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during their sleep, of children who have been found fishing, and of men who have saddled their horses and ridden away exactly as if they had been awake. The independence of the individual of the special senses which ordinarily accompany actions is, it seems to us, only to be explained on the theory stated above. But further it has been remarked that there is a close relation between somnambulism and epilepsy. To us this seems more than probable. We know that epilepsy most frequently manifests itself by explosions of motor force through the muscles, and we have convulsions or motions dictated by the will of nature which is above and around human volition. So we shall have occasion to see that thoughts are liable to the same explosions or discharges, and we find that ideas are entertained and actions performed which are unconnected with the volition of the individual who is said to think or act. It would seem, then, that the somnambulic actions are of this nature. They are dictated by a discharge of the thought-energy of a certain part of the brain, while the rest of that organ remains asleep. The fact which we have alluded to above that the somnambulist is always in the habit of doing things he has been accustomed to do gives some confirmation to this theory, for as we know epilepsies always manifest themselves first in the muscles which are most used for volitional purposes.

2330. Relation of the Senses during Sonambulistic Sleep. On the somnambulism of Lady Macbeth, the physician said, "You see her eyes are open," and the waitinggentlewoman answers, "Ay, but their sense is closed." But this state of things seems not unfrequently reversed, and an actual transference of the peculiar form of sentiency from one part of the bodily organism to another takes place, although it scarcely goes so far as clairvoyants would have us believe, who can read books or tell the time indicated by the hands of watches which are held behind their heads. most cases, however, [239]the eyes of the somnambulist are closed or at least only half open, while in a few, as in the case of Lady Macbeth, they are open and staring.

In

2331. Somnambulism in connection with Catalepsy.—

What we said above in relation to the connection between epilepsy and somnambulism has further light thrown upon it by the fact that we frequently find somnambulism associated with catalepsy. Of course the two conditions are very easily differentiated. The discharge seems to take place in a different direction, and locomotion or somnambulism proper is not so frequently manifested during the actual seizure as somniloquence. It has been remarked that not unfrequently a far greater fluency characterizes the conversation of the cataleptic during the attack than upon ordinary occasions. Still the whole of the three states are closely allied, and the knowledge of each throws light on the other.

332. Memory in relation to Somnambulism.—Sir William Hamilton notes the duality of life which is led by somnambulists. This is, we believe, a well established fact. The waking consciousness of the individual knows nothing of the experiences of the sleeping consciousness. It is as if there were two memories. Mr. Combe mentions the case of a porter who in a state of intoxication left a parcel at a wrong house, and when sober could not recollect what he had done with it. But the next time he got drunk he recollected where he had left it, and went and recovered it.'

333. Nightmares.-Now, just as passion is a healthy, and the maniac's frenzy is an unhealthy, condition, so may a certain amount of somnambulism be compatible with perfect health, and be excited simply by distressing circumstances occurring in the life of the individual; while, on the other hand, it may be due to a morbid condition of the cerebral organism. This is illustrated by the fact that insane persons are liable to night-terrors, and it is principally with nightterrors that we in this book have to do. It is true that in many instances the raw material of dream-thought, or the stuff that dreams are made of, is bodily sensation. We know that even the more purposeful thought of our waking hours is often directed by sensations, and it would be utterly unphilosophical to deny that the same is true of the thoughts which

'Dumas' novel, The Physician, is founded upon the fact of the forgetfulness of all the experiences which may have been gained in mesmeric sleep.

come to us from out of the ambush of sleep. The imperative sensations of a diseased organism, therefore, are the cause of many "nightmares."

2334. Dreams in relation to Time.--"A singular fact," says Abercrombie,' "has often been observed in dreams which are excited by noise, namely, that the same sound awakes the person, and produces a dream which appears to occupy a considerable time. The following example has been related to me. A gentleman dreamed he had enlisted as a soldier, joined his (210) regiment, deserted, was apprehended, carried back, tried, condemned to be shot, and at last led out to execution. After all the usual preparations, a gun was fired; he awoke with the report, and found that a noise in an adjoining room had produced the dream and awakened him."?

2335. Dreams and Realities.-It has been remarked by Ancillon that dreams have frequently a degree of vivacity which enable them to compete with the reality; and if the events which they represent to us were in accordance with the circumstances of time and place in which we stand, it would be impossible to distinguish a vivid dream from a sensible perception." Perhaps it may be well to recognize that the impressions of dreams are very like the impressions which are made upon the mind by the waking senses. While they last, they have as great an authenticity as any of what we call our real perceptions. Only in one particular do they fall short of actual sensual impressions, and that is that we have no repeated experiences of dreams; there is no accumulation of experience in relation to the subjects of dreamthought. We do not lead a connected life in dreams, and hence they lack the force of objective realities, and fail to impress us with their actual existence. When however this is not the case, when men dream a thing three or four times, they say it must be true: it has got the quality of objectivity attached to it, and it "competes" with the world of sense. It is owing to this circumstance that we find the belief in prophetic dreams.

Intellectual Powers, 12th ed., p. 215.

2 A similar case is given in M. Jouffroy's Mélanges.
Ersais' Philos. II., 159.

336. Necessity for considering the Legal Relations of Somnambulism.- How closely the whole subject of dreaming and nightmares is connected with that of somnambulence and somniloquence will be evident from a consideration of the theory of sleep above indicated, and the importance of a thorough appreciation of the subject will be shown by some of the following cases, and by the possible relations of persons laboring under such morbid states to the laws of the country in which they live. The old stock case which has found a place in every work of this kind for the last fifty years claims its place here by prescriptive right. It is that of a monk who late one evening entered the room of the prior of his convent, his eyes open but fixed, his features contracted into a frown, and with a knife in his hand. He walked straight up to the bed as if to ascertain if the prior was there, and then gave three stabs which penetrated the bedclothes, and a mat which served the purpose of a mattress. He then left the room with his features relaxed, and an air of satisfaction on his countenance. The next day, on being questioned, he confessed that, having dreamed that his mother had been murdered by the prior, and that her spirit had appeared to him and cried for vengeance, he was transported with fury at the sight, and ran directly to stab her assassin. Shortly after, he awoke and rejoiced to find that it was only a dream. A case in which the waking from a dream influenced the conduct of the individual when awake is given by Dr. Pagan. "Bernard Schedmaizig suddenly awoke at midnight at the moment he saw a frightful phantom, or what his imagination represented as such a frightful spectre. He twice called out, Who is that?' Receiving no answer, and imagining that the phantom was advancing upon him, and having altogether lost his self-possession, he raised a hatchet which was beside him and attacked the spectre, and it was found that he had murdered his wife."

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? 337. Crimes Comitted during Sleep or on Waking from Sleep.-1]Dr. Delasiauve, who quotes from a Spanish

Georget's Des Maladies Mentales, p. 127.

2 Pagan's Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity. London, 1840.

When he

newspaper, gives the following case: "Arsanz, æt. 26, had been a soldier, always of good conduct: his health seemed tolerable: he was subject every spring to epistaxis, also to talking in his sleep. The spring of 1854 passed without epistaxis, and from that time, particularly during the night, he was subject to certain moral disturbance, for which purging was advised. Travelling with a brother and sleeping in the same bed, he was attacked during the night by this excitement, fancied that his bedfellow was going to kill him, and seizing a knife he plunged it into his neck. He then went out and slept on the staircase two hours. awoke, he had some obscure consciousness of what he had done; and on seeing his dead brother, he was in despair, and wounded himself severely. The flow of blood restored his reason, and he called for help, and, after some time, told all the circumstances. He was examined by two medical officers, who reported on the soundness of the intellectual faculties. The Judge, satisfied that so unusual an act must have its origin in insanity, summoned the Dr. Angel Antonio Diez. He, together with the others, made repeated observations, and observed a strong tendency to melancholy and nocturnal febrile attacks. From these and some other circumstances, they reported that Arsanz had acted impulsively and without moral liberty. Upon this, the prisoner was acquitted."'

Another case may be quoted. "A pedlar, who was in the habit of walking about the country armed with a swordstick, was awakened one evening while lying asleep on the high road by a man suddenly seizing him and shaking him by the shoulders. The man, who was walking by with some companions, had done this out of a joke. The pedlar suddenly awoke, drew his sword, and stabbed the man, who soon afterwards died. He was tried for manslaughter. His irresponsibility was strongly urged by his counsel, on the ground that he could not have been conscious of his act in the half-waking state. This was strengthened by competent medical witnesses. He was, however, found guilty."

Journal of Psychological Medicine, July, 1856, p. 484.

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This case is quoted in Dr. Winslow's Plea of Insanity in Criminal Cases, from the Medico-Chirurgical Review.

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