The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1888-08-03
SOl,lnambulisln,

Rev. DR.. Buckley in the July Contu-
ry contributes an article under the
title of "Dreams, nightmare, and
Somnnambulism," from which we
quote the following:
Somnambulism, in it's simplest
form, is seen when persons talk in
their sleep, They are plainly asleep
and dreaming; yet the connection,
ordinarily broken, between the phys
ical organs and the images passing
through the mind is retained or re-
sumcd, i'll whole or inpart. ltis very
common for children to talk more ol
orlcss in their sleep; also many per-
SONS who do not. usually do so are
liable to muttcr if they have over
eaten, or are tevcrish orothcrwise i'll.
Slight movements arc very frequent.
Many who do not fancy that they
have ever exhibited thegrrms ofsom-
nambulism groan, cry out, whisper,
move the hand, or foot, or head,
plainly in connection with i,lcasplss-
ing through the mind From these
incipicnt manifestations of no i'm
portmlcc somambulism reaches
frightful intensity and almost incon-
ccivable complications.
Somnambulists in this country
have recently perpetrated murders,
have even killed their own ,,,.;lil--en:
they have carried furniture out ol
houses, wound UP clocks, iynitcd ron-
flnglations. y carpenter not long
since arose in the night. went into his
shop and began To file Il saw: hut tho
operation awoke him. The cNtl;lur-
tinnry fmts of somlmmlulists in ;.s-
cen'lng to the roofs of houses. tread
ing dangerous placesanl'loin~ many
other things which they could not
have done while awake have often
been described, and in many cilscs
made the subject of close invest, ra-
tiOn. Formerly it w;as believed hv
inany that if they wcr" not awakened
they would in process of time return
to their beds, and there would not hc
amy danger of serious accident hap
prnin% to- them. This has long been
proved false. Many have fallen out
of windows and been killed. and
though some have skirtc,l the brink
of danger safely, til" number of ac-
ci'lrnts to sleeping persons is great.
Essays have been written by
somnnml,ulists. A yul!i.
lady troubled and anxious
about ii prize for which she was to
compete, involving thu writing of nm
essay, arose from her bed inslccpan.l
wrote Il paper upon II subject upon
which she had not INTENDED, tn write
when awake; and this essay secured
for her the prize The same person,
later i'll life, while asleep sc!rrtr, ni.
obnoxious paper from among sever
al documents, put it in II cup, nn'srt
fire To it. She was entirely unaware
of the transaction in the morning.
Intellectual work has sometimes
been done in ordinary dreams nota'-
tended by somnambulism. Th.com-
position of the "l>nbln Khan bv
tolrrilgr while asleep nn, of he l'"v-
Ills sonata" by Tariini, nr" parallel
cd in small way frequently. Pub
lie speakers often dream out dis
courses; and there is IL clergyman
now residing i'll TIL" western part ol
New York state WHO. many Years
ago, dreamed that Ir preached Il
powerful sermon upon n tropic, and
delivered that identical discourse
the following Sunday witllglrnl effect.
But such compositions are not som
nambulistic unless accompanied by
some outward action at the time.