Daily camera., 1898-11-18
THEY SLEPT SOUNDLY
A kinxessta Man and an English
Woman Whs Made kecerdA
-. - Mss slsps Al-s't CONSTANT
~ SAass 1875 = otAss
oAsAabls Isstsssss sf
Ne Kt1a.

He has slept almost continuously 1oi
% wears, and is still in the land OF the
living. He fell asleep in 1875, when he
was rs years of age, and was at that
time perfectly sound in mind and BODY
weighing l3 stone. Though he has been
ted systema tically as well as circum'
stances will allow during the whole OF
his long sleep, he has been reduced te
less than half his former weight, being
only six stone. Harms is fed usually
once a day, but sometimes goes two OF
three days without drink, all his 1000
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 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 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
in less than week after he hao
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 a slight twitch of the muscles
as il 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 doc
tors have variously stated that Harm
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 dit
ficult to account for as the disease it.
self, for the doctors agree that SOM
nambulism, such as we have described.
is disease, and that no person in good
health ever sleeps for such abnormal
periods.
One Of tho most eccentric catalep-
tics ever known was Elizabeth Per
kirs, who lived in Norfolk. This old
lady spent most Of her later life in
state OF Inconsistencies, but regu
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 thar
II out Of "a hours, and was perfectly
sane when awake. Another remarka-
BILE feature of this strange ailment is
that il seizes its victims without the
slightest warning, and that while 1t
locks some persons in slumber for
wears others are released after a week
or a month. #s ra.
In 1885 a lady fell asleep for seven
days and awoke at the end OF the week
as usual, and in the summer OF the
same year Russian sailor fell asleep
in an English workhouse. and did rot
awake till the following August. These
comparatively short sleeps are Otter
traceable to nervousness or physica
weakness. Fright appears to be +:
most common cause OF long sleep
Some years ago young woman was O.
exhibition in various places who hac
been asleep since she was IL years 0 ID
At that age the child suffered sever:
attack Of fever, on recovering from
which she relapsed into deep sleep
in which she remained more or less IN
til her death, which took place at be
age of 26, after she had been asleep IA
years. sJDEG18l
During the first few months of her
sleep the, girl awoke twice every q
hours for about ten minutes; but IN
her most wakeful intervals she ap
peared anxious to go to sleep, ana
when once soundly asleep nothing
could rouse her. She never complained ed
OF pain. but when asleep her hand'
were always clutched tightly and she
appeared extremely nervous, occasion.
ally suffering from a violent jerking
and Itching of her muscles and
limbs. Several cases have come under
notice during the last few years of
persons falling asleep for week or
more.
Two policemen on duty in the Rue
de Rivoli, Paris, observed man, ap-
parently intoxicated, walking along,
who suddenly fell down at the foot of
q bridge. On being picked up he was
found to be sound asleep, and was
taken to police cell as "drunk." :"
AS he did not awake, however, the ar
rested man was taken to hospital.
where he awoke after sleep Of three
or four weeks. A hospital patient in
Germany recently slept, for over four
months and then left the hospital re-
covered; and not long ago servant
girl at Cheltenham slept more or less
continuously for week in local hos
Globe.
sussests Itself.
Amateur Scientist-Can you explain