Year: 1879




From Chamberss Journal


That persons walk in their sleep and
are unconscious of ordinary impressions,
but yet retain sensations, there is, we all
admit, no doubt. One curious instance
occurred in a schoolgirl, who was OBJ
served to rise every night about mid
night and walk about her bedroom and
the lobby outside her sleeping apart
ment. After some time, on returning
to her bed, she was in the habit of ex-
amining it and all about it, and finally
selecting for some hours rest clothes
basket which the housemaid kept on the
flat roof of the cradle-bed in which she
lay. After carefully examining the
clOthes-basket, she climbed up on the
head of the cradle-bed, and, circling her
body as a cat would above the clothes
in the basket, she composed herself to
| sleep, in which she remained for an
! hour or more, then rose and returned to
her bed. In the morning she awOke at
her usual time, having no consciousness
of what had occurred during the night.
Her sister watched her proceedings, but
never interrupted or awakened her, and
after some time the nocturnal climbings
ceased.


The second case that came under my
observation was more varied and more
embarrassing. A young lady at school
| became a Somnambulist. She rose from
bed and walked in her sleep The la
| dies who conducted the school became
alarmed ,-partly on the girls account,
and partly for the character of the
school, as it might injure their estab-
lishment were it known that the young
ladies practiced the habit of walking
about the lawn in their night-dresses in
| the moonlight. They had an impression
that if the girl was suddenly awakened,
| death or immediate deprivation of sense
| might be the result; and this led to the
attendance of two maid-se.vants who
were strictly enjOined to follow the foot
| steps of the somnambulist, to watch that
no mishap should occur to her, and to
have all doors opened and the way kept
| clear for the return of the sleeping pc
! destrian.


This continued for some time. But at
| length the sOmnambulist's fancy took
more adventurous turn Skaters had
come to work on the roof of the house,
and the sleeping peripatetic evinced
/ desire to Star-gaze. Accordingly, on
| the next night she turned to the slater's
! ladder, and to the horror of her attend
ants, ascended it, mounted to the roof,
and walked along the gutter, with a
! slOping roof on one side and a low para
| pet wall on the other. The attendants
now became almost frightened out of
their wits, and knew not what to do or
| think. They feared to call out, for re-
| turn to consciousness in such a place
would almost inevitably lead to her
stumbling on the roof or falling over the
| parapet. Their terror was, however,
not yet at its height. The sOmnambu-
! list came to slight obstruction in the
! gutter; she paused for a moment, and
then, without hesitation, stepped upon
| the parapet and continued her walk on
the narrow stone coping.


A single slip, false step, would have
precipitated her from q height of 80 or
40 feet; yet to awaken her would al
most certainly have led to the same ca
tastrophe. The sleeping girl continued
her walk to the end of the coping. and
then, turning round, resumed her walk
to the dOrmer window, descended the
ladder, reached her bedroom in safety,
and laid down in her bed, awaking in
the morning quite unconscious of her
midnight danger and her narrow es-
cape.


was then very young practitioner
in medicine, and was, up to this period,
| although the medical student of the es-
establishment for ordinary cases of i'll
ness, not consulted on this perpleXing
case, as it was naturally desired to keep
it concealed; but after the stroll on the
! parapet wall, and the terror created by
it, it was thought that, with the object
! of preventing Il recurrence of the night
walk that might end in some ter
rible accident, the young lady should be
consigned to temporary residence in a
| private asylum, where there would be
always both a night and day watch.
| was taken into consultation next morn
ing, and earnestly discussed the gravity
of taking such a step. 1t would be i'm
| possible to keep it secret, and, even
were it possible, in her waking hours
she would look with horror on the COM
ing night, when she should be sent to
bed in a strait-waistcOat. In after
years, too, when perhaps she might
have a young family around her, the
thought might arise TINT she had once
been an inmate of such an institution;
and the reminiscence would make her
miserable. l duly considered all this,
and suggested various expedients, such
as sedative sleeping-draughts, and net
work to be put round the bed at night.
All, however, had been tried in this in
stance, and all in vain.


l then thought for little, and hit up
on the following plan: l directed her
night-dress to be sewed up at the foot,
so that it formed large bag, and then
had the sleeves heightened so much that
each sleeve, after going round the body,
reached the front, where it met the 9TH
er sleeve, and was securely fastened to
it. The whole dress was loose; but the
long sleeves prevented the hands from
being used to get rid of the dress, while,
from the end being sewed up, the feet
could not be used in progression. At
the same time the dress freely permit
ted the sleeper to roll about from side to
side in her slumber; and thus it differed
, from the hideous strait-waistcOat then


in vogue.


Night came, and our charge retired to


bed in her new-fangled night-dress, with
which she was amused. The usual hour


for the night-walk came. Her attend
ants were strictly enjoined not to stir.


She raised herself as usual in the sitting
: posture, then stood upright and com
, menced to walk The second step was
, a trip, for the foot behind held the bot
, tom of the bag in which she stood. She
, stumbled, fell forward, and awOke, and
> was put back into bed, where she soon
I fell asleep. Next morning there were nc


bad consequences except that her face


was slightly bruised by the fall. rec


commended a continuance of the sleep
=, inp-chemise for a short time as a eau
: tionary measure.


q And now came a curious change in
S the phases of the affiictiOn. She would
7 still rise from bed each night, but made
= no further attempt to walk as before
: She would stand erect, and, keeping the
o l knees perfectly rigid, spring straight up
L ward from the floor, and thus dance