Evening journal., 1898-09-30
THEY SLEPT SOUNDLY
A Minnesota Man and an English
Woman Who Made Records.
rhe Man Has slept Almost Constants
Iy since 1876 - Other Re-
marknbIe Instances of
the Kind.

Probably the most remarkable
sleeper of modern times is Herman
Harms, a citizen Of St. Charles. Mimi.
He has slept almost continuously for
% years, and is still in the land of the
living. He fell asleep in 1875, when he
was 26 years of age, and was at that
time perfectly sound in mind and body,
weighing 10 stone. Though he has been
fed systematically as well as circum-
stances will allow during the whole OF
his long sleep, he has been reduced 10
less than half his former weight, being
only six stone. Harms is fed usually
once day, but sometimes goes two or
three days without drink, all hisfood
being in liquid form. He Is the father
of family of five, none of whom dis
plays any signs of the unhappy malady
which has kept their father uncon-
scious for 20 years.
Periodically the sleeper awakens for
a short interval, but he invariably re-
lapses again into slumber. In his mo-
ments Of partial consciousness he rec
ognizes friends, and appears to be uu-
aware Of the state through whish he
is passing. A year ago he was awake
for some days, and every effort was
made to preserve his consciousness,
but in vain. Harms sank back TO sleep
in less than week after he had
awakened, and has since slept the sleep
of the living. Numerous physicians
have given their attention to the case
and various means of arousing the man
from his lethargy have been tried
without avail.
Powerful electric batteries have
been applied to the body again and
again, but the only effect has been T.
cause slight twitch of the muscles
as if the sleeper felt pain, and the next
moment he is once more In dead
stupor. All sorts Of explanations have
been offered of this mystery, and doc
tors have variously stated that Harms
suffered from Bright's disease. heart
trouble or softening of the brain, but
so far no satisfactory conclusion has
been arrived at as to the cause OF his
marvellous sleep. 1t is an aspect Of
physical science which has yet to be
solved. Catalepsy frequently takes a
peculiar form, which is quite as diff
iicult to account for as the disease IL
self, for the doctors agree that som
nambulism, such as we have described,
is a disease, and that no person in good
health ever sleeps for such abnormal
periods.
One Of the most eccentric catalep-
tics ever known was Elizabeth Per-
xins, who lived in Norfolk. This old
lady spent most of her later life in a
state of Inconsistencies, but regu
! larly awoke one day in seven, and In
= the philosophical Transactions" the
y case is mentioned of Elizabeth Orrin
= who for ten years never slept less thar
o II out of "a hours, and was perfect!
sane when awake. Another reDiarka
: bic feature of this strange ailment il
: that it seizes its victims without the
slightest warning, and that while il
locks some persons in slumber foI
years others are released after weeh
or a month.
, In 1886 a lady fell asleep for sever
days and awoke at the end of the week
as usual, and in the summer of the
same year a Russian sailor fell asleeI
in an English workhouse, and did mo-
r awake till the following August. These
comparatively short sleeps are OTTER
/. traceable to nervousness or physica
a weakness. Fright appears TO be thu
- most common cause of long sleep
Some years ago a young woman was OF
= exhibition in various places who hat
y been asleep since she was 10 years old
r. At that agethe child suffered a sever,
attack of fever, on recovering from
l. which she relapsed into a deep sleep
= in which she remained more or less un
c til her death, which took place at th
age of 26, after she had been asleep 1
\ years.
! During the first few months OF he
: sleep the girl awolSe twice every ?
hours for about ten minutes; but Il
her most wakeful intervals she ap
. peared anxious to go to sleep, an
y when once soundly asleep nothing
could rouse her. She never complaine
= of pain, but when asleep her hand
= were always clutched tightly and sh
appeared extremely nervous, occasion
. ally suffering from a violent jerkin
and twitching of her muscles an
: limbs. Several cases have come unde
J. notice during the last few years O
persons falling asleep for week o
more.
10 Two policemen on duty in the Ru
A. de Rivoi, Paris, observed a man, az
s. parently intoxicated, walking along
who suddenly fell down at the foot q
l. bridge. On being picked up he wa
lie found to be sound asleep, aud wa
r. taken to a police cell as a drunk,
As he did not awake, however. the al
L rested man was taken TO q hospita
where he awoke after a sleep OF thre
or four weeks. A hospital patient
o Germany recently slept for over fou
DC months and then left the hospital r.
covered; and not long ago servar
y, girl at Cheltenham slept more or les
continuously for a week in local ho
n, pital.-London Globe.
W siIenced.
n At the great meeting in st. Jane
hail in the summer OF 1868, TO protes