Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1871-08-18


Sleep Walkers. slsEii a
The sleep walkers who 60 from room 70
room. and are very busy in a sort Of world
Of their own, without actually composing
new music or writing new Competitions,
are numerous. The Morning Chronicle.
in 1922, gave an account of a seaman who
slept for night at an inn 10 York. Wish
ing to be called early next morning. and
knowing himself to be heavy sleeper, be
directed the chambermaid to come into his
room and call him if he did not hear Der
knock at the door. Waking when the sun
was high in the heavens, he felt certain
that be had slept far beyond thes proper
time !; but looking for bis watch to know
the hour. be found that It was not in it's
place under the pillow where be had placed
it. He jumped out of the bed to dress
but his clothes were gone; and looking
round, he found himself 10 strange room. ::
He rang the bell T; the chambermaid ap
peared. and then he found that he had, at
some early hour in the morning. left his
bed, and wandered in a somnambulistic
sleep into another room, for when the maid
came to call him he was not in his proper
room. s..
Wienholt relates the case of q student
who. when in somnambulistie state. was
wont to leave his bed. 60 to the paElpr or
to his study, take out pen, ink. and paper.
place music in its proper position on the
pianoforte, and play whole piece through.
with his eyes shut His friends once
turned the music upside down while be
was playing. He somehow detected the
change. and replaced the paper 10 the pro-
per position. On another occasion bis ear
detected note out of tune he tuned the
string, and went on again. On third
occasion he wrote letter to his brother
rational and legible to certain point; but
it was singular to observe that he continued
to write after the pen had lost its ink,
making all the proper movements without
being conscious that be made no more
marks on the paper.
A case is on record Of young lady who,
when under the influence Of particular
nervous complaint. would walk about the
house in state Of sleep or coma. steering
her way safely between the articles Of
furniture, and even avoiding objects pur-
posely placed to obstruct her path. Her
eyes were open. but she evidently did not
see through them in the ordinary sense
for che entirely disregarded strong lights
held close to her eyes. even = finger that
was actually placed against the eyeball.
Physicians are acquainted with many
evidences of persons who do not see with
the eyes, but have some unexplained kind
of vision in certain morbid states Of the
nervous system. -
Those somnsmbulists who wander about
in street and roads. and Qike Amina in
Bellini's opera) walk along narrow planks
in perilous situations. have the muscular
sense, whatever it may be. effectively
awake. DR.. Carpenter notices. at some
length, 1.-The sleep walkers who make their
way over the roofs Of houses, steadily ira
verse narrow planks. and even Chamber
precipices; and this they do with far less
hesitation than they would do in the wax
ing state" The sense Of fear is asleep.
whatever else may be awake Some SOM
nambulists start of while asleep to attend
to their regular work. though under very
irregular circumstances. Not very many
years ago. working stone mason in Kent
was one evening requested by bis master
to 60 next morning to cburchyard in the
neighborhood and measure the work which
had been done to wall, in order that an
account might be sent in to the church
wardens. The man went to bed at the
usual time; but when he awoke be found
himself fully dressed, iu the open air, and
in the dark. Presently q clock struck
two, and he knew that he was in the
cburchyard. As he found that he had .
measuring rod and book in bis hand. he
resolved to walk about till daybreak Git
being summer. weather) and ascertain
what it was that he had really done
He then found that he had measured the
we'll correctly, and had entered the par
ticulars in bis book. Sometimes. instead
of starting up from sleep to 60 to work,
persons will fall asleep while working or
walking. When Sir John Moor made
his famous retreat to Corunna, whole bat
talions of exhausted troops slumbered as
they marched. Muleteers have been
known to sleep while guiding their mules.
coachmen while driving on the box, post
boys while trotting on their horses. and
factory children while at work. There
was rope maker in Germany, who often
fell asleep when at work, and either con-
tinued his work in proper way. or USE
lessly remade cordage already finished. -
Sometimes when walking long distances
he was similarly overtaken with sleep be
went on safely. avoiding horses and carri-
ages. and timber lying in the road. On
one occosion be fell asleep just as he got
on horseback; yet be went on, rode
through shallow river. allowed his horse
to drink. drew up his legs to prevent his
feet from being wetted. passed through a
crowded market place. and arrived safely
at the house of an acquaintance his eyes
were closed the whole time. and he awoke
just after reaching the house.
Gassendi describes case Of man who
used to rise in the night, dress himself
while asleep. 60 down to the cellar. draw
wine from cask. and walk back to bis
bed without stumbling over anything. #