmen on the Revenue quay, were much surprised at descrying a man disporting himself in the water, about a hundred yards from the shore. Intimation having been given to the Revenue boat's crew, they pushed off and succeeded in picking him up, but strange to say, he had no idea whatever of his perilous situation: and it was with the utmost difficulty they could persuade him he was not still in bed. But the most singular part of this novel adventure, and which was afterwards ascertained, was that the man had left his house at twelve o'clock that night, and walked through a difficult, and, to him, dangerous road, a distance of nearly two miles, and had actually swum one mile and a half when he was fortunately discovered and picked up.

Not very long ago a boy was seen fishing off Brest, up to the middle in water. On coming up to him, he was found to be fast asleep.

I know a gentleman who, in consequence of dream

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ing that the house was broken into by thieves, got out of bed, dropped from the window (fortunately a low one) into the street; and was a considerable distance on his way to warn the police, when he was discovered by one of them, who awoke him, and conducted him home.

A case is related of an English clergyman who used to get up in the night, light his candle, write sermons, correct them with interlineations, and retire to bed again; being all the time asleep. The Archbishop of Bourdeaux mentions a similar case of a student, who got up to compose a sermon while asleep, wrote it correctly, read it over from one end to the other, or at least appeared to read it, made corrections on it, scratched out lines, and substituted others, put in its place a word which had been omitted, composed music, wrote it accurately down, and perforined other things equally surprising. Dr Gall takes notice of a miller who was in the habit of getting up every night and attending to his usual avocations at the mill, then returning to bed; on awaking in the morning, he recollected nothing of what passed during night. Martinet speaks of a saddler who was accustomed to rise in his sleep and work at his trade; and Dr Pritchard of a farmer who got out of bed, dressed himself, saddled his horse, and rode to the market, being all the while asleep. Dr Blacklock, on one occasion, rose from bed, to which he had retired at an early hour, came into the room where his family were assembled, conversed with them, and afterwards entertained them with a pleasant song, without any of them suspecting he was asleep, and without his retaining after he awoke, the least recollection of what he had done. It is a singular, yet well authenticated fact, that in the disastrous retreat of Sir John Moore, many of the soldiers fell asleep, yct continued to march along with their comrades.

The stories related of sleep-walkers are, indeed, of so extraordinary a kind, that they would almost seem fictitious, were they not supported by the most incontrovertible evidence. To walk on the house-top, to scale precipices, and descend to the bottom of frightful ravines, are common exploits with the somnambulist; and he performs them with a facility far beyond the power of any man who is completely awake. A story is told of a boy, who dreamed that he got out of bed, and ascended to the summit of an enormous rock, where he found an eagle's nest, which he brought away with him, and placed beneath his bed. Now, the whole of these events actually took place; and what he conceived on awaking to be a mere vision, was proved to have had an actual existence, by the nest being found in the precise spot where he imagined he had put it, and by the evidence of the spectators who beheld his perilous adventure. The precipice which he ascended, was of a nature that must have baffled the most expert mountaineer, and such as, at other times, he never could have scaled. In this instance, the individual was as nearly as possible, without actually being so, awake. All his bodily, and almost the whole of his mental powers, appear to have been in full activity. So far as the latter are concerned, we can only conceive a partial defect of the judgment to have existed, for that it was altogether abolished is pretty evident from the fact of his proceeding to work precisely as he would have done, had he, in his waking hours, seriously resolved to make such an attempt; the defect lay in making the attempt at all; and still more in getting out of bed to do so in the middle of the night.

Somnambulism, as well as lunacy, sometimes bestows supernatural strength upon the individual. Mr Dubrie, a musician in Bath, affords an instance of this kind. One Sunday, while awake, he attempted in vair to force open the window of his bed-room, which chanced to be nailed down; but having got up in his sleep, he repeated the attempt successfully, and threw himself out, by which he unfortunately broke his log.

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