The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-26
SOME FEATS OF
 SLEEP WALKERS Many People Suffer from Son.
 nambulism ACTS ARE REMARKABLE One Man Enjoys Midnight Swim. Another Works Best When Asleep.
 Walks With Eyes
 Wide Open.

From the Washington Post.
 When a person deeply immersed Ill thought walks along in a state of pre- occupation which amounts to unconscious ness it excites no surprise, chieny because 1t Is a frequent occurrence. Put II IS ln- deed marvellous that any one shouid' when fast asleep, perform a series of complicated actions which seems to re- quire the assistance of the senses Mole people suffer from somnambulism than IS generally realized, and it IS, or seourse' brought on by many different causes. Physicians have often declared that 1t IS hereditary, but that is a debatable ques- ton.
 A prominent Washington clubman sui fered very much from somnampullsih when he was a boy, but fortunateiy' outgrew the propensity. His family We're accustomed to his talking in his sleep, as one of his older brothers shared hls room.
 One summer night, when the cluprhah was about twenty-five, he awakened ilts brother by talking very loudly me som, nambulist was completely dressed anu his brother, seeing his condltloh' Was
  when he Jumped out of the open wlhuoW The distance was not very great. as their room was on the ground floor Of the cot tage, so his brother jumped after nm and tried to follow him, but the somnaih- bulist was an agile as chipmuhk' anu he could not catch up with him. He nromptly returned to the cottage ana reused his family.
 Enjoyed Midnight Swim.
 They immediately started to hunt Tor him. and were much alarmed 10 nhu the' he had gone in the direction of the rlVef. They searched vanly for hours, ana mai ly returned to the cottage much dlsheart- ened. To their delight the somnambulist was quietly sleeping in his own bed; put his clothes, lying on chair near the he'd. were dripping wet. He had evidently been for a midnight swim, which he nad indulged in without removing ms clothes.
 The Inext day he declared he knew nothing of the occurrence. He was muea troubled to find that his watch ana chaih and some money were missing out or ms vest pockets He immediately searched the neighborhood in which he had been that night, but could find no trace or them Two days after, one of the farh hands in picking up bushel basket Ill a shed, found the missing articles unoer if. The clubman had evidently put them there for safe keeping while in ms som nambulistic state.
 very attractive girl, well known Ill Washington society, is somnambullst- Her family watch her constantly, and so far she does very harmless if eccentrlc' things when sleep-walking
 On one occasion she gathered together all the pillows she could fnd and car ried them all down into the dining room. The she carefully placed them on all sides of the latrobe stove and, Walkins twice around the room, proceeded to shake -,,p the pillows, anu lhen lie down on them, and there she slept for the rest of the night.
 Some years ago in London woman vtas arrested and charged with robbins a man while he was walking in his sleep. He was plasterer by trade, ana ne would often fall asleep on scanoids, 1@'' fortunately, never met with an accident. While in these frances he would answer questions as if ne were wide awake.
 Worked Best When Asleep.
 A family living in New York employed an Italian servant who was somnam- bulist, and they said .le did his work better when he was walking III HIS sieep than when awake.
 If is a curious fact that people when talking in their sleep are always trutn- ful, and never evasive; but II thelr 1eei- ings are played upon by their question: CT, they Will betray great anger. Ihelr eyes are always tightly closed, and the intonation of the voice is very dlHerent from the tones used when the person IS fully awake.
 Sleep-talkers may, by conversation. be brought to remember a dream within dream, and they will recollect what nap pened in preceding dreams. very often mental anxiety will make people talk Ill their sleep, when under other conditions they woulu never do II.
 Laura Bridgman, who became at an early age. deaf, dumb and blind was subject to very vivid dreams. and in her sleep she used the finger alphabet. Ter friends. who often witnessed these scenes, said she described her dreams very clearly.
 Another extraordinary circumstance ob- served in somnambulists is the wonderful knowledge they xl-Jit while In that. con dition. There is the case of an ignof- the servant girl, described by Dr. De- war, who evinced an astonishing knoWl- edge of astronomy and geometry. And another case of two ladies who spoke German and Italian during their sleep, and yet when awake they could not even pronounce one word in either of the Ian guages
 Women and children are more apt to suffer from somnambulism than men, possibly because their brain is more deli scately poised, and therefore more easily
 influenced by dreams.
 Walk With Eyes Wide Open. A somnambust nearly always walks with his eyes wide open, the pupils, being much dilated. He is a dreamer able to act his dreams, and in this state the timid becomes fearless, the weak strong, and the stupid brilliant. M Their somnambulistic condition presents many curious anomalies. The somnam- bulist's sense of hearing is not often sus- pended, for, generally speaking. he will answer questions, even if whispered, but often the same is deaf to loud noises The sense of smell is frequently altered Birthstone and phophorus are said to be pleasant scents to the somnambulist, and many cannot tell wine from water, as the sense of taste becomes perverted, or entirely suspended.
 Some people walk periodically in their sleep, while others do it spasmodfcaly One German doctor goes to the extreme of asserting that the somnambulist IS attracted by the moon, and thus they walk on roofs of houses and a great heights because they derive peculiar ,Iaf fifp a