Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-08-25

4 correspondent Of the Paris Sentinel commani-
Gates the following:
Eight miles from Hickman, On the Hickman and
Troy road there is young lady strangely affected.
She is the daughter Of poor widow, Mrs. GOdsey
This lady has been sleeping twelve years. visited
there some three weeks ago, arrived there at four
o'clock in the afternoon, when she happened 70 be
awake-she wakes up twice in the forenoon, twice
IN the afternoon and at night at regular hours
The following conversation l had with her How
do you feel tins evening ~ VERY sick )" she said
How long have you been sick =" Il do not know
my memory IS so very poor can recOllect anything
but q very short While.' What ails yOuw ~ Il
have the headache very bad, sir" what part of
your head achesr "A1 through it Her mother
then asked her few question s. and soon she fell
asleep and could not De walked or made to notice
anything. / laid her hands about in differ
ent positions. and moved her head about; they
remained just as placed them. Her fingers and
the muscles Of her arms were in a cOntinual state
of quivering OF jerking. After lying quiet some
twenty minutes she suddenly began to shake very
hard-more severely than any one with sgue;
her whole body rolled back and to about four in
ches rapidly any one can move his hand TO and
fro in that distance; it erked her so severely that
it almost frightened me. This continued about one
minute, she then lay quiet about another twenty
minutes, when suddenly her head raised perpen-
dicular to her body, which lay fiat on the bed and
she gave some distressing grOans, began to hold
her head but her mother said not In thirty see
onds she fell back calm as evar-this WAS 4 cramp-
ing spell In about thirty minutes shs took another
shaking spell-al the time sOunq asleep. These
spells are very frequent bat nOtreguar; were much
worse during the first three or four years
Of Cher aflctiOn just at ten O'Clock at
night she begins to shake very aeverely and con-
tinues one hour at eleven she wakes up few min
utes her walking spells last about fifteen minutes,
at some Of these times something nustbe ready for
hear to eat and given to her-she never asks for it.
nor does she talk a. sll unless spoken to- She has
been thus afflicted with but little change for twelve
years. was first taken with the chllls at the age Of
ten, while little girl and fell into her present
state; since then she has grown to be taller than
her mother who is an ordinary sized woman Her
finger and toe nails have never grown any, are just
even with the flesh, and have never been trimmed;
her hair is fine and beautiful dark chestnut, and
grows very fast her features fine al regulars her
skin fair; her face has no appearance OF disease.
We're she sitting up and nicely attlre0 she might be
called beautiful.
As to the cause of her strange aHilc ton, no one
knows. Some physicians. among whom are Drs.
Cutler and Hawkins say the wrong medicines were
given her 10 cure the chills Those shaking and
cramping spells, although they resemble death,
probably keep her alive for this is the only exer-
else she gets as she is unable to sit up 1t would
pay any physician seeking knowledge, to visit
her.