Weekly Trinity journal., 1876-05-06
SOMNAMBVLIS1E.

Sleep writing is not the least notewor
thy among these phenomena. Indeed
some of the instances are ineNplicable il
the present state of our knowledge; fo
things are done with closed eyes Will,
asleep, which the persons certainly could
not have done with closed eyes when
awake. In some eases, although the
eyes are open, ordinary vision does not
seem to be performed by them. Itwould
almost appear as il we were endowed
with an additional sense which only makes
itself manifest in tie somuambulistie
state. Be this rs it may, tho recorded
examples are deeply interesting. Ayounq
French ecclesiastic frequently rose in tn,
middle OF the night, won't to table tool
/ pen and ink and wrote portions OF sermons
1t was not mere mechanical work-h,
would make frequent corrections TO i'm
prove the grammar and syntax of tn,
/ composition, chaogiss fai. instance, "c,
dlvln eniant" into "cet adorable eniant,'
and then into "cet enlaut adorable" On
one occasion, when watched by the Arch
bishop of Bordeaux, experiments were
made to ascertain what kind of vision was
being eXerted. \ sheet of writing paper
quietly and cautiously substituted for that
which the sCmnambulist had placed be-
fore him. He did not recognize the
.ltu -, =,
size and shape; an Opaque screen was
placed between his eyes and the paper,
but he wrote on just the same. In another
case, young poet, not having flushed
some stanzas before he went to bed, rose
in the night, went to his table, and Gnishcd
thenl-so mach to his satisfaction that he
appiauded hiss own genius and taste in
the morning he remembered nothing OF
the matter DIR. Carpenter mentions the
instance Of Il man who wrote accurately
in his sleep, placing his words at good
distances apart, dottng every and cross
ing every {. 4 young collegian got out
of bed asleep, lit Il candle, sat down 10 a
table, took some pon and paper, wrote
out some geometrical and algebraic prob
lens, eAtinguished tho light and went to
/ bed again--his eyes closed all the time.
| Ga one occasion an Amsterdam banker
requested II mathematical professor t.
work out a very intricate calculation fol
him; the professor SGT his pupils to work.
One of them went TO bed with his mind
tull OF the subject, and in the morning
was not ii;ilo surprised to find his table
covered with sheets Of paper on which the
calculation was fully aud satisfactorily
developed. TIE writing was in his own
hand he had risen in the night and done
it while asleep.
Walking, without talking or working,
is familiar kind of somnam bulistic man
Hesitation. BelIini's Sonnambula" hits
the right no.e here; poor Amina walks
in her sleep, "A tendency which first rousos
the suspicious Of her lover, and afterwards
supplies the means of removing them.
DR.. Carpenter adyerts to "sloep- walkers
who make their way over the roofs Of
houses, steadily traverse narrow plnnks,
and even Chamber precipces aud this
they do with far less hesitation than they
would in their walking state" Muratori
speaks OF an Italian noblcman, Signor
I Agostno Forari, who was much prone to
s,eep walking, especially during the wan
ing Of the moon. One evening he played
at cards with some friends, and went to
bed emly. His servant told the guests
that from symptoms already familiar to
him, he believed that his master would
walk in his sleep that night Forari was
laying on his back, with staring, but un-
conscious eyes, cold hands and slow
pulse. At midnight ne drew aside hi.
bed curtains, rose, dressed, put on his ha
I and sword belt, went to the fire as it tC
warm himself, went to u wardrobe closet
came out again, locked the door and put
the key in his pocket. The watchers held
a lighted candle close before his eyes, but
he took no notice OF it, aud did not seem
TO sec it. lie went down stairs, out to
and appeared confused when he failed to
find tho saddle. llo mounted him, but
gave up his intention Of riding on finding
tho gate Of the court yard locked ho led
his horse to water trough and allowed
him to drink, tied him to post and re-
turned into the house. Going into the
billiard room he made few movements
with II cue, MS ifpaying; thon touched a
few keys Of the harpsichord, threw him
self on the bed in his clothes, and slept
soundiy for ten hours. The servant eau
toned the guests not to disturb him by
any sudden noise during his strange, un-
conscious wanderings, a5 it might nery-
ously affect his mind. A young lady
when injuriously iii, was proue to walk
about the house in state Of sleep, never
falling over the furniture or other obsta-
cles her eyes were open, but she did not
see in the ordinary way, for 10 wlnklng
or movement Of the eye took place when
strong light was held close to her face,
In part OF France where men are much
accustomed to walk on stills, over swampy
ground, a somnambulist ono night walked
across swollen torrent on stills; on
awaking he found himself too much afraid
to recross tie same torrent by daylight.
Riding, instead Of, or in addition to
walking, is sometimes as amusing as 1t Is
wonderful, in connection with the uncon-
scious freaks Of somnambuli A man
accustomed to attend weekly market
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