The Winslow mail., 1899-05-20
THEY SLEPT SOUNDLI
A Minnesota Msn and an English
Woman Who Made Records.
The Man Has Slept Almost Constant
" Since 1873 other Re-
marEGblc 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
23 years, and is still in the land Of The
living Ee fell asleep in 1875. when he
was 25 years OF age, and was at tha
time perfectly sound in mind and body
weighing 13 stone. Thoug he has bee.
fed systematically rs well as circun
stances will allow during the whole
his long sleep, he has been reduced t
less than half his former weight, being
only six stone. Harms is fed usuali-
once day. but sometimes goes two O.
three days without drink, all his food
being in liquid form. lie is the father
CT a family Of five, none Of whom dis
plays any signs of the unhappy malady
which has kept their father uncon
scicus for 90 years.
Periodically the sleeper awakens for
a short interval, but he invariably re
lapses again into siumber 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 awaha
for some days, and every effort wa
made to preserve his consciousness.
but in vain. Harms sank back 0 siee.
in less than week after he hat
awakened, and has since slept the sleei
of the living. Numerous physician
have given their attention to the casa
and various means of arousing the man
from L9j lethargy have been tried
without avail.
Powerful electric batteries hav7
been applied to the body again ane
again, but the only effect has been
cause Slight tvitch of the muscla
as if the sleeper felt pain, and the me-
moment he is once more in a dea
stupor All sorts Of explanations baE.
been offered OF this mystery, and doc
tors have varicusly stated that Harm
suffered from Bright's disease. hear
trouble or softening Of the brain, bu
so far no satisfactory conclusion ha
been arrived at as to the cause Of b
raarvelous sleep. It is an aspect q
hysical science which has yet to b
soved Catalepsy frequently takes
reouliar form, which is quite as dif-
hcult to account for as the disease il
self, for the doctors agree that som
nambulism, such as we have described
IS disease, ard that no person il good
health ever sleeps for such abnorma
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
state Of unconsciousness but reg
larly awoke one day in seven. ana
the "Philosophical Transactions II
ease is mentioned of Elizabeth Grin
who for ten years never slept less hal
II out of 24 hours, and was perfecti1
sane when awake. Another remarl1a-
be feature Of this strange aiimertis
that it seizes its victims without the
slightest warning, and that while j.
locks some persons in slumber for
years others are released after a week
or month.
In 1886 a lady fell asleep for sever
days and awoke at the end of the weel
as usual and in the summer of {.
same year a Russian sailor fell aslcf
in an English workhouse, and did noe
awake till The following August. 7 s-
con1 9aratively short sleeps are offs
traceable to nervousness or pFTslc
weakness Fright appears to be Il
most common cause of long slee-
Some years ago young woman was
exhibition in various places who h
been asleep since she was 12 years OIL
At that age the child suffered a sever
attack Of fever, on recovering fro-
which she relapsed into a deep sleep
in which she remained more or less ur
til her death, which took place at thc
age Of &c, after she had been asleep
years.
During the first few months OF her
sleep the girl awoke twice every q
hours for about ten minutes; but i
her most wakeful intervals she ap
peared anxious to so to sleep, ana
when once soundly asleep nothing
could rouse her, She never complained
of pain, but when asleep her hand
were always clutched tightly and ah
appeared extremely nervous, occasio.
any >d1tGIfiS rum te NiOlSLl jC4N4l
and twitching Of her muscles an
limbs. Several eases have come ucde
notice during the last few years c
persons falling asleep for week or
more.
Two policemen on duty in the Rue
de Rivoli, Paris. otsarved man, ap.
parertly into>;icated walking along.
who suddenly fell down at the foot Of
bridge, On being picked up lie vas
found to be sound asleep, ard was
taken to police cell as drunk"
As he did not awake, however. the az
rested man was taken to hospital.
where he awol1e 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 q servant
girl at Cheltenham slept mere or less
continuously for a week in local hos
pital.-London Globe.