Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-08-30
ABOUT SLEEP WALKERS.
EVIDENCES OF MEMORY AS A FAC
TOR IN SPONTANEOUSLY.

OH in SOMlSHM0OElOm.
Some Curious Phenomena of Magnetic
Sleep Described by Physicians and Others.
Things Forgotten for Years Recalled to
Memory in Dreams.
The connection between natural sleep and
magnetic or mesmeric sleep is SO close that
the former has been called ''incipient SOM
nambulisn."
1t has been proved by repeated expert
ments that natural sleep is the most favor
able moment for magnetizing any one. AS a
rule, sleeping persons can be magnetized with
more ease and success than if they were
awake; but it is not necessary to believe all
the extravagant miracles which are claimed
as the result of the exercise of animal mag
netism
TALKING LATIN GREEK AND HEBREW.
A good many of the phenomena of SOM
nambulism are explainable by memory.
There is an authenticated case Of distin-
guished musician who once dreamed he was
listening to remarkable piece of music per-
formed by some singers He remembered the
melody on awaking, and was so delighted
with it that he at once wrote it down. Sew
eral years afterward he was turning over
some old sheets of music that he had never
seen before-as he thought-he came upon the
very melody he had dreamed. He could not
remember that he hadever seen or heard this
melody except in his dream, and yet it is be-
yond doubt that lie had heard it, that he had
forgotten it, and that it had been reproduced
in his dream in the manner recorded.
Coleridge tells of a maid servant who in
the delirium of fever, repeated long passages
in Latin, Greek and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
which she neither understood nor could pro-
nounce when in health, but which she had
heard former master often reading aloud
An even more remarkable case is mentioned
by DR.. Mayo This was of a girl who, knowing
absolutely nothing Of astronomy and mathe-
MATES, once, in somnambulistic state, wrote
down the pages of an astronomical treatise,
with calculations and delineations. 1t was
found that this was taken from the Encyclo-
p9dia Britannica, which she said she had read
in the library. But when awake she could
not recall word of it.
These are but some of many illustrations
which might be given Of cases where what
appeared at first to be remarkable original
productions were only reproductions of MEM
DRY long dormant. They show that sleep
and delirium often reverse the former process
of forgetting, and that, as Du Prel says. we
possess latent memory, the contents of
which partially returns in dreams; some
times with, but often without, recollection.
The exaltation of memory which takes place
in sleep explains many remarkable dreams
and somnambulistic notions, to which super
stitious OF mystic significance is supposed to
attach
Du Prel mentions the case of girl, en-
lo,.I 49,
divided only by a thin partition from that of
violin player, who used to play often dur
ing half the night. This girl, after some
months, got another place, and after she had
been there for some two years sounds began
to be heard coming from her room exactly
like those of violin. This went on for
hours, and, with irregular intervals, lasted
for two years. Then the girl began to repro
duce tones of piano which was played in
the family and afterward began to discourse
in her sleep, in a learned and sarcastic man
ner, on religious and political subjects. In
every case she was reproducing in sleep what
she had heard said OF played by members of
the family or visitors.
There is another case mentioned by an
other writer-De Boisnont. A widow was
sued for debt of her deceased husband,
which she knew was paid. But she could not
find the receipt. Greatly disturbed, she went
to bed and dreamed that her husband came
to her and said that the receipt was in a red
velvet bag in hidden drawer Of his desk
This she found on waking to be the case. OF
course, she had known of the hiding place
before, but had forgotten.
MANY CURIOUS INSTANCES.
We shall now give number of curious in
stances of the action and reaction of memory
in somnambulism, culled from number of
German and other scientific writers, and
cited by Du Prel.
A basketmaker named Mohk observed by
Varnhagen, once heard sermon which great
ly impressed him. The following night he
got up and walked in his sleep, repeating
word for word the discourse he had heard.
He continued to do this at intervals for forty
years, although on waking he knew nothing
of what he had done,
A celebrated female somnambulist named
Selma is known to have repeated, when
asleep, poem which she had heard year
before, and once she recited poem by her
brother which he himself no longer knew,
having lost it for thirteen years.
The French scientist, Ricard, knew
young male somnambulist who, when in the
magnetic sleep, could recite almost word for
word book he had read the day before or
sermon which he had heard. Another
French subject could give when asleep the
names, composition and quantities of the
numerous medicines which had been pre-
scribed for her by different physicians dur
ing her illness, yet when awake she knew
nothing about them.
DR.. Wienholt had a patient with a very
bad memory i'll waking, but who during SOM
nambulism could recite long passages from
book she had been reading.
DR.. SCHNEIDER had a patient who, in the
magnetic sleep, could give the whole history
of her disease, many incidents of which the
physician had himself forgotten.
The French DR.. Puysegur testifies to pa
tent he had who, when years old, had suf-
fered injury to the head with consequent
surgical operation, which so destroyed the
memory that he could not recollect a thing
which happened an hour before. Yet in
somnambulism this patient recollected every
thing exactly, could describe the operation
which he had undergone, and predicted that
he should never recover his waking memory,
as, indeed, proved to be the case.
Lafontaine, a once famous mesmerizer, has
recorded an experiment which he says he
once made himself at Rennes A young ac-
tress there had asked him to put her to sleep,
but requested to be awakened in good time
for rehearsal, as she had only read once
part which she was to perform that night.
Instead of waking her, however, Lafontains
induced her to go on the stage in her SOM
pambulic condition and to go through her
part without mistake. Yet when Weakened
Immediately afterward she could neither re-
member it nor that she had just repeated it.
All the Year Round.