had no consciousness whatever of having been operated upon; but being informed of the circumstance, and seeing her children around her, she experienced the most lively emotion, which the magnetizer instantly checked by again setting her asleep. These facts appear startling and incredible. I can give no opinion upon the subject from any thing I have seen myself; but the testimony of such men as Cloquet, Georget, and Itard, is not to be received lightly on any physiological point; and they all concur in bearing witness to such facts as the above. In the present state of knowledge and opinion, with regard to animal magnétism, and the sleep occasioned by it, I shall not say more at present, but refer the reader to the ample details contained in the Parisian Report; an able translation of which into English has been made by Mr Colquhoun. When a person is addicted to somnambulism, great care should be taken to have the door and windows of his sleeping apartment secured, so as to prevent the possibility of egress, as he sometimes forces his way through the panes of glass: this should be put out of his power

by having the shutters closed, and bolted in such a way that they cannot be opened without the aid of a key or screw, or some such instrument, which should never be left in the room where he sleeps, but carried away, while the door is secured on the outside. Some have recommended that a tub of water should be put by the bedside, that, on getting out, he might step into it, and be awakened by the cold; but this, from the suddenness of its operation, might be attended with bad consequences in very nervous and delicate subjects. It is a good plan to fix a cord to the bedpost, and tie the other end of it securely round the person's wrist. This will effectually prevent mischief if he attempt to get up. Whenever it can be managed, it will be prudent for another per son to sleep along with him. In all cases, care should be taken not to arouse him suddenly. This must be done as gently as possible; and when he can be conducted to bed without being awakened at all, it is still better. Should he be perceived in any dangerous situation, as on the house-top, or the brink of a precipice, the utmost caution is requisite; for, if we call

loudly upon him, his dread, on recovering, at finding himself in such a predicament, may actually occasion him to fall, where, if he had been left to himself, he would have escaped without injury.

To prevent a recurrence of somnambulism, we should remove if possible, the cause which gave rise to it. Thus, if it proceed from a disordered state of the stomach, or biliary system, we must employ the various medicines used in such cases. Plenty of exercise should be taken, and late hours and much study avoided. If it arises from plethora, he must be blooded, and live low; should hysteria produce it, antispasmodics, such as valerian, ammonia, assafoetida, and opium may be neces

sary.

But, unfortunately, we can often refer sleepwalking to no complaint whatever. In this case, all that can be done is to carry the individual as safely as possible through the paroxysm, and prevent him from injury by the means we have mentioned. In many instances, the affection will wear spontaneously away: in others it will continue in spite of every remedy.

FUNDACIÓN

SIMAR CHAPTER VIII.

BIBLIOTECA

SLEEP-TALKING.

MADRIŤ

THIS closely resembles somnambulism, and proceeds from similar causes. In somnambulism, those parts of the brain which are awake call the muscles of the limbs into activity; while, in sleep-talking, it is the muscles necessary for the production of speech which are animated by the waking cerebral organs. During sleep, the organ of Language may be active, either singly or in combination with other parts of the brain; and of this activity sleep-talking is the result. If, while we

* Among the insane, the organ just mentioned is occasionally excited to such a degree that, even in the waking state, the patient, however desirous, is literally unable to refrain from speaking. Mr W. A. F. Browne

dream that we are conversing with some one, the organ of Language is in such a high state of activity as to rouse the muscles of speech, we are sure to talk. It often happens, however, that the cerebral parts, though sufficiently active to make us dream that we are speaking, are not excited so much as to make us actually speak. We only suppose we are

has reported two cases of this nature in the 37th No. of the Phrenological Journal. The first is that of a woman in the hospital of La Salpetrière in Paris. Whenever she encounters the physician or other of the attendants, she bursts forth into an address which is delivered with incredible rapidity and vehemence, and is generally an abusive or ironical declamation against the tyranny, cruelty, and injustice to which she is exposed. In the midst of her harangues, however, she introduces frequent and earnest parenthetical declarations "that she does not mean what she says; that though she vows vengeance and showers imprecations on her medical attendant, she loves him, and feels grateful for his kindness and forbearance; and that, though anxious to evince her gratitude and obedience by silence, she is constrained by an invisible agency to speak." In the other case, the individual speaks constantly: "sleep itself does not yield an intermission; and there is strong reason to believe that a part, at least, of his waking orations is delivered either without the cognizance of the other powers, or without consciousness on the part of the speaker.”