The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-10-02

FRENCH Was VI Tic very palQ6SL English
school girl possib le. Happening, hoWey-
or, to fall asleep some days latter over q
French lesson, to the establishment Of our
teacher she began to speak with ease. In
one Of those frances one OF the girls no
ticed that the top of her thumbs -or rath-
or, not quite the top, but the part just
opposite the nailWas black. She took
hold OF her hand, and touching it, said,
Whats the matter with your hand, Lii
an2n %a 3 III. d. H. u JAW 52
Lillian snatehed away her hand, cry.
ing, "Oh don't; you hurt my eyes u q NJ
We noticed after this that all reading
whilst in these frances was conducted
by means of the thumbs; her eyes fixed
on vacancy, she would sit passing her
thumbs from line to line Of the book.
The lessons thus learned were never re-
membered in her waking moments, but
always came back in any succeeding
trance. This popularity has seemed In,
credible TO most people who have. heard
| it, and indeed is incomprehensible; but
| it IS in all respects never heless true. She
used sometimes to play the piano in
these frances and although when awake
she could not play better than child Of
eight or ten years Of age, she performed
| very fairly in her sleep; indeed had it not
been for the thumb difficulty, she would
have played very we'll; but she had to
twist her thumbs in a peculiar manner,
| to prevent touching the black spot
through which she seemed to see.
Still more. extraordinary were her
drawing powers when asleep. I have
still portrait Of herself done in one Of
these frances, and one night she drew in
crayons on her door an exquisite figure Of
an angel. Although when awake she
could not remember the events which
had taken place during her trance, in her
frances she solved the difficulties of her
waking moments. One night she was
much provoked at the appearance Of a
bonnet sent by her milliner, as far too
small for the fashion Of those days. When
she woke the next day, she found that
she had got up in her sleep and altered
the bonnet most shillfully by letting in
some cardboard covered with black silk.
It was quite common thing for her to
60 to bed with her masses of raven black
hair down her back and to fnd it most
deliberately plated on waking In the
morning; and have known her to alter
articles OF wearing apparel in her sleep.
She also seemed to haYe gift Of second
sight. In one Of these frances she was
noticed to be in very low spirits and at
last to burst into tears. On being asked
the cause Of her tears, she said she could
see her betrothed in London flirting with
another girl. Shortly after came letter
from her guardian with such accounts Of
the young mans behavior with the Girl
Of whom Lillian had been Jealous, that the
engagement was broken off.
She told most Of cur fortunes in her
sleep; but IN my case / am bound to con
TESS, without success. Whether she was
more correct in regard to herself, do
not know. She foretold that she would
be killed by fall from her horse at the
age Of thirty. But it seemed unlikely she
would live to that age if her som.
nambulism continued, as after these
frances she often had the most fearful
illness, both heart and brain being effect
ed by them. One of the worst Of these
came On after a trance she had fallen into
at church; she walked, still asleep, out
with us afterwards, but unluckly woke in
! the Champs Elysees, and was SO terrified
that it was with difficulty we got her
| home. When at length we did SO, she
| had a terrible illness, from which she was
scarcely expected to recover.
| She had the best physicians in PARIS.
and they one and all declared hers to be
the most wonderful case Of somnambul-
ism heard Of in the present generation,
with oneexception that Of young man.
the particulars of whose story, however, I
do not know. The disease (for such,
of course, it was) was accounted for by
them as the result of an over amount Of
brain, causing consequent pressure. She
may be sand to have had a brain for wax
ing purposes, and one that acted when
she was asleep. What one brain knew
the other did not. Evidently the sleep
ing brain was the cleverest. The waking
brain lacked intelligence. While the
sleeping brain was active she was in a
state OF somnambulism, and could do
things that could not possibly have been
| attempted in her waking moments. Her
condition was,of course, unnatural; it was
| diseased-very curious and unhealthy.
The cleverest doctors in Paris who were
consulted could do nothing Tor her. ',os ss.
! What became of this extraordinary girl
after she left school do not know, L quite
lost sight Of her, and have done so for q
/ quarter of a century. But sifl her por-
trait often reminds me of her. 1T is in
water colors, somewhat coarsely, bu.cley-
erly drawn, and gives good idea Of her.
Her massive braids of hair it especially
exhibits to perfection; she wore it in a
coronet over her head, in a style peculiar
to herself This picture has, however, a
disagreeable impression upon those who
look at it, from the fact that the eyes seem
to follow you wherever you 60
For ourselves at school, I cannot say
whether we felt most fear of our unu-
sual school fellow, or most curiosity about
her, q curiosity which we were always
| able to crafty in her sleep. She, was con.
| scious herself that she often said things in
4 those frances which she would not have
said when she was awake, and used to beg
us not to repeat to her any OF the things she
had said to us, which, however, our natu-
raj sense of honor would have forbidden
us from doing; nor indeed did we take
any unfair advantage Of her popularity
only, when she was inclined to talk in be-