The Florence tribune., 1898-11-19
THEY SLEPT SOUNDLY
A Minnesota Man and an English
 Woman Who Made Records.
The Man Hxs Slept Almost Constant Iy Since 1875 = Other Re- zarkabIe Irstamces of
 the Kind.
Probably the most remarkable s1eene- of 1ncdern times is Herman

Probably the most remarkable sleeper of modern times is Herman Harms. citizen Of st. Charles MinA, He has slept almost continuously for g years, and is still in the land of the living He fell asleep in 1el5, when he was 26 yeara "A aisz. and was at thai time perfectly sound in mind and body weighing : stone Though he has been fed systematically as well as circum- stances wil allow during the whole of his long sleep, he has been reduced t. 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 his food being in liquid form. He is the father of a family of five, none of whom dis plays any signs of the unhappy malady which has kept their father unccn- scious for 20 years.
 Periodically the sleeper awakens for a short interval, but he invariably re- lapses again into slumber. h 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 sieeF in less than a week after he had awakened, and has since slept the sleer of the living. Numerous physicians have given their attention to the case and various means of arousing the man from hss 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 a slight twitch Of the muscles as if the sleeper felt pain, and the next moment he is once more in dead l stupor. All sorts of explanations have been offered of this mystery, and doe 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. It is an aspect ot physical science which has yet 10 be solved Catalepsy frequently takes Q I peculiar form, which is quite as 5if 1 hcult to account for as the disease it. self, for the doctors agree that som nambulism, such as We have described i is a disease, and that no person in good health erer sleeps for such abnormal periods.
 One of the most eccentric catalep- tics ever known was Elizabeth Per kins, who lived in Norfolk. This old lady spent most of her later life in a state of uneonseiousness, but Tegu- l larly awoke one day in seven, and in the philosophical Transactions" the case is mentioned of Elizabeth Orrin, who for ten years never slept less than 1T out of q hours, and was perfectly sane when awake. Another remarka- bic feature of this strange ailment is that it seizes it's victims without the slightest warning, and that while it locks some persons in slumber for years others are released after a week or a month.
 In 1886 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 sailor fell asleep in an English workhouse, and did not awake till the following August. 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 12 years old. At that age the child suffered severe attack of fever, on recovering from which she relapsed into deep sleep in which she remained more or lessun- til her death, which took place at the age of 25, after she had been asleep II years.
 During the first few months of hel sleep the girl awoke twice every g hours for about ten minutes; but il her most wakeful intervals she ap 9eared anxious to go to sleep, an. when once soundly asleep nothing could rouse her. She never complained of pain, but when asleep her hand; were always elutched tightly and she appeared extremely nervous, occasion. ally suffering from a violent jerking and twitching of her muscles and limbs. Several cases have come under lotice during the last few years oi persons falling asleep for week ol more.