The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1880-05-13
Solving Riddles In Her Sleep.

There is girl at Ruddle's Mills, KY,
who is proving to be decided natural
curiosity. Her name is Lizzie CollinY,
and she is the daughter Of William Col
Inns, who lives near here. Lizzie is only
thirteen years of age, and for some time
past has been a terrible sufferer. Her
nervous system is completely shattered
Her left side, two of her fingers on her
lett hand, and the left side OF hcI tongue
are completely paralyzed, She has been
in this condition for about five months,
When the symptoms first made their ap-
pearance, her parents called in the ad.
vice of the best physicians in the coun-
try, but they were unable to afford her
any rclicl. The disease grew worse, and
at last physicians in all parts of the
State grew Interested
A peculiar feature in the case was the
constant inclination 10 sleep manifested
by the patient. She would sleep for
hours at time, and while in that CON
ditioh her contorti0nI were frightful TO
witness, and during her hours OF waking
she says she suffers terribly while un-
conscious. But the most astonishing
feature of all is the wonderful fcats per
formed by the girl while asleep.
A few days ago several gentlemen OF
high standing in tie community deter
mined to watch Lizzie during one of her
somnolent spells. AS soon as she had
fallen asleep, which she seemed to do
quite naturally, she quickly gave eyi
dencc of being in great pain. This feel.
ing, however, apparently passed away
after little while, and then she asked
in perfectly audible tone of voice;
"Mamma, are you there"
Her mother was standing few feet
from her bedside, and quickly replit d
dyes, dear, | am here. What do you
want?'
"Bring me my arithmetic, please; |
must get my lessons learned for to'mor-
row."
The parents say this is her usual re.
quest. She seems to imagine that she
is attending school again. The mother
brought the desired book, and Lizzia
with her eyes closed, solved the most
difficult problem with the greatest ease
One of the gentlemen presently passed
lighted candle in front of her face
several times, but she seemed entirely
unconscious of its proximity. Her
bosom rose and fell quite naturally, and
the eyelids nevcr moved. She was fast
asleep.
The next test was the inevitable "l5"
puzzle. To the astonishmcnt OF ali pres.
cnt she treated this mathematical won
der, that is puzzling half the country,
with perfect Indifference, for under her
dcft manipulation, the l3, If and -
came out bold aud clear at every ven
turc. Although she was tested in vari-
on1 ways, she never failed once in solv
ing this difficult riddle, and did 80 ap
parently with the greatest case. In
addition to this, she is in the habit of
calling for pen and ink, and, upon
small writing desk being placed upon
the red, she will write the most elegant
and ai'cctionatc letters to her fricnds,
reading them over, correcting all errors
and, with carcts, supplying all words
that she may inadvertently leave ont.
The visitors present on the occasion
referred to awakened her suddenly,
when she exhibited the most complete
surprise on being presented with the
letters she had written and told OF the
mathematical problem she had solved.
She was a.kcl 10 repeat some Of the lat
ter, bat WAS totally unable Her re.
markahlc powers have mysti'ed every
scientific man in the State, and numbers
c,npi,piIy whit iho hnuvo vyhn,, ul,n