The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-08-15
LONG SLEEPS.
Two Persons Who Are Making q
Great Record.

There have been numerous instances
In which persons have slept for weeks
without awakening. and usually they
nervous disorder.
Probably the most remarkable sleeper
Of modern times is Herman Harms, a
citizen OF st. Charles. Mimi He has
slept almost continuously for twenty
years. and Is still In the land of the ltv-
ing. He fell asleep In 1873. when he was
twenty-six years of age, and was at
that time perfectly sound i'm mind and
body, weighing $50 pounds. Though he
has been fed systematically as well as
circumstances Will allow during the
whole OF his long sleep. he has been re-
duced TO scarcely half his former
weight, being only eighty-four pounds.
Harms Is fed usually once a day,
but sometimes goes two or three days
without drink. all his food being I'm
liquid form. He Is the father OF family
of five, none OF whom display any signs
OF the unhappy malady which has kept
their rather unconscious for twenty
years.
Periodically the sleeper awakens for
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 un-
aware of the state through which 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 I'm less
than a week after he had awakened.
and 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 to cause
slight twitch of the muscles, as III the
sleeper felt pain, and the next moment
he is once more In q dead stupor. All
sorts of explanations have been offered
of this mystery, and doctors have va
riously stated that Harms suffers from
Brights disease. heart trouble or soft
ening Of the brain, but so far no sat-
iefactory conclusion has been arrived
at as to the cause of his marvellous
sleep. IL Is an aspect of physical science
which has yet to be solved. Catalepsy
frequently takes peculiar form, which
is quite as difficult TO account for as
the disease itself, for the doctors are
agreed that somnambulism of this kind
is a disease. and that no person in good
health ever sleeps for such abnormal
periods.
One of the most eccentric cataleptics
ever known. says the London Globe.
was Elizabeth Perkins who lived In
Norfolk. This old lady spent most of
her later life in a state of unconscious
ness, but regularly awoke one day In
seven. and in the philosophical Trans
actions" the case is mentioned OF Eliz-
abeth Orrin, who. for ten years, never
slept less than seventeen out of twenty
four hours, and was perfectly sane
when awake. Another remarkable fea-
ture of this strange ailment Is that IL
seizes its victims without the slightest
warning, and that while Ii locks some
persons In slumber for years, others
are released after a week or month.
In 1856 lady fell asleep for seven
days, and awoke at the end OF the
week. as usual, and in the summer OF
the same year a Russian soldier fell
asleep in an English workhouse, and
did not awake until the following Au-
gust. These comparatively short sleeps
are often traceable to nervousness or
physical weakness. Fright appears to
be the most common cause OF long sleep
Some years ago young woman was on
exhibition In various places who had
been asleep since she was twtsve years
old At that age the child suffered Sc
we're attack of fever, on recovering
from which she relapsed into a deep
sleep, in which she remained more or
less until her death, which took place
at the age OF twenty-six. after she had
been asleep fourteen years.
During the first few months of her
sleep the girl awoke twice every
twenty-four hours for about ten min
utes; but in her most wakeful intervals
she appeared anxious to go to sleep.
and when once soundly asleep nothing
could rouse her. She never complained
of pain. but when asleep her hands
were always clutched tightly and she
appeared extremely nervous. occasion
ally suffering from a violent jerking
and twiching of the muscles and limbs.
Several cases have come under notice
during the last few years OF persons
falling asleep for "a week or more.